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3:25 pm
March 21, 2011
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Dear members of this forum
I would be ever so grateful if you could help me. I’m doing some research on the reasons why people write and read historical fiction set in the Tudor period, in particular on why they like to write and/or read a novel about the same events or the same historical figure again and again. Is it not just always the same story?
I’m one of those who like to read about the same events/people again and again, but I can only answer for myself as to reasons; I need more information from a wide variety of people.
I’m preparing a talk on this issue and would appreciate your comments very much; I may quote you in my paper and so would advice only those who do not mind this to reply to this post.
With my best wishes,
Ingibjörg, or Inga for short
Ingibjörg Ágústsdóttir
2:08 am
November 18, 2010
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According to D’Hoffryn, I’m a book addict. Any book that triggers my intreast has to be read.
Reading fiction about the Tudors is mainly for relaxation for me.In the same way I read sci-fi and fantasy, I read historial fiction for fun. And yes..at times I get annoyed that there are some/many facts wrong but I remember that it’s fiction and not to be accepted at face value..
Then I come and rant here about it…..
It's always bunnies.
2:22 pm
March 21, 2011
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thank you very much Anyanka, could you explain why reading about the Tudors is relaxing?
Ingibjörg Ágústsdóttir
3:25 pm
February 16, 2009
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I think historical fiction is a way for authors to fill in the blanks by using their imagination. For example, we don’t know what happened to Mary Seymour, Catherine Parr’s daughter, she just disappears from the records after her second birthday, so a novelist can use the historical facts surrounding her parents and her birth and then put forward a “what if” scenario.
I love reading authors’ ideas on these “what ifs”, these historical questions, but I only like it if an author then explains in the notes why they did what they did and which bits are fact and which bits are fiction.
Debunking the myths about Anne Boleyn
10:06 am
March 21, 2011
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Thank you so much Claire! I really value your opinion, seeing that I know for a fact that you are totally immersed in the Tudor world 
Ingibjörg Ágústsdóttir
3:39 pm
January 3, 2012
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Reading about events from the past is to me at least exciting and informative.. There is just so much we don’t know, as Claire says the What if’s make very good conversations.. By the way Claire there was a rumour that Little Mary Parr/Seymour, was adopted at the age of about 2 and half, which is the last we hear of her officially. That she did survive to adulthood and became a lady in waiting in the latter part of Queen Lizzy’s reign,and in the early years of Anne of Denmark’s reign, she married well and died around 1620 ish. Whether this is true or not I cannot prove it, but it would be nice to think she did. Personally I do think she died at the age of 2.
Anyway Inga I feel that the reason we read the same type of story, is to try and find a reason (for want of a better word) to make sence of what went on.. I.E Henry turning the whole world upside down for the love of just one woman and then turning it inside out to kill her.
We each have our own theories about what made Henry tick or not tick (makes him sound like a bomb, actually thinking about it he was.. A stinkbomb) and between us we produce lively and talented discussions.
I also feel that History and Law seem to run hand in hand with each other. The judicial system was very hotch potch until Henry 1st know as beauclerk (the Lawyer) sorted it out to some sort of degree, but it was really Sir Edward Coke I believe that refined it to it’s proper degree and it’s his laws are really more or less what we use today, with a few adjustments and tweeks here and there. For instance I’m not too sure but I believe there is still a law where if you piddle on the town hall steps and shout relief whilst doing it you cannot be prosicuted. I wouldn’t want to risk however.
Semper Fidelis, quod sum quod
8:23 pm
January 9, 2010
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Did that only apply to the town hall Boleyn? Or was urinating anywhere in public allowed as long as you said that? Funny how some of the older laws still stand in some places 
It seems to me if you’re a bit of a history buff then you have a certain era or eras that you favour over others. I love the Tudors whilst my brother is really into the Byzantine empire, for example. We’re both history geeks and conversations can get pretty heated over who was cooler. But I wonder if historical fiction isn’t more of a female thing – my brother has stacks and stacks of history books yet hardly anything in the way of historical fiction (whereas i have both). Just a thought!
But for me reading historical fiction about the Tudors is a sort of comfort reading; it may be safe and basically the same story over and over again but it’s one I never get bored of – I like to know as much about a subject as I possibly can. It’s something to curl up with when I’m just not in the mood for something more academic. I also think historical fiction has an immediacy about it that makes you feel as though you’re really part of the action whereas non-fiction can be dry and heavy to take. Historical fiction is also a good way to introduce a historical subject to someone who might not be inclined to history at all.
9:31 pm
March 21, 2011
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Thank you Boleyn and Bella44! You make very interesting points. Now the comfort/relaxation aspect comes up frequently in replies, not just on this website. I wonder if it is also comforting to be reading about such hazardous and difficult times such as the Tudor era when compared to our own time. Do we find relaxation in the fact that we do not live in such dangerous times, that our lives are more comfortable, that women have freedom and (at least to some extent) equality to men? Just a thought.
Ingibjörg Ágústsdóttir
12:50 am
November 18, 2010
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ingibjorg said
thank you very much Anyanka, could you explain why reading about the Tudors is relaxing?
Reading is of itself relaxing…being transported to another place and time. Real life left at the door..and sometinmes leaving behind the known facts can be freeing in it’s own way..
It's always bunnies.
8:11 am
January 3, 2012
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Bella44 said
Did that only apply to the town hall Boleyn? Or was urinating anywhere in public allowed as long as you said that? Funny how some of the older laws still stand in some places
Just the town hall steps Bella. LOL. I won’t risk it though given how much water I drink during the day if I did I’d more that likely flood the town. LOL
Semper Fidelis, quod sum quod
11:03 pm
March 21, 2011
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Reading is of itself relaxing…being transported to another place and time. Real life left at the door..and sometinmes leaving behind the known facts can be freeing in it’s own way..
Thank you again Anyanka, indeed I have to agree with that!
Ingibjörg Ágústsdóttir
