The Tudors

I am sorry to say I did not see the Tudors, so I cannot make a judgment on
it. There is a new movie on Elizabeth coming out called Elizabeth the Golden
Age. I wonder if it is based on the book Elizabeth I. I can never remember
what the author's name is. It was one of the required readings for Dr. Pat
Bradley's Renaissance & Reformation at Auburn University at Montgomery, but
that was in 1989. It seems like one hundred years ago. I wonder if this will
mention any of my Wiatt ancestors. In Richard III's time, what translation
of the Bible did he prefer. I think the Ricardian did say he carried a copy
of Wycliffe's translation with him. Did he actually read it? I would like to
find out more about his relationship with Henry Wyatt. Where can I find
Henry's Biography if it has been published?
The Carmelites own Allington now, and I heard they will not allow anyone
near it. A descendant of Thomas Bosville Lord Ramney has in his possession
the Wyatt Manuscript, which tells of Henry's torture by Richard III. I would
like to find more information on this. The story goes that if it had not
been for a cat that brought Henry a pigeon everyday he would have starved.
Le

re, richard's bible.

i'm reading r3, england's black legend, by desmond seward.

by no stretch of the imagination is this author ricardian. however, on page 87, he writes: "some years ago a manuscript english bible, wycliffe's translation, was discovered in a new york library. it's history is unknown, but the name richard gloucester, is written in his hand."

seward has twice now mentioned r3's mother's piety and her influence on richard in the book. he says richard is no lollard, and is very catholic, making pilgrimages, and paying offerings to have prayers said for deceased members of his family.

i've seen/read elsewhere that richard was a very pious and moral person.

seward comments elsewhere in the book, on how unlike richard is to his brother edward, who was known for lecherous lifestyle and over indulgences of pleasures.

hth
roslyn

Le Bateman <LeBateman@...> wrote:
I am sorry to say I did not see the Tudors, so I cannot make a judgment on
it. There is a new movie on Elizabeth coming out called Elizabeth the Golden
Age. I wonder if it is based on the book Elizabeth I. I can never remember
what the author's name is. It was one of the required readings for Dr. Pat
Bradley's Renaissance & Reformation at Auburn University at Montgomery, but
that was in 1989. It seems like one hundred years ago. I wonder if this will
mention any of my Wiatt ancestors. In Richard III's time, what translation
of the Bible did he prefer. I think the Ricardian did say he carried a copy
of Wycliffe's translation with him. Did he actually read it? I would like to
find out more about his relationship with Henry Wyatt. Where can I find
Henry's Biography if it has been published?
The Carmelites own Allington now, and I heard they will not allow anyone
near it. A descendant of Thomas Bosville Lord Ramney has in his possession
the Wyatt Manuscript, which tells of Henry's torture by Richard III. I would
like to find more information on this. The story goes that if it had not
been for a cat that brought Henry a pigeon everyday he would have starved.
Le

From The Guardian in the UK.
Made me smile!
Paul




'Henry VIII could be playing Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George and
I'd take it as fact'

