Part 1 of 3 of our Interview on Chick History Premiere's Today...

Greetings, Valued Readers!

The accomplished Janice Formichella of The Feminist's Guide and I have worked together on a three part feature for the women's history website Chick History, created and maintained by Rebecca Price.

Part 1 of 3 premieres today; in the interview I discuss my work promoting the life and accomplishments of Queen Elizabeth I through my BeingBess program. Part 1 specifically addresses my job in museum education:

http://www.chickhistory.com/2012/06/ashlie-jensen-setting-record-straight.html

Please post your comments on Rebecca's website, as myself and Janice will be interacting with those who comment throughout the day and into the evening!

SEMPER EADEM,

Ashlie

The Timeless Queen Elizabeth I Reincarnated in Banbury's New Mill Theatre Show!

A detail of The Coronation Portrait of Elizabeth I, depicting Elizabeth, aged 25. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

The new one-woman show I, Elizabeth premiering May 16th at 7:30 in The Mill Theatre in Banbury has caught our attention. Starring actress Rebecca Vaughn in a performance one reviewer says is "worthy of an Oscar", Vaughn, in first person narrative tells the story of Elizabeth I, incorporating the Tudor queen's own letters, speeches and quotes throughout. Vaughn imagines what Elizabeth's personal thoughts may have been on the issues she faced when she became queen at the age of 25, such as marriage, the cold war with Spain and religion.

As a first person interpreter of Elizabeth I, I would relish the chance to see Vaughn's celebrated performance as the illustrious queen. I also find it important to incorporate Elizabeth's actual words into my own performances to give them added authenticity (although I do not for a second delude myself into believing that any of my shows are professional theatre-worthy!) and I deem it necessary to make educated guesses as to what Elizabeth's inner-most thoughts might have been. I applaud Vaughn and The Mill Theatre for running this exciting show that tells Elizabeth's story in such a perspective.

The Banbury Guardian spoke with The Mill Theatre's program manager Deborah Clarke and did a lovely detailed write-up on the show; the article also features a stunning photo of Vaughn dressed as the young Elizabeth, seemingly deep in thought over an agonizing matter. Please read the article at the link included below.

And if anyone is fortunate enough to see the show, I would be interested to know what you thought of it! Living in America limits my ability to see such things :( Please comment below or email me at ERITudor(at)gmail(dot)com !

http://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/local/story-of-elizabeth-i-told-in-own-words-1-3834165

 

SEMPER EADEM,

Ashlie

May 2nd, 1536: The Arrest of Queen Anne Boleyn

This portrait of Anne Boleyn is probably a later copy of a 1534 original, and it now hangs in the ancestral Boleyn family home, Hever Castle. The Latin inscription above Anne says ANNA.BOLINA ANG.REGINA, or Anne Boleyn, Queen of England. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Today in Tudor History, May 2nd, 1536, Anne Boleyn, Queen of England and mother of the future Queen Elizabeth I, was arrested on the orders of her husband, King Henry VIII.

To read a full report of the arrest that shocked Europe, please read the wonderful article To The Tower, written by Claire Ridgeway of the Anne Boleyn File's HERE.

To learn about Anne Boleyn's education and adolescence, please read Part 1 of 3 of my Anne Boleyn article, A Continental Education.

To learn about Anne's courtships, her time in service to Queen Catherine, and political intrigues, read Part 2 of 3 of my Anne Boleyn article, Anne Back in England.

To read about Anne Boleyn's triumph in becoming Queen of England, her accomplishments during her brief reign, her relationship with her only child, and her tragic downfall, read Part 3 of 3 of my Anne Boleyn article, An Honorary Man.

Today is a day of reverence in which we can all reflect on the beginning of the end of the ever-captivating Anne Boleyn.

