Raglan Castle's Tudor V weekend - 28th and 29th July 2018 - mark it in your diary.

It isn't long now until the annual Tudor event at Raglan Castle, the childhood home of Henry Tudor. (Read more about that here)  Rain or shine it is always a great weekend with a warm welcome for everyone. Raglan is a big castle with plenty to explore and refreshments and activities to suit all.

Every year the Tudor event offers something new, something fun, and surprisingly educational with living crafts, historical talks, refreshments, battles, executions!! mock jousts and archery. This year there will be a fun Tudor joust and a talk on Anne Boleyn by fellow historian Lesley Smith. Even without all that, you will not want to miss the wonders of Raglan Castle itself. 

Above is a photograph taken by a visitor to last year's event. It shows me and my trusty servant primed and ready to begin the day. My biggest fear this year is not fitting into my Tudor gown, the combined effects of middle-age spread and too much ice cream to combat the heat this summer has made it ... erm ... a little tight but I am pretty confident my French Hood will fit 😂

Bring your princes and princesses along to meet me and take a photograph outside the magnificent gatehouse. I will selling signed copies of my books at a considerable discount, including the third in The Beaufort Chronicle series that some of you have been waiting for. 

The King's Mother relates the final years in the life of Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of King Henry VII. There will be plenty of freebies and giveaways on hand and I am always happy to answer questions about Tudor history, writing or publishing.

Can't wait to see you there!

Raglan Castle is easy to find. Just over the Welsh/English border, on the A40 in Monmouthshire, the postcode is NP15 2BT.

Raglan Castle Tudor Weekend

If you can ever get along to Raglan Castle for the Tudor Weekend be sure to do so. This is our third year and we will be going again, for sure.

We got there on Friday afternoon when it was quiet and we had to wrestle with the wind to get our gazebo up. Thankfully, someone was watching over us and we were helped by a friendly friar who must have had God's ear because things went more smoothly once he came along.

Saturday morning dawned dry but it didn't look promising. We wriggled into our Tudor clothing and prepared to meet our public. It was a slow day, the ever present threat of rain and the knowledge that it was free entry into the castle on Sunday, kept the visitors at home.

The visitors I did meet however were interesting, funny and very enthusiastic. I have never met people from so many corners of the world. America, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Essex :) Lots of them went home with one of my books tucked beneath their arm, and even more with a card so they can look me up on kindle.

Tudor clothing, particularly women's, was not designed for comfort. as the day wore on my bodice felt tighter, my knees grew weaker from so much standing and i was very very hot - thankfully it wasn't a hot day, or I would have melted for sure.

My partner in crimes against Tudor history, John, was not too hot. He is not a warm  blooded mortal at the  best of times and so relished the comforts of his thick velvet (modern day thermal vest hidden beneath) his nice worsted stockings, and the benefits of a hat.

Sunday was much busier. Early on, before we were properly attired a large coach party of Americans arrived. We were photographed, questioned and had a  thoroughly good morning chatting to them. People, particularly the women and little girls are really interested in the clothes and what it is like to wear them and this year we had a french hood for the girls to try on and have their photo taken, next year I hope to have more items for them to try. If any of you should read this I'd love to see some of the photographs. I even remembered to remove my glasses - staring blindly into the lens, blinking like a mole in the sunlight.

I had a lengthy discussion with a lady who was a big fan of Henry VII but had no idea he'd grown up at the castle. i pointed out that Margaret Beaufort visited Henry there, and later his wife, Elizabeth of York visited too. This happy lady went off determined to look at it afresh, with the knowledge she was walking in Henry's shoes.

We had a few showers of rain, nothing heavy but enough to illustrate the inadequacies of our silly modern gazebo - a medieval style canvas tent is on my shopping list before next year's event.

I sell my books at discount prices at these events so it is not for profit. it is pure fun. I love meeting readers, new and old. Meeting up with old friends, the Amicorum reenactment group, and the Beaufort Company, watching a reenactment of the Battle of Bosworth and hoping every year for a different outcome.

