Murder and Mahem - I Tell Ya!

Kate Emerson has an incredible array of histories and stories about the Tudor Women. 

I just finished reading them, from A to Z, and I have to say that the journey was fascinating.

Frankly, learning as much as I did about the way things were back in those days makes me very grateful for life as we now know it. 

Changes were happening in England between 1485 and 1603 but this isn't a history lesson.

It's simply my reaction to having read a lot of data about a time I hadn't been all that familiar with. 

Someone asked me why I was reading about it. 

I guess because I'm curious about what life was like back then, and there's no other way to find out. 

By the time I got to the Zs I was distinctly relieved that I would soon be saying goodbye to all those poor ladies.  Not that they were technically poor, mind you; some of them were incredibly wealthy.  It's just that reading their stories was quite a bit like watching a generational soap opera filled with drama and pathos and I felt sorry for them. 

You know what got to me, aside from the obvious things about politics and religion?

It was the custom of wardships for the little ones whose fathers died.  So few of the women actually got to raise their own children if the fathers died.  The crown got custody and sold the wardships to whomever it chose.  I know it was just the way it was and no doubt most of the women were fine with it (like they had any choice) but still ... it seems just wrong somehow.  Some of those kids were 'sold' time and again when they were little.

On the other hand, some of the girls I read about had awesome educations.  Not all by a long shot, but some of them did. 

ANYWAY, I'm glad I'm done with that bit of my research.  The stories will stick in my mind, I just know it, and that's okay.  It gave me a good idea of what life was like in another time, in snippets of information about a wide variety of people. 

Again, when it comes to the portraits of the people, I realize that no doubt smiles weren't part of the deal back then.  Even so, I never saw a more miserable-looking bunch in my life. 

One thing I did find out - when I'm reading history sites about that period I almost feel as though I know the people they're talking about, in a more real sense.  It's no longer just a list of names and places and events.  REAL people did those things and were affected by them; it's not just words on paper (or on my screen).