law
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It is well known that John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was one of the principal opponents of Henry VIII’s attempt to divorce Catherine of Aragon. The boiling to death of his cook for the alleged crime of attempting to poison him is less familiar. The facts are that a number of people in the bishop’s…
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What makes a good medieval king?
Charter of Liberties, Coronation, Coronation Oath, divine right, dynastic succession, Edgar the Peaceable, Edward II, Edward III, Henry I, Henry VI, Ian Mortimer, Kathryn Warner, kingship, Magna Carta, Mel Gibson, Order of the Garter, Richard II, Richard III, Round Table, Three Estates, William I, WitangemotIntroduction Why is Edward 1 considered a great king? That is a question that has haunted me ever since I fluffed it in an O level’ exam more than fifty summers ago. My answer proved that a good memory is better than thinking it would be all right on the day. By chance, I recently…
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I am sure we have all read the story of a bathing servant, Owain Tudor, who then emerged from the water in even fewer clothes than Fitzwilliam Darcy, watched by the widowed and besotted Queen, Catherine de Valois. The story goes on to relate that they married, had two sons and possibly more children. He…
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“For though I dare myself speak what seems to me to be the truth, the poor dare not do so.” – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in a statement to Henry VI, 1440 The Yorkists seem unique, almost tantalizingly modern, in their use of populist rhetoric during the Wars of the Roses. Of course, they were…
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Who takes the ultimate responsibility for events in late Medieval England? According to the Cairo-dwellers, from 1483 to August 1485, the answer is the King (Richard III), whether he knew what happened or not. According to the same people, the answer from 1471 to 1483 isn’t the King (Edward IV) but the Duke of Gloucester…
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Many of you will remember Annette Carson’s contribution to last March’s Leicester conference, describing Edward, Earl of Warwick, as the “Third Prince”. He, barred by his father’s attainder, was just as significant as his cousins but we know that he was treated well throughout Richard III’s reign. From almost the day that that ended, he…
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Given the amount of evidence that has accrued over the past decade both about Edward IV’s bigamy and the cover-ups, both in his reign and those of the “Tudors”, he can now be classified as having no legitimate and fourteen or fifteen illegitimate children. Charles II’s record is almost identical, although he was more open…
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Insanity was recognised under English law in the Norman era thus: “eo quod sensu carent et ratione, non magis quam brutum animal iniuriam facere possunt nec feloniam, cum non multum distent a brutis, secundum quod videri poterit in minore, qui si alium interficeret in minori ætate, iudicium non sustineret.” (“since they are without sense and…
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From Barbara Gaskell Denvil: “Very little reliable documentary evidence survives from the Middle Ages. The life and times of Richard III therefore remain a period of frustration and fascination for historians, scholars and interested amateurs alike. So why is it – when one very clear contemporary document survives from that period – that so many people…
