religion
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The reason for this post is not that on 14 June 1381 Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, was executed by the mob in the Peasants’ Revolt . The rebels had actually cornered him—and the others mentioned above—in the Tower of London itself. No mean feat, and there has long been a suspicion that the rebels…
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The proposed baptismal font is pictured at the entrance to the nave of Notre Dame (Photo: Guillaume Bardet, Ionna Vautrin and Sylvain Dubuisson) Oh dear. Here we have the proposals for the “new” Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. The destructive “modern” brigade strikes again. Whatever happened to “blending with and showing sympathy and respect for…
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The treasures of the West Riding
armour, Charles “III”, Chatsworth, Claire Cross, Colonel Blood, Earls of Harewood, Edward Duke of Kent, Edward IV, Gawthorpe Hall, Harewood House, Harrogate, Headingley, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Leeds, Leeds Dock, Lumleys, main roads, motorways, Pennines, Powderham Castle, Reformation, Royal Armouries, weapons, YorkshireWhile I have visited Yorkshire reasonably frequently in the past, there is one patch with which I was unfamiliar. The Leeds sub-region is south and a little west of York, where a significant branch line bifurcates at Doncaster and goes through Wakefield, whilst a suburban line from Leeds passes through Harrogate and returns to York.…
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“….The [former Cistercian] Abbey at Coggeshall isn’t your average home — even by the standards of the sort of homes featured in Country Life. It’s a historic former monastic complex of immense character and charm set in 25 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens on the banks of the River Blackwater, less than a mile from the…
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Well, in the present day there is a great deal of discussion about sexuality, but here is something from way back that is perhaps appropriate. “….On the walls of the Church of St. Mary’s Church in the Norfolk village of Worstead, there appears a very odd icon. Although faded and somewhat damaged by the iconoclasts…
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So here is the latest of Kathryn Warner‘s series about Edward II’s family. As the title suggests, it is focussed on the lives of Edward III’s eleven grandaughters, nine of whom were paternally descended including four by John of Gaunt. The first, Philippa of Clarence, was born in 1355 and the last to die was…
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An Abbey in Dublin Unearthed
Archbishop of Dublin, bigamy, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Dublin, Earls of Ormond, Earls of Ulster, Earls of Wiltshire, Edward Bruce, Edward IV, executions, Henry VIII, Ireland, James Butler, John Earl of Shrewsbury, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Mael Sechnaill mac Maele Ruanaid, pre-contract, Richard Talbot, Robert de Nottingham, St. Mary’s Abbey, Towton, Walter ChampfleurExcavations in Dublin city centre have uncovered the remains of what was once one of Ireland’s most important medieval monasteries. St Mary’s was a House of Benedictines, followed by Savignac monks and then Cistercians, and it was exceedingly wealthy, with the added bonus of being permitted to claim goods from shipwrecks. At times, it was…
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Information about Blanche Bradestone (or Bradstone) is hard to find, despite the fact that she was recognised as ‘the King’s kinswoman’ by Richard II and became a Lady of the Garter in 1399. Her brass is to be found at Winterbourne, Gloucestershire, which appears to have been her principal manor. It is located in the…
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Oh dear, now we have controversy bubbling about another king under a car park. We know that Philippa Langley is pursuing the possibility that Henry I lies under the car park of the former Reading Gaol (which itself stood on the site of Reading Abbey, where Henry I was buried at the high altar). It’s…