17:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og jeg cykler 4,5 miles (7,5km).
Hurra! Nu er jeg helt sikker på, at jeg kan blive rask igen! Mens jeg cykler,
ser og hører jeg ”de 100 bedste sange i 1984” på YouTube – mange søde minder
fra vores ophold i USA, og tiden går hurtigt, når man har det sjovt.
18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bagefter skal vi af sted. Lois ønsker
at deltage i en bibelklasse, der finder sted i aften i Tewkesbury, og hun må
ikke køre bil for tiden på grund af grå stær. Jeg køre hende over til Mari-Anns
hus og sætter hende af. Mari-Ann skal køre hende over til Tewkesbury.
På vej hjem, kan jeg endnu engang ikke modstå fristelsen til at køre forbi
Sarahs gamle hus i Leckhampton, hvor Lois og jeg plejede at passe på Sarahs
tvillinger, inden familien for ét år siden flyttede til Australien. Du godeste,
det er meget dumt! Det er på høje tid, jeg ser at komme videre med mit liv!
20:00 Jeg kommer hjem. Jeg har lidt alenetid, og bruger aftenen på at se
lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dramadokumentar, ”Six Wives” (1.del af
3), der handler om Henrik 8.s seks hustruer, et velkendt tema, men for første
gang set ud fra kvindernes synspunkt. Programmets vært er den charmerende Lucy
Worsley.
Generelt holder jeg ikke ret meget
af dramadokumentarer, fordi forfatterne godt kan lide at opdigte scener og
dialoger fra deres forestillinger og fantasier, hvilket er et stort turn-off
for mig. Men i aften siger programmets vært, den charmerende Lucy Worsley, lige
i begyndelsen af programmet, at alt vi ser i denne dramadokumentar, også
dialogerne, fandt sted i virkeligheden i følge øjenvidner eller personlige
breve og dagbøger. Hvor forfriskende!
Dette afsnit koncentrerer sig om Henriks første hustru, Catherine af
Aragon, og parrets lange og (for det meste) lykkelige ægteskab, der varede over
20 år. De havde et meget lidenskabeligt forhold, og de var meget forelskede i
hinanden. Og Catherine var en meget populær dronning.
Kongelige slotte var dengang semi-offentlige steder,
og
der var øjenvidner selv til denne frække udveksling
mellem Henrik og Catherine - du godeste!
Dette fokus er også meget forfriskende, fordi de fleste dokumentarfilm om
perioden, starter fra deres forholds seneste år, da Henrik modvilligt havde
besluttet, at Catherine totalt ikke kunne give ham en mandlig arving og var
begyndt at kigge på andre optioner, i sær den nydelige Anne Boleyn, der var
klog nok til ikke at lade ham have sex med hende.
Lucy påpeger at huset Tudor var stadig en meget ung dynasti, grundlagt af
Henriks far efter en blodig borgerlig krig, og Henrik var meget bange for, at dynastiet
ville ende samtidig med sin egne død, og han selv ville blive dømt til
historiens skraldespand – stakkels Henrik!!!!
Det er sandt, at Catherine fødte én enkelt søn til almindelig lettelse.
Henrik og hele landet var jublende glade for det og der var vilde
celebrationer. Men desværre døde den
lille fyr 2 måneder efter – uha!
Det er interessant at spekulere i betragtning af Henrik og Catherines lange
ægteskab, der varede over 20 år. Det kunne have været at Catherine endelig
fødte en sund søn, eller at Henrik døde, og Catherine eller Mary, parrets
datter, arvede tronen (begge to var stærke kvinder). I begge tilfælde ville landet ikke være
blevet reddet fra pavens legendariske lange arm – uha!
Kongen arrangerede en speciel offentlig høring i Blackfriars i London for
at debatere spørgsmålet, og han inviterede repræsentanter fra både paven og fra
den kirke i England. Henrik argumenterede,
at Catherine ikke var hans sande hustru, fordi hun tidligere, på 16 år, havde
giftet sig med Arthur, Henriks afdøde storbror, og derfor var deres ægteskab
ulovligt. I Bibelen står det, at sådanne ægteskaber altid er barnløse – du
godeste!
Catherine argumenterede på den anden side, at hun og Arthur aldrig havde
haft sex, så hendes ægteskab med Henrik faktisk var fuldstændig lovligt.
