Windsor Castle Henry VIII exhibition in 2009

I’ve started making a page to keep track of all of these events and exhibitions. I’ll upload it over the holidays and update it as more news comes in.

From the BBC:

A special exhibition to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession to the throne is launching at Windsor Castle, the monarch’s one-time home and final resting place.

Henry VIII was proclaimed king on 23 April 1509, just before his 18th birthday, and reigned for almost 38 years until his death in 1547.

The exhibition explores the life of one of the most significant figures in the history of the English monarchy, bringing together treasures from the Royal Collection and the archives of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Full article

Information from the Royal Collection

Sisters Who Would Be Queen thread at Tudor Q&A

Leanda de Lisle’s new work The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey will be coming out January 19, 2009 in the UK and is expected in September 2009 in the US. PhD Historian has offered to blog his reading of the book over on the Q&A blog. He and I both received advance copies, but I’m already in the middle of reading a couple of other books so I don’t think I’ll be getting to this one for a while!

Here’s the Amazon UK pre-order link. I don’t have one for the US release yet, but I’ll post it when it comes along.

Big sale of ebooks and CD-ROMS at TannerRitchie

Thanks to kb for alerting me to this sale from TannerRitchie Publishing! If you aren’t familiar with them, they publish hundreds of rare and out of print historical sources as ebooks and specialize in British History, especially Tudor and Stuart England, British Colonial history (especially in North America and the Carribean), Medieval history and Scottish medieval and early modern history.

TANNERRITCHIE’S AMAZING YEAR END SALE!!

* ALL DOWNLOADS $10 (CAD)
* 50% off all CD-ROMs

Beat the credit crunch blues with TannerRitchie Publishing! All eBook downloads are an incredible $10 each, and all CD-ROMs are half price. Build up your personal library or treat yourself to an entire series of eBooks. Don’t miss out on this limited time offer. Buy now – this sale will end on 1 January 2009!

2008 Ghost Story contest winners!

The winner and an honorable mention for this year’s ghost story contest have been selected!

Here’s the report from the judge, Sandra Worth:

So nice to see so much talent! The stories were an amazingly good crop of entries and it was difficult to choose from amongst them, especially for Honorable Mention. I feel they were so good, they all deserved that. The winner of the contest wrote a story that was gripping the first time I read it, and also when I re-read it and knew what to expect. The winner also displayed a flawless grasp of fundamentals such as dialogue, structure, word choices, characters, point of view, all of which were expertly handled in a complex and tense story of time travel.

The winner is Innocent Ghost

I have also chosen Why, This is Hell for Honorable Mention.

You can read the stories at the links above on Wendy’s site or here on this site:

Innocent Ghost by Madeline Martin

Why, This is Hell by Kathy Marcella

Congrats to the winners and thanks to Wendy for organizing the contest and to Sandra for judging!

Rick Wakeman to perform at Hampton Court next May

From Historic Royal Palaces:

In 1972, Rick Wakeman, the keyboard player with the supergroup Yes, released one of the most iconic albums of all time, The Six Wives of Henry VIII.

The album was a massive success all over the world and to date has sold more than 15,000,000 copies on both vinyl and CD.

Amazingly, the music has never been performed in its entirety but all that is about to change. On 1 and 2 May, The Six Wives of Henry VIII will be performed in spectacular style on Hampton Court Palace’s West Front, to a limited audience of 5000 for each performance.

You can find out more about the event here

And just for the heck of it, here are Amazon links to the CDs:

Portrait of Mary Neville and Son Purchased by NPG

If I remember correctly, this portrait had been on loan to the gallery from the private owner for sometime, but now the gallery permanently owns it.

From the BBC:

Lady Dacre, and her son, Gregory Baron Dacre, by Hans Eworth, is described as “one of the finest works to be painted in Britain in the mid-16th century”.

The gallery paid just under

Open Thread – Questions for author Sandra Worth

Okay folks, here’s your chance to ask Sandra Worth some questions! I’ll collect questions in the comments through the end of the day Wednesday, December 3rd, and then Sandra will reply in a guest post on the blog (instead of in the comments). If you’ve already thrown out a question in the previous posts about her new book, please submit them again here too so I can collect them all in one place.

Previous related posts:
http://tudorhistory.org/blog/2008/11/11/the-kings-daughter-by-sandra-worth/

http://tudorhistory.org/blog/2008/11/23/more-on-the-kings-daughter-by-sandra-worth/

[Dec. 4 – Comments are now closed. Stay tuned for Sandra’s answers!]

Independent film on Mary Tudor

It’s so strange… I could have sworn that I posted this to the blog, but a search of the archives shows that I didn’t. I *did* post it over on the Movies and TV page, but not here. I remember a discussion of it, but it must have been on TudorTalk. Oh well, here it is now, if a bit late. 🙂

The Twisted Tale of Bloody Mary

Check out the site for a trailer, more about the film and ordering information.

(Thanks to Marty for the reminder!)

Young Henry VIII virtual exhibition

A virtual tour of the Young Henry VIII exhibition at Hampton Court Palace is now available on their website. For people like me stuck on the other side of the Atlantic, it is as close as I can get to seeing it in person. There are some neat paintings on display there and you can enlarge and zoom them. The rooms themselves are gorgeous too (I’m a sucker for old wood-paneled rooms).

Thanks to Tudor J. for the link and for creating such a great site!

Portrait of Lucrezia Borgia identified

From The BBC:

A mysterious Renaissance portrait has been identified as a painting of infamous Italian femme fatale Lucrezia Borgia by artist Dosso Dossi.

