On identifying significant evidence

As this Ricardian article shows, it is quite possible to believe that something is highly probable whilst not noticing a piece of evidence that goes a long way towards proving it, or not appreciating the strength of the evidence in question. This particular case is about the widely held hypothesis that Margaret, daughter of Margaret…

The inexplicable certainty of anti-Ricardians

This post is prompted by a recent forthright statement on social media to the effect that Edward IV was not married to Lady Eleanor Talbot. Now it is one thing to suggest that there is a possibility that there was no such marriage. But certainty? Unless one was literally there, as one of the principal…

The story of Richard’s discovery, and a virtual tour of the Visitor Centre….

The story of how Richard III’s remains were discovered is a fascinating one, almost a fairy story, and happening upon a website that tells it properly is a bonus. If you go here you will arrive at the Seeing the Past website, which I thoroughly recommend. Credit is given where credit is due, i.e. with…

Death in Drogheda: Thomas Fitzgerald, 7th Earl of Desmond

FAMILY BACKGROUND The FitzGeralds of Desmond traced their descent from Maurice FitzGerald, son of Gerald of Windsor and the Welsh princess Nest. The original Norman conquests were confined to the eastern parts of Ireland, and the Anglo-Norman lordship as created by Henry II was based on a clear division of authority between this area and…

Royal burial places

This post in the Times details the final resting place of every English and then British monarch since 1066, although Harold II (probably Waltham Abbey) is omitted. Note from the interactive map that there are four (plus the Empress Matilda) burials in France and one in Germany. There are none in Scotland, Wales, Ireland or…

The Despensers: The Rise and fall of a mediaeval family

Here is another of Kathryn Warner‘s volumes in which the genealogy is central but there is plenty of history about the principal individuals that comprise the structure of the book. These range from Hugh Despenser the Justiciar, who fell at Evesham in 1265 opposing Henry III, to his son and grandson (the latter married to…

Ten years ago today …

… it was announced that the remains discovered on the site of the Leicester Greyfriars were indeed those of Richard III. On this page you can see both mitochodrial DNA lines: the first by John Ashdown-Hill and the back-up by Leicester University, both to collateral descendants in Commonwealth nations. Here you can see how easy it…

Rebellion in the Middle Ages

This is the latest of Matthew Lewis’ books and covers a longer period than any of the others, from Hereward the Wake’s emergence after Hastings to the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, almost as long a period as this book. Lewis is already an expert on “The Anarchy” (chapter 2) and the Roses…

Five interesting archaeological discoveries….

  According to this article there have been five interesting archaeological discoveries in the past decade. First among them, of course, is the finding of Richard III’s remains:- “….When King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, he was buried in the church of the Grey Friars. In 2012, The Richard III Society…

Anne of Cleves’ House

Here it is, the house in Haverhill that the “sister” of Henry VIII lived in for a few years, as part of their non-consummation annulment settlement, only six months after the “marriage” in Greenwich to follow a betrothal at Rochester. She outlived Henry, Holbein who painted her, Cromwell who arranged the wedding, Cranmer who presided…