battles

pilltown

Athelstan–Our Greatest Monarch?

Jul 17, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

“The last Kingdom”, Alfred, Anglo-Saxons, Athelstan, Bernard Cornwell, books, Brunaburh, Cheshire, Constantine II, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Eadgyth, Edward the Elder, Elizabeth I, Germany, House of Wessex, illegitimacy rumours, legal reforms, Malmesbury Abbey, novels, piety, royal burials, Scotland, St. Aldhelm, St. Cuthbert, Tom Holland, Venerable Bede, Vikings, York

A recent poll searching for Britain’s ‘Greatest Monarch’, came up with the surprise winner of… drum roll, King Athelstan. Not that the Anglo-Saxon king wasn’t so great, but the winner is a little surprising since most people seem to have believed the ‘crown’ would go to Elizabeth I. (Yawn!) I hope the voters actually remembered…
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke

Jul 16, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, sources

Aberystwyth, Azincourt, Barry, Carmarthen Castle, Catherine de Valois, Civil War, Dafydd Gam, Dictionary of Welsh Biography, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Glamorgan, Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Humphrey Stafford Earl of Devon, Hundred Years War, Jasper “Tudor”, Lancastrians, Lordship of Usk, Matilda Barri, Morleys of Norfolk, Mortimers, Northampton, ODNB, Owain Glyndwr, Owen Tudor, Pembroke Castle, Raglan Castle, Ralph Griffiths, ransom, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Robin of Redesdale, Sheriff of Glamorgan, Sir John Morley, Sir William ap Thomas, Wales, William Herbert Earl of Pembroke, William I, Yellow Tower of GwentWilliam Lord Berkeley

William Herbert, otherwise ‘Black William’ was born in 1423, the son of Sir William ap Thomas ‘the Blue Knight of Gwent’ and Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam the ‘Star of Abergavenny’. His main claim to fame is that he was the first Welshman to become an earl in the peerage of England, except for Henry VI’s…
A medieval tournament at Arundel Castle….

Jul 15, 2022

battles, buildings, Events

Arundel Castle, tournaments

Well here’s something exciting and diverting for high summer this year—a great tournament at Arundel Castle. This event will take place from 26-31 July and looks set to be a wonderful recreation of a medieval tournament. All sorts of diversions and goodies (see the above link for many, many photographs) are on offer and I’m…
Clearing up a French genealogical mystery (2)

Jul 14, 2022

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law

“Louis XX”, Bonapartists, Bourbons, Charles X, claimants, Edward III, Elizabeth II, England, Felipe VI, France, Francisco Franco, Henry VIII, India, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Napoleon III, Orleanists, Salic Law, Spain, wills

Just over six years ago, we published an article about the claimants to the French throne. They divide into three lines: BOURBONS: Charles X’s male line, comprising the entire legitimate male line of Louis XIV with one proviso, became extinct in 1883. The exceptions are the Spanish Borbons, with their habit of…
Richard III’s boar badge found at Chiddingly manor house in 1999….

Jul 13, 2022

archaeology, art, battles, buildings, Science

boars, British Museum, Chiddingly, country houses, metal detecting, noblemen, Richard III, silver, Sussex

“….in 1999 a metal detectorist made an extraordinary find that’s become known as the Chiddingly Boar: ‘The white boar badge was used by Richard III’s household and followers between 1472 and 1485,’ the British Museum explain on their website of the hat badge that is now in their collection….” “….The boar was Richard’s symbol, and thousands…
A HAWKING RING OF THE TALBOT FAMILY

Jun 30, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, art, battles, buildings, genealogy

Albrighton, Battle of Bosworth, Earls of Shrewsbury, executions, Gunpowder Plot, hawking ring, Henry VII, jewellery, John 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lovell rebellion, recusants, Shropshire, Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sir John Talbot, Talbots

Recently the rains washed off some soil in a muddy Shropshire field, and yet another metal detectorist had a lucky find–a hawking ring from the Elizabethan period. The most intriguing thing to me was the very bold lettering spelling the name JOHN TALBOT AT GRAFTON across the band of the tiny ring. As it was…
You can’t tell a castle book by its cover….

Jun 24, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy

Bannockburn, Earlshall Castle, gardens, house of Bruce, libraries, Lothians, property sales, Robert I, Scotland

I love to see historic properties come up for sale. They are almost always wonderful on the outside and inside, but Earshall Castle in Scotland (55 miles from Edinburgh) has proved the exception. It’s the ancestral home of relatives of Robert the Bruce, but you wouldn’t know it. Yes, it’s beautiful and dramatic on the…
The armour worn at Waterloo in 1815….

Jun 18, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles

armour, artillery, Belgium, breastplate, cavalry, Duke of Wellington, Napoleon, Robert Alexander Hillingford, Waterloo

Well, having read this interesting article about the above rather battered piece of nineteenth-century armour from the Battle of Waterloo, I have to say that I doubt if any armour could withstand a direct bullseye from a cannon ball. Not even the best the medieval period could produce!
Marc Morris on mediaeval television programmes and films …

Jun 15, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, films, television reviews, Uncategorized

“Red Wedding”, “The last Kingdom”, anachronisms, Anglo-Saxons, atrocities, Barons, Bernard Cornwell, Black Dinner, Blind Harry, Braveheart, castles, Dover Castle, Edward I, French wars, Game of Thrones, Godwinsons, hats, Ironclad, James II, John, Knights Templar, Magna Carta, Marc Morris, Norman conquest, Robin Hood, Runnymede, Scotland, shield wall, Sir William wallace, taxation, Vikings, Waltheof, woad, women

… programmes and films about the Middle Ages, not actually made during them – which would require an even greater advance that the Viking discovery of America before Columbus … Here he discusses: The Game of Thrones (2013), Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (1991), Ironclad (2013), The Last Kingdom (2015), Vikings (2013), Braveheart (1995)
In case you haven’t noticed …

Jun 14, 2022

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, religion

Archbishop of Canterbury, Barrie Williams, Bosworth, Dan Snow, daughters of Edward IV, de la Pole family, Edward of Middleham, Edward of Warwick, Elizabeth of York, Joanna, John Earl of Lincoln, Manuel Duke of Beja, Margaret of Salisbury, On this day in history, Peasants’ Revolt, Portuguese archives, Richard III, Sheriff Hutton, Simon of Sudbury, skulls, St. Gregory’s

… we like our anniversaries here at Murrey and Blue. Having received this book about anniversaries as a birthday present, I found a substantial amount of unfamiliar information and several new cases, but there were two noticeable lacunae: (14th June on the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt): “Sudbury‘s skull survives, in St. Gregory’s Church in Norwich …”…