Book Review - Jane the Quene by Janet Wertman

Author Janet Wertman gives readers an inside look at Henry VIII's court from the perspective of young and innocent Jane Seymour as she falls in love with the handsome and flirtatious King Henry while he is still married to the queen who will soon be dubbed a witch, Anne Boleyn. Wertman brings what I have always thought of as the 'dull and simple' queen to beautiful light, breathing personality, honour and duty to Jane's background and time in court.

Wertman is an ace with her descriptions of the deceit and court politics, taking us away from Jane's point of view when necessary, into Cromwell's where we get a firm grasp of behind-the-scenes plotting. I much preferred Jane's point of view where there are scenes where I had actual gooseflesh when reading, especially during the downfall of Boleyn and near Jane's own end. Jane's courtship with Henry was highly engaging and brought forth a gentler Henry without disregarding his dangerous side and Jane sees it all but humbly accepts what she is duty bound to be: the bearer of Henry's only legitimate male heir. I was kept intrigued, despite being already very familiar with the events, and found the narrative difficult to fault. There are a few modern phrases that make an appearance, but Wertman blended them into the text in such a way that they are not only forgiveable, but help the modern reader grasp the era feel without being limited to the archaic (but beautiful) and difficult language of the Tudor court (for anyone wanting to grasp a sample, please look up some of Anne Boleyn's letters to Henry, both during her courtship and her 'supposed' last letter to Henry during her time in the Tower).

This book is ideal for newcomers to the subject as Wertman takes the reader gently by the hand and helps them navigate through the intrigue, court politics, and Tudor mindset with ease, but as a lover of all things Tudor, I found myself still intrigued with this new Jane, who I feel Wertman brought to life in a way that makes me understand her as a woman and a queen of the era. A well researched and well presented read. If you have a love of history, read this book. If you enjoy the Tudor era, read this book. If you thought only Anne Boleyn was worth reading about, you'll know better after... well, you know. Just be warned – there are more books to follow, this is only the first of Wertman's literary gems.

Catherine of Aragon's missing letters

(photo from Shakespeare's Secrets: A Hidden Cipher - wondersandmarvels.com)

 

Having spent some time looking through various letters to and from the English court in 1513, I’d found (or not found) some surprising things.  Firstly, Wolsey and Thomas Howard appear to be very tight in their alliance, Henry VIII is a poor correspondent to his queen, Margaret of Savoy seems to have the biggest political hand in the events of the time, and Catherine of Aragon is rather absent.  Or, at least her letters for many months do not at all represent the correspondence of a Queen Regent.

These missing letters are what I’d been searching for. While many documents were lost in fire, misplaced through time, or just so difficult to transcribe that they are skipped over, I had been expecting many lengthy personal letters between Catherine and Henry in regards to her becoming regent in his absence (fighting in France). There were a few short messages from Catherine to Wolsey, Howard to Catherine, or vice versa – Catherine asking for more updates on her husband, or Wolsey giving a very basic update on Henry’s whereabouts. A much lengthier letter from Catherine appears in the records after the battle of Flodden.

In September, 1513, Queen Catherine writes to Henry VIII about the victory at the Battle of Flodden. She writes: “Sir, My lord Havard hath sent me a letter to open to your grace within one of mine by the which ye shall see at length the great victory that our Lord hath sent your subjects in your absence: and for this cause it is no need herein to trouble your grace with long writing…”

Looking closely at the wording of Catherine’s letter, she suggests that there is an additional letter from her to be read in conjunction with Lord Havard’s letter. Yet, she has already told Henry she would not bother with long writing (which suggests to me, although this is the longest letter in record during for these few months from her, that her other letters might have been longer). So where are these longer letters (if any)?

It has been noted by some historians that Catherine started writing in cipher when she was betrothed to prince Arthur.

S. Tomokio writes in his article ‘Earliest English Diplomatic Ciphers’: “It appears that Catherine used a cipher different from that of the Spanish ambassador, considering Bergenroth noted during the middle of his research that Catherine's cipher was one of the three ciphers that he did not yet understand. On the other hand, it appears, as noted above, Catherine let De Puebla decipher Ferdinand's letter to Henry VII sent to her. Examination of the manuscript is desired (http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~room4me/america/code/henryvii.htm).”

