health
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Vervain (Verbena officinalis) is another fascinating medieval herb with a rich history! Here are some interesting facts about vervain: Magical and Superstitious Uses Sacred herb: Vervain was considered a sacred herb in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and was associated with the gods. Protection and purification: The herb was believed to offer protection against evil…
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The general belief is that the dreaded sweating sickness arrived in England along with Henry Tudor and his French army. Maybe it did. Certainly it became rife after Bosworth and he entered London. It was a fearsome disease, worse even than the Black Death, for you could be hale and hearty at breakfast and dead…
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It has been argued before, especially by the late John Ashdown-Hill, that Richard’s sleepless nights and so-called ghastly appearance before Bosworth were caused by the sweating sickness. It has also been more generally understood that it was Henry VII and his army of foreign invaders who brought and spread the disease, which was new to…
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Does anyone know what would happen if a newly succeeding medieval king were too unwell to undergo the rigours of a coronation? Would such a ceremony merely be postponed in the hope of his recovery? What would happen if he didn’t recover, but eventually died still without having had a coronation? Did the omission somehow…
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In this time of Covid 19, when we don’t know why it seems to affect men more than women, and some ethnicities but not others, it is interesting that back in the 14th century the tsunami of the Great Pestilence of 1348 was followed by lesser waves that differed in many ways from the original.…
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We’re always inclined to think that medieval folk who fell mentally ill were treated barbarically. I think that accolade goes to a later period, when the inmates of Bedlam were laughed at by the paying public. Here is a link to the National Archives to an account of an actual case from 1383, that of…
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Digging up Britain’s Past: By George, I think she’s got it
“The King’s Great Matter”, Alex Langlands, annulment, Catherine of Aragon, Channel Five, devalued coinage, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Edward VI, Elsyng Palace, George Bernard Shaw, health, Helen Skelton, Henry VIII, Llantrisant, London, Old Coppernose, Pygmalion, Rievaulx Abbey, Royal Mint, silver platingThis second episode of this Channel Five series, presented by Alex Langlands and Helen Skelton, took us to Elsyng Palace, a North London house built by Henry VIII but with question marks about its precise venue until recently. Very unusually, the presenters clearly stated that the “King’s Great Matter” concerned not a divorce from Catherine…
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Do not read on if you’re squeamish about blood-sucking parasites. No, I’m not referring to Henry VII, but his equally usurping Lancastrian predecessor, Henry IV. When we think of medieval coronations, and see contemporary illustrations, we see the glamour, colour and solemnity of the occasion, hear the singing, smell the incense, observe the wonderful robes…
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http://ricardianregister.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/did-king-edward-iv-have-type-2-diabetes.html No doubt many of you have read this article before (see link above), but I had not. It’s very interesting to ponder whether Edward IV may have suffered from Type 2 Diabetes. I have to say that his portrait seems a prime example of the “fair, fat and forty” stereotype (of which I too…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 