Tag: arms

One of the medieval knights who lived to be a centenarian….

  We are inclined to think people in the medieval period didn’t live very long compared with this present age. Well, perhaps the very poor died younger, but those from the higher echelons were as likely as us to live on I to very old age. Proof of this can be found in the records… Continue reading One of the medieval knights who lived to be a centenarian….

Sir Thomas Pilkington

Sir Thomas Pilkington, of Pilkington, Bury and various other places, led his tenants and retainers to Bosworth to fight for Richard III. Whether they got there in time is not 100% clear but Sir Thomas was attainted and lost his Lancashire lands. You’ll never guess which family received them. Yes, those caring, sharing Stanleys, in… Continue reading Sir Thomas Pilkington

Richard’s Boar in Lego

Following the success of the Easter Lego event in 2018, when the most famous portrait of King Richard III, the National Portrait Gallery one, was recreated using Lego bricks, Fairy Bricks were back in Leicester this Easter to build another Richard III-themed mosaic at the Richard III Visitor Centre. This year members of the public… Continue reading Richard’s Boar in Lego

Father of a Queen: Thomas Boleyn

Two miles from Edenbridge in Kent  lies the small but attractive castle of Hever. Originally built in 1270, it was taken over 1462 by Geoffrey Bullen (or Boleyn) younger brother of Thomas Boleyn , Master of Gonville Hall, a constituent college of Cambridge. Geoffrey had a son called William and he in turn fathered Thomas… Continue reading Father of a Queen: Thomas Boleyn

The Making of Richard III’s Coat of Arms for his Tomb

I was quite amazed to find out last week, when visiting Leicester Cathedral, that the small coat of arms that can be seen on the front part of the tomb was made by a skilled craftsman called Thomas Greenaway, who is one of only a handful of people who use the 16th Century craft of… Continue reading The Making of Richard III’s Coat of Arms for his Tomb

The Fotheringhay Boar(s)

In all my travels to England, I had yet to visit Fotheringhay, the place where Richard III was born on October 2, 1452, and where his grand-uncle, father, mother and brother Edmund are buried. So, when planning our latest trip this past October, I made it a high priority that my husband and I should… Continue reading The Fotheringhay Boar(s)