Jane Seymour:The Saintly Queen

While Anne Boleyn is painted by history as the great sinner of Henry VIII's wives, her successor Jane Seymour is then portrayed as her complete contrast; the saint.

Jane Seymour

It is perhaps not a surprise that after her predecessors downfall drowned in accusations of adultery and sin to finish off a love affair as tempestuous and fiery as the king himself, that Jane would prefer to have kept her image as one of purity, loyalty and obedience. It may have been out of fear of the king - and of losing her head - or perhaps she was simply a mild-mannered and docile person; but it was the outcome that Jane remains viewed by many as simply the wife who gave the king a son, an honourable title indeed but it gives nothing of her own mind, actions or will.

As queen, Jane could implement her own rules to her ladies in waiting; she raised the age of a maid in waiting from twelve to sixteen, the style of dress was changed from the French style worn by Anne Boleyn to the more modest wear and gable hood previously worn by Elizabeth of York. Jane also implemented strict new rules and clothing regulations for her ladies; maids of honour were expected to wear expensive, lavish girdles of pearls, and if not, they were not to appear in her royal presence. The required number of pearls was more than one hundred and twenty, since lady Lisle sent that number to her daughter Anne Basset but this was not enough and so she could not wear it before the queen.

The legacy of Queen Jane seems to begin and end with her giving birth to a son - of course had she lived longer this would have been an entirely different story. Until the King took a romantic interest in Jane Seymour, there seems to be little evidence of her life; she never caused a scandal, was never married and seems to have been simply another daughter of a family at the royal court. Her life, when reviewed by historians, is that she is Edward's mother, Lord Somerset's sister, and the first step mother who treated Princess Mary with kindness. The judgement she is given has been based upon her relation to others, rather than her own merits, yet such little evidence has remained of her own personality and actions that this is the only way she can be seen - in relation to, or through the eyes of others surrounding her. The support she gave to Princess Mary, her motives are unclear; was it simple affection to a step-daughter who had been the victim of cruel neglect, or was it more in terms of having had a common dislike of Anne Boleyn and her faction, as well as wanting to promote herself as a family woman and giving Henry the traditional family image that he craved so desperately? In 1536-7 the Princess Mary made frequent visits to Queen Jane.

The way in which Jane appears to have behaved during her marriage to Henry revolves around her being an obedient wife; adopting the motto of 'Bound to obey and serve' seems to sum up her position in the marriage. Whether it was Jane or Henry who ultimately chose for her this subservient role in the marriage, we'll never know. Unlike Henry's previous wives Jane did not involve herself in politics, or even religious matters, and seems to have restricted herself to domestic issues concerning her household and the royal family - Jane worked for a reconciliation and better familial relations between the King and Princesses Mary and Elizabeth. Unlike Anne, there are no witty remarks or clever arguments that have lasted through time, if indeed there were any to remark upon in the first place. Jane caused no drama, raised no questions or even did anything without Henry's express permission. The only remaining record of any of her activity while queen was an order to the park keeper at Havering-atte-Bower "to deliver to her well-beloved the gentlemen of her sovereign lord the king's chapel-royal, two bucks of high season." Even for this small act, Jane still uses the king's seal as the authority behind it instead of her own, as if to say she is unworthy of even this power and that it lies with her husband the king. 

"And contemporaries all commented on Jane Seymour's intelligence: in this she was more clearly 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 there was general agreement." Antonia Fraser

