Who gave up on the Royal Touch….?

According to this article, “….The Royal Touch and King Edward the Confessor’s healing powers were so well known that, during the reign of Elizabeth I, Shakespeare referenced them in his play Macbeth. This is unsurprising however, as Elizabeth’s grandfather, Henry VII, had reintroduced the concept in the late 15th century….” So, if the Royal Touch was known to have…

From St Nicholas to Sir Christmas to Old Father Christmas to Santa Claus….

“….the beautiful, unspoiled Mediterranean town of Patara is the birthplace of the bearded gift-giver, who we look out for with such excitement on Christmas Eve. Or rather, the birthplace of the third century Christian saint whose life of kindness and miraculous do-goodery created a legend which has evolved down the centuries, and given us the…

The English Medieval Cathedral

Durham Cathedral in the moonlight.. Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com A familiar sight to both medieval royalty and commoners alike our Cathedrals soar above us, centuries old,  constant, enduring, and kind of  reassuring.   There is nothing more thrilling as you approach a cathedral city than the first glimpse of their cathedral appearing on the horizon.   So…

A royal Christmas invitation for Matthew Paris of St Albans….

“ . . . . Christmas with the King [ Henry III ] doesn’t immediately sound like the social engagement you would expect for a Benedictine monk, but wind the clock back to the early 13th century and for one particularly colourful religious figure, a royal invitation was nothing out of the norm . .…

The remains of Emma of Normandy found, and a fascinating exhibition of Winchester Cathedral’s history has opened….

“….Seven years after the remains of Richard III were discovered under a Leicester carpark, another legendary but lost English monarch has turned up in Hampshire. “….Emma of Normandy, twice crowned Queen of England and the mother of Edward the Confessor, was interred in Winchester’s Old Minster in 1052 and was later transferred to the newly…

A mysterious medieval tunnel rediscovered in Paisley….

“….The mystery of where a 100 metre medieval tunnel in Scotland ends has finally been solved thanks to recent excavations. “….The intricate underground passageway next to Paisley Abbey in Renfrewshire is believed to have been a [14th century] drainage system but has been puzzling people for decades because no one could figure out where the…

A passing thought that the boys in the Tower might have been buried at Winchester….

The matter of these intriguing coffins at Winchester Cathedral and whether or not one of the skeletons might be that of Queen Emma, consort of Kings Ethelred and Cnut, is very engrossing. But of even more interest (temporary, I concede) was the thought that two of the twenty-three remains, of juvenile royal personages, might have…

A visit to Winchester

One of our members visited Winchester in September, with his family. Here is a selection of photos, relating to Alfred, the C12 Civil War, the Cathedral and the site of Jane Austen’s death:   Not a Hicksosaurus in sight …    

THE RED KING–WILLIAM RUFUS

Amidst the spreading Oaks of the New Forest stands a solitary stone, once ten foot high with a ball on top, now truncated and protected from vandals.  Known as the Rufus Stone, it is the memorial to a slain king, William II, one of England’s most mysterious and little known Norman Kings. On the stone,…