Historians share little-known Tudor facts
Henry VIII was a bit of a prude, and Anne Boleyn served as maid of honour for Margaret of Austria, historians Tracy Borman and Lauren Mackay have revealed
As part of History Extra’s Tudor Week, run to mark the launch of the September issue of BBC History Magazine, the popular historians shared curious information about the Tudors.
Borman revealed that while England’s most-married monarch has a reputation as a ladies’ man, in fact the evidence suggests that behind closed doors he was no lothario.
To read Tracy Borman’s 5 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry VIII, click here.
And to read 5 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Tudors, click here.
To take Lauren Mackay’s quiz on the six wives of Henry VIII, click here.
Lancaster and Vulcan bombers fly over new WW2 memorial site
A flypast by the last two airworthy Lancasters and the last flying Vulcan bomber took place in Lincolnshire this week.
The Telegraph reports that the event was to mark the first turf-cutting of the new memorial centre at Canwick Hill, which will tell the stories of those involved in the conflict.
To read the Telegraph article in full, and to watch a video of the flypast, click here.
First World War poet among those honoured by Historic Scotland commemorative plaques
Wilfred Owen, arguably Britain’s best known First World War poet, was commemorated this week with the unveiling of a plaque in his honour at the Edinburgh school he taught at while recovering from shell-shock in 1917.
He is one of 11 historic figures to be recognised as part of this year’s Historic Scotland Commemorative Plaques Scheme, which celebrates the Year of Natural Scotland.
Owen, who was killed in November 1918 – just days before the Armistice – briefly taught English Literature at Tynecastle High School in 1917, as part of rehabilitation programme for treatment he was undergoing for Neurasthenia (or shell-shock), at the nearby Craiglockhart War Hospital. Owen’s tenure at the school has long been known but, until now, has been unmarked.
To read more, click here.
Dating the demise of Neanderthals
Neanderthals disappeared from Europe 40,000 years ago, new research has revealed.
By precisely dating 196 samples of bone, charcoal and shell across 40 key European sites from Russia to Spain, the team found that the Neanderthal disappearance and the end of the Mousterian culture occurred between 41,000 and 39,000 years ago.
The findings also reveal a temporal overlap between Neanderthals and modern humans of 2,600 to 5,400 years, allowing for cultural — and possibly genetic — exchanges between the two groups.
To read more, click here.
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