A request for authenticity

Today in 1606, the last of the “Gunpowder Plotters”, including Guido Fawkes, were executed at Tyburn. Some had been put to death the previous day whilst others, including Robert Catesby, were shot at Holbeche House , resisting arrest, soon after the plot was discovered. All of the executions were carried out by drawing, hanging and…

An assassin who thought he was King Richard III….!

  There have been no fewer than seventeen attempts on the lives of US Presidents, only four of which succeeded. The very first one of them all was a failure, and the would-be assassin was an Englishman who thought he (the assassin, not the President) was King Richard III. His intended victim was Andrew Jackson.…

St Edmund, the king under a tennis court…?

A wall painting at St Mary the Virgin church in Lakenheath which depicts King Edmund “November 20 is St Edmund’s Day, the feast day of the ‘last king of East Anglia’ and – some would say – England’s proper patron saint. But where do his bones lie? Trevor Heaton explores the twists and turns of…

HENRY VII’S HATED HENCHMEN

Here is a link to an interesting article first published in the BBC History Magazine in October 2016.  Written by Steven Gunn, a professor of early modern history at Merton College, Oxford, the article gives appraisals of five of the  ‘upstart’ advisers who Henry came to rely upon and their varying fates. Professor Gunn, however,…

Another of Richard’s half-angels found….

Gold half-angels are scarce enough, but those from Richard’s brief reign are truly rare. Now one has been found in a field close to Bosworth, and is to be auctioned. It joins the exceedingly slender ranks of those previously discovered. To read the whole story of its unearthing, click here: See also: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/fleeing-army-may-have-dropped-richard-iii-gold-coin-h8fwxqbsc http://www.rugbyadvertiser.co.uk/news/rare-gold-coin-found-in-field-near-rugby-expected-to-sell-for-up-to-15-000-at-auction-1-8250201 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5092541/500-year-old-coin-amateur-treasure-hunter.html Postscript:…

Is this the face of Lady Anne Mowbray….?

Here is what little Lady Anne Mowbray may have looked like. She was the child bride of one of the so-called Princes in the Tower, the younger one, Richard, Duke of York. Her burial was recently extensively covered by sparkypus here. Now The Times has come up with an article about the reconstruction of this…

Were Edward II and Isabella maligned too….?

The above illustrations are an indication of the generally accepted view of the reign of Edward II. He preferred men and ignored his wife. She resented this, took a lover and turned successfully upon her husband, becoming the “She Wolf” of legend. So let us go back to the beginning. On 25th January 1308, Edward…

When, exactly, was Elizabeth of Lancaster’s first marriage dissolved….?

A source at the National Archives says that John of Gaunt’s daughter Elizabeth was married to the boy, John Hastings, Earl of Pembroke, on 24th January 1380. She was about 17, he was about 8. She then “disagreed” with the marriage, because of her husband’s youth and inability to consummate the marriage, and the source…

1484 – TITULUS REGIUS: FACT OR FICTION?

  Introduction ‘ ‘This is indeed a mystery’ I remarked.’ What do you think it means?’‘I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suite theories, instead of theories to suite facts.’   In Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story A Scandal…

Dr. William Hobbys: The Promiscuous King’s Promiscuous Doctor (by Ornsby Hyde)

This fascinating book follows the life and career of the medieval King Edward IV’s personal doctor, brings to life so much of the era and in particular explains the medical knowledge, practices and advances of the times. Many commonly believed myths and mistakes regarding historical events and characters are covered and smoothed over with clarity…