culture
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Well, one lives and learns. I quote from this article : “….the first written mention of ravioli was in a 14th-century Tuscan merchant’s recipe and, surprisingly, around the same time in a cookbook written by one of King Richard II’s chefs….” That one book has been enormously influential concerning our knowledge of medieval…
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All puppies beware, medieval medicine is on your tails….When precious old manuscripts are digitised, we are all excited to see the result. Now there is word of a new two-year project to “…. bring together unique and irreplaceable handwritten texts from the world-class collections of the Cambridge University Library, a dozen Cambridge colleges, and the…
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I know that I have written before about the tall black hat that is worn by Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, future Henry IV, in the illustrations of the deposition, death and funeral of his murdered cousin, Richard II. The illustrations are from Creton’s La Prinse et Mort du roy Richart. The hat has…
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With all the recent publicity and very real worry over the head injuries that are part and parcel of physical sports such as boxing, football and rugby, I’ve been prompted to consider similar injuries that must have happened in earlier periods of our history, when activities such as tourneying were very much the…
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What? 😧 The Irish are claiming Mumming to have been their custom first??????? I thought everyone knew mummers originated in Wales! Ha! Apologies. Joking apart—truly, I wasn’t in earnest with the above. I know there have always been mummers all over our islands. And if anyone wants to point out that Europe has/had mummers…
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No, don’t crane your necks! It’s supposed to be upside down, as you’ll see at this site, from which the extract below is taken:- “….Every year as December rolls in, some 2 billion people start to feel the Christmas cheer. While the celebration is primarily a Christian one honouring the birth of Jesus, its traditions…
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Rumi, the Persian Poet
Afghanistan, Angevin Empire, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Brad Gooch, Cambridge University, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Genghis Khan, Henry III, Holy Roman Emperors, Innocent III, Iran, Islam, John, Layamon, Muhammed Ali Musofer, Persian Empire, Philip of Swabia, poets, Shamsoddin, Siberia, stephen langton, Tajikstan, Turkey, Vakhsh, William MarshallI grew up under the tutelage of an amateur historian father, one who both dissected past events and also generously passed along a wide range of historical snippets. Perhaps he had a limited knowledge of this event, or I forgot most details about that one. Whatever the reason for the more modest lessons, or memories,…
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All ice hockey fans, especially Canadians, are aware of the famous Stanley Cup, awarded to Canadian amateur ice hockey teams from 1893 onwards (American teams now also participate). The cup is known variously as Lord Stanley’s Mug and The Holy Grail of Hockey. And yes, the Lord Stanley in question is, in fact, a direct…
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Hard time to be a woman?
Anne of Bohemia, business, Castle Phillippe, demolition, dowries, Earls of March, femme sole, Joan “Beaufort”, Joanna Fitzalan, John of Gaunt, jointure, marriage, Mr. Knightly, nuns, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Richard Earl of Arundel, Richard II, service, Sheen, Sir John Mohun, Thomas Earl of Kent, widows, William Lord BergavennyOf late I have read quite a few posts on Facebook bemoaning the tough lot women had in the Middle Ages. Well yes, their lives could be very hard. But so could those of medieval men. It’s important not to generalise too much. There were certainly men who valued their wives very highly. We need…
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I haven’t read Sir Simon Jenkins’ book The Celts: A Sceptical History, and to be honest I don’t think I’m likely to. Like Jenkins, I too am half-Welsh and half-English, but I don’t fancy being descended from “sociable sailors”. What’s the old saying about sailors having a girl in every port? I should imagine…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 