When people think of courtly jesters, often what comes to mind are grinning performers with bells on their hats, quipping and gamboling for the rulers of the realm. But in Henry VIII's court, the newer 'natural' fools held a different and very special place in court.

So what is a 'Natural Fool?'

Not a 'Natural Fool' at all...

A 'skilled fool' or 'jester' was a regular member of the royal courts from at least medieval times, typically a bold performer and/or actor who was shrewd enough to gauge the royal family's sense of humor without causing danger to themselves, and providing levity in the back-biting, claustrophobic and stressful environment of the courts . Often these performers were comedic and goofy, but they could also act as magicians, jugglers and more. The 'Natural Fool' however, which seems to have been adopted more commonly around the time of Henry VIII, was an altogether different figure of the court. This individual was an 'innocent' - a person with a particular disability (usually a learning disability) that was retained as a figure of levity and, at times, the source of many a humbling statement that none other would dare utter to those in power.




Why take on a 'Natural Fool'?

The 'Natural Fool' served as a figure of comic relief in many ways that the traditional jesters

William Sommers

did, but they also served a more Christian purpose. Due to their learning difficulties the king and his court appreciated what they saw as a natural frankness and innocence which would in turn encourage the royals to humility. While it is impossible to say how far these individuals were aware of the full spectrum of their words, there are examples where especially shrewd and cutting commentaries could be directed to the king as no one else dared to say. 
William Sommers, for example, was a 'Natural Fool' who was valued by the king and granted access to the monarch at all times, especially towards the later pained years of Henry VIII's life. In 1553 Thomas Wilson quoted William as commenting to Henry:

"As please your grace...you have so many fraud-iters, so many conveyers, and so many deceivers to get up your money, that they get all to themselves."

Wilson explains that William meant to say 'auditors, surveyors and receivers' and in this characteristic slip he criticised the king's organisation as no other would, amusing him while making him think starkly on the position of his accountants. Whether William genuinely confused his words or whether he chose them carefully is lost to history, unfortunately. The royals nevertheless viewed him and his kind as naturally closer to God, as if God himself spoke through them due to their 'innocence', and so it's likely that his words struck a very real chord.



Were 'Natural Fools' Exploited?

From the 'All the Kings Fools' production

While to modern sensibilities the position of 'Natural Fool' is at best tone-deaf and insensitive and at worst exploitative, there is evidence that the position was very valued and that the 'Natural Fools' were themselves very well respected and afforded a status that was high above that of their neurotypical peers.

On the one hand we cannot escape the dehumanising elements of the position of 'Natural Fool'. These people were placed in a position of being a source of amusement for the court and it is certainly a patronising role that is likely to have paid little attention to the person's own rights as an individual. Looking at William 'Patch' Sexton, who predated William Somer as the court 'Natural Fool', he was treated largely as one treats property. Cardinal Wolsey, out of favour with the king, gave Hampton Court palace to the king and Sexton was included in the gift. Unsettlingly, it is recorded that it took six tall yeomen to transport him into court when he was clearly distressed. whatever his problems on that day he was going, like it or not.
Yet one can argue that this isn't so out of keeping with the general hierarchy of the time, where lower serving classes were used for the benefit and amusement of the ruling classes, with little true autonomy of their own. 


One thing that can be said for the 'Natural Fools' is that they occupied a higher status than their 'skilled fool' counterparts, and certainly a far higher status than other contemporaries with learning difficulties could ever hope to enjoy. In many ways they were very much a treasured part of the royal family itself.The idealised picture 'the family of Henry VIII' was painted in 1545, showing the king (healthier than he was), his son and heir, the long dead Jane Seymour (the king's favourite wife and mother to Edward VI) and his two daughters (who had been recently restored to the succession). Also, flanking the royals, is Jane the fool and William Somer - the two 'Natural Fools'. Their inclusion is a significant display of their value within the royal household as, it's worth noting, the current living Queen Katherine Parr was not even included in this portrait.

