Tiles unearthed at Woking Palace dig

From the BBC:

Rare Valencian tiles have been uncovered by archaeologists during excavations at the ruins of a Surrey palace, once owned by Henry VIII.

The items, which were made in Valencia, Spain, between 1450 and 1490, were discovered at Woking Palace.

More than 100 members of the public took part in the dig at the palace, which fell into disrepair in 1620 and was later virtually demolished.
…
A spokeswoman for the authority said: “The teams uncovered walls of the Palace of Henry VII, Henry VIII and Elizabeth, and evidence for earlier medieval buildings.

“The most exciting finds were rare Valencian tiles which were made in Valencia, Spain. They have only been found in a few other locations across the UK, according to the archaeologists working at the dig site.”

Full article

More book news

Update: I just received an email from Leanda de Lisle with some more information on the US edition and the UK paperback. First, the US edition will have updated information from the UK hardcover edition, including information on the Spinola letter. And second, the UK paperback has been pushed back to March to coincide with the National Gallery exhibition I blogged about previously. She’s also going to be giving at talk at the gallery that month on the 5th.

The first is a reminder of sorts, since the book has been out in the UK for a while – but the US edition of Leanda de Lisle’s The Sisters Who Would Be Queen is due out in the US in October, along with UK paperback edition (update – the paperback is now due out in March 2010). Here are both the US and UK pre-order links:

Next is a book I’ve mentioned in passing, but I haven’t put up affiliate links for – Alison Weir’s latest, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn. See the podcast of her talk at the British Library for more information about the book.

And finally, I haven’t posted anything about this lately, but Eric Ives’ book on Lady Jane Grey is also due out in the UK in October. I haven’t found anything on a US release yet, but I’ll keep an eye out. UK Amazon pre-order link below.

Costume display at Worcester Cathedral

From The BBC:

The Starstruck exhibition features up to 100 costumes, many of which have been worn by stars in Oscar-winning films and major television series.

The event will raise money for the cathedral, its mission and outreach work, a spokeswoman said.

The three-week exhibition will run until 6 September, but will not be open on Saturday 22 August.

The costumes include those worn by Dame Judi Dench, Dame Helen Mirren and Cate Blanchett for their individual portrayals of Elizabeth I.

Full article

Another article (with more pictures) from Berrow’s Worcester Journal

The official site for Worcester Cathedral and more on the exhibition

Elizabeth’s Women

I just recently heard about this forthcoming book during the podcast talk by Alison Weir at the British Library. I haven’t found any information on whether there will be a US edition, but I’m going to send a few emails and see if I can find out.
Update: I emailed Ms. Borman and she said that a US edition is due in September of 2010! I’ll post a reminder about it when we get closer to that date.

From author Tracy Borman’s website:

Tracy’s next book, Elizabeth’s Women: The Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen, will be published by Jonathan Cape on 24th September 2009. It will explore all of the most important women in Elizabeth’s life: from her bewitching mother, Anne Boleyn, to her dangerously obsessive sister, Mary Tudor, and from the rivals to her throne such as Mary, Queen of Scots and the sisters of Lady Jane Grey, to the ‘flouting wenches’ like Lettice Knollys who stole her closest male favourite. These were the women who shaped the Virgin Queen and it is through their eyes that the real Elizabeth, stripped of her carefully cultivated image, is revealed.

And here’s my Amazon.uk affiliate link if you want to pre-order and throw a few pence my way. 🙂

The Guardian’s Poem of the Week

This poem should be familiar to a lot of fans of Tudor history

Whoso List to Hunt by Thomas Wyatt

This week, a heartfelt but enigmatic love poem from the court of King Henry VIII

Thomas Wyatt’s double life as poet and Tudor courtier brings to mind a famous aphorism of WH Auden’s: “Private faces in public places/ Are wiser and nicer/ Than public faces in private places”. Wyatt was a successful “public face”: he first entered the service of Henry VIII at the age of 13, and, despite vicissitudes (including two spells of imprisonment), he retained his head, and enjoyed a triumphant later career as ambassador to the court of Charles V. He travelled widely through southern Europe: he imported, popularised and, with the help of the Earl of Surrey, gave an English shape to the Petrarchan sonnet. But what we hear in his poetry is never secondhand or artificial: it is a personal note, a note of authentic private feeling, which dominates, and is never dominated by, poetic conventions. Perhaps it was a similar note of personal credibility that sustained his popularity in the public glare of the court. Or perhaps it was sheer cunning.
…
Whoso List to Hunt

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, alas, I may no more;
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that furthest come behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow; I leave off therefore,
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I, may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain,
There is written her fair neck round about,
‘Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.’

Full article

Investigation into the monument of Fulke Greville

From The Telegraph:

Tomb search could end riddle of Shakespeare’s true identity

A sarcophagus in an English parish church could solve the centuries-old literary debate over who really wrote the plays of William Shakespeare.

Parishioners at St Mary’s church in Warwick have sought permission to examine the contents of the 17th monument built by Fulke Greville, a writer and contemporary of Shakespeare who some believe is the true author of several of the Bard’s works.

In an echo of the blockbuster book and film, The Da Vinci Code, the search has been prompted by the discovery by an historian of clues in Greville’s writings which suggest he had several manuscripts buried there, including a copy of Antony and Cleopatra.

