The New Murrey and Blue blog

religion

Good name, bad name, which monarch gets what….

Oct 25, 2022

anniversaries, law, religion

“wives”, Exmouth Journal, Henry VI, Henry VIII, James VII/II, John, Mary I, Mary II, monarchs, reputations, Richard III, Stephen, William III

Here is a shortish article about monarchs with a bad name. No prizes for predicting that it will include Richard III. However, it also deals with others. Stephen’s reign, for instance, was “an unmitigated disaster”, and Henry VI was also a disaster. Enough said about John. Henry VIII is remembered only for his six…
St Paul’s Cathedral, before, during and after the fire of 1666….

Oct 20, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, religion

architecture, City of London, digital reconstruction, Ludgate Hill, Notre Dame, Old St. Paul’s, Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul’s, Thomas Wyck

We all know what St Paul’s Cathedral looks like now – that enormous Wren dome looming over the City of London from Ludgate Hill. The above illustration is a reconstructon of the original St Paul’s. What a wonderful building! And how tragic that it was burned down in that cursed fire of 1666. There is…
Which monarch was buried where….?

Oct 19, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, religion

Gloucester Cathedral, Leicester cathedral, royal burials, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, Worcester Cathedral

There are some monarchs’ last resting places that always come to mind with ease….especially Richard III at Leicester, of course. Then his usurper, Henry Tudor, in his palatial hymn to himself at Westminster Abbey. Edward IV at Windsor, Edward II (apparently) at Gloucester, John at Worcester at so on. Yes, I do know more…
L’Erber – London Home to Warwick the Kingmaker and George Duke of Clarence

Oct 17, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources, travel

Anne Neville, Barnet, Checkers Yard, Coldharbour, Crowland Chronicle, Dowgate Hill, Earl of Oxford, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Great Fire of London, Henry Lord Montagu, Henry VIII, high treason, Isobel Neville, John Strype, Kingsford, l’Erber, London, Margaret of Salisbury, Nevilles, past maps, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Reformation, Reginald Cardinal Pole, Richard III, Richard III Society, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, River Thames, sanctuary, Sir Francis Drake, St. Martin’s, Stow’s Survey, Thames Street, Tower of London, Visscher Panorama of London, Wars of the Roses, Warwick Lane, William Latimer

My latest A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com post London before the Great Fire and much as Richard Neville ‘The Kingmaker’ and his family would have known it… L’Erber stood slightly to the north west of Coldharbour which is the large house seen here in middle of the picture and facing the Thames. No depiction of L’Erber…
The end of much of historic Westminster Palace…..

Oct 16, 2022

anniversaries, art, buildings, law, religion

1834 fire, architecture, Charles Barry, Old Palace Yard, Palace of Westminster, Pugin, Richard III, tally sticks

The above illustration marks the terrible scene on 16 October 1834 when fire consumed the Palace of Westminster, which had been there, gradually expanding in various styles, since the 11th century. Then, in one night, it was destroyed. The cause, it’s believed, was the careless disposal of tally sticks in a furnace; the result was…
Was the Bard having a go at Robert Cecil when he wrote Richard III….?

Oct 15, 2022

culture, humour, religion, The play’s the thing

“Princes”, Elizabeth I, James VI/I, Matthew Lewis, Richard III, Robert Cecil, satire, secret Catholics, William Shakespeare

Matt Lewis is, of course, a force to be reckoned with when it comes to supporting Richard III and this link is a very interesting article he’s written concerning why Shakespeare may have bad-mouthed Richard. I had no idea the Bard could have been a secret Catholic who wanted the return of the old…
Edward II’s nieces: The Clare Sisters

Oct 14, 2022

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, genealogy, religion

Anne Neville, Bannockburn, burials, Caerphilly Castle, Clare Castle, Clare Priory, Edward I, Edward II, Edward IV, Eleanor de Clare, Elizabeth de Clare, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, George Duke of Clarence, Gilbert de Clare, Gilbert Earl of Gloucester, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Ireland, Isobel Neville, Joan of Acre, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Margaret de Clare, Richard III, Suffolk, unofficial executions, Wales

… and so to the dark green volume in Kathryn Warner‘s series about Edward II, his family, his associates and his era. This one details the lives of three sisters with seven husbands between them and a lot of interesting descendants, including Richard III (and siblings), his wife and his sisters-in-law. The eldest, Eleanor de…
The house owned by Sir Thomas Wyatt, the man accused of being Anne Boleyn’s lover….

Oct 11, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion

adultery, Anne Boleyn, Country Life, Court Lodge, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Hasted, Henry VIII, High Sheriffs, Hunton Court, Kent, poets, property sales, Sir Thomas Wyatt, Tower of London

Here is another fine old house for sale, although way out of my price bracket. I’ve learned of it courtesy of Country Life magazine. Hunton Court, formerly Court Lodge, is tucked away near Maidstone in Kent and you can read about it here. There is a link to the estate agent’s details of the property,…
The monster that was half-tortoise….?

Oct 9, 2022

art, religion, travel

Alps, dragons, monsters, Mont Cenis, Rhone, St. Martha, tarasque, tortoise

Well, as you all know well, my ramblings take me to all sorts of corners of the internet. This time I wanted to know about dragons in the Mont Cenis area of the Alps in France. Which is how I came upon the above illustration. I’d seen it before but hadn’t known exactly what it…
EDWARD IV’S CAMEL

Oct 8, 2022

buildings, religion

camels, Edward II, Edward IV, gifts, Great Durnford Manor, Ireland, Patrioch of Antioch, Richard II, Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire

As I was wandering the deep valleys of darkest Wiltshire, I suddenly thought I was having a hallucination. Across the green rises, I spotted, not the usual line of ponies and horses…but three humpy Bactrian camels ambling along a trail! Not the kind of beasties one normally expects in the Wiltshire countryside. Apparently I was…