Hilarious History Lessons

Browsing The Washington Post this morning, I found an article on a hilarious You Tube Channel that uses music to teach history lessons. The History Teachers' Channel uses a combination of songs from old and new artists and video clips from famous movies on the topics cut together with live action video of actors singing a song parody. It’s pretty funny, although some desperately need to be redone and made modern.

Click here to see hits like

* The French Revolution set to Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance
* Cleopatra taught to Fergalicious
* The Black Death is done with Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani

The bummer is that the Tudor videos are all older with songs that kids today will NOT know.

* Anne Boleyn is put to “Girl” by the Beatles (and very hokey with the dancing girl in an odd headdress.)
* Henry VIII is set to an ABBA song I’ve never heard
* Elizabeth I is done with She’s Not There by The Zombies
* Mary Queen of Scots to Jenny from the Block by JLo

They’re entertaining, but I do think they should update them because kids will be more interested and learn better if it’s music they can relate to!

On This Day in Tudor History

On December 8, 1542, Mary Stuart was born at Linlithgow Palace, Linlithgow, Scotland to King James V of Scotland and his French second wife, Mary of Guise.
Six days later, her father would die, leaving her to rule Scotland. Mary's rule was a tumultuous one and would pass to her son through her abdication before she was finally sentenced to death by her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

On This Day in Tudor History

November 17, 1558 was monumental day in Tudor—and for that matter—English history.

It was on this day that Queen Mary I died at St. James Palace and her half sister, Elizabeth I, succeeded her to the throne, beginning the fashionable, creative, amazing Elizabethan Era in England. (think Shakespeare!)Against all odds, the daughter of Queen Anne Boleyn would become one of the greatest monarchs of all time.

Mary reigned only five years but left a legacy that would always be remembered as one of persecution and execution, leaving her with the sobriquet "Bloody Mary."

Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25, and upon hearing of her accession to the throne, she is reputed to have quoted the 118th Psalm's twenty-third line, in Latin: "A Dominum factum est illud, et est mirabile in oculis notris" - "It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."

What REALLY Happened On This Day—November 14th—in Tudor History?

One of the more interesting claims to come out of the differing biographies and historical accounts of the Tudor Era is the possibility that Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn had more than one secret wedding ceremony and the anniversary of their ill-fated marriage is actually today, November 14, 1532.

Thanks to Elizabeth I's September 7, 1533 birthday, it's hard to dispute that Henry and Anne finally consummated their six-and-a-half-year relationship in November of 1532.

According to “The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn,” Boleyn biographer Eric Ives claims Henry and Anne thought that he was sufficiently detached from Katherine of Aragon to finally have sexual relations. After all, Henry just had taken Anne on the state visit to Calais to treat with King Francis I and even he officially received her as the King of England's consort--a major coup. There are also theories (as portrayed on Showtime's The Tudors) that Henry and Anne finally slept together when their return home was delayed by storms and they remained in Calais a few days.

The idea that a 16th century king desperate for a male heir would risk any resulting child being declared illegitimate is the likely impetus for the idea that Henry and Anne would marry--perhaps in secret--as quickly as possibly after the consummation. That would mean a November ceremony or perhaps just a traditional, formal betrothal.

By January, 1553, it's clear that Anne believed herself to be pregnant and it is widely believed the couple underwent a more formal secret ceremony in front of only their closest confidents on January 25 in the turret over the entrance gate to Whitehall Palace, London. In fact, the wedding was kept so quiet that Eric Ives quotes Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador, as reporting, in March 1533, rumors that Henry would not marry Anne until Easter of that year, clearly in the dark about any earlier wedding.

According to Ives's research, Tudor chronicler, Edward Hall, was the one who wrote of the possible November ceremony, putting forward St. Erkenwald's Day (November 14, 1532) as the date.

“The king, after his return [from Calais] married privily the Lady Anne Bulleyn on Saint Erkenwald’s Day, which marriage was kept so secret that very few knew it, till she was great with child, at Easter after.”

Of course, this date meant that Elizabeth was conceived in marriage. Had the wedding been January 25, Elizabeth would have been blatantly illegitimate by any standards. There would be no defense of her bastardy.

Even Catholic apologist and Boleyn hater, Nicholas Sander, dates Henry and Anne’s marriage as the 14th November.

All of this is fairly convincing evidence of two ceremonies.

Henry VIII loved nothing more than the masque. He loved to fool people and make them believe what he wanted them to believe. It is entirely possible that he would hold a secret wedding ceremony and dissemble in public.

However, the January ceremony baffles me a bit because Henry HAD to realize that the date would put paternity of his child (and long-awaited male heir, in HIS mind) and the legitimacy in question. They clearly had to real witnesses to a November ceremony and perhaps thought they needed another ceremony--with witnesses--to make it official before Anne started showing?

Then again, there seems to be no end to the things that baffle me (and millions of others) about Anne and Henry.

On This Day in Tudor History

On November 12, 1555, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and long-time servant of three Tudor monarchs, died at the (approximate) age of 62.

Gardiner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I of England.

Interestingly, Gardiner *may* have been a blood relation of Queen Mary I. His father is known to have been Sir William Gardner, a substantial cloth merchant of the town where he was born. His mother, Helen, was reputed to be an illegitimate daughter of Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford.

Gardiner's abilities attracted the notice of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who made him his secretary. In 1527 he and Sir Thomas More were named commissioners of England in arranging a treaty with the French ambassadors for the support of an army in Italy against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

That year he accompanied Wolsey on his important diplomatic mission to France. Henry VIII was, at this time, anxious to cement his alliance with King Francis I, and gain support for his plans to divorce Katherine of Aragon. In the course of his progress through France, Wolsey received orders from Henry to send back his secretary, Gardiner, for fresh instructions. Wolsey was obliged to reply that he positively could not spare Gardiner as he was the only instrument he had in advancing the king's "Great Matter." The next year, Wolsey sent Gardiner and Edward Foxe, provost of King's College, Cambridge, to Italy to promote the same business with the pope. Pope Clement VII, who had been recently imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo by mutinous soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire, had managed to escape to Orvieto and was fearful of offending Charles V. Clement refused to issue a definitive ruling concerning Henry's annulment.

Gardiner's pleading was unsuccessful and he returned home where Wolsey and the pope's legate, Cardinal Campeggio, began the infamous trial at Black Friars.

Under King Edward VI, he completely opposed the policy of the dominant party both in ecclesiastical and in civil matters. Of course he objected to the religious changes in England, both on principle and on the ground of their being moved during the king's minority. His remonstrances resulted in his being imprisoned in the Fleet, and the visitation of his diocese was held during his imprisonment. Though soon released, he was soon called before the council, and, refusing to give them satisfaction on some points, was thrown into the Tower of London, where he remained for the rest of the reign, a period of over five years.

On Queen Mary I's entry into London, Gardiner and other Catholics were set free. Gardiner was restored to his Bishopric and appointed Lord Chancellor, and he placed the crown on the queen's head at her coronation. He also opened her first parliament and for some time was her leading councillor. He was now also called upon, in old age, to undo not a little of the work in which he had been instrumental in his earlier years — to demonstrate the legitimacy of the queen's birth and the legality of her mother's marriage, to restore the old religion, and to recant his own words touching the royal supremacy.

As chancellor he had the onerous task of negotiating the queen's marriage treaty with Philip II of Spain, for which he shared a general repugnance. Shortly after this, he became ill and died quickly. He lies buried in his own cathedral at Winchester, where his effigy is still to be seen.

Gardiner is played by Terence Rigby in the 1998 film Elizabeth, where he is portrayed as a villainous bishop who took part in the Ridolfi plot and who vehemently opposed Elizabeth I's Act of Uniformity. For the record: this is quite inaccurate, as Gardiner had died before Elizabeth ascended the throne.

On This Day in Tudor History

On October 14, 1586, Mary Queen of Scots was put on trial for treason after being implicated in the Babington Plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I by her own letters, which Sir Francis Walsingham had arranged to come straight to himself.

From the letters Walsingham intercepted it was clear that Mary had sanctioned the attempted assassination of Elizabeth, despite her denials and spirited defense. Her case also rested on the fact that she was denied the opportunity to review the evidence or her papers that had been removed from her, that she had been denied access to legal counsel, and that she had never been an English subject and thus could not be convicted of treason.

The extent to which the plot was created by Sir Francis Walsingham and his English Secret Services remains open to conjecture. However, this was not the only time Mary was implicated in treasonable offenses.