Jane Fool on the left with William Sommers and his monkey on the right.

Evidence of the 'Natural Fools'' esteemed position is evidenced by far more than just an interpretation of a painting. Jane the fool seems to have been especially treasured and largely passed about the tudor family, moving between Mary Tudor and Queen Katherine Parr. Katherine, with genuine warmth, seems to have noted that Jane was not properly occupied, and court records show that she ordered in several geese and a hen for her to look after and care for, which were subsequently trotted around the court. None of the natural fools ever had to wear traditional jester's clothing, and instead wore the rich clothing that matched in value and dignity to the queen's ladies - the wives and daughters of nobility. Jane, for example, had more clothes in greater numbers ordered for her than anyone else but the queen herself (though admittedly cut in the Dutch style rather than the more fashionable French.)  While under Lady Mary's care, Jane was also included in the annual St Valentines Day Lottery, which seems to indicate how the members of the court afforded her considerable equality. Here lots were drawn by all male courtiers for who among the ladies of the court should be their partners for dancing. a Mr Hete and a Mr Barnes were both rewarded in black satin for acting as 'Jane our fool's valentyne'. It is clear that Mary at least was actively caring and generous to her and Jane was well cared for in any illness.


All in all, the position of 'natural fools' shows a fascinating insight into the day-to-day running of the royal family, as well as how some of the disabled were given an opportunity to rise above their usual lot in life to perform valuable service in the courts. They were far more than simple jesters.


Source
- All the King's Fools .co.uk
-Suzannah lipscomb All the King's Fools
- The Anne Boleyn Files - Jane the Fool
- Fools and jesters of the English court by John Southworth (Ch 11 -
- Historic England - the king's fools: disability in the Tudor court

Historical fiction can really be hit and miss, but this week I'd like to show you a gem in the genre: Dissolution  by CJ Sansom.

The Plot

I picked up Dissolution as a stab in the dark because it covers what I think is one of the most fascinating events in English history - the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the sixteenth century. It was a very turbulent time, with Henry VIII's bullish religious changes following his divorce and break from the pope. In his quest for reformation (and money!) the entire ecclesiastical landscape of the country would be forever transformed under the direction of Lord Cromwell. This is the same vein of history as the considerably more famous Wolf Hall and also has Cromwell as a significant character, but in the case of dissolution the protagonist is actually his commissioner Matthew Shardlake. I admit that I couldn't get into Wolf Hall despite it's recommendations because the writing style jarred with me, so I hoped that Dissolution might keep the same interest with something more approachable. 

The story is set in 1537 and puts the dissolution of the monasteries at the forefront as Henry uses Cromwell to put in place savage new laws, a network of informants and rigged trials. These all to serve to push forwards a reformist version of Christianity that Cromwell values, and - more importantly to the king - will allow Henry VIII to sure up his power as the new 'supreme head of the church' in England and access previously catholic wealth. Cromwell picks out a loyal lawyer and enthusiastic reformist Matthew Shardlake to assist him in investigating the monastery of Scarnsea where one of Cromwell's other commissioners - Robert Singleton - was found decapitated and the alter desecrated. As winter descends around them, Shardlake finds himself as good as trapped in the monastery walls as he tries to uncover a web of murder, corruption and confusion that will force him to question everything he believes in most.

History and The Murder Mystery

Call this a personal preference, but I find when it comes to more 'hardcore' genres that rely a lot of heavy detail and world-building, that they are always the most successful when they splice into another genre that allows the pace to pick up and for the details to sit within a particular context. For example, I love me some sci-fi films, but I find pure 'hardcore' sci fi books very dull because they are so keen to show off their world-building and detail that they often forget to create a readable story. So (controversially!) I cannot stand many sci-fi classics like Dune because this seems to be all it is. However, when that genre is spliced onto a simpler and more animated genre that demands a tight plot - such as a murder mystery - it becomes a different beast. So for example the excellent Altered Carbon  by Richard K Morgan is for me a brilliant sci-fi story because it is so closely tied to a good old fashioned murder mystery: the world-building and intricate details work to a foundation of a quick moving and always relevant plotline and therefore are more effective and allow the reader a better sense of context and urgency than just hard-sci-fi alone. The same absolutely applies to historical fiction, and Dissolution proves this for me. 

