Disappeared in Europe 500 years apart – the eyes have it?

First we have “Perkin Warbeck”, who the 1493 Trois Enseignes Naturelz , as found by the Missing Princes Project in the Austrian State Archives, has confirmed to be Edward V’s brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. The document title is a reference to his distinguishing features, as obliterated by the torture he underwent so… Continue reading Disappeared in Europe 500 years apart – the eyes have it?

CROWN IN EXILE: A NOVEL OF RICHARD AND EDWARD IN BURGUNDY

    A part of Richard III’s life often overlooked in fiction is the brief time he spent in exile with his brother, Edward IV, from October 1470 to March 1471. Usually, this event is a mere footnote in most novels, no doubt because it might be seen as ‘slowing down the action’ and also… Continue reading CROWN IN EXILE: A NOVEL OF RICHARD AND EDWARD IN BURGUNDY

Warwick, Wavrin and Livia Visser-Fuchs….

  This link will enable you to download Livia Visser-Fuchs’ thesis “Warwick and Wavrin: Two Case Studies on the Literary Background and Propaganda of Anglo-Burgundian Relations in the Yorkist Period”. The lowly marriage of Edward IV, at a time when Warwick was negotiating an illustrious international union for England’s dashing young king, alienated Warwick and… Continue reading Warwick, Wavrin and Livia Visser-Fuchs….

Thou shalt not spread porkies….

  “….[A] proclamation to tackle unrest, 1487… stated that any person found to be spreading rumours was to be put into the pillory….”  (from this  site ) Oh dear, Henry VII didn’t like doses of his own medicine! I speak of rumours and lies. What’s the word….? Um, calumny. That’s it. You know, the rumours… Continue reading Thou shalt not spread porkies….

The Wandering Butler: John, 6th Earl of Ormond

FAMILY BACKGROUND The Lancastrian leader who faced – or failed to face – Thomas, Earl of Desmond, at the Battle of Piltown in 1462 was the fourth of the five children born to James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (otherwise known as the White Earl), and his countess Joan Beauchamp, daughter of William Beauchamp, Lord… Continue reading The Wandering Butler: John, 6th Earl of Ormond

The complete, utterly biased dissing of the House of York….

  When I recorded the first episode of the Sky series Royal Bastards: Rise of the Tudors, I watched it on 23rd November, which is the anniversary of the day in 1450 when Richard 3rd Duke of York returned to London [and Parliament] with his sword unsheathed to claim his right. The docudrama series kicks… Continue reading The complete, utterly biased dissing of the House of York….

Philip the Bold and his portable clock….

  The above illustration isn’t of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, but from the time of his grandson, Philip the Good. Please don’t ask me what, exactly, the picture depicts, because I have no idea, except that it’s a story. It looks very secretive and sneaky, whatever it is. My interest is the clock.… Continue reading Philip the Bold and his portable clock….

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

A new Mancini – by Annette Carson

Towards the end of 1482 an Austin friar by the name of Domenico Mancini was sent to London by a senior minister of King Louis XI of France This was pursuant to France’s act of hostility in breaching her long-standing treaty with England, and Mancini was clearly on a fact-finding mission, as shown by the… Continue reading A new Mancini – by Annette Carson

Who’s coming to dinner (a guest post)

How did this happen? Am I dreaming? Is there some sort of Time-slip? Yet here I am, somehow “transposed” from my 21st century self to a Lady-in-Waiting, helping to host a secret dinner. I cannot understand how or why it has occurred, all I know is that it is the end of February 1485, after… Continue reading Who’s coming to dinner (a guest post)