battles
pilltown
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Before you read the following (from The Rise of Alchemy in the Fourteenth Century by Jonathan Hughes) you should know that I have taken the liberty of breaking it up into paragraphs – in the book the extract is from one long, rather impenetrable paragraph. Otherwise the punctuation is original. “….One of the most…
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I like to read a good review, and here is one about Mike Ingram‘s book Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth. There is no point in reviewing the review, so I’ll just say that after reading this one you’ll know exactly what you’ll get if you purchase the book. No, it doesn’t contain…
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The “awkward mediaeval cities” (2) : Northampton
artillery, Battle of Bosworth, Battle of Northampton, Bletchley, coaches, delapre Abbey, Dissolution of the Monasteries, DNA, Edward I, Eleanor of Castile, Fotheringhay, Francis Crick, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Northampton Castle, Oxford, Peterborough, rail journeys, Richard III, siege of Roxburgh, St. Albans, St. Thomas Becket, Stony Stratford, trials, Weston FavellAnother such is Northampton. Like Oxford, most (all in fact) of the trains run to or from London, although the latter will reconnect to Cambridge in a few years, with Milton Keynes and Northampton joining the line via Bletchley. Northampton is only currently accessible from East Anglia via London, Birmingham, or switching to a coach…
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This article might seem to be solely about Chief Sitting Bull and his great-grandson, and a new method of proving DNA and so, but here’s the penultimate paragraph: “….Dr. Willerslev said it was possible, for example, that the methodology could help solve one of England’s most confounding cold cases: the fate of the…
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When an article is entitled War of the Roses: A Brief Timeline, subtitled ‘Emily Hewat gives a crash course on the history behind Yorkshire and Lancaster’s epic rivalry and the origin of the Roses Tournament itself’ one rather expects the correct times! But no. What you find is:- “….Our story starts in 1454 with the…
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MAD, MURDEROUS MABEL
“Poisoned Chalice”, Arnulf, Arundel Castle, books, Bridgnorth Castle, Bure Castle, Earl of Shrewsbury, Ela of Salisbury, Eleanor of Castile, Giroie family, Haburga, Hugh Bunel, Mabel de Belleme, marriages, Matilda of Blois, mediaeval women, murder, Norman invasion, Normandy, Orderic Vitalis, Robert de Belleme, Roger de Montgomery, ships, William I, William Talvas de Belleme, William Talvas IVMany people still hold to the idea that all medieval women were quiet, timid, and downtrodden, unable to defend themselves and at the mercy of others. Clearly they have never heard of Mabel de Belleme! Mabel was a Norman noblewoman, born sometime in the 1030’s to William Talvas de Belleme and his first wife, Haburga.…
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When it comes to medieval ladies whose story I have always wanted to write but have never found the moment. something else always got in the way. One such lady is Princess Nest/Nesta of Wales, daughter of the last King of South Wales, whose life spanned the end of the 11th century and beginning…
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“The Buildings that fought Hitler” (Yesterday)
Battle of Britain, Bawdsey Manor, Blitz, deception, Dorset, dummy cities, Edmund Ironside, Field Marshal Ironside, Home Guard, Jasper Maskelyne, Military tactics, pill boxes, radar, Second World War, Stanley House, Stanleys, stop lines, Wars of the Roses, Wellington College, Winston Churchill, Yesterday ChannelOnce you have reached beyond the bizarre title, which sounds rather like a Dr. Who episode, this is actually a very good series. Rob Bell, the engineer who is becoming quite ubiquitous, demonstrates how the UK was ready to use ther natural and built environments, together with science, to repel and then restrict a German…
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The Daughters of Edward I
Amesbury Abbey, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, Burgos, Clare Priory, deposition, Edward I, Edward II, Edward IV, Eleanor Crosses, Eleanor of Castile, Elizabeth Countess of Hereford, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, Hardingstone, Israel, Joan of Acre, John Ashdown-Hill, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Laura Culme-Seymour, Lucy Walter, Maria Smythe, Mary I, North Wales, Northampton, nuns, Royal Marriage Secrets, royal marriages, SpainKathryn Warner‘s latest tome has arrived and soon raised memories of Ashdown-Hill’s Eleanor, as two of the daughters in question – Joan of Acre (twice) and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan – are among the ancestors of Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lucy Walter, “Mrs. Fitzherbert” (Maria Smythe) and Laura Culme-Seymour, as shown in Royal Marriage Secrets and replicated here.…
