This week on 24 November sees the anniversary of the official celebration of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. That defeat, put down mostly to the superb seamanship and gunnery skills of the Navy but the great storm was the decisive factor, scattering the Spanish fleet and forcing it to get home around Scotland.
These last two weeks we have witnessed some dreadful storms and flooding in Britain, even the channel port of Dover was closed due to the heavy seas. If a modern ship with engines and stabilisers could not manage the rough channel what would it have been like in a Spanish Galleon relying on sails and oars for motive power?
The Armada was becalmed for a while off the Sussex coast near Fairlight, finally sailing away on the 27th July. People of a Puritan cast of mind in Sussex at this time were naming their children with rigorously uplifting names. On July 28th with the Armada sailing away William Durrant and his wife of Warlbleton took their son to church and christened him Bethankfull and four days later Thomas and Mary Holman christened their son Preserved.
www.tudorhistorytours.com
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Friday, 20 November 2009
The Tower of London.
Steeped in the nations history for a thousand years, the Tower of London is one of the world's premier tourist destinations. It can be very busy on some summer days but if you pick your day and time to go it can be a brilliant place to visit.
The Crown Jewels can be the most busy place with the queue snaking its way around the courtyard but don't be put off by that there are plenty of other places to go and you can come back to the Crown Jewels, once inside the chamber there are travellators (moving pavements)on each side of the glass cases so if you want to study these you have to go along a few times. There is a fixed platform at the back to stop and stare with some picture boards to know what you're looking at. There were two copy sets of the Jewels made during WWII just in case! and one copy was said to have been kept at Upnor castle in Kent and is one of the places we visit on our Elizabeth tour.
The centre piece of the White tower is the Henry VII exhibition and to see his armour astride a white charger is a jaw dropping moment when you walk into the room.
The scaffold site on tower green, the place where Anne Bolyen, Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey, Walter Raleigh and a few notable others were executed has an evocative scuplture and when you listen to the audio guide and hear actors speak the last words of the condemned it raises the hairs on the back of your neck.
The battlements walk is a must and it takes you through the medieval palace through the guard tower and places where other famous prisoners have been held and finally the old jewel tower.
There are many places to see and to wander round the inner walls of this famous place that will find something of interest for any body. They do say that the average British person vists the place three times in their lives, once as a child, once as a parent and once as a grandparent.
www.tudorhistorytours.com
The Crown Jewels can be the most busy place with the queue snaking its way around the courtyard but don't be put off by that there are plenty of other places to go and you can come back to the Crown Jewels, once inside the chamber there are travellators (moving pavements)on each side of the glass cases so if you want to study these you have to go along a few times. There is a fixed platform at the back to stop and stare with some picture boards to know what you're looking at. There were two copy sets of the Jewels made during WWII just in case! and one copy was said to have been kept at Upnor castle in Kent and is one of the places we visit on our Elizabeth tour.
The centre piece of the White tower is the Henry VII exhibition and to see his armour astride a white charger is a jaw dropping moment when you walk into the room.
The scaffold site on tower green, the place where Anne Bolyen, Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey, Walter Raleigh and a few notable others were executed has an evocative scuplture and when you listen to the audio guide and hear actors speak the last words of the condemned it raises the hairs on the back of your neck.
The battlements walk is a must and it takes you through the medieval palace through the guard tower and places where other famous prisoners have been held and finally the old jewel tower.
There are many places to see and to wander round the inner walls of this famous place that will find something of interest for any body. They do say that the average British person vists the place three times in their lives, once as a child, once as a parent and once as a grandparent.
www.tudorhistorytours.com
Friday, 13 November 2009
Henry VIII and the codpiece
This being Friday 13th and the feast eve of St. Homobonus the patron saint of tailors it seems fitting that the codpiece should rate a mention. They were sported by European Aristocrats including Henry VIII from the 1540's to 1580's and a prominant symbol of fashion virility, men would have larger and more elaborate ones to outdo each other.(no change there then)
Henry VIII's armour on display at Windsor castle has one and the belief was that women wishing to conceive should touch it with a pin. Which should have pleased him. Though during his lifetime he might have been a little insecure, why else would he introduce a law that limited the size of a gentlemans codpiece to 10inches.( New worlds, Lost worlds the rule of the Tudors. by Susan Brigden).
www.tudorhistorytours.com
Henry VIII's armour on display at Windsor castle has one and the belief was that women wishing to conceive should touch it with a pin. Which should have pleased him. Though during his lifetime he might have been a little insecure, why else would he introduce a law that limited the size of a gentlemans codpiece to 10inches.( New worlds, Lost worlds the rule of the Tudors. by Susan Brigden).
www.tudorhistorytours.com
Monday, 9 November 2009
Lewes Bonfire night
The County town of Lewes was crammed full of 50,000 revellers to celebrate the 5th November 2009. The streets were closed to traffic and for the first time Southern rail were not putting on extra trains to cope. The result was, cars were parked on the roads side of all roads leading to Lewes. (that was a clever strategy to try to keep people away). 16,000 people did come by rail as it happens.
Why Lewes? The origins go back to 1606 the year after the plot a bonfie was held on Cliffe hill not far from where the martyrs monument stands. Things got out of hand in the early 1800's and a special act of Parliament was made in 1847 that enabled special constables to be sworn in during periods of Public rejoicing, procession, illumination and thronging.
For the faint hearted, the streets of Lewes are thronged and when the processions pass by the marchers are apt to drop some very loud bangers,the heat from the flaming barrels being manually towed along is intense, so, not the place to be if you have a nervous disposition.
