Rebecca Batley – författare

Sometime before 1518 Edward Seymour, the brother of Queen Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, married Catherine Filliol. Catherine gained connections in the highest echelons of Tudor society and Edward the prospect of a large inheritance. It should have been a match made in heaven, but instead, within a decade, they were engulfed in uncertainty and scandal. Catherine was repudiated, and the two sons she had borne her husband eventually disinherited.The nature of this scandal is unclear but later historians accused Catherine of an affair with her father-in-law. Her exact fate remains uncertain, but by 1535, Edward was free to marry again, and he turned his attention to another heiress, Anne Stanhope, who would, in her own way, prove to be just as scandalous. Katherine Parr would call Anne “that hell”, but she was strong, opinionated and fiercely intelligent. A friend of Anne Askew, a connection that almost cost her her life, Anne lived to see her brother-in-law, her half-brother, and her husband go to the block. Imprisoned in the Tower herself she managed to keep her head and ultimately emerged wealthy and powerful, dying peacefully on the 16th April 1587 at Hanworth Palace. Anne was the ultimate Tudor survivor.

When Anne Lister, ‘Gentleman Jack,’ and her infamous diaries hit the headlines a few years ago, their popularity spawned a plethora of Gentleman Jack blogs, research and books which have focused primarily on Anne Lister’s romantic relationships with (a huge) number of women, but whilst they are an integral part of the Lister story, there is another woman lurking in the pages of her diaries: The original Lister Sister, Marian.Marian Lister was Anne’s younger sister and the two women had a complex and fascinating relationship. The evidence reveals Marian to be a complicated woman who both resented, loved and was fiercely protective of her older sister. Forced to live together for a large part of their lives Anne vehemently disapproved of Marian’s desire to escape in order to marry a “carpet maker” feeling him to be unworthy of the sister she herself derided. Marian, for her part, did not understand her elder sister's relationships with women, but she accepted them, defended her and worried about her excessively even whilst she ranted about Anne’s spending, scheming and selfishness.When together, the two women bickered constantly with Marian, literally at times screaming in frustration at her headstrong sister. Anne, for her part, complained that Marian was “simple … good for nothing,” yet her approval meant a good deal to her.Here, for the first time, we look at the complex relationship between the two women, how it developed, its moments of triumph and tragedy, as well as the profound influence it had on each of their lives.

Daughter, Wife, Princess, Widow and Queen: Anne Neville had many faces.Shakespeare presents her to us as a woman consumed with rage, bitterness and grief. He has her cursing the killer of her husband and father, before marrying him and condemning herself to despair. She rages, screams and weeps but ultimately she is shown as nothing more than a passive victim of the men who used and exploited her.This could not be further from the truth. Born into one of the most powerful dynasties in medieval England, Anne knew her worth, and her power. She was a great survivor escaping the tide of blood that consumed England not just alive but emerging with a crown on her head.Tragedy would untimely engulf her, the death of her son ended all her hopes for a lasting legacy and her premature death was subject to rumour and speculation. But there is undoubtedly more to Anne than her marriage and her end.She is fascinating, elusive, a powerbroker and very much her father’s daughter.This is Anne’s story.