anniversaries

A tale of monarchs and national anthems

Mar 16, 2020

anniversaries, battles, culture, Music Reviews

assassination, Bannockburn, Barbara Dickson, Boroughbridge, folk music, football, kings, Margaret of Norway, music, national anthems, Netherlands, O Flower of Scotland, Phillip II, Robert I, rugby, Scotland, Spain, the Corries, Wilhelminus, William the Silent

Anyone who has watched a Scottish rugby or association football match will be familiar with the Corries’ folk song O Flower of Scotland, which is played before their matches. The second line of the chorus (“Proud Edward’s army”) refers to Edward II, defeated at Bannockburn so that he never actually ruled Scotland although he may…
A book to avoid if you uphold the truth about Richard III….

Mar 15, 2020

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, Book Reviews, Science, sources

“Princes”, “Tudor” propaganda, Anne Neville, Anne of Bohemia, Battle of Bosworth, boar, Council of the North, Dukes of York, Henry IV, Henry VII, Peter Ackroyd, Polydore Vergil, Richard II, Richard III, Thomas More, York

When we buy a non-fiction book (in our case usually something to do with Richard III and the medieval period) we anticipate its arrival with some relish. This is how I felt when, after reading many praises for Peter Ackroyd’s History of England, I decided to buy Volume I online. It arrived this morning, and…
Desperately Seeking Wolsey….

Mar 10, 2020

anniversaries, archaeology, genealogy, religion, Science

Abbey Park, Henry VIII, Leicester, Leicester Abbey, Richard III, statues, Thomas Wolsey, virtual reality

The discovery in Leicester of the remains of Richard III was surely one of the greatest such event, and since then there have been increased attempts to locate other great figures from our past. Leicester has at least one other such person just waiting to be found, but as yet he’s proving elusive. The location…
Elizabeth Woodville and witchcraft in medieval England….

Mar 6, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion

astrology, Beaumaris Castle, Charles VI, Edward IV, Eleanor Cobham, Elizabeth Wydeville, France, Gregory, Henry IV, Henry V, heresy, Humphrey of Gloucester, insanity, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Jane Shore, Joan of Navarre, Leeds Castle, Titulus Regius, witchcraft

Aha, so Elizabeth Woodvile was a witch, and so was her mother, Jacquette of Luxembourg. Well, everyone knew that already, because Philippa Gregory wrote about it in great detail. So it just has to be true! Anyway, joking aside, this History extra article is interesting for the information it gives about what the English…
How would Thetford Priory have looked?

Mar 2, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, religion

Church of Scotland, Cluny, Edward I, House of Stewart, Howard tombs, Marjorie Bruce, Mowbray tombs, Paisley Abbey, restorations, Robert II, ruins, Scotland, Songs of Praise, St. Michael’s Church Framlingham, Strathclyde, Thetford Priory, Walter the Steward

Originally posted on Mid Anglia Group, Richard III Society: Thetford Priory was, of course, a Cluniac Priory. Whilst some walls stand away from the entrance, in other areas only the foundations remain and the Mowbray tomb locations are no longer marked, although those of the Howards, moved to Framlingham, remain. If only, I hear you…
So wrong he could be right?

Feb 25, 2020

anniversaries, genealogy, law, religion, Science

Algernon Sidney, Algernon Swinburne, Anne Boleyn, annulments, Anthony Hoskins, Bishop Ridley, Catherine Carey, Catherine of Aragon, DNA analysis, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth II, execution, Genealogists’ Magazine, Henry Caret Lord Hunsdon, Henry Fitzroy, Henry VIII, Horace Round, Horatio Nelson, illegitimacy, Ireland, John Ashdown-Hill, Josiah Wedgwood, Lady Anne Somerset, Lady Antonia Fraser, Mail on Sunday, Marie Barnfield, Mary Boleyn, Mary I, Norman Baker, P.G. Wodehouse, Peter Hammond, Pole family, Princess Daisy, Queen Mother, Ralph Vaughan Williams, rebellions, Robert 2nd Earl of Essex, royal finance, Sabine Baring-Gould, Society of Genealogists, Vita Sackville-West, William Carey, William Cowper

This article, by the former MP Norman Baker, appeared in the Mail on Sunday. Actually, the original version was much longer and referred to Elizabeth II as a descendant of Henry VIII. This is an egregious howler, surely, because all of his actual descendants died by 1603 (or the last day of 1602/3 in the…
Plus ca change …

Feb 23, 2020

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion

Battle of Preston, Brazil, Clauvino da Silva, Countess of Nithsdale, cross-dressing, drug barons, Dumfries, Earl of Nithsdale, escapes, Hexham, Jacobites, James “VIII/III”, James VII/II, Jedburgh, planned executions, rebellions, Scotland, St. Germain, Tower of London

Here is an Evening Standard article about Clauvino da Silva (left), a Brazillian gang leader who tried to escape from prison disguised as his own daughter, but his “feminine walk” was unconvincing and he didn’t leave the prison. He seems to have hanged himself the following day. Things turned out differently for William Maxwell, the…
Another sad dose of misinterpretation for poor old Richard III….

Feb 18, 2020

anniversaries, Book Reviews, law, religion

bigamy, Edward IV, George Duke of Clarence, illegitimacy, Protectorate, Richard III, Thomas Penn, Wydevilles

In case you don’t know, there is a new book out by Thomas Penn – he of the excellent The Winter King, about Henry VII. His new book, The Brothers York, is about about the three sons of Richard, 3rd Duke of York: Edward IV, George of Clarence and Richard of Gloucester/Richard III, has been…
The signatures of England’s kings and queens since Richard II….

Feb 15, 2020

anniversaries

Edward IV, Edward V, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, monarchs, Richard II, Richard III, signatures

Well, it has to be from Richard II, because I believe he was the first monarch to actually sign anything. But I’m not stating that as if it’s carved in stone! And the signatures I’m concerned with here are from Richard II to Henry VII, because their reigns cover the period in which I am…
Three unlucky kings?

Feb 14, 2020

anniversaries, archaeology, genealogy, law

bigamy, Catherine of Braganza, Charles II, Dorothea Bland, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, illegitimacy, infant death, James of Monmouth, John Ashdown-Hill, Lady Eleanor Talbot, miscarriage, mistresses, Pedro II, Queen Adelaide, stillbirth, The Pink Queen, William IV

They are: Edward IV, Charles II (buried today in 1685) and William IV, all of whom had a large number of illegitimate children, but none left a legitimate heir. Edward IV (1442-83) had twelve to fifteen children by various mistresses, including Elizabeth Wydville, but none by Lady Eleanor Talbot, his only legal wife, whose probable…