Westminster Hall
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We all take for granted that the hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall (see https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/westminsterhall/architecture/the-hammer-beam-roof-/) is a true masterpiece of medieval workmanship and innovation. Many of us know that the transformation of the (then) huge building was at the instigation of Richard II. But how many of us know of a painting that captures a fleeting…
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Settling the Bosworth Debt….
“Perkin”, “Princes”, All Hallows, arrests, bigamy, Duke of York, Edward IV, Elizabeth of York, executions, ghosts, Halloween, Henry VII, Henry VIII, House of York, illegitimacy, Lord Chamberlain, masks, pre-contract, Richard III, Sir William Stanley, torture, Tower Hill, Tower of London, treachery, Westminster HallWith the denizens of Hades gathering to do their worst, here is a horror tale of Sir William Stanley’s final Hallowe’en, when retribution snatches him at last. “Settling the Bosworth Debt” is the story of what happened to William when he was confronted by some terrible truths about Henry Tudor. Friday, 31 October, 1494, Hallowe’en,…
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The tapestries of Thomas Wolsey
“The King’s Great Matter”, allegory, Archbishop of York, Archduke Philip, Arthur “Tudor”, Baynard’s Castle, cardinals, Catherine of Aragon, Christ was born as the Redeemer of Man, Emma Luisa Cahill Marron, Ferdinand of Aragon, Field of the Cloth of Gold, Hazel Pierce, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Infanta Maria, Ipswich, Isabel of Castile, Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, Leicester Abbey, Lord Chancellor, Manuel Duke of Beja, Margaret of Salisbury, Narbona Cathedral, Peace and Mercy, Portugal, Richard Gresham, Richmond Palace, Royal College of Arms, Sheen, Sir Edward Howard, Spain, St. George, tapestries, The Creation, The Redemption of Man, The Virtues defy Vices, Thomas Wolsey, tournaments, Trinity College, University of Cantabria, Westminster HallWe have recently come across this rather interesting article, extracted from Reyes y Prelados, by Emma Luisa Cahill Marron (excuse the missing accent) about Cardinal Wolsey and some of his artefacts. The original is in Spanish and here is a translation, by ladychaol.
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Henry Bolingbroke (Duke of Lancaster, soon-to-be the usurper Henry IV) was in mourning for his father John of Gaunt when he returned to England from exile and stole the throne of his first cousin, Richard II. I won’t go into all the details because what I’m about to write is rather, um, facetious. Apparently on…
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The Trial That Should Have Happened in 1483
archbishops, Beaumaris Castle, bigamy, canon law, Charles Donohue, Commines, consistory court, Crowland Chronicle, documents, Domenico Mancini, Edward IV, Edward of Warwick, Edward V, Eleanor Cobham, Elizabeth Wydeville, George Duke of Clarence, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VI, Humphrey of Gloucester, illegitimacy, inheritance, John Fortescue, King’s Bench, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Leeds Castle, Margery Paston, Papal Curia, Parliament, Pope, PreContract, procedure, Protectorate, R.H. Helmholz, Richard Calle, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Robert Stillington, secular law, Sir William Shareshull, sorcery, St Stephens Chapel, Statute of Merton, Statute of Praeminure, The Court of Arches, Three Estates, Titulus Regius, treason, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Hall, William Durantis, witnessesOriginally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS: Putting aside the mystery of what ultimately happened to Edward IV’s two sons, one enduring difficulty for a student of history is whether Richard III used the proper legal procedure in having them declared illegitimate because of their father’s precontracted marriage to Eleanor Talbot. The most (and only) significant defect…
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We have all heard of the dashing King’s/Queen’s Champion riding fully armed into the coronation banquet, throwing down challenges to anyone who would dare to find fault with the monarch’s right to the throne. I did not know that there is a strong possibility that the Dymoke family, hereditary holders of the title, may have…
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I have just watched a truly aggravating documentary from this 2014 series. In particular the episode called “Secrets of Westminster”. It starts with the tomb of Edward the Confessor…for which they show the correct tomb, yes, but then include a lot of lingering close-ups of the tomb effigy of Richard II. The implication is, it seems,…
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