The New Murrey and Blue blog

Alternative History

How Edward IV’s bigamy should have been resolved

Jul 17, 2023

Alternative History, anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion

Affinity, banns, bigamy, canon law, Castillon, Catherine de Roet, Catholicism, Church of England, consanguinity, Council of Trent, dispensations, Elizabeth Wydeville, family law, Henry VIII, illegitimacy, infertility, John Earl of Shrewsbury, John of Gaunt, lack of consent, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lumley-Conyers marriage, Moynihan barony, non-consummation, Papal Legate, pre-contract, R.H. Helmholz, Ralph Butler Baron Sudeley, Reformation, Sixtus IV, Statute of Merton, widows, witchcraft

Canon law, as practiced in most of Europe to the late mediaeval period, is noticeably different to the laws of the United Kingdom today, although it is somewhat looser today in several ways. Consequently, secret marriages were banned eventually, only first cousins now require dispensations and relationships do not beget affinity, although previous manages still…
Finding Richard (from across the Atlantic Ocean)

Apr 28, 2023

Alternative History, archaeology, battles, buildings, religion, The play’s the thing

American Civil War, Catholicism, Charles I, Commonwealth, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII, Leicester Greyfriars, Nazis, Reformation, Richard III discovery, USA, William Shakespeare

I had never been much interested in medieval history. I thought of them as backwards and a little too obsessed w the afterlife. However, the “what ifs” of history always intrigued me. What if the Nazis won WWII? What if the north had been defeated in the American Civil War? And so forth. I’d always…
Which Baron Hungerford was responsible….?

Feb 20, 2022

Alternative History, anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, law, religion

Barons Hungerford, Edward IV, English Heritage, executions, Farleigh Hungerford, murals, Salisbury Cathedral, Somerset, St. George, Towton, Walter Lord Hungerford

English Heritage has embarked upon the restoration of some wall murals in Farleigh Hungerford in Somerset. The photograph above shows an image of St George as a 15th-century knight, and has suffered over the centuries from damp conditions and misguided previous attempts to save it. You can read about the work here which describes it…
Dickon’s Diaries 3

Dec 28, 2021

Alternative History, buildings, humour

“Dickon’s Diaries”, Amazon, Anne Neville, Carry On series, Edward of Middleham, Francis Viscount Lovell, Joanne Larner, Middleham Castle, Richard III, Susan Lamb, The Two Ronnies

The Dickon’s Diaries series was written to lighten the mood surrounding Richard III as the authors felt that there was so much tragedy and sadness regarding his life, especially the last few years. Susan Lamb has a Facebook page, Dickon for his Dames, and on meeting Joanne Larner (me!) she asked her to collaborate to…
“The Buildings that fought Hitler” (Yesterday)

Nov 30, 2021

Alternative History, anniversaries, battles, buildings, humour, Science, television reviews

Battle of Britain, Bawdsey Manor, Blitz, deception, Dorset, dummy cities, Edmund Ironside, Field Marshal Ironside, Home Guard, Jasper Maskelyne, Military tactics, pill boxes, radar, Second World War, Stanley House, Stanleys, stop lines, Wars of the Roses, Wellington College, Winston Churchill, Yesterday Channel

Once you have reached beyond the bizarre title, which sounds rather like a Dr. Who episode, this is actually a very good series. Rob Bell, the engineer who is becoming quite ubiquitous, demonstrates how the UK was ready to use ther natural and built environments, together with science, to repel and then restrict a German…
Was Henry VIII contemplating a seventh wife….?

Sep 19, 2021

Alternative History, anniversaries, genealogy

Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Charles Brandon, Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, Katherine Parr, katherine Willoughby, Sir Thomas Seymour

The prospect of becoming Henry VIII’s seventh wife cannot have been cheering, but it seems possible it was the fate of Katherine Willoughby, who was the widow of Henry’s great friend, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. It seems she’d been ‘in the wings’ so to speak since marrying Brandon, who was well over…
‘The Road Not Travelled’ – New Anthology

Jul 4, 2021

Alternative History, battles

1066 Upside Down, Anne Neville, anthologies, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VII, Margaret of Anjou, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Riikka Nikko, Scoliosis Association UK, The Road Not Travelled, Wakefield

I recently read a brilliant short story anthology called ‘1066 Turned Upside Down’ which explored different ways in which the momentous year of 1066 might have turned out differently if something was changed. This made me think that a similar anthology for the Wars of the Roses would also be a great idea. There are…
Eleanor of Aquitaine is to get the Starz treatment….!

May 18, 2021

Alternative History, anniversaries, films

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II, Katherine Hepburn, Peter O’Toole, Starz, The Lion in Winter, The Spanish Princess, Weir

Eleanor of Aquitaine needs to keep her head down, I fear – Starz is coming after her, aided and abetted by Alison Weir this time. See this link. Has Philippa Gregory had the elbow? Whatever, we can batten down the hatches for another storm of misinformatiion! And one thing’s certain – it won’t be even…
The Time Travellers Conference….?

Mar 29, 2021

Alternative History, Events

time travel, Time Travellers’ Conference

I know you’re ahead of me here (ha! joke!) but can you imagine what my nincompoop brain did at first glance of the illustration below? That’s right, my brain leapt to “The Time Travellers Conference”. Oh, if only! What a thought, with or without Covid restrictions, but who/what/why/where would be involved in such a conference?…
Um, Princess Anne Neville of Bohemia….?

Mar 25, 2021

Alternative History, anniversaries, battles, genealogy, humour

Anne Neville, Anne of Bohemia, Battle of Bosworth, Elizabeth II, mistakes, Richard II, Richard III

Don’t have a drink in your hand as you read the following:- “ . . . Princess Anne Neville of Bohemia, who was looked to as the embodiment of virtue and modesty, rode side-saddle across Europe prior to her marriage to King Richard III in 1472. Their marriage lasted three years, as King Richard died…