The New Murrey and Blue blog

William I

THE THREE HUNDRED YEARS WAR – Part 1: the Devil’s brood

Sep 16, 2020

anniversaries, battles, religion

Angevin Empire, Aquitaine, Aragon, Arthur of Brittany, Barons’ War, Berengaria, Brittany, Capetians, Cathars, Crusades, Edward I, Eleanor of Aquitaine, excommunication, France, Frederick VI, Gascony, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Henry I, Henry II, Henry III, Henry the Young King, Henry V, Holy Roman Empire, John, Louis VII, Magna Carta, Matilda, Napoleon, Norman conquest, Normandy, Phillip I, Phillip II, Plantagenets, Richard I, Stephen, Thomas Becket, Three Hundred Years’ War, Treaty of Bretigny, Treaty of Paris, Treaty of Troyes, William I, William II, William Marshall, William the Lion

Preface I conceived this article as a defence of King Henry V against the accusation that he was a war criminal. It became apparent, however, that my research was drawing me away from Henry’s campaigns towards a broader study of the origin and causes of the Hundred Years War. Soon, I was reading material going…
The Royal Progress of Richard III

Aug 29, 2020

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion, sources, travel

“Arrivall of Edward IV”, “Princes”, Annales, Anne Neville, Anne Sutton, Black Death, Brecon, Bristol, Buckingham rebellion, Cambridge, Canterbury Cathedral, Catherine de Medici, Charles IX, Chief Justice, Compton Reeves, Cora Schofield, Coventry, Crowland Chronicle, Earl of Kildare, Edmund of Rutland, Edward II, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward of Middleham, Edward the Black Prince, Eucharist, execution, Fotheringhay, Francis Viscount Lovell, Gainsborough, George Duke of Clarence, George Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury, Gloucester, Gloucester Cathedral, Grantham, Great Chronicle, Great Seal, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VI, Henry VII, investiture, Isabel Neville, Jamestown, John Fortescue, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, John Kendall, John Morton, John of Gloucester, John Russell, Katherine Hastings, Latin, Leicester, Lincoln, Lionel Woodville, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Louis XI, Ludlow, Margaret d’Anjou, Micklegate Bar, Middleham Castle, Minster Lovell, mystery plays, Nottingham, Oxford, Pamela Tudor-Craig, Peter Hammond, Pilgrims’ Way, Pontefract, Reading, reburials, Rhoda Edwards, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl Rivers, Richard III, Richard of Salisbury, River Ouse, River Severn, River Witham, Rosemary Horrox, Royal Progress, Sandwich, Sir Baldwin Fulford, Sir John Woodville, St. George, Tadcaster, Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury Abbey, Thomas of woodstock, Thomas Rotherham, Thornbury, Titulus Regius, Wakefield, Wales, Warwick, William I, William Lord Hastings, William Waynflete, Windsor Castle, Woodstock, Worcester, York

Following his coronation, Richard III – like all medieval monarchs – went on his “royal progress” through the realm. Along with an entourage in excess of 200 household men, ecclesiastics, supporters, and administrative officials, he visited towns and cities as far west as the River Severn, as far north as the River Ouse, and as…
Nottingham’s medieval magic has disappeared from its castle….

Aug 19, 2020

anniversaries, battles, buildings

1831 fire, Battle of Bosworth, Charles I, david II, Dukes of Newcastle, Edward III, English Civil War, Isabelle de France, John, John Hutchinson, Luddite riots, Neville’s Cross, Nottingham, Nottingham Castle, Parliamentary army, Richard I, Richard III, Robin Hood, Roger Mortimer, siege of Nottingham, slighting, William I

I’m sorry, but even before the above fire in 1831, Nottingham Castle didn’t look anything like a proper castle. Gone are the medieval towers and battlements, and all that’s left is a mansion on a hill. Nothing smacks of the lost age of Plantagenet kings, knights and armour. Great events happened here in earlier centuries,…
A LITTLE KNOWN IMAGE OF RICHARD

Jul 31, 2020

genealogy, religion

Adam and Eve, Alexander the Great, Arthur, biblical scenes, Charlemagne, creation, last judgment, manuscripts, Noah’s ark, Richard III, William Caxton, William I

Quite accidentally I stumbled over a reference to a genealogical manuscript of English kings, made in around 1500, which interestingly finishes with a drawing of Richard rather than the current king of the time, Henry Tudor. The depiction of Richard is not one that normally is seen with any frequency. Here is what is written…
Britain’s Lost Battlefields (with Rob Bell)

