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Henry IV and the Welsh March

Jul 21, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, sources

“Tudors”, Academia, Battle of Shrewsbury, Conwy Castle, Douglas Biggs, executions, Henry IV, high treason, Owain Glyn Dwr, patronage, rebellions, usurpation, Wales, Welsh Marches

This excellent article by Douglas Biggs suggests that many of the Welsh gentlemen who rose with Glyndwr, or at around the same time, did so, not because of perceived national sentiment but because of patronage, or the lack of it. The usurpation of Henry IV has the side effect of disturbing ‘normal’ patterns of patronage.…
How Edward IV’s bigamy should have been resolved

Jul 17, 2023

Alternative History, anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion

Affinity, banns, bigamy, canon law, Castillon, Catherine de Roet, Catholicism, Church of England, consanguinity, Council of Trent, dispensations, Elizabeth Wydeville, family law, Henry VIII, illegitimacy, infertility, John Earl of Shrewsbury, John of Gaunt, lack of consent, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lumley-Conyers marriage, Moynihan barony, non-consummation, Papal Legate, pre-contract, R.H. Helmholz, Ralph Butler Baron Sudeley, Reformation, Sixtus IV, Statute of Merton, widows, witchcraft

Canon law, as practiced in most of Europe to the late mediaeval period, is noticeably different to the laws of the United Kingdom today, although it is somewhat looser today in several ways. Consequently, secret marriages were banned eventually, only first cousins now require dispensations and relationships do not beget affinity, although previous manages still…
Melrose Abbey, Abbotsford….and Young Lochinvar….

Jul 11, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, religion

Abbotsford, Borders towns, Country Life, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Henry VIII, John Knox, Llanthony Secunda, Lochinvar, Melrose Abbey, Richard II, Sir Walter Scott, Tintern Abbey, verse

There are some abbey ruins that are as beautiful for the matchless countryside they are set in as for their own splendour. My personal favourite is Llanthony Priory in the Black Mountains, but Melrose Abbey (where Robert the Bruce’s heart was buried) on the River Tweed is actually my third favourite. My close second…
Sir Ralph Assheton. (The ‘Black Knight of Ashton’) Vice-Constable of England.

Jul 9, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion, sources

Ashton Hall, Battle of Bosworth, Black Knight, Clayton Hall, Coronation, Edward IV, English Civil War, Etihad Stadium, Flodden, funeral brass, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VI, Isabel Kirby, Jane Saville, Knight Marshal, knights banneret, Lieutenant of the Tower, Lord Byron, Margery Barton, Mary Byron, Middleton, Middleton Archers, Middleton Church, mothers, MPs, Ralph Holinshed, Richard III, Sheriff of Yorkshire, siege of Berwick, Sir Ralph Assheton, trams, Vice-Constable

There is some confusion about the parentage of Sir Ralph Assheton. At least, various internet sources give him alternative mothers. His father was Sir John Assheton of Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. The family’s main residence was Ashton Hall, although this building was sadly destroyed in the 1890s to make way for a coal yard. The medieval parish…
Caernarfon Castle, one of Wales’s great historic sites….

Jul 7, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, travel

“Tudors”, Afon Seiont, Anglesey, Caernarfon Castle, castles, Charles “III”, Country Life, Edward I, Edward II, Gwynedd, investiture, Menai Strait, Princes of Wales, Roman forts, tourism, Wales, William Prince of Wales

The great fortresses built by Edward I to subdue the rebellious Welsh are all spectacular and have survived the centuries. Now they are considered beautiful examples of medieval workmanship and have become great tourist attractions, which isn’t really what old Longshanks ever intended! One of the finest of these fortresses is Caernarfon which is always…
“Do pay attention, Windsor, this is your family we are talking about”!

