battles
pilltown
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“…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…
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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…
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Identifying another King
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-chromosomeThe 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…
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The Great British Dig – History in Your Garden (3)
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, workhousesThis 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…
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‘Great magician, damned Glendower'(Part 4.)
Anglesey, Archbishop Scrope, archers, Battle of Shrewsbury, Catrin ferch Owain, Cheltenham, Constance of York, executions, France, Glyn Dwr rebellion, Henry IV, Henry V, Hotspur, Lord Grey of Ruthin, maredydd ap owain, Mortimers, Owain Glyn Dwr, Percies, Pilleth, R.R. Davies, ransom, siege of harlech, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Sir John Scudamore, Thomas Percy Earl of Worcester, Tripartite Alliance, Wales, WorcesterIt is not my purpose to describe the Glyndŵr Rising in detail. The story is far too complex to be contained within a blog post. The reader who is interested in the full tale would do well to consult (for example) The Revolt Of Owain Glyn Dŵr by R.R Davies, an excellent work. The initial…
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‘Great magician, damned Glendower'(Part 3.)
Bishop of St. Asaph, Cheshire, Corwen, courts, Dukes of Norfolk, Earls of Warwick, executions, exile, France, Henry IV, Ireland, John of Gaunt, John Trevor, Llewellyn ap Iorweth, Lord Grey of Ruthin, Lords Appellant, Marcher Lords, naval battles, Owain Glyn Dwr, Radcot Bridge, Richard II, Richard of arundel, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Ruthin, son of prophecy, Thomas of woodstock, Wales, wineOwain‘s service to Arundel included taking part in the naval victory over the French in 1387 in which a wine fleet was captured. Such was the booty that the price of wine in England fell through the floor. He may well also have been involved in Arundel’s attack on the French coast a few months…
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‘Great magician, damned Glendower'(Part 2.)
Berwick. garrison duties, castles, Chester, Chirk Castle, Cilgerran Castle, cymorth, Edeyrnion, Edmund Grey Lord Ruthin, Gascony, John of Gaunt, legal cases, legal training, Owain Glyn Dwr, Parliament, Pembroke, Powys, Richard Earl of Arundel, Richard II, Scottish campaign 1385, Scrope v Grosvenor, Sir Gregory Sais, taxation, Tenby, Thomas Despenser, Wales, Welsh MarchesOwain‘s training as a lawyer certainly did not stop him from pursuing a military career. in 1384 he is found undertaking garrison duty at Berwick in the retinue of the Flintshire knight Sir Gregory Sais. Sais was a renowned knight, with extensive combat experience in France, particularly Gascony. (He is also a good example of…
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Hmmm…some of the entries in this article are definitely applicable solely to castles, but some are either not universal (e.g. staircases twisting one way only spiral staircases) or were definitely not first thought of when castles came into being (e.g. surrounding your stronghold with water). But it’s an interesting list for all that.
