Isle of Man
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In 1456 the aggressive King of Scots, James II, sent an armed expedition against the Isle of Man. As is well-known, Man was at this time a private lordship owned by the then Stanleys, who was known as ‘King of Man.’ Retaliation was swift and led by Stanley’s son, Thomas – yes, he of Bosworth…
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I have been trying to understand the downfall of Eleanor Cobham. Not because I plan to write about her (life is too short) but purely because I like to understand events clearly. Eleanor was, of course, the wife of Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, Henry VI‘s youngest and last surviving uncle. I have no doubt at…
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The O’Donnells, the Four Masters and the Personnel of the Wars of the Roses
“Perkin”, Annals of the Four Masters, Bishop of Annaghtown, Earl of Kildare, Edward IV, Harleian Manuscript 433, Henry O’Neill, Henry VI, Henry VII, horses, Ireland, Isle of Man, James IV, Meath, Niall Garbh O’Donnell, O’Donnells, O’Neills, Peter Hammond, Red Hugh O’Donnell, Richard Duke of York, Rosemary Horrox, Spain, Thomas Lord StanleyIn the context of the current search for the remains of the Red Hugh O’Donnell who died in Spain in 1602, I thought that readers Murrey and Blue might be interested in a few vaguely Wars-of-the-Roses-related snippets from the O’Donnell history of the fifteenth century. In 1434 Red Hugh’s predecessor Niall Garbh O’Donnell was captured…
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While researching fourteenth-century Northamptonshire, I happened upon Sir John Stanley (1350-1414). “Stanley’s father was Master-Forester of the Forest of Wirral, notorious for his repressive activities. Both Stanley and his older brother, William (who succeeded their father as Master-Forester), were involved in criminal cases which charged them with a forced entry in 1369 and in the…
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