Adam gave me this book
for my birthday, to support my ongoing quest to be the world's foremost lay-expert on British history, with an emphasis on British royalty. Okay, okay, so I have been primarily focused on the Tudor era (sorry, but Queen Elizabeth is too cool to stray far from for long), but I was lured out of Elizabethan England for the pleasure of experiencing another era of British history. And it hasn't disappointed me!!!What has disappointed me is the warped version of history set forth in the 1995 movie, "Braveheart," based upon the life of the Scot, William Wallace and his foe, Edward the Longshanks of England. When "Braveheart" came out, I went to see it in the theatre with my sister Sarah, and without exaggeration, I can honestly claim that we wailed like hired mourners through the last half-hour of the movie. I was absolutely enthralled by the love stories, especially, and I thought the character of Princess Isabella to be lovely and brave, as seen in these wonderful screen captures from the movie:
So imagine my absolute dismay when, only 20 pages into my book, I've discovered the complete falsehood of the story!Therefore, I find it my solemn duty as a foremost lay-expert-in-training to set the record straight...
First of all, Edward the Longshanks (or Edward I) wasn't exactly as nasty as Mel Gibson wanted us to believe. Yeah, the guy apparently had a pretty famous temper, but he wasn't cruel and sadistic. In fact, he brought a lot of stability to England and is considered by many historians to be one of the better kings out of the whole lot. Of course, the battles with Scotland are all-too-true and frankly, Longshanks shoulda just let them be (duh). However (and I'm not defending him here, just trying to provide context), it's actually true that the Scots weren't exactly pleasant to the English either during that time and were quite fond of swooping down into the border towns and wreaking havoc, doing their share of raping and pillaging and whatnot. So, Longshanks' actions can historically be viewed as either just defending what was his and/or a pre-emptive strike. Moving on.
Edward the II, his son, was not exactly the, um, overt homosexual that was portrayed. Indeed, Edward was rumored to have had at least two ongoing love affairs with men, on whom he bestowed ridiculous amounts of money throughout their time in his favor, and it's more than possible that he had homosexual relations with them. However, he wasn't a frail little sick puppy as he's shown in the movie. In fact, he was quite the handsome fellow, built like a warrior with a presence commanding enough to demand the respect of his peers. And, he and Queen Isabella actually had 5 pregnancies and 4 surviving children together, so it can't be assumed that all those rumors about him were necessarily totally true. His dad didn't toss his favorite fellow out a window, and he wasn't that simpering crybaby who was ordered about by his wife.
And speaking of his wife, Queen Isabella actually came to England as Edward's wife when she was 12 years old -- not the beautiful 25-ish we see her portrayed as in the movie. She was really nothing more than a little girl, and most importantly, her father-in-law Longshanks was actually dead by the time she arrived! Now if that doesn't spin your head where "Braveheart" is concerned, I don't know what will. Indeed, she was still a little girl by the time William Wallace was executed in England, so sadly, their love story simply could not have happened. Sigh.
One final note, though: I'm a firm believer that true honest-to-goodness history is MORE INTERESTING than fiction. And I believe Isabelle's true story will bear this out. The author is only letting slip little tidbits of clues as she moves toward the controversial stuff, but so far I've gleaned that this lady was quite the warrior herself and she's been given quite the bad rap throughout history, having been accused of some pretty naughty actions, including having her husband murdered! However, the author of this book has promised "the true story," which she says will show Queen Isabella to be a great lady who was the scapegoat for the crimes of others. In any case, I can't wait to find out!
