Some musings on murder

Unlike some people – who from their certainty were not only alive at the time, but high in King Richard’s confidence – I honestly do not know what became of the two boys we call for convenience ‘The Princes’. I have read all sorts of theories about what happened to them and none entirely convinces…

Guess who’s coming to dinner….?

An article about a dinner party in today’s Gloucester Citizen newspaper concerned an imaginary dinner party held at Sudeley Castle, by its present owner, Lady Ashcombe. She described her menu and six guests, all of whom had once owned the castle. It prompted me to ask others what party they would hold.  Here’s mine. Please…

Richard III, Rasputin, Vlad the Impaler: One of these is not like the others

Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who’s the most evil one of all? Has anyone else tried to read The Religious Life of Richard III: Piety & Prayer in the North of England by Jonathan Hughes? I knew going in that Hughes is openly anti-Richard; I didn’t know he’s anti-Richard with a vengeance. I’m reading the…

A genealogical mystery deepens (originally published in the December 2013 Bulletin)

The suggestion in John Ashdown-Hill’s Royal Marriage Secrets (pp.69-74) that Edmund “Tudor” may have been fathered by Edmund Beaufort, of Somerset, and not by Owen Tudor, Catherine de Valois’ servant and apparent illegal husband, is most intriguing. It is clear that Edmund was a “transitional child” between one of her relationships much commented on at…

Royal Genealogy – before it happens (first published in the March 2011 Bulletin)

  April 29 will see the marriage of Prince William of Wales to Miss Catherine Middleton. As the engagement was announced, many articles proclaimed their common descent from Edward III and I have investigated some of their assertions: They are descended through the King’s second son, Edmund – quite apart from the uncertainty in some…

Summary Execution – an example from history

On 28 July 1399, William Scrope, Earl of Wiltshire, Lord Treasurer of England and King of Man, Sir John Bushey and Sir Henry Green were executed outside Bristol on the orders of Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV). They had a summary trial at best, and quite probably no trial at all. It is not at…

The Strange Case of Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset

Thomas Grey was the elder son of Elizabeth Woodville by her first husband Sir John Grey of Groby. Not unnaturally, once his mother married King Edward IV, Thomas’ position in society improved markedly and he became prominent at court, eventually being created Marquess of Dorset. In addition he made successive marriages to heiresses, Anne Holland…

Henry Tudor to a T…?

When I saw this dragon in the Tudor Pattern Book, I immediately thought of Henry Tudor. The dragon was green, so now he’s red, and has a white rose between his teeth. Seems like Henry to me.

The Towton Ring

There is only one last goodie in my hoard of photographs from the Gloucester Richard III Exhibition in the spring this year. Well, one that is clear enough to be worthy of posting. It’s of the Towton Ring, and the notice with it said as follows: “This gold signet ring was found on the site…

A 1990s tee shirt logo of interest….

My US friend found this on a tee shirt she thought she had lost some time ago. It dates from around 1990. I am told by Matthew Bayley that the design is probably taken from the 15th C sallet that was stolen from a Cornish church years ago. It was there as a funerary piece.…