Who is England’s Greatest Monarch?

Two of the three in the contest are Tudors!

From the BBC:

British history is blessed by skilled and charismatic monarchs, but also tainted by incompetent and even murderous ones.

The argument over which king or queen was the greatest will never be settled – history is about interpretation, after all.

But here a trio of leading contenders are championed by three historians, ahead of a public discussion at the weekend organised by English Heritage.

The merits of King Henry VIII are outlined by Alison Weir, Queen Elizabeth I is endorsed by Sarah Gristwood and Queen Victoria is supported by Martyn Downer.

Go to the BBC article to read more of the debate and to cast your vote!

Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII

From the Maney Publishing webpage for the book:

Henry VIII used his wardrobe, and that of his family and household, as a way of expressing his wealth and magnificence. This book encompasses the first detailed study of male and female dress worn at the court of Henry VIII (1509-47) and covers the dress of the King and his immediate family, the royal household and
the broader court circle. Henry VIII’s wardrobe is set in context by a study of Henry VII’s clothes, court and household.

As none of Henry VIII’s clothes survive, evidence is drawn primarily from the great wardrobe accounts, wardrobe warrants, and inventories, and is interpreted using evidence from narrative sources, paintings, drawings and a small selection of contemporary garments, mainly from European collections.

Be sure to look at the website linked above for more information, including a download of the table of contents and introduction and links to a radio interview with the author, Maria Hayward.

It will be out in September in the UK and October in the US. It looks fascinating, so I hope my university gets it for the library, since it’s a little out of my price range!


TudorCast #14 – July 2007

Featured website www.picturesofengland.com

Music from Magnatune.com

La Primavera and Jacob Herringman (album “Blame Not My Lute”)

Individual tracks:

Intro – “Greensleeves” by La Primavera on “English Renaissance Music”

All the rest are from Jacob Herringman:

After News: A Hornepippe
After “This Month”: The Earle of Darby
After Glossary: Paul’s Galiarde
After Text: The Motlye
After closing remarks: The Hay

Episode Transcript

Direct mp3 download

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Forms fixed

Sorry I’m just now getting around to fixing the submission forms for the penpal listings, new links and the Q&A blog. The address that it uses to do the form post action changed for some reason so it broke all my forms!

On travel for a few days

I just wanted to let folks know that I’m going to be traveling for work through Sunday, so I won’t be answering emails or making blog posts in that time period. I’ll have internet access, but I don’t think I’ll have a lot of time to deal with non-work stuff!

On travel for a few days

I just wanted to let folks know that I’m going to be traveling for work through Sunday, so I won’t be answering emails or making blog posts in that time period. I’ll have internet access, but I don’t think I’ll have a lot of time to deal with non-work stuff!

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

I’ve been tagged!

I was tagged by Miland Brown of World History Blog to give 8 random facts about myself and to tag 8 others. Unfortunately, I’m about to leave for the observatory for work and I’m not going to have time to pick 8 more history bloggers to tag. So, if you’re a history blogger who reads this and hasn’t been tagged with this meme yet, consider yourself tagged!

1. The farthest points east, west, north and south from Central Texas I’ve traveled are: East – Pompeii, Italy; West – The Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States; North – Edinburgh, Scotland; South – Tulum, Mexico (just down the coast from Cancun)

2. Although most people know me through my Tudor History stuff, my degree and job is in astronomy

3. I have a cast of a dinosaur footprint in my living room (and made it myself in a river just north of Austin)

4. I have around 200 PEZ dispensers (all in my office at work) and I have only bought one of them on eBay (the limited edition glow-in-the-dark Emperor from Star Wars). The rest were purchased in stores or given to me.

5. I have a totally illogical fear of moray eels

6. I can name all the Kings and Queens of England from Edward the Confessor to now, and know most of the dates of their reigns as well. When we go out for breakfast, the tab is usually under $14 and I annoy my boyfriend by telling him the king who reigned in the year equal to the total of the bill. (It usually comes in somewhere between Henry II and Edward III, not including tip).

7. I love movie scores/soundtracks

8. Until just a few years ago, I wasn’t much of a fan of red wine. Then my boyfriend stayed with some wine-loving friends of ours for a few months and I got totally hooked. The Rhone region of France is one of my faves.

