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Richard III owned religious books, but slept around….?

Sep 4, 2020

archaeology, battles, religion, sources

“Princes”, Carole Cusack, character, Charles Armstrong, Crowland Chronicle, Domenico Mancini, Henry VI, illegitimate children, Leicester dig, military record, popes, Richard III

Yes, we’ve all seen the above illustration before, but for my purposes today it’s ideal. Was Richard a saint? Or a sinner? I’ve happened upon a very interesting paper about Richard, by Carole Cusack, in which she discusses his reputation and why he still has the power to influence us today. Just what is it…
Blood of the Clans

Sep 2, 2020

battles, genealogy, television reviews

BBC1 Scotland, Blood of the Clans, Charles “III”, Charles I, Clan Campbell, Clan Graham, Clan MacDonald, Clan MacGregor, clans, Culloden, Derby, Earls of Argyll, Earls of Montrose, executions, Flora MacDonald, George I, George II, Jacobite rebellions, James “VIII/III”, Killiecrankie, Neil Oliver, Prestonpans, Rise of the Clans, Rob Roy MacGregor, siege of Aberdeen, Simon Fraser Lord Lovat, Viscount Claverhouse, War of the Three Kingdoms

Neil Oliver has been back on our screens, BBC1 Scotland at least, with another short series. Following on from his 2018 Rise of the Clans, which detailed tribal influence over events such as the ascent of Robert I and subsequently the Stewarts to Mary’s troublesome reign and deposition, Blood of the Clans deals with Scottish…
The Royal Progress of Richard III

Aug 29, 2020

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion, sources, travel

“Arrivall of Edward IV”, “Princes”, Annales, Anne Neville, Anne Sutton, Black Death, Brecon, Bristol, Buckingham rebellion, Cambridge, Canterbury Cathedral, Catherine de Medici, Charles IX, Chief Justice, Compton Reeves, Cora Schofield, Coventry, Crowland Chronicle, Earl of Kildare, Edmund of Rutland, Edward II, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward of Middleham, Edward the Black Prince, Eucharist, execution, Fotheringhay, Francis Viscount Lovell, Gainsborough, George Duke of Clarence, George Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury, Gloucester, Gloucester Cathedral, Grantham, Great Chronicle, Great Seal, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VI, Henry VII, investiture, Isabel Neville, Jamestown, John Fortescue, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, John Kendall, John Morton, John of Gloucester, John Russell, Katherine Hastings, Latin, Leicester, Lincoln, Lionel Woodville, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Louis XI, Ludlow, Margaret d’Anjou, Micklegate Bar, Middleham Castle, Minster Lovell, mystery plays, Nottingham, Oxford, Pamela Tudor-Craig, Peter Hammond, Pilgrims’ Way, Pontefract, Reading, reburials, Rhoda Edwards, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl Rivers, Richard III, Richard of Salisbury, River Ouse, River Severn, River Witham, Rosemary Horrox, Royal Progress, Sandwich, Sir Baldwin Fulford, Sir John Woodville, St. George, Tadcaster, Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury Abbey, Thomas of woodstock, Thomas Rotherham, Thornbury, Titulus Regius, Wakefield, Wales, Warwick, William I, William Lord Hastings, William Waynflete, Windsor Castle, Woodstock, Worcester, York

Following his coronation, Richard III – like all medieval monarchs – went on his “royal progress” through the realm. Along with an entourage in excess of 200 household men, ecclesiastics, supporters, and administrative officials, he visited towns and cities as far west as the River Severn, as far north as the River Ouse, and as…
Thomas More and the Removal Men

Aug 23, 2020

archaeology, battles, buildings, sources

“Princes”, Barnard Castle, Battle of Bosworth, Dighton, Edward of Middleham, energetic priest, fantasy, Garden Tower, John Greene, John Stow, Miles Forest, Minster Lovell, Polydore Vergil, rescue plot, Richard III, Sir James Tyrrell, Sir Robert Brackenbury, Thomas Basin, Thomas More, Tyrrell “confession”, Warwick, Will Slaughter

Thomas More’s detailed and heart-wrenching account of the murders of Edward IV’s sons is well known, and is usually either accepted or dismissed in toto so it would probably be useful to pause at this point to remind ourselves exactly what it was that Thomas More claimed had happened to the boys and why opinions…
Richard’s first resting place – recreated

