Home Archive by category "Tudor History news and events" (Page 13)

Category: Tudor History news and events

Sunday Short Takes

One of the big stories from last week were the revelations from the first academic paper to published from the dig that uncovered the grave of Richard III. The University of Leicester made an arrangement with the publisher to give free access to the paper, given the popular interest in the topic. You can download the paper from Antiquity‘s website.

Some press articles are linked below:

* Richard III buried in ‘hastily dug untidy grave’

* New Study Finds That King Richard III Was Buried in a Hurry

* The final moments of Richard IIIs burial revealed: King was squashed into tiny grave with his hands still tied by gravediggers ‘in a hurry’

As you can see up at the top of the post, the June issue of BBC History Magazine features a cover article by Chris Skidmore on the path to and the battle at Bosworth Field, the basis of his new book.

Last week the first two programs of the BBC2’s “Tudor Court Season” aired in the UK. For those outside the UK, you can see them on YouTube (for now – I wouldn’t be surprised if they get pulled down) here:

* The Last Days of Anne Boleyn

* Henry VIII’s Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell

As we get close to the opening of the new Mary Rose Museum at the end of the week, a new app has launched (for iPhone and Android) with information on artifacts, upcoming events, and more to help you plan a visit.

And finally…

I keep forgetting to post about the upcoming series The White Queen about the women of the Wars of the Roses, based on Philippa Gregory’s novel. It will air on BBC One in the UK and on Starz in the US this summer. Embedded below is one of the trailers.

[Edited March 2016 – the original video linked here as been removed]

Sunday Short Takes

Not nearly as many things this week, which is good because I’ve already spent too much time today checking links, adding graphics and social links to, and re-organizing the Links Directory section (which is hopefully in a more useful state now than when I started!)

* Historic glass windows go on display in Nonsuch Mansion

* Wolfson History Prizes (for books published in 2012) – Congrats to Susan Brigden for winning for her book Thomas Wyatt: The Heart’s Forest!

* Penry Williams obituary – His book Life in Tudor England was one of the first Tudor history books I ever bought

* A History of Classical Music – A series of posts with embedded Spotify playlists covering the history of classical music, starting with Medieval and Renaissance music. The link goes to the introductory post and they have up through late Renaissance right now. (Apologies to whomever I saw this link from – it was either on Twitter or a blog and I can’t remember now who it was. Sorry!)

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.

* The CW Picks Up

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

*

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!).

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

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)

* V&A shows Henry VIII’s stone leopards

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.

Sunday Short Takes

Only a few things to post about this week, and only one of them is strictly Tudor history related!

First, I wanted to post something about this event now, instead of waiting for my monthly round-up, since it sounds like the tickets are going fast:

* BBC History Magazine events – Talking Tudor – This sounds like a wonderful event, I wish I could attend! Sometimes they record event talks and then put them out in their podcast feed, which I hope will be the case here. There is quite a line-up of speakers: Chris Skidmore, Thomas Penn, Robert Hutchinson, Anna Whitelock, Steven Gunn, and Suzannah Lipscomb.

The next thing is just an interesting page I stumbled across:

* English in Time – A series of articles about the history of the English language from the Oxford English Dictionary, with the promise of more on the way.

And finally, I’m sure most of you have already seen this, but it was too cute for me to resist!

* The 15th-Century Equivalent of Your Cat Walking on Your Keyboard


(Click to the article for a bigger view)

Sunday Short Takes

The last few weeks have been a lesson in “no matter how long you have to wait, keep following a story!”. The most recent example relates to a portrait of Elizabeth I that I first posted about nearly 5 years ago that is now going on display after authentication and conservation work.

* Rare portrait of Elizabeth I owned by North Carolina Garden Club shown in Washington

* Elizabeth I as you’ve never seen her before: Portrait showing off her wrinkles goes on display

In continuing Richard III news:

* Richard III tomb design proposed by society

* Richard III follow-up documentary to air on More4 this month – This one sounds like it might have more of the science of the investigation in it.

And of course the Richard III discovery has prompted several calls for new digs to find other historical people. This one has some promise though –

* Cardinal Wolsey ‘could be found in Leicester’

And a couple of other interesting stories:

* Henry VII: Forgotten Welsh king? – (warning – embedded audio automatically plays)

* Portsmouth Mary Rose museum secures final

Sunday Short Takes

I’m going to put the three non-Richard III stories at the top, so all of you who are tired of that story can just skip the rest of the post. 🙂

* Shoulder of wren with salad: diets and debt in Elizabethan England – Interesting article on the UK National Archives blog about a draft letter by Elizabeth I

* Fit for a king – Article by Jonathan Foyle (who is a fun follow on Twitter!) for the Financial Times about an extraordinary bed

* BBC2 builds on Richard III frenzy with Tudors season – So if I’m reading the article correctly, Thomas Penn will be doing a documentary on Henry VII? Yay!

And now for more Richard III stories! I’ve chosen some more articles that came out after my initial round-up that I found particularly informative.

* The Search for King Richard III – The Scientific Outcome – YouTube video of Monday’s press conference

* Who, What, Why: What is the method for reconstructing Richard III’s face? – Information on the methodology of reconstructing Richard’s face from the skull

* Reconstructing Richard III

Sunday Short Takes

Well, here we are finally on the eve of the big announcement from the University of Leicester! Just a reminder, you can get info from their website here: http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/media-centre/richard-iii and this one will be re-launched after the press conference: http://www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/ And don’t forget the documentary that will run on Channel 4 later in the evening.

I’m guessing that the vast majority of people interested in the findings will get the info through avenues other than my website or Twitter account, so I’ll probably just do a round-up at the end of the day of the articles I found most interesting or informative.

Other news from the week:

* I totally missed posting about this year’s Catherine of Aragon Festival at Peterborough Cathedral, but to make up for it, here is a page with photos and videos from this year’s celebration.

* Historic Royal Palaces has launched a podcast series commemorating the ten people named on the memorial to those executed on Tower Green.

* And the Mary Rose Trust has started a Just Giving campaign to raise the final

Sunday Short Takes

As occasionally happens, a story that isn’t really “new” all of a sudden becomes “news”. In this case, the portrait above, which was called Katherine Parr for years, has been re-identified as Catherine of Aragon. I knew of the new identification a few years back (which is why there is a note about it in my Katherine Parr gallery… and I still haven’t re-done the galleries so it is still there waiting to be moved!) And it appears that the reason that it is all over the news now is that the National Portrait Gallery in London has put it on display with a portrait of a younger Henry VIII. Be sure to check out their article about the conservation of the portrait. (My copy, above, is pre-conservation.) Here’s just a sampling of the links that came through my news alerts:

* National Portrait Gallery reunites Henry VIII with Catherine of Aragon

* Catherine of Aragon reunited with King Henry VIII… but only as an oil painting

* Tudor portrait re-identified after experts notice Henry VIII’s wife was wearing the wrong clothes

The University of Leicester has announced the date and time for the Richard III excavation press conference and the associated documentary from Channel 4! Unfortunately the press conference will be at 4 a.m. in my time zone so I probably won’t be watching live.

* Date set for Search for Richard III press conference

* Richard III: The King in the Car Park

And a few other stories:

* Views fit for a queen for first time in centuries – Kenilworth Castle will proudly show off views not seen in centuries thanks to plans by plans by English Heritage to transform the remains with innovative viewing platforms. (I hope they have it finished by mid-May, when I hope to be there!)

* Elizabeth’s faithful tutor – Simon Adams and David Scott Gehring explain how the Virgin Queen’s little-known teacher may have influenced the religious policies of her reign

* RSC wins rights to stage Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell novels

Sunday Short Takes

In the continuing saga of the possible Richard III discovery… we should know the results of the scientific testing soon:

* Richard III dig: Conclusions to be revealed in weeks

* Step by step: the Science of the Search for Richard III – I couldn’t remember whether I had linked to this previously or not, but I figured it would be a good refresher to post now.

The petition I mentioned back in May calling for a statue of Henry VII in Pembroke has been delivered to the National Assembly for Wales:

* Petition calling for a Henry VII statue in Pembroke is handed over

And finally…

* Roland Hui is now selling his reproduction Tudor miniature on Etsy!

Sunday Short Takes

The first Sunday Short Takes of 2013!

A few stories showed up last week related to the new National Portrait Gallery’s “Hidden: Unseen Paintings Beneath Tudor Portraits” that I mentioned in the January 2013 upcoming books and exhibitions post.

* X-rays reveal hidden secrets of Tudor portraits

* The Tudor Catholic-catcher and the Popish plot behind his portrait: How subversive artist painted Elizabeth I’s henchman over the Virgin Mary (… how he would have hated that!)

The National Archives Podcast series already has another Tudor-related item out:

* Geography, art and the sinking of the Mary Rose

In closely-related news…

* In pictures: Portsmouth’s new Mary Rose museum nears completion

And a few fun, lighter stories from the past week:

* Scale model Lego Tudor castle to go on display in Winchester

* If this be the food of love then bake on: Inspired Shakespeare fan creates three-tiered cake featuring the bard’s most famous characters

Upcoming book and exhibition for January 2013

2013 is starting off with a couple of things to look forward to!

Book

David Loades has another book on a wife of Henry VIII, this time wife no. 3 Jane Seymour. It’s out at the end of January in the UK and is listed as February 2013 for the US:

Exhibition

This looks really interesting:

Hidden: Unseen Paintings Beneath Tudor Portraits will run from January 3, 2013 to June 2, 2013 at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

A description of the exhibit from the website:

Recent technical analysis undertaken as part of the Making Art in Tudor Britain project has revealed that some of the Gallery

Sunday Short Takes

Yes, they’re back! Sorry for the silence last weekend in particular – I got really ill about a week and a half ago and I basically slept all of last Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully I got better before the holidays!

* The BBC’s Your Paintings (which I first mentioned back in 2011 when it was getting started) has now compiled the nation’s collection of 210,000 paintings!

* The UK National Archives podcasts have a new one out on Bess of Hardwick

And finally, there were several articles out on the recreation of the Blue Boar Inn in Leicester where Richard III stayed the night before the Battle of Bosworth. I *really* want a 3D printer!

* King Richard III’s medieval inn recreated by archaeologists

* Model of Richard III’s Blue Boar Inn made in Leicester

* And a short video from the University of Leicester:

Survey results!

The news was pretty light this week so in lieu of the Sunday Short Takes, here are the results of the survey that I put together as part of the give-away of “Anne of Holywood”. I’ve sent emails to the two randomly chosen winners, so if you entered the drawing, keep an eye on your email!

Question 1: Which Tudor monarch would you like to learn more about?

I wasn’t too surprised to see Henry VII lead this one, especially with more attention being paid to the earlier Tudors with the Richard III (potential) discovery and Thomas Penn’s “Winter King” being so successful this year.

Question 2: Which of Henry VIII’s wives would you like to learn more about?

I was a little surprised with this result, since I expected Anne of Cleves or Katherine Parr to lead (and they did come in second and third). I was a little surprised that Jane Seymour got so few votes since I know I could stand to learn more about her (but Anne of Cleves would have been my vote).

Question 4: If you could have preserved any of these places from total or partial destruction so that their Tudor-era versions still existed today, which would you choose?

I have to admit that Nonsuch running away with the vote here surprised me a bit. I personally would have voted for Richmond, but I can see where the interest in Nonsuch comes from.

Question 5: Have you ever seen a Shakespeare play performed live, or performed in one yourself?

Not much of a surprise here, although I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been an even larger percentage voting yes.

And here were the responses for the open-ended question “If you could choose one Tudor-era figure besides the monarchs and wives to learn more about, who would it be?”:

Not many surprises here either. The top vote getter – by a long shot – was Thomas Cromwell, which I would attribute to Hilary Mantel’s books.

The runners up were:
Jane Parker Boleyn
Charles Brandon
Thomas More
Mary Tudor Brandon.

The rest were:
John Dudley
Elizabeth of York
Catherine Willoughby
Frances Howard
Anne Askew
Arthur Tudor
Margaret Tudor
Thomas Culpepper
Francis Bryan
Robert Dudley
Margaret Pole
Elizabeth Blount
Walter Raleigh
Jasper Tudor
Bess of Hardwick
Allen Apsley
Mary Boleyn
Duke of Buckingham (I’m assuming Edward Stafford, the 3rd Duke)
Tudor women in general.

Thanks to everyone who participated! The main reason I did the survey was to choose winners for the drawing, but this gives me a good idea of how to approach my next round of updates after I finish the code updating I’m almost, finally, through with!