Richard I

AI – not so clever!

Jan 28, 2025

art, humour

AI, Devil’s pictures, Richard I, Richard III

I have been experimenting with some free AI apps. I’m in two minds about them – they are incredibly clever, but, as an artist and writer, I feel they cannot be a good thing for the livelihoods of creative people. Anyway, I decided to see if this app would create a good image of Richard.…
The Middle East in mediaeval times

May 9, 2024

anniversaries, battles, religion, travel

Ascension Day, Constantinople, Crusades, Holy Land, Ivanhoe, Mamluks, Middle East, Ottoman Empire, Philip Augustus, Richard I, Saladin, Sir Walter Scott, von Poppelau

As Ascension Day arrives once again, we are reminded of the history of the Holy Land in Richard III’s era – that the Mamluks had displaced Saladin‘s heirs after the latter had defeated the Crusaders under Richard I and Philip Augustus. Of course, we have almost all watched Ivanhoe or read of Richard III meeting…
Richard I—the world’s greatest kidnapping….?

Dec 20, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, religion, sources

Anjou, Austria, Berengaria, Blondel, Corfu, Crusades, Durnstein Castle, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Emperor Henry VI, excommunication, Fontevraud Abbey, Henry III. kidnapping, hostages, John, Leopold of Austria, Phillip Augustus, Pope, Richard I, Saladin, Torquay, Torre Abbey, William Brewer, William Stubbs

What links Richard I with Torquay? Well, it seems that when the king was captured and ransomed in Austria, one of those sent to negotiate for him was a certain very unpopular William Brewer, who was local to Torquay, a major landholder, administrator and judge in England during the reigns of Richard I, King John…
The Murderous Stanleys of 15th-century Lancashire….

Oct 31, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law

“Perkin”, Barham, Battle of Bosworth, Bewsey Old Hall, Blore Heath, Boydells, bridges, Deal, executions, George Lord Strange, Halloween, Henry VII, Knowsley, Lancashire Folk Tales, Lathom House, Priory of the Hermit Friars of St. Augustine, Richard I, Richard of Shrewsbury, Sir John Butler, Sir William Stanley, Thomas Stanley, Warrington, William Troutbeck

A POST ESPECIALLY FOR HALLOWE’EN…. Here is a tale of murder most foul that I think suits Hallowe’en, even if it didn’t actually happen at Hallowtide. It’s based on fact, and I first found it in Lancashire Folk Tales by Jennie Bailey and David England. Since then, in one form or another, it has also…
The adventures of the coronation chrism oil….

Oct 30, 2023

anniversaries, battles, Events, law, religion, sources

Alice Hunt, Ampulla, Bosworth, Charles “III”, Charles II, coronations, crown jewels, Edward IV, Edward VI, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry VII, John, Mary I, Richard I, Richard II, Richard III, Robert Zaller, The Fears of Henry IV, Thomas Becket, usurpation, Virgin Mary

I was quite enjoying this article until I came to: “….‘Kings whose claims were disputed were accordingly anxious to be consecrated as quickly as possible,’ writes Zaller. ‘Both Edward IV and Richard III rushed to be crowned, and the Yorkist kings claimed to have been anointed with chrism conveyed directly to Thomas á Becket by…
Half a dozen dramatic events in the life of King John….

Jul 27, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law

Arthur of Brittany, Battle of Bouvines, hunting lodges, John, Magna Carta, Richard I, Robin Hood, Sheriff of Nottingham

King John’s very existence appears to have been one long drama, but when it comes to him there are usually two things that spring to mind instantly. (1) Magna Carta, and (2) he was vile. There are other things, of course, but these are the two that spring to my mind. Oh, and that as…
Rebellion in the Middle Ages