A radar scan of the sarcophagus has already indicated the presence inside of three “box like” shapes. The searchers believe these could contain documents and a further examination is now being proposed which they hope will finally prove the link between Greville and Shakespeare.

The initial search, using ground penetrating radar, was approved by the parochial church council and the diocesan council. The team now wants to use an endoscope

Hampton Court exhibition oops!

This has been sitting in my “draft” folder for a while, so of course I now have forgotten who pointed this out. The image below was taken from the video tour of an exhibit at Hampton Court this year for the Henry VIII 500th anniversary events.

(Click for a larger view)

Notice the death date for Mary?

Picture of the Week #31

The 12th century keep at Kenilworth Castle. Photo May 1998

Kenilworth is definitely on my “re-visit” list for some future trip back to England. Besides the new Elizabethan gardens, I want to see the the finished work on the gatehouse, which was still undergoing restoration (and consequently covered in scaffolding) when I was there in 1998.

News round-up

Because several articles have stacked up and I don’t want to make these in to separate posts, here’s a quick round up:

** Henry VIII talks from the Historic Royal Palaces (podcasts)

** Mary Rose 500 – a final fundraising appeal from the Mary Rose Trust and info on how you can “join the crew” by helping to raise money for the new museum

** From The Surrey Comet:
Elmbridge Museum holds exhibition on Oatlands Palace

Elmbridge Museum is holding an exhibition starting next month on the now destroyed Oatlands Palace in Weybridge.

The museum, which is based in Church Street, Weybridge, is holding the exhibition called Oatlands Underfoot: Stones and Stories from a Forgotten Palace, which will attempt to bring to life one of Henry VIII

Picture of the Week #30

17th century embroidered jacket and painting. Victoria & Albert Museum, May 2003.

If I remember correctly, this is the earliest known example of a textile shown in a painting where both the painting and the textile still exist. It slightly post-dates the Elizabethan period – the jacket was made in 1610 and altered in 1620. The sitter is Margaret Laton and the painting is attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger.

For a better version of this image, here is a link to the page for these items at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

More info on new Arthur Tudor book

I received a little more information on the upcoming book on Arthur Tudor edited by Steven Gunn and Linda Monckton. [Previous post, with pre-order links]

Click the image below for a larger version (sorry if it is hard to read, that’s the largest size image I have). You can also read the information on the publisher’s website.

[Comments are closed on some older posts that were attracting a lot of spam. If you wish to make a comment on this post, please contact Lara via the link in the sidebar.]

Picture of the Week #29

Longleat House. May 1998

On my first trip to the UK in 1998, I was driving west from my first stop of the adventure (Stonehenge) towards the next stop (Glastonbury) and saw the sign for Longleat and decided to drive up and take a look. I didn’t have time in my “schedule” to go in to the house, so I just snapped a few photos from the car park and rested a little before getting back on the road. I did something similar the next day in south Wales making a quick stop at Tintern Abbey. Unlike Longleat, I did actually get a second chance to visit Tintern and properly tour it in 2003.

Joely Richardson cast as Katherine Parr in final season of “The Tudors”

I heard this earlier in the week, but I was waiting for the official press release to come out, which is now has. Richardson has a Tudor acting pedigree… her mother is Vanessa Redgrave, who has portrayed both Anne Boleyn and Mary Queen of Scots.

Press Release:

ACCLAIMED FILM AND TELEVISION ACTRESS JOELY RICHARDSON CAST FOR FINAL SEASON OF SHOWTIME’S “THE TUDORS”

LOS ANGELES, CA (July 22, 2009) Noted film and television actress Joely Richardson has joined the cast of the critically acclaimed drama series, THE TUDORS for its fourth and final season. Richardson will portray Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) sixth and last wife, in five episodes of the series, which is currently filming in Dublin, Ireland. THE TUDORS is scheduled to premiere on SHOWTIME in 2010.

Best known to American audiences for her celebrated work for five seasons on the popular cable series Nip/Tuck for which she was twice-nominated for Golden Globe Awards — Richardson is part of an English theatrical dynasty that includes her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, father, director Tony Richardson, and aunt Lynn Redgrave and sister, the late Natasha Richardson. Her film credits include The Patriot, I’ll Do Anything, and most recently, in the children’s fantasy film, The Last Mimzy.

Viewers and critics alike have been enthralled watching the storied exploits of the sexy, hard-bodied King Henry VIII as he weds, beds and beheads women and wives across 16th century England. Both Rhys Meyers and the series have been nominated for Golden Globe Awards, and the series has won two Emmys for its incredible costume designs and main title theme music. The new season will chronicle Henry’s dark, final days, his war against France and his final wives (Catherine Howard (played by Tamzin Merchant) and Catherine Parr). The series was nominated for five Emmys this year, including Costumes, Casting and Cinematography.

THE TUDORS is an Ireland-Canada co-production, executive produced by Morgan O’Sullivan for Octagon Films; Benjamin Silverman and Teri Weinberg for Reveille Productions; Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan for Working Title Films, and Sheila Hockin; and is created, written and executive produced by Michael Hirst. SHOWTIME presents the series in association with Peace Arch Entertainment.

(First spotted at The Futon Critic)