The New Murrey and Blue blog

battles

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A Worcestershire castle for £500,000….?

Dec 2, 2022

battles, buildings

Arthur Plantagenet, Country Life, Earls of Salisbury, Earls of Warwick, Lisle Greys, Mortimers of Wigmore, Nibley Green, property sales, Ribbesford House, River Severn, Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Vikings, Worcestershire

I love delving into the glossy pages of Country Life magazine, because something of interest always turns up. This time I’ve happened upon the story of Ribbesford House on the banks of the River Severn in Worcestershire. Not only was this vast property once on sale for the ridiculously low price of £500,000, but Ribbesford…
Five interesting archaeological discoveries….

Dec 1, 2022

archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion, Science

Ancient Egypt, Bosworth, child sacrifice, Georgia, John Ashdown-Hill, Leicester dig, Leicester Greyfriars, Leicester University, maps, mtDNA, mummified remains, Peru, Philippa Langley, Queen Nerfertari, radio carbon dating, Rameses II, Richard III, Saint Belec Slab, Tblisi, winemaking, wounds

According to this article there have been five interesting archaeological discoveries in the past decade. First among them, of course, is the finding of Richard III’s remains:- “….When King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, he was buried in the church of the Grey Friars. In 2012, The Richard III Society…
“You will build five balingers at your own expense.” Signed The King….

Nov 30, 2022

anniversaries, battles, sources, travel

balingers, naval power, Richard II, River Thames, staple of Calais, Susan Rose

When it comes to medieval ships, it’s sometimes difficult to imagine what they were like. Cogs, crayers, shallops, barges, balingers, wherries and many others abound. Well, wherries of various descriptions are still around now, as are barges, but what we may fondly envisage as a brightly painted narrow boat was no such thing. Perhaps it…
Pembroke didn’t pop the Weasel when it should have….!

Nov 23, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

“Perkin”, “Princes”, “Tudor” propaganda, Arthur, attainders, Battle of Bosworth, Brittany, Cadwallader, Catherine de Valois, Edmund “Tudor”, Edward IV, Edward of Warwick, Elizabeth of York, French mercenaries, Henry V, Henry VII, Jasper “Tudor”, Lady Margaret Beaufort, parsimony, Pembroke Castle, pike wall, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, statues, Titulus Regius, Wales

Well, the first part of a riveting, absolutely factual series about Henry VII was warning enough. I confess to having had to read the first sentence twice, because first time around I thought Edmund Tudor was fighting against the Duke of York’s men and Edmund’s own wife, Margaret Beaufort, who was Henry’s underage mother. Shame on…
Which duke? And which hill was marched up and then down again….?

Nov 21, 2022

battles, buildings, genealogy, sources

Country Life, Crayke manor, Dukes of York, Edward IV, James VII/II, Netherlands, nursery rhymes, Prince Maurice of Orange, property sales, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Talbot Shrewsbury Book, Yorkshire

We all know the Grand Old Duke of York marched his 10,000 men up a hill and then down again. But which Duke of York was it? If you go here you’ll find there are a number of candidates, including the 3rd Duke, father of Edward IV and Richard III. In general, however, my…
The Middle Ages and the movies….

Nov 20, 2022

anniversaries, battles, films

Alexander Nevsky, Andrei Rublev, Braveheart, Edward I, Eisenstein, El Cid, Fritz Lang, historical accuracy, Italy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Robert Bartlett, Russia, satire, Scotland, Siegfried. Mel Gibson, Sir William wallace, Spain, Stalinist tyranny, Tarkovsky, The Middle Ages and the Movies, The Name of the Rose, The Seventh Seal, Umberto Eco

“….In The Middle Ages and the Movies eminent historian Robert Bartlett takes a fresh, cogent look at how our view of medieval history has been shaped by eight significant films of the twentieth century. The book ranges from the concoction of sex and nationalism in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, to Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece Siegfried, the art-house classic The Seventh Seal to…
Joan/Joanne/Joanna Holland, Duchess of York