May 29, 2020

archaeology, battles, television reviews

“Tudor” era, 5Select., arquebus, Bannockburn, Battle of Hastings, battlefields, Boudicca, Channel Five, Charles I, Colchester Castle, Edward II, English Civil War, handguns, Harold II, Iceni, Kett Rebellion, Maurice, Mousehold Heath, muskets, Naseby, Nero, Norwich, Oliver Cromwell, Parliamentary army, Rob Bell, Robert I, Robert Kett, Roman Empire, Rupert, Sir thomas Fairfax, Watling Street, William I, Wymondham

Channel Five’s reputation for history programmes has risen greatly over the past few years. At the heart of this, first in a Great Fire of London series with Suzannah Lipscomb and the ubiquitous Dan Jones, has been the “engineering historian” Rob Bell, who has toured bridges, ships, buildings and lost railways in his own amiable,…
Where the Bayeux Tapestry was always meant to be….

Apr 2, 2020

archaeology, battles, buildings

Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Cathedral, Bayeux Tapestry, British Archaeological Association, Norman conquest, Odo Bishop of Bayeux, William I

“….New evidence, published in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association, has confirmed that the Bayeux Tapestry was designed specifically to fit a particular area of Bayeux’s cathedral….” The above quote is from an interesting article that tells us how they arrived at deciding on the actual spot in Bayeux Cathedral for which the great tapestry was…
The Death of Robert, Earl of Gloucester

Oct 31, 2019

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, sources

Adela of Normandy, Arundel Castle, Battle of Lincoln, books, Bristol Castle, Faversham Abbey, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Henry I, illegitimacy, Matilda, Matthew Lewis, Reading Abbey, Robert of Gloucester, St. James’ Priory Bristol, Stephen, The Anarchy, White Ship Disaster, William I, William II, William of Malmesbury

In writing Stephen and Matilda: Cousins of Anarchy, I was keen to apply the same narrow-eyed pursuit of solid facts that I hope comes across in my books on the Wars of the Roses. More than being about battles and, well, anarchy, I wanted to discover the real personalities behind the stories, the people who…
THE STRANGE LEGEND OF USK CASTLE

Oct 25, 2019

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, Science

Azincourt, Bannockburn, birthplaces, Cecily Duchess of York, Dafydd Gam, Edmund Mortimer, Edward I, Edward IV, Fotheringhay, Gilbert de Clare, Gwent, Henry IV, Iorweth ap Owain, Iron Age, isotope analysis, Joan of Acre, Leicester dig, Ludlow Castle, Mortimers, Owain Glyn Dwr, Pwll Melyn, Richard de Clare, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Rouen, Stone of Revenge, teeth, Tristram FitzRolf, Usk Castle, Wales, William Herbert, William I, William Marshall

In a tiny town in Wales, a ruined castle stands on rising ground amidst a haze of dark trees. An atmospheric round tower, cracked by time; shattered walls, the remains of hall and chapel. Privately owned, a garden drops down the hillside before it, to an old house which appears to contain much castle stonework.…
A RIGHT ROYAL TAX SCAM

Oct 14, 2019

anniversaries, archaeology, battles

Appledore, Battle of Hastings, Chew Valley, coins, Harold II, St. Edward the Confessor, taxation, William I

Somerset’s Chew Valley is an interesting place. Around the shores of the artificially made Chew Valley Lake, lie dozens of medieval villages and the signs of habitation, burial and ritual left by prehistoric man, including the mysterious stone and timber circle, Stanton Drew. Appledore, where a subsequent battle took place, lies in the next county.…
History Book Part One

Aug 20, 2019

battles, buildings, Music Reviews, religion

Arthurian legend, Battle Abbey, Battle of Hastings, Beaufort Companye, Coldridge, Devon, Edinburgh, Edward V, Harringtons, Richard III, Scotland, Scottish campaign 1482, Senlac Hill, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir William Stanley, Stanleys, The Legendary Ten Seconds, treachery, William I, windows

The Legendary Ten Seconds have a new album out. The tracks go back chronologically to Arthurian times, before including two about the Battle of Hastings – or of Battle to be precise. The last six cover Richard III’s adult life and reign, from the seemingly effortless taking of Edinburgh to the Harrington dispute and the…