Latest casting rumors for big screen “The Other Boleyn Girl”

A lot of news alerts came in overnight with the news that Natalie Portman and Eric Bana are in negotiations to play Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII in the big screen version of Philippa Gregory’s “The Other Boleyn Girl”. I had previously heard Keira Knightly’s name bandied about for Anne, which I thought was a good choice, but I’m sure Portman will be good as well. Star Wars fans might remember that the two actresses shared the role of Queen Amidala and the handmaid/bodyguard/decoy in Episode I “The Phantom Menace”.

Here are links to some of the articles that came up with my Google news alerts:

‘Boleyn’ turns heads – Variety

Portman and Bana flirting with ‘Boleyn’ – Hollywood Reporter

Off with her head! – Empire

Eric Bana to play King Henry VIII – Moviehole

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New 3-D computer model of Nonsuch Palace unveiled

I haven’t seen any photos of it yet, but I’ll search around and post any if I find them.

The magic of modern 3D imaging has resurrected Henry VIII’s fabulous “hunting lodge”. KEVIN BARNES reports.

Several problems surfaced as Anthony Spreadborough began recreating the stuccoed palace that stood in the 16th century as an elaborate monument to Henry VIII’s ambition.

Full article

(original links have expired and have been removed)

Parts of the King’s Table Found at Westminster

From The Australian:

Sections of the King’s Table, a symbol of royal power until it was smashed by Oliver Cromwell, have been found beneath the floor of the Palace of Westminster.
The elaborately carved stone table was used by kings and queens from the 13th century for coronation feasts and state banquets but disappeared under Puritan rule.

Full article
And another from the Scotsman

The table was still around in Tudor times and Henry VIII used it for the wedding feasts after the marriages to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.

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Sting’s Next Album – Elizabethan Lute Music!

It’s quite possible that I am the only person in the world excited about this. I’ve been a fan of Sting for a long time and I love Renaissance music, so this should be fun. From Sting’s website:

… album featuring the music of acclaimed Elizabethan songwriter, John Dowland (1563-1626). Sting is joined on this recording by much-admired lutenist Edin Karamazov, in what he describes as “a soundtrack to Dowland’s life in words and music”. ‘Songs from the Labyrinth’ will appear on Deutsche Grammophon, the world’s most celebrated classical-music record-label.

The full article is available here.

(original links have expired and have been removed)

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Rediscovered Holbein to be auctioned

I have been getting news alerts on this story for a few days, but I was waiting for one of the stories to actually run a picture of the portrait before I posted it. Thankfully the BBC finally came through! The portrait is a large version of a relatively well-known miniature of Thomas Wyatt the Younger, which you can see here.

From the BBC article:

A recently rediscovered painting by Hans Holbein is expected to fetch between

First episode of TudorCast now posted

After taking about three weeks longer to do than I had originally planned, I finally have the first episode of TudorCast posted. Head on over to the TudorCast page to learn more about it!

(the podcast site has been discontinued and all of the posts have been migrated to this blog and are available under the

TudorCast #1 – May 2006

Well, here it is at last, the first full episode of TudorCast! Sorry that it took a little longer to get posted than I had hoped.

Show notes:

Website of the month – Gode Cookery www.godecookery.com

All music in this episode is by the group La Primavera.

You can listen to the complete tracks, as well as the other tunes on this album, at Magnatune.com

Opening/introduction music: Excerpt from “Greensleeves”

Between the News Recap and the Website of the Month: Excerpt from “Wolsey’s Wilde”

Between the Website of the Month and This Month in Tudor History: Excerpt from “Volt and La Primavera”

Between This Month in Tudor History and Texts from the Tudor Period: another excerpt from “Greensleeves”

Between Texts from the Tudor Period and Reviews and Closing Comments: Excerpt from “Bransle de Malte”

Closing music: Excerpt from “Oxenford”

Episode transcript

Direct mp3 download

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Next Philippa Gregory Tudor novel

Philippa Gregory continues on with writing about the Tudors, this time going a few years after the death of Anne Boleyn. It won’t be released until September in th UK and December in the US, but you can pre-order through Amazon at the links below.

(original links have expired and have been removed)

Bothwell descendant fights for reputation

From The Herald

A descendant of James Bothwell, who was famed for raping and abducting Mary Queen of Scots and murdering her husband, is attempting to restore his reputation.
Sir Alastair Buchan-Hepburn is undergoing DNA testing to establish that remains held in Denmark are those of the fourth earl of Bothwell, to whom he is related. He hopes to bring his ancestor’s remains back to Scotland for a Christian burial.

Full article

(original links have expired and have been removed)

Royal Cate

I wasn’t planning on doing blow-by-blow coverage of all the news of the new film, but I had to share this since it is such a lovely picture.

Full article and photo

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New episode coming soon!

The May issue has been recorded, but now I need to do some editing and plug in some music. If I don’t get it done today, look for it on Monday (the 22nd).

[Comments are closed on older posts. If you wish to make a comment, please contact Lara via the link in the sidebar.]

Introducing… TudorCast!

Yes, I’ve finally been bitten by the podcasting bug! For those of you who don’t know what a podcast is, this Wikipedia article is pretty good at explaining it all. I’m still working on writing up all the instructions for how to subscribe and adding links to the iTunes directory etc., but if you have iTunes and are familiar with podcasts, you can just search the directory for “TudorCast” and it will show up.

Here is the website for the podcast, which has all the show information and direct links to the mp3s, as well as the links for subscribing with a podcast grabber: http://podcast.tudorhistory.org

I only have the introductory episode up so far, but the first full episode is in the works. Stay tuned!

(the podcast site has been discontinued and all of the posts have been migrated to this blog and are available under the “podcast” category)

New Holbein Exhibit in London

From the BBC:

Portraits of Henry VIII, his third wife Jane Seymour and their son Edward are to be hung together for the first time since Henry himself owned them.
…
The works by 16th Century court painter Hans Holbein the Younger will go on display in an exhibition at the Tate Britain in London in September.
…
It will feature 30 portrait drawings, six paintings and several miniatures from the Royal Collection, along with some of Holbein’s jewellery designs.

Full article

Update 1: more links

Another article from the Independent

And from the Guardian

And from The Times

Update 2: one more…

From the Telegraph

Update 3:
I completely forgot to add a link to the Tate and their own page for the exhibition (including ticket information). Here it is – Holbein in England: 28 September 2006

Cast news for Showtime “The Tudors” series

From Reuters:

Sam Neill, Jeremy Northam and Henry Cavill have joined the cast of Showtime’s Henry VIII drama “The Tudors.”
…
Neill will play Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII’s most important government minister, who possessed great power until he failed to secure for Henry a divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

Northam will play famed lawyer, writer and politician Sir Thomas More, who is chiefly remembered for his principled refusal to accept Henry VIII’s claim to be the supreme head of the Church of England, a decision that ended his political career and led to his execution as a traitor.

Cavill will play Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Brandon was Henry VIII’s closest friend, but their friendship was sorely tested when Brandon secretly married Henry’s favorite sister, the beautiful Princess Mary Tudor.

Full article

I’m excited to see Sam Neill in the cast, although he might not be rotund enough for Wolsey!

(original links have expired and have been removed)