battles
pilltown
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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.…
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Sorry, Frederick Forsyth and John Stonehouse, but Henry VII did it first
“Perkin”, Anne Wroe, Austin Friars, Australia, Burgundy, Edward of Warwick, executions, faked death, false identities, Frederick Forsyth, Henry VII, John Stonehouse, Margaret of Burgundy, Miami, Richard of Shrewsbury, The Day of the Jackal, torture, Tournoi, Tower of London, Walsall, Westminster AbbeyI expect you all know the basic premise of Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal (published in 1971). A mysterious and ruthless assassin obtains a birth certificate and passport in the name of someone who died as a child, before setting out to kill de Gaulle. In 1974, John Stonehouse followed this method by “borrowing”…
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We all know that ladies of the Victorian era often fainted because their corsets were too tightly laced. A tiny waist was highly desirable. Well, it still is, of course, but not to such a ridiculous extent. This tortuous lacing would have been difficult enough for young women to endure, but Heaven alone knows…
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If you go to this link you’ll find a fascinating, zoomable map of Europe in 1444. You really can zoom right in, and my only regret is that more towns, etc. aren’t indicated. Well, a lot are listed by initials on the left, but it’s not the same as being able to read them once…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 