Hampton Court Palace -England 1547
His Majesty - King Edward VI paced across the room. He stopped to glance wistfully out of the window at some children playing in the rose gardens below.
All of 10 years old, and crowned King at such a young age, he took his role very seriously. Little did he realize that behind the scenes, his uncle Edward Seymour and a council of regency oversaw all matters of the state and thus the kingdom was ruled.
All of 10 years old, and crowned King at such a young age, he took his role very seriously. Little did he realize that behind the scenes, his uncle Edward Seymour and a council of regency oversaw all matters of the state and thus the kingdom was ruled.
The then Archbishop of Canterbury - Thomas Cranmer, keen to separate from Papal authority and the influence of Rome, began to write and re-write important public documents which he thought would greatly impact the gentry at large and help to unify certain cultural and religious practices.
Amongst these, was his personal favourite - that of creating the first documented list of all words that were to be found in the English language.
Whilst noble and lofty were his ideals, he had to get the King’s seal of approval for each of these, without which they could not be decreed.
And the young King Edward, was turning out to be a bigger snot-nosed brat than he had imagined.
“Sire”, he began – “there is this matter of the lingua-compendium which we simply must complete before the French produce theirs.”
Bringing up the French angle he thought would spur the young heir to grant approval. If there was anything the English hated more than its weather during these troubled days, it was the French.
“Alright Tommy”, said the monarch “but you need to do it the way I say.”
The Archbishop cringed inwardly. Firstly he hated the way he called him “Tommy”, and he also knew where this was headed.
The last time they sat down at this, they got stuck at the letter B.
The young King in his infantile exuberance, began calling a Flutter-by as a Butter-Fly.
The Archbishop already knew that in Rome these creatures were being called Sbattimento Vicino, [ trans. - flutter by ], but little Edward would not yield.
He paced across the room once more, then with his hands on his hips, pulling himself up as tall as he could, he pouted his lips and said –
“Tommy, you shall name it – ‘BUTTER-FLY’ or you can take this compendium of yours and stick it right up your bottom !”
“Indeed, your Majesty”… said the Archbishop as he bowed low, turned briskly and left the room, thinking murderous thoughts all the way until he reached his chambers.