Sorry for the interruption

My apologies to anyone who came looking for the website over the past 18 or so hours. I goofed on my domain renewal (I thought it was renewed through 2008, but obviously not!), but all should be sorted out now. And it’s renewed through 2010, so if this little episode is repeated, at least it won’t be for another three years.

The funny (and sad) thing is that I was first clued on to the fact that something was wrong when I checked my email this morning and I only had 5 spam emails in my tudorhistory folder (I usually get between 30 and 50 overnight).

Sorry for the interruption

My apologies to anyone who came looking for the website over the past 18 or so hours. I goofed on my domain renewal (I thought it was renewed through 2008, but obviously not!), but all should be sorted out now. And it’s renewed through 2010, so if this little episode is repeated, at least it won’t be for another three years.

The funny (and sad) thing is that I was first clued on to the fact that something was wrong when I checked my email this morning and I only had 5 spam emails in my tudorhistory folder (I usually get between 30 and 50 overnight).

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

TudorCast #13 – June 2007

Link to glossary page with images of flying buttresses.

This month’s featured website: http://www.thousandeggs.com/

“Martin Said To His Man”

Martin said to his man, fie, man, fie
Martin said to his man, who’s the fool, now
Martin said to his man, Fill thou the cup and I the can
Thou hast well drunken man, who’s the fool now

I saw the mouse chase the cat, fie, man, fie
I saw the mouse chase the cat, who’s the fool now
I saw the mouse chase the cat, Saw the cheese eat the rat
Thou hast well drunken, man, who’s the fool now

I saw the goose ring the hog, fie, man, fie
I saw the goose ring the hog, who’s the fool, now
I saw the goose ring the hog, saw the snail bite the dog
Thou hast well drunken, man, who’s the fool, now

I saw a maid milk a bull, fie, man, fie
I saw a maid milk a bull, who’s the fool now
I saw a maid milk a bull, at every pull a bucket full
Thou hast well drunken, man, who’s the fool now

Martin said to his man, fie, man, fie
Martin said to his man, who’s the fool, now
Martin said to his man, Fill thou the cup and I the can
Thou hast well drunken man, who’s the fool now

Music from Magnatune.com

La Primavera, The Dufay Collective (album “Cancionero” and “L’Estampida”) and Jacob Herringman (album “Blame Not My Lute”)

Individual tracks:
Intro –
“Greensleeves” by La Primavera on “English Renaissance Music”

Between news and “This Month” –
“Durandarte” by the Dufay Collective on “Concionero”

Between “This Month” and glossary –
“Il Conto d’Orco” by Jacob Herringman on “Blame Not My Lute”

Between glossary and Primary text –
“Propinan de Melyor” by the Dufay Collective on “Concionero”

Text music piece – “Martin Said To His Man” by La Primavera on “English Renaissance Music”

End music – “La Rotta” by the Dufay Collective on “A L’Estampida”

Episode Transcript

Direct mp3 download

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

North Wales Church with Tudor ancestral connections vandalized

This is just sickening:

A church’s Elizabethan Tudor Rose window has been smashed to bits by thieves just a fortnight after clergymen proudly showed it off to the Prince of Wales.

They climbed in through the remains of the stained glass window at St Gredifael Church in Penymynydd, Anglesey, seized an ancient cannonball and hurled it through another Elizabethan window.

Full article (2 pages)

This is the window that was smashed, which some of you might recognize as the image that used to be on the front page of the website:

Click on the image to go to a page with a little bit more about the window and a link to the full sized picture. I’ve also got a few other pictures of the church itself, which I visited in 2000. (I’m in the process of re-doing all my photos from the negatives, so at some point I’ll have some nicer and bigger versions of the church photos up.)

Looking for the bones of Richard III

From the Leicester Mercury

The mystery has baffled historians for centuries – what became of the remains of Richard III?

Folklore and many history books claim that the king’s bones were dug up and hurled into the River Soar some 50 years after his death in 1485.

Others contend that they remain where they were laid.

Archaeologists may get the chance to find out when they excavate the site of the former Greyfriars Church, in St Martins, Leicester.

Full article

Couple of short news items

Sixteenth Century Falconry tag to be auctioned

A rare silver varvel, or falcon’s tag, that belonged to the powerful and oppressive lawyer, Richard Rich, is to be sold at auction in July.

This silver tag is of shield form with one side engraved “Lord Rich” above a na