Aug 22, 2020

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, religion

Battle of Bosworth, CAD, Constanza of Castile, de Montfort University, Hawthorn Building, Hospital of the Annunciation, Lady Mary Hervey, Leicester Greyfriars, Mary de Bohun, Newarke Church, paint analysis, Richard III

Five years ago, we wrote about the lost Newarke Church in the Hospital of the Annunciation, where Richard lay for two days between his death and burial in the Greyfriars. As we said, the site is now occupied by the Hawthorn Building of de Montfort University, although these two original arches have been integrated. Here…
Was Richard III king by fact or by law….?

Aug 21, 2020

anniversaries, battles, law, religion

backdating, Dukes of York, Henry VII, Parliament, Richard III, Titulus Regius 1486

“….the phrase ‘king by fact, not by law’….rang out again, though in a different choice of words, when Henry VII described Richard III’s reign. Richard III was never rightfully king from the moment he died, as he was succeeded by Henry VII, a man who felt his reign was completely illegitimate. Although Richard III would have…
Nottingham’s medieval magic has disappeared from its castle….

Aug 19, 2020

anniversaries, battles, buildings

1831 fire, Battle of Bosworth, Charles I, david II, Dukes of Newcastle, Edward III, English Civil War, Isabelle de France, John, John Hutchinson, Luddite riots, Neville’s Cross, Nottingham, Nottingham Castle, Parliamentary army, Richard I, Richard III, Robin Hood, Roger Mortimer, siege of Nottingham, slighting, William I

I’m sorry, but even before the above fire in 1831, Nottingham Castle didn’t look anything like a proper castle. Gone are the medieval towers and battlements, and all that’s left is a mansion on a hill. Nothing smacks of the lost age of Plantagenet kings, knights and armour. Great events happened here in earlier centuries,…
More on More

Aug 17, 2020

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, law, religion, sources

“Tudor” propaganda, Barnard Castle, Battle of Bosworth, Calendar of Patent Rolls, deception, Edward V, Forrest, Garden Tower, Harleian Manuscript 433, John Greene, Marmions, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Sir James Tyrrell, Sir Robert Brackenbury, Sir Walter Scott, Thomas Dighton, Thomas More, Westminster Abbey, Will Slaughter

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”(Marmion, Sir Walter Scott) We all know that there was some deception in Thomas More‘s “History“, but how much? In Cairo, they think that the whole first half of his narrative is the gospel truth but the second half is an invention –…
Why did Richard III allow Elizabeth of York such liberty at his court….?

Aug 10, 2020

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

“Beauforts”, “Princes”, “Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne Neville, Battle of Bosworth, bigamy, bones, Bridget of york, Buckingham rebellion, Cecilia, Edward IV, Edward of Middleham, Edward of Warwick, Edward V, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, executions, Habsburgs, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, John Earl of Lincoln, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, John of Gloucester, Katherine Howard, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Margaret Duchess of Burgundy, Margaret of Salisbury, Mill Bay, Nottingham, pre-contract, re-legitimisation, Rennes Cathedral, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Robert Stillington, Shakespeare, Sheriff Hutton, Sir Ralph Scrope, Stanleys, Stoke Field, Titulus Regius, Titulus Regius 1486, Viscount Welles, Wales, Westminster Abbey

Today, 10th August, is my birthday, and on this date in 1485, the last Yorkist king, Richard III, was in Nottingham preparing for the imminent invasion of his realm by his Lancastrian foe, Henry Tudor, who didn’t have much of a blood claim to the throne but touted himself as the last remaining heir…
A royal doctor colludes at murder….

Aug 7, 2020

battles, Book Reviews

“Princes”, Battle of Bosworth, Domenico Mancini, Dr. John Argentine, funeral brass, Henry VII, Raymond Lamont-Brown, Richard III, Tower of London

Yes, it’s those poor lost boys again, and maybe someone did do away with them as they slept. But who? According to Merriam-Webster, the verb Collude means “to connive with another : conspire, plot”. Right, that’s clear enough, so what is one to make of the following heading? A ROYAL DOCTOR COLLUDES AT MURDER – like…