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minervacasterly · 4 years

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“Henry VIII was at Whitehall Palace when the Tower guns signaled that he was once more a free man. He then appeared dressed in white mourning as a token of respect for his late queen, called for his barge, and had himself rowed at full speed to the Strand, where Jane Seymour had also heard the guns. News of Anne Boleyn’s death had been formally conveyed to her by Sir Francis Bryan; it does not seem to have unduly concerned her, for she spent the greater part of the day preparing her wedding clothes, and perhaps reflecting upon the ease with which she had attained her ambition: Anne Boleyn had had to wait seven years for her crown; Jane had waited barely seven months.

It was common knowledge that Henry would marry Jane as soon as possible; the Privy Council had already petitioned him to venture once more into the perilous seas of holy wedlock, and it was a plea of the utmost urgency due to the uncertainty surrounding the succession. Both the King’s daughters had been declared bastards, and his natural son Richmond was obviously dying. A speedy marriage was therefore not only desirable but necessary, and on the day Anne Boleyn died the King’s imminent betrothal to Jane Seymour was announced to a relieved Privy Council. This was news as gratifying to the imperialist party, who had vigorously promoted the match, as it would soon be to the people of England at large, who would welcome the prospect of the imperial alliance with its inevitable benefits to trade.

Although the future Queen had rarely been seen in public, stories of her virtuous behavior during the King’s courtship had been circulated and applauded. Chapuys, more cynical, perceived that such virtue had had an ulterior motive, and privately thought it unlikely that Jane had reached the age of twenty-five without having lost her virginity, ‘being an Englishwoman and having been so long’ at court where immorality was rife. However, he assumed that Jane’s likely lack of a maidenhead would not trouble the King very much, ‘since he may marry her on condition she is a maid, and when he wants a divorce there will be plenty of witnesses ready to testify that she was not’. This apart, Chapuys and most other people considered Jane to be well endowed with all the qualities then thought becoming in a wife: meekness, docility and quiet dignity. Jane had been well groomed for her role by her family and supporters, and was in any case determined not to follow the example of her predecessor. She intended to use her influence to further the causes she held dear, as Anne Boleyn had, but, being of a less mercurial temperament, she would never use the same tactics.

Jane’s well-publicized sympathy for the late Queen Katherine and the Lady Mary showed her to be compassionate, and made her a popular figure with the common people and most of the courtiers. Overseas, she would be looked upon with favour because she was known to be an orthodox Catholic with no heretical tendencies whatsoever, one who favoured the old ways and who might use her influence to dissuade the King from continuing with his radical religious reforms.

Jane was of medium height, with a pale, nearly white, complexion. ‘Nobody thinks she has much beauty,’ commented Chapuys, and the French ambassador thought her too plain. Holbein’s portrait of Jane, painted in 1536 and now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, bears out these statements, and shows her to have been fair with a large, resolute face, small slanting eyes and a pinched mouth. She wears a sumptuously bejeweled and embroidered gown and head-dress, the latter in the whelk-shell fashion so favoured by her; Holbein himself designed the pendant on her breast, and the lace at her wrists. This portrait was probably by his first royal commission after being appointed the King’s Master Painter in September 1536; a preliminary sketch for it is in the Royal Collection at Windsor, and a studio copy is in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. Holbein executed one other portrait of Jane during her lifetime. Throughout the winter of 1536-7, he was at work on a huge mural in the Presence Chamber in Whitehall mural no longer exists, having been destroyed when the palace burned down in the late seventeenth century. Fortuitously, Charles II had before then commissioned a Dutch artists, Remigius van Leemput, to make two small copies, now in the Royal Collection and at Petworth House. His style shows little of Holbein’s draughtsmanship, but his pictures at least give us a clear impression of what the original must have looked like. The figure of Jane is interesting in that we can see her long court train with her pet poodle resting on it. Her gown is of cloth of gold damask, lined with ermine, with six ropes of pearls slung across the bodice, and more pearls hanging in a girdle to the floor. Later portraits of Jane, such as those in long-gallery sets and the miniature by Nicholas Hilliard, all derive from this portrait of Holbein’s original likeness now in Vienna, yet they are mostly mechanical in quality and anatomically awkward.

However, it was not Jane’s face that had attracted the King so much as the fact that she was Anne Boleyn’s opposite in every way. Where Anne had been bold and fond of having her own way, Jane showed herself entirely subservient to Henry’s will; where Anne had, in the King’s view been a wanton, Jane had shown herself to be inviolably chaste. And where Anne had been ruthless, he believed Jane to be naturally compassionate. He would be in years to come remember her as the fairest, the most discreet, and the most meritorious of all his wives.

Her contemporaries thought she had a pleasing sprightliness about her. She was pious, but not ostentatiously so. Reginald Pole, soon to be made a cardinal, described her as ‘full of goodness’, although Martin Luther, hearing of her reactionary religious views, feared her as ‘an enemy of the Gospel’. According to Chapuys, she was not clever or witty, but ‘of good understanding’. As queen, she made a point of distancing herself from her inferiors, and could be remote and arrogant, being a stickler for the observance of etiquette at her court. Chapuys feared that, once Jane had had a taste of queenship, she would forget her good intentions towards the Lady Mary, but his fears proved unfounded. Jane remained loyal to her supporters, and to Mary’s cause, and in the months to come would endeavor to heal the rift between the King and his daughter.

- Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII

“A story of a later date had Queen Anne finding Mistress Seymour actually sitting on her husband’s lap; ‘betwitting’ the King, Queen Anne blamed her miscarriage upon this unpleasant discovery. There was said to have been ‘much scratching and bye-blows between the queen and her maid’. Unlike the King’s invocations of the divine will, however, there is no contemporary evidence for such robust incidents; the character of Jane Seymour that emerges in 1536 is on the contrary chaste, verging on the prudish. As we shall see, there is good reason to believe that the King found in this very chastity a source of attraction; as he had once turned to the enchantress Anne Boleyn from the virtuous Catherine. Yet before turning to Jane Seymour’s personal qualities for better or for worse, it is necessary to consider the family from which she came … The Seymours were a family of respectable and even ancient antecedents in an age when, as has already been stressed, such things were important. Their Norman ancestry – the name was originally St Maur – was somewhat shadowy although a Seigneur Wido de Saint Maur was said to have come over to England with the Conquest. More immediately, from Monmouthshire and Penbow Castle, the Seymours transferred to the west of England in the mid-fourteenth century with the marriage of Sir Roger Seymour to Cecily eventual sole heiress of Lord Beauchamp of Hache. Other key marriages brought the family prosperity. Wolf Hall in Wiltshire, for example (scene of Henry’s autum idyll with Jane if legend is to be believed) came with the marriage of a Seymour to Matilda Esturmy, daughter of the Speaker of Commons, in 1405. Another profitable union, bringing with it mercantile links similar to those of the Boleyns, was that of Isabel, daughter and heiress of Mark William Mayor of Bristol, to a Seymour in 1424. Sir John Seymour, father of Jane, was born in about 1474 and had been knighted in the field by Henry VII at the battle of Blackheath which ended a rebellion of 1497. From this promising start, he went on to enjoy the royal favour throughout the next reign. Like Sir Thomas Boleyn, he accompanied Henry VIII on his French campaign of 1513, was present at the Field of Cloth of Gold, attended at Canterbury to meet Charles V; by 1532 he had become a Gentleman of the Bedchamber. Locally, again echoing the career of Thomas Boleyn, he had acted as Sheriff of both Wiltshire and Dorset. It was a career that lacked startling distinction – here was no Charles Brandon ending up a duke – but one which brought him close to the monarch throughout his adult life. Sir John’s reputation was that of a ‘gentle, courteous man’. That again was pleasant but not startling. But there was something outstanding about him, or at least about his immediate family. Sir John himself came of a family of eight children; then his own wife gave birth to ten children – six sons and four daughters. All this was auspicious for his daughter, including the number of males conceived at a time when women’s ‘aptness to procreate children’ in Wolsey’s phrase about Anne Boleyn, was often judged by their family record. It was however from her mother, Margery Wentworth – once again echoing the pattern of Anne Boleyn – that Jane Seymour derived that qualifying dash of royal blood so important to a woman viewed as possible breeding stock. Margery Wentworth was descended from Edward III, via her great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Mortimer, Lady Hotspur. Indeed, in one sense – that of English royal blood – Jane Seymour was better born than Anne Boleyn, since she descended from Edward III, whereas Anne Boleyn’s more remote descent was from Edward I. This Mortimer connection meant that Jane and Henry VIII were fifth cousins. But of course neither the Wentworths nor the Seymours were as grand as Anne Boleyn’s maternal family, the ducal Howards. The Seymours may not have been particularly grand, but close connections to the court had made them, by the generation of Jane herself, astute and worldly wise. Sir John Seymour was over sixty at the inception of the King’s romance with his daughter (and would in fact die before the end of the year 1536); even before that the dominant male figure in Jane’s life seems to have been her eldest surviving brother Edward, described by one observer about this time as both ‘young and wise’. Being young, he was ambitious, and being wise, able to keep his own counsel in pursuit of his plans. Contemporaries found him slightly aloof – he lacked the easy charm of his younger brother Thomas p but they did not doubt his intelligence. Edward Seymour was cultivated as well as clever; he was a humanist and also, as it turned out, genuinely interested in the tenets of the reformed religion (unlike his sister Jane) … The vast family of Sir John Seymour began with four boys: John (who died), Edward, Henry and Thomas, born in about 1508. A few years later the King would speak ‘merrily’ of handsome Tom’s proverbial virility. He was confident that a man armed with ‘such lust and youth’ would be able to please a bride ‘well at all points’. Then came Jane, probably born in 1509, the fifth child but the eldest girl. After that followed Elizabeth, Dorothy and Margery; two sons who died in the sweating sickness epidemic of 1528 made up the ten. Apart from her presumed fertility, what else did Jane Seymour, now in her mid-twenties (the age incidentally at which Anne Boleyn had attracted the King’s attention), have to offer? Polydore Vergil gave the official flattering view when he described her as ‘a woman of the utmost charm both in appearance and character’, and the King’s best friend Sir John Russell called her ‘the fairest of all his wives’ – but this again was likely to loyalty to Jane Seymour’s dynastic significance. From other sources, it seems likely that the charm of her character considerably outweighed the charm of her appearance: Chapuys for example described her as ‘of middle stature and no great beauty’. Her most distinctive aspect was her famously ‘pure white’ complexion. Holbein gives her a long nose, and firm mouth, with the lips slightly compressed, although her face has a pleasing oval shape with the high forehead then admired (enhanced sometimes by discreet plucking of the hairline) and set off by the headdress of the time. Altogether, if Anne Boleyn conveys the fascination of the new, there is a dignified but slightly stolid look to Jane Seymour, appropriately reminiscent of English medieval consorts. But the predominant impression given by her portrait – at the hands of a master of artistic realism – is of a woman of calm and good sense. And contemporaries all commented on Jane Seymour’s intelligence: in this she was clearly more like her cautious brother Edward than her dashing brother Tom. She was also naturally sweet-natured (no angry words or tantrums here) and virtuous – her virtue was another topic on which there was general agreement.

