I am reading "The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers" by Margaret George, a historical novel about Henry VIII. I am enjoying the book, but it does drag a bit.

A few months ago I read "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory about Mary Boleyn (who Henry VIII had an affair with) and her sister Anne Boleyn, wife #2 of 6. I loved this book.

I also read "The Virgin's Lover" by Philippa Gregory - about Henry's daughter Elizabeth who became Queen. Another great book.

It looks like she has another Boleyn book "The Boleyn Inheritance".

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What are the major Henry VIII sites in England? I had planned to see Hever Castle on our last trip (the Boleyn Castle), but we had to cancel the trip to England because of the floods.

I will start doing some Googling and checking out my guidebooks, but I would love to put together a list of historical sites that are relevant to Henry VIII.

We did go to Sudley Castle in the Cotswolds, near Winchcombe, where his last wife Katherine Parr is buried ( http://history.sudeleycastle.co.uk ). The site says "The Castle was once home to Queen Katherine Parr, the last and only surviving wife of Henry VIII. Henry, Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and Queen Elizabeth I have all lived at or visited Sudeley."

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Any recommendations for other books or movies about Henry VIII?

Thanks!

Pauline,

I am a Tudor Fiend. Hampton Court right outside of London is wonderful, even though there is only a fraction left of Henry's architecture. We also visited Hever, a beautiful little jewel of a castle, Hatfield House, the estate where Elizabeth grew up and Kenliworth Castle outside of Bath, the estate where her favorite, the Earl of Leicester, lived during her reign.

Whitehall was one of Henry's palaces. It no longer exists but you can walk the road from Westminister to Parliment and The Tower of London places a prominent role in his history.


Any of the PBS series are good on the Tudors, but one of my favorite movies is "Anne of the Thousand Days". It's almost historically correct. "A Man for all Seasons" is also pretty accurate.

There was also just a History Channel "Lost World" series on Henry VIII, and highlighted a few fortresses he built to defend the Southern Coast.

Ginger

Of course, there is that old series on PBS about Henry VIII and his wives as well as the series on Elizabeth I. Pauline I have read the first two books you mentioned and enjoyed them.

There are just tons of biographies of Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I. There seems to be endless interest in the Tudors. Even Edward VI, who died at 16, has had biographers. When they discuss him, they discuss him and the English Reformation. After all, he did not live long enough to start counting his wives.

I highly recommend The Boleyn Inheritance. After The Other Boleyn Girl it's my favourite of Philippa Gregory's books. She really captures how completely frivolous Katherine Howard was. The Constant Princess is about Catherine of Aragon, but is less enjoyable than the other two. A few years ago the BBC did a miniseries of The Other Boleyn Girl, which was fantastic too.

David Starkey is a well-known historian with books and BBC series about The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Elizabeth and the Monarchy. The series are all very watchable, while the books tend to be quite dense and detailed.

And while I'm at it, another plug for Portsmouth... where you can see Henry VIII's flagship the Mary Rose. It sunk while Henry was watching it.

The history of the salvage of this ship is almost as famous as its sinking. I have seen an excellent documentary about it, and I'm sure books are available about it too.

Have a great trip. It's so much fun doing "themed" tours. Claire.

Another plug for The Boleyn Inheritance except that I listened to it on CD in my car. The three actresses who read the book were wonderful, and I especially liked the one who played Katherine Howard.It's a good followup if you liked The Other Boleyn Girl.

Deal Castle, in Kent(and, if I remember correctly Calshot,Camber, Walmer and Pendennis Castles), were built during Henry VIII's reign as part of an extensive coastal defense system.

There is a walking/cycling path that connects Deal and Walmer Castles.

I do need to unclench my fingers from they keyboard before adding a personal plea to read history (it is so much more interesting and exciting than fictional history) before you go ....at least that's what all my history professors told me

quote:

Originally posted by Alpinista:
I do need to unclench my fingers from they keyboard before adding a personal plea to read history (it is so much more interesting and exciting than fictional history) before you go ....at least that's what all my history professors told me

LOL . Amen to that! But I'm sure that the people on Slow Travel realize that what they are reading is historical fiction and that liberties have been taken with the characters and story.

Ginger

Ah, Pauline, when you're over in October I'll tell you all you want toknow about Hampton Court. When we lived in Teddington (close by the palace) I used to work part-time for their education dept, giving talks on Tudor music in the palace.

(It all seems a long time ago now - hope I remember it all! )

Jonathan

I know I should be reading history books, but every time I try, I can't do it. (I can't read poetry either.) I am not an academic. So I figure if I read a bunch of historical fiction, at least I am getting something. The people who write historical fiction read the real history books - so I am at least getting a digested version of it.

Now, I can sit down and read a computer manual cover to cover and find it very exciting!

I ordered the Boleyn Inheritance and will looks for some of those BBC series. Thanks!

And Jonathan - we will take you up on that offer! I don't think we have even seen Hampton Court.

Pauline, also try reading "Innocent Traitor" by Alison Weir. It's a historical fiction about Lady Jane Grey, who was the great-niece of Henry VIII. The books is mostly about her, but there is quite a lot about the court of Henry VIII and his last days. Plus, it was just a really good book, if you liked the Philippa Gregory ones (which I did).

beth

quote:

Originally posted by Pauline:
I ordered the Boleyn Inheritance and will looks for some of those BBC series.

