Category Archives: Strange but true

Anne Neville’s Guide to Success

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Here’s a little tongue and cheek about how King Richard III’s wife, Anne Neville, got to the top.

Get Your Dream Career

By Anne Neville Queen Anne, Beloved Consort of King Richard III

I grew up an heiress and was temporarily Princess of Wales. After my first husband and father died in battle,  I lost everything. I know I should be grateful that the king let me live with my sister and brother-in-law, (who’s the king’s little brother). So, see I was trapped by powerful men and family. It was impossible to break away. But I knew I had to in order to fulfill my dreams as an heiress who would have it all.

  1. Know Your Goals
    Even after I became a complete nobody, I still had the mindset as a queen. That mindset led me to fight for dreams. I wasn’t about to let my brother-in-law send me to a convent so he could take my inheritance. I had to accomplish my goals and went about doing research. I discovered my best ally would be the little brother of my brother-in-law, Richard Gloucester. His status was high. Plus, his relationship status was single.
  2. Network
    However you want to do it, get the word out. Be on the lookout! Whenever I was with my sister in public, I looked presentable. Yet, she and my brother-in-law kept a close watch on me.
    My prayers were answered during the holiday celebrations of 1471-72. I had made official contact with Richard. After shortly recounting celebrations we shared as children, I stopped small talk so we could just talk business. I told him I knew he needed money and would be happy to help if he signed a marital contact. He said he was relieved because he had been too shy to ask about the monetary/matrimony contact. On his part he said he would have the King invite my sister and brother-in-law to a mandatory banquet and he would personally deliver me out of the house where I had been a well-dressed prisoner.
  3. Follow- Through
    You’ll know you’ve picked the right business partner if he is as motivated as you are. Richard picked me up, and there was family drama that followed within the next couple months. I got some of my wealth back, and as a bonus, got a baby.
  4. Repeat Steps 1-3
    I still had the queen mindset after I married Richard. When the king died, Richard and I researched through many channels, and found the king’s children were not allowed to rule. After the tedious paperwork, Richard and I finally had our joint coronation.

Sincerely,
Your Majesty Queen Anne

©Sarah Patten, 2019

 

Featured Image: Richard III and Anne Neville stained glass image in Cardiff Castle, UK.

Heroine in Salem Witch Trials: Margaret Jacobs

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Margaret Jacobs inspires me.

In early 1692, her father and uncle were accused of witchcraft and ran away. Her mother went mad, and Margaret’s siblings hid themselves.

She and her grandfather where accused and brought to court.  As she walked through the court room nothing could fully prepare her for what would happen next. She wrote in her retraction about her confusion when those who claimed to be afflicted by witchcraft acted:  ““which persons at the sight of me fell down, which did very much startle and affright me. The Lord above knows I knew nothing in the least measure how or who afflicted them.”

She was told she would not die if she confessed, and so confessed she did. She even pointed out other already accused “witches”. This included George Burroughs, a controversial reverend, and George Jacobs, Sr., her grandfather.

Matteson-jacobs

A depiction of Margaret Jacobs accusing her grandfather.

 

It would have been easy for her to rationalize.  After all, she wasn’t solely responsible for the fates of her grandfather and Reverend Burroughs.

But she knew what she did was wrong. “The very first night after I had made confession, I was in such horror of conscience that I could not sleep, for fear the Devil should carry me away for telling such horrid lies… What I said was altogether false against my grandfather and Mr. Burroughs.” She suffered physically for denying her confessions, but there was some relief. “Upon my denying my confession, I was committed to close prison, where I have enjoyed more felicity in spirit, a thousand times, than I did before in my enlargement.”

Before the reverend’s execution and her grandfather’s on August 19, 1692, it’s believed that she was allowed to visit them. She asked Burroughs for forgiveness. He did and they prayed together. Her grandfather probably already forgave her as he had changed his will in prison which included her to inherit some of his money and provisions.

Margaret’s trial was postponed due to a boil on her head. Even when the convicted were free in early 1693, she stayed in prison longer than others due to the fact that she couldn’t afford her stay in prison (yes, people had to pay for being in the far from luxurious jail) and bail.

Margaret later got married, had seven kids, and was compensated some by the government. I believe she should be recognized more today. Not all teenage girls in the Salem witch trials went along with the chaos. She overcame weaknesses and showed integrity. This is what makes her a hero who we need to remember.

A_fair_Puritan (3)

There were young Puritan women who remembered their values among the chaos in Salem.

 

Sources

http://ancestoryarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-jacobs-family-salem-witch-trials.html . “The Jacob and Family and Salem Witch Trials 1692: From the Archives Salem Witch Trials”

http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people?group.num=G09&mbio.num=mb18

The Salem Witchcraft Papers.

http://www.geni.com/people/Margaret-Foster/6000000017450304347  Geni “Margaret Foster”

Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witch Crisis of 1692.  Published 2003 by Random House.

Salem Witch Trial Documentary by National Geographic. .

Images:

Salem Witch lithograph

“Trial of George Jacobs, August 5, 1692” by Thomkins H. Matteso

“A Fair Puritan” by Edward Percy Moran