Revealed: the tomb of Henry VIII's forgotten son

The original tombs planned for Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, and the Tudor monarch’s father-in-law, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, have been digitally reconstructed by a team at the University of Leicester.

The unfinished tombs, which were lost during the Reformation, have been virtually recreated to enable researchers to see what they might have looked like at their earmarked site in Thetford Priory.

The tombs were never completed, and were dismantled when the priory was dissolved in 1540. Some of the pieces were stored at the Duke of Norfolk’s home, at Kenninghall, while he had the parish church of St Michael in Framlingham, Suffolk, rebuilt as their new location. 

The duke fell from power at the end of Henry VIII’s reign and was imprisoned until 1553. Upon his release the monuments were completed in a different style, and using different materials, in St Michael's, where they remain today.

Some of the original, abandoned pieces of the tombs were excavated from Thetford Priory centuries later, in the 1930s. 

A team led by Dr Phillip Lindley from the University of Leicester has now brought together all these pieces – combined with drawings in 16th-century manuscripts; 3D laser scanning (usually employed by the university’s Space Research Centre) and 3D prints – to recreate the monuments as they were originally intended to look.

Lindley told historyextra: “In 2006 I was called in to examine artefacts owned by English Heritage and stored in an East Anglian warehouse. There they had found a number of fragments of stone that had been excavated from Thetford Priory in the mid-1930s.

“We had reason to believe they related to the two monuments at Framlingham, and wanted to find out for sure.

“Of course, we could not physically take apart the monuments at Framlingham to see if these ‘jigsaw pieces’ fit, so the only way to do it was virtually.

“Using 3D scans, we have virtually disassembled the two existing tombs at Framlingham, and reassembled them using the pieces at Thetford Priory to see what was orginally planned for them.

“We can now, in effect, see what the Duke of Norfolk had intended the tombs to look like.

“We can see that some of the pieces found at Thetford Priory were baluster shafts – circular shafts which were intended to stand at the corners of the tomb.

“The tombs we see today are actually less lavish than they were originally intended to be, and are missing some of their religious imagery.

“Looking closely at the monuments and the fragments, we could see that the first phase of work, at Thetford, had been carved from a stone called ‘clunch’ – a chalk stone with occasional flint nodules.

“The later work, when the monuments were finished off at Framlingham, was carved from a different stone.

“3D technology is bringing cultural heritage to life. It is moving at an amazing pace, and while it’s usually being developed for scientific or commercial purposes, historians and archaeologists can now harness these tools.”

You can virtually explore the Priory site and the results of the tomb research using a new, free App available via the Apple store. Alternatively, the results of the project feature in an exhibition at the Ancient House, Museum of Thetford Life, which runs until 29 March 2014.

Remains of 3,000-Year-Old Structures Found in Colombia

SOACHA, Colombia – Some 170 archaeologists and workers have spent the last year excavating a 3,000-year-old site in a   rural area near the Colombian capital.

Covering 7.8 hectares (19.25 acres), the dig is “unique in   Colombia” in terms of offering the possibility of reconstructing     ancient village life, archaeologist John Gonzalez told Efe.

“The site is the result of the New Hope electricity project. We   came here basically due to the need for an environmental   impact study,” explained Gonzalez, archaeological coordinator   for EPM, one of the companies involved in the power project.

EPM and Codensa, a subsidiary of Spain’s Endesa, expect to start construction at the end of next year on two electrical substations in the Bogota suburb of Soacha.

In the meantime, the two firms are carrying out the archaeological excavation under the supervision of the official Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History.

“We have found an archaeological context that tells us about a probable form of village life, with some traces of family dwellings,” Gonzalez said. “We also find structures of a ceremonial type of nature and funerary structures.”

The site has yielded 30 intact ceramic objects as well as human bones and teeth.

The materials reveal that the inhabitants were members of the so-called Herrera culture, who lived in the highlands of central Colombia from around 900 B.C. to A.D. 900.

