A blog titled Murrey and Blue is obviously (to those who understand these things) going to concern the House of York, one half of the conflict that gave rise to the Wars of the Roses. The other half of the quarrel, of course, was the House of Lancaster. (https://www.warsoftheroses.com/) Being Yorkists, we support the white…

Even south of the border we know about Robert the Bruce, and why those north of the border are proud of him. But what did he look like? Since the reconstruction of Richard III’s face after the discovery of his remains, there have been numerous other such models. Now “….To mark the 750th anniversary of…

“….More species of whale, dolphin and porpoise can be spotted in the UK than anywhere else in northern Europe and all of them, technically, belong to the Monarch….”  I knew about whales, sturgeon and the Thames swans, but hadn’t realised that since the time of Edward II dolphins and porpoises have also been royal property.…

On Wednesday, 23 October 2024 the Lord Mayor of Oxford will uphold the 645-year-old tradition of inspecting the city’s walls. The ceremony originally began on 30 June 1379 with a contract between Oxford and New College and Richard II, when the king was then only 12 years old. The contract granted land “….for the founding…

From this Ancient Origins link (https://tinyurl.com/mvanbd5z):- “….On Sunday 10th April 2016 Anne Boleyn hit the news with articles in the Sunday Times and Mail Online claiming that a copy of a lost portrait of Anne Boleyn had been found by Alison Weir….it was a listing for ‘Photo of a print: Anne Boleyn portrait from the Holbein Room at Strawberry…

Anthologies centred around Richard III are very popular, and now there is another—titled A Spirited and Most Courageous Prince—which contains contributions from two very well-known and loved Ricardian authors, Alex Marchant and Alice Mitchell. It also includes a story by the third lady in the above photograph, Bridget Beauchamp. Briefly, this article from the Keighley…

We who enjoy all things medieval (but who prefer Plantagenets, especially if they’re Yorkists) will be accustomed to coming upon mention of the city of Exeter. It was a very important place back then—still is now, come to that. Spreading over a hill beside the River Exe, it’s surrounded by thick Roman walls, topped by…

“….One of the most enduring legends in English history is that of King John and his lost treasure. According to the legend, King John was crossing the marshes of Lincolnshire in 1216 when he lost his crown jewels and other valuables in the muddy waters of The Wash. But how much truth is there behind…

This book covers the period 1471-1485, so the focus is very much on the Yorkist era. The author states in the preface ‘This is not a book for easy reading; it is to give information.’ This is fair summary. It is not a light read by any means, but if does give a great deal…

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a new theory concerning Richard III’s voice, see here https://murreyandblue.org/2024/09/28/another-theory-about-richard-iiis-voice/). Well, we may still have to wait until 17 November at the York Theatre Royal (https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/a-voice-for-king-richard-iii/) to hear and see the avatar of Richard III as he is now believed to have sounded, but there is a…