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RALPH NEVILLE, 2ND EARL OF WESTMORLAND – HIS HOME, BRANCEPETH CASTLE AND BURIAL IN BRANCEPETH CHURCH.

Oct 26, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

AJ Pollard, Beaufort family., Brancepeth, Brancepeth Castle, Bulmer Tower, Cecily Neville, Charles Alfred Stothard, Chrimes, Cockermouth, dysentery, effigies, Elizabeth Holland, fire, Haltemprice Priory, incapacity, James Petre, Joanna Laynesmith, Lancastrians, Link Block, Lord John Neville, Margaret Cobham, Margaret Stafford, Middleham, Neville Tower, Nevilles, Nikolaus Pevsner, Ralph 2nd Earl of Westmorland, Ricardian articles, Richard of Salisbury, Ripon, Roche Abbey, Sheriff Hutton, Verneuil, W.E. Hampton, wills

REBLOGGED FROM A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI @sparkypus.com Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland c.1406-1484 and one of his wives. Fine oak effigy once in Brancepeth Church, County Durham. Destroyed 1998. Drawn by Charles Stothard c.1815. An interesting life if somewhat tinged by tragedy. Ralph Neville 2nd Earl of Westmorland, born at Cockermouth in Cumbria (c.1406-1485) was…
Another branch of the Pole family?

Oct 23, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, heraldry, sources

baronets, Civil War, Claydon House, Compton Verney, Edge Hill, Eleanor Pole, Geoffrey Pole I, Hastings family, Henry Lord Montagu, Henry Pole the Younger, Henry VII, Ireland, Lord Mayors of London, Lordington, Margaret of Salisbury, Middle Claydon, siege of Drogheda, Sir Arthur Pole, Sir Ralph Verney, Sir Richard Pole, Staffords, Ursula Pole Lady Stafford, Verneys, Visitation of Hampshire

We know that Sir Richard Pole, cousin of Henry VII, husband of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, grandfather of Henry Pole the Younger and progenitor of the later Stafford and Hastings families, as his own male line was extinct by 1619, was an only son and that the identity of his paternal grandfather is unclear. It…
Ten hinge moments in history. Really….?

Oct 22, 2022

battles

Battle of Bosworth, Carthage, elephants, hinge moments. Charles I, horses, Oliver Cromwell, Parliamentary procedure, Richard III, rivalry, Roman Empire, San Carlos Water, Scipio Africanus, second Punic War, Suleiman the magnificent, Vienna, Zama

Well, according to this site here we have “The Top 10 hinge moments in history”. As five of the ten concern 20th-century politics, you will forgive me for being somewhat mystified that such matters count as pivotal moments. For whom, pray? How on earth can Michael Portillo losing out to Iain Duncan Smith…
L’Erber – London Home to Warwick the Kingmaker and George Duke of Clarence

Oct 17, 2022

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

Anne Neville, Barnet, Checkers Yard, Coldharbour, Crowland Chronicle, Dowgate Hill, Earl of Oxford, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Great Fire of London, Henry Lord Montagu, Henry VIII, high treason, Isobel Neville, John Strype, Kingsford, l’Erber, London, Margaret of Salisbury, Nevilles, past maps, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Reformation, Reginald Cardinal Pole, Richard III, Richard III Society, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, River Thames, sanctuary, Sir Francis Drake, St. Martin’s, Stow’s Survey, Thames Street, Tower of London, Visscher Panorama of London, Wars of the Roses, Warwick Lane, William Latimer

My latest A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com post London before the Great Fire and much as Richard Neville ‘The Kingmaker’ and his family would have known it… L’Erber stood slightly to the north west of Coldharbour which is the large house seen here in middle of the picture and facing the Thames. No depiction of L’Erber…
Edward II’s nieces: The Clare Sisters

Oct 14, 2022

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, genealogy, religion

Anne Neville, Bannockburn, burials, Caerphilly Castle, Clare Castle, Clare Priory, Edward I, Edward II, Edward IV, Eleanor de Clare, Elizabeth de Clare, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, George Duke of Clarence, Gilbert de Clare, Gilbert Earl of Gloucester, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Ireland, Isobel Neville, Joan of Acre, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Margaret de Clare, Richard III, Suffolk, unofficial executions, Wales

… and so to the dark green volume in Kathryn Warner‘s series about Edward II, his family, his associates and his era. This one details the lives of three sisters with seven husbands between them and a lot of interesting descendants, including Richard III (and siblings), his wife and his sisters-in-law. The eldest, Eleanor de…
A cowardly man who feared being without personal guards….

