A multifandom commentfest for tiny to medium British fandoms of all kinds. All fanworks welcome. Historical RPF is definitely included as are fictional Tudor fandoms like the Tudors, Wolf Hall and Elizabeth R etc. etc. (Click on the banner for the link.)

Oh dear this place is a bit dead :-/

Anyway has anybody been watching Wolf Hall, based on the book by Hilary Mantel?

On the morning of Friday 19 May, 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed upon a scaffold erected on the north side of the White Tower, in front of what is now the Waterloo Barracks. She wore a red petticoat under a loose, dark grey gown of damask trimmed in fur and a mantle of ermine. Accompanied by two female attendants, Anne made her final walk from the Queen's House to Tower Green and she looked "as gay as if she was not going to die." Anne climbed the scaffold and made a short speech to the crowd:

Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.

She then knelt upright, in the French style of executions. Her final prayer consisted of her repeating, "To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesus receive my soul." Her ladies removed her headdress and necklaces, and then tied a blindfold over her eyes. The execution was swift and consisted of a single stroke. Thomas Cranmer, who was at Lambeth Palace, was reported to have broken down in tears after telling Alexander Ales: "She who has been the Queen of England on earth will today become a Queen in heaven." When the charges were first brought against Anne, Cranmer had expressed his astonishment to Henry and his belief that "she should not be culpable." Still, Cranmer felt vulnerable because of his closeness to the queen. On the night before the execution, he had declared Henry's marriage to Anne to have been void, like Catherine's before her. He made no serious attempt to save Anne's life. However, on the day of her death a Scottish friend found Cranmer weeping uncontrollably in his London gardens, saying that he was sure that Anne had now gone to Heaven.

Henry had failed to provide a proper coffin for Anne, and so her body and head were put into an arrow chest and buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. Her skeleton was identified during renovations of the chapel in the reign of Queen Victoria, and Anne's resting place is now marked in the marble floor.

Source: Wikipedia

May 2, 1536 - Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, Henry VIII's second wife, was arrested and imprisoned on false charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft. After she failed to produce a son for Henry (though she did give birth to the future Elizabeth I), Henry had Anne investigated for high treason.


Towards the end of April 1536, a Flemish musician in Anne's service named Mark Smeaton was arrested, perhaps tortured or promised freedom. He initially denied being the Queen’s lover but later confessed. Another courtier, Henry Norris, was arrested on May Day, but since he was an aristocrat, he could not be tortured. He denied his guilt and swore that Queen Anne was innocent. Sir Francis Weston was arrested two days later on the same charge. William Brereton, a groom of the King's privy chamber, was also apprehended on grounds of adultery. The final accused was Queen Anne's own brother, arrested on charges of incest and treason, accused of having a sexual relationship with his sister. George Boleyn was accused of two incidents of incest: November, 1535 at Whitehall and the following month at Eltham.

On 2 May 1536, Anne was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. In the Tower, she collapsed, demanding to know the location of her father and "swete broder", as well as the charges against her. Four of the men were tried in Westminster on 12 May 1536. Weston, Brereton and Norris publicly maintained their innocence and only the tortured Smeaton supported the Crown by pleading guilty. Three days later, Anne and George Boleyn were tried separately in the Tower of London. She was accused of adultery, incest and high treason. Adultery on the part of a queen was not a treasonable, civil offense necessitating execution: the accusations were designed to impugn her moral character. The treason was plotting, with her "lovers," the king's death, to ostensibly marry one of them afterward —- Henry Norris.