Det er interessant, at Lois og jeg for nylig så et andet tv-program (”Black
and British”), der handlede om historien af sorte mennesker i England gennem
århundrederne. Vi hørte, at flere sorte mennesker faktisk levede i fortiden i
England, end Lois og jeg troede. Der var for eksempel flere sorte mennesker
blandt Catherines tjenestefolk, herunder
hendes personlige tjenestepige, Catalina.
En af Catalinas opgaver var at skifte parrets lagen og sengelinned.
Da Henrik var i gang med at forberede sine argumenter mod Catherine,
prøvede hans assistenter at kontakte Catalina for at spørge, om der havde været blod på Arthurs
og Catherines lagener, men de fandt ud af, at pigen nogle år tidligere var
flytte tilbage til Spanien. De sendte så agenter til Spanien for at prøve at få
fat i hende, men uden succes.
Henriks assistenter prøvede at spore Catalina i Spanien uden succes.
De
ville spørge hende, om der havde været blod på Arthurs og Catherines lagener.
Du
godeste – sikke en redelighed!!!!
Du godeste! Sikke en redelighed!!!
22:00 Lois kommer tilbage og jeg går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!! Lois bliver seende fjernsynet (et gamle
afsnit af Blackadder – anden serie, den, der udspiller sig i Elizabeth 1.s
regeringstid, Henrik 8.s datter – du godeste!), fordi hun trænger til at slappe
af og geare ned efter aftenens stimulerende bibelklasse – stakkels Lois!
05:00 Jeg står tidlig op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske
ordforrådtester. Bagefter laver jeg to kopper te og bringer dem op på vores
soveværelse. Vi drikker teen i sengen og går så i bad. Vi står op og spiser
morgenmad.
09:30 Vi kører til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. På
vej smutter vi ind i Waghornes, den lokale slagter, for at købe kød og brød. Vi
kører hjem og slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.
12:00 Jeg går op i loftet og bringe ned vores 3 kufferter, den store, den
lille, og dem mellemstore. Vi skal snart pakke vores ting – og beslutte hvilken
af de 3 vi skal tage med. Du godeste!
13:00 Vi spiser frokost, og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager mig en
gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzz!!!!
15:00 Jeg står op og begynde at samle tingene, jeg vil tage med til
Danmark: skjorter, undertøj, sokker osv. Jeg håber, at jeg hvis muligt kan
klare mig bare med den lille kuffert, og at Lois kan klare sig bare den
middelstore. Det gør rejsen så meget nemmere – ingen tvivl om det!
Jeg kigger lidt på internettet og surfer theonions webside. Jeg ser på den Danske Turistforenings seneste turistvideo,
der udstråler den nordiske noir stil, som på det nuværende tidspunkt er så
meget på mode og jeg bliver lidt bekymret over, hvad vi skal forvente at
opleve, når vi ankommer til landet.
Du godeste! Hårdtslående eller hur?!!!!
Turistvideoer
har meget ændret sig siden jeg var en ung fyr
-
ingen tvivl om det! Men hvis den sælger billetter,
så
hvor er problemet - det er hvad jeg siger!
16:00 Vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.
English translation
17:00 I jump up on my exercise
bike and I bike 4.5 miles (7.5km). Hooray! Now I am quite sure that I can get
well again! While I cycle, I see and hear "the 100 best songs of
1984" on YouTube - many sweet memories of our stay in the US, and time
passes quickly when you're having fun.
18:00 Lois and I eat dinner and
afterwards we have to be off. Lois wants to take part in a Bible class taking
place tonight in Tewkesbury, and she cannot drive at the moment due to
cataracts. I drive her over to the Mari-Ann's house and drop her off. Mari-Ann
is to run her over to Tewkesbury.
On the way home, I once again
cannot resist the temptation to drive past Sarah's old house in Leckhampton
where Lois and I used to look after Sarah's twins before the family moved to
Australia a year ago . My god, this is very stupid! It is high time that I got
on with my life!
20:00 I get home. I have a little
time alone, and spend the evening watching a little television. They show an
interesting drama documentary, "Six Wives", which is about Henry
VII's six wives, a familiar theme, but for the first time seen from the perspective
of the women's point of view. The program's host is the charming Lucy Worsley.
Generally I do not care much for
drama documentaries because authors like to invent scenes and dialogues from
their thoughts and fantasies, which is a big turn-off for me. But tonight the
program's host, the charming Lucy Worsley, says right at the beginning of the
program, that everything we see in this drama documentary, including dialogues,
actually took place, according to eyewitnesses or personal letters and diaries.
