A numismatic error

  You have heard of badly minted coins or those prepared for a monarch who doesn’t reign for much longer but these Henry III gold pennies were worth more as bullion than currency. Of the eight that are known to remain in existence , one of them will be auctioned in the new year

Treason among the Roses….or….Who betrayed whom at Wakefield….?

The scene above is fictitious, with roses being brandished nobly, but the strife known to posterity as The Wars of the Roses was full of treachery. Turncoats abounded, loyalty could be non-existent, and men’s names dragged down. Not always dragged down, of course, because if the traitor defected to the ultimately winning side, he did…

More old coins found, including one of HVII’s….

Just how many more ancient coins are waiting for someone to find them? And how many hoards? It never ceases to be exciting. There is a date of 1504 for at least one of these, so I guess we know who hid them! Step forward Henry VII, and admit it’s one of your stashes. If…

Another selection from SHW

A familiar name

So there was I, just casually scanning the Mail on Sunday’s “You” magazine (22 October,p.23, interview with Nicky Haslam), when a familiar name popped up, a close friend of Haslam’s multiple-great-aunt. Unlike her near namesake: 1) She was a Butler by birth, not by (her first) marriage. 2) She didn’t go on to marry a…

Richard’s Christmas Celebrations…and the Croyland Chronicle….

This article is about Richard, Christmas celebrations, and the Croyland Chronicle. I really enjoyed reading it.  It seems Richard’s lavish hospitality met with sour po-faced disapproval! No doubt, if he’d kept a sparse Christmas, he’d have been criticised for not giving himself up to the joy of Christ’s birth. https://meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/wars-of-the-roses-blog/christmas-1484-with-richard-iii  

Another view on that urn

This excellent post from Nerdalicious, whose tabs appropriately include “History of Folk and Fairy Tales”, shows just how desperately ridiculous the Cairo case really is, particularly when they treat More’s first half as a Fifth Gospel and ignore his second. After all, we have already shown that the small coffins buried with Edward IV are…

Festive Humour from SHW….

 

A Ricardian Novel for Children

I was privileged to be able to help proof-read a copy of Alex Marchant’s new children’s novel about a twelve-year-old boy in the service of Richard, Duke of Gloucester and I was delighted to find that it was well-written, engaging and – wait for it! – pro-Richard! At last we have a novel for children…

A “The Legendary Ten Seconds” Christmas

Murrey-and-Blue by The Legendary Ten Seconds to be released on 1st November 2017 which is the anniversary of when Richard, later Richard III, was created the Duke of Gloucester in 1461.   A concept album of songs by The Legendary Ten Seconds about the Wars of the Roses and England in the late fifteenth century.  …