Отправлено: 25.01.12 22:04. Заголовок: Tudor Times Weekly London Gazette Всегда свежие новости

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 Отправлено: 04.04.12 19:51. Заголовок: George Boleyn He ..

George Boleyn

He was born into a life of great wealth and prestige. His father was a highly respected courtier and diplomat. George himself was attractive and intelligent to the extent that his ‘great wit’ was later commented on in poetry. He was, therefore, not only born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he was also born lucky. He was the only surviving son and heir. He represented the Boleyns’ future, and a promising future at that.


Yes, there would no doubt have been pressure placed upon him to succeed, but he had bred into him the confidence which would have alleviated that pressure by the knowledge of his own abilities.
Good looking, gifted and rich. It is difficult to imagine a better start in life for a young boy who had pride and ambition instilled in him from birth.

He was introduced to Henry VIII’s court at the tender age of ten and was an instant hit, being appointed one of Henry’s pageboys shortly afterwards. He had charm and charisma to add to his other attributes. His wit and humour made him popular, and life must have seemed extraordinarily easy. He was a talented sportsman and later discovered a propensity for poetry. He was made for great things, to be a courtier in his father’s footsteps, a trusted adviser to the King. He had a charmed life.
And then, in the mid 1520s, his sister Anne caught the King’s eye. For the first time in his charmed life the Boleyns greatest asset was usurped. As Anne’s position as queen consort became established George was no longer the most important Boleyn sibling. He took second stage to a sibling, and a woman at that.
How did he cope with the transition? It is a testament to his character and his affection for Anne that throughout the late 1520s and through into the mid 1530s he exhibited nothing but love and support to the sister who had taken his limelight. Of course it was in his interests to do so, but every position of power and authority bestowed upon him from then on would be questioned by enemies and rivals.Was he awarded a Viscountcy on his own merits? Was he appointed ambassador to France at the age of twenty-five on his own merits? Was he appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports at the age of thirty on his own merits? For a proud young man with ‘great wit’, that must have been hard to take.
His life, after Henry became attracted to Anne, certainly changed. It is hard to say how his career would have progressed without that happening, but I don’t doubt that he would have been highly successful in any event. Whether George Boleyn felt his life changed for the better once Anne’s own destiny was established is only something he could answer.
What it did mean was that, with Anne’s influence over Henry and Henry’s desire to marry her, George’s commitment to religious reform had a far greater chance of success. For that alone he had reason to support her rise. But whether he was content with being the powerful brother of the queen consort, or whether his pride would have preferred recognition in his own right without the ‘brother’ tag is again something only he could answer. The ‘brother’ tag certainly made his life even easier. Into the mid 1530s his charmed life continued. He held roles of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports from June 1534 onwards, he was a politician and a leading light in the Reformation Parliament and was also a busy diplomat attending a total of six embassies to France.
Irrespective of being the queen’s brother he never sat back on his laurels, and the evidence we have indicates he was highly active in the roles appointed to him, and highly thought of by Henry. He worked hard and diligently in defiance of those who may have questioned his abilities. He was too proud not to do so. He may have taken his personal abilities and attributes for granted, but he does not appear to have taken his position as Henry’s brother-in-law for granted, and that is a credit to him. He wanted recognition in his own right, and I think that shows in his scaffold speech.
Life carried on for George Boleyn as it always had, with a charmed existence, until 2nd May 1536. Waking up that morning, just like any other morning, but this time walking straight into a nightmare. Nothing, during his thirty-two years of life, could possibly have prepared him for the horror of that moment, or the horror of the dreadful, shameful and completely unfounded allegations laid against him.
He had shown great strength of character throughout his life and career, but he had never needed the degree of character required to get him through this ordeal. How on earth could anyone who had lived a life such as his possibly cope with what he needed to cope with?
He initially wept with the shock, horror and shame of it all. But did he crumble? Did he give up? No, he walked into court with his head held high and destroyed the prosecution case with his wit and courage, in a trial considered to be one of the most sensational of the sixteenth century. And when he was condemned did he rail against the sentence? No, he accepted it with the dignity which was expected of him. When he faced death did he show fear. Yes, but only for those who may have suffered as a result of his death. On the scaffold did he show weakness. No, he gave an impassioned speech before submitting to the axe.
Those last fifteen days of George Boleyn’s life, compared to the previous thirty-two years, were so completely opposite that it’s hard to imagine anything more diverse. Yet in death he showed what he had always been made of; strength, wit, courage and determination. However, whatever had gone before was, to modern eyes, lost in the final act. For that reason alone, perhaps the greatest tragedy of being George Boleyn is that, as far as history views him, his death became his finest scene.