Charlie Brooker
Saturday October 13, 2007
The Guardian

I've got nothing against well-educated people, but it's hard to
behave naturally in their presence. Often, when I'm talking to
someone terribly clever, I find I'm concentrating so vehemently on
disguising my own ignorance, I can scarcely hear them. My brain's
worried that they're about to refer to some book I've never read, or
use terms I don't understand, and I'm going to have to go into
"nodding mode", because the alternative - screwing up my face and
going "buh?" like a farmyard animal - is too humiliating to contemplate.
None the less, I'm going to attempt something foolhardy here, by
taking a little public journey into the depths of my own stupidity.
I'm going to list every fact about King Henry VIII I can think of,
off the top of my head, without resorting to Wikipedia. Ready? Let's go.
Um. Henry the Eighth was a fat Tudor king with a beard. He composed
Greensleeves. He had six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, er,
Lady Jane Something (?), another one called Anne (I think), one
called Catherine, and another one. He was either involved in the Wars
Of The Roses or he wasn't, and he reigned from 15 something to 15
something else.
That's about it. History isn't my strong point. Try me on theme
tunes. Anyway, as you can see, I'm hardly qualified to point at The
Tudors (Fri, 9pm, BBC2) and chortle derisively about how inaccurate
it is, which is a pity because everyone else seems to be doing it.
The other day I heard someone snorting that they couldn't take any of
it seriously because they'd amalgamated two of Henry's sisters into
one single character. Well whoopee-doo! I didn't know he had ONE
sister, let alone a pair of them.
This probably makes the whole thing easier to watch. Historians are
doubtless chewing their fists with frustration every time they spot
an anachronistic shoe buckle, whereas from my perspective, they could
lob in a scene where Henry invents the gramophone or has a holiday in
Jamaica or plays Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George - in fact,
virtually anything - and I'd take it at face value.
Even I, however, am unconvinced by a few things. For starters, Henry
appears to be using some sort of hair gel. And he looks distractingly
like Malcolm McDowell's Alex in A Clockwork Orange, to the point
where, in my head, the whole thing has become a bizarre medieval spin-
off from the motion picture.
The similarities are legion: Henry, like Alex, is a spoilt, selfish
brat who enjoys ultra-violence and plenty of the old in-out, in-out.
He's moody, prone to boredrom, and has a hair-trigger temper. And
he's surrounded by a small coterie of droogs (one of whom appears to
be played by Chris Martin from Coldplay, so with any luck he'll get
his head lopped off at some point in the next few weeks). The only
thing that's missing is the spacey Moog soundtrack. Maybe next week
Henry will invent the synthesiser and perform an impromptu space jam.
I probably wouldn't notice anything wrong.
Unlike Alex, however, Henry doesn't have a sense of humour. Or much
charisma. In fact, he's wholly unlikable. All he does is strop around
like he owns the place (which, to be fair, he does), scowling at
underlings and screwing anything that moves. In short, he's a massive
arsehole, and as such it's impossible to care about him.
In last night's episode he discovered he'd fathered an illegitimate
child, and was so overjoyed to have finally proven his spunk worked
well enough to produce male offspring, he rode around on a horse
bellowing "I have a son, God! I have a son!" at the sky.
This may or may not be historically accurate, but it definitely makes
him a twat. Not a fascinating villain, or even just a flawed human
being, but a twat. I'm giving him two more episodes to show some
redeeming qualities. Or even just mildly interesting ones. And if he
can't manage that, he can sod off back to Tudorland. Or wherever it
was King Henry came from.

"Richard Liveth Yet!"

I noticed some anachronisms in a clip on "Points of View" today:
Victorian ironworks and driveway. Furthermore, it has disappointed
me, not only by portraying Buckingham as a plotter (evidence?) but a
coward too. Charles Dance, though much older, was a better Buckingham
than Steven Waddingham.

