Picture of the Week #814

West front of Peterborough Cathedral. Photo May 2015.

Yeah, this is basically the same as Picture of the Week #364, but I took a gazillon photos of the front of Peterborough so there are going to be a few over the years that look very similar. (If you look at the clouds and the lighting, you can tell that is isn’t *exactly* the same view!)

Upcoming Books, Exhibitions, and Events for June 2024

Hello June! When, in theory, things are supposed to slow down in my department at work, but in reality we all try to catch up on all the non-time-dependent things that we don’t get to through the rest of the academic year.

Books

First up in books is the US release of Tudor and Stuart Royal Gardens: Displays of Majesty by David Jacques, which was released in April in the UK.

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And in new books this month, first we have Linda Porter’s The Thistle and The Rose about the life of Margaret Tudor. Margaret is one of my Tudor interests and I’m glad to see more work on her. The book is due out on June 20 in both the UK and the US (on Kindle):

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The companion book for the upcoming National Portrait Gallery exhibit (see below), Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIIIs Queens will also be out on June 20 in the UK and later in the summer in the US:

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And finally, Courting the Virgin Queen: Queen Elizabeth I And Her Suitors by Carol Ann Lloyd will be out at the end of June in UK and the end of August in the US:

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New Exhibits

As mentioned above, the National Portrait Gallery have an upcoming exhibition, Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens that will open on June 20 and will run through September 8. Click through for more information on the many related events the gallery will be hosting!

About the exhibition:

Tudor paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger and contemporary photography by Hiroshi Sugimoto meet in the National Portrait Gallery’s first exhibition of historic portraiture since reopening, presenting a study of the lives and afterlives of the six women who married Henry VIII.

Six Lives will chronicle the representation of Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr throughout history and popular culture in the centuries since they lived. As a frequent source of fascination, the stories of the six women has repeatedly inspired writers and artists of all kinds to attempt to uncover the ‘truth’ of their lives: their characters, their appearance and their relationships. From historic paintings, drawings and ephemera, to contemporary photography, costume and film, the exhibition draws upon a wealth of factual and fictional materials to present the life, legacy and portrayal of six women who forever changed the landscape of English history.

Picture of the Week #809

Tudor Palace of Hampton Court. Photo May 2015.

This painting from c.1660 by an unknown artist shows the Tudor-era Hampton Court. Just a few decades later, much of the Tudor palace was pulled down as part of William III’s rebuilding efforts.

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.

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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.

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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 April 2024

After preparing for the arrival of April 2024 for years now, it’s hard to believe it’s actually finally here! (For those of you who might be new here, my job is in astronomy and I’m in Texas, so we’re the bullseye for the total solar eclipse coming up on the 8th.) And as exhausted as I’ve been for the past few months with all of the eclipse prep, I’m still really looking forward to it. (But I’m also ready for it to be over with!)

Now, on to the April round-up!

Books

We have a number of books that have already been released in the UK that will be out in the US this month.

First up is Conor Byrne’s Lady Katherine Grey: A Dynastic Tragedy, which came out last summer in the UK and will be released on April 9 in the US.

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Next is Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era by Amy McElroy, which came out in March in the UK and will be out at the end of April in the US.

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And finally, Kateryn Parr: Henry VIII’s Sixth Queen by Laura Adkins also came out in March in the UK and will be out at the end of April in the US.

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In new books for April, The Waiting Game: The Untold Story of the Women Who Served the Tudor Queens by Nicola Clark will be out on April 25 in the UK, but I don’t have info for a US release yet.

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Events

In just a few days, from when I post this! But if you miss the live talks, follow the link to the YouTube archive.

Dr. J. Stephan Edwards will be giving a talk at the Society of Antiquaries in London entitled Searching for a Portrait of Jane Grey Dudley, England’s ‘Nine-Days Queen’ of 1553 on April 4 at 1:00 p.m. (London time). The talk will be live streamed and archived on the Society’s YouTube channel, where you can also find many past lectures.

Dr. Edwards will give a second talk that day on Queen Jane’s Proclamation of Accession of 1553 and Gendering of the English Monarchy and you can see that talk as a live stream as well. Click on the title for more information!

Continuing Exhibitions

Ending this month!

Holbein at the Tudor Court opened at The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace on November 10, 2023 and will run through April 14, 2024.

Picture of the Week #799

Wax figure of Henry VIII at the Bosworth Battlefield Museum. Photo May 2015.

Since I haven’t been to Ireland (YET – I hope to change that in the next 5-ish years), I didn’t have much that was appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day, so here’s a waxwork Henry VIII in a jaunty green hunting outfit. Henry VIII decided to upgrade himself from “Lord of Ireland” to “King of Ireland” in 1542, so I guess there is still a connection to Ireland for today’s photo.