The New Murrey and Blue blog

anniversaries

Two great calendars, in spite of Henry VII spoiling August on one….!

Nov 14, 2016

anniversaries, art

British Library, calendars, Edward IV, Henry VII, illuminated manuscripts, Immaculate Conception

I have just bought this British Library “Illuminated Manuscripts” calendar for 2017. It’s gorgeous, and the illustrations are magnificent reproductions. I bought it from Amazon – couldn’t find it on the British Library site. If you follow the link, you can see small pictures of all twelve illustrations. August’s picture is of Henry VII adoring…
Richard III stained glass window in Exeter (by Ian Churchward)

Oct 2, 2016

anniversaries, buildings

Exeter, Richard III, Richard III Society, Rougemont Castle, Shakespeare, stained glass

I thought I was very well acquainted with the local history of Exeter where I was born and where I have been working on and off for the last seventeen or so years. I also thought I had found out everything I could about the places of interest relating to Richard III in Exeter. I…
Has Henry I been located?

Sep 30, 2016

anniversaries, buildings

car parks, Exhumation, Ground Penetrating Radar, Henry I, Kingfinder General, Leicester, Oscar Wilde, Reading Abbey, Reading Gaol, Richard III

A heat map produced by GPR appears to show evidence of graves close to Reading Abbey’s high altar, corresponding almost exactly to Richard III’s location in the Leicester Greyfriars, as this post shows. The site, which is presently and inevitably a car park, was once occupied by the gaol Oscar Wilde made famous, see also…
How to organise an invasion fleet

Sep 28, 2016

anniversaries, battles

English Heritage, invasion fleet, mercenaries, Normans, Pevensey Bay, usurpers, William I

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/1066-and-the-norman-conquest/how-to-organise-a-norman-invasion-fleet/ {particularly when you are coming from France with a few thousand mercenaries and no lineal claim to the English throne}
The Battle of Stamford Bridge?

Sep 25, 2016

anniversaries

battles, Harald Hardrada, Harold II, Hastings, Normans, Norway, Stamford Bridge, Tostig, travel, usurpers, Vikings, Yorkshire

No, NOT this Stamford Bridge, but two hundred miles further north, somewhere by the River Derwent in the East Riding. So please try to avoid any more football references, except for the violent Norwegian game plan, the travel plans of the teams (sorry, armies) and the fixture congestion being contributory factors to the Anglo-Saxon defeat…
The Hidden Abbey Project

Jul 17, 2016

anniversaries, buildings, Science

Ground Penetrating Radar, Henry I, Kingfinder General, Philippa Langley, Reading Abbey

The first news of some GPR action in Reading: http://www.philippalangley.co.uk/news.html Further information is available from: http://readingshiddenabbey.blogspot.co.uk/
A mysterious Early Modern marriage

May 21, 2016

anniversaries

Cibaud de Tivoley, Claude de Brenieu, de la Pole family, Eleanor of Austria, exiles, Fontainebleau, France, Francois I, French Wars of Religion, Gabriel di Saluzzo, Henri IV, Hungary, Ivry, Marguerite de la Pole, Marguerite de Navarre, marriages, Pavia, Pierre de Brenieu, St. Denis

It happened in Fontainebleau on this day in 1539. The groom was Cibaud de Tivoley, Seigneur de Brenieu, and the bride was described as “Marguerite de la Pole – Suffolk”. Two of the guests were Eleanor of Austria, wife of Francois I, and Gabriel, Marchesse di Saluzzo, both of whom were cousins of Lord Richard…
First Richard’s Remains – now the Bard’s Bones…

Mar 15, 2016

anniversaries, Science

curses, Ground Penetrating Radar, remains, Shakespeare, Stratford

First Richard’s last resting place, and now Shakespeare’s. All you have to do is dig in from the side, thus not disturbing the stones. Then you can take a peek, but DO NOT MOVE DEM BONES! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/12184086/Shakespeares-grave-to-be-radar-scanned-despite-famous-curse.html
The Propaganda of Charles II

Feb 19, 2016

anniversaries

“Princes”, 1674, Anglo-Dutch Wars, Barbara Villiers, Catholicism, Charles II, Commonwealth, drama, Exclusion Crisis, Great Fire of London, Great Plague, Henry VII, James VII/II, John Crowne, Louise de Kerouaille, Mary of Modena, Nell Gwynne, Oliver Cromwell, propaganda, Puritans, Richard III, Royal Charles, Shakespeare, Sir Christopher Wren, theatres, Tower of London

Guest author Richard Unwin explains the context behind the discovery of those convenient bones: Charles II came to the throne in 1660 after the period of Commonwealth when England, and particularly its entertainments, had been suppressed by Puritan authority. The security of the new reign was precarious and there were many in the country opposed…
Richard’s first resting place

Aug 23, 2015

anniversaries, battles, buildings, religion

Bosworth, deMontfort University, Earl of Leicester, Hawthorn Building, Henry of Lancaster, Leicester, Newarke Church, Richard III

… was the Newarke Church in the 1331 Hospital of the Annunciation, in which he laid from August 22-25 1485, also described here. The Earl of Leicester at the time of the construction was Henry of Lancaster, son of Edmund Crouchback. This is the Hawthorn Building of de Montfort University, on the same site today.…