anniversaries
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There are plans to look for evidence of the fishponds and orchards of the 12th-century abbey, in what is now Abbey Park, Leicester. There are also calls for this search to include seeking the tomb of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who died in Leicester in 1530. His resting place was not left undisturbed for long, because…
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Warwick Castle Portcullis Francis Frith Photo of the portcullis 1901 The mound as viewed from the portcullis Old bridge Warwick Castle The moat Warwick Castle. Old staircase in Warwick Castle 14th century Guys Tower For more photos and an interesting article from ‘Britain and Britishness’ about Warwick Castle please see this link . Much of…
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The Survival of the Princes in the Tower has finally been released. There was a delay in some copies reaching readers in September, so by way of apology I blogged a little extract which can be found below. I also wrote a piece for On the Tudor Trail which was quite well received and can…
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There is an issue with Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia, who was shot and beheaded by Vikings, today in 869. He isn’t England’s patron saint, although he is far more English than St. George, who is thought to have originated in modern-day Turkey or Syria. However, unlike St. Edward the Confessor, whose brother-in-law…
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Peter Cole was a tanner from Ipswich, although his year of birth is generally unknown. He found himself tried in Norwich for heresy and executed there, presumably in the Castle moat (below), which must have been something of a shock as it was 1587 and the heresy laws had been repealed again almost thirty years…
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On the left is Herman Webster Mudgett, alias H.H. Holmes, an American serial killer executed in May 1896 whilst a few days short of his thirty-fifth birthday. On the right is the “murder castle”, replete with trapdoors, sealed rooms and poison gas, he built in Chicago for the 1893 “World’s Fair” and from which at least…
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The painted tapestry below is from Rothley Chapel in Leicestershire. Strangely, since the article that prompts me now (see link below) was written in 2012, no one appears to have noticed the great likeness of the depicted English king to Richard III. At least, if they have, I don’t know of it. It’s Richard, even…
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Coventry’s history and buildings are very well served and illustrated in this article. I think the city is very well worth visiting and has a lot to offer.
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Updated version of this post on Sparkypus.com Aveline de Forz an Early Plantagenet Bride – her tomb in Westminster Abbey Aveline de Forz tomb and effgy. One of the earliest tombs in Westminster Abbey. On this day, 10 November, 1274, died Aveline de Forz, Countess of Lancaster and Edmund ‘Crouchback’ Plantagenet’s first wife. Aveline was…
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We can recommend this piece, by Professor David Gill of the University of Suffolk, with several superb images of the original burial sites of the first two Howard Dukes of Norfolk. Both were probably transferred to St. Michael’s Church, Framlingham, at the Reformation
The New Murrey and Blue blog 