The following list deals with fifteen unexpected rulers. Well, these things are in the eye of the beholder, of course, but (for readers of this blog) the salient name on the list is Henry VII, who apparently won at Bosworth “largely by chance”. Hmm…. How, pray, can deliberate desertion and treachery be regarded as… Continue reading Henry VII was an “unexpected” ruler….?
Tag: executions
Christine de Pizan (or Pisan)
This interesting article by Deanna Rodriguez gives details of many of Christine’s works, some of which are readily available to the modern reader in translated form. Christine de Pizan (or Pisan) was born in Venice but moved to France at an early age and spent the rest of her life there. After her husband’s death,… Continue reading Christine de Pizan (or Pisan)
THE GELDERLAND DOCUMENT – ‘PROOF OF LIFE OF RICHARD DUKE OF YORK* ALIAS PERKIN WARBECK
*This is the title of a chapter from The Princes in the Tower by Philippa Langley. Without the aid of this invaluable book I would never have been able to write this post… Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com The Gelderland Document is a unique, tantalising and quite astonishing document that was discovered back in the… Continue reading THE GELDERLAND DOCUMENT – ‘PROOF OF LIFE OF RICHARD DUKE OF YORK* ALIAS PERKIN WARBECK
The murdered Lancastrian countess and the disappearing Yorkist ghost rider….
Gloucestershire doesn’t lack ghostly stories, not least about the Wars of the Roses with, for example, Margaret of Anjou prowling the rooms of Owlpen Manor and the phantom messenger, on his way through Prestbury to Edward IV at Tewkesbury in May 1471 when he was killed by an arrow. He still gallops through the village… Continue reading The murdered Lancastrian countess and the disappearing Yorkist ghost rider….
Friday the thirteenth and the Templar curse….
Today is 13 March 2024, but thankfully it’s a Wednesday, not a Friday. Why thankfully? Well, we all know the old belief that Fridays which fall on the thirteenth day of a month are considered to be very unlucky. It occurred in October 2023, and will happen again in September and December this year, then… Continue reading Friday the thirteenth and the Templar curse….
A new miniseries about Charles II and his search for revenge….
For those of you who like to see anything to do with Charles II, or just historical drama or docudrama of most sensible kinds, there’s a new miniseries starting tonight on Sky History. It’s called Royal Kill List and concerns Charles’s determination to punish those responsible for his own exile and for the execution of… Continue reading A new miniseries about Charles II and his search for revenge….
A circumstantial but viable clue to the eventual death of Edward II….
In a way the mystery of Edward II is not unlike that of the Princes in the Tower (see here). In both cases supposed royal murders have turned out to be untrue and the victims have escaped to the Continent. Also in both cases the murder aspect has been unchallenged until relatively recently, with all the old… Continue reading A circumstantial but viable clue to the eventual death of Edward II….
Isabella of France
This is the second of Kathryn Warner’s books about Edward II, focussing on the life of his wife, who came across from France as the daughter, sister and aunt of the last five Capetian kings at the outset of the Hundred Years’ War, her niece being passed over as a Salic Law led to a… Continue reading Isabella of France
Do you find it annoying …
… when a historical dramatisation stops after a few series? Versailles, with George Blagden as Louis XIV, had three series and the last concluded with the Affair of the Poisons as La Voisin was burned. Victoria, with Jenna Coleman, has also had three series so far but has only really covered Prince Albert’s lifetime so… Continue reading Do you find it annoying …
Meet the Brownes
Sir Thomas Browne (abt. 1402-1460) was a fervid Lancastrian. This is no doubt the reason that after the Battle of Northampton, he was either beheaded or hanged, drawn and quartered. (Sources differ). He was found guilty of High Treason, a bit of a stretch given that Henry VI was still King at the time and… Continue reading Meet the Brownes
murreyandblue 