The New Murrey and Blue blog

law

A surprise on the window of a ROMAN CATHOLIC church

Aug 15, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion

BBC Look East, Blitz, Cambridge, Catholic churches, executions, John Fisher, listed buildings, Margaret of Salisbury, Our Lady of the Assumption and the English Martyrs, stained glass, Thomas More, You Tube

I refer to “Our Lady of the Assumption and the English Martyrs” on Hills Road, Cambridge, a limestone building that dates from 1890, but the windows were repaired after the Blitz. They feature, as the second half of the name suggests, thirty people, who include Bishop John Fisher, Sir Thomas More and a certain Countess…
Banns – putting the cart before the horse

Aug 12, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion

banns, baptism, bigamy, church, denialists, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Kenilworth, Losecoat Field, Richard Woodville, sacraments, Sir John Woodville, summary executions

I am somewhat puzzled by a recent suggestion (by “Historical Discussions” here) that Banns were published for Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville on 24th May 1465, over a year after their secret ceremony. Banns were normally read prior to the solemnisation of a canonical wedding and on three separate occasions. It is true that from…
Thomas Cromwell’s Book of Hours recognised….!

Jul 28, 2023

anniversaries, art, buildings, Events, law, religion

Anne Boleyn, Book of Hours, Catherine of Aragon, executions, exhibitions, Hans Holbein, Hever Castle, Kent, technology, Thomas Cromwell, Trinity College, Wren Digital Library

The news has broken that the Book of Hours belonging to Thomas Cromwell is here which appears in the Holbein portrait above, has been recognised (by Hever Castle curator, Alison Palmer) as the Hardouyn Hours, held today at Trinity College, Cambridge. You can view the Hardouyn Hours page by page at the Wren Digital…
Half a dozen dramatic events in the life of King John….

Jul 27, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law

Arthur of Brittany, Battle of Bouvines, hunting lodges, John, Magna Carta, Richard I, Robin Hood, Sheriff of Nottingham

King John’s very existence appears to have been one long drama, but when it comes to him there are usually two things that spring to mind instantly. (1) Magna Carta, and (2) he was vile. There are other things, of course, but these are the two that spring to my mind. Oh, and that as…
Mediaeval myths

Jul 22, 2023

anniversaries, culture, films, law

Antony Bek, Battle of Falkirk, battles, Braveheart, chastity belts, Edward I, etiquette, mediaeval food, medievalists.net, mythbusting, right of the first night, Scotland, sieges

Here is an excellent article about mediaeval myths. It discusses the “right of the first night” (here called prima nocta and supposedly imposed by Edward I in Scotland, according to Braveheart), table manners, the frequency of open warfare as opposed to sieges, the standard of food and the chastity belt.
If only a 14th-century Philippa had been a Philip….!

Jul 20, 2023

anniversaries, genealogy, law

“Tudors”, Edmund Earl of March, Edmund of Langley, Edward IV, Edward of Woodstock, Henry IV, John of Gaunt, Lionel of Antwerp, male preference, primogeniture, Prince George, Prince Louis of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Richard II, Richard III, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, sex, Succession rights, Thomas of woodstock, usurpation

Sex can be divisive. By that I mean that being the “wrong” sex has made huge differences in the past. No, it’s nothing to do with today’s strife concerning to which sex one really belongs. Instead I mean that back in history being born a woman often prevented you or your line from ascending to…
How Edward IV’s bigamy should have been resolved

Jul 17, 2023

Alternative History, anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion

Affinity, banns, bigamy, canon law, Castillon, Catherine de Roet, Catholicism, Church of England, consanguinity, Council of Trent, dispensations, Elizabeth Wydeville, family law, Henry VIII, illegitimacy, infertility, John Earl of Shrewsbury, John of Gaunt, lack of consent, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lumley-Conyers marriage, Moynihan barony, non-consummation, Papal Legate, pre-contract, R.H. Helmholz, Ralph Butler Baron Sudeley, Reformation, Sixtus IV, Statute of Merton, widows, witchcraft

Canon law, as practiced in most of Europe to the late mediaeval period, is noticeably different to the laws of the United Kingdom today, although it is somewhat looser today in several ways. Consequently, secret marriages were banned eventually, only first cousins now require dispensations and relationships do not beget affinity, although previous manages still…
Maria de Padilla

Jul 16, 2023

anniversaries, law, religion

bath houses, Constance of Castile, Edmund of Langley, Edward IV, Isabel of Castile, John of Gaunt, Maria de Padilla, novels, Pedro I, pogroms, secret marriage

This link leads to an interesting article on Maria de Padilla. (The novel referred to is only available in the United States, it appears.) Maria de Padilla was, of course, the ancestress of the House of York, mother of Isabel of Castile who married Edmund of Langley. She was said to be the most beautiful…
Secrets of the Royal Palaces (series 3)

Jul 15, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, law, television reviews

beheadings, Bloody Tales of the Tower, botched executions, burnings, Channel Five, Crown Court, drawing hanging and quartering, executions, hangings, high treason, Jack Ketch, James of Monmouth, murder, robbery, Secrets of the Royal Palaces, witchcraft

This enthralling programme has returned, but made a dubious claim in the third epsode. Apparently, Jack Ketch was so hopeless at swinging an axe in a straight line, you would be better off as a commoner if facing execution, because almost anyone could be reasonably competent at short drop hanging, where breaking the subject’s neck…
The story of The Chertsey Curfew….

Jul 13, 2023

buildings, culture, law, religion, The play’s the thing

Albert Smith, Blanche Heriot, Chertsey, churches, Edward IV, mythology, Nicholas Audley, planned executions, plays, statues, Surrey, The Chertsey Curfew, The Surrey Theatre

We all love a heroine…even if her exerts are in favour of her Lancastrian lover! 😲 The story of Blanche Heriot of Chertsey in Surrey is set in 1471, just after Edward IV has won back his throne. The lover in question, one Nicholas Audley, fought on the wrong side, was captured and sentenced…