King Henry VIII.
By the year 1536 the state of relations between the Roman Catholic
Church and King Henry VIII Tudor of England had reached a head. In
those days Rome was not only a spiritual power but a princely power
as well, and exercised control over a good number of nation states,
including England. Vatican orthodoxy ruled. And the recent beginning
of the Protestant Reformation had caused the Church to tighten its
grip.
Things came to a head over the important issue of Vatican-approved
vegetables. There were vegetables that were considered "orthodox" and
which were permitted on the dinner table and those that were not.
Vegetables that were not of the orthodox variety were still available,
but had to be grown in secret.
According to accounts King Henry was having dinner one night with a
group of friends including Thomas Wolsey, then Archbishop of Canterbury.
At one point a drunken Henry, disliking the approved orthodox Roma
tomatoes that had been served, rose up out of his chair and cried "I'm
the bloody King of England! I can eat any type of tomatoes I want!"
Henry's outburst was followed by his instructions to Wosley to issue a
proclamation that non-Roma tomatoes were to be considered acceptable in
England. Pope Clement VII, hearing of this, promptly excommunicated both
Henry and Wosely claiming that the right to judge tomatoes could only be
given by the Roman Church. Hearing of the excommunication, Henry objected;
upon which he was excommunicated a second time. "I don't care!" Henry
said of this. Upon which he was excommunicated a third time.
A great schism had begun. In 1536 Henry issued the "Act of Six Vegetables."
In this Henry proclaimed that other "good, English-grown vegetables — not
only tomatoes but squash, lettuce, onions, and potatoes" were orthodox and
asserted that only he had the right in his own land to approve any vegetable.
One by one the other vegetables were championed by the court and so called
"Roman vegetables" were persecuted. Between 1536 and 1542 six pumpkins
were taken to the Tower of London, axed, and made into pies. Rather spurious
sources claim that Henry gloated while eating the pies.
The matter unfortunately did not end with Henry's death. His daughter and
eventual heir, Queen Mary, was a lover of Vatican vegetables and for a while
demanded their consumption throughout all of England. Her successor, Elizabeth I,
took up with her father Henry's position in favor of English vegetables.
English tomatoes are still grown in the gardens
of many Protestant churches.
edwardpiercy said:
๐ ๐ :lol:Excellent double-entendre! Wish I had thought of it! :up:
musickna said:
๐ He was definitely a bit of a nutter.
ellinidata said:
:lol:Richard gets 5:stars: from me too!Eddie,I was watching a documentary on History Channel the other day, and I also learned a new thing about his injured leg…His "walking" in a room was known ahead of the time since the smell of the rotten flesh was so strong! if it was anybody else that leg would have been cut off. He was so determined to portray his image as perfect! Sadly his vegetable diet did not help with his extra 300 pounds …I love me some tomato Greek salad with olive oil and freshly baked bread ….hmmmmmmm I forgot the above graphic image already! ๐
edwardpiercy said:
Well let's forget about heat and leg, yeah? :p :yuck: On to the cool green salad! (Have had one the past two nights, in fact.)
ellinidata said:
w00t!I love cool green salads! are you topping them with any chicken or tuna?they are a whole meal of their own! :up:PSI would say forget about Henry too! lets focus on his women ;p
sanshan said:
๐ Well done.Reminds me of the EU regulations for standardizing the sizes of vegetables and fruits sold in Europe.
edwardpiercy said:
@ San. Standardizing vegetables? Are you shitting me?LMAO. So how long would a "standard" carrot be? ๐
sanshan said:
Dare can tell you more about it. It's a big reason why Serbia doesn't want to join the EU. All the carrots have to conform to a certain size standard and some kiwis were banned because they were too small. Can you believe it!
gdare said:
They are all the same size now….But some people just don`t care about it ๐
edwardpiercy said:
I still don't know weather you guys are bullshiting or not. Well, tomorrow I will get on the internet. :sherlock:You know of course that they always say that size doesn't matter… I'm just sayin'…
ellinidata said:
Greek carrots were big enough to get into the EU :p
Pineas2 said:
Did they have potatoes and tomatoes in England under Henry VIII?
sanshan said:
The EU's criteria, which have long provided fodder for critics of โbarmy Brusselsโ, go into astounding detail. They dictate that a Class1 green asparagus must be green for 80 per cent of its length, Class 1 cucumbers should not be bent by a curve of more than 10mm per 10cm, and a string of onions must have 16 onions to qualify. Despite the fashion for baby vegetables, it is illegal to sell a cauliflower that is less than 11cm in diameter. A small carrot must weigh at least 8g, while a large one must weigh 50g or measure 20mm in diameter. …size does matter in some matters. ๐
edwardpiercy said:
@ Angeliki.Originally posted by ellinidata:
I think that some countries lie about the size of their carrots. :p@ Pineas2.Poetic license! :p@ San. Okay. I'll assume this EU stuff is true. A little crazy, but…:)
Aqualion said:
Sure, it's true, Ed. EU actually have criteria for the curving of cucumbers. The British comedy shows had a laugh about cucumbers not being 'properly bent' a few years ago when the curving of cucumbers was the issue.Danish television is running or re-running 'The Tudors' this summer. It's great.
edwardpiercy said:
Well I looked it up. And it turns out that all you say is true, and that although some of the regulations for some vegetables were repealed in 2009, that others remain in place.It's just crazy that there should be such anal-retentive regulations for vegetables. Although I probably shouldn't use the words "anal" and "vegetable" in the same sentence. One regulation said the the vegetables should be " free of any foreign smell and/or taste."Whaaaa?????
ellinidata said:
Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
:lol:only when their bank accounts are very small…. ๐ I mean ๐ฅ
Stardancer said:
Big government, Edward. They will regulate everything.:eyes:
ellinidata said:
Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
w00t!I actually think you should replace Egyptian women with Indians from India… cows are worshiped there, you will be their God for good! let me add the first one :http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/original/PadmaLakshmi.jpg
ellinidata said:
Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
aren't you glad we are not talking coconuts? ๐
edwardpiercy said:
Coconuts I will save till my birthday. ๐
edwardpiercy said:
More like 4000. I think this year I would like a really hot Egyptian woman for my birthday. Or several. You know if I get my cow valve I might be ready for several. ๐
ellinidata said:
w00t! party time with a buttload of coconuts !! :hat:is the Bday party planed yet?is this the 54 or 55th year of life you celebrating?
Stardancer said:
๐
edwardpiercy said:
@ Star. Oh hell. You know I am just so far into stoicism these days that I'm not even sure that I greatly care.I'll leave it for the young souls. :lol:@ Angeliki. From balls to carrots! We should have known that was coming — ๐
L2D2 said:
Henry VIII had syphilis and had many (8?) wives. What do you think were the chances of those wives NOT to have syphilis? None to nonexistent. I've thought about that before and think of the pain and suffering he caused. I expect Nan Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey were lucky to die as swiftly as they did, rather than linger and die a long, slow, mad, painful death. I seriously doubt he used condoms!No one will tell me what vegetables I can eat. If I want to eat over-large carrots—I will—-whenever and whereever I please.:troll:
sanshan said:
You haven't lived until you've tried Serbian carrots produce. Everything is organic. ๐
edwardpiercy said:
@ Angeliki. Well, I'll think about it. :D@ Linda. The 16th century wasn't exactly a feminist century. @ San. Never tried Serbian veggies that I know of. But will take your word for it.
ellinidata said:
Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
yes, no , maybe…… it sounds like aplan to me!put on your thinking hat :love:tonights present to you:http://www.yesnomaybe.co.uk/Admin/Upload/800×800/Yes-No-Maybe–Thinking-Hurts-Velcro-Patch-Black-on-White-side-800×800.JPG
Stardancer said:
Not Egyptian, but I'm of Middle Eastern descent, Edward, on my mother's side of the family. And it's pretty dang hot down here.:D:lol::heart:
edwardpiercy said:
Okay I found that whole "not thinking" thing pretty hard to do. So, I thought that since I like classical archaeology too, then…I think she must be the Minoan Snake Goddess. :p
edwardpiercy said:
@ Angeliki.My brain hurts! Well I just need to get some good Thai noodles and a JD in me… then I'll be ready for some serious thinking. @ Star.:lol: So if I visit we could sip ouzo under the sultry sun. Or I could sip ouzo and you could sip lemonade. Or whatever. :D:heart:
sanshan said:
๐ก
ellinidata said:
Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
it is amazing to me that she can seat on her feet and you can still see them! she must be having the same butt size as i-justine! :p hmmmmmmmmm did I mention that I was looking at i-justines pics the other day ,and they are new additions?I do not recall the link but my search was "the latest pictures of i-justine" or something like that…:o it wasn't for myself,my Yannis loves her too …
gdare said:
I don`t know about Minoan but she for sure looks like godess :whistle:
Aqualion said:
I don't get the hair highlight thing. What is that? I take a walk dowwn town and see this old woman with grey hair standing at the busstop, and I am getting ready to help her into the bus and find a decent seat when all of a sudden she turns around and she is sixteen! – Only with white and grey highlights in her hair. I don't get it? Why would young women want to look like they are ninety?
Aqualion said:
Ah… The 80s… I actually still had hair on my head back then. Not much, but far more than now. Never dyed it though. Got my ears pierced when I was thirteen and got my first leather jacket a year later. But no coloured hair for me. Washed and styled it in hand soap a couple of times, to make the porcupine hairdo, but that is about it.
edwardpiercy said:
@ Angeliki.Funny you should mention that — I thought of iJustine as an Egyptian goddess, but went with the SI girl instead.I'll have to do with some catching up with Justine later this week and see some of her new vlogs.@ Martin.Coming from the 80s I can't exactly make any comments about wild hair color. :p
Pineas2 said:
I watched yesterday the two episodes of "The Tudors" again. Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn. ๐
sanshan said:
Yes, that makes a lot of sense.
anonymous said:
ะะฝะพะฝัะผะฝะธะน writes:Some time ago, I really needed to buy a good house for my firm but I didn't earn enough cash and couldn't buy anything. Thank heaven my mate suggested to try to get the mortgage loans at reliable creditors. Therefore, I acted so and was happy with my college loan.
edwardpiercy said:
:lol:I wanted to buy a violin but do not earn enough money and have urinary problems. I couldn't get a bank, so my dog wanted to play squeaky piggie and I went to the college and got a reliable dictionary. Now I am happy and my creditors are totally pissed.
sanshan said:
Ok, that makes no sense at all. ๐
edwardpiercy said:
:p ๐
gdare said:
๐