Matthew Shardlake by Hazelfo

Dissolution's  plot is effectively a decent old fashioned closed-door murder mystery. By having this as a base, the intricate world-building required of authentic history is allowed to flourish without detracting from the core story and the pacing of the book. By having the history there as the world, and by including historical characters as the protagonists this becomes a unusual and interesting murder-mystery, and by including the murder mystery this becomes a brilliantly engaging piece of historical fiction that does far more than many books that would have the characters endlessly static and standing in dark rooms wittering on about old politics. Each character has an energy of purpose that carries you through.

Like all good murder mysteries Dissolution has great  pacing that knows when to ebb and flow, when to push up the action and when to allow natural paranoia to seep in. Of course it has twists, the body count is satisfying and the plot deals you quite an entertaining 'bloody hell!' reveal that is nicely foreshadowed so that it alarms you without creating incredulity. What's more, the way the murder mystery plot is handled is perfectly in sync with the time period of the setting.


The Characters

Alice Fewterer by Koppori

For me, the way that Dissolution handles the nuances, passions and controversies of the time period is really something special, and it achieves this in large part due to the quality of the characters. The fascinating thing about the sixteenth century, seen most in the dissolution of the monasteries, was how people's belief systems (and even systems of class) were challenged by the onset of the reformation. The Catholic church, which had reigned supreme for hundreds of years, was in one fell swoop cast aside by an English King supported by reformists. The reformists sought to create a purer religion by getting rid of what they saw as superstitions, corruption and laziness in the church, but to do so they were forcing people to turn their backs on traditions -such as purgatory - that they believed could literally save their immortal souls.What's more, reform asked the public to assert things that, in the past, could have had then burned at the stake as heretics. In a class system that previously demanded unfaltering obedience to the pope how could they now reject him? Yet how could they maintain loyalty to this christian power when it was now treason to do so? To make matters worse religious reform was getting more and more mixed in with greed and personal agendas: monasteries were being dissolved for their lands under pretence of religious reform, and recently the queen herself had been beheaded on false charges while Henry was wooing a new wife. It was a dangerous and confusing time and in Dissolution, each character allows us to see the personal impact of these actions by embodying the different opinions and fears of the day.

Take Shardlake, our protagonist, as an example. He is an enthusiastic reformer - perhaps naive in his belief that, by destroying the papacy and all its pomp, England will lead a new purer religion. He is therefore in awe of Cromwell and eager to please. He is ambitious and loyal, and is very much aware of how tenuous a position it is to be in 'favor' with the powerful man. He has witnessed the Queen's execution first hand and his sense of duty is very much tinged with a certain anxiety. He is, however, a kind man who is very aware of his own talents and his own weaknesses - as a hunchback he is in the end always an outsider, who only has his own wits and reputation to rely on. The grim events in the monastery throughout Dissolution will test his character to its core.


Conclusion

In conclusion, Dissolution was a fantastic read for any history fan, as the historical world of the sixteenth century was so well handled, the characters so colourful, and the murder mystery so entertaining. I'm pleased to see that this is also a series of 5 books and counting and I'm sure to be rooting out the sequels in the future. Definitely give this a look.



Interested in what else I'm reading? Got something you'd love to recommend? Then feel free check out my Goodreads account and let me know what book you can't put down today. 

Being the Head-Honcho Has Never Been Easy, and Make That Doubly So If You Were A Woman In the Past.

Often branded as 'whores', 'poisoners', 'witches' and worse, many societies in the past had a visceral distaste of women in power, and many of the same issues still face women in power today. 