This wonderful extract in Tomokio’s article shows us some excellent reference to the cipher used by Catherine and Henry: “‘Has learnt by her letter in cipher, and by the letter in plain writing of the King of England, that it is his intention to prevent the utter destruction of Venice,....
.....
‘The King of England must therefore henceforth write in his letters nothing but such things as the French may read without danger. All other communications must be made by her, and be written in her cipher, or in the cipher of the ambassador, until the new ambassador arrives. Has always observed, and will in future observe the same rule, namely, to write in common writing only what the French may see, and to write all that is important in cipher.
‘In answer to the contents of the letter of the King, and of her letter in cipher, there is little to be said, except ....’ Ferdinand to Catherine, 18 November 1509, (Calendared in Bergenroth pp.25-26)”

The newly published online (previously only in print) 'Henry VIII: April 1513, 1-10', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 1: 1509-1514 (1920)’ lists and transcribes all the letters in record for this time, but if a letter is in French, German, Latin or any other dialect, including cipher, it is noted as such and not transcribed. Many ‘in cipher’ letters appear (and sadly letters ‘too damaged to decipher), which leads me to think how wonderful it would be to find the key to unlock Catherine’s ciphered letters.

Whatever the reason, the archives have a scarcity of letters from Catherine which is a thrilling little mystery in its own.  Six months as Regent of the country, a decisive victory and the death of the Scottish King would surely amass more than a handful of stinted letters from this very powerful and passionate woman.

 

 

Margaret of Savoy

 

It’s been an exciting few weeks – firstly, the Historical Novel Society weekend was very illuminating.  And it’s been good motivation as well. I have less than one year to finish my research and write my first draft of the Tudor murder mystery novel. I’m loving the research, but it is difficult to not get sidetracked.  I’ve been looking into Catherine of Aragon and whilst reading papers from Henry VIII court in 1513, I kept coming across some familiar names, but what caught my eye was Margaret of Savoy. Of course there have been a few women of that title over time, but only one alive in 1513 and the more I read about her (see, distracted) the more I came to love her.

The letter that caught my eye last night was from Mary, Princess of Castile to Margaret, thanking her for the costume patterns for the women in her court, of which she hopes to introduce the fashion very soon. I love this very girly sharing of patterns and style, but it goes much deeper than that as sneaky Margaret has a very large hand in dealing out textiles as well as fashions – not just out of a feminine vanity, but to add to the political and financial strength of her country.

Margaret of Savoy (or, Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy) made new ground with what women rulers could do in a very male dominated world.  She was widowed twice and was allowed to live in her own right and having a hand in European politics. She negotiated a treaty of trade with England that favoured Flemish cloth interests and even helped to form the League of Cambrai in 1508 (a Holy League that held vast political and Papal influence throughout Europe) and later, the Treaty of Cambrai (known also as Ladies’ Peace).

I’d love to see what sort of relationship Margaret had with Catherine of Aragon, as both women held immense political sway and influence. But that must wait for another day. For now, I must read more papers and letters from 1513, note what I can (as I’m looking for Catherine’s letters from, to, or about her as her early life as Queen and especially Regent is very vaguely documented).

The Body in the Courtyard

(above portrait is of a young Catherine of Aragon)

Now that I’m no longer in between novels, I finally feel like things are back to normal.  Except that they aren’t.  Instead of working on my next teen fiction, I’m researching the early 1500s for the setting of my next series; a Tudor Murder Mystery series for adult readers under a pen name (which will be disclosed upon release of book 1).  The main character will be/is fictitious, but the story revolves around historic events, so although it’s a fiction, I absolutely must get the setting and history right.  Which means a lot of research, which I love doing.

I’ve always wanted to write a whodunit and I’ve always wanted to explore the Tudor era in more depth (the Masters degree was in Early Medieval Archaeology, so anything past Conquest was too late for me).  Now that I’m more engaged with the latter medieval, I find myself getting sucked into the era. The more I learn, the more I want to know.

Which brings us to 1513, the year my novel is set.  I knew a bit about the first wife of Henry VIII; that she was treated pretty roughly towards the end when his wandering eye took his interest (and hopes for a son) to Catherin’s lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn. I also knew she bore many children although only one survived (to become Queen Mary).  I didn’t know that she’d been assigned Regent for six months while Henry was away in France, that heavily pregnant, she donned full armour, rode north to address her troops who were due to invade Scotland.  England had been at war with Scotland for some time and she and her army won the war. Her child, however was born in October and lived only 52 days.  Small wonder, reading about what she’d been through. Catherine of Aragon was much more than just wife number 1.  She was the strength that the King depended on, trusted to run the country for him while he was away.  And that trust was not misplaced (now if only she could have trusted him).

But Catherine of Aragon is not my protagonist – she’s just part of the background tapestry of my setting. My main character is a young woman of no real consequence.  Her father is a Lord, her fiancé is in France fighting along side King Henry, but her life is about to make some unexpected changes. Not only is her fiancé reported fallen in the battlefield, but her parents ship her off to the countryside to care for a bedridden great aunt that she’s never heard of.  And then there is that body in the courtyard…