The New Murrey and Blue blog

Calais

Was Sir Gawain’s head still displayed in Dover Castle in 1485….?

Oct 25, 2018

anniversaries, buildings

Arthurian legend, Calais, Dover Castle, Englynion y Bethau, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Henry II, Ramon de Pelleros, Roger Mortimer, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Thomas Becket, Thomas Malory, Wales, Welsh, William of Malmesbury

One of the greatest of Arthur’s knights was Sir Gawain, hero of (among other legends) the tale of the Green Knight. There is some very interesting information about Gawain here: I always knew that the Welsh tradition has Gawain (Welsh – Gwalchmai) buried as follows:- “The grave of Gwalchmai in Peryddon, as a disgrace to…
STATEMENT IN STONE

Sep 8, 2018

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy

Anne of Gloucester, Battle of Shrewsbury, Bohun inheritance, Calais, Caldicot, Caldicot Castle, Edmund Earl of Stafford, Eleanor de Bohun, executions, France, Henry IV, Henry of Buckingham, Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, Lionel of Antwerp, Lords Appellant, Mary de Bohun, Merciless Parliament, Northampton, Pleshey Castle, regent, Richard II, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Salisbury, Thomas of woodstock, Wales, Woodstock Tower

Most old castles will have graffiti both old and new pecked into their stonework somewhere. People like to leave A symbol for posterity (often unfortunately.) Very few ancient buildings, however, have the owner’s name graven into them for for eternity. Not so at Caldicot in Wales. If you walk around to the back of the…
A WEEKEND IN A MEDIEVAL MANOR IN WALES

Aug 11, 2018

battles, buildings, travel

Anglo-Saxons, Bishops of Llandaff, Calais, Chepstow, churches, Edgecote, Lancastrians, Mathern, Moynes Court, Normans, Sir David ap Phillip, St. Pierre, St. Tewdric, Thomas Lewis, Wales, Yorkists

If you are looking for a pleasant medieval weekend away you could do worse than staying at the manor house of St Pierre, near Chepstow in Wales. The deerpark may be a golf course now but there are still acres to walk, an ancient church, and a handsome twin-towered gatehouse surrounded by a courtyard. The…
Keeping it in the family

May 21, 2018

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, religion

Anne Stafford, Armada, Ashby St Ledgers, attainder, Calais, Calvinism, Catherine Dudley, Catherine Pole, Claire Cross, Earl of Leicester, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, fashion, Flanders, Francis Baron Hastings, George Duke of Clarence, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Henry of Buckingham, James Earl of Morton, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Earl of Lincoln, Leicester cathedral, Margaret Clitherow, Mary I, Mary Stuart, Michael K Jones, Northern Earls’ Rebellion, Phillip II, Plantagenet descent, recusants, Reginald Cardinal Pole, Scotland, Sir George Hastings, smallpox, statues, Vaughan porch, William Cecil

You will have seen him if you have been to Richard III’s final resting place. There are eight small statues on the main entrance (the Vaughan Porch, left) of St. Martin’s Cathedral but only one of them is wearing a doublet and hose, showing him to have lived a century later than the others. This is…
1484 – TITULUS REGIUS: FACT OR FICTION?

Jan 23, 2018

anniversaries, law, sources

“Tudor” propaganda, A R Myers, AE Houseman, Arthur Conan Doyle, attainder, Barnard Castle, Battle of Bosworth, bigamy, Buckingham rebellion, Calais, Charles Ross, Charles Wood, Chrimes, Chris Skidmore, Clements Markham, Commines, Coronation, Crowland Chronicle, David Horspool, depositions, Edward II, Edward IV, Edward of Warwick, Edward V, Eleanor Cobham, Elizabeth Wydeville, executions, Fabyan, George Duke of Clarence, Grafton, Henry Kelly, Henry of Buckingham, Henry Riley, Henry VII, historians, Historiography, Horace Walpole, Humphrey of Gloucester, illegitimacy, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Joan of Navarre, John Daunger, John Home, John Morton, John Russell, John Stacy, King’s Council, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lander, Lord Protector of the Realm, Louis XI, Mancini, Margery Jourdemayne, mediaeval canon law, minority kings, Mortimer Levine, National Archives, Northampton, Parliament, Parliamentary Roll, Paul Murray Kendall, petition to Richard III, pre-contract, Ralph Shaa, Richard II, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Richard of Warwick, Robert Stillington, Roger Bolingbroke, Rosemary Horrox, Scottish border, Simon Stallworth, Sir Anthony Wydeville, Sir Richard Grey, Sir William Stonor, Stony Stratford, Thomas Blake, Thomas Bourchier, Thomas Burdet, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Thomas Lord Stanley, Thomas Rotherham, Thomas Southwell, Thomas Wake, Three Estates, Titulus Regius, Treaty of Troyes, Walpurg, witchcraft, Wydevilles, York

Introduction ‘ ‘This is indeed a mystery’ I remarked.’ What do you think it means?’‘I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suite theories, instead of theories to suite facts.’ In Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story A Scandal…
The puzzle of George of Clarence’s Calais wedding….