How refreshing!
This episode focuses on Henry's
first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and the couple's long and (mostly) happy
marriage that lasted over 20 years. They had a very passionate relationship,
and they were very much in love with each other. And Catherine was a very
popular queen.
Royal Castles were at that time
semi-public places,
and there were eyewitnesses even to this saucy
exchange
between Henry and Catherine- My God!
This focus is also very
refreshing because most documentaries about the period start from their
relationship's final years when Henry reluctantly decided that Catherine could
totally not give him a male heir and started looking at other options, in
particular the attractive Anne Boleyn, who was wise enough not to let him have
sex with her.
Lucy points out that the house of
Tudor was still a very young dynasty, founded by Henry's father after a bloody
civil war, and Henry was very afraid that the dynasty would end with his own death,
and he himself would be condemned to the dustbin of history - poor Henry !!!!
It is true that Catherine gave
birth to one single son, to general relief. Henry and the whole country were
jubilantly happy about it and there were wild celebrations. But sadly the
little guy died two months later - oh dear!
It is interesting to speculate a little, in
view of Henry and Catherine's long marriage that lasted over 20 years. It could
have happened that Catherine finally gave birth to a healthy son, or that Henry
died, and either Catherine or Mary, the couple's daughter, inherited the
throne. In both cases, the country would not have been saved from the Pope's
legendary long arm - oh dear!
The King organized a special
public hearing at Blackfriars in London to debate the issue, and he invited
representatives from both the Pope and from the Church in England. Henry argued
that Catherine was not his true wife, because she had previously married
Arthur, Henry's deceased older brother, and therefore their marriage was
illegal. The Bible says that such marriages are always childless - my god!
Catherine argued, on the other
hand, that she and Arthur had never had sex, so that her marriage to Henry was
actually completely legal.
It is interesting that Lois and I
recently saw another television program that focused on the history of black
people in England over the centuries. We heard that more black people actually
lived in England in the past than Lois and I thought. There were, for example,
several black people among Catherine's servants, including her personal maid, Catalina.
One of Catalina’s tasks was to change the couple's bed sheets and bed linen.
When Henry was in the process of
preparing his arguments against Catherine, his assistants tried to contact
Catalina to ask if there had been blood
on Arthur and Catherine's sheets, but they found out that the girl had moved
back to Spain some years before. They then sent agents to Spain to try to get
hold of her, but without success.
Henry's assistants tried to track
Catalina in Spain without success.
They wanted to ask her if there had been
blood on Arthur and Catherine's sheets.
My god - such goings-on !!!!
My God! Such goings on !!!
22:00 Lois comes back and I go to
bed - zzzzzzz !!!! Lois stays watching the TV (an old episode of Blackadder -
second series, set in the reign of Elizabeth I, Henry VIII's daughter - my
god!) because she needs to relax and unwind after the evening's stimulating
Bible class - poor Lois!
05:00 I get up early and do one
of my routine Danish vocabulary tests. Afterwards, I make two cups of tea and
bring them up to our bedroom. We drink the tea in bed and then go in the bath.
We get up and eat breakfast.
09:30 We go to the local
Sainsbury's supermarket to shop. On the way we pop into Waghorne’s, the local
butcher, to buy meat and bread. We drive home and relax with a cup of tea on
the sofa.
12:00 I go up in the attic and
bring down our 3 suitcases, the big, the small and medium-sized one. We will
soon have to pack our stuff - and decide which of the 3 we need to take with
us. My God!
13:00 We eat lunch, and then I go
to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzz !!!!
15:00 I get up and start
collecting together the things, I want to take to Denmark: shirts, underwear,
socks and so on. I hope if possible I can get by just with the little suitcase,
and that Lois can get by with just the medium size one. It makes traveling so
much easier - no doubt about it!
I look a bit on the Internet and
surf theonions webpage. I look at the Danish Tourist Association's latest
tourist video that radiates the Nordic noir style, which at the present time is
so much in vogue and I get a little worried about what we should expect to
experience when we arrive in the country.
My god! Hard-hitting , or what? !!!!
Tourist Videos have changed a lot since I
was a young guy –
no doubt about it! But if it sells tickets,
then where is the problem
- that's what I say!
16:00 We relax with a cup of tea
on the sofa.
No comments:
Post a Comment