Baby Mary, the new queen of Scotland since the death of her father, James V, was originally set to marry Henry VIII’s boy, Eddie. But that pesky religious issue showed up as it tended to do in the 16th century. Catholic France had Scotland’s back and England felt threatened, so that match was ixnayed and the five-year-old girl was off to France to grow up with her new amour, the future king of France.

This is where Mary’s situation gets really sweet. Her intended, the Dauphin Francis, was a little child like she was and eventually had many younger siblings. This gaggle of French royal kiddies and Mary grew up bebopping among those gorgeous chateaux in the Loire Valley, including Blois, Fontainebleau, and Chenonceau.  They had regular playdates with dozens of noble children, enjoyed gifts of ponies, bulldogs, falcons, and even bears.  These kids enjoyed making candy and feasting on rich foods, and were decked out in only the most sumptuous fabrics.

Mary was basically raised French, spoke French, read French, le whole shebang. At age 17, she was the striking new queen of France –nearly six feet tall, hazel eyes, gold-brown hair. Merveilleux!

And a little more than a year later, her husband and childhood friend, the French king, died of complications from an ear infection. Just like that.

Adieu, France! Back to Scotland went the young widow, to begin a whirlwind of other marriages, political plots, an escape to England, constant imprisonment and change of residence, and finally the chopping block. How did it come to this when the beginning was so idyllic? Just another sad casualty in the drama of Tudor history, really.

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Henry’s Queens:

Obviously King’s wives were not like the average Tudor woman, but even though they were in charge of large households and budgets, Alison pointed out that the decisions were still made by the King. The queen’s role was to produce heirs and be the perfect model wife for the court.

But, what was the model wife? Here, Alison used Catherine of Aragon’s words when she pleaded with Henry VIII at the divorce hearing, saying that she was his “true, humble, obedient wife.” This summed up what a wife should be and her accepted role in the divine order. Even Catherine Parr applauded this ideal in her book Lamentations of a Sinner, writing that young women should be “sober-minded.” Alison pointed out the mottoes of Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard – “Bound to Obey and Serve” and “No Other Will but His” – these women accepted their role!
 

Adultery:
Alison emphasised that on marriage a woman became a man’s property and that it was even a man’s legal right to kill his wife on the spot if he caught her in the act of adultery. An adulterous woman brought shame on her family. Here, Alison mentioned Catherine Parr’s brother, William Parr, and his call for his unfaithful wife to be put to death. Fortunately, a divorce was granted instead! But look at Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both accused of adultery and both executed. The man’s word was law and although Weir stated that Anne was the “victim of a bitter court struggle” and was “framed by her enemies,” the adultery charge stood and Anne lost her life. After Catherine Howard was executed, a law was passed that it was high treason for a woman of dubious past to marry the king.

Education

In Medieval times, people believed that women should not be taught to write unless they were nuns and that the only education they needed was in home-making, to make them fit to be a good wife. However, the Renaissance made education for women more acceptable and Alison gave the examples of Margaret Roper (Sir Thomas More’s daughter), Catherine of Aragon, and Catherine Parr as models of educated and virtuous women. Too much learning could get a woman into trouble though–take the example of Catherine Parr, who was plotted against.

Mary and Elizabeth:

Alison pointed out that the only experience England had had of a female ruler was Empress Matilda in the 12th century and she didn’t last long. Mary I was England’s first real female monarch and she had many difficulties to contend with. For example, she couldn’t even do the ceremony of the Knights of the Bath because she couldn’t get into a bath with a bunch of men! Then, there was the question of marriage because of the traditional roles of husband and wife, with the woman being submissive to the man, yet she was Queen of England!

Alison spoke of how it was Elizabeth I who proved that a woman could rule successfully, but she wasn’t afraid of using her femininity to her advantage and using her feminine wiles to get her own way. The marriage issue was still a problem for Elizabeth though, but she solved it by remaining single while encouraging suitors to gain political advantage. Alison quite rightly noted that Elizabeth paved the way for future queens and that she was “one of the most important women to wield power.”

Final Words:

Alison Weir concluded her talk by stating that although 16th century women were seen as second to men, they still managed to rule countries and run businesses and estates. Life certainly was not easy for Tudor women, but, according to Alison, it did have its compensations and many marriages were loving relationships.

It really was a joy to hear Alison speak and to talk to her afterwards. She has so much knowledge and is happy to share this and answer questions. It was a great night and it raised £600 for the Mary Rose Appeal too.

