anniversaries
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It is a fact that there have only ever been two English queens of France. We’ve had a few French queens, of course. The two we sent over there, Eadgifu, daughter of Edward the Elder, and Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, were both offspring of men who seized the throne:- ” . .…
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I have taken this extract from Royal Central: “….after the deposition of Edward V, and Richard III’s subsequent accession to the throne, it quickly became clear that the new king wasn’t a universally popular choice….” Hmm, nor was it universally unpopular. In fact, far more people were in favour of Richard than against, but then,…
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Prompted by the opinions of two friends on what they thought of certain historians, I thought it would be interesting to see which are named by those who read Murrey & Blue. So, ladies and gentlemen, who is your favourite/most loathed historian (alive or dead), and why? My choice takes me back to the 14th/15th…
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In this time of Covid 19, when we don’t know why it seems to affect men more than women, and some ethnicities but not others, it is interesting that back in the 14th century the tsunami of the Great Pestilence of 1348 was followed by lesser waves that differed in many ways from the original.…
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Richard III and Harold II
“Lambert Simnel”, “Perkin”, Anne Neville, Archibald Whitelaw, bastardy, Battle of Bosworth, Battle of Hastings, Bishop’s Stortford, Bosham, burial mystery, Constable of England, coronations, Earl of Wessex, Edgar the Atheling, Edith Swan Neck, Edward V, exile, George Duke of Clarence, Godwin Earl of Wessex, Gruffydd ap Llewellyn, Harold Hardrada, Harold II, Henry VII, Lord Protector of the Realm, marriage, more Danico, Nevilles, Orderic Vitalis, propaganda, Richard Duke of York, scoliosis, Scotland, St. Edward the Confessor, Stamford Bridge, Tostig, Wales, Waltham Abbey, William I, WitangemotWe all know that Richard is directly descended from William the Conqueror, who is his eleven times great grandfather. Here is Richard’s pedigree to William in three parts – follow the yellow dots left to right. (N.B. the first few generations have the yellow combined with red and blue which lead to other ancestors). But…
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The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I
“Lambert Simnel”, “Perkin”, “Princes”, “The Last Knight”, “Tudor” rebellions, archers, Battle of Guinegate, Bruges Chapel of the Holy Blood, Charles the Bold, Charles V, Durer, Edmund de la Pole, exhibitions, Frederick III, Frederick the Wise, Habsburgs, Holy Roman Empire, James Gairdner, Jorg Helmschmid, jousting, Kingdom of the Romans, Louis XI, Margaret of Burgundy, Mary of Burgundy, masquerades, Maximilian I, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Order of the Garter, Order of the Golden Fleece, Philip the Handsome, Richard III, Tournament Tapestry, Victoria and Albert Museum
Originally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS: Portrait of Maximilian I, from the workshop or a follower of Albrecht Dürer. Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) is one of those larger-than-life historical figures. Straddling the medieval and Renaissance eras, he worked tirelessly and spent a vast fortune to establish the Habsburgs as one of Europe’s dominant ruling…
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Edward Balliol was crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace, today in 1332. He, alongside Edward III, had won the Battle of Dupplin Moor and was able to supplant the eight year-old David II, although he was removed shortly later. He was also at the Battles of Halidon Hill and Neville’s Cross – the first…
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Were the Wars of The Roses an Inevitability?
Battle of Shrewsbury, Black Death, Blore Heath, Chris Given-Wilson, Duchy of Aquitaine, Earl of Warwick, Edmund Mortimer, Elizabeth I, France, Henry II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, John of Gaunt, Lancastrian propaganda, legal fees, Lordship of Brecon, Mary de Bohun, Pastons, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard of Warwick, Thomas of woodstock, Wars of the Roses, WylieIn my spare time I have been reading Henry IV by Chris Given-Wilson. It’s a massive book, full of information, probably the most complete work on Henry since Wylie’s four-volume effort in the 19th Century. Frankly, I’m finding it hard going. Not because it’s a bad book (it isn’t) or because Given-Wilson is a bad…
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On reading Chivalry by Léon Gautier, I learned that St Maurice was the patron saint of knights. Another interesting fact about him is that he’s often depicted as a Black African man in armour. He apparently came from Upper Egypt, so he probably was black. I’m reminded of the Black Madonnas. We’re always surprised…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 