Tower of London
-
London: 2000 years of history (channel 5)
Admiralty Arch, Aldwych, Alfred the Great, ampitheatres, Anderson shelters, Anglo-Saxons, Black Death, Blitz, Boudicca, bridges, Brunel, Channel Five, Charles Booth, Charles I, cholera, City of London, Commonwealth immigration, coronations, Covent Garden, Crossrail, Dan Jones, Docklands, Edward VII, Elizabeth I, Ethelred II, Euston, expansion, glass, Golden Hind, Great Fire of London, Great War, Green Belt, Guido Fawkes, GWR, Hampstead, Harold II, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry VIII, hills, industrialisation, Jack the Ripper, Joseph Bazalgette, Kent, Lamb Street Teenager, land reclaimed, Londinium, London, Londonburgh, Londonwich, Metroland, Metropolitan Line, MI5 building, Norman stone, Normans, Northern Line, Old London Bridge, Paddington, pottery, railways, rebellions, Richard II, Richard Whittington, Rob Bell, Roman walls, Romans, Royal Ordnance factories, Samuel Pepys, Savoy, Selfridges, sewage system, shipping containers, Shoreditch, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Francis Drake, Spanish ‘flu, Spitalfields, St. Paul’s, stone, Suffragettes, Suzannah Lipscomb, Thames, Thomas Wolsey, Tower of London, trials, Underground, Viking raids, War Office, Westminster, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Hall, White Tower, Whitechapel, Whitehall Palace, William I, William Wallace, ZeppelinsWho let Dan Jones out? At least, as in his last outing, he is accompanied both by a historian (Suzannah Lipscomb) and an engineer (Rob Bell), narrating and illustrating almost two millennia of the city’s past. In the first episode, we were taken through the walled city of “Londinium” being built and rebuilt after Boudicca’s…
-
RUNNING WILD–BLOODY RED ROSE I came across this heavy metal song from the 1980’s a while back– BLOODY RED ROSE by Running Wild. It is ‘pro-Richard III’ and here are the lyrics: In the war of the roses, the tragedy source King Edward was bound to die Richard III the new “lord protector” Ruled with…
-
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…
-
Dyer or Dire?
Anthony Adolph, BBC1, Berkeley Castle, Buckingham Palace, Catherine Cromwell, Chris Given-Wilson, codpieces, coinage, dancing, Danny Dyer, Danny Dyer’s Right Royal Family, Denmark, direct descent, Dover Castle, Dukes of Normandy, dyeing, Edward II, Edward III, Elizabeth Norton, fencing, France, Helmingham Hall, Henry II, Henry Percy, Henry VIII, Historyonics, horses, Hugh le Despenser, Isabella de Valois, Jane Seymour, jousting, Leeds Castle, Louis IX, Nick Knowles, Norway, Piers Gaveston, Ray Winstone, red hot poker, Roger Mortimer, Rollo the Viking, saints, Shrewsbury, Sir John Seymour, St. Margaret of Wessex, sugar banquet, Sweden, Thomas Becket, Tobias Capwell, Tower of London, Tracy Borman, West Ham, Who do you think you are?, William I, Wolf HallMany of you will remember the episode of “Who do you think you are” in which Danny Dyer was revealed as a descendant of Edward III. In this new two part series, he “meets” a few prominent ancestors, some even more distant. The first episode began with Rollo, ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, which…
-
The above illustration is of the British Crown Jewels as we know them now, but there were predecessors, long gone now, thanks to the efforts of Oliver Cromwell, who had no truck with such baubles. We are inclined to forget that there was a Welsh crown too, until it was seized by Edward I in…
-
Here is the opening paragraph of an intriguing article by the excellent Professor Nigel Saul:- “As increasing numbers of early copies of Magna Carta are identified in fourteenth- and early fifteenth century registers and cartularies, so we are becoming more aware of the close interest taken in the document by lawyers and political actors in…
-
Channel 5’s “Inside the Tower of London”
“Princes”, Anne Boleyn, Beefeaters, bigamy, Catherine of Aragon, Ceremony of the Lilies and Roses, Channel Five, Charles II, coins, Colonel Blood, Colonel Thomas Blood, Constable of the Tower, crown jewels, Domenico Mancini, Duke of Wellington, Eton, executions, exhibitions, Germany, Guido Fawkes, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Henry III, Henry VI, Henry VIII, illegitimacy, James VI/I, Jason Watkins, Josef Jacobs, King’s College Cambridge, Kray twins, Leonora Cohen, Long Cross Penny, More, Peasants’ Revolt, pre-contract, ravens, Richard III, Royal Marriage Secrets, Royal Mint, Rudolf Hess, Simon of Sudbury, Sir Walter Raleigh, St. Gregory’s, Tower of London, Tracy Borman, Westminster Abbey, William IThis four-part series is narrated by Jason Watkins and heavily features Tracy Borman, Joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces. The first part dealt with the Peasants’ Revolt, which resulted in Simon of Sudbury‘s beheading and Borman travelled to St. Gregory’s in his home town to view the preserved head. She spoke about the animals…
-
Well, we all know the story (and that’s just what it was, a story) about the demise of the boys’ uncle, George, Duke of Clarence, in a butt of Malmsey, but this is the first I’ve heard of the boys themselves suffering a similar fate. I quote: “The manner of their death triggered debate…
-
Elizabeth of York – her privy purse expenses
“Perkin”, Ann Wroe, Anne Neville, Arthur “Tudor”, Bermondsey Abbey, borrowing, burials, Catherine of York, childbirth, clothing, Edward IV, Edward of Middleham, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Wydeville, executions, Food, Gravesend, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Jasper “Tudor”, John Beaufort, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lady Verney, Margaret “Tudor”, Mary “Tudor”, medical care, mottoes, Nottingham, Nottingham Borough Records, ODNB, Privy Purse, records, Richard III, Rosemary Horrox, servants, Sir Nicholas Harris Nicholas, St. John’s Friary, Tower of London, Vaux Passional, WappingUpdated post @ sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/elizabeth-of-york-her-privy-purse-expenses/ Henry Vll and his children in mourning for Elizabeth of York. An idealised presentation of Henry. His children , Margaret and Mary sitting in front of the fire while a young Henry weeps into his mother’s empty bed. From the Vaux Passional, a 15th century manuscript. And so…
-
UPDATED POST ON sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/06/15/dr-argentine-physician-to-the-princes-in-the-tower/ King’s College Chapel. Dr Argentine is buried in a chantry chapel on the south side close to the alter. In Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, just south of the alter can be found the chantry chapel where Dr John Argentine, Provost of Kings College from 1501 until his death…