denisse peña molina as catalina de aragon

genevieve gaunt as anne boleyn

naomi battrick as jane seymour

lou de lâage as anna von kleve

kaitlyn dever as kathryn howard

lena headey as katherine parr

princesses. bastards. queens. and, above all, sisters.

the red queen | my lady, the king's mother | mother of a dynasty | survivor - the white queen | commoner turned queen | yorkist queen | mother of a queen - first tudor queen | white rose of york | mother of a legendary king & queens | mother of the tudors |

lady | marquess of pembroke | queen consort of england | scandal of christendom | most influential queen england ever had | mother to a queen | beheaded queen | first ever protestant queen |

son | king | welsh dragon | winter king | soldier | fighter | legend |

despite both being different myths, both represent the same thing through contemporary eyes of the time: the fear of a woman in power and slandering her queenship by attacking her womanhood in order to diminish her: attacking her most valued virtue or even questioning whether she was a woman at all.

the myth of eoy's virginity was, perhaps, the biggest Ricardian campaign of those opposing tudor rule, and the biggest weapon was to attack the man by spreading such rumours, questioning the virginity of the wife. despite years of debate, it has been proven that these incestuous rumours were nothing but myth and propaganda by the yorkist loyalists who sought to bring back a dynasty long gone.

and of course, when a woman has the seat of power for herself, it causes a stir, especially in those who envy and crave such power. having been called a bastard, a whore's daughter and deemed unworthy of the family because of her mother, her ascension to the throne was welcomed by many. but, with the years, seeing her unwillingness to give up such power to a man may have been what ignited such rumours that elizabeth i couldn't possibly be a woman, but rather a man in disguise. because, why would women be good at a man's job, even better than her male predecessors? it was inconcebible to say the least, unseemingly. but her womanhood is real, unlike this myth.

both women share that, questioning of their presence and power in a men's world, and proved time again that femininity and power can go hand-in-hand.

writer | protestant | mother figure | regent | queen | mother | survivor

from in-laws, to a would've been courtship to her most important rival, these two are opposites and yet have some similarities. The Armada changed both of their countries' history for good and many legends and theories have circulated for centuries. They have a place in this particular list for me

based on @demolina 's post