#FridayFun – Poll: Which is your favourite Tudor monarch?

It was quite a hard choice for me because I find all the Tudor monarchs intriguing and I nearly voted for Elizabeth 1st, I notice Edward never got a vote but he was very interesting to, because of his untimely death he achieved little but during his short tenure as king he proved he was strong minded resolute and determined like his father, and began the process of turning England into a Protestant country, ‘What is ‘ is the question on one’s lips of what he could have achieved as king had he been allowed to live longer, Elizabeth 1st and Mary 1st are categorised by the former being a success and the latter a failure, but they to are both enigmas, and both suffered as a result of being the two discarded daughters of Henry V111, Mary more so as she was no child and was aware of the consequences of her fathers actions, but she knew a mothers love, something which was denied to her younger half sister, Lady Jane Grey was the Victorian ideal of martyrdom, yet she like all the Tudors showed she had the capability to rule and her death by execution before she had reached her twentieth year was very very sad, she was a victim of mens ambition and in the end Tudor politics decreed her death, Henry V111, Renaissance prince, tyrant wife killer, despot hero he has many titles attributed to him and he was a combination of all of these, how is it possible that a sunny natured golden boy became king to an adoring public yet by the time he breathed his last, he was nothing but a bloated carcass with the blood of many on his conscious, it is his father the quite unobtrusive Henry V11 the Victor of Bosworth I find the most intriguing, his lean pale face looks out at us from his portrait, there is nothing of his most infamous child Henry V111 in his features and he was described as rather dour caring little for splendour and extravagance, did he become king because he was bred with his mothers burning ambition in him from a young age, or was it she who instilled in him that need to whet her own desires? Margaret Beaufort nearly lost her life in giving this son his and the years of intrigue, the usurpation of Edward V saw her dream slowly become a reality, when her son with his bride was crowned she became the most important mother in the land, yet at the age of thirteen her young immature body was cruelly ravaged by childbirth, and she was fated to never bear another child, whenever I think of Margaret and Henry I think mummy’s boy and Henry must have adored her, she was clever brave devious and very ambitious, his beautiful queen he clearly loved but their union was initially a plot hatched between two cunning mothers, Elizabeth Woodville the queen mother and Margaret Beaufort, but it was a clever one and with the popular Edward 1V’s daughter at his side Henry kept his hold on his crown, he was devastated when his heir Arthur died and later when his queen also died from childbirth, with their youngest daughter and last child Katherine, but he still had his guide and mentor the indomitable Margaret with him, he did not fight on the field of Bosworth which had made Richard 111’s detractors brand him a coward, but self preservation was the key, and it was his step father whose intervention won the crown for him, he was no show off like his successor but had a clever astute mind and he amassed a great fortune which Henry V111 inherited on his demise, he was plagued by pretenders throughout his reign but successfully dealt with them and because of his union with Elizabeth of York, peace had come finally to England, the crown was passed in a most sublime fashion to his heir and he is remembered for being the founder of the Tudor dynasty, like many I find all the Tudor monarchs fascinating but this quite dour king I find the most, he was like a shadow compared to his descendants but achieved much in his reign, his son and the great Elizabeth were glittering monarchs who believed in the power of dress but he scorned such pomp, and dressed simply, when young he was described as tall fair and handsome with bad teeth however, but dentistry was no art in early times, his death mask shows he had a bony face with jutting cheekbones which coincides with his portraits and in looks he was very similar to his mother, his childhood was difficult but he had his uncle to guide him his dead fathers brother, never knowing his father he was very close to his mother, like one parent children often are, unusual for the age his grandson Edward V1 left a diary how wonderful it would have been had this intriguing prince left a diary also, his innermost thoughts and feelings towards his mother his queen his children, his capture of the crown, how he felt about Richard 111 the pretenders Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, but alas we have only the ancient sources that provide us with accounts of those days, from them only we build up a picture of this king and his dynasty, which turned out to be in Englands eyes, the most fascinating that ever ruled this little island of ours.