I seem to be hitting the 14th or 16th century in England lately in my reading and the latest book in front of me is "Jane Boleyn" (by Julia Fox), an account of a lady-in-waiting who was in waiting all the way to the block. This biography posits that Jane, Viscountess Rochford, sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn, has been given a tough deal by the writers of history. Perhaps she was a scapegoat, but I see her as being in the wrong place, etc., especially the final place, where she followed Queen Catherine (pictured) after she was unable to save her.
The most human thing she did was lose her wits after being imprisoned, and as the former time had let to the deaths of her husband George and his sister Anne Boleyn, she must have been in intolerable suspense. Her wits were restored under the care of those who needed a sane and calm Jane for the next steps in the process of bloodletting for the treason of the moment. And Jane met her death nobly, in so doing with the best of them.
I didn't necessarily plan to read into the parenthetical centuries around the 15th that interests me the most, but that may be the path of reading. I must get back to Henry VI, but my next book in line regards the Tudors as well. Which epoch is the most violent?
1 comment:
I really enjoyed this book.
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