Australia’s National Gallery of Victoria said it could be the only surviving painted portrait of Lucrezia.
…
The painting will go on public display identified as Dossi’s Lucrezia Borgia later this week, following years of painstaking research, the gallery said.
…
“It has been very exciting to unlock the secrets of this beautiful and enigmatic painting, which now has unique standing in view of the fame of its sitter and the strength of the artist,” said Mr Villis.

“Generations of art historians have attempted to identify portraits of Lucrezia Borgia, but this appears to be the only one which contains direct personal references to this intriguing historical figure.

Full article (with image)

Lucrezia Borgia is yet another one of those interesting Tudor-period contemporaries that I need to read more about. Tip of the French hood to Kathy for the link!

More on “The King’s Daughter” by Sandra Worth

Consider this is a teaser for our upcoming open thread with the author, which will probably be during the US Thanksgiving break (Nov. 27-30). Start thinking of questions!

From Sandra Worth:

My Dear Readers,

I’m back with a new book due out December 2nd– just in time for Christmas! THE KING’S DAUGHTER: A NOVEL OF THE FIRST TUDOR QUEEN is about Elizabeth of York who you may remember closed out the epilogue in the last book of The Rose of York trilogy. You may think there’s not much more to learn about her than what you already know. You may think there’s not much more to learn about her than what you already know, but new details and research have shed light on this forgotten queen. Her story is amazing — and shocking!

What intrigued me most about Elizabeth before I began my research was how much mystery clings to her– how little is really known about her How could this be? Sister to the Princes in the Tower and mother of Henry VIII, the first Tudor queen lived at the epicenter of momentous events. So why does she hover barely visible on the fringes of history?

In fact, so little was known about her that her biographer had to resort to novelistic techniques in order to fill in the gaps of her life–the first time this was ever done! So I went researching, and slowly I found the clues I needed to explain the questions that troubled me.

Some of the questions were addressed in Richard’s story, The Rose of York, but others are downright curious. For example, why has so little survived of Elizabeth when so much is known about her husband, Henry VII, her son Henry VIII, and even her mother-in-law, Margaret Beaufort? Did the Tudors keep her captive, and why should she be a threat to them? Did she believe the Pretender, Perkin Warbeck, was really her lost brother, Richard, Duke of York–and was Henry VII in love with the Pretender’s wife?

I’ve included some reviews for you below. I hope you will read THE KING’S DAUGHTER and remember that it makes a great Christmas gift for family and friends who enjoy historical fiction. Write me when you’ve read it! You know how much I love hearing from you. Meanwhile, if you’re in the Houston area, I hope you can stop by one of my two booksignings so I can sign it for you. The information is below. I hope to see you there.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas, Season’s Greetings, and a very, very Happy New Year!

Sandra Worth

Reviews:
From the publisher: “In this groundbreaking novel, award-winning author Sandra Worth vibrantly brings to life the people

The Face of Copernicus

I love it when astronomy, archaeology, forensics and history come together!

From The BBC:

Researchers in Poland say they have solved a centuries-old mystery and identified the remains of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

A comparison of DNA from a skeleton in Poland and strands of the astronomer’s hair found in a book in Sweden almost certainly confirm it is his skeleton.

Archaeologists found the skeleton in north-eastern Poland three years ago in a cathedral where Copernicus lived.
…
Three years ago, archaeologists dug up a skull and partial remains of a man aged about 70, Copernicus’ age when he died, near an altar at the cathedral.

Jerzy Gassowski, the leader of the archaeologists’ team, said forensic facial reconstruction of the skull found that it bore a striking resemblance to existing portraits of the father of modern astronomy.

Scientists then matched the DNA from one of the skull’s teeth and a femur bone with two strands of Copernicus’ hair.

Full article

Article from The Guardian

Post from 2005 about the initial discovery

Tudor connection to Prince Charles’ new home

I have to admit that I was kind of amused at how they had to put in that the house was originally owned by someone related to Anne Boleyn. I guess they know what grabs the eyeballs these days! Well, and it is what caused the article to show up on my Google alerts…

From the BBC:

Prince Charles may have only recently bought his first home in Wales, but its royal connections go back centuries, an historian has discovered.

The original owner of Llwynywermod in Carmarthenshire was related to the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn.

Mark Baker, of Prestatyn, Denbighshire, unravelled the history of what was once one of Wales’ finest homes.
…
“I have uncovered that [the house] goes back to about the 13th or 14th Centuries when it was owned by relatives of Anne Boleyn, Henry V111’s second wife.

“And the Griffies-Williams family in the early 18th century were quite close to the royals and received a baronetcy.
…
Mr Baker said the house’s renaissance only began about 10 years ago when the previous owner John and Patricia Hegarty bought the farm and land for

450th Anniversary of Elizabeth’s Accession to the Throne


Remaining section of the Old Palace at Hatfield – Elizabeth’s residence when she became Queen.

“A Dominum factum est illud, et est mirabile in oculis notris”
“It is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes” – 118th Psalm

According to legend, these are the words that Elizabeth said upon hearing that her sister Mary had died and she was now Queen of England. I got a message from Heather at ElizabethI.org that the flowers we were collecting for have been sent. I doubt we’ll get a picture, but if we do I’ll be sure to post it.

And since this is also the anniversary of Mary I’s death, I’d like to say Requiscat in Pace – Rest in Peace.

Update – The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has Elizabeth as the Life of the Day today.

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

Doomed Queens by Kris Waldherr

This looks like fun (well, as fun as reading about women who you know met bad ends can be):

DOOMED QUEENS is a darkly humorous look at the dangers of being female and royal. Over the course of fifty illustrated and too-brief lives, it charts centuries of regal backstabbing and intrigue. Robin Maxwell, bestselling author of Mademoiselle Boleyn, described my book as “A smart, sassy overview of the