A Conversation About History, Television, and the British Reformation
David Starkey
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David Starkey is the author of
Six Wives:
The Queens of Henry VIII (Chatto & Windus, 2003
and
Elizabeth (Chatto & Windus,
2000), and a Visiting Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
On October 6th, at 5pm in 370 Dwinelle Hall, Starkey gave a lecture
entitled "A Conversation About History, Television,
and the British Reformation." Despite a late start,
the lecture was well attended and proved very interesting.
Starkey reviewed his
Six Wives book, approaching
the debate on two fronts. The first involved a discussion
of the "soap opera television" intrigue of the
Henry VIII anomaly; the second revolved around the whole
mass of debates
and arguments about the court, based on a more scholarly
perspective.
"The last thing I am is a revisionist," Starkey
states. But he did reveal and criticize several aspects
of traditional
historical scholarship about Henry VIII and his wives.
His major qualms were with assumptions about Henry's wives.
He strove to highlight the women's roles -- especially
that of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, the first
two wives -- and assign
their
characters more power over the fate of sixteenth century
England. Indeed, he believed that the Reformation could
never have
taken
place
without
Henry's
break from his marriage to Catherine... and that that break
wouldn't have happened without Anne's refusal to become
Henry's mistress. "Anne was at least as important
in leading the country to the Reformation as was Henry
himself,"
said Starkey.
Starkey went on to discuss Catherine's supposed lie of
miscarriage, and what that lie would have meant, were it
true. He eventually moved on to the larger themes of women
in power during that time. He also discussed the role of
television in motivating the general public to learn more
about history, and talked about his efforts to remain as
diligent in the pursuit of scholarly study today as
he was "pre-fame".
He was questioned by the two professors who shared his
panel, Tom Brady of the History department and Lorna Hutson
of the English department. Their remarks ranged from
topics as broad
as "cultures
of violence" to close analysis/critique of Starkey's
representations of women, enigma and sexual bodies. To
the former, Starkey
denied making any such large claims about England during
that time period. To the latter, Starkey said he'd hoped
only to deliberately stay away from discussions about Henry,
and focus on the importance of the roles his wives played
in the building of the Reformation.
--
Rachel
Mullis, Editor, IES
David Starkey is a leading commentator on the state
of British politics, leadership throughout the ages, and
society; his views
are intelligent,
sometimes controversial and always thought-provoking. He appears
frequently on television and radio, and is often invited on such
programs as "Question Time" and "Newsnight".
In addition to his media profile, David Starkey is a respected
academic. His
research interests have developed to include a broad spectrum
of cultural, social and political history. He is known throughout
the United States because of his role on CBS, where he disseminates
the recent sea changes in public opinion within Britain to a
wider audience.
