Usurpers to throne
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I have written recently about Jo Harkin’s new book, The Pretender, (https://murreyandblue.co.uk/2025/05/05/the-pretender-takes-the-same-old-attitude-to-richard-iii/) which tells the story of Lambert Simnel, who claimed to be Edward, Earl of Warwick, for whom the Yorkists fought (and lost) the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487. You can read about the earl here https://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet_25.html. And about Lambert Simnel here https://richardiii.net/faqs/richard-and-his-world/aftermath/lambert-simnel-and-the-king-from-dublin/…
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This link https://tinyurl.com/zjr9h9jx will take you to yet another rather peculiar list, this time of so-called awful in-laws from the distant and near past. Needless to say, Richard III features (doesn’t he always?). Mind you, the article includes the 16th Earl of Warwick, but in fact it concerns Richard III’s dealings with Elizabeth Woodville, the…
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This link—https://tinyurl.com/ycxfcmnu—is to a video about the archaeology and research that has been going on for a long time at the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field. This work has uncovered “….a multitude of incredibly well-preserved objects that provide new insight into where the Battle of Bosworth took place, what sort of weapons were…
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Historic Royal Palaces has solved one mystery about the bones in the urn in Westminster Abbey. How they’ve done it is not divulged, but they KNOW the bones are those of two boys, aged about 12 and 10. “….In 1674, two skeletons were unearthed at the Tower. The bones were re-examined in 1933 and proved…
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I confess to not knowing much about Andrew Slade before reading this article—https://shorturl.at/Zcc6T—but quite clearly he is an acting force to be reckoned with. And as he not only starred in this play about Richard III, but also wrote it, he is a great adornment to the world of theatre. The object of Andrew’s play…
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If you go to this link https://tinyurl.com/5y5j2fwy you’ll read that after a number of failed negotiations in the past, Britain is at last to be entrusted with the Bayeux Tapestry. Not for good—Heaven forfend!—but on loan, and in return we are lending France the wonderful Sutton Hoo treasures. (Can they be trusted with our treasures,…
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The usual old twaddle about Richard III….
The quoted paragraphs below are actually from an article about US politics (https://tinyurl.com/ruw9zrnj), and they are a masterclass in how to twist (medieval) history from this side of the Atlantic. I make no comment about US politics, but I do regard these paragraphs as bumf. For those who aren’t familiar with the word, it’s used…
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“….There is one line in Josephine Tey’s magnum opus, ‘The Daughter of Time’, that chills to the bone: “Tomorrow, a whisper may destroy you.” In the novel, these words ring true for Richard III, whose reputation is decimated by Tudor propaganda….” Oh, yes, how true, especially when the whispers come in a thunderous stage-managed torrent. Because…
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Well, Ms Boring Borman is at it again, repeating the Tudor lies about Richard III having definitely murdered his nephews in the Tower. (see https://shorturl.at/Sf6se) Yes, yes, it’s the old stuff that Professor Tim Thornton claims to have discovered all by himself. Well, as it’s been known about for years, methinks he’s guilty of a…
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