sources

St Nicholas and the commencement of the Christmas season….

Dec 20, 2021

anniversaries, religion, sources

birth dates, British Library, Chi-Ro, Christmas, Lindisfarne Gospels, manuscripts, St. Nicholas

It seems the Bible didn’t actually specify a birth date for Christ. The Church decided on various dates, and today we observe the event on 25th December, but many of us regard the season itself (as distinct from the birth date) as commencing on 6th December, the Feast of St Nicholas, who has now evolved…
Edward IV, the sun of March, was alchemical gold….

Dec 18, 2021

battles, heraldry, religion, Science, sources

alchemical gold, alchemy, Edward III, Edward IV, George Ripley, Henry VII, Jonathan Hughes, monks, Ripley Scroll, Wars of the Roses

Before you read the following (from The Rise of Alchemy in the Fourteenth Century by Jonathan Hughes) you should know that I have taken the liberty of breaking it up into paragraphs – in the book the extract is from one long, rather impenetrable paragraph. Otherwise the punctuation is original. “….One of the most…
The “awkward mediaeval cities” (2) : Northampton

Dec 16, 2021

anniversaries, battles, religion, Science, sources, travel

artillery, Battle of Bosworth, Battle of Northampton, Bletchley, coaches, delapre Abbey, Dissolution of the Monasteries, DNA, Edward I, Eleanor of Castile, Fotheringhay, Francis Crick, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Northampton Castle, Oxford, Peterborough, rail journeys, Richard III, siege of Roxburgh, St. Albans, St. Thomas Becket, Stony Stratford, trials, Weston Favell

Another such is Northampton. Like Oxford, most (all in fact) of the trains run to or from London, although the latter will reconnect to Cambridge in a few years, with Milton Keynes and Northampton joining the line via Bletchley. Northampton is only currently accessible from East Anglia via London, Birmingham, or switching to a coach…
THE SECRETS OF STRAWBERRIES

Dec 5, 2021

Science, sources, The play’s the thing

anaphylactic shock, Claude Paradin, council chamber, love, Low Countries, perfection, strawberries, symbolism, treachery, urticaria, Venus, Virgin Mary

The use of strawberries in the works about Richard III written by Thomas More, Edward Hall, and William Shakespeare has always been puzzling to me, and I suspect, many others. The fact that strawberry are given such a prominent mention in the ‘council chamber’ scene where Richard reveals an, ahem, withered arm, is well known…
MAD, MURDEROUS MABEL

Dec 2, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, sources

“Poisoned Chalice”, Arnulf, Arundel Castle, books, Bridgnorth Castle, Bure Castle, Earl of Shrewsbury, Ela of Salisbury, Eleanor of Castile, Giroie family, Haburga, Hugh Bunel, Mabel de Belleme, marriages, Matilda of Blois, mediaeval women, murder, Norman invasion, Normandy, Orderic Vitalis, Robert de Belleme, Roger de Montgomery, ships, William I, William Talvas de Belleme, William Talvas IV

Many people still hold to the idea that all medieval women were quiet, timid, and downtrodden, unable to defend themselves and at the mercy of others. Clearly they have never heard of Mabel de Belleme! Mabel was a Norman noblewoman, born sometime in the 1030’s to William Talvas de Belleme and his first wife, Haburga.…
The Kingmaker’s Anger

Nov 22, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, sources

Alexander Neville Archbishop of York, anarchy, Anne Beauchamp, Anne Neville, Barons Latimer, Calais, Captain of Calais, Cardiff Castle, Catherine Parr, Catherine Woodville, Countess of Shrewsbury, Countesses of Arundel, daughters, de Veres, Duchess of Somerset, Duchess of Warwick, Dukes of Buckingham, Dukes of Norfolk, Earls of Arundel, Earls of Kent, Earls of Northumberland, Edmund Duke of Somerset, George Duke of Clarence, George Neville, George Neville Duke of Bedford, Henry Fitzhugh, Henry II, Henry IV, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Isabel Neville, Joan “Beaufort”, John Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, Losecoat Field, marriages, Matthew Lewis, Monthemer family, Nevilles, Percies, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, rebellions, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl Rivers, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Rous Roll, sibling double marriages, Sir John Woodville, summary executions, the Beauforts., Thomas Lord Stanley, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, William de Longespee, William Lord Hastings

I’m working on a biography of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick – the man best introduced as The Kingmaker. I have written on the Wars of the Roses, on Richard, Duke of York, and Richard III. Warwick has been a constant presence throughout. I spent some time in an earlier dispute over the throne of…
Which medieval materials had which colours….?

Nov 19, 2021

art, buildings, sources

colours, Germany, Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, material, re-enactors, Richard II, Ronneberg Castle, Wardrobe accounts

While going through some of my old medieval research, I came upon a list that has given me pause to reconsider some of my descriptions of materials used for clothing. The list was in a paper read on 6th April 1911: XXII—A Wardrobe Account of 16-17 Richard II, 1393-4, by W. Paley-Baildon, Esquire., F.S.A. “….MATERIALS.…
WILLIAM CATESBY, GOOD GUY, BAD GUY, TRAITOR? THE CLUES IN HIS WILL

Nov 8, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, sources

Ashby de la Zouch, Battle of Bosworth, bigamy, Crowland Chronicle, Daniel Williams, Elizabeth Lady Latimer, Elizabeth St. John, Francis Viscount Lovell, George Lord Strange, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VII, illegitimacy, JA Roskell, King’s Council, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Logge Register, Lord Scrope of Bolton, Margaret Zouche, Peter Hancock, pre-contract, Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Richard III, Robert Catesby, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Thomas Cardinal Bourchier, Thomas Lord Stanley, Thomas More, Tower of London, treason, William Catesby, William Colyngbourne, William Lord Hastings, wills, Wydevilles

REBLOGGED FROM A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI sparkypus.com Brass of William Catesby, Ashby St Ledgers Church. Commissioned by William’s son in 1507. Date of death 20th August is incorrect, predating Bosworth, perhaps in an attempt to cover up his inglorious end. Note the damage across the neck. Photo Aidan McRae Thomas Flkir As no doubt can be seen…
The true significance of posy rings….

Oct 29, 2021

art, culture, sources

Catherine de Roet, Countess of Salisbury, courtly love, Duchy of Lancaster, Edward III, Froissart, Geoffrey Chaucer, gifts, John of Gaunt, posy rings, royal mistresses, Troilus and Cressida, Wales

Treasure buried in fields and discovered centuries later are always in the news these days. These are usually coins, of course, but also jewellery, including posy rings. A posy ring was found in Wales very recently so I was interested to then read about the true meaning of such rings in A Crisis of Truth…
And the Bishop of Ely breakfasted at Kamelot….

Oct 24, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, religion, sources, travel

Archbishop Arundell, biographies, Bishops of Ely, breakfast, eating, Hatfield, Holborn, Kamelot, Morte d’Arthur, Public Record Office, Thomas Malory, William Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde

On Sunday, 25th October 1383, Thomas Arundel, Bishop of Ely (soon to be Archbishop of York and then Archbishop of Canterbury), breakfasted at Kamelot. Oh yes, indeed. I learned of this on page 199 of Thomas Arundel, the biography by Margaret Aston, which I quote: “….This letter, like another of 24th October concerning an exchange,…