Edward IV
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An oft-asked question arose again the other day. Had Richard been originally intended for the Church? He was the youngest son of the 3rd Duke of York, and the Church was the fate of most aristocratic youngest sons. It has been suggested to me that such early training would explain his beautifully precise handwriting.…
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John Fortescue (1385-1479) on the subject of illegitimate children inheriting or having rights of succession to their father’s estate or patrimony: “The civil [Roman] law [followed on the Continent] legitimates children born before matrimony as well as after, and causes them to succeed to the parental inheritance. But the law of England does not allow…
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Certain ‘books’ (ahem) often go on about Richard III’s supposed unpopularity and describe his brother Edward IV in glowing terms, putting him forth as a universally loved and admired monarch. (Even worse are those writers who make the brave, ruthless, warrior-King Edward into some kind of hapless old duffer, totally cowed and pushed about by…
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The truth about the Beauforts and the throne of England. . . .
“Beauforts”, Anne Mortimer, Battle of Bosworth, Blanche of Lancaster, Castile, Catherine de Roet, Constanza of Castile, Duchy of Lancaster, Edmund Mortimer, Edward III, Edward IV, excepta dignitate regali, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, John Ashdown-Hill, John of Gaunt, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Mortimers, Phillipa of Ulster, Phillippa of Lancaster, Portugal, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard III, YorkistsJohn of Gaunt, third son of Edward III, was the Duke of Lancaster, and his illegitimate children, the Beauforts, were barred from the throne by his legitimate, firstborn son, Henry IV. Clearly the latter wasn’t having any baseborn relative wearing the crown. Nevertheless, we eventually ended up with a Beaufort king, who claimed to…
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How Edward IV ascended the throne of England….
“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, cartoons, Castile, Catherine de Roet, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edmund of Langley, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward the Black Prince, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Henry II, Henry IV, Henry VI, Henry VII, humour, John of Gaunt, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Margaret d’Anjou, Matilda, Mortimers, Phillippa of Lancaster, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Shakespeare, SHW, Stephen, Tewkesbury, Tower of London, usurpation, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, York, YorkistsThe Wars of the Roses did not commence, à la Bard, with white and red roses snatched and brandished in a garden by opposing lords, but they were foreshadowed at the turn of the fifteenth century when Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, usurped and murdered Richard II. Bolingbroke was the son and heir…
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Today in 1484, Elizabeth Wydeville emerged from sanctuary in Westminster Abbey …
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“The accounts for the Duchy of Cornwall for 1483 – a momentous year in English history – are to be sold at Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts Sale in London on 21 March. They are estimated at £4,000-6,000. “The records were taken to Bonhams offices in Exeter for valuation, having been bought as part of…
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Who’s buried where in Westminster Abbey….
“Princes”, “Tudor” propaganda, Anne Mowbray, Charles Duke of Richmond, Edward IV, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth of York, George Villiers Duke of Buckingham, Henry VII, Katherine Manners Duchess of Buckingham, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Margaret Countess of Lennox, Mary I, Mary Stuart, royal burials, St. george’s Chapel, Stuarts, Westminster AbbeyWell, if you have the stamina, here’s a link that will tell you all about who’s buried where in Westminster Abbey. Including, of course, that urn, which a later dynasty decided should be in Henry VII’s chapel. Hmm. Wouldn’t you think it should have been at Windsor, alongside the boy’s father, Edward IV? But…
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A MAN WHO WOULD BE KING: THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND RICHARD III
“Beauforts”, books, Buckingham rebellion, Edward IV, Edward of Buckingham, excepta dignitate regali, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, George Duke of Clarence, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VI, Henry VIII, High Steward, Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, Janet Reedman, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Northampton, Richard III, Staffords, Tewkesbury, Thomas of woodstock, Tower of LondonThe Duke of Buckingham is rather a ‘dark horse’ figure in the history of Richard III. No one knows for sure why he aided Richard to take the throne only to turn upon him in rebellion a few months later. Simplistic ideas such as ‘he repented of his ways after the princes were murdered’ don’t…
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