Hever historical fiction from Year 7

Here are some stories inspired by our trip to Hever Castle and our study of the Tudors so far.  Enjoy!

Hilary Mantel - Reith Lectures 2017

An excellent thought-provoking set of talks from Hilary Mantel, the historical novel author.  Very worth listening to or reading the transcript.  Particularly good for those thinking of doing History at university as she ponders on the nature of history and historical fiction.  Enjoy!

Stormclouds

Free from the stresses of exams now, I've been having a lot of fun reading some of the year 7s' efforts at writing historical fiction after their trip to Hever Castle (see previous post). Somewhat inspired by all this creativity, I've decided to post a bit of my own Tudor fiction here. This is, in all likelihood, going to be my final post on this blog, and so I no longer feel any embarrassment about my attempts at creative writing.

I wanted to explore some of the religious tensions of the late 1530s, so this is set at the spectacular event that was the christening of the future Edward VI. It's told from Archbishop Cranmer's point of view, and foreshadows his eventual martyrdom under the regime of Mary Tudor in 1556. Mary never really forgave Cranmer for his role in her father's divorce proceedings and the Royal Supremacy, and I wanted to explore their relationship a bit.

The whole story can be found here.