The New Murrey and Blue blog

battles

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da Vinci and the RAF centenary

Nov 11, 2018

anniversaries, art, battles, Science

air warfare, aviation, engineering, First World War, George Stubbs, horses, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci, painting, parachute, portraits, renaissance, Royal Air Force

Leonardo di ser Piero “da Vinci” (below left) was nearly six months older than Richard III, having been born in the Republic of Florence on 15 April 1452. Over his lifetime, which ended in 1519, he is best known for his paintings, such as The Last Supper or la Gioconda. However, he also left us…
The Bayeux Tapestry – in action….!

Nov 9, 2018

art, battles

Anglo-Saxons, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, Normans, propaganda, videos

If you haven’t seen this before, it’s well worth watching. Very clever.
How the House of Mortimer was cheated….

Nov 6, 2018

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

“Tudors”, Battle of Bosworth, Battle of Shrewsbury, Edmund Mortimer, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VII, Ian Mortimer, Ireland, Lancastrians, Mortimers, Owain Glyn Dwr, Richard II, Richard III, Southampton plot, Wales

Here’s how the great House of Mortimer petered out and was supplanted by a Lancastrian usurper who killed the reigning king and stole his throne. Then, under the House of York, the House of Mortimer triumphed again….until, in 1485, along came another Lancastrian usurper to kill the reigning king and steal the throne….. Never trust…
Five important royals who didn’t ascend the throne….

Oct 31, 2018

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

Burnham Abbey, Crecy, Crusades, Culloden, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, George III, Hanover, Henry III, Hundred Years War, Jacobites, John Earl of Cornwall, John of Gaunt, Matilda, monarchs, Normandy, Plantagenets, Poitiers, Richard II, Stephen, William Duke of Cumberland

Would these be your five? Or do you have other suggestions? PS Who can spot their deliberate mistake?
Discovered in Norwich

Oct 26, 2018

anniversaries, battles, buildings, The play’s the thing, travel

archery, Azincourt, Harfleur, Harriet Martineau, Henry IV, Henry V, JD Wetherspoon, John of Gaunt, John Sell Cotman, Kett Rebellion, Lancastrians, Norwich, Norwich Cathedral, Norwich School artists, pubs, Shakespeare, Sir Thomas Erpingham, stained glass, Tomblands

Whilst visiting Norwich to see the Whitefriars plaque to Lady Eleanor Talbot, Richard’s sister-in-law, in Tomblands near the Cathedral, I happened to take lunch in a particular hostelry, the Glass House. It is principally named for the city’s stained glass industry and various panels, also commemorate the author Harriet Martineau, the rebel Robert Kett, Cotman…
Seeking the Real Duke of Clarence

Oct 21, 2018

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, sources

alcoholism, Ankarette Twynho, Anne Neville, Barnet, Bromham church, Buckingham rebellion, charisma, disloyalty, Edward IV, executions, fiction, George Duke of Clarence, Hicks, insanity, Isabel Neville, John Thursby. Sir Roger Tocotes, propaganda, puerperal fever, Richard III, stereotypes, Tewkesbury, Towton, tuberculosis, Warwick

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about Richard III’s brother, George of Clarence. You know the one–typical ‘middle child’, ‘false fleeting Clarence’, the one drowned in Malmsey who was also a drunk and quite possibly insane, hanging, as he did, old ladies on the vaguest of suspicions. And I began considering–is George, like Richard, maligned,…
A very busy presenter

Oct 20, 2018

anniversaries, battles, Science, television reviews, travel

Barmouth, Battle of the Solent, Burnham-on-Sea, Dartmoor, Devon, Dorset, engineering, Exeter, France, Henry VIII, HMS Victory, Horatio Nelson, llangollen, Manchester, Mary Rose, Plymouth, railways, Rob Bell, Ruabon, Science, Scotland, Sheffield, Somerset, Trafalgar, Wales

Rob Bell seems to be on television a lot at the moment. Although he is an engineer and not quite a historian, many of his programmes go back in time as structures were built. Walking Britain’s Lost Railways, for instance, goes back under two centuries because of the subject matter, but Great British Ships (both Channel…
Edward Bruce, Ill-Starred King of Ireland

Oct 14, 2018

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, heraldry

Alexander Bruce, Ardee Castle, Bannockburn, Butlers, Carrickfergus, de Burghs, Dundalk, Edmund Butler, Edward Bruce, Edward I, Edward II, Elizabeth de Burgh, England, High King of Ireland, Hill of Laughart, Ireland, John Maupas, Kells, Moiry Pass, Niall Bruce, O’Neills, Parliament, Robert I, Roger Mortimer, Scotland, Sir John de Bermingham, Sir Thomas de Mandeville, Thomas Bruce, Thomas de Burgh, William Liath de Burgh

On the Hill of Laughart,near Dundalk, Co. Louth, in Ireland, lies a large, speckled stone slab covering the remains of a man called Edward Brus…thebrother of the rather more famous Robert the Brus, KING OF Scotland. (The actual ‘Braveheart’.) Little known, Edward was, briefly, the High King of Ireland, but ended up dying in battle…
Joan of Arc trained in Scotland….?

Oct 11, 2018

anniversaries, battles, buildings, religion

Argyll, clans, cockerel, executions, fleuur-de-lys, France. Scotland, Hay, Hundred Years War, Jeanne d’Arc, Kennedy, Kintyre, Saddell Abbey, siege of Orleans, Stuart, symbols, Templars

“…an illiterate shepherdess girl who claimed that voices from God were instructing her to take charge of her nation’s army and lead it to victory…Legend states that Joan came to Scotland to be trained in the art of warfare in a remote stretch of Argyll…” The above is taken from this lengthy and informative article…
How did the Black Prince’s funeral procession cross the River Darent….?

Oct 10, 2018

anniversaries, battles, buildings, religion

bridges, burials, Canterbury, Dartford, Edward the Black Prince, past maps, River Darent, roads, Watling Street

Does anyone out there know the answer to a puzzle that has cropped up in my research? Watling Street, the Roman road, was the main route between London and Canterbury, Dover, etc. This made it very important. Watling Street passed through Dartford, crossing over the tidal River Darent. But wait, there wasn’t a bridge there until…