--- In , Paul Trevor Bale
<paultrevor@...> wrote:
>
> From The Guardian in the UK.
> Made me smile!
> Paul
>
>
>
>
> 'Henry VIII could be playing Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George and
> I'd take it as fact'
>
> Charlie Brooker
> Saturday October 13, 2007
> The Guardian
>
> I've got nothing against well-educated people, but it's hard to
> behave naturally in their presence. Often, when I'm talking to
> someone terribly clever, I find I'm concentrating so vehemently on
> disguising my own ignorance, I can scarcely hear them. My brain's
> worried that they're about to refer to some book I've never read,
or
> use terms I don't understand, and I'm going to have to go into
> "nodding mode", because the alternative - screwing up my face and
> going "buh?" like a farmyard animal - is too humiliating to
contemplate.
> None the less, I'm going to attempt something foolhardy here, by
> taking a little public journey into the depths of my own
stupidity.
> I'm going to list every fact about King Henry VIII I can think of,
> off the top of my head, without resorting to Wikipedia. Ready?
Let's go.
> Um. Henry the Eighth was a fat Tudor king with a beard. He
composed
> Greensleeves. He had six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn,
er,
> Lady Jane Something (?), another one called Anne (I think), one
> called Catherine, and another one. He was either involved in the
Wars
> Of The Roses or he wasn't, and he reigned from 15 something to 15
> something else.
> That's about it. History isn't my strong point. Try me on theme
> tunes. Anyway, as you can see, I'm hardly qualified to point at
The
> Tudors (Fri, 9pm, BBC2) and chortle derisively about how
inaccurate
> it is, which is a pity because everyone else seems to be doing it.
> The other day I heard someone snorting that they couldn't take any
of
> it seriously because they'd amalgamated two of Henry's sisters
into
> one single character. Well whoopee-doo! I didn't know he had ONE
> sister, let alone a pair of them.
> This probably makes the whole thing easier to watch. Historians
are
> doubtless chewing their fists with frustration every time they
spot
> an anachronistic shoe buckle, whereas from my perspective, they
could
> lob in a scene where Henry invents the gramophone or has a holiday
in
> Jamaica or plays Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George - in fact,
> virtually anything - and I'd take it at face value.
> Even I, however, am unconvinced by a few things. For starters,
Henry
> appears to be using some sort of hair gel. And he looks
distractingly
> like Malcolm McDowell's Alex in A Clockwork Orange, to the point
> where, in my head, the whole thing has become a bizarre medieval
spin-
> off from the motion picture.
> The similarities are legion: Henry, like Alex, is a spoilt,
selfish
> brat who enjoys ultra-violence and plenty of the old in-out, in-
out.
> He's moody, prone to boredrom, and has a hair-trigger temper. And
> he's surrounded by a small coterie of droogs (one of whom appears
to
> be played by Chris Martin from Coldplay, so with any luck he'll
get
> his head lopped off at some point in the next few weeks). The only
> thing that's missing is the spacey Moog soundtrack. Maybe next
week
> Henry will invent the synthesiser and perform an impromptu space
jam.
> I probably wouldn't notice anything wrong.
> Unlike Alex, however, Henry doesn't have a sense of humour. Or
much
> charisma. In fact, he's wholly unlikable. All he does is strop
around
> like he owns the place (which, to be fair, he does), scowling at
> underlings and screwing anything that moves. In short, he's a
massive
> arsehole, and as such it's impossible to care about him.
> In last night's episode he discovered he'd fathered an
illegitimate
> child, and was so overjoyed to have finally proven his spunk
worked
> well enough to produce male offspring, he rode around on a horse
> bellowing "I have a son, God! I have a son!" at the sky.
> This may or may not be historically accurate, but it definitely
makes
> him a twat. Not a fascinating villain, or even just a flawed human
> being, but a twat. I'm giving him two more episodes to show some
> redeeming qualities. Or even just mildly interesting ones. And if
he
> can't manage that, he can sod off back to Tudorland. Or wherever
it
> was King Henry came from.
>
> "Richard Liveth Yet!"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Paul Trevor Bale wrote:

> From The Guardian in the UK.
>Made me smile!
>Paul
>
>
**Got more than a smile from me. Thanks for forwarding it, Paul.

Gilda

>
>
>
>'Henry VIII could be playing Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George and
>I'd take it as fact'
>
>Charlie Brooker
>Saturday October 13, 2007
>The Guardian
>
>I've got nothing against well-educated people, but it's hard to
>behave naturally in their presence. Often, when I'm talking to
>someone terribly clever, I find I'm concentrating so vehemently on
>disguising my own ignorance, I can scarcely hear them. My brain's
>worried that they're about to refer to some book I've never read, or
>use terms I don't understand, and I'm going to have to go into
>"nodding mode", because the alternative - screwing up my face and
>going "buh?" like a farmyard animal - is too humiliating to contemplate.
>None the less, I'm going to attempt something foolhardy here, by
>taking a little public journey into the depths of my own stupidity.
>I'm going to list every fact about King Henry VIII I can think of,
>off the top of my head, without resorting to Wikipedia. Ready? Let's go.
>Um. Henry the Eighth was a fat Tudor king with a beard. He composed
>Greensleeves. He had six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, er,
>Lady Jane Something (?), another one called Anne (I think), one
>called Catherine, and another one. He was either involved in the Wars
>Of The Roses or he wasn't, and he reigned from 15 something to 15
>something else.
>That's about it. History isn't my strong point. Try me on theme
>tunes. Anyway, as you can see, I'm hardly qualified to point at The
>Tudors (Fri, 9pm, BBC2) and chortle derisively about how inaccurate
>it is, which is a pity because everyone else seems to be doing it.
>The other day I heard someone snorting that they couldn't take any of
>it seriously because they'd amalgamated two of Henry's sisters into
>one single character. Well whoopee-doo! I didn't know he had ONE
>sister, let alone a pair of them.
>This probably makes the whole thing easier to watch. Historians are
>doubtless chewing their fists with frustration every time they spot
>an anachronistic shoe buckle, whereas from my perspective, they could
>lob in a scene where Henry invents the gramophone or has a holiday in
>Jamaica or plays Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George - in fact,
>virtually anything - and I'd take it at face value.
>Even I, however, am unconvinced by a few things. For starters, Henry
>appears to be using some sort of hair gel. And he looks distractingly
>like Malcolm McDowell's Alex in A Clockwork Orange, to the point
>where, in my head, the whole thing has become a bizarre medieval spin-
>off from the motion picture.
>The similarities are legion: Henry, like Alex, is a spoilt, selfish
>brat who enjoys ultra-violence and plenty of the old in-out, in-out.
>He's moody, prone to boredrom, and has a hair-trigger temper. And
>he's surrounded by a small coterie of droogs (one of whom appears to
>be played by Chris Martin from Coldplay, so with any luck he'll get
>his head lopped off at some point in the next few weeks). The only
>thing that's missing is the spacey Moog soundtrack. Maybe next week
>Henry will invent the synthesiser and perform an impromptu space jam.
>I probably wouldn't notice anything wrong.
>Unlike Alex, however, Henry doesn't have a sense of humour. Or much
>charisma. In fact, he's wholly unlikable. All he does is strop around
>like he owns the place (which, to be fair, he does), scowling at
>underlings and screwing anything that moves. In short, he's a massive
>arsehole, and as such it's impossible to care about him.
>In last night's episode he discovered he'd fathered an illegitimate
>child, and was so overjoyed to have finally proven his spunk worked
>well enough to produce male offspring, he rode around on a horse
>bellowing "I have a son, God! I have a son!" at the sky.
>This may or may not be historically accurate, but it definitely makes
>him a twat. Not a fascinating villain, or even just a flawed human
>being, but a twat. I'm giving him two more episodes to show some
>redeeming qualities. Or even just mildly interesting ones. And if he
>can't manage that, he can sod off back to Tudorland. Or wherever it
>was King Henry came from.
>
>"Richard Liveth Yet!"
>
>
>
>

