Category: France

King John of France in Lincolnshire

25/6/2020

In 1356, under a scorched earth policy, Edward the Black Prince headed a raiding party that made its way across France, the point of which was to undermine the French King John II by attacking the population rather than the king himself. It was at Poitiers, that John eventually caught up with the marauding English prince. Following a clash of arms, the French army soon found themselves surrounded and many of the frightened French soldiers fled the field. The king, despite being dressed in the same clothing as his personal guard, was captured.

At first, he was taken to Bordeaux and then to England where he was held in various castles up and down the country. Although John was a prisoner he was afforded the privileges of a royal monarch. He purchased horses, he kept pets, he paid for his own astrologer and was able to listen to music played to him by his own band of minstrels.

One of the castles in which the French king stayed was Somerton in Lincolnshire, a large sandstone building built towards the end of the 13th century by the Bishop of Durham.

While staying at Somerton he was under the watchful eye of a member of the Deincourt family whose main residence was Blankney just a few miles away. While in 'captivity' John ordered wine from Bordeaux that came into Lincolnshire via the inland port of Boston. Also, Lincoln saw large amounts of sugar, spice and fabrics arrive at Brayford Pool that no doubt was shipped along the River Witham and transported by land to the castle.

However, all good things come to an end and it was on this day that the French king waved goodbye to the Daincourts at Somerton and left to begin his seven-day journey to the Tower of London in order to discuss the subject of his ransom.

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The Death of Louis XI of France

30/8/2016

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Louis XI of France believed that the end justified the means, in 1475 he bought off Edward IV for a payment of 75,000 crowns with the promise of 50,000 a year and the marriage of his son to Edward’s daughter - peace with England meant that he could sort out his problems with Burgundy.

His reign saw the beginning of the end of feudalism and he left France in a better position than that of his father. However he had his critics, for modernising the French army with the use of the Swiss idea of a permanent royal infantry and no temporary contracts Machiavelli called him shortsighted and imprudent. Regardless of the fact that he achieved much in his reign, he was overall generally disliked.

Louis is famously known by a number of nick-names, Louis the Purdent for his skills in the world of diplomacy, and for his scheming and plotting he was known as the Universal Spider.

Loving a good conspiracy did him no good in the end though, he died at the end of August 1483, of what you could argue was the over use of his little grey cells - a brain hemorrhage.

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Medieval Women

25/8/2015

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At the re enactment of the Battle of Bosworth this weekend, I attended a talk given by author Amy Licence, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Amy spoke of the role of the queen in the medieval period, and how society viewed them, how men viewed them and how they are often placed into different categories.

Here we can see Amy talking with Philippa Gregory before her talk.

I certainly agree with what Amy said. I have found that women are, more often than not, depicted as either a virgin or a whore, but these medieval women had far more to them. It seems that prostitutes were more widely accepted in medieval times and nuns weren't always as saintly as we are lead to believe.

In between the two categories can be found very strong women, the other queens Amy didn't have time to mention, Matilda, daughter of Henry I and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor, for instance went on Crusade where she led an army of ladies dressed in armour and Isabella of France who took up arms against the weak rule of her husband Edward II, scholars such as Felicie de Almania who spoke of the need of women doctors to treat women patients and who continued to practice medicine without a licence.

I was going to ask Amy, about Catherine of Valois, but couldn't pluck up the courage, and her alleged 'affair' with Edmund Beaufort and if she thought that Edmund Tudor might be his child? Catherine is often referred to as rather amorous or 'over sexed,' a derogatory term often thrown at women, which, it seems, is okay behaviour if you're a male!

One of the saddest things I've read about Catherine was written by Samuel Pepys in his diary in 1660.

‘by perticular favour’ took Catherine's body into his hands and planted a kiss on her mouth, ‘reflecting upon it that I did kiss a Queen, and that this was my birthday’

Sadly, Catherine's remains were still left unburied and available to view at Westminster until 1793! It was not until the late 19th century that it was removed to Henry V's chantry.

How awful is that?

The image above is Catherine of Valois's funeral effigy.

Amy's website is linked here http://amylicence.weebly.com/

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Jacques de Morlay

16/11/2013

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The last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was one Jacques de Molay, and it was on an island on the River Seine that he was executed. On the Pont Neur Bridge, which overlooks the island, there is a plaque that reads

'At this location, Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was burned on 18 March 1314.

Molay was born either in the French village of Rahon or Molay in 1244. Around the middle of the thirteenth century, Molay became a templar knight after he had fought in Syria and was Grand Master of the Order by 1298. You could call the Templars astute businessmen, for not only did they own large areas of land, but they also owned farms and vineyards and built churches and castles. They had large fleets of ships and at one time they owned the island of Cyprus.

By the end of the century, the order was in decline due to Saladin and his forces taking control in the Middle East. 1306 saw Philip IV expel all the Jewish population and at the same time he was probably responsible for the false, but nonetheless damaging, rumours regarding the Order and because of this it was Molay who asked Pope Clement V to investigate. A year later the king had the French Templar Knights, including Molay, arrested. Under torture, he confessed the rumours of blasphemy to be true but argued others' accusations were not. Initially, the pope intervened on behalf of the Templars and encouraged by Molay they all retracted their confessions. Six years later a commission of three Cardinals condemned Molay an order of life imprisonment was placed on him but he stood by his original statement, Phillip IV called him a 'relapsed heretic' and ordered his death at the stake.

In the book, The Second Messiah: Templars, the Turin Shroud and the Great Secret of Freemasonry, the author suggests that Morlay was crucified and that the image on the famous Shroud of Turin is that of Molay, but I believe tests have proved that origins of the shroud predate Molay.

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King John of France in Lincolnshire

The Death of Louis XI of France

Medieval Women

Jacques de Morlay

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