Queen Elizabeth I

Our class discussion and lecture today was about the reign of Elizabeth I and the so-called Elizabethan Settlement of 1558-1563.  This was the time that England came to a compromise over the matter of religion and created the Anglican Church.  We talked about how Elizabeth came to power at the age of 25 and ruled until she was 69 years old.  Additional topics included Elizabethan government, William Cecil (her main advisor), relations with the French and Spanish, Puritans, and the Spanish Armada of 1588.

What is amazing about this class is that after chatting about something like this you can go out and explore history directly-- for example, Ruth, Ericka, and I visited Westminster Abbey again this afternoon, visiting Elizabeth's tomb and then enjoying an Evensong service that comes from The Book of Common Prayer which was promulgated in its final form in 1560 as part of the Elizabethan Settlement.

Many in our class worked in the British Library today, doing research and writing on their individual paper topics.  Most in the class now have library cards to Cambridge University Library and the British Library.  Another group did something exciting: They visited a Harry Potter exhibit, completing their tour of Harry Potter sites in England.  I also made a fun trip to the London Transport Museum, which has a truly amazing series of exhibits related to public transport in London since the late 1700s.  This includes horse drawn vehicles, trains, the Tube, buses, taxis, and some autos.  It is a very hands-on museum, with interesting displays about the various vehicles and special topics like the design of the Tube maps and logos, and how Londoners survived The Blitz in the Underground.  My wife and son really enjoyed this museum years ago, and visiting it made me think of them too!  (I'll be home in a few days, Kim!)

The students in this class are truly amazing-- they are all so smart and engaged with this content, and are learning a lot about living in Europe, as well as the ins-and-outs of Tudor England.  I am very proud to be their teacher on this trip--

Here are some photos!

Queen Elizabeth I.  This queen was famous for carefully controlling her image and her portraits.

William Cecil Portrait, National Portrait Gallery-- this man was Elizabeth's closest advisor during the first decades of her reign.  He was created Baron Burghley in 1571, and was a skillful diplomat and proponent of the Elizabethan Settlement, which brought the Anglican faith to England.

Mary Queen of Scots portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.  This Mary was a Scottish rival to Elizabeth, and also the mother of James I, who would rule England and Scotland after Elizabeth's death in 1603.

 Queen Bonnie and King Thomas before a feast at Hampton Court Palace, 1/28/2013.

 

Brenden Cohen at Windsor Castle, 1/26/2013.


Mike H.

Hampton Court, Henry VIII, and Nigel

Today we travelled from Bath to London via coach, with a long stop at Hampton Court Palace outside of London.  Hampton Court allowed us to see one of Henry VIII's favorite residences, which was originally owned by the Knights of St. John, and was later developed by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.  Cardinal Wolsey fell from power when he could not secure a divorce (or annulment) for Henry from Catherine of Aragon.  Wolsey then "gave" the palace to Henry as a way to appease him.

The former royal residence is grand and very "Tudor", comprised of low brick buildings with lavish accommodations for up to 500 guests to reside.  There is nothing here of the opulence of Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace; Hampton Court is very understated, like many 16th century buildings.  However, the lawns and gardens are extensive, and the surrounding area is also very beautiful, set along the Thames River, about a four-hour row from London during Tudor times.

We saw a gate in the palace associated with Anne Boleyn, extensive kitchens from Tudor times, a great banqueting hall, the location of privy council meetings, and a Tudor chapel where Edward VI was baptized and an original King James Bible stands.  We also saw a dramatic reenactment of Henry VIII's denouncement of Anne Boleyn before the Privy Council, and the introduction of a new favorite, Jane Seymour.  The lunch was really good, I must say-- and we also really enjoyed running through the extensive hedge maze on the grounds--

Our guide during the tour was Nigel Hake, who we had the first day in London for Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral.  Nigel is a group favorite, and entertained us much with his British wit and continual reference to the group as "Ladies and Gents" (you kinda had to be there....)  At the end of the day, we bid a fond farewell to both Nigel and our bus driver Dave, the later of whom had been with us for three days and had several meals with us (as well as being an excellent driver).

We are now in the Hotel Ibis in London near Euston Station, where we were for a week when the trip started--  The students are doing great, and we all feel like English experts now-- gone are the early anxious moments of the trip.  We are having fun, relaxing, playing cards, writing journal entries and papers, and generally enjoying each other.  The first pangs of sadness at our trip ending have started to surface, though we still have two full days left for individual explorations and paper writing.  We fly back Thursday--

Today we also had a lot of fun celebrating Katie's 19th birthday!  The class sang to Katie in the morning, and we took her out for Italian food and cake tonight (with more singing)-- what a place to celebrate a birthday milestone!

