Blog Archives - Meandering Through Time

Battle of Northam

26/6/2016

Soon after Hastings William the Conqueror was quick to realise the importance of securing the West Country, the first step in achieving this was to take Exeter, the fourth largest city in the country.

Exeter was still controlled by the Godwin family. Harold’s son had fled to Ireland but his mother, Gytha, who still lived within the city walls, held out against the Norman forces during William’s return to Normandy, however on his return to England he made the city his first port of call. Exeter’s city walls withstood an eighteen month winter siege, many of the Norman soldiers succumbed to the cold, eventually though Exeter fell and Gytha escaped with her granddaughters to island of Flatholme in the Bristol Channel. There is no mention of Harold's son’s at the Siege of Exeter and it may well be that they were already in Ireland.

Gytha’s stand at Exeter in 1068 wasn’t the last effort by the Godwin's to take back some control of their father's country. Inevitably though, Devon would submit to Norman control, but before that Harold’s sons would give the invaders a run for their money.

On the 26th June 1069, in the lush green fields that look over the Taw estuary, Godwine and Edmund landed with an invading force in what could actually be a rematch of the Battle of Hastings. New evidence has recently come to light that this battle took place in the fields that lie in between the villages of Northam and Appledore. The Godwin’s forces arrived from Ireland on board sixty four longs ships given to them by the Irish king of Leinster. The defending army was made up of Normans, Breton's and English headed by Brian of Brittany who had fought with the Conqueror at Hasting. Following the battle it is thought that a total more than 3,000 men died in this clash. Brian of Brittany was rewarded with lands in Cornwall, however the fates of the sons Harold is not known.

The Duke of Northumberland and the Devise for the Succession

21/6/2016

In June 1553, Edward VI's Devise for the Succession was signed by one hundred and two members of the royal council, in it he named his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his heir, and disinherited his half sisters Mary and Elizabeth.

In the chaos following Mary being proclaimed queen, the signatories stated that they were forced to sign the document by
John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland.

John Dudly Duke of Northumberland

According to Jehan de Scheyfye, imperial ambassador, Edward feared John Dudley, and with his uncle Edward Seymour,
a gentler, less imposing character dead and in the ground for over a year, the young king was right to do so.

Northumberland, as Jane's father in law and Jane's parents, Francis and Henry Grey, were the epitome of grasping, self serving nobles who were not afraid to use and abuse their offspring if it meant getting what they desired.
In Northumberland's case his intention was to be chief puppeteer, with a wish to make England dance to his tune, and no
better way to start than organising marriages, to the benefit of himself, to high ranking nobles within the royal court.

Guildford, Catherine and Katherine were all married on the same day, the 25th May 1553.

With Edward's illness beginning in the February and three dynastic marriages taking place less than a
month before the king became ill, it's difficult to believe that Dudley's only concern was king and country. As the court
watched the king's life slipping away, Northumberland was quick to realise that the plans for his families rise to greatness
was heading for the grave along with his sickly king. It most certainly had not slipped Dudley's mind, that on Edward's
death, the Grey family members were at the top of Edwards list of heirs. It was still possible that Francis Grey could give Suffolk a son, and that would be disastrous for Dudley, he knew that whoever was at England's helm it would be Henry Grey who would be pulling the strings.

All Northumberland needed to do was to whisper in the kings ear that it was in 'countries' interest that he declare
Jane Grey his heir and then sit back and watch as the plans for his new 'dynasty', plans that had been in the making
since at least 1525, come to fruition.

The question has to be asked if Northumberland was a schemer, it has been said he was 'morally bankrupt'
and 'the subtlest intriguer in English history.' However, there are those who would argue that Dudley was the Tudor
dynasty's saviour in a time of in fighting, religious upheaval and rebellion, and if this was the case then perhaps the
Duke of Northumberland was the right man for the job, however Dudley had much to gain and for me, this counteracts everything else.

It has been suggested that the change to the succession was Edward's own idea and his own doing, and that this boy
wasn't a pawn in the machinations of his protectors at all, but an intelligent, if somewhat sober, young man. However, at this point in time he was weak and vulnerable, would a boy so sick, whose body was swollen and covered in ulcers, who was suffering from a high fever and in great pain from bedsores, be able think about such a change? After all he had already made his decision and drafted it to his satisfaction, excluding his sister on the grounds of religion and illegitimacy, important
reasons to him. No, Northumberland saw an opportunity and he took it.

Edward made the changes to the succession, altering 'L Janes heires masles' to L Jane AND her heires masles' as you can see in the text below.

