Mortimer’s Cross

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…
Ranulph Lord Dacre of Gilsland – The Lord who was buried with his horse.

Mar 29, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion, sources

All Saints Saxby, arrows, AW Boardman, burials, churches, Cicely Neville, Cumberland, Dacres of Gilsland, Edward IV, Eleanor Fitzhugh, Exhumation, Gascoignes, George Duke of Clarence, George Goodwin, Georgian era, horses, Isabel Neville, Lady Margaret Stafford, Lady Philippe Neville, Lancastrian commanders, Leicester, letters, Mortimer’s Cross, MPs, Palm Sunday, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Ranulph Lord Dacre, Richard III, Second Battle of St. Albans, Soar, Stoke Field, Towton, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, WE Hampton

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com The monument in All Saints Church, Saxton over the grave of Ranulph Lord Dacre and his horse. Photo Mary Emma1@Flkir Ranulph/Ranulf/Randolph/Ralph, Lord Dacre of Gilsland’s precise date of birth is lost to us – as is his exact Christian name it would seem -but has been suggested as c.1412 although…
The Lost Plot (by the Guardian) and ‘The Lost King’ Exhibition

Feb 2, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, films, Science

“Princes”, All Hallows Church, Henry IV, Henry VIII, Iron Age, Jonathan Jones, Mortimer boys, Mortimer’s Cross, Paul Delaroche, Richard III Society, Roman cemetery, Steve Coogan, Tanner and Wright, The Guardian, The Lost King, The Wallace Collection, Tower of London

A number of film critics have now viewed the new Steve Coogan movie, THE LOST KING, about the finding of Richard III’s remains. Reviews have been mixed but generally quite positive; I imagine it might be one of those ‘marmite’ films, which viewers either love or loathe. A exhibition in The Wallace Collection had also…
The Touchet/Audley Family in the Fifteenth Century.

Sep 26, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

Alionore Holland, Arundels, Barnet, Battle of Bosworth, Battles of Sandwich, Bishop Edmund Audley, Bishop of Hereford, Blore Heath, Buckingham rebellion, Calais, Cheshire, Constance of York, Despensers, Dukes of Somerset, Edmund Holland, Edward I, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, executions, Fitzalans, Francis Viscount Lovell, Heighley Castle, Henry III, Henry VII, Isabel Mylbery, James Lord Audley, Joan Bourchier, Joan of Kent, John Lord Audley, Lord High Treasurer, Ludlow Castle, Margaret Darrell, Margaret of Anjou, Margaret Roos, Mortimer’s Cross, Parliament’s power to determine legitimacy, Red Castle, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Sir Humphrey Audley, surnames, Tewkesbury, Towton, Welsh Marches, Wydevilles

James Touchet, Lord Audley, was born about 1398. He was not in the first rank of magnates but nevertheless had significant estates, notably Heighley Castle, near Madeley in Staffordshire, and the Red Castle (Hawkstone) in Shropshire, as well as two small Marcher lordships in Wales. His first marriage was to Margaret Roos, daughter of Lord Roos…
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…
Sir Humphrey Audley

Feb 3, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy

Blore Heath, Dunster Church, Edward IV, Eleanor de Holland, Elizabeth Courtenay, executions, James Lord Audley, John Duke of Somerset, John Lord Audley, John Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, John Paston III, Lord High Constable, Mortimer’s Cross, Muriel Brews, Powderham Castle, Richard of Warwick, Sir Humphrey Audley, Sir Philip Courtenay, Somerset, Swaffham, Tewkesbury, Thomas Mallet, Wars of the Roses

Sir Humphrey was one of the very numerous children of James Tuchet, Lord Audley, by his second wife Alianore Holland (daughter of Constance of York by Edmund Holland, Earl of Kent.) Their family is so large that it confuses creators of family trees and it is hard to be absolutely certain just how many siblings…
The Traitor’s Arms?

