You can't really see it clearly, but it shows the family line from Edward III to Henry VIII.
Just to the upper right of John of Gaunt's (3rd son of Edward III) name is that of Katherine Swynford. She was his mistress for many years, had four children by him and was later his third wife. She is a direct ancestor of the Tudor family line.
Her story was told in a historical fiction novel, "Katherine," by Anya Seton. It was one of my favorite books growing up, and I named our Katherine for her. Bob named her for Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew," but I named her for this person. It was awesome to see her so prominently featured on the family tree.
One of the many Margarets in the royal families of England and Scotland. Our Margaret is a namesake of many of those great women although her nickname, Meg, is from the oldest sister in the Louisa May Alcott novel, "Little Women," another of my childhood favorites.
It was fun to see the names of both my girls on this family tree.
Why Katherine of Aragon had to be divorced by Henry VIII, besides the fact that he was bored with an aging wife (like many men). Poor Katherine - Henry was probably much to blame for the deaths of her babies. Besides the fact that infant mortality rates were high, there is considerable evidence that Henry was syphilitic, and congenital syphilis cut a wide swath through the royal infants of Europe.
The infamous Anne Boleyn who was simply out for the main chance like many young women. Not wanting to be just another mistress, she withheld sex from Henry for years. Finally pregnant with what was supposed to be the male heir Henry so desperately desired, she gave birth to Elizabeth I, most probably the greatest monarch in England's history.
After miscarrying two male infants, Anne had to be disposed of since Henry had to have a male heir (at least he thought he did) and besides, he had already cast his roving eye on Jane Seymour. So adultery charges were trumped up against Anne, and she was beheaded by the French executioner brought over specially to sever her head with his fine French sword.
Besides sex Henry's most important activity was eating. In one book I have, it says that he weighed over 350 pounds by the time he died. That's a lot of eating! Henry's court numbered over 1,000 people so Henry's first project at Hampton Court was to build the vast kitchen complex. By 1529 he had quadrupled its original size!
Here are several pictures of various rooms in the kitchen complex. Their purpose is pretty obvious.
Here is the room where much of the king's plate was stored - primarily pewter and silver.
And of course you have to wash your food down with something! Water wasn't that safe so people drank ales and wine. Henry could put down a lot of wine!
In my mind's eye I see a young serving girl carrying a loaded tray up this lane. It was cobblestoned and ill lit by smoky torches. Dogs snapped at her heels for a bite, and rats scurried in the darkness. Maybe a drunk servitor tried to grope her in the chilly evening. It can't have been easy to work in the kitchens.
And that wonderfully fattening food was served to him here in the King's Dining Room.
Henry was typical of monarchs of his era in his attitudes, especially about women. In his desperation to have a male heir (the only legitimate one he had by Jane Seymour was a frail, sickly kid who died young), he destroyed several women's lives and became notorious for all time. I keep remembering the old adage English schoolkids used to chant to help them remember Henry's wives: "divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived."
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