Henry VIII: Man and Monarch

Wolf Hall wins Man Booker 2009 Prize

This may be the final post on the Henry VIII blog.

It's good to end with our sincere congratulations to Hilary Mantel on her success last night.

You can find out more about Hilary Mantel and her superlative novel on the Man Booker Prize website.

Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall tipped to win the Booker

Will she win? All will be revealed on 6 October.

A reminder that you can hear Hilary read from and discuss Wolf Hall, set in the world of Henry VIII’s notorious chief minister Thomas Cromwell, in a British Library podcast.

The recording was made in front of a studio audience at the British Library on Wednesday 27 May. It is introduced and hosted by Erica Wagner, literary editor of the Times, and also features historian Derek Wilson (66min, 26.37MB):

(Or play it in your default media player.)

The Close of Henry...

It's the final weekend of the exhibition and 'last chance to see'. In fact there are only a few tickets left. 

 Having lived and breathed Henry since the beginning of 2007, curator Dr Andrea Clarke has found the experience of curating the exhibition immensely challenging and rewarding. "It's been everything I hoped it would be and I will shed a tear when I see it coming down."

Previously concealed in the Vatican for almost five centuries, it was a personal triumph for Andrea when in December 2007 she learnt that the Vatican had agreed to lend Henry's love letter to Anne Boleyn, declaring his intention to marry her.

One of Andrea's highlights has been the success of the Henry touring exhibition and its positive impact on visitor figures outside the Library. It has also given her the opportunity to get to know more of her Library colleagues, "I've really enjoyed the opportunity to work with a huge range of people across the Library," she says.

So will she stay in contact with guest curator David Starkey. "It was a real privilege to work with David. He is very inspirational and I've learnt a lot from him. We have stayed in contact throughout and I have been helping him a bit with the second volume of his Henry VIII biography. So I think we will keep in touch."

Henry VIII: Man and Monarch closes on Sunday 6 September, but the online exhibition will stay.

More bloggers' reactions - 4

We're into the last couple of weeks of the exhibition now, but there's still a steady run of blogged reviews.

Mark of Made by Geeks certainly enjoyed his visit: "My mind reels at the thought that I was eight inches away from something Henry VIII himself sat down and wrote, a passionate letter to the woman he loved."

Meanwhile there's a mention of us on Eve's resolute and very affecting blog Venceremos; and elsewhere, Lord Toby Harris was inspired by the exhibition enough to buy David Starkey's new book on Henry - with his own cash, not on expenses...

More Tudor romping

Jonathan 'The King' Rhys Meyers is at it again. The 'historical drama' The Tudors: Series 3 kicks off on BBC2 on Friday 21 August.

The absurdly good-looking and slim Rhys Meyers admits he looks nothing like Henry. Which is fine – it's clear from the outset that the facts are incidental to the entertainment. Singer Joss Stone is boldly cast as Anne of Cleves.

Details on the BBC website

Alison Weir podcast: bonus MP3

If you enjoyed the Alison Weir podcast we talked about yesterday, hear this bonus MP3 of audience questions and answers following the lecture, introduced by historian Tracy Borman (31min 0sec, 17.7MB):

(Or play it in your default media player.)

New podcast: Alison Weir on Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn was a femme fatale in all senses of the word. Henry's love for her - and his subsequent divorce from Katharine of Aragon which came at the cost of the split with Rome - changed the course of English history. It was a love that turned to hate, however, culminating in Anne's execution. But did she die an innocent victim?

Alison Weir is one of Britain's best-loved and most-read historians. Her works include The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Henry VIII: King and Court and Mary, Queen of Scots. Her next book will be a detailed account of Anne's dramatic and controversial imprisonment and execution.

In this intriguing talk on Anne's rise and fall, Weir makes a compelling case that she went to her death a wronged woman. (34 min, MP3)

(Or play it in your default media player.)

More bloggers' reactions - 3

More blog reviews from exhibition visitors:

• 'A joy to look at' Mieke Gouda found explaining it all to a nine-year-old an entertaining challenge

• 'Highly intelligent exhibition' Cathy Linacre liked it so much she suggests two visits

•'We spent three hours working through the exhibition' Joe found himself absorbed by it all

Fire! Henry saw Scarborough as a 'boom' town, map shows

The Yorkshire coastal town of Scarborough is buzzing today with the revelations that Henry VIII considered it one of his key strongholds in the battle against those untrustworthy Continentals.

We know this, says today's Yorkshire Post, thanks to a hitherto unknown map that was unearthed during the preparations for the exhibition.

The map shows that Scarborough Castle had a big fat cannon, the sort of firepower that was reserved for ports of strategic importance.

Like Henry we're keen on Scarborough, a handsome and sturdy resort town full of the down-to-earth friendliness that characterises north-east Yorkshire. It's also a fine base for cycling and walking, though maybe the later Henry would have been keener on the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

More bloggers' reactions - 2

More people have been blogging about their trips to the exhibition. Here's some of the latest...

• 'If you want to know what proper historians really do, there is no better place... everyone interested in English history should go' Paul Lay, editor of History Today, must like it - he's been three times

• 'Wonderful... you should make an effort to see it. It really is phenomenal' Secret Agent Librarian thinks the British Library rocks

• 'I am now sort of an expert on the British royals from Henry VII to Queen Anne. Ha!' Racheya visited our friends at Hampton Court too