Packing up my bags...

and on the Tudor Trail today. Catch me at my new favorite blog revealing what Elizabeth I's pearls are really made of, my favorite wife of Henry VIII and why Tudor history is so darn addictive. Stay tuned later this week for a guest post on Elizabeth I's unicorn.

Anne Boleyn Tour, London and Baby Invaders, Raucous Winners

Anne Boleyn Experience 2010
I would give my 6th finger to go on this tour. Here is the description:

"The Anne Boleyn Experience 2010 is exclusive and unique in that it takes Anne Boleyn as its central character and focus and aims to educate tour participants about this mysterious woman and about the times she lived in.

Participants will come away with new knowledge of Anne Boleyn and Tudor England, and will be touched and moved by visiting Anne Boleyn’s final resting place on the anniversary of her death.

Hever Castle
The Anne Boleyn Experience 2010 is the ultimate Anne Boleyn event, being set in Anne Boleyn’s own family home, rather than an anonymous hotel. Hever Castle was also later lived in by Henry VIII’s fourth wife Anne of Cleves. It will be a wonderful experience walking in Anne’s footsteps around the historic castle."

There are only a few spots left! Book Now
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Write History – Win Books! London Invasions Blog Contest
Do you want to win five books of your choice from Thames & Hudson? Or how about 50 credits for use in the HeritageKey virtual reality grid? Right now, you can and all you have to do is answer one question:
Which invader has had the biggest impact on London?

There are certainly many to choose from and you can present your answer in a great many ways, using text, images, video, and audio. Entries must be made as blog entries and submitted before 11:59pm on 21 February 2010.

More information here>>>
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The Winner of the Raucous Book of the Month, Hubbub: Filth, Noise, and Stench in England, 1600-1770 is Gail. Gail I have emailed you and need your snail mail address to get out your prize.

Only newsletter subscribers are entered to win the Raucous Book of the Month. If you are not a newsletter subscriber then you can subscribe here.
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I am a bit behind in my research. I am working on a post about Joan of Arc, Louise Labe, and my favorite mystery Renaissance artist. Still can't get the baby to sleep for more than two hour increments. waaaaaaaa. Two hours is not enough time for me to reach my happy place. If anyone has any magical baby sleep tips, I would love to hear them. Mama is grumpy!

Five things you probably didn’t know about the Mary Rose

I got this email this morning about the Mary Rose. Wouldn't you have loved to see Henry VIII's face when the ship sank?

1. The debate continues as to why the Mary Rose mysteriously sank off the Portsmouth coast in 1545. Four of the suggested possibilities are:
- Too many cooks and not enough skilled seamen on board.
- Poor communication and slow responses from an international crew.
- A hole made by a French cannonball in battle led to the Mary Rose taking water onboard.
- The Mary Rose was too top heavy and keeled over when changing course.

2.On 19th July 1545 Henry VIII was watching his fleet set sail to battle the approaching French and saw the Mary Rose sink. So did the wife of Vice Admiral Sir George Carew, who was on board – not surprisingly, she fainted.

Maybe it is my morbid curiosity, but I find facial reconstruction technology utterly fascinating. I think the guy to the right looks a little like Richard Gere minus the full beard. Maybe? ok I have had better calls.

3. Scientists have used Facial Reconstruction technology to illustrate the facial features of the crew of the Mary Rose from skulls found on board (shown above).

4. As well as iron bolts The Mary Rose was held together by thousands of wooden pegs – each one made by hand.

5. Celebrated Marine Artist Geoff Hunt researched the Mary Rose for 113 hours before he began his new painting of the ship, unveiled earlier this year. His research revealed that King Henry VIII’s flagship had one more fighting castle deck than had previously been thought, fuelling speculation that it was the ship’s top heaviness that may have led to her mysterious sinking (shown here).

Not too shabby of a painting eh? Here is some more info about the Mary Rose:

http://www.maryrose500.org/
www.facebook.com/MaryRose500?_fb_noscript=1
www.twitter.com/MaryRose500
www.youtube.com/maryrose500appeal
http://www.maryrose.org/
http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/

Happy Birthday Henry VIII, Mr. Perfect.

