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Upcoming Books, Exhibitions, and Events for May 2024

Sorry this is a little late! The last few weeks have continued the trend of 2024 – going by in a blur!

Not a whole lot this month, but I wanted to go ahead and do a post (however late it may be).

Books

Here’s one I missed late month, and one that I think I need to get as I continue to dream about doing a Tudor garden… deep in the heart (and heat) of Texas – Tudor and Stuart Royal Gardens: Displays of Majesty by David Jacques was released in mid-April in the UK and will be out in June in the US.

Purchase at Amazon UK

Purchase at Amazon US

And new this month, Estelle Paranque’s newest book, Thorns, Lust and Glory: The betrayal of Anne Boleyn was released a couple of days ago in the UK and will be out in November in the US.

Purchase at Amazon UK

Purchase at Amazon US

Events

Two Tudor history related plays are on at the Barons Court Theatre in London in May, if you’re in the area!

The first, Three Queens, opened in April and runs through May 11. It’s set in February 1554 and focuses on Queen Mary I, Jane Grey, and the future Elizabeth I.

And the second is The Nine-Day Queen which will run from May 14-19. It tells the story of a modern-day young woman and the lessons she learns from a hallucination of the ghost of Lady Jane Grey.

Upcoming Books, Exhibitions, and Events for January 2022

Happy New Year! I know a lot of people are saying “wow – 2021 went by fast” and somedays I’ve felt that too. But on the other hand, at times it felt like it lasted a decade (especially one particular week in February for us here in Texas). Here’s hoping for a good 2022 – I think we all deserve a break at this point!

Books

A few things from last year were released in the new year here in the US, including both of the “Book of Days” books from Tudor Times:

And I originally had Phillipa Vincent Connolly’s Disability and the Tudors: All the King’s Fools out in the US in February, but it looks like both the hardcover and Kindle editions are available now in both the UK and US:

I also had mentioned Bosworth: The Archaeology of the Battlefield by Richard Mackinder as out back in November in the UK, but I think it might have been delayed (as soooo many things have been of late) and it is now due out at the end of January in the UK and on Kindle in the US. The US hardcover edition is due out at the end of February.

Finally, in new releases, an academic work titled The Tudor Sheriff: A Study in Early Modern Administration by Jonathan McGovern is due out on January 21 2022 in the UK and on March 1 in the US.

Events

Peterborough Cathedral‘s annual Katharine of Aragon Festival for 2022 will be held on January 27-30 this year.

Continuing Exhibitions

Ending soon!

The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California is holding an exhibition titled Holbein: Capturing Character in the Renaissance that opened on October 19, 2021 and will run through January 9, 2022.

The British Library‘s new exhibition on Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots opened on October 8 and will run through February 2022. You can book tickets at the website linked above.

Upcoming Books, Exhibitions, and Events for September 2021

Welcome September!! (well, in a few days). Even though we lucked out and didn’t have a soul-sucking and miserable summer here in central Texas this year (I think the weather gods were trying to apologize for The Big Freeze back in February) I’m ALWAYS ready for it to be fall!

Books

A few new releases this month!

The Tudor Times has created two new “Book of Days” that will be released this month. I have their Tudor Book of Days that was released a few years ago and it’s lovely so I expect these will be wonderful as well.

The first is Queen Elizabeth I Book of Days which will be released, appropriately, on Elizabeth’s birthday – September 7!

And the second is Mary Queen of Scots Book of Days which also has an appropriate release date – September 9, the anniversary of Mary’s coronation as Queen of Scotland.

And also this month, Sarah Gristwood’s latest work, The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty will be released on September 23 in the UK (no US release info yet, but I’ll keep an eye out!).

Events

The Society of Antiquaries have a couple of upcoming online lectures in conjunction with their virtual exhibit Henry VIII: Defender of the Faith?. And you can see past lectures on their YouTube Channel! The lectures are free, but you must register in advance. More information on each talk at the links:

First up – The Boleyns: Behind the Scenes of A Scandalous Family by Dr. Lauren Mackay and Dr. Estelle Paranque will be on September 3 at 1:00 p.m. (13.00) UK time.

And a few weeks later – Queenship in Early Modern England? will be presented by Professor Susan Doran on September 14, also at 1:00 p.m. (13.00) UK time.

Entertainment

The Royal Shakespeare Company‘s production of the theatrical adaptation of The Mirror and the Light – the third book of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Trilogy – will open at the Gielgud Theatre in London on September 23 and will run through November 28.

Continuing Exhibitions

This one closes on September 5 so time is running out!

The celebrations of the 500th anniversary of The Field of the Cloth of Gold, Gold and Glory: Henry VIII and the French King at Hampton Court Palace were delayed for about a year, but they finally started on May 20 of this year.

