Henry IV
-
The article that prompts this post is the first of three concerning the history of the House of Lancaster. There are some sweeping statements that are eminently challengeable, but then it’s Lancastrian about Lancastrians, so bias is bound to be present. The first Lancastrian monarch usurped the throne of his first cousin, Richard II,…
-
Ten facts about Westminster Abbey? Well yes, this article does indeed provide such a list, but I do have to find fault with some of its statements. For instance, the Boys in the Urn were probably murdered by Richard’s henchmen. With luck that urn will one day fall off its plinth and break – then…
-
A while ago, I talked about the non-existence of a short-lived child of Richard Duke of York and Cecily Neville called Joan of York, who mysteriously made it into Alison Weir’s royal genealogies, despite only ever appearing in someone’s self-made family tree from the 1960’s. Since then I have come across yet another non-existent child…
-
Richard II was ‘hugely unpopular’? Hm, there speaks a fan of the usurping House of Lancaster, methinks. And “….The tragic and short rule of Edward V started on April 9th 1483 on the death of his father, Edward IV. Young Edward would never really exercise power – within weeks, he had been taken into ‘protective’…
-
I always thought Starkey was a waspish prig (his public opinion of those who support Richard III is just as derogatory!) but having read this article, I think he’s slap-dash as well. Certainly he can’t be checking what goes out to herald the latest of his lectures – this one will no doubt manage…
-
When we buy a non-fiction book (in our case usually something to do with Richard III and the medieval period) we anticipate its arrival with some relish. This is how I felt when, after reading many praises for Peter Ackroyd’s History of England, I decided to buy Volume I online. It arrived this morning, and…
-
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…
-
Well, it has to be from Richard II, because I believe he was the first monarch to actually sign anything. But I’m not stating that as if it’s carved in stone! And the signatures I’m concerned with here are from Richard II to Henry VII, because their reigns cover the period in which I am…
-
Epiphany – medieval and now….
Anne of Bohemia, birthdays, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of Our Lady of the Pew, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Epiphany, Epiphany Rising, feast days, Gregorian Calendar, Henry IV, Julian Calendar, Magi, Peasants’ Revolt, Pontefract Castle, rebellion, Richard II, Shakespeare, Sir William Walworth, Smithfield, St. Edmund, St. Edward the Confessor, St. George, St. John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Twelfth Night, wassailing, Wat Tyler, Westminster Abbey, Wilton Diptych, yule logsAccording to the Oxford Dictionary, the following two definitions refer to the use of the word epiphany:- The manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12). Definition (1) A moment of sudden and great revelation/realisation. Definition (2) Epiphany has been a recognised feast of the Western Church since the 5th…
-
Recently, for the purposes of writing fiction, I had cause to check who was admitted to the Garter in 1387. (This is the sort of weird stuff I do all the time and helps explain why for me to write a book takes aeons.) Anyway, the simple answer is Edward of York (later 2nd Duke…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 