Kings of England? I think not!….

The Old Pretender and Bonnie Prince Charlie – Kings of England????? They may have aspired to the throne, but never won it. There are others in this article who were NOT Kings of England. Or Kings of Anywhere Else. But the article is interesting…it should simply have a different title.

Book Review: Distant Echoes: Richard III Speaks!

Distant Echoes: Richard III Speaks! by Joanne R. Larner In the time following the discovery, beneath a Leicester parking lot, of the remains of Richard III, the last English king to die in battle, the medieval monarch has indeed gained a wider audience as we learn more details of the find. For example, it was…

Discovering Shakespeare’s London

Panorama of Old London.  The Old Bridge stood to the west of the new one.   https://www.britain-magazine.com/features/inspiration/shakespeares-london/. Of course Shakespearean London is post Ricardian but most of  the streets and buildings covered in this interesting article would have been there in Richard’s time. For anyone visiting London,  this article  would be an excellent referral point…

Where Did You Get That Hat?

For those interested in such things, Macy’s online is offering a  portrait of a ‘man in a decorative hat.’ Ideal for any room…especially your bathroom/washroom/toilet! (Just not the bedroom, please; those little mean eyes would doubtless follow you.) The picture in question happens to be by Holbein…and wait, the ‘man’ depicted, hat or no hat,…

The Romney Marsh origin of being ‘scot free’….

The following paragraph is extracted from the Rye Museum :- “….The river (which we know as the Rother) made its way south east from Appledore across the marsh to an outfall into the sea at New Romney; by the 12th century this marsh river was converted into a canal 6 miles (9.7 km) long to…

Richard III had three lymers with his hart-hounds….

For the purposes of the historical novel upon which I am at present working, I have recently been looking into the complicated business of medieval hunting. By which I mean the sort of hunting indulged in by royalty and the aristocracy. The poor man sneaking off with some midwinter game has been left well alone…

The Inspirational Borders and Lothians

via The Inspirational Borders and Lothians

St Stephen’s Westminster – Chapel to Kings and Queens..

UPDATED POST ON sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/st-stephens-westminster-chapel-to-kings-and-queens/ Reconstruction of a Medieval Painting from St Stephen’s Chapel.  Possibly Queen Philippa with her daughter.  Ernest William Tristram c.1927.   Worked from original drawings made by the antiquarian Richard Smirke 1800-1811 before the fire of 1834. Society of Antiquities.   Parliamentary Art Collection St Stephen’s was the medieval…

The importance of fish in the medieval diet….

There is no disputing that fish was very important to the medieval diet. The Church ruled that not only was it required food on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, but also for Advent and the forty days of Lent. And I’m sure there were other days when it was mandatory too, but the previous sentence covers…

“THE MEMORY OF KING RICHARD STILL LAID LIKE LEES AT THE BOTTOM OF MENS HEARTS’ Sir Francis Bacon

UPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/the-memory-of-king-richard-still-laid-like-lees-at-the-bottom-of-mens-hearts-sir-francis-bacon-2/ Entry from the York City House book…’King Richard late mercifully reigning upon us was thrugh grete treason of the duc of Northefolk and many othre that turned ayenst hyme, with many othre lordes and nobilles of this north parties, was pitiously slain and murdred to the grey hevynesse of this citie’ (1) “The…