Plantagenets, Tudors and Stuarts

Photo: Carae - Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort of England, mother of the princes in the tower.

The question of the day is: How are you spending your extra pandemic hours at home? 

I have stepped into the past to watch history documentaries, as well as, historical fiction -- dramas that combine facts with inventions, including The White Queen, The White Princess and The Spanish Princess. As long as I can google known facts to learn what really happened or to flesh out the true characters of kings, queens and power players at court, I will accept the historical fiction story I'm watching as entertainment, and yet often I think the truth doesn't need the invention, as the real history was dramatic and fascinating enough. The old saying applies, life is stranger than fiction.

Photos: Henry VII & Elizabeth of York, the elder sister of the Princes in the tower - their marriage (happy) ended the 30 year Wars of the Roses.

Overall, I notice the 3 historical fiction series listed above get the outlines and major events right, but sometimes mess with the timeline, minor yet important details, or motivations of a character, getting them wrong by making a confident historical person weak or needy, or a righteous person of the past calculating and unrighteous. I understand the need to composite characters into one for reasons of time or storytelling, but I dislike when producers change the nature, or established deeds of a historical person. While watching you must go with it to enjoy the series ... then look the person up later to know what is real and what liberties are taken.

Catherine of Aragon & how she'd look today

In school I took required Western Civilization history courses ... and yes, learned some things ... however, I have never cared to take an extended look at Plantagenet, Tudor or Stuart England thereafter ... until 2020. Mores change in a millennium, so I didn't think I could relate. But you can relate when studying the past, and I am re-examining English history in reverse order:

The 5 eldest children of Charles I by Van Dyck
1638 - Mary, James, Charles, Elizabeth and Anne

1) Stuarts - Mostly like them despite their faults. The Stuart Kings were good fathers and (except for faithful Charles I) philandering husbands, but who protected their wives when needed. History is hard on James II, who had become a Catholic. His chief flaw was his stubbornness. James lacked the charm of his older brother, Charles II. As King, James passed laws showing tolerance of Catholics and Quakers alongside the Church of England, reforms unwanted by segments in the Church of England who had benefited from the previous history of stripping the Catholic Church of its property; and it lead to the loss of his Crown. James II was followed by his 2 Protestant daughters: Mary II and Anne (skipping over his infant Catholic son from his 2nd marriage). Queen Anne's death ended the Stuart line.

2) Tudors - Dislike Henry VII and Henry VIII. What a bloodthirsty, greedy, miserly dynasty.

Like Catherine of Aragon and Mary I, who were both victims of their tyrant husband and father, Henry VIII. Dislike Anne Boleyn (What somebody will do with you, they'll do to you ... and worse ... as she discovered!) Catherine, the wife married to Henry the longest, remained popular with the English people who considered her their true Queen and recognized her worth until the day she died in spite of Henry and Anne's efforts to erase her. Anne lasted 2 short years as Queen and never earned the love of the English people regardless of her Englishness. Have great sympathy for the other wives. Jane's reign was short, dying in the childbirth of Henry's only legitiment living son. Anne of Cleves got a raw deal, then negotiated a lucrative divorce. Poor young Catherine Howard was in over her head and lost it; and Catherine Parr married an overweight, ulcerous King and outlived him. Haven't gotten in-depth into Elizabeth I ... but will likely think she's ok.

Richard III - face
created based his skull.

3) Plantagenets -  I'm now watching every documentary about them. Lots of family infighting and betrayals happening. Tough times. Divided country. Family feuds with money and retainers!! Generally, I understand and like them. I like (English born, German) Empress Matilda who became a claimant to the English throne, and Eleanor of Aquitaine rocked! I like Elizabeth Woodville and Henry IV well enough. Richard III ... did he kill the princes in the tower as has been accepted for 500 years? Well, maybe not, I'm unsure. It could have been directed by Henry Tudor or his wily mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. We will likely never know who killed those boys. Richard III was the last of the Plantagenets. Defeated by Henry Tudor, the new King (as Henry VII) spent his reign hunting down potential Plantagenet rivals whom he feared had a better claim to the English throne.

Photo: The Telegraph

My ancestors have the same Norman roots and took the same English paths of migration as the Plantagenets, but after 600 - 1,000 years how would you truly know if you are related? I'm skeptical when people say their gateway ancestor was a long-ago royal. Without a meticulous paper trail that stretches all the way back, you're only guessing. But you know what? I still hate those Tudors! The revisionists of history.😏 What a cutthroat bunch of murderous paranoids ... and nasty to their own family to boot!💂👑

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