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Philippa was the daughter of the famous Lady Mohun and her husband Sir John Mohun, 2nd Baron Mohun of Dunster. The first interesting thing to know about her is that no one has established when she was born. Her parents had quite a long period of estrangement, which only serves to complicate matters. Philippa had…
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The author of this article Extours to cover Perkin Warbeck and more in Taunton Ghost Walk | Somerset County Gazette expresses surprise that so few people seem to know who Perkin Warbeck was. Come now, as far as today’s schools are concerned there was no history before WWI! I’d be surprised if many of them…
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My two favourite kings, Richards II and III, get a mention in this article Top 10 castles in England (readersdigest.co.uk). All ten castles are splendidly impressive, but there are so many more, equally splendid and impressive, that are omitted. As witness Arundel above. But if you’re selecting your own top 10 in England, these are…
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Seating in church? For the medieval period, it should perhaps be ‘placing in church’ as pews for the multitude only really came in at the very end of the fifteenth century, and became universal in England after the change in the liturgy in the 16th Century, when two-hour sermons became common and seating for all…
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Today a hundred years ago, George Herbert, fifth Earl of Carnarvon, died, about five months after the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, which he funded. Herbert was also, of course, the surname of the Earls of Huntingdon/ Pembroke, who included Richard III’s son-in-law William. The earlier of these families dates from the fifteenth century,…
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This link will enable you to download Livia Visser-Fuchs’ thesis “Warwick and Wavrin: Two Case Studies on the Literary Background and Propaganda of Anglo-Burgundian Relations in the Yorkist Period”. The lowly marriage of Edward IV, at a time when Warwick was negotiating an illustrious international union for England’s dashing young king, alienated Warwick and…
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695 years ago today, Edward III became King of England at the age of fourteen and was crowned a week later. His father was definitely alive for almost another eight months and probably several more years. His mother, Isabella of France is regularly described by some writers as having a relationship with Roger Mortimer, 1st…
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(Before I start, I assure you I won’t mention clay pipes! 😁) A young Norwegian lady purchased a collection of cheap costume jewellery online, and when it arrived she discovered one item was the ancient ring shown above. It had once belonged to a Viking chief. Can you imagine such a stroke of luck? How…
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MacCullogh on Cromwell
BBC4, brewery, Christ Church Cathedral Oxford., Diarmaid MacCulloch, Dukes of Norfolk, executions, Gipping Chapel, Howards, Mowbrays, Norfolk, Oxford, Pickwicks, Putney, secretaries, St. Michael’s Church Framlingham, St. Nicholas’ Street Ipswich, Suffolk, Thetford Priory, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Wolsey, Wetherden, Wolsey’s Gate, Wolsey’s statueLast Monday, BBC repeated Sir Diarmaid MacCullogh‘s excellent documentary Henry VIII’s Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell, from 2013. Please watch it soon as you can it is only available until mid-January. Actually, excellent is rather an understatement as it is better than others you may see. In telling Cromwell‘s story from “the…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 