anniversaries
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Royalty and magic (black or otherwise). Well, the connection isn’t new, after all, King Arthur had Merlin. And when it suited one’s enemies, a charge of witchcraft was always a guaranteed spanner in the works. The first section of this article this article deals with Elizabeth Woodville, and is perhaps of most interest to…
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The first thing to notice about this is that is an embroidery not a tapestry, although the “Bayeux Tapestry” is also an embroidery ie hand-stitched. It was constructed to mark the millennium of the 991 Battle of Maldon, at which Vikings, possibly under Olaf Tryggvason, defeated and killed the Saxon Earldorman Brythnoth. It is displayed…
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Michael Portillo’s Great Coastal Railway Journeys and Pembroke Castle
“Tudors”, Ancestry, BBC2, bigamy, Carmarthenshire, Catherine de Valois, denialists, Edmund “Tudor”, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Ednyfed Fychan, Edward IV, Glamorgan, Great Coastal Railway Journeys, Henry VI, Henry VII, Hywel Dda, Jasper “Tudor”, John Ashdown-Hill, legislation, Llewellyn ap Iorweth, Maredydd ap Tudor, Michael Portillo, Mortimers of Wigmore, Nathen Amin, Owain Tudor, Pembroke Castle, pre-contract, remarriage of royal stepmothers, Rhodri Dda, Richard III, Royal Marriage Secrets, stewards, TenbyI have enjoyed watching Michael Portillo’s Great Railway Journeys particularly the programmes that have shown him travelling along the coast of South Wales. He stopped off in places that I know well in Glamorgan, also in places that my ancestors hailed from in Carmarthenshire. However, one programme ended up in Pembroke and I must…
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Quite by chance, I recently came across this rather ancient article written by, of all people, Enoch Powell: If Powell’s theory is correct, the tomb in which Edmund of Langley and Isabelle of Castile are buried was intended originally for Richard II and was reallocated after Anne of Bohemia died and Richard decided to commission…
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This is only house left standing when Mousehole was burned by the Spaniards in 1595. It actually dates back to the 14th century. Maybe it doesn’t look much in the old photograph above, but its modern self is wonderful. I’m envious. All I need to raise is £750,000. Ahem….shouldn’t take long….. To read all…
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Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog: Viking ships at sea with warriors on board. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration “We all need earnestly to strive that we might gain God’s mercy and compassion, and that with his help we might resist our enemies. Now it is our will that all the people perform a general…
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A little later than our period, but sometimes a laugh pops up out of nowhere and I have to share. I was looking through catch-up TV and came upon the following blurb for an episode of the Royal Palaces series: “…Versailles is one of the most enormous and impressive palaces in the world. Louise…
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Appropriately titled The Man Who Wasn’t There, there is a new book about Sir Thomas Stanley, aka 1st Earl of Derby. Hmm, not my favourite person, so I doubt I’ll be rushing to acquire it. That’s no reflection on the author or the quality of the book, just the subject matter. You can…
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We’re accustomed to reading about Henry VIII’s six wives, but his mistresses aren’t quite as well known. This article (by Amy Licence) is all about these ladies—at least, about the ones of whom we’re aware. I suspect that Henry was a man of huge appetites and that his little black book was much scribbled…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 