* Not exactly Tudor related, but cool: SepiaTown – mapped historical photos from around the world.
* Shakespeare’s Kings and Westminster Abbey – RSC actors performing excerpts from the history plays in the coronation ‘theater’ of the Abbey. I wish I could attend some of these!
* Presentation on objects from Tudor and Stuart playhouses at the Museum of London on April 24
I know I’m a little late getting this posted…
From The Guardian:
Anne Boleyn was guilty of adultery, new biography claims
Charges for which she was executed, long thought to have been cooked up, are likely to have been true, says historian George Bernard
A new biography of Anne Boleyn is set to claim that, far from being framed for adultery, Henry VIII’s second queen may not have been innocent of the affairs for which she was sentenced to death.
The widely held view among contemporary historians is that the charges brought against Anne
Winchester Palace. Photo June 2000.
Winchester Palace was the London residence of the Bishops of Winchester and was in use until the 17th century (it was mostly destroyed by fire in 1814). The Palace is on the south the Thames in Southwark and is near Southwark Cathedral, burial place of William Shakespeare’s brother Edmund. The part you see here is from the great hall and includes the remains of the structure for the rose window.
* Henry VIII to be staged this season at the Globe (from the BBC). Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself with this production! They will also have two new productions this year: one a play about Anne Boleyn and another that will be the first play performed at the Globe from a woman playwright (from The Guardian).
* History Today has an article by Linda Porter – Katherine Parr: An Ideal Stepmother. Porter has a new biography on Parr due out in March in the UK (you can sign up to be notified for the US release at the link below).
* There are several upcoming Tudor Events at Hampton Court Palace that look interesting. As always, if anyone gets a chance to go to any of these, I’d love to hear about it!
* A new book on the death of Amy Robsart Dudley is out in the UK (article from The Times Online). UK Amazon link below (and another US “sign up to be notified”)
As promised, here are links to more stories about the announcement of the new site for the Battle of Bosworth.
From the BBC (video and pictures):
New Battle of Bosworth Field site revealed
From The Daily Mail:
Is this the field where Richard III lost his kingdom for a horse? Real location of Battle of Bosworth finally revealed after 500 years
From The Guardian:
Silver badge and lead shot pinpoint site of Battle of Bosworth
Archaeologists pinpoint long-disputed site of Battle of Bosworth
And last, but certainly not least, the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Center website
(Their site appears to be down, perhaps from a large influx of traffic? – I’ll keep checking for it to come back up and add a link directly to their news on the battlefield discoveries.)
The site is back up. Here’s a link to their page on the official announcement.
Although there will no doubt be a slew of additional articles, this is the first to land in my news alerts in-box! I’ll do a round-up of all the other articles in a separate post when I have a chance.
From The Times Online:
For centuries it has been impossible to revisit the battlefield because its location was lost after the Civil War. Then, last October, Leicestershire County Council announced that it had found the site but would not reveal its whereabouts for fear of scavengers.
Today the wait is over. The Times can reveal that the Battle of Bosworth was settled round the back of Alf Oliver
Now that we’re getting closer to the opening, I thought it was a good time to post a reminder that the exhibition Painting History: Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey opens next week. Be sure to click on the “Related Events” tab for more events, including information on Leanda de Lisle’s lecture “Death Becomes Her:
The Life and Afterlife of Lady Jane Grey” on March 5.
Here’s a PDF of the full press release for the exhibition.
And if anyone gets a chance to see the exhibition or attend some of the events, I’d love to hear from you!
Penshurst Place. Photo May 2003.
I guess I’m sort of debuting a new blog feature in this post. I’ve done news round-up/catch-up posts in the past, but I thought I would give them an official name. Sometimes they might be “Saturday short takes” instead, but they will probably always be one of the weekend days since that’s when I have time and both Saturday and Sunday start with “s” and I get to use an alliterative title. 🙂
* You Tube video of the commemoration service for Catherine of Aragon at Peterborough Cathedral. I never got around to posting about this year’s event, but here is a link to a past post about it.
* Rosary from the Mary Rose featured at the BBC’s A History of the World
* Reconstructed face from the Mary Rose goes on display (BBC article). This is the reconstruction that I linked to an article about last March. Additional articles from the Times Online and The Telegraph
* Stirling Castle carvings will be on display at the castle until Feb. 21 (BBC article). This is a continuation of the project that I’ve blogged about a few times (most recently here). The carvings will soon be painted and put in place as part of the project to reconstruct the renaissance royal palace inside the castle. You can learn more at the official Stirling Castle website
* Snack food of Shakespearean theater-goers (Discovery News article). I’m not a fan of seafood but the nuts and dried fruit sounds good. I’ll probably stick with popcorn and Junior Mints though.
* Help Romeo collect flowers for Juliet (appropriate for Valentine’s Day!) in the Shakespeare Game from Shakespeare Country Tourism
Check out the post on the execution of Lady Jane Grey at Executed Today, which includes a lengthy interview with Dr. Stephan Edwards about Jane and his work researching her life and death.
Marker for Lady Jane Grey and others in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London. Photo May 1998.
I thought this would be an appropriate picture for this week since the anniversary of Jane’s (and Guildford’s for that matter) execution is Friday. I took this photo on my first visit to the Tower – May 19, 1998. There were roses on Anne Boleyn’s marker that day since it was the anniversary of her execution and I asked the Beefeater if I could take a photo of them. I don’t know if it was because I looked like a young and clueless American (which I was!) or what, but he said yes. After snapping that photo, I quickly shot this one as well.
Registration for the amazing tour that I posted about back in September will be closing on February 16th, so if you’ve been thinking about booking now is the time!
Thomas More’s cell in the Bell Tower in the Tower of London. Photo June 2000.
During the millennium celebrations, the Tower had a special display on Thomas More (with his hair shirt among other items) and opened the Bell Tower to the public. If I remember correctly, they escorted us in small groups through the private residences/offices and then up in to the tower. I seem to recall it being a tight fit, and of course, a working and living space, so not really appropriate to being open all the time. I’m glad I got a chance to see it while I did!
Because it’s getting late and I’m tired, here are the other three things I wanted to post tonight, all in one post:
* Alison Weir, Arguing the Case for Anne Boleyn – Interview and book excerpt at NPR
* The British Library’s new Timelines: Sources from History – Neat timelines with document images, and the few that I looked at included links where you could print or download a PDF of the documents.
* Middle Temple Hall launched a new website with some cool virtual tours. The Hall is one of the Inns of Court and was constructed between 1563 and 1572. It was also the site of the first performance of Twelfth Night in 1602.
If you recall this post from last October, archaeologists have found evidence for what was probably the actual site of the Battle of Bosworth and now that information is set to be revealed at a conference on February 20. The Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre has information on the event and a document with the program. The Heritage Centre is also planning to open a new exhibition called “Bosworth Battlefield Lost and Found” on February 22.
There is also an article in the March issue of BBC History Magazine, as well as an article by Leanda de Lisle about Lady Jane Grey. I’ll have to make sure I remember to pick one up!
This hasn’t been published yet, but I thought I would go ahead and ask if any of you have read this? It looks interesting:
Review from The Times Online:
Robert Winder may just have redefined literary chutzpah. Not only has he produced a novel with Shakespeare as its principal character, he has also put into it the complete text of Shakespeare
