Cardiff Castle

Roman Wales

Mar 1, 2024

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, culture, religion

Anne Neville, British tribes, caerlent, Caerleon, Cardiff Castle, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Christianity, Colchester Castle, conversion, Demetae, Despensers, Gower Peninsula, Kent, Llanelli, Magnus Maximus, Monmouthshire, Normans, Ordovices, Richard III, River Usk, Robert Curthose, Roman Britain, rugby, Silures, Swansea, Time team, Tower of London, tribes, Wales

The first thing to note about Roman rule in Wales is that it started in 48 AD, a few years later than in England, which is a consequence of the Claudian invasion having started in Kent. It is likely to have finished a little earlier too, in about 383, as the general Maximus Magnus sought…
Hugh Despenser the Younger

Feb 1, 2024

anniversaries, Book Reviews, genealogy, law, religion

Caerphilly Castle, Cardiff Castle, Edward II, Edward III, Eleanor de Clare, executions, extortion, Hereford, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Isabelle de France, joan comyn, Kathryn Warner, neath, revenge, Richard Talbot, secret marriage, Wales

So here we have one of Kathryn Warner‘s earlier books. It describes the life and career of Edward II’s third and final favourite – his marriage to Eleanor de Clare, his lawless activitities but also the degree to which they were exaggerated, leading to his “trial” and execution. We can recommend it highly as part…
Richard III’s many daughters….

Jan 4, 2023

art, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

Anne Boleyn, Anne Neville, Anne Norris, Bosworth, Captain of Calais, Cardiff Castle, disinformation, Edward IV, Elizabeth of York, executions, fake news, Francis Viscount Lovell, Frideswide Lovell, Henry Norris, Henry VII, Henry VIII, illegitimate children, Joanna, John of Gloucester, Katherine Countess of Pembroke, Manuel Duke of Beja, missing feet, Portuguese marriage plans, Richard III, scoliosis

Fake news. Ah yes. We regard this as a modern curse, but, of course, it goes back through the centuries. Probably ever since the humans in one cave fell out with the humans in another. Lies…erm, fake news…soon circulated. And if there was one King of England about whom there is fake news in…
The Kingmaker’s Anger

Nov 22, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, sources

Alexander Neville Archbishop of York, anarchy, Anne Beauchamp, Anne Neville, Barons Latimer, Calais, Captain of Calais, Cardiff Castle, Catherine Parr, Catherine Woodville, Countess of Shrewsbury, Countesses of Arundel, daughters, de Veres, Duchess of Somerset, Duchess of Warwick, Dukes of Buckingham, Dukes of Norfolk, Earls of Arundel, Earls of Kent, Earls of Northumberland, Edmund Duke of Somerset, George Duke of Clarence, George Neville, George Neville Duke of Bedford, Henry Fitzhugh, Henry II, Henry IV, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Isabel Neville, Joan “Beaufort”, John Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, Losecoat Field, marriages, Matthew Lewis, Monthemer family, Nevilles, Percies, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, rebellions, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl Rivers, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Rous Roll, sibling double marriages, Sir John Woodville, summary executions, the Beauforts., Thomas Lord Stanley, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, William de Longespee, William Lord Hastings

I’m working on a biography of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick – the man best introduced as The Kingmaker. I have written on the Wars of the Roses, on Richard, Duke of York, and Richard III. Warwick has been a constant presence throughout. I spent some time in an earlier dispute over the throne of…
Richard III’s lost queen….

Aug 31, 2018

archaeology, buildings, Science, sources

“Lambert Simnel”, “Perkin”, “Princes”, Anne Neville, Anne of Bohemia, Battle of Bosworth, Cardiff Castle, Croyland, Dean Stanley, Edward of Lancaster, Edward of Middleham, Edward of Warwick, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Wydeville, Grey Friars, Henry VII, High Altar, John Rous, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Leicester cathedral, Pietro Torrigiano, Richard II, Richard III, Richard III reburial, Rous Roll, royal tombs, Sir George Gilbert Scott, stained glass, Titulus Regius, Weir, Westminster Abbey

What follows is a word-for-word opinion of Anne Neville, and Richard’s attitude/feelings for her. I make no comment, the article by Elizabeth Jane Timms speaks for itself. “Amidst the chronicle of lost tombs at Westminster Abbey is that of Queen Anne Neville, wife of King Richard III. Queen Anne’s invisibility in these terms underlines the purported neglect…
When Robert Curthose Sat On The Throne

Sep 9, 2017

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy

artefacts, Cardiff Castle, Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor, Devizes Castle, Dukes of Normandy, Gloucester Cathedral, Henry I, Normans, rebellions, Robert Curthose, St. Edward’s chair, Stone of Scone, Tinchebray, Westminster Abbey, William II, World War Two

It is perhaps not a well-known fact that during World War II, many priceless historical treasures were crated up and shipped out of London for safe storage. At least, I wasn’t particularly aware of something that now makes perfect sense. I found out about this whilst visiting Gloucester Cathedral and touring the amazing crypt beneath…

Cardiff Castle

Roman Wales

Hugh Despenser the Younger

Richard III’s many daughters….

The Kingmaker’s Anger

Richard III’s lost queen….

When Robert Curthose Sat On The Throne