STAINDROP CHURCH, A NEVILLE MAUSOLEUM

REBLOGGED FROM A Medieval Potpourri @ sparkypus.com Ralph Neville Earl of Westmorland and his two wives.  Staindrop Church, Durham.  Ralph Neville by his wife Joan Beaufort,  was the father of Cicely Neville, mother of two kings – Edward IV and Richard III.  This drawing was made by Charles A Stothard c.1811 and shows them minus the graffiti.…

St Margaret Marloes

This link from The Friends of Friendless Churches tells the story of St Margaret Marloes in the 14th Century. One interesting fact is that she was the niece of Sir Guy de Bryan, whose splendid but empty tomb may be found in Tewkesbury Abbey and will be familiar to many readers of this blog. Sir…

Hair today, gone tomorrow (4) – A prodigal lock of hair….

  Years ago, not quite before the Flood, although it feels like it now, I went to Tewkesbury Abbey with my husband and we saw a flat glass display cabinet containing a number of ancient locks of hair. I was writing a book called “Wife to the Kingmaker” at the time, so I was particularly…

The only extant example of a boar pendant on a tomb effigy….?

  It’s the usual story. There I was, rambling around looking for something completely different, when I happened upon the above photograph, which is of the tomb effigy of Ralph Fitzherbert, who died 1483, a supporter of Richard of Gloucester. As you will see from the caption, it is “the only extant example of a…

The Mysterious Stone Masons of Herefordshire

Recently I had the chance to visit two of the most attractive female medieval tomb effigies I have yet encountered, both lying in their respective churches within ten miles or so of each other. Although one tomb effigy is in much better condition than the other, they are so stylistically close that it is likely…

How many wives did Sir Simon Burley have….?

Sir Simon Burley, childhood friend, tutor and magister of Richard II, was executed today, 5th May, in 1388. He was the son of a Herefordshire knight, was brought up with the Black Prince, and rose to be one of the most powerful men in the land when he ruled the king’s household. Richard adored and…

Today Flinders; who might it be tomorrow….?

Who else might be waiting to be discovered? Which great figures from the past, thought to be lost forever, are just lying there impatiently, wondering when we’ll get around to them? How many tombs, destroyed by Henry VIII’s love life, might yet be retrieved…? Oh, we hardly dare wish! Richard III was found, and just…

Edmund of Langley

  Today marks the anniversary of the death in 1402 of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, an undervalued and almost forgotten prince. Edmund deserves his place in history. Without him the House of York itself would never have existed, and its later members, who everyone finds so interesting, would never have been born.…

Oh dear, not a handsome Stanley….!

Memorial brasses aren’t always kind to the deceased, but this one is downright cruel. I know the man was a Stanley, but even so…well, he looks like the back end of a bus. A bow-legged bus at that. (I know buses don’t have legs, but I’m sure you know what I mean!)  

CROSBY PLACE – HOME TO THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER 1483

UPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/18/crosby-place-home-to-the-duke-and-duchess-of-gloucester/ The arms of Richard III in Crosby Hall  On June 5th 1483 the Duchess of Gloucester arrived in London and joined her husband at Crosby Place (1).  She had left both her small son and and  home at Middleham to join her husband, who had been staying…