... Her survival as a lady-in-waiting to two Queens at the Tudor court still with a spotless reputation may indeed be seen as a testament to both Jane Seymour’s salient characteristics – virtue and common good sense . A Bessie Blount or Madge Shelton might fool around, Anne Boleyn might listen or even accede to the seductive wooings of Lord Percy: but Jane Seymour was unquestionably virginal. In short, Jane Seymour was exactly the kind of female praised by the contemporary handbooks to correct conduct; just as Anne Boleyn had been the sort they warned against. There was certainly no threatening sexuality about her. Nor is it necessary to believe that her ‘virtue’ was in some way hypocritically assumed, in order to intrigue the King (romantic advocates of Anne Boleyn have sometimes taken this line). On the contrary, Jane Seymour was simply fulfilling the expectations for a female of her time and class: it was Anne Boleyn who was – or rather who had been – the fascinating outsider.

- Antonia Fraser, The Wives of Henry VIII

“Whilst Jane was always denied a political role, her political interests are clear. She favoured Mary, attempted to save the monasteries and sympathized with the rebels during the Pilgrimages of Grace. Jane’s politics were largely conservative. Her strong character is visible both by her ruthlessness in watching the fall of Anne Boleyn and in the way in which she ruled her household. Jane could have been a queen as strong and influential as Catherine of Aragon or Anne Boleyn had been in the early years of their marriages. Unfortunately for Jane, when the opportunity finally arose with the birth of her son, she did not survive. Had Jane lived, as the mother of the king’s heir, she could have asserted her authority safe in the knowledge that her position was finally secure. After Henry’s death, when Jane’s son was only nine years old, she would have had a very strong claim to the regency as the mother of the king. Jane Seymour could have been so much more and, whilst it is possible to glimpse her potential, much of what she could have achieved will forever be speculation. Jane did not live to take on the political role that would have been open to her as the mother of the heir to the throne and her real legacy is her son, Edward VI, and the prominence of her brothers, Edward and Thomas Seymour. Although Henry would go on to have another three wives after Jane’s death, Edward was his only son and, on Henry’s death in January 1547, he became king aged nine as Edward VI Edward was hailed by many in England as a future great king and Jane would have been proud of her son. Edward’s tutor, Sir John Cheke, for example, wrote of the king that ‘I prophesy indeed, that, with the lord’s blessing, he will prove such a king, as neither to yield to Josiah in the maintenance of the true religion, nor to Solomon in the management of the state, nor to David in the encouragement of godliness’. Roger Ascham, the tutor of Edward’s sister, Elizabeth, also sang the youth king’s praises, writing that ‘he is wonderfully advanced of his years’. Edward was raised to be a king and received a formidable education, writing very advanced letters even in early childhood (even if is clear that he must have received some assistance in the earlier letters). In one letter to his father, Edward wrote: In the same manner as, most bounteous king, at the dawn of day, we acknowledge the return of the sun to our world, although by the intervention of obscure clouds, we cannot behold manifestly with our eyes that resplendent orb; in like manner your majesty’s extraordinary and almost incredible goodness so shines and beams forth, that although present I cannot behold it, though before me, with my outward eyes, yet never can it escape from my heart. Edward was raised to be king in the manner of his father but in his appearance, with his pale skin and fair hair, he always resembled Jane. Jane’s greatest regret, when she came to realize that she was dying, was that she would not live to see her son grow up …

Jane’s legacy is also her own reputation and her relationship with Henry VIII. Jane never inspired the deep obsession in the king that he felt for Anne Boleyn or the admiring love that he, at first, felt for Catherine of Aragon. Instead, he married her almost on a whim. She was the woman best placed at the perfect time. There is even some evidence that Henry came to regret his haste in marrying Jane after seeing some other beautiful ladies at his court. Jane never raised the passion in Henry that some of his other wives did. Throughout their marriage, it is clear that Henry did not entirely view his marriage to Jane as permanent. It was essential that Jane fulfilled her side of the bargain and that was to bear a son. Until that time, as Jane was very well aware, she was entirely dispensable. In spite of this, with her death in giving him the son he craved, Henry’s feelings towards Jane entirely changed and he came to look back on their marriage through rose-tinted spectacles. A commemoration to Jane was written some time after her death and perhaps best sums up how Henry came to view her: Among the rest whose worthie lyves Hath runne in vertue’s race, O noble Fame! Persue thy trayne, And give Queene Jane a place. A nymphe of chaste Dianae’s trayne, A virtuous virgin eke; In tender youth a matron’s harte, With modest mynde most meeke.

Jane spent her entire marriage trying to prove to Henry that she was his ideal woman and, posthumously, she succeeded.

