travel
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Today, if we were to undertake a leisurely drive from Plymouth to London, showing an important foreign guest the sites along the way, all we’d need would be a decent car that was insured and perhaps a current MOT and full tank of fuel. Oh, and the wherewithal to feed said guest at the best…
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The Battle of Towton took place on the 29th of March1461 on an open field between the villages of Towton and Saxton in North Yorkshire on Palm Sunday. The battle took place during a snow storm and is believed to be the largest and bloodiest battle to be fought on English soil. The battle was…
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Maryann Benbow has blogged extensively here on the death of Edward IV and the Wydeville Plot that followed. The golden gander had passed away early that spring. We don’t know conclusively how or precisely when, but the events surrounding it and the effects upon Edward V’s reign and family are covered in five posts.
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Next spring (2025) will see the launching of another attraction set around the Battle of Bosworth and the fate of our favourite king, Richard III. It is to be called Bosworth1485. Not only will the trail take people to the places and through the countryside of relevance, but there will be “interpretation panels” at each…
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As Ascension Day arrives once again, we are reminded of the history of the Holy Land in Richard III’s era – that the Mamluks had displaced Saladin‘s heirs after the latter had defeated the Crusaders under Richard I and Philip Augustus. Of course, we have almost all watched Ivanhoe or read of Richard III meeting…
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One of the things about being awarded, or inheriting, a peerage or baronetcy in the Early Modern period was the necessity to keep up appearances. Great families would compete to have better servants than their contemporaries. Whilst employing a better butler or housekeeper would be a relatively inconspicuous maintenance issue, a designer or gardener could…
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“Time-honour’d Lancaster” was given to pressing on at the expense of his men….
1475 invasion of France, Anthony Goodman, Anthony Steel, arnold, bayonne, Bordeaux, Calais, Castile, chevauchee, Constanza of Castile, david nicolle, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Castle, Edward the Black Prince, Elizabeth of Lancaster, France, Froissart, Gascony, Helen Carr, Henry IV, Hundred Years War, John of Gaunt, Jonathan Sumption, Navarre, Pedro I, Portugal, Scotland, Sir John Holland, Spain, tournaments, troyes, unofficial executions, usurpation, villalpandoIn late April 1388, John of Gaunt‘s son-in-law Sir John Holand returned to England from the Spanish peninsula, where he had been constable of Gaunt’s army. Gaunt had invaded the peninsula in pursuit of the Crown of Castile, to which he had a claim through his marriage to the Infanta Constanza. I am now going…
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Sir Edmund Shaa – Cheshire’s Answer to Dick Whittington.
apprentices, Calais, Cheshire, Crowden, edmund shaa, Edward IV, goldsmiths, Greater Manchester, john shaa, Knights, London, Lord Mayors of London, moneylenders, mottram-in-longdendale, Royal Mint, sheriff of london, St. James, st. thomas of acre, stockport, Tower of London, wills, woodhead, YorkshireEdmund Shaa was born in about 1436, reputedly in Mottram-in-Longdendale, which was then in Cheshire. He was the son of John Shaa ‘of Dukinfield’ who was, it appears, a yeoman. ‘Shaa’ is the medieval version of the surname ‘Shaw’. Many of the name ‘Shaw’ can still be found in the general area of Greater Manchester…
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I am a little late for the first episode of this new three-part documentary series about seven modern celebrities of all different faiths and beliefs undertaking pilgrims’ travels through various parts of North Wales. They will hike through ancient Welsh sites, including Flint Castle and St Winefride’s Holy Well, but the final programme appears to…
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Edmund of Langley‘s expedition to Portugal is usually presented as a complete debacle, with Edmund’s ineptitude a major issue. This article by Douglas Biggs demonstrates that this is a complete falsehood. The political situation in Portugal was complex, and from the very start, there was disagreement in the Portuguese camp as to the policy to…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 