A politically manoeuvring woman is so often called a 'bitch', an opinionated headstrong woman is so often a 'shrew', or 'nag'. In moments of arguments they are often infantalised - told to "calm down dear" (David Cameron to Angela Eagle), called a 'girl' (Silvio Belusconi) or a 'brave little woman' (Austin Mitchell on Margaret Thatcher). If they are dressed plainly they are painted as emasculating, ugly, dowdy and homely as if they have nothing else to contribute ("What does she want, this housewife? My balls on a tray" - Jacques Chirac on Thatcher). If they present as too conventionally 'pretty' they are not taken seriously and dubbed 'beauty queens' (Kumara Welgama to Rosy Senanayake) or criticised (as in the case of the ANC  playing fashion police in criticising South African leader Lindewe Mazibuko's outfit).They may even be subject to wolf-whistles rather than being listened to (as Cecile Deflout, the French housing minister).

Given that women in power still face these challenges today in our relatively liberal western-centric society, in the past their successes were nothing short of remarkable. In 'Women Who Ruled- History's 50 Most Remarkable Women' Claudia Gold's impressive research brings 50 of these such women into the limelight they deserve.

Claudia Gold's book is very easy to read for anyone interested in women's history without any polemics, perfect for dipping in and out of. The 50 women listed are organised chronologically.This becomes especially important when we reach the 16thc and the age of European Queens, when often the political fate of one woman's family influences the rise of another. The book is also commendable in offering a wide variety of female leaders, from the near-mythological figures of Jazebel and the Queen of Sheba, through to Eastern leaders such as Wu Hou and Roxelana, as well as the western favourites of 'Bloody' Mary and Elizabeth 1st and finally into the modern day politicians of Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher. You get a real impression that the book aims not to view history through a western lens, but to celebrate and commiserate the lives and careers of as many interesting ladies as possible.

Roxelana, The Ukranian slave who became
Sultana of the Ottoman Empire

The brilliant thing about Women Who Ruled is that Gold gives us a full picture of the women in power across the many countries of the world without romanticising them.
These women did not have to be saints in order to be respected: just as we have Machiavellian kings we have viscous queens. Just as we have weak-willed and exploited kings we also have foolish and naive queens. Just as we have opportunistic lords we have conniving ladies. For some the bonds of family united them together in mutual honour and bravery, and for others the bonds of family were simply threads in a web to be manipulated and cut off at will. The characters in this work are all multi-faceted and, in the brief few pages that are granted to each, you get a real impression of the often dangerous political landscapes that they resided in, and how fickle fate could be to even the most intelligent political wrangler. Across each story, though, we see how each woman (or her family and 'allies') had to rely on their quick wits to carve out a place for themselves in societies that so often mistrusted them.

Whatever your stance on feminism as a whole, this is a very engaging and interesting book for anyone who is a fan of history. I very much recommend it.



Sources

• Top 10 sexist Moments in politics
• 10 Sexist Quotes about Margaret Thatcher
• 'Women Who Ruled- History's 50 Most Remarkable Women' By Claudia Gold

The key to a good biography is that it picks you up and drops you right in the middle of the protagonist's life and allows you to see the world with new eyes.

 In nothing is this more important than in historical biographies, where you're given the protagonist as a unique focus to anchor you as you look around the period of history that they grew in.

The Tudor period is arguably the most famous in all of Britain's history: it held the devastation of the reformation, it encompassed the rise of the printing press, the discovery of 'new worlds', and the flourishing of great art and the rise of charismatic personalities that were rapidly brought to test by some of the most turbulent and back-stabbing political changes that the country had experienced. It was also, fundamentally, a watershed period for the rise of female agency and rule in areas that had previously been barred to them. With such a rich and well known period of history to navigate - with lists of influential names and machinations to remember - having an anchor to hold on to is what prevents everything from becoming all too academic and alien. Mary Lovell presents Bess of Hardwick as that anchor in her biography, and the great lady proves to be a fantastic guide.

