The many faces of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln….

Some time ago I posted about a painting called Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap from this exhibition by Titian, which I’d “adapted” to become a portrait of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln. This adaptation has popped up all over the place since then, and now I’ve happened upon it again…

A wonderful old house with de la Pole history….

  The above illustration is of Wingfield College, which is on the market for an incredible £1.75million. (Surely that’s an error?) Oh my, it’s a dream residence for anyone who loves things medieval. Even more desirable is the fact that it has some significant historic connections. It was first granted to Sir John de Wingfield,…

In case you haven’t noticed …

… we like our anniversaries here at Murrey and Blue. Having received this book about anniversaries as a birthday present, I found a substantial amount of unfamiliar information and several new cases, but there were two noticeable lacunae: (14th June on the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt): “Sudbury‘s skull survives, in St. Gregory’s Church in Norwich …”…

Wars of the Roses Delights in Suffolk

After over a year, I have finally been able to go on another holiday in which to indulge in my passion of church and castle crawling. I haven’t spent much time in Suffolk before–it’s just a little too far–but there were some places I really wanted to visit, so off we went, braving a crazed…

St Andrew’s Church, Wingfield and the Tombs of the de la Poles

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com St Andrew’s Church, Wingfield, Suffolk.  Mausoleum of the de la Poles.   You know when the great Sir Nikolaus Pevsner was ‘impressed’ with a church then it must indeed be rather special (1).   And St Andrew’s with its soaring clerestories, nave roof with  arched braces resting on figures of winged…

Long live the King

This interesting tome has finally appeared in paperback. The opening Parts read like an abridged biography of the story familiar to us through Warner’s The Unconventional King, but to be read with an open mind as to whether Edward II survived his “official death” today in 1327 or not. The reader will re-learn the events…

A beautiful Yorkshire church with connections to the Scropes of Bolton….

Here is a link to a very interesting paper on the astonishingly beautiful but now redundant church of Holy Trinity in the small North Yorkshire village of Wensley. I’m posting it because this church was much patronised by the Scropes of Bolton who did, of course, have great connections to our period and to various…

Dismal Sewage

They say every writer should find a niche. Unfortunately, certain ‘popular historians’ seem to have leapt onto  ‘gimmicks’ than a niche and write all or most of their books in similar vein, often to the detriment of their work and a growing lack of credibility with each further tome. A trend amongst several notable authors…

Lambert Simnel and Edward V

I’m beginning to convince myself that the Lambert Simnel Affair might have been an uprising in favour of Edward V, not Edward, Earl of Warwick…. https://mattlewisauthor.wordpress.com/2018/07/24/lambert-simnel-and-edward-v/  

Horrox on the de la Poles

Two weeks after visiting Wingfield , I attended a “Wuffing Education” Study Day at Sutton Hoo, addressed by Rosemary Horrox on the de la Pole family. This juxtaposition of dates was entirely beneficial as their genealogy and history was fresh in my mind so it was easy to follow Horrox’s train of thought. She covered the…