religion
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On identifying significant evidence
Anne Conyers, Archbishop of York’s Register, Borthwick Institute, Cawood Castle, consanguinity, consanguinity test, dispensations, Edward IV, Giovanni della Rovere, Joan “Beaufort”, John Ashdown-Hill, Margaret FitzLewis, Margaret Plantaget, marriage, Michael Hicks, Papal Penitentiary, Peter Hammond, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Ricardian articles, Richard Lord Lumley, royal mistresses, Sir Thomas Danvers, Sir Thomas Lumley, Surtees Society, Testamenta Eboracensia, Thomas RotheramAs this Ricardian article shows, it is quite possible to believe that something is highly probable whilst not noticing a piece of evidence that goes a long way towards proving it, or not appreciating the strength of the evidence in question. This particular case is about the widely held hypothesis that Margaret, daughter of Margaret…
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The story of Lambert Simnel is well-known, of course, but here is a podcast about him. It begins with adverts and they reappear during the narration, but the programme itself is interesting. Lambert is stated, categorically, to be the son of an Oxford carpenter. He is also described as being trained to be Edward…
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The inexplicable certainty of anti-Ricardians
Battle of Bosworth, bigamy, Catherine de Valois, D.A.L. Morgan, Dukes of Norfolk, Edward IV, English Historical Review, evidence, Hearne’s Fragment, James Ross, John Ashdown-Hill, Lady Eleanor Talbot, long lives, memoirs, Owain Tudor, Parliament, pre-contract, reincarnation, royal bodyguard, Royal Marriage Secrets, Thomas Earl of Surrey, Three Estates, Titulus RegiusThis post is prompted by a recent forthright statement on social media to the effect that Edward IV was not married to Lady Eleanor Talbot. Now it is one thing to suggest that there is a possibility that there was no such marriage. But certainty? Unless one was literally there, as one of the principal…
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If you fancy staying in a Tudor castle, then Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire is the place for you. It’s a beautiful castle that is now presented very much in the Tudor style. “….It was built in 1510 by Edward Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham, who had been given permission by the young King Henry VIII…
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A few years back I wrote about Buckden Towers in Cambridgeshire, the old palace of the Bishops of Lincoln. Finally, with the pandemic receding, I was able to visit the site in its small village (once a thriving place in coaching times and earlier but much diminished with the advent of the railways.) Here Richard…
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With the first coronation in seventy years looming fast, there is naturally a lot of discussion about various aspects of the ancient ceremony. I don’t know what the new king’s wish to “modernise” might finally entail, but I do know the proceedings will have to include the Coronation Chair (now a shadow of its former…
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The Stanley who found religion – Sir John Stanley of Honford.
Anne Benger, Anne Boleyn, Bishops of Ely, clerical celibacy, executions, Fleet prison, Flodden, George Legh of Adlington, Handforth, illegitimacy, James Stanley, Joan Larke, Manchester Cathedral, monks, property disputes, Sir John Stanley, Sir Urien Brereton, Stanleys, Westminster Abbey, William HanfordSir John Stanley was a grandson of Thomas Stanley, Earl of Derby and Eleanor Neville. His father was James Stanley (c 1465-1525) a cleric who eventually became Bishop of Ely. (He retained multiple benefices and seems to have been as often in Lancashire as in Ely. He is buried in what is now Manchester…
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Having recently written about Minster Lovell and the fact that the remains of Francis Lovell may have been found walled up there, I found myself drawn to yet another Cotswold house with a similar legend. This is Owlpen Manor on the western flank of the Cotswolds. This Owlpen Manor link mentions four ghosts, but only…