Mary Tudor, Queen of France
Mary Tudor, the third daughter of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, was an English princess. Mary became the wife of Louis XII of France, more than 30 years her senior. Following his death, she married Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, the marriage, which was performed secretly in France, took place during her brothers reign and without his consent. This necessitated the intervention of Thomas Wolsey and although the couple were eventually pardoned by Henry VIII, Mary was the fourth child of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the youngest to survive infancy. She was born at Sheen Palace, most probably in March 1496, a privy seal bill dated from midsummer 1496 authorizes a payment of fifty shillings to her nurse, Anne Skeron. Also, Erasmus stated that she was four years old when he visited the Royal nursery in 1499–1500, at age six, she was given her own household, complete with a staff of gentlewomen assigned to wait upon her, a schoolmaster, and a physician. She was given instruction in French, music, dancing, as children and her brother, the future King Henry VIII, shared a close friendship.
He would name his first surviving child, the future Queen Mary I and they lost their mother when Mary was just seven, and given the number of bills paid to her apothecary between 1504 and 1509, it would appear that Marys own health was fragile. Known in her youth as one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe, in 1506, during a visit from Philip I of Castile, Mary was called upon to entertain the guests and playing the lute and clavicord. The following year, King Philip died, and on 21 December 1507, Mary was betrothed to his son Charles, the betrothal was called off in 1513. Instead, Cardinal Wolsey negotiated a treaty with France, and on 9 October 1514, at the age of 18. One of the Maids of Honour who attended her in France was Anne Boleyn, following Louis death, the new King Francis I made attempts to arrange a second marriage for the beautiful widow. Mary had been unhappy with her marriage of state to Louis, as at this time she was almost certainly already in love with Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
Henry was aware of his sisters feelings, letters from 1515 indicate that Mary agreed to wed Louis only on condition that if she survived him, Henry wanted any future marriage to be to his advantage. The Kings council, not wishing to see Brandon gain further power at Court, were opposed to the match. Meanwhile, rumours swirled in France that she would wed either the Duke of Lorraine or the Duke of Savoy, a pair of French friars actually went so far as to warn Mary that she must not wed Brandon, because he had traffickings with the devil. When Henry sent Brandon to bring Mary back to England in late January 1515, once in France, Mary persuaded Brandon to abandon this pledge. The couple wed in secret at the Hotel de Clugny on 3 March 1515, in the presence of just ten people, technically this was treason, as Brandon had married a Royal Princess without Henrys consent
Robert E. Sherwood
Robert Emmet Sherwood was an American playwright and screenwriter. His aunts included the notable American portrait artists Lydia Field Emmet, Jane Emmet de Glehn and his first cousin, Sherwood was educated at Fay School, Milton Academy and Harvard University. He fought with the Royal Highlanders of Canada, CEF in Europe during World War I and was wounded, after his return to the U. S. he began working as a movie critic for such magazines as Life and Vanity Fair. The career of Robert E. Sherwood was one of the members of the Algonquin Round Table. He was close friends with Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley, who were on the staff of Vanity Fair with Sherwood when the Round Table began meeting in 1919, author Edna Ferber was a good friend. Sherwood stood 6 feet 8 inches tall, Dorothy Parker, who was 5 feet 4 inches, once commented that when she and Robert Benchley walked down the street together, they resembled a walking pipe organ. When asked at a party how long he had known Sherwood, Benchley stood on a chair, raised his hand to the ceiling, and said, I knew Bob Sherwood back when he was only this tall.
Sherwoods first Broadway play, The Road to Rome, a comedy concerning Hannibals botched invasion of Rome, introduced one of his favorite themes, many of his dramatic works employed variations of that motif, including Idiots Delight, which won Sherwood the first of four Pulitzer Prizes. According to legend, he admitted to the gossip columnist Lucius Beebe, “The trouble with me is that I start with a big message and end up with nothing but good entertainment. ”Sherwoods Broadway success soon attracted the attention of Hollywood. While some of his work went uncredited, his films included many adaptations of his plays and he collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock and Joan Harrison in writing the screenplay for Rebecca. With Europe in the midst of World War II, Sherwood set aside his anti-war stance to support the fight against the Third Reich. His 1940 play about Russias invasion of Finland, There Shall Be No Night, was produced by the Playwrights Company which he co-founded and starred Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, katharine Cornell produced and starred in a 1957 TV adaptation on NBC.
