The New Murrey and Blue blog

anniversaries

The Middleham Jewel and Richard III….

Sep 5, 2021

anniversaries, art, buildings

Anne Neville, Cecily Duchess of York, Countess of Warwick, heraldry, lozenges, mediaeval women, Middleham Castle, Middleham Jewel, National Portrait Gallery, ownership, portraits, provenance, reliquary, Richard III, Yorkshire Museum

Among the treasures going on display at the Yorkshire Museum is the Middleham Jewel (see above). Of course, the National Portrait Gallery painting of Richard III (see below) is also going on display, because Yorkshire has a great attachment to the king who, as Duke of Gloucester, lived there for many years. The Middleham…
Three lions on a shirt….English football and Richard the Lionheart….

Sep 3, 2021

anniversaries, battles, heraldry

“Three Lions on a shirt”, “Tudor” rose, coronations, Eleanor of Aquitaine, football, Henry II, lions, Richard I, royal arms, songs, Third Crusade

“….He spent little time in England but one very famous king’s emblem is now on the lips of millions in the country he ruled but rarely visited. Football fans across the land are singing ‘Three Lions on a Shirt’ and it’s all thanks to Richard I….” Well, that’s about all for which England has to…
Gloucester’s contribution to the Battle of Tewkesbury….

Aug 31, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, Events

Alney Island, Andrew Armstrong, charter, drowning, Edward of Lancaster, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Gloucester, Henry VI, Henry VII, Lancastrians, Lord Protector of the Realm, Malmsey, Margaret of Anjou, processions, Richard Duke of York, Richard’s Wood, River Severn, Tewkesbury

This year is the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Tewkesbury, and—justifiably—Gloucester wants a piece of the celebratory action. After all, Gloucester did contribute a lot to the outcome, by ensuring Margaret and her forces were obliged to take a stand in a place they wouldn’t have chosen. The queen wanted to pass through the…
The Mysterious Affair at Stony Stratford

Aug 30, 2021

anniversaries, Book Reviews, law, religion, sources, travel

Agatha Christie, ambush, Angelo Cato, Annette Carson, Crowland Chronicle, Crowland Continuator, Domenico Mancini, Dr. John Argentine, Edward IV, Edward V, fishing, Grafton Regis, Great North Road, Henry of Buckingham, James Gairdner, John Speed, Lord High Constable, Lord Protector of the Realm, Louis XI, maps, Marie Barnfield, market days, Mid-Anglia Group, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Richard III, Richard III Society, Sir Anthony Wydeville, Sir Richard Grey, Sir Thomas Vaughan, Stony Stratford, The Maligned King, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Watling Street, Weedon Bec, will of Edward IV, William Lord Hastings, Wydevilles

This excellent blog post by Annette Carson, based on a presentation given to the Society’s Mid-Anglia Group, summarises the events of 29th-30th April 1483, as Edward V and Anthony Woodville (Earl Rivers), together with Sir Richard Grey and others, met the Dukes of Gloucester and Buckingham as the Great North Road and Watling Street converged.…
Richard III and the Ancient Egyptian cheese….!

Aug 25, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, art, buildings, religion, Science

Ancient Egypt, Anglo-Saxons, anthropology, Armenia, Azerbaijan, bamboo strips, barley, Battle of Bosworth, BBC, beer, Blombos cave, board games, Canada, cave art, cheese, China, Ciampate del Diavolo, Clotilda, Cote d’Ivoire, Erebus, gold, human hair, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, King Herod, Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars, mammoths, Mary Stuart, multiplication tables, Northwest Passage, nutcrackers, Pembrokeshire, Philippa Langley, quarry, Richard III, Roman villa, royal portraits, royal tombs, Russia, sculptures, shoes, Sir John Franklin, Sir John Maitland, skulls, slave ship, South Africa, Staffordshire Hoard, Stonehenge, storytelling, tomb of Ptahmes, USA, Wiltshire, X-rays

In this intriguing list of twenty , the discovery of Richard III’s remains comes in at number two! He was pipped at the post by an extremely old cheese from Egypt. Eh? Old cheese? Sorry, but can that possibly be more important than Richard? It doesn’t even have King Tut’s fingerprints or teethmarks! 😦 Oh…
What really happened with Princess Cecily’s first two marriages….?

