Richard II was an avunculicide….!

I had to check the dictionary for the precise meaning of avunculicide! I knew the word avuncular, of course. Apparently avunculicide refers to the killing of an uncle by a nephew or niece. I’m now told that “an avunculus is a maternal uncle and a patruus is a paternal one”. We learn something new every…

A model of the royal palace at Havering-atte-Bower….

  It seems to me that for a royal palace and hunting lodge much frequented by royalty, and within easy reach of London, there is a paucity of illustrations of Havering. Edward III was particularly fond of retreating there, and so was Henry VIII, who even held court there and considered the hunting to be…

Was the younger Despenser buried in two places at the same time….?

We Ricardians know all about the problems, if not to say mysteries, that can arise from the final resting places of famous figures from the past. It doesn’t help that in the medieval period especially a person’s remains could be moved from place to place. Edward IV had his father and brother moved from Pontefract…

RICHARD III’s HORSES..

UPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://wordpress.com/post/sparkypus.com/645 Stained glass depiction of King Richard and his legendary horse, White Surrey. As we now know sadly, Richard, did not own a horse called  White Surrey or, as he has sometimes been called, White Syrie  (1).  But  Richard did own horses aplenty and we are fortunate lists…

How and why the House of York laid claim to the throne….

Here is an article from English Historical Review, 1st June 1998, telling of how and why Richard, 3rd Duke of York, laid claim to the throne of England. The root cause was an entail to the will of Edward III, who was admittedly in his dotage at the time. The entail, which excluded a female…