World-System (12 October 1537) Wolf Hall, Henry VIII's first Son, and the Death of Jane Seymour

 

In prior posts (here and here) I introduced a real character (John Dee) who was not in Wolf Hall but gave me the opportunity to speculate on what kinds of "future forecasts" might have been given to Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell during the time of Wolf Hall. In this Sunday's episode of the TV Series (and in the book) Hilary Mantel  introduces a fictional character, Jenneke (pictured above) who is presented as Cromwell's illegitimate daughter (a daughter Cromwell may or may not have had). Jenneke is introduced by Hilary Mantel, at the end of Season 2, Episode 3, to probe deeper into Cromwell's personal  life and character right before his fall.

From the perspective of World-System history, the interesting events in Episode 4 are: (1) Jane Seymore finally delivers Henry VIII an heir who will become Edward VI and ensure survival of the dynasty. At the same time, Jane Seymore's death after childbirth has opened the possibility of Henry remarrying and forming new Geoplitical alliances to counter the alliance forming between France and Spain. The search for a suitable marriage partner and powerful alliance begins Cromwell's downfall.

John Dee's future forecasts for Spain (here) and France (here) don't look particularly good (I'll discuss them in a later post) and you have already seen the forecast for England (here) and the best future doesn't have anything to do with Spain or France. Keep these in mind when you are watching Episode 4: Jenneke tomorrow night.