EduKindle

Poor Anne of Cleves. Or should I say, lucky Anne of Cleves?

This historical character, played by Joss Stone on Showtime’s The Tudors, is one of the most enigmatic of Henry’s wives. She acts as a kind of historical pivot on which Protestantism, international politics, the changing character of Henry VIII, and the ineffabilities of male-female attraction swivel on the television show and in the history books.

Despite a brief appearance, Tudors creator Michael Hirst gives her a couple of classic lines. One captures the dilemma faced by every girl who came Henry’s way: “If I fail to please the King, will he kill me?” And then, with regards to the marital bed, she cites Henry’s relentlessly unhealing leg wound as a bit of a downer in the foreplay department: “It stinks, no?” ‘Nuff said.

So, if you are interested in this woman who went from the King’s wife to the “King’s beloved Sister,” and would like to read about her on your Kindle, head on over to the Tudors download page and drag the article to the documents folder on your Kindle.

And that’s it for another season of the Tudors. Given the speed with which they dispatched Cromwell last night, it looks like one more season will do it!

If you want to prep for tonight’s new episode of The Tudors on Showtime, I have pulled a short article from Wikipedia on “The Pilgrimage of Grace” to assist you. As with all these articles, click on the download link and save the file to your computer. Then connect to your Kindle using the USB cord, and drag the article into the “documents” folder on the Kindle, or on the SD card, if you have one installed. You can download the article for your Kindle here.

Why the Pilgrimage? As the series, and the history behind it, progresses, King Henry demonstrates his Machiavellian nature by placating the rebels and then brutally crushing them. In the drama of the series it is easy to miss some or most of the underlying issues that drove the rebellion in the first place. In the article, you will find that the rebels achieved significant goals, even though the outcome was a disaster for the cause (as the monasteries continued to be pillaged and their riches transferred to the royal exchequer).

What did the Pilgrimage accomplish? From the article:

• The government postponed the collection of the October subsidy. This had been a major grievance amongst the Lincolnshire rebels.
• The Statute of Uses was negated by a new law, the Statute of Wills.
• Four of the seven sacraments that were omitted from the Ten Articles, were restored in the Bishop’s Book of 1537. This marked the end of the drift of official doctrine towards Protestantism. The Bishop’s Book was followed by the Six Articles of 1539.
• An onslaught upon heresy was promised in a royal proclamation in 1538.
• Thomas Cromwell was pushed from power in 1540.
• Lady Mary (later Queen Mary I of England) was restored to the succession in 1543.
• The Council of the North was re-established in 1537.

Of course, there is a lot more to say about the Pilgrimage and the individual historical figures involved. You can read more about them as we post additional articles here. Or you could just settle in by the t.v. and watch it all play out before your eyes.

I don’t know if anyone else has gotten hooked on the Showtime series that portrays the life and times of King Henry the VIII of England, but after catching up with seasons One and Two on DVD, our household settles down on Sunday nights for a journey back to the 16th-century and the Tudors.

Of course, watching a series based on history spawns endless questions about what really happened, and we find ourselves consulting Wikipedia about the era on a regular basis.  We’re particularly in the dark about the roles of the minor characters, about whom we had learned little in school. So finding some background articles on folks like Norfolk, Suffolk, Aske, the “other” Boleyn girl, the evil Boleyn uncle, and many more has added tremendously to our enjoyment of the series. Especially when I could load them on my Kindle.

So I thought I would share some of these for download and maybe stimulate a little Kindle-related Tudor buzz!  First up is the Wikipedia article on the series itself. You can download it here and cable it into the “documents” folder on your Kindle.

The section in the article on “departures from history” is particularly interesting, as it points out all the little discrepancies, including the fact that Henry was in his early forties before marrying Anne Boleyn and was therefore not the virile, young, studly prince as portrayed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Ah, the importance of artictic license!

Enjoy!