Month: Dec 2015

Clearing up a French genealogical mystery

It can be said that every country that has ever had a monarch still has a hypothetical monarch, to whom the same selection rules apply, unless the whole family in question has been extirpated. The latter is almost impossible to achieve, as the cases of Russia and Ethiopia prove. There are probably collateral descendants of… Continue reading Clearing up a French genealogical mystery

FEAST OF THE INNOCENTS: Ricardian Christmas Fiction

December 28th was the Feast of the Innocents, commemorating the day in which Herod slaughtered  young male children in an attempt to kill the newborn Christ-child. In medieval England it was an important feast day and also part of the ‘Feast of Fools’. In many towns and cities over the festive season the church authority… Continue reading FEAST OF THE INNOCENTS: Ricardian Christmas Fiction

The True History of King Richard III (Part 3)

The True History of King Richard III – Part 3 Interlude It is now time for a little housekeeping and explanation. The political situation between 1455 and 1459 is too boring and complicated to go into here. Suffice it to say that sometimes the Duke of York was in power, and sometimes the Duke of… Continue reading The True History of King Richard III (Part 3)

Of party food, comic films and the sinister reality behind them

It doesn’t have to have been in Spain but I expect that most of you will have been to a party at which tapas was served. One of the main components of this is a type of ham known as jamon iberico or serrano. Have you wondered why this is the principal meat in tapas?… Continue reading Of party food, comic films and the sinister reality behind them

The Round Church in Cambridge

I am always interested to find out about buildings which were extant in Richard III’s times. This one looks really interesting and I hadn’t heard of it before. Original article click here: Cambridge Round Church    Image credit: Richard Banks Harraden [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

One book – two reviews

You may just have heard that David Horspool has a new Richard III biography out and it delivers a real insight into the reviewing process. The first one is by Nigel Jones, in The Spectator, who has written about the Nazis on several occasions, although he obviously knows less about them than Laurence Rees. Such… Continue reading One book – two reviews

KING’S GAMES: A MEMOIR OF RICHARD III

A Verse Play in Two Acts with Commentaries By Nance Crawford “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” (Hamlet) To be honest, I am not much taken with modern Ricardian fiction. I think that in the last five centuries too much fiction and too little fact has  been written about… Continue reading KING’S GAMES: A MEMOIR OF RICHARD III