Whitehall Palace in a Nutshell by Phil Roberts - Book Review

When people think of Henrician architecture they automatically think of Hampton Court Palace or St James Palace, the red brickwork has become iconic to us, and we often marvel at what Henry and his builders managed to achieve. Their attention to detail was second to none, the buildings were an extension of Henry's kingship and they had to be magnificent to help reflect this. Nowadays it's easy for us to picture these buildings as they are, because they are not lost to us (albeit nowhere near as grand as they were), but what we can not fathom or understand without the use of historical sources and portraits etc. is how the many palaces that Henry VIII owned that no longer exist in the here and now looked like. We often ask ourselves, 'which was Henry's biggest palace? What was the significance of the palace, and what took place here? What did it look like?'. The answer to many of our questions are Whitehall Palace.

Whitehall Palace no longer exists it was destroyed by a fire, it originally sat prominently on the bank of The River Thames casting an awe inspiring image to all passers-by whose eyes fell upon it. I knew very little about Whitehall Palace, except that it no longer existed except for a few small buildings, including Henry VIII's wine cellar which is currently under the modern day Ministry of Defence building. I wanted to expand on my knowledge to try and imagine what Henry VIII and his queens, nobles and kinsman might have seen, but there were very little books within my price range.

When I stumbled upon this book I was delighted, the book was well within my price range being under £5.00, and wasn't a massive book that I wouldn't have the time to read fully (I'm completing studies outside of full time work). When the book arrived the front cover was attractive, although to my slight disappointment this book does not come in colour, which mean that some of the pictures within lost their full power/significance, such as the portrait of when the building was on fire.

The book itself covers Whitehall from it's birth through to it's demise, some of the prominent monarchs that lived there and famous historical moments such as the execution of Charles I. It provides maps at the very beginning of the book as a point of reference to help the discerning reader understand where the buildings they are reading about originally stood. Minus the colour my only other qualm about this book is that it could potentially be confusing to those new to historical non-fiction, as it contains lots of facts and information. Overall though it's a fantastic book and I thoroughly recommend it.

Does Mary I deserve the title of bloody Mary...

Mary I, Queen of England

Does Mary I deserve to be called ‘Bloody Mary’?

She lives on in our memories as the Catholic Queen who sent nearly three hundred Protestants to the stake. This act of brutality has forever doomed her, earning her the legendary name ‘Bloody Mary’. As a woman, daughter and Queen she was much maligned. But does she really deserve such a title? To understand such an act of persecution, it is vital we look at her early years.

Mary Tudor was born on 18^th February 1516, and was the sole surviving child of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. English and Spanish blood ran through her veins, and the future of the Tudor dynasty lay in her hands. Heavily doted on by both parents, Mary’s life seemed destined for greatness, but upon reaching adolescence this happiness would begin to sour, and she would be left fighting for the survival of herself, her mother, her title, and her very soul. 

The cracks in Henry and Katherine’s marriage became apparent as early as 1527, for Henry had ceased sleeping with the ageing Katherine by this point. This was because Henry was being led to believe that the marriage was damned in the eyes of God, and that he would get no living children from her. Henry had married Katherine (the widow of his late brother Arthur) upon his accession to the throne, whether or not he was fulfilling his dying father’s wishes is unknown. Henry was a keen scholar, and made a great study of the scriptures. He was always particularly drawn to one extract from Leviticus: 

‘If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing, they shall be childless’. 

It would seem that divorce was already playing through the young Henry’s mind, when he met the lady Anne Boleyn. At this stage in her life, Mary would have little knowledge of the dangers that Anne would later present. Henry began to court Anne, but it was soon apparent that she was unlike his past mistresses. Her bold nature appealed to the king, and she would push his thoughts on divorce from Katherine with the offer of marriage and bearing him sons. Henry started divorce proceedings against Katherine, who would refuse to grant Henry the divorce he craved, up until her very last breath. 

In these cold calculating years Mary was treated with little respect, and she was to be severely punished for siding with her mother, against her father and Anne. In 1531, mother and child were separated, with the Queen banished from court; they were never to see each other again. In the years that followed Mary was stripped of her title, declared a bastard when Anne gave birth to Elizabeth, and she was then humiliated even further by having to wait on her half sister Elizabeth. When in the infant Elizabeth’s household Mary would receive a secret letter from her mother, which would help to strengthen her resolve. 

