Wales

Death and the Gallant

Sep 25, 2022

anniversaries, art, buildings, religion

Anne Neville, books, CADW, chaplaincy, churches, Cowbridge, Death and the Gallant, Edward VI, French, Glamorgan Record Office, Holy Cross church, Jane Rutherford, Latin, Llancarfon, murals, Newark, Norman invasion, Pitt Stops through History, Reformation, repairs, Richard III, seven deadly sins, St. Cadoc’s church, St. George and the dragon, The art that made us, The story of Welsh art, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, Wales Online, Wall Paintings

Many years ago I lived in Cowbridge in Glamorgan and one of my daughters was christened in Holy Cross Church. About twenty years later I joined the Richard III Society and discovered that Holy Cross had a connection to Richard III. The following is taken from History Points.org:Holy Cross Church was probably built around 1254…
‘Great magician, damned Glendower'(Part 4.)

Sep 19, 2022

battles, genealogy, sources

Anglesey, Archbishop Scrope, archers, Battle of Shrewsbury, Catrin ferch Owain, Cheltenham, Constance of York, executions, France, Glyn Dwr rebellion, Henry IV, Henry V, Hotspur, Lord Grey of Ruthin, maredydd ap owain, Mortimers, Owain Glyn Dwr, Percies, Pilleth, R.R. Davies, ransom, siege of harlech, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Sir John Scudamore, Thomas Percy Earl of Worcester, Tripartite Alliance, Wales, Worcester

It is not my purpose to describe the Glyndŵr Rising in detail. The story is far too complex to be contained within a blog post. The reader who is interested in the full tale would do well to consult (for example) The Revolt Of Owain Glyn Dŵr by R.R Davies, an excellent work. The initial…
‘Great magician, damned Glendower'(Part 3.)

Sep 18, 2022

battles, law

Bishop of St. Asaph, Cheshire, Corwen, courts, Dukes of Norfolk, Earls of Warwick, executions, exile, France, Henry IV, Ireland, John of Gaunt, John Trevor, Llewellyn ap Iorweth, Lord Grey of Ruthin, Lords Appellant, Marcher Lords, naval battles, Owain Glyn Dwr, Radcot Bridge, Richard II, Richard of arundel, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Ruthin, son of prophecy, Thomas of woodstock, Wales, wine

Owain‘s service to Arundel included taking part in the naval victory over the French in 1387 in which a wine fleet was captured. Such was the booty that the price of wine in England fell through the floor. He may well also have been involved in Arundel’s attack on the French coast a few months…
‘Great magician, damned Glendower'(Part 2.)

Sep 17, 2022

battles, buildings, law, The play’s the thing

Berwick. garrison duties, castles, Chester, Chirk Castle, Cilgerran Castle, cymorth, Edeyrnion, Edmund Grey Lord Ruthin, Gascony, John of Gaunt, legal cases, legal training, Owain Glyn Dwr, Parliament, Pembroke, Powys, Richard Earl of Arundel, Richard II, Scottish campaign 1385, Scrope v Grosvenor, Sir Gregory Sais, taxation, Tenby, Thomas Despenser, Wales, Welsh Marches

Owain‘s training as a lawyer certainly did not stop him from pursuing a military career. in 1384 he is found undertaking garrison duty at Berwick in the retinue of the Flintshire knight Sir Gregory Sais. Sais was a renowned knight, with extensive combat experience in France, particularly Gascony. (He is also a good example of…
‘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…
Richard III’s mystery daughter….

Sep 7, 2022

anniversaries, genealogy, law, religion, travel

“Queen Elizabeth”, Edward IV, executions, Henry VIII, Mynydd Maen, mysteries, Penarth, priests, Richard III, Wales

Here is an extract from this article: “….Apparently a priest lived there [Mynydd Maen] during the Middle Ages and after an argument with Queen Elizabeth who was the daughter of King Richard III, he was hanged on the moor….” Eh? When did Richard beget a Queen Elizabeth???????? Which one? Elizabeth of York or Elizabeth…
St Margaret Marloes

Aug 15, 2022

buildings, religion

Archbishop Scrope, beguinage, Bruges, Edward II, Henry VI, Low Countries, Pembrokeshire, Sir Guy de Bryan, St. Margaret Marloes, Tewkesbury Abbey, Thomas of Lancaster, tombs, Wales

This link from The Friends of Friendless Churches tells the story of St Margaret Marloes in the 14th Century. One interesting fact is that she was the niece of Sir Guy de Bryan, whose splendid but empty tomb may be found in Tewkesbury Abbey and will be familiar to many readers of this blog. Sir…
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke

Jul 16, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, sources

Aberystwyth, Azincourt, Barry, Carmarthen Castle, Catherine de Valois, Civil War, Dafydd Gam, Dictionary of Welsh Biography, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Glamorgan, Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Humphrey Stafford Earl of Devon, Hundred Years War, Jasper “Tudor”, Lancastrians, Lordship of Usk, Matilda Barri, Morleys of Norfolk, Mortimers, Northampton, ODNB, Owain Glyndwr, Owen Tudor, Pembroke Castle, Raglan Castle, Ralph Griffiths, ransom, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Robin of Redesdale, Sheriff of Glamorgan, Sir John Morley, Sir William ap Thomas, Wales, William Herbert Earl of Pembroke, William I, Yellow Tower of GwentWilliam Lord Berkeley

William Herbert, otherwise ‘Black William’ was born in 1423, the son of Sir William ap Thomas ‘the Blue Knight of Gwent’ and Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam the ‘Star of Abergavenny’. His main claim to fame is that he was the first Welshman to become an earl in the peerage of England, except for Henry VI’s…
Some notes on the Vaughans of Tretower

Jun 11, 2022

battles, genealogy

Azincourt, Battle of Bosworth, Bluith Wells, Brecon Castle, Cardigan Castle, Chepstow, Dafydd Gam, Denise Thomas, Edmund of Langley, Eva Coch, executions, Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam, Jasper “Tudor”, looting, Margaret Audley, pardons, Roger Vaughan, Sir Roger Vaughan of Brewardine, Sir Roger Vaughan of Porthaml, Sir Thomas Vaughan, Vaughans, Vaughans of Hergest, Vaughans of Monmouth, Vaughans of Tretower, Wales

If you fully understand the genealogy of the Vaughan family of Wales you are a better person than I. There were at least three branches, and probably more. I have come across the Vaughans of Hergest, a very interesting bunch; the Vaughans of Monmouth (see Sir Thomas Vaughan, executed 1483); and by no means least…
The Ancestry of Sir Richard Pole.

May 28, 2022

anniversaries, genealogy

Bletsoe, Charltons, Cheshire, Constable of Haverfordwest, Dafydd Fawr, de la Poles, Despensers, Earl of Pembroke, Earls of Suffolk, Edith St. John, executions, Geoffrey Pole I, Henry IV, Henry V, jousting, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Margaret Beauchamp, Poles of Powys, Pooles of the Wirral, Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Richard II, Sheriff of Glamorgan, Sir John Poole of Cheshire, Sir John St. John, Sir Oliver St. John, Sir Richard Pole, Thomas Stafford, Wales

Richard Pole is perhaps most famous for being the husband of Margaret Plantagenet, later Countess of Salisbury. But who was he? His maternal ancestry is relatively straightforward. He was the son of Edith St. John, who was the half-sister of Margaret Beaufort. So that makes him the (half-blood) first cousin of Henry VII. Edith St.…