Oliver Cromwell
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Well, according to this site here we have “The Top 10 hinge moments in history”. As five of the ten concern 20th-century politics, you will forgive me for being somewhat mystified that such matters count as pivotal moments. For whom, pray? How on earth can Michael Portillo losing out to Iain Duncan Smith…
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Britain’s Lost Battlefields (with Rob Bell)
“Tudor” era, 5Select., arquebus, Bannockburn, Battle of Hastings, battlefields, Boudicca, Channel Five, Charles I, Colchester Castle, Edward II, English Civil War, handguns, Harold II, Iceni, Kett Rebellion, Maurice, Mousehold Heath, muskets, Naseby, Nero, Norwich, Oliver Cromwell, Parliamentary army, Rob Bell, Robert I, Robert Kett, Roman Empire, Rupert, Sir thomas Fairfax, Watling Street, William I, WymondhamChannel Five’s reputation for history programmes has risen greatly over the past few years. At the heart of this, first in a Great Fire of London series with Suzannah Lipscomb and the ubiquitous Dan Jones, has been the “engineering historian” Rob Bell, who has toured bridges, ships, buildings and lost railways in his own amiable,…
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St Stephen’s Westminster – Chapel to Kings and Queens..
1834 fire, Anne Mowbray, Anne Neville, British Museum, Edward VI, Eleanor Crosses, Ernest William Tristram, House of Commons, Michael of Canterbury, Oliver Cromwell, Phillippa of Hainault, Reformation, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Richard of Warwick, Richard Smirke, Rous Roll, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Roy Strong, St. Mary Undercroft, St. Stephen’s WestminsterUPDATED POST ON sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/st-stephens-westminster-chapel-to-kings-and-queens/ Reconstruction of a Medieval Painting from St Stephen’s Chapel. Possibly Queen Philippa with her daughter. Ernest William Tristram c.1927. Worked from original drawings made by the antiquarian Richard Smirke 1800-1811 before the fire of 1834. Society of Antiquities. Parliamentary Art Collection St Stephen’s was the medieval…
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An unexpected conclusion
Amsterdam, Andalucia, Antiques Roadshow, Balding, BBC1, Bevis Marks synagogue, British Army, builders, conversos, Danny Dyer, Edward I, executions, fencing, First World War, football, Frank Gardner, heresy, Jewish community, Mark Smith, Mark Wright, Mediterranean complexion, namesakes, Oliver Cromwell, Sephardic Jews, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Spain, Spanish Inquisition, theft, Who do you think you are?Who do you think you are? is always an interesting programme and is disappointing to see only eight episodes in the series. In the past, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Frank Gardner, Danny Dyer and Clare Balding have all been revealed as proven descendants of Edward I. That has not happened in 2019 and few lines have…
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This bed is far too beautiful for Henry VII. In my opinion, anyway. As to finding it in a hotel…well, what if you were snuggled there, anticipating your cooked breakfast next morning, when Henry’s ghost clambers in beside you???? Lawks! To read more, go here.
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Given her huge notoriety at the time, it’s odd that Edward III’s mistress, Alice Perrers, has (as far as I can ascertain) only garnered one biography. This is Lady of the Sun by F George Kay, 1966 (and seemingly never reprinted). There are no surviving contemporary likenesses of Alice, nor even a description of her.…
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The above illustration is of the British Crown Jewels as we know them now, but there were predecessors, long gone now, thanks to the efforts of Oliver Cromwell, who had no truck with such baubles. We are inclined to forget that there was a Welsh crown too, until it was seized by Edward I in…
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This link will take you to a very interesting and information article about Richmond Palace, which was formerly the Palace of Sheen. It led a very chequered life, being destroyed by a king’s grief and then by fire. It was also the scene of Henry VII’s death.
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Here is a picture you may well have seen. It shows, from Carry On Henry, Kenneth Williams as Thomas Cromwell, Lord Privy Seal to Henry VIII and briefly Earl of Essex. In fact, Cromwell’s sister married one Thomas (or Morgan) Williams, although their descendants took the Cromwell surname.