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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2013 1:51:40 GMT
Coming soon to the BBC...
'Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold turn the clock back over 500 years to run a farm at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in West Sussex exactly as it would have been in 1500, during the reign of the first Tudor King, Henry VII.
The biggest land-owners of the age, other than the King, were the monasteries. These ancient religious institutions dominated the landscape, not just in matters of worship but almost every aspect of life from education and crafts to commerce and the main industry of the era: farming.
With the lives of monks dedicated to prayer and religious rites, they needed ordinary people to supply the agricultural labour on their lands. Ruth, Peter and Tom will be doing the work of tenants on a farm owned by the monastery, using only the tools and materials of the age. At a time when faith provided an explanation for everything, from the state of the weather to the growth of crops, the team takes on new challenges to raise livestock, cultivate period crops and master new crafts under the watchful eye of their monastic landlords.
The turn of the 16th century saw England emerging from the medieval Dark Ages. Under the first Tudor monarch, the country was enjoying a period of peace and stability after years of plague, famine and war. And a new breed of enterprising farmer was boosting food production and profiting from the land as never before'
EDIT; Broadcast Wednesday 13th November at 9pm on BBC Two
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2013 4:03:36 GMT
You can view profiles of Ruth Goodman and Peter Ginn at the following link www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01k3b96/profiles/presentersRuth Goodman
"Ruth Goodman is a social and domestic historian working with museums, theatre, television and educational establishments. She has presented - and consulted on - several television series including Victorian Farm, Tales from the Green Valley, Victorian Pharmacy and Wartime Farm, as well as presenting a variety of films for The One Show and Coast. Victorian Farm was a huge hit for BBC Two, and thanks to this success, Edwardian Farm, Wartime Farm and now Tudor Monastery Farm followed. As well as her television work, Ruth offers advisory services, lectures and holds practical workshops around the country. As a social historian she works with a whole range of people, institutions and museums such as The Weald and Downland, The Globe Theatre, Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust, the National Trust and the heritage and drama departments of several universities. Her particular interest is the domestic; how we lived our daily lives and why we did the things we did. Also, how seemingly little things change the world. Our day to day routines have a huge cumulative effect on the environment - our shopping habits can sway the world's patterns of trade, and how we organise and run our family life sets the political tone of nations. As Ruth says “We matter. How our ancestors – ordinary men, women and children - solved the nitty gritty problems of everyday life made the world what it is today”. Ruth’s consultancy work covers media (including assisting make-up artists on Shakespeare in Love), interpretation for museums and heritage sites, designing exhibitions and training staff. Her favoured periods are Tudor, Edwardian, Elizabethan and Victorian. Peter Ginn
Peter Ginn is an expert archaeologist and historian He has been involved in a great deal of experimental archaeology. His research interests include Egyptology, field archaeology and primitive technologies, and he specialises in 19th-century farming practice. Peter has been involved in several of the BBC's historical documentary series of recent years, including Tales from the Green Valley, A Tudor Feast At Christmas, Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm and Wartime Farm. Speaking to the Chichester Observer about the making of Tudor Monastery Farm, Peter said: "Monasteries were seen as a brand. It is amazing how much the monasteries were a source of craft and entrepreneurial spirit. In farming there was a remarkably smooth transition over the reformation period." |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2013 4:14:31 GMT
Article focusing on University of Exeter historian James Clark, the programme consultant for the series www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_333067_en.htmlExeter academic guides BBC2's new living history series Tudor Monastery Farm Following the long-running success of BBC Two’s living history series, Victorian, Edwardian and Wartime Farm, a new series will be exploring life at the end of the Middle Ages in Tudor Monastery Farm. University of Exeter historian Professor James Clark was the programme consultant for the six part series in which he features onscreen as the team’s guide and mentor from the monastery, dressed in an authentic medieval habit The first episode of the new TV series will be broadcast on Wednesday 13 November at 9pm. The programme will turn the clock back to the year 1500, as a team of archaeologists and historians experience the challenges of everyday life in the reign of the first Tudor monarch. It was a time of great change for the people of this country: after years of plague, famine and war, the Tudors brought peace and the prospect of a new prosperity. It also marked the end of the old, medieval order and in particular of the monasteries which for centuries had governed not only matters of religion but also many aspects of economic and social life. Professor Clark’s research expertise in the church and cultural life of the era was essential for the series producers to ensure accuracy and authenticity. As well as recreating everyday life, the programme explores the impact of these great medieval institutions, revealing their extraordinary influence on the landscape, buildings, craft, technology, and on the lives of ordinary people. Today it is hard to imagine the dominance of the monasteries says Professor Clark:“We see them only as rubble ruins but in the reign of Henry VIII they were hugely powerful, not only as part of the Church establishment but as landowners, employers, key players in agriculture and in industry. In many regions where there were few towns of any size, they also provided essential services for the local population: schooling for their children, medical care for the sick and elderly, and charity for the poor. This was especially true in South West England where monasteries – Buckland, Tavistock – were the very hub of the local economy and society.” From sheep farming and harvesting to building a Tudor clock, the team, which includes University of Exeter alumna Ruth Goodman, a specialist in Tudor domestic life, will be put through their paces to give viewers a hands-on vision of living at the end of the Middle Ages. Tackling not just a new era but also a whole new way of life, scrupulous contemporary record-keeping and the latest archaeological finds will allow the team to bring this long-forgotten world into focus and explore the whole of early Tudor-life in microcosm. Filming in authentic medieval conditions was challenging at times, recalls Professor Clark: ‘Long hours in a coarse woollen habit were uncomfortable to say the least, especially during the summer heatwave, but they did give me a new, personal insight into my subject!’ The Tudor Monastery Farm was recreated on location at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in West Sussex. |
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Post by seagrl on Nov 12, 2013 22:19:47 GMT
well, here is yet another great looking broadcast I won't have access to.  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2013 22:49:59 GMT
I'm sure it'll turn up on Youtube!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2013 23:20:01 GMT
So who watched the first episode? What did you think? First thing I picked up on during the introduction was the apparent positivity about the reign of Henry VII and the ermergence from civil war into a time of prosperity, quick contrasting to the negative introduction often seen in other programmes like Thomas Penn's Winter King. Its always interesting to watch reenactment programmes, it helps visualise the period and perhaps understand the lives of the common people with an ease not always discernable from books. One thing that is evident to anyone with knowledge of the time, and captured in the programme, is just how hard work live was during the time. Its basically all back breaking work to provide food on the table with religious devotion a constant distraction. The programme satisfactorily blended informed and educated narrative with real life demonstrations. The work with Animal fat was gruesome but interesting. Fat was needed be boiled all morning in order to get rid of any skin or blood vessels to end up with pure fat which could then be moulded into candles and rush lights for extra illumination after sunset. An absolute neccessity in times before electricity. "Bob Holbert is an expert at building Tudor fences" made me chuckle. What a fantastic niche subject to be an expert in! It was also great to see St Teilo's Church at St Fagans National History Museum in Cardiff to feature, an example of a pre-reformation church. Its featured in my forthcoming Tudor Wales book. Some reviews I've read on Twitter and Facebook
"I would be a liar if I said there was not one hint of envy and jealousy watching the tudor farm on BBC2. What a great job?" "OMG.... Tudor Monastery Farm!! What a wonderful programme!" "I really wanted to like the new presenter of Tudor Monastery Farm but something doesn't quite 'click' with me as a viewer" "Quite enjoyed the Tudor Monastary Farm programme!" "Thoroughly enjoyed Tudor monastery farm " "Hmm that was a good programme Tudor Farm looking forward to next weeks show" Telegraph Review www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/10448185/Tudor-Monastery-Farm-BBC-Two-review.html |
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