genealogy
-
Did you know that Richard was a direct descendent of Alfred the Great? Here is the pedigree, derived from the Genealogics website. This time you need to follow the pink circles. Although most people ‘know’ that Alfred is famous for burning some cakes that he was asked to watch, this is fallacious. It’s likely the…
-
We’ve all seen the effigy of Henry VII, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VII-king-of-England. What a lanky, stretch-necked sort of figure he must have presented, especially at the 6 feet 1 inch height of his complete effigy. He was something of a clothes-horse, a little like the supermodels of today, but without the looks! He died in 1509 at the…
-
It is said that almost every European, statistically, is descended from Charlemagne, and one of his descendants was Richard III. Here is one of the possible pedigrees from Richard to Charlemagne (as Charlemagne had many children via numerous women, there are likely to be several routes from Richard to him). It’s in three parts –…
-
In rural Berkshire stands the little stone church of Aldworth. What makes this church remarkable is the numerous medieval effigies contained within, memorials to an important family with the surname ‘de la Beche’. Over the years, these effigies got called the ‘Aldworth giants’ and became something of a local attraction. Was there any truth to…
-
Click here for article The above link takes you to the whole story. It concerns King Harold II aka Harold Godwinson, my other favourite king, who had a lot in common with his descendant, Richard (see my previous post regarding this). They appear to have located the home of the king, often suspected of being…
-
Thomas Earl of Lancaster, died 22 March 1322, and Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence, died 22 March 1321 … The former, the grandson of Henry III, was executed at Pontefract, having fought at Boroughbridge in opposition to Edward II and the Despensers. The latter, the second son of Henry IV and great-great-great-nephew of his…
-
So here is one of John Ashdown-Hill‘s lesser-known articles, delineating the build-up to and consequences of the death of the last Mowbray Duke of Norfolk in January 1475/6. It shows the descent of the senior Mowbrays from Edward I and tells how his daughter‘s title was hijacked by Edward IV for his own son and…
-
Six (or seven?) marriages but only one husband (or two?)….!
1st Duke of Milan, 4th Earl of Kent, Austin Friars London, Bourne Abbey in Lincolnshire, Constance of York, dowries, Edmund Holand 4th Earl of Kent, Gian Galeazzo, Henry IV, Henry VII, John Beaufort 1st Earl Somerset, John Holand 1st Earl of Huntingdon 1st Duke of Exeter, Lucia Visconti Countess of Kent, Mary de Bohun, Minories, Richard II, Southwark Cathedral, St Mary Overy, The Lancashire Holandsv, the siege of BréhatYou have no doubt heard of the Minories. “….The Order of the Sorores Minores, to which the abbey of the Minores in London belonged, was founded by St Clara of Assisi in Italy, and claimed Palm Sunday, March 18th 1212, as the date of its origin….” More popularly referred to as the Minories, in the…
-
THE MYSTERY OF HENRY GREY, DUKE OF SUFFOLK’S HEAD
“Princes”, Admiral Thomas Seymour, Anne Boleyn, Anne Mowbray, coronations, Edward VI, executions, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, Lady Elizabeth Grey, Lady Elizabeth Talbot, Lady Frances Brandon, Lady Katherine Grey, Lady Mary Grey, lords protector, Minories, mouat, National Portrait Gallery, Poor Clare’s convent, rebellions, Richard of Shrewsbury, severed heads, Sir George Scharf, Sir Thomas Wyatt, st botolph aldgateHenry Grey was the father of the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days’ Queen. A great grandson of Elizabeth Woodville, through her son , Thomas, from her first marriage to Sir John Grey, he married Frances Brandon, daughter Henry VIII’s sister, Mary, so their children, three girls named Jane, Katherine and Mary, had a…
-
It’s sometimes interesting to read modern appraisals of Richard III. In this case modern means 2004, revised in 2007. So it was written only a few years before the discovery of Richard’s remains. I will not quote from it or delve into its contents because it’s one of those that has to be read in…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 