Welcome to May's edition of The Castle Times



In this months issue:

1. Castle of the month - Vianden Castle, Luxembourg

2. Recipe Corner - Medieval Soup Tredure - (Golden Soup)

3. Life in Medieval times - A Medieval Manor by Garfield Benjamin

4. Travel Tips - How can I avoid getting into trouble with the locals?

5. Readers Story - Who am I? by Ray Irving

In 1820, under the reign of King William I of Holland, the castle was sold piece by piece, and as a result, it fell into a state of ruin

Vianden Castle, Luxembourg was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries on the foundations of a Roman 'castellum' and a Carolingian refuge. It is one of the largest and most beautiful feudal residences of the Romanesque and gothic periods in Europe.

Until the beginning of the 15th century it was the seat of the influential counts of Vianden who could boast their close connections to the Royal Family of France and the German imperial court.

The main construction parts of the castle which are preserved today, in particular the chapel and the small and large palaces, originate from the end of the 12th and the first half of the 13th century.

The 'Quartier de Juliers' on the western side of the large palace (no longer existing today), originates from the beginning of the 14th century. The House of Nassau was only constructed at the beginning of the 17th century.

In 1820, under the reign of King William I of Holland, the castle was sold piece by piece, and as a result, it fell into a state of ruin. It was a pile of rubble until the family of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg transferred it to State ownership in 1977. Since restored to its former glory, the castle now ranks as a monument of not only regional, but European importance

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup stale bread crumbs of crusty bread

2 eggs beaten

1/8 tsp cardamom

1 pinch saffron

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbl lemon juice

Method

1. Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce to low. Beat together the breadcrumbs, eggs, cardomom, saffron, and salt, then pour into the stock, off the heat, and beat.

2. Return to a simmer for a few minutes to thicken. Stir in lemon juice and ladle into bowls.

3. Serve hot to 2.

Eat, Drink and be Merry

A Medieval Manor by Garfield Benjamin

While the term "medieval manors" can be applied to a range of buildings, all of these buildings shared the distinction of belonging to a lord or landowner. These medieval buildings served as a communal gathering place where people could eat, sleep and engage in business transactions.

The buildings were dominated by what is called the Great Hall. The lord and his family occupied a raised dais at one end of the hall, while servants slept around an open fire in the canter of the hall.

Manors were built of stone and they were intended to last for a long time. Few medieval manors exist today in their original form. Many of these structures were upgraded during the centuries following their initial construction. A medieval manor was a great foundation for building a keep or perhaps evens a castle.

As is the case with many homeowners today, medieval manors were a sign of wealth and importance. Medieval lords would seek to impress other nobles and their manors played a key role in this ambition.

The decor and furnishings of the manor was very important in making the right impression as was the act of simply holding on to the medieval manor, for lords could lose their manors if they neglected the duties required of them by the feudal system or if the lords angered the king.

Some medieval manors in existence today are listed below:

Bowley Court Located between Melkham and Chippenham in Wiltshire, England.

Bradford Manor Located north of Chippenham in Wiltshire, England.

Great Chalfied Manor House Located northeast of Bradford-On-Avon in Wiltshire, England. This is perhaps one of the most impressive medieval manors in existence today.

I would like to thank Garfiled for his article on Medieval Manors. If wish to learn about these interesting times then why not pay a visit to Garfields site Medieval Siege Weapons which is filled with medieval times information on siege weapons, castles, melee and range weapons, armor, knights and much more!

• Learn their customs and respect them.

• Dress conservatively.

• You should try to respect the culture of others and follow their pace. You may find it frustrating to slow down, but you’ll probably find it even more frustrating when your attempts to hurry everyone else are met by an even slower pace.

• Be careful when taking photographs. Many countries have restrictions against taking pictures of military or police operations or facilities. Taking photographs of public demonstrations can also be risky. If you have doubts, ask permission first.

• Be courteous and respectful when taking photographs and/or observing cultural and religious events. Put yourself in their place. How would you like some improperly dressed tourist showing up and taking pictures at a family funeral just because they find the ceremony interesting? Again, if you have any doubts, ask permission first.

