Sunday Short Takes

News seems to be slowing down as we approach the end of the year, so it’s another short round-up this week. Two of the stories are more close to home for me than usual (one is *really* close), but first we start with the news from today:

* Peter O’Toole, Lawrence of Arabia star, dies aged 81 – Fans of “The Tudors” will remember him from season 2 when he played the Pope. Most people associate him with “Lawrence of Arabia” but for me, it’s his two turns as Henry II in “Becket” and “The Lion in Winter”.

The first closer-to-home story:

* What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island? Remote sensing unearths clues to 400-year-old American mystery – I’ve been interested in the Lost Colony since I first learned about it in my 8th grade American History class. Mrs. Lively, the teacher of that class, is responsible for more of my historical interests than probably anyone alive! (And yes, for those who have been around here for a long, long time, she’s the teacher who also sparked my interest in the Tudors.) Plus, it’s always fun to be reminded that there is Tudor history here in the States!

And finally, the very close-to-home story:

* Hans Holbein the Elder

“In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn” survey results and book give-away winners

The little survey I put together for the give-away is now closed and I’ll be emailing the two winners chosen through random.org shortly!

Unfortunately I messed something up on the survey and the data on the first question was lost, but the second one worked fine and here are the results:

These came out pretty much as I expected. For what it’s worth, I picked her coronation too. 🙂

Sunday Short Takes

* More cannon found on Alderney Elizabethan wreck – More news on a find that I’ve been following for a few years now. (Search on “Alderney” in the side bar for previous articles.)

* The December issue of BBC History Magazine is out and features an article by Steven Gunn and Tomasz Gromelski on animal accidents in Tudor England (another interesting product of their research into coroner’s reports).

* Revealed: the tomb of Henry VIII’s forgotten son – Digital reconstructions of the tombs of Henry Fitzroy and Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. (See this previous round-up for 2011 for some more articles related to this project.

* Spotted via the Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide, Dr. Stephan Edwards of Some Grey Matter has found and translated two Italian letters concerning Lady Jane Grey that seem to have been previously overlooked by scholars. Start here for the background on the letters and links to the originals and translations.

And finally:

* The annual Tanner Ritchie Holiday Sale is on! – A great time to stock up on their Tudor-era primary source texts.

Guest Post: The Tudor Court on Progress

I’m delighted to be hosting Day 5 of the In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn Virtual Book Tour with this guest post from Natalie and Sarah! Amberley Publishing is kindly giving away two copies of the book at each blog on the tour, so I’ve done another survey – a short one this time! – to collect entries for the drawing. Click here to take the survey and leave your email address if you wish to be entered in the drawing. (You can take the survey and just leave the email address field blank if you don’t wish to be entered in the give-away.) You’ll be directed back to the blog once you’ve finished the survey. I’ll close the survey and choose the winners at noon US central time on Friday December 13th.

And now, over to Natalie and Sarah!

The Tudor Court on Progress

In the 21st century, celebrities, politicians and even royalty are more accessible than ever. Not only can you can watch them on television and read about them online and in newspapers and magazines, you can also follow their personal accounts and interact with them on social media sites, including Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook, with many high-profile people also opting to share personal videos and photos with the public via sites such as Instagram, Flickr and YouTube.

Even the British Monarchy use social media as a way of connecting with the public, and sharing Royal news and events

Upcoming Books, Exhibitions, and Events for December 2013

Books

I’m struck by how many books I’ve been posting lately are by people that I know through the Tudor web-o-sphere… maybe that’s a sign I need to get off my duff and get writing. 😉

Barb Alexander of the Tudor Tutor website now has a book out of the same title! I just snagged a copy on Kindle, but these links go to the physical book:

A new novel by Ann Turner entitled Heartsease, set in turbulent times at the court of Henry VIII, is out in both the US and UK as of the first of the month:

And Alison Weir’s newest work on Tudor history, about Elizabeth of York, is now out in the US.

Events

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s plays based on Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies open on December 11th and 19th respectively and will run through March 29, 2014. They are both being staged at the Swan Theatre of the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon. Click the links on each title for information on tickets, rehearsal photos, and more.

Continuing exhibitions

* Elizabeth I & Her People opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London on October 10, 2013 and runs through January 5, 2014. Be sure to check out their Events Page for lectures, tours, and other activities associated with the exhibition.

* West Country to World

Sunday Short Takes

Another short round-up this week!

* Double Take: Versions and Copies of Tudor Portraits – another fascinating post from the NPG “Making Art in Tudor Britain” research program.

