You all know the old saying “Curiosity killed the cat”. I’m one such cat and often see something funny or odd in the blandest of sentences. I just can’t help it. Well, this irrepressible curiosity has been pricked again. At the age of 10, in the summer of 1340, Edward of Woodstock, the young… Continue reading No roads to or from Berkeley in Gloucestershire….?
Tag: Bristol
Bristol’s Mayors Chapel-open after 500 years.
I must admit to having ‘all wrong’ about Bristol. For a long while I thought its cathedral was likely just an overgrown parish church and did not visit, preferring to explore the famous church of St Mary Redcliffe instead. How wrong I was. The cathedral was, in fact, a large Augustinian abbey, founded by Robert… Continue reading Bristol’s Mayors Chapel-open after 500 years.
Antony Woodville and his daughter, Margaret.
Antony Woodville, quite early in his career, had an affair with Gwenllian Stradling which led to the birth of a daughter, Margaret Woodville. As it turned out, although he subsequently married twice, this was his only child. Or certainly, his only child who grew up. The Stradlings were a long-standing Glamorgan gentry family, based at… Continue reading Antony Woodville and his daughter, Margaret.
Medieval spies….
Thanks to a post on the Richard III Society Forum, I was steered to the following interesting Ian Arthurson article about medieval spying. We know that the Tudors excelled in this dangerous world, but it’s not so well known that it was quite rife during the Wars of the Roses as well. Royalty—and the Church—always… Continue reading Medieval spies….
THE MYSTERIOUS BRISTOL CROSS
In the back of the beautiful Stourhead gardens stands a mysterious piece of old Bristol–the Bristol High Cross. When you first see it, you almost think it might be a modern folly, but it is the ‘real thing’, a medieval cross. In the 1700’s such relics of the past were considered old-fashioned and valueless; in… Continue reading THE MYSTERIOUS BRISTOL CROSS
“Bone Detectives” come to Ipswich …
… and other venues, with Tori Herridge and Raksha Dave. This Channel Four series, which consists of five episodes, begins at Stoke Quay on the town’s Waterfront where a long-forgotten (St. Augustine’s) burial ground was fully explored before some new buildings were constructed. Three bodies in particular were examined: 1) A wealthy man buried in… Continue reading “Bone Detectives” come to Ipswich …
A pleasant surprise
In recent years, Dan Jones’ posing and fanciful Crimewatch-style re-enactments, together with Starkeyesque conclusions formed before he started, has marred quite a few series on mediaeval history. Now he seems to have changed tack completely with this series, covering canal building from the middle of the eighteenth century and – yes – I rather enjoyed… Continue reading A pleasant surprise
The Royal Progress of Richard III
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… Continue reading The Royal Progress of Richard III
The Staple
In early medieval times, ‘the staple’ meant England’s staple export: wool. But it was inconvenient and inefficient for the king’s men to collect the customs duties that were payable on the exported wool from every one of the hundreds of little English ports all around the country. London, Bristol, Ipswich and Sandwich were major ports… Continue reading The Staple
Wander the streets of London in 1520….
Finding the original town plans of London, before the Great Fire of 1666, is always intriguing, and very rewarding indeed for those of us who love all things medieval. So, in this respect, I welcome the Tudors. I already have books of London maps, published by the London Topographical Society, of our capital in the… Continue reading Wander the streets of London in 1520….
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