On the 21st June, the Devise for the Succession of King Edward VI was signed, and on Edward's death on the 6th July,
Jane Grey became queen. Never crowned, she 'reigned' for just nine days.

Jane's story is a tragic one, she along with her husband, Guildford Dudley were tried for treason in November 1553 and executed on the 12th of February 1554. Henry Grey was executed ten days later.

In August, just two weeks following Mary's triumphant ride through the streets of London, John Dudley was one of the
first to climb the steps of the scaffold.

What doe's that tell you?

Catherine of Aragon at Blackfriars

20/6/2016

On the 21st June 1529, Catherine of Aragon, appeared in front of Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio at the court at Blackfriars.

“Sir, I beseech you for all the love that hath been between us, and for the love of God, let me have justice. Take of me some pity and compassion, for I am a poor woman, and a stranger born out of your dominion. I have here no assured friends, and much less impartial counsel…

Alas! Sir, wherein have I offended you, or what occasion of displeasure have I deserved?… I have been to you a true, humble and obedient wife, ever comfortable to your will and pleasure, that never said or did any thing to the contrary thereof, being always well pleased and contented with all things wherein you had any delight or dalliance, whether it were in little or much. I never grudged in word or countenance, or showed a visage or spark of discontent. I loved all those whom ye loved, only for your sake, whether I had cause or no, and whether they were my friends or enemies. This twenty years or more I have been your true wife and by me ye have had divers children, although it hath pleased God to call them out of this world, which hath been no default in me…

When ye had me at first, I take God to my judge, I was a true maid, without touch of man. And whether it be true or no, I put it to your conscience. If there be any just cause by the law that ye can allege against me either of dishonesty or any other impediment to banish and put me from you, I am well content to depart to my great shame and dishonour. And if there be none, then here, I most lowly beseech you, let me remain in my former estate… Therefore, I most humbly require you, in the way of charity and for the love of God – who is the just judge – to spare me the extremity of this new court, until I may be advised what way and order my friends in Spain will advise me to take. And if ye will not extend to me so much impartial favour, your pleasure then be fulfilled, and to God I commit my cause!”

Catherine was renowned for her strength of character and virtue, abandoning Catherine was Henry VIII's
first big mistake.

Death of John Talbot at the the Battle of Castillon

17/6/2016

The Battle of Castillon ended in a French victory, and it marked the end of the Hundred Years War - although a peace treaty was never signed.

The English, who achieved several major victories during the course of the war lost all their possession in France except for Calais which was recaptured by the French in 1558.It was at this battle that John Talbot lost his life, Talbot is said to have been the best general Henry VI had.

In Shakespeare's play, John Talbot is seen as the last of the medieval heroes, a daring soldier loyal to his king while most of the English nobles are fighting among themselves, he was said to be the best general Henry VI had.

O, no; wherein Lord Talbot was o'erthrown:
The circumstance I'll tell you more at large.
The tenth of August last this dreadful lord,
Retiring from the siege of Orleans,
Having full scarce six thousand in his troop.
By three and twenty thousand of the French
Was round encompassed and set upon….
More than three hours the fight continued;
Where valiant Talbot above human thought
Enacted wonders with his sword and lance:
Hundreds he sent to hell, and none durst stand him;
Here, there, and every where, enraged he flew:
The French exclaim’d, the devil was in arms;
All the whole army stood agazed on him:
His soldiers spying his undaunted spirit
A Talbot! a Talbot! cried out amain
And rush’d into the bowels of the battle.

Henry VI Part One: Act 1, Scene 1

Plymouth 1066 - 1440

15/6/2016

Plymouth sits at the head of the estuary where the Rivers Plym and Tamar meet, and as the second largest city
in the south-west its history has been influenced by shipbuilding and seafaring.

Once called Tamerworth by the Saxons and listed as Sudtone in the Domesday Book, compared to its neighboring manor Plympton which was made up of forty-seven households, it was a very small settlement, having only seven households. In 1066 the manor was held by Edward the Confessor and by 1086 it had continued to be a royal manor held by the Conqueror himself. By 1135 the town was in the hands of the Vallatort family, who in turn granted a portion of it to the
Augustinian Priory at Plympton. Seventy-six years later, in a pipe roll dated 1211, we see Plymouth being mentioned
for the first time as 'Ply Mouth' in reference to it geographical location.

