buildings
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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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Seven years ago, before this blog officially began, a letter was published in the Ricardian Bulletin about the common Edward III descent of the Duke and Duchess, as she soon became, of Cambridge through the Gascoigne-Fairfax line. Now it has been announced that Prince Henry of Wales and the American actress Rachel (Meghan) Markle, or Duke and Duchess of…
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Margate is rightfully known for its famous, undatable Shell Grotto, which has been known as a folly, a Roman mithraeum and even a Phoenician temple. However, FAR lesser known is another set of caverns, known as Vortigern’s cave. Probably dating between the 1600-s-1700’s, these caves have been closed on and off for several hundred years;…
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According to Alison Weir, Henry VII was a little twitchy about his descent from John of Gaunt’s notorious mistress (and eventual wife) Katherine de Roët/Swynford. Between them, Gaunt and Katherine produced an illegitimate line of children, the Beauforts, which wasn’t/was/wasn’t legitimate/in line of succession, according to different monarchs. Henry VII was a Beaufort, so you…
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Britain’s most historic towns
“Tudors”, Alice Roberts, Battle of Bosworth, Belfast, canary, Channel Four, Cheltenham, Chester, ducking stool, Earl of Oxford, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, executions, fools, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Francis Kett, Henry VII, Henry VIII, heresy, Jasper “Tudor”, justice, Kett Rebellion, Lollards’ Pit, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Low Countries, Mary I, medieval clothes, Morris dancing, Mousehold Heath, Norwich, Norwich Guildhall, pubs, punishments, Reformation, refugees, Robert Kett, Shakespeare, sumptuary laws, weavers, Wensum, Will Kemp, Winchester, YorkThis excellent Channel Four series reached part four on 28th April as Dr. Alice Roberts came to Norwich, showing streets, civic buildings and even a pub that I have previously visited, describing it as Britain’s most “Tudor” town. She began by describing Henry VII as “violently seizing” the English throne (or at least watching whilst…
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There are few television programmes so long-running that participation in an early show is of interest in itself but the Antiques Roadshow is one of them. On April 29, the experts came to the majestic Georgian structure of Floors Castle, home of the Duke of Roxburghe and from which the ruins of Roxburgh Castle are…
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Here is another video from the Legendary Ten Seconds, this time in honour of a group of Roses re-enactors … Below is an army featuring a zombie, which is how “David” must include Sir Hugh Swynford in the 1470-1 battles.
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Recently the infamous ‘David’ has popped up yet again, this time stating that Northampton’s large medieval fair, which began on St George’s Day, lasted for ten days and may have provided a legitimate reason why Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, bypassed the town and went straight on to Stony Stratford with young Edward V, instead of…
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… you wait over a year for a new book from John Ashdown-Hill and two turn up almost together: Cecily Neville (left) on 30 April and those “Princes” on 15 July, with another volume on Elizabeth Wydeville to follow …