HENRY VIII BLING!!! LIVE DATES!!! SHIPS!!! PODCASTS!!!
This week's post is a mashup of history and happenings
Roses, pomegranates, entwined initials and gold. Lots of shiny gold. Those are the main ingredients of the glorious pendant shown off by the British Museum this week. It has been dated to the first half of the sixteenth century, and its initials refer to the King and Queen of England in that time: Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon.
The pendant was found by a metal detector in a field in Warwickshire in 2021, buried quietly among a load of scrap metal and car batteries. It hasn’t been shown off to the public until now, and it hasn’t been valued for sale.
But it’s a lovely thing to behold, and to judge from the the photos that were release of it today, absolutely massive. I always wonder when I look at Holbein-era paintings from Henry’s court: were the jewels and bling they wore really that big?
Judging by the size of the Warwickshire pendant, I think we have an answer.
The well-to-do of Tudor England could easily compete with the most heavily bejewelled rappers of the early twenty-first century. They went heavy on the gold, heavy on the links. Heavy all round. The cafe owner Charlie Clarke, who dug up the necklace, said he shrieked ‘like a little schoolgirl’ when he first saw it.
I don’t think we can blame him.
Live dates coming up!!!
My novel Essex Dogs is published in the US on 14th February, and I’m happy to be doing a couple of virtual talks in the days leading up to the release and one in-person signing in the spring. Here’s what you need to know.
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