Kathryn Warner
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A few years ago, we showed that Robert Catesby, directly descended from Sir William Catesby, sought to kill James VI/I, a descendant of Henry VII, by gunpowder 120 years after Henry had Sir William hanged after Bosworth.This second case, of which I was reminded in Kathryn Warner‘s The Despensers, doesn’t involve direct ancestry on both…
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The Despensers: The Rise and fall of a mediaeval family
Anne Neville, Battle of Evesham, Boroughbridge, Contrarians, Despensers, Edward II, Edward IV, Eleanor de Clare, Elizabeth Despenser, Epiphany Rising, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Henry III, Henry IV, Huchon Despenser, Hugh Despencer, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Hugh Earl of Winchester, Isabel Neville, Isabella de Valois, Isabelle Despencer, John Ashdown-Hill, Justiciar, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Margaret Beauchamp, Margery Wentworth, Philip Despenser, plague, Richard II, Richard III, Thomas Earl of Gloucester, Thomas of LancasterHere is another of Kathryn Warner‘s volumes in which the genealogy is central but there is plenty of history about the principal individuals that comprise the structure of the book. These range from Hugh Despenser the Justiciar, who fell at Evesham in 1265 opposing Henry III, to his son and grandson (the latter married to…
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695 years ago today, Edward III became King of England at the age of fourteen and was crowned a week later. His father was definitely alive for almost another eight months and probably several more years. His mother, Isabella of France is regularly described by some writers as having a relationship with Roger Mortimer, 1st…
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Further facial reconstructions
Catherine Howard, David Mitchell, Dundee University, Edward II, Edward III, Eleanor of Provence, executions, Henry III, Henry Lord Darnley, Henry VIII, James Hathaway, Kathryn Warner, Laurence Fox, Lewis, Panagiotis Constantinou, resemblances, Richard III, Robert I, Roger Mortimer, Upstart Crow, William ShakespeareDundee University has shown itself to be the gold standard for facial reconstruction in recent years, working from their subjects’ remains, as with Richard III, Robert I and Henry Lord Darnley. As Kathryn Warner shows here, Panagiotis Constantinou has generated several from effigies, sculptures and other images. They range, chronologically, from Henry III and Eleanor…
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Edward II’s nieces: The Clare Sisters
Anne Neville, Bannockburn, burials, Caerphilly Castle, Clare Castle, Clare Priory, Edward I, Edward II, Edward IV, Eleanor de Clare, Elizabeth de Clare, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, George Duke of Clarence, Gilbert de Clare, Gilbert Earl of Gloucester, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Ireland, Isobel Neville, Joan of Acre, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Margaret de Clare, Richard III, Suffolk, unofficial executions, Wales… and so to the dark green volume in Kathryn Warner‘s series about Edward II, his family, his associates and his era. This one details the lives of three sisters with seven husbands between them and a lot of interesting descendants, including Richard III (and siblings), his wife and his sisters-in-law. The eldest, Eleanor de…
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From 1281, the widowed Alexander III lost his three children and remarried to remedy the situation. His second wife was Yolande de Dreux, who he married in autumn 1285, but Scotland was plunged into the unknown within five months when he broke his neck, falling from a horse, travelling across the Forth to Kinghorn in…
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Just a hypothesis, but …
“ghost children”, death in infancy, Edmund Crouchback, Edward I, Eleanor of Provence, Flores Historiarum, Hazel Pierce, Henry III, Henry IV, James II, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Lancastrian propaganda, Margaret Howell, Matthew Lewis, Matthew Parris, mysteries, planets, Sir Richard Pole, St. Edmund, St. Edward the Confessor, twins, WeirWe know that John of Gaunt and Henry IV claimed their ancestor, Edmund Crouchback Earl of Lancaster, to have been born before Edward I, however we have sources showing this propaganda to be specious. We know Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, to have had five children: Edward, Margaret, Beatrice, Edmund and Katherine. Sources such…
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We have written twice before about non-existent historical children somehow finding their way into works by a certain modern writer, who is often cited on Wikipedia and repeated by others. In these posts, we referred to “Joan of York”, ostensibly a sister of Richard III, together with those attributed to Henry IV and Mary de…
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This is a very valuable new biography of John of Gaunt. As usual with this author, the incredibly complex network of family relationships is successfully navigated. There is a fair amount of ‘correction of the record’. For example, Duchess Blanche did not die of plague in 1369, but of unknown causes in 1368. Duchess Constanza…
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The Daughters of Edward I
Amesbury Abbey, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, Burgos, Clare Priory, deposition, Edward I, Edward II, Edward IV, Eleanor Crosses, Eleanor of Castile, Elizabeth Countess of Hereford, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, Hardingstone, Israel, Joan of Acre, John Ashdown-Hill, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Laura Culme-Seymour, Lucy Walter, Maria Smythe, Mary I, North Wales, Northampton, nuns, Royal Marriage Secrets, royal marriages, SpainKathryn Warner‘s latest tome has arrived and soon raised memories of Ashdown-Hill’s Eleanor, as two of the daughters in question – Joan of Acre (twice) and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan – are among the ancestors of Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lucy Walter, “Mrs. Fitzherbert” (Maria Smythe) and Laura Culme-Seymour, as shown in Royal Marriage Secrets and replicated here.…