The New Murrey and Blue blog

Tower of London

Some minor problems with Thomas More’s account.

Dec 31, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion, sources

“Princes”, “withered arm”, Anne Beauchamp, Anthony Wydville, Beaulieu Abbey, bigamy, discrepancies, Edward IV, executions, Henry VI, Henry VII, illegitimacy, Jane Shore, Lady Elizabeth Lucy, Lord Chancellor, marriage ceremony, mediaeval canon law, More, Pontefract Castle, pre-contract, Ralph Shaa, Richard III, secret marriage, Sheriff of Glamorgan, Sir James Tyrrell, Sir Richard Grey, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Sir Robert Brackenbury, Sir Thomas Vaughan, Tewkesbury, Thomas Dighton, Tower of London, Vice-Constable, Westminster, William Catesby, witchcraft

King Edward, of that name the fourth, after that he had lived fifty and three years, seven months, and six days, and thereof reigned two and twenty years, one month, and eight days, died at Westminster the ninth day of April. King Edward was born 28 April 1442 and died 9 April 1483. He was…
Rebellion in the Middle Ages

Dec 19, 2022

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, law, religion

Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur of Brittany, Azincourt, Bannockburn, Barons’ War, Battle of Evesham, Battle of Hastings, Battle of Lewes, Battle of Shrewsbury, Black Death, Blackheath, Boroughbridge, Canterbury Cathedral, Crusades, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward I, Edward II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, France, Geoffrey of Brittany, Henry Cardinal Beaufort, Henry II, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry the Young King, Henry V, Henry VI, Hereward the Wake, House of Lancaster, Hugh Despencer, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Humphrey of Gloucester, insanity, Isabelle de France, Isle of Ely, Jack Cade, John, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Protector of the Realm, Lords Ordainers, Magna Carta, Matilda, Matt Lewis, murder, Parliament, Peasants’ Revolt, Peterborough Abbey, Piers Gaveston, rebellions, Richard Duke of York, Richard I, Richard II, Robert of Gloucester, Roger Mortimer, Royal Marriage Secrets, Scarborough Castle, secret marriage, Southampton plot, St. Thomas Becket, Stephen, The Anarchy, Thomas of Lancaster, Tower of London, usurpation, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, William Duke of Suffolk, William I, William Marshall

This is the latest of Matthew Lewis’ books and covers a longer period than any of the others, from Hereward the Wake’s emergence after Hastings to the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, almost as long a period as this book. Lewis is already an expert on “The Anarchy” (chapter 2) and the Roses…
Settling the Bosworth Debt….

Oct 31, 2022

anniversaries, buildings

“Perkin”, “Princes”, All Hallows, arrests, bigamy, Duke of York, Edward IV, Elizabeth of York, executions, ghosts, Halloween, Henry VII, Henry VIII, House of York, illegitimacy, Lord Chamberlain, masks, pre-contract, Richard III, Sir William Stanley, torture, Tower Hill, Tower of London, treachery, Westminster Hall

With the denizens of Hades gathering to do their worst, here is a horror tale of Sir William Stanley’s final Hallowe’en, when retribution snatches him at last. “Settling the Bosworth Debt” is the story of what happened to William when he was confronted by some terrible truths about Henry Tudor. Friday, 31 October, 1494, Hallowe’en,…
L’Erber – London Home to Warwick the Kingmaker and George Duke of Clarence

Oct 17, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources, travel

Anne Neville, Barnet, Checkers Yard, Coldharbour, Crowland Chronicle, Dowgate Hill, Earl of Oxford, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Great Fire of London, Henry Lord Montagu, Henry VIII, high treason, Isobel Neville, John Strype, Kingsford, l’Erber, London, Margaret of Salisbury, Nevilles, past maps, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Reformation, Reginald Cardinal Pole, Richard III, Richard III Society, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, River Thames, sanctuary, Sir Francis Drake, St. Martin’s, Stow’s Survey, Thames Street, Tower of London, Visscher Panorama of London, Wars of the Roses, Warwick Lane, William Latimer

My latest A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com post London before the Great Fire and much as Richard Neville ‘The Kingmaker’ and his family would have known it… L’Erber stood slightly to the north west of Coldharbour which is the large house seen here in middle of the picture and facing the Thames. No depiction of L’Erber…
The house owned by Sir Thomas Wyatt, the man accused of being Anne Boleyn’s lover….

