I haven't been working on the site lately, and don't know when I'll start
posting new stuff - probably in a week or so - BUT I found some cool Tudor
stuff at one of my favorite museums, the Morgan Library in NYC. You
can order online from their shop.
It's silly and fun stuff -
Click here -
https://www.morganlibrary.org/shop_images/gifts/henry_chocolates.jpg
Who knew that someone actually makes Henry VIII chocolates? And could
they have chosen an uglier picture of Anne Boleyn?
Click here
to order the chocolates.
There are also some porcelain boxes of old Hal and his wives -
https://www.morganlibrary.org/shop_images/gifts/henry_wives.jpg
Click here
to order them.
Your purchases support the Morgan Library, one of the best museums in the world. And if these products are popular, perhaps they'll add to their Tudor shop....
A new Tudor England novel is available in time for the holiday season - please visit Greensleeves: An Elizabethan Novel by Marticia Burns McKinney. She's also included a history of the famous song, links, and more at the website.
Adding new stuff continuously. Updating this page
is the worst - I can never keep track of it all.
Other Additions -
First part of Margaret Tudor
biography is done; it discusses her life up until the marriage to James
IV of Scotland in 1503. I'll put the rest up after I finishing scanning
a color portrait of her.
The Elizabeth I
site is up, in abbreviated form. If the data transfer numbers are good
for a week, I'll add the rest.
Two new Anne Boleyn portraits - the Horenbout and Hoskins
miniatures. Visitors to her main page, and the Six Wives main page have
already seen them. I have two more new ones to add soon.
And I bought a new scanner - yes, I finally broke down and spent the money though I rather liked being the Scrooge McDuck of the internet. So I'll be rescanning many of the portraits and adding new ones, too. I'll put the pics up before I write the commentary this time, and they'll be listed at New Tudor Portraits. There are about half a dozen new pics there now - some rescans - and more to follow. Fitzroy, Henry VIII c1509, etc
Four new Mary, queen of Scots images at her Biography page (including a rescanned portrait of Bothwell.) I will add them to New Tudor Portraits soon. Until then, click here to view them.
The famous Hans Eworth portrait of Mary I is rescanned.
Many visitors have asked about it. As are -
The 'Ditchley Portrait' of Elizabeth I.
Delaroche's 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey'.
Lady Jane Grey or Katharine Parr. This image looks much
better.
Click here to
view them.
And I'm also working on quizzes about Anne of Cleves and Tudor Fashion.
And congrats to Annabel Laurence for winning the Tudor
Quiz Contest. Every single one correct, plus all the extra questions.
A truly impressive display of Tudor erudition. Many thanks to everyone
who participated.
Book News -
A biography of the Elizabethan astrologer Doctor Dee has
been written. It's called 'The Queen's Conjurer: The Science and Magic
of Doctor Dee' by Benjamin Woolley. You can read a review and
excerpts at the Sunday
Times site.
Alison Weir has two new books coming - 'Henry VIII: The King
and His Court' and 'Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley'.
The first book is available next month for $28 and the second isn't scheduled
for release until May 2002 (according to Amazon.co.uk).
Susan Watkins and Mark Fiennes have published a photographic
history called 'Mary, Queen of Scots', a beautiful work in the style of their
earlier 'The Public and Private Worlds of Elizabeth I'.
And Antonia Fraser's new biography isn't about a Tudor, but
I'll probably read it anyway - 'Marie Antoinette' is due in June.
Site News -
Every month more and more people come to the site - which
is great, etc but it means the data transfer numbers go up as well.
And that means I have to spend more money on webhosting. Not good.
And it's put plans for site expansion on hold as well. More pages mean
more space - and more data transfer.
And so new additions such as the revamped Elizabeth I site
- which is huge - can't be put up yet. p; Likewise, the complete sites
for all of Henry VIII's wives, all the new images I've scanned since last
December.... and so forth. Most importantly, the Plantagenet Dynasty
site had to be taken down.
I am looking for another web hosting plan which allows more
data transfer and is hopefully cheaper. I think I've found one.
But until I actually move to a new server, I'm not adding anything to the
site. I simply can't - it's already too big.
So bear with me, and hopefully everything will be settled
in a few weeks. I realize it's frustrating to find dead links, and no
new additions. But - like everything in life except the best thing (love)
- websites aren't free.
And yes, I could clog the site up with ads to help with expenses.
But ads are ugly and slow everything down.
The site will continue at this server until the last week
of April - & hopefully, I'll have found a solution by then. Sending
some luck my way couldn't hurt. And thanks again for your patience.
Also, I added a bit about the right to reproduce public
domain images for those of you who asked about it.
Diarmaid MacCulloch has written a new biography of Edward VI, titled The Boy King: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation. His last work was the definitive biography of Thomas Cranmer, and so I have high hopes for this book.
I just discovered new reprints of AL Rowse's great study of the Elizabethan renaissance - The Cultural Achievement and The Life of the Society. Thankfully, these wonderful histories are now readily available at the local bookstore. Now we need only hope for a reprint of LB Smith's A Tudor Tragedy.
The Folger Library has redesigned their website. It looks fantastic now. Click here to visit.
The BBC series 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' is now available on DVD. I don't know about 'Elizabeth R' yet.
Maria Perry's The Sisters of Henry VIII: The Tumultuous Lives of Margaret of Scotland and Mary of France is now available in paperback. I'm ambivalent about this book, but some Tudor enthusiasts really disliked it.
Also, Harry Kelsey's biography of Sir Francis Drake and Lisa Jardine and Alan Stewart's study of Francis Bacon are still available in hardcover. I haven't read the former, but did enjoy the latter. Bacon is one of the most fascinating figures of the Elizabethan age, and was memorably brought to life in Lytton Strachey's Elizabeth and Essex.
The old Images site will continue to be available until
the new version is finished.
Visit Bravo's website.
As visitors to the Tudor Films page know, I like 'Queen Margot'
which stars Isabelle Adjani as the ill-fated French princess. It's
a strange but lovely film - and Vincent Perez plays the male lead. Sigh.
'Anne' stars Genevieve Bujold as Anne Boleyn and Richard Burton
as Henry VIII. It's not my favorite Tudor film simply because I think
Bujold is badly miscast. But it's worth a watch for the costumes and
screenplay.
It's really quite odd to have two historical films from this
period shown back-to-back - so cheers for the Bravo network.
Bravo will also show 'The Lion in Winter' about
the lives of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine on the following dates -
Thursday, January 18th at 8 pm & 11 pm
Friday, January 19th at 1 pm
'Anne of the Thousand Days' will be repeated on....
Saturday, January 20th at 8 pm
and six hours later at 2 am
'Queen Margot' will be repeated on....
Wednesday, January 17th at 1 pm
Saturday, January 27th at 12 pm
26th October 2000
On 5th November, Pope John Paul II will officially proclaim
Thomas More
the patron saint of.... you guessed it.... politicians. Read Suzanne
Fields' editorial titled 'A Patron
Saint for Politicians' at the Washington Times site.
And, as all Tudor enthusiasts will readily note, Fields has
an important point wrong - More wasn't guillotined; he died on the block.
The November 2000 issue of Talk magazine has a feature
on Schama and the book/series. It also includes a two-page excerpt
from the book about the execution of Mary, queen of Scots.
The excerpt includes several illustrations.
Of course, one must wonder - why did the magazine choose to
spotlight that particular event? After all, Schama's work spans over
five thousand years of fascinating history.
Well, as Schama himself explains in the excerpt, Mary's execution
'was the last act of a historical drama that for sexual havoc and hapless
pathos has never been bested.'
Most Tudor enthusiasts would undoubtedly agree. The
excerpt doesn't contain any new information about the execution, but the
accompanying pictures are quite interesting.
If you miss the show at 8 pm, take heart - it will be repeated at midnight.
