Some minor problems with Thomas More’s account.

King Edward, of that name the fourth, after that he had lived fifty and three years, seven months, and six days, and thereof reigned two and twenty years, one month, and eight days, died at Westminster the ninth day of April. King Edward was born 28 April 1442 and died 9 April 1483. He was…

WILLIAM CATESBY, GOOD GUY, BAD GUY, TRAITOR? THE CLUES IN HIS WILL

REBLOGGED FROM A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI sparkypus.com Brass of William Catesby,  Ashby St Ledgers Church.   Commissioned by William’s son in 1507.  Date of death 20th August is incorrect, predating Bosworth,  perhaps in an attempt to cover up his inglorious end.  Note the damage across the neck.  Photo Aidan McRae Thomas Flkir As no doubt can be seen…

The Harringtons of Hornby Castle and the Stanleys

Most people are aware of the story of the original Hornby Castle. Sir Thomas Harrington and John, his elder son, were killed fighting at Wakefield in the Yorkist cause. John Harrington left two daughters – Anne was five and Elizabeth four at the time – and the Stanleys, assuming them to be their grandfather’s heirs,…

Collingbourne’s nice little pad in Wiltshire….

  I came upon this article, in Wales Online, not because of the gross over-claiming of expenses by certain members of the Welsh Assembly, but because one member of said Assembly happens to live in a beautiful and historic Wiltshire manor house. Toward the end of the article you’ll find the following: “….The historic building…

Doggeing “Tudor” footsteps?

Michele Schindler’s seminal biography of Francis Viscount Lovell, one of the trio named in Colyngbourne‘s doggerel, is published today. Hopefully, it will go towards solving the great mystery of his fate. Could he really have suffocated in a Minster Lovell chamber, after the estate was given to Jasper “Tudor”? Could he have ended his days…

SHAKESPEARE’S RICHARD III: HERO OR VILLAIN?

” Never let it be said that fate itself could awe the soul of Richard.            Hence babbling dreams, you threaten here in vain;            Conscience avaunt, Richard’s himself again” (The tragical history of King Richard the Third)[1]   Richard’s himself again: or is he? There is a moment in Olivier’s film of Shakespeare’s play…

A 19th-century description of Bosworth Field that is definitely pro-Richard….!

The following rather flowery but decidedly pro-Richard account of Bosworth is taken from an 1838 publication called ‘Legends of Leicester, in the olden time’, by Thomas Featherstone. London: Whittaker & Co., Ave Maria Lane. C. Tilt, Fleet Street. J.G. Brown, Leicester. You will find it here I have copied the text as faithfully as I can,…

Colyngbourne was the rat….!

The following passage is from The Darlington and Stockton Times “The rat, the cat and Lovel our dog, Rule all England under a hog.” “This seemingly innocuous verse was in fact a searing criticism of those in power at the time it was written in 1484, and was found pinned to the door of St…

BREAKING NEWS! TROLL CATS DEMONSTRATE TO THEIR HUMAN COUNTERPARTS HOW ITS DONE.

  Cat trolls are credited for being  wiser than human trolls, who are well known for being  wotless, boring and prone to making gaffes… A group of cats, known as a moggle, have been discovered by their incredulous owners, to have been routinely trolling.  Not only that but the surprised owners discovered that the felines…

DID RICHARD LOVE ANNE?

UPDATED VERSION ON sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/20/did-richard-iii-love-anne-neville/ Thanks to the contemporaneous accounts given by Croyland (1) and the Acts of Court (2) we have a good insight into the events that followed, almost immediately, the death of Queen Anne i.e. the rumours that Richard, in his eagerness to marry his niece, hastened the death…