Is there a period of history that intrigues you? I am enthralled with the various European kings and queens of the 1500's - Henry VIII and his many wives, Ferdinand and Isabella and their children, etc. etc. etc. The conspiracies, plots, and drama....it's better than fiction. In fact, I've begun reading a non-fiction book about Anne Boleyn (I'm not usually a non-fiction fan, but I make an exception with this subject matter). I've found myself looking up real facts about historical figures after reading various historical fiction which turned out just to whet my interested in this period further.
I know the conditions of the peasants of this period were horrendous, but with all the stress involved in court life, I think I probably would have preferred the former rather than that of a courtier.
It also strikes me that what is deemed attractive during one phase in history is drastically different than it is in the present day. I find it hard to think that certain figures were so desirable after seeing their pictures. For example King Henry VIII we all know this version (when he was older),
but do you know the "rock star" version. He was considered quite the hottie in his day....what do you think?
I definitely prefer the modern version of young Henry (yummy)
And what about Anne Boleyn herself...the woman behind the reformation (okay, it wasn't just her, but she had big hand in it).
Modern day version of the beautiful Anne...
What about Katherine Howard, Henry's 5th wife....she was supposedly a knock out....
What will people 500 years from now think of Angelina, Brad, Jen, George....will they even care?!
4 comments:
How funny - I never really thought about it like that. Oh, Leo as Romeo was a nice choice in casting too.
I have been meaning to watch the Other Boelyn Girl - I have dvr'ed
It always cracks me up to see pictures of women that were suposedly hot stuff in their time because compared to today they really are not. I'm sure they will say the same thing about us in the future.
I love history but my time period and intrest is with early American History up thru the Civil War. That was part of the reason Dave and I took our vacation in Savannah this summer. It was full of history from those times and I loved it! :)
I love this time period, too. And The Tudors...just love it...but it is not historically accurate at all. What I try to remember about the portraits is that too is stylized for the time. It's not like a photograph...so I am not sure that we are seeing what they really looked like.
Ditto to what Kat said. I also suspect that some of his rock star-ness was the allure of powerful men throughout history. I mean, no one would say that Bill Gates is a looker, but I'm betting he could get just about any woman he wanted. If he weren't married, of course.
It is decidedly true that the definition of beauty changes quite drastically. Just look at the last 50 years. In the 50s, the buxom, curvy woman was the beauty, today it is the extremely thin, almost androgynous women. I want to go back to the 50s!
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