Crusades
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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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About seven years ago I wrote a piece for this blog about Edward III’s belief that his line was descended from the fairy, Mélusine. In a nutshell, the story of Mélusine as I knew it then was as follows, and I quote from my Murrey & Blue article: “….Edward III told his friends, the founder…
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Richard I—the world’s greatest kidnapping….?
Anjou, Austria, Berengaria, Blondel, Corfu, Crusades, Durnstein Castle, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Emperor Henry VI, excommunication, Fontevraud Abbey, Henry III. kidnapping, hostages, John, Leopold of Austria, Phillip Augustus, Pope, Richard I, Saladin, Torquay, Torre Abbey, William Brewer, William StubbsWhat links Richard I with Torquay? Well, it seems that when the king was captured and ransomed in Austria, one of those sent to negotiate for him was a certain very unpopular William Brewer, who was local to Torquay, a major landholder, administrator and judge in England during the reigns of Richard I, King John…
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Well, my first introduction to Richard the Lionheart was in the 1950s…one of the many Robin Hood movies of that period, He was noble and chivalrous (George Sanders, as I recall, see below), while Prince John was a Blue Meanie of the highest order. Nothing much has changed since then. My opinion of both men…
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A probable Crusader sword has been discovered under the sea off Israel. As yet it’s covered with the marine accumulation of centuries, and I await eagerly for when it’s been cleaned and its true identity revealed. It’s hard to believe it was just lying there on the sea bottom as in the photograph above. And…
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Bosworth, a victory for treachery – and for cowardice, because Henry Tudor didn’t raise a finger, but lurked at the back, behind a protective screen of bodyguards As far as Ricardians are concerned, the most important (and tragic) medieval battle was Bosworth, but 22nd August 1485 only makes it to number nine of nine! See…
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There are two King Richards of England whose marriages are always called into question: Richard I and Berengaria of Navarre, and Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. Richard II’s sexuality is cited as the reason he and Anne had no children. Either he was sexless…or his interests went to the male of the species. Therefore…
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Was 29th March a day of retribution for a certain 14th-century lord….?
adultery, Blanche of Lancaster, Bridge of San Lorenzo, Britannica, Buda, Bustardthorpe, Charles VI, childbirth, conception, Crusades, Dartington Hall, diplomacy, disputed paternity, Elizabeth of Lancaster, envoys, France, Froissart, funeral effigy, Ireland, Isabel of Castile, Jerusalem, John Duke of Exeter, Mediaeval chronicles, murder, Old St. Paul’s, Order of the Passion, Philippe de Mézières, pilgrimage, questions of paternity, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, ViennaFor the past two/three years I have been grappling (off and on, so to speak) with some defiant dates. No doubt I’ve bewailed this particular problem before because my interest in the lord concerned is quite considerable. Not least because he may have had great significance for the House of York. So here goes…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 