Ava’s (A)musings
Ava Stoller moved to Colorado in 2007, with her military family, and calls Falcon her hometown. She is a senior at CU Boulder; majoring in communication and leadership studies. Ava enjoys reading, music and binge watching TV shows and movies — of course, never in procrastination of school work! Ava is taking over for her dad, Mark, for the summer.Shows and crowns
By Ava Stoller
One of the things I enjoy while on summer break is catching up with all of the new TV shows I didn’t have time to watch while in school. The most recent I saw was “My Lady Jane” on Amazon Prime. It follows one of the shortest reigning monarchs of England, Lady Jane Grey.
During the time after Henry VIII died, his son Edward VI, reigned from the age of 9 until he died of tuberculosis at age 15. The remaining options are his half sisters, Mary Tutor, later known as Bloody Mary, and Elizabeth I Tutor, daughter of Anne Boleyn. However, Edward VI was persuaded by John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland; and, more suspiciously, Jane’s father-in-law, to name his cousin, Jane Grey, as his successor.
Jane Grey, aged 15, (she was married so her name was also Jane Dudley) was now Queen of England — for nine days. Even though it was the will of Edward VI, Parliament and the majority of people backed Mary Tutor’s claim to the throne. Jane relinquished the crown and was subsequently put in the Tower of London. A little less than a year later, she was executed by Mary Tutor.
There is also a painting of her execution by Paul Delaroche, and he shows so much emotion of her final moments that it really is quite moving. I managed to find it in the National Gallery while in London!
The show is loosely based on history, although they clearly state at the beginning, “What if history was different?” They also added in magic people called Ethians who change from humans into animals. Other than changing a smidge of history and adding in magical creatures, I really liked the story. The show follows political intrigue, a coup for the crown and a swoon-worthy enemies-to-lovers romance.
One of the main characters in Lady Jane’s story is Mary, the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, whom he divorced to marry Anne Boleyn. Originally, England was a Catholic country until the Pope wouldn’t let Henry VIII divorce Catherine. So, like any other sane person would do, Henry VIII changed the entire country’s religion to Protestant, of which he was in charge. This is important to know because Mary was Catholic when she took the throne after Jane Grey. Within her five-year reign, she had more than 300 religious dissenters burned at the stake and turned England into a bloodbath, earning her the nickname Bloody Mary. After her death, Elizabeth I became queen and started a 45-year reign that is generally considered one of the most glorious in English history.
In my mind, I thought that Bloody Mary and Mary Queen of Scotland were the same person. That is definitely wrong, as I just found out — in London. Mary Queen of Scotland was a distant cousin to the Tutors; and, after her father’s death, she was considered the rightful Queen of Scotland. Except, she was mostly raised in the French court and married Francis, the heir to France, who died shortly thereafter. Mary remarries twice, neither of those ended well, with one divorce and one husband murdered (not by her). In a political move, Queen Elizabeth I imprisoned Mary Queen of Scotland for 18 years before having her executed, as Mary was a threat to Elizabeth’s throne. History kicks her in the butt though because Mary Queen of Scotland’s son, James I, becomes King of England after Elizabeth I died since she had no children. Moral of the story: Don’t rule a kingdom, just watch shows about people who did.
