Tudors Fever

Ha........i keeping late nights again. No, its not the late feeds (pray NEVER!!!!) nor the stress of studying for exams when I am most mentally productive BUT I am catching up with BBC TV dramas. TUDORS.

I chanced upon the Season 2 series in Borders and now I am watching an episode or two before I allow myself to rest for the night which is early morning 2 am anyway. Season 2 starred my favourite Hans Matheson as Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury and he was said to be secretly married with not one but two wives. Scandalous!!!!! But this "nobody-obscure cleric" was exactly what the handsome Majesty Henry VIII needed to help nullify his marriage to the his wife Queen Katherine of Aragon and marry the ever beautiful Lady Anne Boleyn he was obsessed with. Anne was rumoured to have a very shady past and BBC wastes no time to show us her rendevous with a certain poet, Thomas Wyatt in Episode One........HAHA.

Historically Anne Boleyn had had many lovers growing up in France but she denied Henry VIII sexual favours he craved. Eventually it evolved into a "Queen or nothing" thingy where she was eventually crowned Queen of England. STRATEGY INDEED!!!!Most people especially the Roman Catholic Church refused to accept her marriage to the King, let alone her coronation as Queen when the marriage to Queen Katherine was still valid in the eyes of the law and the church. Needless to say not many attended nor celebrated at her coronation led by the Archbishop Cranmer.

King Henry VIII was deeply infatuated with Anne Boleyn who was described as short slim with a long neck, olive skin complete with dark eyes and hair. She had a sharp witty tongue and the royal couple quarrelled much even in the presence of the many servants. The LOVE that King Henry VIII had for Lady Boleyn was attested to the fact that this guy who did not like writing much wrote some 17 love letters to her. I read one and would like to read the rest. They are currently preserved in the Vatican Library.

Actually J'adore men who "hold the pen and write their hearts" whether the outcome is a song, or a poem or a plain speaking letter, it speaks volumes to my soul which yearns to feel, to connect, to understand, to love etc.

Both Mozart and Beethoven wrote much to their love ones, in the case of Beethoven, he wrote to his Immortal Beloved- exactly who no one knows!!!! But with such tenderness in his words : " love me-today-yesterday-what tearful longings for you-you-you-my life-my all-farewell-. Oh continue to love me-never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved L. Ever thine-ever mine-ever ours." One cannot help but *swoon*

Oh Yan wrote me a birthday card too, kind of suggesting "being together" we were only best of friends then, platonic to the core, looking back, I think it sort of catayles our relationship. Hee He hit the right spot!!!!! My sentimental heart that I tried to conceal by projecting the "brainy"size but still everyone can SEE i've got more heart and brains. If I can find this card again, its somewhere in this 1636 sq ft unit, I will read it again and feel "high". Hahaha

Back to Tudors, Anne gave in to the irresistibly charming Henry and became pregnant with Elizabeth who then became the Virgin Queen due to Henry VIII Act of Succession. Despite consulting astrologers and timing the conception, the royal couple did not succeed in conceiving a son they wanted badly as heir so DO NOT waste time on such strategies. Hee

I must say I like Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the handsome (he's definitely worth ogling!!!!!HAHAHA) licentious, passionate, blood thirsty King that forever changed the history of the church. In his ardent pursuit to legalise his marriage to his mistress Anne Boleyn, he started the Church of England where He is the supremacy of the church. This audacious move was frowned upon by commoners and angered Rome- the headquarters of the Catholic Church. At that time the Catholic Church was no better in terms of beliefs and morality, but God in his grace, caused the Christian faith to flourish even as Henry's reign brought about the printing press. From then on, the Holy Bible was made available to everyone in print and even lay people could "connect" with their Heavenly Father themselves in devotion and prayer. Previously, only the clergy could access the Holy Scriptures in Latin and as usual offer prayers through the priest via Holy Mary, Queen of Peace!

Hallelujah!!!

With much nudity and sex scenes, I was told that Season One is banned in Singapore!!!!! The latest season 3 is with the Board of Censorship and I pray it will survive uncut to the stores that are wise enough to carry the dvds. After all season 3 deals with Henry VIII's true love??????? Jane Seymour. God he had so many women!!!!! A total of six wives, it pales in comparison to King Soloman in the Bible who had 1000 wives and concubines. They are so highly sexed!!!! Must have experimented with everything!!!!!! Jane Seymour was the third wife of King Henry VIII. She was the only one who bore him a son and she died some 12 days after the long and arduous birth. Jane Seymour was never crowned!!!!! Clever Jane kept a much lower profile knowing how the other queens had perished.

Modern science tells us that it is the male species that determined the sex of their next generation. So I really pity Anne Boleyn who believed she was carrying the royal heir and made every preparation to welcome the birth of a "prince". In those days they even prepared to name the prince in advance,the names "Edward" or "Henry" were considered and favoured. In the end, it was a GIRL!!!!!!! Anne had a subsequent miscarriage due to stress. She knew that her failure to produce a living male heir was a threat to her own life even as she was aware of fact that the King had fallen for yet another lady in waiting of hers- Jane Seymour.

Then quite suddenly, her best friend confidante and musician Mark Smeaton and her brother George Boleyn were arrested and tortured into giving "revelations" about her. On charges of adultery, incest and plotting to kill the king, she and her brother were tried and beheaded at the Tower of London, after denying all charges and having delivered a speech.

In those days, some even believed Anne Boleyn dabbed in witchcraft and had bewitched the King into lewdness. There was an argument of her having 6 fingers in one hand and large moles on the neck. Still she must have been a real beauty and brains coupled with eloquence type that many miss world and miss universe are found lacking. Anne's body and head were first buried in a arrow chest in an unmarked grave near the tower of London. During Queen Victoria's reign, renovation of the chapel identified her body and it was given a resting place-marked on the marble floor. RIP Anne Boleyn

I don't know about you.......But I am intrigued with the Tudor dynasty -One of the most dramatic and exciting times historically.