What were the most popular names for boys in England during the 16th century?
The most popular girls’ names in Tudor England
November 7, 2015 By
What were the most popular names for girls in England during the 16th century?
The Quirky Questions of Wynkyn de Worde
November 6, 2015 By
From the ‘chicken or egg’ question to age of a mouse, some of the riddles from England’s oldest joke book.
Anne Boleyn’s Songbook
October 7, 2015 By
Now for the first time in 500 years much of the music included in Anne Boleyn’s songbook has been recorded by the Alamire Consort, under the direction of Dr. David Skinner of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University.
Which 16th-century Monarch Would You Be?
September 18, 2015 By
Find out which sixteenth century monarch most closely matches your style.
Recipes from The Tudor Kitchen
September 17, 2015 By
Get recipes on A Dysschefull of Snowe – Strawberries on Snow and Steamed Asparagus Spears in Orange Sauce
What do Cod Bones from the Mary Rose tell us about the global fish trade?
September 9, 2015 By
New stable isotope and ancient DNA analysis of the bones of stored cod provisions recovered from the wreck of the Tudor warship Mary Rose, which sank off the coast of southern England in 1545, has revealed that the fish in the ship’s stores had been caught in surprisingly distant waters
Fireworks in Scotland date back to 1507, researchers find
August 30, 2015 By
Previously experts believed that fireworks were first used in Stirling in 1566, however, new evidence suggests that it was actually around 59 years earlier and in the Scottish capital. It is thought that ‘fireballs’ featured in a great tournament staged by King James lV, which took place at the base of Castle Rock, in 1507, in the area which is now the King’s Stables Road.
Movie Review: Dangerous Beauty
August 28, 2015 By
Late 16th century Venice, where a woman can be a nun, a wife or a courtesan. For Veronica Franco, the free spirited girl scorned by because of her lack of wealth, the choice is an obvious one…
Veronica Franco and the ‘Cortigiane Oneste’: Attaining Power through Prostitution in Sixteenth-Century Venice
August 12, 2015 By
Franco was a published author, a poet, and counted the King of France among her lovers.
Caterina Sforza’s Experiments with Alchemy
June 12, 2015 By
She collected over four hundred alchemical, medicinal, and cosmetic recipes, and corresponded with other alchemical adepts about materials and laboratory techniques.
Foundation Myths in Medieval and Renaissance Italy
June 10, 2015 By
The 3 papers featured here looked at the development of the civic identities of Florence, Genoa and Rome through art, architecture and foundation legends.
Fashion Old and New: Weaving and Tailoring in the Early Medieval and Early Modern Period
June 9, 2015 By
Fashion fan? Interested in medieval and early modern textiles? Then this was your session. 2 papers from opposite ends of the spectrum: Early Medieval weaving and Early Modern Tailoring.
Dynastic Politics: Five Women of the Howard Family During the Reign of Henry VIII, 1509-1547
June 4, 2015 By
The Howards were the most important noble dynasty of Henry VIII’s reign. Tudor political history cannot be written without them; they lived their lives at its core, in the shadow of the Crown.
Witchcraft on the High Seas: The Voyage of King James and the North Berwick Witch Trials
May 31, 2015 By
Being a man with a strong curiosity, James was personally involved with the witch trials, which was unusual for a monarch. More than one hundred people were arrested and accused.
Shadow of the Sword (The Headsman)
May 21, 2015 By
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau gives us a sympathetic Headsman in Reformation Austria, in the ‘Shadow of the Sword (The Headsman)’.
A Villain and a Monster – The Literary Portrait of Richard III by Thomas More and William Shakespeare
May 9, 2015 By
The process of vilification of Richard III started at the end of the fifteenth century, when a well-planned policy of Tudor propaganda was set in motion by Henry VII himself, who commissioned a series of historiographical writings, mainly aiming at the solidification of the newly founded dynasty.
The Atlas Miller
April 7, 2015 By
This gem in the history of cartography is the outcome of the combined efforts of the workshops of the first two ‘schools’ of Portuguese cartography
A Young Man’s Progress – The First Book of Fashion
April 5, 2015 By
A Young Man’s Progress is art work by London photographer Maisie Broadhead and fashion designer Isabella Newell in collaboration with Cambridge cultural historian Ulinka Rublack.
De Valette’s Battlesword
April 1, 2015 By
This Hospitaller sword is shrouded in mystery, but it is well known and it is, in any case, still in Malta.
Interview: Ben Miles on playing Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall
April 1, 2015 By
Was there ever a time that Thomas Cromwell, lord privy seal of England in the reign of Henry VIII, was not front and center in the culture?
Some Wise Advice from Francesco Guicciardini
March 5, 2015 By
Ten of our favourite maxims from the Italian Renaissance scholar Francesco Guicciardini
Tropical fire ants traveled the world on 16th century ships
February 19, 2015 By
Thanks to a bit of genetic sleuthing, researchers now know the invasion history of the tropical fire ant, the first ant species known to travel the globe by sea.
The Female Consort as Intercessor in Sixteenth-Century Saxony
February 11, 2015 By
In the first part, I will examine how the consort’s position was defined in the 1537 coronation of Christian III and Dorothea of Denmark-Norway.
Visualizing the Body: A Symposium in Honor of the 500th Anniversary of Vesalius’ Birth
February 10, 2015 By
Thank-you to Kele Cable of the University of Minnesota for allowing us to post his Storify account of the Visualizing the Body Symposium, held in November 2014
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