Bess of Hardwick was the first lady of Chatsworth house and rose to become the second richest and most powerful woman in the country, under Queen Elizabeth herself. She was born into genteel family that was far from wealthy by noblity's standards. She was first widowed at sixteen, going on to survive three more husbands. Her fourth marriage to the Earl of Shrewsbury was beset by problems as the couple struggled to keep together under their duty of the gaurdianship (and imprisonment) of Mary Queen of Scots for fifteen years, and the marriage eventually broke apart under her husband's declining mental health.

Mary Queen of Scots: Bess' friend and enemy

Despite these challenges, Bess worked hard to secure the future of her children and to secure and grow her fortune, becoming a self taught enthusiastic businesswoman in what was very much a man's world. Forging her independence and relying on her own natural charisma and intelligence, she made sure that she was a valuable asset to the court and managed to weather through the reigns of four famous monarchs while many of her friends fell foul of their tempers. In this, despite her modest beginnings, Bess had fantastic success. She was a close personal friend of Elizabeth Ist (although even she was not immune to the effects of the virgin queen's moods) and her own granddaughter Arbella, through Bess' machinations, came tantalisingly close to taking the English throne.

This is the wonderfully written history of the domestic, dynastic and political occupations of an 'ordinary' woman, and offers a unique and very accessible historical perspective. While this is doubtless a feminist history of a remarkable woman, Lovell manages to focus on the day to day realities of this woman's life: while Lovell is impressed and clearly affectionate about her subject, Bess is never coloured as either a martyr or a saint. What the book offers is a rarely glimpses level of detail and reality about what it meant to be a Tudor woman.

Bess herself in the 1550s

Lovell's research is commendable: she has scanned through hundreds and hundreds of letters, household accounts and more to back up her biography with primary research. This gives her the authority to challenge many previous biographies and historical theories about Bess, and she does so with a sense of humble confidence. As with any good historical biography, pages of notes are provided so that, if you wish, you can check her references and do some research of your own.

While this is - I believe - a 'proper' historical work, the narrative style is chronological and detailed while still keeping the emotional flourishes and conjecture that make for a very engaging read. It's impossible to close the final pages of this book without feeling a sense of companionship and admiration for Bess herself. As Alexander Waugh [The Independent on Sunday] commented about the book, it is 'one of those biographies in which the reader really doesn't want the subject to die'.

I thoroughly recommend a read.

I, like many ladies of the world, love Pride and Prejudice.

I generally dislike pure romances in books and films, but there's something completely charming about Jane Austen's love story about those two stubborn yet charismatic idiots. Without fail, the modern 2005 version always manages to make me feel all gooey inside.
If you've seen the film, then one of the prettiest pieces of cinamatography is the moment when Elizabeth Bennet goes exploring in the sculpture gallery of Mr.Darcy's home.

Keira Knightly in Pride and Predjudice (2005)

The remarkable room actually does exist almost completely unchanged (dodgy Darcy bust aside) and belongs to the beautiful Chatsworth House. As the manor house sits practically on my front door in Derbyshire, I decided to finally give it a visit.


Chatsworth House was originally built in 1553 by 'Bess' of Hardwick

A middle-aged Bess of Hardwick

A tenacious lady of the modest gentry and of unremarkable beauty, Bess lived through the Reformation, survived Mary Tudor's reign despite her family's allegiances to Elizabeth 1st, and thrived under the Virgin Queen. She had four husbands and built herself up to become one of the most important and well connected women in the country. 

While Chatsworth and its large estate was her legacy, over the years it has been through many changes, surviving to the modern day largely due to it's adaptability. When bombs over Sheffield threatened the house in the world wars Chatsworth responded by converting itself into a home for the schoolchildren of Penrhos college and by converting large sections of its grounds over to vegetable patches for the 'dig for victory' movement. In modern times Chatsworth openes to the public, hosts multiple events throughout the year, and remains an agricultural hub.  Time and time again debts and crippling death-duties have threatened to pull the house away from private ownership, but the families of Chatsworth have always managed to make the sacrifices required to hold on to it by the skin of their teeth.

The twin family property of Hardwick Hall had to be handed over to national ownership, but Chatsworth house is still in private hands for domestic use. As society marches onwards and the old world gentry lifestyle becomes perhaps less and less popular, the people of Chatsworth have worked hard to make sure that the manor house remains relevant.


 As soon as you step across the threshold there is no doubt of Chatsworth's value as a great hub for countless precious works of art.


The family has collected works of art throughout it's entire history, with the peak of collecting during the 'Bachelor Duke's tenancy in the mid 1800s. As you walk around the house you are greeted with stunning old-world architecture mixed with huge and beautiful geological specimens, centuries-old sketches by the Great Masters, ancient Egyptian statues and graceful sculpture, luxurious interior decoration and modern contemporary art pieces that have been included by the current Duchess and Duke.

One of the many painted ceilings at Chatsworth *

The public route of the house first takes you through the north sub corridor and leads on to the Painted Hall.

The North Sub Corridor originally acted as a  colonade which would shelter visitors as they walked across the courtyard, but a few too many chill and windy days inspired the 6th Duke (1790-1858) to enclose it as a room of it's own. He inlaid it with an intricately decorated marble pavement from Rome which now offsets beautifully with the other marbles in the house.

The Painted Hall is one of the most stunning rooms, with a great central staircase leading up to mezzanine balconies all around the edge of the room. The crowning glory of the space is the intricate and colourfully painted ceiling murals which are joined by many baroque painted imitations of woodwork and plasterwork that blend seamlessly alongside their real-life counter parts.

The Painted Hall *

Passing through the Chapel Corridor and the 'Oak Room', you then emerge in Chatsworth's own private Chapel.

 The Chapel is a protestant one and has remained largely unchanged since the first duke designed it in 1687-93. During this time the duke felt under threat by the Catholic King James I, so he designed the room so that the main carvings on the alterpiece depicted Faith and Justice: representing the balance between church and state.
While one of the smaller rooms, it is close to the family's heart and is still used on special occasions. For example, the current Duchess' granddaughter, Maud Cavendish, was christened in the room.

Chatsworth Chapel *

 Ascend the stairs and you soon come to a network of bedrooms, including the State Room.

 The first duke has high hopes that King William III and Mary II would visit him at Chatsworth a significant portion of his design choices (and no small expense!) was based around this expectation. Unfortunately the King and Queen never visited Chatsworth and never made use of the state rooms that he had put such careful thought in to.These rooms, nevertheless, are still designed to dazzle. One particularly impressive piece of art is the 'violin door' a trompe l'oeil - or optical illusion - by the Dutch artist Jan van ser Vaardt (c1653-1727). I challenge anyone to not think it's real when they first spot it!

The Violin Door

Later in the house's history the state rooms and the adjoining bedrooms would play host to guests, both illustrious and less remarkable. Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens are known to have stayed in Chatsworth, but also the state drawing room acted as the dormitory when the girls of Penrhos college relocated to Chatsworth during WW2. Currently (in 2014) this room has been converted back to how it would have looked at this time.  Plain Wooden panels are inset a few inches in in order to protect the lavish walls and lines of 1940s dormitory beds have been fished out storage to recreate the snug, functional sleeping quarters. While residency in the draughty manor house wasn't perfect for all involved, the girls enjoyed the novelty and even ice-skated on the 'Emperor Lake'.

Students skating on Emperor Lake, from the 'Chatsworth in Wartime' exhibition

As you walk on to the 'Old Masters Drawing Cabinet' and the various sketch galleries, it becomes apparent just how large Chatsworth's art collection really is.

The family of Chatsworth have been collecting for 16 generations and there is no shortage of taste when you view the sheer extent and quality of the collection on display. The old masters drawing cabinet is a comparitively tiny room, but it is full to the brim with wall to ceiling sketches from the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Remembrandt and Guercino.

In the adjoining South Sketch Gallery the room opens out again and is a homage to the 5th Ducess Georgiana. The most striking portrait is one of the lady herself, recently restored in all it's vibrant hues of blue, posing the duchess as the Goddess Diana.

Georgiana as Diana after restoration in 2009. Painted by Maria Cosway (1760-1838) *

While the sketch galleries are a treasure trove of art of the old masters and beyond, the North Sketch gallery is a confident display of the current Duke and Duchess' love for modern art and their desire to contribute to the ongoing collection. The North sketch gallery is a relatively narrow corridor which has now been handed over to display the installation of a DNA family portrait by Jacob van der Beugal. The countless panels are ceramic and depicts the family through an arrangement that imitates their real life DNA patterns.

Part of the DNA wall © Courtesy Chatsworth

 
Soon enough you reach the real show-piece for any bibliophiles who care to visit: the library.

According to the guidebook, there are over 30,000 books at Chatsworth, even after many of the collection (including some original Shakespeare folios) unfortunately had to be sold to raise money following the death duties incurred by the 10th and 11th dukes' passings. Illuminated manuscripts, original works by Thomas Hobbs and more art books of the old masters are among the well worn volumes. In the adjoining Ante-Library there is the striking veiled statue of the Vestal Virgin by Raffaele Monti, snug amongst the books.

Chatsworth library *

Moving on from the library you find yourself in the Great Dining Room

This is where the hardworking people who run and clean Chatsworth can really shine with the stunning table displays, which often change and act as their very own exhibitions. The first dinner to be held here was for the 13 year old princess Victoria as her first adult dinner, and it is still used as a hosting area on very special occasions to this day.

The dining hall

The final stop in the house (before the inevitable gift shop) is the stunning Sculpture Gallery

As I mentioned before, this room is perhaps the most famous due to its appearance in Pride and Prejudice, but it should be viewed as a stunning collection of art in its own right. The 6th Duke is largely behind these sculptures which were, for him, modern art that imitated the classical style. In 2009 the room was rearranged so that all his original sculptures sit together again as he has intended.
 While the only sculpture of great age is the bust of Alexander the Great (tastefully yellowed against the soft white of it's neighbours), the sculptures are still things of beauty and skill, draped on plinths inlaid with colourful minerals. My personal favourite piece is the sleeping lion that guards the exit. This was one of the pair of huge felines that Antonio Canova (11757-1822) carved as copies of the two lions made for the tomb of Pope Clement XIII at St Peter's in Rome.

The sleeping lion of Chatsworth *

 As you leave Chatsworth House there is much more to explore....

The large gardens are a beautiful place for a picnic and parkland, and elsewhere on the estate you can find the garden centre and farm shop, showing that the house will always be a buzzing business.

At the end of this month, on the 31st August,  the estate opens up once again  to Chatsworth's annual show, which I'm looking forward to exploring too.

Overall, Chatsworth is a fascinating and beautiful piece of living, evolving history and I encourage you to visit should you ever find yourselves in Derbyshire.




Sources
-Pictures marked with * are ones that I have taken myself during my visit in August 2014
-Your Guide to Chatsworth  - the guidebook for 2014
-Chatsworth Official Website
-Chatsworth Wikipedia (inevitably) 
-Bess of Hardwick by Mary S Lovell

If I had to pick a favourite period of history, it would be the 16th century


I just adore the shambles in York: seeing the timber frames leaning over me every time I wander down the cobbled streets lifts my heart. So, all things considered, it's remarkable that I haven't ever visited our own version of Tudor architecture, nestled in the steel city of Sheffield.

