Tudor Obsessed

[seanconneryseyebrow]

So Im a massive tudor history geek and just stumbled across this section of the site. Id love everyone's recommendations if you would be so kind as to:

1. Castles/palaces that have fascinating tudor history
2. Favourite TV series, films, and documentaries on this fascinating period.

Ill go first. Places to visit:

1. Hampton Court Palace (went 20 years ago, then went again recently and was just blown away again by how brilliant it is).
2. Sudeley Castle. Katherine Parr is buried there.
3. Arundel Castle. They have a whole section on Elizabeth I which was fascinating, with a copy of the death warrant for Mary Queen of Scotts, which was very very cool. They have volunteer experts there, and I chatted the poor womans ear off for over an hour.

Media:

1. Elizabeth, Cate Blanchett. I feel she just nails this role.
2. The Tudors. Once I got past Jonathan Meyers being dark haired, I really enjoyed it.
3. Bess. Really interesting take on that story.
4. Young Elizabeth. I liked this but didnt feel physically she was quite right.

Cant wait to hear everyones recommendations.

Hatfield House, where Elizabeth was told she was Queen.

Burghley House, home of her advisor Cecil.

Elizabeth also visited nearby Grimsthorpe castle.

Hever castle home of Anne Boleyn you can stay there

Leeds Castle can stay also Catherine of Aragon stayed there.

im sure there are more.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII series from the 60s? 70s? Keith Michell absolutely nailed the role of Henry from youth to old age. Jonathan Meyers was a travesty.

A Man for All Seasons - film about Thomas More

Elizabeth I 2005 - Helen Mirren as an older Elizabeth

Elizabeth R with Glenda Jackson.

The Ray Winstone mini series. Its on youtube. And of course Wolf Hall, books and series

I loved Becoming Elizabeth. I don't know what they cancelled it

Oh that’s awesome! I’m gonna binge watch Wolf hall as I’ve never seen it. Looks amazing.

firebrand is really good btw for anyone who hasn’t seen it.

It's 100% NOT historically accurate and more fantasy than history but I loved My Lady Jane on Prime. Just hilarious and irreverent and Anna Chancellor and Kate O'Flynn were great. The two leads were very good too.

The lady Jane grey film with a teenage Helena bonham carter started my obsession with this period. I just love that story. So tragic

It also started my obsession with Cary Elwes 😆

It was a shock to see Jude Law as Henry in Firebrand, especially as I'd rewatched Talented Mr Ripley the week before and he was so beautiful in that. But I guess the casting made sense as Henry VIII was apparently glorious in his youth.

(And yes, I know they used makeup on Jude for the film!)

The national portrait gallery has amazing tudor portraits.

Oh I know! They were both so beautiful. Just babies.

Montecute House - really Elizabethan

The village of Lacock as well for some

Media

Man for all Seasons
Ann of a Thousand Days
Wolf Hall

Montecute is lovely.

The parish church (not the Abbey) in Bury St Edmunds is the resting place of Mary Tudor (Henry VIII's sister) https://thetudortravelguide.com/st-edmundsbury-abbey-the-life-and-death-of-mary-tudor/.

There's a Blackadder series based in Elizabeth I's reign. Totally irreverent but very funny.

The Rest is History - podcast on BBC Sounds. Loads of different subjects but the most recent has been Elizabeth I Vs The Catholics. Very detailed and always interesting.

If you live near South Yorkshire you can go to manor lodge where Mary queen of Scot’s was imprisoned. (But it’s quite small so I wouldn’t go unless in the area) you could combine it with hardwick hall and chatsworth house (although Bess of hardwick built chatsworth in Tudor times that was completely demolished and rebuilt slightly later)

Westminster Abbey where Ann of Cleves is
Peterborough Cathedral where Catherine of Aragon is buried

Tower of London
Ludlow Castle
Westminster Abbey
Anne of Cleves House in Lewes

The Philippa Gregory series White Queen/White Princess/Spanish Princess/Other Boleyn Girl

Suzannah Lipscombe is a historian who has a podcast Not Just The Tudors - that’s a good listen. She’s also made lots of tv programmes on the subject, as has Lucy Worsley.

History Hit - love a bit of Tudor history.

Greenwich is a rewarding destination for anyone interested in Tudor history, as it was the birthplace of Henry VIII, Mary I, and Elizabeth I, and the original site of their Palace of Placentia. Although the palace itself no longer stands, its foundations remain beneath the Old Royal Naval College, where you can visit the recently excavated Painted Hall Undercroft to see surviving Tudor cellars. Nearby, the Queen’s House displays the famous Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I, while Greenwich Park contains the historic site of Queen Elizabeth’s Oak. Greenwich Park is also very beautiful.

Eltham Palace is a short distance away, which served as a childhood residence for the Tudor monarchs.

Going back a bit further, I’ve just finished reading 2 books by Annie Garthwaite, Cecily, & then The King’s Mother, about Cecily Neville who was the mother of Edward IV & Richard III, and started on Margaret Beaufort: Survivor, Rebel, Kingmaker, by Lauren Johnson about the mother of Henry VII.

I recommend all of them & they paint a very different picture from Philippa Gregory’s books.

Kentwell hall in Suffolk do recreations of Tudor life. They are brilliant.

I love the noble blood podcast. It's not exclusively Tudor but the host tells such wonderful stories. She's also an author and is writing a teen fiction book about young Elizabeth being helped by the ghosts of the dead wives. Can't wait to read it! I also like Phillipa Gregorys novels.

Agree with you. Thought the Annie Garthwaite books were great & loved the different angle.

Kenilworth Castle and go looking for the remains of the plaisence. Robert Dudley built it for Elizabeth 1st visit and is said to have had a water pageant on it in her honour

Fiction series
Robert Carey by P F Chisholm
Shardlake by C J Sansom
Giordano Bruno by S J Parris
Ursula Blanchard by Fiona Buckley

Non Fiction
The Time Travellers Guide by Ian Mortimer

Me too!
I saw this when I was far too young & was traumatised by it. I knew this part of the story before any of the rest.
going to the Tower of London and standing on Tower Green where this happened and Anne Boleyn too, it had a sad aura about it.

The Jean Plaidy books sold 14 million copies in her heyday but since she died in 1993 she’s been almost forgotten. She’s much better than Philippa Gregory imo. There are also some excellent Alison Weir Tudor books.

I remember the David Starkey 6 wives series being good but I don’t think it’s available atm as he’s been cancelled I think?

I like the Lucy Worsley documentaries, there are so many even Tudor Christmas ones.

There was even a Carry on film, carry on Henry maybe?