Lady Mary Howard married the bastard son of Henry VIII….

    I found the article below at this site where the numerous posts are Tudor-oriented (Henry VIII), but very interesting and informative. The article is given in full to tempt you into visiting the site to read all the others:- “….On November 25th or 26th, 1533, Henry FitzRoy married Lady Mary Howard. “….Mary Howard…

The problem of getting the facts wrong….

I recently complained that this article , which apparently contained references to Richard III, was hidden from my British eyes because of something to do with the European Economic Area (EEA). Then a good friend from the Netherlands was kind enough to send me the complete content. The  hidden article concerned the wartime reminiscences of…

The missing arm of Henry VI….

I have to admit that I didn’t know Henry VI‘s arm was ever missing (post mortem!) let alone that it had been replaced by a bone from something else! How very irreverent. In 1471, Edward IV first buried the defeated Lancastrian king Henry at Chertsey, presumably all in one piece. Chertsey was out of the…

Digging up our monarchs; no, not Richard III this time….!

I’m told that even now, if you purchase a plot of ground in which to put your loved ones to rest, the chances are they’ll only lie in peace for eighty years, at which time they are removed and new occupants move in. Well, for centuries our dead haven’t always been left to enjoy their…

Richard wasn’t the only monarch whose remains have been handled….

The discovery of Richard’s remains caused a furore, and rightly so, but he wasn’t the only past monarch to have his/her remains, um, pawed about by later generations. This link takes you to an interesting article about ten other kings and queens of England who’ve been gawped upon—sorry, gazed upon—in their last resting place. Not…

Oops, the NY Times claimed Richard wasn’t found in Leicester, but in London….!

Even the New York Times gets it wrong! Apparently an earlier version of a book review had Richard being found in London, not Leicester. Someone advised them, and the error was corrected. Anyway, to read the whole review of A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYONE WHO EVER LIVED: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes by…

A book to be approached with caution if one supports Richard III….

The link below is to a review of Mike Pitts ‘Digging for Richard III – the Search for the Lost King’. I confess up front to not having read the book itself, and my reason is simple. The review tells me how Richard himself is referred to in the book. The usual Shakespearean invention. I…

Who else is under that car park….?

What can I say? Richard was buried in Leicester, which is apparently part of Reading. Or is it the other way around? Whatever, Henry I was there too! Were they close enough to commiserate? Perhaps archaeologists should dig a little deeper where they found Richard and Henry . . . because it’s likely King Arthur is also…

Has Henry I been located?

A heat map  produced by GPR appears to show evidence of graves close to Reading Abbey’s high altar, corresponding almost exactly to Richard III’s location in the Leicester Greyfriars, as this post shows. The site, which is presently and inevitably a car park, was once occupied by the gaol Oscar Wilde made famous, see also…

Kingfinding fever spreads to Scotland

This Glasgow Herald article illustrates how historian Sheila Pitcairn wishes to search Dunfermline Abbey and identify Malcolm III and his family. Robert I (le Brus) can easily be found there already. The widowed Malcolm III married (St.) Margaret of Wessex, great-niece of Edward the Confessor and granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, in about 1070, allowing Anglo-Saxon…