executions

Newport and the lucky/unlucky Staffords….

Dec 20, 2022

battles, buildings, genealogy, law

Battle of Shrewsbury, Buckingham rebellion, Earls of Stafford, executions, Gwent, Henry of Buckingham, Hugh Earl of Stafford, John Holland, murder, Newport Castle, pilgrimage, Ralph Stafford, Richard II, Richard III, Scottish campaign 1385, Staffords, William Howard Viscount Stafford

It seems to me, looking at the list in this article about Newport Castle, that a few members of the Stafford family came to sticky ends, some deserved, some apparently not. They may have been unlucky, but the family was wealthy and titled, so perhaps not that hard done by. In 1377 Hugh, Earl of…
Rebellion in the Middle Ages

Dec 19, 2022

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, law, religion

Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur of Brittany, Azincourt, Bannockburn, Barons’ War, Battle of Evesham, Battle of Hastings, Battle of Lewes, Battle of Shrewsbury, Black Death, Blackheath, Boroughbridge, Canterbury Cathedral, Crusades, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward I, Edward II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, France, Geoffrey of Brittany, Henry Cardinal Beaufort, Henry II, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry the Young King, Henry V, Henry VI, Hereward the Wake, House of Lancaster, Hugh Despencer, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Humphrey of Gloucester, insanity, Isabelle de France, Isle of Ely, Jack Cade, John, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Protector of the Realm, Lords Ordainers, Magna Carta, Matilda, Matt Lewis, murder, Parliament, Peasants’ Revolt, Peterborough Abbey, Piers Gaveston, rebellions, Richard Duke of York, Richard I, Richard II, Robert of Gloucester, Roger Mortimer, Royal Marriage Secrets, Scarborough Castle, secret marriage, Southampton plot, St. Thomas Becket, Stephen, The Anarchy, Thomas of Lancaster, Tower of London, usurpation, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, William Duke of Suffolk, William I, William Marshall

This is the latest of Matthew Lewis’ books and covers a longer period than any of the others, from Hereward the Wake’s emergence after Hastings to the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, almost as long a period as this book. Lewis is already an expert on “The Anarchy” (chapter 2) and the Roses…
A virtual tour of 17th-century London….

Nov 19, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, culture, Science

executions, Great Fire of London, mediaeval London, Robert Hubert, tours, virtual reality

I love virtual video tours of places and have just come upon an excellent one of mediaeval London. Well, 17th-century actually, but to my mind the scenes are appropriate for the 14th-15th centuries. You’ll find the tour here . Just scroll down the page a little. It’s well worth a look.
Thomas Seymour, Princess Elizabeth and hanky-panky….

Nov 18, 2022

anniversaries, buildings

Admiral Thomas Seymour, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, executions, Mary I, Sudeley Castle, Suzannah Lipscomb, treason

Was Thomas Seymour guilty of any hanky-panky with his young stepdaughter Princess Elizabeth (to become Elizabeth I)? Well, yes, I don’t think there’s any doubt of that, but there has to be doubt about the extent of the hanky-panky. She was very young, around thirteen, and he was thirty-eight, so it certainly wasn’t runaway youthful…
Joan/Joanne/Joanna Holland, Duchess of York

Nov 13, 2022

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, sources

Alianore Countess of March, Alice Fitzalan, Anne of Bohemia, Catherine de Roet, Duchess of Lancaster, Edmund of Langley, executions, Fitzhugh family, Froissart, Henry IV, Henry Scrope Baron Masham, Henry V, Isabella de Valois, Joan Holland, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, Order of the Garter, Philippa de Bryan, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, Sandal Castle, Sir Henry Bromflete, Southampton plot, stepchildren, Thomas Holland, Wales, widowhood

Joan Holland was born about 1380, one of the many children of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and his wife Alice Arundel (aka Fitzalan) and the second-eldest daughter. It seems to have been Kent’s policy to marry his daughters into every family that could conceivably inherit the throne. Accordingly, towards the end of…
Settling the Bosworth Debt….

Oct 31, 2022

anniversaries, buildings

“Perkin”, “Princes”, All Hallows, arrests, bigamy, Duke of York, Edward IV, Elizabeth of York, executions, ghosts, Halloween, Henry VII, Henry VIII, House of York, illegitimacy, Lord Chamberlain, masks, pre-contract, Richard III, Sir William Stanley, torture, Tower Hill, Tower of London, treachery, Westminster Hall

With the denizens of Hades gathering to do their worst, here is a horror tale of Sir William Stanley’s final Hallowe’en, when retribution snatches him at last. “Settling the Bosworth Debt” is the story of what happened to William when he was confronted by some terrible truths about Henry Tudor. Friday, 31 October, 1494, Hallowe’en,…
Isabel Mylbery – a possible daughter of King Edward IV

Oct 29, 2022

battles, genealogy, heraldry, law

Audley Family History Site, Blore Heath, Cornish rebellion, Deptford Bridge, Edward IV, executions, Garter King of arms, illegitimacy, Isabel Mylbery, Isabel of Castile, Isabel of York, John Lord Audley, John Touchet, Lord High Treasurer, offices of state, pardons, Richard III

Isabel Mylbery is quite obscure. The earliest evidence we have is from about 1510. Garter King-at-Arms recorded that she was ‘educata ut fert[ur] pre Regem E[dwardum] iiij’ which means, roughly, that she was brought up by Edward IV. She also bore lions and white roses in her coat of arms. None of this is remotely…
Edward IV’s “weird” death is listed…but his pointy shoes are even weirder…!

Oct 21, 2022

anniversaries, art, law

cartoons, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Malmsey, Poulaine shoes, royal deaths

An interesting article which includes George of Clarence and that butt of Malmsley. It also includes a (modernish) illustration of Edward IV that I hadn’t seen. I know I’ve written about pointy shoes before, but boy, those are SOME examples he’s wearing!
L’Erber – London Home to Warwick the Kingmaker and George Duke of Clarence

Oct 17, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources, travel

Anne Neville, Barnet, Checkers Yard, Coldharbour, Crowland Chronicle, Dowgate Hill, Earl of Oxford, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Great Fire of London, Henry Lord Montagu, Henry VIII, high treason, Isobel Neville, John Strype, Kingsford, l’Erber, London, Margaret of Salisbury, Nevilles, past maps, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Reformation, Reginald Cardinal Pole, Richard III, Richard III Society, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, River Thames, sanctuary, Sir Francis Drake, St. Martin’s, Stow’s Survey, Thames Street, Tower of London, Visscher Panorama of London, Wars of the Roses, Warwick Lane, William Latimer

My latest A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com post London before the Great Fire and much as Richard Neville ‘The Kingmaker’ and his family would have known it… L’Erber stood slightly to the north west of Coldharbour which is the large house seen here in middle of the picture and facing the Thames. No depiction of L’Erber…
The downfall of Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester.

Oct 3, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion

astrology, Beaumaris Castle, Chester Castle, Eleanor Cobham, executions, heresy, high treason, Humphrey of Gloucester, imprisonment, Isle of Man, John Duke of Bedford, John Home, Kenilworth Castle, Margery Jourdemayne, necromancy, Regency, Roger Bolingbroke, Thomas Southwell, trials, witchcraft

I have been trying to understand the downfall of Eleanor Cobham. Not because I plan to write about her (life is too short) but purely because I like to understand events clearly. Eleanor was, of course, the wife of Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, Henry VI‘s youngest and last surviving uncle. I have no doubt at…