I always thought I was just a good teacher, never needing help to calm classes of rebellious students, never needing to shout to overcome the morning chat in the room, I just thought I have something that gives off a personality not to be messed with. The year is 1996 and I’ve managed to get out of the school for a day by volunteering to take ten 15 year old girls to Liverpool’s Walker Art gallery to help them in their History studies. Not an easy task really, as these girls are out to get the male of the species, especially with 35 years between our outlook on life and being bald thus requiring a trilby hat to keep out the cold Lancashire air. My jokes fell flat, my knowledge of pop music was nil, and my understanding of the boy/girl partnership now it seems zero, so I was struggling to join in their conversations. So I decided to shut up, drive and just be a taxi for the day.

At the art gallery, I thought I would try to give them my view of the history they viewed as we slowly walked around the fantastic portraits. The fact that they did not even glance had me beaten before I even started to speak, until that is when we reached the end of the second floor gallery, I stood there in front of a full size pictures and ordered the girls to come over and discuss where we were to go next. I had a great idea of leaving the gallery and walking over to the Beatles museum near the waterfront, the white piano of John Lennon, the left-handed bass guitar of Macca all entered my head as something I could talk about that entered their world slightly.

However the girls all stood there, silent, shocked as if someone had flashed them or something like that, I asked them what was the matter but they still stood there silent. The gallery attendant approached to see what was going on with the crowd in the corner who seemed to be having a problem. He stood there silent too. Then the silence was broken at last, after only say about 20 seconds which seemed like 2 hours, by the mouth of the group who declared that I was in the portrait behind me. Obviously I turned around and announce that she was in dream land as it was a Holbein copy of King Henry VIII and whilst he had some of my features I was in no way his double.

This is where we teachers go wrong; we only see the facts our way and try to deliver the massage back to our classes. They were seeing Henry and Me together the right-way round, I couldn’t see me and Henry was not a mirror image for me to recognise. One girl passed me a mirror, clever girl that she had realised my stance and solved the equation with her compact. I looked through the mirror at Henry, my God! They were right, I was the double of the King everyone in England recognised, this spectacle came over me like the solution to all the questions I had ever asked about my background, my personality and my gift of being in charge of large groups. I look like King Henry VIII.

Well the word got around the other 2,000 students at my school and within a week all kids were calling me Henry and the other 120 teachers too were in on the joke. Not a joke really, quite embarrassing really.

Now it’s 2006, I retired from teaching 18 months ago, I began my own theatre company “Henry Tudor” straight away and have been working full time ever since. My knowledge of Tudor history is second to non, not just reading the best, but living the best as I’ve worked in Hampton Court, Trafalgar Square on BBC TV, in a documentary with Discovery Channel and an Advertisement which goes out in the UK and on the internet, go see it www.mrsite.co.uk.

I now own 8 websites all to do with Tudor History, I write for newspapers and magazines and my cartoon series is taken by three newspapers. I work 200 days per year in costume and earn much more than a teacher. The trip home from Liverpool that 1996 day, was very interesting, I had become worth talking to, I was a celeb to the girls and they had discovered me.

How accurate am I in looks to King Henry VIII? Now that’s where I know the answer, because the BBC were to film live in Trafalgar Square a tribute to Hans Holbein, where a famous artist in England called Rolf Harris would paint the King with 100 other artists. I was the culmination of a worldwide search for the closest look-alike to Henry, except they got more than they bargained for because during a pre-shoot they brought in an anthropologist who checked me out and discovered that I was 100% accurate. She then took it upon herself to check my genealogical background and was shocked to find the name Fitzroy in common. I was not in the dark by this time because of my fantastic memory for detail I remembered who Fitzroy the royal was. Fitz means “Illegitimate son of” and Roy is Royal, Henry had a son with Elizabeth Blount and named him Henry Fitzroy. He was married off to a daughter of the Lancasters and they had a child, Henry Fitzroy died in mysterious circumstances at the age of 18 and was buried in a lead lined coffin in an obscure grave.

I am a native of Lancashire whose capital city is Lancaster, my Father was Scottish, he married my Mother Margaret Firth. The Firths were an old family from Lancaster and started as Fitzroy over 500 years ago. Fitz cannot be used unless illegitimate, so it would have been changed to another similar name. So you genealogists out there do Firth belong to the Tudors or not? Am I a descendent of Henry Fitzroy? Or am I the 1:40 Billion coincidental people who is 100% the double of the most well known man in English history?

I still don’t know who I am.

Ray Irving alias King Henry VIII

I hope you have enjoyed reading issue 15.

If you have any suggestions or comments about any part of the newsletter then please feel free to contact me.

As always, if you have a story,photos or questions you wish to ask or share with our readers then please email me and I will be happy to include them in our next edition.

All submissions should reach me by no later than the 20th of May