culture
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What were our medieval kings’ voices like….?
accents, Alice Perrers, Azincourt, Battle of Bosworth, definitions, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward the Black Prince, Edward V, George Duke of Clarence, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Jane Shore, language, minority kings, monarchs, Phillippa of Hainault, promiscuity, Richard II, Richard III, Stanleys, Thomas Lynom, WydevillesToday I once again heard Henry VIII described as Bluff King Hal. Well, this is usually said almost affectionately, which the Henry VIII we all know does not warrant. He was a monster. I think his voice was probably stentorian. Eventually he was downright nasty and needed to be approached with an excessively long bargepole.…
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As we approach the holidays, I am flipping through at least fifty English cookbooks to get the lowdown on Simnel Cake. I know that it has long been associated with both Mothering Sunday (similar to North America’s Mother’s Day) and the Easter season. Nevertheless, it is a relatively simple fruitcake, covered in the usual marzipan…
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Yesterday, in the comfort of my own home, I enjoyed my favourite treat, Stapleton’s Gooseberry Luxury Fruit Yogurt, which is, believe me, sin in a little pot! If you like gooseberries, this fruit delight is full of them. Gooseberries are a rare treat these days, whereas once an awful lot of people had a few…
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Reblogged from Edward IV – A King of Bling’s Wardrobe Accounts The Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York and The Wardrobe Accounts of Edward the Fourth Edited by Nicolas Harris Nicolas Esq As demonstrated by my earlier posts on the subject I enjoy nothing more than a delve around privy purse/wardrobe expenses. This…
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We definitely do have set beliefs about medieval horses, mostly incorrect. Just because we see illustrations of medieval lords riding what look like ponies too small for them, we think it must be the fault of the illustrator. But no, for journeys they really did have small trotting horses that could keep going on and…
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Edwardtide—a Celebration of Edward the Confessor, Saint and King….
Bayeux Tapestry, Bishop Gundulf, Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor, Edith of Scotland, Epiphany, Henry I, Henry II, Henry III, High Altar, House of Wessex, jewellery, Life of St. Edward the Confessor, martyrs, Octave of St. Edward, pilgrim’s ring, Richard II, royal saints, St. Edward the Confessor, Thomas Becket, Westminster Abbey, Wilton Diptych“….Remembering St Edward, 13th-18th October 2020….During Edwardtide, we celebrate the life of St Edward the Confessor, King of England 1042–1066 and the re-founder of Westminster Abbey. St Edward was canonised in 1161, and to this day, pilgrims come to pray at his shrine…” The above extract is from the website of Westminster Abbey (specifically from this…
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I’ve had cause to investigate a particular mythical creature of the English medieval period. It is mentioned in a fascinating chapter of Martyn Whittock’s Life in the Middle Ages, which concerns signs, marvels, dreams and so on. On page 224 of my copy I came upon the following:- “….Gervase [of Tilbury described] creatures he named…
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Well, it just goes to show that although the past may now be buried far underground, now and then it still comes to light to thrill us all. Now it seems they’ve discovered the site of the Red Lion, “the earliest known attempt to build a playhouse in the Tudor era, a precursor to the…
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“…8…Richard III and dirty Tudors…“…Rotting vegetation, dung heaps and overflowing cesspits were just some of the unpleasant daily realities faced by ordinary people in 16th-century England. Here, Pamela Hartshorne discusses the challenges Tudors faced when trying to keep their cities clean and hygienic. Also in this episode, Chris Skidmore tells us how his research…
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