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
Tag: Merciless Parliament
Treachery is one man’s meat and another’s poison….
I have been reading a very interesting article from the Journal of Medieval History by E. Amanda McVitty, called False knights and true men: contesting chivalric masculinity in English treason trials, 1388-1415. (Vol. 40, No. 4, 458–477) There is an old saying that one man’s meat is another man’s poison, and by the… Continue reading Treachery is one man’s meat and another’s poison….
St Andrew’s Church, Wingfield and the Tombs of the de la Poles
Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com St Andrew’s Church, Wingfield, Suffolk. Mausoleum of the de la Poles. You know when the great Sir Nikolaus Pevsner was ‘impressed’ with a church then it must indeed be rather special (1). And St Andrew’s with its soaring clerestories, nave roof with arched braces resting on figures of winged… Continue reading St Andrew’s Church, Wingfield and the Tombs of the de la Poles
STATEMENT IN STONE
Most old castles will have graffiti both old and new pecked into their stonework somewhere. People like to leave A symbol for posterity (often unfortunately.) Very few ancient buildings, however, have the owner’s name graven into them for for eternity. Not so at Caldicot in Wales. If you walk around to the back of the… Continue reading STATEMENT IN STONE
Edmund of Langley
Today marks the anniversary of the death in 1402 of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, an undervalued and almost forgotten prince. Edmund deserves his place in history. Without him the House of York itself would never have existed, and its later members, who everyone finds so interesting, would never have been born.… Continue reading Edmund of Langley
TREASON 3 – The Long Parliament 1649
Introduction “ The scaffold was hung round with black, and the floor covered with black, and the axe and block (were) laid in the middle of the scaffold. There were divers companies of Foot and Horse on every side of the scaffold, and the multitude of people that came to be spectators were very great.”[1]… Continue reading TREASON 3 – The Long Parliament 1649
TREASON 2 – The Parliament Of Devils, 1459
Introduction This is the second of two articles I have written about treason. In the first article, I wrote about the Merciless Parliament of 1388 at which eighteen of king Richard II’s closest advisors and friends were tried by parliament and condemned as traitors, against the king’s wishes. In this article I am writing about… Continue reading TREASON 2 – The Parliament Of Devils, 1459
TREASON 1 – The Merciless Parliament 1388
Introduction Treason is a terrible crime. It denotes a betrayal so wicked as to be unforgivable. In medieval England a traitor was executed with the maximum of corporeal pain and all his goods and chattels were forfeited to the crown, thus disinheriting his heirs and successors forever. Henry de Bracton a thirteenth century English jurist,… Continue reading TREASON 1 – The Merciless Parliament 1388
William de la Pole – the most hated man in England
As the sun rose on the morning of 2nd May 1450, it revealed a grisly sight on Dover beach. A headless body lay on the sand, dried blood staining the butchered neck. Beside the body, atop a stake, the vacant eyes of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk stared out over the sea… Continue reading William de la Pole – the most hated man in England
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