An interview with Dr James Taffe

                An interview with Dr James Taffe

                                                               On his new book, Courting Scandal 

Dr James Taffe has recently written his first book, on Lady Jane Rochford, she was a servant of five of Henry VIII's Queens and was executed for treason. As James's book title suggests, Jane was often surrounded by a bit of scandal.

So, let's speak to the man himself! He has very kindly accepted to do an interview with me on his new book.

James, tell us a bit about yourself and why you wanted to become a Tudor historian?

"My name is James, I live in Newcastle, UK, having moved from Birmingham to the northeast around four years ago to study at Durham University. I chose to study history initially because I wanted to be a journalist, but researching and writing about the Tudors in particular for essays as an undergrad I became a little obsessed with it and wanted to pursue that further. After graduating, very fortunately, I was offered the opportunity to train as a historian."

What made you choose servants of Henry VIII's queens as an area of focus?

"My undergrad dissertation was on the English Queens consort and conspiracy, focusing on the executions of Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. The Queens' households and their servants were central to both narratives, and their involvement raised many questions which, I felt, were not being addressed. I wanted to establish that the reappointment of servants to the households of their successors as queens was a quid pro quo for their role in bringing down their former mistress - although that much is difficult to prove, I did broaden the scope a bit and chase the answer to one question in particular: what was the impact of Henry VIII's marital instability on the households of his queens and the careers of their servants?"

What made you want to write your first book on Lady Jane Rochford?

"Jane is extraordinary, remarkable even - as a student for me she was always an excellent case study for the role and position of women in this period, but just to satisfy my own curiosity I wanted to explain her motives, which have confounded historians for centuries. I wanted to know what was seemingly unknowable: what she was thinking, and why she did what she did."

What bit of research or artefact did you find most exciting when researching Jane?

"The depositions relating to the fall of Katherine Howard in 1541. For many years in her career, Jane manages to keep herself in the shadows - she eludes the reader. But once the Howard affair was exposed, so too was Jane. Her words and her actions are closely scrutinised by the king's council so the detail is rich, a dream for a historian!"

What resources helped you most when putting Jane's life together? Have you had any other historians help you when writing your first book?

"I am honestly indebted to everything and everyone in the bibliography of the book, and many more who were not cited but no doubt influenced my work. To mention only one resource, I would highly recommend Jennifer Ann Rowley-Williams' unpublished thesis, 'Image and Reality: the lives of aristocratic women in early tudor England' ( especially the appendix, where the author transcribed the 1536 and 1541 inventories of Jane's possessions)."

Why did you choose the title Courting Scandal when you thought of Jane Boleyn?

"I hate coming up with titles, but I liked that there was something of a double meaning. The early Tudor court, the backdrop to Jane's career, was beset by scandal. Often Jane 'courted' scandal to her own advantage, but this also, ultimately, led to her downfall."

Do you find Jane a likeable person or do you think she rightly had a bad reputation?

"I had hoped to find a more nuanced interpretation of Jane with my book, the evidence to me speaks to a woman who was perhaps not evil or 'wicked', we can do away with those words, but she was meddlesome, clever and ambitious. Certainly, she was not innocent, as is often suggested. Some historians mean for us to like Jane, and yet, the impression left by the evidence is that she was not particularly well-liked by those who knew her. Personally, I think she is fascinating, brilliant actually, but I wouldn't have wanted to make an enemy of her."

Why do you think there is such a little amount of sources when it comes to Jane, seeing who she was married to?

"No doubt because she was a woman, whose impression of the evidence is rather more informal, and subtle. Women truly were and are the hidden figures of the early Tudor court. So much of the surviving source material for this period are official records, like state papers, ambassadorial reports, exchequer rolls, etc. more often drafted and composed by men for the business of men; the recurrence of Jane's name in these records thus is quite striking!"

How does it feel to receive such a welcome reception on the publication of your book?

"The word that comes to mind is RELIEF. I'm terribly insecure about my work, but the personal impact of the kind words from those who supported it is immeasurable."

Are there any other Tudor servants you are interested in writing about next?

"Oh, absolutely, there are so many lives and careers to uncover, more than I could ever hope to in my lifetime. I am particularly drawn to Sir Francis Bryan, his family and their networks at the early Tudor court."

Thank you so much James for doing this interview with me, I hope to see more books from you!

Until next time, 

                        UnholyTudor 💜