Bowling and head-rolling….?

Well, even grisly notions can make me laugh….! It could have been her, of course, or him.

The Court of Requests and Thomas Seckford

In 1484, King Richard III created a minor equity court to deal with minor disputes in equity; these are disputes where the harshness of common law would be acknowledged by those appointed by the Crown. Equity courts were mostly seen as the Lord Chancellor’s remit, and the split of the Chancery Courts from the Curia…

ANNE MOWBRAY – DUCHESS OF NORFOLK – HER REBURIAL IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY

UPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/anne-mowbray-duchess-of-norfolk-child-bride-of-one-of-the-princes-in-the-tower-her-reburial-in-westminster-abbey/ St Erasmus in Bishops Islip’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey by Joseph Mallord William Turner c.1796.  The  original chapel of St Erasmus, built by Elizabeth Wydeville,  was the site of Anne Mowbray’s first burial and after recovery of her coffin she was reburied in the rebuilt Chapel.   Anne…

By SHW

Was Richard III born on October 2 or October 11?

Originally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS:
To begin this post, I will confess to having an attachment to the date of birth that Richard III wrote in his personal prayer-book.  In his own hand, he inscribed next to the entry for October 2 the words “hac die natus erat Ricardus Rex anglie IIIus apud ffoderingay Anno…

Imagine a May Day tournament, but how do you know who is a knight, and who a cross-dressing lady….?

(A Merry May Yesterday to you all! But before I begin, let me confess that I have gathered information for this article from the work of others, and the relevant webpages/sites are listed in the text and at the end.) Yes, one of the above illustrations is of Joan of Arc, perhaps the most famous…

Well, well – who was the real St Alkelda of Middleham….?

28th March is the Feast of St Alkelda, a lady who has two churches named after her, one in Middleham, the other in Giggleswick. That seems clear enough. BUT there does not appear to be a St Alkelda. “She” may even be a well, there being a theory that the name Alkelda derives from an old…

DID RICHARD LOVE ANNE?

UPDATED VERSION ON sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/20/did-richard-iii-love-anne-neville/ Thanks to the contemporaneous accounts given by Croyland (1) and the Acts of Court (2) we have a good insight into the events that followed, almost immediately, the death of Queen Anne i.e. the rumours that Richard, in his eagerness to marry his niece, hastened the death…

The Epiphany Plot of 1400

Following the deposition of Richard II, his leading supporters among the nobility were put on trial before Henry IV’s first parliament. Well, all apart from the Earl of Wiltshire who had – in plain terms – been murdered at Bristol on Henry’s orders before Henry became king. (As a Lancastrian, Henry was of course allowed…

Gloucestershire Wassail Carol

As we take down our Christmas trees and put away our recordings of “Santa Baby,” perhaps some of the readers of the Murrey and Blue are preparing to stroll forth on Twelfth Night to sing the  charming “Gloucestershire Wassail” song for friends and neighbors this January 5th of the new year 2017.  This is the traditional day…