anniversaries
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Edmund II (Ironside) is a curiosity among English Kings. He reigned for barely seven months, succeeding his father Ethelred II (Unraed) on St. George’s Day 1016 but dying “in suspicious circumstances” on St. Andrew’s Day the same year. He was the half-brother of Edward the Confessor and grandfather of Edgar the Atheling, thus the ancestor…
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As the Lancashire Telegraph records, Wesley Perriman, an actor ironically from Lancashire, will be marching across Yorkshire to commemorate the battle of Towton, where the newly-crowned Edward IV cemented his position 555 years ago. We hope he arrives by March 29, which was Palm Sunday that year, although the calendar change gives him twelve days’…
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December 28th was the Feast of the Innocents, commemorating the day in which Herod slaughtered young male children in an attempt to kill the newborn Christ-child. In medieval England it was an important feast day and also part of the ‘Feast of Fools’. In many towns and cities over the festive season the church authority…
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At the time of Whitelaw’s memorable meeting with Richard III, he was nearly seventy. He had already been a scholar, a teacher, a cleric and a diplomat in the service of James II, James III and his regents, having negotiated the unusual Stewart-York treaty that preceded the siege of Roxburgh. He had already enjoyed up…
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On this day in 1567, Pierre de Brenieu was among those killed at the battle of St. Denis, where Catholic forces under (the very definitely male) Anne de Montmorency overcame the Hugenot rebels under Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Conde’, although Montmorency was mortally wounded. de Brenieu’s brother, Claude, was a casualty at Ivry on…
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We start with Dafydd Gam (c.1380-1415), who fought against the Glyn Dwr rebellion at the beginning of the fifteenth century, apparently trying to assassinate the leading rebel and being imprisoned by him. He may have saved Henry V’s life at Azincourt but was definitely killed there. His daughter, Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam, married twice and…
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I have enjoyed reading the books of Richard Unwin about Richard III from the point of view of Laurence the Armourer and was intrigued by his theory that William Stanley was not a traitor, or at least not in the way we might think. Think about the battle – William Stanley and his men are…
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Deans Close School (Cheltenham) to hold ‘Richard III’ Edinburgh Fringe preview at Tewkesbury Abbey….
The above photograph is from http://www.tewkesburyabbey.org.uk/ The following article can be read at http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Deans-Close-School-hold-Richard-III-Edinburgh/story-27602320-detail/story.html#2. However, the intrusive and downright obstructive presence of numerous annoying adverts makes reading it there a slow and very disagreeable experience. So I’ve copied the main gist of it. “Deans Close School (Cheltenham) to hold ‘Richard III’ Edinburgh Fringe preview at Tewkesbury…
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Today marks the 555th anniversary of the dramatic conclusion of this siege, being a Bank Holiday in most of Scotland. Tomorrow in 1900, the late Queen Mother was born, in London or Hitchin, but of Scottish parentage. We posted about the siege last year but what about the underlying events? James II’s mother was Joan…
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A fascinating new book reveals evidence that Bury St Edmunds played a more crucial role in the build up to the sealing of Magna Carta than anyone previously thought, according to one of the UK’s leading historians. David Carpenter, Professor of Medieval History of King’s College, London, says research for his book, Magna Carta, has…
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