A woman friend of King Richard II.

Thanks to the works of Douglas Biggs (cited below) I have learned something new and interesting about King Richard II. When he went to Ireland in 1399, he took a woman with him. The lady in question was a knight’s widow called Margaret Sarnesfield. Although her origins are uncertain, it is probable that she was…

The Countess of Desmond remembered dancing with Richard….?

While searching for one thing, yet again I came upon another. This time it was a very interesting essay available on JSTOR. It is titled Lees and Moonshine: Remembering Richard III, 1485-1635 by Philip Schwyzer of the University of Exeter. You can find it here but need to register and give a password. However, for…

Oh where, Oh where, has Chaucer’s “Foul Oak” gone….?

    According to Project Gutenberg, on 6th September 1390 Geoffrey Chaucer was mugged at a place called the Foul Oak, but not the Baginton Oak. Rather was it on what we now call the Old Kent Road but was originally the Roman Watling Street, leading out of London, on the way to Canterbury and…

Did Edward IV’s daughter Bridget have an illegitimate child….?

We all know that Edward IV’s youngest daughter, Bridget (born 10th November 1480), became a nun…or at least, entered the Dominican priory at Dartford at the age of ten. Not as a nun then, of course, because she was too young, but maybe she was always intended for the Church. And Dartford was a priory…

King Edward IV’s Last Christmas….

Reconstruction of Christmas at Eltham 1482 – Historic England (illustration by Peter Urmston) In the 14th century it became a royal tradition to spend Christmas at Eltham, and by 1482, Edward IV also held his Christmas there. The top picture is an imagined scene of this Christmas in the great hall (pictured immediately above) with…

The History of Eltham Palace….

While browsing around, looking for a particular illustration of a medieval great hall, I happened upon the above picture, which is an imagining of the hall at Eltham Palace toward the end of the 15th century. I think, but can’t be sure, that the king seated splendidly at the far end is Edward IV. But it…

How one mediaeval thing leads to another….

It’s the old, old story again – while looking for one thing, I came upon something else. A Google search turned up a detailed plan of Eltham Palace. I followed the link, and came to a Pinterest page (Traveling Ruygt) with links to other pages, all concerning palaces, castles, etc. from our period of interest.…

A PRINCESS OF DEVON

After the battle of Bosworth, Henry VII married Edward IV’s daughter Elizabeth of York. What happened to Edward’s other daughters? Bridget, the youngest, went to a nunnery. Anne married the younger Thomas Howard (which was the marriage proposed for her by Richard III; Thomas Jr’s father Thomas still desired the marriage for his son and…