law

Edward III and two comparisons

Jan 25, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, Uncategorized

Edward II, Edward III, Isabella of Angouleme, James III, James IV, Kathryn Warner, Prince Albert, Roger Mortimer, rumoured relationships, Sauchieburn, Sir John Conroy, succession, Victoria, Victoria Duchess of Kent

695 years ago today, Edward III became King of England at the age of fourteen and was crowned a week later. His father was definitely alive for almost another eight months and probably several more years. His mother, Isabella of France is regularly described by some writers as having a relationship with Roger Mortimer, 1st…
Treachery is one man’s meat and another’s poison….

Jan 22, 2023

anniversaries, battles, law, sources

Anne of Bohemia, Battle of Bosworth, chivalry, Chris Given-Wilson, Henry IV, Henry VII, Journal of Mediaeval History, Lords Appellant, Merciless Parliament, Radcot Bridge, Richard II, Richard III, Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland, rumours, sodomy, Thomas Walsingham, treachery

I have been reading a very interesting article from the Journal of Medieval History by E. Amanda McVitty, called False knights and true men: contesting chivalric masculinity in English treason trials, 1388-1415. (Vol. 40, No. 4, 458–477) There is an old saying that one man’s meat is another man’s poison, and by the…
What if Henry Tudor had been a handsome, charismatic challenger….?

Jan 19, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, humour, law

“Princes”, Battle of Bosworth, beards, Henry VII, NPG, Richard III, royal portraits, squinting, Stanleys, treachery

As supporters of Richard III, we find it only too easy to dislike Henry VII. Not only did the churl defeat and kill Richard (not even through his own martial endeavours but through treachery!) but his looks mean we wouldn’t trust him an inch. He looks cold, calculating, shifty and downright untrustworthy, nor…
Another one bites the dust….well, starts to….

Jan 17, 2023

buildings, law

Ash Manor, Edward II, Edward III, Henry VI, listed buildings, Manorial Court Rolls, Old Manor Cottage, Richard II, royal residences, Surrey

While pursuing information about the medieval royal residence known as Henley-on-the-Heath in Surrey, I’ve found yet another example of our disappearing past. This one hasn’t quite gone, but it’s certainly being encroached upon. Now known as Ash Manor, this royal residence was purchased in 1324 by Edward II, and remained a royal property until Henry…
“Useful Charts” tries to answer the big question: the Roman Empire

Jan 16, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion

Alexis Romanov, Andreas, Andrew Romanov, Augustus, Byzantine Empire, Charlemagne, claimants, Constantine XI, Constantinople, Czars, Dundar Ali Osman, Felipe VI, Ferdinand and Isabella, France, Habsburgs, Holy Roman Empire, Irene, Istanbul, Ivan III, Jean-Christophe Napoleon, Julio-Claudian dynasty, Karl I, Karl von Habsburg, Matt Baker, Napoleon III, Nicholas II, Ottoman Empire, Roman Empire, royal titles, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Spain, The Four Lads, Turkey, Useful Charts, Zoe

The Roman Empire dates back to this day in 27BC, when Augustus assumed the title Princeps, to end (in the West) with Romulus Augustulus’ deposition in 476 and (in the East or Byzantine) with the defeat and death of Constantine XI by the Ottomans at Constintinople in 1453. So, who is the hypothetical Roman Emperor…
Another interesting article from Academia

Jan 15, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, law

“Lambert Simnel”, abeyance, Academia, allegiance, Anne Neville, Barons Scrope of Bolton, Barons Scrope of Masham, Bolton Abbey, Buckingham rebellion, Cicely Plantagenet, Domenico Mancini, Elizabeth Neville, Elizabeth Scrope, executions, Francis Viscount Lovell, Greystoke, Henry IV, Henry V, indenture, Lord High Constable, Lord Protector of the Realm, Marquess of Montagu, marriages, Northern Rising, pardons, property, Ralph Scrope, Richard III, Scottish campaign 1482, Sir Humphrey Stafford, Southampton plot, Stoke Field, titles, Warden of the West Marches, Yorkshire

This one, by Lorraine C. Attreed, is entitled An Indenture between Richard Duke of Gloucester and the Scrope Family of Masham and Upsall, one of the two noble branches of the Scropes, the other being those of Bolton. The indenture, a copy of which serves as an appendix, dates from mid-January 1476 shortly after the…
Thou shalt not spread porkies….

Jan 14, 2023

anniversaries, battles, law

“Lambert Simnel”, “Lancastrian”, “Perkin”, “Tudor” propaganda, Burgundy, Earl of Northumberland, Edward of Warwick, executions, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Ireland, John of Gloucester, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Percies, pillory, proclamations, rebellions, Richard III, rumours, York

“….[A] proclamation to tackle unrest, 1487… stated that any person found to be spreading rumours was to be put into the pillory….” (from this site ) Oh dear, Henry VII didn’t like doses of his own medicine! I speak of rumours and lies. What’s the word….? Um, calumny. That’s it. You know, the rumours…
Further facial reconstructions

Jan 13, 2023

anniversaries, art, law, religion, The play’s the thing

Catherine Howard, David Mitchell, Dundee University, Edward II, Edward III, Eleanor of Provence, executions, Henry III, Henry Lord Darnley, Henry VIII, James Hathaway, Kathryn Warner, Laurence Fox, Lewis, Panagiotis Constantinou, resemblances, Richard III, Robert I, Roger Mortimer, Upstart Crow, William Shakespeare

Dundee University has shown itself to be the gold standard for facial reconstruction in recent years, working from their subjects’ remains, as with Richard III, Robert I and Henry Lord Darnley. As Kathryn Warner shows here, Panagiotis Constantinou has generated several from effigies, sculptures and other images. They range, chronologically, from Henry III and Eleanor…
Torquay and Torre Abbey

Jan 12, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion, travel

abbeys, Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie Mile, Babbacombe murder, Barons Hunsdon, Careys, Carys, crime, Dissolution of the Monasteries, First World War, Jacobites, museums, poisons garden, Premonstratensian order, priests, recusants, Royal Navy, the Green Ginger, The Legendary Ten Seconds, Torquay, Torquay Crime Museum, Torre Abbey, Viscounts Falkland

Thanks to our friends at the Legendary Ten Seconds, I had heard of Torre Abbey but didn’t realise that it was open to visit, as convenient or spectacular as it is. Half of the original building remains, on three floors including an art exhibition, whilst the other half (including the church) is a ruin, complete…
The appointment of women to the Garter. (Medieval era).

Jan 10, 2023

heraldry, law

Alice Arundel, Blanche Brandeston, Catherine de Roet, Constance of York, Edmund of Langley, Henry IV, Henry VIII, Joan Holland, John of Gaunt, Knights of the Garter, Ladies of the Garter, Mary Bohun, Mortimers, Philippa de Mohun, Richard II, Sir Andrew Hake, Thomas Despenser, Thomas Holland

I have been trying to make sense of the method by which women were appointed to the Garter in the middle ages, and have concluded there was no system. Of course, as with the knights, who were nominally ‘elected’ by the other knights, it all came down to royal favour. But with the knights, there…