‘Answer with few words, obeying the King, your father in everything, save only that you will not offend God and lose your own soul.’

Despite starvation, physical and verbal abuse, and being nearly destitute of clothes, and other necessities, Mary proved to be a worthy adversary. She would continually defy her father in defence of the succession, and the supremacy, and would infuriate Anne with her constant stubbornness.

She ‘knew no other Princess in England except herself, and the daughter of my Lady Pembroke had no such title’ 

Such harsh treatment would push the already devout Mary, further into the hands of God. Her soul would become one of her most cherished possessions, something which she believed was safe from others, but she was wrong. When Henry married Anne Boleyn he broke with the Church of Rome, creating a new Church within England called ‘The Church of England’. Effectively, this new church had a more Anglican outlook towards religion, with the scriptures becoming accessible to the people of England for the first time. The radical change in religion horrified most people and they were to swear fealty under oath, to the new ecclesiastical authority the King held. 

This oath was to be the nail in the coffin for Mary, after numerous refusals to sign the oath Mary gave in. Relations with her father had reached an all time low, but whatever her reasons, the decision to conform to the will of her father in religion (declaring her mother and fathers marriage invalid, declaring herself illegitimate, and risking her immortal soul) would haunt her for the rest of her life. 

Having looked at the evidence, it is clear to see that Mary’s persecution of the Catholics was heavily influenced from her youth. This I believe stems from the pressure that forced her to sign away her soul, after she had already lost so much. As Queen it was her job to protect the souls of her subjects (burning at the stake was the punishment for heretics), and Mary believed she was doing just that in the Marian reformation. I believe her piety had blinded her so much. We can not judge her purely on modern perspectives. I do not believe she deserves such a title, and that she has been very misunderstood.

*In the ‘Actes and Monuments of the English Martyrs’ by John Foxe, we first see the term used. The book itself celebrated the passing of Mary’s turbulent reign, giving a detailed account of the protestant martyrs in ‘the horrible and bloody time of Queen Mary. It seems the recasting of Mary’s name had started immediately after her death.*

Review it! :- The Search For Richard III The King's Grave by Phillipa Langley and Michael Jones

Finally! I have had the time to complete this book that I bought a couple of months ago! Seriously, time goes that fast, we will be starting the new reenactment season before I know it, and I have to swap my fluffy socks and onesie's for a more lady-like Tudor gown.

This book is as it's name suggests, is about finding the remains of Richard III. This book, however is from the perspective of Phillipa Langley and Michael Jones, and they alternate every chapter or so. Phillipa focuses primarily on her thoughts and feelings, and the struggles she faced throughout the dig. Whilst, Michael is portraying the character of Richard III, and really laying down the maligned king in a positive light. This doesn't mean that it completely slates the Tudors, rather the arguments made by Jones are so constructive throughout, that there is very minimal Tudor-bashing (if you can even call it that).  My only slight issue with his chapters was the length. Sometimes they seemed to go on forever, and he would highlight the same facts and arguments as before. But in all honesty, he argued his point so well, it wasn't a big deal at all, I rather enjoyed re-reading them.

Most of us watched 'The King in the Car Park', the TV documentary which documented the dig in it's entirety. What I hoped this book would do, was expand on the program, giving us (the reader) insights into the parts that we had been unable to see. Whilst I enjoyed the book, and looked forward to Langley's view on the rather unsympathetic Dr Jo Appleby (note to self, if ever I run an archaeological dig, do not hire Jo Appleby) in regards to putting the standard on the box of Richard's remains or not, it never fully expanded on the program. It just reiterated what had already been documented, apart from telling us what she had for breakfast most mornings - hmm bacon and eggs! Drool! Be fair to her though, she found a king, so I will let her off the hook.

I'm not saying do not buy this book! I personally think this was a fabulous piece of work, and it is a credit to them both.  I am glad that I bought it, it's made me gain a whole new perspective on Richard, changing my views on some things. Whilst, it could be Tudor propaganda (we will never know), I still believe that Richard III killed Edward V and Richard Duke of York (sorry Richardians). But only, and this is the books influence, because of the issue relating to the proposed bastardy of his brother Edward IV. But that's the joy of the book, it makes you question what you believe - and that can never be bad!

