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'An Afternoon with the Tudors' to feature mixture of combat, arts


Engraving: King Henry VIII Brings Anne Boleyn to Cardinal Wolsey
August 10, 2011

The community is invited to an action-packed medieval event at Arizona State University from 11:30-5:30 p.m., Aug. 20. “An Afternoon with the Tudors” will feature medieval swordplay, early modern artisans and English Renaissance intrigue as depicted by members of the ASU student chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism.

As part of the activities, a lecture on Tudor England and the wives of King Henry VIII will be presented by ASU history professor Retha Warnicke at 2 p.m. in the Pima Room of the Memorial Union on ASU’s Tempe campus. Warnicke was interviewed by Showtime for its hit TV series, “The Tudors.” Her expertise in Tudor England was called upon to give historical depth to the fictionalized series in an extra feature segment titled “The Tudors – Henry’s Wives Club.” Warnicke provided detailed commentary on the lives of Tudor women, Henry himself, and the court at large. In this televised interview, Warnicke revealed her well-published theories of the historical lives of Henry’s wives, especially that of Anne Boleyn. Her theories were built on and elaborated in her 1989 book “The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII.”

Warnicke has published several books and articles on Tudor women including three books featuring Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, and Mary, Queen of Scots. Her most recent project is "Wicked Women of Tudor England: Queens, Aristocrats, and Commoners," which reveals how historians have validated negative gossip about Alice More, Jane More, Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, the Duchess of Somerset and the Countess of Leicester.

The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international organization dedicated to researching and recreating the arts and skills of pre-17th century Europe with more than 30,000 members worldwide. Members experience the fun of creating and dressing in the clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, while attending a wide variety of events including tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, classes and hands-on workshops. The ASU student chapter of SCA is called the College of Brymstonne. More information about the chapter is online at http://www.brymstonne.org or email to Seneschal@Brymstonne.org.

“An Afternoon with the Tudors,” co-hosted by the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at ASU, is free and open to the public. Activities will be held in the Memorial Union on ASU’s Tempe campus. Additional information is online at http://asuevents.asu.edu/afternoon-tudors.

Kendra E. TerBeek, Kendra.Terbeek@asu.edu
480-965-8097
Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies