King Henry VIII: Her figure's all right. What about her face? Thomas Cromwell: I am assured, sire, it is the fairest in all Normandy. King Henry VIII: What about her... [indicates hourglass figure] Thomas Cromwell: The fullest in all Normandy. King Henry VIII: Has she been chaste? Thomas Cromwell: All over Normandy.
The codpiece, of course, forms part of the picture of Henry VIII that we all carry round in our heads. In the portraits after Hans Holbein the Younger, Henry’s enormous codpiece emphasizes his virility, and hence his capacity for providing England with heirs to the throne. It forms the very centerpiece of Holbein’s drawing (‘The Whitehall Cartoon’) that gives us Henry’s definitive image. None of Henry’s fabric codpieces survive, but the suit of his 1540 armour displayed at the Tower of London also has an enormous codpiece in metal, and its size suggests that Holbein was not exaggerating. Female visitors to the Tower used to stick pins into its lining in the hope that this would increase their own fertility. This from https://lucyworsley.com/a-little-article-on-the-history-of-the-codpiece/
Records show that in 1526, Henry VIII commissioned a pair of leather football boots at a cost of 4 shillings (around £90 today); 14 years later, in 1540, he banned football on the grounds that it incited riots.
I wouldn’t make that kind of joke to the kids so I wouldn’t expect one back. Reading the statement out to the whole class would just set them off laughing and disrupt the learning session and isn’t the sort of humour I’d want in the classroom. I don’t mean trouble as in a detention but I’d be speaking to them quietly to say it’s not appropriate. Since the latest Ofsted guidance to schools we’ve been told to crack down on all ‘banter’ like that. I wouldn’t allow a joke about a woman having big jugs so jokes about big balls are out too.
That's a bit of a shame, it's pretty harmless and I wouldn't want schools stamping out character in kids. I remember when a teacher told me to stop blowing my own trumpet and I said "believe me sir, if I could do that I wouldn't have come in this morning." Thankfully he laughed whereas it sounds like I'd now get a bollocking.
Apparently this was one of the most sought after jobs at court. It allowed you close access to the King (or Queen) and the opportunity to lobby and influence to great effect. Bit like getting a Royal Flush at poker...
He wrote a song about himself but it didn’t hit the charts while until the 1960s with Herman’s Hermits .
Your interpretation of the latest Ofsted guidance appears to be far too severe and literal, not least as that guidance is concerned with identifying and dealing with sexualised behaviour in schools, and primarily sexual violence and harassment, none of which would even remotely be seen to reasonably describe such a gentle, harmless and indeed funny play on words, which is clearly designed to do no more that elicit a chuckle from all in the classroom. Over-reacting to it in the way you suggest would indicate that there is something inappropriate or concerning about the pupil’s behaviour, a reaction which would be in no way justified purely on the basis of a silly pun. In interpreting such guidance, school staff are of course required to exercise appropriate professional judgement, and while there’s always a place for the kind of po-faced/teach-by-numbers individual who may make a fuss over such a comment, a good teacher will always find a way to defuse and/or run with it, perhaps chuckling along before turning it back on the ‘perpetrator’ by asking him/her to further research said balls with a view to describing them in more detail to the class next time etc. Differentiation is a big part of teaching, and the same principle applies when it comes to being able to tell the difference between a harmless joke and something much more unpleasant which is part of a concerning pattern of behaviour. The latter is of course what the Ofsted guidance is aiming to address.
