Wars of the Roses
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by Ian Wilson Why do the Wars of the Roses feel like endless vendettas? At first glance, because the language of honour hadn’t changed: nobles still cried, “My blood has been offended,” or “My lineage must be avenged.” That patina of chivalry, though, concealed something very different. The talk set out to understand why so…
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I have written recently about Jo Harkin’s new book, The Pretender, (https://murreyandblue.co.uk/2025/05/05/the-pretender-takes-the-same-old-attitude-to-richard-iii/) which tells the story of Lambert Simnel, who claimed to be Edward, Earl of Warwick, for whom the Yorkists fought (and lost) the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487. You can read about the earl here https://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet_25.html. And about Lambert Simnel here https://richardiii.net/faqs/richard-and-his-world/aftermath/lambert-simnel-and-the-king-from-dublin/…
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George, Duke of Clarence, is the often overlooked York brother, sitting as he does between Edward IV and Richard III. He was the one who didn’t become king, although he tried to pinch it from Edward IV, who eventually executed him as a traitor. On the whole George doesn’t get a very good press. He…
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Murrey and Blue’s second in the ‘An Interview With…’ series is with Dr Toby Capwell, expert on European arms and armour of the medieval and Renaissance periods (roughly, the 12th century to the 16th). He was formerly Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London. Joanne Larner: I’ll start by asking how…
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Tenby seems quite determined to brag that it provided a safe escape route for the 14-year-old future Henry VII in 1471, see https://shorturl.at/5VvpW. The story goes that after the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury in that year, he was fleeing from Richard III! Not in 1471 he wasn’t! There was no…
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Above is an interesting if brief illustration of livery colours from the Wars of the Roses. Not everyone’s there, of course, e.g. the Earl of Lincoln, but it’s interesting all the same. Found on Pinterest. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b4/9d/ed/b49ded7f38199dad2bc3f46a87b7a464.png I have also found a much longer but unillustrated list of livery colours at http://www.theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=391439, as follows:Edward Neville, Lord…
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The Angel & Royal has its blue plaque at last….!
Angel & Royal Inn Grantham, Battle of Bosworth, blue plaque, Buckingham’s Rebellion 1483, Elizabeth of York, Great Seal, Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham, Henry Tudor – Henry VII, House of Lancaster, House of York, Jasper Tudor Duke of Bedford, Margaret Beaufort mother of Henry VII, Richard III, Richard III Society, Wars of the RosesWe first posted about a blue plaque for the Angel & Royal Inn back in October 2021 (see https://murreyandblue.co.uk/2021/10/19/a-blue-plaque-for-the-angel-royal/). Well, at last that blue plaque has become fact. The plaque (see in detail at the end of this article) is in place and very impressive it is too….if long overdue! It is there thanks to…
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High on a cliff on the Isle of Portland near Weymouth , Dorset (not really an island; it’s joined to the land by a long causeway) stands the battered block of an ancient castle looking out across the waves. It is privately owned, so not accessible for touring , but it is clearly visible from…
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Which of Isabel of Clarence’s ladies was the mysterious Yorkist spy….?
“Princes”, Ankarette Twynho, Anne Neville, Battle of Towton, Duke of Clarence, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward of Westminster, Elizabeth Lady St Amand, George, Henry VI, Henry VII, Isabel Neville, John Ashdown-Hill, Margaret of Anjou, Philippe Commynes, Richard III, Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick, Sir John Wenlock, Sir Roger Tocotes, Wars of the Roses, Warwick the KingmakerWe’ve always known that George, Duke of Clarence (https://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet_21.htm), the disgruntled brother of Edward IV and Richard, Duke of Gloucester (https://richardiii.net/), went over the wall to join Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (https://richardiii.net/richard- iii-his-world/his-family/the-making-of-the-kingmaker/). George then married the earl’s elder daughter Isabel Neville (https://womenshistory.info/isabel-neville/), in the belief that his new father-in-law, the famous “Kingmaker”…
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First John of Gloucester, now….could Edward of Westminster (Lancaster) have been a father too….?
Anne Neville, Battle of Bosworth, battle of tewkesbury, dispensation, DNA, Edmund Beaufort 2nd Duke of Somerset, Edward 17th Earl of Warwick, Edward of Lancaster, Edward of Westminster, George of Clarence, Henry VI, Henry VII, Isabel Neville Duchess of Clarence, John of Gloucester, John of Pontefract, Katherine Countess of Pembroke, Margaret of Anjou, morning sickness, Perkin Warbeck, Richard III, Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick, stretch marks, Wars of the RosesIn mid-November I posted about whether or not Richard III’s illegitimate son, known as John of Gloucester or John of Pontefract, could possibly have had children. See here https://murreyandblue.org/2024/11/12/could-john-of-gloucester-have-had-children/. Richard III had an illegitimate daughter, Katherine, who became Countess of Pembroke but she died childless, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herbert,_2nd_Earl_of_Pembroke). There are no other confirmed offspring of Richard III,…
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