Aug 24, 2021

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion, sources

“Princes”, Alexander Stewart Duke of Albany, annulments, Barons Scrope of Bolton, Battle of Bosworth, Bishop of Durham, british History Online, Cicely Plantagenet, Complete Peerage, consanguinity, dispensations, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward III, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Essex, Gaynesparc, Hatfield, Isle of Wight, James III, James IV, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of Kent, John Scrope of Bolton, Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, Lionel Baron Welles, Margaret Beauchamp, pardons, plots, Ralph Scrope, Richard Fox, Richard III, royal marriages, Scotland, Scottish campaign 1482, Scropes of Masham, Sharon Champion, Thomas Holland, Thomas Kymbe, Tony Riches, Tower of London, Viscount Welles

The following extract is from Not So Fortunate As Fair’: The Life of Princess Cecily Plantagenet by Sharon Champion:- “….At the age of five, she [Cecily] was betrothed to James, the infant son and heir of James III of Scotland. John 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton was sent as commissioner to negotiate a contract of…
Hey Diddle Dumpty….!

Aug 22, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings, culture

Archbishop Cranmer, Battle of Bosworth, Bishop Ridley, cannon, Charles I, Edward I, Hugh Latimer, nursery rhymes, one-eyed Jack, Richard III, siege of Colchester

Here is a quote from this article: “….Some say Humpty Dumpty is a sly allusion to King Richard III, whose brutal 26-month reign ended with his death in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. In this speculative version, King Richard III’s horse was supposedly called “Wall,” off of [sic] which he fell during battle.…
Another way for Henry VII to screw money out of his subjects….

Aug 21, 2021

anniversaries, battles, humour, law

backdating, Battle of Bosworth, Charters, Henry VII, Owain Glyndwr, rebellions, taxation, Wales, Welsh Penal Laws

There are some interesting occurrences in Welsh history, not all of them well known. When I came upon this article, I looked for Henry VII. Well, he was bound to feature. And he did! I quote: “….Numerous [Welsh] rebellions still arose, most famously that led by Owain Glyndwr….The Glyndwr Rising would lead to the Penal…
Digging up our monarchs; no, not Richard III this time….!

Aug 17, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, religion, Science

Anne Boleyn, Anne of Bohemia, Banqueting House, burial, Catherine de Valois, Charles I, childbirth, death, Edward I, Edward IV, Edward V, Edward VI, executions, Exhumation, George IV, Greenwich Palace, Henry II, James VII/II, John, King’s Langley, Leicester, Newark Castle, Old St. Paul’s, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Richard III, Samuel Pepys, Society of Antiquaries, St. Edward the Confessor, St. Peter ad Vincula, St. Thomas Becket, Tower of London, Victoria, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, Worcester Cathedral

I’m told that even now, if you purchase a plot of ground in which to put your loved ones to rest, the chances are they’ll only lie in peace for eighty years, at which time they are removed and new occupants move in. Well, for centuries our dead haven’t always been left to enjoy their…
The denouement at Penmaenhead in 1399….

Aug 16, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, sources

Clwyd, Colwyn Bay, Duchy of Lancaster, duel, duplicity, Earl of Northumberland, exile, Flint Castle, Henry IV, Ireland, Isabella de Valois, Milford Haven, Monty Python, Paul Murray Kendall, Penmaenhead, Pontefract Castle, property, Richard II, St. Albans Chronicle, Terry Jones, The Chronicle of Jean Creton, The Yorkist Age, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, usurpation, Wars of the Roses

When we think of Colwyn Bay today, we don’t think of vital historic events in August 1399, when a King of England, Richard II, was captured. This fact led to his deposition, imprisonment and suspiciously convenient death…culminating in the rise of the House of Lancaster in the form of his usurping first cousin, Henry…