Here is the TV version of Brooker's review from his Screenwipe
program: (starts at 4.22 minutes in)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGQd1KwhHA

Warning! Contains swearing, nudity and parody northern accents.


--- In , Paul Trevor Bale
<paultrevor@...> wrote:
>
> From The Guardian in the UK.
> Made me smile!
> Paul
>
>
>
>
> 'Henry VIII could be playing Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George
and
> I'd take it as fact'
>
> Charlie Brooker
> Saturday October 13, 2007
> The Guardian
>
> I've got nothing against well-educated people, but it's hard to
> behave naturally in their presence. Often, when I'm talking to
> someone terribly clever, I find I'm concentrating so vehemently
on
> disguising my own ignorance, I can scarcely hear them. My brain's
> worried that they're about to refer to some book I've never read,
or
> use terms I don't understand, and I'm going to have to go into
> "nodding mode", because the alternative - screwing up my face and
> going "buh?" like a farmyard animal - is too humiliating to
contemplate.
> None the less, I'm going to attempt something foolhardy here, by
> taking a little public journey into the depths of my own
stupidity.
> I'm going to list every fact about King Henry VIII I can think
of,
> off the top of my head, without resorting to Wikipedia. Ready?
Let's go.
> Um. Henry the Eighth was a fat Tudor king with a beard. He
composed
> Greensleeves. He had six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn,
er,
> Lady Jane Something (?), another one called Anne (I think), one
> called Catherine, and another one. He was either involved in the
Wars
> Of The Roses or he wasn't, and he reigned from 15 something to 15
> something else.
> That's about it. History isn't my strong point. Try me on theme
> tunes. Anyway, as you can see, I'm hardly qualified to point at
The
> Tudors (Fri, 9pm, BBC2) and chortle derisively about how
inaccurate
> it is, which is a pity because everyone else seems to be doing
it.
> The other day I heard someone snorting that they couldn't take any
of
> it seriously because they'd amalgamated two of Henry's sisters
into
> one single character. Well whoopee-doo! I didn't know he had ONE
> sister, let alone a pair of them.
> This probably makes the whole thing easier to watch. Historians
are
> doubtless chewing their fists with frustration every time they
spot
> an anachronistic shoe buckle, whereas from my perspective, they
could
> lob in a scene where Henry invents the gramophone or has a holiday
in
> Jamaica or plays Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George - in fact,
> virtually anything - and I'd take it at face value.
> Even I, however, am unconvinced by a few things. For starters,
Henry
> appears to be using some sort of hair gel. And he looks
distractingly
> like Malcolm McDowell's Alex in A Clockwork Orange, to the point
> where, in my head, the whole thing has become a bizarre medieval
spin-
> off from the motion picture.
> The similarities are legion: Henry, like Alex, is a spoilt,
selfish
> brat who enjoys ultra-violence and plenty of the old in-out, in-
out.
> He's moody, prone to boredrom, and has a hair-trigger temper. And
> he's surrounded by a small coterie of droogs (one of whom appears
to
> be played by Chris Martin from Coldplay, so with any luck he'll
get
> his head lopped off at some point in the next few weeks). The
only
> thing that's missing is the spacey Moog soundtrack. Maybe next
week
> Henry will invent the synthesiser and perform an impromptu space
jam.
> I probably wouldn't notice anything wrong.
> Unlike Alex, however, Henry doesn't have a sense of humour. Or
much
> charisma. In fact, he's wholly unlikable. All he does is strop
around
> like he owns the place (which, to be fair, he does), scowling at
> underlings and screwing anything that moves. In short, he's a
massive
> arsehole, and as such it's impossible to care about him.
> In last night's episode he discovered he'd fathered an
illegitimate
> child, and was so overjoyed to have finally proven his spunk
worked
> well enough to produce male offspring, he rode around on a horse
> bellowing "I have a son, God! I have a son!" at the sky.
> This may or may not be historically accurate, but it definitely
makes
> him a twat. Not a fascinating villain, or even just a flawed
human
> being, but a twat. I'm giving him two more episodes to show some
> redeeming qualities. Or even just mildly interesting ones. And if
he
> can't manage that, he can sod off back to Tudorland. Or wherever
it
> was King Henry came from.
>
> "Richard Liveth Yet!"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Does anyone know if the Society has life membership?
Le
----- Original Message -----
From: "theblackprussian" <theblackprussian@...>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 12:09 PM
Subject: Re: The Tudors