Life of Nelson Mandela

Names: Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla

Born: 18 July 1918, Mvezo, a village near Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Died: 5 December 2013, Houghton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

In summary: Lawyer, anti-apartheid activist, banned person, ANC member, SACP member, MK Commander in Chief, 1956 Treason Trialist, Robben Island prisoner, Nobel Peace Prize winner and first  elected  President of a democratic South Africa. 

In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly declared, 18 July Nelson Mandela International Day, to honour his birthday. This is the first time that the United Nations (UN) has designated a day dedicated to a person.

The UN has also asked the people of the world to set aside 67 minutes of their day to undertake a task that would contribute to bringing joy or relief to the millions of disadvantaged and vulnerable people of the world.

Mandela’s fame rests on his role as a revolutionary leader who spent nearly seven decades of his life in the struggle against white minority rule and for a free and democratic non-racial society. His greatness lies in the fact that he is a visionary, a democrat and international political leader who exercises his influence and leadership with humility and respect for his colleagues and opponents alike. He is, above all, a man who is stubborn in his resolve to fight all forms of discrimination, injustice and inequality.

South African History Online’s contribution to celebrating the life and times of Nelson Mandela has been, since 2008, to add to the Mandela feature on our website. Together, with the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s website, this constitutes one of the most authoritative and up to date online resources on Mandela.

2012 marks the 100th year anniversary of the African National Congress (ANC).  Our aim is to create a feature that will not only look at the liberation struggle but also celebrate the achievements of the peoples and organisations that shaped our freedom and democracy.

On the 5th of December Mandela passed away at 8.50pm at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, surrounded by his wife, Graça Machel and members of his family. 

How to studiy well: 11 Steps

1. 
   1
   Have a good space to study. You need a desk or a table with a lot of space. You also need good lighting, so that you're able to see what you need to be studying. This place should be somewhere quiet, where you can study without being distracted by the TV or other family members.
2. 
   2
   Know what your learning style is. If you're a visual learner, you might need to highlight your notes. If you're a verbal learner, you may need to make a song out of your notes. If you're a kinesthetic learner, you might need to act out your notes. Your learning style is a big part of studying success, because if you're not studying in a way that complements your learning style, the information won't sink in very well.
   • Make some flash cards if they will help you learn.
3. 
   3
   Take breaks. Study for 20 minutes at a time, and then take a 10 minute break so that the information sinks in. This is a tried and true learning method. When you're feeling overwhelmed, take a break, let the stuff you just learned sink in, and come back to it. Repetition is the key to studying well.
4. 
   4
   Test your knowledge. After you think you've learned everything you need to know, have a friend/family member quiz you on it, or make up a quiz for yourself, then hide your notes and fill it out. Take back your notes and correct your little quiz and see how you did. Did you get all the answers right, or do you need to study some more?
5. 
   5
   Avoid Cramming. For most people, cramming (studying for something the night before) doesn't really work. Most people need a few days to review their notes for the information to really sink in. Don't cram, because even if you study properly, usually cramming doesn't work too well anyway.
6. 
   6
   Decide what you want to study and make clear goals. Make note to use books as the primary resource for additional information as the Internet may not have reliable information.
7. 
   7
   Be Confident. Before studying the most important thing is to have confidence in yourself. Keep in mind that "I can do anything". Nothing is impossible.
8. 
   8
   Work Hard. Dont just sit around and study without any importance. If you really want to be top, first take steps to train yourself to become a good student. Try your level best.
9. 
   9
   Have a goal. Some students may study so that they are told to/forced to/time pass. Have a goal in your life. Try to achieve that goal by studying hard.
10. 
    10
    Be Attentive and Interested. You have to be interested and attentive on the subject you are studying. Don't study when watching TV/hearing music/and distractions that turn your mind from studying. Concentrate on the topic you are studying.
11. 
    11
    Be confident, avoid thinking that you have this as your last chance. Relax and breathe. You would get many chances, only if you give the honest effort. try your best

How To Write An Essay: 10 Easy Steps

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. 
-- Cyril Connolly

Why is writing an essay so frustrating? Learning how to write an essay can be a maddening, exasperating process, but it doesn't have to be. If you know the steps and understand what to do, writing can be easy and even fun. This site, "How To Write an Essay: 10 Easy Steps," offers a ten-step process that teaches students how to write an essay. Links to the writing steps are found on the left, and additional writing resources are located across the top.

