Shorter Vacation (Holiday) Policy Now in effect at Times offices
All Hail Mary
Mary Tudor Proclaimed Queen of England
Like, A Virgin!!!!
Elizabeth Tudor Crowned Queen of England
New Spelling Standards Set Forth
A diphthongue makes a different sound
Much Ado About Nothing?
New Playwright Panders to Prevalent Profane
Preferences
Shorter Vacation (Holiday) Policy Now in Effect at Times offices
Whoa! We certainly missed the boat on this one! Who knew? One minute, we were closing our offices for a well-deserved two week vacation (that's "holiday" to our UK cousins) and summer progress, the next minute, we found we had missed a Big story. Sure, we knew when we left Court that Edward VI, Henry VIII's only son and the third Tudor monarch, didn't look well, and, yes, there was some talk about securing the succession, but that sort of thing has always been discussed. We figured the kid would hang in there 'til we returned from our journeys about the countryside. He always did have a peaked look about him, you know.
So, we filed our "King Edward ill (again)" story, and early on the morning of July 6th, we set off for the North country, scheduled to return July 20th. Well, what a surprise to learn that minutes after we left the Palace's media briefing room, Edward had up and died. Even more startling, we learned on our return that Lady Jane Grey, daughter of Mr and Mrs Grey, and wife of Guildford Dudley, had been crowned Queen. Then, on July 19th, the very day before our return to the office, young Jane was made to relinquish the crown of England. Henry's first daughter, Mary, was then proclaimed Queen.
Mary's press office issued this terse statement:
"Mistress Jane has been deposed, and, we trust, shortly shall be disposed."
Needless to say, no one was much interested in hearing the tales of our adventures in the North country, and heads began rolling here at the Times. Having missed covering the start of not one, but two, new reigns during our absence, a shorter vacation and family leave policy was hastily placed in effect.
Get the Real Story:
Coronation of Glory: The Story of Lady Jane Grey
Children of England: the Heirs of Henry VIII of England
Websites:
Britiannia.com - A very Well Done site concerning the "Nine Days Queen," Lady Jane Grey.
Be sure to visit our Bookstore.
All Hail Mary
Eldest Tudor Daughter Proclaimed Queen of England
Nostradamus Sez!
The hottest trend in soothsaying tracts at the marketplace these days is any and all things Nostradamus. This guy is simply amazing.
"To an old leader will be born an idiot heir, weak both in knowledge and in war."
Clearly, this refers to Henry Tudor's birth in 1489. Well, of course, Henry VIII wasn't an idiot, and he did have knowledge
and certainly was a great warrior, but he was the heir of our old leader, Henry VII. This is
a remarkable prediction, since Nostradamus wasn't even born until 1503!
Others are not so quick to credit the premonitions of the physician turned poet.
"Lunatic brainless fool", snorts Laurens Videl. William Fulke agrees. "Craftye Nostradamus," he complained, "has wrapped his predictions in such
dark wryncles of obscuritye that no man could make any sense of them."
Many real astrologers are highly critical of what they call Nostradamus' "useless astrological predictions." These star gazers charge that
Nostradamus has often wrongly placed the planets, and put the sun in two ends of the sky at once.
We stumbled across this quatrain:
"The young lion shall overcome the old
On the field of battle in single combat;
In a cage of gold he shall pierce his eyes:
Two knells one, then to die, a cruel death"
We decided to ask Nostradamus' principal patrons, the King and Queen of France, what meaning there might be in this stanza.
There's precious little significance, according to the French King. "Remember, he's writing poetry, not legal documents," said Henri II. "Talk to my wife,
Catherine de Medici, she's the one who believes in this stuff. Listen," he continued while donning a golden helmet, "I'm late for my jousting match;
gotta go. Don't worry, nothing Nostradamus predicted has ever come true," he concluded.
Nostradamus did not return our repeated calls requesting an interview. But, his publicist issued this statement:
"Quod de futuris non est determinata omnino veritas" (For concerning future events, the truth has not been
fully determined)
Get the real story:
Books:
Prophecies of Nostradamus
The Nostradamus Bible Code
The Mask of
Nostradamus- a critical and skeptical book on the Nostradamus phenomenon
On the Web:
How Nostradamus
Works-How stuff works-great links
Receive a Quatrain a day by email
from the Nostradamus Repository
Be sure to visit our Bookstore.
Like, A Virgin!!!!
Elizabeth Tudor Crowned Queen of England
Be sure to visit our Queen Elizabeth I section in the Bookstore.
What newes as you come by the waie, Countrie man?
Nene but aude maners, faire saiynges, fause hartes, and ne deuotion, God amende
the market! Moche toiling for the purse, decieuyng eche other. In the countrie
strife, debate runnyng for euery trifle to the Lawiers, hauyng nethyng but the
nutshells, the Lawiers eate the carnelles…Ause muche reisyng of rentes…God
helpe, God helpe, the world is sare changed; extortioners, couetous men, and
hypocrites doe much preuaile… (From A Dialogue Against the Fever Pestilence by
William Bulleyn, Bullien, Bullen, whatever)
New Spelling Standards Set Forth
"Right spelling maketh right writing,” said
Francis Clement in a recent rare, but spellbinding, interview. Clement is
currently on a progress through the countryside selling his new book, “The Petie
Schole (The Petty School).”
