The news cycle is fast, and it’s hard to keep up with our favorite interests and topics! That’s why I regularly I make up this post with the top stories that have caught my attention. This edition – the nursery for Anne Boleyn’s male child, a Presidential Endorsement of the Tudors, and Elizabeth I’s lost dress… Grab a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy some Tudor news…
Anne Boleyn’s Nursery for the male heir
“The nursery that Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn prepared for the male heir that they so desperately wanted and never had is among “lost” 16th-century buildings of Hampton Court Palace whose site archaeologists hope to find and excavate.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/10/anne-boleyns-nursery-male-child-never-born-explored-first-time/
Even Presidents Love the Tudors
Barack Obama’s Summer Reading List includes Wolf Hall! A Presidential endorsement for Tudor history – woot!
https://www.her.ie/life/here-are-all-the-brilliant-books-on-barack-obamas-summer-2019-reading-list-477464
The amount of treasures found in this village confirms its importance as a Tudor Trade Route
“A growing number of treasure finds around a village confirms its important position as part of a “popular transport route”, an expert said. Two Henry VIII silver groats were found by a metal detectorist near Deanshanger in Northamptonshire, close to the 2,000-year-old Watling Street route.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-49359470
What did a Lady in Waiting Actually Do?
“Every queen or princess needed her flock of female attendants, a select few drawn from the high ranks to offer companionship and practical assistance. But what are the origins of the role ‘lady-in-waiting’? BBC History Revealed explains…”
https://www.historyextra.com/period/what-did-lady-ladies-in-waiting-do-role/
Travel
See Elizabeth I’s Lost Dress
See the Bacton Altar Cloth, a rare survival of Elizabethan dress worn by Elizabeth I and the iconic Rainbow Portrait, this autumn at Hampton Court Palace.
https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/whats-on/the-lost-dress-of-elizabeth-i/#gs.x3jmm7
Henry VIII’s Relationships Rated (plus places in London related to them all)
“You can visit historical places he frequented across London, including standing on the spot Anne Boleyn was executed and, of course, exploring his beloved Hampton Court Palace. Most of all King Henry VIII is famous for his six wives, with that annoying song from school springing to mind – divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. But what were these relationships like? We decided to rate each one out of 10 – do you agree with our judgement?”
https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/henry-viiis-six-wives-rate-16747690
You Can Live In the Serpentine Lodge in Hyde Park – here’s the history…
” Hyde Park was a largely secluded and then royal place for hundreds of years. It belonged to the monks of Westminster Abbey until 1536, when it was acquired by King Henry VIII to become a deer hunting ground. When James I took it on he placed a restriction on the park so only the wealthier people could use it, but when Charles I took the throne, he opened it to the public in 1637. People apparently flocked there during the plague as they thought open space would help prevent the disease.”
https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/fascinating-story-behind-secret-lodge-16749100
Property
Buy this castle in Bristol
“The building in its current form is actually a Victorian era castle, which was built over the original castle being a medieval Norman motte and bailey with wooden pallisade and tower, which was built in 1113.
It was used as a prison during tis time and was once owned by Catherine of Aragon the ill-fated first wife of Henry VIII.”
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/massive-castle-sale-near-bristol-3210264
Or this one in Wiltshire, but beware its dark history…
It was a gift from Henry to Catherine of Aragon (when they were still on friendly terms…) but what else makes this castle fascinating?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/you-can-buy-castle-owned-18905135
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.