Friday, November 07, 2008

Question from Megan - Tudor dreams

This is a bit of a frivolous question, but my curiosity is piqued after my own recent experience. Has anyone ever had any Tudor-related dreams and, if so, what were they?

I ask because a few weeks ago I had an emotionally upsetting dream that I was poor Anne of Cleves, dealing with the self-confidence-obliterating realization that my royal husband found me physically repulsive!

More seriously, though, I have had several somber dreams where I am following the last days of Anne Boleyn -- in some, trying to save her.

I even had one dream where I was alternately Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, seeing both sides of the struggle for Henry's marriage through the eyes of each woman, and finding sympathy for both!

I wonder if anyone else's Tudor studies and fascination have ever slipped into their dreamscapes ...

14 comments:

Lara said...

Fun question!

I can't recall having any dreams dealing with Tudor people, but I know I've had a couple about Tudor places. I remember one in particular about visiting Hampton Court Palace, at least a year or so before I ever actually set foot there!

Anonymous said...

I had a dream a long time ago where the ghost of Elizabeth was talking to me in the Tower of London.

Anonymous said...

This is a spiffy question!

I had this one really frightening dream once where I was Anne Boleyn during her last days in the Tower. I can't remember much of the dream except the cruelty shown to me by King Henry VIII, and his figure standing in the doorway, pompous and stubborn. I suppose I'd been crying in my sleep because when I woke up I was in tears. I looked at my doorway and for a split second I thought I saw Henry standing there the same way he had in my dream in the doorway of Anne Boleyn's room. After seeing him I was seized by this absolute terror like I'd never felt before; it was fleeting, however, and I was over it in a few seconds. Still, it was a really, really odd experience. I haven't had any Tudor dreams since that, I think.

Anonymous said...

I've had a couple of very steamy dreams about Henry Cavill. Does that count?

Anonymous said...

i had a dream that i was anne early n her life i woke up before the sword but it felt sad and my mom said she heard me talking in a brit. accent

Anonymous said...

I once had a dream that I was helping Elizabeth dress, and she was getting impatient with me.

If you are interested in dreams people had during the period, check out Carol Levin's The Heart and Stomach of a King. Theres a chapter called Dreaming the Queen that looks at accounts about English people's dreams about their monarch.

kate

Anonymous said...

I've had one of Elizabeth I's coronation

Nancy said...

I think this is wonderful. I am currently reading a book called Pagans and Christians by Robin Lane Fox, which details how anxious ancient people were to get meaningful dreams, because they believed the best contained messages from the gods. If you are actually so immersed in the Tudor period as to dream about its historical figures and about being involved in their lives, I think you are very lucky.

I only came close once. I was having a dull dream, and in it I said to myself, "Enough. I want to dream about the Tudors." And then the scene changed and I was somehow flying under an elaborately carved wooden gate -- like the HA HA ceiling at Cambridge, (isn't it) and then I think the dream ended. Drat.

Anonymous said...

kathy: henry cavill is a hottie! he's another great reason to watch the tudors. haha

Anonymous said...

i had a dream once that i was katherine howard, but i still was myself, just in katherine howard's body, when she first came to court. since i knew what was to happen to her, i was really afraid when henry viii (think richard burton, not jonathan rhys meyers) was talking to me and stuff, and when he asked me to marry him i was having a total panick attack because i thought it was real, and i didn't want to change the course of history, so i HAD to say yes, and then i got up to the part of the execution, i was beheaded, and then i was a ghost, just standing there... then my dog started licking my face so i woke up. :)

Anonymous said...

I had a very strange dream, A woman was sitting somewhat reclined on my couch, i became lucid for a few seconds and was able to aknowledge her, i asked who she was? she looked at me somewhat unapproving and a bit disgusted and said the queen of france!, i woke up and rembered the dream and the character i googled queen of france and saw the person i seen, it was mary tudor! i knew nothing about this person or the tudors before this dream, what is she doing in my dream?

Anonymous said...

I visited Hampton Court when I was 16, as part of a school trip. I had to stop the visit as I felt very uneasy. I didn't know anything about Anne Boleyn. I'm French and hadn't studied British medieval history yet. We went back to France the same day.

During the night, I had an extraordinary vivid dream. I was in a cemetery at night, in front of a tomb. A head was on it, a white and red rose placed in front of it. The head talked to me. It says it was Anne Boleyn and that it would avenge herself by fire and burn the palace. When I woke up in the morning, the dream was all I could think about. I told my parents about it. A few hours later, we saw the news headline: Hampton court had burned during the night. It was March 31, 1986. My parents' jaw dropped.

To this day, I still remember every detail. I had other premonitory dreams during this part of my life, but this is the one that still leaves me speechless.

Anonymous said...

Mary Tudor visited my dream. She didn't say anything, but it felt so real. I saw her pale skin, brown eyes, red-gold hair and light green patterned dress.

This visitation dream occurred between 3 and 4 a.m in the morning on Sunday night/Monday morning. I still remember the visit to this day. Two nights ago this happened.

She's the most beautiful Queen and woman I've ever seen. I think I love her.

Anonymous said...

I just had a tudor related dream last night. It was about me being Katherine Howard, and I was reenacting the scene of her running down the hallway to reach Henry with the guards chasing"me" "I" ended up locking "myself" up in a small room instead and it turned into another dream