The New Murrey and Blue blog

battles

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The history of castles….

Sep 4, 2021

battles, buildings

Beaumaris Castle, Belvoir Castle, castles, Charles VIII, defences, Durham Castle, Edward I, English Civil War, Episcopal palaces, gunpowder, Italian Wars, keeps, Knights Hospitaller, Krak des Chevaliers, motte and bailey, Normans, ruins, slighting, stone, Syria, tourism, Wales, Warkworth Castle, William I, Windsor Castle

We all love early castles. Well, we can love those from later ages, but they don’t have quite the same cachet as those wonderful old fortresses that always make us gasp when we see them. But how did they evolve? And why did they become obsolete except as tourist attractions and scenic splendours? This article…
Three lions on a shirt….English football and Richard the Lionheart….

Sep 3, 2021

anniversaries, battles, heraldry

“Three Lions on a shirt”, “Tudor” rose, coronations, Eleanor of Aquitaine, football, Henry II, lions, Richard I, royal arms, songs, Third Crusade

“….He spent little time in England but one very famous king’s emblem is now on the lips of millions in the country he ruled but rarely visited. Football fans across the land are singing ‘Three Lions on a Shirt’ and it’s all thanks to Richard I….” Well, that’s about all for which England has to…
Leicester has a new attraction about Richard III at Bosworth….

Sep 2, 2021

art, battles, buildings

Battle of Bosworth, King Richards Road, Leicester, murals, Richard III

“….A new mural has been created on King Richards Road in Leicester to highlight the city’s links to King Richard III….” Oh yes, it has indeed, and very striking it is too, as you can see from the above illustration. You can read all about it at the Mercury website and again at the City Council site…
Gloucester’s contribution to the Battle of Tewkesbury….

Aug 31, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, Events

Alney Island, Andrew Armstrong, charter, drowning, Edward of Lancaster, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Gloucester, Henry VI, Henry VII, Lancastrians, Lord Protector of the Realm, Malmsey, Margaret of Anjou, processions, Richard Duke of York, Richard’s Wood, River Severn, Tewkesbury

This year is the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Tewkesbury, and—justifiably—Gloucester wants a piece of the celebratory action. After all, Gloucester did contribute a lot to the outcome, by ensuring Margaret and her forces were obliged to take a stand in a place they wouldn’t have chosen. The queen wanted to pass through the…
What really happened with Princess Cecily’s first two marriages….?

Aug 24, 2021

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion, sources

“Princes”, Alexander Stewart Duke of Albany, annulments, Barons Scrope of Bolton, Battle of Bosworth, Bishop of Durham, british History Online, Cicely Plantagenet, Complete Peerage, consanguinity, dispensations, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward III, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Essex, Gaynesparc, Hatfield, Isle of Wight, James III, James IV, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of Kent, John Scrope of Bolton, Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, Lionel Baron Welles, Margaret Beauchamp, pardons, plots, Ralph Scrope, Richard Fox, Richard III, royal marriages, Scotland, Scottish campaign 1482, Scropes of Masham, Sharon Champion, Thomas Holland, Thomas Kymbe, Tony Riches, Tower of London, Viscount Welles

The following extract is from Not So Fortunate As Fair’: The Life of Princess Cecily Plantagenet by Sharon Champion:- “….At the age of five, she [Cecily] was betrothed to James, the infant son and heir of James III of Scotland. John 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton was sent as commissioner to negotiate a contract of…
Hey Diddle Dumpty….!

Aug 22, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings, culture

Archbishop Cranmer, Battle of Bosworth, Bishop Ridley, cannon, Charles I, Edward I, Hugh Latimer, nursery rhymes, one-eyed Jack, Richard III, siege of Colchester

Here is a quote from this article: “….Some say Humpty Dumpty is a sly allusion to King Richard III, whose brutal 26-month reign ended with his death in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. In this speculative version, King Richard III’s horse was supposedly called “Wall,” off of [sic] which he fell during battle.…
Another way for Henry VII to screw money out of his subjects….