The part of the town that had been given to the priory at Plympton was granted a charter in 1253 giving it the right to
hold a market. The following hundred and fifty years saw Plymouth grow in size and a licence to crenellate was granted to
'the King's lieges lately dwelling at Plymouth' in 1404. Although a large town, and hemmed in by its new wall, it was still
under the control of the Priors of Plympton Abbey. Objecting to this, the towns people petitioned the king applying for self governing status but nothing came of it. However, on the 12th November 1439, Parliament passed an Act making
Plymouth a borough, it was the first time that Parliament had granted such powers. The following year Henry VI
issued another royal charter that granted the town permission to hold fairs and feasts along with its market.

This charter was celebrated with a change of name and since that day Devon's county town has been known as Plymouth.

The Peasants Revolt and the Death of Simon of Sudbury

11/6/2016

In 1376, the death of Edward of Woodstock, commonly known as the Black Prince can be equated to an ocean landslide that eventually causes a devastating Tsunami on the other side of the world. I consider it the starting point of the Wars of the Roses, and, more importantly, the catalyst for all that occurred following the ascent of Richard II to the English throne and up to his usurpation in 1399. Putting the many effects the Black Prince's death aside, I would like to write of one man, Simon of Sudbury, who was caught up in all of this.

Sudbury, as his name suggests, was from the village of Sudbury in Suffolk, it's not known when he left this small East Anglian village or if he ever revisited but he certainly had a great fondness for the place. He founded St Leonard's, a leper hospital in 1372 and the College of St Gregory two years later. In the late 1340's Sudbury had studied in Paris, moved to Rome and then back again to England to take up a post in the court of Edward III. It was as Archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminster Abbey, that he crowned Richard of Bordeaux, the Black Prince’s surviving son, king of England. Five years later it was Sudbury, in his new post as Chancellor of England, that rebels vented their anger.

“His Grace Simon of Sudbury” by Raden Ajeng Wahyuni

It was the events that occurred in a six months period of 1381 that led to Sudbury's violent death on the 14th June.

England had not recovered from the Black Death, workers were few, jobs were many, the treasury was empty and in an effort to counter this taxation was increased. This, of course, angered the poor, for they had come to like their 'freedom.' In 1380, to rectify the situation, a poll tax to raise money to help England's financial situation was introduced, those in authority thought it a grand idea, the rest of the country did not, consequently, there was trouble. Between 13th and the 15th of June over 100,000 peasants marched on the country's capital led by one Wat Tyler. Watching the proceedings from within the Tower of London, Sudbury would have seen the young king do his bit in appeasing these so called rebels, making promises that he didn't keep. Sudbury and Robert Hales, England's Treasurer soon realised that their lives were in danger when they saw that the rebels had entered through the gates of the Tower of London. Hiding in the White Tower, Sudbury was found praying. Both men were dragged out and decapitated.

Sudbury must have suffered greatly, his ear was sliced and the bone in his neck showed that there had been more than two strokes to take off his head. Both Sudbury and Hales' heads were put on poles and carried about the city by the rebels. As mentioned earlier, the boy king never kept his promise to the peasants and eventually Wat Tyler's head was exchanged for that of Sudbury's, whose body was taken to Canterbury, but his head elsewhere.

Sudbury's mummified skull rests in a small cupboard in St Gregory's Church Sudbury and here we can see poor Simon's skull, with skin still attached. In 2011, over six hundred years after his death, forensic artist Adrienne Barker from the University of Dundee reconstructed Sudbury’s head using detail from the skull. Adrienne said,

“I hope people in Sudbury like what we’ve done but he’s a strange looking fellow so it’ll be interesting to see their reactions.”

At Versailles..............

9/6/2016

Spending a Penny

There must have been a few courtiers here that were desperate to use the toilet

Continuing on the subject of Versailles, I suddenly remembered (whilst trying to locate the loo during my visit to a garden
centre this morning) that I read somewhere that there was a marked lack of toilets in Louis XIV palace. Once home I
searched among my books but could not find my source, however I found this blog on the subject which begins.......

"There were hardly any toilets at Versailles and with a court counting several thousand people it turned out to be more
than a little problem. The servants, the commoners who came to look at their monarch even the aristocrats would
occasionally relieve themselves in corners and courtyards though this was not as often as has later been implied. Visitors - including Horace Walpole - complained about the awful smell that hung over everything; even the gardens were not free for
the hideous odour. Thanks to the many reports of ambassadors and foreign visitors the splendid palace became known as
one of the filthiest in the world - not exactly what had been expected. The problem became so acute that Louis XIV put a
new rule in place according to which the hallways were to be cleansed for faeces (if there was any) and dirt once every week. Also, many of the King's beloved orange trees were put into vases inside the palace in an attempt to mask the smells."

