Henry VI
-
DUKE RICHARD OF YORK (1) : the man who would be king
“Beauforts”, Cecily Neville, Edward IV, Edward of Norwich, Gascony, Henry V, Henry VI, John, John Duke of Bedford, John Duke of SomersetCharles VII, John Earl of Shrewsbury, Lancastrians, Margaret of Anjou, Normandy, Order of the Garter, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl of Cambridge, William Duke of SuffolkOn the 10th of October 1460, Richard Plantagenet 3rd duke of York walked into Westminster Hall wearing the full arms of England undifferenced. After a moment, he put his hand on the empty throne. When asked if he wished to see the king, he replied “I know of no one in the realm who would…
-
Well, perhaps ‘makeover’ isn’t quite right, because he’s been flattered by Leonardo da Vinci’s The Musician. See above. There again, perhaps I do George an injustice by saying he’s been flattered, because we don’t know what he looked like, only that he had Edward IV and Richard III for brothers. So, I think it would…
-
Why lineage still matters in battle
“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, Battle of Bosworth, Blanche of Lancaster, Cnut, Earl of Oxford, Edmund Mortimer, Edward I, Edward IV, Edward VI, Emma of Normandy, Ethelred II, Hastings, Henry I, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, House of York, James VII/II, Jane, Joan of Acre, Mary I, Matilda, Richard II, Richard III, Stephen, William I, William IIIThe crown of England, among others, has often been claimed in battle or by other forceful means. However, to exercise such a claim, it is necessary to persuade a challenger’s military followers that he has a dynastic claim of sorts, even when this is greatly exaggerated or totally spurious. Thus William I, the Conqueror or…
-
As we have observed before, Shakespeare’s plays tend to be historically inaccurate but they make good cultural history for his own lifetime. As an example, we took King Lear (probably written 1605-6), in which Cordelia was executed for political reasons, something that almost never happened to women before 1536, in England or Scotland. Similarly, the…
-
What makes a good medieval king?
Charter of Liberties, Coronation, Coronation Oath, divine right, dynastic succession, Edgar the Peaceable, Edward II, Edward III, Henry I, Henry VI, Ian Mortimer, Kathryn Warner, kingship, Magna Carta, Mel Gibson, Order of the Garter, Richard II, Richard III, Round Table, Three Estates, William I, WitangemotIntroduction Why is Edward 1 considered a great king? That is a question that has haunted me ever since I fluffed it in an O level’ exam more than fifty summers ago. My answer proved that a good memory is better than thinking it would be all right on the day. By chance, I recently…
-
I am sure we have all read the story of a bathing servant, Owain Tudor, who then emerged from the water in even fewer clothes than Fitzwilliam Darcy, watched by the widowed and besotted Queen, Catherine de Valois. The story goes on to relate that they married, had two sons and possibly more children. He…
-
“For though I dare myself speak what seems to me to be the truth, the poor dare not do so.” – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in a statement to Henry VI, 1440 The Yorkists seem unique, almost tantalizingly modern, in their use of populist rhetoric during the Wars of the Roses. Of course, they were…
-
Who takes the ultimate responsibility for events in late Medieval England? According to the Cairo-dwellers, from 1483 to August 1485, the answer is the King (Richard III), whether he knew what happened or not. According to the same people, the answer from 1471 to 1483 isn’t the King (Edward IV) but the Duke of Gloucester…
-
Richard III really will have to try harder if he is going to live up to that interesting reputation of his. After all, what good is a serial incestor if all he does is simply marry his cousin (with a Papal dispensation) which occurs all the time nowadays anyway – without the Papal dispensation? And…
-
Something happened to the British kingdoms just half a century after Bosworth. From 1536, the second “Tudor” (and his like-minded nephew James V) began to execute women for political offences, a practice unknown hitherto. There had been exceptions such as the St. Brice’s Day Massacre in 1002, although Ethelred had neither judged nor attainted his…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 