And I've taken heart that Penguin 20th Century Classics has reissued one of the best historical romances ever written - and one that coincidentally concerns a Tudor (albeit a Tudor by marriage) - Ford Madox Ford's wonderful book, 'The Fifth Queen'. (It is, in fact, three novels in one - 'The Fifth Queen', 'Privy Seal' & 'The Fifth Queen Crowned'.)
Ford is most famous as the author of 'The Good Soldier', a great work in its own right. But he spent nearly a decade researching Tudor history, ostensibly planning a biography of that ambiguous figure Henry VIII. His research instead inspired a fictional treatment of Catherine Howard's life. Tudor purists will argue that the book renders Catherine more intelligent and devout than historical fact suggests. But this is historical fiction (thankfully lacking the ubiquitous 'heaving bosoms' etc of recent Tudor fiction.) It's beautifully written, well-researched, and the final scene between Catherine and Henry - in which she aptly sums up his character - is superb. Oh, the entire book is superb but the ending is worth the purchase alone.
The reissue is only $12.95 in the US - which makes it cheaper than most other historical fiction. Buy it, read it - & be grateful that Penguin reissued it. Needless to say, all other Tudor fiction suffers terribly in comparison.
Now we have to cross our fingers and hope LB Smith's biography of Catherine is reissued. I'm tired of carrying around fifty year old copies of great works.
And since Tudor fans might also be interested in other
historical figures....
PBS premieres a show about Napoleon on Wednesday, 8 November.
There is a fantastic accompanying website which features some
of his famous love letters to Josephine as well as a detailed discussion
of his great battles.
The Tudor England site at Suite101.com is sponsoring a
writing contest & the topic is 'A Tudor England Ghost Story'. The
collected works of Elizabeth I is the grand prize, plus publication of your
story at the site.
Click
here to visit the site and learn more; the contest ends on the 15th of
December. Good luck to everyone.
Added a new quiz as well
- on the sisters of Henry VIII.
>
I have added a couple of new bits of trivia.
And for those who live in the DC area, or will be visiting here this autumn, here are some entertaining Tudor-related events.....
The Folger Consort is performing the musical works of Bluff
King Hal from 13-15 October at the Folger
Shakespeare Library. The program is titled 'Fit for a King' and
marks the opening of their fall music season.
And keep in mind that their exhibition featuring the 'Sieve'
portrait of Elizabeth I, an etching of Anne Boleyn, a letter from Leicester
to Elizabeth about the Armada, and a contemporary account of Mary, queen
of Scots's execution in a German newspaper, continues through 25 November.
The Shakespeare Theatre features three great Tudor-related
plays for their 2000-2001 season. First is Shakespeare's Timon of
Athens. Second is Shakespeare's Richard II, the story of
the tragic king who lost his throne to Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV),
thus ending the legitimate line of Plantagenet kings and giving the throne
to the Lancastrians - and this led to the Wars of the Roses and the rule
of Henry VII. The third play is Friedrich Schiller's Don Carlos.
This work explores the life of Mary Tudor's husband, Philip II of Spain,
and his relationship with his only son and heir, Don Carlos.
Call 202.547.1122 for ticket information.
And the Maryland Renaissance Festival
starts on 26 August and continues until 22 October. It's the second
largest Renaissance festival in the country.
They do sell 'Henry VIII and His Six Wives' t-shirts, though
they switched the portraits of Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves. But
only a real Tudor aficionado would notice that - right, Tracey?
There is a wonderful Tudor England site at Suite101.com. If you're conducting research, it's a worthwhile visit.
And I keep winning awards for my Byron & Tudor sites - this means that visitors have sent the URRLs in for consideration, which I appreciate very much.
There are many more additions on the way so please visit again in a few weeks.
On that note, I hope everyone has a lovely end of summer.
-Marilee
15 June 2000
I have started to collect
Tudor articles from the internet. They are listed here. The
articles on Geoffrey Elton's work on the Reformation and Whitehall Palace
are particularly interesting. I will be adding more soon.
