The battling Bishop of Norwich….

  Well, many of us will remember fondly the Baby-eating Bishop of Bath & Wells of Blackadder fame. I’m not writing about him, but of the Bold Battling Bishop of Norwich, who donned armour on 17th May 1383 and set off on a disastrous crusade against the French in Flanders. Not long ago I wrote…

Of a well-connected art expert …

After a few Archbishops of Canterbury and an Archdeacon (perhaps), we now come to an expert on art – Old Masters and Jacobite art in particular. Dr. Bendor Grosvenor, as seen in this BBC2 series when he has identified portraits such as the first Villiers Duke of Buckingham, is descended from the Cheshire family that…

Archbishop of Canterbury found Richard’s funeral a slightly surreal experience….

“Ahead of his three-day visit to Leicester, the Archbishop of Canterbury talks about the burial of King Richard III, his last major visit in the city, in 2015. “The remains of King Richard III was reburied after his remains were found below a car park in 2012. “The right-reverend Justin Welby led the service and…

Of well-connected Archbishops

Before the English Reformation, Archbishops were often related to the King, a spare brother from a branch of the Royal family. There were commoners, increasingly so as the years went on. Then the Reformation ensured that the clergy were no longer required to be celibate. Focussing particularly on the province of Canterbury, there have been…