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dlgood for the correction last week.
This week we were told that the heir to the throne of Portugal is three years old, which turns out to be accurate and for the first time gives us a date for the action. It's 1557, Mary, Queen of Scots is fourteen and old enough to live as a wife according to the fashion of the day. Francis is 13 and at least according to English custom is still too young to move in with Mary. Calais is indeed in English hands.
Tomas (actually Tomé in Portuguese) is made up, as is Sebastian. But, what the heck, they're fun characters. That "Portuguese" dance was hilarious and the funniest line of the whole series so far was Queen Catherine asking the musicians to play on. The dance looked like a cross between a tango and an Apache dance. I don't think either partner will be going far on Dancing With the Stars any time soon.
In 1557, Mary, Queen of England is married to Phillip II, the king of the most powerful country in Europe, Spain. It is certainly fair to say that Portugal is having dynastic worries at the moment. So jumping into the fire with England's enemies wouldn't seem the most likely possibility for the anyone from the Portuguese Royal family. But where are the writers going to find a suitable guy from a Catholic country powerful enough to fit in the story? Austria? Lithuania-Poland? Yeah, they'd send troops to Scotland right away!
ETA I was in a rush this morning and forgot:
Mary's Scottish uncle - Mary had a number of legitimate Scottish uncles, but all of them died before the age of three. She had two illegitimate Scotttish uncles that made it to adulthood, but both of them were long dead. None of Mary's mother's sisters married Scotsmen. So maybe the uncle who shows up is an honorary 'uncle' as in he was some-guy-sleeping-with-mom
dlgood for the correction last week.This week we were told that the heir to the throne of Portugal is three years old, which turns out to be accurate and for the first time gives us a date for the action. It's 1557, Mary, Queen of Scots is fourteen and old enough to live as a wife according to the fashion of the day. Francis is 13 and at least according to English custom is still too young to move in with Mary. Calais is indeed in English hands.
Tomas (actually Tomé in Portuguese) is made up, as is Sebastian. But, what the heck, they're fun characters. That "Portuguese" dance was hilarious and the funniest line of the whole series so far was Queen Catherine asking the musicians to play on. The dance looked like a cross between a tango and an Apache dance. I don't think either partner will be going far on Dancing With the Stars any time soon.
In 1557, Mary, Queen of England is married to Phillip II, the king of the most powerful country in Europe, Spain. It is certainly fair to say that Portugal is having dynastic worries at the moment. So jumping into the fire with England's enemies wouldn't seem the most likely possibility for the anyone from the Portuguese Royal family. But where are the writers going to find a suitable guy from a Catholic country powerful enough to fit in the story? Austria? Lithuania-Poland? Yeah, they'd send troops to Scotland right away!
ETA I was in a rush this morning and forgot:
Mary's Scottish uncle - Mary had a number of legitimate Scottish uncles, but all of them died before the age of three. She had two illegitimate Scotttish uncles that made it to adulthood, but both of them were long dead. None of Mary's mother's sisters married Scotsmen. So maybe the uncle who shows up is an honorary 'uncle' as in he was some-guy-sleeping-with-mom
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Yup. Although, not on this show. They married Philip to Elizabeth Valois in the pilot. Oops. Best not to fudge too much...
And yes, Portugal would eventually have dynastic problems. By 1580, they'd had two kings die without heirs (the last one was a Cardinal) and got annexed by Phillip. During this time frame, however, they should be strongly aligned with England.
My favorite Disconnect last night was the bit where Mary wants to break the marriage contract with Francis to marry Tomas because "it's what my mother would want" ... her mother, Mary of Guise is the daughter of a very wealthy French family. I could not imagine any marriage the Guise would prefer. (And they were already supplying troops to Scotland.) Speaking of which, where are her evil uncles? They should be showing up around court stirring up some trouble sooner or later...
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Well he did marry her, but after many of the characters of this show were dead or back in Scotland. ;o)
Speaking of which, where are her evil uncles?
I agree. If you need conniving plotters, why not go for the real thing? And yes, as I mentioned after the pilot, Mary of Guise was a big reason Queen Mary was to marry Francis. All of which reminds me I need an ETA above.