Do we need another picture of Henry VIII? Better ask his wives…well, the ones who kept their heads and therefore could still speak when they breathed their last. Looking at it, I can safely say it’s as horrible as all the others we know about and I wouldn’t have cared if it had remained in…

Here at this link (Runaway Wives in Medieval London | History Workshop) is a very interesting article about what drove medieval wives to flee from their husbands. But the link comes with a warning: “This post discusses violence against women.” How very modern. Sadly, the medieval world considered us to be, quite literally, the property…

Sir John Stanley KG 1350-1414, although himself a younger son, was effectively the founder of the main Stanley family as we know and love them as he married the wealthy heiress Isabel Lathom. (Isabel’s mother was descended, among others, from William Marshal.) Sir John was actually convicted of murder in 1376 but pardoned in 1378.…

Assessments of monarchs are always absorbing, but when the monarch is Henry VII, it’s of particular interest to a Yorkist like me. While browsing today I came upon this short paper Thinking History Activity, the heading of which is Henry VII: From diligent bureaucrat to paranoid blunderer? In it I read the following: “….One more…

A few months ago the River Severn was in flood again. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink, so to speak. Now, in the summer 2024, after a period of cool but mostly dry weather, it’s gone to the other extreme and at Gloucester is so low that some of the foundations of…

DNA is a wondrous thing, and these days we can’t imagine being without it. For example it has transformed the work of the police almost beyond recognition. It also solved the question of whether or not the remains found in Leicester Greyfriars were those of Richard III. Which they were. Now it has disproved the…

The heading of this article may sound a little like the latest blockbuster television drama series, but no, it refers to the stone corbels that abound in the small red sandstone Norman church of St Mary & St David in the hamlet of Kilpeck, Herefordshire. These wonderful carvings were drawn to my attention one evening…

The current edition of the Ricardian contains a very interesting article by Lynsey Metcalfe about the Earl and Countess of Salisbury, a couple who have received relatively little attention despite their obvious importance. It is not my purpose to rehash the article – I recommend that the reader seek it out. However, one intriguing aspect…

Just when you think you know all the portraits of a particular medieval king, another turns up that proves you wrong. The above painting of Richard II (see here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_II_of_England) is new to me, and I find it fascinating. Apparently it’s by the British artist Norman Wilkinson, about whom you can read here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Wilkinson_(artist). Prints…

A great deal has been written about Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk, and her grandfather, Geoffrey Chaucer. Yes, the Geoffrey Chaucer. Alice’s third husband was William de la Pole, who became the 1st Duke of Suffolk, and from them descended the Yorkist lord who perhaps ought to have been King of England. I speak of…