Science

Did Edward III, Richard II and Henry VII look like this….?

Nov 13, 2021

anniversaries, art, buildings, religion, Science

Arthur, Curtis Durane, Ebeneezer Scrooge, Edward III, facial reconstruction, Henry VII, John Travolta, Merlin, Richard II, royal portraits, Westminster Abbey

My internet travels take me here, there and everywhere…and today I came upon another site about facial reconstructions of past figures of consequence. There have been quite a few of these in recent years, and this one is an interesting addition. Well, addition for me, it may have been around for quite some time.…
The missing arm of Henry VI….

Nov 6, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, religion, Science

Chapel of St. George, Chertsey, Edward IV, Exhumation, George V, Henry VI, missing arms, reburials, relics, royal burials, St. Blaise, wine Spectator

I have to admit that I didn’t know Henry VI‘s arm was ever missing (post mortem!) let alone that it had been replaced by a bone from something else! How very irreverent. In 1471, Edward IV first buried the defeated Lancastrian king Henry at Chertsey, presumably all in one piece. Chertsey was out of the…
The “Princes in the Tower” are to get their very own opera….

Nov 4, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, Music Reviews, Science

“Princes”, Alexander Voltz, Henry VII, mysteries, opera, Richard III, treachery

The myth of the “Princes in the Tower” is about to be turned into an opera. I notice too that their disappearance is immediately described as “one of history’s most notorious unsolved crimes”. What crime? No one knows if there ever was one, let alone that poor old Richard was responsible. It has always…
A new series of medieval murder mysteries….

Oct 26, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, Book Reviews, buildings, genealogy, religion, Science

“Charter for Murder”, Alfred the Great, historical fiction, Hyde Abbey, John of Gaunt, Peasants’ Revolt, Richard II, William Wykeham, Winchester

“….AN initiative to find the bones of Alfred the Great in the Hyde suburb of Winchester, sponsored more than 20 years ago by the City Council, has had a surprising outcome. This is the launch of a series of whodunnits in settings that many readers will find easy to imagine. “….The first title, Charter…
England’s American knight in armour….!

Oct 22, 2021

archaeology, battles, buildings, religion, Science

armour, Battle of Bosworth, Knights, Leicester cathedral, reburial, Richard III reburial, The Wallace Collection, Tobias Capwell

Here is a link to a video of Toby Capwell, the American curator of arms and armour at The Wallace Collection in London. It concerns his thoughts on seven medieval weapons scenes in movies and TV. He was, of course, one of the two fully armed knights who escorted Richard on his final…
Audrey Strange

Sep 28, 2021

archaeology, Book Reviews, buildings, Events, religion, Science

Audrey Strange, Fellowship of the White Boar, Grey Friars, Leicester, Leicester Museum, Philippa Langley, Richard III, Richard III Society, Soar, The Crowned Boar, The Son of York

Being obsessed with all the books related to Richard III, I discovered a very interesting story I totally ignored. I bought a book titled “The Crowned Boar” published in 1971 and I soon discovered (after buying both of them for a small fortune) that there was another book titled “The Son of York” that told…
Long live the King

Sep 21, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, Book Reviews, buildings, genealogy, Science, sources

“Perkin”, Archbishop William Melton, Auramala Project, Avignon, Barrie Williams, Berkeley Castle, Corfe Castle, de la Pole family, Earl of Mar, Edmund Earl of Kent, Edward II, Edward III, Edward the Martyr, executions, Ferdinand and Isabella, Fieschi Letter, Flanders, France, Germany, Gloucester Cathedral, Ian Mortimer, Ireland, Isabelle de France, Italy, James IV, Joanna, John XXII, Kathryn Warner, Koblenz, Leicester, Lombardy, Lord Richard de la Pole, Manuel Duke of Beja, Manuele Fieschi, Maximilian I, Melton Letter, Montpellier archives, mtDNA evidence, parallels, Pavia, Poles, popes, Portuguese archives, Richard III, Roger Mortimer, royal deaths, royal mysteries, Sant Alberto di Butrio, Titulus Regius, William le Galeys

This interesting tome has finally appeared in paperback. The opening Parts read like an abridged biography of the story familiar to us through Warner’s The Unconventional King, but to be read with an open mind as to whether Edward II survived his “official death” today in 1327 or not. The reader will re-learn the events…
Did Dr Argentine murder the boys in the Tower….?

Sep 12, 2021

Book Reviews, buildings, films, Science

“Princes”, Arthur “Tudor”, Channel Four, Dr. John Argentine, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Harold Shipman, Henry VIII, John Castle, M.J. Trow, poison, Princes in the Tower, royal murder mysteries, Tower of London

There are numerous theories about what happened to the boys in the Tower…and exactly who may have done it. Well, one points the finger at the omnipresent Dr Argentine, under whose dubious care no fewer than three royal patients passed away: the boys in the Tower, and after that Prince Arthur, the Tudor heir. In…
Two mediaeval logboats have been found in the River Boyne

Sep 11, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, Science

Anthony Murphy, Boyne, Drogheda, drones, Ireland, logboats, Newport Ship, Normans, Richard of Warwick, siege of Drogheda, St. Patrick, University College Dublin

In a case of underwater archaeology, this RTE article describes how Anthony Murphy discovered the logboats near Drogheda, with a drone. It can be compared to the Newport Ship, but is potentially a thousand years older.
London’s Greatest Bridges (with Rob Bell)

Sep 1, 2021

buildings, Science, television reviews

America, architectural history, bascules, Blitz, bridges, Channel Five, Charles Barry, church of St. Magnus, Claudius, concrete, engineering, Gothic facade, Haberdashers, Henry II, Horace Jones, houses, Isambard Brunel, John Barry, London, London Bridge, Marc Brunel, Parliament, Port of London, River Thames, Rob Bell, Roman Britain, Rotherhithe Tunnel, shops, steel, stone, Tilbury, Tower Bridge, towers, wood

The series began at London Bridge itself. From an engineering perspective, Bell explained that the wooden Claudian bridge was the first across the Thames , built on no fewer than twenty-nine artificial islands, making it very difficult to negotiate. It was replaced with a very similar stone unit by Henry II. The Haberdashers were very…