Bishop's house can be found on Norton Lees Lane, at the bottom of Meersbrook Park. It's an easy drive and, if you didn't know it was already there, it would be easy to miss. Unlike so many of the grand historical manor houses in the country, Bishop's House hides in plain, unassuming, sight amongst the modern semi-suburban scenery. Neat squares of grass and pathways frame the roads and  tower blocks of flats rise up in the background. When we visited we pulled up next to one of the countless scruffy allotments that are dotted across Sheffield. Bishop's house presses up to the park edge: a strange relic that is both out of place and yet firmly rooted into it's environment. There is no build up - no gated protection. No pomp or pagentry but for a small sign. You literally walk off the road wander up to a building that has been sat in this corner of Sheffield for the last 500 years.

The understatement of Bishop's house is a large part of it's charm, yet in it's construction it was a grand status symbol. At the time of being built, the park and houses would have instead been covered by fields, so it is thought that Bishop's house was built to act as a small manor house for a minor gentry or for a prosperous Yeoman. It was begun in 1500, it is thought, and there is some legend around how the house gained it's name, though no one has yet been able to support the story. It was thought that a pair of brothers lived in the house for a time who later became bishops: Geoffrey Blythe became the bishop of Lichfield/Coverntry and John Blythe became the bishop of Salisbury. 
While we can't support the evidence of this, there is evidence for the Blythe family having residence in the house some 127 years after it's construction started. In 1627 William Blythe lived in the house. It was thought that he was a farmer that was very successful in the scythe making trade which fourished in Sheffield at this time.
Following the Civil War William's son - a Parliamentarian - also lived there. He was one of two officers responsible for organising the destruction of Sheffield castle in 1648. A minister named Samuel was the last Blythe to reside in the building.
Bishop's house gradually fell into decline until 1886, when the house was given to the Coorperation when Meersbrook Park was created. Previously it had been surrounded by outbuildings, but these were soon demolished. In 1976 the house was opened as a museum.

As a museum Bishop's House is a little underwhelming, but as an example of Tudor architecture and as a living breathing example of Sheffield's lesser-known history, it is a treasure. As you walk across misshapen oak floorboards and wind your way through the cosy rooms of the house, it is easy to fall in love with the building. Display boards proudly show off the work that the Friends of Bishop's House do with schools, where children can come in for talks and to dress up as tudors. In what seems to be a trend in Museums Sheffield properties, there is also a display of farmyard taxidermy that would have charmed me as a kid.

While the main aim of the building is to soak in the architecture, if you look in the display cabinets the house does hold some real treasures. I particularly enjoyed the displays of stunning embroidered gloves worn by a wealthy Sheffield resident, and the examples of stump work embroidery. These are mirrored by a wall display of more modern naive embroidery that charmingly depicts a historical scene in bright vivid colours.

 In addition to the general material history in the place, display boards also give you further insight into the history of Early Modern Sheffield as a whole. For example, a board tells about how law and order was upheld in the town which inspires a rather interesting comparison to our modern ASBOs in use today. It reads:

'No manner of any person or persona shal at any tyme after nyne of the clock until three of the clock in the morninge use walkinge or takinge in towne street whereby it shalbe anoyeance to those that be honest men and householders in the said towne.'

Even in a time before an official police force, in 1554 Sheffield formed the Town Burgesses. These people administered public affairs in the town and employed people to enforce local laws. In addition, the town also paid for a street cleaner and a bellman to patrol the town in the night.


Overall, Bishop's House has a very local feel, and one has to to be charmed by it's character. As a building it is a stunning survivor worthy of respect, and a opening into a time of Sheffield's history which is often overshadowed by its industrial fame in the Victorian era.

If you'd like to visit, you can find bishop's house on Norton Lees Lane, S8 9BE in Sheffield.
And, if you'd like to become a member of the Friends of Bishop's House  you can click here for more info.



Sources
-Pictures taken by me in March 2014, filters courtesy of instagram
- Peeks at the Past in Sheffield and the Surrounding Area by Ann Beedham
- Bishop's House Website