Richard II

John of Gaunt’s Entailment

Apr 13, 2024

anniversaries, genealogy, law, sources

Edmund Crouchback, Edmund of Langley, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, enfeoffment, entail male, Henry IV, Ian Mortimer, John of Gaunt, Lancastrian propaganda, Parliament, Richard II, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, senility, usurpation, Westminster Chronicle

I have recently come across the argument (again) that Edward III‘s purported enfeoffment made Gaunt and his son the rightful heirs of Edward III.
Did Chaucer die a natural death….?

Apr 10, 2024

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, religion, The play’s the thing

“Lancastrian”, “Tudors”, Archbishop Thomas Arundel, Archbishops of Canterbury, authoritarianism, Battle of Bosworth, de heretico comburendo, executed women, Geoffrey Chaucer, Henry IV, Henry VII, John Morton, renaissance, Richard II, Richard III, Shakespeare, Spanish Inquisition, Stalin comparison, Terry Jones, usurpation

Here is an extract from Terry Jones’s exquisitely researched book Who Murdered Chaucer? This extract deals with the first Lancastrian usurpation of the throne of England. The usurper was Henry of Bolingbroke, who became Henry IV, and the king he usurped and killed was his first cousin Richard II. I think Terry Jones’s words…
Christine de Pizan (or Pisan)

Apr 8, 2024

anniversaries, culture

Charles VI, Christine de Pizan, Deanna Rodriguez, executions, feminism, France, Henry IV, Hundred Years War, Italy, John Earl of Salisbury, Richard II, writers

This interesting article by Deanna Rodriguez gives details of many of Christine’s works, some of which are readily available to the modern reader in translated form. Christine de Pizan (or Pisan) was born in Venice but moved to France at an early age and spent the rest of her life there. After her husband’s death,…
A 14th-century castle and moat unearthed beneath a French hotel….

Apr 4, 2024

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy

breton war of succession, castles, charles de blois, Charles V, Charles VI, chateau de l’hermine, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, hotel lagorce, Hundred Years War, Joan of Kent, John IV Duke of Brittany, Richard II, siege of Nantes, Thomas Holand, vannes

I have learned from this site (as well as numerous other sites, all you have to do is search “castle remains under vannes hotel”) that the remarkably well preserved remains of a14th-century castle and moat have been discovered only about 10 feet below the foundations of the Hotel Lagorce in Vannes. This lost castle…
Speed’s not up to speed….!

Mar 20, 2024

anniversaries, battles, law

“Tudors”, Battle of Bosworth, Henry IV, John Speed, Lancashire, Lancastrians, past maps, Richard II, Richard III, usurpation, Yorkists

Well, now I’ve read it all. Please look at the above map, into which you can zoom at here. Do you see the images of monarchs on the left (Lancaster) and on the right (York)? You’ll probably need to zoom at the Wikimedia link above to read the words atop the Lancastrian column. They…
Molyneux? No, here come the Stanleys. Again….!

Mar 17, 2024

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy

“Princes”, bailiffs, Cheshire, Chester Castle, croxteth country park, cuerdale, eagle and child, earls of Sefton, Flint Castle, henry chaderton, Ireland, John of Gaunt, Lancashire, Liverpool, Molineux, Ribble, Richard II, Richard III, richard molyneux, River Thames, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Sir thomas molyneux, Stanleys, Thomas Lord Stanley, Wolverhampton

I have recently been looking into the turbulent life of Sir Thomas Molyneux of Cuerdale, whose hall by the River Ribble has featured in one of my articles. He was not a quiet soul, and had a terrible end at the Battle of Radcot Bridge in 1387 when surrendering to a Mortimer. The latter pulled…
Guy Ritchie’s inheritance blooper on Netflix….

Mar 7, 2024

buildings, genealogy, law, religion

bigamy, Castile, child mortality, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, entail male, family trusts, guy ritchie, Henry IV, illegitimate children, Isabel of Castile, John of Gaunt, land, Lionel of Antwerp, Mortimers, Moynihan barony, Netflix, primogeniture, Richard II, Sir Brian Stanley-Wainwright, Stephen Lark, The Gentlemen, titles

There’s a new “blockbuster” coming up on Netflix. It’s called The Gentlemen, and is described as follows: “….Army captain Eddie Horniman is working for the UN abroad when he learns his aristocratic dad has died….everyone expects Eddie’s older brother Freddy to become next Duke of Halstead and inherit the estate…but his father has disinherited Freddy…
A circumstantial but viable clue to the eventual death of Edward II….

Mar 6, 2024

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

Abdication, adam murimuth, Auramala Project, Battle of Sluys, Berkeley Castle, berkeley pill, Canada, Corfe Castle, david tandy, Edmund Earl of Kent, Edward II, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward V, elizabeth comyn, escape, evidence, executions, Fieschi Letter, fundy bay, Glenn Moran, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucestershire, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Ian Mortimer, Isabelle de France, Joan of Kent, John Ashdown-Hill, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, mtDNA evidence, richard barber, Richard II, Richard of Shrewsbury, Richard Talbot, Roger Mortimer, Salisbury Cathedral, secret marriage, Severn Estuary, Thomas Lord Berkeley

In a way the mystery of Edward II is not unlike that of the Princes in the Tower (see here). In both cases supposed royal murders have turned out to be untrue and the victims have escaped to the Continent. Also in both cases the murder aspect has been unchallenged until relatively recently, with all the old…
A spare £9.5 million will get you a beautiful historic castle in Cumbria….

Mar 3, 2024

battles, buildings, sources, Uncategorized

appleby castle, british History Online, castles, First Battle of St. Albans, hotels, Lake District, property sales, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard III, thomas baron clifford

Britain fair bulges with castles, especially along borders or simply impose control in troublesome areas. Some of these fortresses are stark, dramatic ruins that still carry the threatening air that was intended when they were built. Others are more beautiful….and still occupied by those fortunate enough to have, say, £9.5 million stashed away for a…
The rise and fall of Sir Thomas Molyneux’s Cuerdale Hall in Lancashire….

Feb 27, 2024

anniversaries, battles, buildings, sources

british History Online, Colonel Ralph Assheton, Cuerdale Hoard, John of Gaunt, Lancashire, Radcot Bridge, Ralph Holinshed, Richard II, Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland, Sir thomas molyneux, thomas mortimer

My meanderings in the name of research sometimes turn up things that rather bemuse me. This time I was in hot pursuit of Sir Thomas Molyneux of Cuerdale, who was murdered rather nastily by Thomas Mortimer Thomas Mortimer at the Battle of Radcot Bridge on 19 December 1387. Molyneux had once been John of…