Lancastrians

When there’s snow at midsummer….

Jun 23, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, heraldry

bigamy, Castell Du, Coventry, cults, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward V, Elizabeth Wydeville, First Battle of St. Albans, George Duke of Clarence, Gervase la Vallee, Henry Duke of Somerset, Henry VI, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lancastrians, Ludlow Castle, manticore, Margaret of Anjou, mermaids, Micklegate Bar, Midsummer Day, Mortimer’s Cross, poachers, pre-contract, Richard Duke of York, Richard of Warwick, Royal deer forests, secret marriage, stag hunting, Towton, Wakefield, Welsh Marches, witchcraft

A short story by Sandra Heath Wilson (viscountessw) Please remember, ladies and gentlemen, that this story is fiction. The great midsummer bonfire crackled and roared, and sparks billowed high into the dark sky. It was encircled by thirteen hooded black-robed figures, and the face of the youngest was pale as he accepted the carved wooden…
Another Hundred Years’ Grudge

Mar 23, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy

Battle of Bosworth, Boroughbridge, Contrariants, Edward II, executions, Gunpowder Plot, Henry IV, Henry VII, James VI/I, Kathryn Warner, Lancastrians, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Robert Catesby, starvation, Thomas of Lancaster, William Catesby

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…
Two famous lovers I cannot love….!

Mar 6, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

“Beauforts”, adultery, Battle of Bosworth, Catherine de Roet, illegitimate children, John of Gaunt, Lancastrians, Richard II, Richard III, treachery, Wars of the Roses

We all know the story of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford/de Roët. It was a wonderful, passionate love affair that ended with Gaunt, a prince of the realm, making the relatively lowly Katherine his third duchess. Yes, a great romance, and it was fact, not fiction. However, historically speaking, both of them had…
For sale: The history of the de Vere Earls of Oxford….

Feb 26, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, religion, sources

“Tudors”, Earls Colne, Earls of Oxford, Froissart, Lancastrians, Priory House, Radcot Bridge, Richard II, Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland, Scheduled Ancient Monuments

The present Priory House at Earls Colne (judged Best Village in Essex in 2015) may be early 19th-century but has a great history because it’s “….built on the site of a Benedictine priory founded by the de Vere family, Earls of Oxford, in the early 12th century, the remains of which lie buried under…
RALPH NEVILLE, 2ND EARL OF WESTMORLAND – HIS HOME, BRANCEPETH CASTLE AND BURIAL IN BRANCEPETH CHURCH.

Oct 26, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

AJ Pollard, Beaufort family., Brancepeth, Brancepeth Castle, Bulmer Tower, Cecily Neville, Charles Alfred Stothard, Chrimes, Cockermouth, dysentery, effigies, Elizabeth Holland, fire, Haltemprice Priory, incapacity, James Petre, Joanna Laynesmith, Lancastrians, Link Block, Lord John Neville, Margaret Cobham, Margaret Stafford, Middleham, Neville Tower, Nevilles, Nikolaus Pevsner, Ralph 2nd Earl of Westmorland, Ricardian articles, Richard of Salisbury, Ripon, Roche Abbey, Sheriff Hutton, Verneuil, W.E. Hampton, wills

REBLOGGED FROM A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI @sparkypus.com Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland c.1406-1484 and one of his wives. Fine oak effigy once in Brancepeth Church, County Durham. Destroyed 1998. Drawn by Charles Stothard c.1815. An interesting life if somewhat tinged by tragedy. Ralph Neville 2nd Earl of Westmorland, born at Cockermouth in Cumbria (c.1406-1485) was…
Bolingbroke and his flute….!

Sep 30, 2022

anniversaries, battles, culture, humour

“Lancastrian”, flutes, Henry IV, Henry VII, Lancastrians, lutes, music, Richard II, usurpation, Wars of the Roses

I feel it’s time to take another pop at a Lancastrian King Henry. On this occasion it’s Henry IV, the warlike Lancastrian usurper who murdered his cousin Richard II and stole the crown. A process that led to the Wars of the Roses. So definitely not one of my favourite kings. When it comes to…
The Cotswolds and the Wars of the Roses….

