St Paul’s Cathedral, before, during and after the fire of 1666….

We all know what St Paul’s Cathedral looks like now – that enormous Wren dome looming over the City of London from Ludgate Hill. The above illustration is a reconstructon of the original St Paul’s. What a wonderful building! And how tragic that it was burned down in that cursed fire of 1666. There is…

LOUIS IX OF FRANCE–THE BONES SPEAK

It is not just King Richard III who has had numerous scientific tests done on his mortal remains. Tests have also recently taken place on the jawbone of Louis IX of France who died in 1270 while on Crusade in Tunisia. Louis is also known as ‘The Saint’ and was the husband of Margaret of…

What was a Mattins of Notre Dame….?

When my research unearthed a will in which the lady left her “Mattins of Notre Dame” to her daughter, I had pause to halt. I’m not well versed in such matters, and had no idea what, exactly, a Mattins of Notre Dame was. I did know, of course “….the canonical hours of Matins (after midnight),…

The puzzle of George of Clarence’s Calais wedding….

The only certain thing that can be said of the marriage of George, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel Neville, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, is that it took place in Calais. Oh, and that Isabel’s uncle, the Archbishop of York, performed the ceremony. After that, the picture is a little blurred. Which day? Which…