Oct 11, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion

adultery, Anne Boleyn, Country Life, Court Lodge, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Hasted, Henry VIII, High Sheriffs, Hunton Court, Kent, poets, property sales, Sir Thomas Wyatt, Tower of London

Here is another fine old house for sale, although way out of my price bracket. I’ve learned of it courtesy of Country Life magazine. Hunton Court, formerly Court Lodge, is tucked away near Maidstone in Kent and you can read about it here. There is a link to the estate agent’s details of the property,…
‘Great magician, damned Glendower'(Part 1.)

Sep 16, 2022

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, The play’s the thing

“Tudor” era, bards, Clwyd, Dee Valley, Glyndyfrdwy, Henry IV, Henry VII, imprisonment, Iolo Goch, judges, lawyers, Marcher Lords, Mortimers, Owain Glyn Dwr, Prince of Wales, rebellions, Richard II, Sir David Hanmer, Sycharth, Tower of London, Wales

‘Great magician, damned Glendower’ is how Shakespeare makes Henry IV refer to his elusive Welsh adversary. Of course, we all know that Shakespeare was principally a dramatist and a great distorter of historical truth. Nonetheless, it’s likely that this quote accurately reflects Bolngbroke’s feelings of frustration as he struggled to deal with Owain ap Gruffudd…
Off with the old weaponry and on with the new….

Aug 19, 2022

anniversaries, buildings

british History Online, Calendar of Close Rolls, Dublin Castle, Flint Castle, Henry IV, Ireland, Richard II, Tower of London, Wardrobe accounts

If ever an entry in the Close Rolls of Henry IV was evidence of warfare being at a crossroads between the old and the new, it’s surely this one. Poised between two ages, it concerns arms left by the late Richard II in the great hall of Dublin Castle. Richard had been in Ireland immediately…
Was Elizabeth Woodville a witch….?

Aug 12, 2022

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion

“Princes”, Arthur, Bermondsey Abbey, bias, Edward V, Elizabeth Wydeville, executions, Henry VII, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Merlin, plotting, Richard III, Sir William Stanley, Tower of London, witchcraft

Royalty and magic (black or otherwise). Well, the connection isn’t new, after all, King Arthur had Merlin. And when it suited one’s enemies, a charge of witchcraft was always a guaranteed spanner in the works. The first section of this article this article deals with Elizabeth Woodville, and is perhaps of most interest to…
Bad grammar and untruths, not just about Richard III….

Aug 8, 2022

battles, buildings, genealogy

“Princes”, Battle of Bosworth, Calais, Edward IV, Eleanor Cobham, George Duke of Clarence, Gloucestershire Live, Henry IV, Henry VII, Humphrey of Gloucester, John of Gaunt, Lord Protector of the Realm, necromancy, Richard II, Richard III, the Beauforts., Thomas of woodstock, time travel, Tower of London

Oh dear, Gloucestershire Live has been very sloppy. In this article about Dukes of Gloucester, Richard of Gloucester did away with George of Clarence! Then we get “When Henry IV dies, his brother Richard becomes protector and puts the two princes in safekeeping in the Tower of London. And they are never seen again.” If…
The Summer of 1483: Who Was Doing What, Where, With Whom and Why.

Aug 6, 2022

buildings, Events, law, religion, sources

Anglia Historica, Annette Carson, Barrie Williams, bigamy, Brecon Castle, coronation procession, Crowland Continuator, Duke Francis II, Edward V, Edward Wydville, Elizabeth of York, Gloucester, gold coins, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VII, illegitimacy, Jasper “Tudor”, John Morton, John Stow, John Welles, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lionel Woodville, Looking for Richard Project, Louise Gill, Malcolm Underwood, Mancini, marriage plans, Michael K Jones, More, piracy, plots, Polydore Vergil, Portuguese marriage plans, rebels, Rhoda Edwards, Richard of Shrewsbury, Rosemary Horrox, royal apartments, sanctuary, Sir George Buc, Southampton Water, The Itinerary of Richard III, Thomas Basin, Three Estates, Tower of London, W.E. Hampton, Westminster Abbey, William Lord Hastings, Wydevilles

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Today a guest post from Annette Carson, author of many excellent books about Richard III and his times including The Maligned King, Richard III, A Small Guide to a Great Debate, Richard Duke of Gloucester as Lord Protector & Constable of England and a new translation of Mancini. Annette was also…