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Isn’t it strange the little stories one comes upon while researching? I was trawling through Stow’s Survey of London when I found this, concerning an incident in the Tower:- “William Foxley slept in the tower 14 days & more without waking. “In the yeare 1546. the 27 of April, being Tuesday in Easter weeke, William Foxley,…
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One Year On, New Book News … and we shall soon open an electrical supply store with all these plugs.
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Here is a writer’s dilemma, concerning an incident from the reign of Richard II. So, not our Richard, but the one before him. At Christmas 1389, which the court celebrated at Woodstock, there was a tournament. Or at least, jousting. One of those taking part was 17-year-old John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke. He was…
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I came across a conversation recently where people were regretting the early death of the Black Prince, because apparently everything would have been much better had he lived. Unfortunately, even people interested in English history tend not to appreciate that at the end of Edward III’s reign England was 1. losing the war with France…
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Sometimes one comes across fascinating nuggets of information, and I have just happened upon the following:- “This barbour shall haue every satyrday at night if it please the Kinge to cleanse his head, legges or feet, and fort his shaving, two loves, one picher wine. And the ussher of chambre ought to testyfye if this…
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We all like a good TV series, especially if it has a mediaeval setting, but does anyone remember the French series from the early 70s, concerning Maurice Druon’s books, The Accursed Kings/Les Rois Maudits? The books deal with the French monarchy in the 14th century, and are (they say) another inspiration for Game of Thrones. This Wikipedia…
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I have just bought an interesting and absorbing book, the ‘Encyclopaedia of Superstitions’ by E & M Radford, originally published in 1949. Reaching the section on the King’s Evil (scrofula, which was believed to be cured by the touch of the monarch) I read: ‘The practice was introduced by Henry VII of presenting the person…
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I must admit that the following article didn’t come as quite the surprise it should. Henry has always struck me as a man who enjoyed the good things in life, and was prepared to be lavish when he felt like it. Yes, indeed! And he enjoyed being entertained and so on…but that he was…
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The following is taken from an item in one of the Mortimer History Society newsletters. It was by a member, Stefan Zachary, and concerns a sword of state in the British Museum. Mortimer Heraldry on a Sword of State This sword is dated c1460-70 and it is said to be a ceremonial sword of the…
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I have been watching the BBC’s ‘The Hollow Crown’ with interest, as I have never actually seen the whole of Shakespeare’s Richard III and none of Henry VI (Parts I and II). At first I was appalled at Benedict Cumberbatch’s grotesquely exaggerated portrayal of Richard, but consoled myself by thinking that at least, because people…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 