MAD, MURDEROUS MABEL

Many people still hold to the idea that all medieval women were quiet, timid, and downtrodden, unable to defend themselves and at the mercy of others. Clearly they have never heard of Mabel de Belleme! Mabel was a Norman noblewoman, born sometime in the 1030’s to William Talvas de Belleme and his first wife, Haburga.…

Myths aren’t facts; least of all myths about Richard III….

Ricardians often bemoan the repeated myths about Richard’s wickedness and cruelty. And with good reason. In spite of the fact that he did what he could to better the lot of women, he is accused of bullying the poor old (treacherous) Countess of Oxford because she happened to be financing her Lancastrian son who was…

The Middleham Jewel and Richard III….

  Among the treasures going on display at the Yorkshire Museum is the Middleham Jewel (see above). Of course, the National Portrait Gallery painting of Richard III (see below) is also going on display, because Yorkshire has a great attachment to the king who, as Duke of Gloucester, lived there for many years. The Middleham…

Book Review: Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children of Edward I by Kelcey Wilson-Lee

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog:
Having enjoyed ‘Blood Sisters’ and ‘Game of Queens’ by Sarah Gristwood and Helen Castor’s ‘She-Wolves’, I was interested to read this book on the daughters of Edward I and it is very much in-line with their re-evaluations of the lives of aristocratic medieval and renaissance women and their too-often…

Modern woman just would not kowtow as expected to in the past. . .!

  There are times when researching the past is, for a woman of today, a very insulting experience. This morning at the hairdresser I dipped into a book called Medieval Maidens: Young Women and Gender in England, 1270-1540. (No Hello, Heat or OK for me!) Yes, I knew before I started that I wouldn’t like…

The abduction of Jane Sacherverell in November 1485….

Stealing women (and also male wards) was a shamefully common event, especially in the 14th century, as I wrote yesterday. But it was still going on in the 15th century. Richard legislated on behalf of women, but so did Henry VII, with a 1487 “Acte against taking awaye of Women against theire Willes”. The following…

Women were abducted in medieval England….

The above book, Stolen Women in Medieval England, by Caroline Dunn, is subtitled Rape, Abduction and Adultery 1100-1500. This subtitle is well earned, because all three activities become very tangled indeed in those records that survive of cases that reached courts. The general impression the modern world has of medieval women is that they were…

The female of the species was as deadly as the male. Well, almost….

When we think of medieval women, in particular the ladies, we are inclined to label them a little as is the following two illustrations. Simpering, sighing and generally being soppy over their menfolk. As above. There they are at a tournament, looking star-struck, and only good for making cow-eyes at the men and presenting the…

Was Richard II a fourteenth-century Peter Pan….?

Richard II is my second favourite king (you all know who’s first!) and both are controversial, albeit for very different reasons. One of the charges against Richard II is that he was something of a Peter Pan, and did not want to grow up. He had portraits painted depicting him as a boy, when he…

‘Blood Sisters’: A Review of Seven Royal lives

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog:
Sarah Gristwood’s book, ‘Blood Sisters’ looks at the lives and reputations of seven key women who lived through the tumultuous and deadly years of the ‘Cousins War’ in C15th England and who changed the course of our national story by their actions. I particularly wanted to read this book…