 Отправлено: 22.05.13 12:55. Заголовок: A royal visit to Lee..

A royal visit to Leeds Castle: Henry VIII and the Field of Cloth of Gold

On this day in 1520 King Henry VIII stayed at Leeds Castle with Queen Catherine of Aragon and an entourage of 5000 people. This was the best-documented royal visit to Leeds Castle and was a stop off between Greenwich and northern France for a ceremonial meeting with Francis I of France. This meeting became known from its magnificence as the Field of Cloth of Gold and was part of unsuccessful diplomatic attempts by Francis to woo the English away from their alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.



Staying at Leeds Castle
King Henry VIII travelled from London to Dover with an entourage of 3,997 people set out from Greenwich Palace on Sunday 21 May, 1520 and reached Leeds Castle on Monday 22nd May on the way to France. Queen Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s first wife, travelled in the same cavalcade accompanied by a personal suite numbering 1,175. Obviously not all of this vast concourse would have found quarters in the Castle, but the King, Cardinal Wolsey and nine other Bishops would have. The entire upper floor of this part of the Castle was exclusively reserved for the Queen and her closest household staff, indeed the fireplaces decorated with her royal coat-of-arms and the symbols of Castile, a castle and a pomegranate, remain to this day.

At the time, Sir Henry Guildford was the Constable of the Guard at Leeds and as such was responsible for preparing the Castle for the King’s visit. It was his job to ensure food and sleeping places for everyone. He was paid £66-3s-3D (approx. £25,500 in today’s money). And given that the King had already paid some £860 for the necessary repairs and alterations to the Castle, the visit was an expensive undertaking; especially considering the Royal party only stayed for one night before moving on to Dover Castle.

From the castle, they moved to Charing for their next night’s stay. They reached Canterbury on the 25th of May, from where they moved on to Dover, before proceeding to France on the 31st of May, probably on board the flagship of the fleet, the ‘Henri Grace de Dieu’, or ‘Great Harry’.

Embarkation from Dover
Henry VIII rested in Priory while all the 27 ships were loaded, sailed across to France, unloaded, returned and reloaded. The hulls of the ships were too deep to come right inshore and so, small rowing boats were used to take the people to the ships, and they then had to climb up rope ladders to get on board. Once on board they hung their coats of arms on the side of the ship. This represented the passenger list and was a record of who was on which ship.

A copy of the painting of the “Embarkation from Dover” hangs in the Henry VIII Banqueting Hall at Leeds Castle. Henry VIII commissioned the paintings and in all probability the artist had not even visited Dover. They were pained around 1540, at least 20 years after the event.


The Field of Cloth of Gold
The kings spent huge amounts of money, wanting to outshine the other. Tents for people to stay in were made of gold cloth and there were wresting competitions, fountains which ran with wine, jousting tournaments, and much feasting and dancing. On the last day there was even a firework display.

They took all of their own food to eat during the 17 day meeting. Royal records show that venison from the Leeds park and butter from the dairies were supplied. We also know from Royal Household accounts that their fish menu included; 9100 plaice, 7836 whiting, 5554 soles, 2800 crayfish, 700 conger eels, 3 porpoises and a dolphin.

The original painting of the Field of Cloth of Gold is in Hampton Court palace.




Do you fancy sleeping under canvas just as Henry VIII’s entourage would have done in 1520? Leeds Castle has launched a new glamping site based on Medieval design to form a ‘village’ on the one-acre castle vineyard.

Bookable until September, Knight’s glamping offers guests a spectacular setting and the luxury of a four poster bed, warming log burning stove, crisp cotton bedding and cosy fur throws. Book your tent here!
Posted by Leeds Castle at 01:26
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Labels: camping in Kent, Field of Cloth of Gold, glamping, glamping in Kent, glamping Kent, Henry VIII, hotels in Kent, staying at Leeds Castle, staying in Kent