From The Telegraph:

Alison Plowden , who died on August 17 aged 75, worked as a secretary at the BBC before before becoming the author of skilfully written historical studies, principally of the Tudor and Stuart periods.

Full article

Sonja Marie of the Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum found this on Deviant Art. Too cute!!

The Wives by ~Comtessedelalune on deviantART

First up, episode #15 of TudorCast is now posted.

And, I’d like to announce that I’ve put together a silly little survey as a way to get entries for the first Tudorhistory.org/TudorTalk/TudorCast give-away. The folks at Showtime were nice enough to send me some goodies from “The Tudors” television series to give away to other Tudor fans. You can take the survey and enter the contest over at tudorhistory.org/contest. Also, if you want to take the survey but not enter the contest, you can do that as well, just don’t enter an email address in the last box.

I’ll post the results of the survey here and contact the winners in the second half of October!

If you’re going to be in or around southern England in October, there is going to be a special program to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the raising of Henry VIII’s ship the Mary Rose. Click on over to the site for the Mary Rose Trust for a listing of the events.

From The Scotsman:

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a medieval tower at Edinburgh Castle thought to have been lost forever.

Fragments of Constable’s Tower, which was destroyed by Elizabeth I’s army during a siege, were found during excavation work for the attraction’s new visitor centre.

…

The Constable’s Tower was built during the reign of Robert II and was the home of the castle’s constable - a powerful position appointed by the king to watch over and maintain the fortress in his absence. It was finally destroyed in 1573, after an epic siege which saw the castle garrison led by Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange hold out against Scottish forces loyal to the infant James VI.

After Elizabeth I sent troops and cannons to bombard the castle, the tower was destroyed and later replaced with its current portcullis gate facade.

Full article

From The Telegraph:

One of Britain’s greatest archaeological treasures, the Mary Rose, is facing the biggest threat to its survival since it was raised from the seabed 25 years ago.

In contrast to the towering French warships it faced as Henry VIII’s flagship, it is fighting a much smaller, though no less daunting, enemy. Scientists have discovered that bacteria growing on the timbers of the Tudor warship are producing a corrosive acid that could cause the hull to disintegrate.

Full article

Two of the three in the contest are Tudors!

From the BBC:

British history is blessed by skilled and charismatic monarchs, but also tainted by incompetent and even murderous ones.

The argument over which king or queen was the greatest will never be settled - history is about interpretation, after all.

But here a trio of leading contenders are championed by three historians, ahead of a public discussion at the weekend organised by English Heritage.

The merits of King Henry VIII are outlined by Alison Weir, Queen Elizabeth I is endorsed by Sarah Gristwood and Queen Victoria is supported by Martyn Downer.

Go to the BBC article to read more of the debate and to cast your vote!

From the Maney Publishing webpage for the book:

Henry VIII used his wardrobe, and that of his family and household, as a way of expressing his wealth and magnificence. This book encompasses the first detailed study of male and female dress worn at the court of Henry VIII (1509-47) and covers the dress of the King and his immediate family, the royal household and
the broader court circle. Henry VIII’s wardrobe is set in context by a study of Henry VII’s clothes, court and household.

As none of Henry VIII’s clothes survive, evidence is drawn primarily from the great wardrobe accounts, wardrobe warrants, and inventories, and is interpreted using evidence from narrative sources, paintings, drawings and a small selection of contemporary garments, mainly from European collections.

Be sure to look at the website linked above for more information, including a download of the table of contents and introduction and links to a radio interview with the author, Maria Hayward.

It will be out in September in the UK and October in the US. It looks fascinating, so I hope my university gets it for the library, since it’s a little out of my price range!