One week until Christmas! Yay! I do love Christmas, it’s such a magical time. I hope you’re enjoying the lead up to Christmas. Do remember to check out my page on how the Tudors celebrated Christmas, it’s interesting to see how far back some of our traditions go – see “Tudor Christmas”.
Well, this is my last Tudor News (new name for Friday Round Up) before Christmas and could well be the last one of the year. I will be posting George Boleyn Part 3 next week though, so don’t worry!
Here is what has been happening this week:-
- Henry 8.o – These comedy clips just make my week! I now have to be careful that I’m not sipping coffee while watching them or it ends up all over my keyboard or screen! Click here to see the latest sketch “28 Puds Later”.
- George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, Part 2 – In my second part on George Boleyn, I look at George Boleyn’s fall from royal favour, his arrest and the role of Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, in George’s downfall. Please let me know your thoughts on George, Jane and also how involved you think Henry VIII was in Cromwell’s coup against the Boleyn faction.
- The Lady in the Tower – I have written my own review of Alison Weir’s latest offering on Anne Boleyn over at our Tudor Book Review website, but you may also be interested in reading this week’s New York Times review – click here.
- The Mary Rose Museum – The latest news from the Mary Rose Trust is that the first brick of the old Mary Rose Ship Hall has been demolished to make way for the new museum which will open in 2012. See http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/news/news221.php for the full story.
The Mary Rose 500 Appeal – Here at The Anne Boleyn Files, we have pledged to raise £500 to support the building of the new museum. This museum will allow the general public to see the Mary Rose ship and the 19,000 Tudor artefacts that were found in and around it. I have been doing a sponsored diet and fitness regime to raise money and although I have now lost the weight I am still carrying on with the fitness regime. To support this cause, you can donate by clicking on the “Just Giving” logo on the right hand side menu bar or why not buy one of our pretty Mary Rose pieces of jewellery? All profits go to the Mary Rose 500 Appeal. - The Anne Boleyn Experience 2010 – I can’t believe that there are only 149 days to go until I meet some of you on The Anne Boleyn Experience 2010! Time really is flying! There are still some rooms left and highlights of the tour include a private guided tour of the Tower of London on the 19th May (Anne Boleyn Day), a trip to Hampton Court Palace, a special Anne Boleyn focused tour of Hever, a talk and book signing from historian and author Elizabeth Norton, a talk from a Tudor costumer, a theatrical production called “The Henry VIII Show and much more…All this and we’re actually staying at Hever Castle! I am so looking forward to discussing Anne Boleyn with other Anne fans while in Anne’s family home! See The Anne Boleyn Experience 2010 website for more details.
- Primary Sources – I’ve added more online primary sources to the Primary Sources page so you too can look at historical sources and documents. Thank you so much to Louise for starting me on this journey. The only trouble is that I get completely lost in them, particularly the Privy Purse Expenses because it is fascinating to see what Henry VIII spent his money on! New this week are The Chronicle of Calais, the Calendar of State Papers (Spain) and The Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry VIII.
- The BBC and British Library join forces to build a digital archive – More good news for those of us who love primary sources! An article in this week’s “Guardian” newspaper, stated that the BBC has joined forces with the British Library in an attempt to digitise the British Library’s archive of more than 150m items plus nearly 1million hours of BBC TV and Radio output. Click here to read the full report.
- The Elizabeth Files – This week’s post “Elizabeth I – England’s Greatest Monarch?” considers what achievements make Elizabeth I deserving of this title.
- The Friday Quiz – Take the weekly BBC History Magazine Quiz at http://www.bbchistorymagazine.com/quiz/ to test your knowledge of history.
Although very amusing, i wasn’t as fond of the new Herny 8.0 sketch this week as m
uch as the others, i dont know why, maybe i was just being slow and not gettng the jokes. Awww i love the nativity scene! He’s very good, i’m slightly jealous of his creativity skills!
I’m not quite sure what to make of the of the New York Times review of The Lady in the Tower. Do they like the book or not? And why on earth mention Wolf Hall? Does the reviewer not understand that it’s fiction? Why should Weir have mentioned it in a book which purports to be non-fiction?
I do think these reviews are rather pointless unless the reviewer actually knows what they’re talking about. They can talk about how well researched the book is, but if they haven’t read the primary sources which Weir relies on then how can they possibly suggest that the book is accurate? That is why John Guy’s review is so helpful, because he can actually tell us if we are being deceived. And I want to know this if I am spending my hard earned income on a book. The alternative is to simply swallow everything Weir tells me, which is something I am not prepared to do.
Guy gives an example of Weir providing evidence that never actually existed, but there are occasions where she simply misquotes from extant records.
As you can probably tell from past posts, I am very protective when it comes to George Boleyn. In her book, Weir uses every opportunity to paint him as black as possible. For instance, she says that upon Catherine of Aragon’s death, Chapuys stated in a report that George said that he wished Mary would follow her mother. This comes from the Spanish Calander of State Papers at Volume 5 (ii) document number 9. What Chapuys actually said was that Thomas and George Boleyn, “must have said to themselves, what a pity the Princess Mary had not kept company with her mother.” In other words, at no time did Chapuys say that this is what George SAID, it was merely what Chapuys believed he was thinking. That is very different to what Weir says, and it is another example of her misquoting evidence to make a point.
I don’t care how popular Weir is. That is totally inappropriate and irresponsible behaviour for someone who is making money out of a book which is supposed to be non-fiction. If she can’t correctly quote from a primry source then how can we possibly believe a word she says?