propaganda

Another view on that urn

Dec 25, 2017

archaeology, buildings, genealogy, Science

“Princes”, Annette Carson, Charles II, coffins, denialists, Edward IV, Edward V, Glenn Moran, Helen Maurer, Henry Pole the Younger, human remains, John Ashdown-Hill, More, mtDNA, Nerdalicious, propaganda, Richard of Shrewsbury, royal tombs, Tower of London, urn, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle

This excellent post from Nerdalicious, whose tabs appropriately include “History of Folk and Fairy Tales”, shows just how desperately ridiculous the Cairo case really is, particularly when they treat More’s first half as a Fifth Gospel and ignore his second. After all, we have already shown that the small coffins buried with Edward IV are…
1066: THE YEAR OF THREE KINGS

Oct 14, 2017

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, sources

Alfred son of Ethelred, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Athelings, bastardy, Battle of Britain, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, Cerdic, Cnut, David Douglas, Domesday Book, Dover, Eadmer, Edgar the Atheling, Edward the Exile, Emma of Normandy, English Channel, Ethelred II, Eustace of Bologne, Frank Barlow, Fulford, Godwin Earl of Wessex, Gytha, Hakon grandson of Godwin, Harald Hardrada, Harald Sigurdsson, Harold Harefoot, Harold II, Harthacnut, Herleve, hindsight, hostages, House of Wessex, Hungary, invasions, Isle of Wight, Jane Austen, John of Worcester, Leofric, Lotharingia, Magnus Magnusson, Magnus the Good, Matilda of Flanders, Michael Lawson, Norman conquest, Normans, oaths, Oderic Vitalis, Odo Bishop of Bayeux, Papacy, Paul Hill, Peter Rex, Pevensey Bay, primogeniture, promises, propaganda, Queen Edith, Richard Duke of Normandy, Richard III, Robert Chumpert, Romney, Scotland, Shakespeare, shipwreck, Sigurd, Sir Frank Stenton, St. Edward the Confessor, Stamford Bridge, Stigand, Sveyn Godwinson, Sweyn Estrithson, Synod of Chelsea, Tostig, Vik, Vita Edwardi Regis, William I, William of Jumieges, William of Malmesbury, William of Poitiers, Winston Churchill, Witangemot, Wulfnoth Godwinson, York

“History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former days” (Winston Churchill) “I often think it odd that it should be so dull, for a great deal of it must be invention.” (Catherine…
Witchcraft (1): Witchcraft and Royalty: The Cases against Eleanor Cobham and Joanne of Navarre

Aug 17, 2017

anniversaries

astrologers, Azincourt, Beaumaris Castle, Cardinal Beaufort, Edward IV, Eleanor Cobham, Elizabeth Wydeville, Father John Randolf, feminism, George Duke of Clarence, Gilles de Rais, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Humphrey of Gloucester, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Jeanne d’Arc, Joan of Navarre, John IV Duke of Brittany, Leeds Castle, Margery Jourdemayne, Mortimer’s Cross, mud, parhelion, Pevensey Castle, propaganda, Richard III, Roger Bolingbroke, snow, Thomas Southwell, Towton, witchcraft

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog: Fake news – smearing the opposition With the current interest in the media about the spread of ‘fake news’ and misinformation, it seems appropriate to reconsider the cases of two royal ladies who were both accused and found guilty of witchcraft during the early C15th. Were these simply cases…
Treason from a Scottish perspective

May 10, 2017

law

Archibald the Grim, Battle of Falkirk, Battle of Methven, Blind Harry, England, executions, George Dunbar Earl of March, Henry IV, James III, John Barbour, Malcolm Drummond, poetry, propaganda, Richard II, Robert I, Scotland, Sir James Douglas, Thomas Randolph Earl of Murray, treason, William Wallace

This article tells the story of Scottish treason in the time of William Wallace, Robert I and afterwards, through the tradition of oral history. The image below is supposedly of Hugh le Despenser the Younger, although there must be some cases more relevant to Scotland.
CAN A PICTURE PAINT A THOUSAND WORDS?

