Marguerite, Lady de Courcy, was the French governess of Richard II’s second wife, the child-bride Isabelle of Valois. This article, Part I, tells the generally known English version of what led to Marguerite’s return to France. I will begin with Richard’s obligation to remarry after the death of Anne of Bohemia, with whom he had… Continue reading The de Courcy Matter Part I: According to English records….
Tag: Hundred Years War
“Time-honour’d Lancaster” was given to pressing on at the expense of his men….
In late April 1388, John of Gaunt‘s son-in-law Sir John Holand returned to England from the Spanish peninsula, where he had been constable of Gaunt’s army. Gaunt had invaded the peninsula in pursuit of the Crown of Castile, to which he had a claim through his marriage to the Infanta Constanza. I am now going… Continue reading “Time-honour’d Lancaster” was given to pressing on at the expense of his men….
The medieval bastions of London Wall….
In 1386, when Richard II was on the throne, there was invasion panic in England. The French were gathering a huge fleet to cross the Channel in order to swarm over the counties of the southeast, which then as now, were most convenient to European shores, as well as being closest to London. It was… Continue reading The medieval bastions of London Wall….
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)
A 14th-century castle and moat unearthed beneath a French hotel….
I have learned from this site (as well as numerous other sites, all you have to do is search “castle remains under vannes hotel”) that the remarkably well preserved remains of a14th-century castle and moat have been discovered only about 10 feet below the foundations of the Hotel Lagorce in Vannes. This lost castle… Continue reading A 14th-century castle and moat unearthed beneath a French hotel….
The Queen of France’s necromancers….
Supporters of Richard III are always incensed that his reputation (courtesy of the Bard, the sainted Sir Thomas More and the House of Tudor) has always been damned because of his scoliosis. Well, the Bard and More embellished a curved back into much, much more. They turned him into a wicked hobgoblin! But in those… Continue reading The Queen of France’s necromancers….
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
Uncrowned: Royal heirs who didn’t take the throne
We all know the well-trodden vistas of the kings and queens of England but what about those of the kings and queens we nearly had? In my new book, Uncrowned: Royal Heirs Who Didn’t Take The Throne, I charter the lives of twenty-five heirs apparent and presumptive who nature had destined to one day wear… Continue reading Uncrowned: Royal heirs who didn’t take the throne
A lesson in buying books online….
Yes, yes, before you point it out, I know part of the following is my own fault for not reading the samples on Amazon. I’ve just purchased two books concerning the above battles in the Hundred Years War, one book is 239 pages long, the other 245. If I’d inspected the Amazon details fully… Continue reading A lesson in buying books online….
Tyrants – Part 1
I am heartily sick of certain historians – or ‘historians’ in some cases – who use the ‘tyrant’ word as a badge to stick on the rulers they dislike as a sort of badge of disgrace. These people invariably gloss over the similar – no, let’s be plain, worse, far worse! – deeds of the… Continue reading Tyrants – Part 1
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