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We all know how much time Richard III spent in the north, and that he was certainly happy there. He ruled it well when he was still Duke of Gloucester, and was much loved for his fairness and justice. When he was king and went on his first progress in 1484, he went north again,…
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Rhys ap Thomas and the tournament of April 1507….
2nd Duke of Buckingham, A Historical Tour Through Pembrokeshire by Richard Fenton, Battle of Bosworth, Carew Castle, Field of Cloth of Gold, Henry VII, House of Tudor, John Morton, Margaret Beaufort, Order of the Garter, Pembroke and Monkton Local History Society, Rhys ap Thomas, Richard III, Sir William Stanley, Thomas Lord Stanley, tournamentsThis morning the following link dropped into my inbox: https://tinyurl.com/3uwbet79. It seems there was a talk at the “….Pembroke and Monkton Local History Society….first meeting of 2025 on Saturday morning, January 11 in Pembroke Town Hall.…” Why have I picked up on this? Well, perhaps because of the subject of the talk “….will focus on…
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“….UK conservators knit together thousands of pictures taken at Angers Cathedral of Saint Maurille paintings….” It was while reading this article—https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/01/03/medieval-wall-paintings-hidden-in-a-french-cathedral-revealed-in-digital-imagery—that I learned of a worthy decade-long project by UK conservationists that has revealed some magnificent medieval wall paintings “….in all their multi-coloured splendour for the first time in more than 500 years….” The paintings,…
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The lute is an instrument that I always associate with the medieval period, and so its playing will often feature in novels, films and so on. And rightly so, because its gentle sound is both beautiful and soothing. Wanting to set a scene where ladies were listening to a lute, I looked online for examples…
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Six (or seven?) marriages but only one husband (or two?)….!
1st Duke of Milan, 4th Earl of Kent, Austin Friars London, Bourne Abbey in Lincolnshire, Constance of York, dowries, Edmund Holand 4th Earl of Kent, Gian Galeazzo, Henry IV, Henry VII, John Beaufort 1st Earl Somerset, John Holand 1st Earl of Huntingdon 1st Duke of Exeter, Lucia Visconti Countess of Kent, Mary de Bohun, Minories, Richard II, Southwark Cathedral, St Mary Overy, The Lancashire Holandsv, the siege of BréhatYou have no doubt heard of the Minories. “….The Order of the Sorores Minores, to which the abbey of the Minores in London belonged, was founded by St Clara of Assisi in Italy, and claimed Palm Sunday, March 18th 1212, as the date of its origin….” More popularly referred to as the Minories, in the…
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It is surprising how many phrases that we probably attribute to the Bible or Shakespeare, actually date to the medieval period. While looking for a list of medieval “Italian” phrases, I stumbled upon this link https://www.medievalists.net/2024/12/medieval-phrases-today/. Only ten phrases, but goodness, I’d never have thought of their actual origins. No Man’s Land? Tom, Dick and…
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Gloucester’s Winter Warmer Digital Festival….
“Princes”, Chris Packham, Dan Snow, David Olusoga, Dom Joly, Gloucester History Trust, Gloucester UK, Greg Jenner, Mark Gatiss, Michael Wood, Natalie Haynes, Philippa Langley, Queen Elizabeth II, Richard III, sathnam sanghera, Susie Dent, Tom Kerridge, William Dalrymple, Winter Warmer Digital Festival“….The Gloucester History Trust is launching a new digital festival starring Britain’s leading historians, broadcasters and authors to keep fans entertained through the coldest months of the year….The Winter Warmer Digital Festival features 50 online events from the popular Blackfriars Talks with guests including A House Through Time presenter David Olusoga, top historian Michael Wood,…
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I have written before about the various medieval monarchs who visited Exeter, and about some of the sites and other goodies that can be seen there. (https://murreyandblue.org/2024/10/17/richard-iii-edward-iv-george-of-clarence-warwick-the-kingmaker-and-henrys-vi-and-vii-all-went-to-exeter-but-not-at-the-same-time/ and I mentioned the wax votive offerings and effigies discovered when wartime bombing at the cathedral affected the tomb of Bishop Edmund Lacy (circa 1370-1455). The unique wax…
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Many—maybe even most—of you will know the majority of medieval words at a glance, but I still need to stop and think about far too many….and then I have search in a suitable dictionary. So here are some of the sources I turn to. I know there are a lot more:- And here is an…
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