genealogy
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Bad grammar and untruths, not just about Richard III….
“Princes”, Battle of Bosworth, Calais, Edward IV, Eleanor Cobham, George Duke of Clarence, Gloucestershire Live, Henry IV, Henry VII, Humphrey of Gloucester, John of Gaunt, Lord Protector of the Realm, necromancy, Richard II, Richard III, the Beauforts., Thomas of woodstock, time travel, Tower of LondonOh dear, Gloucestershire Live has been very sloppy. In this article about Dukes of Gloucester, Richard of Gloucester did away with George of Clarence! Then we get “When Henry IV dies, his brother Richard becomes protector and puts the two princes in safekeeping in the Tower of London. And they are never seen again.” If…
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Michael Portillo’s Great Coastal Railway Journeys and Pembroke Castle
“Tudors”, Ancestry, BBC2, bigamy, Carmarthenshire, Catherine de Valois, denialists, Edmund “Tudor”, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Ednyfed Fychan, Edward IV, Glamorgan, Great Coastal Railway Journeys, Henry VI, Henry VII, Hywel Dda, Jasper “Tudor”, John Ashdown-Hill, legislation, Llewellyn ap Iorweth, Maredydd ap Tudor, Michael Portillo, Mortimers of Wigmore, Nathen Amin, Owain Tudor, Pembroke Castle, pre-contract, remarriage of royal stepmothers, Rhodri Dda, Richard III, Royal Marriage Secrets, stewards, TenbyI have enjoyed watching Michael Portillo’s Great Railway Journeys particularly the programmes that have shown him travelling along the coast of South Wales. He stopped off in places that I know well in Glamorgan, also in places that my ancestors hailed from in Carmarthenshire. However, one programme ended up in Pembroke and I must…
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Appropriately titled The Man Who Wasn’t There, there is a new book about Sir Thomas Stanley, aka 1st Earl of Derby. Hmm, not my favourite person, so I doubt I’ll be rushing to acquire it. That’s no reflection on the author or the quality of the book, just the subject matter. You can…
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We’re accustomed to reading about Henry VIII’s six wives, but his mistresses aren’t quite as well known. This article (by Amy Licence) is all about these ladies—at least, about the ones of whom we’re aware. I suspect that Henry was a man of huge appetites and that his little black book was much scribbled…
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Tudor propaganda in regards to the appearance of members of the York family was not confined, it seems, to Richard III, but was also applied to Edward of Norwich, Duke of York, his grandfather’s older brother, who was slain at Agincourt, the only major English casualty of that famous battle. In the account written closest…
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I’ve been watching the interesting Sky series The Prince’s Master Crafters, about ancient skills that are in danger of disappearing. This week it was the turn of blacksmithing, and it has to be said that the ladies among the contestants weren’t very happy bashing metal and managing fire. However, that wasn’t what caught my attention.…
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Athelstan–Our Greatest Monarch?
“The last Kingdom”, Alfred, Anglo-Saxons, Athelstan, Bernard Cornwell, books, Brunaburh, Cheshire, Constantine II, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Eadgyth, Edward the Elder, Elizabeth I, Germany, House of Wessex, illegitimacy rumours, legal reforms, Malmesbury Abbey, novels, piety, royal burials, Scotland, St. Aldhelm, St. Cuthbert, Tom Holland, Venerable Bede, Vikings, YorkA recent poll searching for Britain’s ‘Greatest Monarch’, came up with the surprise winner of… drum roll, King Athelstan. Not that the Anglo-Saxon king wasn’t so great, but the winner is a little surprising since most people seem to have believed the ‘crown’ would go to Elizabeth I. (Yawn!) I hope the voters actually remembered…
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Just over six years ago, we published an article about the claimants to the French throne. They divide into three lines: BOURBONS: Charles X’s male line, comprising the entire legitimate male line of Louis XIV with one proviso, became extinct in 1883. The exceptions are the Spanish Borbons, with their habit of…
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Richard III is third, Edward V is second….
“Tudor” propaganda, Anne Neville, Annette Carson, bigamy, Edward IV, Edward of Middleham, Edward V, illegitimacy, James VII/II, Jane, John Morton, Lord Guildford Dudley, Lord Protector of the Realm, Mary I, More, pre-contract, proclamations, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, short reigns, Tower of London, WydevillesThis article is, I fear, another case of piercing Richard III in the back with that stealthy weapon, the hidden judgement. The attack isn’t open, but hidden behind the deceptive cloak of dark suggestion. Some might say, having read the article, that Richard’s short reign was poetic justice. More sensible folk, being acquainted with the…