Learning how to write an essay doesn't have to involve so much trial and error.

Brief Overview of the 10 Essay Writing Steps

Below are brief summaries of each of the ten steps to writing an essay. Select the links for more info on any particular step, or use the blue navigation bar on the left to proceed through the writing steps. How To Write an Essay can be viewed sequentially, as if going through ten sequential steps in an essay writing process, or can be explored by individual topic.

1. Research: Begin the essay writing process by researching your topic, making yourself an expert. Utilize the internet, the academic databases, and the library. Take notes and immerse yourself in the words of great thinkers.

2. Analysis: Now that you have a good knowledge base, start analyzing the arguments of the essays you're reading. Clearly define the claims, write out the reasons, the evidence. Look for weaknesses of logic, and also strengths. Learning how to write an essay begins by learning how to analyze essays written by others.

3. Brainstorming: Your essay will require insight of your own, genuine essay-writing brilliance. Ask yourself a dozen questions and answer them. Meditate with a pen in your hand. Take walks and think and think until you come up with original insights to write about.

4. Thesis: Pick your best idea and pin it down in a clear assertion that you can write your entire essay around. Your thesis is your main point, summed up in a concise sentence that lets the reader know where you're going, and why. It's practically impossible to write a good essay without a clear thesis.

5. Outline: Sketch out your essay before straightway writing it out. Use one-line sentences to describe paragraphs, and bullet points to describe what each paragraph will contain. Play with the essay's order. Map out the structure of your argument, and make sure each paragraph is unified.

6. Introduction: Now sit down and write the essay. The introduction should grab the reader's attention, set up the issue, and lead in to your thesis. Your intro is merely a buildup of the issue, a stage of bringing your reader into the essay's argument.

(Note: The title and first paragraph are probably the most important elements in your essay. This is an essay-writing point that doesn't always sink in within the context of the classroom. In the first paragraph you either hook the reader's interest or lose it. Of course your teacher, who's getting paid to teach you how to write an essay, will read the essay you've written regardless, but in the real world, readers make up their minds about whether or not to read your essay by glancing at the title alone.)

7. Paragraphs: Each individual paragraph should be focused on a single idea that supports your thesis. Begin paragraphs with topic sentences, support assertions with evidence, and expound your ideas in the clearest, most sensible way you can. Speak to your reader as if he or she were sitting in front of you. In other words, instead of writing the essay, try talking the essay.

8. Conclusion: Gracefully exit your essay by making a quick wrap-up sentence, and then end on some memorable thought, perhaps a quotation, or an interesting twist of logic, or some call to action. Is there something you want the reader to walk away and do? Let him or her know exactly what.

9. MLA Style: Format your essay according to the correct guidelines for citation. All borrowed ideas and quotations should be correctly cited in the body of your text, followed up with a Works Cited (references) page listing the details of your sources.

10. Language: You're not done writing your essay until you've polished your language by correcting the grammar, making sentences flow, incoporating rhythm, emphasis, adjusting the formality, giving it a level-headed tone, and making other intuitive edits. Proofread until it reads just how you want it to sound. Writing an essay can be tedious, but you don't want to bungle the hours of conceptual work you've put into writing your essay by leaving a few slippy misppallings and pourly wordedd phrazies..

You're done. Great job. Now move over Ernest Hemingway — a new writer is coming of age! (Of course Hemingway was a fiction writer, not an essay writer, but he probably knew how to write an essay just as well.)

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