Here is the TV version of Brooker's review from his Screenwipe
program: (starts at 4.22 minutes in)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGQd1KwhHA

Warning! Contains swearing, nudity and parody northern accents.


--- In , Paul Trevor Bale
<paultrevor@...> wrote:
>
> From The Guardian in the UK.
> Made me smile!
> Paul
>
>
>
>
> 'Henry VIII could be playing Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George
and
> I'd take it as fact'
>
> Charlie Brooker
> Saturday October 13, 2007
> The Guardian
>
> I've got nothing against well-educated people, but it's hard to
> behave naturally in their presence. Often, when I'm talking to
> someone terribly clever, I find I'm concentrating so vehemently
on
> disguising my own ignorance, I can scarcely hear them. My brain's
> worried that they're about to refer to some book I've never read,
or
> use terms I don't understand, and I'm going to have to go into
> "nodding mode", because the alternative - screwing up my face and
> going "buh?" like a farmyard animal - is too humiliating to
contemplate.
> None the less, I'm going to attempt something foolhardy here, by
> taking a little public journey into the depths of my own
stupidity.
> I'm going to list every fact about King Henry VIII I can think
of,
> off the top of my head, without resorting to Wikipedia. Ready?
Let's go.
> Um. Henry the Eighth was a fat Tudor king with a beard. He
composed
> Greensleeves. He had six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn,
er,
> Lady Jane Something (?), another one called Anne (I think), one
> called Catherine, and another one. He was either involved in the
Wars
> Of The Roses or he wasn't, and he reigned from 15 something to 15
> something else.
> That's about it. History isn't my strong point. Try me on theme
> tunes. Anyway, as you can see, I'm hardly qualified to point at
The
> Tudors (Fri, 9pm, BBC2) and chortle derisively about how
inaccurate
> it is, which is a pity because everyone else seems to be doing
it.
> The other day I heard someone snorting that they couldn't take any
of
> it seriously because they'd amalgamated two of Henry's sisters
into
> one single character. Well whoopee-doo! I didn't know he had ONE
> sister, let alone a pair of them.
> This probably makes the whole thing easier to watch. Historians
are
> doubtless chewing their fists with frustration every time they
spot
> an anachronistic shoe buckle, whereas from my perspective, they
could
> lob in a scene where Henry invents the gramophone or has a holiday
in
> Jamaica or plays Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George - in fact,
> virtually anything - and I'd take it at face value.
> Even I, however, am unconvinced by a few things. For starters,
Henry
> appears to be using some sort of hair gel. And he looks
distractingly
> like Malcolm McDowell's Alex in A Clockwork Orange, to the point
> where, in my head, the whole thing has become a bizarre medieval
spin-
> off from the motion picture.
> The similarities are legion: Henry, like Alex, is a spoilt,
selfish
> brat who enjoys ultra-violence and plenty of the old in-out, in-
out.
> He's moody, prone to boredrom, and has a hair-trigger temper. And
> he's surrounded by a small coterie of droogs (one of whom appears
to
> be played by Chris Martin from Coldplay, so with any luck he'll
get
> his head lopped off at some point in the next few weeks). The
only
> thing that's missing is the spacey Moog soundtrack. Maybe next
week
> Henry will invent the synthesiser and perform an impromptu space
jam.
> I probably wouldn't notice anything wrong.
> Unlike Alex, however, Henry doesn't have a sense of humour. Or
much
> charisma. In fact, he's wholly unlikable. All he does is strop
around
> like he owns the place (which, to be fair, he does), scowling at
> underlings and screwing anything that moves. In short, he's a
massive
> arsehole, and as such it's impossible to care about him.
> In last night's episode he discovered he'd fathered an
illegitimate
> child, and was so overjoyed to have finally proven his spunk
worked
> well enough to produce male offspring, he rode around on a horse
> bellowing "I have a son, God! I have a son!" at the sky.
> This may or may not be historically accurate, but it definitely
makes
> him a twat. Not a fascinating villain, or even just a flawed
human
> being, but a twat. I'm giving him two more episodes to show some
> redeeming qualities. Or even just mildly interesting ones. And if
he
> can't manage that, he can sod off back to Tudorland. Or wherever
it
> was King Henry came from.
>
> "Richard Liveth Yet!"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>





