The New Murrey and Blue blog

Tewkesbury

The Tewkesbury Medieval Festival 2015

Jul 19, 2015

Events

Barnet, Bath, Bloody Meadow, Bristol, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, France, George Duke of Clarence, Gloucester, Gupshill Manor, Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, photos, re-enactment, Richard of Warwick, Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury Abbey, Tewkesbury Mediaeval Festival, Towton, Welsh Marches, Weymouth

I’ve been wanting to attend this festival for at least 20 years and finally everything came together this year and I was able to take my family with me for an orgy of medieval shopping, weaponry, costumes and merchandising followed by the re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury on part of the original site…
Churchdown Hill and the Battle of Tewkesbury….

Jul 18, 2015

battles

Barnet, Berkeley Castle, Churchdown Hill, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, George Duke of Clarence, Gloucester, Iron Age, Jasper “Tudor”, Margaret of Anjou, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Sodbury Hill, St. Bartholomew’s, Tewkesbury, Vale of the Severn, Wales, Weymouth

(Photograph from http://sulismanoeuvre.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-chosen-hill-church-scratchings.html) The Gloucestershire village in which I live, Churchdown, is down in the Vale of the Severn, at the foot of the Cotswolds. It is dominated by one of two outlier hills in the area, Churchdown (or Chosen) Hill and Robinswood Hill. Both are on the outskirts of the city of Gloucester.…
Edward IV – no pussycat!

Jul 2, 2015

law

Bognor Regis, Charles II, Countess of Warwick, Edward IV, George Duke of Clarence, Henry Holland Duke of Exeter, Henry VI, John Mowbray Duke of Norfolk, Richard II, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Tewkesbury

I find it – interesting, shall we say – that some people are so keen to hate Richard III that they tend to play down the fact that his brother, Edward IV, was at least as ruthless, if not more so. This does no service to Edward, who in some narratives seems to be a…
Not to be missed …

Mar 13, 2015

buildings

Anne Neville, Anthony Woodville, Blackfriars, Bosworth, Dissolution, Edward of Lancaster, Edward V, Elizabeth of York, George Duke of Clarence, Greyfriars, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VII, horses, Joanna, John Ashdown-Hill, John Morton, John Speed, Leicester, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Sutton Cheney, Tewkesbury, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Thomas Lord Stanley, Vaughan, White Boar Inn

John Ashdown-Hill’s piece in “History Extra”, defusing a few persistent myths: http://www.historyextra.com/article/richard-iii/6-myths-about-richard-iii?utm_source=Twitter+referral&utm_medium=t.co&utm_campaign=Bitly
Ghosts of the Roses….

Jan 14, 2015

battles

Battle of Bosworth, Battle of StokeStoke, Candlemas, Cheltenham, Edgecote, Edward of Lancaster, Francis Lovell, John de la Pole, Leicester dig, Margaret of Anjou, Middleham, Mortimer’s Cross, omens, parhelion, St. Albans, supernatural, Tewkesbury, Waterloo

There is an article by Kelly Fitzgerald at http://sunnesandroses.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-sunne-in-splendour-part-2.html, concerning the three suns that were seen in the sky before the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross in 1460. It was a natural phenomenon—a parhelion—but was clearly not recognised as such by those who saw it. They believed it was an omen. So, what about supernatural phenomena…
Just where might Edward of Westminster be buried…?

Jan 1, 2015

genealogy

Edward of Lancaster, funeral procession, George Duke of Clarence, Richard III, Tewkesbury

The above rather dark and dingy painting shows the unfortunate Margaret of Anjou, queen of the Lancastrian monarch, King Henry VI, being led from the battlefield at Tewkesbury after being captured. She had not only lost the battle, but also her son, the heir to the throne, seventeen-year-old Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. The…
LORD OF MALVERN CHASE

Nov 24, 2014

buildings

Anne Neville, Edward IV, Great Malvern, Little Malvern Priory, Malvern Chase, Margaret of Anjou, Richard III, St. Werstan, stained glass, Tewkesbury

Recently I was in Great Malvern and visited the priory church in the centre of town. It is known for its 15th century stained glass, including the West Window which was commissioned by Richard Duke of Gloucester and his wife Anne. Although the original Doom/Day of Judgement scene in Richard’s window is no longer visible,…
New ‘Historians’…New Myths

Nov 11, 2014

television reviews

Dan Jones, denialists, executions, kyphosis, Mike Pitts, sanctuary, scoliosis, teeth, Tewkesbury

Historians, historians. It seems we have a new generation writing about the Wars of the Roses and Richard, but still plying the same old, same old. Only with a new and disturbing twist. The current crop of books seem aimed at the ‘yoof’ market, targeted especially towards those whose knowledge of the Wars of the…
The battles of 1471

Nov 6, 2014

battles, heraldry

“Arrivall of Edward IV”, Barnet, denialists, Earl of Oxford, Hector, Military tactics, Richard III, Tewkesbury

There were two major battles in England in 1471. The first was fought at Barnet on 14 April and the second at Tewkesbury on 4 May. Richard, the eighteen year-old Duke of Gloucester, was engaged in both and they were to form his first major campaign. We know that Gloucester led one wing of the…