The New Murrey and Blue blog

law

Philippa Mortimer, Countess of Pembroke and Arundel – a short, interesting and little-known life

Sep 24, 2021

anniversaries, genealogy, law, religion, sources

accidents, annulment, Arundel Castle, Boxgrove Priory, dowries, Edmund Mortimer, executions, John Hastings Earl of Pembroke, John of Gaunt, jousting, Lord St. John of Basing, Philippa Mortimer, Philippa of Ulster, Richard Earl of Arundel, Sir John St. John, Sussex, Thomas Poynings, uxuriousness, Westminster Chronicle

Philippa was the younger of the two daughters of Edmund Earl of March and Philippa of Clarence,and second youngest of their four children, being born in November 1375. Philippa lost both her parents at a very young age, but her future was provided for (eventually) by her marriage to John Hastings, Earl of Pembroke after…
Two butchers, an archer and a “bourgeois of Tournai”….

Sep 7, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

“Perkin”, archers, Belgium, Blaybourne, butchers, Cecily Duchess of York, DNA evidence, Edmund of Langley, Edward IV, Elizabeth of York, Ghent, Hainault, Henry IV, Henry Somerset Earl of Worcester, Henry VII, illegimacy rumours, John Ashdown-Hill, John of Gaunt, John Sperhauk, Leicester University, Lionel of Antwerp, Phillippa of Hainault, pre-contract, re-legitimisation, Richard III, Taunton, Titulus Regius, Titulus Regius 1486, Tournai, treason, Y-chromosome

“….Consider, for example, the case of John Sperhauk, which came before King’s Bench in April 1402. The plea roll record opens with the memorandum of his confession taken on 13 April by the coroner of King’s Bench, before the king and ‘by [his] authority and command’. In this confession, Sperhauk admitted to publicly repeating allegations…
The Mysterious Affair at Stony Stratford

Aug 30, 2021

anniversaries, Book Reviews, law, religion, sources, travel

Agatha Christie, ambush, Angelo Cato, Annette Carson, Crowland Chronicle, Crowland Continuator, Domenico Mancini, Dr. John Argentine, Edward IV, Edward V, fishing, Grafton Regis, Great North Road, Henry of Buckingham, James Gairdner, John Speed, Lord High Constable, Lord Protector of the Realm, Louis XI, maps, Marie Barnfield, market days, Mid-Anglia Group, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Richard III, Richard III Society, Sir Anthony Wydeville, Sir Richard Grey, Sir Thomas Vaughan, Stony Stratford, The Maligned King, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Watling Street, Weedon Bec, will of Edward IV, William Lord Hastings, Wydevilles

This excellent blog post by Annette Carson, based on a presentation given to the Society’s Mid-Anglia Group, summarises the events of 29th-30th April 1483, as Edward V and Anthony Woodville (Earl Rivers), together with Sir Richard Grey and others, met the Dukes of Gloucester and Buckingham as the Great North Road and Watling Street converged.…
Guess what? Henry VII invented the London Watch….!

Aug 29, 2021

buildings, law

“Tudor” propaganda, Beefeaters, Henry V, Henry VII, Human Shredder, London, London Watch, policing, renaissance, Richard III, Titulus Regius

“….Watchmen were organized groups of men, usually authorized by a state, government, city, or society, to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement as well as traditionally perform the services of public safety, fire watch, crime prevention, crime detection, recovery of stolen goods. The streets in London were dark and had a shortage of artificial…
What really happened with Princess Cecily’s first two marriages….?

Aug 24, 2021

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion, sources

“Princes”, Alexander Stewart Duke of Albany, annulments, Barons Scrope of Bolton, Battle of Bosworth, Bishop of Durham, british History Online, Cicely Plantagenet, Complete Peerage, consanguinity, dispensations, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward III, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Essex, Gaynesparc, Hatfield, Isle of Wight, James III, James IV, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of Kent, John Scrope of Bolton, Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, Lionel Baron Welles, Margaret Beauchamp, pardons, plots, Ralph Scrope, Richard Fox, Richard III, royal marriages, Scotland, Scottish campaign 1482, Scropes of Masham, Sharon Champion, Thomas Holland, Thomas Kymbe, Tony Riches, Tower of London, Viscount Welles

The following extract is from Not So Fortunate As Fair’: The Life of Princess Cecily Plantagenet by Sharon Champion:- “….At the age of five, she [Cecily] was betrothed to James, the infant son and heir of James III of Scotland. John 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton was sent as commissioner to negotiate a contract of…
Election of MPs. How local ‘democracy’ worked in the late Middle Ages.