Sherwood publicly ridiculed isolationist Charles Lindbergh as a Nazi with a Nazis Olympian contempt for all democratic processes, during this period Sherwood served as a speechwriter for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He recounted the experience in his book Roosevelt and Hopkins, An Intimate History, which won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, Sherwood is credited with originating the phrase that eventually evolved to arsenal of democracy, a frequent catchphrase in Roosevelts wartime speeches. Sherwood was quoted on May 12,1940 by the New York Times, This country is already, in effect, the 1946 film, which explores changes in the lives of three servicemen after they return home from war, earned Sherwood an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. Sherwood died of an attack in New York City in 1955. A production of Small War on Murray Hill debuted at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on January 3,1957, Sherwood was portrayed by the actor Nick Cassavetes in the 1994 film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.
The Road to Rome The Love Nest The Queens Husband, adapted into the 1931 film The Royal Bed, waterloo Bridge - adapted into two American films and two Brazilian soap-operas This is New York, adapted into the 1932 film Two Kinds of Women
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII, Henry is best known for his six marriages and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. Despite his resulting excommunication, Henry remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings to England. Besides asserting the supremacy over the Church of England, he greatly expanded royal power during his reign. Charges of treason and heresy were commonly used to quash dissent, and he achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich and his contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be an attractive and accomplished king, and he has been described as one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne.
He was an author and composer, as he aged, Henry became severely obese and his health suffered, contributing to his death in 1547. He is frequently characterised in his life as a lustful, harsh. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI, born 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of the young Henrys six siblings, only three – Arthur, Prince of Wales and Mary – survived infancy and he was baptised by Richard Fox, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, and was inducted into the Order of the Bath soon after. The day after the ceremony he was created Duke of York, in May 1495, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. Henry was given an education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French.
Not much is known about his early life – save for his appointments – because he was not expected to become king, as Duke of York, Henry used the arms of his father as king, differenced by a label of three points ermine. In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15 of sweating sickness, Arthurs death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother, the 10-year-old Henry. After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1502, Henry VII gave the boy few tasks. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public, as a result, the young Henry would ascend the throne untrained in the exacting art of kingship
Pedro de Cordoba
Pedro de Cordoba was an American actor. De Cordoba was born in New York City to parents who were French and his first film was Cecil B. DeMilles version of Carmen, and he became a popular leading man in Hollywood. His Broadway career cast him with such actresses as Jane Cowl. Later, his deeply resonant speaking voice made him perfectly suited to talking pictures and he enjoyed a career as a busy character actor in Hollywood, from the 1930s through to the end of his life. He was most often cast as aristocratic, or clerical characters of Hispanic origin, as in The Keys of the Kingdom, on rare occasions, he would be cast in the role of a villain. His living skeleton sideshow character hides fugitive Robert Cummings in his carnival wagon overnight in the Alfred Hitchcock film Saboteur. He was a devout Catholic and was well read and knowledgeable about the Catholic faith
Thomas Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey was an English churchman, statesman and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the Kings almoner, the 1515 appointment of Wolsey as a cardinal by Pope Leo X gave him precedence even over the Archbishop of Canterbury. The highest political position Wolsey attained was Lord Chancellor, the Kings chief adviser, in that position, he enjoyed great freedom and was often depicted as an alter rex. After failing to negotiate an annulment of Henrys marriage to Catherine of Aragon and he retreated to York to fulfill his ecclesiastical duties as Archbishop of York, a position he nominally held, but had neglected during his years in government. He was recalled to London to answer to charges of treason — a common charge used by Henry against ministers who fell out of favour —, Thomas Wolsey was born about 1473, the son of Robert Wolsey of Ipswich and his wife Joan Daundy. Widespread traditions identify his father as a butcher and a cattle dealer, Wolsey attended Ipswich School and Magdalen College School before studying theology at Magdalen College, Oxford.