Mary was ultimately convicted of treason and sentenced to beheading.
Although Mary was found guilty and sentenced to death, Queen Elizabeth hesitated to order the execution of her own cousin and an anointed queen. She was fearful of the consequences, especially if Mary's son, James of Scotland, took revenge by forming an alliance with Catholic powers, France and Spain, and invaded England.

Elizabeth did eventually sign the death warrant. The privy council, having been summoned by Lord Burghley without Elizabeth's knowledge, decided to carry out the sentence before she could change her mind.

When the news of the execution reached Elizabeth she was furious. She took it out on the privy councillor to whom she gave the warrant, saying he had disobeyed her instructions not to part with the warrant. The secretary was arrested and thrown into the Tower. He was later released, after paying a heavy fine, but his career was ruined.
It was Mary Queen of Scots' execution that is often remembered for its gory and theatrical events. First, the executioners and her two servants helped remove a black outer gown, two petticoats, and her corset to reveal a deep red chemise — the color of martyrdom in the Catholic Church.

Biographer Antonia Fraser writes that it took two strikes to decapitate Mary: The first blow missed her neck and struck the back of her head, at which point the Queen's lips moved. (Her servants reported they thought she had whispered the words "Sweet Jesus.") The second blow severed the neck, except for a small bit of sinew that the executioner severed by using the axe as a saw.

Afterward, the executioner held her head aloft and declared, "God save the Queen." At that moment, the auburn tresses in his hand came apart and the head fell to the ground, revealing that Mary had had very short, grey hair.

Another well-known execution story was about one of the queens small dogs, which is said to have been hiding among her skirts, unseen by the spectators. Following the beheading, the white dog refused to be parted from its owner and was covered in blood. It was finally taken away by her ladies-in-waiting and washed.

On this Day in Tudor History:

On February 1, 1587, Queen Elizabeth I signed the death warrant of her cousin, Mary (Stuart) Queen of Scots. Mary would subsequently be beheaded on February 8 at Fotheringhay Castle.

The Vatican gets Revenge on Henry VIII!!!

And once again, a woman is at the center of the controversy between the Pope and the Church of England!

Following representations from English Anglicans alarmed by the prospect of women bishops, the Catholic Church has offered them the ultimate remedy. In an extraordinary move and with no forewarning, Pope Benedict XVI has created a structure that will allow conservative male clergy and their congregations to remain Anglican in all but name under female-free Vatican protection.

The details of the new structure have not yet been announced, but presumably the erstwhile Anglicans will be allowed to continue using Anglican worship services in Anglican-style parishes while being officially members of the Catholic Church. Pretty sneaky, huh?

For some time, married Anglican priests have been accepted by Rome while retaining their wives, but only on a case-by-case basis. (Ahem, Cardinal Wolsey, anyone?) Apart from their married status, they have had to forgo the culture of Anglicanism and embrace the fullness of Catholic polity. The new structure seems to offer conservatives the best of both worlds from their perspective.

This is not by any means the first split in the Anglican Church, a church created as a separate entity by Henry VIII in 1534 when an earlier Pope refused to give him permission to divorce Katherine of Aragon. There have been numerous others, caused by disputes over the relationship between church and state. But this one, just like the original split, can be attributed to women.

King Henry wanted his divorce so he could marry Anne Boleyn. Centuries later women bishops are fast becoming a reality for the worldwide Anglican Church. Twenty years after the first woman bishop was consecrated in the US, and 65 years after the first woman priest was ordained by the Bishop of Hong Kong, there are now 24 women bishops around the world, including two in Australia: Kay Goldsworthy in Perth and Bishop Barbara Darling in Melbourne.

A vociferous minority protests that women are not acceptable as leaders in the Anglican Church. This is ironic, given that a woman - Queen Elizabeth II - has been Supreme Governor of the Church of England for the past 57 years, and her ancestor Elizabeth I - Anne Boleyn's daughter - was the monarch who entrenched a reformed Church of England.

Despite these female leaders, some argue that a few verses in the Bible deny women authority over men; these verses were used for centuries to prevent women from having an equal role in society, not just in the church. (Other verses, including the example of Jesus himself, support the full equality of women.)

Those bishops and clergy who petitioned Rome for this indulgence are no doubt mostly conservative clergy who have longed for the security of the Catholic Church for aesthetic, theological and psychological reasons. They want to belong to what they see as the ''true'' church, but either their married state or their sentimental attachment to cultural Anglicanism has held them back. Such longings well pre-date the emergence of women clergy in the Anglican Church.

From the Roman perspective, it is a means of demonstrating to its own restive nuns and lay women that there is no hope of female equality in the foreseeable future. It may, however, lead to some heart-searching for Catholics concerned about the impact that priestly celibacy continues to have on their Church. How can it be unacceptable for home-grown clergy to marry but OK for the imports from Anglicanism?

It will be interesting to see how many Anglican clergy and laity actually go over to Rome and how long they stay. The Anglican Church has a much more democratic polity than the Catholic Church. Anglican vicars and parishes have a significant degree of autonomy and Anglicans have decision-making powers through diocesan and national synods. They participate in the election of their bishops. They help decide how church finances will be spent. Will they adjust easily to the complete obedience required by Papal autocracy? Again.

It's 1533 all over again...

On This Day in Tudor History:

On September 7, 1533, Queen Anne Boleyn gave birth to a daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, in Greenwich Palace in the Chamber of Virgins between three and four o'clock in the afternoon (much to the disappointment of her father, King Henry VIII).

Elizabeth was born a princess, but after the fall of her mother, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and Anne was executed. Her brother, Edward VI, also cut her out of the succession. His will was set aside, and in 1558 Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister, Queen Mary I, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

Despite her father's disappointment in her gender, Elizabeth would go on to be one of the greatest British monarchs of all time... though she would be the last Tudor on the throne because she died childless.

On This Day in Tudor History:

On August 19, 1561, the 18-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, arrived in Leith, Scotland to assume throne after spending 13 years in France.
Mary was the only surviving legitimate child of King James V. She was six days old when her father died and made her Queen of Scotland. Her mother, Mary of Guise, assumed regency and her daughter was crowned nine months later. She was sent to France for her upbringing and prepared for marriage to the dauphin.
In 1558, she married Francis, Dauphin of France, who ascended the French throne as Francis II in 1559. However, Mary was not Queen of France for long; she was widowed on 5 December 1560.
After her husband's death, Mary returned to Scotland, arriving in Leith on 19 August 1561. Four years later, she married her first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. In 1567, Darnley was found dead and it was rumored that Mary conspired with her next husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, in Darnley's murder.
Mary was imprisoned and forced to abdicate the throne in favour of her one-year-old son, James VI in June, 1567. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, Mary fled to England seeking protection from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, whose kingdom she hoped to inherit. Elizabeth, however, ordered her arrest. Mary would continue to be a thorn in the protestant Queen Elizabeth's side because she was Catholic and a blood claimant to the throne of England. In 19 years of imprisonment in England, Mary never ceased to conspire with Catholics to depose Elizabeth and claim the English throne. It would be her undoing.
After a long period of custody in England, she was tried and executed for treason in 1587.

On This Day in Tudor History: The End of a Dynasty

On this day, July 25, 1603, James VI of Scotland - son of Mary, Queen of Scots - was crowned James I, King of England and Ireland, officially bringing to an end the Tudor Dynasty and ushering the House of Stuart into the English monarchy. James VI & I celebrated his coronation with rich pageants although festivities had to be curtailed due to an outbreak of the plague in London.

Union of the Crowns
James's reign would be the first time England and Scotland were united under one monarch, although they remained separate states until the reign of Queen Anne in 1707.

On This Day in Tudor History:

On July 17, 1586, the Babington Plot to kill Queen Elizabeth I and replace her on the throne with the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots was foiled by Sir Frances Walsingham and his spy network. It was on this date that Mary wrote the letter that would seal her fate.

Walsingham had long pleaded with Elizabeth to try her cousin Mary for treason and put her to death - to no avail. Elizabeth would not be moved to execute a fellow queen of royal blood. So when he intercepted a letter Mary wrote to young Anthony Babington concerning the plot to rescue her and assassinate Elizabeth, Walsingham used this opportunity to forge additions to the letter which would be certain to seal the fates of both Babington and Mary.

Queen Mary went on trial at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire and denied her part in the plot, but her correspondence was the evidence although many believed correctly that some of it had been forged. Mary was sentenced to death. Elizabeth finally signed her cousin's death warrant, and in February 1587, in front of 300 witnesses, Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed by beheading.

