Royal Menagerie
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Medieval royal Christmases….with a few camels thrown in….!
A Christmas Carol, Bayeux Tapestry, Becket, Bishop Odo, Charles Dickens, Christ Church Canterbury, coronation 1066, Edward III, Edward IV, Elizabeth I, Epiphany, Henry I, Henry II, Henry III, Henry VI, Henry VII, Henry VIII, John Leland, Katherine of Aragon, King John, King Wenceslas carol, Lucy Worsley Christmas Odyssey, Matthew Paris – Benedictine, Medieval camels, medieval Christmas, Medieval Ireland, Richard II, Richard III, Royal Menagerie, Scrooge, Twelfth Night, William ICamels seem to have figured quite a lot in gifts to medieval monarchs, at Christmas and other times. But I’ll begin with commenting on the season itself. St Stephen’s Day is the second day of Christmas (Christmas Day itself being the first, and Epiphany, 6 January, the twelfth and last). Today, unless we’re among those…
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Here’s an oddity. Well, perhaps not, given that the kings of England had a royal menagerie at the Tower, in which a variety of exotic (to England) animals were kept. While looking at the Calendar of Patent Rolls for 1385 I came upon the following entry:- The entry doesn’t say the ostrich was kept in…