The Princesses in the Tower? Mistaken Sex in Ancient Remains

Excellent article!

murreyandblue

The mystery of the Princes in the Tower has been the topic of hot debate for centuries, and that debate shows no signs of vanishing anytime soon.

Neither does the misinformation that appears on the Internet with depressing frequency:  ‘Tanner and Wright proved it was the princes’, ‘The discovery of two skeletons indicated they were murdered by smothering,’ and even an astounding article that claimed the Princes were murdered specifically on July 26!

Some who argue for the ‘bones in the urn’ being those of Edward and Richard like to say ‘What are the chances that two random children’s skeletons would be found in that spot?”

Answer: pretty good, actually. England is an old country, with layer on layer of occupation. There was Roman and Iron Age settlement under the Tower, dating from 1000 years before the present structure. It is the same across the country. A field near my…

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JFK Parallels

murreyandblue

A Ricardian author, C J Lock, has long been interested in John F Kennedy and has kindly given permission to reproduce her post about the parallels between JFK and Richard III.

“On the anniversary of the death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy , it struck me that there are many similarities between two of my personal fallen heroes – both of whom were brutally killed before being able to realise their full potential as leaders.

Both leaders were of the Catholic faith.

Both suffered the death of a young son whilst in power.

Both were accused of treason by those who killed them (Dallas press editorial accused Kennedy at the time of his visit to Texas – Richard laughably attainted by Henry Tudor after he dated his own reign from the day before he actually became king by usurpation).

Both had health problems which affected their spines. JKF suffered from a…

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THE GREEN MAN–SPIRIT OF MEDIEVAL REBELLION?

murreyandblue

You see them everywhere, leering down with seemingly pagan glee from the height of church naves, or looking down  from the broken walls of  monasteries such as Fountains.

Often quite fierce of aspect,  sometimes more calm and wise, leaves surround them and tendrils of foliage spurt from nose and mouth in riotous abundance.

Green Men–origins unknown, and many a theory on their origins, from prehistoric deities of the forest carved by secret worshippers or by those who wanted to placate the ‘old gods’ as well as the new, to purely Christian figures that represented resurrection with their symbols of  returning life from wintry death–Jesus, according to some, was also Lord of the Vine.

A new theory has recently been put forward that has a slightly different slant. Could they  really be the spirit of England? A symbol of rebellion as the Saxons fell under the ‘Norman Yoke’ after 1066?

With…

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Debunking The Myths – How Easy Is It To Fake A Precontract?

Great post!

RICARDIAN LOONS

This post investigates another aspect of the popular belief that upon Edward IV’s untimely death his brother Richard, duke of Gloucester conspired to usurp the throne from his nephew, as recently addressed in our piece about the Edward V coins. Originally my fellow loon and I were unaware of each other’s research, so we were surprised to discover how well our findings supported each other!

On 10 and 11 June 1483, Richard wrote to his affinity in the North and asked for troops to support him against the Woodvilles who, he claimed, were plotting his destruction. On 22 June Ralph Shaa preached his “bastard slips” sermon, followed by similar speeches by the duke of Buckingham, and on 26 June a quasi-parliamentary assembly of the Three Estates of the Realm – the nobles, bishops and representatives of the commons who had come to London for the coronation and subsequent first Parliament…

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King Richard III House in Scarborough: Part II

Stories From Scarborough

This is the second installment of an article originally published in the Yorkshire Journal (Issue no. 4, 2015) by Jeremy Clark. He has kindly contributed his work to be republished here.

For Part I of this article, please click here.

Article Summary:

A comprehensive investigation of the history and characteristics of the house, as well as the popular belief that King Richard III stayed here during the summer of 1484.

As mentioned in Part I of this article, King Richard III House in Scarborough was purchased by a Mr E. Booth Jones in 1914. However, he sadly died in the Lusitana disaster of 1915, after which his relative Mr. Edgar Burrows took over the lease.

Burrows decided to rebuild the bay windows at the front, which were removed in the mid-1800s, when the house was repaired and modernised, and to uncover the stone walls. The replica…

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The King In The Lab – Richard III’s Dissolute Diet

Extremely interesting

RICARDIAN LOONS

I recently had the opportunity to attend a talk by Professor Jane Evans of the British Geological Survey, co-author of the multi-isotope analysis which explored what the last Plantagenet king of England ate and drank. As I mentioned in a previous science post, this study formed the basis for the widely reported claim that, although he was a capable soldier, he overindulged on food and drink and that this “dissolute” diet was the reason for his unexpected defeat at the battle of Bosworth. As this seemed to be at odds with both historical sources and also the study itself, I was hoping to finally get to the bottom of the facts. I wasn’t disappointed.

What Isotopes Can Tell Us

Professor Evans began her talk by explaining that isotopes are particles which transmit information from geology to us via our food chain. Basically:

Rock > soil > plants > herbivores…

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#UK: Unique Richard III Musical Event at Torquay Museum

Bloody Kings: The Plantagenets for Dummies

Giaconda's Blog

Dim is making a documentary for tv. He has a vision – ‘It’s going to be a mash-up, GOTs meets Merlin with a bit of Simon Schama pacing thrown in to showcase my amazing range of jackets! I want to bring all that old history stuff up to date and make it sexy for the kids, in’nt.’

Cindy is Dim’s research assistant, she once played a cadaver on Casulty which is how she got into the business but studied History at Uni so she really knows her stuff. She did that bit about the Corn Laws and her special module was on the History of Spam through the Ages. She’s going to be checking out all the ‘accuracy’ bits that Dim doesn’t want to think about because they really screw up the sex and violence.

Dim: ‘Right, we’ve got three episodes and we need to cover loads of stuff and…

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Quiz: How much do you know about Plantagenets?

Fun quiz on the Plantagenets

The Round Church, Cambridge

I love historic buildings!

Fleeting Glimpse

Introduction

Before I had even set foot in Cambridge, I knew of The Round Church.

I had researched Cambridge in detail before I moved there in 2008 and the thought of a church that had been situated in the heart of Cambridge since the 11th century really triggered my imagination.

The Round Church, or The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is located on the corner of Bridge Street and Round Church street, close to St. John’s College.

It is of a rare design in England and is one of only four medieval round churches in England still in use today.

It is Cambridge’s second oldest building.

History

Between 1114 and 1130, land was granted to the Members of the Fraternity of the Holy Sepulchre by Reinald the Abbot of Ramsey.

The current round church we see today was begun, and the oldest part of the church has been dated to…

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