Anne's biographer Eric Ives, among others, believes that her fall and execution were engineered by Thomas Cromwell. Anne differed with Cromwell over the redistribution of Church revenues and over foreign policy. She advocated that revenues be distributed to charitable and educational institutions; and she favored a French alliance. Cromwell insisted on filling the King's depleted coffers and preferred an imperial alliance. For these reasons, suggests Ives, "Anne Boleyn had become a major threat to Thomas Cromwell." Cromwell's biographer John Schofield, on the other hand, contends that no power struggle existed between Anne and Cromwell and that "not a trace can be found of a Cromwellian conspiracy against Anne ... Cromwell became involved in the royal marital drama only when Henry ordered him onto the case." Cromwell did not manufacture the accusations of adultery, though he and other officials used them to bolster Henry's case against Anne. Historian Retha Warnicke questions whether Cromwell could have manipulated the king in such a matter. Henry himself issued the crucial instructions: his officials, including Cromwell, carried them out. The result, historians agree, was a legal travesty. Although the evidence against them was unconvincing, the accused were found guilty and condemned to death by their peers.


Source: Wikipedia

The British Library is having a major exhibition about King Henry VIII this summer to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his accession to the throne. What are the odds I can win the lottery before the end of the exhibition so I can see it for myself? :)

Henry VIII: Man and Monarch
British Library
Thu 23 Apr 2009 - Sun 6 Sep 2009

In celebration of the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession to the throne, the historian and broadcaster Dr David Starkey guest-curates this major exhibition, providing new insights into one of this country’s most memorable monarchs, who still casts a spell over the public imagination.

Highlights of the exhibition include Henry’s personal Prayer Book, containing his handwritten notes, his marriage contract with Katherine of Aragon, a list of people executed in his reign, including wives, favourites and ministers, and a love letter to Anne Boleyn, concealed in the Vatican for almost five centuries. Almost certainly stolen from Anne to serve as evidence against the King’s divorce, the letter is exhibited here for the first time and sheds light on Henry’s infamous infatuation.

"This exhibition draws on the British Library’s rich collections – including the books that Henry himself chose, read and annotated – which outline the revolutionary change in ideas that took place during the reign of Henry VIII and take us, as nothing else can, into the King’s own mind." - Dr David Starkey

Source: British Library



There are also documents available to view online and a blog with updates about the exhibition.

I've prettified the community layout and updated the userinfo with pictures of the Tudor monarchs and close family. Behold my OCD. ;)

A love letter that Henry VIII wrote to Anne Boleyn proclaiming his intention to marry her is to go on display in Britain for the first time in its five century history.

The handwritten letter – described by the historian Dr David Starkey as marking "the moment at which British history changes" – has been reunited with the writing desk on which it was almost certainly written.

They are being displayed together at a British Library exhibition, starting on Thursday, put on to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry's accession to the throne.

In the 1527 letter Henry wrote to his mistress: "The proofs of your affection are such ... that they constrain me ever truly to honour, love and serve you."

Dr Starkey, guest curating the exhibition, said: "This is the moment at which British history changes, when Henry makes clear his undoubtable intention to marry her, and the world turns upside down."

It set England on a political and cultural course away from Europe, said Dr Starkey, as it precipitated the annulment of Henry's first marriage to Katherine of Aragon and the subsequent break with Rome.

Dr Starkey said: "From being the most Catholic country, absolutely at the heart of Europe, England begins now this voyage in a completely different direction, towards hostility to Europe and the island nation. Henry, I would argue, is the first Euro-sceptic."

The letter has been lent by the Vatican.

Henry VIII acceded to the throne on 22 April 1509, the day his father Henry VII died. The exhibition, Henry VIII: Man and Monarch, runs from 23 April to 6 September.


Source: Telegraph.co.uk

On this day in 1509, 500 years ago, Henry VIII was made King of England. He succeeded his father, Henry VII, the first in the House of Tudor. Many believe that Henry VII died of a broken heart after losing his first son, Arthur, in 1502, and then his wife, Elizabeth of York, in 1503.

Henry VIII ruled until his death on January 28, 1547, and was succeeded by his son, Edward VI. He is infamous for his six wives, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr, and for separating the Anglican church from the Roman hierarchy, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England.

More information can be found at EnglishHistory.com, Britannia.com, and Wikipedia.