France
-
For some years I have set my novels in the last years of Plantagenet reign, or the first years of the Tudor dynasty. William the Conqueror Many authors of historical fiction prefer to set their books in the Georgian or Regency periods, but tor me the Plantagenet dynasty was one of the most interesting…
-
We all like a good TV series, especially if it has a mediaeval setting, but does anyone remember the French series from the early 70s, concerning Maurice Druon’s books, The Accursed Kings/Les Rois Maudits? The books deal with the French monarchy in the 14th century, and are (they say) another inspiration for Game of Thrones. This Wikipedia…
-
It happened in Fontainebleau on this day in 1539. The groom was Cibaud de Tivoley, Seigneur de Brenieu, and the bride was described as “Marguerite de la Pole – Suffolk”. Two of the guests were Eleanor of Austria, wife of Francois I, and Gabriel, Marchesse di Saluzzo, both of whom were cousins of Lord Richard…
-
Leicester City have finally clinched this season’s Premiership, despite having been in a relegation place at the time of Richard’s reburial, but his sporting influence clearly hasn’t stopped there. The Tigers have reached both a domestic and a European semi-final, beating French opposition, whilst Mark Selby is the snooker World Champion again.
-
This portrait of Richard II in Westminster Abbey is familiar. What is less well-known is that it is heavily ‘restored’ over the years, most recently in 1866. In Richard II, Manhood, Youth and Politics, 1377-99, Christopher Fletcher reveals that when examined under infra-red reflectography the king’s beard was much more developed, covering much of his…
-
Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog: ? Douce Dame Jolie was composed in the C14th by Guillaume de Machaut who lived between 1300 and 1377 around the area of Rheims in France. It follows the conventions of the ‘Ars Nova’ style which flourished in France and the Low Countries during the C14th and the structure…
-
Genealogy Francois I of France died in the first quarter of 1547, after a reign of over thirty years, leaving only one legitimate son, Henri II. Whilst thought of as a cultured monarch, a patron of the arts and a linguistic reformer, he took an ambiguous approach to religious reform, (in which his sister Marguerite…
-
Sherlock: The Mystery of the Princes
“confessions”, “Lambert Simnel”, “Perkin”, “Princes”, Anthony Woodville, Dan Jones, Dighton, Dr. John Argentine, Dr.Watson, Edward of Middleham, Forrest, France, Green, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VII, illegitimacy, John Morton, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Polydore Vergil, pre-contract, Richard III, Scotland, Sherlock Holmes, Sir James Tyrrell, Sir Robert Brackenbury, Stony Stratford, Thomas Lord Stanley, Thomas MoreOriginally posted on Giaconda's Blog: Sherlock and Watson are looking for a killer. There has to be a killer or killers because Dan Jones said that ‘The Princes Must Die’ (episode three of Britain’s Bloodiest Crown) and after the Christmas special they are able to time travel which is just as well as they…
-
Forgive me if I’m a little bemused. This picture is Richard. OK? But he’s dressed to look like a clown, with what looks like breast armour representing his innards. Hmmm. As for the weapon, I’m sure Richard would have been pleased to arm his men with such things. More hmmmmm…. Well, the French do have…
-
It can be said that every country that has ever had a monarch still has a hypothetical monarch, to whom the same selection rules apply, unless the whole family in question has been extirpated. The latter is almost impossible to achieve, as the cases of Russia and Ethiopia prove. There are probably collateral descendants of…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 