Friday, November 23, 2018

Question from Paul - Richard Rich

Richard Rich - information pertaining to 1st Baron Rich, amongst other things, Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations. I'm working on an MA in Tudor History. I'm exploring the role and influence of Richard Rich (one of the great villains of English history). I'm especially interested in the extent to which he directed the dissolution of religious houses (rather than simply following orders from others, e.g. Cromwell); the extent to which he worked with Thomas Audley and the nature of the relationship he had with the same; the possibility that he was defrauding the monarch and Exchequer at various times; the truth to the statement made in various online sources that, in contrast to his apparent Reforming agenda and actions, he was a 'lifelong Catholic' .... Biographical info is interesting and helpful, but more so are any ideas about original sources. Thank you.

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Question from Ashley - Favorite Tudor authors and books

Hello fellow Tudor fans! Its been a long, long time since I stopped by but I wanted to take a brief moment and thank all of the regular/longtime contributors. I love coming back to read questions and answers, even if I don't have anything to add to the conversation lately. I have fallen out of the Tudor loop (I wandered off into American history for my M.A., if you're curious) but I was hoping to circle back around to my first historical love. Given how popular the era is with scholars and amateur historians/journalists, would anyone care to share their favorite authors and/or non-fiction books? For instance, Im currently re-reading David Starkey's Six Wives and I have Eric Ives biography of Anne Boleyn en route to me (my copy was unfortunately destroyed). I also have some Alison Weir books, but is she still kept at arms length from the serious scholars? I also have a book or two from Elizabeth Norton, but she also seems to be controversial in the scholarly world - she has the degree/training but some people really don't like her. Like I said, I'm just finding my footing again in Early Modern England and I don't want to waste my time, as it were, on authors who aren't taken seriously or who don't add anything to the historiography. I love the whole period, but I'm currently interested in the following ladies for an independent project: Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Jane Grey, and Mary Queen of Scots. So, I would greatly appreciate any standout works or historian who specialize on them. Thank you so much!

Sunday, November 04, 2018

Question from Linda - Exhumation of a daughter of Elizabeth Woodville

I read in Allison Weir's book about a beautiful daughter of E. Woodville being exhumed. Ms. Weir said they found her with blue eyes open and long blonde hair. Also said it was obvious she had been beautiful. Any information on that? Thank you Linda