John
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An argument has arisen for and against using vellum for recording our laws, as stored on the amazingly full shelves of the Act Room. Paper is indeed more perishable. Just imagine having the Magna Carta on paper! How insignificant it would appear. Not insignificant in content, of course, but all the same… I have seen…
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When people think of places connected with Richard III, they sometimes think of Northamptonshire due to his birthplace at Fotheringhay…but seldom of the town of Northampton itself. However, the town, although having lost in grandest medieval structures in two devastating fires, still has features of interest to Ricardians, Wars of the Roses students and medievalists.…
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The Problem with ‘Usurpation’ (re-blogged from http://www.annettecarson.co.uk/357052370)
Annette Carson, Chrimes, Edmund Mortimer, Edward II, Henry I, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry VI, Innocent III, John, John Locke, Magna Carta, Matilda, Parliament, primogeniture, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Rolls of Parliament, Stephen, treason, tyranny, Westminster Hall, William Marshall, WitangemotWith my long-standing interest in treason and usurpation, I was fascinated to see the video of the mock trial of the Magna Carta barons staged in the wonderful surroundings of Westminster Hall on 31 July 2015.* I use the term ‘Magna Carta barons’ loosely, and indeed the trial itself could address only one arbitrary, early…
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We have posted before about the lives of noblewomen and how they were almost never executed before the “Tudor” era began – including how King Lear, featuring the death of Cordelia, reflected this changed reality. Here is as near as we can manage to a counter-example from 1003, after the St. Brice’s Day Massacre of…
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His current Channel Five series (Secrets of Great British Castles, Fridays, 20:00) is quite informative in parts. However, as a Starkey protege, Jones relies on fairly simplistic views and with his pre-selected one-dimensional heroes and villains, the latter including John (from the opener on Dover) as well as Edward II (mentioned in at least three…
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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…
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Richard III, as we know, was originally buried by the Leicester Greyfriars or Franciscans, with whom his family had something of a connection. In an earlier era, the (fictional) Friar Tuck is portrayed as an associate of Robin Hood, resisting Prince John’s assumption of power in Richard I’s absence. Richard I died in 1199. The…
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I am posting this courtesy of Leigh Griffiths of the Mortimer History Society. A papal bull is an official paper document issued by the pope or his office. The term derived from this fascinating device which was used to seal the formal bull.. The Bulla. (Latin, Bullire, to boil. A reference to the bubble like shape…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 