Little Tudor felt dolls (image heavy)
Welcome back to the 3rd and final installment of Tudor History, fellow LJers!
Last time we saw them, poor Kitty Howard had a face-to-face with the executioner. (http://community.livejournal.com/geekcrafts/99701.html#cutid1)
But, if we know anything about Henry by now, is that wifelessness isn't a state he likes to be in.
Cue wife number 6, Katherine Parr.
Educated, motherly and the ultimate survivor, Katherine became a widow before Henry decided he wanted a 7th wife. ;)
The king is dead, long live little Eddie, now Edward VI!
Well... His reign wasn't exactly long, I'm afraid...
Never having had a strong health to begin with, Edward died when he was 15 years old.
Next in line?
Surprise, surprise!
Cunning little Edward wasn't too keen on having his older AND catholic half-sister Mary getting the throne, so he named a protestant cousin as his heir.
A cousin named Jane Grey.
But her story as Queen of England was even shorter and quite sad.
A puppet in the hands of ambitious families, poor Jane was Queen for just 9 days before Mary's faction overthrew her.
One year later, she was beheaded.
And so began the reign of Mary I, also known as Bloody Mary.
But Mary didn't rule for that long either.
4 years later, Mary died, childless, and left the throne to the dark horse of the Tudor race, her protestant half-sister Elizabeth.
The "useless" girl that her father didn't want, Elizabeth I marked what is considered by many has England's Golden Age, a period of amazing economical and cultural expansion during her 45 years reign.
However, that came with a personal cost. Elizabeth couldn't afford the alliances/rivalries ratio any marriage would create and chose to remain single.
But single doesn't necessarily mean alone... ;)
She had several favorites throughout the years, but none as special as Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester. (Bit of trivia: his brother was Lady Jane Grey's husband.)
Elizabeth had Dudley, Shakespeare, the state of Virginia in another continent and a beaten Invincible Armada (lol), but, like with every ruler in known History, not everybody was happy for her.
Even though the religious debacle was no longer at its peak, opposing factions still arose and one pretty catholic menace came down from Scotland.
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots' life is a soap opera all of its own but, on the Tudor context, she was just one more menace to the ruler.
Eligible to the English throne due to being the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII's sister, Mary spent 19 years in custody until a final plot convinced Elizabeth that the threat was too great and finally sentenced her to a death by (clumsy) beheading.
But, as Tudor History goes, there is always a twist.
Elizabeth died in 1603 without a child of her own to succeed her in the throne and she chose her heir.
The following King of England was to be Mary Stuart's son, James Stuart. =)
And so ends a dynasty and a new one begins.
I hope you enjoyed the ride!
It was a pleasure to share this project with you and your kind and supportive comments meant a lot to me. Thank you all!