The appointment of women to the Garter. (Medieval era).

I have been trying to make sense of the method by which women were appointed to the Garter in the middle ages, and have concluded there was no system. Of course, as with the knights, who were nominally ‘elected’ by the other knights, it all came down to royal favour. But with the knights, there…

The Rise of the Stanley family.

In the late 14th Century, the Stanleys were a gentry family, their power base lying chiefly in Cheshire, notably in the Wirral. Their ancestry might fairly be described as ‘provincial’. There were certainly no kings in their quarterings. This is not to say they were unimportant, but their influence was of a local rather than…

Unwanted heirs? The Mortimers in the 1390s

It has been established now that Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, was declared heir to the throne by Parliament in 1386 – not 1385 as commonly believed. This Parliament was very much at odds with Richard II (it set up a one-year Commission to run most of his affairs, much to Richard’s displeasure.) So it…

Joan, Lady Mohun.

Joan, Lady Mohun was the daughter of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh, Lord Burghersh and Elizabeth de Verdun. Her brother, another Sir Bartholomew Burghersh, was the father of the heiress Elizabeth Burghersh who married Edward, Lord Despenser. It is not know exactly when Joan was born but a date somewhere in the 1320s seems likely. (Her brother…

JOHN HOWARD, DUKE OF NORFOLK – HIS WEDDING GIFTS…

UPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/06/21/john-howard-duke-of-norfolk-his-wedding-gifts/ JOHN HOWARD, PAINTING OF A  STAINED GLASS IMAGE FORMERLY AT TENDRING HALL OR SOUTH  CHAPEL, STOKE-BY-NAYLAND CHURCH, NOW LOST. John Howard, what a colossus of a man – Admiral of England, member of the King’s  Council, Earl Marshal, Knight of the Garter, Treasurer of the Royal Household,…

Richard’s “accusations” sentenced George of Clarence….?

The excerpt below is from http://www.themcs.org/garter.htm, a list by the Medieval Combat Society of all the Knights of the Garter. George of Clarence comes in at number 185:- “185 (app c.1461) George (Plantagenet), Duke of Clarence. Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Rebelled against his brother Edward IV, with his father-in-law, Richard, Earl of Warwick, the “King-maker.” Returned…