Germany
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Athelstan–Our Greatest Monarch?
“The last Kingdom”, Alfred, Anglo-Saxons, Athelstan, Bernard Cornwell, books, Brunaburh, Cheshire, Constantine II, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Eadgyth, Edward the Elder, Elizabeth I, Germany, House of Wessex, illegitimacy rumours, legal reforms, Malmesbury Abbey, novels, piety, royal burials, Scotland, St. Aldhelm, St. Cuthbert, Tom Holland, Venerable Bede, Vikings, YorkA recent poll searching for Britain’s ‘Greatest Monarch’, came up with the surprise winner of… drum roll, King Athelstan. Not that the Anglo-Saxon king wasn’t so great, but the winner is a little surprising since most people seem to have believed the ‘crown’ would go to Elizabeth I. (Yawn!) I hope the voters actually remembered…
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What has MKJ started?
Bonapartists, Bourbons, Brandons, Britain’s Real Monarch, Channel Four, Edward IV, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, France, Francisco Franco, Germany, Greys, Henry VIII, Holy Roman Empire, illegitimacy rumours, Jacobites, James VI/I, Mary I, Matt Baker, Michael Earl of Loudoun, Michael K Jones, Orleanists, Roman Emperors, Russia, Spain, Stewarts, Tony Robinson, wills, You TubeIf you watched Channel Four on the first Saturday evening in January 2003, then you will probably remember Michael K. Jones and Tony Robinson discussing Edward IV‘s possible illegitimacy, followed by Britain’s Real Monarch, an investigation into the King or Queen of England if Edward had not existed or been debarred, leading through the Poles…
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While the traditional Yule Log is associated with Great Britain – as its television broadcast/DVD version is associated with America – it seems to have originated in the misty past of Central Germany and Westphalia. It is certainly of pagan origin as are many of our Christian customs. To quote Sir James George Frazer in…
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While going through some of my old medieval research, I came upon a list that has given me pause to reconsider some of my descriptions of materials used for clothing. The list was in a paper read on 6th April 1911: XXII—A Wardrobe Account of 16-17 Richard II, 1393-4, by W. Paley-Baildon, Esquire., F.S.A. “….MATERIALS.…
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Leslau, Holbein, More and Clement
“Princes”, Dr. John Clement, Duchy of Lancaster, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Erasmus, esses, Fleet prison, fleuur-de-lys, flowers, Germany, Hans Holbein, Henry Patterson, Henry VIII, infrared photography, Jack Leslau, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Fisher, John Harris, jousting, Latin, Louvain, Matt Lewis, Mechelen, peonies, Pilgrimage of Grace, rebus, Richard III, Rowlandas Lockey, royal arms, Seneca, Sir Anthony Wingfield, Sir Edward Guildford, The Family of Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas More, Thomas Wolsey, Tower of London, Utopia, William CecilBefore I begin, I have two words of warning. The first is that a huge spoiler for my novels Loyalty and the sequel Honour unavoidably follows. Just so that you know! Secondly, the following is my telling of the theory researched and expounded by Jack Leslau, an amateur art enthusiast who believed that he stumbled…
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On 5th December 1484 Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull known as Summis desiderantes affectibus (“desiring with supreme ardour”). Its purpose was to suppress the practice of witchcraft by any necessary means. The following paragraph is taken from the 1928 English translation of it:- “….Many persons of both sexes, unmindful of their own salvation and straying…
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Shortly before Richard III’s remains were discovered, another ancient member of the English royalty was found–the Saxon Princess Eadgyth who became Queen of Germany in 930 through her marriage to King Otto. Her father was Edward the Elder and so she was Alfred the Great’s granddaughter. She died at around 30 and was buried at…
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Hoards of buried treasure are found fairly regularly, or so it seems, and when I recently saw a photograph of the Cuerdale hoard of Viking silver, dug from the bank of the River Ribble near Preston, Lancashire, it struck me that many of the items are so small and seemingly insignificant that if they had…
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