Entry to the Traitors’ Gate, seen from across the Thames. Photo June 2000.
Year: 2013
Sunday Short Takes

Elizabeth and the Three Goddesses. Image:NPG
The big news in the Tudor/Elizabethan art realm this past week was the announcement that the National Portrait Gallery has purchased a portrait of Elizabeth I from a house sale and that it would be included in the gallery’s forthcoming exhibition Elizabeth I & Her People (opening in October).
Here are a few of the articles about the painting from last week:
* Elizabeth I portrait found in house clearance sale – BBC article with a video discussing the painting with the NPG’s Tarnya Cooper
* Elizabeth I portrait to be displayed after being hidden for centuries – From The Telegraph
* National Portrait Gallery buys postcard-sized portrait of Elizabeth I – From The Guardian
Several stories related to Mary Queen of Scots came along last week:
* Mary, Queen of Scots death warrant to go on show – It will be part of an exhibition that I’ll post more about in an upcoming round-up
* Mary, Queen of Scots statue call – If Mary gets a statue, I hope this prompts Pembroke to grant the request for one for Henry VII.
Picture of the Week #227
Sunday Short Takes
Lots of things this week!
* Historic milestone for 500-year-old wreck of Mary Rose warship – Scientists have stopped spraying the 500-year-old wreck of the Mary Rose with a protective wax for the first time in nearly two decades, an historic milestone in the conservation of Henry VIII’s Tudor warship.
* My poignant journey in search of the martyrs – Article by Nancy Bilyeau for the Catholic Herald on her research for The Crown and The Chalice
Picture of the Week #226
Upcoming books, exhibitions, and events for May 2013
How can it already be May?
Books
From last month – In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion was released last month in the UK and will be released on May 15 in the US. More about the related exhibition below. And John Guy’s Children of Henry VIII has been moved up in the US and is now due out on May 8 (and actually appears to already been in stock).
The Tudor Rose: Princess Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s Sister by Jennifer Kewley Draskau is due out May 1 in the UK and September 1 in the US:
Anna Whitelock’s Elizabeth’s Bedfellows is due May 23 in the UK. US publication information is unavailable at this time, but I’ll update when I hear more.
And the same with Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors from Chris Skidmore. I’m really looking forward to this one, so it’s a good thing I have a review copy coming. 😀
And finally for the books this month, Elizabeth I is finally getting a biography in the Yale English Monarchs series! It will be authored by Simon Adams and is simply titled Elizabeth I: A Biography. It is due out May 28 in both the US and UK.
Exhibitions

As mentioned above with the book news above, the exhibition In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion debuts this month in the The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. It opens May 10 and runs through October 6. More information is available at the Royal Collection website, which also includes an online gallery of exhibition highlights and a TEDx talk by the exhibition curator.
Events
* The next Sudeley Castle Tudor Fun Day will be on May 19. Check out the website for more information!
* Marilyn emailed to say that Alison Weir would be speaking at Gainsborough Old Hall on May 11. I went to the website and saw that Ms. Weir had a whole bunch of events scheduled the year, so if you’re interested in seeing her speak check the whole calendar of events!
* Suzannah Lipscomb posted on her blog that she participated in a new BBC2 program on the last days of Anne Boleyn that is scheduled to air in mid-May.
And finally…
I think I’m the last person in the Tudor blog-o-sphere to post about the play Fallen in Love: The Secret Heart of Anne Boleyn, which I have heard excellent things about. The play will be performed at the Tower of London and Gippeswyk Hall, Ipswich at various dates in May and June. More information and links for tickets are available at their website.
Sunday Short Takes
News still seems to be slow right now, but I had a few things to post this week.
* Bess of Hardwick’s Letters – The Complete Correspondence c.1550-1608 – I think this site just came online this past week and is a great resource! In addition to the text of the letters (which can also be downloaded in PDF form), many entries have images of the originals. There is also a background section with essays, tutorials for reading early modern handwriting, podcasts and more.
* Richard III church to be revealed in excavation – The University of Leicester archaeologists plan to return to the site this summer and to uncover more of the church where Richard III was buried.
