When Henry VIII’s longed-for son Edward VI died in 1553, there were ten remaining legitimate–excepting the problematic cases of Henry’s daughters–heirs to the English throne that descended from Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Despite the obsession of both Henry VIII and later Edward with “heirs male,” nine of the ten were women. According to Henry’s will, just five were actually eligible to inherit the throne, and all of these candidates were women.
Edward made changes to the succession before his death. His two sisters were both supposedly illegitimate: Mary, daughter of Henry’s first wife Katherine of Aragon, was 37; Elizabeth, the daughter of his second wife Anne Boleyn, was 19, almost 20. Though Henry had reinstated them in the succession before his death, Edward–a devout, almost fanatical Protestant–was reluctant to allow the equally pious but very Catholic Mary to become queen. Elizabeth was a Protestant, but since he was unable to disinherit just one, the young king passed over both of his sisters.
Obeying his father’s wishes to exclude them, Edward also did not consider his any of his three Scottish cousins, Margaret Douglas, her young son Henry (Lord Darnley), or Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scotland. Margaret Douglas was the only surviving child of Margaret Tudor, the elder sister of Henry VIII; like Lady Mary, she was 37. (Her son was theoretically Edward’s only available male heir and also the youngest potential candidate.) Mary of Scots, Margaret Tudor’s granddaughter by her son James, was just ten that summer. While she would never inherit the English throne, Mary’s son with Darnley eventually became the King of England himself as James I.
Henry’s younger sister, Mary, also had a surviving daughter, Frances Grey (née Brandon), who was 36. Frances, like Margaret Douglas, was according to the will of Henry VIII barred from the throne, as had been her younger sister Eleanor Brandon, who had since died. However, Frances had three daughters, all of whom Henry–and Edward after him–did consider heirs: Jane, 15; Katherine, 12; and Mary, 8. The late Eleanor also had a thirteen-year-old daughter, Margaret Clifford.
When the king fell ill, the Grey sisters were all hurriedly married or betrothed in hopes that one of them would produce a son. Within months, however, it became obvious that Edward was dying. Either he or his advisors then chose Jane Grey, well-educated and fervently Protestant, as the most suitable heir. Neither Jane nor Edward’s sister Lady Mary, the would-be heir, learned about this sudden change until after Edward died. Yet despite his plans and fears, by mid-July 1553, after Jane spent a brief nine days as the nominal queen, Mary came to London with the support of the people to claim what she saw as her birthright. After her life had been disrupted and dominated by her father’s ever-more desperate desires for a son, his eldest daughter finally became the Queen regnant of England. Though hers was not a successful or popular reign, Henry’s other daughter followed her in 1558.
There is, of course, no small irony in the ascensions of Mary and Elizabeth (nor in the overall lack of boys in the Tudor family tree). After the decades-long obsession of Tudor kings with dynastic stability and legitimate male heirs, Tudor queens ruled England for half a century, and most of that time was peaceful and prosperous. (The historical discourse about the Tudors and popular interest in their dynasty are also dominated by the women who married or were born into it. Perhaps there’s some irony in that, too.) Her sex may have disappointed her father, but four hundred years on Elizabeth I remains by far the best-remembered and most beloved monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
There’s a reason why Dante is known in Italy as the “Supreme Poet”; his immortal verses are ingrained in our collective memory, having been studied by countless generations of students, and often find their way in our everyday speech as well. The following expressions, all taken from his Divine Comedy, will sound at least familiar to most Italians, even though not everyone uses them or knows their original meaning. See if you’ve already heard them!
1. Non ti curar di lor, ma guarda e passa
This is actually a common distortion of the original verse “Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa” (”Let us not speak of them, but look and pass on”), uttered by Vergil in the third Canto of the Inferno [Hell]. He’s urging Dante not to pay too much attention to the souls they’re passing by, belonging to those who took no sides in life and therefore did nothing to be remembered. It’s commonly used to say that one shouldn’t worry about others spreading slander about them, but just ignore it and go on with their life.
2. Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate
Also quoted as “Lasciate ogni speranza, o voi ch’entrate” (”Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”), it’s not really used as a saying, but you’ll have a hard time finding an Italian school without this sign hanging out or inside one or more classrooms. It’s supposed to be a part of the inscription found on top of the gates of Hell, so you can draw your own conclusions.
3. Senza infamia e senza lode
The original quote being “coloro / che visser sanza ‘nfamia e sanza lodo” (”those who lived without infamy and without praise”), this expression once again refers to those who took no sides in life, and is used in the third Canto of the Inferno. If something is “senza infamia e senza lode”, it means that it’s mediocre: not terrible, but not that great either.
4. Galeotto fu…
In the second circle of Hell are those overcome by lust; among them Dante comes across Francesca da Rimini and her lover, Paolo Malatesta. Francesca was in an arranged marriage with Giovanni Malatesta (also known as Gianciotto), but quickly fell in love with his younger brother, and began to carry on an adulterous affair with him, until the two were surprised and killed by her husband. Through the voice of Francesca, Dante describes how the pair finally surrendered to love while reading the old French romance Lancelot du Lac, and especially the description of the adultery between Guinevere and Lancelot. “Galeotto fu ‘l libro e chi lo scrisse” (”A Gallehaut was the book, and he who wrote it”), says Francesca, meaning that the book served as an intermediary for their love just like the character of Gallehaut did for Lancelot and Guinivere’s. Nowadays, any object or person that ends up favoring a romantic relationship can replace the word “libro” in this construction.
5. Il bel Paese
Italy is commonly (and sometimes ironically) known as “il bel Paese” (”the fair land”), and that’s thanks to Dante and Petrarca’s verses, who respectively wrote “del bel là Paese dove ‘l sì sona” (”Of the fair land there where the ‘Sì’ doth sound”, Inferno, canto XXXIII) and “il bel paese / ch’Appennin parte e ‘l mar circonda e l’Alpe” (”that fair country / the Apennines divide, and Alps and sea surround”).
6. Il gran rifiuto
“Colui / che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto” (”He who / due to cowardice made the great refusal”, Inferno, canto III) is commonly thought to be Pope Celestine V, who was only pope for five months in 1294 before he resigned, enabling Bonifacio VIII to take up the position; Dante was notoriously salty about this, since he wasn’t really on good terms with Boniface (who was responsible for his exile from Florence). As you might imagine, this quote made a huge comeback back in 2013, when pope Benedict XVI also resigned, but it’s often employed in less extraordinary situations, usually for comedic effect.
7. Stai fresco
“Stare fresco” usually means to be in for some trouble, or to delude oneself into thinking that one will escape a negative (and predictable outcome); “Stai fresco!” is roughly equivalent to “Yeah, right!” or “In your dreams!”. The expression apparently refers to a specific place in Dante’s Hell, the frozen lake of Cocytus, “là dove i peccatori stanno freschi” (”there where the sinners are put to stay fresh”).
she should greet jane as if nothing happened and see how jane reacts
she should avoid school the next day. And the next. Every night, she should put on the exact outfit she had on that day, hose herself down until she’s completely drenched and stand in Jane’s yard. When Jane is home alone, she should approach the window, staring at her. Knock on it if you don’t have her attention.
That’ll get her back for killing you and trying to hide the evidence.
Goldnwulf 