The New Murrey and Blue blog

religion

Maria de Padilla

Jul 16, 2023

anniversaries, law, religion

bath houses, Constance of Castile, Edmund of Langley, Edward IV, Isabel of Castile, John of Gaunt, Maria de Padilla, novels, Pedro I, pogroms, secret marriage

This link leads to an interesting article on Maria de Padilla. (The novel referred to is only available in the United States, it appears.) Maria de Padilla was, of course, the ancestress of the House of York, mother of Isabel of Castile who married Edmund of Langley. She was said to be the most beautiful…
Brawling Bishop Boniface beats ‘em up at St Bartholomew’s….

Jul 14, 2023

anniversaries, genealogy, religion

Amadeus IV of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury, Boniface of Savoy, Eleanor of Provence, Friar Rahere, Henry III, Louis IX, Matthew Parris, miracles, Odo Bishop of Bayeux, St. Bartholomew’s, St. Thomas Becket, violence, visions, West Smithfield Priory

Becket wasn’t the only troublesome priest in medieval England, because in 1244 came another, Boniface of Savoy (see here and here) who became Archbishop of Canterbury. Boniface was the younger brother of Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy, and one of their nieces was Henry III’s queen, while another was married to King Louis IX of…
The story of The Chertsey Curfew….

Jul 13, 2023

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

Albert Smith, Blanche Heriot, Chertsey, churches, Edward IV, mythology, Nicholas Audley, planned executions, plays, statues, Surrey, The Chertsey Curfew, The Surrey Theatre

We all love a heroine…even if her exerts are in favour of her Lancastrian lover! 😲 The story of Blanche Heriot of Chertsey in Surrey is set in 1471, just after Edward IV has won back his throne. The lover in question, one Nicholas Audley, fought on the wrong side, was captured and sentenced…
Miniature mediaeval monarchs – and their consorts

Jul 12, 2023

anniversaries, art, law, religion, travel

Angelique Miniatures, Anne Neville, Catherine of Aragon, Elizabeth of York, Exeter, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Honiton, miniatures, Plymouth, Princess of Aragon, Richard III, The Legendary Ten Seconds, You Tube

A few months ago, I listened to a very interesting talk that was given by a lady who makes porcelain miniature dolls. I was particularly interested to see that she had brought along her miniatures of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and later discovered that the picture on the back of her business card…
Melrose Abbey, Abbotsford….and Young Lochinvar….

Jul 11, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, religion

Abbotsford, Borders towns, Country Life, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Henry VIII, John Knox, Llanthony Secunda, Lochinvar, Melrose Abbey, Richard II, Sir Walter Scott, Tintern Abbey, verse

There are some abbey ruins that are as beautiful for the matchless countryside they are set in as for their own splendour. My personal favourite is Llanthony Priory in the Black Mountains, but Melrose Abbey (where Robert the Bruce’s heart was buried) on the River Tweed is actually my third favourite. My close second…
Sir Ralph Assheton. (The ‘Black Knight of Ashton’) Vice-Constable of England.

Jul 9, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion, sources

Ashton Hall, Battle of Bosworth, Black Knight, Clayton Hall, Coronation, Edward IV, English Civil War, Etihad Stadium, Flodden, funeral brass, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VI, Isabel Kirby, Jane Saville, Knight Marshal, knights banneret, Lieutenant of the Tower, Lord Byron, Margery Barton, Mary Byron, Middleton, Middleton Archers, Middleton Church, mothers, MPs, Ralph Holinshed, Richard III, Sheriff of Yorkshire, siege of Berwick, Sir Ralph Assheton, trams, Vice-Constable

There is some confusion about the parentage of Sir Ralph Assheton. At least, various internet sources give him alternative mothers. His father was Sir John Assheton of Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. The family’s main residence was Ashton Hall, although this building was sadly destroyed in the 1890s to make way for a coal yard. The medieval parish…
They might just as well be in THIS urn

Jul 8, 2023

archaeology, buildings, culture, humour, religion, Science

“Princes”, Ashes, DNA analysis, Lord’s, radio carbon dating, Tower of London, trophies, Westminster Abbey

Here is the urn in Westminster Abbey, purporting to contain the remains of the “Princes” as found in 1672, although we don’t know whether they were discovered a few decades earlier and reburied soon afterwards. We also don’t know how many individuals are in the urn and whether they are related, which species they are,…
Royal stepchildren

Jul 6, 2023

anniversaries, genealogy, law, religion

annulment, bigamy, Brittany, Cnut, Don Carlos, Edward IV, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth Wydeville, Emma of Normandy, England, Ethelred II, Gruoch, Henry II, Henry IV, Joan of Navarre, John IV Duke of Brittany, Louis VII, Lulach, Macbeth, Mary I, Phillip II, royal stepchildren, St. Edward the Confessor

For the first time since 1558, England (thus also Wales and Northern Ireland) has a monarch with stepchildren, two in number, a record complicated by the double-consort Emma of Normandy whose sons by Ethelred II included Edward the Confessor. In Scotland, after the case of Lulach who was Macbeth‘s stepson, there seem to be no…
Margaret Beaufort’s wayward stepson….

Jul 5, 2023

buildings, genealogy, religion

Academia, Bishops of Ely, clerical celibacy, Ely Cathedral, height, James Stanley, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Thomas Baron Stanley

Not everything in the Stanley garden was rosy, and one of the 1st Earl of Derby’s son was a Bishop of Ely who broke the celibacy rules and was at 6′ 7″ described as the tallest man in England. His name was James Stanley, he was well liked and I don’t really think he…
More celebs descended from royalty (yawn!)….

Jul 4, 2023

anniversaries, genealogy, religion

Abraham Lincoln, bloopers, celebrities, Charles Dickens, Edward I, Edward III, Elizabeth II, Francis Cooke, george Burroughs, Henry II, Jane Austen, John, Mayflower, Richard III, Richard Warren, Thomas Jefferson, USA, William Bradford, William Brewster

“After Richard III, John finally became king.” Um, yes…. Very accurate. You’ll find this blooper in the article below. 13 Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Descendants of Famous People – Next Luxury Well, how many more celebrities are going to claim descent from royalty and other notables from the past? To be famous these days…