Fact Of The Day

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

30. The imprisonment was hardly vile or dire.

31. He was granted a monthly cash stipend by the government to pay for his food and fuel.

32. He was allotted 2 manservants to take care of his needs.

33. And he was hardly lonely, as, except for John or Jack, who was imprisoned someplace else in the Tower of London, all the Dudley boys--Ambrose, Robert or Robin, Henry or Hal, and our hero Guildford and Gil were all imprisoned in the same room. Which gave rise to a piece of artistic graffiti, which can still be seen, if one ever visits the Tower of London. The graffiti consisting of . . .

acorns and oak leaves for Ambrose,
roses for Robert or Robin,
honeysuckle for Henry or Hal,
and gillies or carnations for Guildford or Gil,
+the Dudley 2-tailed lion
and the Warwick ragged bear and staff.

34. There is also another piece of graffiti, which is associated with our hero. The word "Jane" or "Iane," as it was spelt at that time, which while the artist is unknown, it is believed to have been done by our hero in memory of his wife Lady Jane Grey, and which can be seen like the other graffiti, if one ever visits the Tower.

To be continued . . .

Next time: the trial.

[ER]

The average woman speaks about 20,000 words a day, the average man 13,000, though Trappist monks may be throwing the male numbers off a bit.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

The trial

35. A trial in name only.
--No defense lawyer there to defend the defendant.
--No right to question hostile witnesses.
--No right to call own witnesses.
--No right to speak up in one's own defense.
--And a panel of judges that were picked as sure guilty votes even before the trial began.

36. Thus, the 5 defendants--our hero, his wife, his older brother Ambrose, his younger brother Henry or Hal, and Archbishop Cranmer--pleaded guilty. Sentences were passed. And then everybody went home.

37. That could not happen today. Not because of the above reasons, but, because the U.S Supreme Court, said, which would align the U.S. with much of the world, that when a person under the age of 18 commits an offense, even a capital offense, cannot then be sentenced to death, even when they reach the age of 18. For to do so would be cruel and unusual.

38. Then they strengthened that ruling with another ruling that said, when a person under the age of 18 commits an offense, even a capital offense, they cannot be sentenced to life without benefit of parole. They can be turned down when up for parole, but they have to be offered parole. For not to do so would be cruel and unusual.

To be continued . . .
Next time: the execution

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .
The Execution

39. We know why they were executed. Except, the execution does not make any sense. If she was no threat to the monarchy, then he was even less of a threat.  If it was meant to stabilize the monarchy, it was the 1st in a long series of mistakes that destabilized the monarchy.

40. The only reason that I have ever seen that makes any sense is the possible belief at that time that if he had been allowed to live, and his wife had been executed, he would never have stopped trying to avenge his wife, so he was dangerous in that way and had to be disposed of.

41. If no one then or now knew it, then his wife knew it. That he was as much being martyred for his faith, as she was.

42. Indeed, his faith may have been stronger than hers. When he asked for a Protestant minister to accompany him to his execution and was turned down, he was offered the same Catholic priest that accompanied his wife to her execution, and he turned that down, so he went to his death without spiritual support.

43. That does not say that he went without support. He was accompanied by several young men, as a sample of people who knew his execution and his wife's, was bogus.

44. His father gave a speech, ere his execution, which was recorded. His wife gave a speech, ere her execution, which was recorded. He did not give a speech. Actually, he did, which was not recorded unfortunately, except we know it was s short speech.

45. Higginbotham thus gives him a short speech in her book Her Highness the Traitor. Which is not uncommon, as when executions were still public, the last words of the executed were sold at the execution, even if they never came from the executed, but were made up by someone else.

46. We do know that, though some have said otherwise, he did not shed unmanly tears on his way to his execution on Tower Hill.

47. The same place his father and grandfather were executed. That's keeping it in the family.

48. His wife was executed in the more private Tower Green within the Tower of London. If being seen executed by a hundred people is private.

49. We don't know how many people turned out to see him executed. Though, as many as 10,000 people are known to turn out for an execution, when they were still public spectacles. And his ., . .
--age
--his family connections
--and his good looks
would draw a big crowd.

And they were both executed.

Next time: the aftermath, the age question, and the wedding customs of the medieval 1%.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

The age question

50. At first, it was thought, that--typically--he was older than his wife.

51. Now, there is some thought that he--atypically--was younger than his wife. Thus, if she was only 16 or 17, when executed, he may have been no more than 16, when executed, and he may have been only 15.

52. Which gives him the dubious distinction of being the youngest prisoner held in the Tower of London to be executed in the vicinity of the Tower.

53. And while it is not usual for 15-year-old boys to marry, if he did marry at 15, he was not the only one. Matilda. (Remember her.) She married a 15-year-old French noble, but, instead of being an year or two older than her husband, as in other cases, she was a decade or two older than her husband. (Which, frankly, creeps me out.) Though, she did all right for herself, as even as a teenager, her husband was highly regarded by his older contemporaries.

