GLEASTON CASTLE – RENDEZVOUS FOR THE YORKIST REBELS IN 1487?

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @ sparkypus.com Gleaston Castle today.  Entrance to south west tower.  Photo Chloe Grainger @castlestudiestrust.org Some of you reading this may be familiar with other posts I have written concerning what I call the Coldridge theory.   For those of you who are not familiar with the theory here is a brief…

Pinpointing the Battle of Barnet….

  On 14th April 1471, Easter Sunday, in thick fog, was fought one of the pivotal battles of the Wars of the Roses, when the Yorkist Edward IV took on and defeated the by-then-Lancastrian Earl of Warwick, who was killed in the aftermath while trying to escape. His brother Montagu was killed as well. The…

Picking the Bones….

This ghost story was inspired after reading this post by my good friend sparkypus. And the Battle of Barnet just happened to take place at an earlier Easter. Oh, and there’s a nod toward Dickens, but the facts don’t cooperate with Christmas! The eve of the Battle of Barnet, Holy Saturday, 13 April, 1471 It was…

Warwick, Wavrin and Livia Visser-Fuchs….

  This link will enable you to download Livia Visser-Fuchs’ thesis “Warwick and Wavrin: Two Case Studies on the Literary Background and Propaganda of Anglo-Burgundian Relations in the Yorkist Period”. The lowly marriage of Edward IV, at a time when Warwick was negotiating an illustrious international union for England’s dashing young king, alienated Warwick and…

Death in Drogheda: Thomas Fitzgerald, 7th Earl of Desmond

FAMILY BACKGROUND The FitzGeralds of Desmond traced their descent from Maurice FitzGerald, son of Gerald of Windsor and the Welsh princess Nest. The original Norman conquests were confined to the eastern parts of Ireland, and the Anglo-Norman lordship as created by Henry II was based on a clear division of authority between this area and…

Elizabeth Woodville’s Wiltshire Retreat

Elizabeth Woodville left sanctuary with her daughters on March 1, 1484, after Richard III swore a public oath that she and her daughters would be unharmed and that he would find the girls suitable matches. But where did she go then? Her daughters were, at least part time, welcome at court, but ‘Dame Grey’ as…

Edward IV knew he’d made a big mistake with Elizabeth Woodville….?

The following sentence makes me want to smack Edward IV! Again. I fear I’ve wanted to smack him a great deal recently. Still, perhaps in this instance meant that he’d realised the damage that could ensue from a stupid marriage. Certainly he didn’t want the ‘error’ repeated. Not that he ever revealed the true extent…

The OTHER MARGARET BEAUFORT

  When anyone hears the name ‘Margaret Beaufort’, they always think instantly of the mother of Henry Tudor. However, there was another Margaret Beaufort, who also had a famous son called Henry, whose mother also bore the surname Beauchamp, who married one of the Staffords, and who was widowed young and remarried—although there her life…

THE HAUNTING OF RICHARD III- A NEW MUSICAL

When I saw that a new musical called THE HAUNTING OF RICHARD III was on at the Merlin Theatre in Frome, a mere 40 minutes away, how could I resist? I realise musical theatre is a bit of a ‘marmite’ subject for many, but in my own misspent youth, yes, I confess I tread the…

The three queens of Queens’ College….

There are two articles in this series about Queens’ College, Cambridge. The first covers the college’s early history and can be read here and the second, which covers the later medieval period, is available here here  The college received its name because no fewer than three 15th-century Queens of England became its patrons. Margaret of…