Tag: Salisbury

And the Clocks Go Back!

Well, British Summer time is now officially over and the hardy henge-workers are currently  moving the megaliths at Avebury and Stonehenge into  their winter-hours position! Time to celebrate the exciting festival shortly to take place–no, not Christmas (yet)–but the quasi-pagan Halloween, All Hallows/AllSaints/All Souls…and the execution of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham in Salisbury Market… Continue reading And the Clocks Go Back!

Dear Henry: Buckingham’s letter to Henry Tudor. . .

Here is a passage from https://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/the-road-to-bosworth-battle-of-bosworth-field/ I quote: “…Buckingham [wrote] a letter to Henry on 24 September 1483 which stated he would support the rebellion against Richard, even though he and Henry’s interests may not be perfectly compatible.  What is certain is that Buckingham suspected his own life was forfeit with Richard III; he and… Continue reading Dear Henry: Buckingham’s letter to Henry Tudor. . .

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

Significant opportunities missed?

Robert Stillington is likely to have been born in about 1420 and was consecrated as Bishop of Bath and Wells on 30 October 1465. As we know, in spring 1483, he confessed his knowledge of Edward IV’s bigamy. Based on Stillington’s evidence, the Three Estates voted to cancel the coronation of Edward V, inviting Richard… Continue reading Significant opportunities missed?

Just WHY did Buckingham think he could cross the flooded Severn….?

On this date, St Luke’s Day, 18th October, in 1483, apparently egged on by that notorious Lancastrian plotter, John Morton, Bishop of Ely, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham unfurled his banners in rebellion against his cousin, King Richard III. Morton was supposedly Buckingham’s prisoner, handed over to him by Richard for safe keeping. Safe… Continue reading Just WHY did Buckingham think he could cross the flooded Severn….?

Thomas Langton: Richard III’s Character Witness

Originally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS:
Amongst the glories of Winchester Cathedral, there is a chantry chapel of outstanding beauty and magnificence. The man who is buried there, and for whom the roof bosses provide a rebus clue, is Thomas Langton, who died of plague in 1501 only days after being elected by Henry VII as…

FEAST OF THE INNOCENTS: Ricardian Christmas Fiction

December 28th was the Feast of the Innocents, commemorating the day in which Herod slaughtered  young male children in an attempt to kill the newborn Christ-child. In medieval England it was an important feast day and also part of the ‘Feast of Fools’. In many towns and cities over the festive season the church authority… Continue reading FEAST OF THE INNOCENTS: Ricardian Christmas Fiction

House Of Rebels: Halle’s Hall in Salisbury

One of the most interesting houses is Salisbury is Halle’s Hall, which now serves as the local cinema, possibly the only cinema in the country that is over 500 years old. The Hall is a late medieval house begun by John Halle in about 1470 and completed in 1483, several years after Halle’s death, when… Continue reading House Of Rebels: Halle’s Hall in Salisbury

A Fateful Convergence – two men with complex loyalties who faced the same place of execution

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog:
Plaque for Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham I recently visited Salisbury in Wiltshire and stood by the plaque which commemorates the execution on 2nd November 1483 of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham on the site of the Blue Boar Inn. His ghost is said to haunt Debenhams which stands…

BUCKINGHAM’S MYSTERIOUS BURIAL

Where lies Harry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham? No one can say for sure, his final resting place is as elusive and entwined with myth and legend as Richard III’s once was. Stafford, leader of the October 1483 rebellion against Richard, was turned in by one of his own men while hiding in a cottage, apparently… Continue reading BUCKINGHAM’S MYSTERIOUS BURIAL