This may also have been a clever and subtle way for Jane to show that although she is now the Queen of England, all the power is Henry's and he is the one in control of everything - including her own fate. By not using her newly acquired royal power, as Anne did to support the causes she believed in, Jane also prevented a faction forming around her; it was perhaps the many friends and male courtiers that Anne Boleyn had attracted to herself which caused adultery accusations to take root in people's minds and therefore if Jane gave out no power or favour she would not fall into the same trap - she could be accused to nothing but obedience to the king. Jane's lack of giving royal favours and political alignment meant that she also gave people no reason to find an enemy in her, she would not be turned against as Anne had been. While these actions may have saved her life and given her a rather peaceful reign as queen, Jane had to be careful at all times with her words and actions and to hide her true feelings from everyone else, which has unfortunately gone down in history as to mean she did nothing of importance and was rather boring and plain. It appears that even Henry did not truly appreciate Jane's value until she produced a son, and then too soon after she died without ever being able to enjoy her new position - she would be Henry's wife and was the mother of the heir to the throne; she would have enjoyed a comfortable life. Henry was eventually buried with Jane Seymour, and after her death he spoke well of her, however it seems to have been a case of too little too late as during her time as queen she was kept living under the shadow of the axe that had taken Anne Boleyn's head.

Prince Edward

Both women in fact performed the same act; they led Henry away from his current wife and got him to marry them and then gave birth to Henry's children. Jane did no less than Anne in this respect; they were both trying to win over a married man. Anne had been more of an aggressor than Jane, but she had to be as she started from the very beginning while England was loyal to the Pope and Henry had been married to the same woman for the past twenty years. Anne's feisty personality was probably necessary for the woman who trying to marry an already married king; anything less would have not been enough motivation and persuasion. Had Anne given birth to a son her future as queen would have been more than secure, sadly this failure then gave rise to her downfall. When Princess Elizabeth was born an opportunity arose; Anne would now have less of the King's favour as she had 'failed' him and so other courtiers now saw a window of opportunity. If one non-royal woman can lure the king into marriage, why not another? Anne had already many enemies at court, and now the idea of replacing her in the king's bed became a real possibility. She, herself, had created this line of thought years before when she insisted to Henry that it was marriage or nothing for her, and while this did indeed work well for her, it also gave every other noble born woman the same possibility. So a replacement was to be found; whether Jane's personality and temperament fitted the requirements or whether it was the other way around, it arose that Jane Seymour was precisely what the king was in need of. Jane was mild, sweet, caring and capable of having children; a stark contrast to Henry's current firecracker of a wife.

When Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour are put in comparison to each other, at first they appear to have very little in common and are each other's polar opposites, however below the surface they are more similar than we are led to believe; they both lived as courtiers, seduced a king, became queen, became the mother of heirs to the throne of England and became a lasting name in history. Their endings may have come in different ways, but ultimately they both had their lives taken from them by this lion of a king and did not live to see what their children became. The labels of 'saint' and 'sinner' given to these two most brave of women, are hardly justified; Jane Seymour may have been a good woman and was a good wife to King Henry but this does not gain her the name of 'saint', she did as Anne did - she acted in the way she had to survive Henry Tudor.

"Apparently, her beautiful, pale complexion was not enough to offset her large nose, small eyes and compressed lips. It was Jane Seymour's virtuous and gentle nature that attracted the king for she was indeed a "plain Jane." Yet, she, like Anne Boleyn, had lured the king away from his wife. But while Anne would be portrayed as a witch, Jane would be forever remembered as a saint." - David Starkey

Mary Tudor: anti-Protestant but pro-homosexuality

An Acte for the punysshement of the vice of Buggerie, 1533

In 1533 a law was passed in England called the Buggery Act which prosecuted against acts of sodomy - meaning that all male-male sexual activity in England was illegal. As well as sexual activity with an animal by either gender. The punishment of said crime was death by hanging, and even the clergy could be arrested for this even though they were immune from arrests such as murder at this time. This law in fact became a tool for King Henry VIII to use during the years in which the Reformation took place and the dissolution of the monasteries as a means of attack against the Catholic Church; monks could be arrested and executed for this crime and then the king could confiscate their monastic lands and goods legally. Also, this was now a civil crime to be punished by the courts of law, whereas previously such matters were dealt with from within the Church itself and by their own courts of law, which until the Reformation meant that members of clergy were exempt from civil laws. The addition of bestiality in the Act was related to the contemporary belief that witches could transform into animals and therefore the animals were under the devil's command, and so to ban bestiality was to protect Christians.

The earlier statue was an example of power politics aimed at the Church by Henry VIII’s minister Thomas Cromwell." 

(Hyde, The Other Love An Historical and Contemporary Survey of Homosexuality in Britain, p.5-6)

In 1547 Edward VI repealed all felony laws created by his father King Henry, however a year later the Buggery Act was reinforced with the amendment that the person's property and goods were not forfeit to the crown and the rights of inheritance of the wives and heirs were safeguarded.
When Mary Tudor succeeded the throne of England in 1553, she repealed all laws made by her brother Edward - this included the controversial Buggery Act. Her intentions for repealing the laws made during Edward's reign were probably more related to her religious policies than for any other reason, however, curiously she did not reinstate the Act during her reign.
During the reign of Mary I it was therefore illegal to be a Protestant but not to be homosexual; the opposite situation takes place in the reigns of both her siblings and father. Therefore, for the five years that she occupied the throne of England there was more liberation concerning sexuality than during any other Tudor reign during the 1600's - Mary was the last monarch to permit homosexuality until the Act's repeal two hundred years later.
The Act - the 1533 version - was reinstated in 1562 after Elizabeth I's accession to the throne and was not fully repealed until 1828 and still remained the basis for related legislation until 1967.
During the Tudor period very few people were in fact punished under this law and there was no real investigation into the issue as all male-male sexual activity was classified under one heading rather than giving specifications towards it. It seems that the Act was never implemented for the reason that sodomy was a prominent issue and had any real force of opposition against it, but more so that it linked directly to religious issues at the time which the monarch could use during power-play against other world powers, ie the Pope.

Brandenburg Tor

One of Berlin's most prominent features is the Brandenburg Gate; standing for hundreds of years and towering over the square in front of it which houses the city's embassy buildings as well as the most expensive hotels, including the hotel balcony from which Michael Jackson infamously dangled his infant child.

The gate was built in 1791 as one of the city's fourteen gates, its design influenced by the Acropolis in Athens. The statue on top of the gate was created by Gottfried Schadow and is called a Quadriga - chariot drawn by four horses - and is pulling on it Victoria the Roman goddess of victory, however originally it looked a little different to how it does today.

When it was first constructed the woman on the statue was holding an olive branch, the symbol of bringing peace to this land, however then it happened in 1806 that Napoleon defeated Prussia in battle (this area included modern day Germany).  As a trophy to remind himself and his enemies of his victory in battle against this powerful enemy, Napoleon took this statue back to Paris with him.

In 1814 the Prussians won a great victory over Napoleon and his French army, and so took their statue back with them. They made a minor adjustment to it before putting it back on top of the gate though; the olive branch that the statue was holding was removed and in its place was an Iron Cross - a symbol of Germany and of its military - thereby transforming it into the goddess Victoria,  the bringer of victory.

At this time, the square that the gate is located in was simply named 'The Square', but after the French defeat and reclaiming their iconic statue, it was decided that the square would be renamed to 'Pariser Platz' translated to 'Paris Square'. This change in title was not a coincidence; the statue of Victory would forever more stand over Paris Square - 'Victory over Paris'. In other words, it became ingrained in Berlin's architecture that Prussia brought Napoleon down in a crushing defeat. And they say the Germans don't have a sense of humour ;)

Chicago May, Queen of Crooks

The internationally renowned criminal 'Chicago May', famous for thievery, fraud, blackmail,  prostitution and dirty dealings with corrupt policemen, started life in Edenmore, County Longford in Ireland as Mary Ann Duignan.

