A new book about the England of 1199-1399….

Caroline Burt and Richard ­Partington are prominent historians at the University of Cambridge, and have written a  book entitled Arise, England, which “….is shaping up to be a welcome shelter from the permanent torrent of Tudors….” Oh, yippee! At last! I’m so sick of the Tudors, on all manner of levels, so a book about… Continue reading A new book about the England of 1199-1399….

John of Gaunt’s Entailment

I have recently come across the argument (again) that Edward III‘s purported enfeoffment made Gaunt and his son the rightful heirs of Edward III.

The Eleanor Crosses – Twelve or Fifteen

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @ sparkypus.com ‘The Passing of Eleanor’ –  artist’s impression of the funeral cortège of Eleanor of Castile watched over by her grieving husband, Edward I.  Artist Frank Salisbury, 1910 (1). ‘Pray for our consort, who in life, we loved dearly, and, dead, we do not cease to love….’ Edward Ist in… Continue reading The Eleanor Crosses – Twelve or Fifteen

The Dingleys of Cropthorne

While visiting Evesham for last year’s medieval re-enactment, I happened on the village of Cropthorne, with its large medieval church. I do a fair bit of church-crawling, and this was a fine specimen, built near the sites of a Saxon hunting lodge and containing a 9th century Saxon cross. It also had some interesting 17thc monuments to… Continue reading The Dingleys of Cropthorne

I wonder …

We all know that Sir John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, was descended from Thomas of Brotherton, a younger son of Edward I. Several branches of the Howard family have held the title ever since, except for periods under attainder from 1485-1514, 1547-53 and 1572-1660. Were any of them descended from more recent monarchs? Henry… Continue reading I wonder …

The royal and noble descent of Jane Birkin

The late actress and singer Jane Birkin, who would have been 77 today, had some interesting ancestors. As this first table shows, these were all through her father David, a naval Lieutenant Commander with a Russell mother, through whom Jane was descended from the Dukes of Bedford, along with several other peers: the van Keppels,… Continue reading The royal and noble descent of Jane Birkin

The Lordship of Powys (Part 2)

Owain de la Pole‘s daughter, Hawise (1290-1349), eventually inherited the Lordship, her brother having died. She was known as Hawise Gadarn, which means in English ‘the Hardy’. Hawise married John Charlton (or Cherleton) a knight from a relatively minor Shropshire family who had acquired the favour of Edward I. In 1313 Edward II sent John… Continue reading The Lordship of Powys (Part 2)

The Lordship of Powys. (Part 1)

Powys is an interesting Marcher Lordship in that it was never conquered by the English but descended by inheritance. Of course, the Welsh princes of Powys tended to be quite pro-English. (Perhaps one should really say pro-Anglo-Norman.) This is quite understandable, however shocking it may seem to modern nationalist sentiment. For one thing, Powys was… Continue reading The Lordship of Powys. (Part 1)

The most beautiful woman in medieval England….?

  The title of this article refers to Joan, Princess of Wales, mother of Richard II. She became known as the “Fair Maid of Kent”, a sobriquet acquired posthumously. But, was she the most beautiful woman in England? According to the standards of her time yes, she certainly was, although the contemporary likenesses we have… Continue reading The most beautiful woman in medieval England….?

Weir(d) Babies (4): Edward I and Eleanor of Castile

Yes, it’s Weir(d) Babies 4 here, and another post poking fun at a certain “historian” who seem to pull royal babies out of thin air and include them in genealogies. This time, the extraneous little cherubs were credited to that notably fertile pair, Edward I and Eleanor of Castile…as if they did not already have… Continue reading Weir(d) Babies (4): Edward I and Eleanor of Castile