The processions are a wonder, marchers in costume carrying lighted torches and pulling tableau with the topical hate figure. If you look up School Hill from Cliffe it is like a river of fire coming to meet you. The costumes are fantastic ranging from Ancient Greeks, Mongols, Spanish, Mexican, Elizabethan, Native American Indians, and Zulus,
(what is it with the British and Zulus?).
The hate figures in tableau this year were fat cat bankers and a certain Politician who was ordered to pay back £16,000 in wrongly calimed expenses.
The most poignant part of the processions was the 17 burning crosses representing the 17 Protestant martyrs burned to death in Lewes during the Marian period. The Crosses are carried through the streets and can look very wierd for the casual visitor.
There is also a fiery phrase carried that says "Sussex wont be druv" which as far as can be translated is that people in Sussex can be led but not pushed.
Some folks as comes to Sussex,
They rackon as they knows
A darn sight better what to do
Then silly folks like me and you
could possibly suppose.
But them that comes to Sussex
They mustn't push and shove,
For Sussex will be Sussex,
and Sussex won't be druv.
(W.Victor Cook) the verse goes on but you get the idea.
There are 6 different Bonfires and firework displays and they are all magnificent if you pick the right spot in the town you can see at least three displays at roughly the same time.
www.tudorhistorytours.com
Why Lewes? The origins go back to 1606 the year after the plot a bonfie was held on Cliffe hill not far from where the martyrs monument stands. Things got out of hand in the early 1800's and a special act of Parliament was made in 1847 that enabled special constables to be sworn in during periods of Public rejoicing, procession, illumination and thronging.
For the faint hearted, the streets of Lewes are thronged and when the processions pass by the marchers are apt to drop some very loud bangers,the heat from the flaming barrels being manually towed along is intense, so, not the place to be if you have a nervous disposition.
The processions are a wonder, marchers in costume carrying lighted torches and pulling tableau with the topical hate figure. If you look up School Hill from Cliffe it is like a river of fire coming to meet you. The costumes are fantastic ranging from Ancient Greeks, Mongols, Spanish, Mexican, Elizabethan, Native American Indians, and Zulus,
(what is it with the British and Zulus?).
The hate figures in tableau this year were fat cat bankers and a certain Politician who was ordered to pay back £16,000 in wrongly calimed expenses.
The most poignant part of the processions was the 17 burning crosses representing the 17 Protestant martyrs burned to death in Lewes during the Marian period. The Crosses are carried through the streets and can look very wierd for the casual visitor.
There is also a fiery phrase carried that says "Sussex wont be druv" which as far as can be translated is that people in Sussex can be led but not pushed.
Some folks as comes to Sussex,
They rackon as they knows
A darn sight better what to do
Then silly folks like me and you
could possibly suppose.
But them that comes to Sussex
They mustn't push and shove,
For Sussex will be Sussex,
and Sussex won't be druv.
(W.Victor Cook) the verse goes on but you get the idea.
There are 6 different Bonfires and firework displays and they are all magnificent if you pick the right spot in the town you can see at least three displays at roughly the same time.
www.tudorhistorytours.com
Monday, 2 November 2009
Bloody Mary and the Protestant martyrs.
"When William Mainarde, his maid and man,
Margery Mories, and her son,
Denis Burges, Stevens and Woodman,
Grove's wife, and Ashdon's to death were done,
When one fire at Lewes brought them death,
We wished for our Elizabeth."
June 22 1557 10 protestants were burned to death in one fire outside the town hall in the centre of Lewes during the Reign of Mary "Bloody Mary" Tudor. But the people of Lewes had to wait more than a year to get their wish. She died on 17th November 1558 and Elizabeth became Queen.
Mary was a Catholic just like her mother Catherine of Aragon and wanted to get the country back to the true faith and took extreme measures to get the country back to Papal supremacy. A great many protestants were executed in the most grisly manner during her reign.
There were a total of seventeen protestant martyrs burned in Lewes During Mary's reign and there are several memorials to them in and around the town. The remembrance of these martyrs is still made during the Bonfire night celebrations on the 5th November when the torchlit processions pause at the the town centre memorial. The whole celebrations give a peculiar anti-Papal feeling, especially when the Cardinal is booed through the streets.
Everyone likes a good firework display and there are 6 to chose from in Lewes on the night of the 5th, the town looks like a war zone!
www.tudorhistorytours.com
Margery Mories, and her son,
Denis Burges, Stevens and Woodman,
Grove's wife, and Ashdon's to death were done,
When one fire at Lewes brought them death,
We wished for our Elizabeth."
June 22 1557 10 protestants were burned to death in one fire outside the town hall in the centre of Lewes during the Reign of Mary "Bloody Mary" Tudor. But the people of Lewes had to wait more than a year to get their wish. She died on 17th November 1558 and Elizabeth became Queen.
Mary was a Catholic just like her mother Catherine of Aragon and wanted to get the country back to the true faith and took extreme measures to get the country back to Papal supremacy. A great many protestants were executed in the most grisly manner during her reign.
There were a total of seventeen protestant martyrs burned in Lewes During Mary's reign and there are several memorials to them in and around the town. The remembrance of these martyrs is still made during the Bonfire night celebrations on the 5th November when the torchlit processions pause at the the town centre memorial. The whole celebrations give a peculiar anti-Papal feeling, especially when the Cardinal is booed through the streets.
Everyone likes a good firework display and there are 6 to chose from in Lewes on the night of the 5th, the town looks like a war zone!
www.tudorhistorytours.com
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