satire

What is the truth behind Shakespeare’s Richard II and Richard III….?

Sep 1, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, genealogy, Science, The play’s the thing

childlessness, Elizabeth I, kyphosis, Perspective Magazine, Pontefract Castle, propaganda, Richard II, Richard III, Robert Cecil, Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, satire, scoliosis, sedition, Shakespeare, succession

Here’s an interesting take on Shakespeare‘s Richard II. Please note, NOT Richard III. There is a myth that this play was written to flatter the Tudor queen Elizabeth, and yet one scene came so close to the bone, so to speak, that she had it excised from every performance! Amused she was not. The scene…
I hope this book is more accurate than the blurb

Jul 24, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, Science, The play’s the thing

“Tudors”, Bamburgh Castle, children, Edgecote, First Battle of St. Albans, Fotheringhay, Henry VII, Leicester Greyfriars, Micklegate Bar, mtDNA evidence, Pen and Sword, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, satire, Shakespeare, skeletons, teeth, Tewkesbury, The Children of Richard III, Tower of London, Towton, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, York

Perhaps this is just a matter of ambiguity rather than inaccuracy and that the book itself is clearer, however the jacket information really isn’t promising. Bamburg (sic), being by the east coast, had nothing to do with Tudors, real or imagined, until after Henry VII‘s accession, so it definitely wasn’t a “stronghold” of theirs during…
The Missing Princes Project and 2023….

Apr 9, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, films, humour, religion, Science

“Princes”, Henry I, Henry Pole the Younger, Philippa Langley, Reading Gaol, satire, The Lost King, The Missing Princes Project, Westminster Abbey

Here’s an article that contains an interview with Philippa Langley. It’s all about how The Lost King came about, but also has a few nuggets about what we might expect in 2023 concerning the Missing Princes project. Tantalising!
The Middle Ages and the movies….

Nov 20, 2022

anniversaries, battles, films

Alexander Nevsky, Andrei Rublev, Braveheart, Edward I, Eisenstein, El Cid, Fritz Lang, historical accuracy, Italy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Robert Bartlett, Russia, satire, Scotland, Siegfried. Mel Gibson, Sir William wallace, Spain, Stalinist tyranny, Tarkovsky, The Middle Ages and the Movies, The Name of the Rose, The Seventh Seal, Umberto Eco

“….In The Middle Ages and the Movies eminent historian Robert Bartlett takes a fresh, cogent look at how our view of medieval history has been shaped by eight significant films of the twentieth century. The book ranges from the concoction of sex and nationalism in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, to Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece Siegfried, the art-house classic The Seventh Seal to…
Celebrity Apprentice – the latest contestants

Nov 14, 2022

anniversaries, genealogy, humour

Celebrity Apprentice, Charles “III”, Edward the Black Prince, Edward VII, George IV, James VI/I, satire, television preview
The art that made us

Nov 8, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, culture, humour, religion, Science, television reviews

Aphra Benn, Armada, Arts and Crafts, Barbara Hepworth, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, BBC2, Beowulf, Black Death, Bloomsbury Group, British Empire, Burns, Charles I, Colonel Blimp, Cool Britannia, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, David Threlfall, Death and the Gallant, Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth I, embroidery, English Civil War, Festival of Britain, First World War, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Fire of London, Hanif Kureishi, Harry Potter, Hogarth, Industrial Revolution, Jane Austen, Jarrow march, John Foxe, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Joshua Reynolds, Julian of Norwich, kitchen sink drama, Llancarfon, Margery Kempe, Mary Stuart, murals, Norman conquest, Oliver Cromwell, Phillip Larkin, Piers Plowman, poetry, pre-Raphaelites, Reformation, Restoration, Richard II, Roman Britain, Rubens, satire, Second World War, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir William Orpen, St. Cadoc’s church, St. Paul’s, stained glass, Stuarts, The art that made us, The Fighting Temeraire, The unknown soldier, Tracey Emin, Trainspotting, Turner, urbanisation, van Dyck, Walter Sickert, Welsh Bible, William Cobbett, William Morgan, William Shakespeare, Wilton Diptych, York Minster

This is another fascinating BBC2 series, illustrating English and British history through the evolution of our art. The eight one-hour episodes, narrated by David Threlfall (Men of the World), feature:The Roman and pre-Roman periods, Beowulf, the Norman conquest and the Bayeux Tapestry; The Black Death, Wilton Diptych, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich,…
Was the Bard having a go at Robert Cecil when he wrote Richard III….?

Oct 15, 2022

culture, humour, religion, The play’s the thing

“Princes”, Elizabeth I, James VI/I, Matthew Lewis, Richard III, Robert Cecil, satire, secret Catholics, William Shakespeare

Matt Lewis is, of course, a force to be reckoned with when it comes to supporting Richard III and this link is a very interesting article he’s written concerning why Shakespeare may have bad-mouthed Richard. I had no idea the Bard could have been a secret Catholic who wanted the return of the old…
Autocorrect strikes again

Oct 13, 2022

anniversaries, genealogy, humour

autocorrect, Edward of Lancaster, George Formby, Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, music, satire, SHW

Here is Henry VI‘s wife, who bore her only child today in 1453. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you … Margaret of Banjo! {illustrated by SHW} I was checking the MS of a certain novel, and Autocorrect wanted to change Margaret of Anjou to Margaret of Banjo. This amused me, and immediately I thought of…
The new titans of Bosworth….?

May 7, 2020

humour, television reviews

BBC, David Starkey, Dead Ringers, satire, Simon Schama

No words are needed, I think! Except to say that I doubt if Starkey and Schama ever see themselves in this light!
History isn’t “horrible”, it’s essential….!

Feb 26, 2020

humour, television reviews

Alfred the Great, education, Horrible Histories, monarchs, Richard III, Richard III Society, satire, songs

“…Imagine knowing the entire list of British monarchs by heart at age 10. Imagine knowing about cavemen courting rituals or what soldiers ate during World War I. Imagine becoming so invested in the life of the infamous King Richard III of England that you joined the Richard III Society, a group dedicated to finding his…