Tudor London in Maps
I love maps. Maybe it's because I'm spatially challenged (meaning: I'm often lost). Whatever the reason, I love maps.When I'm writing a scene set in Tudor London - which is frequently - you'll find me most days poring over some period map.
To get the scene right I need to know exactly which streets and lanes my characters used, which wharves and markets they frequented, which liveried companies' halls they passed, which church bells tolled as they went by.
It might be the scene of Richard Thornleigh on horseback bolting up the steps of St. Paul's church to shake off the horsemen pursuing him and Honor in The Queen's Lady.
Or Isabel Thornleigh rowing a skiff at night across the Thames from the Old Swan Stairs to report to rebel leader Thomas Wyatt in Southwark in The King's Daughter.
Or Kate Thornleigh confronting her father on London Bridge as his troop arrests a fleeing assassin in The Traitor's Daughter, my work in progress.
Every bit of information I glean from maps of the time helps me bring the scene to life.
That's old London Bridge above. In Tudor and Elizabethan times it was the city's only viaduct. (Can you see the traitors' heads impaled on poles on the Southwark-side gatehouse roof in the lower foreground?) London, only one square mile in those days, was a city whose lifeblood was its river, the Thames.
One of the best known maps of Tudor London is Civitas Londinum, known as the Agas Map from an attribution to surveyor Ralph Agas (c.1540-1621). Printed about 1561 it offers a richly detailed view of buildings and streets. It's fuzzy in the image above because I had to reduce the size, but full size it's glorious. On the Map of Early Modern London website http://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/map.htm you can choose a section of the Agas Map and zoom in to see street names, church names, trade companies' halls and more. It's an invaluable resource.
Wonderful images, aren't they?
I may often be lost when I'm driving in a modern big city, but in Tudor London I'm right where I want to be.
*****
My new novel, The Queen's Exiles, will be released at the end of May 2014.For more about the Thornleigh Saga books please visit my website: http://www.barbarakyle.com/
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Ann
(new)
Apr 21, 2014 08:42AM
I'm another map-lover, Barbara, though I also have an acute sense of direction in 'real life'. Like you, I'm writing about Tudor London, and I use these maps too. We're so lucky to have them!
reply
|
flag
Ann wrote: "I'm another map-lover, Barbara, though I also have an acute sense of direction in 'real life'. Like you, I'm writing about Tudor London, and I use these maps too. We're so lucky to have them!"Next time I'm in England I'm driving with you, Ann!
You know that old chestnut, that only men can read maps, and women have no sense of direction? Well, with my husband and me, it's the other way round!
Ann wrote: "You know that old chestnut, that only men can read maps, and women have no sense of direction? Well, with my husband and me, it's the other way round!"Brava! I applaud you...and will do so only from the back seat :)
So glad to learn about the Agas map! Thank you, Barbara. Just bought a copy of The Queen's Lady--guess I have a lot of reading to do to catch up!
Pamela wrote: "So glad to learn about the Agas map! Thank you, Barbara. Just bought a copy of The Queen's Lady--guess I have a lot of reading to do to catch up!"Oh, you'll love the Agas Map, Pamela. Perfect for your Shakespeare-inspired fiction. Click on that link in the post above and it'll open a treasure trove for your research. Cheers!
Pamela wrote: "So glad to learn about the Agas map! Thank you, Barbara. Just bought a copy of The Queen's Lady--guess I have a lot of reading to do to catch up!"P.S. And thanks for buying The Queen's Lady! I hope you'll enjoy it.
From yet another map-oholic... Well done! Although my novels are set in colonial and Revolutionary War America, I rely heavily on maps. As a native New Yorker, I was surprised at the changes that took place over the years in Manhattan. I'd have been lost without http://www.historicmapworks.com. This site allows you to superimpose historical maps of a given city over ones of today. Where would we be without those cartographers of yore?
Kathy wrote: "From yet another map-oholic... Well done! Although my novels are set in colonial and Revolutionary War America, I rely heavily on maps. As a native New Yorker, I was surprised at the changes that t..."Thanks for sharing that link, Kathy. Yes, indeed, hats off to all cartographers.
As usual, another great post! While working on 'Sierra,'--a big Michener-esque novel set on the west slope of California's Sierra Nevada mountains--I discovered that the insurance companies of the 1800s kept very useful maps of early mining towns, with labels of what each building was made of, what businesses were where, how far away the fire department was, etc. I don't have a link for the fellow who collected, enlarged and then sold these gems for many of the early California towns, but insurance companies and State Libraries may head you in the right direction, and the info is invaluable.
Persia wrote: "As usual, another great post! While working on 'Sierra,'--a big Michener-esque novel set on the west slope of California's Sierra Nevada mountains--I discovered that the insurance companies of the ..."Insurance companies: what a clever resource find, Persia. BTW I'm up for anything "Michener-esque"! His THE SOURCE inspired my love of historical fiction.
Thanks for the feedback, Barbara. THE SOURCE really got me to thinking about the human story behind legends and myths and sent me off into the world of euhemerists. Can't help wondering how many other historical novelists were influenced by that book in one way or another. Anyone else?
Persia wrote: "Thanks for the feedback, Barbara. THE SOURCE really got me to thinking about the human story behind legends and myths and sent me off into the world of euhemerists. Can't help wondering how many o..."You've just taught me a new word, Persia: euhemerism. Thank you.
Yes, I too love old maps. Alas, 16th-century Muscovites were nowhere near as conscientious about such things as 16th-century Londoners, but they did get a few English visitors who left lovely multicolored maps of their journeys. And archeologists have done their best to make up for the lack!
C.P. wrote: "Yes, I too love old maps. Alas, 16th-century Muscovites were nowhere near as conscientious about such things as 16th-century Londoners, but they did get a few English visitors who left lovely multi..."I'd love to see those Moscow maps, C.P. Are you writing about 16th C. Moscow?