Apr 17, 2017

Uncategorized

“Princes”, Anne Boleyn, Anne Neville, art, Baynard’s Castle, Catherine Howard, Cecily Duchess of York, Edward V, Edwin Austin Abbey, Elizabeth Wydeville, executions, Henry of Buckingham, Jane, John Everett Millais, John Morton, Margaret of Salisbury, Paul Delaroche, Philip Calderon, portraits, propaganda, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Shakespeare, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Three Estates, Tower Green

UPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/can-a-picture-paint-a-thousand-words-ricardian-art/ It’s said a picture can paint a thousand words. It certainly can but not always accurately. It can distort the truth. Art work based on the Ricardian period is certainly true of this. Take for example the stunning painting by Edwin Austin Abbey, Richard Duke of Gloucester…
Richard III takes on the tyrant Henry VIII…

Apr 1, 2017

Uncategorized

“Tudors”, Battle of Bosworth, comedy festival, Elizabeth of York, Henry VII, Henry VIII, humour, obesity, propaganda, real tennis, Richard III, satire, Shakespeare

I have my priorities right with picture size! Anyway, here’s a laugh, courtesy of the Huffington Post. Errors and all. I have quoted it in full. “Be warned. There is a downside to dreaming big. To those of you who hope to reach life’s pinnacle — which obviously is becoming an obese, ginger tyrant —…
Lucy does the Glorious Revolution

Mar 2, 2017

battles

BBC4, Brixham, France, Glorious Revolution, invasions, James VII/II, Louis XIV, Lucy Worsley, Mary II, Myths, propaganda, Richard III, sectarianism, Stuarts, television reviews, William III

Did anyone watch the second episode of Lucy Worsley’s fib-busting series last night? I didn’t quite make it to the end because I was so tired, but saw enough to understand that she did to James VII/II exactly what she did with Richard III. By that I mean she concentrated on the deeds/misdeeds of the…
The True History of King Richard III (Part IV)

Oct 16, 2016

battles

Blore Heath, Cecily Duchess of York, Doctor Stiffkey, Edmund of Rutland, education, Edward IV, George Duke of Clarence, Henry VI, Lady Mortimer, Lancastrians, Lancastrians In Need, Ludford Bridge, Margaret Duchess of Burgundy, Margaret of Anjou, Parliament, propaganda, Richard III, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, sack of Ludlow

The sack of Ludlow 1459 Richard’s first teacher was Lady Mortimer, who taught him handwriting and country dancing. As Lady Mortimer’s late husband had been on the very fringe (almost dropping off the end) of Richard’s family tree, she also taught him something of genealogy, and he discovered that he was descended from Lionel, Duke…
Why are hunchbacks always portrayed as evil….?

Aug 13, 2016

Science

Elizabeth I, kyphosis, propaganda, Richard III, Robert Cecil, scoliosis

Well, it’s true. They are. And it’s wrong! A terrible injustice that I hope will soon be a thing of the past. Shakespeare turned Richard into something ridiculously grotesque and over the top, yet the truth was that he suffered from scoliosis, a condition that would not even have been evident in his lifetime, except to anyone…
The Success of the Usurper by Barbara Gaskell Denvil

Jun 12, 2016

genealogy

“Tudors”, Anglo-Saxons, Bosworth, claims, France, Hastings, Henry VII, Lancastrians, mercenaries, Normans, Plantagenets, propaganda, St. Edward the Confessor, usurpers, William I, Witangemot

For some years I have set my novels in the last years of Plantagenet reign, or the first years of the Tudor dynasty. William the Conqueror Many authors of historical fiction prefer to set their books in the Georgian or Regency periods, but tor me the Plantagenet dynasty was one of the most interesting…