Eric Ives wrote the definitive biography of Anne Boleyn. I'm embarrassed to say I haven't read it. I requested it from the library along with this book. This is the third book I've read on Jane Grey.
I liked that this book had a different theory: the Duke of Northumberland is not the power-hungry-villain as he is often portrayed. Here he is man following the wishes and will of King Edward VI. Here Jane is a duly appointed sovereign, and Mary is a rebel. All versions of the story portray Jane as innocent. She didn't crave the crown or its power.
As Alison Weir said she truly was an innocent traitor.
Strangely, most stories can't even get the length of her reign correct. She ruled for 13 days, not nine.
Ives mentions the four Tudor queens who died on the scaffold: Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, Jane Grey, and Mary Queen of Scots. We remember Jane as we remember Anne Frank, he says, for the multitude of brutality's victims who have no voice.
No comments:
Post a Comment