Once you have reached beyond the bizarre title, which sounds rather like a Dr. Who episode, this is actually a very good series. Rob Bell, the engineer who is becoming quite ubiquitous, demonstrates how the UK was ready to use ther natural and built environments, together with science, to repel and then restrict a German… Continue reading “The Buildings that fought Hitler” (Yesterday)
Month: Nov 2021
The tapestries of Thomas Wolsey
We 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.
The Daughters of Edward I
Kathryn Warner‘s latest tome has arrived and soon raised memories of Ashdown-Hill’s Eleanor, as two of the daughters in question – Joan of Acre (twice) and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan – are among the ancestors of Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lucy Walter, “Mrs. Fitzherbert” (Maria Smythe) and Laura Culme-Seymour, as shown in Royal Marriage Secrets and replicated here.… Continue reading The Daughters of Edward I
More Secret Marriages!
Back in 2010, historian Dan Snow was married in secret to Lady Edwina Grosvenor, daughter of the Duke of Westminster. I’ve looked but I can’t see that Dan mentions Edward IV‘s probable ‘secret marriage’ to Eleanor Talbot in any of his Twitter or other postings on history. (He did once post a very entertaining picture… Continue reading More Secret Marriages!
They’re going to bulldoze Middleham Castle….?
….Yes, for a dreadful moment I thought they were going to bulldoze Middleham Castle! Oh, horrors. But no, it’a a plan for bulldozing Manor Farm, the proximity of which to the castle is clear in the above photograph. If you go to this link you’ll see that “….Racehorse owners John and Jess Dance said their… Continue reading They’re going to bulldoze Middleham Castle….?
The White Ship
Here is a Daily Telegraph review of Charles, Earl Spencer‘s book about the sinking of the White Ship in 1120. It includes a lot of hypotheses based upon the survival of William the Atheling, the tenager who was Henry I‘s only surviving legitimate son but was the most prominent casualty of this maritime incident, arguably… Continue reading The White Ship
The Earls’ Rebellion
This is a quite remarkable article by Dr. Callum Watson about the revolt against David II in 1363. To summarise the background:David succeeded Robert I in 1329 at the age of five. He was exiled in France between 1334 and 1341. He was captured at the Battle of Neville’s Cross in 1346 and ransomed in… Continue reading The Earls’ Rebellion
Sorry, Frederick Forsyth and John Stonehouse, but Henry VII did it first
I expect you all know the basic premise of Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal (published in 1971). A mysterious and ruthless assassin obtains a birth certificate and passport in the name of someone who died as a child, before setting out to kill de Gaulle. In 1974, John Stonehouse followed this method by “borrowing”… Continue reading Sorry, Frederick Forsyth and John Stonehouse, but Henry VII did it first
The Kingmaker’s Anger
I’m working on a biography of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick – the man best introduced as The Kingmaker. I have written on the Wars of the Roses, on Richard, Duke of York, and Richard III. Warwick has been a constant presence throughout. I spent some time in an earlier dispute over the throne of… Continue reading The Kingmaker’s Anger
Richard III WASN’T buried under a car park….!
A list of ten facts that were taught at school but are no longer true has been published at this site. It’s a very interesting list with some things that I really didn’t know about, but at number 8 is the following:- “[Untrue fact} NO-ONE KNOWS WHERE RICHARD III’S BODY IS. “Correction: He was buried… Continue reading Richard III WASN’T buried under a car park….!
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