The Tudor Fair Blog
Book Love: The Versions Of Us
I recently stayed up Really Late several nights in a row to finish The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. Let me just say, it was worth the extra cups of coffee I needed in the mornings to function properly. I absolutely loved this book. The Versions of Us tells…
One hit wonder: Robert Hunt’s Stabat Mater and the Peterhouse Partbooks
While listening to my beloved Millennium of Music radio program recently, I discovered the Peterhouse Partbooks. Yes, I say discovered, because I had never heard of this treasure trove of choral music before. And for that I feel a teeny bit embarrassed, though grateful that I’ve found them when I…
Episode 50! Tudor Times on Honor Grenville
Honor Grenville was born in relative obscurity in Cornwall, and wound up marrying Henry VIII’s uncle (Arthur Plantagenet, one of the illegitimate sons of Edward IV). She moved to Calais with him, and had this dream of a life for several years until he was implicated in a plot involved…
Christina de Pizan: Early Feminist, Poet, and all around Badass
Have you ever noticed that once you hear about someone for the first time, they often come back to haunt you? Christina de Pizan is like that for me. I had never really registered her before I interviewed Alison Weir this past February when she came up. Nowadays everywhere I look…
Old Music Tuesday: Henry’s Musical Court & The Western Wynde Mass
Yep, you read that right. The musical court of Henry VIII. While many of us think of the monarch with six wives as fat and pretty darn corpulent, he wasn’t always this way. In fact, when he was young, he was quite the hottie, impressing women with his jousting feats,…
What I Learned about Myself Spending 5 Hours in Morocco
(note, I first published this on my personal blog, over here, in which I am writing about my life in Spain, and all the whimsical things I’m into. History is only one of the many things about which I am passionate, and I don’t want to clog up this blog…
Music from the world of the Queen of Scots
We all know that early music, particularly English liturgical music, is my big passion, right? I geek out on the music created out of the Book of Common Prayer, and I can easily sit for hours comparing Tallis through the decades. But one area I don’t know that much about,…
The Book that Won’t Leave my Heart Alone
Now that I’m back in Spain and not solo parenting like I had been there for a while, I’ve been doing a lot more reading. My goal is always to read about 5 books a month, but I haven’t had a month this year where I’ve achieved that. Last week…
Tudor Times talks about James I of England
This month’s joint episode with Tudor Times is about their Person of the Month, James I. Here are the resources mentioned. Remember, if you like this show, there are two main ways you can support it. First (and free!) you can leave a review on iTunes. It really helps new…
The Theater Part III: The Other Major Players Who Aren’t Named Shakespeare
Book Recommendation Elizabethan Jacobean Drama: The Theatre in Its Time Christopher Marlowe Books Christopher Marlowe: The Complete Plays Christopher Marlowe: Poet & Spy YouTube Links mini biography https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CbWeIkgF-g Bookworm History on Dr. Faustus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdAJxwxmysw Ben Jonson Books Ben Jonson: A Life Complete Works of Ben Jonson (Delphi Classics) YouTube Videos…
The Most Surprising Things I Learned about Catherine of Aragon this month
I’ve been podcasting with Tudor Times again, this month about Catherine of Aragon. I have read countless books about Henry’s six wives, and Catherine always takes up a huge proportion of each book simply because of the large role she played in Henry’s life. She was married to him the…
Tudor Times talks about Catherine of Aragon
Tudor Times’ Melita Thomas talking about their Person of the Month for May 2016, Catherine of Aragon. Here are a list of the resources available to learn more about this formidable and inspiring woman. Biographies Catherine of Aragon: The Spanish Queen of Henry VIII by Giles Tremlett Katherine of Aragon:…