Yahoo! Groups Links

--- In , "theblackprussian"
<theblackprussian@...> wrote:
>
> Here is the TV version of Brooker's review from his Screenwipe
> program: (starts at 4.22 minutes in)
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGQd1KwhHA
>
> Warning! Contains swearing, nudity and parody northern accents.
>
>
> --- In , Paul Trevor Bale
> <paultrevor@> wrote:
> >
> > From The Guardian in the UK.
> > Made me smile!
> > Paul
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 'Henry VIII could be playing Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George
> and
> > I'd take it as fact'
> >
> > Charlie Brooker
> > Saturday October 13, 2007
> > The Guardian
> >
> > I've got nothing against well-educated people, but it's hard to
> > behave naturally in their presence. Often, when I'm talking to
> > someone terribly clever, I find I'm concentrating so vehemently
> on
> > disguising my own ignorance, I can scarcely hear them. My
brain's
> > worried that they're about to refer to some book I've never read,
> or
> > use terms I don't understand, and I'm going to have to go into
> > "nodding mode", because the alternative - screwing up my face
and
> > going "buh?" like a farmyard animal - is too humiliating to
> contemplate.
> > None the less, I'm going to attempt something foolhardy here, by
> > taking a little public journey into the depths of my own
> stupidity.
> > I'm going to list every fact about King Henry VIII I can think
> of,
> > off the top of my head, without resorting to Wikipedia. Ready?
> Let's go.
> > Um. Henry the Eighth was a fat Tudor king with a beard. He
> composed
> > Greensleeves. He had six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn,
> er,
> > Lady Jane Something (?), another one called Anne (I think), one
> > called Catherine, and another one. He was either involved in the
> Wars
> > Of The Roses or he wasn't, and he reigned from 15 something to
15
> > something else.
> > That's about it. History isn't my strong point. Try me on theme
> > tunes. Anyway, as you can see, I'm hardly qualified to point at
> The
> > Tudors (Fri, 9pm, BBC2) and chortle derisively about how
> inaccurate
> > it is, which is a pity because everyone else seems to be doing
> it.
> > The other day I heard someone snorting that they couldn't take
any
> of
> > it seriously because they'd amalgamated two of Henry's sisters
> into
> > one single character. Well whoopee-doo! I didn't know he had ONE
> > sister, let alone a pair of them.
> > This probably makes the whole thing easier to watch. Historians
> are
> > doubtless chewing their fists with frustration every time they
> spot
> > an anachronistic shoe buckle, whereas from my perspective, they
> could
> > lob in a scene where Henry invents the gramophone or has a
holiday
> in
> > Jamaica or plays Trivial Pursuit with Lloyd George - in fact,
> > virtually anything - and I'd take it at face value.
> > Even I, however, am unconvinced by a few things. For starters,
> Henry
> > appears to be using some sort of hair gel. And he looks
> distractingly
> > like Malcolm McDowell's Alex in A Clockwork Orange, to the point
> > where, in my head, the whole thing has become a bizarre medieval
> spin-
> > off from the motion picture.
> > The similarities are legion: Henry, like Alex, is a spoilt,
> selfish
> > brat who enjoys ultra-violence and plenty of the old in-out, in-
> out.
> > He's moody, prone to boredrom, and has a hair-trigger temper.
And
> > he's surrounded by a small coterie of droogs (one of whom appears
> to
> > be played by Chris Martin from Coldplay, so with any luck he'll
> get
> > his head lopped off at some point in the next few weeks). The
> only
> > thing that's missing is the spacey Moog soundtrack. Maybe next
> week
> > Henry will invent the synthesiser and perform an impromptu space
> jam.
> > I probably wouldn't notice anything wrong.
> > Unlike Alex, however, Henry doesn't have a sense of humour. Or
> much
> > charisma. In fact, he's wholly unlikable. All he does is strop
> around
> > like he owns the place (which, to be fair, he does), scowling at
> > underlings and screwing anything that moves. In short, he's a
> massive
> > arsehole, and as such it's impossible to care about him.
> > In last night's episode he discovered he'd fathered an
> illegitimate
> > child, and was so overjoyed to have finally proven his spunk
> worked
> > well enough to produce male offspring, he rode around on a horse
> > bellowing "I have a son, God! I have a son!" at the sky.
> > This may or may not be historically accurate, but it definitely
> makes
> > him a twat. Not a fascinating villain, or even just a flawed
> human
> > being, but a twat. I'm giving him two more episodes to show some
> > redeeming qualities. Or even just mildly interesting ones. And if
> he
> > can't manage that, he can sod off back to Tudorland. Or wherever
> it
> > was King Henry came from.
> >
> > "Richard Liveth Yet!"
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
I have watched this now and had a surprise in yesterday's Daily Mail -
Weir in the right! She, again described as a "historian", was
criticising "The Tydders" because H8 had red hair but Meyers' is
black.