Here are some photos:

The Cotswolds and Harry Potter

My goal for the class today was to experience small town England in an historic setting, as well as investigate a few fun places for Tudor history that few people get to.  We departed by coach at 9:00 a.m. for a day trip in the Cotswolds, led by our fun and knowledgeable guide Cheryl Corcoran, a blue badge guide for Southwest England.

The Cotswolds are a collection of low-rolling hills in Gloucestershire noted for historic sheep production, small farms, and charming homes and villages.  In the middle ages, highly-prized sheep’s wool came from the Cotswolds, making the region rich by medieval standards.  Lovely stone houses and churches rose in villages such as Lacock and Winchcombe, which we visited on foot, stopping for coffee in the first and lunch in the second.  The day was cold but not freezing; however, we were treated with brilliant sunshine, making the sandstone buildings shine with dull brilliance.

In Lacock, we examined medieval streets, a chapel and graveyard, an ancient barn, and an enigmatic abbey and ruins called “the Cloisters”.  Originally an Augustinian Abbey for women, the Cloisters are now a place to examine medieval history and architecture first hand.  A huge bonus for the group is that several scenes from the first two Harry Potter movies were filmed here.  We saw Hagrid’s House, Professor Slughorn’s House, Harry's parents house in a flashback scene, and gothic spaces used for half a dozen scenes.  As you’ll see below, we were able to recreate one scene using students from the class, playing the major parts.

Next we were on to Winchcombe, where we lunched and wandered around the very small village, all covered with slate and stone.  I had (for me) the best lunch of the trip, complete with Gloucestershire roast beef, potatoes, creamed cauliflower, carrots, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding.  We also made a very exciting foray into Sudeley Castle, a beautiful medieval castle above Winchcombe, which is where Catherine Parr, the 6^th wife of Henry VIII, lived and is currently buried.  Richard III, Henry VII, Elizabeth I, and others also stayed here, and it was the place of battled during the English Civil War.  The Castle was closed, which we knew it would be, but we still snuck in and wandered around the grounds, dodged some mud and fences, and wound up with some great pictures.  We were just a little bit from our goal, to stand in front of the tomb of Catherine Parr, but were forced to turn back, as (again) it is closed all winter and not open for tourists.  But we had a lot of fun telling stories and talking about the place—well off the tourist track and deep in rural England.

The couch drive to Sudeley was really a highlight of the day, and we squeezed through rural roads and hedges just barely making it--  We saw cats, sheep, chickens, villagers in Welles, and plenty of local color.  Before dark, we made it back to Bath, and many of us dined on Indian food at The Mint House—the end of a good day. (Though there may be a 500-card tourney tonight!)

Tomorrow we head for Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace and the IBIS Hotel, London—

 

 

 

Mike H.

 

Windsor Castle and Bath

Bright and early this morning our Tudor Class hit the road on a coach driven by "Dave", our bus driver, and made our way for Windsor Castle, one of Europe's largest working castles and an important place for the Tudors, as well as other English monarchs.  This is the beginning of a "working weekend", in which the class travels to the Cotswolds and smaller-town England.  Windsor castle proved an interesting visit along the way.

Henry VIII build up the St. George Chapel in Windsor Castle early in his reign, expanding the space and having a high gothic "fan" ceiling installed by the Virtue brothers, the same men who built the high gothic ceilings in the Henry VII chapel in Westminster Abbey, King's College Chapel in Cambridge, and the Abbey in central Bath, all of which we have seen on this trip.
Within Windsor Castle, we saw the tomb of Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, Henry VI, and numerous English kings and queens.  We also saw some of the heraldry of Queen Catherine of Aragon, both in the St. George Chapel and at the Henry VIII gate in Windsor.

OK, so.... Queen Elizabeth II was unfortunately not at the castle today (although she often weekends at Windsor), so we did not have an opportunity to get an awesome photo of her with PLU students for the blog.  But, we did see the state apartments, which were really amazing, including dinning areas and also numerous Tudor portraits.

After Windsor, we drove to Bath, and swung by Stonehenge along the way, just long enough to get a photo but not much more.  Within Bath, we toured the Roman baths that have existed in the village since the 1st century A.D.  These are thermal baths, some of the only ones in England; in the 17th century, Europeans from far and wide came to heal themselves, meet girls, and generally have a good time.  There was a rugby matching going on and we also walked the town, visiting the church, gazing at the beautiful homes and river, and finding things to eat.

