Mr. L and I are watching the Showtime series, "The Tudors," on Netflix. If you need to judge, please do, as there is nudity, violence, and some language, though it seems the English royalty had a bit more decorum when it came to foul language than with foul behavior. Mr. L and I, both history majors, found ourselves a bit skeptical at what we perceived to be Hollywood's version of Tudor England, so we bought books of English history. As would be appropriate, Mr. L's purchase is entitled The Story of Britain From the Romans to the Present, and mine is entitled Great Tales from English History.
From reading these histories, it is apparent that Hollywood could not possibly exaggerate the debauchery and violence that occurred, especially during Henry VIII's reign and that of his daughter, Mary. Of course, I know enough history to have been acquainted with his beheading of two wives, but, oh there is so much more. I do know that Hollywood took some liberties in their presentation of Henry's appearance for instead of his being a rotund man lacking in pleasing appearance, he has a six pack, beautiful eyes, and straight, white teeth. I was terribly dismayed last night during my reading to learn that the-beautiful-on-the-show Duke of Suffolk was an unattractive corpulent man himself, and this fact might explain the close relationship he had with the king. Hollywood's liberties have certainly made the show more pleasing to the eye.
It is truly a story of privilege and no self-restraint. The Church of England was established by Henry simply so he could get a divorce from his first wife. The pope and the counsel of cardinals was not buying his convoluted arguments as to why the marriage was not legal. No problem, he just declares his position as king having been divinely appointed, starts the Church of England, beheads those who will not comply (think Sir Thomas Moore) and goes his merry way. And let me just say, his behavior barely compares to those of some of the religious authorities. If the head religious guy in season four (cannot remember his name) is beheaded, or hanged, or drawn and quartered, or burned at the stake (seriously, there is no end to the terrible things they did) it will be the only execution that I will actually watch. He is amazingly despicable. I spend a lot of time with a blanket over my head, fingers in my ears, humming Count Your Many Blessings, periodically asking Mr. L, "is it over yet?"
Mary, Henry's daughter by Katherine of Aragon, became known as Bloody Mary. She, like her mother, was a devout Catholic. When her brother, Edward VI, died at the age of 16, she became queen. Pretty much, her reign was all about getting rid of the "pestilence" known as Protestantism. She despised Lutherans. Over a period of 45 months, she burned in the fires at Smithfield 227 men and 56 women for their faith. The one that created a PR nightmare for her was the execution of Thomas Cranmer, who numerous times under duress (more than a slight understatement) recanted his his faith in the Protestant reformation, only to be executed anyway because Mary was determined that he would be. He was the architect of her father's divorce from her mother. He also is given credit for having written The Book of Common Prayer. Even those of her own faith saw the wrongness in his execution.
This is not a blog on English history. It is a blog on undesired results. Historians credit Bloody Mary for the fact that England Protestant. She died in 1558, and still England is considered a Protestant country because of her stubborn, pious, dogmatic, efforts to force Catholicism on those around her. There has to be a lesson in there somewhere for us today.
Blessings
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