The Royal Museums Greenwich united the three versions of the Armada Portrait for the first time for the Faces of a Queen exhibition. I’m not sure of the end date on this one, but I’m guessing it will be on for a while since it was delayed for so long.

And the Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits exhibition that has been around the world (including here in Texas!) opened in Greenwich on May 28 and will run through October 31.

And finally, the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the birth of William Cecil, Lord Burghley at Burghley House were also delayed because of the pandemic, but the did begin this year starting back in March and will run throughout the year.

Sunday Short Takes

Yes, really, a Sunday Short Takes!! I finally had a confluence of enough stuff to post and time to actually post it.

First up – a couple of competitions are back this year!

* Tudor Ghost Story Competition at On the Tudor Trail

* Tudor Calendar Competition from The Anne Boleyn Files

Next – a few other things!

* Talking Tudors – Natalie at On the Tudor Trail has started a podcast!

* Tudor shipwreck discovered by local group on Kent beach

* Royal Mail will release stamps featuring Hampton Court Palace

And finally…

The first trailer for the Mary Queen of Scots movie starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie has been released:

(Thankfully I’m pretty good at disconnecting my amateur historian brain when watching historical fiction on TV or the big screen.)

Upcoming Books, Events and Exhibitions for May 2018

Time for the round-up for the merry month of May!

Books

Four Queens and a Countess: Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, Mary I, Lady Jane Grey and Bess of Hardwick by Jill Armitage will be out in the US on May 1 after a release last year in the UK.

And there are some new books for May:

In more academic fare, Juana I: Legitimacy and Conflict in Sixteenth-Century Castile by Gillian B. Fleming, part of the Queenship and Power series, was released in April in the US and will be out on May 17 in the UK.

Natalie Grueninger and Kathryn Holeman have teamed up again for more Tudor coloring book fun! You can order Colouring History – Tudor Queens and Consorts from Amazon US and through ColouringTudorHistory.com

Events

I have a couple of upcoming Tudor history stage productions coming up, one for May and one for June:

First up, Put Out the Lights by Joanna Carrick will run from May 8 to 27 at The Avenue Theatre in Ipswich. Tickets can be purchased at the Red Rose Chain website.
About the play:

1538. Ipswich is a place of dark secrets and divided loyalties. A preacher is dragged from his pulpit, arrested for protestant heresy, while Cromwell sends agents to dismantle the Town

Sunday Short Takes

Just a couple of things, mostly related to stuff I posted in the Upcoming Books, Exhibitions, and Events for October 2017 last weekend:

* Miranda Kaufmann has a website related to her new book Black Tudors, including brief bios of Ten Black Tudors who are featured in the book, and details on her book tour throughout England.

* The Mary Rose lit up my news alerts last week – first with stories saying that it is in danger of collapse and then more of a clarification saying that it wasn’t in danger of collapse, but that it is in need of a new support system. Next week is the 35th anniversary of the raising of the ship and there are still tickets available for the Anniversary Lectures next weekend.

* And finally, I received an email that the score to the movie Lady Jane has been released. I haven’t seen the movie in a while, but I remember that it a lovely score. One thing that a lot of people might not know about me is that I’m a life-long film score buff and it’s always great to see old scores released even many, many years after the movie came out. You can learn more about this release and listen to sample tracks here. Links to purchase through my Amazon affiliates below:

Sunday Short Takes

Feels weird doing this while part of my state drowns but other than some small donations there isn’t a whole lot I can do at this point until the rain stops here and elsewhere (and it looks like that won’t happen until the end of the week). So, while I continue to try to distract myself, here’s a news round-up!

The big announcement of the last couple of weeks was the discovery of more parts of the old Palace at Greenwich. Here’s a sample of the news coverage:

* Discovery of old Greenwich Palace sheds light on Tudor life

* Greenwich Palace: Archaeologists discover ruined remains of Henry VIII

Sunday Short Takes

Sad news to start this week’s round-up:

* Keith Michell, star of Six Wives of Henry VIII dies aged 89 – Keith Michell, star of The Six Wives of Henry VIII and artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre, dies after long and celebrated career

And in other news:

* Full collection built by Dukes of Portland to go on show for first time – The Portland Collection, built up over centuries, is to go on display at the new Harley Gallery – Among the pieces that will go on display is the Nicholas Hilliard coronation miniature of Elizabeth I.

And a few videos to close out this week:

* Royals, Rascals and Us: 500 years of Hampton Court Palace – a film about the history of Hampton Court Palace made from thousands of drawings by kids

* Society of Antiquaries lecture by Philippa Glanville on the Inventory of Henry VIII

Sunday Short Takes

News has been a little light lately, but here are a few things that caught my eye:

* A brief history of witches by Suzannah Lipscomb – Between 1482 and 1782, thousands of people across Europe were accused of witchcraft and subsequently executed. But why were so many innocent people suspected of such a crime, and what would they have experienced?