Meanwhile, back at our Holiday Inn Hotel (Bath), our group gathered to play cards (500) and catch up on journal writing and Facebook.  I am also doing the blog while talking here with most of the class--

Here are some photos of our day!

 

 

Mike H.

Living and Working in Cambridge

Wednesday through Friday this week the group has settled into Cambridge and we are working on our term research projects, as well as reading Thomas More's Utopia, an early work of literature and political thought from the Tudor era.  We have also visited several of the local colleges, the university botanical gardens, and the main university library, where most of the students have acquired their own Cambridge University library cards.  These allow them to visit the university's national repository library, which contains every book published in the UK for several centuries.

Some of the students are researching individual monarchs active during the Tudor years; others are interested in some aspect of More's Utopia; and topics including poor relief, domestic living arrangements, the history of science, religious reform, and Tudor memorials.  They are working on essays that will be due in electronic form on February 2nd, a few days after we get home.

Ruth has enjoyed guiding the class around to various places that are fun and special to her; yesterday we visited a beautiful river-side pub and also the reading room of Trinity College.  We have also attended beautiful Evensong services at King's College, Corpus Christi College, and St. John's College.  It stopped snowing several days ago, but it is cold enough still that the snow has not really melted much.

A highlight for Randall was meeting a number of Cambridge students and hanging out with them in both Trinity and Claire colleges.  All are safe and well; we are spending our last full day in Cambridge and will leave tomorrow (Saturday) morning to Windsor Castle and then Bath, England, where we spend two days exploring the Cotswolds, a rural area of England known for its ancient limestone villages, rolling countryside, beautiful gardens, and magnificent historic castles (including some of Tudor fame).

Here are a few photos of Cambridge!

St. John's College, founded by the will of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII

 Bonnie examines a tropical plant indoors at the botanical gardens in Cambridge...

 The River Cam near Cambridge's colleges...

Walking among the specimen trees in the botanical gardens... (Many snow ball fights broke out!)

 

--Mike H.

Medieval Cambridge Charms Lutes

Our hotel is very comfortable here in Cambridge, with bigger rooms and a really great breakfast-- The class is already learning that a smaller town of about 100,000 (with 20,000 students) can be an enjoyable change from exploring vast metropolises with populations of over 5 million each (greater London and Paris).

Today we discussed the troubled marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon in class, as well as the relationship between Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII.  Each day this week we spend 90 minutes of class time at the hotel, and then explore the city via tours, library visits, or just mini-adventures.  Ruth has been an excellent and enthusiastic guide, as she has visited Cambridge many times and constantly walks around with a smile on her face.

Today we visited St. John's College, Trinity College, Emmanuel College, and King's College on guided tours.  We were able to visit many places closed to the public, and learned about the Tudors and their lives here, as well as what it is like for current Cambridge students and fellows.

Henry VIII's grandmother, Margaret Beaufort, founded St. John's College through an endowment c. 1511, and Henry VIII was active completing King's College.  Each Cambridge school is unique and formed by medieval and early modern architecture.  We saw memorials to John Harvard, who left Emmanuel College to found Harvard in Mass.; Isaac Newton, who was a fellow at Trinity College; Charles Darwin; the men who discovered DNA and split the atom, etc. etc.

We also walked around medieval streets and explored the River Cam, which winds it way through town.  About half of us attended Evensong at King's College Chapel, which is an incredibly beautiful worship space with furnishings showing the initials of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Howard.  We heard the King's College Choir (comprised of men and young boys, the later of whom sang the soprano parts).  It was breathtaking. 

In the evening, we also visited several pubs in the area, including The Eagle, The Baron of Beef, The Free Press, Avery, and The Tram.  We have become regular game players at The Free Press, playing poker, cribbage, Trivial Pursuit, 21, and other diversions.  Tonight as we left, the regulars said "goodbye", a sign that we are gradually fitting in.  Most of our scholarly PLU students simply look like Cambridge students, going about the work of studying.

We had some fun news today-- Alex was accepted in a Master of Education program back in Washington, and tomorrow is Allison's birthday!!

Here are some great pictures from our Tuesday in Cambridge!

 The interior of St. John's College, Cambridge.

 The so-called "Mathematical" bridge in Cambridge, very near where the group "Pink Floyd" was formed among Cambridge students and residents.

 Jon in St. John's courtyard...

 A plaque near King's College where a pub that Protestants met at--

 Individual photos of Ruth and many students!

Window at Emmanuel College in honor of John Harvard.

Mike H.