Mary Ann 'May' was the born on the 26th December 1871, as the eldest child of five of a subsistence farmer Thomas Duignan and his wife Mary Elizabeth Brady, she had red hair and blue eyes. When she was eighteen she was miserable with her life and felt overworked by her family as she had helped raise her three brothers and would now be expected to do the same for the new baby. So she stole the family's life savings ($5000 modern day equivalent) and left her home on the day that her baby sister was born. She used the money to buy new fashionable clothes, jewellery and a one way first class steamer ticket to America.

Upon arrival at Castle Gardens in America from Liverpool, May lied her way into the country as she did not hold a passport. She began working as a dishwasher in New York; however the time she spent in the city was hard and she was penniless, so she took a train to Nebraska to stay with an uncle there. Life in Nebraska was less exciting and appealing to May than life in New York, but she fell in love there. Dal Churchill was a crook and could turn his hand to any crime - as May claimed. Dal taught May his tricks of the trade and they soon began robbing banks together. The couple got married but it was short lived as when May went to Chicago and waited for him, Dal went to rob a train but was lynched by angry locals. May was now in Chicago and broken hearted.

It was 1892 when she moved to Chicago and without her partner in crime May was forced into prostitution to make easy money. May found a friend and new crime partner in Dora Donegnan; while one entertained the customer, the other would rob them of their money and valuables. May preferred to be called a 'badger' rather than a prostitute and took pride in what she did; it was often the case that men drugged the girls and May took her stand against this, not hesitating to punch out a mans teeth or use a hot poker to brand pimps - it was through this that she became known as the toughest prostitute among the Chicago cirminal fraternity and gained herself the nickname of 'Chicago May'. May became involved with the police force in Chicago; they themselves were corrupt and become partners in crime of a sort as they took money made my prostitutes, thieves and those who owned brothels and gambling dens. The infamous Charles Becker of the NYPD became one of her protectors - he would later be executed in Sing Sing prison for murder - as he released her when she was arrested and in return she testified on his behalf when his arrests were questioned.

May returned to New York and determined to make a success of it this time; her tricks were becoming more and more devilish, such as one trick where she would entertain her customer and while doing so, use her teeth to steal the jewels from their tie pin. Over time, competition from fellow prostitutes increased and May needed another way to make a living, so she became a chorus dancer in the musical 'The Belle of New York'. However, when May was caught stealing a wallet from a church minister she was faced with a short prison sentence. An acquaintance, Jim Sharpe, offered to marry her to keep her off the streets. May married James Montgomery Sharpe, an army officer, and the couple moved to Belleview in New Jersey. The couple divorced after only three months as James had an unhealthy obsession with trying to murder his brother so May left her husband and she took with her ten thousand dollars of his money.
After years of evading arrest through bribery and blackmail, May found herself in trouble with the NYPD, and so to avoid capture she fled to London, where she could prey on aristocrats and wealthy businessmen.

In 1900 May traveled to Paris to visit the World Fair. It was in Paris that May met and fell in love with fellow Irish criminal Eddie Guerin, and the two carried off multiple crime sprees. Their love affair was to be short lived though, in 1901 the two became involved in a high profile bank robbery which resulted in Eddie's arrest. The two were partisans of the successful robbery of $300,000 from the American Express Office in Paris on the 27th April, however, during his boat ride to escape to England, Eddie was captured. May made her way back to Paris in the hope that she could get Eddie released by attempting to forge his innocence, however May herself was then arrested. In 1902, the pair were found guilty of the robbery by French courts and May was sent to La Roquette women's prison but was then sentenced to five years of hard labour at Montpellier Prison, while Eddie was sentenced to ten years on Devil's Island. May was released early in 1905 for good behaviour, however it said that she in fact seduced and blackmailed the prison doctor into signing a medical certificate so she could be released on health reasons. She returned to her life of crime in order to raise funds for Eddie's escape plans.

