usurpation
-
Right, ladies and gentlemen, if you want a real laugh, go here. It’s so full of bloopers that it really is a joke. For instance, OLD Richard II reigned during the Peasants’ Revolt. Um, Richard was 14 at the time. And then again Henry IV was Richard II’s son. But wait, Henry IV was Henry…
-
Trial by Combat.
banishment, Bolingbroke v Norfolk, castles, Chief Justice Thirning, Chris Given-Wilson, Constance of York, Court of Chivalry, duel, Edmund of Langley, executions, Fourth Lateran Council, France, Henry IV, Henry VII, King’s approver, Normandy, Parliament, Richard II, Sir John Annesley, St. Saviour’s Castle, Thomas Katrington, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, Trial by combat, trial by jury, Tyburn, usurpation, Wars of the RosesYou might think that the Church would have approved of trial by combat. After all, it effectively remitted the cause to God’s judgement – assuming that you believe God intervenes in such affairs, as many people (presumably) did. In fact, as far back as the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 (Canon 18) the Church…
-
I know I’ve rabbited about this before, because I’m fascinated by both King Richard III and his predecessor Richard II. Such fascination sparks latter-day loyalties. It certainly has with me. Tragedy struck them both, and as supporters of Richard III we know he was maligned as the killer of his two small nephews, betrayed,…
-
I feel it’s time to take another pop at a Lancastrian King Henry. On this occasion it’s Henry IV, the warlike Lancastrian usurper who murdered his cousin Richard II and stole the crown. A process that led to the Wars of the Roses. So definitely not one of my favourite kings. When it comes to…
-
This Legendary Ten Seconds song, with lyrics by Sandra Heath Wilson, features on the new Musical Almanac album. A HERALD’S LAMENT . . .King Richard is dead Lyrics written by Sandra Heath Wilson King Richard is dead! Such dread news I bring!No joy to cling to, no hosannas to singI tell a tale so…
-
It seems that William the Conqueror’s corpse “exploded” at his funeral. The thought of an exploding corpse is bad enough without actually seeing it as well. And smelling it, presumably. I can imagine all the mourners scattering in great alarm and haste. And superstitious dread as well, perhaps? Ew. The things one comes across while…
-
Isabella of Castile takes the crown, in more way than one….
“Perkin”, Aragon, artificial insemination, Castile, Catherine of Aragon, Catherine of Lancaster, Catherine the Great, Christopher Columbus, Elizabeth I, Empress Elizabeth, exploration, expulsion of jews, Ferdinand of Aragon, Giles Tremlett, Isabel of Castile, John of Gaunt, Maria Theresa, Moors, Pedro I, Spain, Spanish Inquisition, usurpation, VictoriaThis article lists the top five great European queens as Elizabeth I, Maria Theresa of Austria, the Empress Elizabeth, Catherine the Great and Queen Victoria. Ah, but that’s the top five after Isabella of Castile, who reigned from 1474 until she died in 1504. Isabella snatches this particular crown right under the other ladies’…
-
“….During his life and in the years following his death, Pedro [I of Castile, 1350 to 1369] became a central figure in a wide range of historical narratives composed in Castilian, French, English, Catalan, Latin, and Arabic. These accounts present contrasting depictions of Pedro; however, as it is well known, the lasting image of…
-
Here’s more about the Black Prince’s tomb/effigy at Canterbury. It includes a link to a very detailed account of the investigations and findings. And now another on the same subject, that claims the effigy (which the prince himself requested and described in detail) was created by his son Richard II solely to boost his own…