- Elizabeth Norton, Jane Seymour: Henry VIII’s True Love

“How a woman like Jane Seymour became Queen of England is a mystery. In Tudor terms she came from nowhere and was nothing. Chapuys confronted the riddle in his dispatch of 18 May 1536, which was addressed to Antoine Perrenot, the Emperor’s minister, rather than to the Emperor Charles V himself. Freed from the decorum of writing to his sovereign, the ambassador expressed himself bluntly. ‘She is the sister’, he began, ‘of a certain Edward Seymour, who has been in the service of his Majesty [Charles V]’; while ‘she [herself] was formerly in the service of the good Queen [Catherine]’. As for her appearance , it was literally colourless. ‘She is of middle height, and nobody thinks she has much beauty. Her complexion is so whitish that she may be called rather pale.’ This is a neat pen-portrait of the woman whose mousy, peaked features and mean, pointed chin, are denred by Holbein with his characteristic, unsparing honesty. So much Chapuys could see. But when he turned to her supposed moral character he gave his prejudices full rein. ‘You may imagine’, he wrote Perrenot, man-to-man, ‘whether, being an Englishwoman, and having been so long at Court, she would not hold it a sin to be virgo intacta.’ ‘She is not a woman of great wit,’ he continued. ‘But she may have’ -and here he became frankly coarse- ‘a fine enigme.’ ‘Enigme’ means ‘riddle’ or ‘secret’, as in ‘secret place’ or the female genitalia. ‘It is said’, he concluded, ‘that she is rather proud and haughty.’ ‘She seems to bear great goodwill and respect to [Mary]. I am not sure whether later on the honours heaped on her will to make her change her mind.’ Whatever was there here -a woman of no family, no beauty, no talent and perhaps not much reputation (though there is no need to accept all of Chapuys’s slanders)- to attract a man who had already been married to two such extraordinary women as Catherine and Anne? But maybe Jane’s very ordubarubess was tge oiubt, Anne had been exciting as a mistress. But she was too demanding, too mercurial and tempestuous, to make a good wife. Like the Gospel which she patronised, she seemed to have come ‘not to send peace but the sword’ and to make ‘a man’s foes ... them of his own household’ (Matthew 10.34-6). Henry was weary of scenes and squabbles, weary too of ruptures with his nearest and dearest and his oldest and closest friends. He wanted his family and friends back. He wanted domestic peace and the quiet life. He also, more disturbingly, wanted submission. For increasing age and the Supremacy’s relentless elevation of the monarchy had made him ever more impatient of contradiction and disagreement. Only obedience, prompt, absolute and unconditional, would do. And he could have none of this with Anne. Jane, on the other hand, was everything that Anne was not. She was calm, quiet, soft-spoken (when she spoke at all) and profoundly submissive, at least to Henry ...”

- David Starkey, Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII

Images: Jane Seymour painted by Hans Holbein the Younger. Variousa actresses from costume dramas that have played Henry VIII’s third consort. Elly Condron from the documentary drama Secrets of the Six Wives documentary presented by Lucy Worsley. Anne Stallybras from the BBC miniseries The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970). Jane Asher from the BBC film Henry VIII & his Six Wives (1972). Lastly, Kate Phillips from Wolf Hall (2014).

#Jane Seymour #Tudor History #dailytudors #historians assesment of Jane Seymour #David Starkey #Alison Weir #Antonia Fraser #Elizabeth Norton

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kierantc-blog · 7 years

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DC Rebirth In Review - The Justice League

Welcome to part 3 of my DC Rebirth In Review series. DC are dropping the Rebirth branding in December and i thought i would reflect on what has and hasn’t worked in the Rebirth initiative.

To recap, you can check my previous posts, Part 1 - The Superman Family and Part 2 - The Batman Family, but in this post i’m going to be looking at the Justice League titles. To be clear though, this will be about the League specific books as well as the solo titles for the core members.

Justice League - This has probably been the most controversial of all the Rebirth books because for a lot of people the series has been nothing but a downgrade on Geoff Johns’ epic run in the New 52, and in a way they’re right. Bryan Hitch’s story telling style is all over the place but i believe the narrative he’s trying to put across is very good. It’s like having a pot of the best tea in the entire world but not being able to pour it into a cup properly. Hitch has been teasing a new Crisis event, the Forever Crisis, and who knows if that’s the way Rebirth will end or if it’s something else but it should be more exciting than it is. Also the artwork on this book has suffered massively from the bi-monthly schedule. The best talent is currently on other books and it needs to come on Justice League sooner rather than later. With Deathstroke’s Christopher Priest taking over the title soon, we’re certainly in for an increase in quality but until then, Hitch’s Justice League is worth a chance, but if you don’t like the first arc you certainly won’t like the rest. - 4/10

Justice League Of America - This book came with a lot of promise, excellent Rebirth one shots and a hero team of promise, and so far it hasn’t really delivered on it but it does show promise and improvement with every issue. Steve Orlando is a great writer, he’s doing some nice work on Supergirl and his Midnighter books have been wonderful too, but he has been slow on the narrative with this team. Right now the series is concentrating on a Rebirth mystery that came up in DC Universe Rebirth #1 with The Atom Ray Palmer sending a message to his protege Ryan Choi about a problem in the Microverse, and so far it has been good with Batman, Lobo, Ryan and Killer Frost searching for Ray. It hasn’t had the most consistent artwork but it has had some beautiful work from Jamal Campbell (Vixen Rebirth #1 & issue 7) and the legendary Ivan Reis, which make it a step above the other JL title. A must buy if you want a different kind of Justice League book. - 6.5/10

Green Lanterns - When Rebirth was announced, many people were disappointed with Sam Humphries being the writer on this book but he has changed minds emphatically with some stellar work. Writing for 2 relatively new characters in Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz isn’t easy but Humphries has made these two people into humans you can relate to and want to see succeed while also showing a lot of respect and knowledge to the Green Lantern lore of old too. The series has unfortunately suffered from some inconsistent artwork but it’s still an incredibly good read that has expanded on the mythology of the series introduced by Geoff Johns. - 8.5/10

Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps - Just like with Humphries on Green Lanterns, people were disappointed to find Robert Venditti writing for Hal Jordan once again, but honestly i was hopeful as i enjoyed his post-Johns era work and thought he could get better, and it’s hard to argue against that given his run on this book. The biggest task he faced was combining a series of books into one, this series takes story beats from his previous Green Lantern book as well as Green Lantern Corps: Edge Of Oblivion, Sinestro and Omega Men and manages to combine them into one cohesive story, albeit a bit slower than some might like. My only problem with this series is the name of it, it suffers from the Birds Of Prey thing by them shoving Hal’s name on the front of it for no apparent reason. The artwork for this series is largely excellent for a bi-monthly title with Rafa Sandoval and Green Lantern veteran Ethan Van Sciver providing the bulk of the work. If you love the Lantern series you will almost certainly enjoy this one too. - 9/10

Wonder Woman - With a blockbuster movie on the horizon, the Wonder Woman series needed a big pull for Rebirth and DC more than delivered by bringing back legendary Wonder Woman writer Greg Rucka. Mixing the old with the new, Rucka uses older elements of Diana’s story and mixes them in with the New 52 elements but also deploys a unique story telling tactic by using the odd-numbered issues as a current day story and the even-numbered issues as a story titled “Year One”, a re-telling of how Diana first met Steve Trevor. The use of this type of story telling only works because of the bi-monthly schedule, otherwise it would take 12 months to tell a 6-issue story, but it works perfectly. The artwork is split between Liam Sharp on the current day story and Nicola Scott on the Year One story, and each one compliments the stories with incredibly detailed pencils. They are later joined by the excellent Bilquis Evely to round up one of the best art teams on one run. Rucka’s run on Wonder Woman ended with the culmination of both stories meeting in the middle in issue 25, and my only complaint about it was that a lot of questions were left up in the air but hopefully they will be answered soon as new writer James Robinson is living up to Rucka’s run quite handily so far. A must read for fans both old and new. - 9/10

The Flash - Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmine Di Giandomenico, Barry Allen witnesses a Speed Force Storm that turns random citizens of Central City into Speedsters like The Flash, and introduces the series to a new Speedster villain called Godspeed and a group known as Black Hole. While Williamson is often accused of exposition heavy writing, he also manages to make the story both easier to follow and also engaging at the same time and uses the supporting cast rather well. A later story starring Eobard Thawne AKA Reverse Flash is the highlight of the series so far, my only complaint story wise would be that Barry always seems miserable or down on his luck. Give the guy a break! The art by Di Giandomenico is rather sharp and frantic but it’s perfect for a book about a man who can run really fast. The latter half of the New 52 comic was a large disappointment for myself but Williamson and Di Giandomenico have brought the series back to prominence. There is a slow burn with the stories but i’m still engaged with them and interested as to where they might lead so that is always a positive. - 8/10

Aquaman - Of all the comics, this one feels more politicised than the others. The first 2 volumes deal with Atlanta’s relationship to the United States and how Arthur controls his kingdom, not to mention how the other members of the Justice League view him as a hero. One of the great things about this run is that it wasn’t afraid to come out of the gates quick, setting up a war between Atlantis and America with Black Manta manipulating both sides. Artwork duties are split between a group of artists such as French artist Philippe Briones, Brad Walker (Green Lantern: New Guardians) and Scot Eaton (X-Men), and they provide a similar, albeit simple style that allows for lots of action to be peppered into each issue. Aquaman is now a monthly title as opposed to a bi-monthly one but it hasn’t diminished in quality at all as it has popular artist Stjepan Sejic on art now, and together he and Dan Abnett are carving out quite the legacy under the sea. - 9.5/10

Cyborg - One of my favourite DC You books returns with a new writer in John Semper Jr. Semper is most famous for writing the animated Spider-Man series from 1994 so he’s not unfamiliar with comic book characters, but this marks his first foray into comic book writing itself and i must say, he’s doing a good job of it too. The problem with Cyborg in relation to other characters is that he doesn’t really have the supporting cast that the likes of The Flash and Batman have, so Semper has had to build him one, with new friends like Exxy the hacker and new Detroit hero The Black Narcissus. Part of the reason i like Semper’s work though is because he clearly has the Silver Age influencing him into writing big, crazy sci-fi stories. The move to a monthly has helped the book somewhat in the art department but i feel that the right artist on this book could make it a smash hit in the same way Sejic has on Aquaman. - 7.5/10

Green Arrow - Of all the Rebirth books, Green Arrow is one of only a few that kept its previous writer in the shape of Ben Percy. In Percy’s pre-Rebirth run he was accused of being a bit grim but his Rebirth series is more or less the opposite. Fan service is on display here as Dinah Lance AKA Black Canary is introduced, and for the first time since Flashpoint the romance between Oliver and Dinah is back. And that’s not the only thing as Oliver now sports his famous goatee. While the story is a bit more peppy and action orientated, Percy’s villainous Ninth Circle retain some of the grim that he had become known for but coupled with the wonderful visuals from Otto Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra the Green Arrow book finds a perfect balance that has been missing since the Lemire run in New 52. - 9.5/10

