The New Murrey and Blue blog

Wars of the Roses

Two famous lovers I cannot love….!

Mar 6, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

“Beauforts”, adultery, Battle of Bosworth, Catherine de Roet, illegitimate children, John of Gaunt, Lancastrians, Richard II, Richard III, treachery, Wars of the Roses

We all know the story of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford/de Roët. It was a wonderful, passionate love affair that ended with Gaunt, a prince of the realm, making the relatively lowly Katherine his third duchess. Yes, a great romance, and it was fact, not fiction. However, historically speaking, both of them had…
The “awkward mediaeval cities” (3) : St. Alban’s

Feb 17, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, religion, travel

battlefields, blue plaque, Boudicca, Colchester, destruction, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Eleanor Crosses, Elizabeth I, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Humphrey of Gloucester, Jean II, John Ball, London, Luton, martyrs, museums, Northampton, Oxford, Poitiers, Roman Britain, Roman theatre, Second Battle of St. Albans, Skipton Building Society, St. Alban, St. Albans, St. Albans Cathedral, Thameslink, Verulam Park, Verulamium Roman Museum, Victoria Street, Wars of the Roses, Watford Junction

Unlike Northampton and Oxford, St. Alban’s (City) is on the Thameslink network and also has a branch line to Watford Junction. Accommodation can be expensive but the less historic Luton is surprisingly convenient as a base, being about fourteen minutes away on the same line and costing about five pounds for a day return. Turning right…
Edmund of Rutland – a life cut short – his burial at Fotheringhay.

Dec 30, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

Battle of Bosworth, Cecily Neville, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Edward VI, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, Fotheringhay, George Duke of Clarence, Lady Chapel, Lord Clifford, Ludlow Castle, Micklegate Bar, Pontefract Castle, Priory of St. John the Evangelist, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Richard of Salisbury, Rouen, royal burials, Sandal Castle, Sir Richard Croft, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, York, Yorkist tombs

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Fotheringhay Church and Yorkist Mausoleum 1804. Watercolour by unknown artist. Described by Simon Jenkins as ‘the church that seems to float on its hill above the River Nene, a galleon of Perpendicular on a sea of corn…’ Edmund, son of Richard Duke of York and Cicely Neville was born…
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…
The Wandering Butler: John, 6th Earl of Ormond

Dec 14, 2022

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

“Perkin”, Act of Resumption, Anne Boleyn, Anne Welles, Archbishop Talbot, attainders, bastardy, Battle of Bosworth, Battle of Northampton, Burgundy, Butlers, Butlers of Desmond, Captain of Calais, Charles the Bold, Chief Butler of Ireland, Cockermouth Castle, consanguinity, County Kilkenny, Earls of Desmond, Earls of Ormond, Edmund MacRichard Butler, Edward of Lancaster, Edward V, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Elizabeth of York, Ellice Barry, entail mail, First Battle of St. Albans, Guisnes, Henry of Buckingham, Ireland, Jerusalem, Joan Beauchamp, Joan Chaworth, justiciar of Ireland, Kilkenny Castle, Killone Abbey, languages, law studies, Lincoln’s Inn, Lord Grey of Codnor, Louis XI, Ludford Bridge, Margaret of Burgundy, marriages, Munster. Avice Stafford, naval fleet, nuns, ODNB, Peerage of Ireland, Piers Butler, Piltown, Portugal, Pronothary of Bourbon, Raghnailt, Readeption, Richard III, Rome, royal pensions, Sandwich, Scotland, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Sixtus IV, Statute of Kilkenny, Stephen Ellis, Tadhg King of Thomond, Thomas Earl of Desmond, Tipperary, Wars of the Roses, Waterford, Wydevilles

FAMILY BACKGROUND The Lancastrian leader who faced – or failed to face – Thomas, Earl of Desmond, at the Battle of Piltown in 1462 was the fourth of the five children born to James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (otherwise known as the White Earl), and his countess Joan Beauchamp, daughter of William Beauchamp, Lord…
Digging for Treasure

Dec 8, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, religion, Science, television reviews

Abdication, aeroplanes, Anglo-Saxons, Anne Neville, Boudicca, castles, Channel Five, coins, Dan Walker, Digging for Treasure, Fincham, King’s Lynn, Lancaster bombers, Loch leven, London Bridge, Mary Queen of Scots, metal detecting, Michaela Strachan, mudlarking, Norfolk, Northallerton, Portable Antiquities Scheme, Raksha Dave, Scotland, scuba-detecting, Sheriff Hutton, Southwark Cathedral, Wars of the Roses

There are several interesting archaeology series on television and Channel Five has now joined in with an ensemble programme, headed by two familiar personalities (Dan Walker and Michaela Strachan) and a similarly ubiquitous chief archaeologist (Raksha Dave), but with more of an emphasis on metal detecting for the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, including Roman…
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…
Bolingbroke and his flute….!

Sep 30, 2022

anniversaries, battles, culture, humour

“Lancastrian”, flutes, Henry IV, Henry VII, Lancastrians, lutes, music, Richard II, usurpation, Wars of the Roses

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…
The Cotswolds and the Wars of the Roses….

Sep 6, 2022

battles, buildings, heraldry, religion, travel

bigamy, Cirencester, Cotswolds, Edward III, Edward IV, executions, Francis Lovell, John of Gaunt, John Talbot Viscount Lisle, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Margaret of Anjou, Minster Lovell Hall, Mortimer’s Cross, Mortimers, Nibley Green, pre-contract, Richard III, River Windrush, rumour, sanctuary, St. John the Baptist, Sudeley Castle, Tewkesbury Abbey, Wars of the Roses, William Lord Berkeley

“What role did the Cotswolds play in the 30-year Wars of the Roses?” A good question. There wasn’t a specific War of the Cotswolds, but there was (still is) a connection to the Wars of the Roses, as you’ll see in this article . For instance, there’s the wonderful Church of St John the Baptist…
Diana Rubino on the Legendary Ten Seconds

Aug 13, 2022

archaeology, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, Events, Music Reviews, Science, travel

albums, Cecily Duchess of York, Devon, Diana Rubino, HMS Bellerophon, Ian Churchward, imaginary letters, John Challis, John Peel, Margaret of Burgundy, Mortimer History Society, Mortimers, Napoleonic wars, Pageant of Torbay, Richard III Society, Riviera FM, Sandra heath wilson, Scoliosis Association UK, The Legendary Ten Seconds, Wars of the Roses, Wigmore Abbey, Wydevilles

As you will observe from their appearance on Diana Rubino’s blog , The Legendary Ten Seconds now have a book featuring information on some of their best-known songs about Richard III, his time and Devon, of course. My Review of The Legendary Ten Seconds for the Ricardian Register (magazine of the American branch) As a longtime…