Elizabeth I

Invasions

Dec 19, 2017

battles, buildings, television reviews

“confessions”, “Perkin”, Anglo-Dutch Wars, Anglo-Saxons, archery, Armada, Barbary pirates, Battle of Hastings, BBC4, Bertram Fields, castles, Charles II, Charles Laughton, churches, Dan Jones, Domesday Book, Elizabeth I, executions, films, Glenda Jackson, Harold II, Harrying of the North, John, Lady Catherine Gordon, Matthew Lewis, Medway Raid, naval battles, Royal deer forests, Sam Willis, The Shadow of the Tower, Tilbury speech, Tower of London, William I, Wroe

I have watched Dr. Sam Willis on several occasions and regularly enjoy his programmes, particularly his artillery series. With the prematurely grey beard, he is usually much more informative than Dan Jones, who is of a similar age. However, part two of his Invasions fell below this standard. It featured a lot of black and…
A most unpleasant surprise

Nov 18, 2017

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion

Arians, Bishop of Norwich, de heretico comburendo, East Anglia, Elizabeth I, executions, Francis Kett, heresy, Ipswich, James VI/I, Matthew Hamont, Norwich, Norwich Castle, Peter Cole, Robert Kett, Unitarians

Peter Cole was a tanner from Ipswich, although his year of birth is generally unknown. He found himself tried in Norwich for heresy and executed there, presumably in the Castle moat (below), which must have been something of a shock as it was 1587 and the heresy laws had been repealed again almost thirty years…
Fascinating Coventry….!

Nov 14, 2017

anniversaries, buildings, The play’s the thing

Basil Spence, Battle of Bosworth, Blitz, City of Culture, Coventry, Elizabeth I, Henry IV, Henry VII, Lady Godiva, Mary Stuart, Richard II, Shakespeare, St. Anne’s Charterhouse, St. Michael’s Cathedral. Coventry Castle, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, viaduct, Whitefriars Monastery, Worcester Men

Coventry’s history and buildings are very well served and illustrated in this article. I think the city is very well worth visiting and has a lot to offer.
The Grundisburgh martyr

Nov 4, 2017

anniversaries, buildings, religion

3rd Duke of Norfolk, Canterbury, Cornhill, de heretico comburendo, Elizabeth I, executions, Grundisburgh, Henry VIII, Ipswich, Mary I, Reginald Cardinal Pole, trials

Today in 1558, Alice Driver and Alexander Gooch were burned on the Cornhill in Ipswich. Her trial record, particularly her testimony, shows that Alice Driver freely admitted not sharing certain Roman Catholic beliefs and this was sufficient to convict her. Both are commemorated on this monument in Christchurch Park (left) and Driver by a road…
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow(2)-Henry VIII’s Beard

Oct 8, 2017

art

Anne Boleyn, beards, Catherine of Aragon, Edward IV, Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, Lucas Horenbout, portraits, royal collection, taxes

Recently I came across a portrait of Henry VIII that I had not seen before–certainly it is one of the lesser known ones. Ar first glance, the painting appears to be of a youth, pudgy-faced and beardless (with some similarities to portraits of Edward IV around the tip of the nose, eyes and mouth)–however, a…
GREENWICH PALACE – HUMPHREY DUKE OF GLOUCESTERS PALACE OF PLEAZANCE

Oct 3, 2017

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy

“Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne Mowbray, Bermondsey Abbey, Burgundy, Canterbury, Catherine of Aragon, Charles II, Edward I, Eleanor Cobham, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Wydeville, enclosures, Ghent, Greenwich Castle, Greenwich Palace, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Humphrey of Gloucester, Jane Lady Grey of Ruthin, Joan Lady Strange, Margaret of Anjou, Mary I, Mary of York, Placentia Palace, Princenhof, Richard of Shrewsbury, Royal Observatory, Sheriff Hutton, Society of Antiquaries, St. george’s Chapel, Stuarts, Wydevilles

Humphrey Duke of Gloucester from the Talbot Shrewsbury Book A print by an unknown artist now in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich depicting the Palace c 1487. Greenwich Palace, or Placentia as it is often known, was built around 1433 by Henry V’s brother, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, who named it Bella Court after…
The Bedingfield turncoat of Oxburgh Hall….

Sep 13, 2017

battles, buildings

badges, Battle of Bosworth, Earl of Oxford, Edward IV, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth of York, fetterlock and falcon, Henry VII, knights banneret, Lady Margaret Beaufort, National Trust, Norfolk, Oxburgh Hall, religion, Richard III, Sir Edmund Bedingfield, Stoke Field, treason

In this 2014 post mention was made of Sir Edmund Bedingfield of Oxburgh Hall, near King’s Lynn in Norfolk. He was a Yorkist-turned-Tudor supporter who, like the Stanleys and others, failed Richard III at Bosworth. Sir Edmund was a Yorkist who benefited under Edward IV and Richard III (at the coronation of the latter, he was…
Hey diddle diddle, it’s Richard III….!

Aug 12, 2017

battles

“Princes”, artillery, Battle of Bosworth, Civil War, Colchester, Coronation, Edward Seymour, Elizabeth I, elopement, Francis Viscount Lovell, Lady Catherine Grey, nursery rhymes, Richard III, William Catesby

Sometime ago I read that the words of the old Hey Diddle Diddle nursery rhyme were in fact a reference to the story of Richard III. There are other theories, of course, including this of Elizabeth I: “The story goes that Elizabeth, was often called a cat for the treatment of her court, the mice.…
Rei(g)ned in?

Jun 17, 2017

buildings, humour, Science

Channel Five, Charles II, Dan Jones, denialists, Edward II, Elizabeth I, engineering, Great Fire of London, Henry VIII, Lily Cole, Richard III, Rob Bell, Samuel Pepys, satire, Suzannah Lipscomb, television reviews

I don’t know how to tell you this but Dan Jones has made further appearances on our television screens this spring. Thankfully, both C5 three-part series have featured him as a sidekick to Suzannah Lipscomb, so his prejudices against various monarchs have had little exercise. The first of these was about Elizabeth I, featured Lily Cole…
JAMES 1st – A ROYAL GOOSEBERRY

Apr 15, 2017

buildings

Anne, Anne of Denmark, burials, Dean Stanley, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth of York, Henry VII, James VI/I, James VII/II, Lawrence Tanner, Mary I, Mary Stuart, Westminster Abbey

UPDATED POST AT https://sparkypus.com/2020/07/28/james-ist-royal-gooseberry-in-the-henry-vii-vault/ Entrance to the tomb of Henry Vll as seen on the opening of the vault in 1869. Drawing by George Scarf. How did James I come to be interred in Henry Vll’s vault? Unfortunately it’s not known, but we do know how it was discovered to be the case. In 1868,…