Sep 6, 2022

battles, buildings, heraldry, religion, travel

bigamy, Cirencester, Cotswolds, Edward III, Edward IV, executions, Francis Lovell, John of Gaunt, John Talbot Viscount Lisle, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Margaret of Anjou, Minster Lovell Hall, Mortimer’s Cross, Mortimers, Nibley Green, pre-contract, Richard III, River Windrush, rumour, sanctuary, St. John the Baptist, Sudeley Castle, Tewkesbury Abbey, Wars of the Roses, William Lord Berkeley

“What role did the Cotswolds play in the 30-year Wars of the Roses?” A good question. There wasn’t a specific War of the Cotswolds, but there was (still is) a connection to the Wars of the Roses, as you’ll see in this article . For instance, there’s the wonderful Church of St John the Baptist…
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke

Jul 16, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, sources

Aberystwyth, Azincourt, Barry, Carmarthen Castle, Catherine de Valois, Civil War, Dafydd Gam, Dictionary of Welsh Biography, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Glamorgan, Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Humphrey Stafford Earl of Devon, Hundred Years War, Jasper “Tudor”, Lancastrians, Lordship of Usk, Matilda Barri, Morleys of Norfolk, Mortimers, Northampton, ODNB, Owain Glyndwr, Owen Tudor, Pembroke Castle, Raglan Castle, Ralph Griffiths, ransom, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Robin of Redesdale, Sheriff of Glamorgan, Sir John Morley, Sir William ap Thomas, Wales, William Herbert Earl of Pembroke, William I, Yellow Tower of GwentWilliam Lord Berkeley

William Herbert, otherwise ‘Black William’ was born in 1423, the son of Sir William ap Thomas ‘the Blue Knight of Gwent’ and Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam the ‘Star of Abergavenny’. His main claim to fame is that he was the first Welshman to become an earl in the peerage of England, except for Henry VI’s…
ANOTHER PRECIOUS FIND TO ADD TO THE MIDDLEHAM JEWEL AND RING..

May 13, 2022

archaeology, art, buildings, religion, sources

Anne Beauchamp, Anne Neville, British Museum, Calais, Cheapside, childbirth, Coverham Abbey, Dennington, East Park, esses, gold bible, goldsmiths, Henry IV, Isobel Neville, Jervaulx Abbey, John Cherry, John of Gaunt, Lancastrians, London Bridge, Lord Bardolph, Middleham Jewel, Middleham Ring, Nevilles, Rous Roll, Sheriff Hutton, St. Leonard, St. Margaret, Suffolk, Ted Seaton, York Museum

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com The Middleham Jewel, AD 1450-1500. Photo Anthony Chappel Ross, Courtesy York Museums Trust. Two metal detectorists have recently had a sumptous litte find. A tiny gold bible beautifully engraved. Which is great. But what makes their find super great is that it is yet another discovery made near the remains…
The complete, utterly biased dissing of the House of York….

Apr 28, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, heraldry, law, religion, television reviews, The play’s the thing

Anne Neville, armour, Barnet, bastardy, bigamy, boar, Brittany, Burgundy, Cecily Neville, cleanliness, destiny, Edgecote, Edmund “Tudor”, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edmund of Rutland, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward V, executions, exile, facial hair, family tree, First Battle of St. Albans, fog, G.L.Harriss, gambling, George Duke of Clarence, Hastings, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Ireland, Jasper “Tudor”, John Ashdown-Hill, John Duke of Somerset, John of Gaunt, John Welles, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Lord High Constable, Lord Protector of the Realm, Louis XI, Margaret of Anjou, Mortimer’s Croft, obscenity, Old St. Paul’s, philip glenister, pre-contract, Privy Council, propaganda, re-legitimisation, Readeption, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl of Arundel, Richard II, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Richard of Warwick, Royal Bastards: Rise of the Tudors, Scotland, Sky History, Southampton, Titulus Regius, Wakefield, Welsh people, William Herbert, William Shakespeare, Wydevilles, Yorkist claim, Yorkists

When I recorded the first episode of the Sky series Royal Bastards: Rise of the Tudors, I watched it on 23rd November, which is the anniversary of the day in 1450 when Richard 3rd Duke of York returned to London [and Parliament] with his sword unsheathed to claim his right. The docudrama series kicks…