battles
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Joan of Arc and Les Soldats
Armagnacs, Azincourt, Battle of the Herrings, Bauge, Blois, Bluebeard, Burgundians, Carl Dreyer, Charles VII, Clement de Fauquebergue, Compiegne, Etienne de Vignolles, executions, France, George Bernard Shaw, Gilles de Rais, Henry Cardinal Beaufort, heresy, Jean Anouillh, Jean Benedetti, Jean Dunois, Jeanne d’Arc, John Duke of Bedford, John Earl of Shrewsbury, le Mans, Loire, Louis d’ Orleans, Mark Twain, mass murder, Orleans, Otto Preminger, Parlement de Paris, prophecy, Rheims, Siege of Paris, siege of Rouen, Sir John Fastolf, St. Catherine, St. Michael, Thomas Kenneally, Verneuil, William Duke of Suffolk, William Glasdale, witchcraftToday marks the 587th anniversary of the death of Joan of Arc, burned at the stake at Rouen, France. As the flames engulfed her, she clutched a cross made of sticks to her bosom, fashioned by an ordinary English solder. “Jesus!” was her last word. She was 19 years old. In 1920, almost…
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As you probably know, the list of women who have been beheaded in England is very short. Helena Bonham Carter has played two of them so far – Lady Jane (1554) in 1986 and Anne Boleyn (1536) (opposite Ray Winstone’s Henry VIII on ITV) in 2003 and I heard that she was about to play a royal…
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The 10 greatest medieval royal romances? Some, maybe….
Anne Boleyn, Anne Neville, Anne of Bohemia, Blanche of Lancaster, Catherine de Roet, Catherine de Valois, Cecily Duchess of York, Charles Brandon, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Eleanor of Castile, George Duke of Clarence, Henry VIII, Hugh le Despenser, Isobel Neville, John of Gaunt, Mary “Tudor”, Owain Tudor, Phillippa of Hainault, Piers Gaveston, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard IIIWell, my opinion only, of course, but where are John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford/de Roët? I don’t believe his first wife, Blanche, was his greatest love. That honour went to Katherine, for love of whom he went to extraordinary lengths, enduring scandal and opprobrium, but eventually making her his third duchess. And managing to…
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Oxford is well-known for its stunning medieval college buildings. It would take days, if not weeks, to carefully visit them all. Several, however, have items of particular interest to those who study the House of York and Wars of the Roses time period. The old Divinity School is an interesting stop. It was built between…
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The Greatest Knight and Richard III
Barons’ War, Battle of Newbury, Bruces, Cartmel Priory, Crusades, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II, Henry III, Isabel de Clare, John, jousting, Lincoln, Louis VII, Maud de Braose, Papal Legate, Pembroke Castle, Plantagenets, regent, Richard I, Richard III, sieges, Stephen, Stewarts, Templars, Temple Church, William Marshall, Worcester Cathedral, Young King Henry
I have previously posted about my family history connections with Richard III here and I have since found out more interesting links. One such is William Marshall. Called by some the greatest ever knight, he is one of my direct ancestors and also the direct ancestor of Richard III. William had an eventful life. He…
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To continue my series of posts about Richard’s notable genealogical connections, my latest discovery is that he was directly descended from Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar – El Cid! This time the connection is through his mother’s line and you can see the tree below (in two parts) with red dots showing the direct line of…
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ARGHHHHH!!!!! I was interested in this old 1999 article from a US newspaper…until I reached the penultimate paragraph, which contains the following observation: The report traces Arthurian traditions through exile in Wales to the return of “Pretanic power” with the victory of the Tudors, who won the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 under the future…
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“The Canterbury Roll is the most significant and substantial medieval artefact in New Zealand. For 100 years, UC has been the guardian of this unique 600-year-old treasure, which tells the history of England from its mythical origins to the late Middle Ages….” The above is a tantalising reference to a roll that promises to reveal…
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Um, I don’t think Edward III and the Black Prince are Renaissance, but the book might be interesting. Perhaps it more concerns the build-up to Renaissance warfare?
