Another branch of the Pole family?

We know that Sir Richard Pole, cousin of Henry VII, husband of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, grandfather of Henry Pole the Younger and progenitor of the later Stafford and Hastings families, as his own male line was extinct by 1619, was an only son and that the identity of his paternal grandfather is unclear. It…

William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke

William Herbert, otherwise ‘Black William’ was born in 1423, the son of Sir William ap Thomas ‘the Blue Knight of Gwent’ and Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam the ‘Star of Abergavenny’. His main claim to fame is that he was the first Welshman to become an earl in the peerage of England, except for Henry VI’s…

Warwick’s Warblington–and it can be yours!

Another handsome property with a Wars of the Roses connection has come on the market–Warblington Castle in Hampshire. Being a private home, it is little known outside the local area but it has strong connections with Richard Neville-Warwick the Kingmaker and his family. Although it had been a manor from at least Norman times, Warblington…

History Book Part Two

A press release for the follow-up to this: History Book Part Two, February 2020. Song of a metal detectorist – About Ashley Mantle’s favourite hobby. A rare romance – Roger Mortimer escapes from the Tower of London and flees to France. Cade’s rebellion – The rebellion of 1450. De Cobham – Song for the De…

THE MEDIEVAL CROWNS OF EDWARD THE CONFESSOR AND QUEEN EDITH

UPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/the-medieval-crowns-of-edward-the-confessor-and-queen-edith/ KING RICHARD III AND HIS CONSORT QUEEN ANNE NEVILLE WEARING  EDWARD THE CONFESSOR AND QUEEN EDITH’S CROWNS.  THE ROUS ROLL. THE SAME CROWNS WORN EARLIER BY EDWARD IV AND ELIZABETH WYDVILLE. Photograph by Geoffrey Wheeler.   The first Coronation Crowns, known as the crowns of  Edward the Confessor  (also…

The Castle of Leicester and St Mary De Castro

Leicester Castle   Since 2015 going to Leicester is the equivalent of going to visit the tomb of the last Plantagenet King who died in battle: Richard III. Everything there speaks of him from the Visitor Centre named after him, to The Last Plantagenet Pub not to mention attractions and shops that display his portrait…

Illustrations of Stafford Castle….

I fear the exhibition in question was in 2017, but the website is interesting because if you go down to the second appearance of the above illustration of Stafford Castle, you will find that you can go through a number of scenes of the castle. Worth a look.

A constitutionally important “Tudor” servant

We tend to have rather a negative view of Sir Richard Rich, or Baron Rich of Leez as he became in February 1547, nowadays. In this, we are somewhat influenced by Robert Bolt’s portrayal of him, as a “betrayer” of More, together with the history of Trevor-Roper. One Bolt line, memorably delivered by Paul Scofield…

Fake news in Cheshire in 1388? Or UFOs….?

The above painting does not illustrate the Cheshire event of 1388. According to Jonathan Hughes in  his The Rise of Alchemy in Fourteenth Century England, on a day in August 1388, during Vespers, when Richard II was recovering his authority as king, two stars were observed hovering at Haulton, (Halton, Runcorn) Cheshire. They were in…

Another C17 coincidence

In the English Civil War, there was a Royalist commander named Richard Neville (left). Unlike his namesake and relative (right), this Colonel of Horse survived the campaign, fighting at the first Battle of Newbury and being with Charles I at Oxford at the conclusion of the first War. He became a High Sheriff, Lord Lieutenant, JP before…