battles
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Certain ‘books’ (ahem) often go on about Richard III’s supposed unpopularity and describe his brother Edward IV in glowing terms, putting him forth as a universally loved and admired monarch. (Even worse are those writers who make the brave, ruthless, warrior-King Edward into some kind of hapless old duffer, totally cowed and pushed about by…
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The truth about the Beauforts and the throne of England. . . .
“Beauforts”, Anne Mortimer, Battle of Bosworth, Blanche of Lancaster, Castile, Catherine de Roet, Constanza of Castile, Duchy of Lancaster, Edmund Mortimer, Edward III, Edward IV, excepta dignitate regali, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, John Ashdown-Hill, John of Gaunt, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Mortimers, Phillipa of Ulster, Phillippa of Lancaster, Portugal, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard III, YorkistsJohn of Gaunt, third son of Edward III, was the Duke of Lancaster, and his illegitimate children, the Beauforts, were barred from the throne by his legitimate, firstborn son, Henry IV. Clearly the latter wasn’t having any baseborn relative wearing the crown. Nevertheless, we eventually ended up with a Beaufort king, who claimed to…
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How Edward IV ascended the throne of England….
“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, cartoons, Castile, Catherine de Roet, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edmund of Langley, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward the Black Prince, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Henry II, Henry IV, Henry VI, Henry VII, humour, John of Gaunt, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Margaret d’Anjou, Matilda, Mortimers, Phillippa of Lancaster, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Shakespeare, SHW, Stephen, Tewkesbury, Tower of London, usurpation, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, York, YorkistsThe Wars of the Roses did not commence, à la Bard, with white and red roses snatched and brandished in a garden by opposing lords, but they were foreshadowed at the turn of the fifteenth century when Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, usurped and murdered Richard II. Bolingbroke was the son and heir…
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Today in 1564, Christopher Marlowe (right) was baptised in Canterbury. One of the plays for which he is most famous is Edward II (left), traditionally dated a year before his own 1593 death. In it, he fuels the myth of Edward meeting his end by a red-hot poker. This is cited by Starkey in…
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Horrox on the de la Poles
Azincourt, de la Pole family, DNA, Earls of Suffolk, Edmund Earl of Suffolk, Edward the Black Prince, Harfleur, Hull, John Ashdown-Hill, John Duke of Suffolk, John Earl of Lincoln, John of Gaunt, Katherine Wingfield, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lord Richard de la Pole, Marguerite de la Pole, Michael de la Pole, Michael K Jones, moneylenders, Nicolas of the Tower, Norwich, Pavia, Richard de la Pole, Richard II, Rosemary Horrox, Sir William de la Pole, Sutton Hoo, William de la Pole, William Duke of Suffolk, Wuffings EducationTwo weeks after visiting Wingfield , I attended a “Wuffing Education” Study Day at Sutton Hoo, addressed by Rosemary Horrox on the de la Pole family. This juxtaposition of dates was entirely beneficial as their genealogy and history was fresh in my mind so it was easy to follow Horrox’s train of thought. She covered the…
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This post harks back to a previous one of 5th November 2014. Both concern the similarities between the lives and deaths of Richard II and Richard III, but I have now come upon a passage in a book that is actually about Richard II, but much of which could be applied to Richard III. The book…
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A Grey Day
Archbishop Cranmer, Battle of Sedgemoor, Castle Heaton, Charles II, Elizabeth Wydeville, executions, Ford Grey Earl of Tankerville, Grey-Dudley rebellion, Greys, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VIII, James VII/II, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, Lancastrians, Lord Guildford Dudley, Lord Leonard Grey, Mary I, Monmouth Rebellion, Mowbrays, Norham, Northumberland, Portchester Castle, Rye House Plot, Second Battle of St. Albans, Sir John Grey of Groby, Sir Thomas Grey, Southampton plot, Streatham portrait, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Tower of London, WarkThe Grey family, originally from Northumberland, are a consistent feature of English history from the Southampton plot of 1415 to Monmouth’s rebellion nearly three centuries later. Sir Thomas Grey (1384-1415) of Castle Heaton was a soldier and one of the three principals in the Southampton plot against Henry V, revealed to him by Edmund Mortimer,…
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A MAN WHO WOULD BE KING: THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND RICHARD III
“Beauforts”, books, Buckingham rebellion, Edward IV, Edward of Buckingham, excepta dignitate regali, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, George Duke of Clarence, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VI, Henry VIII, High Steward, Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, Janet Reedman, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Northampton, Richard III, Staffords, Tewkesbury, Thomas of woodstock, Tower of LondonThe Duke of Buckingham is rather a ‘dark horse’ figure in the history of Richard III. No one knows for sure why he aided Richard to take the throne only to turn upon him in rebellion a few months later. Simplistic ideas such as ‘he repented of his ways after the princes were murdered’ don’t…
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The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross took place on February 2, 1461. Here, in a Herefordshire field, 18 year old Edward earl of March, gazed up and saw the phenomena known as the Parhelion, the three suns, rising in the sky. His men were frightened but Edward turned the situation to his advantage, telling his army…
