Stitching the Religious: recording the names of those pensioned after the dissolution of the monasteries.
“There can be relocation; there can be pensions.”
Stitching the Religious
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Dr Bea Stitches
@drelvey.bsky.social
Historian by training; textile artist by preference. Usually stitching something inspired by Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell Trilogy. European.
For #WorldEmbroideryDay: Anne and Grace, daughters of Thomas Cromwell. We only know they lived through Cromwell’s will; he bequeathed them marriage portions, but they died in childhood. Handling that will, seeing their names crossed through - ah - I do not cry in archives, but that day I did.
After a year’s intensive research featuring 1530s Augmentations Books, endless notes, maps, and index cards, I am embarking on a huge stitched work listing the names of the men and women who were pensioned after the dissolution of the monasteries. The lives of these people were turned upside down.
I have been busy moving studio - but I am finally all set up for more #StitchingCromwell
The Room of Cromwell
Moving Studio
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What's this I see before me... a Romancing the Gothic online conference!!!! With discounted tickets for the next two weeks!!!! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/more-terro...
'More Terrors Than Her Reason Could Justify': An Online Gothic Conference
This year we celebrate 200 years since Ann Radcliffe's posthumous publications with a conference on marginalised genders in the Gothic
eventbrite.co.uk
A successful launch for my novel last week at my local library. All the copies that I took along were sold! But you can still buy from your local bookshop or online. #historicalfiction #publiclibraries
The Government ten days ago released a new strategic vision for archives which makes a strong and convincing case for their central importance. Using it as a yardstick shows just how far short of best practice the BBC Written Archives Centre falls. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/new-strategi...
New strategic vision for archives highlights how BBC Written Archives Centre falls short - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Ten days ago, with perhaps rather too little fanfare, the Government released a new strategic vision for archives. Commissioned from The National Archives (TNA) and launched by Baro...
illuminationsmedia.co.uk
all these universities kept axing medieval history departments as if they thought tyrants beefing with the Pope was going to stop being relevant
FFS. Outdated within 24 hours of publication. What are the chances, etc
I wasn’t going to post this, on the grounds that it was a little niche. But then I thought: “Actually, it’s quite a big one, and it’s got an effigy of Anne Boleyn in it…” #Carshalton
On The Thread of her Tale, I wrote about three things that make the truth shimmer out of focus: a drowned village, a house with my family name; a purple coat.
Three Card Trick:
Things may not be what they seem
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Learned a new word today: sloppergänger. If a.i. uses your words and arguments, and talks for you, you have created a virtual #sloppergänger echoing you.
I am reading the will of Sir Henry Wyatt, who leaves a cup with his arms on to Thomas Cromwell and makes him one of his executors. Henry was imprisoned for opposing Richard III, then supported Henry Tudor's claim & became courtier under him (Henry VII). Here he is in prison with a nice cat:
Four strong women for #InternationalWomensDay. More than wives and bodies. Political advisors. Religious reformers. Diplomatic negotiators. International players. Women in their own right. (Also remembering Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr; but I can only stitch the queens Cromwell knew.)
What a horrendous age when 'human-rights obsessed' is understood by some as a sort of insult rather than the standard by which we should seek to operate ...
Sharon 🪳🌹@sharonk.bsky.social · 5mo agothe UK right *really* wants Starmer to join the Iran War. have they all gone mad, or?
Much of this also applies to creating artwork. The space between the thoughts and the material result.
Dr Laura Varnam@drlauravarnam.bsky.social · 5mo agoFantastic blogpost by @patthomson.bsky.social on productive discomfort 👏 ‘Academic writing is a form of thinking. It’s not the transcription of thoughts already completed, but a process of thinking itself.’ patthomson.net/2026/03/08/g...
The first Wolf Hall Quilt - all 46 ft of it - has its own sofa this week.
If you are in the Worcestershire area and would like to join us you can book a place here: www.worcestershire.gov.uk/events/engin...
The exhibition accompanies @drelvey.bsky.social 's contribution to the University of Worcester's Institute of Arts and Humanities 'Engine Room Lecture Series'. 'Stitching the World Within and Without Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy', which takes place 4th March 4:30-6pm at the Hive!
Beyond delighted that @drelvey.bsky.social has bought her beautiful work to the Hive at the University of Worcester in this collaborative exhibition 'In the Weave: From Text to Textile - Stitching Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy'
Having a good time at The Hive @worcesteruni.bsky.social with Stitching Cromwell.
Stitching Cromwell in Worcester
I am writing this piece from The Hive in Worcester, where I am supposed to be stitching for the week, alongside my Stitching Cromwell exhibition.
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Happy publication day to 'Hilary Mantel', published by @livunipress.bsky.social Thrilled to have been able to undertake this project with the support of the excellent LUP team. It's currently 20% off on the LUP website too! www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
Hilary Mantel | Home
Lucy Arnold is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature (Contemporary) at the University of Worcester. She specialises in contemporary gothic, narratives of haunting, contemporary women’s writing and psychoanalytic criticism.
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk
Today I saw the Cromwell Textile Cloth - a representation of a list of textiles in Thomas Cromwell’s hand - hanging properly for the first time. In 22 years of quilting, I have made precisely two pieces I am completely happy with. This is one of them.
I suspect Cromwell would approve of the Chamber of Commerce taking an interest in the Stitching Cromwell exhibition..
Artist Unveils Cromwell-Inspired Textiles in Major Exhibition at The Hive | Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce
A decade-long journey of creativity, literature, and archival discovery will be unveiled at The Hive in Worcester, as textile artist Dr Lucie Bea Dutton
hwchamber.co.uk
