Magna Carta

Would you like to own the Thames island where Magna Carta was signed….?

Dec 9, 2025

buildings, culture, history

First Barons’ War, King John, Magna Carta, Runnymede

Well, where Magna Carta was supposedly signed, because the actual site isn’t known. All the Magna Carta itself says is that it was Runnymede, which is an area rather than a single precise spot. However, the island that’s for sale is awash with legend and references to 1215 and Magna Carta. And I have to…
Magna Carta was there, hiding in plain sight….!

May 29, 2025

history, law, medieval characters, research

auctions, Edward I, Harvard Law School, Magna Carta

Well, heavens to Betsy, as our American friends say, just LOOK what someone acquired at an auction and dismissed as a not-very-good copy! (see https://tinyurl.com/2xy5k3xw) It never ceases to amaze me the astonishing treasures that turn up, having lain undiscovered or been there in plain sight and not been recognised. This time it’s the Magna…
Half a dozen dramatic events in the life of King John….

Jul 27, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law

Arthur of Brittany, Battle of Bouvines, hunting lodges, John, Magna Carta, Richard I, Robin Hood, Sheriff of Nottingham

King John’s very existence appears to have been one long drama, but when it comes to him there are usually two things that spring to mind instantly. (1) Magna Carta, and (2) he was vile. There are other things, of course, but these are the two that spring to my mind. Oh, and that as…
Time to feel sorry for Dan Jones….

Jun 14, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, humour

bloopers, British Empire, Dan Escott, Edward I, Edward III, Henry II, Henry IV, Magna Carta, Peasants’ Revolt, Richard II, Runnymede, usurpation, Wat Tyler

Right, ladies and gentlemen, if you want a real laugh, go here. It’s so full of bloopers that it really is a joke. For instance, OLD Richard II reigned during the Peasants’ Revolt. Um, Richard was 14 at the time. And then again Henry IV was Richard II’s son. But wait, Henry IV was Henry…
Rebellion in the Middle Ages

Dec 19, 2022

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, law, religion

Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur of Brittany, Azincourt, Bannockburn, Barons’ War, Battle of Evesham, Battle of Hastings, Battle of Lewes, Battle of Shrewsbury, Black Death, Blackheath, Boroughbridge, Canterbury Cathedral, Crusades, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward I, Edward II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, France, Geoffrey of Brittany, Henry Cardinal Beaufort, Henry II, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry the Young King, Henry V, Henry VI, Hereward the Wake, House of Lancaster, Hugh Despencer, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Humphrey of Gloucester, insanity, Isabelle de France, Isle of Ely, Jack Cade, John, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Protector of the Realm, Lords Ordainers, Magna Carta, Matilda, Matt Lewis, murder, Parliament, Peasants’ Revolt, Peterborough Abbey, Piers Gaveston, rebellions, Richard Duke of York, Richard I, Richard II, Robert of Gloucester, Roger Mortimer, Royal Marriage Secrets, Scarborough Castle, secret marriage, Southampton plot, St. Thomas Becket, Stephen, The Anarchy, Thomas of Lancaster, Tower of London, usurpation, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, William Duke of Suffolk, William I, William Marshall

This is the latest of Matthew Lewis’ books and covers a longer period than any of the others, from Hereward the Wake’s emergence after Hastings to the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, almost as long a period as this book. Lewis is already an expert on “The Anarchy” (chapter 2) and the Roses…
Marc Morris on mediaeval television programmes and films …

Jun 15, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, films, television reviews, Uncategorized

“Red Wedding”, “The last Kingdom”, anachronisms, Anglo-Saxons, atrocities, Barons, Bernard Cornwell, Black Dinner, Blind Harry, Braveheart, castles, Dover Castle, Edward I, French wars, Game of Thrones, Godwinsons, hats, Ironclad, James II, John, Knights Templar, Magna Carta, Marc Morris, Norman conquest, Robin Hood, Runnymede, Scotland, shield wall, Sir William wallace, taxation, Vikings, Waltheof, woad, women

… programmes and films about the Middle Ages, not actually made during them – which would require an even greater advance that the Viking discovery of America before Columbus … Here he discusses: The Game of Thrones (2013), Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (1991), Ironclad (2013), The Last Kingdom (2015), Vikings (2013), Braveheart (1995)
The Augustinian Priory of St Mary Merton and its Destruction.