You can read more of where the French courtiers at Versailles spent a penny here
thisisversaillesmadame.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-lack-of-toilets.html

and my blog on Versailles here
meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/history-blog/louis-xiv-at-versailles

Birth of John Wesley

9/6/2016

John Wesley was born in the last two weeks of May 1703 in the village Epworth in Lincolnshire.

Lincoln Collage Oxford writes:

"After completing his BA, Wesley followed the traditions of his family by taking Holy Orders and was made a deacon in Christ Church Cathedral in September 1725. Three years later he was ordained.

In 1726 a vacancy became available for a Fellowship at Lincoln College, which at that time was open only to those born in the diocese of Lincoln. Wesley's father had connections with Dr Morley, Rector of Lincoln College, and after being examined in Homer and Horace he was duly elected to a fellowship on March 25th. Samuel Wesley was very content that his son was to become one of the twelve fellows and wrote:

"What will be my own fate before the summer is over, God knows, sed passi graviora, wherever I am, my Jack
is a fellow of Lincoln."

You can read the whole of this article by clicking on the link below:

www.linc.ox.ac.uk/Famous-AlumniJohn-Wesley-1703---1791

You can read more about John Wesley on another of my blogs here
meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/history-bites-historical-facts-on-a-daily-basis/category/john-wesley

Louis XIV at Versailles

8/6/2016

When Louis XIV of France was twenty seven he transformed his father’s hunting lodge into a lavish royal residence
at Versailles. He moved his government from Paris and expected his nobles to move and live there too, this rather
clever tactic enabled him to keep an eye on any potential rivals, so as you might imagine, it was not long before his nobles were falling over one another in a effort to gain the king’s favour, if they succeeded they would secure themselves a
place in the Versailles court hierarchy.

Louis XIV believed in the idea of absolute monarchy, therefore it was very important that he was seen to be in control of his country and his court, building Versailles was just one way he achieved this. It took him fifty three years to build his beautiful palace with its seven hundred rooms, and its famous mirrored corridor. Louis cared little for those tasked with bringing his dream to fruition, many of his workforce were injured during the build and a number of died, when the mother of a builder
who had been crushed to death dared asked the king in person for her son's body to be returned to her, she was
thrown into prison.

Once inside Versailles, Louis controlled nobles of his court with a iron, but silk gloved hand, his five thousand courtiers
and four thousand servants were forced to live in a complex and somewhat bizarre world of customs and rituals, one
mistake and you would be cast aside and find yourself tumbling down the social ladder or out of a job.

Louis's personal life at Versailles was filled with the usual kingly things, court business, sex, hunting, sex, entertaining........sex. Yes, Louis was very busy in the bedroom, not only with his two wives, but with his eleven
mistresses. Louis great passion for sex resulted in the birth of eighteen children, surprisingly few considering he is said to
have had sex at least once a day.

None of children survived to take their fathers place on the throne of France.

However, Louis XIV must have been doing something right, he reigned over France for seventy two years.

You can read my review of the new television drama Varsailles here
meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/stories-of-old-and-other-snippets-of-history/versaillesa-review

Hector, Achilles and Ajax

1/6/2016

According to the Iliad, a rather grand Greek poem, Hector was an ideal warrior and the defender of Troy.
He was a Trojan prince and the first-born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba and hero of a number of Trojan victories, whose exploits were told in the aforementioned Iliad by Homer.

Two of his famous battles are with Ajax and Achilles.

Ajax was a Greek hero and grandson of Zeus, whose hand to hand battle with Hector lasted most of the day. Hector breaks into the Mycenaean camp burning all the ships, the only way he feels he can defeat the Greeks, Ajax is said to have leapt from ship to ship brandishing a spear and holds off Hectors army single-handedly.

A fight between the two ensues, and at first Ajax is the stronger and wounds Hector with his spear but he knocks him down with a large stone. Hector fights on courageously until Zeus intervenes calling the battle a draw ordering both men to exchanging gifts. Ajax is said to have given Hector a purple sash and Hector giving Ajax a sharp sword.

The more famous fight with the mighty Achilles see's the end of Hector whilst avenging the death of his friend Patroclus. Achilles sets out to meet Hector and kill him. Both men were hero worshiped by the men of their armies, they were young and strong and both have a cause, Achilles, of course, was revenge and Hectors was the fate of the city of Troy. After the fight is over Achilles is the victor, from the city walls Hector's father can only watch as Achilles binds Hector by his feet to his chariot and drags it three times around the city walls. King Priam pleads for the release of his sons body to which Achilles agrees.
post!

What happened to Achillies and Troy? Well you will have heard of Achillies heal and the Wooden horse of Troy...........well that's another story......or in my case