Ruins of the Abbey and Bury St Edmunds with the later Cathedral in the background. Photo May 2015.
The Feast of St Edmund was a couple of days so I thought I would use another photo from Bury. As I’ve mentioned before, the Abbey was the original burial place of Mary Tudor Brandon, Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk, before the Dissolution when her remains were moved to the nearby St. Mary’s Church.
Tower of St James the Great Church in Castle Acre, Norfolk. Photo May 2015.
Rochester Cathedral. Photo May 2015
My schedule for making these posts is just totally messed up these days, so I’m going to try to do a round-up for a few things I’ve missed and some books I’m anticipating will be released from now through the end of the year. Anything new I come across that comes out in 2020 I’ll put in a post at the end of December or early January.
Books
In recent new releases, Lauren McKay’s Wolf Hall Companion is now out in both the UK and the US.
And Medical Downfall of the Tudors: Sex, Reproduction & Succession by Sylvia Barbara Soberton came out in late October, focussing on what the archives reveal about the medical history of the Tudors.
And coming later this year…
Chronos Crime Chronicles – The Death of Amy Robsart: An Elizabethan Mystery by Sarah-Beth Watkins, first in a new true crime series from Chronos Books, is due out on December 11 in the UK and on January 1 in the US.
Events
I’m not anticipating any more events and exhibitions to be opening in person for the remainder of 2020. There have been a lot of virtual events that I probably should have tried to track and post over recent months but I know it would have been as hopeless as trying to track all of the Tudor-related fiction books that come out!
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Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, Shottery, near Stratford-upon-Avon. Photo May 2015.
Remains of The Pleasance at Kenilworth Castle, built for Henry V. Photo May 2015.
Even though Kenilworth has many, many associations with Tudor history, the reason I’m featuring it today has to do with its ties to Henry V. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m doing the Shakespeare 2020 Project and we’re reading Henry V right now as it coincides with the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt (October 25, 1415). Henry V was at Kenilworth Castle when he received the infamous gift of tennis balls from the French king in Act I, Scene 2 of the play (probably based on a real incident).
Henry V had The Pleasance constructed along the mere, where it was reached by boat from the castle. It was eventually dismantled in the reign of Henry VIII and only the earthworks remain. To reach it now, you take a footpath from the castle until you reach the information plaque you see in the photo. It’s hard to appreciate the remains from ground level, so I’ve added a screen shot from Google Earth below with the location of where I took the photo from circled in blue.
Outside the walls of Framlingham Castle. Photo May 2015.
The piers in the middle are the remains of the Tudor bridge that lead from the castle to a private garden.
Embroideries from the Marian Hangings at Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk. Photo May 2015.
More pictures of some of the embroideries of Mary Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick on display at Oxburgh.
View of the Elizabethan Gardens at Kenilworth Castle from the steps up to the Norman keep. Photo May 2015.
South front of Blickling Hall, Norfolk. Photo May 2015
Portrait of Arthur Tudor at Hampton Court Palace. Photo May 2015
I’m glad I snapped this photo of Arthur’s portrait the last time I was at Hampton Court so now I have something to use for today – his 534th birthday!
Spiral stairs in Castle Rising, Norfolk. Photo May 2015.
Every time I go up or down one of these when visiting a castle, I think of the women having to climb them in all those clothes (regardless of the era). I’m such a klutz, I’m pretty sure I would have gotten my legs tangled in fabric and ended up with a concussion more than once.
Portrait of Elizabeth I in “The Arte of English Poesie”. Photo April 2016
I needed a picture of the birthday girl Elizabeth I and it looks like I don’t have any more in my 2015 trip photos, so I pulled this from my photos of Shakespeare in Print & Performance from 2016. This exhibit was put on by the Harry Ransom Center at my university to mark 400 years since Shakespeare’s death.
The Arte of English Poesie was printed in London by Richard Field in 1589 and was dedicated to Elizabeth I. The Latin caption translates as: “For the one who is ever the same, and no other.”
Just a book round-up this month!
I missed a couple of things that did manage to come out in the past couple of months. The publication schedules do seem to still be in flux though so I can’t promise that some of these release dates are 100% accurate!
Previously Released
First up, the third book in Elisabeth Wheeler’s Catherine Howard trilogy, The Queen Shall Fall is now available and can be ordered through her website.
Next up, 1520: The Field of the Cloth of Gold by Amy Licence was released in the UK back in July and will be out September 1 in the US:
New This Month
Lauren Mackay’s Wolf Hall Companion will be out on September 3 in the UK and in October in the US:
Sean Cunningham has written the entry for Henry VII for the Penguin Monarchs series and it *might* be out in the US on September 1 and in June 2021 in the UK. I’m going to go ahead and list it now just in case it does actually release in the US this week. (The Penguin Monarchs edition is the new release, but the paperback version listed with it is actually the bio of Henry VII that Sean Cunningham wrote for the Routledge Historical Biographies series that was published several years ago).
That’s it for this month! I hope you all are doing well. We’re still in “stay at home as much as possible” mode here in central Texas pretty much through the end of the year, so I’m still primarily working from home and only going out for groceries. It’s a little monotonous, but I do like staying out of the Texas summer heat as much as possible! 🙂
Royal arms and the motto of Richard III on his tomb in Leicester Cathedral. Photo May 2015.
Half groat of Henry VII at the Bosworth Battlefield visitor center. Photo May 2015.
The photo itself might not be great (sorry… displays like these can be difficult to photograph) the object is really interesting and a good example of some of the challenges in archaeology.
The Ashby de la Zouch Canal alongside the Bosworth Battlefield trail. Photo May 2015
With the lack of exercise thanks to the pandemic and the record-hot temps here in Central Texas (107F° – almost 42°C) I’ve been daydreaming of walking trails in the UK. I know they had their stretch of record heat recently too but even those temps would be a relief for me right now!
Vaulting in Norwich Cathedral. Photo May 2015.
Entrance to Kenilworth Castle. Photo May 2015.
Part of the ruins of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. Photo May 2015.
Last week was the anniversary of Mary Tudor Brandon’s burial at the Abbey, so I thought I would use another picture of the ruins. From the shape of this section, I’m guessing it was the apse of the abbey church. I’m not 100% where in the ruins Mary’s original burial would have been, but her body was moved just a few years later to the church of St. Mary’s when the abbey was dissolved.
