> Spanish crew’s lack of English sank Henry VIII’s flagship: study
Spanish crew’s lack of English sank Henry VIII’s flagship: study
Contact:
Lynne Bell, 778.782.7240; 604.230.7177 (cell); lynneb@sfu.ca
Stuart Colcleugh, PAMR, 778.782.3210
Lynne Bell, 778.782.7240; 604.230.7177 (cell); lynneb@sfu.ca
Stuart Colcleugh, PAMR, 778.782.3210
August 1, 2008
English King Henry VIII's favorite warship, the Mary Rose, may have sunk because her predominantly Spanish crew couldn’t understand English commands, according to remarkable new forensic evidence uncovered by Simon Fraser University criminologist Lynne Bell.
Bell, an associate professor in the School of Criminology and SFU's Forensic Research Centre, examined bones and teeth from the ship’s 400 lost crewmembers, which were recovered when the ship was raised in 1982, and found that about 60 per cent of them came from southern Europe, most likely Spain.
“The results were totally unexpected,” says Bell, whose findings will be published this month in the Journal of Archaeological Science and featured in a documentary on the crew of the Mary Rose airing Aug. 5 on Britain's Channel 5.
The Mary Rose, named after Henry’s sister Mary Tudor and the pride of the fleet, sank during a battle with the French off Portsmouth, England in 1545, but the exact cause of its sinking has remained one of the biggest mysteries in British naval history.
Bell was initially given permission by the Mary Rose Trust to investigate the dietary habits of the crew's main occupational groups – mariners and soldiers.
“I went a little further – using isotopic data from their bones and teeth it was possible to place them geographically," she says. "It was clear that a significant proportion of the crew did not originate in Britain, but rather came from warmer, more southerly regions of Europe.
"I took the research to this level only to be thorough," she adds. "But as it turned out, I got a big shock."
The French claimed to have sunk the ship, but no canon damage was found in the ship's recovered hull. The British maintained it was because of a poor navigational manoeuvre, which allowed water to flood into the lower gun-ports.
Bell says her research seems to back another theory – that a mix of nationalities onboard led to a lack of communication, which ultimately led to the sinking.
"In one instance, a captain from another ship called out shortly before the sinking and asked how they were doing – to which the Mary Rose captain replied, ‘I have the type of knaves of whom I cannot rule.’ Although this comment was felt to be important, no one had really understood what the captain meant by this. “
Historical letters discovered "at the 11th hour" and shown to Bell by the filmmakers provided yet another clue about the national composition of the crew.
The letters indicate that shortly before the sinking, 600 Spanish mariners were “prest” into the King's service. “These letters closed the circle for me, and made a lot of sense of my somewhat controversial results.”
Bell will follow up her research with a study of the entire crew to learn more about their origins.
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Bell, an associate professor in the School of Criminology and SFU's Forensic Research Centre, examined bones and teeth from the ship’s 400 lost crewmembers, which were recovered when the ship was raised in 1982, and found that about 60 per cent of them came from southern Europe, most likely Spain.
“The results were totally unexpected,” says Bell, whose findings will be published this month in the Journal of Archaeological Science and featured in a documentary on the crew of the Mary Rose airing Aug. 5 on Britain's Channel 5.
The Mary Rose, named after Henry’s sister Mary Tudor and the pride of the fleet, sank during a battle with the French off Portsmouth, England in 1545, but the exact cause of its sinking has remained one of the biggest mysteries in British naval history.
Bell was initially given permission by the Mary Rose Trust to investigate the dietary habits of the crew's main occupational groups – mariners and soldiers.
“I went a little further – using isotopic data from their bones and teeth it was possible to place them geographically," she says. "It was clear that a significant proportion of the crew did not originate in Britain, but rather came from warmer, more southerly regions of Europe.
"I took the research to this level only to be thorough," she adds. "But as it turned out, I got a big shock."
The French claimed to have sunk the ship, but no canon damage was found in the ship's recovered hull. The British maintained it was because of a poor navigational manoeuvre, which allowed water to flood into the lower gun-ports.
Bell says her research seems to back another theory – that a mix of nationalities onboard led to a lack of communication, which ultimately led to the sinking.
"In one instance, a captain from another ship called out shortly before the sinking and asked how they were doing – to which the Mary Rose captain replied, ‘I have the type of knaves of whom I cannot rule.’ Although this comment was felt to be important, no one had really understood what the captain meant by this. “
Historical letters discovered "at the 11th hour" and shown to Bell by the filmmakers provided yet another clue about the national composition of the crew.
The letters indicate that shortly before the sinking, 600 Spanish mariners were “prest” into the King's service. “These letters closed the circle for me, and made a lot of sense of my somewhat controversial results.”
Bell will follow up her research with a study of the entire crew to learn more about their origins.
-30-