Afghanistan needs a Henry VII

This is all very interesting.

Blogger Michael White writes,

"I'd wager that what the suffering Afghans need most is the Henry VII who won the Battle of Bosworth Field, a tough, tightfisted central ruler who could manage the warlords and promote such basics as trade, clean water, and (we've moved on since 1485) education for girls."

Read more here

The Anne Boleyn Experience!!!

From the Anne Boleyn files...

"The Anne Boleyn Experience 2010 is the ultimate Anne Boleyn event, being set in Anne Boleyn’s own home, rather than a hotel. It is also a luxury tour featuring beautiful rooms, interesting speakers and fantastic, top quality food. The fact that it is all-inclusive (except your initial transport to the meeting place in London) means that you don’t have to worry about buying meals and entrance tickets - we’ve handled it all for you."

If only I had more money...

Go here to read more

Joely Richardson to play Catherine Parr

"Nip/Tuck" star Joely Richardson will be playing Catherine Parr in the fourth and last season of "The Tudors"!

Richardson is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave.

Read more here

The fourth season is currently being shot in Dublin and will air in 2010.

Dry the Mary Rose!

Mary Rose is the only 16th century worship on display in the world, and currently, it needs to be sprayed "with a waxy solution to preserve its timbers."

But scientists are looking to find a way to dry it out to preserve it.

"Researchers are now working on developing a treatment for the wood to extract compounds within it where it was in contact with iron, such as bolts or artefacts like cannons. If they can do that then it will mean the ship will not have to be continually sprayed. "

Read more here

State Papers Online, part 2

State Papers, Part II is now avaliable here!

Key themes of Part II include:

• Mary, Queen of Scots: captivity, trial and execution
• French wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots (1562-98)
• 1541 Act raising Ireland into a Kingdom annexed to the Crown of England
• Henry VIII’s ‘rough wooing’ of Scotland
• England’s defeat of Philip II of Spain’s Grand Armada in 1588
• Beginning of 80-year war between Spain and the Netherlands in 1566
• England's relations with the Barbary States, Denmark, Flanders, France, Genoa, Holy Roman Empire, German States, Hambery and Hanse Towns, Holland and Flanders, Italian State and Rome, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Savoy and Sardinia, Sicily and Naples, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Tuscany and Venice
• Letters to and from the English agents in Scotland: the ambassadors Randolphe, Killigrew and the two Bowes, and the secretarial assistant Nicolson
• Extents and valors of the possessions of dissolved religious houses in Ireland, and those attainted of high treason, including Gerald, Earl of Kildare (1540-1583).

I think it's only allowed for schools/institutions at this point, otherwise, I'd be all over it!

Mary Boleyn Book Out

Okay, I'm a little behind, but there is a new book on Mary Boleyn out!

Mary Boleyn: The true Story of Henry's mistress

Historical Tweets

This is a riot!

On this day...

Lady Jane Grey was crowned Queen of England in 1553.

Henry VIII was just like me, says Prince Charles

This is kinda a hilarious article about how Prince Charles talks about how he and Henry VIII was similar - in the sense that they both cared about GOING GREEN! Saving trees! Whee!

"Towards the end of his reign, he also showed an interest in sustainability,' the Prince said.

'Perhaps it is not so well known that Henry instigated the very first piece of green legislation in this country.' "

Read more

This article amused me just because of the thought of the meak Prince Charles compared to our Henry VIII.

The Big Question

....What would have happened if Henry VIII had obtained his divorce?

Great Article!

Excerpt:

Wouldn't the reformation have happened anyway?

That was the myth peddled by the English establishment for centuries. The propaganda was that a corrupt and decaying Catholicism was replaced by a more morally pure and progressive Protestantism. But historians now challenge that view. They are led by Cambridge University's Eamon Duffy whose scholarly masterpiece, The Stripping of the Altars, was a meticulous study of the accounts, wills, primers, memoirs, rood screens, stained glass, joke-books and graffiti of the period.

New Phillipa Gregory novel out in August

Philipa Gregory will have a new novel out on August 18th.

It will be called The White Queen and it will be about Elizabeth Woodville and the War of the Roses.

Hmm...interesting. I will of course read it because it is another Tudor History book, even though I have been disappointed with her books in general. I really liked The Other Boleyn Girl (as did everyone else, ha) and I liked The Queen's Fool. But I think that's it.

New Anne Boleyn Portrait?

I love The Anne Boleyn Files website- I get constant updates from it- and recently the site was discussing a portrait of Anne that I've never seen before!!

Has anybody else seen this before?!



It is apparently on display at Ludlow castle. I think? Go to this forum to read about the discussion of the portrait, its' meaning, authenticity, date/painter, etc.

If anybody knows any info about it, please feel free to comment! I'd love to find out more about it.

Why have we never seen it before?!?