Battle of Bosworth

Grey Friars building and car park up for auction in Leicester….

Feb 12, 2023

archaeology, battles, buildings, religion, Science

auctions, Battle of Bosworth, car parks, Leicester cathedral, Leicester Greyfriars, Leicester Guildhall, Richard III, Richard III Visitor Centre, Scheduled Ancient Monuments

With a guide price of £4 million there will be an auction of this large edifice (the Grey Friars Building) that stands right next to where the remains of Richard III were found. The auction is to be on Wednesday, February 15. It’s Grade II listed, but not only because of its proximity to where…
The Countess of Desmond remembered dancing with Richard….?

Feb 7, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, sources

Battle of Bosworth, Bernard Andre, Countess of Desmond, dancing, Dromana House, Eltham Palace, essays, Francis Bacon, Henry VII, Inchiquin Castle, Ireland, JSTOR, Mary Agnes Hickson, nathaniel grogan, Richard III, Richard Steele, Robert Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, teeth, Thomas More, treachery, University of Exeter

While searching for one thing, yet again I came upon another. This time it was a very interesting essay available on JSTOR. It is titled Lees and Moonshine: Remembering Richard III, 1485-1635 by Philip Schwyzer of the University of Exeter. You can find it here but need to register and give a password. However, for…
Treachery is one man’s meat and another’s poison….

Jan 22, 2023

anniversaries, battles, law, sources

Anne of Bohemia, Battle of Bosworth, chivalry, Chris Given-Wilson, Henry IV, Henry VII, Journal of Mediaeval History, Lords Appellant, Merciless Parliament, Radcot Bridge, Richard II, Richard III, Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland, rumours, sodomy, Thomas Walsingham, treachery

I have been reading a very interesting article from the Journal of Medieval History by E. Amanda McVitty, called False knights and true men: contesting chivalric masculinity in English treason trials, 1388-1415. (Vol. 40, No. 4, 458–477) There is an old saying that one man’s meat is another man’s poison, and by the…
What if Henry Tudor had been a handsome, charismatic challenger….?

Jan 19, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, humour, law

“Princes”, Battle of Bosworth, beards, Henry VII, NPG, Richard III, royal portraits, squinting, Stanleys, treachery

As supporters of Richard III, we find it only too easy to dislike Henry VII. Not only did the churl defeat and kill Richard (not even through his own martial endeavours but through treachery!) but his looks mean we wouldn’t trust him an inch. He looks cold, calculating, shifty and downright untrustworthy, nor…
The Weasel was a snake not a dragon ….!

Jan 18, 2023

anniversaries, battles, heraldry, sources

astrology, Battle of Bosworth, British Library, hawthorn bush, Henry VII, Plato, Ptolemy, snakes

Well, after a hard, too-hot day, (This was written last summer!) it’s always refreshing to have a snigger at the Weasel’s expense. It began when I happened upon the following statement: “….One of the earliest examples is a collection of astrological texts by Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), John Killingworth, Guido Bonatti, Plato of Tivoli.[1] On its…
Two tragic kings called Richard….

Jan 8, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings

“Princes”, Battle of Bosworth, Edward of Middleham, France, Henry IV, Isabella de Valois, peace, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Richard III, royal marriages, usurpation

I know I’ve rabbited about this before, because I’m fascinated by both King Richard III and his predecessor Richard II. Such fascination sparks latter-day loyalties. It certainly has with me. Tragedy struck them both, and as supporters of Richard III we know he was maligned as the killer of his two small nephews, betrayed,…
Urswick, the red rose and being the saviour of Henry VII….

Jan 3, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, genealogy, heraldry, religion

“Perkin”, “Princes”, “Tudors”, Battle of Bosworth, Christopher Urswick, David Starkey, executions, flight, Henry VII, John of Gaunt, Lady Margaret Beaufort, rebellions, red rose, Richard III, Sir William Stanley, Sutton House Lecture, Wqales

Well, it’s a fair bet that anything involving David Starkey is going to be anti-Richard III. If it also concerns Christopher Urswick, it’s a foregone conclusion. Both crop up in the Sutton House Lecture of (I think) 2019. It seems that “historian and TV and radio presenter David Starkey” (they forgot the comedian bit) gave…
Edmund of Rutland – a life cut short – his burial at Fotheringhay.

Dec 30, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

Battle of Bosworth, Cecily Neville, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Edward VI, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, Fotheringhay, George Duke of Clarence, Lady Chapel, Lord Clifford, Ludlow Castle, Micklegate Bar, Pontefract Castle, Priory of St. John the Evangelist, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Richard of Salisbury, Rouen, royal burials, Sandal Castle, Sir Richard Croft, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, York, Yorkist tombs

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Fotheringhay Church and Yorkist Mausoleum 1804. Watercolour by unknown artist. Described by Simon Jenkins as ‘the church that seems to float on its hill above the River Nene, a galleon of Perpendicular on a sea of corn…’ Edmund, son of Richard Duke of York and Cicely Neville was born…
Don’t believe the medieval battles you see on-screen….

Dec 16, 2022

anniversaries, battles, films, television reviews

arrows, Battle of Bosworth, bludgeoning, Henry VII, nobles, ransom, realism, Richard III, sword-fighting, weapons, Worksop

Well, I for one always like a damned—um, darned—good medieval battle…at least, I do from the comfort of my nice modern sofa. No nasty blood and gore for me, and certainly no dreadful screams and horrible deaths with all sorts of innards spilling everywhere. Oh, no, not for my delicate modern self. So we delicate…
The Wandering Butler: John, 6th Earl of Ormond

Dec 14, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources

“Perkin”, Act of Resumption, Anne Boleyn, Anne Welles, Archbishop Talbot, attainders, bastardy, Battle of Bosworth, Battle of Northampton, Burgundy, Butlers, Butlers of Desmond, Captain of Calais, Charles the Bold, Chief Butler of Ireland, Cockermouth Castle, consanguinity, County Kilkenny, Earls of Desmond, Earls of Ormond, Edmund MacRichard Butler, Edward of Lancaster, Edward V, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Elizabeth of York, Ellice Barry, entail mail, First Battle of St. Albans, Guisnes, Henry of Buckingham, Ireland, Jerusalem, Joan Beauchamp, Joan Chaworth, justiciar of Ireland, Kilkenny Castle, Killone Abbey, languages, law studies, Lincoln’s Inn, Lord Grey of Codnor, Louis XI, Ludford Bridge, Margaret of Burgundy, marriages, Munster. Avice Stafford, naval fleet, nuns, ODNB, Peerage of Ireland, Piers Butler, Piltown, Portugal, Pronothary of Bourbon, Raghnailt, Readeption, Richard III, Rome, royal pensions, Sandwich, Scotland, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Sixtus IV, Statute of Kilkenny, Stephen Ellis, Tadhg King of Thomond, Thomas Earl of Desmond, Tipperary, Wars of the Roses, Waterford, Wydevilles

FAMILY BACKGROUND The Lancastrian leader who faced – or failed to face – Thomas, Earl of Desmond, at the Battle of Piltown in 1462 was the fourth of the five children born to James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (otherwise known as the White Earl), and his countess Joan Beauchamp, daughter of William Beauchamp, Lord…