anniversaries
-
Tudor propaganda in regards to the appearance of members of the York family was not confined, it seems, to Richard III, but was also applied to Edward of Norwich, Duke of York, his grandfather’s older brother, who was slain at Agincourt, the only major English casualty of that famous battle. In the account written closest…
-
James Butler, the sculptor who created the matchless statue of Richard III outside Leicester Cathedral, has died aged 90. RIP, and thank you for a work that is inspirational to all Ricardians. . You can read his obituary here. A quick search online will reveal many more such acknowledgements of the man who was,…
-
We’re inclined to view fully functioning prosthetic hands and so on as a modern invention. The fruits of our ever-advancing society. But we aren’t the originators. Of course, prosthetics go back a very long time, e.g. a wooden toe survives from Ancient Egypt, but the fully functioning part also goes back a fair way.…
-
Sassanachs don’t Like Mondays (allegedly)
“Four Masters”, attainder, Augustinian Order, Bishop Carrigan, Butlers, Charles I, Cockermouth Castle, County Kilkenny, Drogheda, Earl of Gowran, Earls of Desmond, Edward Bruce, Edward IV, executions, Fitzgeralds, franchising, George Duke of Clarence, Gloucestershire, Henry VI, Ireland, Irish Parliament, Jasper “Tudor”, John Earl of Ormond, John Paston, John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester, justiciar of Ireland, Lady Eleanor Talbot, letters patent, Logreach, Ludford Bridge, Margaret of Anjou, Military History Society of Ireland, Newcastle, Nibley Green, papal bull, Pernil Boteler, pilgrimage, Piltown, Portugal, reversed attainder, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, River Pill, Rogerstown, Roland FitzEustace, siege of Chartres, Statute of Kilkenny, Thomas Fitzgerald, Thomastown, Towton, Turlach O’Brien, Wars of the Roses, Waterford, Wydevilles, Yellow SteedOrmond versus Desmond In addition to the canonical list of battles, the sporadic chaos of the Wars of the Roses spawned one or two encounters between the heads of rival aristocratic families, of which the best known is the battle between the Berkeleys and Talbots at Nibley Green in Gloucestershire in March 1470. What is…
-
Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog: The Crypt at Oxford Castle – built on Anglo-Saxon foundations The first Jewish settlers arrived in Oxford not long after the Norman Conquest, around 1075AD residing in the commercial heart of the city at St Aldates which became known as Great Jewry Street, close to the original C8th oxen ford…
-
Athelstan–Our Greatest Monarch?
“The last Kingdom”, Alfred, Anglo-Saxons, Athelstan, Bernard Cornwell, books, Brunaburh, Cheshire, Constantine II, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Eadgyth, Edward the Elder, Elizabeth I, Germany, House of Wessex, illegitimacy rumours, legal reforms, Malmesbury Abbey, novels, piety, royal burials, Scotland, St. Aldhelm, St. Cuthbert, Tom Holland, Venerable Bede, Vikings, YorkA recent poll searching for Britain’s ‘Greatest Monarch’, came up with the surprise winner of… drum roll, King Athelstan. Not that the Anglo-Saxon king wasn’t so great, but the winner is a little surprising since most people seem to have believed the ‘crown’ would go to Elizabeth I. (Yawn!) I hope the voters actually remembered…
-
Just over six years ago, we published an article about the claimants to the French throne. They divide into three lines: BOURBONS: Charles X’s male line, comprising the entire legitimate male line of Louis XIV with one proviso, became extinct in 1883. The exceptions are the Spanish Borbons, with their habit of…
-
Huge volcanic eruptions have always affected parts of the world that are often far, far away from the centre of the event. A famous (to me) example of this was in 1815 with Mount Tambora (in what is now Indonesia) which created such clouds and darkness that it made 1816 “the Year Without a…
-
As a background to this tale of research misery, I should say that between 26th June and 11th July 1393 Richard II and his court were at Easthampstead, Bracknell in Berkshire. Richard’s first cousin Henry of Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, son and heir of John of Gaunt, was on a reise to Prussia. Little love…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 