Hundred Years War
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“Matthew Ward is a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow, researching “The Culture of Loyalty in Fifteenth-Century England.” The project constitutes the first major attempt to define and understand political loyalty to the crown and secular lords in England, 1400-1500: how it was manifested; how it developed and how it was discussed in political and…
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Murrey and Blue interviews Michael K. Jones
“The King’s Mother”, “Tudors”, Aquitaine, BBC History Magazine, Castile, Chandos Herald, chivalry, Crecy, David Baldwin, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, Enrique of Trastamara, France, Froissart, Henry of Knighton, Henry VI, Henry VII, Hundred Years War, interviews, Jean II, John Gower, John of Gaunt, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Lords Appellant, Malcolm Underwood, Michael K Jones, Military tactics, Mortimers, Najera, Pedro I, Poitiers, Polydore Vergil, propaganda, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard III, siege of Limoges, St. John’s College Cambridge, Thomas Brinton, Thomas Walsingham, tyranny, Wars of the Roses, Westminster Hall, YorkistsWhich of the Black Prince’s military achievements is the most impressive and why? The main attraction in writing a biography of the Black Prince was to bring to life his martial exploits, for Edward of Woodstock, the eldest son of Edward III, captured the imagination of fourteenth century Europe. The chronicler Jean Froissart described him…
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You may know or suspect from a previous post in Murrey and Blue, that Sir James Tyrrell, Richard’s henchman, was a direct descendant of Sir Walter Tyrrell, the ‘Killer Baron’, who fled during a hunting expedition with King William II (Rufus) after shooting him with an arrow. It is not known whether this was an…
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“Margaret of Anjou (1429-82), Queen Consort of Henry IV” “This marriage was again part of a peace treaty that brought a temporary pause to the War of Roses (over the French crown).” The above is an excerpt from this website. I suppose a typo can be blamed for IV instead of VI? But the Wars…
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Unlocking the secrets of the Black Prince’s effigy A team of scientists and art historians has been attempting to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the Black Prince’s tomb. In this short video you can find out what they were up to and what they are hoping to discover. This investigation is one of a…
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Historical reconstruction showing the moat below the walls of Paris (left), the Bastille and the Porte Saint-Antoine (right) in 1420 We all know about the storming of the Bastille on 14th July, 1789, resulting in the continued annual celebration of the occasion throughout France. But the Bastille was a medieval fortress, and we, the English,…
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“King Edward III is remembered in history for starting the Hundred Years War, annexing large parts of France for England, as well as being the reigning king during the period of the Black Death. What he is infinitely less well-known for, is building a small royal residence at Rotherhithe in South East London, the remains…
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Which man fathered the first Beaufort….?
adultery, Arthurian legend, Blanche of Lancaster, Bordeaux, Catherine de Roet, Catherine of Valois, dysentery, Edmund “Tudor”, Edward III, Fourth Lateran Council, Geoffrey Chaucer, Henry IV, Henry VII, Hundred Years War, incest, John Earl of Somerset, John of Gaunt, Margaret Beaufort, Nirac de Bayanne, Owen Tudor, Phillipa de Roet, Richard II, Sir Hugh Swynford, Sir Robert KindlesHere is the scene. The mother with her newly born child, her ladies, the air of relief and happiness. But presumably she is a faithful wife, and her delighted husband will soon be summoned to see his new offspring. No doubt he hopes for a son. But what if she isn’t a faithful wife, and…
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From time to time I have alluded rather obliquely to the fact that I see strong similarities between late 15th century English politics and early 21st century American politics and that is among the reasons I think that Richard III’s story needs to be told, and told NOW especially. I had been sitting on those…