A plaque to remember the most notable personages who died on the scaffold on the Tower green in the Tower of London; Queen Anne Boleyn is the first listed. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Elizabethan Fact Of The Day: Protecting the Queen

Queen Mary I had reigned directly before her sister Elizabeth I for a brief and disastrous five years, bequeathing her a bankrupt Treasury, along with a myriad of other problems. One of the ways Elizabeth cut costs and thus expedited replenishing the Treasury was by choosing not to keep a standing army during her reign. The costs of employing a standing army were astronomical, as the powers on the Continent who kept them had demonstrated. Standing army's with nothing to do also bred anxiety in the population, especially when they caused disturbances of the peace, as they were known to do. The immediate safety of England fell to the local magistrates, who were entrusted with ensuring peace within their own districts (Palliser). And the overall safety of Elizabeth and her realm would be ensured by a network of spy's and informants, overseen by Elizabeth's "spymaster" Sir Francis Walsingham.

A detail of a 16th century portrait of Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's "spymaster".Walsingham's ability to protect the Queen was never doubted, although sometimes she greatly disliked his methods. Elizabeth nicknamed him her "Moor". Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Queen Elizabeth prided herself on being accessible to all of her subjects; her practice of walking amongst throngs of people when she exited and entered buildings, often stopping to speak with them, was something that made her Councillors fear for her, and they often told her so. On Elizabeth's progresses throughout her realm, which we know she very much enjoyed, she would always stop and speak with villagers and tradesmen, without a retinue of guards to protect her. Like her mother Queen Anne Boleyn had done so many years before, Good Queen Bess would distribute coins in exchange for poesy's of meadow flowers from village children (Denny).

An Elizabethan Maundy, a miniature by female court painter Leevina Teerlinc depicting Queen Elizabeth I meeting with her subjects. Image public domain.

Elizabeth had good faith in her subjects, and they in her. These were her people, who along with God she believed had preserved her and guided her to become Queen of England. Unlike her father, whose paranoia in the latter half of his reign compelled him to order the locks of his personal apartments changed every time he moved his court to a new castle, Elizabeth would remain tangible to her people up until her death at age 69 in 1603.

Queen Elizabeth used her image (clothes, appearance of perpetual youth due to heavy makeup) and the good faith she demonstrated with her people  to build nationalism and loyalty to the crown. This "Cult of Gloriana" made Elizabeth semi-divine, and thus her people invincible.


A painting of Queen Elizabeth en route to the wedding of Lady Anne Russell, c.1600. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

On This Day in Elizabethan History: Queen Elizabeth's first Christmas as Queen.

First let me say, Happy Christmas to all who celebrate the holiday! I hope the new year finds all of my readers (of any faith) and their loved ones happy and healthy.

Today I would like to share with you a pivotal event that happened the very first Christmas after Elizabeth had been named Queen of England, after the death of her sister Mary.

On Christmas Day, 1558, Elizabeth gave her subjects her first real hint as to her religious inclinations and the religious traditions she would observe as queen.

Normally, the Archbishop of Canterbury would have held a mass on Christmas morning for the reigning monarch and their court, but this position was now vacant since Archbishop Reginald Pole had died the same day as Queen Mary. This was fitting, as Reginald was one of Mary Tudor's lifelong supporters, like his mother Margaret Pole before him; his perfectly timed passing suggested that he was following his queen from this life into the next.

A detail from a portrait of Cardinal Reginald Pole. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Many of Mary's former clergy were wary of Elizabeth's religious beliefs. While she had never made any secret of her Protestant faith, it remained to be seen if her beliefs would lean more toward the Puritanical, like her brother's regime, or remain more moderate. Perhaps they feared, she would inhabit the same martyr like quality her sister had for her own faith, and exact revenge on the Catholic ministers who had sentenced Protestant "heretics" to death. Of course, none of the Catholic clergy and politicians fears would come to pass, but in the early months of Elizabeth's reign, they held their breath as they waited for the queen to shown her hand.

After the Archbishop of York boldly announced that he would not crown a "heretic" as  queen, there was only one clergyman willing to host a Christmas Day service for Elizabeth. He was Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of Carlisle.

