Sir Edmund Shaa – Cheshire’s Answer to Dick Whittington.

Edmund Shaa was born in about 1436, reputedly in Mottram-in-Longdendale, which was then in Cheshire. He was the son of John Shaa ‘of Dukinfield’ who was, it appears, a yeoman. ‘Shaa’ is the medieval version of the surname ‘Shaw’. Many of the name ‘Shaw’ can still be found in the general area of Greater Manchester… Continue reading Sir Edmund Shaa – Cheshire’s Answer to Dick Whittington.

Neither quite one thing nor the other?

We have probably all come across one or both cathedrals in Liverpool, where the Anglican building was built by a Catholic and probably vice versa (Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and Sir Frederick Gibberd). Here, however, is a single ecumenical building at Arundel Castle. On the one hand, the nave and chancel are the Anglican church… Continue reading Neither quite one thing nor the other?

Happenstance? Or happens all the time….?

Is there such a thing as coincidence? Happenstance? Fluke? Call it what you will, sometimes things happen that make us wonder. For instance, how often are you reading a word or phrase at the same time that someone on TV uses it? Well, if you’re buried in books as often as I am, then it’s… Continue reading Happenstance? Or happens all the time….?

THE GELDERLAND DOCUMENT – ‘PROOF OF LIFE OF RICHARD DUKE OF YORK* ALIAS PERKIN WARBECK

*This is the title of a chapter from The Princes in the Tower by Philippa Langley.  Without the aid of this invaluable book I would never have been able to write this post… Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com The Gelderland Document is a unique, tantalising and quite astonishing document that was discovered back in the… Continue reading THE GELDERLAND DOCUMENT – ‘PROOF OF LIFE OF RICHARD DUKE OF YORK* ALIAS PERKIN WARBECK

Roman Wales

The first thing to note about Roman rule in Wales is that it started in 48 AD, a few years later than in England, which is a consequence of the Claudian invasion having started in Kent. It is likely to have finished a little earlier too, in about 383, as the general Maximus Magnus sought… Continue reading Roman Wales

WHO IN THE WORLD WAS RALPH WILFORD?

Everyone interested in the late medieval/early Tudor era will have heard of the two ‘pretenders’ to Henry VII‘s ill-gotten throne–Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. However, there was a third pretender as well, and I admit I did not realise this myself till a few weeks ago when I stumbled across his story. His name was… Continue reading WHO IN THE WORLD WAS RALPH WILFORD?

10 feet deep

Another problem for traditionalists is those famous bones in Westminster Abbey. First, they are by no means the only bones to have been found in the Tower. Not by a long chalk. To give but one example (1) in 1965 a complete skeleton of a youth aged 13-16 was found quite close to where the… Continue reading 10 feet deep

Thomas Tresham – Lancastrian and Speaker of the Commons.

Thomas Tresham was born in about 1420. He was the son of William Tresham and Isabel Vaux. (Isabel Vaux was the great-aunt of that Sir William Vaux who was executed at Tewkesbury.) William Tresham was an important servant of Henry VI, which undoubtedly helped his son’s advancement. In 1443, father and son were appointed joint… Continue reading Thomas Tresham – Lancastrian and Speaker of the Commons.

ANNE OF YORK – DUCHESS OF EXETER – SISTER TO KINGS

Reblogged from sparkypus.com   Wythin thys Chappell lyethe beryed Anne Duchess of Exetur suster unto the noble kyng Edward the forte. And also the body of syr Thomas Sellynger knyght her husband which hathe funde within thys College a Chauntre with too prestys sy’gyng for eu’more. On whose soule god haue mercy. The wych Anne duchess… Continue reading ANNE OF YORK – DUCHESS OF EXETER – SISTER TO KINGS

The wedding of Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and the head of Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury….

The reason for this post is not that on 14 June 1381 Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, was executed by the mob in the Peasants’ Revolt . The rebels had actually cornered him—and the others mentioned above—in the Tower of London itself. No mean feat, and there has long been a suspicion that the rebels… Continue reading The wedding of Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and the head of Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury….