Uncategorized
-
Before Bosworth, Richard III sent his heirs north to the safety of Sheriff Hutton, including his two eldest nieces, (daughters of his elder brother, Edward IV) Elizabeth of York and her sister Cicely/Cecily/Cecille/Cecilia/Cecylle. (For the sake of clarity and preference, I will call her Cicely.) With them were their male cousins, Lincoln and Warwick, and…
-
Before I go further, let me point out that this is not the chalice I refer to, merely how I think it could have looked. The real thing might have been encrusted with pearls and rubies. On December 13th, 2000, a gentleman named Adrian Fray posted an interesting item about a gold chalice that had…
-
Going by the searches here, many of you will have read the suggestion, in Baldwin’s “The Lost Prince”*, that “Anne Hopper” was a daughter of Richard III by an unknown mother from the Borders region, conceived during his marriage and provided for with a ring among other things. The problem with this argument is that…
-
We are told by Collins, quoting Mancini, that Anthony Wydeville (the early print enthusiast who became Lord Scales and Earl Rivers) was appointed in 1473 as “governor and ruler” of the Ludlow household of his sister’s eldest son. He was also given “vice-regal powers” in Wales and the Marches, corresponding directly to those of the…
-
by Merlyn MacLeod “Commons refers to the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable earth. These resources are held in common, not owned privately. The resources held in common can include everything from natural resources and common land to software. The…
-
Richard III really will have to try harder if he is going to live up to that interesting reputation of his. After all, what good is a serial incestor if all he does is simply marry his cousin (with a Papal dispensation) which occurs all the time nowadays anyway – without the Papal dispensation? And…
-
Something happened to the British kingdoms just half a century after Bosworth. From 1536, the second “Tudor” (and his like-minded nephew James V) began to execute women for political offences, a practice unknown hitherto. There had been exceptions such as the St. Brice’s Day Massacre in 1002, although Ethelred had neither judged nor attainted his…
-
There is an argument in some quarters that Ricardians are “nutters”, “obsessives” and a lot of other ruder words. There is an element of truth in this, given that virtually all human activity beyond eating, sex and sleeping is inherently pointless. Unless one is part of the enthusiasm, it is equally hard to understand why…
-
According to Holinshed, the cuddly Henry VIII ordered the executions of some 72,000 people. Adding in the effects of his father’s reign and those of his children might well take the total to about 100,000 although that may exaggerate their rate somewhat. What a good thing this wasn’t a recognised separate dynasty until Hume’s time,…
-
With news coming out of Leicester Cathedral as to how they plan to observe the re-interment of Richard III in March, 2015, I was reminded yet again of how the public continues to perceive this monarch from the 15th century. Even well-intentioned and balanced reporting in the media continues to perpetuate a historiography that emphasizes…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 