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A short while ago I had cause to question a source that spoke of Edward of Middleham coming south to London with his mother, Anne Neville. My source at that time was http://www.basiccarpentrytechniques.com/Medieval%20Towns/The%20Story%20of%20London/46618-h.htm#CHAPTER_II In the above work is the following paragraph:-… “Edward IV. died on April 9, 1483, and his young son, Edward V., was…
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I used to live only a couple of miles away from Elmore Court, one of the seats of the Guise family. It was sometimes open to the public (every fourth Sunday after Easter, I seem to recall) and I had the good fortune to see around what was already a symbol of a fast-disappearing world. That was in…
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The recent suggestion by a well-known academic that Richard committed incest when he married Anne drew to my mind at least three examples at the highest levels of society where people had done something similar without any criticism. I was confident that there were many other examples at gentry level. However, as I no longer…
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Matt Lewis’s biography of Henry III will be released on 15th October 2016, in time to celebrate the 800th anniversary of his coronation. The book will seek to understand the real impact of this oft-forgotten king and his long rule and examine why he is so forgotten by history. The editing is just completed and…
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It would seem that pirate queens existed long before the 17th/18th century, the Spanish Main and swash-buckling as we know it. There was a certain French noblewoman in the 14th century who took her revenge upon the French for executing her husband, and did all she could with her pirate fleet to help the England…
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There is, apparently, a second, equally as genuine, version of the Mona Lisa. I know which one I prefer, and it’s not the one we always see, which makes me think it’s a rather dissolute young man. (Yes, I do mean dissolute, because that is how ‘he’ strikes me.) But if da Vinci did indeed paint…
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In the fourteenth century (and perhaps still in the fifteenth) courtiers and their ladies desired more and more songs because they liked to dance to them. They either sang as they danced (called ‘carolling’) or danced to the song (a ‘conduit’) or joined in the refrain of the song they danced to (a ‘virelay’). I had…
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The following file describes in some detail the magnificent work of art known as Edward IV’s Livre d’Eracles manuscript, and contains many of its large, clear, colourful illustrations. Also revealed are the subtle differences Edward required from the Flemish original that had impressed him so during his exile. http://www.bl.uk/eblj/2014articles/pdf/ebljarticle62014.pdf Here are some selections from the…
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There really are some morons around. If they’re caught, I hope they are punished – by being publicly named and then hurt in their bank balance! http://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/tomb-raiders-target-grave-of-99462/
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07l6bd0 I would highly recommend this documentary by Janina Ramirez, whose book on the subject will soon be available . She showed how Julian, who was female by the way, was born during the fourteenth century. She may well have had a husband and children but lost both to the Black Death before becoming an…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 