* Tudor Medicine and Gingerbread Houses – Kyra Cornelius Kramer writes about how Tudor medicine is related to all the lovely spices we enjoy in our foods and drinks this time of year.

And finally…

* The Marie Stuart Society (in association with Historic Scotland) has launched an appeal for a statue of Mary Queen of Scots to be erected at her birthplace of Linlithgow Castle. The maquette for the statue design can be seen above.

Picture of the Week #256

Stained glass window of St. Margaret of Scotland in her chapel at Edinburgh Castle. Photo May 2000.

Since tomorrow (or possibly Friday, but most of my sources have the 28th) is the anniversary of the birth of Margaret Tudor, I thought this would be a good opportunity to use this photo of a previous Queen Margaret who began life as an English princess and married a King of Scotland.

Sunday Short Takes

Just a couple of things this week:

* JFK and a neglected Tudor – Alison Weir discusses Elizabeth of York in the second half of this week’s BBC History Extra podcast

* New inventory of manuscript collection reveals unprecedented level of detail for scholars of British history – From the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin (my university!!). I love that there are letters signed by Elizabeth I just on the other side of campus from my office. 🙂

Sunday Short Takes

Just a few stories this week –

* Toys and games that killed in Tudor England – More interesting stuff from Steven Gunn and Tomasz Gromelski’s research into coroner’s reports.

* Great works: Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VI) by Hans Holbein the Younger, circa 1538

* The Lost Palace of Henry The VIII – An interesting look at Otford Palace

And finally…

* The series Tudor Monastery Farm that I mentioned back in August is now airing on BBC Two. You can watch it online if you have access to iPlayer.

Sunday Short Takes

Quite a hodge-podge of things today, including three things that you can help out with!

* Foose noted in the comments a couple of weeks ago that actor Nigel Davenport passed away on October 25th. He was Norfolk in the 1966 “A Man for All Seasons” and Bothwell in the 1971 “Mary Queen of Scots”.

* Frozen in time: Divers recover stunning collection of British treasure from the wreck of a 500-year-old galleon sunk in Caribbean

And now on to the things you can help with!

* If you’ve ever downloaded documents from Archive.org please consider sending them a small donation after their scanning facility was damaged by fire last week. The archive has scanned many old books with primary sources and are a valuable resource to Tudor history fans and researchers alike.

* Have an interesting Tudor item you might like to sell? The Channel 4 program Four Rooms wants to hear from you! Click here for more information (PDF).

* The Rediscovering Rycote project that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago is hosting a Wikipedia Editathon on Friday November 15. You don’t need any prior Wikipedia editing experience and you can participate virtually if you aren’t lucky enough to be in Oxford. You can learn more about it here!

Upcoming Books, Exhibitions, and Events for November 2013

Books

Alison Weir’s newest work on Tudor history is about Elizabeth of York and is out on November 7 in the UK and December 3 in the US.

And another prolific writer of Tudor history books, Professor David Loades, has a work coming out on Thomas Cromwell at the end of the month. It is scheduled to be released on November 28 in both the UK and US.

And finally, a new work on The Field of Cloth of Gold by Glenn Richardson is out on November 30 in the UK and January 7, 2014 in the US.

Continuing exhibitions

* Wrapping up this month: The National Museum of Scotland’s exhibition on Mary Queen of Scots closes on November 17.

* Elizabeth I & Her People opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London on October 10, 2013 and runs through January 5, 2014. Be sure to check out their Events Page for lectures, tours, and other activities associated with the exhibition.

* West Country to World

Sunday Short Takes

Lots of stories this week since I got totally sidetracked on something last weekend and never got around to writing a post!

* Bodleian Libraries’ archives reveal ‘lost’ Rycote mansion – The “lost” history of a Tudor mansion that hosted six English kings and queens, including Henry VIII, has been restored in a new online archive.

You can see the online archive here: Rediscovering Rycote. There are some great resources at the site, including a nice palaeography tutorial. Yes, my quest to get better at reading Tudor handwriting still continues…

* And more from the Elizabeth I and Her People exhibition at the NPG:

Elizabeth I and Her People – Slideshow from BBC History Extra. And the first part of this week’s History Extra podcast includes a discussion of the exhibition with Dr. Tarnya Cooper.

The National Portrait Gallery’s You Tube channel has several videos related to the exhibition. I’ve embedded one below, but be sure to check out the others at the channel.

* A castle fit for a king: Historic home once owned by Henry VIII and used for trysts with his mistresses goes up for sale for