Crusades

Trial by combat proved nothing in the end….

Mar 19, 2022

battles, films, law, sources

Charles VI, Crusades, duel, France, Froissart, Jacques le Gris, Jean de Carrouges, Knights, Marguerite de Carrouges, Otterburn, rape, Scotland, siege of Nicopolis, Trial by combat, Turks, witchcraft

Trial by combat was a last-ditch method of proving one’s case. Of course, it didn’t prove innocence or guilt, just that one or other of the combatants was luckier/stronger on the day. Nor did trial by water prove a woman innocent of witchcraft, because it killed her no matter what the outcome. If…
The Iron Man, Bishop Odo of Bayeux….

Sep 10, 2021

battles, religion

Archbishop of Canterbury, Battle of Hastings, Bishop Henry Despencer, Bishop of Norwich, Crusades, Dukes of Normandy, Earl of Kent, Herleva, Norman conquest, Odo Bishop of Bayeux, Palermo Cathedral, William I

If Bishop Odo of Bayeux is anything by which to judge, bishops were certainly something else back in the Norman period, and later, of course. As a friend has commented: “….As late as the 14th Century there was Bishop Henry Despenser. He was knighted before he became a clergyman and was literally made Bishop of…
THE LOST CHAPEL OF THE PRINCE BISHOPS

Mar 20, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, heraldry, religion

Antony Bek, Archdeacon of York, Auckland Castle, banners, Barnard Castle, Battle of Neville’s Cross, chapels, Constable of the Tower, Crusades, david II, Durham, Durham Cathedral, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Edward of Middleham, Farne Islands, Lincolnshire, Oxford, Patriarch of Jerusalem, prince bishops, Prior of Durham, Puritans, Richard III, saints, Scotland, Sir Arthur Heselrige, slighting, St. Cuthbert, statues, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle

Once upon a time, in the 13th century, in the grounds of Auckland Castle, there stood a mighty northern chapel that was almost as large as St George’s at Windsor and bigger than St Stephen’s Chapel at Westminster. The Prince-Archbishop Antony Bek was its founder, a man so powerful it was said by some that…
All you need to know about medieval warhorses….

Mar 3, 2021

battles, culture, religion

Anne Hyland, Byzantium, Crusades, mediaeval horses

When I read this article, I thought I must have written it in my sleep, because it opens with a very accurate description of me as a seven-year-old. Horse mad, but at the same time I was actually terrified of them. Oh well, there’s no accounting for folk. Anyway, I hadn’t heard of this 1996…
THE THREE HUNDRED YEARS WAR – Part 1: the Devil’s brood

Sep 16, 2020

anniversaries, battles, religion

Angevin Empire, Aquitaine, Aragon, Arthur of Brittany, Barons’ War, Berengaria, Brittany, Capetians, Cathars, Crusades, Edward I, Eleanor of Aquitaine, excommunication, France, Frederick VI, Gascony, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Henry I, Henry II, Henry III, Henry the Young King, Henry V, Holy Roman Empire, John, Louis VII, Magna Carta, Matilda, Napoleon, Norman conquest, Normandy, Phillip I, Phillip II, Plantagenets, Richard I, Stephen, Thomas Becket, Three Hundred Years’ War, Treaty of Bretigny, Treaty of Paris, Treaty of Troyes, William I, William II, William Marshall, William the Lion

Preface I conceived this article as a defence of King Henry V against the accusation that he was a war criminal. It became apparent, however, that my research was drawing me away from Henry’s campaigns towards a broader study of the origin and causes of the Hundred Years War. Soon, I was reading material going…
Edward I and nursery rhymes go together….um, no, they don’t….!

Jul 7, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, culture

Crusades, Edward I, Gloucester, nursery rhymes, Severn, wool

Well, I associate Edward I with many things, but not children’s nursery rhymes. I can imagine him being used to frighten them witless, but not to sing and chant with humour. Anyway, according to this site two of our oldest rhymes are due to old Longshanks. I find it hard to believe the Dr…
Crusaders came from all over, and were led by Richard III….?

May 12, 2019

anniversaries, battles, religion

Crusades, Lebanon, Middle East, Richard I, Richard III, Romans, Third Crusade

Well, when we think of the Romans, we now know they came from every corner of Europe and even the Middle East, but do we always think of Crusaders as being so diverse? This is an interesting article, and worth reading. Except….Richard III led the Third Crusade? One lives and learns. I’ll warrant Richard…
Joan Plantagenet Queen of Sicily

Feb 13, 2019

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy

Anjou, Berengaria, Commenus, Crusades, Cyprus, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Fontevrault, Henry II, Holy Land, Italy, Joan Plantagenet, Les Casses, Messina, Palermo Cathedral, Plantagenets, Poitiers, Raymond VI of Toulouse, Richard I, Roen, Saladin, Sicily, Tancred, Toulouse, Winchester

Being a Sicilian living in the UK, I am fond of both countries’ history. I have often wondered if there was a link between these two islands and I soon found one: Joan Plantagenet Queen of Sicily. The story of this woman is so interesting and compelling especially because Joan was a very strong and…
7 things to know about the struggle between York and Lancaster….

Feb 3, 2019

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, genealogy

Anne Neville, Constance of York, Constanza of Castile, Crusades, duchesses, dukedoms, Edmund Crouchback, Edmund Holland, Edward I, Edward II, Epiphany Rising, executions, Henry IV, illegitimacy, Isabel of Castile, Isabella Beaumont, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Pedro I, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Richard III, Thomas Despenser, Thomas of Lancaster, usurpation, Wars of the Roses

This link provides some interesting reading about the origins of the Wars of the Roses, as most people describe the civil wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster. A lot of the points are from very early on in the proceedings, which makes them all the more interesting to me.
Five important royals who didn’t ascend the throne….

Oct 31, 2018

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

Burnham Abbey, Crecy, Crusades, Culloden, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, George III, Hanover, Henry III, Hundred Years War, Jacobites, John Earl of Cornwall, John of Gaunt, Matilda, monarchs, Normandy, Plantagenets, Poitiers, Richard II, Stephen, William Duke of Cumberland

Would these be your five? Or do you have other suggestions? PS Who can spot their deliberate mistake?