France
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I wrote a blog post a good while ago about the love of lamprey in mediaeval times and ever since then I have wanted to try it. Well, in the summer of 2017, I finally got the chance. We were visiting Bordeaux and had taken a river boat cruise on the Garonne river – the…
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Henri IV that is. We have written about him before but, this time, we even have a recording of the facial reconstruction process.
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Historical reconstruction showing the moat below the walls of Paris (left), the Bastille and the Porte Saint-Antoine (right) in 1420 We all know about the storming of the Bastille on 14th July, 1789, resulting in the continued annual celebration of the occasion throughout France. But the Bastille was a medieval fortress, and we, the English,…
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ENGLAND’S MINORITY KINGS 1216-1483
Alice Perrers, Anne Curry, Annette Carson, books, Chrimes, codicil, David Carpenter, Edmund of Langley, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward the Black Prince, Edward V, Elizabeth Woodville, France, Great Council, Henry Chichele, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VI, Honorius II, Humphrey of Gloucester, John, John Ashdown-Hill, John of Bedford, John of Gaunt, John Russell, Lancastrians, Lord Guala, Lord Protector of the Realm, Louis VIII, Magna Carta, minority kings, Parliamentary Roll, precedent, Privy Council, Ralph Griffiths, Regency, Richard II, Richard III, Roskell, Thomas of woodstock, William MarshallIntroduction This essay was prompted by a sentence in John Ashdown-Hill’s latest book ‘The Private Life of Edward IV’: “ According to English custom, as the senior living adult prince of the blood royal, the duke of Gloucester should have acted as Regent — or Lord Protector as the role was then known in England…
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One of the most fascinating (and bloody) periods of English history is The Anarchy, when Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I (he who might well be found sometime soon in the ruins of Reading Abbey) fought her cousin Stephen of Blois (thought to be in Faversham Abbey) for the English throne. Battles raged across the…
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Did anyone watch the second episode of Lucy Worsley’s fib-busting series last night? I didn’t quite make it to the end because I was so tired, but saw enough to understand that she did to James VII/II exactly what she did with Richard III. By that I mean she concentrated on the deeds/misdeeds of the…
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Would you like a few sniggers and outright guffaws? Yes? Then I have just the book for you—Lives of England’s Monarchs by H. E. Lehman. I was searching for something specific, and for some reason Google took me first to page 182… “…Edward [IV] was a large man possessed of great leadership ability and personal…
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‘The Hollow Crown’: A Poisoned Chalice or the Ultimate Prize?
Azincourt, Battle of Bosworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Burgundy, disability, Earl of Oxford, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Woodville, First Battle of St. Albans, France, George Duke of Clarence, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VII, Hollow Crown, Humphrey of Gloucester, Jack Cade, Lord Clifford, Macbeth, Margaret of Anjou, Morton’s Fork, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard III, Shakespeare, Stanleys, Wakefield, War of the RosesOriginally posted on Giaconda's Blog: ? Benedict Cumberbatch as Shakespeare’s Richard III ? I am currently watching the second instalment of Shakespeare’s history plays, concerning ‘The Wars of the Roses’ as interpreted by the BBC’s condensed and somewhat, contorted adaptation. The first part of ‘The Hollow Crown’ covered Shakespeare’s history plays: Richard II, Henry…
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It would seem that pirate queens existed long before the 17th/18th century, the Spanish Main and swash-buckling as we know it. There was a certain French noblewoman in the 14th century who took her revenge upon the French for executing her husband, and did all she could with her pirate fleet to help the England…
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I came across a conversation recently where people were regretting the early death of the Black Prince, because apparently everything would have been much better had he lived. Unfortunately, even people interested in English history tend not to appreciate that at the end of Edward III’s reign England was 1. losing the war with France…
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