Parliament
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I have just watched a truly aggravating documentary from this 2014 series. In particular the episode called “Secrets of Westminster”. It starts with the tomb of Edward the Confessor…for which they show the correct tomb, yes, but then include a lot of lingering close-ups of the tomb effigy of Richard II. The implication is, it seems,…
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Why I dislike John of Gaunt….
Aldersgate, Anya Seton, Beaufort family., Canterbury Cathedral, Castile, changelings, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, entail mail, France, George Kay, Henry IV, Henry Percy, heresy trial, Hundred Years War, Ian Mortimer, Joan of Kent, John of Gaunt, John Wycliffe, Kennington, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Marshalsea Prison, Mortimers, Parliament, Peter Courtenay, Phillipa of Ulster, Phillippa of Hainault, Richard II, riots, Savoy Palace, The Fears of Henry IV, William of WykehamAs Ricardians, we know very well now, history can be twisted to suit. The matter of those strawberries and what happened next, for instance. I mean, the different versions are legion, even to the point of whether or not Thomas, Lord Stanley was ever present at all, let alone injured in a scrap and obliged…
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A constitutionally important “Tudor” servant
Admiral Thomas Seymour, Anne Askew, Battle of Preston, Catherine of Aragon, Civil War, Colchester, Court of Augmentations, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Earls of Warwick, Edmund Bonner, Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset, Essex, executions, Felsted, Henry VIII, Hugh Trevor-Roper, John Fisher, John Hurt, Kimbolton Castle, Leez Priory, Marian persecution, Mary I, Parliament, Paul Scofield, Robert Bolt, siege of Colchester, Sir Richard Rich, Speakers of the Commons, St. Neots, Stephen Gardiner, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas More, Thomas Wolsey, torture, Tower of London, WalesWe tend to have rather a negative view of Sir Richard Rich, or Baron Rich of Leez as he became in February 1547, nowadays. In this, we are somewhat influenced by Robert Bolt’s portrayal of him, as a “betrayer” of More, together with the history of Trevor-Roper. One Bolt line, memorably delivered by Paul Scofield…
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One hears about the dreadful expense occurred by the nobles who played host to various monarchs. But grand houses weren’t the only destinations for our perambulating kings and queens. For instance, in January 1398, on his way to Parliament in Shrewsbury, Richard II travelled with his young French wife, five dukes, four earls, three bishops,…
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It is important to remember that medieval governments could not issue paper money. Ultimately, everything had to be paid for in hard cash, although it was commonplace for creditors to be made to wait, in some cases for a very long time. The English royal government was not outstandingly rich. Its sources of income were…
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Henry IV had the image of a warrior. It was just as well as no sooner was he established on the throne than he was fighting in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France, as well as beating off his internal enemies. So it will not surprise you that the country was soon bankrupt, and that Henry…
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I have a theory that a lot of what we call “history” arises from the “hospital pass”. (For those who don’t know, this term comes from Rugby. It’s where the ball is passed to you at a moment or in a situation where the opposition is bound (or at least likely) to recover the situation…
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Edward Bruce, Ill-Starred King of Ireland
Alexander Bruce, Ardee Castle, Bannockburn, Butlers, Carrickfergus, de Burghs, Dundalk, Edmund Butler, Edward Bruce, Edward I, Edward II, Elizabeth de Burgh, England, High King of Ireland, Hill of Laughart, Ireland, John Maupas, Kells, Moiry Pass, Niall Bruce, O’Neills, Parliament, Robert I, Roger Mortimer, Scotland, Sir John de Bermingham, Sir Thomas de Mandeville, Thomas Bruce, Thomas de Burgh, William Liath de BurghOn the Hill of Laughart,near Dundalk, Co. Louth, in Ireland, lies a large, speckled stone slab covering the remains of a man called Edward Brus…thebrother of the rather more famous Robert the Brus, KING OF Scotland. (The actual ‘Braveheart’.) Little known, Edward was, briefly, the High King of Ireland, but ended up dying in battle…
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I have just made the mistake of watching The Private Lives of the Tudors, which is based on the book of the same name by Tracy Borman. It’s bad enough that Henry Tudor is first referred to as the Earl of Richmond, but then Dr Susan Doran INSISTS upon referring to him as the DUKE of…
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I came across this page in a book The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485 – 1504, written by P R Cavill. As I haven’t read all the book I am not sure why he is citing something that happened in 1483 in a book about Henry VII’s Parliaments. Maybe it is meant to be…
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