May returned to her home town in Ireland, where her family forgave her for what she had done, however the town at large was not as accommodating. The Catholic community were ashamed of her disgraced sexuality and criminality, and so May soon left again for London. While in a London bar, May ran into Eddie Guerin; he had become bitter from his imprisonment and suspected she had played a part in it, however he still convinced her to partner up with him again. May became paranoid about Eddie and was convinced he was going to harm her, so she took all of her prostitution money and fled to Argentina. Eddie was then arrested again and sent back to France on a prison sentence.

In 1907 Eddie Guerin was released from prison, and set out to kill May in revenge for his imprisonment believing that she had betrayed him. Eddie befriended a man called Charley Smith, real name being Robert Considine who was an American burglar. Eddie ordered Charley to kill May, but when he found her, Charley fell in love with her. Less than 24 hours after his release Eddie was shot in the foot; May and Charley becoming the prime suspects. May was sentenced to 15 years hard labour while Charley was sentenced to life imprisonment.

In 1917 after only ten years of her prison sentence, May was released and deported to America - due to her American citizen status through her marriage. She returned to her trade of prostitution, however she was no longer young and her looks had faded. While in New York she found a new young lover, however this did not end happily as he ran off with her money and was never found again.

In January 1928 May caused public controversy when an engagement was announced between herself and a man half her age by the name of Lucas Netley, he was a well known conman. The engagement turned out to be a publicity stunt and was quickly called off despite Netley publishing several stories about their life together, which were most likely invented.


Towards the end of her life May suffered from multiple physical illnesses and as a result became alcohol dependent, however she continued to work as a prostitute until her death.
In 1928 when she was admitted to hospital in Detroit, August Vollmer convinced May to write her autobiography, titled "Chicago May Her Story: A Human Documentary by the Queen of Crooks".
May died on the 30th May 1929 in Philadelphia. It was the day of her wedding to Charley Smith who she had found again in Philadelphia, however upon her death he left and was never heard from again. No one attended May's funeral and she was buried alone, all that is known is that Charley sent a nun to the funeral to represent him.

Cecily of York

Princess Cecily of York was born on the 20th March 1469, the third child of King Edward IV of England and his wife Elizabeth Woodville. Among her contemporaries, Cecily was said to be the most beautiful of Elizabeth Woodville's daughters.
After two unsuccessful betrothals to Scottish nobles; the future James IV of Scotland in 1474 and to Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany in 1482, Cecily was married at age sixteen to Ralph Scrope of Upsall who was a supporter of her uncle Richard. After Richard was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth and his supporters were disbanded and ousted from royal favour, the marriage between Cecily and Ralph was annulled after less than a year in 1486. They had no children.
Cecily was a prominent figure at court and among the royal family; she carried Prince Arthur at his christening and also Catherine of Aragon's train at her wedding to Prince Arthur in 1502.
In 1487, Cecily was married again to John Welles (born 1450), 1st Viscount Welles, who was the half brother of Margaret Beaufort, the new king's mother with whom she became close friends. The couple had two daughters; Elizabeth in 1492 and Anne in 1494. However, tragedy struck the family and within a year in 1498-9 John Welles and the two daughters all died and Cecily was left alone.
Three years after being widowed Cecily married again to a Thomas Kyme (born 1465), who was a Lincolnshire squire, in 1502. This marriage however was not for political alignment, it was a love match; "rather for comfort than credit"(Fuller's Worthies, vol 2, pg 165). The king was neither aware of or approved of the marriage beforehand; Cecily may have believed that by marrying someone of relatively low political standing and of little ambition to power that the king would be forgiving and accepting of the marriage. However, King Henry VII reacted to the news by banishing the couple from court and confiscating Cecily's estates; Welles' lands which she inherited upon his death.
The king's mother Margaret Beaufort, who had for a time been Cecily's sister in law, was the only person who spoke up for her to the king and fought for her estates to be reinstated. During this time Cecily and her new husband were living on a country estate belonging to Margaret Beaufort.
Eventually, Cecily's lands were restored to her but they would only be for her use during her lifetime; in that her husband and children of the marriage would inherit nothing.
The couple had two children; Richard and Margaret, however they did not enjoy royal titles or favour.
Cecily died in 1507, aged 38 on the Isle of Wight without the luxuries that being of royal blood would have afforded her so that she could marry for love.

