law
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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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Here is an amusing read in the Horrible Histories vein…well, its title tells that much. Richard III gets a mention. It seems Jane Austen questioned “…’whether Richard III really did kill his nephews, writing: he was a York [and] I am inclined to suppose him a very respectable man’…” But yes, it’s a send-up. Heaven…
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Sassanachs don’t Like Mondays (allegedly)
“Four Masters”, attainder, Augustinian Order, Bishop Carrigan, Butlers, Charles I, Cockermouth Castle, County Kilkenny, Drogheda, Earl of Gowran, Earls of Desmond, Edward Bruce, Edward IV, executions, Fitzgeralds, franchising, George Duke of Clarence, Gloucestershire, Henry VI, Ireland, Irish Parliament, Jasper “Tudor”, John Earl of Ormond, John Paston, John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester, justiciar of Ireland, Lady Eleanor Talbot, letters patent, Logreach, Ludford Bridge, Margaret of Anjou, Military History Society of Ireland, Newcastle, Nibley Green, papal bull, Pernil Boteler, pilgrimage, Piltown, Portugal, reversed attainder, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, River Pill, Rogerstown, Roland FitzEustace, siege of Chartres, Statute of Kilkenny, Thomas Fitzgerald, Thomastown, Towton, Turlach O’Brien, Wars of the Roses, Waterford, Wydevilles, Yellow SteedOrmond versus Desmond In addition to the canonical list of battles, the sporadic chaos of the Wars of the Roses spawned one or two encounters between the heads of rival aristocratic families, of which the best known is the battle between the Berkeleys and Talbots at Nibley Green in Gloucestershire in March 1470. What is…
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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…
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The Three Estates – and a useful comparison
“Princes”, attainder, bigamy, canon law, depositions, Edward II, Edward IV, Estates General, France, French Revolution, George Duke of Clarence, illegitimacy, James Gairdner, Louis XVI, National Assembly of France, Parliament, Philip IV, power of the church, pre-contract, R.H. Helmholz, Richard II, Richard III, Three EstatesIn June 1483, as we all know, the Three Estates of England met, declared the throne vacant due to the illegitimacy of Edward IV’s offspring. They also decided that the Duke of Clarence‘s children were barred by his attainder, thereby offering the Crown to the Duke of Gloucester. The usually hostile Gairdner, as we know,…
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This useful guide is a vital accessory when you next visit the Middle Ages. How will you manage without your mobile phone, internet or social media? When transport means walking or, for the better off, horse-back, how will you know where you are or where to go? Where will you live and what should you…
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St. Philip Howard and the greyhound in the Tower
4th Duke of Norfolk, Anne Dacre, Armada, attainder, attempted exile, Catholicism, Church of England, dysentery, executions, Father Edmund Campion, Father Robert Southwell, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Jesuits, John Foxe, Lady Mary Fitzalan, martyrs, Philip Howard Earl of Arundel, restoration in blood, saints, treasonPhilip Howard, lived from 1557-1595. He was the only son of Thomas Howard 4th Duke of Norfolk by his first wife, Lady Mary Fitzalan who was, of course, the Arundel heiress. Philip’s father was executed for treason against Queen Elizabeth I in 1572, which explains why Philip was not allowed to succeed as Duke of…
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