8 June 2000
I read something interesting
at Commentary Magazine (from James Wilson's
review of Robert Fogel's new book):
'In the early 19th century,
the average member of the British aristocracy was five inches taller than
the average Englishman; today, the gap is only one inch. In 1875, a
member of the British upper class lived seventeen years longer than the average
Englishman; today, the rich enjoy only a two-year advantage. This means that,
in about one century, the typical Englishman improved his life expectancy
by 34 years, an increase that in Fogel's estimation exceeds any other such
gain in the preceding 200 millennia.'
I had no idea that the
material wealth of the aristocracy translated itself into such superiority
of health (though, as a less-than-tall person, I don't necessarily equate
height with good health....)
31 May 2000
Yet another article
about Catherine Howard's ghost haunting Hampton Court - the story was
featured on ABC's 'Good Morning America' program.
30 May 2000
An interesting article about Catherine Howard's ghost haunting
Hampton Court - & the scientific team determined to find out if it's
true. Click
here to read it at The Washington Times site.
Thanks, Jeremy, for passing along the info.
26 May 2000
Added another quiz - on the trial
and execution of Anne Boleyn.
25 May 2000
Three new quizzes are up (with
more on the way) - the new ones are all about Elizabeth I.
I redid the Lady Jane
Grey site - changed the image on the main page, etc.
1 May 2000
I finally redid the Boleyn family page - scanned some new
color pics from Hever Castle postcards. I also redesigned the Genealogy
page a bit.
And I have fixed all the links on the Images page.
And some new quizzes are on the way as well.
April 2000
Many new portraits - a plethora of rare new portraits!
Mary I, Elizabeth I, Prince Arthur, etc. Also a miniature
portrait that may be of Mary, queen of Scots. Please click here to
see the list. I also have included background information on the
portraits.
I haven't seen some of these portraits in most history books
so please take the time to view them - they're lovely.
I have also scanned portraits of various Tudor nobles - simply looking at the magnificent gowns is fun. They are located at a new section called 'Portraits of Tudor Nobility.' I've been working on that for a long time.... when not distracted by my John Keats site.
Mid-January 2000
I'm quite excited that I finally found a beautiful portrait
of Margaret,
countess of Salisbury - daughter of George, duke of Clarence, niece of
Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, and cousin of Henry VIII. Despite
her close relationship with the second Tudor king (she was also Princess Mary's
governess), Margaret was executed in a botched and horrific manner in 1541.
And I was also excited (I'm very excitable these days,
I think) to learn that a new Folger exhibit
(opening January 17th) will focus on their acquisitions/donations of the last
decade. Included are the 'Sieve' portrait of Elizabeth I from the middle
period of her reign, a letter from Leicester to Elizabeth about the Armada,
and a contemporary account of Mary, queen of Scots's execution in a German
newspaper. Another exhibit (also opening in late January) will focus
on the concept of 'Fortune' in Tudor England.
The Folger site provides meticulous details on their exhibitions,
past and present, so I urge you to visit.
Again, please check the new Images section to
view other additions. And the Primary Sources
section contains many new and interesting pieces, including Cavendish's account
of Anne Boleyn and Henry Percy's love affair.
Also, you can now read accounts of Henry VIII's famous jousting
accident, the executions of Fisher, More & others, Henry VII's obituary,
the announcement of Jane Seymour's pregnancy (what a happy day for Great
Harry!), and another account of Prince Arthur's death in 1502. I think
I've listed them all!
And be sure to test your knowledge of Tudor England with my favorite new feature - TUDOR QUIZZES. I am gathering up tough questions for a batch of new quizzes soon.
Late December 1999
The most obvious 'news' is that the site is now located at
englishhistory.net. The stupid watermark finally drove me batty.
Farewell to 'java-script error' messages and the like.
Please bear with me while I transfer and update the Tudor England pages from GeoCities to the new server. It is a time-consuming process, particularly since I'm redoing many pages (adding texts and graphics.) But it will be done shortly. If something is missing, write to me. I will happily send you the files from the old site (text only) - simply specify if you need them in .html or text format.
I appreciate your patience, but the end result will hopefully be worth it. Questions and comments can be sent to my new e-mail address.
Updates to the site will be listed here in the future.
Have a great day!
-Marilee