On 10 March 1498 he was ordained as a priest in Marlborough and remained in Oxford, first as the Master of Magdalen College School, between 1500 and 1509 he held the living of Church of Saint Mary, Limington, in Somerset. In 1502 he left and became a chaplain to Henry Deane, archbishop of Canterbury and he was taken into the household of Sir Richard Nanfan, who made Wolsey executor of his estate. After Nanfans death in 1507, Wolsey entered the service of King Henry VII, Wolsey benefitted from Henry VIIs introduction of measures to curb the power of the nobility - the king was willing to favour those from more humble backgrounds. Henry VII appointed Wolsey royal chaplain, in this position Wolsey served as secretary to Richard Foxe, who recognized Wolseys innate ability and dedication and appreciated his industry and willingness to take on tedious tasks. Thomas Wolseys remarkable rise to power from humble origins testifies to his intelligence, administrative ability, ambition for power, in April 1508, Wolsey was sent to Scotland to discuss with King James IV rumours of the renewal of the auld alliance.
Wolseys rise coincided with the accession of the new English monarch, Henry VIII, whose character and diplomatic mindset differed significantly from those of his father. In 1509 Henry appointed Wolsey to the post of Almoner, a position that gave him a seat on the Privy Council, providing an opportunity to raise his profile and to establish a rapport with the King. A factor in Wolseys rise was the young Henry VIIIs relative lack of interest in the details of governing during his early years, Henry soon appointed to his Privy Council individuals more sympathetic to his own views and inclinations. Warham and Foxe, who failed to share the Kings enthusiasm for the French war which started in 1512, fell from power, in 1515, Warham resigned as Lord Chancellor, probably under pressure from the King and from Wolsey, and Henry appointed Wolsey in his place. Wolsey carefully tried to destroy or neutralise the influence of other courtiers, Wolseys rise to a position of great secular power paralleled his increased responsibilities in the Church.
He became a Canon of Windsor in 1511, the year that he became a member of the Privy Council. In 1514 he was made Bishop of Lincoln, and Archbishop of York in the same year, Pope Leo X made him a cardinal in 1515, with the titular church S. Cæciliæ trans Tiberim
Flora Finch
Flora Finch was an English-born film actress who starred in over 300 silent films, including over 200 for the Vitagraph Studios film company. Finch was born into a hall and travelling theatrical family in London and was taken to the United States as a young child. She kept up the tradition and worked in theatre and the vaudeville circuit right up until her 30s. She had her first film roles at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company starting in 1908, there she worked with Fatty Arbuckle, Mack Sennett and Charlie Chaplin amongst others. Starting in 1910 at Vitagraph, she was paired with John Bunny for the first of 160 very popular shorts made between 1910 and 1915 and these shorts, known as Bunnygraphs and Bunnyfinchgraphs, established Finch and Bunny as the first popular comedy team in films. The duo became a trio, when Mabel Normand arrived at the studio. After Bunnys death in 1915 she continued to make comedy shorts and she started her own production company, Flora Finch Productions, but was never able to regain her popularity.
One of her roles in the silent years was Aunt Susan in Paul Lenis The Cat. She found film work in the era, but only in small supporting parts. The Scarlet Letter gave her one of her more substantial roles in sound films and her last film was The Women. Most of her films are now lost, Flora Finch died at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles from blood poisoning. She was taken to the hospital after a streptococcus infection followed an accidental cut to her arm, the infection spread beyond control and the actress lapsed into a coma from bronchial pneumonia. Finch was married to Harold March, apparently they had no children, Flora Finch at the Internet Movie Database Flora Finch at Women Film Pioneers Project Literature on Flora Finch Biography at nytimes. com Flora Finch at Find a Grave
Ruth Shepley
Ruth Shepley was an American stage actress from Providence, Rhode Island who appeared in comedies such as It Pays to Advertise. A Broadway performer, she was trim, with blonde hair, Shepley was a close friend of Helen Hayes and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Shepleys debut as an actress came in 1908 at the Bijou Theatre. She appeared in All For A Girl, subsequent performances at the same venue included acting in A Gentleman of Leisure, The Brute, The Fatted Calf, Nearly Married, and It Pays To Advertise. Quite a few of her stage work came under the management of David Belasco. Her most noted production was The Boomerang in which Shepley played the part of Grace Tyler at the Belasco Theatre, in 1921 Shepley appeared at the Cort Theatre in Her Salary Man. The following year she made her first London performance in Lawful Larceny and her final work as an actress came with Helen Hayes in Ladies and Gentlemen, a production staged in Santa Barbara, California. During World War I Shepley was a captain in the American Womens Voluntary Services, in World War II she was featured in an eight-month tour of the Pacific Rim in Dear Ruth.
