Society of Antiquaries celebrates anniversary with large exhibition

From The Guardian:

The Anglo-Saxon kings, newly restored and on public display for the first time in 500 years, gaze out regally, showing no signs of having spent a century walled up in an outside lavatory in Kent.

The kings are among the treasures which the Society of Antiquaries is putting on display to celebrate its 330th birthday, in the galleries of its next door neighbour, the Royal Academy. The imposing but eccentric collection includes Tudor royal portraits described by David Starkey, an expert on the history of the period, as “staggering”[.]

…

The life size paintings of Athelstan, and another unidentified Anglo Saxon king, are also royal propaganda. They are completely fictional portraits, but were painted for Henry VII, probably for his great hall at Eltham Palace, to assert his own place in the pagaent of English history. They were rediscovered in 1813, turned back to front and used as wainscotting in an outside lavatory at Baston House in Kent, along with fragments of four other kings, all hacked to pieces to fit the wall space.

The exhibition runs through December.

Full article

Society of Antiquaries of London website

Update: Here’s another good article (with slideshow) from The Guardian

New Episode of TudorCast and a Give-away!

First up, episode #15 of TudorCast is now posted.

And, I’d like to announce that I’ve put together a silly little survey as a way to get entries for the first Tudorhistory.org/TudorTalk/TudorCast give-away. The folks at Showtime were nice enough to send me some goodies from “The Tudors” television series to give away to other Tudor fans. You can take the survey and enter the contest over at tudorhistory.org/contest. Also, if you want to take the survey but not enter the contest, you can do that as well, just don’t enter an email address in the last box.

I’ll post the results of the survey here and contact the winners in the second half of October!

TudorCast #15 – August 2007

Featured website Official Website of the British Monarchy

Survey and “The Tudors” Give-away

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”
After News: excerpt from “Wolsey’s Wilde” by La Primavera on “English Renaissance Music”
After “This Month”: “O What is to Love” by Jacob Herringman (album “Blame Not My Lute”)
After Glossary: “Dindiridin” by Dufay Collective (album “Cancionero”)
After Text: excerpt from “Oxenford” by La Primavera on “English Renaissance Music”
After closing remarks: “Musica para discanter sobre un” by Dufay Collective (album “Cancionero”)

Episode Transcript

Direct mp3 download

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Remains of medieval tower found at Edinburgh Castle

From The Scotsman:

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a medieval tower at Edinburgh Castle thought to have been lost forever.

Fragments of Constable’s Tower, which was destroyed by Elizabeth I’s army during a siege, were found during excavation work for the attraction’s new visitor centre.

…

The Constable’s Tower was built during the reign of Robert II and was the home of the castle’s constable – a powerful position appointed by the king to watch over and maintain the fortress in his absence. It was finally destroyed in 1573, after an epic siege which saw the castle garrison led by Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange hold out against Scottish forces loyal to the infant James VI.

After Elizabeth I sent troops and cannons to bombard the castle, the tower was destroyed and later replaced with its current portcullis gate facade.

Full article

Mary Rose wreck endangered by bacterial acid

From The Telegraph:

One of Britain’s greatest archaeological treasures, the Mary Rose, is facing the biggest threat to its survival since it was raised from the seabed 25 years ago.

In contrast to the towering French warships it faced as Henry VIII’s flagship, it is fighting a much smaller, though no less daunting, enemy. Scientists have discovered that bacteria growing on the timbers of the Tudor warship are producing a corrosive acid that could cause the hull to disintegrate.

Full article

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

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

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.]