Category: September - Meandering Through Time

Margaret of England

29/9/2017

It has been claimed that Margaret, the second daughter of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, was named after her aunt Margaret of Provence, the wife of King Louis IX of France. However, chronicler Matthew Paris states that she was named after Saint Margaret of Antioch who her mother called upon whilst giving birth. There is also some confusion over Margaret's date of birth which is stated as being either this day in 1240 or in the first weeks of October.

By the age of eleven Margaret had married the ten year old King Alexander III of Scotland, and it was in Scotland that Margaret is said to have spent a great deal of time in a miserable existence. Margaret's first child a daughter, also Margaret and later queen of Norway, was born ten years after her marriage.

Alexander was Margaret's second child and heir to the throne of Scotland, his death three years after his brother David in 1281 would cause a succession crisis, this would end with one John Baillol being crowned as king of Scotland. Eventually, the enthronement of Baillol would lead to the Scottish Wars of Independence.

But what of Margaret? She outlived her father by three years, she was present at the coronation of her elder brother Edward I as king of England in Westminster in the August 1274.

Of Margaret it was written

‘She was a lady of great beauty, chastity, and humility, three qualities which are rarely found together in the same person.’

The Usurpation of Richard II

27/9/2017

The last years of Richard II's reign were dominated by a number of political crises, notably the Lords Appellant, however, a smaller but more far reaching issue was the fall out of the squabble between Henry of Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray. The two men sought to resolve their differences in the form of a duel, but before it began Richard stepped in and banished Bolingbroke and exiled Mowbray. It was during Bolingbroke's banishment that his father, John of Gaunt died, and Richard proceeded to deprive Henry of the right to inherit his father's land, much angered, Henry returned to England and landed at Ravenspur in the summer of 1399.

Rory Kinnear as Henry of Bolingbroke in The Hollow Crown

Bolingbroke would get his revenge, Richard was made to surrender at Flint Castle on the 19th August and following his arrest was imprisoned in the Tower of London. It was there on the 29th of September, on a promise not to have him killed, Richard was forced to abdicate. Henry was clever, he knew that with throne of England unoccupied he was not guilty of usurpation with malice aforethought, the very next day Henry of Bolingbroke was proclaimed king of England.

In the official version of the events - the Records and Progress of 1399, it states that King Richard II had 'with a cheerful countenance' waved goodbye to the throne of England, I find it hard to believe that Richard II slapped Henry Bolingbroke on the back, placed the crown in his hands and said "there you go mate!"

Ben Whishaw as Richard II relinquishes the Crown to Rory Kinnear as Henry Bolingbroke

In an account of the proceedings, probably written by an eyewitness, it states that Richard's real response was that he 'that he would not do it under any circumstances; and he was greatly incensed, and declared that he would like to have it explained to him how it was that he could resign the crown,and to whom'. Even Shakespeare makes it clear what Richard really thought "Well we know no hand of blood and bone can gripe the sacred handle of our sceptre unless he do profane, steal, or usurp"

However, regardless of who said what thirty-three charges were brought against Richard II at Westminster and on the 30th of September, a gloating Thomas Arundel, who no doubt considered Richard's fall as payback for the execution of his brother few years earlier, informed those present that Parliament was dissolved and would reconvene with Henry Bolingbroke as King Henry IV on the 6th October.

Of course there are many who would argue that Richard II's deposition by Henry Bolingbroke was justified. However, the starving to death of an anointed king, in a dank dungeon of the bowels of a castle, I believe was murder. And just as Henry Tudor would do, nearly eighty five years in the future, Henry Bolingbroke would have to work hard to prove that he was the rightful king and not a usurper who had taken the throne illegally.

Battle of Fulford

19/9/2017

20th of September 1066

Harold Godwinson's succession to the throne of England was confirmed by the Witan, Edward the Confessors council, and following this the crown of England passed from the third great grandson of King Alfred to the son of a Saxon thegn, seemingly without any trouble at all! However, as the crown was placed on Harold's head, others who considered that it was their rightful place to sit on the throne of England were preparing to stake their claim.

In the 10th century Aelfric of Eynsham had written of Saxon kingship:

“No man can make himself king, but the people have the choice to choose as king whom they please; but
after he is consecrated as king, he then has dominion over the people, and they cannot shake his yoke off their necks”

Harold was king, but Edgar Aethling, Harald Hardrada and William of Normandy had every intention of holding that title themselves.

Edgar Aethling’s claim was by descent from Alfred the Great, having Ethelred the Unready as his great grandfather. He had the support of both the Archbishop of York and Stigand, who had taken over from the ousted Robert of Jumieges as Archbishop of Canterbury, plus the Earls Edwin and Morcar, but his cause was abandoned when the Norman conqueror arrived in the capital. Norway’s king, Harald Hardrada’s claim was by way of a promise made by the younger of king Canute's son Hardicnut. William of Normandy claim was based on promises too and he would invoke Edward the Confessors's promise and a promise made by King Harold himself.

The law of succession followed the laws of primogeniture. However, in the 11th century, on the death of a king with no heir, the Witan had the right to choose the king from among the royal family. Edward had made his choice known to the Witan and all had agreed, therefore Harold’s claim to the throne was valid, but this made no difference when rule by the right of conquest was just as lawful.

So on hearing the news that England's crown had been placed on Harold Godwinson's head, the first of these claimants made plans for an invasion. Hardrada's force, consisting of about 300 long ships and a total of about six thousand men, were joined by his new ally, the vengeful and treacherous Tostig Godwinson. Hardrada landed in the Humber Estuary on the 18th September and met the northern forces of Edwin and Morcar on a marshy area at the River Ouse near the village of Fulford. The Norwegian army defeated the Saxon army on the 20th September 1066 at the what is known as the Battle of Fulford.

At Fulford England's northern army sustained substantial losses, and together with the Battle of Stamford Bridge just six days later, despite that being an English victory, resulted in a depleted and weakened English army who faced the third and ultimately successful claimant to the throne - William the Conqueror.

Death of John of Eltham

12/9/2017

This magnificent tomb of John of Elham stands in Westminster Abbey.

You can see parts of the tomb in detail in the drawing below, also in the second image you can see John's armour and his a sword, and on his shield you can see his coat of arms. The lion at his feet symbolises strength and loyalty and John was certainly loyal to his brother King Edward III and Edward, who was greatly impressed by John's many of actions, returned the favour by creating this magnificent tomb in his honour.

John of Eltham, the second son of Edward II and Isabella of France was named after the place he was born, that is the original 'palace' of Eltham in Greenwich. In 1328 John was given the title of Earl of Cornwall by Edward and a year later was considered competent enough to act as regent while the king was in France.

John was made Warden of March of Scotland in 1335, it was while he was in Scotland that he died on this day in 1336, he was just twenty years old.

John of Etham's body was not interred at Westminster Abbey until the second week of January the following year.

Eleanor of Lancaster

11/9/2017

The 11th of September 1318 saw the birth of Eleanor of Lancaster at Grosmont Castle in Wales. Eleanor was the wife of Richard Fitzalan, the daughter of Henry of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth, great granddaughter of Henry III, and my 20th great grandmother.

Eleanor was in the service of Edward III's queen Philippa of Hainault. She may have accompanied Philippa to Scotland and in the first years of her marriage she was with the queen in Europe in her capacity as Philippa's lady in waiting. It was while she was with the queen in Ghent that Eleanor gave birth to her first child, Henry. Her marriage to Henry's father, John de Beaumont, had ended with his death in a tournament in the spring of 1342, leaving her with Henry who was just two years old.

Eleanor second marriage, two years later, was to my direct ancestor Richard Fitzalan, which was a love match I believe. With Fitzalan she gave birth to seven children, the second, John, being the next in my family line.

Richard's, Eleanor's eldest child and heir to the earldom of Arundel, claim to fame, apart from carrying the crown of England at the coronation of Richard II, was his membership of the Lords Appellant, a group of men who disagreed with Richard's rule and his reliance on favorites - Fitzalan would lose his head over it. Thankfully Eleanor was long gone by that time as was Richard.

The proof of the love between Eleanor and her husband defies time and lies in the request Richard Fitzalan made in his will -

"near to the tomb of Eleanor de Lancaster, my wife; and I desire that my tomb be no higher than hers, that no
men at arms, horses, hearse, or other pomp, be used at my funeral, but only five torches...
as was about the corpse of my wife, be allowed."

Captain William Bligh

9/9/2017

William Bligh was a West Country man born on the 9th September 1754. He is thought to have been born in Plymouth where his father was a custom's officer, however the origins of the family lie further west in the county of Cornwall at Tinten Manor in St Tudy.

Bligh, I think, was never meant to pass into the annals of history unnoticed, his story, in one way or another, was meant to be told. It's a shame however that his reputation is based on the portrayal of the brutish Charles Laughton or the hard faced Trevor Howard in the 1935 and 1961 films Mutiny on the Bounty - because of this William Bligh is forever a villain.

Bligh's career at sea covered the years between 1761 and 1814, he steadily climbed through the ranks from ships boy to Vice Admiral. It is due to Bligh that we know of Captain Cook's final voyage and his fate at the hands of a Hawaiian chief. However, it is the events of April 1789 that many of us associate with William Bligh.

In 1787, Bligh was given the position of lieutenant on the Bounty, a small three masted cutter built three years earlier in the port of Hull.

Under Bligh was a small crew with one Fletcher Christian as Master's Mate. The Bounty sailed for Tahiti in the winter of 1787 and left in the spring of 1789, it was on this return journey that the infamous mutiny took place.

After the non compliance of an order by Christian and following an accusation of theft Bligh's troubles began, this eventually lead to Bligh and eighteen crew members being cast adrift. By the 14th June the small boat reached the island of Timor after travelling nearly 4,000 miles. Captain Bligh eventually returned to England arriving on the 14th of March the following year only to find that the country was already talking of the mutiny. He was at first proclaimed a hero, but later court martialed for the loss of his ship, his court case resulted in his acquittal.

Bligh went on to captain at least eight more vessels, he was appointed Governor of New South Wales for a short time and ended his career as a Vice Admiral.

The crew of Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian, had mutinied just off the Friendly Islands in Polynesia, and following setting their captain adrift, they headed for the Pitcairn Islands.

So who was the goody and baddie in this sad tale? Was it Bligh, the supposed cruel and brutal captain? Was Fletcher Christian a hero for not being afraid to standing up to a bully or was Bligh doing what he was supposed to do, that is captain his ship and keep control his men, or was Christian a rebel who mutinied when he was denied what he wanted.

These are questions that is easily answered I think.

Death of Robert Dudley

2/9/2017

On the 4th of September, 1588, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, died at his lodge at Cornbury, near Woodstock in Oxfordshire.

He was 56 years old.

Leicester had been suffering from a recurring stomach ailment and was on his way to Buxton in Derbyshire. Leicester was taken ill at Cornbury and it was there he died. Leicester left his wife, Lettice and an illegitimate son,Robert, whose mother was Lady Douglas Sheffield.

Leicester wrote his final letter to Elizabeth I, who he’d been close to since childhood, on 28th August. It was a letter which Elizabeth kept at her bedside for the rest of her life and which she marked “His last letter”

“I most humbly beseech your Majesty to pardon your poor old servant to be thus bold in sending to know how my gracious lady doth, and what ease ofher late pains she finds, being the chiefest thing in this world I do pray for, for her to have good health and long life. For my own poor case, I continue still your medicine and find that (it) amends much better than with any otherthing that hath been given me. Thus hoping to find perfect cure at the bath, with the continuance of my wonted prayer for your Majesty’s most happy preservation, I humbly kiss your foot. From your old lodging at Rycote, this Thursday morning, ready to take on my Journey, by your Majesty’s most faithful and obedient servant,
R Leicester
Even as I had writ thus much, I received Your Majesty’s token by Young Tracey.”

Elizabeth I was devastated by the death of the man she referred to as her “Eyes”, or as “Sweet Robin”. It was reported that she shut herself in her chamber for days and refused to speak to anyone, eventually the room had to be broken into. Leicester was buried in the Beauchamp Chapel of the Collegiate Church of St Mary’s in Warwick, the same place as his son by Lettice.

Death of James IV of Scotland

9/9/2016

On the 9th September 1513, King James IV of Scotland was killed whilst leading his troops in the Battle of Flodden.

James, the husband of Margaret Tudor, is said to have been fearless on the field of battle, lost his life in a bombardment of arrows and the sharp points of the enemy pikes. A gruesome looking corpse thought to be that of the kings was taken from the battlefield to Berwick and then to London where it lay for many years unburied at Sheen Priory.

Later following the Reformation the kings head was buried St Michael’s Wood Street in Cripplegate.

From the story that his body was unrecognisable, comes the legend that he may have survived.