Byzantine Empire
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Yesterday I wrote about the 1402 visit to England of the beleaguered Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, see https://murreyandblue.org/2024/12/14/in-1400-england-played-host-to-a-byzantine-emperor/. He was travelling around the western kingdoms desperately seeking support because he was having immense difficulty fending off the encroaching Ottomans. But I have now learned that it was probably an event much further back from…
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In the above image Bolingbroke/Henry IV looks as if the crown (for which he’d murdered the true king, Richard II) is prone to slipping off his unworthy head! No one else in the picture looks particularly comfortable either. Oh, dear. Please relax, for I’m not going to say anything more about this. Honest. My hobby…
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“Useful Charts” tries to answer the big question: the Roman Empire
Alexis Romanov, Andreas, Andrew Romanov, Augustus, Byzantine Empire, Charlemagne, claimants, Constantine XI, Constantinople, Czars, Dundar Ali Osman, Felipe VI, Ferdinand and Isabella, France, Habsburgs, Holy Roman Empire, Irene, Istanbul, Ivan III, Jean-Christophe Napoleon, Julio-Claudian dynasty, Karl I, Karl von Habsburg, Matt Baker, Napoleon III, Nicholas II, Ottoman Empire, Roman Empire, royal titles, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Spain, The Four Lads, Turkey, Useful Charts, ZoeThe Roman Empire dates back to this day in 27BC, when Augustus assumed the title Princeps, to end (in the West) with Romulus Augustulus’ deposition in 476 and (in the East or Byzantine) with the defeat and death of Constantine XI by the Ottomans at Constintinople in 1453. So, who is the hypothetical Roman Emperor…
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Eleanor the Crusader
Anjou, annulments, Antioch, Aquitaine, books, Byzantine Empire, consanguinity, Constantinople, Damascus, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Eugenius III, France, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Henry II, Jerusalem, John, Louis VII, Matt Lewis, Normandy, Plantagenets, Power of a Woman, Raymond of Poitiers, Richard I, Robert S.P. Fripp, Second Crusade, TurksMy next book – due for release in October, all being well – is about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. They were one of Europe’s most fabulous power couples, ruling lands that spread from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. Eleanor was nine years Henry’s senior. When they married in 1152, he was a…
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Reconstruction of Christmas at Eltham 1482 – Historic England (illustration by Peter Urmston) In the 14th century it became a royal tradition to spend Christmas at Eltham, and by 1482, Edward IV also held his Christmas there. The top picture is an imagined scene of this Christmas in the great hall (pictured immediately above) with…
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Um, I don’t think Edward III and the Black Prince are Renaissance, but the book might be interesting. Perhaps it more concerns the build-up to Renaissance warfare?
The New Murrey and Blue blog 