Tudor history day

I am blipping this sculpture on our estate again, as a tenuous link to the Channel 4 tv series ‘Becoming Elizabeth’, which we catching up with.

It turns out that our housing estate sits beside the Pinkie Cleugh Battle, which took place in 1547, when the Lord Protector of England, Lord Somerset (Edward Seymour) was victorious. On the show, was a scene at the battle which included pitched battle fighting between the English and Scottish troops. Additionally, our street is named after the Lord Protector.

Anyway, I was excited about our link to this important part of Tudor history. I also found that the show connected all the Tudor dots, which was great. Basically, the main historical characters of post-Henry VIII history are: Princess Mary (Catherine of Aragon’s daughter and a devout Catholic), Princess Elizabeth (Anne Boleyn’s daughter and a Protestant), Prince Edward (Jane Seymour’s son, who became King Edward VI on Henry’s death and similarly, a Protestant), and Catherine Parr (Henry’s widow, who became the Dowager Queen). 

The show’s other main characters are the aforementioned Edward Seymour (Lord Somerset), his brother Thomas Seymour (who had an eye for the ladies), and Lady Jane Grey (Mary, Elizabeth and Edwards first cousin, who became Queen for 9 days after the death of Edward in 1553, but came to a sticky end when Mary had her beheaded). Mary, Queen of Scots, gets a brief mention as she gets spirited off to France in 1548, to avoid the 5 year old child from being betrothed to the 11 year old King Edward VI (who was under the protection of Lord Somerset).

Enough of my historical ramblings (can you tell I have a history degree). The upshot is that I enjoyed this show, and the reviews have been very positive, particularly, as it is quite historically accurate (although, I am sure liberties will have been taken).

Back to the future … have a good day, all.