Trinity - DC took the logical step of combining both Batman/Superman and Superman/Wonder Woman into a much better Trinity series. The series, while short, so far has 2 distinct runs on it. The first is by Francis Manapul who pulls off pure magic by writing, pencilling and colouring all of his Trinity issues, the only thing he does do is the lettering. Getting back to the core of what makes the Trinity special, he opens up the past of each member to the others, allowing them to experience each other’s lives a bit more and gain a closer understanding. The second run is one revolving the idea of Trinities in DC and was started by Cullen Bunn, but now being written by Suicide Squad writer Rob Williams, involving the classic Trinity meeting the Mystic Trinity of Constantine, Deadman and Zatanna, the Dark Trinity of Red Hood, Bizarro and Artemis, and the Evil Trinity of Circe, Ra’s al Ghul and a reluctant Lex Luthor. The latter story concerns a run in with the sister of the Lazarus Pits, the Pandora Pits, which want to unleash evil on Earth. Even though both stories are different, they don’t take away from the fact that Trinity is an excellent returning series for DC, one that allows them to tell more concentrated League-centric stories without taking over the main Justice League books. It’s a must buy for Manapul’s work alone, truly a work of art. - 9/10

Conclusions

With movies coming out in the DCEU slate relating to these characters, interest in them is at an all time high and DC have done a relatively excellent job of providing interested new readers with excellent content to peruse in titles like Green Lanterns and The Flash, as well as satisfy old readers too with some excellent fan service in series like JLA and Green Arrow.

While the majority is excellent, the flagship Justice League book should really be better. Christopher Priest taking over the book provides a glimmer of light though, as the series really should be one that leads the way for the rest of the DC Universe.

Thanks for reading!

Next Up: The Young And The Violent (Teen Titans, Suicide Squad etc. lol).

#Justice League #Justice League Of America #Wonder Woman #The Flash #Aquaman #Green Lanterns #Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps #Green Lantern #Green Lantern Corps #Cyborg #Green Arrow #Trinity #DC Comics #DC Rebirth #Comics Books #Comic Books #Comic Book Review

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isadomna · 8 years

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Mary I of England:

The Greatest Pearl in the Kingdom

Mary Tudor was born to King Henry VIII and Queen Katherine of Aragon, at the palace of Greenwich on February 18, 1516. She was a healthy baby and gave every indication of surviving. The following year, Mary became a godmother herself when she was named as one of the sponsors of her cousin Frances Brandon. Princess Mary had a wet-nurse, Katherine Pole (later Lady Brooke), and her own small household, with Elizabeth Denton in charge of the nursery at first, followed by Margaret, Lady Bryan, who was herself replaced, if intermittently, by Katherine’s dear friend Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. Her staff was attired in her personal colors of blue and green.

Henry VIII liked to show her off to foreign visitors and was known to take off her cap to reveal her long hair. ‘This child never cries!’ the King proudly told the French ambassador when Mary was two. When Katherine had led her by the hand into his presence, he would sweep her up in his arms and carry her round, bursting with pride. She, in turn, adored him. ‘See how she jumps forward in her nurse’s lap when she catches sight of her father!’ exclaimed the Bishop of Durham, an entranced observer. The king usually called her “The Greatest Pearl in the Kingdom”.

An anecdote of the little princess: in February 1518, the Venetian ambassador Giustiniani had an audience at Windsor. The King ordered the Princess, who had just celebrated her second birthday, to be brought in. Solemnly, Wolsey, ambassador Giustiniani and the attendant lords kissed the child’s hand. Then Mary caught sight of Friar Dionysius Memo, the great Venetian organist, who was then resident keyboard virtuoso at Henry’s Court. ‘Priest! priest!’, she commenced calling out in English, and would not stop until Memo agreed to play for her.

Mary had, like both her parents, a very fair complexion, pale blue eyes and red or reddish-golden hair. She was also ruddy cheeked, a trait she inherited from her father. She was always small for her age and tended toward thinness. Mary was 'decorous in manners’, having been schooled rigidly to good behaviour from the cradle. As time passed with no miracle for her, Queen Katherine lavished her love and attention on the one child she had, Princess Mary. Whatever happened in the future, whether her prayers for a son were answered or not, this little gem of a daughter was nurtured and educated to become a queen. She might, after all, be Henry’s only heir.

Katherine of Aragon made sure Mary received a good education. Thomas Linacre was Mary’s first actual Latin tutor, but he died sometime in 1524. The Queen herself helped the child with her translations. Katherine invited the celebrated Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives to come to England and commissioned him to write a treatise on the general education of women, and an outline of studies for Mary. Vives’s curriculum was, by modern standards, severe for a child of seven, and involved much learning of the Scriptures, the works of the early Fathers of the Church, as well as the study of ancient classics and history.

Mary was a precocious child. When scarcely four and a half years old, Mary entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals. At seven, she was an expert dancer, and - according to a Spanish envoy - twirled 'so prettily that no woman could do better’. Mary was able to write a letter in Latin by the age of nine and at twelve translated the prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas. She also learned Greek, French, some Italian, and could understand Spanish. Mary learned the basic skills of riding side-saddle, sewing and embroidery and had a natural musical talent. She could play the virginals, the lute and the regal. She enjoyed horses and hunting throughout her life. Her love of dancing was matched by a keen eye for the latest fashions and the sumptuous clothes that went with them. Only gambling was, for her, a greater passion. But Mary was not merely frivolous. She was a caring employer and loyal friend.

Throughout Mary’s childhood, Henry negotiated potential future marriages for her. When she was only two years old, she was promised to the Dauphin Francis, the infant son of King Francis I of France and Queen Claude. The tiny Princess Mary was presented to the French ambassadors at her betrothal ceremony at Greenwich. She was reported to have said to the proxy groom, Guillaume Gouffier, Lord Admiral of France: "Are you the Dauphin of France? If you are, I want to kiss you". But the contract was repudiated after three years.

