William I

WHARRAM PERCY – A DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGE – VICTIM OF THE ‘ENCLOSURES

Oct 9, 2023

archaeology, buildings, religion, sources

deserted villages, enclosures, Harrying of the North, Hiltons, John Rous, leprosy, malnutrition, More, Percies, plague, Richard III, rickets, Spofforth Castle, St. Martin’s, tuberculosis, Utopia, Wharram Percy, William I, Yorkshire Wolds

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com A glimpse of St Martin’s church from the millpond looking north. This wonderful photo thanks to David Ireland. ‘It may not be liefull for euery man to vse his owne as hym lysteth, but eueyre man must vse that he hath to the most benefyte of his countrie. Ther must…
How old is Pevensey Castle….?

Sep 28, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, travel

Battle Abbey, Battle of Hastings, East Sussex, English Heritage, Henry VII, Pevensey Castle, Romans, William I

My ignorance was revealed when I read this article because I didn’t know how old Pevensey Castle was. This ancient fortress in East Sussex dates back to the Romans in the 3rd Century, and so was about 775 years old when the Conqueror marched into it. What a pity it didn’t collapse over the Bastard!…
Fancy a beautiful Northumberland castle that dates back to 1076….?

Aug 19, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings

Country Life, Froissart, hotels, Northumbria, Otterburn Castle, Otterburn Tower, peel towers, property sales, Robert d’Umfraville, Scots, William I

Otterburn Castle is in glorious Northumberland, see here, and dates back to the time of William the Bastard….er, Conqueror. All you need is £3 million. My quirky sense of humour had a turn when I read “The days of arrows shot from battlements and boiling oil poured over the walls are long gone, however….”…
Richard III – in Rochdale Town Hall

Jun 26, 2023

anniversaries, art, buildings, religion

churches, Edward V, Manchester, Oliver Cromwell, Richard III, Rochdale Town Hall, Three Estates, travel, virtual tours, William I, William IV

This link leads to a photo of Richard III as depicted in stained glass in Rochdale Town Hall. The boy with him is Edward V. Richard and Edward are by no means the only English/British monarchs honoured in this way. The series runs from William the Conqueror to William IV, with Oliver Cromwell thrown in…
Richard III was one of the five most fearsome medieval warrior kings….?

May 4, 2023

anniversaries, battles, films

“Tudors”, Azincourt, Bannockburn, Battle of Falkirk, Battle of Hastings, Bosworth, Edward I, Edward IV, Henry V, Henry VII, rebellions, Richard III, Robert I, Tewkesbury, The Lost King, treachery, warriors, William I

I don’t know which five of our medieval monarchs you’d choose as the most fearsome warriors, but according to this article it seems the Fearsome Five are (in chronological order) William I, Edward I, Robert the Bruce, Henry V and … Richard III. Now, I’m not saying Richard wasn’t a fearsome warrior, because he was,…
In its true colours – Mysteries of the Bayeux Tapestry

Dec 25, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, Science, travel

Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Museum, Bayeux Tapestry, BBC4, colours, coronations, embroidery, loan, Odo Bishop of Bayeux, Restoration, William I, wool

This enthralling BBC Four documentary describes the story of the artwork that is actually a seventy metre embroidery on a woollen surface. It was mostly filmed at the Bayeux Museum, where the artwork is displayed in temperature and humidity controlled conditions. The presenters pointed out that the “Tapestry”, obviously dedicated to Odo Bishop of Bayeux,…
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…
Medieval Jewish Settlements in Oxford

Jul 18, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, religion

blood libel, Clifford’s Tower, crusaders, edict of expulsion, Edward I, excavations, Jew’s House Oxford, Jewish community, moneylenders, Oxford, Oxford colleges, Passover, pogroms, Roman walls, Siege of Oxford, St. Aldates, The Anarchy, William I, York

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog: The Crypt at Oxford Castle – built on Anglo-Saxon foundations The first Jewish settlers arrived in Oxford not long after the Norman Conquest, around 1075AD residing in the commercial heart of the city at St Aldates which became known as Great Jewry Street, close to the original C8th oxen…
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…
Baby William, Baby William and, er, Baby William….

Jul 3, 2022

anniversaries, culture

babies, repeated names, William I

What’s a long-suffering author to do when her book presents her with three babies from three families, actual people, all called William? Oh joy…. How I wish medieval folk had been more free-spirited and went for unusual names. But no, they called their boys William, Edward, John, Thomas or Henry. It’s very tiresome indeed,…