In a change from our advertised speaker's schedule, our October talk is from Gareth Russell, author of "An Illustrated Introduction to The Tudors", "The Emperors: How Europe's Greatest Rulers Were Destroyed by World War I" and his upcoming book "A History of the English Monarchy: From Boadicea to Elizabeth I".
The live chat in the chatroom will be on Wednesday 15th October at 11pm UK Time (That's 6pm Eastern time/3pm Pacific time/midnight Central European Time)
ONE lucky person from the live chat will win a copy of Gareth's "An Illustrated Introduction to the Tudors" which is due out at the end of October.
Gareth is speaking about Jane Seymour from a wonderful setting, no less than the ladies' room at the Earl and Countess of Moira's old home in Ireland. Over to Gareth...
If you just want to hear the audio of the talk, you can do that here...
Thank you Gareth Russell. This was a great talk and very enjoyable.
That was a great talk Gareth… really interesting.
Great talk. I especially liked Gareth’s summary comments likening Jane to somewhere in the middle (quotes from bio of M. Antionette). I have often wondered what Jane would have done had she lived longer…. perhaps she would have left the middle ground.
Thank you Gareth Russell, for the interesting talk on Jane Seymour. We do not really know much about her, as Anne Boleyn has all the attention. Gareth gave us a chance to look into Jane Seymours character.
I would love Gareth Russell to write a biography of Jane Seymour. I really enjoyed this presentation. It put Jane in a different but very strong light, a political survivor. Thank you.
Good presentation, Gareth. I tried to imagining being in Jane’s shoes, being pursued by an aggressive control-freak of a king. As you say, he’d already demonstrated a fondness for executing anyone who stood in his way or who hinted at being rebellious. He got rid of wives who did not provide him with a male heir, one via beheading from trumped up charges. I would have been frightened. She managed to keep her cool, though, and gave Henry his son, losing her life in the process. At that point, I’m sure it was more and more difficult to find her replacement. Henry, with his (I believe) narcissism, did not see his role in the difficulties he had finding a new wife. If I were a young female at court, I would have blackened my teeth, put several fake wens on my face, and put on a fake mustache, just to be avoided by His Majesty. Or better yet, get out of Court, if possible.