religion
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Oxford’s Christ Church Cathedral lies in the precincts of the college of the same name. Originally it was the church of St Frideswide’s priory, and contained a shrine bearing the saint’s relics. This shrine was destroyed in the reformation but has since been pieced together as much as possible. The remains include some rare carvings…
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(This letter, of which a version was published in the September 2018 Bulletin, was in response to Bryan Dunleavy’s article about Edward IV and Elizabeth Wydville.) The article in the latest Ricardian Bulletin by Bryan Dunleavy is interesting, and also provocative, given that the bulk of readers of the publication are, by definition, Ricardians. However…
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“…an illiterate shepherdess girl who claimed that voices from God were instructing her to take charge of her nation’s army and lead it to victory…Legend states that Joan came to Scotland to be trained in the art of warfare in a remote stretch of Argyll…” The above is taken from this lengthy and informative article…
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Does anyone out there know the answer to a puzzle that has cropped up in my research? Watling Street, the Roman road, was the main route between London and Canterbury, Dover, etc. This made it very important. Watling Street passed through Dartford, crossing over the tidal River Darent. But wait, there wasn’t a bridge there until…
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At least the word “presumed” has been allowed in! It introduces an element of doubt about Richard III. Which is better than nothing. I hope this relic is returned to where it belongs. This sort of thievery is despicable. Footnote: I am delighted to be able to report that since I wrote this article, the stolen…
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The following is an extract from https://www.britainexpress.com/attraction-articles.htm?article=20 and concerns the fate of the nuns of Romsey Abbey after the reformation:- “. . .What happened to the nuns after the abbey was dissolved? We don’t know, with one notable exception. One of the nuns was Jane Wadham, a cousin of Jane Seymour, Henry’s third queen.…
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The following article is taken from this article by Ben Johnson: “Michaelmas, or the Feast of Michael and All Angels, is celebrated on 29th September. As it falls near the equinox, the day is associated with the beginning of autumn and the shortening of days; in England, it is one of the “quarter days”. There are…
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On Richard III’s birthday (October 2), Dr Gareth Williams, curator of the British Museum, is going to deliver a monologue on Richard at Lichfield Cathedral. Dr Williams also is a director of research at Tutbury Castle, which has connections to both George of Clarence and Richard. Obviously I don’t know what kind of Richard will…
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A new interpretation of 1580s events
Armada, Battle of Bosworth, Battle of Sedgemoor, Buckingham rebellion, Duke of Medina Sidonia, Duke of Parma, Elizabeth I, executions, Fotheringhay, France, French Wars of Religion, Glorious Revolution, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VII, James of Monmouth, James VII/II, John Ashdown-Hill, John Hawkins, Lisbon, Lord Howard of Effingham, Marie de Guise, Mary II, Mary Stuart, Monmouth Rebellion, naval battles, Netherlands, Phillip II, Plymouth, Portland, Richard III, Scotland, Sir Francis Drake, Spain, Tilbury speech, William IIIWe all know that Mary Stuart was beheaded at Fotheringhay on 8 February 1587 and that the Spanish Armada sailed to facilitate a Catholic invasion of England in the following year, leaving Lisbon on 28 May and fighting naval battles in late July, at Plymouth and Portland. The traditional view is that Mary Stuart’s execution…
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When I recently discovered this e-theses site, I found a thesis with the self-explanatory title of Public Display and the Construction of Monarchy in Yorkist England, 1461-85, by Carolyn Anne Donohue. See this one in particular – and very informative it is too. Then one of the notes caught my eye. It’s Note 470, on…