Elizabeth, like her father, was prepared to maintain some of the "pomp & circumstance" of a Catholic service in an Anglican-style mass, but there was one element of the service she would not waver on, she told Oglethorpe in a message...

The Elevation of the Host was to be eliminated, since it implied the miracle of transubstantiation, (the belief that the bread and the wine was actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ, rather than just symbolically) actually occurred, which Protestants did not believe in.

Oglethorpe received the message, but he boldly chose to deny the queen's single order, and proceeded with his traditional service.

When the Bishop of Carlisle held the bread and wine up to the heavens to be transformed, Elizabeth was furious. From where she was seated in her chapel, she ordered him to cease and desist. When he ignored her and continued with the service as he saw fit, the queen rose and left the chapel, followed by her retinue.

The Clopton Portrait of Elizabeth I, c. 1558-1560 by an unknown artist. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.



Two days later, Queen Elizabeth issued a proclamation decreeing that some parts of a religious service be said in the people's language of English; she also ordered all preaching and prophesying, on both the conservative and radical sides of the religious question, to stop until further notice. She hoped that this edict would temporarily prevent Catholics and Protestants from aggravating one another in a war of words which could eventually lead to violence.

The states new policy on religion was scheduled to be determined in the Parliamentary meeting in January, after the queen's coronation.

Source:

Weir, Alison. The Life of Elizabeth I. New York: Ballantine Books, 1999. Print.

Read Our Interview at On the Tudor Trail!

Dear Valued Readers,

Natalie at On the Tudor Trail, Anne Boleyn aficionado and blogger extraordinaire, has interviewed me!

I was honored to have been asked to participate in her lovely column, Tudor Talk, and I greatly enjoyed answering her thought-provoking questions. We are honored to have been included among the ranks of people like Vanora Bennett and Elizabeth Norton.

I hope you will support Natalie and her mission to preserve the memory of Anne Boleyn, and also me and my mission to preserve Elizabeth I's legacy by reading our interview. Click the links below...

An introduction to our interview: http://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/2011/09/29/tudor-talk-meet-elizabeth-tudor/

The Q & A portion: http://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/resources/tudor-talk/interview-with-ashlie-jensen-aka-elizabeth-tudor/

I look forward to hearing from you all about what you thought of the interview...

Post your comments below!

SEMPER EADEM,
Ashlie

Read what people are saying about the interview:

@SonnyandBrenda tweeted to me, @ERITudor and @OntheTudorTrail :

"I LOVED the Interview and I love your passion for Elizabeth and the Tudors. Very inspiring! :)"

@SixWivesrule, Tudor humorist and author tweeted to me and Natalie:

"Fabulous job...the poets did not call you 'Gloriana' for nothing!"

A Thank You, A Question, and A Preview of the Next Article...

We are so thankful for the feedback from our loyal readers, concerning this website as well as our articles. As you can imagine, researching, writing, editing and typing these articles is time consuming (as well as utterly enjoyable!) but the long process is all made worthwhile by my readers!

We are hoping to get more Tudor/Elizabethan pictures up here, so the blog is not so text heavy; for instance, we would like to insert some pictures into the body of our Anne Boleyn article, and re-release it as one large post, but I need to figure out how to use images without violating any copyright laws-Any of my associates who have Tudor/Elizabethan blogs, if you would not mind emailing me and letting me know how you get the rights to the images on your site, I would most appreciate it! Is it a matter of using images that are public domain, or do you have to pay for licensing?

ERITudor (@) gmail (dot) com

The next article for BeingBess will be on Elizabeth's childhood, with a particular focus on her stellar education.

As always, I love and appreciate you all for reading, and look forward to the growth of this site, all for the glory of the great Elizabeth I of England! If you have friends who would enjoy reading BeingBess, I would be so thankful if you would let them know about this blog. The more, the merrier!

Sincerley,
Ashlie