Tag: The Anarchy

Wanted …

Digging for Britain is back, just twenty hours into the New Year, for series 10 (excluding a few specials). Alice Roberts is still the host, with Cat Jarman and Stuart Prior. The first episode included a Roman road in Bishop’s Stortford, an Iron Age matriarchy excavated in Dorset and a Lady of the Mercians (but… Continue reading Wanted …

Rebellion in the Middle Ages

This is the latest of Matthew Lewis’ books and covers a longer period than any of the others, from Hereward the Wake’s emergence after Hastings to the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, almost as long a period as this book. Lewis is already an expert on “The Anarchy” (chapter 2) and the Roses… Continue reading Rebellion in the Middle Ages

The Empress and the Tower: A Daring Escape from Oxford Castle in 1142

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog:
Empress Matilda The Oxford Castle and Prison complex drips with history. Tracing it’s roots back to Anglo-Saxon England and the world of Viking raids and fortified burghs when towns like Oxford faced waves of violence and destruction; the castle has endured sieges, held political prisoners and undergone numerous adaptations…

Medieval Jewish Settlements in Oxford

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog:
The Crypt at Oxford Castle – built on Anglo-Saxon foundations The first Jewish settlers arrived in Oxford not long after the Norman Conquest, around 1075AD residing in the commercial heart of the city at St Aldates which became known as Great Jewry Street, close to the original C8th oxen…

Geoffrey of Monmouth, Oxford Castle and King Arthur

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog:
King Arthur at the beginning of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain BnF, Latin 8501A, f. 108v Geoffrey of Monmouth is thought to have been born between 1090 -1100 in Wales; possibly at Monmouth but no written evidence remains to verify this. Geoffrey also signed himself…

The White Ship

Here is a Daily Telegraph review of Charles, Earl Spencer‘s book about the sinking of the White Ship in 1120. It includes a lot of hypotheses based upon the survival of William the Atheling, the tenager who was Henry I‘s only surviving legitimate son but was the most prominent casualty of this maritime incident, arguably… Continue reading The White Ship

Gone Medieval Podcast

I’ve Gone Mediaeval. That may not be a surprise to most, but now you can come with me. I am co-hosting a new podcast from History Hit called Gone Mediaeval. I present an episode every Saturday, mostly covering the high and late medieval period. The other host is Dr Cat Jarman, a bioarchaeologist, who specialises… Continue reading Gone Medieval Podcast

Another C12 female monarch

For nineteen years, as Matthew Lewis relates here, England was torn between Matilda, Henry I’s only surviving legitimate child, and Stephen of Blois, his nephew. She married Geoffrey of Anjou before their son Henry II succeeded her rival, but her position was difficult because of her gender. The concept of a “Queen Regnant” was unknown… Continue reading Another C12 female monarch

The Death of Robert, Earl of Gloucester

In writing Stephen and Matilda: Cousins of Anarchy, I was keen to apply the same narrow-eyed pursuit of solid facts that I hope comes across in my books on the Wars of the Roses. More than being about battles and, well, anarchy, I wanted to discover the real personalities behind the stories, the people who… Continue reading The Death of Robert, Earl of Gloucester