Tag: Suffolk
'The Dig' on Netflix
At the weekend I watched 'The Dig' on Netflix, starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, and Lily James. A lot of people seem to have been talking about this film, even before it was released. The film follows the story of Basil Brown (Fiennes), who discovers an Anglo-Saxon burial ship under a mound in a field in rural Suffolk. The land belongs to the widowed Edith Pretty (Mulligan) who asks Brown to excavate the mounds. The discovery takes place in the run-up to the Second World War and the preparations to go to war.
I've known about Sutton Hoo from a young age, as my grandparents live not far from the dig site. Obviously as a child I didn't really know the history or what I was seeing when we visited the site, but when I visited the British Museum a few years ago and saw the Sutton Hoo treasures it really hit home what I had seen at the dig site, and now I want to go back.
I really enjoyed the film; it was excellent Saturday watching. I told a friend of mine how much I enjoyed the film, and he went and watched it. He didn't seem to enjoy it as much as I did, saying that the interpersonal drama seemed contrived to liven it up, and the social commentary has been done before. I can understand that, but the film is brilliantly done, and the cast are fantastic. Carey Mulligan really carries the film for me.
Basil Brown, who made the initial discovery at Sutton Hoo, has largely been left out of history, but now he gets a film based on what he discovered. The film itself is based on a book called 'The Dig' by John Preston (click here to see the book on Hive). The excitement of finding an Anglo-Saxon boat buried under a mound in a field is really portrayed in the film, and I really felt it myself watching the action unfold on screen.
History is often reduced to objects that we can see and touch, and this is certainly the case with Sutton Hoo – it was said to be a burial ship and the most famous part of Sutton Hoo even today seems to be the treasure: the helmet, brooches, and jewels. What 'The Dig' demonstrates is that there are human stories behind the objects that we see today. Not just the stories of the Anglo-Saxon people who buried the ship, but the stories of those who unearthed it as well.
If you want to visit Sutton Hoo, it is looked after by National Trust (Sutton Hoo | National Trust) and the treasure is on show in the British Museum in London (Sutton Hoo and Europe | British Museum).
Author Helene HarrisonPosted on Feb 1, 2021 Feb 1, 2021 Categories Film & TV, Non-Tudor PostsTags Anglo Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, Archaeologist, Archaeology, Basil Brown, Burial, Burial Ship, Carey Mulligan, Dig, Edith Pretty, Excavation, Film, Lily James, Media, Netflix, Ralph Fiennes, Suffolk, Sutton Hoo, The DigLeave a comment on 'The Dig' on Netflix
Tamsin Merchant as Katherine Howard and Torrance Coombs as Thomas Culpeper
Episode 1 – Moment of Nostalgia
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and his wife, Katherine, are separated – later on in the series he has an affair. In reality, there is no evidence that the marriage of the Brandons was unstable, it seems to have been relatively happy.
On screen, Henry Howard, is shown as being in his mid-forties and calls Katherine Howard his niece. In reality, Henry and Katherine were cousins, and he was actually only in his mid-twenties at this time.
When Princess Elizabeth meets Katherine Howard she looks around 13/14 years old, but in reality she would only have been around 6/7.
Henry VIII speaks of the death of the French dauphin just after his marriage to Katherine in 1540, but the dauphin died in 1536.
Henry VIII is shown condemning Viscount Lisle to death, but he actually died in 1542 when being given news of his release.
A marriage between Princess Mary and the Duke of Orleans is proposed on screen, but the duke was already married in reality by this point.
There is no evidence that Anne Stanhope cheated on her husband, the Earl of Hertford, let alone with his brother. This perhaps parallels the supposed affair of Hertford's first wife with his own father.
