29
Dec
30
Dec
Battle of Wakefield
Battle of Wakefield
The Battle of Wakefield was fought on 30 December 1460 in West Yorkshire. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Edmund, Earl of Rutland, father and brother of Edward IV and Richard III, were killed. Also killed was Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury. Their heads were stuck on poles and displayed over Micklegate Bar, York, the Duke wearing a paper crown.
For a thorough analysis of the battle read Helen Cox, The Battle of Wakefield Revisited: A Fresh Perspective on Richard of York’s Final Battle, December 1460. You can read more on Helen’s website here.
And for visitors we recommend: Helen Cox, Walk Wakefield 1460: A Visitor Guide to Battle-Related Sites
A short description of the various battles of the Wars of the Roses can be found on the website of the Richard III Society (you need to scroll down a bit).
Dorothea Preis
Tags: Battles, Nevilles, Richard Duke of York, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses
26
Dec
Birth of Frederick II
Frederick II (from ‘De arte venandi cum avibus’)
Birth of Frederick II
Frederick of Hohenstaufen, later Frederick II, was born on 26 December 1194 in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy, the son of the Emperor Henry VI. He was crowned Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1220. He was one of the most powerful Emperors. He was an influential supporter of science and the arts. He died on 13 December 1250.
You can find the Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on Frederick II here.
Wishing all our readers a very merry Christmas
and lots of happiness and peace for the New Year.
Enjoy a carol from King’s College Chapel in Cambridge (click here).
Richard III was a generous benefactor of the building of the chapel, which had been started by Henry VI. By the end of his reign the first six bays of the Chapel had reached full height and the first five bays, roofed with oak and lead, were in use. [1] It was the Tudor kings, Henry VII and Henry VIII, who would eventually finish the chapel.
Note:
‘History of the Chapel’, King’s College Cambridge. URL: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/history.html [last accessed 23 November 2018]
Tags: Cambridge, Christmas, Richard III
22
Dec
22 DECEMBER 1550
Death of Edward Plantagenet (Richard of Eastwell) at Eastwell. He is said to have claimed to be an illegitimate son of Richard III.
Tags: Richard III
22
Dec
22 DECEMBER 1476
Death of Isabel Neville, wife of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III
Tags: George of Clarence, Nevilles
21
Dec
Death of Jasper Tudor
Death of Jasper Tudor
Jasper Tudor, uncle of Henry Tudur (Henry VII), died on 21 December 1495.
Jasper Tudor was the second son of Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois, the widow of Henry V. He was born in approx. 1431 at Bishops Hatfield, Herts, which belonged to the Bishops of Ely.
Jasper’s elder brother, Edmund, was married to Margaret Beaufort. Their son Henry was born after his father’s death and his uncle played an important role in his upbringing and championing his nephew’s cause. Once Henry became king he rewarded his uncle handsomely.
By 7 November 1485, he had married Katherine Woodville, widow of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and younger sister of Elizabeth, Edward IV’s queen.
He died on 21 December 1495 at his manor of Thornbury in Gloucestershire. Katherine survived him and married two months later Richard Wingfield.
Sources:
R. S. Thomas, ‘Tudor, Jasper , duke of Bedford (c.1431–1495)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (October 2008). (online accessed: 3 Feb 2011
Susan Higginbotham, ‘Jasper Tudor’s Will’, Medieval Woman (14 Oct 2008). URL: http://susandhigginbotham.blogspot.com.au/2008/10/jasper-tudors-will.html Date accessed: 9 Nov 2012
Dorothea Preis
Tags: Henry Tudor, Tudors
16
Dec
Birth of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Birth of Jane Austen
On 16 December 1775, Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, where her Father, George Austen, was rector. We all know and love Jane Austen’s novels, but her History of England, from the Reign of Henry the 4th to the Death of Charles the 1st is less widely known. She wrote this at the age of 16 in 1791, but even at this early age it shows the wit she was to become famous for.
Of particular interest to us is of course what she had to say about Richard III. Jane acknowledges that his character has been badly treated by historians, however, she is “inclined to suppose him a very respectable Man”. The reason for her positive impression is that “he was York”, so not too many Lancastrian sympathies there.
Quotes taken from:
Jane Austen: Love and Freindship and other early Works, The Women’s Press, London, 1978, reprinted 1979. ISBN 0 7043 3823 8, p.71
You can read a short biography here.
Dorothea Preis
Tags: Books, Richard III
16
Dec
16 DECEMBER 1431
Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris
Tags: Henry VI
