Speakers of the Commons
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When I saw a headline about a family who bought a king’s bed, my first thought was of the marriage bed of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, which was found at auction in 2010 in Chester. But no, this is a different bed, and only dates back to Charles II. Nor is it a…
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WAS HENRY VII A RELUCTANT BRIDEGROOM?
Anne Neville, Battle of Bosworth, Bermondsey Abbey, Brittany, Cheneygates, Christmas Day, Coldharbour, Coldridge, consanguinity, Coronation, David Johnson, dispensations, Edward IV, Edward V, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Wydeville, Henry VII, Jean Molinet, Joanna, John Evans, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Manuel Duke of Beja, Maud Herbert, Minories, Papal Curia, Parliament, Polydore Vergil, Portuguese marriage plans, promise to marry, re-legitimisation, Rennes Cathedral, Ricardian, Richard III, Robert Stillington, royal marriages, Sir Francis Bacon, Speakers of the Commons, Stoke Field, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Thomas Lovell, Titulus Regius 1486REBLOGGED FROM A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Their effigies in Westminster Abbey. Artist Pietro Torrigiano. Photo westminster-abbey.org I was recently reading an excellent article in the Ricardian discussing Henry Tudor’s enthusiasm, or lack of it, for his marriage to Elizabeth of York by David Johnson entitled Ardent Suitor or Reluctant…
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Four Men Murdered by Henry Bolingbroke
Anthony Wydville, Bristol Castle, Cheshire, Constable of England, double standards, executions, Guienne, Henry IV, Henry VIII, John of Gaunt, King of Mann, Lord High Treasurer, Lord Protector of the Realm, Lords Appellant, Macclesfield Hundred, peers, Regency Council, Richard II, Richard III, Sir John Bussy, Sir Piers Legh of Lyme, Sir Richard Grey, Sir Thomas Vaughan, Speakers of the Commons, Treason Acts, William ScropeI wish I had a pound for every word written about the executions of Hastings, Rivers, Grey and Vaughan at the hands of Richard III. I should certainly be able to expand my portfolio of shares very substantially, indeed well beyond ISA limits. I might even be a millionaire. It may be that these men…
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Well, while researching the Painted Chamber of Westminster Palace, with particular reference to the “Good Parliament” of 1376, I couldn’t help imagining today’s House of Commons faced, not with someone like John Bercow (whose birthday it is today and is quite short with a head), but Edward the First! Can you just imagine old…
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A constitutionally important “Tudor” servant
Admiral Thomas Seymour, Anne Askew, Battle of Preston, Catherine of Aragon, Civil War, Colchester, Court of Augmentations, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Earls of Warwick, Edmund Bonner, Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset, Essex, executions, Felsted, Henry VIII, Hugh Trevor-Roper, John Fisher, John Hurt, Kimbolton Castle, Leez Priory, Marian persecution, Mary I, Parliament, Paul Scofield, Robert Bolt, siege of Colchester, Sir Richard Rich, Speakers of the Commons, St. Neots, Stephen Gardiner, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas More, Thomas Wolsey, torture, Tower of London, WalesWe tend to have rather a negative view of Sir Richard Rich, or Baron Rich of Leez as he became in February 1547, nowadays. In this, we are somewhat influenced by Robert Bolt’s portrayal of him, as a “betrayer” of More, together with the history of Trevor-Roper. One Bolt line, memorably delivered by Paul Scofield…