Historian, expert or scholar of Tudor history required

[Octavia156]

I am looking for an scholar or well read expert on Tudor History, in particular the year 1535-1536.


Does anyone know someone - or would anyone here be able to offer me some tutoring/answer questions on the particulars of this period, or at least show me where to find answers.

Perhaps you are a professor/student of Tudor history or do you know one?

I would be prepared to pay for expert tuition - an hour on Skype or an email exchange would suffice - the going rate here would be £30... $50 for a "lesson".

:help: greatly appreciated!

Of course if you have the time to answer on here pro bono that would be awesome. but if you know person not on the forum who would expect payment (as so they rightfully should) I will gladly pay for private tuition.

any advice appreciated

thanks guys )(

 

[oldbadger]

Hello....!

The top 'History' university in the UK is Cambridge. If you type 'History degree universities' into the www you will get offered several sites that show the rankings. I think Durham is second.

You could then write to these to ask if they offer a 'history service' to the public in the same way that Law-degree Universities offer a 'case counselling' service to expose undergrads to the real world. ? possibly?

 

[oldbadger]

1535?

That was the year of the martyrs.....
....... Thomas Moore.... ?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I have a smattering. And I do mean smattering.
I doubt I can answer any questions, but ya just never know.
Best part, since I'm completely unprofessional, I'm also completely free.

Feel free to PM me what you're after, and I'll see if I can help with any of it.

 

[Octavia156]

1535?

That was the year of the martyrs.....
....... Thomas Moore.... ?

it was a pretty important period:

1535
yes Thomas Moores execution
royal progress
Anne B falls pregnant for final time

1536
Catherine of aragon dies 8th jan
anne boleyns downfall begins 20th april
her execution in may
king marries jane Seymour
king passed act of succession including henry Fitzroy
Fitzroy dies

 

[Octavia156]

I have a smattering. And I do mean smattering.
I doubt I can answer any questions, but ya just never know.
Best part, since I'm completely unprofessional, I'm also completely free.

Feel free to PM me what you're after, and I'll see if I can help with any of it.

some questions I have so far:

how was Christmas celebrated (the 12 days from 25th dec to 6th jan (epiphany)) 1535-1536

what did courtiers and young nobels do during advent?

how did they tell the time?
was the term o'clock used?

what did the ladies of court spend their time doing during advent/general downtime?

what was the king doing/what affairs was he dealing with at the time?

how long would it have taken to travel from the strand to Richmond and what was the route?


How much influence had the reformation had over general church services in London by 1535?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

some questions I have so far:

how was Christmas celebrated (the 12 days from 25th dec to 6th jan (epiphany)) 1535-1536

what did courtiers and young nobels do during advent?

how did they tell the time?
was the term o'clock used?

what did the ladies of court spend their time doing during advent/general downtime?

what was the king doing/what affairs was he dealing with at the time?

how long would it have taken to travel from the strand to Richmond and what was the route?


How much influence had the reformation had over general church services in London by 1535?

Okay...of those, I reckon I might have some chance with the last 3. Have a couple of books in my library focusing on Henry which spend a great deal of time/ink examining courtly life.

Give me a day, I'll dig them out and have a hunt.

 

[oldbadger]

some questions I have so far:

how did they tell the time?
was the term o'clock used?

how long would it have taken to travel from the strand to Richmond and what was the route?

Hi.... Octavia..... I'm no historian, but please let me play about with just the questions above.

Time-keeping.
Although the chinese were making mechanical clocks several centuries before, the West's first clocks were not appearing until well after Henry's death. Any clocks he might have been given would have been large.

Candle clocks would have been avaliable to the very rich.

Sun-dials were/are very accurate and would have been common.

But the best timekeeping would have been 'done' by aids and household servants. People who could accurately 'Tell' the time were common then, just as they are now. Author Lee Child's hero 'Jack Reacher' can tell the time withing a few minutes, at any time..... think there must be some fact to found that characteristic. And so I believe that Henry's aids would have been able to keep his timekeeping perfect, if he could be bothered to keep time at all.

---------------------------------

Strand to Richmond.

Sadly, as you no doubt already know, there aren't any decent maps of London Pre 1590is. Go to this site to examine many of them:-
London Old Maps

In good weather and on horseback Henry could have got from Strand to Richmond Palace or the hunting ground (circa 8 miles) in about 45 minutes. There would have been many grid-locks on the way, even for an impatient King.

The river was no more consistent, because the contra-flow in the river would depend on previous rainfall, but a team of professional rowers could take get there (circa 15 miles?) at about 6-7 mph, so, given an average current of maybe 1.5 mph = 4.5-5.5 mph = average 5mph .... = bloody hell..... that takes about 3 hours.
I should have known all this because I was a qualified yacht delivery skipper and used to deliver Dutch built motor-yachts up to Walton Marina, and we were limited to about 4knots by law when we got past Teddington. It did take ages to get those last miles.

What do you think? I reckon Henry rode horse. Circa 45-60 mins.

 

[oldbadger]

was the term o'clock used?

Although mechanical clocks would have been extremely rare or even absent. (The Chinese could make them at this time) the term o'clock might still have been used.

If you investigate the word 'clock' you might discover that it means anything that rotates? If so, the sun dial could have been called a 'clock'. It needs investigation. That's just a thought, really.

EDIT:- Yes..... they did use the term 'o'clock back then.

Circa 14th century the term 'clokke' is used to describe punching, or banging, as in chiming a bell. So Time-keepers (by mind, candle, sun-dial, tide (you can tell the time by the state of tide), water-clocks (poss) or mechanical clock would ring a big bell on the hour or ha;lf hour. Ergo..... what is the o'clock?

 

[Octavia156]

Thanks Badger that is awesome!

I did think that the common man would rely on the church bells ringing the time, but then wondered if this was just a guess.

as for crossing from Westminster to Richmond - there was a bridge? or would a wherry have to be involved? how would a small party including ladies have done with bags and stuff. I assume they went by cart?

 

[Octavia156]

another question

in a lord/ladies town house how likely would it be that if only one family member was at home that they would dine with their servants?

would a lady eat alone or would she eat with her personal maid(s)?

were some meals always formal or always casual?

what key household positions were held in a noble town house? housekeeper? steward? then...?

 

[Octavia156]

would the protestant reformation be noticeable in church services by this time or were they all still in Latin?

 

[oldbadger]

Thanks Badger that is awesome!

I did think that the common man would rely on the church bells ringing the time, but then wondered if this was just a guess.

as for crossing from Westminster to Richmond - there was a bridge? or would a wherry have to be involved? how would a small party including ladies have done with bags and stuff. I assume they went by cart?

I'm guessing here..... I don't believe that there were any up-stream bridges, and London Bridge was too far downstream to be convenient. But the wherry and barge service was huge, and the royal barges and wherries were quite fast. I wonder whether the King kept stables on the Southwark side of the river, and just crossed by barge to steps opposite Westminster.

Look on the www for 'the steps of London river', or Thameside steps to get quick info on the crossing (and docking) places on the river. The words 'step' , 'dock' and 'strand' are fairly common, and may help you with such details.

 

[oldbadger]

another question

in a lord/ladies town house how likely would it be that if only one family member was at home that they would dine with their servants?

would a lady eat alone or would she eat with her personal maid(s)?

were some meals always formal or always casual?

what key household positions were held in a noble town house? housekeeper? steward? then...?

Although 50 years later, how does Shakespeare describe such home-life? I'm not a Shakespeare student, but I think that there are a few on RF.