Constantinople
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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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As Ascension Day arrives once again, we are reminded of the history of the Holy Land in Richard III’s era – that the Mamluks had displaced Saladin‘s heirs after the latter had defeated the Crusaders under Richard I and Philip Augustus. Of course, we have almost all watched Ivanhoe or read of Richard III meeting…
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Reposted from A Medieval Potpourri@sparkypus.com The façade of Sir Paul Pindar’s house in Bishopgate. Now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Photo Victoria and Albert Museum Collection Sir Paul Pindar acquired the site in what was then known as Bishopsgate Street Without in 1597 and begun building the house, later known as Pindar’s House, shortly afterward…
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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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A fascinating article from the Royal Berkshire History site on the preserved hand of St James, which was discovered in 1796 walled up in the ruins of Reading Abbey and now resides in the Catholic Church in Marlow. Recently,this medieval artefact has undergone scientific analysis with interesting results. Reading Abbey was a highly important place…
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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 