Nov 13, 2022

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, sources

Alianore Countess of March, Alice Fitzalan, Anne of Bohemia, Catherine de Roet, Duchess of Lancaster, Edmund of Langley, executions, Fitzhugh family, Froissart, Henry IV, Henry Scrope Baron Masham, Henry V, Isabella de Valois, Joan Holland, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, Order of the Garter, Philippa de Bryan, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, Sandal Castle, Sir Henry Bromflete, Southampton plot, stepchildren, Thomas Holland, Wales, widowhood

Joan Holland was born about 1380, one of the many children of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and his wife Alice Arundel (aka Fitzalan) and the second-eldest daughter. It seems to have been Kent’s policy to marry his daughters into every family that could conceivably inherit the throne. Accordingly, towards the end of…
The art that made us

Nov 8, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, culture, humour, religion, Science, television reviews

Aphra Benn, Armada, Arts and Crafts, Barbara Hepworth, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, BBC2, Beowulf, Black Death, Bloomsbury Group, British Empire, Burns, Charles I, Colonel Blimp, Cool Britannia, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, David Threlfall, Death and the Gallant, Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth I, embroidery, English Civil War, Festival of Britain, First World War, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Fire of London, Hanif Kureishi, Harry Potter, Hogarth, Industrial Revolution, Jane Austen, Jarrow march, John Foxe, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Joshua Reynolds, Julian of Norwich, kitchen sink drama, Llancarfon, Margery Kempe, Mary Stuart, murals, Norman conquest, Oliver Cromwell, Phillip Larkin, Piers Plowman, poetry, pre-Raphaelites, Reformation, Restoration, Richard II, Roman Britain, Rubens, satire, Second World War, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir William Orpen, St. Cadoc’s church, St. Paul’s, stained glass, Stuarts, The art that made us, The Fighting Temeraire, The unknown soldier, Tracey Emin, Trainspotting, Turner, urbanisation, van Dyck, Walter Sickert, Welsh Bible, William Cobbett, William Morgan, William Shakespeare, Wilton Diptych, York Minster

This is another fascinating BBC2 series, illustrating English and British history through the evolution of our art. The eight one-hour episodes, narrated by David Threlfall (Men of the World), feature:The Roman and pre-Roman periods, Beowulf, the Norman conquest and the Bayeux Tapestry; The Black Death, Wilton Diptych, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich,…
John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (c 1350-1400)

Nov 7, 2022

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, religion

Anne Neville, Barons Montagu, Christine de Pizan, Cirencester, Conwy, Counter-Appellants, Edward I, Epiphany Rising, Henry IV, Henry V, Ireland, Isabel Neville, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of Acre, John Earl of Salisbury, Lollards, Lord Mayors of London, Lord Morley, Mary de Bohun, Maud Francis, Monthermer Barony, Nevilles, Orleans, Parliament, poetry, Prussia, Ravenspur, Richard II, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, summary executions, Thomas Earl of Salisbury, Thomas of woodstock, Wakefield, William Earl of Salisbury

John Montagu (or Montacute) was the son of Sir John Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu (d 1390) and Margaret de Monthermer. It follows that he descended from Joan of Acre, and through her, from King Edward I. He was also the nephew (and, as it proved, the heir) of William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury. There…
STAINDROP CHURCH, A NEVILLE MAUSOLEUM

Nov 5, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, heraldry, religion, sources

Battle of Neville’s Cross, Biblioteque National, Branchepeth Church, Cecily Duchess of York, Charles Alfred Stothard, Charles Ross, churches, Durham, Durham Cathedral, Edward IV, Euphemia de Clavering, graffiti, Joan “Beaufort”, Joanna Laynesmith, Lincoln Cathedral, livery collars, Margaret Stafford, Marjorie Neville, Nevilles, Raby Castle, Ralph Baron Neville, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Richard III, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, Staindrop Church, tombs, W.E. Hampton

REBLOGGED FROM A Medieval Potpourri @ sparkypus.com Ralph Neville Earl of Westmorland and his two wives. Staindrop Church, Durham. Ralph Neville by his wife Joan Beaufort, was the father of Cicely Neville, mother of two kings – Edward IV and Richard III. This drawing was made by Charles A Stothard c.1811 and shows them minus the graffiti.…