In 1522, at the age of six, Mary was instead contracted to marry her 22-year-old first cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He visited England and this afforded him some opportunity to observe his six-year-old cousin. We do not know how the tiny Mary felt. The pony and goshawk she was given about the same time may well have been more attractive preoccupations. On this occasion, Mary played the spinet and performed a French dance, the galliard. Perhaps when Charles arrived she wore some of the jewellery that had been specially made for her. We do not know whether she danced in person for her cousin, but it seems probable that her parents would not have missed the opportunity for Mary to impress.

Although she was never to see him again, Charles stayed in Mary's mind. All her life she remembered his kindness to her, which seems to have been natural and not in any way forced. However, the engagement was broken off within a few years by Charles. The Emperor needed a bride nearer his own age and readily available. A man with his responsibilities could not wait for years and years, no matter how sweet his little cousin was. So he married the beautiful and wealthy Isabella of Portugal, and she soon produced the male heir for the Spanish Crown.

Cardinal Wolsey, Henry’s chief adviser, then resumed marriage negotiations with the French, and Henry suggested that Mary marry the Dauphin’s father, King Francis I himself, who was eager for an alliance with England. A marriage treaty was signed which provided that Mary marry either Francis I or his second son Henry, Duke of Orleans, but Wolsey secured an alliance with France without the marriage.

The only bastard child acknowledged by Henry VIII was the son named Henry Fitzroy, who was born to Henry’s then mistress, Elizabeth Blount, in the summer of 1519. He was created Duke of Richmond and Somerset, given the Order of the Garter and the rank of Lord High Admiral - all in his infancy. Henry inquired into ways to legitimize him. Many speculated that the child would become king of Ireland; others, more ominously, began to wonder if what Henry really had in mind for the boy was England itself. The next step would be to have him created Prince of Wales. This infuriated Queen Katherine. The future of her daughter could be in jeopardy. She also resented that Henry blamed three of her Spanish ladies for inciting her anger about Fitzroy’s titles and dismissed them from her service.

One hopeful sign that Henry was not ready to exclude Mary from the succession was that he arranged for her to travel to Ludlow Castle in the English county of Shropshire, on the Welsh Marches, with an establishment of her own. Ludlow was the seat of power usually associated with the Princes of Wales and from where they governed Wales. And while Henry had not bestowed the title of Princess of Wales upon Mary officially, he had not given Wales to Fitzroy either. There were later rumours, almost certainly false, that the king planned to marry his bastard to his daughter.

Katherine’s fury over Fitzroy’s sudden rise was assuaged, at least partly, by Henry’s decision to give nine-year-old Mary the task of governing Wales. This was the proper, traditional job of the heir to the throne. Her daughter was a child, so the task would be done by her council, but Mary was now treading in the footsteps of her uncle, Katherine’s first husband Arthur. The old, grey castle in Ludlow was renovated for her. In August 1525 Queen Katherine waved goodbye to her only child. With her servants in a brand new livery of blue and green damask, and her court of ladies and gentlemen in black velvet or damask, Mary set bravely off west towards the Welsh Marches. A trusted governess, Lady Salisbury (the same Margaret Pole who had been at Ludlow with Katherine), and a tutor, Richard Featherstone, were to oversee her continuing education.

With mother and daughter now apart, they maintained a correspondence. Katherine missed her little girl and her husband was also often away. ‘The long absence of the king and you troubleth me,’ she admitted to Mary. The Queen fretted uselessly about her daughter’s health and resolved to remain closely involved in Mary’s education, writing her:

“As for your writing in Latin I am glad that you shall change from me to Master Fetherstone, for that shall do you much good, to learn by him to write right. But yet sometimes I would be glad when you do write to Master Fetherstone of your own editing when he hath read it that I may see it. For it shall be a great comfort to me to see You keep your Latin and fair writing and all.”

At the center of her own court, Mary began to learn the art of governance. Her French tutor, Giles Duwes, portrayed Mary as a princely ruler and her court as a center of literary patronage, educated conversation, and gentle manners. Mary appears to have spent three years in the Welsh Marches, making regular visits to her father’s court, before returning permanently to the home counties around London in mid-1528.

“She is very handsome and admirable by reason of her great and uncommon mental endowments”

The French envoy, Turenne, reports on Mary in February 1527

Sources:

Mary Tudor, Princess, bastard Queen by Anna Whitelock

The myth of “Bloody Mary” by Linda Porter

Catherine of Aragon: Henry's Spanish Queen by Giles Tremlett

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#Mary I of England #Mary Tudor #British history #Women in History

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gokinjeespot · 7 years

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off the rack #1195

Monday, January 8, 2017

I gave it the old college try but I was thwarted again from catching up on all the comic books that I wanted to read last week by life's little events. My Dad's 85th birthday meant an evening out with family. Spent most of one day off cleaning the whole house in the aftermath of Christmas being put away for another year. One extra loading and unloading of stuff to take to the monthly Capital Trade Show because I was flying solo for this one took part of another day. Penny came to help and keep me company yesterday at the beginning and the end of the trade show. Thanks to our neighbour vendor Chris for helping me load up after the show. This week has us dealing with our cars having to be serviced. Penny's Soul has to go in for a recall. The ever ominous "service engine soon" light came on the dashboard display of my X-Trail yesterday. The transmission didn't engage a couple of times but I managed to get it going by adjusting the stick shift. I hope it's just the extreme cold of the last week that's causing the problem. I hope I get a bit of alone time to read more this week. Here are comments of the few that I got to.