I felt I must write when reading that Kathy is watching the Tudors in the USA.  A tv pundit today called it Sexy in the City meets the Tudors, soft porn.  Think this will give you a good idea of what you will see.  Historically, I have been told it has many flaws, that is the main reason I have avoided it.

Hope this helps.

Marion

   Just for starters, Henry is still skinny, with dark hair and beard rather than red.  There's so much that does not match history or pictures I haven't bothered, but the ads on BBC America are constant.
Sheffe

--- On Fri, 1/28/11, marion cheatham <marioncheatham2003@...> wrote:

From: marion cheatham <marioncheatham2003@...>
Subject: The Tudors
To:
Date: Friday, January 28, 2011, 7:42 AM







 









I felt I must write when reading that Kathy is watching the Tudors in the USA.  A tv pundit today called it Sexy in the City meets the Tudors, soft porn.  Think this will give you a good idea of what you will see.  Historically, I have been told it has many flaws, that is the main reason I have avoided it.



Hope this helps.



Marion

The premiss of The Tudors is that the only way they can sell this series is to include Henry (and others) having his way with various women. It's quite possible that when Henry thankfully expires in bed he'll be `doing it' with a woman, maybe, the luckless Catherine Parr, who, as we're told, wasn't overly enthusiastic about her marriage to the gross, vicious and, incidentally by the time of this marriage, impotent Henry.

Another glaring absurdity is that Jonathan Rhys Meyers who plays Henry VIII has barely aged between his coronation aged 19 and death at 56; given his rapacious lifestyle this is as ridiculous as believing that fairies exists at the bottom of your garden.

I shall be just as glad when this series ends as I am that the real Henry popped his clogs.


--- In , marion cheatham <marioncheatham2003@...> wrote:
>
> I felt I must write when reading that Kathy is watching the Tudors in the USA.  A tv pundit today called it Sexy in the City meets the Tudors, soft porn.  Think this will give you a good idea of what you will see.  Historically, I have been told it has many flaws, that is the main reason I have avoided it.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Marion
>
>
>
>
>
>
>