Aug 23, 2021

law

commoners, Despensers, elections, High Sheriffs, influence, Parliament, peers

In principle, each shire was supposed to elect two knights to represent it in Parliament – hence the expression ‘Knights of the shire.’ The leading men of the county (excluding magnates) would meet at the quarter-sessions or county court and choose suitable candidates, who would then be nominated by the Sheriff, whose job it was…
Another way for Henry VII to screw money out of his subjects….

Aug 21, 2021

anniversaries, battles, humour, law

backdating, Battle of Bosworth, Charters, Henry VII, Owain Glyndwr, rebellions, taxation, Wales, Welsh Penal Laws

There are some interesting occurrences in Welsh history, not all of them well known. When I came upon this article, I looked for Henry VII. Well, he was bound to feature. And he did! I quote: “….Numerous [Welsh] rebellions still arose, most famously that led by Owain Glyndwr….The Glyndwr Rising would lead to the Penal…
THE BISHOP’S PALACE IN WIVELISCOMBE

Aug 15, 2021

buildings, law, religion

archways, Bishop Drokensford, Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury, Bishop’s Palace Wiveliscombe, Bishops of Bath and Wells, Oliver King, Reformation, Robert Stillington

The remains of a summer Palace belonging to the Bishops of Bath and Wells has been discovered in the village of Wiveliscombe in Somerset. The 13th century palace had fallen into disuse after the Reformation and lay in ruins by the 1700’s…when the site was built over and subsequently lost, with the exception of an…
Walking “Tudor” England

Aug 10, 2021

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, television reviews, travel

“Bloody Mary”, “Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Arthur “Tudor”, Ashdown Forest, attainder, Austin Friars, bear-baiting, Bishops of London, Bridewell Palace, brothels, Cambridge, cannon, Channel Five, Christopher Hatton, Clifford’s Tower, conspiracies, dancing, de heretico comburendo, Dutch refugees, East Midlands, Edmund Bonner, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, excommunication, executions, exile, fire, Framlingham Castle, Fulham Palace, Greenwich Palace, Grey-Dudley rebellion, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Hampton Court, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Hever Castle, James VI/I, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Foxe, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Katherine Howard, Kenilworth Castle, Kenninghall, Kett Rebellion, Leicester, London, Lord Chancellor, Lord Guildford Dudley, Margaret Clitherow, Mary Stuart, Mass, Michelham Priory, naval power, Nicholas Ridley, Northern Earls’ Rebellion, Norwich, Penshurst Place, Pilgrimage of Grace, Pontefract, Portsmouth, recusants, Ripon Cathedral, Robert Aske, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal barges, royal hunting estates, Rushton Triangular Lodge, severed heads, Sir Henry Dudley, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir Walter Raleigh, Southwark, St. Mary’s Abbey, Stamford, Suzannah Lipscomb, The Globe, Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Stafford, tobacco, torture, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Will Kemp, William Cecil, William Shakespeare, Wyatt Rebellion, Yorkshire Museum

Suzannah Lipscomb has just completed another series on Channel Five, this time visiting the sites related to the “Tudors”. In the first episode, she concentrated on Henry VIII and the naval power he inherited from John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The second was principally about the penultimate “Tudor”, Mary I, as well as Edward VI…
A new documentary about Shakespeare….

Aug 9, 2021

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

Alice Loxton, Dan Snow, secret marriage, Stratford, William Shakespeare

Dan Snow (who married in secret, although nobody has ever done that) and Alice Loxton have been filming in Stratford-upon-Avon for a new documentary about Shakespeare, to be released in September. I do hope it’s sensible!