Ian Mortimer
-
It used to be suggested that Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, was nominated as Richard II’s successor in the Parliament of 1385, but this was questioned by historians due to lack of supporting evidence. It appears that March was in fact so nominated in the Parliament of 1386. (Source – (Ian Mortimer, ‘Richard II and…
-
Here is a question that has bugged me for some time now. If, during medieval centuries, a journey could be made around the English coast, rather than across country, was the sea option likely to be chosen? I will take a particular example. It’s from the 14th century, but could be from the 13th or…
-
Why I dislike John of Gaunt….
Aldersgate, Anya Seton, Beaufort family., Canterbury Cathedral, Castile, changelings, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, entail mail, France, George Kay, Henry IV, Henry Percy, heresy trial, Hundred Years War, Ian Mortimer, Joan of Kent, John of Gaunt, John Wycliffe, Kennington, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Marshalsea Prison, Mortimers, Parliament, Peter Courtenay, Phillipa of Ulster, Phillippa of Hainault, Richard II, riots, Savoy Palace, The Fears of Henry IV, William of WykehamAs Ricardians, we know very well now, history can be twisted to suit. The matter of those strawberries and what happened next, for instance. I mean, the different versions are legion, even to the point of whether or not Thomas, Lord Stanley was ever present at all, let alone injured in a scrap and obliged…
-
Here’s how the great House of Mortimer petered out and was supplanted by a Lancastrian usurper who killed the reigning king and stole his throne. Then, under the House of York, the House of Mortimer triumphed again….until, in 1485, along came another Lancastrian usurper to kill the reigning king and steal the throne….. Never trust…
-
Do not read on if you’re squeamish about blood-sucking parasites. No, I’m not referring to Henry VII, but his equally usurping Lancastrian predecessor, Henry IV. When we think of medieval coronations, and see contemporary illustrations, we see the glamour, colour and solemnity of the occasion, hear the singing, smell the incense, observe the wonderful robes…
-
Versailles
Carlos II, confusion, Eustache Dauger, executions, fictionalisation, George Blagden, Henry Pole the Younger, Henry VIII, Ian Mortimer, Inside Versailles, James IV, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kate Williams, Kathryn Warner, l’affaire des poisons, la Voisin, Louis XII, Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Man in the Iron Mask, Margaret “Tudor”, Maria Theresa, Marie Louise d’ Orleans, Mary “Tudor”, poison, VersaillesThree series of this Canale Plus production, showing a charismatic Louis XIV (George Blagden) decreeing a new palace outside Paris, have now been shown in the UK and it seems that a fourth will not now be made. It has much in common with “The Tudors ” in that it has been enjoyable from a…
-
Today marks the anniversary of the death in 1402 of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, an undervalued and almost forgotten prince. Edmund deserves his place in history. Without him the House of York itself would never have existed, and its later members, who everyone finds so interesting, would never have been born.…
-
Edmund Mortimer 5th Earl of March
Anne Stafford, Battle of Shrewsbury, Constance of York, Earl of Northumberland, Earldom of March, Edmund Mortimer, Edmund of Langley, Harfleur, Harlech Castle, Henry IV, Henry V, Humphrey of Gloucester, Ian Mortimer, Iolo Goch, Ireland, John Holland, King’s Council, Mortimers, Normandy, Owain Glyn Dwr, Pevensey Castle, plot, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, Roger Mortimer, Sir Hugh Waterton, Sir John Mortimer, Sir Thomas Grey, Southampton, Thomas Earl of Surrey, Thomas of woodstock, Tripartite Alliance, Wales, Windsor CastleEdmund Mortimer, later 5th Earl of March, was born on 6 November 1391. His parents were Roger Mortimer, Earl of March (1374-1398) and his wife, the well-connected Alianore Holland, daughter of Thomas Earl of Kent. In the view of many people, including the Westminster Chronicler, and the Welsh poet Iolo Goch (c1320-1398) Earl Roger was…
-
Above are the Venerable Bede and King Cnut, who are concerned in the following extract from Medieval Man by Frederick Harrison:- “…Only Bede wrote about such subjects as astronomy and geography; and his knowledge of these was conditioned by the teaching of the Church. As time went on, as much reliance was placed on charms as…