I'm looking forward to reading Dr John Ashdown-Hill's book next 'The Last Days of Richard III', as Ashdown-Hill played such an important role in finding Richard too (by his research).

Book Rating: 9/10

The book can be brought on Amazon. I have attached the UK link below:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kings-Grave-Search-Richard-III-ebook/dp/B00CIVLYYA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391798456&sr=1-1&keywords=phillipa+langley

Book Review: A Visitor's Companion To Tudor England by Dr Suzannah Lipscomb

I had been meaning to read this book for a while, and with a week off work I have finally had a chance to. The aim of this book as the title suggests is to be the ultimate visitor's companion, whilst visiting some of the places mentioned in the book with any Tudor relevance. Dr Lipscomb was very keen to confirm that she included places with great historical significance, architectural significance etc. in relation to the Tudor age. And this mission statement (so to speak), she has followed to the letter.

The book itself was easy to follow, with sub sections for each of the places. Each had a little drawing to  help build the imagination. At first I found that the book lacked pictures, and thought of this as a rather odd notion. But now I see it as something rather brilliant. Without seeing pictures of these historical places it makes you further intrigued to go, and actually visit them. Suzannah writes in a fluid style, that makes her work easy to follow, and understand. I completed the book over the course of two days, whilst carrying out my other duties such as chores etc.

The places mentioned in the book vary from the rather obvious, such as Hampton Court Palace to the downright intriguing, such as Kett's Oak, Wymondham, Norfolk. She has chosen such a varied field, that your interest was maintained throughout.

Dr Lipscomb states that she has decided to not include a bibliography, which is my only pet peeve with the book. She does try to counter-act this however, with a further reading list at the end. The list itself is quite extensive, so the reader will have plenty to keep them occupied.

All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone, I was that impressed with it. I urge you to read it, if you haven't already, it is well suited for the Tudor enthusiast.

13-11-2012 Evening At Hever...

13-11/2012 Evening:

After travelling from Windsor to Hever, Mute and I found ourselves stood outside the small trainstation of Edenbridge. After throwing our heavy bags down on the floor rather unceremoniously, because of our own devised detours on the train (which didn't save us any time, like we had hoped it would), we called a taxi to take us to Hever Castle. Within minutes the taxi had arrived, and we were cruising our way to the Castle.

The first time I had been to Hever Castle it was with 'The Tudor Roses', in which we had a private photoshoot within the castle in our Tudor gowns. I chose to wear my Henrican styled gown, rather than Elizabethan as I felt it more appropriate for Anne Boleyn's childhood home. Thus, I was eager to show Mute one of the places that the group had visited during the summer season.

Hever Castle - The Childhood Home of Anne Boleyn

 

Eventually, we came to the private entrance of the castle, where we soon were buzzed to be allowed in. Slowly creeping up the drive, my thoughts began to whirr back to the memories of my visit in the summer. This time though, we would be entering in to Astor wing directly, and not in through the back corridors, and I had no gown with me. After leaving the taxi woman, we sauntered in through the doors, with big smiles on our faces. After payment, and a short talk we were shown to our room, the Daffodil suite (which is pictured on the advertisements).

 

 

The Daffodil Suite - Our Room For The Night

 

After settling in somewhat, Mute made a beeline for the bath (after showers all the time, you can imagine the sense of joy), and I for the tea and coffee's tray. After a cup and saucer of Earl Grey, and a catch up on facebook, Mute emerged from the bathroom looking bright pink, in a matching pair of white towels. It was then my turn to have a bath in the wonderful en-suite. After, sinking in to the hot water, it was so hard to want to move, and get back out again. After using the Molton soaps provided and a half hour soak, I came out into the room, and sunk into a chair. There must be something in the water, because I found it so hard to remove myself from the chair afterwards.

 

 

 

Our Wonderful Bathroom!

 

 

Bathing complete, Mute and I dressed, and made our way out of the suite to the reception, where we borrowed some torches to walk to the Henry VIII Inn pub just down the road for tea (exploring the Astor Wing would come after dinner). When in the pub, I was amazed to see the small quaintness of it, it was just like a true country pub, and had a real sense of locality about it. Without realising it, we were suddenly taking part in a pub quiz, with which we were quite rubbish! The states of America really isn't our fortay unfortunately.

