Topical Article
-
Celebrating Tolkien’s Birthday: The Medieval Scholar Who Created Middle-earth
January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973 Today marks the birthday of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. While millions know him as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, fewer appreciate that Tolkien was first and foremost a medieval scholar—a Professor of Anglo-Saxon Continue reading
-
This Week in Medieval History: The Murder of Thomas Becket
December 25-29, 1170 This week marks the anniversary of one of the most shocking events in medieval English history: the brutal murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170. But the story truly begins four days earlier, on Christmas Day, when Becket made a fateful decision that would seal his doom. Continue reading
-
The First Cousin’s War? The Two Matildas and the Anarchy
The Wars of the Roses of the Fifteenth century is sometimes known as the “Cousin’s War” because of the relationship of the leaders. Henry VI of England was a cousin of Richard Duke of York and Edward IV, Edward was by turn a cousin of the Earl of Warwick, etc. My second book which will Continue reading
-
‘The Only True Lancastrians’: or a Tale of Two Ladies named Blanche
There is a claim that is frequently put forward on social media, and even now on Television with the renewed interest in all thing relating to the Wars of the Roses. This is that Henry Tudor was not a ‘true Lancastrian’ or indeed a ‘true Plantagenet’. Some even take it as far as to suggest Continue reading
-
The Southampton Plot: Revelations, DNA and Implications
A plot to overthrow Henry V was betrayed on July 31st, 1415, just as the invasion of France was about to begin The leader of the plot, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, and his co-conspirators, were tried condemned and beheaded before Southampton’s Bargate on August 2nd and August 5th. Richard’s head and body were buried in Continue reading
The History Lady 