John of Gaunt

Haunted by the Headless Earl….!

Dec 31, 2016

Uncategorized

executions, ghosts, Henry IV, John of Gaunt, Lords Appellant, Richard II, Richard of arundel, Thomas Earl of Gloucester

This marvellous illustration is called Headless Horseman Speedy by Jonake920 I love a ghost story on New Year’s Eve, and so here is one to send some shivers down your back. No, it is not a sample of my fiction-writing—well, not quite—but is actually said to have happened back at the end of the 14th…
Which man fathered the first Beaufort….?

Sep 24, 2016

genealogy

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 Kindles

Here 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…
Tales of a Ricardian Traveler – Debunking a Myth at Dartington Hall

Aug 11, 2016

buildings, travel

“Tudor” propaganda, 1475 invasion of France, Anne Holland, Anne of Exeter, Anne St. Leger, Azincourt, Barnet, Cambridge, Canterbury Cathedral, cinquefoil, Dartington Hall, Devon, Edmund Crouchback, Edward I, Edward IV, Edward the Black Prince, Eleanor Cobham, Eleanor of Provence, emblems, Epiphany Rising, Henry Holland Duke of Exeter, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Joan of Kent, John Ashdown-Hill, John Holland, John of Gaunt, Lancastrians, Margaret Beaufort, MI5, Richard II, Richard III, roses, Sir Thomas St. Leger, Southampton plot, St. Paul’s, summary executions, white hart

Originally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS: Lady on Horseback, mid-15th c., British Museum Dartington Hall, near Totnes in Devon and just southeast of Dartmoor National Park, represents a uniquely British form of historical contradiction. It is both medieval, having parts of a Grade I-listed late 14th century manor house, and modern, being the current home of…
TWO BRIDES FOR TWO BROTHERS

Jul 29, 2016

genealogy

Anne Neville, Constanza of Castile, denialists, Edmund of Langley, Eleanor of Provence, George Duke of Clarence, Henry III, Hicks, Howard Keel, incest, Isabel of Castile, Isobel Neville, John of Gaunt, Louis IX, Richard III, Richard of Cornwall, Sanchia of Provence

‘Did Richard III Marry His Sister?’ Lurid headlines blared off a rag on sale during Richard’s re-interment week in March 2015. A certain anti-Richard professor was, once again, insisting that because Isabel Neville was sister to Anne Neville and married to Richard’s brother George, that made Richard Isabel’s ‘brother’ and therefore his union…
Richard and “Incest”

Apr 28, 2016

law

Affinity, Anne Beauchamp, Anne Neville, canon law, Cecily Neville the Younger, Constanza of Castile, denialists, Edmund of Langley, George Duke of Clarence, Henry Duke of Warwick, Hicks, incest, Isabel of Castile, John of Gaunt, Marie Barnfield, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, sibling double marriages

In BBC History, Richard III Special Edition, Professor Hicks returns to his theory that Richard III’s marriage to Anne Neville was incestuous because of the prior marriage of his brother, George Clarence, to Isabel Neville. I have to confess to surprise that a historian of Professor Hicks’ fame and academic stature is still chasing this…
Richard’s great-grandfather (?) and the origin of the House of York

Mar 19, 2016

genealogy

Castile, Edmund of Langley, Edward III, Henry IV, Isabel of Castile, John of Gaunt, King’s Langley, Pedro I, Portugal, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, Watford

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/
Those le Despensers

Jan 24, 2016

genealogy

Anne Neville, Edward II, Edward of Middleham, Hugh le Despenser, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Mortimers, Nevilles, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Roger Mortimer, tombs

We all know that the principal protagonists of Edward II’s reign – the King himself and Roger Mortimer, later Earl of March – were among Richard III’s ancestors. However, this table shows that Anne Neville, his Queen Consort, was descended from Hugh le Despenser the Elder (and also from the Younger) through the Beauchamps of…
The Fall of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

Jan 13, 2016

buildings

Beaumaris Castle, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, Cardinal Beaufort, Catherine de Roet, Charles d’Orleans, Eleanor Cobham, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Humphrey of Gloucester, Joan “Beaufort”, John Beaufort, John Duke of Bedford, John of Gaunt, Margery Jourdemayne, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Richard Duke of York, Thomas Duke of Exeter, treason, William Duke of Suffolk, witchcraft

Whilst researching my biography of Richard, Duke of York I found myself drawn by a bitter feud that lasted for years and which in many ways was a kind of prequel to the Wars of the Roses. The more I learned about the acrimonious dispute between Cardinal Henry Beaufort and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester the…
Shakespeare’s Hollow Crown: The Burdens of Kingship for Plantagenet Kings

Nov 15, 2015

The play’s the thing

Anne Neville, Azincourt, Battle of Bosworth, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VII, Hollow Crown, John of Gaunt, Richard II, Richard III, Shakespeare, Thomas Lord Stanley, Thomas of Clarence

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog: Having just written two blogs on Henry Vth and touched on this subject, I wanted to explore Shakespeare’s re-occurring theme of the burdens of kingship in his history plays with particular reference to Richard II and Henry IV, Parts I and II and on into Henry Vth and Richard…
Where those younger “Beauforts” really fit in

Oct 27, 2015

Uncategorized

“Beauforts”, Catherine de Roet, Dukes of Norfolk, Edmund Crouchback, Edmund Earl of Kent, Edward II, Edward III, Edward IV, genealogy, Henry VII, Henry VIII, John Ashdown-Hill, John of Gaunt, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Sir Hugh Swynford

https://murreyandblue.wordpress.com/2014/06/27/a-genealogical-mystery-deepens-originally-published-in-the-december-2013-bulletin/ You will hopefully remember, from the above, that the first child by Katherine de Roet usually attributed to John of Gaunt may well have been legally (and biologically) her son by Sir Hugh Swynford. The other two Beaufort sons were childless and their sister married Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland, giving all of her…