Under the “No Chattel Left Behind” (NCLB) Act of 1576, all schools are required
to hire “highly qualified” teachers to teach core academic subjects such as the
artes sermocinales (grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic) and the artes reales
(arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music). These changes must be in place by
the start of the 1580-81 academic year.
One of the principles of No Chattel Left Behind states “a well-prepared teacher
is vitally important to a child's education.” Clement, who asserts that his
rules will “enable both a child to read perfectly within one month & also the
unperfect to write English aright” contends that “children have commonly
ignorant teachers,” particularly in the area of spelling. “Children (as we see)
almost everywhere are first taught either in private by men or women altogether
rude, and utterly ignorant of the due composing and just spelling of words,” he
said. “I mean to write true English.”
Clement, apparently an early proponent of “differentiated instruction,” advises
tutors to “use discretion in acquainting the child either with all or some of
these rules of spelling, as he is of years and capacity.”
Get the Real Story:
Four Tudor Books on Education Edited by Robert Pepper. Pricey, but what
a hoot--- I enjoy reading this almost as much as the stuff by William Bullien…
Bulleyn…Bullen…whatever. Quotes above by Clement are taken from The Petie Schole
(The Petty School) written in 1576. Ironically, I’ve taken the liberty of
tweaking some of the spelling to be more easily read by modern eyes...but, oh,
how very little things seem to change over the centuries. What’s great about
these four books is that they were not written exclusively for the nobility, but
rather for the more common sort of person. The first book is a translation of
Plutarch by Sir Thomas Elliot (Elyot). He sent this “token of my tender love” to
his “entirely beloved sister” for aiding in the education of his nephews. Now,
there’s a real brother, there’s a real man. There was a man who devoted all he
had to his duty, no matter how seemingly insignificant his duty might appear at
the time, no matter how great the odds…oh, wait, this has been done already.
Well, you get the idea. There’s a brother who doubtless would gladly pay his
dear sister’s website hosting fees, not caring about the cost. The second book
is Clement’s “Petie Scholar”. The third and fourth, I haven’t quite gotten
through, yet. Stay tuned for more as I work my way through.
On the Web:
No Child Left Behind Info
On-line spell check
Fun Brain Spelling games
Tour of the Seven Arts
(This is the Tudor Times, we don’t use the “L” word here)
A diphthongue makes a different sound
A word is an absolute & perfect voice, whereby something is meant and signified. Wordes some are of one syllable as : God, Man. Some of more as goodness, to-ward-ness.
A syllable is the pronouncing of one letter or more with one breath, thus: I-ma-gine,
A letter is an element, or simple voice apt to express a word, either one by it selfe uttered or more joined together as: I see the Sunne.
Letters are either vowels or consonants. A vowel is a letter which giveth a perfect & full sound of himselfe: And of them there be five: a.e.i.(or y.) o.u.It giveth I saye, a perfect and full sound, not onely for that it standeth many tymes for a syllable by it selfe alone: as in these: A-dam, E-vah, I-mage, y-nough, o-pen, u-ti-li-tie: but, also because without some of these the consonants give no sound, as in this word: fa-ther-ly, from which take away the vovels a,e,y, so shal it be left mute, and signifie nothing: f-thr.l.
A consonant is a letter, which soundeth with a vowell, else it can give no sound as is said in the vowell.
Of vowels justly coupled are made Dipthongues.
A Dipthongue is a mixt sound of two vowels concurrent in one syllable. Wherof the English Reader hath chiefly seven: au, ai, ea, ei, (or ey) eu, oi, ou, as: fraude, faile, steale, their, beauty, foile, house.
Get the Rest of the Story:
Four Tudor Books on Education Edited by Robert Pepper.
Lancelot Lackluster on Saturday led dozens
of people in a rowdy protest march in London against plans for a possible war
with Spain. "War is not the answer... We needs must try diplomacy...Love
all, trust a few, do wrong to
none", the smallish crowd sang in an off key manner.
Supporters of action against the Spanish gathered on the other side of the lane
from Lackluster's band. "Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,"
they chanted.
Lackluster, best known for his dull performances as an actor, had this to say,
"I'm not the queen, but I have played one on stage, so, I'm well suited to
shape public opinion."
These protestors forget that Spain's leader, King Phillip II, has pledged to
conquer the Protestant heretics in England and convert them to the Church of
Rome. King Phillip also holds "personal animosities" towards our
Glorianna,
and is eager to wipe out a major rival for monetary reasons.
Critics of "The Tudor Doctrine" cite Spanish sources who maintain that
English ships have been attacking Spanish treasure ships and raiding Spanish
towns in the Americas. Spaniards also charge that Queen Elizabeth has refused
to punish the privateers and would not return the riches they had seized.
"That is so not true," the Queen told the Times in a rare interview.
"What I said was, I will punish anyone whom I catch raiding ships. We do
not condone piracy."
When the Queen was asked whether there were any difference between
"Pirates" and "Privateers", she had this to say, "Well,
of course, privateers are another matter..." At this point, the Queen
abruptly ended the interview,
just after receiving the news that Sir Francis Drake was back from a long sea
voyage.
Get the Real Story:
Defeat
of the Spanish Armada
Or Visit these Websites:
http://tbls.hypermart.net/history/1588armada/backg.html
http://www.historybuff.com/library/refspain.html
Be sure to visit our Queen Elizabeth I section in the Bookstore.
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Revised: November 13, 2006.