Tower of London Slideshow

I traveled to England last month and I'm finally getting around to organizing the photos. Here's a slideshow from the Tower of London...

Understanding Queen Elizabeth I

One of the reasons I feel so drawn to Anne Boleyn is because I understand her. I get her. I read biography after biography and always come to the same conclusion: had I lived in 16th century England or France, I would have been a lot like her. Yes, faults and all. (On a silly note, I have long suspected that Anne was a Gemini although we have no record of her birthdate. Recently, I read one book that confirmed that she must have been born in late May, early June.) I don't mean for this to be some sort of tribute to me, but I have often been complemented on attributes with which Anne is credited. I have long been praised for my wit, charm, cleverness and my best friend would certainly say my self-confidence and fearlessness. Hell, I made a career out of all of that in radio and TV!
I am in no way "beautiful" but I am attractive. Yes, even though I do not see myself as beautiful, I can still be quite vain. I am not above flirting to get what I want and that has sometimes led to trouble.
On an even more negative side, I have certainly had my moments of haughtiness and many have suffered my quick temper over the years. Sadly, my first reaction to stress or a grave situation can often be panic or irrational behavior. But it passes quickly. All of this adds up to understanding Anne's behavior and reactions to her life. I can see myself in her. Which is funny considering how often she is explained as an enigma or seeming to be very contrary.

Prior to learning about Anne, I had long been a fan of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. This is the perfect person with whom to contrast my feelings about Anne. I do not understand this woman very well at all. That's not to say that I don't "know" very much about her. I have read almost as much about Elizabeth as I have about her mother, Anne but I do not get that sense of "understanding" when I read about her decisions, comments and exploits. There are a variety of events in Elizabeth's life I do not quite understand, but none more than her attitude (or lack of) toward her tragic mother and her barbaric father.

It is often reported that Elizabeth made mention of her mother, Anne Boleyn, only once or maybe twice in her lifetime. She wore a locket ring which had her initial "E" outside and portraits of her mother and herself inside facing each other but she never discussed her nor did she ever reveal any true feelings on her mother's execution when she was only three years old. Granted, she wouldn't have much memory to draw upon but surely she deeply felt the loss?
Perhaps she spoke to close friends but they never betrayed her confidence? But even this I doubt because there are no stories of it and I think that would have been quite noteworthy.
Indeed, what's noteworthy is the lack of any stories. And this I just cannot fathom. My mother was the most imperfect soul whom I still love and miss more than words can describe. Despite her faults, I would defend her to my death.



Did no one ever ask her about her mother? Did she lash out at them or simply not reply at all?
By contrast, there is the intense respect and admiration Elizabeth always showed for her father, Henry VIII - the very man who had her mother killed!? It baffles me!

As Elizabeth grew up, she was often in the company of people who liked her mother - although they probably didn't admit this openly. Did no one try to communicate to Elizabeth her mother's deep love for her? How was this received?

Upon her accession to the throne, Mary I, daughter of Henry and Katherine of Aragon, went back and had her parents marriage validated and her bastardy erased. Elizabeth made no such moves, despite her exact same status. There is speculation by historians that Elizabeth did not follow in Mary's footsteps because this would have put into question her legitimacy and claim to the throne. Understandable - to an extent.

Wasn't her claim and legitimacy already questionable with the validation of Mary's parents' marriage? There were already many other "legitimate" claimants to the throne, couldn't she have helped her cause by validating her parents' marriage? Most of all, why didn't she have her mother's Act of Attainder reversed or thrown out?

Elizabeth - it is written - concerned herself only with the future, not with the past. Again, this is where we differ dramatically because my past colors my present and future, irrevocably. In her present and future were men whom she loved. Here again, we appear to have something in common: our desire to never marry and be treated badly by a man. But I simply can't relate to Elizabeth's suffering traitorous, vainglorious fools like the Earl of Essex. Robert Dudley, I'll give her because they shared so much from childhood. But Essex was just a glory-hound who loved nothing about her but her crown. It is said she had such vanity that she would entertains affection and attention from such fools as long as they showed devotion. Well, I can tell you that I may like the attention for a short time, but they would be out of my sight the moment they behaved the way the did toward her!!!

I will continue to read and research Elizabeth and I have the utmost respect for her work as Queen of England but like her sister Mary, I may never understand this woman as I feel I understand Anne.