Learning history

Magnet#877 - Mary I (r. 1553 - 1558)

Sometimes I feel like half the knowledge I have in my head is either from a romance novel, or from television.

For example, for about three seasons of The Tudors, I thought ole Mary I here was Mary, Queen of Scots, and I spent a lot of time trying to fill in her story about how she got to Scotland.

But, then on the show, when the actual baby Mary, Queen of Scots was born in Scotland, I was like, oh, so this Catholic Mary's not that Mary. And, by the time I read in the afterword that this Mary was actually "Bloody Mary," I was feeling pretty stupid. I mean, you wouldn't think I actually took two semesters of Ye Olde English History at Carolina. Or, maybe you would.

That's why I'm using Mary as today's magnet - I finally finished all of The Tudors this afternoon. I honestly can't tell if I liked the show or not (besides absolutely loving Charles Brandon).

Some of the things I learned, included:

- The correct succession of wives and kids. Which I kinda already knew, but it was fun to see how by the end, Kate was like, nu-uh, I don't want to marry the King!
- That there are several ways to spell Katherine and Catherine - and no one seems to agree on the ways to spell it.
- That Henry VIII's the one who added back in the doxology of "For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory now and forever" to the Lord's Prayer. (Something I didn't grow up with at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in NC, and I didn't even know it existed until much later in life.)
- That I'll never see Thomas More as anyone else but Jeremy Northam. And that little tricorny hat suited him.
- That it was hot under all those clothes, that they didn't wear anything under those clothes, that the boys rarely took off their clothes to do their business.
- That their clothes were amazing.
- It's hard being Catholic, with all our superstitions and idols. Hmph. Thanks for that, Henry. (Though, I was pretty done with the religious aspect of the whole show, pretty early. And mad when they were raiding and defacing the monasteries and abbeys.)
- That I need some sort of title or lands settled upon me. Those country houses were lovely. And if I could have a couple of the King's posse, I'd have been a happy camper.
- That no matter how lovely the place, everywhere was just dark, dark, dark. It's no wonder they weren't all blind.
- That Nonsuch Palace would have been supercool if it were still standing today.
- That when a child prince or princess does their duty, everyone claps. And that stops once they get older.
- That sometimes it takes more than one swipe of an executioner's axe to get the job done.
- That bodies still shake and shiver when separated from the head.
- That Charles Brandon can make a pigtail hot. Oh, and that he was totally a character from a romance novel - two of them. With Henry's sister and with Brigitte, his French captive.
- That though Wolsey used to carry an orange around with him to walk through the unwashed and theoretically smelly masses, no one blinked an eye when kissing someone in the Tower of London or severely infirm.
- Never trust a treaty.
- Never trust a court musician or poet. Or a lady in waiting. Or a Lord Privy guy.
- Or, really never trust anyone at court.

Hmmm, except Brandon. Cuz he was awesome, and stuck with ole Henry to the end. Loved their relationship.

Well, if that ain't the truth...

Magnet #871 - Well-behaved women

For realz.

I bought this magnet mainly because I was feeling pretty reckless, figuring that the stuff that I'd recently gotten off my chest had landed me in hot water, and unable to do a thing about it. I even had a whole magnetpost in my head to write about it.

Of course, the gleam in this chickie's eyes is kind of scary, and I'm pretty sure that wild-eyed look is exactly what was on my face, in between the sniffles. But, upon reflection of a couple of weeks, I'm able to see things a little clearer. Not different, really, but clearer. And that's a good thing.

But, I'm using this magnet for today, because I'm halfway through Season 2 of The Tudors and I gotta say, that Anne Boleyn? Man, she was not well behaved. Not. At. All.

Yes, I'm on Season 2. I'm mainlining like crazy, thank goodness for Netflix Instant Watch. And it's not even like it's the best show ever. While I'm enjoying all the costumes and the history and seeing historic United Kingdom, the storyline is very little repetitive - Catherine/Anne, divorce, divorce, divorce, I want a son, secret marriage, I'm the head of the church, sign the oath, sign the oath, sign the oath, off with his head, off with his head, etc.

Maybe that will all change once Anne loses her head. It's hard for me to figure out how the seasons are arc'd - there's only four seasons, but there were six wives, and I don't even think we've met Jane Seymour yet, unless I've missed her.

But for now, I'm loving the Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, Callum Blue, and Jeremy Northam, though I'm sad to have lost the Duke of Gloucester, William Compton and even Wolsey.

And the chick playing Anne's cute, too. Just enough innocence mixed with devious smirkety-smirkedness to know for sure she's constantly up to something.

Talk about making history.

From Beckham to the Tudors, all in a day

Magnet #870 - Hampton Court Palace

I've been hanging on to this supercute magnet for a while now. During the family trip to London, we did one day trip out to Hampton Court Palace, and were totally blown away.

The original buildings on the property date back to the 1200s and a religious order, the Knights Hospitallers of St John Jerusalem. But then in 1514, it was leased to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey who used it as a country home. He transformed it into quite the palace, including guest quarters for his pal, King Henry VIII.

But then, after episode after episode after episode of The Tudors of not being able to convince the Pope to grant a divorce to King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, Wolsey pretty much lost everything from his place at court to his superdupercool palace to the king.

The palace flourished under Henry VIII, who proceeded to make it into the grand estate it is now. It should, he poured the equivalent of almost US$30 million into it over the course of ten years there. Crazy!

They have these cool audioguides for the various areas of the palace, so you're able to learn as much or as little about your surroundings and the rooms you're walking through. And my second favorite part is when they actually had dayplayers dressed as the cardinal and the king to come out and talk to the people. Kinda weird seeing them in the courtyards, because it totally takes you back in time.

Of course, my favorite part is really just walking through the old hallways and passages and living quarters and gardens. It's quite amazing to think of the people who lived there back in the 1500s, and to know you're walking in their steps.

I picked this magnet for today, mainly because rather than watching the World Cup finals, I stumbled upon Bend it like Beckham for like the thousandth time. And instead of watching Bride & Prejudice right afterward, like I was going to, I went on a Jonathan Rhys Meyers kick. Yay for Netflix having Season 1 of The Tudors on Instant Watch.

It's been on my docket for ages to eventually watch, so that's pretty much how I've spent my Sunday, getting lost in the world of Henry VIII, the machinations and treachery of the court, and the marvelous costumes of the day.

Of course, I can't figure out why they keep showing me the CGI version of Hampton Court, unless it's because they needed to get all the modern details totally out of the way. Still. It's odd to see it and think, dudes, that building's still there!