Aug 21, 2021

anniversaries, battles, humour, law

backdating, Battle of Bosworth, Charters, Henry VII, Owain Glyndwr, rebellions, taxation, Wales, Welsh Penal Laws

There are some interesting occurrences in Welsh history, not all of them well known. When I came upon this article, I looked for Henry VII. Well, he was bound to feature. And he did! I quote: “….Numerous [Welsh] rebellions still arose, most famously that led by Owain Glyndwr….The Glyndwr Rising would lead to the Penal…
THE MARRIAGES OF THE SIBLINGS OF ELIZABETH WOODVILLE

Aug 13, 2021

battles, genealogy

“Lambert Simnel”, Anne Wydeville, Arundel Castle, Barnet, Battle of Bosworth, bigamy, Blackheath, Canterbury Cathedral, Edgecote, Elizabeth Baroness Scales, Elizabeth Wydeville, executions, George Grey Earl of Kent, Henry of Buckingham, Henry Pole the Younger, Henry VII, Hicks, Hillingdon Church, Jacquetta Wydeville, Jane Wydeville, Jasper “Tudor”, John Earl of Lincoln, John Lord Strange, John Wydeville, Katherine Duchess of norfolk, Katherine Plantagenet, Katherine Wydeville, Knights of the Bath, Margaret Fitzalan, Margaret Wydeville, marriages, Martha Wydeville, Mary Lewis, Mary Wydeville, ODNB, Richard of Warwick, Sir Anthony Grey, Sir Anthony Wydeville, Sir John Bromley, Sir Richard Wingfield, Stoke Field, The Cornish Rebellion, Thomas Fitzalan Earl of Arundel, Thomas Lord Stanley, Tintern Abbey, Turner, William Herbert Earl of Pembroke, William of Worcester, William Viscount Bourchier, windows, Wydevilles

Elizabeth Woodville Royal Window Canterbury Cathedral Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Very soon after the clandestine marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville had taken place in 1464 it became abundantly clear to the old nobility that the siblings of the new Queen would henceforth be having their pick of the most sought after heirs and heiresses of…
The Wanderings of King Henry VI

Aug 12, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, art, battles, buildings

Alfred Wainwright, artefacts, Bolton Hall, Bolton-by-Bowland, Bracewell Barn, Clitheroe Castle, Henry VI, Hexham, Lake District, Luck of Muncaster, Muncaster Castle, Ravenglass, Readeption, Richard of Warwick, royal burials, Sir James Harrington, Sir Ralph Pudsey, Sir Thomas Talbot, Tower of London, Waddington Hall, Wasdale Head Inn

After the Battle of Hexham (15 May 1464) Henry VI very wisely made himself scarce. His first recorded place of refuge was Muncaster Castle in what is now Cumbria. The distance involved is roughly 90 miles, but anyone who has read Wainwright’s Guides to the Lakeland Fells will appreciate that this would include many…
Walking “Tudor” England

Aug 10, 2021

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, television reviews, travel

“Bloody Mary”, “Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Arthur “Tudor”, Ashdown Forest, attainder, Austin Friars, bear-baiting, Bishops of London, Bridewell Palace, brothels, Cambridge, cannon, Channel Five, Christopher Hatton, Clifford’s Tower, conspiracies, dancing, de heretico comburendo, Dutch refugees, East Midlands, Edmund Bonner, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, excommunication, executions, exile, fire, Framlingham Castle, Fulham Palace, Greenwich Palace, Grey-Dudley rebellion, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Hampton Court, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Hever Castle, James VI/I, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Foxe, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Katherine Howard, Kenilworth Castle, Kenninghall, Kett Rebellion, Leicester, London, Lord Chancellor, Lord Guildford Dudley, Margaret Clitherow, Mary Stuart, Mass, Michelham Priory, naval power, Nicholas Ridley, Northern Earls’ Rebellion, Norwich, Penshurst Place, Pilgrimage of Grace, Pontefract, Portsmouth, recusants, Ripon Cathedral, Robert Aske, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal barges, royal hunting estates, Rushton Triangular Lodge, severed heads, Sir Henry Dudley, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir Walter Raleigh, Southwark, St. Mary’s Abbey, Stamford, Suzannah Lipscomb, The Globe, Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Stafford, tobacco, torture, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Will Kemp, William Cecil, William Shakespeare, Wyatt Rebellion, Yorkshire Museum

Suzannah Lipscomb has just completed another series on Channel Five, this time visiting the sites related to the “Tudors”. In the first episode, she concentrated on Henry VIII and the naval power he inherited from John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The second was principally about the penultimate “Tudor”, Mary I, as well as Edward VI…