Tudor-era paneling returned to Raglan Castle

After being part of a cow shed for a while…

From the BBC:

Tudor wooden panelling, missing from a castle for more than 300 years, is to be returned to its home after once being part of a farmer’s cow shed.

It was among items taken from Monmouthshire’s Raglan Castle during the Civil War in the 17th Century.

But the large panel, once owned by a courtier of Henry VIII, was found after it was sold by a collector, who bought it from a farm for

Large collection of royal books to go on display

Not until 2011 though. Maybe the exchange rate will have improved enough by then for me to travel over. 🙂

From the BBC:

Illustrated books once owned by English monarchs are to go on public display for the first time.

About 150 medieval and Renaissance books and other literary artefacts will be put on display at the British Library in London in 2011.

They are among almost 2,000 manuscripts donated to the British Museum by King George II in 1757.

The exhibition follows a major research project supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
…
Manuscripts featured in the exhibition will include a copy of Philippe de Mezieres’s letter to Richard II and the Shrewsbury Book of romances presented to Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, as a gift for their marriage in 1445.

Full article

Tip of the gable hood to Kathy for the link

Shakespeare’s first theater found

From the BBC:

An archaeological dig has recovered what is thought to be the remains of the theatre where Shakespeare’s plays were first performed.

The Theatre was found in excavations by the Museum of London at a site in Shoreditch, east London, being prepared for the building of a new theatre.

It was one of London’s first dedicated playhouses when it opened in 1576.

It was dismantled and its timbers taken to the South Bank, where they were used to construct The Globe in 1599.

A spokesman for the Museum of London said it had long been known that an open air playhouse, called The Theatre, stood in this area, but traces of its exact location had proved elusive.

Full article (with photo)

Singer Joss Stone to play Anne of Cleves in “The Tudors”

I’m guessing that no matter how inaccurate the history in the series is, we won’t be seeing Anne of Cleves doing a soul or R&B number.

From the BBC:

Singer Joss Stone is to play Anne of Cleves in the third season of The Tudors, the BBC has confirmed.

It will be the first TV acting role for the 22-year-old, who made her debut in fantasy film Eragon in 2006.

…
The third series of the Tudors will follow the King as he weds third Queen Jane Seymour, played by Anita Briem, and then Anne of Cleves.

A daughter of a German nobleman, Anne was betrothed to Henry in a marriage treaty after the King was shown a portrait of her.

Full article

New Yorker article on Queen Claude and her prayer book

Claude of France was the Queen Anne and Mary Boleyn served during their time at the French court. Her prayer book went on display at the Morgan Library & Museum back in May.

From the article:

In May, a tiny, exquisite volume went on display at the Morgan Library & Museum: a prayer book made for Queen Claude of France, who was born in the penultimate year of the fifteenth century. Claude, a near-contemporary of Anne Boleyn, who served her at the French court as a prepubescent lady-in-waiting, was betrothed at the age of six to her cousin Fran

New ideas about why the Mary Rose sank

From The Telegraph:

Forensic examination of the crew’s skulls, which were found next the 16th century wreck in The Solent, has revealed that Henry VIII’s flagship was mainly crewed by foreign sailors, thought to be either mercenaries or Spanish prisoners of war.

Historians have always believed that the warship sank when it performed a sharp turn during a battle with the French in July 1545 and heeled so steeply that water flooded through the open gun ports.

But the new theory suggests that the gun ports may only have been open because the crew spoke little English and did not understand orders to close them as the ship’s commander, Admiral George Carew, took evasive action.
…
The theory has been put forward by Professor Hugh Montgomery, of University College London, whose research team was given access by the Mary Rose Trust to the remains of 18 crewmen.
Forensic anthropologist Lynne Bell examined their skulls to determine where they had lived, and discovered that about 60 per cent were of southern European origin.

Scientists can determine roughly which region a person grew up in by analysing the chemical composition of their teeth, which retain the type of water molecule they consumed while growing up.

Full article with a photo of Dr. Montgomery examining a skull

And another article, from The Daily Mail, with some photos of the ship.

Doing some site updates

I’ve finally started posting the new versions of photos of the places I’ve visited in the Architecture section. So far I’ve updated Hever, Sudeley and Kenilworth Castles. I added a couple of photos that I left off the first time around, even though some aren’t great or a little redundant. Also, the thumbnails and full views are bigger now, since I have more storage and bandwidth to play with. I’ve also done a few tweaks with the layout and added an image to the history pages. I’m going to work on this some more over the weekend but I might not get the new pages uploaded until I get back to work on Monday.

How long will “The Tudors” go?

It looks like Showtime’s execs are planning to take it through to wives 5 and 6 in a fourth season, but it doesn’t sound like there are plans to go to the other monarchs. Too bad… they could have some fun in Edward VI’s and Mary I’s reigns, especially since those haven’t gotten a lot of play of late with Elizabeth getting most of the screen time. Although the Lady Jane Grey storyline would have to come from somewhere inventive since the Mary/Margaret story got changed so much in the first season.

Article from Broadcasting & Cable

Updating WordPress today

Hello all! Yes, I know there is some news that needs to be posted, but I’m going to do my WordPress upgrade today (probably before noon US Central time) so things might either be unavailable or look a little wonky for a while.

Update: All done! I don’t see anything broken, but if there is something that doesn’t work right now, please leave a comment.

Book news – The Sisters Who Would Be Queen

I received an email from the author about this upcoming book – The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Katherine, Mary and Lady Jane Grey by Leanda de Lisle. Looks interesting!

It will be out in September in the UK (Amazon UK pre-order link below) and next year in the US (I couldn’t find a pre-order link yet, but I’ll post one when it shows up).

Update: I received an email from the author saying that the publication will be delayed until early 2009 for the UK version. I’ll post on the book again when we get closer to the final publication date.

We’re on the road to … Bosworth!

Well, I’m not, but I wish I was since I’m really tired of the hot and dry summer here in Texas.

From the BBC:

Seven horse riders in period costume are aiming to retrace the route taken by Henry Tudor more than 500 years ago from Pembrokeshire to Leicestershire.

On Sunday they started the journey taken by Henry Tudor which culminated in the defeat of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

Setting off from Dale near Milford Haven, the riders plan to take six days to travel more than 100 miles.

The Henry Tudor Ride aims to raise over