In the teeth of the evidence

Here, a little-known television journalist-historian named Dominic Selwood disputes the identity of Richard III’s remains, despite the mtDNA match with collateral descendants in Canada and Australia, their height, age of death, era of death, scoliosis, battle injuries, region of origin and the location of his original burial at the choir of the Greyfriars. In fact…

‘Fair Rosamund’

This locomotive ‘Fair Rosamund’ was the only one of its class to carry a name. It was, of course, named after Rosamund Clifford and usually worked on the Great Western Railway’s Woodstock branch, near Oxford. Rosamund Clifford (mistress of Henry II) came from Clifford Castle near Hay in the Marches. This castle was associated with…

Walking Among Lions

Those of you who enjoy historical fiction featuring members of the House of York may like to know that Brian Wainwright is writing a trilogy of novels about Constance of York, Edmund of Langley‘s daughter. The first book in the series, Walking Among Lions, is already available from Amazon. It can be had in paperback,…

Settling the Bosworth Debt….

With the denizens of Hades gathering to do their worst, here is a horror tale of Sir William Stanley’s final Hallowe’en, when retribution snatches him at last. “Settling the Bosworth Debt” is the story of what happened to William when he was confronted by some terrible truths about Henry Tudor. Friday, 31 October, 1494, Hallowe’en,…

Piel Island and its connection with Lambert Simnel….

At just 50 acres, Piel Island off Cumbria isn’t very big, as can be seen in the illustration above, and it has a tradition of ‘Kings of Piel’, which title is enjoyed by the landlord of the Ship Inn. He has his coronation too, so it’s all pukka! 😊 “….The title – according to that…

WAS LAMBERT SIMNEL A TUDOR HOAX?

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @ sparkypus.com ‘So rude a matter and so strange a thinge,  As a boy in Dublin to be made a kinge..’ * Old St Paul’s where the tragic Edward Earl of Warwick was displayed in February 1487 and with ‘Lambert Simnel’  on the 8 July 1487.  ‘Old St Paul’s Cathedral Seen…

KING JOHN AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

KING JOHN AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION King John was not a good man, He had his little ways. And sometimes no one spoke to him For days and days and days. And men who came across him, When walking in the town, Gave him a supercilious stare, Or passed with noses in the air, And…

The outstanding exception in the “Cambridgeshire” six….!

Well, it’s true, I don’t know many of the six Cambridgeshire castles that are listed in this article . Many of them disappeared very early on in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and hill forts aren’t something about which I know a great deal anyway. Poor old Cambridge Castle suffered the ignominy of having a Shire…

The Traitor’s Arms?

In 1840 workmen carrying out repairs to St Bartholomew’s Church, Ashperton, Herefordshire were collecting stones from the ruins of a nearby manor house when they discovered a heavy stone plaque, carved with an elaborate coat of arms, among the rubble. The stone was taken to the church for safekeeping and has hung on the wall…

Shadow King: the Life and Death of Henry VI

 Helen Rae Rants! Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI by Lauren Johnson Head of Zeus Publications, 2020, paperback, 700 pages, £12.00 ISBN 978-1784-979645 <img class=”i-amphtml-intrinsic-sizer” style=”max-width: 100%; display: block !important;” role=”presentation” src=”data:;base64,” alt=”” aria-hidden=”true” /> Henry VI has gone down in history as one of England’s worst kings. Not for being cruel…