Jul 11, 2017

anniversaries, sources

Calais, Edward IV, George Duke of Clarence, George Neville, grants, Isabel Neville, Jehan de Wavrin, Kenilworth, Kristie Davis Dean, marriages, Notre Dame, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Sandeman

The only certain thing that can be said of the marriage of George, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel Neville, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, is that it took place in Calais. Oh, and that Isabel’s uncle, the Archbishop of York, performed the ceremony. After that, the picture is a little blurred. Which day? Which…
A SWORD OF EDWARD IV IN IRELAND

May 24, 2017

buildings, travel

“Lambert Simnel”, “Perkin”, Bishop of Annaghtown, Calais, Dublin Castle, Earl of Desmond, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, George Duke of Clarence, House of York, Ireland, Ludford Bridge, rebels, Reginald’s Tower, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Stoke Field, Trim castle, Waterford Mint, Waterford Museum

The House of York always had a strong connection with Ireland. Richard Duke of York and his family lived there from a while, sometimes at the imposing Trim Castle (beloved of movie makers from Excalibur to Braveheart) and sometimes at Dublin Castle where George of Clarence was born. Later, after the battle of Ludford Bridge,…
Bloody tales of the Tower….

Feb 11, 2017

buildings, television reviews

“Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Arbella Stuart, Barnet, Bloody Tales of the Tower, Calais, Catherine Howard, Channel Five, Coronation, Edward V, Edward VIII, Elizabeth I, espionage, executions, Father John Gerard, Guido Fawkes, Gunpowder Plot, Henry VIII, Jack Ketch, James of Monmouth, James VI/I, James VII/II, Jane, Joe Crowley, Josef Jacobs, Lucy Worsley, Mark Smeaton, Mary I, Peasants’ Revolt, Richard II, Robert Catesby, Simon of Sudbury, Suzannah Lipscomb, Tower Green, William Seymour Duke of Somerset

I have only just found the series Bloody Tales of the Tower, previously on National Geographic and now on Channel 5 (http://www.channel5.com/show/bloody-tales-of-the-tower and http://www.natgeotv.com/za/bloody-tales-of-the-tower), and have to say that I enjoyed it very much. The presenters, Suzannah Lipscomb and Joe Crowley, are at ease in their roles and with each other, and do not adopt…
Auction of coins from Edward III to Richard III….

Nov 29, 2016

Events

Calais, coins, Edward III, Henry IV, Henry VI, Lord Stewartby, Richard III, Spink Auctions

No illustrations of Richard’s coins, unfortunately. The above is a Henry IV groat, estimated price of £3-4,000). But Richard’s coin(s) are in this auction today. Get your plastic cards out, ladies and gentlemen… http://www.coinweek.com/dealers-companies/spink-dealers/spink-auctions-edward-iii-richard-iii-lord-stewartbys-4th-sale/
TREASON 2 – The Parliament Of Devils, 1459

May 20, 2016

battles, law

“Loveday”, Alison Hanham, Anthony Goodman, attainder, Bellamy, Bertram Wolffe, Blore Heath, Calais, Cecily Duchess of York, Chris Givern-Wilson, Colehill, Coventry, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, First Battle of St. Albans, forfeiture, Garter King of arms, Henry VI, Jack Cade, John Duke of Somerset, Kenilworth, Kent, Lancastrians, Ledbury, Lord Audley, Lord Powis, Lord Protector of the Realm, Ludford Bridge, Ludlow, Margaret of Anjou, Market Drayton, Merciless Parliament, Middleham, Parliament of Devils, Paul Murray Kendall, Ralph Griffiths, Richard Duke of York, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, Rosemary Horrox, Severn, Sir Andrew Trollope, Sir henry Radford, St. Paul’s, Thomas Lord Stanley, treason, Treason Acts, Walsall, Walter Devereux, Wars of the Roses, William Duke of Suffolk, Worcester, Yorkists

Introduction This is the second of two articles I have written about treason. In the first article, I wrote about the Merciless Parliament of 1388 at which eighteen of king Richard II’s closest advisors and friends were tried by parliament and condemned as traitors, against the king’s wishes. In this article I am writing about…