* Erasmus Manuscript Saved for the Nation – From The British Library: We are delighted to announce that the British Library has acquired a unique manuscript containing the earliest known translation into English of any work by the great humanist scholar and reformer, Desiderius Erasmus (d. 1536).

* Inside Henry V’s secret chapel at Westminster Abbey – A hidden chapel built for King Henry V is opening to the public for the first time to mark the 600th Anniversary of the battle of Agincourt. – Since today is the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, I thought I would include this.

And finally…

A new podcast focussing on the Tudors has launched (with over 30 episodes ready to go!) called Rude Tudors. As you can probably guess from the name, it’s not for the kiddos. And you might recognize a website that gets a mention in one of the later episodes. 🙂

Upcoming Books and Events for July 2015

Books

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that I missed some releases last month (and a few months before!) so I’ll include those along with the new releases for July.

First up, Mary Tudor, England’s first Queen Regnant. Truth is the Daughter of Time by Gregory Slysz was released in the UK and the US back at the end of March.

Next up, Tracy Borman’s The Story of the Tower of London was released in April in the UK and will be out on July 7 in the US.

Ray Morris’ tale of the sinking of the Mary Rose entitled Out of the Blue was released on June 1 in both the US and UK.

Exploring English Castles by Edd Morris was released in the US back in April and is now out in the UK.

Although it’s technically before the Tudor period I wanted to mention The Middle Ages Unlocked: A Guide to Life in Medieval England 1050-1300 by Gillian Polack and Katrin Kania, which was released in early June in the UK and it will be out on August 19 in the US. Some of the content would certainly be useful for writing in any pre-Industrial Revolution era of English history, and, I’ll admit I wanted to include it because Gillian is an old friend. 🙂

Next up, prolific Tudor historian David Loades’ latest work The Seymours of Wolf Hall is out in the UK and will be released on August 19 in the US.

And finally, the 6th edition of Tudor Rebellions (part of the Seminar Studies line) by Anthony Fletcher and Diarmaid MacCulloch will be out on July 5 in the US and July 6 in the UK. I have several Tudor-era books from the Seminar Studies series (although not the one on rebellions – yet) and I’ve found them to be good compact references.

Continuing Events

After the successful run of the stage versions of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, the productions have moved to Broadway in the US and opened March 20, 2015 and will run through July 5, 2015. You can learn more about the Broadway run, including ticket information at wolfhallbroadway.com.

Fire up your Tudor creativity!

In lieu of the regular news round-up, I thought I would highlight two Tudor-themed creative contests announced last week.

First up: the Tudor Ghost Story contest is back! – Head on over to On the Tudor Trail for all the details.

And second: The Anne Boleyn Files is once again soliciting photos for their Tudor Places Calendar! – Head over to Claire’s site for more information.

Best of luck to anyone who enters one or both of the competitions!

Sunday Short Takes


Cowdenknowes Estate

I’m finally getting back into the groove of things after vacation!

* Where’s Wolsey? Hunt is on to find the remains of Cardinal Wolsey in Leicester – This isn’t really much of a new story since the topic has come up a few times since Richard III wad discovered, but it’s interesting that it has stayed in the news. I was originally planning to visit the abbey remains while I was in Leicester but I couldn’t really fit it into the schedule. Hey, if they find Wolsey and further develop the site, it would be a good excuse to visit the city again!

* Help save Shakespeare

Upcoming Books and Events for June 2015

Very short round-up this month (which is a good thing since I’m still digging out from under everything that accumulated while I was on vacation)!

Books

Just one book this month, Elizabeth I and Her Circle by Susan Doran, which was released in March in the UK and is now out in the US.

Continuing Events

After the successful run of the stage versions of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, the productions have moved to Broadway in the US and opened March 20, 2015 and will run through July 5, 2015. You can learn more about the Broadway run, including ticket information at wolfhallbroadway.com.

Upcoming Books and Events for April 2015

Books

A few books are coming out in the US this month that have been previously released in the UK:

The World of Richard III by Kristie Dean was released in the UK in February and is due out April 19 in the US:

And The Rise of Thomas Cromwell: Power and Politics in the Reign of Henry VIII, 1485-1534 by Michael Everett was released at the end of March in the UK and will be out at the end of April in the US:

In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn by Sarah Morris and Natalie Grueninger will be released in paperback in the UK in April and in June in the US:

Finally, Debra Bayani’s Jasper Tudor: Godfather of the Tudor Dynasty has been fully revised and re-released:

One that I missed from last month – the Grey Friars Research Team from the University of Leicester are releasing their own work on the dig for and discovery of Richard III. It is out at the end of March in the UK and a week later in the US:

Last but not least – Exploring English Castles: Evocative, Romantic, and Mysterious True Tales of the Kings and Queens of the British Isles by Edd Morris is out April 7 in the US and will be out in July in the UK:

Events

The television production of Wolf Hall will debut in the US on PBS on Sunday April 5 and will run through May 10.

