Joanna Fitzalan, Lady of Abergavenny

Joanna was the daughter of that Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, who was executed by Richard II in 1397. In 1392, when she was about 17, she was married to William Beauchamp, Lord Bergavenny, younger brother of the Earl of Warwick, who was 55. They had a son, Richard, who eventually became Earl of Worcester,…

The surnames of medieval noblemen’s illegitimate offspring….

Well, I thought I’d sussed a “tradition” for the illegitimate offspring of medieval noblemen to be named after their father’s title, not given his surname. The family surname was reserved for legitimate children only. Think of Sir Edmund Arundel, who ceased to be Sir Edmund Fitzalan (and heir to a great earldom) when his father,…

Hair today, gone tomorrow (4) – A prodigal lock of hair….

  Years ago, not quite before the Flood, although it feels like it now, I went to Tewkesbury Abbey with my husband and we saw a flat glass display cabinet containing a number of ancient locks of hair. I was writing a book called “Wife to the Kingmaker” at the time, so I was particularly…

The Audley Case of 1431 Redux

We originally posted on this issue here. In summary, in 1431 or thereabouts, Alianore, Lady Audley, and her husband James were trying to demonstrate in the Church court that Alianore was legitimate and thus the heiress of her father, Edmund, Earl of Kent by Constance of York. Kent’s surviving sisters and the heirs of the…

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…