The entertainment was under the auspices of the United Services Organization, Shepley married Gordon Sarre in 1920, a union which was dissolved in 1932. She was survived by her husband, the New York surgeon Dr. Beverly C. Smith, whom she married in 1932 and she resided at 28 East 73rd Street in Greenwich, Connecticut. Ruth Shepley at the Internet Broadway Database
Louis XII of France
Louis XII was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his cousin Charles VIII, who died without a closer heir in 1498. Before his accession to the throne of France, he was known as Louis of Orléans and was compelled to be married to his disabled and supposedly sterile cousin Joan by his second cousin, king Louis XI. By doing so, Louis XI hoped to extinguish the Orléans cadet branch of the House of Valois, Louis of Orléans was one of the great feudal lords who opposed the French monarchy in the conflict known as the Mad War. At the royal victory in the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier in 1488, Louis was captured and he subsequently took part in the Italian War of 1494–1498 as one of the French commanders. When Louis XII became king in 1498, he had his marriage with Joan annulled by Pope Alexander VI and instead married Anne of Brittany and this marriage allowed Louis to reinforce the personal Union of Brittany and France.
Louis persevered in the Italian Wars, initiating a second Italian campaign for the control of the Kingdom of Naples, Louis conquered the Duchy of Milan in 1500 and pushed forward to the Kingdom of Naples, which fell to him in 1501. Proclaimed King of Naples, Louis faced a new coalition gathered by Ferdinand II of Aragon and was forced to cede Naples to Spain in 1504. A popular king, Louis was proclaimed Father of the People in 1506 by the Estates-General of Tours for his reduction of the tax known as taille, legal reforms, Louis XII died in 1515 without a male heir. He was succeeded by his cousin Francis from the Angoulême cadet branch of the House of Valois, Louis was born on 27 June 1462 in the Château de Blois, Touraine. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, Louis XI may have been more influenced in this opinion by his opposition to the entire Orleanist faction of the royal family than by the actual facts of this paternity case. Despite any alleged doubts that King Louis XI may have had, King Louis XI died on 30 August 1483.
He was succeeded to the throne of France by his thirteen year-old son, nobody knew the direction which the new king would take in leading the kingdom. Accordingly, on 24 October 1483, a call went out for a convocation of the Estates General of the French kingdom, in January 1484, deputies of the Estates General began to arrive in Tours, France. The deputies represented three different estates in society, the First Estate was the Church, in France this meant the Roman Catholic Church. The Second Estate was composed of the nobility and the royalty of France, the Third Estate was generally composed of commoners and the class of traders and merchants in France. Louis, the current Duke of Orleans and future Louis XII, each estate brought their chief complaints to the Estates General in hopes to have some impact on the policies that the new King would pursue. The First Estate wanted a return to the Pragmatic Sanction, the Pragmatic Sanction had been first instituted by King Charles VII, the current King Charles VIIIs grandfather
William Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times, for The Thin Man, My Man Godfrey, and Life with Father, an only child, Powell was born in Pittsburgh to Nettie Manila and Horatio Warren Powell, on July 29,1892. His father was born in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, to William S. in 1907, he moved with his family to Kansas City, where he graduated from Central High School in 1910. After high school, he left home for New York and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts at the age of 18, in 1912, Powell graduated from the AADA, and worked in some vaudeville and stock companies. Powells most famous role was that of Nick Charles in six Thin Man films, beginning with The Thin Man in 1934, Myrna Loy played his wife, Nora, in each of the Thin Man films. Their on-screen partnership, beginning alongside Clark Gable in 1934 with Manhattan Melodrama, was one of Hollywoods most prolific and Powell starred in the Best Picture of 1936, The Great Ziegfeld, with Powell in the title role and Loy as Ziegfelds wife Billie Burke.
