religion
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The black widow that bit herself
Affinity, bigamy, consanguinity, denialists, dispensations, Edward I, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, John Ashdown-Hill, John Duke of Bedford, John Earl of Shrewsbury, John of Gaunt, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Latrodecta, Maud Neville, mediaeval canon law, Northampton, pre-contract, Ricardian Loons, step-parentsSince John Ashdown-Hill’s iconic Eleanor was published eleven years ago, we have seen some desperate attempts to contradict his proven conclusion that Lady Eleanor Talbot contracted a valid marriage to Edward IV before his contract to Elizabeth Widville and many such attempts have rebounded on the denialist in question. Now a troll naming herself Latrodecta…
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(by Annette Carson) The Ampulla and Coronation Spoon Perhaps because they are not immediately recognizable as such, these are the oldest items in the coronation regalia and the only two that escaped the systematic destruction of royal regalia and crown jewels after the execution of Charles I. The holy oil (chrism) is poured from the…
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Archbishop Octavian and the Simnel Plot
“Lambert Simnel”, Annales, Archbishop Octavian, benefit of clergy, Chancellor of Ireland, Dalkey, denialists, Dublin, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ormond, Edward of Warwick, Edward V, forgery, Fowey, Henry VII, Innocent VIII, Ireland, James Gairdner, James Ussher, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Lincoln, John Morton, Kenilworth Castle, Lambeth Palace, Latin, letters, Mario Sughi, Matthew Lewis, More, Old St. Paul’s, pardons, Richard Fox, Robert Ware, Rymer, Simnel rebellion, Sir James Tyrrell, Sir James Ware, Sir Richard Edgecumbe, The Dublin King, University College Cork, Walter Harris, Wendy Moorhen, William or Richard SymondesA couple of months ago, this post attracted a reply from an individual who has commented before. He was responding to the suggestion that the boy crowned in at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin (see illustration opposite) may actually have been Edward V rather than an earl of Warwick (false or otherwise). Whilst he is…
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Sherborne is a pretty little town with a ruined castle, interesting buildings including, an abbey, and a medieval almshouse. All are well worth a visit but the 15th century almshouse is of particular note as it is still in use in its original function. As the buildings are residential, the Almshouse is not generally open…
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… but this lady in her thirties died far more recently near Norwich Cathedral …
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A caricature is putting the face of a joke on the body of a truth–Joseph Conrad If Joseph Conrad was correct (and I believe he was), whatever could someone in the late 15th c have been trying to tell us about Henry VII in this amusing manuscript doodle? Especially as it came from the Archbishop’s…
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When my research unearthed a will in which the lady left her “Mattins of Notre Dame” to her daughter, I had pause to halt. I’m not well versed in such matters, and had no idea what, exactly, a Mattins of Notre Dame was. I did know, of course “….the canonical hours of Matins (after midnight),…
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Ten facts about Westminster Abbey? Well yes, this article does indeed provide such a list, but I do have to find fault with some of its statements. For instance, the Boys in the Urn were probably murdered by Richard’s henchmen. With luck that urn will one day fall off its plinth and break – then…
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Well, according to the Romford Recorder Henry VIII very nearly gave us Henry IX. This would have been his illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy, born to the king’s mistress Elizabeth Blount. Henry Fitzroy is not fiction, but was born in 1519 in the Jericho Priory (see above image) at Blackmore, ten miles north of Romford. The…
