The word "Tudor" is claimed to a myth - Historum

Master Chief · May 29th, 2012, 04:50 AM

According the the Dr. Davies, the term Tudor was barely ever used using the Tudor monarch (i.e from Henry VII to Elizabeth I), and there is no contemporary reference to the word either.

BBC News - 'Tudor era' is misleading myth, says Oxford historian

Is the word "Tudor" a myth or is it real? discuss

Brunel · May 29th, 2012, 05:03 AM

I read about this yesterday in this month's issue of the BBC history magazine.

It seems that the word "Tudor" didn't become popularly used until the mid-eighteenth century, so even people during the reign of the Tudor monarchs never used the word.

Maia · May 29th, 2012, 05:05 AM

Monarchs tend not to use surnames so this isn't really a surprise.

**Louise C** · May 29th, 2012, 05:08 AM

Well, Tudor was the family name, so I wouldn't exactly call it a myth, even though the Tudor monarchs may not have used the name much themselves.

Maia · May 29th, 2012, 05:14 AM

People had different ideas about surnames in those days too.

Queen Boleyn · May 29th, 2012, 05:24 AM

Tudor was their family and has it's orgins in Wales, it is just that after each member came to the throne they dropped the Tudor bit of their name.

**Kevinmeath** · May 29th, 2012, 05:26 AM

Do we call the Monarch Elizabeth II today or Elizabeth Windsor?

Brunel · May 29th, 2012, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maia

Monarchs tend not to use surnames so this isn't really a surprise.

It makes no difference.

Today we KNOW that our current royal dynasty is the Windsors.

We hardly ever call our monarch Elizabeth Windsor. We call her Elizabeth II. But we still know they are Windsors.

However, it was different with the Tudors. It seems that people at the time hardly used the word "Tudor" as they didn't seem to know about the word.

Nikator · May 29th, 2012, 07:03 AM

Did the people in the 18th century refer to themselves as Georgians? I'd be surprised if they did. I can understand what he's saying but it's a non-statement. People didn't recognise themselves as living in the Middle Ages either, it's all modern nomenclature. It helps clarify things and while he is right in that there weren't titanic events at either end of the period (one could argue Bosworth was a major political event for Britain and it's proximity to the Fall of Constantinople and Discovery of America is quite nice for framing the period) it is relatively distinctive. I mean any historic period greys at the edges and blurs into the next one, so why would the Tudor period be any different?

History Chick · May 29th, 2012, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikator

Did the people in the 18th century refer to themselves as Georgians? I'd be surprised if they did. I can understand what he's saying but it's a non-statement. People didn't recognise themselves as living in the Middle Ages either, it's all modern nomenclature. It helps clarify things and while he is right in that there weren't titanic events at either end of the period (one could argue Bosworth was a major political event for Britain and it's proximity to the Fall of Constantinople and Discovery of America is quite nice for framing the period) it is relatively distinctive. I mean any historic period greys at the edges and blurs into the next one, so why would the Tudor period be any different?

I agree. In the past, people rarely labelled the eras they were currently living in. Elizabeth I's "Golden Age" wasn't called such until long after her reign. It's not exactly big news (and that's not an insult to the OP for posting this, more to the historian and BBC - it comes across to me as Cliff Davies angling for some publicity).