genealogy
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Buckingham’s Cousin: the Quiet Stafford
Anne Neville, Blackheath, churches, Constance Greene, Cornish rebellion, coronation procession, Drayton House, Earls of Wiltshire, Edward Earl of Wiltshire, Edward of Buckingham, executions, Fotheringhay, Henry Greene, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Hexham, Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, John Earl of Wiltshire, Knights of the Bath, Lowick, Staffords, tomb effigiesIn the sleepy little village of Lowick in Northamptonshire stands a fine medieval church with a tall octagonal ‘lantern’ tower that bears some similarity to that at Fotheringhay. It is normally kept locked but if you are very, very lucky you can track down the key in the village. There are many fine tomb effigies…
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What does one call a gathering of glass men? Splinters? Shards? It seems that in the medieval period there was a sudden upsurge of people who believed they—or part of their bodies—were made of glass. Heads, buttocks, entire bodies, whatever, and the belief was so strong and irresistible that some of them resorted to shocking…
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… we showed you, through the use of snooker balls, how it is significantly more probable that the Y-chromosome break occurred in the long Gaunt-Beaufort male line than the Langley-York line to Richard III.Although snooker was a nineteenth century invention, some earlier monarchs might well have enjoyed it: Harold II, whose informal wife (in more…
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Years ago, not quite before the Flood, although it feels like it now, I went to Tewkesbury Abbey with my husband and we saw a flat glass display cabinet containing a number of ancient locks of hair. I was writing a book called “Wife to the Kingmaker” at the time, so I was particularly…
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One of Edward III’s many grandchildren, Philippa de Coucy (born before April 1367) was the daughter of the important French nobleman Enguerrand, Lord of Coucy, by Isabella, eldest daughter of King Edward and Queen Philippa. Isabella was pretty much the definition of a spoiled princess, and contrary to the usual stereotype, pretty much did as…
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More Mythology of Richard III
“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, Battle of Bosworth, David Starkey, denialists, Edmund of Langley, Edward of Warwick, hair colour, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Isabel of Castile, Joan Hill, John Ashdown-Hill, John Holland, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lord Strange, More, Rhys ap Thomas, sweating sickness, The Mythology of Richard III, Thomas Stanley, Turi King, Y-chromosomeThe Mythology of Richard III was one of the late John Ashdown-Hill’s fine and well-researched books, which tried to dispel some of the ingrained tall tales about the much-maligned King. Unfortunately, ‘MORE Mythology’ seems to come up all too infrequently, and I am not necessarily talking about Thomas More, although his name often arises still…
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The Audley Case of 1431 Redux
Alianore Holland, Caversham Park, Church courts, Constance of York, Despencers, Edmund Earl of Kent, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, English Common Law, Gandhi, Gian Maria Visconti, Henry IV, Isabel le Despenser, James Lord Audley, Joan of Navarre, Kathryn Warner, Lucia Visconti, Margaret Duchess of Clarence, Milan, Mortimer plot, Owain Glyn Dwr, possible bigamy, restored lands, Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, secret marriage, St Mary Overy, the Beauforts., WalesWe originally posted on this issue here. In summary, in 1431 or thereabouts, Alianore, Lady Audley, and her husband James were trying to demonstrate in the Church court that Alianore was legitimate and thus the heiress of her father, Edmund, Earl of Kent by Constance of York. Kent’s surviving sisters and the heirs of the…
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Don’t have a drink in your hand as you read the following:- “ . . . Princess Anne Neville of Bohemia, who was looked to as the embodiment of virtue and modesty, rode side-saddle across Europe prior to her marriage to King Richard III in 1472. Their marriage lasted three years, as King Richard died…
