Tyrants – Part 2

Henry Bolingbroke, of course, was not a tyrant. Not at all. It’s just that before he became king, he executed an earl and four knights, no doubt by mistake. He was neither king, high constable nor marshal, and anyway was a banished man. So he had no lawful authority whatever. But he was merely carrying… Continue reading Tyrants – Part 2

This Union: The Ghost Kingdoms of England

This is an excellent series on BBC4 about the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that eventually evolved to fill the vacuum left by departure of the Roman legions. In the first episode, Ian Hislop visits East Anglia, particularly Colchester, Ipswich and Sutton Hoo, viewing some coins with Philip Wise and hearing about the Wuffingas, apparently descended from a… Continue reading This Union: The Ghost Kingdoms of England

Torre Abbey, with the Legendary Ten Seconds

This is another Legendary Ten Seconds production, principally about the ancient building in Torquay, but it is one track on an album about the wider history of Torbay. Torre Abbey, which dated from about 1096, was dissolved without significant resistance in 1539 and is principally an art gallery as well as part of the Agatha… Continue reading Torre Abbey, with the Legendary Ten Seconds

Hygiene in Medieval Times

Have you ever asked yourself how people washed and perfume themselves in Medieval time? And what about the smart and noble Plantagenets? Was there a difference between rich and poor people? You will be surprised to discover that Mediaeval people were cleaner than we can imagine and they smelled good. As you can imagine, hygienic… Continue reading Hygiene in Medieval Times

Seeking another Scottish consort

(Saint) Margaret of Wessex, great-granddaughter of Ethelred Unraed, granddaughter of Edmund Ironside and great-niece of (St.) Edward the Confessor, died just three days after her husband, Malcolm III was killed at Alnwick in 1093. She, as eventual heiress to the House of Wessex, was the ancestor of every subsequent Scottish monarch except Donald Bain, Malcolm’s… Continue reading Seeking another Scottish consort

Medieval gaming board clue to lost monastery….

The Monastery of Deer in Aberdeenshire has been lost for centuries, but now the discovery of a stone medieval gaming board has raised archaeologists’ hopes that they have found the missing buildings. The search has been on since 2008. It was at Deer that the monks wrote the celebrated 10th-century illuminated manuscript known as the… Continue reading Medieval gaming board clue to lost monastery….