The Tudor Weekend is not the only event at Raglan worth visiting. The castle offers something new, something fun, and surprisingly educational with living crafts, historical talks, refreshments, battles, executions, mock jousts, archery and knight's school; not to mention the wonders of Raglan Castle itself. If you ever make it there, be sure to look for me. I am the one in the posh red gown.

www.juditharnopp.com
author.to/juditharnoppbooks
http://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/raglancastle/?lang=en

Raglan Castle Tudor Weekend - A Review

Raglan from the top of the tower

On our return from Raglan Castle's Tudor Weekend I wanted to sit down straight away and blog about the fabulous time we had but life got in the way and I am a little behind. After a busy couple of weeks promoting my latest novel Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr at last I have a spare few moments.

Me - shamefully cross laced

Two weeks ago my old fella and I got into our Tudor best and took a trip to Raglan Castle to sell books, meet the public and generally have a lot of fun. The weather for once was perfect, dry, not too hot, not too cold and the company was great. 

A family group

Neither of us had done this before and had no idea what to expect. Sometimes when you enter a new social arena you can feel out of place, not one of the crowd, a little gauche, but there was none of that at Raglan. As soon as we arrived on site we were given a lovely welcome from custodian Jane Mcilquham who quickly introduced us to the others. And what a lovely bunch they are.

Jane Mcilquham - custodian

There were various stalls and a medieval style bar, The Stagger Inn, plenty of refreshments on offer.

Under the banner of the White Boar

We decked our gazebo in medieval bunting and set out our wares right next to Henry VIII who, just as Henry liked to do, sometimes masqueraded as Minstrel Tom, entertaining the crowd with his music. 
 

Nathen Amin signing copies of his book

On our other side was Nathen Amin, signing copies of his guide book Tudor Wales which, as the title suggests, lists all the Tudor attractions in Wales.  Also nearby was photographer, Louise Burrows with a selection of her lovely photographs and cards, and Marion Davies who is better known as Mistress Grott was selling cures and curiosities. I bought a stick weaving kit and am now embarked on yet another handicraft.

A fair maiden

Raglan Castle is truly splendid; a proud building even now after years of wars and neglect, and the splendour was enhanced by the presence of two re-enactment groups, The Armourial Knights and the Beaufort Companye who staged some stunning events. 

Courtly love comes to Raglan

The costumes and attention to detail of both communities is unsurpassed, their camps acting as a portal to another time and place. I saw people of all ages, from small children to elderly women, and all were wearing authentic costume, embellishing the whole event and turning the day into an ‘experience.’ 

King Richard III waiting for the battle

Walking with my camera I came upon a company of knights on their way to Bosworth Field and I felt I was in a setting from one of my novels. I am very certain that many of the characters and scenes I saw at Raglan will be resurrected and used in my future work.

A family group

There was plenty of scope. I saw a mock execution, a re-enactment of the Battle of Bosworth, listened to a talk by historian Emma Knight on Anne Boleyn. There was falconry, spinning displays, a Tudor trail for the kids to educate them subliminally as they move around the castle, helping them learn the fun way. 

Henry VIII figuring out how to put on his own hat

I met several of my heroes and a good few foes; Richard III, Henry VII, Henry VIII, The Stanleys … for me it was seventh heaven.

Richard - still waiting

I am a retiring sort of person and I went to Raglan with some reservation but I will not hesitate to go again. It was brilliant to meet my readers face to face and hear their enthusiastic feedback for my work. Next time, if you can't find me signing my novels, The Kiss of the Concubine, Intractable Heart, and The Winchester Goose, I will be somewhere in the crowd feasting on Welsh cakes and soaking up the atmosphere. 

Hope to see you there.

A gathering

 Judith Arnopp is the author of six historical novels. 

Click here to read more about her work.

Raglan Castle - A Tudor Weekend 31th May - 1 June, 2014

 

By Bob McCaffrey from Rickmansworth, UK (Raglan Castle (2)) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Most people today see Raglan Castle in a blur as they dash past it on the A40 just outside Abergavenney in Monmouthshire. The castle serves as a reminder of our heritage, a ghost of late medieval Britain that watches in bemusement as we scurry by on our frantic modern business.

But, in its heyday, Raglan Castle would have been a destination in itself. A weary traveller on the old medieval route through the village would have been overawed by the vast crenelated towers as they appeared dramatically over the brow of the hill. He would then be forced to take the path circling the castle. Constrained to ride around the Great Tower and moat, he could not help but notice the impenetrable walls, the defensive towers, the soaring gatehouse. Once inside he would have looked up at vast walls that shadowed the sun, to see fluttering pennants against the clear blue sky. He would have craned his neck at the carved stone badges and shields above the gate expressing the awesome power of the Earl. Only then would he pass through to the inner Fountain Court to discover another entrance, this time to the Great Tower and the Family’s living quarters. All this was designed to impress, put a visitor on his guard, and make any prospective enemy think again.

Philip Halling [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)],

The castle we see today was begun in 1415 by William ap Thomas, a veteran of Agincourt, who purchased the manor of Raglan for one thousand marks. It was William who conceived the basic shape of the castle although much of the building work took place after his time.

William’s son dropped the ap Thomas and began to call himself William Herbert. He was active on the side of York during the Wars of the Roses and also fought in the Hundred Years War. It was William Herbert who carried out most of the medieval phase of the building and added extensive parkland, orchards and fishponds. As a Yorkist supporter Herbert’s fortunes flourished and in 1461 Edward IV made him Lord Herbert of Raglan. 

In 1461 at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross Herbert’s half-brother, Henry Vaughn, captured the Lancastrian, Owen Tudor, father of Jasper and grandfather of Henry, and executed him in Hereford. Owen’s son Jasper was forced to flee the country, leaving his nephew, Henry Tudor, behind at Pembroke castle.

Sir William Herbert.

In 1468 Herbert became the first Welshman to be made an Earl; the Earl of Pembroke, replacing the now attainted Lancastrian, Jasper Tudor. He also became Justice and Chamberlain of South Wales and one of the King’s closest advisors and friends.

Henry VII

He was given custody of the young Lancastrian heir, Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) and the boy spent much of his childhood at Raglan while his uncle Jasper Tudor agitated for the return to a Lancastrian rule. Although held as a prisoner Henry was gently treated, receiving an education and instruction in military skills.

But William Herbert’s fortunes did not last and after the Battle of Edgecote Moor in 1469 Herbert, along with his brother Robert, was executed. His daughter Elizabeth married Charles Somerset, a natural son of Henry Beaufort, third Duke of Somerset, and with her, the castle passed into the hands of a new family. Over the course of a few generations the Somersets added Pitched Stone Court, the Hall, the Long Gallery and developed the gardens in the new Renaissance style fashion.

The architecture at Raglan marks the transition of British castles from defensive structures into homes for the rich and powerful. Raglan is distinctive in the aesthetic details like fireplaces and windows, added in the Tudor period. Fountain Court takes its name from a magnificent black marble fountain featuring a white marble horse that once took centre place; its ostentation can now only be imagined. The fabulous oriel window and the great stair which gave access to the family apartments above would have been outstanding in their day. The workmanship of the stonemasons is a clear sign that the custodians of Raglan employed only the best craftsmen.

Raglan saw little battle action until the Civil War when it was held under siege by the parliamentarians; when the castle surrendered General Fairfax ordered it to be completely destroyed under the supervision of Henry Herbert, a direct descendent of William ap Thomas, the castle’s founder.

Fortunately the castle was not easy to destroy (or perhaps Herbert didn’t have his heart in it) and the damage was comparatively slight. Although the family regained their possessions and ownership of the castle after the restoration the building continued to slide into decay until the 20^th century when it was scheduled as a listed building. It is now administered by Cadw.

But life at Raglan Castle isn’t over yet. Every year Cadw hold medieval fayres that celebrate the medieval and Tudor world. On the weekend of May 31 – June 1, 2014 Cadw are holding A Tudor Weekend. As well as enjoying the splendours of the castle, you can meet Henry VII, Henry VIII, try on a Tudor costume, hear a talk by historian Emma Knight on Anne Boleyn, and also meet me.

I will be there in my Tudor kit, signing my Tudor novels, TheWinchester Goose, The Kiss of the Concubine, and Intractable Heart, and talking to fellow Tudor enthusiasts.

I look forward to meeting you there.

You can read more about me and my work on my webpage:

www.juditharnopp.com

Pictures from Wikimedia Commons.