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Claire Ridgway writes The Anne Boleyn Files (blog here, Facebook page here) and the Elizabeth Files  (blog here, Facebook page here).  Thanks again, Claire, for your fantastic article!

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 I’ve been wanting to catch one of Alison Weir’s talks for a long time so I was really excited when I managed to get a ticket for this talk to aid the Mary Rose Appeal. Alison explained that this talk was not based on any particular book, but on research she has done dating back to the 1970s, and it was a truly enlightening talk, educating the listeners about what it was really like to be a Tudor woman.

Alison started with a quotation from John Knox’s “The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment  of Women”, a treatise directed at Mary of Guise but which also could be applied to Mary I and her successor, Elizabeth I, a diatribe against the “monstrous regiment” of female rulers. This quotation set the scene for the talk, a talk about the roles that Tudor society expected women to play versus the roles that they actually did play.

Alison explained how men were traditionally seen as the hunters, gatherers and protectors, whereas women were descended from Eve and were the cause of Adam leaving Paradise. Women were viewed as instruments of the Devil, temptresses and “the only imperfection in God’s creation”. Alison quoted Vincent de Beauvais from the 13^th century:-

“Woman is the confusion of man, an insatiable beast, a continuous anxiety, an incessant warfare, a daily ruin, a house of tempest and a hindrance to devotion”

and this belief, that women were more prone to sin and could lead men astray, was still prevalent in Tudor England. Tudor women were given little freedom and Chaucer’s character, Patient Griselda, was held as the ideal that girls should aspire to.                  

Marriage:

Alison went on to discuss betrothals, pre-contracts, dowries and marriage, explaining that a marriage ceremony was not needed to legalise a marriage, even a verbal contract witnessed by two people and then consummated was enough. This helps us to understand the concerns over Anne Boleyn’s alleged pre-contract to Henry Percy and Catherine Howard’s to Francis Dereham.

Alison pointed out that sex before marriage was forbidden but that it was seen as acceptable for a man to sow his wild oats before settling down; however, a woman was expected to be virtuous and guard her reputation with her life, and this is why Henry VIII courted Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard in front of chaperones, to guard their reputations. Talk about double standards!

For the woman, sex was seen as simply necessary for procreation and it was believed that women were not meant to experience sexual pleasure. Alison stated that when someone in the 16^th century questioned this belief and said that women were made to experience pleasure, he was accused of heresy. Also, a shocking fact – women with sexual experience could not accuse a man of rape!

Marriage for love was seen as pure insanity and arranged marriages were the norm. Henry VIII bucked tradition by following Edward IV’s example and marrying for love, but this certainly was not normal. Boys could cohabit from 14 and girls were deemed ready for a sexual relationship from 12, and Alison noted that there was a very practical reason for this: life expectancy. In Tudor times, women had a life expectancy of around 30 so it was sensible to marry young.

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Part 2: Henry’s queens and adultery, stay tuned!

One fan favorite is James Frain as Thomas Cromwell. Prior to “The Tudors,” I wonder how many of us really empathized with Henry’s right-hand man. However, Frain’s performance (and his uncanny ability to disappear into his roles) drove home the point that this ambitious social climber was simply doing his job. And that wasn’t an easy task, when your boss changed his mind about what was good/bad more often than he changed his doublet and hose.

Take a trip down memory lane with Frain/Cromwell, and Coldplay of course, since “Viva La Vida” is used for about 95% of these Tudor YouTube videos. Hey, it works! A bit frenetic at first, but a reminder of the executions Cromwell pulled off (out of necessity). You can surely guess how it all wraps up.

Theory 1: She saw how well marriage worked out for her mother and stepmothers. Anne Boleyn was so crazy about Henry VIII she lost her head over him. Jane Seymour was simply dying to be Henry’s wife. Anne of Cleves was out-and-out unfriended (for a while). Kitty Howard? Separated from the few brain cells she had in no time.  

Theory 2: Being a wife had to equal being a mom, and that wasn’t always ideal. It killed Jane Seymour, and was a common cause of death for young women at that time. Plus, a male child would immediately upstage the queen, males being superior and all. Liz was not about to take that lying down, for her ego as well as for her security on the throne.

Theory 3: Marrying a foreign gent was a potential political minefield, in the 16th century religious climate. Liz kept her religious preferences to herself, and putting a preference out there by marrying a Protestant (Reformer) or a Catholic would unwisely open up a can of worms.

Theory 4: Marrying any gent meant he would have a leg up on her (again, males being superior and all). As you could imagine, that was not an option for our ginger lady.

Theory 5: The right guy never came along. Well, many people believe that the closest that Liz came to The One was Robert Dudley. He was already married, though, so that was terribly inconvenient. Even if he weren’t, see Theories 1, 2, and 4.

* apologies to Kelly Clarkson

It was understood at that time that an oldest son would be groomed to take over a father’s place, and the second son would head to the church for his life’s work. No coincidence, then, that the ginger king was a champion of the Catholic faith for so long. Ironic then, too, that he would turn religion in England on its head in an unprecidented display of drama.

The future Massive Monarch grew up surrounded by women. Go figure. But really, he was adored by his mother and his two sisters, Mary and Margaret. In the recent Henry VIII: Man and Monarch exhibit, David Starkey declared that Henry’s handwriting reveals a mummy’s boy whose early life with the ladies led to his future as a dysfunctional ladies’ man.

And when newlywed Arthur died and left the crown and the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon, well, that’s when  history took a wild turn indeed.

Hold on, Sally, not so fast: Turns out the lady was still outranked by former queen Catherine Parr (and also by the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, as well as Anne of Cleves). Catherine was now married to The Other Seymour Dude. Yes, about three months after Henry VIII became history, his widow married that slimy flirt, Thomas Seymour. Although she was no longer queen on paper, she was rolling in the late king’s dough and was expressedly elevated to that high former position as per his will. She was even still allowed to wear the “queen’s jewels” until Eddie should get himself a bride in the future. (That didn’t happen.)

This made Anne Seymour seethe! She was not about to lie down and let that happen, so she stamped her feet and demanded she should have them instead. It was a stalemate for a month or so, with neither lady decked out in the goods. When Catherine finally showed up at court again, she [within her rights] slyly suggested that the Duchess attend to her train. Anne said “Absolutely not!” and gave as her reason that Catherine was the lowly wife of her husband’s little brother. Nice.

Eventually, the noble fishwife convinced her husband to notify Catherine via letter that she was not to have the jewels, period, end of story. Accustomed to being treated like a doormat by the Duchess, he agreed. No surprise, then, that Catherine Parr came to refer to Anne Seymour as “that hell.” I can think of a few names that would have been more effective.

• Edmund Tudor (dad to Henry VII) 
• Henry VII (dad to Henry VIII, Arthur Prince of Wales, Margaret Queen of Scots,  and Mary Queen of France)
• Henry VIII (dad to lowly girls Mary I and Elizabeth I, and exalted boy Edward VI, not to mention the illegitimate Henry Fitroy)
• God the Father  (heavenly dad to all those Catholics and Protestants who were killing each other during this time period)
• James V of Scotland (dad to Mary Queen of Scots)
• Henry Grey  (dad to Lady Jane Grey)

While our modern dads are happy to spend time with their children and the rest of their families today, that tie or cologne or barbeque equipment is certainly appreciated. Back in the day, however, simply becoming a father (especially to a son for certain men, ahem!) and carrying on that bloodline was a gift in itself. Considering the grim truth about personal hygenie in the 16th century, it’s a shame that cologne wasn’t an option after all!

The show has received its fair share of criticism. Overly-lush costumes, gratuitous sex, women who could star in a Nair commercial, queens who look like Barbie, and of course some liberties with historical events (not to mention the ageing process). 

I do love, though, that the show surely sparked an interest in the era for some of us who didn’t give a toss previously, or who may have only had a passing interest and are now hooked. And for those of us who have passed many an evening engrossed in an Alison Weir or David Starkey tome, hearing some speeches verbatim or watching scenes played out as they were indeed recorded by observers was quite a thrill!   

If you are looking for posts that do reference the show,  JRM chats with Martha Stewart about his role here, Natalie Dormer tours Tudor goodies at the British Library here, there are ideas for a “Tudors”-themed par-tay right here, and a post on why our hearts can’t go on after the current season right this way.

Although we say goodbye to the pop culture phenom in just a few days, iTunes and Amazon ensure that we can watch Henry and Anne’s love romps and Cromwell’s execution as often as we like. The Tudor Tutor, however, will still be right here. This blog didn’t begin as a result of the series, and it won’t end when the series ends. I’ll still be doling out cheek on the dynasty, as always in an effort to entertain as well as inform. Stay tuned!