Science
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Last year, ancient DNA was in the headlines when it was determined the ‘Beaker People’ who arrived in Britain c 4500 years ago, genetically replaced 90% of the previous population. At that time, studies were saying that the ‘Steppe Ancestry’ found in these people was not found in the Beaker population of Spain, long thought…
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The inspiration for Richard III’s rosary….
Cecily Duchess of York, Clare Castle, Clare Priory, Edmund Mortimer, George Easton, Holy Cross, John Ashdown-Hill, Leicester, Leicester cathedral, Leicester Greyfriars, Lionel of Antwerp, Looking for Richard, Papal Nuncio, Phillipa of Ulster, railway stations, reburial, relics, Richard III, rosary, St. Francis, University of East Anglia, white roseThe following article and extract are from Nerdalicious: “ ‘In the nineteenth century the Clare Cross was found in the castle ruins. It’s actually a reliquary, containing a fragment of the True Cross, and it was probably made soon after 1450 so probably it belonged to Richard III’s mother. For that reason, when I…
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Recently a strange red bag was found at West Horsley Place in Surrey. It is believed by its finders to have once contained the severed head of Sir Walter Raleigh who was executed on October 29, 1618. Further tests on the bag , which is certainly of the correct period, will be undertaken. Legends did…
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Two of the late twentieth century’s greatest composers share a birthday today. One of these is Stephen Sondheim and the other is Andrew, Baron Lloyd Webber. Neither of them have intentionally written about the events of 1483 or the major characters thereof but there is an interesting connection. Here are the lyrics to a song…
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I do not like including images of Richard’s remains, but the above double-image is from this article, in which Professor Sarah Hainsworth, who has given a talk to 10-11 year olds from Turves Green School. I quote from the article:- “….World renowned forensic scientist and engineer, Professor Hainsworth, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the School of…
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Who else might be waiting to be discovered? Which great figures from the past, thought to be lost forever, are just lying there impatiently, wondering when we’ll get around to them? How many tombs, destroyed by Henry VIII’s love life, might yet be retrieved…? Oh, we hardly dare wish! Richard III was found, and just…
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Right, for this little exercise one needs observant ears. Yes, ears. You see, whoever—or whatever—narrates this small video has a very strange way of doing it. His/its diction is oddly mechanical, to say the least and some of the words are barely comprehensible. Yet it is English, I’m sure of that! Apart from the above,…
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“There was nothing at Westminster Abbey yesterday to alert visitors to the renewed speculation that one of its most revered sites may not be what it seems. To the unwary, King Richard II still lies in the south aisle of the Lady Chapel just where he has for nearly six centuries. A sign points out…
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THE DEATH OF HENRY VIII
amnesia, amyloid disease, Anne Boleyn, Archbishop Cranmer, Bessie Blount, Charles Brandon, Charles I, Clifford Brewer, corpulence, death, Duke of Hamilton, Edward VI, executions, Goodwin Annales, Hamilton Portrait, Hans Holbein, Henry Fitzroy, Henry VIII, Holyroodhouse, illness, Jane Seymour, jousting, malaria, Mary Boleyn, oedema, Philip Mould, royal burials, St. george’s Chapel, syphilis, temper, ulcers, Windsor CastleUPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/henry-viiis-death/ Henry VIII, known as the Hamilton Portrait and once owned by the Duke of Hamilton, this portrait used to be at Holyroodhouse. Philip Mould. The deaths of all three Tudor kings were protracted and wretched. Whether this was down to Karma, bad luck (or good luck depending…
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As an osteopath, Richard’s scoliosis is another aspect of his life that fascinates me. It came to my attention that a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent, Julia Carlile, aged 16, had a scoliosis treated privately in the USA, which was paid for by Simon Cowell ($175,000) Click here to read more: Here. This was interesting,…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 