Scandal in Salisbury

Recently I had a rare opportunity to visit Church House in Salisbury. Used for administration of the diocese today, it is an attractive medieval/post-medieval building retaining many original features, and has an interesting but sometimes rather murky past. Originally it was built in the 15th century by a merchant called William Lightfoot, and was known…

More Secret Marriages!

Back in 2010, historian Dan Snow was married in secret to Lady Edwina Grosvenor, daughter of the Duke of Westminster. I’ve looked but I can’t see that Dan mentions Edward IV‘s probable ‘secret marriage’ to Eleanor Talbot in any of his Twitter or other postings on history. (He did once post a very entertaining picture…

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN NEVILLE, MARQUIS OF MONTAGU and EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND d.1471

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com The Smythe monument Elford Church.  Photo Aidan McRae Thomson Of the four sons of Richard Neville,  Earl of Salisbury, only two, Richard Earl of Warwick and John Marquis of Montagu had children.    Warwick, who would go on to  become known as the ‘Kingmaker’,  had two daughters, while  John who…

MISIDENTIFIED HISTORICAL PORTRAITS INCLUDING TUDOR QUEENS…

Reblogged from MISIDENTIFIED HISTORICAL PORTRAITS INCLUDING TUDOR QUEENS… Does anyone else like me get irritated by misidentified portraits of historical characters?  Is it that difficult to get correct? It’s quite sloppy to be honest as just a quick glance at them tells you something ain’t quite right here!  It’s particularly common around  16th century portraiture when…

The sad story of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Somerset….

I came upon the  following article in the course of trundling around on Google for royal mourning in the medieval period. It’s a very sad little story, no matter what our opinion of Henry VII. The specific fact that took me to it was that Henry wore “blue mourning robes” as he waited at Westminster…

Henry VII’s lavish gift to his daughter….

Oh dear, how very Henry VII. I’ve just read in this link that because the leek was the emblem of the Welsh, on one St David’s Day he presented a leek to his daughter. A real leek, that is, not one studded with precious stones. Talk about a cheap gift! I’m sure she was thrilled.…

St Edmund, patron saint of pandemics….

And now we have a search for St Edmund, one of England’s early patron saints. As pandemics were one of his concerns, I certainly trust they find him. We could do with his services at the moment! Here’s hoping he’s located. To read more, go here.

There were only two English Queens of France . . . .

  It is a fact that there have only ever been two English queens of France. We’ve had a few French queens, of course. The two we sent over there, Eadgifu, daughter of Edward the Elder, and Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, were both offspring of men who seized the throne:- ” . .…

Elizabeth of York – her privy purse expenses

Updated post @ sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/elizabeth-of-york-her-privy-purse-expenses/ Henry Vll and his children in mourning for Elizabeth of York.  An idealised presentation of Henry.    His children ,  Margaret and Mary  sitting in front of the fire while a young Henry weeps into his mother’s empty bed.  From the Vaux Passional, a 15th century manuscript. And so…

Versailles

Three series of this Canale Plus production, showing a charismatic Louis XIV (George Blagden) decreeing a new palace outside Paris, have now been shown in the UK and it seems that a fourth will not now be made. It has much in common with “The Tudors ” in that it has been enjoyable from a…