Today marks the birthday of Henry VIII. He was born at Greenwich Palace in 1491 as the second male heir and third child to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. No one expected much from his birth. His grandmother, Margaret Beaufort noted the details sparingly in her book of hours and we can guess that many probably didn't expect him to even live. June through August was the worst time for a baby to be born because plague was more virulent in the summer months. But surviving infancy was an easy task for the future king of England.

With high expectations, Henry ascended to the thrown in 1509 in one of the first peaceful successions that England had seen in years. In a letter to Erasmus, Lord Mountjoy wrote:

‘When you know what a hero he now shows himself, how wisely he behaves, what a lover he is of justice and goodness, what affection he bears to the learned I will venture to swear that you will need no wings to make you fly to behold this new and auspicious star. Oh, my Erasmus, if you could see how all the world here is rejoicing in the possession of so great a prince, how his life is all their desire, you could not contain your tears for joy.'

It’s not hard to see why Mountjoy was so effusive with his praise. Henry was certainly a beautiful man. He had envious calves (calves were to be envied then) and a statuesque physique. He had the ideal humanist education with the poet laureate, John Skelton as his tutor and Erasmus as his confidant. He could sing amazingly well, compose music, dance and was a recognized patron of the arts. He excelled in almost every athletic sport, could debate in several languages and was a brilliant theologian. Henry was a seriously good catch. How could he fail?

Showtime’s the Tudors chose to tie their series to Queen's song, I WANT IT ALL - the perfect soundtrack to Henry’s self-aggrandizement. This Renaissance Prince did want it all. He wanted prestige. He wanted wealth. He wanted military power. He wanted stability with a male heir. And he actually wanted to be happy in his marriage. How dare he? 16th century princes were not expected to fall in love with their wives. That’s what mistresses were for.

Maybe Henry’s biggest problem was that he was just too perfect. Perfect people do tend to expect perfection from others. We can guess that Henry must have been disappointed when the people he raised from lowly positions fell short of his expectations. More, Cromwell, Anne Boleyn, Kathyrn Howard and several others paid for their shortcomings with their lives. Henry had made them so it was far easier to break them. That's the joy of playing god.

But gods are also not supposed to feel weakness. In his later years, Henry must have felt like his body was playing some cruel joke on him. It’s much harder for someone who once was so physically fit to lead a sedentary life style. Here was this man who had towered over his subjects being hoisted onto his horse like a bag of lard.

To be fair, Henry did accomplish much in his reign. He pretty much introduced the concept of state education. When he dissolved the monasteries, he used the money to fund a group of schools called the Kings Schools. Talented yet poor children could go to these schools on scholarship and many famously brilliant children rose from obscurity including Christopher Marlowe and William Harvey. Henry's reign also brought the first English bible to the people which unified English into one dialect. And we can't forget that he championed art and humanism, built several palaces, helped establish the first English Navy and contributed significant advancement in medical research by establishing the College of Barber Surgeons. Is this enough to give him a passing grade? Considering that he also left England a tiny broke island bankrupted by his warmongering policies with the coinage debased, I would say…not so sure.

Judging Henry as a ruler is tricky because we can’t help but view him through our own distorted lens of contemporary greatness. Which is why I often wonder - how did Henry feel on his deathbed? Did he believe that he left England in a position of strength? Judging by the Holbein painting, he certainly was trying to convince everyone around him that he had. Holbein’s Henry (shown above) was literally meant to tower over its subjects with the distorted length of its arms and menacing stare. But not everyone today is buying it.

What you think? Do you remember Henry as a great Renaissance Prince or just the overweight bully who killed two of his wives?

Anne Boleyn's infamous B Necklace

For the Tudor junkies, I found this beautiful B necklace over at the Anne Boleyn Files. I have to confess that I got my B necklace several years ago. (no surprise there!).

I was at a bar one night getting teased relentlessly by friends for being such a history geek. My sister bet me that no one in the bar would know the meaning behind my necklace. I took her up on her bet because even history geeks go to bars. Well, I lost the bet. The answers I got were:

A. Bruins (pleeeease)
B. Boston Red Sox (most common)
C. Boston (acceptable)
(This was before the show Ugly Betty was on)

ah well. I like living in my little Tudor history bubble.