Charles VI
-
What does one call a gathering of glass men? Splinters? Shards? It seems that in the medieval period there was a sudden upsurge of people who believed they—or part of their bodies—were made of glass. Heads, buttocks, entire bodies, whatever, and the belief was so strong and irresistible that some of them resorted to shocking…
-
On January 28, 1393, Charles VI decided to partake in the Bal des Sauvages, the Ball of the Wild Men, a masquerade ball in which the ruler joined with gusto, joining a party of five other nobles to perform a frenzied dance dressed as a ‘woodwose’–a Wild Man of the forest. Unfortunately, the Ball ended…
-
THE THREE HUNDRED YEARS WAR – PART 3 : the dogs of war
Anne Curry, archers, Armagnacs, Azincourt, Burgundians, Charles V, Charles VI, Charles VII, Crecy, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, G.L.Harriss, Genoa, Harfleur, Henry IV, Henry V, Humphrey of Gloucester, Ian Mortimer, James Gairdner, Jean II, John Duke of Bedford, Jonathan Sumption, Orleanists, Poitiers, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Rouen, Sigismund, St. crispin, Thomas of Clarence, Treaty of Bourges, Treaty of Bretigny, Treaty of Canterbury, Treaty of Troyes, ValoisPreface This is the third of three articles charting the course of continual Anglo-French conflict from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries. The first, covered the rise and fall of the Angevin Empire, and the Treaty of Paris (1259). The second, continued my narrative from the accession of Edward I until the Treaty of Bretigny…
-
Aha, so Elizabeth Woodvile was a witch, and so was her mother, Jacquette of Luxembourg. Well, everyone knew that already, because Philippa Gregory wrote about it in great detail. So it just has to be true! Anyway, joking aside, this History extra article is interesting for the information it gives about what the English…
-
Henry VI: saint or sinner?
“Nicholas of the Tower”, Adam Moleyns, Archbishop Kemp, aristocratic lawlessness, Azincourt, Bertram Wolffe, biographies, Calais, Cardinal Beaufort, Charles VI, Charles VII, Christine Carpenter, debt, deposition, Duke of Orleans, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Eton, feudalism, First Battle of St. Albans, France, Great Council, Harfleur, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Humphrey of Gloucester, Hundred Years War, impeachment, insanity, Ireland, Jack Cade, John Blacman, John Duke of Bedford, John Duke of Suffolk, John Harvey, John Watts, Kent, King’s College Cambridge, Lord Protector of the Realm, majority, Margaret d’Anjou, Normandy, Parliamentary Roll, Polydore Vergil, Ralph Griffiths, Ralph Lord Cromwell, Readeption, Richard Duke of York, treason, Valois, Wakefield, William Duke of Suffolk, William TailboysA gentle and devotional life About seventy years ago, the historian John Harvey wrote this in an essay about King Henry VI: “The life and death, and the thwarting of his noble designs are one (sic) of the sorriest tragedies of English history. He was a victim of forces outside his control, for whose existence…
-
Ten medieval scandals….!
Alice Perrers, Bal des Ardents, Banquet of Chestnuts, Benedict IX, Borgias, Cadaver Synod, Charles VI, Charles VIII, cross-dressing, Edward II, Edward III, Formosus, France, Heloise, Ingeborg of Denmark, Isabella de Valois, Italian Wars, Italy, John Rykener, Louis d’ Orleans, Medici bank, Papacy, Peasants’ Revolt, Peter Abelard, Phillip II, Phillip IV, Piero de Medici, prostitution, Richard Lyons, scandals, Stephen VI, Tour de Nesle, Vatican City, William Latimer“….What are the scandals that made headlines in the Middle Ages? Kings and Popes would be involved in some of the craziest stories of sex and corruption that would make today’s news seem quite tame. From a cross-dressing prostitute to the trial of a dead Pope, here are ten almost-unbelievable medieval scandals….” Well, you’ll find…
-
Henry IV had the image of a warrior. It was just as well as no sooner was he established on the throne than he was fighting in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France, as well as beating off his internal enemies. So it will not surprise you that the country was soon bankrupt, and that Henry…
-
Historical reconstruction showing the moat below the walls of Paris (left), the Bastille and the Porte Saint-Antoine (right) in 1420 We all know about the storming of the Bastille on 14th July, 1789, resulting in the continued annual celebration of the occasion throughout France. But the Bastille was a medieval fortress, and we, the English,…
-
The Epiphany Plot of 1400
Abbot of Westminster, anniversaries, Bristol, Charles VI, Chris Givern-Wilson, Earl of Wiltshire, Edmund Duke of York, Edward Duke of York, Epiphany Rising, Henry IV, Ian Mortimer, John Duke of Exeter, John Earl of Salisbury, Lancastrians, Lollards, Maidenhead, Marie Louise Bruce, Mortimers, Nigel Saul, Old St. Paul’s, Owain Glyn Dwr, Pleshey Castle, Richard II, Richard Maudelyn, Sir Bernard Brocas, Sir Thomas Blount, summary executions, Thomas Earl of Gloucester, Traison et Mort, Walsingham, William Feriby, Windsor CastleFollowing the deposition of Richard II, his leading supporters among the nobility were put on trial before Henry IV’s first parliament. Well, all apart from the Earl of Wiltshire who had – in plain terms – been murdered at Bristol on Henry’s orders before Henry became king. (As a Lancastrian, Henry was of course allowed…
-
… but precisely what form did it take? It was clearly different in effect from that of Charles VI, his grandfather. Charles was reportedly violent on occasion and sometimes believed himself to be made of glass but Henry was more withdrawn. Both doubted the paternity of their children, although the sheer number of Charles’ offspring,…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 