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Anne Boleyn meeting with Matthew Parker

28/4/2016

In the last week of April 1536 Anne Boleyn met with her chaplain, Matthew Parker. According to Parker, Anne had asked him to look after her daughter, the Princess Elizabeth.

In this illustration entitled Anne Boleyn Commending the Princess Elizabeth to the care of Matthew Parker, we can see that Anne Boleyn is standing in front of a portrait of Henry VIII, she is holding a book of prayer and seems to be lecturing Parker, who is kissing the hand of Princess Elizabeth.

Two young women watch from behind a half open door in background, who do they represent? Ladies in waiting who actually cared for Ann or those whose idol gossip cost Ann here life?

Before the end of April, all the men suspected of being involved with Ann had been arrested including her brother George.

Ann was unaware of the charges being brought against them, did she, I wonder, have any idea at this point in time of the seriousness of the situation?

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Mutiny on the Bounty

28/4/2016

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On the 28th April 1789, Captain William Bligh and eighteen crew members had been cast adrift from the HMS Bounty that had been sailing from Tahiti to the West Indies. It was on the 14th of June that they finally reached the island of Timor after travelling nearly 4,000 miles in a small boat.

Captain Bligh eventually returned to England arriving on the 14th of March the following year to find the the country was already talking of the mutiny. He was at first proclaimed a hero, but later court martialled for the loss of his ship. This resulted in his acquittal.

The crew of the HMS Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian, mutinied just off the Friendly Islands. Following setting their captain adrift, they headed for the Pitcairn Islands

Who was the goody and baddie in this sad tale? Was it Bligh, the supposed cruel and brutal Captain? Was Fletcher Christian a hero for not being afraid to standing up to a bully or was Bligh doing what he was supposed to do, that is captain his ship and keep control his men. Was Christian a rebel who mutinied when he was denied what he wanted.

What was the truth I wonder?

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George and the Dragon

22/4/2016

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London's Boundary Markers

This first image is of a wonderful silver dragon that can be found at Leadenhall Market in London and has, on its wing, a red cross.

The cross and the dragon are symbols of St George patron saint of England, they form part of the heraldic symbols of the City of London and can be found around the square mile of St Paul's Cathedral and the Bank of England.

Along with the lion and the unicorn, which also can be found on many of London's public buildings, the dragon features quite prominently in our capital, being used as boundary markers and are a wonderful reminder of London's long history.

Some of the dragons are seated, because of where it is situated, but the actual boundary markers usually stand on their two rear legs, with the right foreleg raised and the left foreleg holding a shield which bears the City of London's coat of arms, painted in red and white. The dragon design is based on two large dragon sculptures which were mounted above the entrance to the Coal Exchange and designed by J. B. Bunning and made in 1849 in Dewer's London foundry. When the Coal Exchange was demolished in the mid 1960's the original statues were re erected on six foot high plinths at the western boundary of the city. In 1964 the Corporation of London's Streets Committee used the statues as the model for boundary markers.

London's Street Committee did have a choice of dragons for the design of the markers, choosing, as I have just said, Bunning's design over the other dragon at Temple Bar on Fleet Street, by architect C B Birch which was considered too fierce.

They are probably right, have a look at this final image.

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The Vasa: Swedish Royal War Ship

16/4/2016

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On the 10th of August 1628, crowds gathered on what is known as the Slussen or sluice on port of Stockholm to see the Vasa, a magnificent Swedish royal war ship, depart on her maiden voyage.
With three hundred men on board she set sail.

Not long after leaving port the ship hoisted four of her ten sails but within minutes she started to capsize causing water to gush through her open gun ports, not quite on her side she manged to sail just under a mile before she sank, taking with her, to the bottom of the Baltic Sea, thirty of her one hundred and fifty crew. Soon after the accident the ships captain was arrested, but it soon became clear that the cause was a construction error on not a human one.

On the examination of the ship it was found that she was not in proportion, being far too heavy and too tall for her hull. The Vasa had been commissioned in 1625 by King Gustavus Adolphus II and was sixty nine meters in length and was the largest ship ever built in Sweden and was the first of four new warships to be built. In 1961, over 333 years later, the wreak of the Vasa was salvaged and for nearly half a century the ship has been slowly and painstakingly restored.

Today, she has her own museum in Stockholm were her three masts, which I assume to be replicas, are visible on the roof outside to show the height of the ship's original masts.

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Birth of Guy Fawkes

13/4/2016

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It is thought that today in 1570 Guido Fawkes was born in Stonegate, York. His date of birth is unknown but he was baptised in the church of St Michael le Belfrey on the 16th April.

By the end of the sixteenth century many followers of the Catholic faith had faced persecution but had looked forward to a brighter future when King James I took the throne of England. James had promised that there would be a greater tolerance and true to his work, after his coronation in 1603, he kept his promise and restrictions on Catholicism were lifted. Almost immediately after the changes took place the king had pressure placed on him by many of the Protestant faith and he soon performed a u-turn.

