Last year, ancient DNA was in the headlines when it was determined the ‘Beaker People’ who arrived in Britain c 4500 years ago, genetically replaced 90% of the previous population. At that time, studies were saying that the ‘Steppe Ancestry’ found in these people was not found in the Beaker population of Spain, long thought… Continue reading MORE WORK ON ANCIENT DNA
Month: Apr 2019
A further representation of Edward IV
We know that both Mr. Rochester and Captain Mainwaring are possibly based, to some extent, on Edward IV’s life and family. What about Hi-de-hi? I ask because one episode of this 1980s comedy featured TED Bovis (Paul Shane) seeking to become engaged to a camper with “my late mother’s ring”, only for Spike Dixon (Jeffrey… Continue reading A further representation of Edward IV
The reign(s) of Edward IV….
If you want the bare bones of Edward’s reign(s), supposedly born today but on an impossible date, here they are, although there is no reference to his valid marriage in 1461. To me, Edward IV, for all the good he did as king, was rather a prat. Sorry, but there’s no other word for… Continue reading The reign(s) of Edward IV….
RAM RAIDERS REVEAL TUDOR/MEDIEVAL HOUSE
A group of ram-raiders in Dedham, Essex drove their vehicle into the facade of a plain, old Co-Op, causing considerable damage–and revealing behind the 1950’s front a timbered-framed merchant’s house built around 1520, with earlier medieval features such as a hearth and a large cauldron blocking the doorway, possibly as a talisman to ward off… Continue reading RAM RAIDERS REVEAL TUDOR/MEDIEVAL HOUSE
Ye gods! Now it’s Richard and Zombies….!
“…But I have to admit that even I hadn’t seen a Shakespearean production in which Richard III was dragged off screaming by zombies, or in which the conflict between Othello, Iago and Desdemona was played out on the set of The Jerry Springer Show…” The above is an extract from a review here, which production is… Continue reading Ye gods! Now it’s Richard and Zombies….!
Another Legendary Ten Seconds album
This is the list of tracks from “Mer de Mort”, a collection of songs about the Mortimer roots of the House of York and recorded for the Mortimer History Society‘s tenth anniversary. Here is an introduction.
SHAKESPEARE’S RICHARD III: HERO OR VILLAIN?
” Never let it be said that fate itself could awe the soul of Richard. Hence babbling dreams, you threaten here in vain; Conscience avaunt, Richard’s himself again” (The tragical history of King Richard the Third)[1] Richard’s himself again: or is he? There is a moment in Olivier’s film of Shakespeare’s play… Continue reading SHAKESPEARE’S RICHARD III: HERO OR VILLAIN?
Cry God for Harry, England….and St Aidan?
Well, heresy as it may seem on this St George’s Day, there have been calls for a new patron saint for England. This interloper is none other than St Aidan of Lindisfarne. Are we ready for such a change? Read on to learn more.
Music to the bells of St Nicholas, Leicester….
I haven’t heard any of this music, on the site of Leicester’s Saxon Cathedral, so cannot say what it’s like. But it sounds intriguing …
THE DEATH OF HENRY VII
UPDATED POST ON sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/the-death-of-henry-vii/ Henry VII on his deathbed : Wriothesley’s Heraldic Collection Vol 1 Book of Funerals. c Unknown artist’s impression of Tudor being crowned in the aftermath of Bosworth.. It must have seemed surreal to him as he wandered through the dead kings apartments at Westminster that had now,… Continue reading THE DEATH OF HENRY VII
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