art

A thing of beauty from the unlovely Henry VII….

Apr 2, 2022

anniversaries, art, buildings, religion

Arthur “Tudor”, builders, Henry VII, Henry VII Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey

Accepting facts is sometimes difficult. For instance, how could a man like Henry Tudor (who was vile on the outside and inside) leave to posterity a thing of such immense beauty as the his chapel in Westminster Abbey? No doubt he screwed every groat from his architect and stonemasons. They may have wondered if…
The Yorkist Connection to Cranborne in Dorset

Mar 31, 2022

art, buildings, genealogy, religion

Almeric d’ Evreux, Anne Mortimer, annulment, carvings, churches, Cranborne Manor. Dorset, Edmund Earl of March, Edward IV, Geoffrey de Mandeville, Gilbert de Clare, Hubert de Bergh, Isabella of Gloucester, John, Mortimers, Ralph Neville, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard III, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, royal hunting estates, St. Mary and St. Bartholomew

Cranborne is a little village tucked away in the Dorset countryside. The roads leading to it are small and narrow, with very high hedges, and driving there can be a bit of a nightmare if you should meet up with a farm vehicle or delivery lorry (frequent)! However, it seems to have been heavily visited…
Was 29th March a day of retribution for a certain 14th-century lord….?

Mar 29, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion, sources, travel

adultery, Blanche of Lancaster, Bridge of San Lorenzo, Britannica, Buda, Bustardthorpe, Charles VI, childbirth, conception, Crusades, Dartington Hall, diplomacy, disputed paternity, Elizabeth of Lancaster, envoys, France, Froissart, funeral effigy, Ireland, Isabel of Castile, Jerusalem, John Duke of Exeter, Mediaeval chronicles, murder, Old St. Paul’s, Order of the Passion, Philippe de Mézières, pilgrimage, questions of paternity, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, Vienna

For the past two/three years I have been grappling (off and on, so to speak) with some defiant dates. No doubt I’ve bewailed this particular problem before because my interest in the lord concerned is quite considerable. Not least because he may have had great significance for the House of York. So here goes…
Richard III university team now find a Roman mosaic….

Mar 26, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, art, battles, buildings, religion

Achilles, Greek myths, Leicester cathedral, Leicester University, mosaic tiles, Rutland, Trojan War, Yahoo news

“….This undated photo issued on Thursday Nov. 25, 2021 by the University of Leicester Archaeological Services shows a Roman mosaic unique to Britain and depicting one of the most famous battles of the Trojan War. Nearly a decade on from uncovering the remains of King Richard III under a car park near Leicester Cathedral,…
Medieval tombs weren’t commenced at the time of death….

Mar 20, 2022

anniversaries, art, buildings, religion

Blanche of Lancaster, Canterbury Cathedral, Edward Despenser, Edward of Woodstock, Great Fire of London, Henry IV, John of Gaunt, London, Mary de Bohun, Old St. Paul’s, Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Richard II, royal tombs, Tewkesbury Abbey

According to this article about the tomb of Edward of Woodstock, the “Black Prince”, at Canterbury: “….The study also re-dates the effigy to a decade after Edward’s death, suggesting that although Richard II faithfully followed his father’s instructions, it did not happen immediately….” Perhaps it should be remembered that Richard II was only ten…
One of the medieval knights who lived to be a centenarian….

Mar 15, 2022

art, buildings, heraldry, law, religion

arms, Bolton Abbey, Crediton, Dr. Bendor Grosvenor, Garter stalls, Grosvenors, heraldic disputes, Scrope/ Grosvenor case, Scropes of Bolton, Sir John Chydioke, Sir John de Sully, Sir Richard le Scrope, Sir Robert Grosvenor

We are inclined to think people in the medieval period didn’t live very long compared with this present age. Well, perhaps the very poor died younger, but those from the higher echelons were as likely as us to live on I to very old age. Proof of this can be found in the records…
The Sisters Neville – Isobel, Duchess of Clarence and Queen Anne Neville, Daughters to the Kingmaker.

Mar 14, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, law, religion, sources

alcohol, Amboise Cathedral, Anne Beauchamp, Anne Neville, Annette Carson, Barnet, Baynard’s Castle, Beauchamp Pageant, Beaulieu Abbey, bigamy, Calais, Clarence Vault, Crowland Chronicle, dispensations, Edgecote, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward of Middleham, Edward V, executions, Farleigh Hungerford, George Duke of Clarence, George Neville, Henry VI, Hicks, Honfleur, illegitimacy, Isabel Neville, John Ashdown-Hill, John Lord Wenlock, John Neville Marquis of Montagu, King’s Lynn, l’Erber, Lincolnshire rebellion, Louis XI, loyalty, Luton Guild Book, Margaret of Anjou, Paul Murray Kendall, Richard Earl Rivers, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Rous Roll, Royal College of Arms, royal marriages, Sir John Woodville, Sir Robert Welles, Southampton, St. Martin le Grand, St. Stephen’s Westminster, Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury Abbey, Tony Pollard, Tower of London, Warwick Castle

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Warwick Castle birthplace of both the Neville sisters. Photo with thanks to Scotty Rae @Flkr. Richard Neville and Anne Beauchamp, Earl and Countess of Warwick had in their long marriage just two daughters. If there were any initial disappointment about that there was always Plan B, that illustrious marriages could…
A lookalike of Richard’s ring….

Mar 13, 2022

art

jewellery, National Portrait Gallery, Richard III, rings, royal portraits, Society of Antiquaries, The Broken Sword

Is the modern ring below, found at this site , meant to be one of the three rings in the NPG portrait? See above. If so, which one? To me, the left ring and the one in the centre look about the same…. The one on the right is totally unlike the “star” ring…
This Union: The Ghost Kingdoms of England

Mar 11, 2022

archaeology, art, battles, culture, genealogy, religion

Aethelbald of Mercia, Aethelflaed, Alfred, Alfred Jewel, Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxons, Athelney, Athelstan, Cerne Abbas Giant, coins, Colchester, conversion, Ealdfrith, East Anglia, Edward the Elder, Gareth Williams, Guthrum, Ian Hislop, Ipswich, Janina Ramirez, Jarrow, Lindisfarne, Marc Morris, Mercia, monasteries, Northumbria, Offa, Offa’s Dyke, Oswald, Penda, Philip Wise, Picts, Radio 4, Raedwald, Roman Empire, Rule Britannia, Scotland, St. Athelwald, St. Dunstan, St. Eadwald, stained glass, stone, Sutton Hoo, Thomas Arne, Venerable Bede, Viking raids, Wales, Wearmouth, Wessex, Winchester, Wuffings

This is an excellent series on BBC4 about the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that eventually evolved to fill the vacuum left by departure of the Roman legions. In the first episode, Ian Hislop visits East Anglia, particularly Colchester, Ipswich and Sutton Hoo, viewing some coins with Philip Wise and hearing about the Wuffingas, apparently descended from a…
Which Baron Hungerford was responsible….?

Feb 20, 2022

Alternative History, anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, law, religion

Barons Hungerford, Edward IV, English Heritage, executions, Farleigh Hungerford, murals, Salisbury Cathedral, Somerset, St. George, Towton, Walter Lord Hungerford

English Heritage has embarked upon the restoration of some wall murals in Farleigh Hungerford in Somerset. The photograph above shows an image of St George as a 15th-century knight, and has suffered over the centuries from damp conditions and misguided previous attempts to save it. You can read about the work here which describes it…