Reign

[cactuswatcher]

It's still presumably the fall of 1559, as the interminable winter we saw last season has not yet started.

The facts

Princess Claude, the wife of the Duke of Lorraine, was married at the age of 11 and at the approximate time of the events in the episode is about 12. Her husband Charles was 16 at this time.

The real powers in France at this time were Mary's uncles the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine. They were in fact staunch Catholics and distant cousins of Princess Claude's husband.

With Protestantism on the rise in Scotland, Mary's Scottish government was drawing closer to England and away from the auld alliance with France.

Bathing: I think it was of Elizabeth I of England that I once read that she took a bath once a month whether she needed it or not.

Comments

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

There are many interesting figures from the actual time... I though one her uncles showed up last year, but her grandmother was interesting too...

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Yes, her Uncle Francis was portrayed as the callous general last season (before and in connection with the capture of Calais), and also making a cameo this year, without being named on the show, her Uncle Charles, the Cardinal, was the clergyman who crowned King Francis II in real life.