Three lions on a shirt….English football and Richard the Lionheart….

“….He spent little time in England but one very famous king’s emblem is now on the lips of millions in the country he ruled but rarely visited. Football fans across the land are singing ‘Three Lions on a Shirt’ and it’s all thanks to Richard I….” Well, that’s about all for which England has to…

Which King Henry is this….?

Here is an illustration that perplexed me when I came upon it at  The writing at the top says “Henry, by the grace of God, King of England”…but which Henry? By the clothes, it has to be VI, VII or VIII. I think. Then it was pointed out to me that there’s a Tudor rose…

The demolition of the medieval Bow Bridge, Leicester, that Richard would have crossed….

The old myth about Richard striking his heel against Bow Bridge on his way to Bosworth, and then his head on the same place when being carried ignominiously back to Leicester after the battle, is very well known indeed. As is the supposed prediction of this sequence of events by an old woman in the…

Henry VII…er…Henry of Windsor, and his badges….

The following excerpt, concerning royal badges, is from here: “. . .Richard I, John, and Henry III. are all said to have used the device of the crescent and star (Fig. 680). Henry VII. is best known by his two badges of the crowned portcullis and the “sun-burst” (Fig. 681). The suggested origin of the…

Where did the Tudors come from….?

For those of us who may wish to know where the name Tudor comes from, here’s a thorough explanation.  

Edward & Richard in Oxford

Oxford is well-known for its stunning medieval college buildings. It would take days, if not weeks, to carefully visit them all. Several, however, have items of particular interest to those who study the House of York and Wars of the Roses time period. The old Divinity School is an interesting stop. It was built between…