anniversaries
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From 1281, the widowed Alexander III lost his three children and remarried to remedy the situation. His second wife was Yolande de Dreux, who he married in autumn 1285, but Scotland was plunged into the unknown within five months when he broke his neck, falling from a horse, travelling across the Forth to Kinghorn in…
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One of Salisbury‘s claims to fame is that it was the place of execution of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, infamous rebel and possible killer of one or both ‘princes in the Tower‘ (that’s if they were killed at all.) According to legend he was held at the Blue Boar Inn/Saracen’s Head and executed in…
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According to this article Heritage Britain there are apparently sixteen buildings/sites in Leicester that are at risk from disrepair or plain neglect. They include the church of St Mary de Castro: “….‘St Mary of the Castle’, this church once served Leicester Castle. King Henry VI was knighted there at the age of four, as was…
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We all love heraldry, so here is a very colourful illustration by the renowned heraldic artist, Dan Escott. It shows the banners at the Battle of Crécy in 1346. The caption for the work is: “As you can see it is rather stylised but it shows very clearly the use of Heraldry for identification for…
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I can’t find an illustration of the intended development. The above photograph came with this article. It seems a 63-home housing development has been turned down again. For good this time. It would have been close to Bosworth Field.
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“….540 years ago on 22nd May 1482, the English led by Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III) led a large raiding party across the Solway Firth. The raid was a reprisal to punish the Scots for the devastation they had caused in Cumberland during the previous winter….” The above is an extract…
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This Legendary Ten Seconds song, with lyrics by Sandra Heath Wilson, features on the new Musical Almanac album. A HERALD’S LAMENT . . .King Richard is dead Lyrics written by Sandra Heath Wilson King Richard is dead! Such dread news I bring!No joy to cling to, no hosannas to singI tell a tale so…
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It has been argued before, especially by the late John Ashdown-Hill, that Richard’s sleepless nights and so-called ghastly appearance before Bosworth were caused by the sweating sickness. It has also been more generally understood that it was Henry VII and his army of foreign invaders who brought and spread the disease, which was new to…
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If ever an entry in the Close Rolls of Henry IV was evidence of warfare being at a crossroads between the old and the new, it’s surely this one. Poised between two ages, it concerns arms left by the late Richard II in the great hall of Dublin Castle. Richard had been in Ireland immediately…
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