Phoenix Resurrection #1 - Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Leinil Francis Yu (pencils) Gerry Alanguilan (inks) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). The gang's all here. I still read Astonishing X-Men so I recognised that team and I figure the other two teams are Blue and Gold. Correct me if I'm wrong. So they're bringing back Jean Grey/Phoenix again just in time for the spring release of the movie starring Sophie Turner better known as Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones. There's enough mystery here to keep me reading but I have issues with all-powerful beings and wonder if we need another super human on the racks right now. This 5-issue mini comes out weekly so I will be able to decide whether it's good enough to read the whole story very quickly.

Batman and the Signal #1 - Scott Snyder & Tony Patrick (story) Tony Patrick (writer) Cully Hamner (art) Laura Martin (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). This 3-issue mini lets the Signal shine solo as he tries to figure out where his powers come from. I'm not familiar with Duke but I've seen him fight alongside Batman before. DC is probably hoping that his partnership with Batman will help sell this but here we have another young super hero fighting young super villains. I predict Signal will get into deep trouble and then find a way to win the day. The art would be the only reason that I would read the rest of this story.

Rogue & Gambit #1 - Kelly Thompson (writer) Pere Perez (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). This 5-issue mini takes the two off again romantic partners on a mission to save other mutants. The art is very nice and the last page got me good. I'm going to read the next issue to see what happens next.

The Snagglepuss Chronicles #1 - Mark Russell (writer) Mike Feehan (pencils) Mark Morales (inks) Paul Mounts (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). The art got me to pick this off the rack to read with it's mix of human and anthropomorphised animals walking around on two legs. The only thing I recall about the old Hanna Barbera cartoon was Snagglepuss's voice. It sounded snooty to me. The one in this 6-issue mini would sound snooty too since he's a big time playwright. The story takes place in the late 1940s when the government was going after communist sympathisers in the entertainment industry. There are a couple of surprise twists that make this worth reading even if you were never a fan of the cartoon character.

Dark Nights: Hawkman Found #1 - Jeff Lemire (writer) Bryan Hitch (pencils) Kevin Nowlan (inks) Alex Sinclair & Jeremiah Skipper (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). I thought that I was done reading any more Dark Night books but then I saw the creative team on this one-shot and had to see what's up with Hawkman these days. I really enjoyed reading this book. They captured the warrior spirit of Carter Hall very well. I was disappointed by the Groundhog Day twist at the end however. As a fan of Jeff, Bryan and Kevin, this book was a blast to read but it didn't make me want to reach for more Dark Night books.

Jessica Jones #15 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Michael Gaydos (art) Matt Hollingsworth (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The return of the Purple Man has a great twist that you don't want to miss. If you've watched the first season of the TV show you will get added enjoyment from having a deeper insight into the relationship between Jessica and Killgrave.

Action Comics #994 - Dan Jurgens (writer & pencils) Art Thibert, Trevor Scott, Johnny Desjardins & Joe Prado (inks) Hi-Fi (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Ugh, I can't wait for Booster Gold's guest appearance in this book to be over. In order for this time travel snafu story to have any emotional impact Dan has to make Superman act in a stupid and selfish way. Any hero should know better than to mess with time, but no, Superman MUST find the answers he seeks. That bothers me a lot.

Moon Knight #190 - Max Bemis (writer) Jacen Burrows (pencils) Guillermo Ortego (inks) Mat Lopes (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Crazy Runs in the Family part 3. I really like how Moon Knight's multiple personalities are interacting with each other in Marc's head. The reintroduction of an old supporting character and the surprise twist on the last page gave me that "what a great comic book" chuckle.

Batman #38 - Tom King (writer) Travis Moore (pencils & inks) Giulia Brusco (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). This one is a mind bender. Batman flexes his detective's muscles as he solves a serial murder case. The fisherman in me loved all the red herrings.

Invincible Iron Man #595 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Stefano Caselli & Alex Maleev (art) Marte Gracia & Alex Maleev (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The Search for Tony Stark part 3. We're getting closer to finding Tony but meanwhile the Infamous Iron Man has problems with the Hood and RiRi has problems with the board of directors of Stark Industries. It's all very entertaining.

The Demon: Hell is Earth #2 - Andrew Constant (writer) Brad Walker (pencils) Andrew Hennessy (inks) Chris Sotomayor (colours) Tom Napolitano (letters). Jeepers, this is awesome sauce. Not only is the art incredibly nice to look at but the writing is so much fun. I like this Etrigan and Jason Blood pairing. One of the things that made this evil demon character appealing to me was how Jason could control him somewhat. Things have changed between them now and it makes their relationship more interesting. I am definitely going to read the rest of this 6-issue mini.

Punisher: The Platoon #4 - Garth Ennis (writer) Goran Parlov (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Rob Steen (letters). I know that Frank survives this story but I am also hoping the young Vietnamese guerrilla fighter makes it through the war alive too. She's a great character and I keep wondering when she and Frank will meet.

Superman #38 - Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason (writers) Sergio Davila (pencils) Vicente Cifuentes (inks) Gabe Eltaeb (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Super Sons of Tomorrow part 4. I am assuming that future Tim Drake/Batman changes into a character named Savior in the Teen Titans tie-in. I don't care how that happened so I'm not going to read that tie-in. All I now is that he's bad and his team mates in the future Titans show up to help the kids and Jon's dad. I can't wait for this time travel story to conclude in Super Sons #12 which hits the racks January 17.

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