anniversaries
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Various Goings on in the General Area of Cheshire.
Battle of Northampton, Battle of Shrewsbury, Blore Heath, Cheshire, Chester Castle, Chirk Castle, Clwyd, Coventry, de Bohun, Dee estuary, Duke of Norfolk, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, executions, fee-farm, Henry Duke of Somerset, Hexham, Holt, Holt Castle, House of Lancaster, Jasper “Tudor”, John Neville, John Paston III, John Southworth, Lancashire, Margaret of Anjou, Mold Fair, Nantwich, Redbank, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Sir William Stanley, Skipton Castle, swan, Thomas Lord Stanley, Thomas NevilleAlthough Cheshire was fiercely loyal to Richard II, after the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403) that loyalty gradually transferred itself to the House of Lancaster. Cheshire was a royal earldom and palatinate, with the King (or the Prince of Wales when there was one) as its immediate lord. As in next-door Lancashire, there was no resident…
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I am somewhat puzzled by a recent suggestion (by “Historical Discussions” here) that Banns were published for Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville on 24th May 1465, over a year after their secret ceremony. Banns were normally read prior to the solemnisation of a canonical wedding and on three separate occasions. It is true that from…
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The phenomenal Philippa Langley, finder of lost monarchs, is at it again! If you go here you’ll read that she has now discovered Henry I, and guess what? He too is under a car park. In his case it isn’t Greyfriars but the much grander Reading Abbey….albeit in a part that is now the car…
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There have been a lot (and I mean a LOT) of reviews of The Lost King, and since its release in the US they have redoubled. There’s a dearth of poor reviews, and rightly so. This link is to a very favourable one and I have picked it out because of what it says about…
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William Rufus died because of a tree? But which tree? And where was it….?
“Princes”, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Cernunnos, Charles II, Earl de la Warr, executions, Gundestrop Cauldron, Malmesbury Chronicle, Margaret Murray, New Forest, pagan rituals, propaganda, Richard III, royal hunting estates, Rufus Stone, Sir James Tyrrell, trees, Walter Tirel, Westminster Abbey, William IICharles IIeems to have specialised in “supposed” records. We all know he’s responsible for That Urn, the contents of which are “supposedly” those of Richard III’s nephews. The fact that there are animal bones in there as well as human is always passed very quickly. So quickly the point has become a blur! As a…
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We all know about the Oxford/Cambridge boat race, but it certainly isn’t the first such race on the Thames. We also have the “Doggett’s Coat and Badge”, which still boasts an unbroken record since 1715. It takes place on 31 July every year. I confess I had never heard of this race, but if…
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My home city of Gloucester (and its cathedral) doesn’t turn up enough online, but here’s a link that’s all about Gloucester. And it gives Richard III a fair deal, although it doesn’t mention that on 29 July 1483*, during his royal progress, he granted Gloucester its charter. Nor that in 1471 Gloucester closed its gates…
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The news has broken that the Book of Hours belonging to Thomas Cromwell is here which appears in the Holbein portrait above, has been recognised (by Hever Castle curator, Alison Palmer) as the Hardouyn Hours, held today at Trinity College, Cambridge. You can view the Hardouyn Hours page by page at the Wren Digital…