Welsh Marches

Henry IV and the Welsh March

Jul 21, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, sources

“Tudors”, Academia, Battle of Shrewsbury, Conwy Castle, Douglas Biggs, executions, Henry IV, high treason, Owain Glyn Dwr, patronage, rebellions, usurpation, Wales, Welsh Marches

This excellent article by Douglas Biggs suggests that many of the Welsh gentlemen who rose with Glyndwr, or at around the same time, did so, not because of perceived national sentiment but because of patronage, or the lack of it. The usurpation of Henry IV has the side effect of disturbing ‘normal’ patterns of patronage.…
When there’s snow at midsummer….

Jun 23, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, heraldry

bigamy, Castell Du, Coventry, cults, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward V, Elizabeth Wydeville, First Battle of St. Albans, George Duke of Clarence, Gervase la Vallee, Henry Duke of Somerset, Henry VI, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lancastrians, Ludlow Castle, manticore, Margaret of Anjou, mermaids, Micklegate Bar, Midsummer Day, Mortimer’s Cross, poachers, pre-contract, Richard Duke of York, Richard of Warwick, Royal deer forests, secret marriage, stag hunting, Towton, Wakefield, Welsh Marches, witchcraft

A short story by Sandra Heath Wilson (viscountessw) Please remember, ladies and gentlemen, that this story is fiction. The great midsummer bonfire crackled and roared, and sparks billowed high into the dark sky. It was encircled by thirteen hooded black-robed figures, and the face of the youngest was pale as he accepted the carved wooden…
Harbingers

Jun 22, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, heraldry, law

Anne of Bohemia, harbingers, Henry IV, King’s Lodgings, livery colours, Lollards, Owain Glyndwr, Pilleth, Richard II, Sir Robert Whitney, Sir Thomas Clanvowe, Welsh Marches

We still use the word ‘harbinger’ in constructions like ‘This was the harbinger of war.’ Meaning that something gives a warning or prediction. In the Middle Ages, a harbinger was a man who travelled ahead of the royal (or a noble) household to warn that they were coming. Well, if you had 600-1000 assorted people…
Ankarette Twynho

Apr 12, 2023

anniversaries, law, Science, sources

Ankarette Twynho, Attorneys General, Blore Heath, Edward IV, Edward V, executed women, Frome, George Duke of Clarence, Hawkstone Hall, Isabel Neville, Lord Audley, MPs, names, pardons, poison allegations, Recorders of Bristol, Roger Twynho, Warwick, Welsh, Welsh Marches, William Twynho, wool merchants

Who was Ankarette Twynho? It takes a lot of working out, as there is only limited information available and there are quite a lot of Twynhos, most of whom have some sort of official link to the court or to parliament. Ankarette herself was born a Hawkston or Hawkstone, sometime around 1412. Sadly, we do…
The Touchet/Audley Family in the Fifteenth Century.

Sep 26, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

Alionore Holland, Arundels, Barnet, Battle of Bosworth, Battles of Sandwich, Bishop Edmund Audley, Bishop of Hereford, Blore Heath, Buckingham rebellion, Calais, Cheshire, Constance of York, Despensers, Dukes of Somerset, Edmund Holland, Edward I, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, executions, Fitzalans, Francis Viscount Lovell, Heighley Castle, Henry III, Henry VII, Isabel Mylbery, James Lord Audley, Joan Bourchier, Joan of Kent, John Lord Audley, Lord High Treasurer, Ludlow Castle, Margaret Darrell, Margaret of Anjou, Margaret Roos, Mortimer’s Cross, Parliament’s power to determine legitimacy, Red Castle, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Sir Humphrey Audley, surnames, Tewkesbury, Towton, Welsh Marches, Wydevilles

James Touchet, Lord Audley, was born about 1398. He was not in the first rank of magnates but nevertheless had significant estates, notably Heighley Castle, near Madeley in Staffordshire, and the Red Castle (Hawkstone) in Shropshire, as well as two small Marcher lordships in Wales. His first marriage was to Margaret Roos, daughter of Lord Roos…
‘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…
Was there a monstrous serpent and treasure hoard near Ludlow…or not?

Mar 29, 2020

genealogy

Bromfield Priory, dragon, Earl of Arundel, Earls of Surrey, Edward II, Isabella de Valois, John de Warenne, Ludlow, Piers Gaveston, Roger Mortimer, serpents, Thomas of Walsingham, Welsh Marches

We all know Thomas of Walsingham. Well, not personally, of course, although sometimes it seems like it. He was a very busy fellow, and did not always record simple ‘history’, but included some strange stories as well. In the year 1344, he recorded a ‘remarkable tale’ about John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, 7th…
The White Rose Of Mortimer?

Feb 1, 2020

anniversaries, genealogy, heraldry

“Tudor” propaganda, “Tudors”, antelope, Clifford Castle, Council of Wales and the Marches, Davies Chronicle, Earls of March, Earls of Ulster, Edmund Earl of March, Edmund of Rutland, Edward Hall, Edward III, Edward IV, fetterlock and falcon, Henry VII, Isabella de Valois, John Ashdown-Hill, Leintwardine, Lionel of Antwerp, Ludlow, misericords, Mortimer Chapel, mortimer claim, Mortimer’s Cross, Nevilles, Northampton, Palmers’ Guild, Phillippa of Hainault, pilgrimage, Reformation, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard of Salisbury, Roger Mortimer, St. Mary Magdelene, sun, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, Welsh Marches, white hind, white lion, white rose, Wigmore Abbey, Wigmore Castle, Yorkist symbols

Originally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS: Most historians now accept that, while the white rose of York was a heraldic badge used by the house of York during the Wars of the Roses, the origins of the red rose of Lancaster can only be traced back to Henry VII.1 After his accession to the throne in…
A Legendary Ten Seconds special

Nov 29, 2019

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, Music Reviews

Aubrey Boyce, Battle of Evesham, Edmund Mortimer, executions, John Challis, Mortimer History Society, Mortimers, music, Phillipa of Ulster, Roger Mortimer, Sir Edmund Mortimer, The Legendary Ten Seconds, Tyburn, Welsh Marches, Wigmore Abbey

Recorded by Boycie and The Legendary Ten Seconds For The Mortimer History Society Released on Richard the Third Records June 2019 Catalogue number R17 Recorded at Rock Lee 2018, Orleton Village Hall & Other World Studios May 2019 John Challis : Boycie vocals Lord Zarquon : Mellotron flute keyboards Ashley Dyer : Trumpet Rob…
Sir James Tyrrell – Sheriff of Glamorgan

May 6, 2019

anniversaries, battles, buildings

“Princes”, Anne Neville, Audrey Williamson, Barnet, Battle of Bosworth, Beaulieu Abbey, Captain of Guisnes, Constable of Cardiff Castle, executions, Gipping Hall, Isabel Neville, Jane Stradling, knights banneret, Middleham, Rhys ap Thomas, Scottish campaign 1482, Sheriff, Sir Edward Brampton, Sir Edward Stradling, Sir James Harrington, Sir James Tyrrell, Sir Matthew Craddock, Sir William Parr, St. Donat’s Castle, Thomas Rotherham, Thomas Stradling, Tyrrell “confession”, Vice Constable of England, Wales, Warwick Inheritance, Welsh Marches, William Lord Hastings

As we said in an earlier article,“ Richard III appointed James Tyrrell Sherriff of Glamorgan and Constable of Cardiff in 1477. The importance of Glamorgan is little understood or recognised in Ricardian Studies, but this was certainly a key job and one of the most important at Richard’s disposal. The practical effect, given that Richard…