Twain and the Tudors

Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper is a historical fiction novel about Prince Edward Tudor and a young boy named Tom Canty.  Tom grew up in a very bad part of London with an abusive father, and his family was very poor.  He always dreamed of a better life, and a kind priest taught him to read and speak properly.  One day he walks farther than he usually does and finds himself near the palace grounds, where he sees Prince Edward.



When he comes near the gates, the guards beat him and throw him back, but Edward stops them.  He lets Tom into the palace.  The boys agree to switch clothes for a while, and notice how incredibly similar they look.  Edward gets thrown out of the palace because everyone mistakes him for Tom. 

They try to live each other's lives.  Everyone thinks that Tom is insane because he denies that he is the prince of Wales, and everyone thinks that Edward is insane because he thinks he is the prince.  Nobody believes either one of them.  Edward is abused by Tom's father and runs off.  He meets Miles Hendon, who doesn't really believe him but humors him.  He agrees to help and protect Edward.

Meanwhile, Edward's father, King Henry VIII, dies.  Edward is going to be crowned king, but nobody knows that it's really Tom.  Edward arrives just in time to interrupt the coronation.  He proves that he is the true prince by telling everyone where the lost Great Seal of England is.  Everyone had been asking Tom the whereabouts of the Great Seal, but he said he didn't know anything about it.  Edward shows everyone the place where he hid the Seal, but it's gone.  Tom realizes what the Great Seal was.  He had taken it from its hiding place and used it for cracking nuts.  Tom and Hendon remained friends of the king throughout his brief, but just, rule.



While  nobody is sure if this is really true or not, this novel has lots of historical content.  Edward was very young when his father died and he ascended the throne.  Edward's policies were quite rational, especially when compared with his father's or his sister Mary's policies.  Edward did have two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth.  While the plot is probably a myth, a lot of this book is historically accurate.





The Prince and the Pauper can be downloaded as an iBook for free.

The Great Seal of England. Abingdon School. http://www.abingdon.org.uk/index.php/63objects/object_2_letters_patent_of_king_edward_vi
The Prince and the Pauper. Once Upon a Time Wiki. http://onceuponatime.wikia.com/wiki/The_Prince_and_the_Pauper