Ok, this blog is sure to bore you all but I am gonna blog it up anyways...
I realized today when I got my library books- yeah that's right~ a big ole' load of library books cause I am a nerd like that- that I blogged about liking the Henry VIII story but I got distracted by the tv show and didn't mention any of the reasons I love this story. There are many reasons that I love this story but tonight I want to talk about one reason in particular. And it actually touchs on one of the reasons I like another one of my favorite books.
One of the reasons that I like the Henry VIII story is Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was Henry's first wife- married to him for over 20 yrs I believe. He divorced her because she was unable to provide him with a male heir to his throne. Catherine was a princess herself. The reason I like her is because she was an extraordinarily brave woman. And that is one characteristic that I lack completely and very much admire in other woman. (Such as the fictional character Katie Scarlett O'Hara- my favorite all time character). Catherine was asked to retire to a nunnery, she was asked to agree that her marriage to the king was invalid, she was ordered from court and gradually lost everything material that mattered to her- her jewels, her homes, her title, etc, she lost most of her staff and she even was forbidden to see her only living child (the child that would become Bloody Mary, Queen of England). She lost all of this because she was brave enough to defy a king. She refused all his attempts to put her away and while she didn't win, what bravery she showed! I gotta tell ya- I pretty much would have done whatever the king ordered me to do when faced with loss and threats and banishment from my daughter. I am more along the lines of his 4th wife but that is a different story. What spirit this woman had- she refused until the day she died to consider herself anything but the Queen of England. You have got to admire spirit like that. Fittingly her grave reads Katherine Queen of England.
1 comment:
if you want a good soap opera, read the stories of all 6 (some would argue that) of his wives. so interesting. my favorite was anne boleyn, the scandal is interesting. when we were at the tower of london we got to go into the "holding cell" where she scratched things into the wall right before she was executed. it was amazing. henry the viii was a disgusting pig, but his wives an amazing group of women.
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