Continue reading "Historical Inaccuracies in 'The Tudors' Season 4"
Author Helene HarrisonPosted on Mar 12, 2017 Apr 10, 2020 Categories Film & TV, Henry VIII, Katherine Howard, Katherine Parr, TudorsTags Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, Earl of Hertford, Earl of Surrey, Edward Seymour, Elizabeth I, Henry Howard, Henry VIII, Katherine Howard, Katherine Parr, Lord Latimer, Mary I, Princess Elizabeth, Princess Mary, Suffolk, Surrey, The Tudors, Thomas Culpeper, Thomas Seymour, Tudors2 Comments on Historical Inaccuracies in 'The Tudors' Season 4
Spotlight – Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk
Name: Charles Brandon
Title/s: Duke of Suffolk / Viscount Lisle / Lord President of the Council / Knight of the Garter
Birth / Death: c.1484 – 22 August 1545
Spouse: Margaret Neville 1466-? (annulled 1507) / Anne Browne ?-1511 / Mary Tudor Queen Dowager of France 1496-1533 / Catherine Willoughby 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby 1520-1580
Children: Anne Grey, Baroness Grey 1507-1557 / Mary Stanley, Baroness Monteagle 1510-c.1542 (by Anne Browne) / Henry Brandon 1516-1522 / Frances Grey, Marchioness of Dorset 1517-1559 / Eleanor Clifford, Countess of Cumberland 1519-1547 / Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln c.1523-1534 (by Mary Tudor) / Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk 1535-1551 / Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk 1537-1551 (by Catherine Willoughby) Continue reading "Spotlight – Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk"
Author Helene HarrisonPosted on Jun 15, 2016 Jan 13, 2020 Categories Tudors, Who Was ...?Tags Brandon, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Katherine Willoughby, Mary Tudor, Nobility, Profile, Suffolk, TudorsLeave a comment on Spotlight – Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk
Britain's Bloody Crown Part 1 07.01.2016
Henry VI 1540 at the National Portrait Gallery
Nearly 600 years ago Wars of the Roses fought over the crown.
30 years crown changed hands 7 times.
Struggle erupted when there was a feud between Margaret of Anjou (Queen of England) and Richard, Duke of York, over the control of the weak king, Henry VI.
Trouble began because Henry VI was so weak that a vacuum opened in England that takes 50 years to be fixed.
May 1450 Henry VI in power, Duke of Suffolk papered over the cracks, but he is now dead by rebel hands.
Summer 1450, no one now left to keep a lid on trouble for Henry VI – rebels enter London and cause violence and looting.
Henry VI never seen a battlefield, shallow, pious and foolish.
Henry VI tries to placate rebels by giving them the corrupt Lord Say – they try and execute him at the Guildhall.
England dissolving into anarchy – Henry VI leaves London for Kenilworth. Continue reading "Britain's Bloody Crown Part 1 07.01.2016"
Author Helene HarrisonPosted on Jan 15, 2016 Aug 3, 2016 Categories Film & TV, Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, Plantagenets, Wars of the RosesTags Battle, Brute Chronicle, Duke of York, Earl of Salisbury, Earl of Warwick, Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, Northampton, Plantagenet, Richard Plantagenet, Somerset, St Albans, Suffolk, Wakefield, Wars of the RosesLeave a comment on Britain's Bloody Crown Part 1 07.01.2016
Mary, Dowager Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk
Mary was born on 18th March 1496 to Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York. She was the youngest of her surviving siblings: Arthur, Henry and Margaret. She was betrothed in 1507 to the future Charles V, the son of Philip I and Juana, the sister of Katherine of Aragon. However, the treaty fell through and she was instead betrothed to Louis XII of France who was thirty-four years her senior. They married on 9th October 1514, but Louis died on 1st January 1515, less than three months after their marriage. They had no children.
Mary was almost certainly in love with Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, at this time. Brandon was a close friend of Mary's brother, Henry VIII. Suffolk was sent to bring Mary back from France. There is debate over whether or not Henry knew of his sister's feelings for his closest friend, but he wanted Mary's second marriage to be to his advantage. However, they married in secret on 3rd March 1515, which was technically treason (marrying into the royal family without the monarch's consent). Because of the intervention of Thomas Wolsey, Henry's first minister, the couple were let off with a fine once Henry had gotten over his outrage. Continue reading "Mary, Dowager Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk"
Author Helene HarrisonPosted on Oct 9, 2012 Jan 28, 2015 Categories TudorsTags Charles Brandon, Charles V, Divorce, France, Henry VIII, Jane Grey, Katherine Grey, Louis XII, Mary Brandon, Mary Grey, Mary Tudor, SuffolkLeave a comment on Mary, Dowager Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk