Henry IV
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Unfortunately this link does not concern itself with Richard III, but it is very interesting anyway. It seems that such coins of the first usurping Lancastrian, Henry IV, are rarer than those of the unfortunate Richard whose throne and life he took. Sound familiar? Except, of course, that in the case of Richard III, just…
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It is not widely know that Richard II had a half-brother on his father’s side. This was Sir Roger of Clarendon, son of Edward of Woodstock ‘the Black Prince’ by one Edith de Willesford. Roger was almost certainly older than Richard II. In 1372 he received an annuity from Edward III of £100. He was…
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It is a truth that one learns something new every day. For me today it is an explanation of the phrase ‘Year of Grace’. I had not really given it any thought at all, imagining it simply meant the year granted by God’s Grace. Well, in point of fact, it does mean that, but not…
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Once again, while rooting around for information that might be of use in a book I intend to write about figures in the court of Richard II, I have found an interesting snippet. This time my thoughts are jolted with regard to the name of Richard III’s horse, White Surrey. I have never particularly liked…
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TREASON 1 – The Merciless Parliament 1388
Alexander Neville Archbishop of York, Bellamy, Bishop of Chichester, Black Death, Chrimes, Chris Givern-Wilson, Dafydd ap Gryffudd, Edward II, Edward III, executions, Frederic Maitland, Glorious Revolution, Henry de Bracton, Henry IV, Hugh le Despenser, John Blake, John Carey, John Holt, Lords Appellant, Magna Carta, Mark Ormrod, Merciless Parliament, Michael de la Pole, Nicholas Brembre, Nigel Saul, Peasants’ Revolt, Richard II, Richard of arundel, Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland, Robert Tresilian, Roger Mortimer, Sir James Berners, Sir John Beauchamp, Sir John Salisbury, Sir Simon Burley, Sir William wallace, Thomas Arundel, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, Thomas of Warwick, Thomas of woodstock, Thomas Usk, treason, Treason Acts, William Burgh, William de la Pole, Wonderful ParliamentIntroduction Treason is a terrible crime. It denotes a betrayal so wicked as to be unforgivable. In medieval England a traitor was executed with the maximum of corporeal pain and all his goods and chattels were forfeited to the crown, thus disinheriting his heirs and successors forever. Henry de Bracton a thirteenth century English jurist,…
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Henry IV added these words to Richard II’s legitimisation of his half-siblings in 1407, when he had four healthy sons and two daughters. So what was the Beaufort family situation in the year that their claim to the throne was disregarded? JOHN, MARQUIS OF DORSET AND SOMERSET was about 36, a married father of five.…
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This portrait of Richard II in Westminster Abbey is familiar. What is less well-known is that it is heavily ‘restored’ over the years, most recently in 1866. In Richard II, Manhood, Youth and Politics, 1377-99, Christopher Fletcher reveals that when examined under infra-red reflectography the king’s beard was much more developed, covering much of his…
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Yet again the rumour about whether or not Edmund of Langley was the father of Richard of Conisburgh. The following article tells a fascinatingly true story of love, betrayal, treachery, revenge and just about everything else of that nature. How anyone cannot be riveted by 14th-15th century England, I really do not know. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/14337725.Nostalgia__The_legacy_of_Edmund/