The year of three kings

Here is an alternative version of the Legendary Ten Seconds‘ song “The Year of three Kings” and here is the official press release:

The White Lion of Mortimer….

  It isn’t often that I like a new coin, but the addition of the White Lion of Mortimer to the Queen’s Beasts series is an exception. It’s beautiful. To read about it go here. 

More technology reveals …

… that Canterbury Cathedral has some of the world’s oldest stained glass. The “windolyser”, which is a new non-destructive technique designed to date windows in situ, has placed some of the  “Canterbury Ancestors” some years before both Becket‘s matyrdom and the fire, four years later, that destroyed the building around them, showing that they were…

Dickon’s Diaries 3

The Dickon’s Diaries series was written to lighten the mood surrounding Richard III as the authors felt that there was so much tragedy and sadness regarding his life, especially the last few years. Susan Lamb has a Facebook page, Dickon for his Dames, and on meeting Joanne Larner (me!) she asked her to collaborate to…

Another blunder in Cairo

Of late, I have read the denialists claim that Edward IV’s 1461 marriage couldn’t possibly have been valid because it doesn’t show in the parish registers anywhere in England, therefore his dozen children by Lady Grey must have been legitimate. The only problems with this are:1) Parish registers, inspired by Thomas Cromwell, only date from…

My reaction to Lucy Worsley’s Christmas Carol Odyssey….

Sometimes the stories behind our much-loved Christmas carols are quite disheartening, involving as they do national and international strife and religious rivalry that was both bloody and filled with hatred. Yet every year we sing the resultant carols with joy. The reactions of the human race are sometimes contradictory. To say the least! I am…

Three of Richard’s ships taken over by Henry….?

Yet again, while searching for one thing I came upon another. A book called The Hamble River by H.W. Trinder, from which the above map is taken, seemed likely to contain the information I was seeking, i.e. Southampton and its immediate environs in the 14th century. Then, I  read the following:- “….Receyved [probably to lay…

From Yule Log to Buche de Noel

While the traditional Yule Log is associated with Great Britain – as its television broadcast/DVD version is associated with America – it seems to have originated in the misty past of Central Germany and Westphalia.   It is certainly of pagan origin as are many of our Christian customs.  To quote Sir James George Frazer in…

From St Nicholas to Sir Christmas to Old Father Christmas to Santa Claus….

“….the beautiful, unspoiled Mediterranean town of Patara is the birthplace of the bearded gift-giver, who we look out for with such excitement on Christmas Eve. Or rather, the birthplace of the third century Christian saint whose life of kindness and miraculous do-goodery created a legend which has evolved down the centuries, and given us the…

Anne Beauchamp Countess of Warwick – Wife to the Kingmaker

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Anne  Beauchamp and her husband, Richard Neville, ‘The Kingmaker,’ Earl of Warwick.  From the Latin version of the Rous Roll.  Donated to the College of Arms by Melvyn Jeremiah.  Anne Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick,  daughter of Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his second wife Isobel Despenser,  was born…