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THE GIRL KING (2015) is the story of Kristina of Sweden, an enigmatic young woman in conflict – torn between reason and passion; between her woman’s body and being raised as a prince; between the ancient and modern worlds and between the brilliance of her educated mind and the terror of emotions she cannot understand.

Upon her ascent to the Swedish throne after the death of her father, Kristina is thrust into a labyrinth of power and tradition, where a court of austere, Lutheran men view her as a “hot and dry” woman who refuses to marry and produce an heir to fulfill her destiny. In a country forged through war, Kristina wants peace and an end to the Thirty Years War between Catholics and Protestants. She dreams of education for all her subjects. Amidst the conflicting agendas in the court, she finds sanctuary and discovers love with her lady-in-waiting, the beautiful and elegant, Ebba Sparre. This does not bode well for her Chancellor and regent, Axel Oxenstierna, who expects her to uphold tradition in a fragile political climate by carrying on her family bloodline with his son Johan. Axel is also wary of the Catholic presence at court, led by the French Ambassador, Hector Pierre Chanut, a devout Catholic who is determined to convert the Queen and deliver her to Rome. He appeals to her curious mind, by inviting his friend, philosopher René Descartes to be her teacher. Soon the forces around the queen realize that Ebba is the key to controlling her, but they underestimate Kristina’s brilliant mind and her drive to be free.

highlandsummerqueen

historical women 16/?: Queen Christina, 1626-1689

Christina is remembered as one of the most educated women of the 1600s. She was fond of books, manuscripts, paintings, and sculptures. With her interest in religion, philosophy, mathematics and alchemy, she attracted many scientists to Stockholm, wanting the city to become the “Athens of the North”. She was intelligent, fickle and moody; she rejected what the sexual role of a woman was at the time. She caused a scandal when she decided not to marry and in 1654 when she abdicated her throne and converted to Roman Catholicism… At the age of 28, the “Minerva of the North” moved to Rome. The Pope described Christina as “a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame”.

saoirse24

Mary, Queen of Scots (Dec 8th 1542 - Feb 8th 1587) was Queen of Scotland and Queen Consort of France (Jul 10th 1559 - Dec 5th 1560). A great-great-granddaughter of Henry VII through his daughter Margaret Tudor, Mary (last name: Stuart) was the greatest rival to her cousin Elizabeth I for the English Throne after the death of Elizabeth’s sister Mary Tudor.

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worldhistoryfacts

An example of ancient Greek musical notation. This is a hymn to Apollo at Delphi, and one can see the musical instructions above each line of Greek words. This system of musical notation was developed by the 6th Century BCE.

historicaltimes

The 3245 year old seal on Tutankhamen’s tomb before it was broken, 1922.

via reddit

Did you know?? - After Pope Gregory IX (1145 to 1241, AD) associated cats, especially black cats, with devil worship. Cats throughout Europe were exterminated in droves. This sudden lack of cats lead to the spread of disease because infected rats ran free. The most devastating of these diseases was the Bibonic Plague, which killed 100 million people.

#history #did you know #learning #plague #pope #religion #facts #fun facts #love history #fun learning #wow #cats #catstagram

queenmarytudor

Mary was officially forgiven, but neither her or Henry could entirely forget the past. The king never fully trusted her, wondering often whether her capitulation had been genuine and whether she was concealing her true feelings every time she met him. He suspected she no longer loved him. Whether she did or not is impossible to say. Perhaps there was some residual affection, but Henry’s behaviour as time went by diminished even that. Mary adopted towards her father an attitude of respectful but remote quietness, a kind of stillness that would not attract attention. The king’s bouts of sentimentality were unpredictable and his basic requirement of Mary was unquestioning obedience. In fact, he made sure, in his treatment of her friends over the next five years, that she understood fully her utter dependence on him, not just for bed and board, but for life itself.

Mary Tudor The First Queen by Linda Porter, page 127, published 2007 (via queenmarytudor)

agirland-herbooks-deactivated20

I am to wear white and green, as Tudor princess. Really, I think of myself as the one and only Tudor princess, for my sister Mary is too young to do more than be brought in by her nurse at suppertime, and taken out again. I make sure Mary’s nursemaids are quite clear that she is to be shown to our new sister-in-law, and then go. There is no profit in letting her sit up at the table, or gorge on crystallized plums. Rich things make her sick and if she gets tired she will bawl. She is only five years old, far too young for state occasions. Unlike me; I am all but twelve. I have to play my part in the wedding; it would not be complete without me. My lady grandmother, the king’s mother, said so herself

Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory (via ksull95)

katybirdy95

I am not too sure if this has been done before, but here is a book series based on the wives of Henry VIII. I really love these covers as you can tell how much effort the artist has put into them.

Firstly, we have have the accurate Tudor fashion in the style that the individual wives favoured most and the startling likeness that each lady has to her portrait.

Secondly, the artist has taken into consideration the image of Henry as we see him gradually age as he moves onto another wife - we see him first as a young, viral man at the beginning of the series to the old, lecher that he became.

The only thing I would suggest that would have been a great detail would have been to lose the beard when he was married to Anne Boleyn as she detested beards and made Henry shave it off, which was why he (like the petulant child he was) grew it back after her execution and refused to shave it off, possibly to spit her. It also would have been better to make him slightly skinnier whist being with Jane and Anne Boleyn as he only gained weight after Jane died, but then the one with Anne might just be his jacket bulking him up. Another good detail would have been to make Anna von Cleves blonde, instead of light brown, but other than that the depiction of the Tudor King is spot on.

Lastly, I really liked the fact that you had the prominent wife in his life at that particular moment next to him, while the other wives waiting patiently in the shadows for Henry to take notice of them and the fact that those wives are dressed in the fashion of the prominent wife, which I think is a good idea as the Queen would have been the one to lead the fashion that her ladies would follow and then when you see the “shadow” wives feathered in their books, they are dressed in their own favoured fashion.

All in all, a really thoughtful cover design and I only wish that novels now a days would take the time and add the details that really pull the story together, I mean sometimes you can see historical novels, but the woman is wearing the wrong style of fashion for that time period the book is featured in.

aenglaland

The ruins of Rievaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire. Established in 1132 and dissolved in 1538 by the orders of Henry the 8th during the period of the dissolution of the English Monasteries. It was one of the largest and wealthiest abbeys in England.