Henry IV
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We always bunch the participants in the Peasants’ Revolt together as something akin to Bulwer-Lytton’s great unwashed . But were they the great unwashed? No, according to new research. (See https://theconversation.com/who-were-the-peasants-of-the-1381-peasants-revolt-new-database-has-answers-278011.) Many of them were almost wealthy by 14th-century standards, and women played a great part in what happened. What they didn’t have was armour!…
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This link https://www.thecollector.com/british-royal-melodramas/ is an interesting accompaniment to your morning tea/coffee, and it’s Number Four in the list, Cousins in Conflict: Wars of the Roses, that will interest Ricardians the most. So I’ll deal with that and not the others, which are yours to read as you please. Two King Richards figure in the commentary,…
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The following contains my comments on this review (https://www.pressreader.com/uk/yorkshire-post-yp-magazine/20260124/282218017200594) of the book “The Eagle and the Hart” by Helen Castor. The reviewer (Greg Wright of YP Magazine) remarks that the “dazzling [book] has the pace of a thriller”. Well, it’s certain a work of fiction. Here is a small extract of the review, to set…
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“….Richard II is one of the Bard’s history plays, the others being Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV Part 2 and Henry V….” (From https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-weekend-witness-south-africa-9we6/20250726/281646786186296) Wot, no Richard III! 😮And this glaring omission when heading the given list of leading actors in these plays is Benedict Cumberbatch, who played—ta-ra!—Richard III! Well, the Pressreader writer of…
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We all take for granted that the hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall (see https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/westminsterhall/architecture/the-hammer-beam-roof-/) is a true masterpiece of medieval workmanship and innovation. Many of us know that the transformation of the (then) huge building was at the instigation of Richard II. But how many of us know of a painting that captures a fleeting…
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Six (or seven?) marriages but only one husband (or two?)….!
1st Duke of Milan, 4th Earl of Kent, Austin Friars London, Bourne Abbey in Lincolnshire, Constance of York, dowries, Edmund Holand 4th Earl of Kent, Gian Galeazzo, Henry IV, Henry VII, John Beaufort 1st Earl Somerset, John Holand 1st Earl of Huntingdon 1st Duke of Exeter, Lucia Visconti Countess of Kent, Mary de Bohun, Minories, Richard II, Southwark Cathedral, St Mary Overy, The Lancashire Holandsv, the siege of BréhatYou have no doubt heard of the Minories. “….The Order of the Sorores Minores, to which the abbey of the Minores in London belonged, was founded by St Clara of Assisi in Italy, and claimed Palm Sunday, March 18th 1212, as the date of its origin….” More popularly referred to as the Minories, in the…
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Yesterday I wrote about the 1402 visit to England of the beleaguered Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, see https://murreyandblue.org/2024/12/14/in-1400-england-played-host-to-a-byzantine-emperor/. He was travelling around the western kingdoms desperately seeking support because he was having immense difficulty fending off the encroaching Ottomans. But I have now learned that it was probably an event much further back from…
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In the above image Bolingbroke/Henry IV looks as if the crown (for which he’d murdered the true king, Richard II) is prone to slipping off his unworthy head! No one else in the picture looks particularly comfortable either. Oh, dear. Please relax, for I’m not going to say anything more about this. Honest. My hobby…
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Unwarranted praise for the first Lancastrian usurper….!
14th century England, absolute ruler, Agnes Lancecrona, Anne of Bohemia, Anne of Bohemia’s letter, constitutional monarch, Helen Castor, Henry IV, Isabella of Valois queen of Richard II, John of Gaunt, Kristen L Geaman, Lords Appellant, Peasants’ Revolt 1381, Richard II, Richard III, Sir Simon Burley, usurpation, Wenceslas IVPlease have patience with me now, because I’m about to remount yesterday’s hobby horse, but as it concerns the arrival of the usurping House of Lancaster on the throne of England, it’s relevant to Ricardians—by that I mean we supporters of Richard III. There are other Ricardians too, of course, and they are loyal to…
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The Duchy of Lancaster controversy that began in the 14th century….
“Tudors”, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Catherine of Valois, Constance of Castile, Duchy of Lancaster, Edmund Mortimer 3rd Earl of March, Edward III, Edward III’s entail, Henry IV, Henry IV Part I Shakespeare, Henry V, Henry VII, House of Lancaster, John of Gaunt, Katherine of Valois, Lionel of Clarence, Lords Appellant, Owen Tudor, Philippa of Clarence, Richard II, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Sir Simon Burley, usurpers“….The Duchy of Lancaster came to the Crown in controversy and it’s still making headlines today….” If you want to read about the duchy, its history and what’s happening now, see here https://www.duchyoflancaster.co.uk/. But my purpose here is to unpick certain untruths about the duchy that are constantly and unfairly stitched upon the memory of…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 