Oct 1, 2022

anniversaries, battles

Battle of Bosworth, cowardice, Henry VII, Yeomen of the Guard

“…When Henry [Weasel] was protected in the battle by his devoted guards, he rewarded them by formally establishing the Yeomen….” The Yeomen of the Guard were created by Henry the Weasel after the battle of Bosworth. See here. Yes, of course he did! He was a coward who was afraid to be without armed…
Bolingbroke and his flute….!

Sep 30, 2022

anniversaries, battles, culture, humour

“Lancastrian”, flutes, Henry IV, Henry VII, Lancastrians, lutes, music, Richard II, usurpation, Wars of the Roses

I feel it’s time to take another pop at a Lancastrian King Henry. On this occasion it’s Henry IV, the warlike Lancastrian usurper who murdered his cousin Richard II and stole the crown. A process that led to the Wars of the Roses. So definitely not one of my favourite kings. When it comes to…
The Touchet/Audley Family in the Fifteenth Century.

Sep 26, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

Alionore Holland, Arundels, Barnet, Battle of Bosworth, Battles of Sandwich, Bishop Edmund Audley, Bishop of Hereford, Blore Heath, Buckingham rebellion, Calais, Cheshire, Constance of York, Despensers, Dukes of Somerset, Edmund Holland, Edward I, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, executions, Fitzalans, Francis Viscount Lovell, Heighley Castle, Henry III, Henry VII, Isabel Mylbery, James Lord Audley, Joan Bourchier, Joan of Kent, John Lord Audley, Lord High Treasurer, Ludlow Castle, Margaret Darrell, Margaret of Anjou, Margaret Roos, Mortimer’s Cross, Parliament’s power to determine legitimacy, Red Castle, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Sir Humphrey Audley, surnames, Tewkesbury, Towton, Welsh Marches, Wydevilles

James Touchet, Lord Audley, was born about 1398. He was not in the first rank of magnates but nevertheless had significant estates, notably Heighley Castle, near Madeley in Staffordshire, and the Red Castle (Hawkstone) in Shropshire, as well as two small Marcher lordships in Wales. His first marriage was to Margaret Roos, daughter of Lord Roos…
Identifying another King

Sep 24, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion, Science, sources

Bannockburn, Bruces of Clackmannan, david II, Declaration of Arbroath, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Dunfermline Abbey, Dupplin Moor, facial reconstruction, Foundation for Mediaeval Genealogy, FTB15831, genetic markers, Graham Holton, Ireland, Melrose Abbey, mtDNA evidence, Register of the Great Seal, Richard III, Robert I, royal remains, Scotland, University of Strathclyde, Y-chromosome

The monarch in question is Robert I (Bruce) and the investigation, as part of the Foundation for Mediaeval Genealogy’s Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project, is being carried out by the University of Strathclyde: Graham Holton has reported good progress in this press release: Genetic marker discovered for descendants of Bruce clan, January 2022.A distinct…
The Great British Dig – History in Your Garden (3)

Sep 20, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, law, television reviews

air raid shelters, Anthony Babington, Battle of Marston Moor, Biggin Hill Grange, Channel Four, chapels, Coventry, Elizabeth I, English Civil War, executions, Glen Mill, Henry III, Hugh Dennis, King’s Lynn, Morda House, Odiham, Oldham, Oswestry, past maps, plots, Priories, prisoners of war, ramparts, Second World War, sieges, Sir Francis Walsingham, workhouses

This excellent Channel Four programme has returned for a third series soon after the second, perhaps because the pandemic interrupted some of the earlier filming. The first episode features Odiham Place in Hampshire, looking for the home of Sir Francis Walsingham, although it was actually built for Henry VIII and was smaller than a 1739…