anniversaries
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… Edward IV is either Mr. Rochester or Captain Mainwaring, which other fictional character may be based on one of his contemporaries? John, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, posthumously Edward’s father-in-law, who was identified after the battle of Castillon by the gap between his teeth might be Terry-Thomas? Domenico Mancini, a foreign visitor who barely understood…
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An article in British History Online , as illustrated by this John Zephaniah Bell painting says: “Here [Westminster Abbey/Sanctuary/Cheyneygates] the unhappy queen [Elizabeth Woodville] was induced by the Duke of Buckingham and the Archbishop of York to surrender her little son, Edward V., to his uncle Richard, who carried him to the Tower, where the two…
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Today in 1461, which was Palm Sunday, the Battle of Towton was fought, resulting in a Yorkist victory with large scale casualties. Legend has it that Henry VI fled to Muncaster Castle, then in Cumberland, where he gave his host Sir John Pennington a glass drinking bowl. It became known as the “Luck of Muncaster”…
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In this article, Fiona Watson discusses the main points and the errata in the series The Outlaw King, about Robert I’s accession and reign. It deals with issues such as Robert I’s lineage, Wallace’s execution, the killing of Comyn and his encounter with Edward II at Bannockburn, although the latter wasn’t active at Loudoun Hill in…
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I stupidly decided to cook a mediaeval feast to celebrate New Year’s Eve with some friends. I say ‘stupidly’ not because it wasn’t a success but because the amount of work and fiddly techniques nearly killed me! I wanted to do something similar to one of the courses of Richard’s coronation feast, so about 15-20…
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Two of the late twentieth century’s greatest composers share a birthday today. One of these is Stephen Sondheim and the other is Andrew, Baron Lloyd Webber. Neither of them have intentionally written about the events of 1483 or the major characters thereof but there is an interesting connection. Here are the lyrics to a song…
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RUNNING WILD–BLOODY RED ROSE I came across this heavy metal song from the 1980’s a while back– BLOODY RED ROSE by Running Wild. It is ‘pro-Richard III’ and here are the lyrics: In the war of the roses, the tragedy source King Edward was bound to die Richard III the new “lord protector” Ruled with…
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Poor old Richard, being walked over many times by “Jenny” on her way to the school dinner hall. Jenny became an undertaker, and was eventually to attend to Richard’s reburial. The article is by Nuala McCann.
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Having just acquired Nigel Saul’s For Honour and Fame, about chivalry in England from 1066 to 1500, one of my first actions was (as always!) to go to the pages that refer to Richard III. Well, it’s second nature to any Ricardian, I think. So, on page 279, I read: “. . .A generation later…