Twelve men were angry and they hired Fawkes.

Guido Fawkes was a mercenary, a hit man, brought in to do a job, today his name has come to represent anarchy and is a byword for the other throw of government.

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The Medieval Tower

10/4/2016

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What do you think when you picture this building in your mind?

Do you see a dirty, frightened face peering from behind two clenched fists that cling to two cold iron bars or do you see, as depicted here, a clean tall structure with ivy and roses trailing round its brickwork.

Medieval towers can be found in the inner sections or enclosures of a castle as well as on the outside walls. Often these tall buildings had up to three or four floors and sometimes even a cellar or basement, all reached by spiral staircases that were built into the walls. The floors were always made of wood that were covered with reeds and sweet smelling herbs. Only the third and fourth floors had windows, the first two floors would have only had arrow holes. The fourth floor was not usually a room at all but an open platform that circled the building, whose wall on all sides were capped with what are called Merlons, those zig zaggy patterned walls we all drew on our castle pictures as children.

This platform lead to the final floor, which was the lookout tower that was sometimes topped with a conical roof. These towers were not only used for defending the castle, their other uses were as a chapel, a prison, servants quarters or even a separate area for guests. The chapel tower was often quite different from the normal tower in that it had one room that was two stories high with small stained glass windows and an alter. The family would sit in the first floor and look down whilst other church goers would stand on the wooden floor above the basement. The prison towers were, as we would imagine, a hole dug or cut into rock that was reached through a trap door from above where the guards would live. They were dismal and dark with shackles attached to the damp slimy walls.

The most famous of all towers is our Tower of London, which would have been clearly seen from the River Thames. The tower is made up of three enclosures, the central of which contains the White Tower which has square capped towers on each of its corners. Encircling the tower is the north, east, and west enclosures, built during the reign of Richard the Lionheart. Finally, there is the outer enclosure which surrounds the castle, this was built during the reign of Edward I.

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William Hogarth

10/4/2016

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William Hogarth, artist and satirist, was born in 1697 in London, his paintings gives us a glimpse of eighteenth
century England at a time when few had much and many had little and this comes across in many of his images.

Three of his most famous works are A Rakes Progress, Gin Lane and the one pictured here Marriage a la Mode

In Marriage a la Mode, Hogarth warns of the pit falls of marriage for financial gain.
It is one of six painting depicting the progress of a betrothed couple ending in the death of both of them. Symbolism is
abound here, from the paintings on the walls depicting doom to the reason this marriage is taking place......money!

The poor bride and groom have no interest in each other, the bride's bored with the situation and the bridegroom is more concerned with himself and his appearance. The soon to be father in law rests his bandaged foot on a stool and points to a family tree, he might as well shout

'Look at what you get for your money!'

Not one of my favorite artists, but none the less Hogarth was a talented artist and an intelligent and wise man.

Hogarth died on the 26th October 1764 and this was said of him.

Farewell great Painter of Mankind
Who reach'd the noblest point of Art
Whose pictur'd Morals charm the Mind
And through the Eye correct the Heart.
If Genius fire thee, Reader, stay,
If Nature touch thee, drop a Tear:
If neither move thee, turn away,
For Hogarth's honour'd dust lies here.

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Amazing Find in Normandy

1/4/2016

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Whist excavating a site near Chateau Gaillard in Normandy early this year, archaeologist have come across a rare find. Two graves were unearthed, one contained a knight and a horse and the other contained a second armoured knight along with something that would change, not only what we know about medieval warfare, but the romantic ideal of the brave knight on his trusted steed!

This dig began normally, in the first grave they found bones and some pieces of cloth, but when archaeologists looked closely at the second grave they soon realised that, along with bones, what was buried here was made of metal.

"It was a difficult dig" said the lead archaeologist " we soon found that this was more that just a few fragments of metal, it was a whole object, were desperate to find out what it was."

Working thorough the night with trowels and the finest of brushes an outline began to appear, and what this object turned out to be stunned everyone. In the light of day, the small group found what appeared to be a bicycle.

"We were absolutely shocked" said one of the group "we did not expect this. We know that bikes were around in the 15th century for there is one featured in a French book of Coats of Arms but finding one here is fantastic. What this means is that medieval man was using this form of transport in the late 12th century, its a brilliant find!"

The nearby Chateau Gaillard of course was the favourite castle of king Richard I. Experts are now asking, did our crusading monarch's army use bicycles as well as horses?

In 2012 the remains of King Richard III was found in a shallow grave in the City of Leicester, no such object was found buried with him.

For more on this topic you have got to read this blog

riowang.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/in-velox-libertas.html

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London's Boundary Markers ​

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London's Boundary Markers