Mary Stuart

Investigating Sheffield Castle

Apr 14, 2024

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, Science

English Civil War, George Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury, James Earl of Bothwell, Mary Stuart, rivers, Sheffield, Sheffield Castle, sieges, Talbots, Wessex Archaeology

This article explains how the site of the C12 castle in Sheffield, where Mary Stuart was held but which has been lost since partial demolition and decay in the 1640s, is being explored by organisations including Keltbray, after previous work by Wessex Archaeology from 2018. The area, now known as Castlegate, includes the confluence of…
Uncrowned: Royal heirs who didn’t take the throne

Feb 8, 2024

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

Edward III, Edward of Woodstock, Elizabeth I, Henry I, Hundred Years War, King William II, Mary Stuart, Matilda, Robert of Normandy, The White Ship, William Aetheling

We all know the well-trodden vistas of the kings and queens of England but what about those of the kings and queens we nearly had? In my new book, Uncrowned: Royal Heirs Who Didn’t Take The Throne, I charter the lives of twenty-five heirs apparent and presumptive who nature had destined to one day wear…
“Becoming Elizabeth”

Jan 22, 2024

anniversaries, genealogy, law, religion, television reviews

Admiral Thomas Seymour, Alicia von Rittburg, Amy Robsart, Anglo-Scottish Wars, beards, Catherine Parr, Channel Four, David Starkey, Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, executions, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, heresy, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, Kett Rebellion, Lord Guildford Dudley, Lord Protector of the Realm, Mary I, Mary Stuart, Norwich, Oliver Zetterstrom, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, Scotland

This drama series, from Starz but now broadcast on Channel Four, follows the momentous but unheralded reign of Edward VI through the eyes of the future Elizabeth I. It features the literally fratricidal feud between the Seymour brothers as the elder, the Duke of Somerset, becomes Lord Protector but also the King’s governor, powers that…
The Granddaughters of Edward III

Dec 5, 2023

anniversaries, Book Reviews, buildings, genealogy, religion

Anne Neville, Catherine of Aragon, Edward II, Edward IV, Henri IV, Isabel Neville, Joan “Beaufort”, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Mary Stuart, Maximilian I, Minories, Percies, Philippa of Ulster, Phillip II, Poles, Richard III, Staffords

So here is the latest of Kathryn Warner‘s series about Edward II’s family. As the title suggests, it is focussed on the lives of Edward III’s eleven grandaughters, nine of whom were paternally descended including four by John of Gaunt. The first, Philippa of Clarence, was born in 1355 and the last to die was…
Royal Autopsy, a documentary series dealing with the recreated post-mortems of Charles II and Elizabeth I….

Sep 7, 2023

anniversaries, art, Science, television reviews

Alice Roberts, autopsies, Bethlem, Bezoar, blood letting, Brett Lockyer, bronchopneumonia, Charles II, Chelsea Physic Garden, clocks, Edmund King, Elizabeth I, emetics, executions, four humours, hair analysis, Hartshorn, Henry VII, James VI/I, John Dee, Jonathan Goddard, malaria, Mary Stuart, microscope, Nell Jones, parotitis, Rainbow Portrait, renaissance, Richmond Palace, Robert Cecil, Royal Autopsy, Royal Society, scars, sepsis, Sir Charles Scarburgh, Sky History, smallpox, Spanish fly, stroke, succession, sugar, syphilis, teeth, toxicology, Wellcome Collection, white lead

I confess to having doubts about watching this two-part series on the Sky History channel because I envisaged CGI overkill with odious (but hopefully by then dead) parasites etc., and so I started viewing with the firm intention of stopping the moment it became too horribly wriggly and gory. No wriggles, but the gory…
This seems to be a vintage year …

Jul 10, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, law, Science

Bibliotheque Nationale de France, captivity, Charles V, Elizabeth I, executions, Fotheringhay, France, Francois II, John Guy, Mary Stuart, Scotland

… for encrypted documents to be found in the French archives, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. This time, the computerised decoding process revealed the missives to the French Ambassador to contain nouns and verbs in the feminine form, mentions of captivity and of Sir Francis Walsingham, leading the experts to deduce the sender to be…
The art that made us

Nov 8, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, culture, humour, religion, Science, television reviews