The DVDs of the program are already available in the UK and will be out at the end of April in the US:

Continuing Events

After the successful run of the stage versions of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, the productions have moved to Broadway in the US and opened March 20, 2015 and will run through July 5, 2015. You can learn more about the Broadway run, including ticket information at wolfhallbroadway.com.

Sunday Short Takes

I’m going to put some of the Richard III stories in a separate post later in the week since I already have several and there will be many, many more as the reinterment week progresses. So here’s the best of the rest!

* Elizabethan tapestry map to be displayed at University of Oxford’s Bodleian library – Map of Worcestershire from 1590s describes mysterious event in the hills near

Upcoming Books and Events for March 2015

I know February is a short month to begin with, but it really seems to have flown by this year!

Books

The one book I missed from last month was Virgin Queen by Catherine Corman:

And now on to the new books!

First up is Elizabeth I and Her Circle by Susan Doran. It’s out in March in the UK and June in the US:

Next is Henry VIII’s Last Love: The Extraordinary Life of Katherine Willoughby, Lady-in-Waiting to the Tudors (US title: Henry VIII’s Last Love: The Life of Katherine Willoughby) by David Baldwin will be released March 15 in the UK and May 19 in the US. (And if you’ll allow me a small editorial comment here: I’m very happy to see a new work on Katherine Willoughby out, a fascinating woman in her own right, so it frustrates me that the book has to market her as “Henry VIII’s Last Love”. I understand that all things Henry VIII are hot and that’s what will attract attention but she had an extraordinary life that extended well beyond the death of Henry VIII, so I’m hoping that gets just as much focus. Okay mini-editorial over. 🙂 )

And Thomas Cromwell will be getting a new biography, entitled The Rise of Thomas Cromwell: Power and Politics in the Reign of Henry VIII, 1485-1534 by Michael Everett at the end of March in the UK and end of April in the US:

And finally – the third installment of Nancy Bilyeau’s Joanna Stafford books, The Tapestry, will be released on March 24 in both the UK and US. Stay tuned for a guest post from Nancy in March in conjunction with the book’s release!

Events

After the successful run of the stage versions of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, the productions have moved to Broadway in the US and will open March 20, 2015 and will run through July 5, 2015 (assuming they don’t extend the run – and I wouldn’t be surprised if that did indeed happen). You can learn more about the Broadway run, including ticket information at wolfhallbroadway.com.

Upcoming Books, Events, and Exhibitions for January 2015

Books

As far as I know there was only one book from December that I missed, the paperback release of David Loades’ Catherine Howard: The Adulterous Wife of Henry VIII.

And I only have one new US release – Pirate Nation: Elizabeth I and Her Royal Sea Rovers by David Childs was released last fall in the UK and will be out January 15 in the US.

Now for the new books for January!

First up is Mary McGrigor’s biography of Margaret Douglas – The Other Tudor Princess: Margaret Douglas, Henry VIII’s Niece which will be out January 5 in the UK and will be released in May in the US.

Next is The Dublin King: The True Story of Lambert Simnel and the Princes in the Tower by John Ashdown-Hill, out January 5 in the UK and in May in the US.

And finally, Lady Katherine Knollys: The Unacknowledged Daughter of King Henry VIII by Sarah-Beth Watkins will be released at the end of the month in both the UK and US.

Lecture

* Dressing Elizabeth: The Phoenix Portrait as Evidence of a Royal Wardrobe – January 29th at 7:00 p.m. at the National Portrait Gallery, Professor Maria Hayward will discuss the wardrobe and jewels of Elizabeth I

Continuing Exhibitions

* Treasures from the Royal Archives opened at Windsor Castle on May 17, 2014 and runs through January 25, 2015 and features some items from the Archives that have never been on display before.

* The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered display at the National Portrait Gallery opened September 12, 2014 and will run through March 1, 2015.

Television

* Wolf Hall, the 6-part drama based on the books of Hilary Mantel’s award-winning books, will premiere in the UK on BBC Two in January and will air in April on PBS in the US. You can learn more about the series at the BBC Media Centre. There will also be several documentaries on BBC Two and BBC Four to accompany the series.

See the first trailer for Wolf Hall, embedded below: