Category: October - Meandering Through Time

Birth of Catherine of Valois

17/10/2017

Catherine of Valois, the beautiful and virtuous Kate from Shakespeare's Henry V is defined by the events of her later life, her marriage to Henry V, a suspected relationship with Edmund Beaufort, her affair with Owen Tudor and the ill-treatment of her body by diarist Samuel Pepys. However, little is known of her childhood and early life.

Catherine of Valois was born in Paris on the 27th October in 1401. She was the ninth child and the fifth daughter of King Charles VI of France and his queen, Isabella of Bavaria. Cathrine was born while France was in turmoil - the beginnings of a power struggle at home and the continuing conflict with the enemy over the sea, the English.

Catherine's mother Isabella receiving The Book of the City of Ladies

It is thought that Catherine had a troubled childhood and indeed she may have witnessed at first hand her father's bouts of mental illness and her mother struggling to come to terms with the situation. History tells us of the poverty ridden French court, but it doesn't tell us how it affected her, and historians differ in their view of Catherine's upbringing, some suggest that her mother was cold and cruel and openly flaunted her lovers about court, while other say that see was kind, generous and very close to all her children.

By the time Catherine was seven years old, English king Henry IV was looking for peace with France, he considered that a match between his son and a French princess would bring this about and therefore the subject was discussed on and off over the following years, eventually though Catherine was betrothed to the future Henry V.

Shakespeare writes of their meeting

"You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate: there is more eloquence in a sugar touch of them than in the tongues
of the French council, and they should sooner persuade Harry of England than a general petition of monarchs."

These sweet and seductive words to Catherine would succeed where seventy years of battling did not.

The Hollow Crown : Tom Hiddleston as Henry V and Melanie Thierry as Catherine of Valois

Henry and Catherine were betrothed on 21st May 1420, they were married within a few weeks and Catherine would be a widow just over fifteen months later. Catherine son from her marriage to Henry V was Henry VI, his weak rule would bring about the Wars of the Roses and from Catherine's relationship with the son of a Welsh publican the mighty Tudor dynasty sprang.

Death of Marie Antoinette

15/10/2017

On the 15th October 1793 Marie Antoinette had been tried and found guilty on charges of treason, conspiracy and collusion with domestic and foreign enemies, a fifth charge, that of incest was dropped.

Early in the morning of the 16th, Louis XVI's queen wrote a letter to her sister, in this letter she stated that she had a clear conscience, that she loved, and was concerned for, the future of her children, the letter was taken from her but never delivered. By midday the she was climbing the steps of the scaffold. History tells us that Marie accidentally stood on the foot of her executioner and said "Pardon me, sir, I meant not to do it" but just a few minutes later, at 12.15, the much despised Marie Antoinette was dead and her body was unceremoniously thrown into an unmarked grave.

There can be no doubt that Marie Antoinette was despised and hated, to the the French people she represented the vices of wealth and greed and more importantly aristocracy and absolutism. Even her contemporary, Mary Wollstonecraft, who was an advocate of women's rights and a supporter of the French revolutionaries, places the blame squarely on queen's shoulders. Despite the passing of two centuries this view prevails, however there are those who believe that she was misunderstood and as much a victim of the revolution as the hundreds of others who went to the guillotine.

The sketch below was drawn as Marie Antoinette was paraded through the crowd on the way to her execution, you can see that she wears a white dress and that her long blonde hair has been cut - was this an attempt on the part of the revolutionaries to show how even the mighty can be toppled or an attempt by the queen herself to show that she was indeed a innocent victim.

Edgar Aetheling Proclaimed King

15/10/2017

After his victory at the Hasting William the Conqueror headed for London. He left behind, among the dead, the mutilated body of the defeated English king Harold Godwinson.

The following day, the 15th October 1066 as the mighty conqueror's army made their way to the capital, Edgar Aetheling, one of three claimants to English throne was proclaimed king. Aetheling had the support of both the Ealdred, Archbishop of York, Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury and the Earls of Northumbria Edwin and Morcar.

If Edgar Aetheling could take on the Norman army, his future, as king, would be secured.

However, as the noise of the approaching Norman army headed their way Edgar's cause was abandoned and the men, who initially supported him, began frantically feathering their own nests.

Edgar Aetheling was taken as a captive to Normandy from where he escaped. By 1068 he was in the Scottish court of King Malcolm III, who was his sister's husband. However, by 1097 Edgar was leading an English invasion against Scotland.

Eighteen years later it was reported by William of Malmesbury that Aetheling was still alive in 1125 Malmesbury wrote
‘he now grows old in the country in privacy and quiet.’

Robert Grosseteste

8/10/2017

Bishop Robert Grosseteste died on the night of the 8th or the very early morning of the 9th of October in 1253 at Buckden in Huntingdonshire.

Very few people have heard of Bishop Robert Grosseteste, even here in his home city of Lincoln he is really only known because of the university which took his name.

In the 13th century Lincoln was the largest diocese in England it's inhabitants made up one fifth of the entire population of the country and it was here in 1235 that he was appointed bishop.

Before his appointment however, Grosseteste had written several important texts on the subjects of creation and redemption. He was also a scientist, and is seen as having a major role in the development of western scientific tradition. His work On Light or the Beginning of the Forms - which was written around 1220, includes his thoughts on cosmogony, he even wrote of the physics of rainbows.

Grosseteste was intelligent and influential and according to English chronicler Matthew Paris he regarded himself as personally responsible for the spiritual welfare of every individual in the diocese.

Almost as soon as he had settled into his position as Bishop of Lincoln he quarreled with the clergy, he denounced the pope and the Lincoln's cardinals to their faces stating that they ‘acted contrary to Christ’. Grosseteste was uncompromising and forthright and this lead to the Pope giving him up as unmanageable. He also had a sharp tongue and didn't mince his words, he once said to Henry de Montfort, the eldest son of the more famous Simon.

"My beloved child, both you and your father will meet your deaths on one day, and by one kind of death, but it will be in the name of justice and truth."

Grosseteste was right for on the 14th of May 1264 at the Battle of Lewes, both Henry and his father Simon died grisly deaths.
Of Henry de Montfort's death, the

'first born son and heir, in full view of his father, perished, split by a sword.

and Simon himself:

"the head was severed from his body, and his testicles cut off and hung on either side of his nose"

Bishop Robert Grosseteste died an old man and was laid to rest in a chapel dedicated to him in Lincoln Cathedral. Over his body a plaque reads: Robert Grosseteste Bishop of Lincoln 1235 - 1253.

The Battle of Leipzig: The Dividing line.

26/8/2017

On the 16th October in 1813, the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations began, it was to last for three days.
This battle was fought by the coalition armies of Prussia, Russia, Austria and Sweden against the French. By the end of this battle between 90,000 and 100,000 men lay dead or wounded.

The Battle of Leipzig was the single largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars. The total amount of men taking part numbered between 625,000 soldiers, 430,000 coalition forces against 195,000 French. At the end of the battle the French were defeated and Napoleon returned home. A year later the coalition forces invaded France forcing Napoleon to abdicate and into exile. The Battle of Leipzig, with a fire power of 2,200 guns, was the biggest military engagement in Europe until the First World War.

I always think of the Napoleonic Wars in terms of 'modern warfare,' a dividing line between the medieval and modern battles fought from 1914 on wards, but what sets these battles apart from what I think of as modern combat are the relative proximity of the armies to each other upon the battle field. In this they were fought just like many a medieval battle, on a single field with units in close formation, massed ranks stretching out over the rolling countryside and opposing sides facing each other fighting over a short period of time. Modern warfare however is highly complex, it is military theatre fought with increasingly high tech conventional weapons for reasons that completely flummox me.

Of modern warfare Ernest Hemingway wrote:

"They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war,
there is nothing sweet nor fitting in you dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."

Death of a Hero: Horatio Nelson

14/6/2017

In the July of 1794, English Admiral Horatio Nelson, lost the sight in his right eye at the Siege of Calvi, and on the 25th July 1797 he was shot in the arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz.

According to the ships surgeon, Nelson sustained a

"Compound fracture of the right arm by a musket ball passing through a little above the elbow;
an artery divided; the arm was immediately amputated."

Eight years later, Nelson would receive another injury that would prove fatal.

On the 21st of October 1805, the Battle of Trafalgar took place between the combined forces of the French and Spanish navy and the English under Nelson as part of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle resulted in the loss of nineteen French and Spanish ships and 6,953 enemy casualties. Among the English there were 1,690 casualties and no loss of ships.

The Battle of Trafalgar was a celebrated victory for the English forces but the death of Nelson on the deck of HMS Victory was a massive loss for the country and to the men who fought under him. It was noted that many of his men did

 "nothing but blast their eyes and cry ever since he was killed. Chaps that fought like the Devil, sit down and cry like a wench"

A bullet had entered Horatio Nelson's left shoulder, passed through his spine and lodged two inches below his right shoulder blade, when Nelson was close to death, he famously asked Vice Admiral Hardy to kiss him. Hardy kissed him on the cheek and Nelson asked who it was
"It is Hardy" he said "God bless you Hardy" was Nelson's response.
This great hero's last words were
“Thank God I have done my duty”.

Such a hero was Nelson that I named my very first cat after him, and yes he did have a patch over one eye.

Battle of Agincourt

13/5/2017

Almost eighty years into the Hundred Years War, on Friday, October 25, 1415, Saint Crispin's Day, Henry V of England met the French army led by the Constable Charles d'Albret in Northern France, near the present-day town of Agincourt.

Estimates are that the English were outnumbered from 2 to 1 to as much as 4 to 1. Most of the English were archers and dismounted knights, while most of the French were mounted knights. Some crossbow mercenaries were part of the French force too. But they had a limited range compared to the long bow, and also took a lot longer to reload and re-shoot their weapon.

Before the battle, which Henry was actually trying to avoid, he ordered the archers to find and sharpen both ends of a six-foot wooden stick. These were then hammered into the soft ground of the plain where the battle ultimately took place. It rained the night before the battle, and there was mud and soft earth all throughout the battleground. The wooden stakes were pointed outwards, towards the French lines. When the French knights on horseback charged the English archers, many of the horses would not advance through the thicket of sharpened points. Archers picked off horses and knights from a distance and at close range. French knights and men at arms were trapped by their heavy armor in the mud, becoming easy prey for the outnumbered English. the French who had not been killed or stuck in the melee fled.

Some say that the French knights had issued threats that, if they caught any archers from the English side, they would cut off their inside fingers, so they could not pull back a bow string. To taunt these French knights, the English archers held up their middle fingers to show they still had them.

Noble French prisoners, who could have been sold for rich ransoms, were ordered killed after the French retreat. Henry was worried these prisoners would rise up and attack the English from behind if, or when, another wave of French knights appeared to engage his forces.

The Monteagle Letter

26/10/2016

On the 26th October 1605 William Parker, Lord Monteagle received a letter from an anonymous source warning him not to attend parliament when it resumed in the next few days. The letter, with reference to the government stated

"My lord, out of the love I bear to some of your friends, I have a care of your preservation, therefore I would advise you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift your attendance at this parliament, for God and man have concurred to punish the wickedness of this time, and think not slightly of this advertisement, but retire yourself into your country, where you may expect the event in safety, for though there be no appearance of any stir, yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow
this parliament and yet they shall not see who hurts them, this counsel is not to be condemned because it may do you good and can do you no harm, for the danger is past as soon as you have burnt the letter and I hope God will give you the grace to make good use of it, to whose holy protection I commend you

Transcript of Letter to Lord Monteagle
26 October 1605

Monteagle left his home and passed this letter to the secretary of state Robert Cecil, who in searching the cellars under the Palace of Westminster found evidence to the truth of the letter in the form of thirty six barrels of gunpowder, and hiding among the barrels was one Guy Fawkes.

Death of Sir Walter Raleigh

29/10/2015

Sir Walter Raleigh, one time favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, was six foot tall and handsome, a heroic adventurer, a poet and a wit to boot.

Raleigh spent his childhood in a small village not far from East Budleigh on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. History tells us he studied at Oriel College Oxford and in the Middle Temple in London, however at his trial in 1603 he stated that he had never studied law. He quickly came to prominence and then to court and was knighted in 1585.

In all his years in court he is said to have retained his strong West Country accent.

In 1592, Raleigh fell from grace when the queen found out he had secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of her maids of honour. The queen was so angry she had both husband and wife imprisoned in the Tower of London. Later on his release, Raleigh attempted to gain favour and set off on an unsuccessful expedition to find El Dorado, the fabled City of Gold.

Elizabeth died in 1603 and Raleigh soon found that her successor, King James I, was not keen on him either, and that same year he was accused of plotting against the king and sentenced to death, but this was later reduced to life imprisonment.

Raleigh's notes and drawings of the Nile delta.

Another one of Raleigh's talents was writing, in 1614 during his 12 years in the Tower of London, he began his History of the World, he only completed one volume, in it he stated:

"O eloquent, just and mightie death, whom none could advise, thou hast perswaded."

I expect when writing this he didn't imagine it would come so soon.

Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded outside the Palace of Westminster on 29th October 1618. It has been said, as he stood before the block at the Tower of London, he asked to see the axe that was to behead him and of it he said.

"This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases."

Once executed, Raleigh's head was embalmed and presented to his wife, she is said to have carried it with her at all times until she died.

"Mary Stuart, commonly called Queen of Scotland".

8/2/2014

Was Mary Queen of Scots guilty of her crimes, or was she just a pawn in William Cecil's plans to rid the realm of Catholicism?

Contemporary drawing of the Trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, 14–15 October 1586

The Scottish queen had become the focus for Catholic plots to end the life of Elizabeth, Queen of England, but of her actual involvement there was no evidence to back any of these accusations, however in 1586 a letter was discovered in which Mary corresponded with Anthony Babington who was actively planning to depose Elizabeth, it was this letter, that were beginning of the end for Mary.

It was intercepted by Elizabeth's spymaster Francis Walsingham and therefore Elizabeth had no choice but the have Mary tried for treason on the 14th of October 1586, she was condemned to death eleven days later.

Cecil knew that as a queen it would be difficult to have Mary executed, to most people, her royal rank would have excused her from any blame, it would be asked 'Would an anointed queen plan the murder of another anointed queen?' Cecil knew this all too well, she was condemned to death as "Mary Stuart, commonly called Queen of Scotland". Elizabeth too had a problem with queen-ship, she could not bring herself to execute a reigning queen and put off signing the death warrant. The signing of the death warrant is another incident in the death of Mary that is questioned. Did Elizabeth sign of her own choice or was she tricked by William Cecil? Either way sign it she did and Mary went to her death on this day in February 1587 at Fotheringhay Castle.

Her beautiful face can be seen here in her death mask, the colour of her skin is paint and the hair was added later and here too is a depiction, by a Dutch artist. Of the execution of Mary Queen of Scots where we can see Mary laying her head on the scaffold but if you look to the left of the picture, you can see an image of a bonfire on which the queens possessions are being thrown, this, of course, was to prevent them from being made into relics by her followers, another order of Cecil's?

Evidence had been found to convict Mary, it was the cause of the sad end to a life that had been full of tragedies and more than a few foolish actions.