54. There was at least one other 15-year-old, who married a woman a decade or more older than him.

To be continued . . .

Next time: wedding customs of the medieval 1%

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .
Medieval marriage customs of the 1%

55. Boys and girls could be betrothed to each other at the age of 3 or 4. A betrothal being a promise to marry at some agreed upon date in the future.

56. Princess Aurora. Prince Philip.
2 adjoining kingdoms
2 fathers

If you look at the beginning of the 1959 animated version of Sleeping Beauty, you'll see a very young Prince Philip, with his parents, there at the ceremony. Which at that time Prince Philip was probably betrothed to Princess Aurora, with the agreement that the two would marry 16 years in the future, when both would still be in their teens. Thus, no wonder his father was upset, when he came back and said he was going to marry a peasant chick he met in the forest. For if Princess Aurora's father took the rejection of his daughter as a personal insult, it could lead to a war between the two kingdoms.

57. Boys and girls were married to each other when they were still pre-teens.

Again a bit of fiction, but there is probably some truth to it. A pre-teen couple were kneeling in front of the altar, being married by the priest. The bride was well behaved, but the groom could not stop fidgeting, and if he was not fidgeting, he was looking wildly about him. This so irritated the bride's mother, his future mother-in-law, that she wanted to get up and just smack the kid. LOL!

Of course, after they were married, they would be separated, with the bride going back to live with her parents, and the groom going back to live with his parents, till some agreed upon date in the future. As for teenage couples . . .

58. Apparently, at this time, the age of sexual consent for girls was 14. (Think Juliet.) Though, there was sometimes agreement between the two families, that the bride and groom would not only sleep in separate beds, but in separate rooms, for a year or two, till the bride was older.

59. And if you think 14 was young, apparently, the age of sexual consent for boys was only 12. Of course, I know of not instances of a 12-year-old having to try to being a husband to his wife. The youngest I know for a boy is 15, with several cases of this, including this one.

60. With both bride and groom being in their teens, the couple would live with the groom's parents, again as in this case, till such time both the bride and groom were in their 20s, at which time, they were considered old enough to go off and live on their own.

To be continued . . .

Next time: the aftermath

[ER]

I know a woman who has had intimate relations with three members of the same family, and she thinks the others don't know about the....others.

[indianasmith]

I know a woman who has had intimate relations with three members of the same family, and she thinks the others don't know about the....others.

At some point I would like to hear that story! 

[ER]

I know a woman who has had intimate relations with three members of the same family, and she thinks the others don't know about the....others.

At some point I would like to hear that story! 

Oh, Indy, you know how much I hate talking about myself...

[ER]

I know a woman who has had intimate relations with three members of the same family, and she thinks the others don't know about the....others.

At some point I would like to hear that story! 

Oh, Indy, you know how much I hate talking about myself...

Ahem, fact of the day, I was only kidding about it being me! (Thought maybe I should make that clear.)

But okay, new fact of the day: Bethesda is working on a VR version of Fallout 4. Can you imagine getting attacked by a Deathclaw in virtual reality?

[Flangepart]

I'll see your death claw and raise you a desolation hangnail.

[ER]

There is mounting evidence that we've had our globes upside down all through history, and the southern hemisphere may be pointing up toward the bulk of the surrounding galaxy, and the northern hemisphere may be pointing down.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing . . .

Aftermath
Hindsight being 29/20. We know what went wrong, and what went wrong caused people to die. Yet, despite more nuanced portrayals of the people involved, both non-fiction (Hartwig) and fiction (Higginbotham, The 3 Janes) we are still getting it wrong, because we do not question the "facts," as we know them. Thus, if we continue to get the past wrong, what does that say about the present and the future. Will we get them wrong for the same reason? And will people die, because we got it wrong?

--Finis--

Next time: a billion here. a billion there. and you know what. after awhile it adds up.

[ER]

Nuns never laugh at abortion jokes.

[BoyScoutKevin]

The Dirty 30 - 6, or, the 2 Dozen Films that Earned O'er a Billion $ (Unadjusted for Inflation) at the International Box Office (Between 1993 and 2015, Inclusive)

Beginning with . . .
1993 Jurassic park

1997 Titanic

1999 Star Wars, episode 1 : the phantom menace

2003 The Lord of the rings : the return of the king

2006 Pirates of the Caribbean : dead man's chest (HoM)

2008 The Dark Knight

2009 Avatar

2010 Toy story 3 (HoM)
Alice in wonderland (HofM)

2011 Pirates of the Caribbean : on stranger tides (HoM)
Transformers : dark of the moon
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2

2012 Marvels : the avengers (HoM)
Sky fall
The Dark Knight rises
The Hobbit : an unexpected journey

2013 Frozen (HoM)
Iron Man 3 (HoM)

2014 Transformers : age of extinction

2015 Star Wars : the force awakens (HofM)
Avengers : age of Ultron (HoM)
Jurassic World
Furious 7
Minions

And how many have you seen?

Next time: the slate of films from House of Mouse (HoM) for 2017