The Sword and the Scythe

Reading Guide

Chapter Titles Playlist: 

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Historical Figures

Boleyn, Anne (circa July 1507—May 19, 1536): Daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn. She spent some of her childhood in France before returning to England and ultimately becoming part of Henry VIII's court in 1522. At some point he became so infatuated with her that he stopped her pending marriage with Lord Henry Percy. In 1527, Henry started his attempts to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (due to her advancing age and inability to produce a male heir to the throne). Due to the Catholic Church not facilitating this request, Henry split from the Catholic Church and instead instituted the Anglican Church of England. In January 1533, Henry and Anne were married, but it was not until May 23rdthat his marriage to Catherine was annulled by the archbishop of Canterbury. In September, Anne gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I. She had a miscarriage in 1534 and gave birth to a stillborn boy in January of 1536. On May 2, 1536 she was charged with adultery with several men (including incest with her own brother, George Boleyn). She was moved to the Tower of London until her trial on May 19thwhere she was convicted. Most historians think Anne Boleyn was innocent of the adultery and incest of which she was accused—that instead, she was a victim of the changing political and religious tides of the English court. She was beheaded (by sword—the misconception that she was executed by guillotine like Marie Antoinette is false as the machine was not invented until the late 1700s). Boleyn is said to have requested a French swordsman who was known as a better executioner to perform her beheading, as it was then common for executioners to miss and require several swings before the sentence was effectively carried out. Just days after her death, Henry married Jane Seymour who gave him his much sought-after son, Edward I.

Capulet, Juliet: The female lead in William Shakespeare's well-known play 1597 Romeo and Juliet, may have been a real person. There is much debate about whether or not she and her ill-fated lover actually existed. Some suggest she was of the Cappellettis of Cremona, Italy rather than Verona. However, there is evidence that the Cappellettis were more a political organization than an actual family. The Cappello family of Verona is another alleged source of the story. Their house in Via Cappello 23 also known as "Juliet's House" is a well-known tourist destination of Verona along with "Juliet's Grave" in the convent of San Francesco al Corso. There is no concrete evidence of the two lovers actually living in the area, or proof that either of these sites are the legitimate dwelling and resting place of the famed Juliet. The lovers are alleged to have died in 1302 or 1303. The first written iteration of the lovers' tragic story was written by Dante in the Purgatoriosection (canto VI) of his The Divine Comedy in 1320. Subsequent versions of the lovers' tragic story can be found in: Storia di Verona by Girolamo del Corte; "The Tragical Historye of Romeus and Juliet" by Arthur Brooke in 1532; "The Goodly History of the True and Constant Love of Rhomeo and Juliette"; Matteo Bandello's 1554 novella "Guiliette e Romeo"; Luigi da Porto's cir.1530 Historia Novellamente Ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti, a Story Newly Found of Two Noble Lovers;"Mariotto and Gianozza of Siena" by Masuccio Salernitano in 1476; as well as Italian theater troupes performing the tale across Europe.

Hamilton, Alexander (Jan. 11, 1755 or 1757 [birth year is disputed]—Jul. 12, 1804): son of the broke and disgraced Scottish nobleman James A. Hamilton and Rachel Faucette, a married woman of British and French descent. Immigrated to the American colonies from Nevis, an island in the British West Indies to attend college shortly before the revolution during which he would serve as General George Washington's aide. After the war, he finished law school and became a supporter of the U.S. Constitution (Hamilton preferred strong central government). He wrote 51 of the 85 Federalist papers advocating the adoption of the new form of government. After the adoption of the Constitution, he served as the First Secretary of the Treasury during George Washington's presidency and created the National Bank. He was released from his Secretary position due to disagreements with John Adams, whose reelection he advocated against, leading to the eventual election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800. His political aspirations were halted due to a scandal involving an affair he had with Maria Reynolds which he revealed himself to clear his name of embezzlement charges. Most gentlemen's duels were non-fatal (the pistols used were known for being inaccurate and often the dispute would be resolved, and no one would fire at all). Hamilton had been part of at least ten non-fatal duels, before his duel with Burr (though his own son Philip died as part of a duel three years prior). He died of a fatal gunshot wound as a result of the duel with Vice President Aaron Burr whose campaign to be elected governor of New York Hamilton was championing against. At the time of his death, he left behind his wife and remaining seven children (including two-year old Philip Hamilton II, named after Hamilton's deceased eldest son). His life, political achievements, and death was the subject of the 2015 hit hip-hop musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda.