anniversaries
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Here is an alternative version of “Fatal Match”, the Legendary Ten Seconds’ song about Henry VI‘s marriage to Margaret of Anjou (left). This version is sung by Jules Jones as part of the Pageant of Torbay.
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In Salisbury Museum, a dimly-lit display exhibits the Tailor’s Guild charter of incorporation granted by Edward IV in 1461. The beautiful illumination of Edward’s Latinised name leaps out in all the vivid colours it was originally painted with in the 15thc. In this charter, confirmed the following year by Bishop Beauchamp, the King grants various…
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MAD, MURDEROUS MABEL
“Poisoned Chalice”, Arnulf, Arundel Castle, books, Bridgnorth Castle, Bure Castle, Earl of Shrewsbury, Ela of Salisbury, Eleanor of Castile, Giroie family, Haburga, Hugh Bunel, Mabel de Belleme, marriages, Matilda of Blois, mediaeval women, murder, Norman invasion, Normandy, Orderic Vitalis, Robert de Belleme, Roger de Montgomery, ships, William I, William Talvas de Belleme, William Talvas IVMany people still hold to the idea that all medieval women were quiet, timid, and downtrodden, unable to defend themselves and at the mercy of others. Clearly they have never heard of Mabel de Belleme! Mabel was a Norman noblewoman, born sometime in the 1030’s to William Talvas de Belleme and his first wife, Haburga.…
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When it comes to medieval ladies whose story I have always wanted to write but have never found the moment. something else always got in the way. One such lady is Princess Nest/Nesta of Wales, daughter of the last King of South Wales, whose life spanned the end of the 11th century and beginning…
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“The Buildings that fought Hitler” (Yesterday)
Battle of Britain, Bawdsey Manor, Blitz, deception, Dorset, dummy cities, Edmund Ironside, Field Marshal Ironside, Home Guard, Jasper Maskelyne, Military tactics, pill boxes, radar, Second World War, Stanley House, Stanleys, stop lines, Wars of the Roses, Wellington College, Winston Churchill, Yesterday ChannelOnce you have reached beyond the bizarre title, which sounds rather like a Dr. Who episode, this is actually a very good series. Rob Bell, the engineer who is becoming quite ubiquitous, demonstrates how the UK was ready to use ther natural and built environments, together with science, to repel and then restrict a German…
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The tapestries of Thomas Wolsey
“The King’s Great Matter”, allegory, Archbishop of York, Archduke Philip, Arthur “Tudor”, Baynard’s Castle, cardinals, Catherine of Aragon, Christ was born as the Redeemer of Man, Emma Luisa Cahill Marron, Ferdinand of Aragon, Field of the Cloth of Gold, Hazel Pierce, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Infanta Maria, Ipswich, Isabel of Castile, Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, Leicester Abbey, Lord Chancellor, Manuel Duke of Beja, Margaret of Salisbury, Narbona Cathedral, Peace and Mercy, Portugal, Richard Gresham, Richmond Palace, Royal College of Arms, Sheen, Sir Edward Howard, Spain, St. George, tapestries, The Creation, The Redemption of Man, The Virtues defy Vices, Thomas Wolsey, tournaments, Trinity College, University of Cantabria, Westminster HallWe have recently come across this rather interesting article, extracted from Reyes y Prelados, by Emma Luisa Cahill Marron (excuse the missing accent) about Cardinal Wolsey and some of his artefacts. The original is in Spanish and here is a translation, by ladychaol.
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The Daughters of Edward I
Amesbury Abbey, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, Burgos, Clare Priory, deposition, Edward I, Edward II, Edward IV, Eleanor Crosses, Eleanor of Castile, Elizabeth Countess of Hereford, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, Hardingstone, Israel, Joan of Acre, John Ashdown-Hill, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Laura Culme-Seymour, Lucy Walter, Maria Smythe, Mary I, North Wales, Northampton, nuns, Royal Marriage Secrets, royal marriages, SpainKathryn Warner‘s latest tome has arrived and soon raised memories of Ashdown-Hill’s Eleanor, as two of the daughters in question – Joan of Acre (twice) and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan – are among the ancestors of Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lucy Walter, “Mrs. Fitzherbert” (Maria Smythe) and Laura Culme-Seymour, as shown in Royal Marriage Secrets and replicated here.…
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Here is a Daily Telegraph review of Charles, Earl Spencer‘s book about the sinking of the White Ship in 1120. It includes a lot of hypotheses based upon the survival of William the Atheling, the tenager who was Henry I‘s only surviving legitimate son but was the most prominent casualty of this maritime incident, arguably…
