Eltham Palace
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In the above image Bolingbroke/Henry IV looks as if the crown (for which he’d murdered the true king, Richard II) is prone to slipping off his unworthy head! No one else in the picture looks particularly comfortable either. Oh, dear. Please relax, for I’m not going to say anything more about this. Honest. My hobby…
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Today, 16 October, in 1987 something happened that most of us who are old enough will remember very clearly. Overnight we’d endured the raging of a terrible storm (see here, here and here). The resultant destruction of property and trees meant that Sevenoaks in Kent no longer had its famous seven oaks! In the…
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Thanks to the works of Douglas Biggs (cited below) I have learned something new and interesting about King Richard II. When he went to Ireland in 1399, he took a woman with him. The lady in question was a knight’s widow called Margaret Sarnesfield. Although her origins are uncertain, it is probable that she was…
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The Countess of Desmond remembered dancing with Richard….?
Battle of Bosworth, Bernard Andre, Countess of Desmond, dancing, Dromana House, Eltham Palace, essays, Francis Bacon, Henry VII, Inchiquin Castle, Ireland, JSTOR, Mary Agnes Hickson, nathaniel grogan, Richard III, Richard Steele, Robert Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, teeth, Thomas More, treachery, University of ExeterWhile searching for one thing, yet again I came upon another. This time it was a very interesting essay available on JSTOR. It is titled Lees and Moonshine: Remembering Richard III, 1485-1635 by Philip Schwyzer of the University of Exeter. You can find it here but need to register and give a password. However, for…
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Oh where, Oh where, has Chaucer’s “Foul Oak” gone….?
A2, Anne of Bohemia, Baginton Oak, Canterbury, Christ Church Greyfriars, Dover, Eltham Palace, executions, Foul Oak Hatcham, Geoffrey Chaucer, highway robbery, Nicholas Brembre, Old Kent Road, Palace of Westminster, Richard II, Smithfield, St. george’s Chapel, St. Paul’s, Tower of London, Warwickshire, Watling Street, Windsor CastleAccording to Project Gutenberg, on 6th September 1390 Geoffrey Chaucer was mugged at a place called the Foul Oak, but not the Baginton Oak. Rather was it on what we now call the Old Kent Road but was originally the Roman Watling Street, leading out of London, on the way to Canterbury and…
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We all know that Edward IV’s youngest daughter, Bridget (born 10th November 1480), became a nun…or at least, entered the Dominican priory at Dartford at the age of ten. Not as a nun then, of course, because she was too young, but maybe she was always intended for the Church. And Dartford was a priory…
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Reconstruction of Christmas at Eltham 1482 – Historic England (illustration by Peter Urmston) In the 14th century it became a royal tradition to spend Christmas at Eltham, and by 1482, Edward IV also held his Christmas there. The top picture is an imagined scene of this Christmas in the great hall (pictured immediately above) with…
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While browsing around, looking for a particular illustration of a medieval great hall, I happened upon the above picture, which is an imagining of the hall at Eltham Palace toward the end of the 15th century. I think, but can’t be sure, that the king seated splendidly at the far end is Edward IV. But it…
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It’s the old, old story again – while looking for one thing, I came upon something else. A Google search turned up a detailed plan of Eltham Palace. I followed the link, and came to a Pinterest page (Traveling Ruygt) with links to other pages, all concerning palaces, castles, etc. from our period of interest.…
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A PRINCESS OF DEVON
attainder, Bickleigh Castle, Catherine of York, Devon, Duke of Ross, earls of devon, Edmund de la Pole, Edward IV, Elizabeth of York, Eltham Palace, Henry VII, Henry VIII, James III, John Welles, Lancastrians, Manuel, marriages, Ralph Scrope, Reginald Cardinal Pole, Richard III, Thomas Earl of Surrey, Tiverton Castle, Tower of LondonAfter the battle of Bosworth, Henry VII married Edward IV’s daughter Elizabeth of York. What happened to Edward’s other daughters? Bridget, the youngest, went to a nunnery. Anne married the younger Thomas Howard (which was the marriage proposed for her by Richard III; Thomas Jr’s father Thomas still desired the marriage for his son and…
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