Chapter 4

I'm touching a few third rails here between the various subject matters and rising conflicts.

Readers, understand this point, I am not Eli Tudor, I am just the character's creator. Someone different than me, who prides themselves on independent ideas of freedom and a passionate disdain for religious authority from being raised as an abused unwanted intersex child of Christian pastors. I imagine I would be pretty pissed off with Christianity having grown up in those kinds of conditions. As for my knowledge of Christian ideologies, I have been Catholic and Protestant, currently, I define myself as nondenominational.

The concept of Holy days/saint holidays as vacation days should be considered more closely as something to ponder, not just for the religious attachment, but for practical labor working conditions concept. When you ponder deeper "what do a bunch of rich nobles supporting the Protestant faith versus the Catholic faith gain?"  Well if this were a labor dispute issue, then management aka Protestant nobles could force people to work more days with fewer vacations upon getting rid of the old rules. History class doesn't teach you that kind of subversive concept about the Reformation. The practical nature of faith impacts the bottom line for these people, it also impacts the working conditions of the peasants under them. The change in the liturgical calendar affects working days.

As for William Cecil, he did work for Earl of Warwick, John Dudley, who would become Duke of Northumberland with the fall of Edward Seymore as Lord Protector. John Dudley would become the most powerful person in England for several years until King Edward VI dies. At which point, William Cecil in history would change sides again and assist Mary Tudor in taking over the throne, despite being a Protestant. He served Elizabeth faithfully and I feel like there was something of a working relationship between them, a trust in each other doing what was right for the greater good. It's a working partnership, not romantic but close in its own right. They pushed each other and knew when they crossed each other's redline

The 2nd law of power according to Robert Greene, "Never put too much trust in friends, Learn how to use enemies” is highlighted in this chapter. Obviously, Eli trusted in William Cecil to have his best interest at heart, but he had not considered that his best interest for power would come into conflict with a potential love interest with Robert, who reminds him of his boyfriend/partner, Jack. Friends can be dangerous for certain things. As for using enemies, the use of 181 holidays was Eli's gambit to outmaneuver both Protestant and Catholic alike, he gains favorability among the commoners. It was a seemingly small concession that affect long term economic output for Protestant landowners and when Queen Mary come to power, removing it would by hypocritical to belief in tradition values. Compromise hurts both sides.

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Note:

1. The codpiece thing was not a joke, King Henry VIII made it a fashion statement to have the biggest codpiece at court among males to show off virility. Yeah, measuring dicks basically.

2. Suspension carriages were around in the 1540's, they were just not well known in England. These kind of carriages would be introduced later during Elizabeth reign as the mode of gentler transit.

3. Lord's Prayer book debate became the baseline for the Book of Common Prayer for the modern Anglican church. This version being debated was the compromised version created with the help of Thomas Crammer in 1549.

4. Robert Dudley did marry a woman named Amy Robsart from Norfolk between 1549-1550, despite being friends with Elizabeth since they were kids. I added a queer angle to my universe, but it's still interesting why he would marry a woman from a gentry country noble background with a father like John Dudley, who was in fact the real power behind the throne.