Feb 2, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings, heraldry, law, religion, sources

“Defiance”, “Loveday”, Act of Accord, Agnes Sorel, allegory, Angevin bloodline, Arma Reversata, Ashperton, Ashperton monument, attainder, Blore Heath, Book of Hours, Calais, carvings, Catherine de Roet, Catherine de Valois, Charles VII, chivalry, Chrimes, Christmas, College of Heralds, Cornish rebellion, coronations, Courtauld Institute of Art, Coventry, crowns, Dunstable Chronicle, Earls of Salisbury, Edmund Crouchback, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward Hall, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward the Black Prince, Elizabeth I, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, fleuur-de-lys, Fox-Davies, France, French College of Arms, Garter stalls, Gascony, Geoffrey Fisher, Great Seal, Hanseatic fleet, Helen Maurer, helmets, Henry Holland Duke of Exeter, Henry IV, Henry VI, Hereford Cathedral, Herefordshire, Hicks, high treason, Historia Anglorum, Hollands, Hon y soit qui mal y pense, House of York, Hugh Despencer, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Humphrey of Gloucester, Ian Mortimer, insanity, inverted arms, Ireland, Jack Cade, Jacques de Saint-George, James II, James VI/I, Jeanne d’Arc, Joan “Beaufort”, John of Bedford, John of Gaunt, Lancastrians, lions, livery collars, Lord of Misrule, Lord Protector of the Realm, Mary de Bohun, Matthew Parris, mortimer claim, Mortimer’s Cross, Nigel Saul, Nikolaus Pevsner, Normans, Northampton, Old St. Paul’s, Order of the Crescent, Order of the Garter, Owain Tudor, Parliament of Devils, Plantagenets, plaster mouldings, propaganda, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Ralph Griffiths, renaissance, Rene d’Anjou, Restoration, reversed arms, Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Richard Duke of York, Richard of Salisbury, Rose Troup, Sandwich, Seine, Shakespeare, shields. royal arms, Sir Andrew Trollope, Sir Ralph Grey, squirrel, Staffords, stonemasons, swan badge, Switzerland, symbolism, the Beauforts., tombstones, tournaments, Treaty of Troyes, Tres Rich Heures, Warwick the Kingmaker, Westminster Abbey, Wigmore, William Duke of Suffolk, William Grandison, William Neville Lord Fauconberg, Windsor Castle, Woolhope Club

In 1840 workmen carrying out repairs to St Bartholomew’s Church, Ashperton, Herefordshire were collecting stones from the ruins of a nearby manor house when they discovered a heavy stone plaque, carved with an elaborate coat of arms, among the rubble. The stone was taken to the church for safekeeping and has hung on the wall…
A contemporary of the House of York

Aug 3, 2020

anniversaries, battles, buildings

Alexander III, Alexander Stewart Duke of Albany, Bannockburn, Berwick, Bosworth, Cecilia, Edinburgh Castle, France, House of Stewart, James II, James III, James IV, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, John Stewart Duke of Albany, John Stewart Earl of Mar, Kelso, Kennedy faction, Largs, Lauder Bridge, Lord of the Isles, Margarethe of Denmark, Marie of Guelders, Mortimer’s Cross, Norse influence, Norway, Orkneys, Pavia, Robert I, Robert Lord Boyd, Roxburgh, Sauchieburn, Scotland, Scottish campaign 1482, Shetlands, Stoke Field, Thirlstane, Wars of the Roses

James III of Scotland’s reign overlaps the whole of Yorkist rule in England, succeeding on 3rd August 1460, more than seven months before Edward IV’s first coronation, to 11th June 1488. almost three years after Richard III’s death at Bosworth and including Henry VI’s re-adeption. His uninterrupted reign spanned the decisive battles of Mortimer’s Cross…
THE ROAD FROM FOTHERINGHAY-New Novel about Richard III’s Childhood

May 3, 2020

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy

Burgundy, Castle Duurstede, Edward IV, Fotheringhay, historical fiction, Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, Janet Reedman, Ludford Bridge, Ludlow Castle, Middleham Castle, Mortimer’s Cross, Northampton, Richard III, The Road from Fotheringhay, Towton, Warwick the Kingmaker

Richard’s childhood frequently gets some coverage in novels of his life, but THE ROAD FROM FOTHERINGHAY is the only novel, to my knowledge, that is ONLY about Richard’s youngest years, set against the wider backdrop of The Wars of the Roses. It is also one of only two in which the story is told from…
THE WHITE LYON & THE MOURNING SWORD

Feb 4, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, religion

Charters, Edward IV, executions, Green Dragon, Henry III, Henry VIII, Hereford, Hereford Cathedral, Hereford Mourning Sword, Mortimer’s Cross, Owain Tudor, parhelion, Richard I, St. Ethelbert, St. Thomas Cantilupe, Wars of the Roses, White Lyon

Within walking distance of Hereford Cathedral, stands an imposing hotel called the Green Dragon. That was not always its name, however; in the 15th c it was The White Lyon and was used as the headquarters of Edward of March, soon to be Edward IV, around the time of the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross. It…