* BBC History Magazine’s History Weekend – This isn’t until October, but I wanted to go ahead and post about it now before I normally would (late September for the October books and events post) in case it sells out early. Not surprisingly they have put together a great line-up of speakers on many topics (Tudor era included!).
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Picture of the Week #224
The Creation of Anne Boleyn – Review by Kyra Cornelius Kramer
I only had a couple of stories lined up for this week’s Sunday Short Takes, so I decided to save them for next week and post an excerpt of Kyra Cornelius Kramer’s review of Susan Bordo’s The Creation of Anne Boleyn instead. I have a copy on the way for my own review at some point down the road. (And in the interest of full disclosure I’ll add that I was interviewed by Dr. Bordo for the book.)
Dr. Susan Bordo
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Sunday Short Takes
Finally, enough stories to do another round-up!
* I posted this on Twitter earlier in the week, but for those of you not on Twitter: Smithsonian Channel gets North American rights to
Picture of the Week #222
Interior of the Old Palace of Hatfield. Photo May 1998.
This is the other end of the hall from the one I posted back in January 2011.
Upcoming books, magazines, and events for April 2013
Things are looking quite Tudor-y in April!
Before I get to the books for the month, I have to mention that BBC History Magazine has a Tudor-themed April issue out (cover image above). Be sure to check out the podcast as well – the most recent one features Suzannah Lipscomb discussing Anne Boleyn.
Books
In theory, the ever-elusive Patrick Williams biography of Catherine of Aragon is coming out this month, but I still don’t see it listed on Amazon UK (and the confusing November 2012 date is listed in the US store). I did see it in the spring catalog from Amberley, but I don’t have a firm publication date on it. I’ll update if I find out more information!
First up in the books is the catalog for an upcoming exhibition (which I’ll post more about next month) called In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion. The book us due out in April in the UK and in May in the US.
Next is one I think I’m actually in, since I was interviewed for it 🙂 – Susan Bordo’s The Creation of Anne Boleyn. It’s due out on April 9 in both the UK and US:
Robert Hutchinson’s work on the Spanish Armada is due out on April 11, also in both the UK and US:
Next up is another with confusing publication dates, but I’ll go ahead and include it now! Royal Exiles: from Richard the Lionheart to Charles II is listed as out in April in the US and on July 28 in the UK. I’ve included it since I believe it covers Henry VII’s exile in Brittany and France.
And finally…
John Guy’s latest Tudor-era work, The Children of Henry VIII is due out April 25 in the UK and July 1 in the US:
Exhibitions and Events
Just a reminder, The Northern Renaissance: D
Picture of the Week #221
Picture of the Week #220
Sunday Short Takes
News has been slow and I’ve been really busy so there haven’t been many posts lately! And I only have two stories to post this week, but I guess that’s better than nothing. And really not relevant to anything, this past Thursday was the 8th anniversary of this blog as a blog (as opposed to the static “news and events” page it was previously). Hard to believe it’s been that long!
* In the April Issue of History Today – The cover story features Derek Wilson writing on Henry VII’s time in exile (a big part of Henry’s life before Bosworth that I find quite interesting)
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Picture of the Week #218
Upcoming books and exhibitions for March 2013
Lots of things this month!
Books
Starting off the bunch – The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau, sequel to her entertaining debut thriller, The Crown. I should have posted this last month since the UK release was actually February 28, but that just barely misses being in March! The US release is March 5th.
Amy Licence’s Elizabeth of York is due out in March in the US and was out at the end of February in the UK.
Next up is The Tudor Child: Clothing and Culture 1485 to 1625 by Jane Huggett and Ninya Mikhaila of The Tudor Tailor. (See below for the related exhibition.) Click here for a PDF flyer with more information.
And finally, Lacey Baldwin Smith’s Anne Boleyn: The Queen of Controversy is due out March 28 in the UK and sometime in March in the US.
Exhibitions
As mentioned above, there will be a two-week exhibition at The Weiss Gallery in London along with the The Tudor Child book. The exhibition will run from March 8 to March 21. You can learn more about the exhibition on the flyer here.
And finally, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London has a new exhibition Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts, and the Russian Tsars. The exhibition opens March 9 and runs through July 14, 2013.














