Buckden Bishop’s Palace

A few years back I wrote about Buckden Towers in Cambridgeshire, the old palace of the Bishops of Lincoln. Finally, with the pandemic receding, I was able to visit the site in its small village (once a thriving place in coaching times and earlier but much diminished with the advent of the railways.) Here Richard…

Breaking the code – Charles V

The Emperor Charles V was the grandson of Maximilian I (Richard III’s friend and step-nephew-in-law), a nephew of Catherine of Aragon (and thus by marriage to Henry VIII) and father-in-law of Mary I. In February 1547, he feared death at the hands of a Italian mercenary (Pierre Strozzi) and wrote a fiendishly coded letter to…

The Legendary Ten Seconds: Sagas of the South West

A Princess of Aragon   She landed in Plymouth on a Saturday The reception plans in disarray Shaken by a channel storm Her entourage looking all forlorn   The English Autumn she would see The leaves falling from every tree A Princess of Aragon Her journey told in this song   The Spaniards fell to…

Historic royal families and incest….

  The above gentlemen have the infamous Habsburg chin on full display. It means they are definitely not going to win a World’s Handsomest Man competition any time soon. Their chins and general looks are the result of generations of inbreeding, the aim being to keep the royal blood pure. Well, there’s pure and there’s…

The relocation of a great house Richard III knew well….

  This great house was never built next to the Thames at Chelsea, but now it stands right on the riverbank. It originally stood in Bishopsgate, London, from where it was moved brick by brick at the beginning of the 20th century. It was first erected in 1466 by Sir John Crosby., and is now…

Isabella of Castile takes the crown, in more way than one….

  This article lists the top five  great European queens as Elizabeth I, Maria Theresa of Austria, the Empress Elizabeth, Catherine the Great and Queen Victoria. Ah, but that’s the top five after Isabella of Castile, who reigned from 1474 until she died in 1504. Isabella snatches this particular crown right under the other ladies’…

EDWARD, EARL OF WARWICK – HIS LIFE AND DEATH.

REBLOGGED FROM A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI sparkypus.com Edward’s parents Isobel Neville and George Plantagenet, Duke and Duchess of Clarence.  From the Latin Version of the Rous Roll.  With thanks to the Heraldry Society. Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick was born at Warwick Castle on the 25 February 1475. Among his godparents were Edward IV, who created him Earl…

Forget Richard III cartoons – Henry VIII wins by a mile….!

  Long live the new king? Ye gods. Henry VII may have been an unpleasant, money-grubbing, paranoid gargoyle, but his son was a true MONSTER. Forget about falls on the head changing his character, the fact is that he’s remembered for his marriages and the way he executed two of his unfortunate queens, Anne Boleyn…

The HANDSOME Duke of Burgundy….?

At the moment I’m trawling around medieval rulers in Europe. And lo! I’ve come upon this gentleman: His contemporary likenesses aren’t much better, so why was he called Philip the Fair/Handsome? Was it tongue-in cheek? If you look through the various recreations of him in this link below, if they’re even halfway accurate you can…

Henry VIII’s “palace” in Southampton….

While looking into the history of Southampton  I came upon the astonishing illustration above. What an absolutely stupendous building! And in its history there figure some important figures and events from Southampton‘s (and England’s) past. “….On the west side of St. Michael’s Square is the fine timber-built house now called ‘Henry VIII’s Palace,’ and probably…