 

After a delightful meal, we wandered back to the Castle, and decided to take a tour of the Astor Wing. We started with the Billiard Room, which was next to our suite. We proceeded to play our own version of Billiards, which was if you can get a ball in a hole you get a point - cheating a little! As you can see in the picture below, the fireplace with the mounted stag heads on top was a real eye catcher. I could just imagine Lord Astor and his many friends, surrounding the fire, lounging in the chairs with a brandy and cigar, whilst sporting a game of Billiards.

 







 

The Billiard Room - This Room Also Houses Card Tables

 

Moving on from the room we made our way down the oak panelled corridors to the Music Room. This room has no musical instruments in, in any way, but it probably used to be used for that purpose. The room itself is large and cosy, with many sofa chairs. There are no televisions or radios in sight, just a log burner and a writing desk (which I hope to write one of my poems at when I return - yes, we so want to go back!). Hever Castle also provide a number of books for you to read. This was by far my favourite room of the Astor Wing, and the picture below will give you an idea of why.

 



 

 

The Music Room

 

After spending a few moments within the music room, we retired to our room (as it was very late), ready for a well deserved nights sleep in the most comfortable bed in the World. We spent the night dreaming of what delights the next day would hold, as we got to explore the Castle, Astor Wing and Gardens properly.

Utopia by Thomas More

Last night I finished my copy of Utopia written by Thomas More, who published his work in 1516. For anyone who has not heard of Utopia, the book centralises around an imaginary island, with an impressive, and fair political system. Originally written in Latin (the intellectual language of our forefathers), the book has been translated over the years into Modern English. The book itself is set into two parts, book one focuses on a discussion between Raphael Hythlodeaus, Pieter Gillis, and Thomas More on the corruption on European politics, and kingship. With Raphael emphasising that to bring about a social change would be difficult, for the human mindset was not logical to that way of thinking (think about a herd of sheep, following one another).

Book two primarily recalls the land of Utopia, and the Utopian society from whence Raphael had travelled a few times, in order to spread the Christian word, and studies of Greek, such as Aristotle, and Cicero. More's style of writing is consistent, and flows nicely. As he states in the book, he 'does not state the obvious', therefore he challenges the reader, and their direct line of thinking about the system they live in. 

Although, the book itself is meant for a Tudor audience, mostly Kings, and nobles etc. (Basically anyone who could read, had the wealth to buy the book, or were in a position of great influence), I have found myself comparing Utopian society, to our modern day equivalent. Now, I'm not normally one for politics, but I must admit that Utopia seemed a remarkable place to live. For in Utopia everyone was given the best health care imaginable, for free! However, our healthcare system costs us the tax payer, such as £7.20 on prescriptions, and £48+ at the dentist for just a filling.  The lower classes aren't penalised in Utopia.

For me, I find it hard to establish the England I know and love, under Utopian rule. For instance, I could not for one imagine, people rejecting the idea of jewels, fashion, and a class system, yet the system works in More's Utopia. Everyone dresses in the same fashion, with the same materials (they do not mind if the wool in their shirts be coarse or fine), and they regard jewels and gold as something that hangs round the necks of slaves, or toys that infants play with. Even though More himself served in Henry VIII's court, which was famous for luxury, he chose to wear a coarse hair shirt under his clothes, regarding it all the better if it drew blood. 

There are many positives to Utopian society, yet I consider some of there limited laws, and ways of 
living to be quite shocking. Such as, a member of the society who is seriously ill within hospital, and is not the like to get better. A select group go up to the person in question, and basically ask them if they are content with living, and have they ever considered suicide (which is carried out in a humane way if they agree to it)? If the person decides they don't want to, the matter is dropped, and never spoken of again. Maybe I find this so bizarre, because of the way in which we live today, and our modern attitude towards critical illness and ending life.

I will, without a doubt continue to evaluate the society with which we live in, by Tudor and Utopian standards. Has anyone else read the book? What do you think of More's work? Has it affected your way of thinking? 

Day 3 - 13/11/2012:

This morning Mute and I woke up feeling a little bit sore, and dishelved. The last two days of carrying heavy luggage had caught up with us, and we were feeling it in the legs, shoulders, and back! Despite the pain, we walked to the castle from the hotel with relative ease, and with me constantly asking Mute whether my calf muscles were more toned. She wasn't that impressed with my legs - wonder why? After a good ten minutes we reached our destination, Windsor Castle.
We were here to see one man and one woman in particular; perhaps you can guess who that might be...

