genealogy
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THE STRANGE LEGEND OF USK CASTLE
Azincourt, Bannockburn, birthplaces, Cecily Duchess of York, Dafydd Gam, Edmund Mortimer, Edward I, Edward IV, Fotheringhay, Gilbert de Clare, Gwent, Henry IV, Iorweth ap Owain, Iron Age, isotope analysis, Joan of Acre, Leicester dig, Ludlow Castle, Mortimers, Owain Glyn Dwr, Pwll Melyn, Richard de Clare, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Rouen, Stone of Revenge, teeth, Tristram FitzRolf, Usk Castle, Wales, William Herbert, William I, William MarshallIn a tiny town in Wales, a ruined castle stands on rising ground amidst a haze of dark trees. An atmospheric round tower, cracked by time; shattered walls, the remains of hall and chapel. Privately owned, a garden drops down the hillside before it, to an old house which appears to contain much castle stonework.…
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The Bishop, the MP, the scientist, the historian and the brewer
brewing, chaplains, clerical celibacy, de heretico comburendo, Edward IV, Edward VI, Essex, executions, Henry VIII, Hugh Latimer, illegitimacy, Jasper Ridley, JD Wetherspoon, John Knox, Mary I, Matt Ridley, MPs, Nicholas Ridley, Nicholas Ridley MP, Northumbria, Old St. Paul’s, Oxford, Professor Jane Ridley, Ralph Shaa, sermons, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Tewkesbury, Thomas Cranmer, University of Buckingham, VictoriaThe preacher at St. Paul’s stated that the late King’s surviving issue were illegitimate. On this occasion, it wasn’t Dr. Ralph Shaa on 22nd June 1483 about Edward IV’s sons but Rt. Rev. Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London and Westminster, on 9 July 1553 about Henry VIII’s daughters, at which time Jane was proclaimed. As…
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Richard, Duke of York, was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460 but later, in 1476, exhumed by his son, Edward IV. The body was taken with great ceremony from Pontefract to Fotheringhay, resting each night at Doncaster, Blyth, Tuxford le Clay, Newark, Grantham, Stamford and finally being reburied at Fotheringhay. Among the mourners…
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John Ashdown-Hill’s last book, a biography of Elizabeth Wydville, was published in July. To mark this, it is time to compare the flow of her life with that of his other subject Lady Eleanor Talbot (1). Generally, Lady Eleanor’s social status, as determined by their fathers and husbands is higher at any point, or even relative to…
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Joan, Lady Mohun.
Canterbury Cathedral, Catherine of Lancaster, clerical errors, Dunster Castle, Edward of Norwich, Father Gervase Matthew, Indulgences, Joan Lady Mohun, John of Gaunt, Knights of the Garter, Leeds Castle, Lord High Constable, Lords Appellant, Matilda Burghersh, Philippa de Mohun, Richard II, Thomas ChaucerJoan, Lady Mohun was the daughter of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh, Lord Burghersh and Elizabeth de Verdun. Her brother, another Sir Bartholomew Burghersh, was the father of the heiress Elizabeth Burghersh who married Edward, Lord Despenser. It is not know exactly when Joan was born but a date somewhere in the 1320s seems likely. (Her brother…
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Has mtDNA identified Jack the Ripper?
Aaron Kosminski, BBC1, blood, Catherine Eddowes, Colney Hatch, Daily Mail, David Wilson, Jari Louhelainen, Jesse James, John Ashdown-Hill, Leicester University, Live Science, Liverpool John Moores University, mtDNA evidence, Nicholas II, Paul Begg, peer review, probability, Richard III, Ripperology, Russell Edwards, semen, Turi King, Whitechapel murders“Ripperology” is quite a confused subject and at least a dozen suspects have been conclusively “identified as the Whitechapel fiend. Nevertheless, this article and the book detailed within, if taken at face value, uses the scientific techniques that identified Richard III, Jesse James, Nicholas II and others to claim to solve the East London riddle…
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Mer de Mort reviewed
anarchy, Bannockburn, Berkeley Castle, Coldridge, Edmund Mortimer, Edward II, Edward III, Edward IV, George Duke of Clarence, Henry II, Henry VII, House of Mortimer, House of York, John Challis, Leintwardine, Matilda, Piers Gaveston, Richard III, Roger Mortimer, Simon de Montfort, Sir John Evans, Stephen, The Legendary Ten Seconds, tournaments, Wigmore AbbeyAnything new from the Legendary Ten Seconds is always to be greeted with delight, and this new album does not disappoint. It tells the story of the House of Mortimer from its beginnings in France, to its ultimate destiny on the throne of England, through its descendants of the House of York, Edward IV and…
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After a long period of being up for sale, it seems Sheriff Hutton Castle has at last found a buyer. With any luck, maybe there will be better access to the ruins than in the past. SHERIFF HUTTON SALE In the same week the announcement {link to 4th June) came that Sheriff Hutton was sold,…
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Recently I came across this fascinating blogpost by an archaeologist called Katharina, who was working on a Bronze Age burial site in Austria. The skeletons her team excavated have recently been DNA tested–and one of them carried the maternal haplogroup J1c2, which is part of the group to which Richard belonged. Richard’s Bronze Age foremother?…
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Last year, we brought you the news that the developers of the Stanley knife were descended from Thomas, Baron Stanley, subsequently Earl of Derby. Now we can announce that a great scientist and inventor was a Talbot, authentically descended from John “Old Talbot”, Earl of Shrewsbury and posthumous father-in-law to Edward IV. William Henry Fox…