After that, the Boleyn Ultimatum

Billy's in The Six Wives of Henry VIII. The series where Keith Mitchell played Henry so it's REALLY old.

Do they have to be places that Henry VIII stayed? If not, and if you like ruins, you could put together an extremely long itinerary consisting of religious buildings that are partly or wholly ruins as a result of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Far too many to mention--many hundreds, actually--but just for a start there's St. Albans Cathedral, Rievaulx Abbey, Lindisfarne Abbey, Battle Abbey....

One place that I have longed to go visit is Oxburgh Hall. Henry VIII didn't stay there, but Henry VII paid a visit and Mary Queen of Scots was in custody there for a period, as well.

It's looks like a wonderful example of a Tudor castle and I have a personal reason for going there. Back when I did some genealogy research I traced one of my ancestors to the Bedingfeld family, whose descendants are still in residence. How wild is that?

Anyway, I mean to make it there someday, and in the meantime if anyone has been there, please let me know. I'd love to hear about it.

Also, I love historical fiction, so I will add some of these books to my list.

-Krista

quote:

I know I should be reading history books, but every time I try, I can't do it.

Try anything by Antonia Fraser. She writes history and biography with a very light touch. You get to combine the feel of fiction with the robustness of history.

My shelves of history books contain all the romance and lust and adventure and intrigue and tragedy and triumph that you'll find in any work of fiction. The human element is always there....sometimes you need to set the book down and use your own imagination to think about what the people were feeling when events overtook them, but I'd much rather use my own imagination rather than someone else's words to fill in the supposed thoughts/feelings.

When it comes to gaining an appreciation of history, I've found that withholding food and locking my kids in their rooms with the books seems to work well in our family. Maybe Lady Fraser can find an easier way for the rest of us?

Having dismissed Portsmouth on an earlier thread, I have to agree with the earlier recommendation. Much of the seafront fortifications including Southsea Castle were built in the reign of Henry VIII. The Portion of the Historic dockyard dealing with the Mary Rose is great - lots of recovered artifacts, but also much information and contemporary writings from the period.

TimW

quote:

Try anything by Antonia Fraser. She writes history and biography with a very light touch. You get to combine the feel of fiction with the robustness of history.

Yes, she's great. I'm currently reading "Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot" - it's quite good.

-Krista

I agree about Lady Frasher. She does great research on her subjects but is able to make the people and events in her books come alive. She also wrote a number of murder mysteries at one time so she is able to create a readable style.
KHB, thanks for mentioning Oxburgh Hall. A friend and I will be going to GB in 2008 and one of our weeks will be spent in Norfolk. We will be staying on the coast as that is where the timeshare we will rent is but I think it can’t be that far from Oxburgh. I’ll say hi to your ancestors for you. I still do genealogy and it is so great when in GB to go to the county and place where they lived, even if it was 300 or 400 years ago.

And Henry is buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

As I recall, Leeds Castle has a Henry VIII connection. He renovated the place for his (then) wife, Catherine of Aragon. The Henry VIII Banquet Hall is quite spectacular, especially that gorgeous ebony floor. (I wasn't bowled over by the rest of the castle, but I suspect that's just because I have a fetish passion for ruins, which Leeds most definitely is not!)

quote:

Originally posted by Vegas Ms:
I’ll say hi to your ancestors for you. I still do genealogy and it is so great when in GB to go to the county and place where they lived, even if it was 300 or 400 years ago.

Well, thank you - that is pretty cool!

-Krista

We could make a list of Henry VIII sites, ordered by wife!

My mother was born in England - it would be fun to figure out where her family originates. I wonder if any of my relatives (they are all still in England) have done that?

It's possible they have. The BBC has an interesting-ish recurring series called Who do you think you are? where celebs from various fields trace their ancestors. They have people to help them through the maze and then discuss the revelations with a genealogist (is that their correct name?) afterwards. Seems as if everyone is tracing their roots.

I was under the impression although it may be an urban myth that the Mormons have everyone on a giant database in Oregon, so you can do traces via them.

quote:

I was under the impression although it may be an urban myth that the Mormons have everyone on a giant database in Oregon, so you can do traces via them.

There are LDS Family Centers in every community with an LDS presence. The staffs at these centers are extremely helpful in getting you started with research. You are able to order additional research materials from the Family History Center in Salt Lake City through these local centers.

You will probably be able to find most of your material on line, but the Mormons have resources that may expand beyond on-line reference.

Just a personal aside (used to take many business trips to Utah every year and fell in love with Salt Lake City).....just about every local resident I ever met was able to trace their families back into the mists of time while the rest of us could barely limp back into the 1700's for firm connections (a disproportionate number of folks in SLC seem to be direct descendents of Charlemagne or some other royal personage).

The first rule of genealogy is to record only verified/documented information into your family history. A good guess or a logical assumption does not count as "verified/documented".

The LDS search site is www.familysearch.org and it is pretty well done. These records are from church members who have gone to parish records and transcribed the material onto the Internet (I probably jumped a couple steps there) and the other great site for "just looking" is www.rootsweb.com which is free. They are owned now by Ancestry.com who is taking over the genealogy world and the price can be pretty expensive. Of course, once you get as obsessed by genealogy as you are by slow travel it is worth the price.
It is great to put in your parents names, grandparents and find your way back. History really comes alive when you do this. It is a great hobby.