Caz
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The Battle of Cadsand
Edward III, King of England, had ascended to the throne, vacated by his overthrown and imprisoned father Edward II, in January 1327. Edward III as a descendant of William I (also known as ‘the conqueror’) had inherited the French titles of Duke of Guyenne and Count of Ponthieu, in addition to being the son of Isabella of France, the sister of the heirless King Charles IV of France. In 1328, when Charles IV died, Edward considered himself to have a legitimate claim on the French throne. The other major claimant was Phillip of Valois, a cousin of Charles IV, who as a descendant through the male line had the stronger…
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Stephen of Blois
Following on from my recent post on the civil war known as The Anarchy ( http://www.historynaked.com/the-anarchy/ ), I thought I would delve a bit further into the major players in this period. Stephen was born in the County of Blois in central France in 1092 or 1096; there are conflicting reports of the date of his birth, probably due to the fact he was not an heir to the throne, nor a major member of the royal family, so there would not have been a lot of publicity surrounding his birth. He was however, a Grandson of William the Conqueror. His mother, Adela was the daughter of William the Conqueror…
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The Tower of London
The Norman conquest of England in 1066 changed the face of England forever. The victorious invader William of Normandy would go on to become known as “The Conqueror”, to cement his power over the people of England, and to bring the people of London, the country’s most important city, to heel, he began to build fortresses up and down the country. The most famous of all of these is The Tower of London. The great fortress had rather humble beginnings. Archaeological evidence suggests there was a timber Motte and Bailey castle built in the south-east corner of the Roman city walls, one of a number built by William after his…
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The Lollard Revolt
The English Reformation is a well-known period in history, when you think of it, you think of King Henry VIII. However, the basis for the English reformation actually originated hundreds of years before The Tudor monarch was even born. In the early 1320’s a man called John Wycliffe was born, he would grow up to be a churchman, theologian and writer. His beliefs and ideas would be the platform on which the later reformers would build their religion. He wanted to make religious teachings more accessible to all and even translated the Bible into English, which naturally the Catholic Church denounced as unauthorised. In 1401, translating a bible would be…
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The death of King Edward IV
During the turbulent years of the Wars of the Roses, Edward IV reigned not once, but twice taking the crown for the Yorkists. His military skills and physical prowess earned him his reputation and fame. He was also an imposing figure reputedly standing 6 foot and 3 inches tall – almost a whole foot taller than the average male of the time. Edward was famous also as being something of a womaniser, allegedly having a number of mistresses. He went against convention and married a woman of his own choice, much to the frustrations of his advisers who were looking to make a politically advantageous marriage for him. His choice…
