Epiphany Rising

The peculiar mystery of the d’Aubrichecourt brothers….

Sep 29, 2024

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, religion

abduction, Anthony Goodman, Barbara Tuchman, Bridport, chastity, d’aubrichet brothers, dower lands, Earls of Kent, Edward the Black Prince, Elizabeth de Juliers, Epiphany Rising, evidence, executions, Froissart, Gascony, Henry IV, marauding, Medieval Free Company, Michaelmas, Normandy, Order of the Garter, Penny Lawne, Phillippa of Hainault, Poitiers, Prince Philip, richard barber, Richard II, sir john hawkwood, Thomas Holand, Treaty of Bretigny, usurpation, waverley abbey

I have written articles on this blog about the disgraceful way many 14th-century knights abducted women and married them by force. These men’s prey were usually widows with attractive fortunes that could provide their callous bridegrooms with the comfortable later life said scoundrels hadn’t bothered to prepare for during their careers (often as soldiers). Even…
Pink or lilac robes today, Your Majesty….?

Jun 7, 2024

anniversaries, art, buildings

Anne of Bohemia, Barons Lumley, chester-le-street, Edward of Woodstock, Epiphany Rising, Henry IV, Joan of Kent, John Duke of Exeter, Leeds Castle, lilac, Lumley Castle, Margaret Holland, pink, Richard II, royal portraits, Sir Ralph Lumley, Thomas Earl of Kent, usurpation

Here’s a portrait of Richard II that isn’t seen very often, except perhaps head and shoulders—possibly because of the figure of Ralph, 1st Lord Lumley kneeling before him. Richard’s likeness seems to be a copy of his famous portrait in Westminster Abbey, but this one hangs in Leeds Castle. I think it rather striking not…
Hanley Castle

Jun 3, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy

Azincourt, Bannockburn, Brian Wainwright, Bruces, Canterbury, churches, Constance of York, de Clares, Edmund of Langley, Edward Despenser, Edward Duke of York, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Eleanor de Clare, Elizabeth Burghersh, Epiphany Rising, George Duke of Clarence, Glamorgan, Hanley Castle, Henry Duke of Warwick, Henry III, Henry V, Huchon Despenser, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Isabel le Despenser, Joan of Acre, John, Kathryn Warner, Malvern Chase, massacre of Jews, novels, Richard II, Richard of Warwick, ruins, Tewkesbury, Thomas Despenser, unofficial executions, William la Zouche, Worcestershire, Worcestershire Historical Society

Hanley Castle is located in the south-western part of Worcestershire, only a short distance from the Gloucestershire border. Today it is a small, agreeable village, notable for a school, an excellent pub, The Three Kings and an interesting church, consecrated in 1325. As the place name implies, there was once a castle here, although all…
The Despensers: The Rise and fall of a mediaeval family

Feb 8, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, Book Reviews, genealogy

Anne Neville, Battle of Evesham, Boroughbridge, Contrarians, Despensers, Edward II, Edward IV, Eleanor de Clare, Elizabeth Despenser, Epiphany Rising, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Henry III, Henry IV, Huchon Despenser, Hugh Despencer, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Hugh Earl of Winchester, Isabel Neville, Isabella de Valois, Isabelle Despencer, John Ashdown-Hill, Justiciar, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Margaret Beauchamp, Margery Wentworth, Philip Despenser, plague, Richard II, Richard III, Thomas Earl of Gloucester, Thomas of Lancaster

Here is another of Kathryn Warner‘s volumes in which the genealogy is central but there is plenty of history about the principal individuals that comprise the structure of the book. These range from Hugh Despenser the Justiciar, who fell at Evesham in 1265 opposing Henry III, to his son and grandson (the latter married to…
John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (c 1350-1400)

Nov 7, 2022

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, religion

Anne Neville, Barons Montagu, Christine de Pizan, Cirencester, Conwy, Counter-Appellants, Edward I, Epiphany Rising, Henry IV, Henry V, Ireland, Isabel Neville, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of Acre, John Earl of Salisbury, Lollards, Lord Mayors of London, Lord Morley, Mary de Bohun, Maud Francis, Monthermer Barony, Nevilles, Orleans, Parliament, poetry, Prussia, Ravenspur, Richard II, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, summary executions, Thomas Earl of Salisbury, Thomas of woodstock, Wakefield, William Earl of Salisbury

John Montagu (or Montacute) was the son of Sir John Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu (d 1390) and Margaret de Monthermer. It follows that he descended from Joan of Acre, and through her, from King Edward I. He was also the nephew (and, as it proved, the heir) of William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury. There…
Might Edward IV have had a third “wife”….?

Jan 6, 2022

anniversaries, genealogy, law, religion, sources

Anne Conyers, bigamy, Bishops of Durham, dispensations, documents, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Epiphany Rising, Hicks, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lumley-Conyers marriage, Lumleys, Richard Lord Lumley, Sir Ralph Lumley, wikitree

I’m not sure I kept track of everyone in this intriguing link but it makes interesting reading. Discussing it here would be complicated, the link has to be read in full. If the possibility is actually fact, it makes me wonder if Edward IV married someone else – as well as Eleanor Talbot and Elizabeth…
Epiphany – medieval and now….

Jan 6, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, heraldry, religion

Anne of Bohemia, birthdays, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of Our Lady of the Pew, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Epiphany, Epiphany Rising, feast days, Gregorian Calendar, Henry IV, Julian Calendar, Magi, Peasants’ Revolt, Pontefract Castle, rebellion, Richard II, Shakespeare, Sir William Walworth, Smithfield, St. Edmund, St. Edward the Confessor, St. George, St. John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Twelfth Night, wassailing, Wat Tyler, Westminster Abbey, Wilton Diptych, yule logs

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the following two definitions refer to the use of the word epiphany:- The manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12). Definition (1) A moment of sudden and great revelation/realisation. Definition (2) Epiphany has been a recognised feast of the Western Church since the 5th…
Latin inscriptions are a mystery to me….

Jul 29, 2019

anniversaries, battles, sources

bones, Epiphany Rising, executions, Google Translate, Henry IV, Henry V, John Duke of Exeter, Latin, siege of Rouen, Sir Edward Holland, soldiers, Weever’s Ancient Funerary Monuments

My mastery of Latin was gleaned at the age of 13, when for one dizzying year I was elevated to the “A” stream of King Edward VI’s Grammar School for Girls, Louth, Lincolnshire. Then they realized I wasn’t that bright, after all, and down I went! The result of this demotion is that I…
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.
Richard III wasn’t the only dog to be given a bad name….

Jan 16, 2019

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

“Tudor” propaganda, Beverly, bull-running, carnivals, Elizabeth of Lancaster, Epiphany Rising, executions, Henry IV, Joan of Kent, John, John Holland, More, Richard II, Richard III, sanctuary, Scottish border, Shakespeare, Sir Ralph Stafford, St. Brice’s Day, Stamford, Stamford Greyfriars, Thomas Holland, usurpation

We all know how Richard III’s reputation has been besmirched over the centuries. He was turned into a monster because the likes of More and Shakespeare pandered to the Tudors’ need to justify their seizure of the throne. Thus he became a creature of misshapen body and mind, capable of putting his own child nephews…