France
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Good Friday falls today and in commemoration of the crucifixion of Christ we offer several meat free loosely-based receipts from the medieval manuscript Le Menagier de Paris or The Goodman of Paris. First published anonymously in 1391, it is amusingly similar to Mrs. Beeton’s famous 19th century book of household tips covering diverse subjects such…
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Aha, so Elizabeth Woodvile was a witch, and so was her mother, Jacquette of Luxembourg. Well, everyone knew that already, because Philippa Gregory wrote about it in great detail. So it just has to be true! Anyway, joking aside, this History extra article is interesting for the information it gives about what the English…
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Matthew Lewis on YouTube: 2) Mancini
“I know nothing”, “Princes”, Armstrong, Arthur “Tudor”, Beaugency, bigamy, Charles VIII, Crowland Chronicle, Domenico Mancini, Dr. John Argentine, Duke of Orleans, Edward IV, evidence, executions, feuds, France, George Duke of Clarence, gossip, Hastings, Henry VII, illegitimacy, Italian merchants, Italy, Lady Eleanor Talbot, language, Lord High Admiral, Lord High Constable, Lord Protector of the Realm, Louis XI, minority kings, Parliament, plots, pre-contract, propaganda, Robert Stillington, sickness, Stony Stratford, translation, WydevillesHere is the second in my series of Top 10’s. This one is focussing on Dominic Mancini’s account of the events of 1483. It’s a hugely problematical source, both in terms of Mancini himself, who spoke no English, had no grasp of English politics and very limited sources, and in terms of the current translation…
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(Saint) Margaret of Wessex, great-granddaughter of Ethelred Unraed, granddaughter of Edmund Ironside and great-niece of (St.) Edward the Confessor, died just three days after her husband, Malcolm III was killed at Alnwick in 1093. She, as eventual heiress to the House of Wessex, was the ancestor of every subsequent Scottish monarch except Donald Bain, Malcolm’s…
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Devon Roses
Act of Accord, Cecily Duchess of York, Cicely Plantagenet, Countess of Warwick, Devon and Cornwall Group Richard III Society, Edward V, Elizabeth Lambert, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, France, Henry VI, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Margaret of Anjou, Margaret of Burgundy, Palace of Westminster, reburial, Richard III, Sandra heath wilson, The Legendary Ten Seconds, Wakefield, William Duke of SuffolkDevon Roses 2019 catalogue number R16 To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Devon & Cornwall branch of the Richard III Society Songs recorded from 2015 to 2019 at Rock Lee & Other World Studios The lady singers of the Legendary Ten Seconds: Elaine Churchward vocals Jules Jones vocals Pippa West vocals Bridgit England…
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Plantagenet Ireland and Poynings’ Law
“Lambert Simnel”, anecdotes, Anglesey, Art MacMurrough, Beaumaris, Charles I, coronations, Crown in Ireland Act, Drogheda Castle, Dublin Cathedral, Earls of Desmond, Earls of Ormond, Earls of Ulster, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edmund of Rutland, Edward Bruce, Edward II, Edward of Warwick, English Privy Seal Letters, executions, finance, France, George I, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Ireland, Irish Parliament, James VI/I, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, justiciar of Ireland, Leinster, Lieutenant of Ireland, London, Ludford Bridge, Nigel Saul, numismatics, O’Neills, Parliament, Poynings’ Law, Ralph Griffiths, repeal, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Scotland, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Sir Edward Poynings, Sir William de la Pole, Spain, St. James’ Park, Stoke Field, Thomas Despenser, Thomas Holland, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, turnips, Ulster, Ulster plantation, Wales, War of the Three KingdomsIt is fair to say that most medieval English kings had little interest in Ireland except as a source of revenue. (The same was probably true about England and Wales but it seems too cynical to say it, and at least they did live there.) Prior to the Bruce invasion, Ireland yielded between £5000 and…
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“…. An army may look splendid but if it is not fed it will not fight and if it cannot drink it will not be happy. As such when Henry V of England rekindled the Hundred Years War 600 years ago in a bid to reclaim his, “just rights and inheritances” in France, wine (and beer)…
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Henry VI: saint or sinner?
“Nicholas of the Tower”, Adam Moleyns, Archbishop Kemp, aristocratic lawlessness, Azincourt, Bertram Wolffe, biographies, Calais, Cardinal Beaufort, Charles VI, Charles VII, Christine Carpenter, debt, deposition, Duke of Orleans, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Eton, feudalism, First Battle of St. Albans, France, Great Council, Harfleur, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Humphrey of Gloucester, Hundred Years War, impeachment, insanity, Ireland, Jack Cade, John Blacman, John Duke of Bedford, John Duke of Suffolk, John Harvey, John Watts, Kent, King’s College Cambridge, Lord Protector of the Realm, majority, Margaret d’Anjou, Normandy, Parliamentary Roll, Polydore Vergil, Ralph Griffiths, Ralph Lord Cromwell, Readeption, Richard Duke of York, treason, Valois, Wakefield, William Duke of Suffolk, William TailboysA gentle and devotional life About seventy years ago, the historian John Harvey wrote this in an essay about King Henry VI: “The life and death, and the thwarting of his noble designs are one (sic) of the sorriest tragedies of English history. He was a victim of forces outside his control, for whose existence…
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Ten medieval scandals….!
Alice Perrers, Bal des Ardents, Banquet of Chestnuts, Benedict IX, Borgias, Cadaver Synod, Charles VI, Charles VIII, cross-dressing, Edward II, Edward III, Formosus, France, Heloise, Ingeborg of Denmark, Isabella de Valois, Italian Wars, Italy, John Rykener, Louis d’ Orleans, Medici bank, Papacy, Peasants’ Revolt, Peter Abelard, Phillip II, Phillip IV, Piero de Medici, prostitution, Richard Lyons, scandals, Stephen VI, Tour de Nesle, Vatican City, William Latimer“….What are the scandals that made headlines in the Middle Ages? Kings and Popes would be involved in some of the craziest stories of sex and corruption that would make today’s news seem quite tame. From a cross-dressing prostitute to the trial of a dead Pope, here are ten almost-unbelievable medieval scandals….” Well, you’ll find…
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