Thursday, July 27, 2006

A Tudor Treat


Thursday 27 July 06

Detail from Henry VIII

Yesterday's live link up from the Treasure House Theatre in World Museum Liverpool was a real treat. We were given a special behind-the-scenes look at some of the interesting objects housed inside the National Archive at Kew. The archive has 100 miles of shelving carrying 10 million documents from the past 1000 years of history. These included documents signed by Henry VIII, and his Royal Seal. 

Another grisley piece of history in Kew's archives is Guy Fawkes' signed gunpowder plot confession. The barely-there scrawl reveals the torture he endured before he finally signed, incuding the use of thumb screws.

If you like this particular breed of horrible history, then Terry Deary's Terrible Tudors at the Liverpool Empire is worth a look, if only for the 3D Boggle Goggles you wear in the second half. Personally I'm a bit of a fan of Henry so it goes against the grain to call him terrible. Having said that, I'm Tudor re-enactor who spends as much time as I can muster at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk so perhaps I'm biased. 

Huzzah for Good King Hal!


Posted by Dawn | 27/07/2006 10:29   | Comments [0]

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