Who led the tournament knights on golden chains….?

  We all know about the Order of the Garter, and the many knights who’ve been honoured by being admitted to its exclusive ranks. We also know that there were Ladies of the Garter, starting with Queen Philippa of Hainault, consort of the Order’s founder, King Edward III. She was followed by a number of…

Armoured knights and head injuries….

    With all the recent publicity and very real worry over the head injuries that are part and parcel of physical sports such as boxing, football and rugby, I’ve been prompted to consider similar injuries that must have happened in earlier periods of our history, when activities such as tourneying were very much the…

Is green the Devil’s colour….?

  It’s said that green is the colour of the Devil; it’s also my favourite colour, so I don’t know what that says about me. All I know is that when I was growing up, green was almost always declared to be unlucky. In my teens, I was invited to be a bridesmaid for a…