The New Murrey and Blue blog

Sometimes coincidences can be really eerie, and I think the eclipses of 1485 and 2015 fall into that category, because of Anne Neville’s death during one, and because there is to be another on Friday, immediately prior to the reinterment week of Richard III.. See http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/royal-history/art520910-experts-say-fridays-solar-eclipse-mirrors-astronomical-events-during-last-year-of-richard-iii.

There are 530 years between 1485 and 2015, and if you go another back a further 530 years, it seems there were three eclipses in 995 , partial, annular and total. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_eclipses_in_the_10th_century From what I can gather, one or other of these would have been seen in the United Kingdom. But don’t quote me, as I’m no expert, just someone who finds the 530 year thing interesting.

The curious link to Richard III is that in 995 the body of his favourite saint, Cuthbert, was moved to Ripon, Yorkshire, due to another Danish invasion. I’m not going to look at 425, when yes, there was an annular eclipse. What events there may have been I do not know, let alone whether one of them could be conceived as a link to Richard.

Yes, yes, I know eclipses are common, but looking for a thread is tempting, if not scientific…