Famous landmark is actually drunken outburst

The city of Barcelona is filled with beautiful and unique architecture dating back thousands of years. This particular building however, is considered one of the least attractive in the city centre, and ironically it is the School of Architecture.
It was built in the 1970's and for the front of the building they wanted to place on it some artwork and so held a public competition whereby anyone can enter a design and the best one will be used on the school. The artwork that you see on the building is actually copied from a drawing done by the artist Pablo Picasso. However, Picasso had not drawn this with the intention of entering the competition, nor was it actually him who entered it. In fact, he had no recollection at all of drawing it.
The story goes that one night there was an exhibition of the new artist Joan Miro's work which was being hailed as the next big thing; Picasso did not like Miro's work and said Miro was child like and not a real artist. Picasso was jealous of the attention given to Miro, as even their mutual friends declared Miro to be good, and refused to go to the exhibition and instead spent the evening drinking in a bar and taking drugs. The mutual friends of his and Miro's came to meet him after the show to tell him what they thought, to make Picasso angry they spoke continuously about how great Miro was. Their plan worked and Picasso was furious. He threw all of the objects off his table onto the floor, grabbed a pen and told them 'you want a Miro? I'll give you a Miro!' Picasso then draws onto the tablecloth the image that is now on the buildings face, and he then stumbles out of the bar. The next day Picasso had no memory from the night before, including the picture he had drawn. The friends who had made him angry then kept the tablecloth and submitted it for consideration to be on the new school building, and it was chosen. So the artwork that is now on public display for all to see, which looks like a child could have drawn it is in fact the result of Picasso's drunken rage.

St George as the origin of World Book Day?

When I was in Barcelona recently I was taken on a walking tour of the city and the guide pointed out a wall carving of St George and the dragon, who is a patron saint of the city. I had always assumed that St George was a solely British icon.

The guide then told us the Spanish version of his legend;
In Barcelona there had been a large pack of dragons living there until the people fought against them until there was only one left, this dragon then lived on the outskirt of the city in a cave but over the years he became very mean and bitter and would often attack the city. The king went to talk to the dragon and asked him what was wrong, as the people were letting him live there without being killed. The dragon demanded that once a month a young girl from the city, a virgin, was to be sacrificed to the dragon for him to eat. The king agreed to this deal. However, girls realised that this was to be their fate and so soon lost their virginity to protect themselves from the dragon. The only girl left was the king's daughter as she was to save herself for her wedding night. The king desperately sends a message to the world that a dragon needs to be slayed and that the man will be rewarded. On the 23rd of April the day comes when the princess is to be sent to the dragon, she goes to the cave, however at this point a man on a white horse rides up. The man is George, the world famous dragon slayer who has come to save the princess. George slashes the dragon's throat, spilling his blood over a field, and the blood then turns into a field of roses. George picks a rose and gives it to the princess who falls in love with him and they ride of into the sunset for a happily ever after.
It became the tradition in Barcelona to always give a rose to a loved one on that day of the year, in a similar fashion to Valentine's day.
In time, tradition changed and on that day the couple would exchange gifts in the form of a rose for the woman and a book would be given to the man. The book is given to commemorate the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes who died on the 23rd of April in 1616.
The tradition of giving a book as a gift on a certain day of the year became famous in Spain, and also came to the attention of the rest of the world. In the 1990's the UN regarded this tradition as a good way to get people more interested in books and reading, and so in 1995 the first International Book Day was celebrated on the 23rd of April. The date also coincides with the birthdays, and death days, of writers Shakespeare and Cervantes.