I hope that by the time you read this article you will already have visited yesterday’s Part I, which relates the English version of Marguerite de Courcy’s return to France. She left England under the cloud of having lived far too high a life for a governess and of stealing some English royal jewels. These… Continue reading The de Courcy Matter, Part II: The French side of the story….
Tag: Kathryn Warner
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
Hugh Despenser the Younger
So here we have one of Kathryn Warner‘s earlier books. It describes the life and career of Edward II’s third and final favourite – his marriage to Eleanor de Clare, his lawless activitities but also the degree to which they were exaggerated, leading to his “trial” and execution. We can recommend it highly as part… Continue reading Hugh Despenser the Younger
More praise for Philippa Langley’s discoveries concerning the Princes in the Tower….
Praise and admiration abound for Philippa Langley’s new discoveries and the book that tells all about the work she and her colleagues have been doing to trace what really happened to the boys in the Tower, the sons of Edward IV. Well, they were princes until 1483, then they were illegitimate boys, and then… Continue reading More praise for Philippa Langley’s discoveries concerning the Princes in the Tower….
The Granddaughters of Edward III
So here is the latest of Kathryn Warner‘s series about Edward II’s family. As the title suggests, it is focussed on the lives of Edward III’s eleven grandaughters, nine of whom were paternally descended including four by John of Gaunt. The first, Philippa of Clarence, was born in 1355 and the last to die was… Continue reading The Granddaughters of Edward III
Some progress in Cairo, but not enough yet
Here is the Mail article in question, by Dominic Sandbrook. He has now abandoned More as a source and the superficial coincidence of some bones being found within a quarter of a mile of More’s location – never mind that More’s priest is said to have buried the “Princes” below a thirteenth century staircase, let… Continue reading Some progress in Cairo, but not enough yet
Hanley Castle
Hanley Castle is located in the south-western part of Worcestershire, only a short distance from the Gloucestershire border. Today it is a small, agreeable village, notable for a school, an excellent pub, The Three Kings and an interesting church, consecrated in 1325. As the place name implies, there was once a castle here, although all… Continue reading Hanley Castle
Another Hundred Years’ Grudge
A few years ago, we showed that Robert Catesby, directly descended from Sir William Catesby, sought to kill James VI/I, a descendant of Henry VII, by gunpowder 120 years after Henry had Sir William hanged after Bosworth.This second case, of which I was reminded in Kathryn Warner‘s The Despensers, doesn’t involve direct ancestry on both… Continue reading Another Hundred Years’ Grudge
The Despensers: The Rise and fall of a mediaeval family
Here is another of Kathryn Warner‘s volumes in which the genealogy is central but there is plenty of history about the principal individuals that comprise the structure of the book. These range from Hugh Despenser the Justiciar, who fell at Evesham in 1265 opposing Henry III, to his son and grandson (the latter married to… Continue reading The Despensers: The Rise and fall of a mediaeval family
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