Windsor Castle - One of Henry VIII's favourite residences

 

It was a good day to visit, because it was the birthday of Edward III, such a magnificent monarch, who created the Order of the Garter. After making our way slowly through security, and with the bottle of mead confiscated yet again (honestly, I'm beginning to think people don't like it!), we managed to catch on to the tail end of a tour being given by one of the guardsmen. Having been to Windsor Castle last year, we were quite familiar with where everything was located, but he revealed to us, secrets about Windsor we would not have known, or probably noticed. For instance if you look closely at the stonework, the slag holding it together has bits of flint within it, and historians and academics alike have all argued on why the castle was built that way. Also, the majority of the castle is built using local stone from Oxfordshire, which is able to self clean itself whenever it rains. Meaning the stone will always manage to look like the castle has recently been built.

Our tour was only of the outside of the castle unfortunately, but before the tour ended he showed us, as to where the Queens private apartments were, and the state entrance. Behind us lay something which held my interest a lot more, Queen Elizabeth I's addition to the castle. Whilst her additional building work is small, and thought to be a large set of bedrooms, the detail is exquisite. Below is a picture featuring her addition. Like her father before her, Windsor was a favourite residence of Elizabeth.

 

 



Elizabeth I's Addition - The difference in architecture and building work is clear.

 

After we had thanked the guide, we made our way to the state apartments - my second favourite place to visit within Windsor. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos within the apartments, but a visit is well worth it. As you enter into the apartments, there is a staircase, and on either side of the staircase sits a horse, and knight, whose armour and saddles are quite breathtaking. Moving idly through the rooms with such a vast array of history from the reigns of many of England’s monarchs, we came into one of my favourite rooms: St Georges Hall.

 

 

In the picture above you can see the shields upon the ceiling.

 



Upon the roof of the hall lie 1001 shields, all of which have the arms of members from the Order of the Garter on. Some shields, however are white because they either have not been filled yet, or the arms have been removed due to them bringing shame to the Order. Along the walls lie lists of all the men who were installed into the Order within every monarchs reign. I was looking for one man in particular, one whom I am a great fan of. His poetry evokes much emotion. I am of course talking about Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey. Henry was installed into the Order in 1541, but was later degraded in 1547 after his later failure in Boulougne, and once he was found to be planning the kidnap/control of Prince Edward (later Edward VI).




Below is one of the works of Henry Howard, capturing some of his time at Windsor, when we was the companion of Henry Fitzroy, the bastard son of Henry VIII from his affair with mistress Bessie Blount.

WHEN Windsor walls sustain'd my wearied arm ;
My hand my chin, to ease my restless head ;
The pleasant plot revested green with warm ;
The blossom'd boughs, with lusty Ver¹ y-spread ;
The flower'd meads, the wedded birds so late
Mine eyes discover ; and to my mind resort
The jolly woes, the hateless, short debate,
The rakehell ² life, that 'longs to love's disport.
Wherewith, alas! the heavy charge of care
Heap'd in my breast breaks forth, against my will
In smoky sighs, that overcast the air.
My vapour'd eyes such dreary tears distil,
The tender spring which quicken where they fall ;
And I half bend to throw me down withal.

 

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

 

After our tour of the state apartments, Mute and I made our way to St Georges Chapel, the resting place of Henry VIII and Queen Jane Seymour. Stepping into the chapel the magnificence overwhelms you. The different colours of light from the stained windows dance throughout. On making our way through the chapel to see Henry and Jane, we stopped a minute to appreciate the beautiful boxed window, which belonged to Katherine of Aragon, so that she could see the services. I have included a picture below:

 

The box on the right was built by Henry VIII for his first wife Katherine of Aragon.

 

You can still see Katherine’s emblem within the carvings, I speak of course of the pomegranate. To the left of this photo, and down the centre of the aisle lies a marble slab atop of a vault, of which lies Henry VIII and Queen Jane Seymour. We paid our respects to them both.

 

 

'Of all losses, time is the most irrecouperable'

 









We lost more time through wandering within the chapel; we are most content when visiting such establishments. Once our visit to the chapel was complete, we headed out of the doors and out of the castle onto the street. We were now on the next part of our journey; we were now travelling to... Hever Castle.

I shall include details of our time and travels at Hever on Day 4- 14/11/2012.

Rachel