That same year, he received his second Academy Award nomination. In 1935, he starred with Harlow in Reckless, a serious romance developed between them, and in 1936, they were reunited on screen and with Loy and Spencer Tracy in the screwball comedy Libeled Lady. Harlow died from uremia at the age of 26 in June 1937 before they could marry and his distress over her death, as well as a cancer diagnosis, caused him to accept fewer acting roles. Powells career slowed considerably in the 1940s, although he received his third Academy Award nomination in 1947 for his role as the cantankerous Clarence Day and his last film was 1955s Mister Roberts. In 1915, he married Eileen Wilson who was born Julia Tierney, with whom he had his child, William David Powell. Powells son became a writer and producer before a period of ill health led to his suicide in 1968. On June 26,1931, Powell married actress Carole Lombard, the marriage lasted just over two years. They were divorced in 1933, though they, remained on good terms, Powell was devastated when he learned of her death in 1942.
In 1937, Powell was diagnosed with cancer and he underwent surgery and experimental radium treatment which put the disease in full remission within two years. Given his own health and sorrow over Jean Harlows death, Powell did not undertake any film roles for over a year during this period, three weeks after they met, on January 6,1940, Powell married actress Diana Lewis, whom he called Mousie. Powell died in Palm Springs, California, on March 5,1984, at the age of 91 and he is buried at the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, near his son William David Powell and wife Diana Lewis
Catherine of Aragon
The daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, Catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the English throne. They married in 1501, but Arthur died five months on 2 April 1502, in 1507, she held the position of ambassador of the Aragonese Crown in England, the first female ambassador in European history. Catherine subsequently married Arthurs younger brother, the recently ascended Henry VIII, for six months in 1513, she served as regent of England while Henry VIII was in France. During that time the English won the Battle of Flodden, an event in which Catherine played an important part with a speech about English courage. He sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events led to Englands schism with the Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters, in 1533 their marriage was consequently declared invalid and Henry married Anne on the judgement of clergy in England, without reference to the Pope.
Catherine refused to accept Henry as Supreme Head of the Church in England and considered herself the Kings rightful wife and queen, despite this, she was acknowledged only as Dowager Princess of Wales by Henry. After being banished from court, she lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, English people held Catherine in high esteem, and her death set off tremendous mourning. The controversial book The Education of a Christian Woman by Juan Luis Vives, such was Catherines impression on people that even her enemy, Thomas Cromwell, said of her, If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History. She successfully appealed for the lives of the involved in the Evil May Day. Catherine won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor and she was a patron of Renaissance humanism, and a friend of the great scholars Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More. Catherine was born at the Archbishops Palace in Alcalá de Henares near Madrid and she was the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.
Catherine was quite short in stature with red hair, wide blue eyes, a round face. Consequently, she was cousin of her father-in-law, Henry VII of England. Catherine was educated by a tutor, Alessandro Geraldini, who was a clerk in Holy Orders and she studied arithmetic and civil law, classical literature and heraldry, philosophy and theology. She had a religious upbringing and developed her Roman Catholic faith that would play a major role in life. She learned to speak and write in Spanish and Latin and she was taught domestic skills, such as cooking, drawing, good manners, lace-making, needlepoint, sewing and weaving. The great scholar Erasmus said that Catherine loved good literature which she had studied with success since childhood
Lyn Harding
Lyn Harding was a Welsh actor who spent 40 years on the stage before entering British made silent films and radio. He had an imposing and menacing stage presence and came to be cast as the villain in many films and he was born in 1867 at St Brides Wentloog, in Monmouthshire, into a strict Congregationalist Welsh-speaking family. He started his career as a draper in Newport, Wales. He began giving readings from Shakespeare at a chapel in Cardiff, in 1890 a chance meeting with a touring group on a train led to him standing in for a sick actor and his first professional engagement. He opened on 28 August 1890 in The Grip Of Iron at the Theatre Royal and he toured the provinces and eventually made his London debut at the Shakespeare Theatre, Clapham on 19 July 1897. He changed his name to Lyn to make it acceptable to English audiences who found Llewellyn difficult to pronounce. His career spanned stage, silent screen and radio productions and he toured in the United States, India and he worked at different times with John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Anthony Quayle.
His last stage appearance was as Abu Hassan in Chu Chin Chow in the West End in 1941 when he was 74 years old, at the age of nearly 80 he played Owain Glyndŵr in Shakespeares Henry IV for BBC radio. He died in London in 1952, aged 85, chips 1939 The Missing People 1941 The Prime Minister 1941 Silver Blaze Lyn Harding at the Internet Movie Database Lyn Harding at the Internet Broadway Database Lyn Harding at AllMovie
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