Family
John Skelton's lineage is difficult to prove. He was probably related to Sir John Shelton and his children, who also came from Norfolk. Sir John's daughter, Mary Shelton, was a mistress of Henry VIII's during the reign of her cousin, Anne Boleyn. Mary Shelton was the main editor and contributor to the Devonshire MS, a collection of poems written by various members of the court.
Interestingly, it is said that several of Skelton's works were inspired by women who were to become mothers to two of Henry VIII's six wives. Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, countess of Wiltshire and Ormonde, was said to be so beautiful that Skelton compared her to Cressida and a popular but unverifiable legend also suggests that several poems were inspired by Margaret Wentworth. Elizabeth was the mother of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife; Margaret was the mother of his third, Queen Jane Seymour.
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Famous quotes containing the word family:
“Chant lessons and your family will prosper; drunken ditties will lead you to ruin.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Family lore can be a bore, but only when you are hearing it, never when you are relating it to the ones who will be carrying it on for you. A family without a storyteller or two has no way to make sense out of their past and no way to get a sense of themselves.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“When one family builds a wall, two families benefit from it.”
—Chinese proverb.