Home Archive by category "Tudor History news and events" (Page 29)

Category: Tudor History news and events

New Yorker article on Queen Claude and her prayer book

Claude of France was the Queen Anne and Mary Boleyn served during their time at the French court. Her prayer book went on display at the Morgan Library & Museum back in May.

From the article:

In May, a tiny, exquisite volume went on display at the Morgan Library & Museum: a prayer book made for Queen Claude of France, who was born in the penultimate year of the fifteenth century. Claude, a near-contemporary of Anne Boleyn, who served her at the French court as a prepubescent lady-in-waiting, was betrothed at the age of six to her cousin Fran

New ideas about why the Mary Rose sank

From The Telegraph:

Forensic examination of the crew’s skulls, which were found next the 16th century wreck in The Solent, has revealed that Henry VIII’s flagship was mainly crewed by foreign sailors, thought to be either mercenaries or Spanish prisoners of war.

Historians have always believed that the warship sank when it performed a sharp turn during a battle with the French in July 1545 and heeled so steeply that water flooded through the open gun ports.

But the new theory suggests that the gun ports may only have been open because the crew spoke little English and did not understand orders to close them as the ship’s commander, Admiral George Carew, took evasive action.
…
The theory has been put forward by Professor Hugh Montgomery, of University College London, whose research team was given access by the Mary Rose Trust to the remains of 18 crewmen.
Forensic anthropologist Lynne Bell examined their skulls to determine where they had lived, and discovered that about 60 per cent were of southern European origin.

Scientists can determine roughly which region a person grew up in by analysing the chemical composition of their teeth, which retain the type of water molecule they consumed while growing up.

Full article with a photo of Dr. Montgomery examining a skull

And another article, from The Daily Mail, with some photos of the ship.

We’re on the road to … Bosworth!

Well, I’m not, but I wish I was since I’m really tired of the hot and dry summer here in Texas.

From the BBC:

Seven horse riders in period costume are aiming to retrace the route taken by Henry Tudor more than 500 years ago from Pembrokeshire to Leicestershire.

On Sunday they started the journey taken by Henry Tudor which culminated in the defeat of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

Setting off from Dale near Milford Haven, the riders plan to take six days to travel more than 100 miles.

The Henry Tudor Ride aims to raise over

Videos of Bradgate House

The following email and videos are courtesy of Dave Postles (originally posted to H-ALBION and then forwarded to my Tudor list and sent to me directly by kb)

Bradgate House and Lady Jane Grey

The house is paradigmatic of a late-medieval courtyard house, constructed c.1490-1505 by Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, grandfather of Lady Jane Grey who was born in this house. Brick, but with stone quoins, from local Triassic clay with diaper work in vitrified brick. It was left to decay from 1739, the parkland and house bought in 1928 by Charles Bennion and entrusted to the City of Leicester.

The parkland is partly located in a small gorge. The pre-Cambrian rock which is the bedrock is the oldest in Britain. It was overlaid by Triassic clay. The R. Lin eroded the clay, encountering below the pre-Cambrian rock, cut a smaller channel, creating the small gorge – what geomorphologists call superimposed drainage. Despite its smallness, the Lin here represents all the elements of the cycle of erosion in this superimposed drainage system.

The vill of Bradgate was removed outside the park to the new site of Newtown Linford, a linear or street village along the edge of the park. Several cruck or raised cruck cottages are dispersed in this ‘new’ village.

The southern extension of the park was deer park, with the park pale still discernible on the boundary with the adjacent parish of Anstey.

The video clips are designed to illustrate all these features.

1 The small gorge at the Linford entry to the park

2 The deer park on the south bank of the Lin

4 The deer park again

5 The end of the gorge, opening out of the park and house in the distance

6 One of the many exposed outcrops of pre-Cambrian rock

7 The house

8 The house

9 The deer park

[Copyleft – i.e. copyright-free]

Be sure to check out his other videos!

[July 1 – corrected quoted email to read “Thomas Grey … grandfather of Lady Jane Grey”]

Texts related to Anne Boleyn’s execution

Just in case anyone comes looking for these after last night’s finale of “The Tudors”, I thought I would go ahead and post links to these on both of the blogs.

The first is an excerpt from Kingston’s letter to Cromwell and the second is Anne’s speech at the scaffold. Both are modernized spelling versions. I think I got them from “Eyewitness to History” or a similar book.

Happy Birthday Margaret Beaufort!

I don’t generally make a habit of noting Tudor anniversaries unless it is a big one, but I thought I would post about this one since Margaret is a pet interest of mine and she is the entry for the 31st on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography “Lives of the Week”. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the OBNB, it’s a great resource for information on important British figures, but it is often only available through the print version or subscription to their online version. I’m lucky to have access through the university that work for, but I know a lot of people don’t have that luxury. Thankfully, they feature a biography for free every day, which you can get either by email or through their RSS feed. More information is available on their website. They also have a free virtual reading room which is worth checking out if you don’t otherwise have access.

I’m not sure how long the free bio of Margaret will be up, so I suggest getting it soon if you’re interested. And happy 565th birthday to the Countess of Richmond and Derby, mother of the first Tudor king!

Bid to overturn the 450-year-old conviction of a Tudor rebel

I thought this was interesting…

From Eveningnews24.com:

Robert Kett led a bloody rebellion against the state in 1549, but he has been honoured by the people of Norwich as a brave hero who fought against the injustices of his day.

And now more than 450 years after the Wymondham-born yeoman farmer was put to death for high treason at Norwich Castle, an amateur historian is calling on the government to quash his conviction.

Michael Chandler, 46, who lives in the city centre, has written to the Home Office asking them to

Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Center gets accreditation

From 24dash.com:

Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre is celebrating after being recognised by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) as meeting the national standard for UK museums.

Run by Leicestershire County Council, Bosworth Battlefield officially opened in 1974 and has made the transition from a well known visitor attraction to an officially accredited Heritage Centre & Museum.

Full article

Official site for the Heritage Center

When I was on my first trip to the UK (10 years ago this month!) I had planned to go up to the battlefield, but I messed up my back earlier in the day on one of the winding staircases in Warwick Castle, so I decided to skip it. I didn’t make it back to that area of England on either of my subsequent trips, so it has to go on the “wish list” for the future!

Scottish Parliament records now online

For those of you interested in Scottish history –

From the BBC:

An online archive of the proceedings of the original Scottish Parliament from its first surviving act of 1235 to its dissolution in 1707 has been launched.
…
Dr MacIntosh said: “Parliament was a pretty rowdy place back then – members were allowed to take a sword in, and there are records of duels and arrests being made after punch-ups broke out in the debating chamber.”

That last line amused me. 🙂

Full BBC article

And here is the official website for the records

Royal Mail “Houses of Lancaster and York” Stamp Set

Yet another neat collectible that I’m going to have to get… although my Elizabeth I coin is still back-ordered from the Royal Mint (pout).

From the Royal Mail website:

This issue has one of the earliest known images of King Henry IV in 1399, who will adorn one of the 1st Class Stamps, whilst his son, Henry V is shown in profile on the other. Son and heir Henry VI was swiftly followed by Edward IV from the rival House of York and his ill

Mary Queen of Scots’ death warrant purchased

From Reuters:

The Church of England has bought the only surviving copy of the warrant which Queen Elizabeth I reluctantly signed in 1587, authorising the execution of her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots.

The warrant, one of the most dramatic documents in British history, will go on display at the Lambeth Palace Library.
…

The manuscript instructed Henry Grey, the sixth Earl of Kent and one of two commissioners tasked with the execution, to “repair to our Castle of Fotheringhaye where the said queene of Scottes is in custodie and cause by your commaundement execution to be don uppon her person.”

Full article (with picture)

[Update 10 April 2008 – The Daily Record is reporting that the document will be going on display at the Blairs Museum in Scotland]

[Update 17 November 2008 – According to the BBC, the document is now on display]

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