A note from ME! Hey peoples! Here's a little one shot I wrote to help with my Early Modern History Revision. It's full of little prompts to remind me of different points I needed to learn, so at the end I've written an explanation to each point I felt wasn't obvious. The explanation was written without my notes, so feel free to correct any mistakes I made!
Enjoy!
England opened his chamber door as he turned the page he was reading, humming as he scanned the list.
"Nepitism... Pluralism... Simony... Breaking of Clergical vows..." He smirked to himself as he read the list allowed. Each point was intricately detailed, every example, time and place of the Churches crimes described. Who cared if they weren't all necessarily true? He had the evidence to show the king, after all.[1]
"All this just because your king couldn't get an annulment, Angleterre? Does it not seem to be a bit much?"
The teenaged country looked up at the drawling, seductive voice, and England scowled.
"Who let you in?" He snapped at the older blonde. France smirked at him, stretching out on England's bed.
"We haven't seen each other for so long, and this is how you greet me? You insult me, mon cher..." He taunted. England frowned.
"If this is about me siding with Spain-"[2] He started, but France interrupted him.
"Please, don't consider me low enough to hold a grudge because of a petty thing like that." He stated, rolling over onto his stomach and resting his chin on his folded arms. He peered up at England through long, dusty lashes. "You are really of very little significance in this war."[3] England growled at his old care-giver, placing the papers on the desk by the door and crossing the room, green eyes flashing with a fiery rage and determinism which, France mused, had been appearing more and more often recently.
"If I am so insignificant, then why did both you and Spain ask me to become your Ally?" England snapped, shoving France in an attempt to reclaim his bed. France grabbed the younger's wrist, sitting up and pulling the startled England into his lap. He wrapped his arms around England's slim waist, tugging him to rest against the elder's broad chest. England resisted briefly before allowing himself to be pulled back, and France noted with interest that England had grown, developing into a young man. He had filled out, muscles developing in his chest and arms. His face was leaner then France remembered it being, and a thin layer of blonde fuzz covered his cheeks, revealing that England had forgotten to shave that morning.
When did that happen? France rested his stubbled chin on top of England's head, and frowned. It wasn't that long since he and England were only children... only a few hundred years, really...
"You're too young..." France whispered, burying his face into England's messy hair. England stiffened, trying to look around.
"What are you talking about, Frog?" He snapped. France sighed.
"You're always trying to start a fight with me[4], and now you want to defy the Church... You're too young for what you're trying to do." England shrugged awkwardly.
"Holy Roman Empire is doing it..." He muttered. "He's younger than me..." [5]
"That's different, England." France said wearily. "Holy Roman never started out to defy the Church. [6] Besides, Spain can't afford to attack the Protestants there; his boss' position depends on Holy Roman's princes." France lifted his head, and frowned. "You, however... You're defying both the Church and Spain in breaking from Rome and allowing your King to divorce. Spain won't just let that happen; it's his princess you're planning on shaming."
England shrugged, leaning back against France's chest tiredly. He'd spent the entire day hunting with the king, which was enough to exhaust anyone, and then had to look through and complete piles of paperwork meant for Henry. [7] Really, he just wanted to go to sleep... And now France was lecturing him, and it didn't look like he'd stop anytime soon. England bit back a yawn as his eyes briefly fluttered closed.
"Are you even listening to me?" France asked skeptically, and England mumbled incoherently. The flamboyant nation sighed, and unwrapped himself from England, who murmured in sleepy protest. France stared at England quietly for a few minutes, before chuckling softly and scooping the teenager up bridal style. He staggered slightly – the last time he'd picked England up, the island nation had barely reached his waist, and he wasn't expecting the dramatic change in weight – before laying him on the bed, covering him with the blanket. France placed a quick kiss on England's forehead, and, in response, England moaned in his sleep, his eyes flickering behind his eyelids.
"You really are just a kid..." France murmured good naturedly, before opening the window, leaving the same way he'd come in.
[1] Since the Pope wouldn't acknowledge Henry VIII's desire for an Annulment with the Spanish Princess Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII broke England away from the Catholic Church and created the Church of England (Which, really, was just the Catholic Church with English Bibles...). Of course, this wasn't the only reason, but it was one of the main, most obvious reasons. He ordered a series of investigations on the Catholic Church within England in order to justify breaking away, and received a list of the abuse of power by the Clergy. These included Nepitism (Giving a friend or relative a position within the Church without any qualifications, etc.), Simony (Buying a position within the Church), Pluralism (Holding several positions within the Church) and the breaking of several vows, including but not limited to the vow of chastity. Henry VIII proceeded to shut down Monasteries throughout England and sell the land the Monasteries previously owned. However, it is pretty doubtful that the majority of these accusations were actually true; it could be that the investigators made a lot of these accusations up to please Henry. When in doubt, obey the guy with the power to sentence you to any number of painful deaths.
[2] At the time, France and Spain were engaged in a series of wars. Both wanting to gain the upper hand, they sought England's alliance. Francis 1st of France and Henry VIII of England met in a huge event called "The field of Gold", in which they were meant to discuss a possible alliance, but ended up showing off and trying to outdo each other in terms of the size of their court, the courage of their knights and even their own strength. A few days after Henry VIII returned to England, he met with Charles 1st of Spain, and made an Alliance.
[3] England was essentially the Lackey of Europe at the time. For any American readers, think of it this way; Spain was the 16th century equivalent of modern day America, while England was Mexico. Which makes it ten times more impressive when you consider how badly England kicked Spain's arse under Queen Elizabeth's rule only a few decades after.
[4] Henry VIII was always trying to start wars with France, and both he and Francis 1st saw each other as personal rivals.
[5] Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire was the birth place of Lutheranism, the foundations of Protestantism, which quickly spread throughout HRE. At the time, the Holy Roman Emperor was Charles 5th (Also known as King Charles 1st of Spain). However, Charles couldn't do anything about the Lutherans within HRE, since he was elected by the German Princes in HRE, and, if he did anything they didn't agree with, they could take away his position.
[6] Martin Luther, the father of Lutheranism, never originally wanted to defy the Catholic Church - he was just trying to point out all the corruptions within the Church. In fact, even when he established Lutheranism, he wanted to be proven wrong, and shown that Catholicism was right. However, whenever anyone tried to prove him wrong, Luther could always counter their arguments, and therefore he never was proven wrong.
[7] Little known fact; Henry VIII hated writing. He did everything he could to avoid paperwork, including dumping it on his more literate servants.