BOOKS FOR CHRISTMASCHAPTER & VERSE2 Pamela Norris's beautifully produced Through the Glass Window Shines the Sun (Little, Brown pounds 13.99) brings together verse and painting from the Middle Ages. Illustrations from illuminated manuscripts accompany texts culled from Boccaccio, Chaucer, Malory and Anon: "Green groweth the Holly" is Henry VIII's charming contribution - a paean to fidelity, the hypocritical old so-and-so.

HISTORY

RESTORATION; The Tate Gallery recently put this little-known portrait by John Bettes under the microscope. What they discovered will change our view of the Tudor world forever. Iain Gale investigates

THE PLAY

Anniversaries

I WAS disappointed to read time-worn myths about Anne of Cleves on the anniversary of her death (The List, 16 July).

The theory that Tudor monarchs were as likely to take a bath as make a happy marriage has been disproved by the revelation that Henry VIII's sanitary habits were surprisingly hygienic.

IT SHOULD not surprise Robert Fisk ("Oh! What a lovely holy war", Review, 25 June) that an Iranian soldier looked at him with incomprehension after a piece of Siegfried Sassoon's poetry had been read to him. He should remember that the soldier's religion is about 600 years younger than Christianity, and is at an age when Christians had not yet burnt Joan of Arc, no one had heard of the Spanish Inquisition, and monks in England and Wales had about 150 years to go before Henry VIII made them homeless.

TODAY: Births: St Bernadette of Lourdes (Marie-Bernarde Soubirous), 1844; Francis-Jean Marcel Poulenc, composer, 1899. Deaths: Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII, 1536; Nicholas Hillyarde, first English miniaturist painter, 1619; Sophia LouisaJex-Blake, physician and champion of women's rights, 1912; John Berryman, poet, 1972. On this day: Glasgow University was founded, 1450; the first woman was elected as foreman of a jury in Britain, 1921; The Forsyte Saga television serialisation

THE DEATH of Lindsay Anderson, following that of John Dexter and Tony Richardson, leaves only one survivor of the 'sons of George Devine': William Gaskill, whose revival of Arden's Armstrong's Last Goodnight concludes the official Edinburgh Festival programme. Gaskill and Dexter directed the play's 1965 English premiere which starred Albert Finney and Robert Stephens. There are no comparable names in the Royal Lyceum Company, but at last this magnificent play really works. Armstrong is famous for being written in two 16th- century Scottish dialects: a factor that banjaxed the original Chichester audience, but which forms no obstacle on the Edinburgh stage. The only question is why it has taken so long to reach Edinburgh, when its central character, Sir David Lindsay (author of The Three Estates) ranks as the patron saint of the festival's drama.

RISK GAY

----------------------------------------------------------------- TOP 10 LONGEST-SERVING MONARCHS ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Victoria (1837-1901). . . . . . . . .64 years 2 George III (1760-1820). . . . . . . .60 3 Henry III (1216-1272). . . . . . . . 56 4 Edward III (1327-1377). . . . . . . .50 5 Elizabeth I (1558-1603). . . . . . . 45 6 Elizabeth II (1952-). . . . . . . . .42 7 Henry VI (1422-1461,1470-1). . . . . 40 8 Henry VIII (1509-1547). . . . . . . .38 9 Egbert (802-839). . . . . . . . . . .37 10 Aethelred II (979-1013,1014-1016). . 36 -----------------------------------------------------------------

ONE of our most dysfunctional monarchs doles out marital guidance to the Prince of Wales in the Natural Theatre Company's latest flight of fancy dress, Henry VIII - Diary of a Serial Killer: a pacey, experimental piece in which the myths about the unfortunate Mrs Tudors are exploded in the name of slapstick. This acclaimed company made its name with delicious characterisations, off-the-wall plots, catchy musical numbers and an ability to get everyone into the party spirit. In Scarlatti's Wedding (1991), they got the audience to put on masks and jump out from under their seats shouting 'Surprise, surprise]'. So wallflowers take heed: one of the highlights of this show is a version of Blind Date hosted by Catherine Howard. (Assembly Rooms, 031-226 2428, 15 Aug-3 Sept.)

Sir: With regard to the letter from the Rev Michael Morton (30 June), the title Defender of the Faith was conferred on Henry VIII in 1521 by Pope Leo X in recognition of the king's treatise attacking the Protestant Luther. It was certainly not intended to affirm the Crown in its symbolic task of upholding Christian values, but rather to shore up the Roman Catholic Church in its struggle against a form of the Christian faith that was trying to make a real difference in society.