Battle of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, defeat of Lancastrian army, Henry VI’s son Edward killed in battle, Henry VI dies soon after.

Illustration: The Battle of Tewkesbury from a Ghent manuscript

Tags: Battles, Edward IV, Henry VI

Birth of Cecily Neville (mother of Edward IV and Richard III) at Raby Castle, Durham

Tags: Cecily Neville, Family

Nikolas von Popplau, a Silesian knight, meets King Richard III in York and gives us an eye-witness report of what Richard actually looked like:

“King Richard is … three fingers taller than I, but a bit slimmer and not as thickset as I am, and much more lightly built; he has quite slender arms and thighs, and also a great heart.”

After finding Richard’s remains, we have a better idea of his figure and how tall he was, so Nikolas’s statement adds to our idea of what he looked like.

Tags: Richard III

Possible date for Edward IVs secret marriage Elizabeth Woodville (born 1437), daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, the widow of a Lancastrian.  It was later claimed that he was at that time already – also secretly – married to Eleanor Talbot, who was still alive at this time.  Therefore the marriage to Elizabeth Woodville would be bigamous.

Tags: Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville

Skirmish at Ferrybridge

On 28 March 1461, a skirmish at Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire, was fought in the lead-up to the Battle of Towton.  Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (‘The Kingmaker”), received an arrow wound to the leg.  John, Lord Clifford, (believed to be responsible for the death of Edward IV’s brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland) fell on the Lancastrian side.

Traditionally the skirmishes at Ferrybridge and Dintingdale (also on 28 March 1461) and the battle of Towton were seen as three separate battles, both in space and time.  However, Tim Sutherland argues, that these were rather three interconnected conflicts. He bases his analysis on archaeological finds and a new interpretation of the sources.

Reference:

Tim Sutherland, ‘Killing Time:  Challenging the common perceptions of three medieval conflicts – Ferrybridge, Dintingdale and Towton  — ”The Largest Battle on British Soil”’, Journal of Conflict Archaeology, Vol.5 No.1 (2010). Available from URL:  http://www.towton.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/killing-time_tim_sutherland.pdf  [last accessed 2 March 2020]

A short description of the various battles of the Wars of the Roses can be found on the website of the Richard III Society.

Tags: Battles, Lancastrians, Wars of the Roses, Yorkists, Yorkshire

Henry Tudor (portrait at National Portrait Gallery, London)

Birth of Henry Tudor

On 28 January 1457, Henry Tudor was born at Pembroke Castle in Wales, the son of Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort.  Edmund Tudor was the son of Owen Tudor and Henry V’s widow Catherine of Valois.  Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt (third son of Edward III) and his third wife and previous mistress Katherine Swynford.   The children of this relationship, the Beauforts, were disinherited by Letters Patent of King Henry IV from any claim to the throne. After defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485, he took the throne as Henry VII.

Read the History Today article on ‘The Birth of Henry Tudor”.

Tags: Henry Tudor, Margaret Beaufort

15th century picture of Charlemagne

Death of Charlemagne – the end of the first and most powerful Holy Roman Emperor

Charlemagne (Karolus Magnus, Karl der Große) died on 28 January 814 at Aachen.  He is buried in Aachen Cathedral.

Karl, from the Carolingian family,  was born on 2 April, either in 747 or 748.  Nor do we know where he was born.  Aachen and Liège are possible, but other towns have also been suggested.  His parents were Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon (history has given her the rather unflattering nickname ‘Bertrada Boadfoot’).

After Pepin’s death on 24 September 768, the realm was divided between his two sons, Karl and Karlmann (Carlman).  The relationship between the two kings did not go smoothly.  Then Karlmann suddenly died on 4 December 771 of natural causes.  Karl seized the whole realm, which he extended during a number of wars.

On 25 December 800, he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in Saint Peter’s Basilika in Rome. This was the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806.

Traditionally the story went that the Pope unexpectedly put the crown on Karl’s head, while he was praying.  However, modern research has shown that this romantic version is highly unlikely.  As the position of the Pope was fairly weak, it was probably Karl himself who sought the honour.

Under Karl, the Carolingian Empire was at its largest and most powerful position (the extent is shown on this map on Wikimedia Commons).

After his death, Karl was buried in Aachen Cathedral.  He was succeeded by his only surviving son Ludwig (Louis).

More information on Charlemagne from Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Other articles of interest:

Peter Munz, ‘The Imperial Coronation of Charlemagne’, History Today, Volume 9, Issue 7, 1959.  URL:  http://www.historytoday.com/peter-munz/imperial-coronation-charlemagne  [last accessed 2 Jan. 2020]

Kim Rendfeld, ‘Bertrada: Queen Mother and Diplomat’, Kim Rendfeld – Outtakes from a Historical Novelist (21 May 2013).  URL:  http://kimrendfeld.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/bertrada-queen-mother-and-diplomat/  [last accessed 2 Jan. 2020]

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Charlemagne, Germany

Ruins of Sopwell Nunnery, St Albans (© D Preis)

Marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

On 25 January 1533, Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn in secret, possibly at Sopwell Nunnery in St Albans. This is suggested among others on the blog The Tangible Past.

Henry was very much attracted by Anne’s charm and wit.  To be able to marry her, Henry wanted to divorce his first wife Katherine of Aragon, to whom he had been married for 24 years.  This meant he also had to break with the Church of Rome, who did not accept his reasons for a divorce.  Their marriage was only annulled on 23 May 1533, when Thomas Cranmer declared it null and void.  On 28 May 1533 he declared the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn valid.

However, as Anne did not produce the looked-for male heir, after approx. 1000 days of marriage, Henry ordered Anne’s execution.

You might find Suzannah Lipscomb‘s article on this marriage of interest.

Tags: Henry VIII, St Albans

Effigies of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault

Marriage of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault

On 24 January 1328, Edward III married Philippa of Hainault at York Minster.  Their marriage lasted 40 years until Philippa died in 1369.  They had twelve children and through them were the ancestors of both the House of York and the House of Lancaster as well as the Tudor line.

Find out more about this marriage from Anne O’Brien’s blog ‘Royal newly-weds 14th century style‘.

Tags: Edward III