By Magdalena Djaković From the ocean side of the ramparts of Southsea Castle, one quickly comes to realize just how dependent the site was upon visibility. Although the current views towards the Isle of Wight appear to be tranquil, in the past, the area would have been filled with anticipation and control. This can be seen in Figure 1, the wide, uninterrupted view toward Isle of Wight demonstrates the strategic advantage of this position. From here, defenders would have been able to monitor approaching ships long before they reached Portsmouth Harbour, giving valuable time to prepare artillery and coordinate a response. The castle itself was built in 1544 as […]
Tag Archives | Henry VIII
An inventory of Henry VIII’s navy
UoP second-year history student Francesca Raine has recently had a guest blog published for the Mary Rose collections, discussing the Anthony Roll. This list of Henry VIII’s ships was presented to King Henry VIII in 1546 by its creator Anthony Anthony, an official of the Ordnance. Beneath each ship is an individual inventory detailing information on the weaponry, crew, and tonnage, an in-depth Tudor catalogue. This document holds the only illustration and final report of the Mary Rose from its active life. Click here to read more.
History is not always written by the winners
Dr Katy Gibbons is Senior Lecturer in History, and specialises in the religious and cultural history of 16th century England and Europe. She teaches amongst other units, a Special Subject ‘Conflict, Conspiracy, Consensus? Religious Identities in the Reign of Elizabeth I’, which covers some of the themes addressed in the article below. The article for this blog accompanies a publication in the international journal Etudes Episteme. 2017 has seen a range of events to mark the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation (http://www.reformation500.uk/). Celebrations have been conducted in ways that deliberately avoid confessionalised interpretations of the past, including efforts at mutual dialogue between the Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37827736), […]
Following Henry’s lead: clothes and the construction of masculinity during the reign of Henry VIII
Andrew McCarthy, a current third year student in History and Politics, tells us about what attracted him towards his dissertation topic, what research challenges he faced along the way and what he was able conclude from his research. Andrew is planning to study for an MA in Early Modern History at Birkbeck next year. The early modern period was a time which included some of the most gripping events in history which is why I have always had an interest in it. As I have furthered my research into the period, I have come to realise that I am mostly interested the social aspect of sixteenth century British history, especially […]