I mentioned A Compendium of Common Knowledge (as part of Renaissance, The Elizabethan World) as my website of the month back on the October 2006 podcast and now I’m pleased to hear that Maggie has turned it into a book! Click the cover above or here for ordering information.
Month: September 2008
More Tudor inspiration on the catwalk

Actually more Elizabethan this time, I guess.
From ElleUK:
From the opening outfit, which paid homage to Elizabethan dress, featuring a latex ruff collar atop a dress with latex ruffled underskirts
Changes to the rules of succession
Although this isn’t strictly Tudor-related, I’m sure that some of you would find this interesting. I remember there was some discussion of this 5-10 years ago… Hmmm, I wonder how Henry VIII would feel about these particular changes. 🙂
From The Guardian:
Downing Street has drawn up plans to end the 300-year-old exclusion of Catholics from the throne. The requirement that the succession automatically pass to a male would also be reformed, making it possible for a first born daughter of Prince William to become his heir.
Top o’ the tiara to Jean for the link
Short Eric Ives interview
From the Kenilworth Weekly News:
Warwick author and reputable historian Professor Eric Ives will be challenging the written word during a history event this month.
The emeritus professor of English history at Birmingham University said he and his students have
More possible interruptions…
No hurricanes this time, thank goodness. The house has sold and unfortunately my new place won’t be ready for another couple of weeks, so my stuff is going to be in a couple of friends’ garages and I will be staying with family. I’ll be tied up with getting the stuff out of the old house on Thursday and Friday of this week, but things should be back to something passing as normal after that. There will probably be another break in posting in the first part of October when I move into the new place. I’ll be sooooo glad when all of this is over and done with!
Possible blog posting interruptions and delays
Courtesy of Hurricane Ike —
The odds are good that I won’t have much in the way of satellite internet access starting sometime this evening and lasting until sometime Saturday evening given the rain we’re expecting from Hurricane Ike. It might just end up being windy with only some light rain in my area, but we’ll just have to see. So, there probably won’t be any new posts or comments approved until Saturday evening or sometime on Sunday.
David Starkey’s new program on Henry VIII coming next year
From Broadcastnow.co.uk:
David Starkey is to produce a four-part “psychological profile” of Henry VIII for Channel 4.
The as-yet-untitled series will go beyond the facts of Henry’s six wives and his split with the Catholic church to piece together a sense of his character and motivations.
The first 60-minute episode will show Henry as a highly intelligent child, while subsequent episodes will paint him as a brilliant “A-list celebrity” character with an over-developed ego and “solipsistic sense of self”.
Repost: Flowers for Elizabeth I
Since today is Elizabeth’s birthday, I thought it would be a good day to repost the donation request to send flowers for Elizabeth’s accession anniversary.
Original post below:
My friend Heather Thomas, who runs ElizabethI.org, is making arrangements to have flowers sent to Hatfield to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Elizabeth I’s accession to the throne. If you would like to contribute, please visit her website for more information: http://www.elizabethi.org/flowers.html
Philippa Gregory’s “The Other Queen”
This one slipped past me, but since I know a lot of you are readers of her books, I figured I should post links to her next book. This time the subject is Mary Queen of Scots during her captivity in England. It’s been out a while in the UK and will be out on the 16th in the US. Amazon links below (US on the left and UK hardcover in the center and paperback on the right).
Upcoming celebrations of Henry VIII’s 500th anniversary
That is, the 500th anniversary of him becoming king. Or the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry VII. Or both.
From the L.A. Times (and written by Susan James!):
Best known of the English kings, Henry VIII has usually been portrayed as a gargantuan party boy seducing court ladies, quarreling with the church, arresting friends and beheading wives. But he brought more to the throne than that.
Bright, cultured and handsome, Henry succeeded peacefully to the crown as he turned 18, securing the Tudor dynasty and making possible England’s golden age.
Next year marks the 500th anniversary of that accession, and a variety of special events will be held in and around London to explore his life and reign.
A major presentation at Hampton Court, Henry’s magnificent palace on the Thames, opens April 12 and runs daily through the year. It focuses on one day in the king’s life: July 12, 1543, the day he married his sixth queen, Catherine Parr.
…
Beginning Oct. 31, 2009, the palace will host a series of ghost tours through candlelighted rooms, including the Haunted Corridor where Henry’s fifth queen, Catherine Howard, ran screaming from guards sent to take her to the Tower.
Tudor Christmas (Dec. 27 to Jan. 1) will be celebrated with traditional music, dancing and live entertainment as well as an open-air ice rink.
Check out the full article for more upcoming events at Hampton Court and other places around England.
No fat Henry in “The Tudors” seasons 3 and 4
Oh well, there goes my theory that they were leading up to a fat Henry VIII with that final scene of him tearing into a bunch of food at the end of season 2…
I’ve seen this bit of news come through in a bunch of places, so here is just one of the many links to the story.


