Carvings in the Beauchamp Tower of the Tower of London. Photo June 2000.
If I remember correctly, the oak in the middle is thought to have been carved by Robert Dudley while he and some of his family members were imprisoned in the Tower after the plot to put Jane Grey on the throne.
I only had a couple of stories lined up for this week’s Sunday Short Takes, so I decided to save them for next week and post an excerpt of Kyra Cornelius Kramer’s review of Susan Bordo’s The Creation of Anne Boleyn instead. I have a copy on the way for my own review at some point down the road. (And in the interest of full disclosure I’ll add that I was interviewed by Dr. Bordo for the book.)
Dr. Susan Bordo
Closer view of the front entrance to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Photo May 2000.
One last photo of Holyrood (I don’t have many since I only got to see it from a distance) in honor of the 501st birthday of James V, who continued his father’s work on the Palace.
Finally, enough stories to do another round-up!
* I posted this on Twitter earlier in the week, but for those of you not on Twitter: Smithsonian Channel gets North American rights to
Interior of the Old Palace of Hatfield. Photo May 1998.
This is the other end of the hall from the one I posted back in January 2011.
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
Choir of Canterbury Cathedral. Photo May 2003.
Pepper mill recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose. Photo June 2000.
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)
Private home in part of the remaining section of Richmond Palace. Photo May 2000.
Raglan Castle in Wales, where Henry VII spent part of his youth. Photo May 2003.
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.
Remains of Leicester’s Building at Kenilworth Castle. Photo May 1998.
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)
North front of Westminster Abbey. Photo May 1998.
In honor of the anniversary of Edward VI’s coronation today in 1547 at Westminster Abbey.
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)
Sign of with the names and dates of those executed within the Tower of London. Photo May 2003.
If I remember correctly, the current thinking is that the scaffold site was actually over by the Waterloo Barracks (where the Crown Jewels are) rather than this spot in front of the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula. As you can see from the dates, yesterday was the anniversary of the execution of Jane Grey and today is the anniversary of the executions of Kathryn Howard and Jane Parker Boleyn.
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
Outside the Bell Tower of the Tower of London. Photo June 2000.
Among the prisoners who are thought to have been held in the Bell Tower are Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher, in Henry VIII’s reign. And for the longest time, I thought Elizabeth I was held there when she was a princess in Mary I’s reign. Well, it turned out, prompted by a question on my Q&A blog, that Elizabeth was NOT held there, but rather in the royal apartments (which actually makes a lot more sense). And I was surprised to find out that is isn’t known for certain that More and Fisher were held there either. Considering I visited a cell in the Tower in 2000 that was being displayed as “Sir Thomas Mores’s cell”, I thought it was pretty well known. But apparently not!
As expected, the University of Leicester announced this morning that they have confirmed that the remains found last summer are indeed those of Richard III. (You can see my initial round-up from September here.)
Here is the re-launched site about the project from the university: The search for Richard III – completed.
You will find photos and information about all of the lines of inquiry that went into the identification there. The video of the press conference is supposed to be uploaded at some point as well. You can find the presentations by the speakers at the press conference here. They also mentioned on their twitter account that all of the research will be submitted to academic journals for peer review. (I’ll stay out of the discussion of public and media interest vs. academic procedure, since I honestly don’t know what the proper answer is. I’ve seen in the sciences that “press conference before peer review” can have unfortunate results, but I’ve also seen conclusions validated once papers are published.)
Here are some other informative links:
* Leicester car park skeleton ‘is that of Richard III’
* Richard III discovery in pictures
* Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king’s
* Richard III: The twisted bones that reveal a king
* Richard III’s remains found in Leicester (nice diagram of the site on this one)
I’ve also seen some remarks about the DNA testing not being the “proof” that it is being presented as, and that is technically correct. There is a chance that it is coincidence that the Michael Ibsen and Richard III have the same mitochondrial DNA because of its nature (if it is rare or common will affect the significance of the match). They were also able to track down another maternal line relative who consented to testing (but wished to remain anonymous) and the mtDNA matched between Ibsen and the anonymous subject as well as matching to the skeleton. We’ll know more once the academic paper comes out but in the text of the presentation the scientist is quoted as saying “The analysis showed that these two individuals shared the same relatively rare mitochondrial DNA sequence.” I would also point out that the DNA tests did not exclude positive identification of Richard III (either because the skeleton wasn’t Richard’s or from mistakes in the genealogy) so that is helpful information as well. There is also on-going work with testing the Y-chromosome against known male-only lines, but this is more difficult and may be inconclusive for a variety of reasons.
To me, the osteological evidence, the historical and archaeological evidence, and the fact that the DNA and carbon dating results do not rule it out, the identification of the bones as those of Richard III does seem to be the correct conclusion. But keep in mind my degree is in astronomy, not archaeology! Still, all-in-all, it was an exciting day for me as a fan of both science and history.
