anniversaries
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In that year, I visited the Roman city of Chester for the first weekend in March. It has a fantastic cathedral and the best British walls except those at York , together with modern shops arranged in “The Rows”, a very old red light district and a subsequently built Deva Stadium for football. It is…
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I wonder …
“Tudor” rebellions, Anne Boleyn, Charles II, Dukes of Norfolk, Edward I, Edward III, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, executions, Henry Earl of Surrey, Henry VIII, James VII/II, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, John of Gaunt, Katherine Howard, Lords Howard of Effingham, poetry, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Sir Thomas Wyatt, St. Edward the Confessor, Strutts, succession, Thomas of Brotherton, Thomas of woodstockWe all know that Sir John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, was descended from Thomas of Brotherton, a younger son of Edward I. Several branches of the Howard family have held the title ever since, except for periods under attainder from 1485-1514, 1547-53 and 1572-1660. Were any of them descended from more recent monarchs? Henry…
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Yes, yes, before you point it out, I know part of the following is my own fault for not reading the samples on Amazon. I’ve just purchased two books concerning the above battles in the Hundred Years War, one book is 239 pages long, the other 245. If I’d inspected the Amazon details fully…
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There’s no doubt he did. Just see this link. The Edward IV Roll shows Edward mounted on a horse which is barded with a heraldic display. As you will see, Edward gives just as much prominence to the arms of Castile and Leon as he does to those of England and France. This is, very…
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Not the least of the interesting facts that emerge from Philippa Langley’s new book is that in August/September 1499, Margaret of Burgundy wrote a formal apology to Henry VII in an attempt to save ‘Perkin Warbeck’s’ life. At roughly the same time her son-in-law wrote to Henry VII offering friendship in an attempt to save…
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The church at Colyton is a handsome building which has a ‘lantern’ tower vaguely reminiscent of that at Fotheringhay. It is packed with interesting monuments, including those of the local Pole family (not, apparently, related to the more famous Poles.) The most intriguing monument, though, lies to the left of the high altar. It…
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It had never struck me before that the Dukes of Gloucester of the past haven’t been exactly fortunate. They might even be said to have been cursed. Well, that’s according to this article. The first creation was Thomas of Woodstock, youngest son of Edward III. He wasn’t a very pleasant man who pushed his nephew…
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Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, was the last man to be beheaded in Great Britain, in April 1747 following his arrest at the battle of Culloden. Lovat, who was about eighty, had backed both the Orange-Hanoverian and Jacobite causes alternately over the years. Of course, until 1973, anyone convicted of high treason could opt to…
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Well, these death-mask/skull-inspired recreations of famous figures from the past are surely interesting….and seldom seem to chime with the impression we’ve always formed of the person concerned. Bonnie Prince Charlie is definitely of the latter type. Here’s me with a romantic idea of the dashing Stuart prince whose very name echoed through the glens of…
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Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com Richard duke of York. Wigmore Abbey Chronicle and Brut Chronicle. Special Collections Research Centre, University of Chicago Library. As an ardent and unwavering follower of the ‘Coldridge Theory’ – see my earlier posts here and here – I was absolutely delighted to come across this article by historian Dr J L Laynesmith…