Jul 1, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

Charles “III”, coronations, Duke of Sussex, education, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Gordonstoun, Henry VI, Henry VII, Louis XI, red hair, Richard Duke of York, Spencers, Tewkesbury, Winston Churchill

This phrase was (allegedly) used to the erstwhile Prince of Wales at Gordonstoun in the early 1960s. His younger son, Henry Duke of Sussex, seems not to understand the connections betwen previous Royal family members that well, either. This Express article quotes from his book, where he claims to be DESCENDED from Henry VI. As…
JOHN ROUS – Author of The Rous Roll, Warwickshire Antiquarian, Chantry Chaplain and Turncoat Extraordinaire?

Jun 29, 2023

anniversaries, battles, law, sources

“Princes”, “Tudor” propaganda, Anne Beauchamp, Anne Neville, antiquarians, articles, attainders, Battle of Bosworth, British Library, Charles Ross, David Johnson, dedications, Earls of Warwick, Edward IV, elephants, enclosures, Fotheringhay, Guy’s Cliff, Henry VI, Historia Regum Angliae, John Rous, Latin, Nicholas Orme, October birthdays, Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Rous Roll, sanctuary, Titulus Regius, vicar of Bray, Warwick, Yorkist Roll

Reblogged fromA Medieval Potpourri @ sparkypus.com John Rous ‘drawne by himselfe’. From the Latin ‘Lancastrian’ version of the rolls. College of Arms. John Rous or Rows as he called himself (b.c1420 d. 14 January 1492) was the son of Geoffrey Rous of Warwick, who was a younger son of Thomas Rous of Brinklow, and Margaret,…
CROWN IN EXILE: A NOVEL OF RICHARD AND EDWARD IN BURGUNDY

Jun 27, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, travel

“Beauforts”, Anthony Wydville, Barnet, Belgium, Bruges, Burgundy, Charles the Bold, Crown in Exile, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, exile, George Duke of Clarence, Gruuthuse, Henry IV, Jehan de Wavrin, John Ashdown-Hill, King’s Lynn, Lord Hendrik van Borselen, Louis de Groothouse, Louis XI, Margaret of Burgundy, museums, Netherlands, novels, Princes of Wales, publishing, Ravenspur, Readeption, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, William Caxton, William Lord Hastings, York

A part of Richard III’s life often overlooked in fiction is the brief time he spent in exile with his brother, Edward IV, from October 1470 to March 1471. Usually, this event is a mere footnote in most novels, no doubt because it might be seen as ‘slowing down the action’ and also…
When there’s snow at midsummer….

Jun 23, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, heraldry

bigamy, Castell Du, Coventry, cults, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward V, Elizabeth Wydeville, First Battle of St. Albans, George Duke of Clarence, Gervase la Vallee, Henry Duke of Somerset, Henry VI, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lancastrians, Ludlow Castle, manticore, Margaret of Anjou, mermaids, Micklegate Bar, Midsummer Day, Mortimer’s Cross, poachers, pre-contract, Richard Duke of York, Richard of Warwick, Royal deer forests, secret marriage, stag hunting, Towton, Wakefield, Welsh Marches, witchcraft

A short story by Sandra Heath Wilson (viscountessw) Please remember, ladies and gentlemen, that this story is fiction. The great midsummer bonfire crackled and roared, and sparks billowed high into the dark sky. It was encircled by thirteen hooded black-robed figures, and the face of the youngest was pale as he accepted the carved wooden…
Harbingers

Jun 22, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, heraldry, law

Anne of Bohemia, harbingers, Henry IV, King’s Lodgings, livery colours, Lollards, Owain Glyndwr, Pilleth, Richard II, Sir Robert Whitney, Sir Thomas Clanvowe, Welsh Marches

We still use the word ‘harbinger’ in constructions like ‘This was the harbinger of war.’ Meaning that something gives a warning or prediction. In the Middle Ages, a harbinger was a man who travelled ahead of the royal (or a noble) household to warn that they were coming. Well, if you had 600-1000 assorted people…