Dec 19, 2022

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, law, religion

Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur of Brittany, Azincourt, Bannockburn, Barons’ War, Battle of Evesham, Battle of Hastings, Battle of Lewes, Battle of Shrewsbury, Black Death, Blackheath, Boroughbridge, Canterbury Cathedral, Crusades, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward I, Edward II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, France, Geoffrey of Brittany, Henry Cardinal Beaufort, Henry II, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry the Young King, Henry V, Henry VI, Hereward the Wake, House of Lancaster, Hugh Despencer, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Humphrey of Gloucester, insanity, Isabelle de France, Isle of Ely, Jack Cade, John, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Protector of the Realm, Lords Ordainers, Magna Carta, Matilda, Matt Lewis, murder, Parliament, Peasants’ Revolt, Peterborough Abbey, Piers Gaveston, rebellions, Richard Duke of York, Richard I, Richard II, Robert of Gloucester, Roger Mortimer, Royal Marriage Secrets, Scarborough Castle, secret marriage, Southampton plot, St. Thomas Becket, Stephen, The Anarchy, Thomas of Lancaster, Tower of London, usurpation, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, William Duke of Suffolk, William I, William Marshall

This is the latest of Matthew Lewis’ books and covers a longer period than any of the others, from Hereward the Wake’s emergence after Hastings to the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, almost as long a period as this book. Lewis is already an expert on “The Anarchy” (chapter 2) and the Roses…
Richard the Lionheart….or Richard the pain in the you-know-what….

May 12, 2022

anniversaries, battles, films

Crusades, Eleanor of Aquitaine, George Sanders, Henry II, History Extra, John, Nigel Terry, Peasants’ Revolt, Peter O’Toole, Richard I, Robin Hood, The Lion in Winter

Well, my first introduction to Richard the Lionheart was in the 1950s…one of the many Robin Hood movies of that period, He was noble and chivalrous (George Sanders, as I recall, see below), while Prince John was a Blue Meanie of the highest order. Nothing much has changed since then. My opinion of both men…
KING JOHN AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

Apr 6, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources, The play’s the thing

AA Milne, Angevin bloodline, Anglicanism, annulment, Arthur of Brittany, Ascension Day, authorship, avarice, Barons, burials, Cardinal Pandulph, character, charles forker, clergymen, Crowland Chronicle, Defender of the Faith, Earls of Essex, Edward Hall, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Eucharist, excommunication, Fauconbridge brothers, Geoffrey Plantagenet, George Peel, graham Seel, Henry, Henry the Young King, Henry VIII, Historiography, House of York, Hubert de Bergh, Innocent III, John, john Bale, John Dover-Wilson, John Gillingham, John Harvey, John Matusiak, John Wycliffe, Kit Marlowe, Lackland, Louis VIII, Magna Carta, male primogeniture, Mary I, Maude Plantagenet, Mirabeau, morality plays, Phillip Augustus, plays, Polydore Vergil, Ralph Holinshed, recusants, Reformation, Richard Green, Richard Hunne, Richard I, Robin Hood, royal burials, sir brian vickers, Sir James Holt, Six Articles, Softsword, Staffords, stephen langton, Stuarts, Tillyard, Walt Disney, Wilfred Warren, William Shakespeare, William Tyndale, Worcester Cathedral

KING JOHN AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION King John was not a good man, He had his little ways. And sometimes no one spoke to him For days and days and days. And men who came across him, When walking in the town, Gave him a supercilious stare, Or passed with noses in the air, And…
Eleanor of Aquitaine, the “mother-in-law from hell”….?

Apr 1, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

Anne of Bohemia, Berengaria, Crusades, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Fontevraud Abbey, Henry II, Isabella of Angouleme, John, l’Epau Abbey, le Mans, miscarriage, Navarre, Richard I, Richard II, royal marriages, royal tombs, sexuality, taxes

There are two King Richards of England whose marriages are always called into question: Richard I and Berengaria of Navarre, and Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. Richard II’s sexuality is cited as the reason he and Anne had no children. Either he was sexless…or his interests went to the male of the species. Therefore…