Aphra Benn, Armada, Arts and Crafts, Barbara Hepworth, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, BBC2, Beowulf, Black Death, Bloomsbury Group, British Empire, Burns, Charles I, Colonel Blimp, Cool Britannia, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, David Threlfall, Death and the Gallant, Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth I, embroidery, English Civil War, Festival of Britain, First World War, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Fire of London, Hanif Kureishi, Harry Potter, Hogarth, Industrial Revolution, Jane Austen, Jarrow march, John Foxe, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Joshua Reynolds, Julian of Norwich, kitchen sink drama, Llancarfon, Margery Kempe, Mary Stuart, murals, Norman conquest, Oliver Cromwell, Phillip Larkin, Piers Plowman, poetry, pre-Raphaelites, Reformation, Restoration, Richard II, Roman Britain, Rubens, satire, Second World War, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir William Orpen, St. Cadoc’s church, St. Paul’s, stained glass, Stuarts, The art that made us, The Fighting Temeraire, The unknown soldier, Tracey Emin, Trainspotting, Turner, urbanisation, van Dyck, Walter Sickert, Welsh Bible, William Cobbett, William Morgan, William Shakespeare, Wilton Diptych, York Minster

This is another fascinating BBC2 series, illustrating English and British history through the evolution of our art. The eight one-hour episodes, narrated by David Threlfall (Men of the World), feature:The Roman and pre-Roman periods, Beowulf, the Norman conquest and the Bayeux Tapestry; The Black Death, Wilton Diptych, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich,…
A Visit to Richard III’s Book of Hours

Oct 2, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion, sources, travel

Archbishop of Canterbury, Book of Hours, execution warrants, Fotheringhay, Henry VII, Lambeth Palace, legal documents, libraries, Mary Stuart, Morton’s Tower

As you may know, Richard III’s Book of Hours is housed in the Library of Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, which is located just across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament. It was put on display for a limited period in the spring and I managed to find time to…
Richard III and the Ancient Egyptian cheese….!

Aug 25, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, art, buildings, religion, Science

Ancient Egypt, Anglo-Saxons, anthropology, Armenia, Azerbaijan, bamboo strips, barley, Battle of Bosworth, BBC, beer, Blombos cave, board games, Canada, cave art, cheese, China, Ciampate del Diavolo, Clotilda, Cote d’Ivoire, Erebus, gold, human hair, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, King Herod, Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars, mammoths, Mary Stuart, multiplication tables, Northwest Passage, nutcrackers, Pembrokeshire, Philippa Langley, quarry, Richard III, Roman villa, royal portraits, royal tombs, Russia, sculptures, shoes, Sir John Franklin, Sir John Maitland, skulls, slave ship, South Africa, Staffordshire Hoard, Stonehenge, storytelling, tomb of Ptahmes, USA, Wiltshire, X-rays

In this intriguing list of twenty , the discovery of Richard III’s remains comes in at number two! He was pipped at the post by an extremely old cheese from Egypt. Eh? Old cheese? Sorry, but can that possibly be more important than Richard? It doesn’t even have King Tut’s fingerprints or teethmarks! 😦 Oh…
Walking “Tudor” England

Aug 10, 2021

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, television reviews, travel

“Bloody Mary”, “Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Arthur “Tudor”, Ashdown Forest, attainder, Austin Friars, bear-baiting, Bishops of London, Bridewell Palace, brothels, Cambridge, cannon, Channel Five, Christopher Hatton, Clifford’s Tower, conspiracies, dancing, de heretico comburendo, Dutch refugees, East Midlands, Edmund Bonner, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, excommunication, executions, exile, fire, Framlingham Castle, Fulham Palace, Greenwich Palace, Grey-Dudley rebellion, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Hampton Court, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Hever Castle, James VI/I, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Foxe, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Katherine Howard, Kenilworth Castle, Kenninghall, Kett Rebellion, Leicester, London, Lord Chancellor, Lord Guildford Dudley, Margaret Clitherow, Mary Stuart, Mass, Michelham Priory, naval power, Nicholas Ridley, Northern Earls’ Rebellion, Norwich, Penshurst Place, Pilgrimage of Grace, Pontefract, Portsmouth, recusants, Ripon Cathedral, Robert Aske, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal barges, royal hunting estates, Rushton Triangular Lodge, severed heads, Sir Henry Dudley, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir Walter Raleigh, Southwark, St. Mary’s Abbey, Stamford, Suzannah Lipscomb, The Globe, Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Stafford, tobacco, torture, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Will Kemp, William Cecil, William Shakespeare, Wyatt Rebellion, Yorkshire Museum

Suzannah Lipscomb has just completed another series on Channel Five, this time visiting the sites related to the “Tudors”. In the first episode, she concentrated on Henry VIII and the naval power he inherited from John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The second was principally about the penultimate “Tudor”, Mary I, as well as Edward VI…