Henry VIII: Man and Monarch
In celebration of the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession to the throne, the exhibition Henry VIII: Man and Monarch was held at The British Library from Thursday 23 April to Sunday 6 September 2009 (PACCAR Gallery). Exhibition guest curated by David Starkey; British Library curator: Andrea Clarke. Catalogue edited by Susan Doran, London 2009 (The British Library), 288 pages, 311 illustrations, £ 25.00.
The historian and broadcaster David Starkey guest-curated this unique exhibition that looks beyond the myths and stereotypes surrounding Henry VIII, to address the inner intellectual journey of Henry’s monarchy and re-examine our perceptions of the great Tudor monarch. Through fresh interpretation of rich source material the exhibition examined the extraordinary transformations – personal and political, intellectual and religious, literary, aesthetic, linguistic – of Henry’s reign. Books, manuscripts and letters written or annotated by Henry offered an unprecedented insight into the mind of the king, revealing the driving forces behind his actions, and telling the story of his reign from his own perspective.
Catalogue contents: Introduction (pp. 8-11); David Starkey, The Young Henry, 1491-1509 (pp. 13-16; entries, pp. 17-51); Steven Gunn, Venus and Mars, 1509-13 (pp. 53-55; entries, pp. 56-77); Glenn Richardson, The Triumph of Peace? 1514-27 (pp. 79-81; entries, pp. 82-105); Eric Ives, The Turning Point, 1527-29 (pp. 107-109; entries, pp. 110-125); Richard Rex, The Royal Supremacy, 1529-35 (pp. 127-129; entries, pp. 130-161); Peter Marshall, The Crisis of 1536 (pp. 163-165; entries, pp. 166-183); Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Making of a New Church, 1536-40 (pp. 185-187; entries, pp. 188-207); Susan Doran, The Last Years, 1539-47 (pp. 209-211; entries, pp. 212-255); Ralph Houlbrooke, Death, Will and Succession, 1546-47 (pp. 257-259; entries, pp. 260-271); James Carley, Henry VIII as Bibliophile: His Book Collections, their Storage and their Use (pp. 273-277); Bibliography (pp. 278-282); Index (pp. 283-287).
List of the illuminated manuscripts discussed in the catalogue: n. 2 - Beaufort Book of Hours (British Library, Royal MS 2 A xviii) by David Starkey; n. 15 - Writhe’s Garter Book (Collection of His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch) by David Starkey; n. 17 - Queen Elisabeth of York’s Book of Hours (British Library, Additional MS 50001) by David Starkey; n. 20 - Quentin Poulet, L’Imaginacion de Vraye Noblesse (British Library, Royal MS 19 V viii) by David Starkey; n. 21 - Lancelot du Lac (British Library, Royal MS 20 D iv) by James Carley; n. 23 - Henry V: the Model Tudor King? (British Library, Cotton MS Julius E iv) by David Starkey; n. 30 - Liber de optimo fato nobilissimi domini Henrici Eboraci … (British Library, Royal MS 12 B vi) by David Starkey; n. 35 - Henry’s Youthful Religion (Ushaw College, Durham, MS 29) by David Starkey; n. 38 - Henry and Katherine’s Marriage Contract (Archivio General de Simancas, Patronato Real, Caja 53, Doc. 1) by Andrea Clarke; n. 41 - Wriothesley’s Heraldic Collections, vol. 1: Book of Funerals (British Library, Additional MS 45131) by Adrian Ailes and David Starkey; n. 49 - Thomas More’s Coronation Suite (British Library, Cotton MS Titus D iv) by David Carlson; n. 53 - William Twiti, The Art of Hunting (British Library, Cotton MS Vespasian B xii) by Julian Harrison and Andrea Clarke; n. 55 - Motet, Celeste beneficium (British Library, Royal MS 8 G vii) by Nicolas Bell; n. 56 - Jousting tournament challange (British Library, Harley Ch. 83 H. 1) by Steven Gunn; n. 59 - Robert de Balsac, Manual Warfare for the Instruction of a Prince (British Library, Cotton MS Vespasian A xvii) by Julian Harrison; n. 60 - John Lydgate’s Siege of Troy (British Library, Royal MS 18 D vi) by James Carley; n. 63 - The Parliamentary Procession Roll of 1512 (British Library, Additional MS 22306) by Steven Gunn; n. 69 - Bernard André on the Victoires of 1513 (Collection of the Most Hon. the Marquess of Salisbury, Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, Cecil Papers MS 277/1) by David Carlson; n. 71 - Pierre Gringore, De la reception et entrée … Marie d’Angleterre (British Library, Cotton MS Vespasian B ii) by Glenn Richardson; n. 76 - Le commentaires de la guerre gallique, vol. 2, 1519 (British Library, Harley MS 6205) by Susan Doran; n. 79 - Sforza Hours (British Library, Additional MS 34294) by Susan Doran; n. 80 - Miniature Portrait of Henry VIII (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, PD.19-1949) by Scot McKendrick; n. 82 - Arms of the Sovereign and Peers Spiritual and Temporal in the Parliament Roll (British Library, Additional MS 40078) by Andrea Clarke; n. 86 - Design for Tents for the Fields of Cloth of Gold (British Library, Cotton MS Augustus I.ii.76 and III) by Glenn Richardson; n. 93 - The Treaty of Amiens, 18 August 1527 (The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, E30/1109) by Glenn Richardson; n. 95 - Henry VIII, Assertio septem sacramentorum (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Memb. III.4) by Richard Rex; n. 98 - ‘Salve radix’: canon in honour of Henry VIII (British Library, Royal MS 11 E xi) by Nicolas Bell; n. 104 - Actes of the Apostles and Book of Revelation (Collection of the Most Hon. the Marquess of Salisbury, Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, Cecil Papers MS 324) by Scot McKendrick); n. 108 - Book of Hours (British Library, Kings MS 9) by Eric Ives; n. 130 - Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britanniae (British Library, Royal MS 13 D v) by James Carley; n. 138 - Anne’s Elevation to the Peerage (British Library, Harley MS 303) by Eric Ives; n. 144 - The Pistellis and Gospelles for the LII Sondayes in the Yere, 1532-3 (British Library, Harley MS 6561) by Eric Ives; n. 146 - Le Pastor evangélique (British Library, Royal MS 16 E xiii) by Eric Ives; n. 148 - The Ecclesiastes (Collection of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, Percy MS 465) by Eric Ives; n. 149 - Anne’s Coronation, Sunday, 1 June 1533 (British Library, Harley MS 41) by Eric Ives; n. 194 - King Henry VIII’s Psalter (British Library, Royal MS 2 A xvi) by James Carley; n. 195 - Jean Mallard, Le Chemin de Paradis (Bodlean Library, Oxford MS 883) by James Carley; n. 201 - The Great Bible (British Library, C 18 d 10) by Tatiana String; n. 203 - Outlawing the Cult of St Thomas Becket (British Library, Stowe MS 22) by Eamon Duffy; n. 240 - Jean Rotz, The Boke of Idrography (British Library, Royal MS 20 E ix) by Peter Barber; n. 241 - Jean Mallard, Le Premier Livre de la cosmographie en rhetorique francoyse (British Library, Royal MS 20 B xii) by James Carley; n. 242 - The ‘Cottonian map of Britain’ (British Library, Cotton MS Augustus I i 9) by Peter Barber; and n. 243 - Nicolaus Kratzer, Canones Horoptri (Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Bodley 504) by Peter Barber.
Click here to watch the video introduction by David Starkey. You can also read about on the BBC website.
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