Jun 10, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, art, buildings, religion, Science

A24, Bishop of Winchester, British Library, British Museum, burials, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Gilbert le Norman, Henry I, Henry III, Henry V, Henry VI, John, Magna Carta, Mary I, Matthew Parris, Merantun Way, Merton Priory, River Wandle, Runnymede, Society of Antiquaries, St. Thomas Becket, Stane Street, Surrey, Walter de Merton, Westminster Abbey, windows

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com One of Merton Priory’s gates. Possibly entrance to the guest accommodation or hospitium thought to have been located to the west of the priory. Rebuilt and resited in 1935 outside St Mary’s Church, Merton. Photo thanks to Mr Joel’s Photography. Merton Abbey, Colliers Wood, London, SW19 does not exactly…
A pedant writes…

May 15, 2022

culture

abduction, Anglo-Saxons, chivalry, copyhold, Geoffrey Chaucer, John, Magna Carta, marriage, Norman conquest, Norman-French, Normans, novels, pedantry, poetry, property, Richard II, serfdom, slavery, tenants in chief

In the aftermath of certain historical novels I have read recently, I should like to give the following information, in the hope it will be helpful to authors, editors (if they still exist) and indeed readers. SLAVERY – Although slavery was quite common in England in Anglo-Saxon times, it was became less usual after the…
KING JOHN AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

Apr 6, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources, The play’s the thing

AA Milne, Angevin bloodline, Anglicanism, annulment, Arthur of Brittany, Ascension Day, authorship, avarice, Barons, burials, Cardinal Pandulph, character, charles forker, clergymen, Crowland Chronicle, Defender of the Faith, Earls of Essex, Edward Hall, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Eucharist, excommunication, Fauconbridge brothers, Geoffrey Plantagenet, George Peel, graham Seel, Henry, Henry the Young King, Henry VIII, Historiography, House of York, Hubert de Bergh, Innocent III, John, john Bale, John Dover-Wilson, John Gillingham, John Harvey, John Matusiak, John Wycliffe, Kit Marlowe, Lackland, Louis VIII, Magna Carta, male primogeniture, Mary I, Maude Plantagenet, Mirabeau, morality plays, Phillip Augustus, plays, Polydore Vergil, Ralph Holinshed, recusants, Reformation, Richard Green, Richard Hunne, Richard I, Robin Hood, royal burials, sir brian vickers, Sir James Holt, Six Articles, Softsword, Staffords, stephen langton, Stuarts, Tillyard, Walt Disney, Wilfred Warren, William Shakespeare, William Tyndale, Worcester Cathedral

KING JOHN AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION King John was not a good man, He had his little ways. And sometimes no one spoke to him For days and days and days. And men who came across him, When walking in the town, Gave him a supercilious stare, Or passed with noses in the air, And…
THE MONUMENTAL EFFIGIES OF GREAT BRITAIN : CHARLES A STOTHARD

Jan 16, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, religion

Arundel Castle, Aveline de Foix, Bere Ferrers, Blanche of the Tower, Branchepeth Church, British Museum, Canterbury Cathedral, Charles Alfred Stothard, Devon, Edmund Crouchback, Edward II, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, effigies, Elizabeth of Suffolk, Harfleur, Hatfield Broadoak, Henry IV, Ingham Church, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of Navarre, John Duke of Suffolk, John of Eltham, Lord Ligonier, Magna Carta, Michael Earl of Suffolk, Miles Stapleton, Monumental Effigies, Pontefract Castle, Ralph 2nd Earl of Westmorland, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Richard II, Robert Baron hungerford, Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford, Salisbury Cathedral, Sir john Wingfield, Staindrop Church, Westminster Abbey, William Fitzalan, William of Windsor, Wingfield Church

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Effigies of Ralph Neville 2nd Earl of Westmorland d.1491 and one of his wives. Branchepeth Church, Durham. These effigies, which were wooden, are now lost to us having since been destroyed by a disastrous fire in 1998. Made in very dark oak it was difficult to get good photos of…