So I came across this funny little letter from King Edward I to Robert Burghesh, constable of Dover, dated April 15, 1304, concerning Burghesh's 'guest', Nicholas de Segrave. The letter instructs Burghesh to allow Segrave to enjoy the meadow at Dover Castle during his stay, nous savons bien qe le chevaler nad mie talent senfouyr [s'enfuir] (we know ( Read more... )

Kim Phillips, in Medieval maidens: young women and gender in England, 1270-1540, has some interesting information on the literacy of high-born girls in Plantagenet England ( Read more... )

I came across this letter, which C. Stephen Jaegar calls "remarkable" in his book, Ennobling love: in search of a lost sensibility (1999), and thought I'd share it here ( Read more... )

If you’ve always wanted to see exactly what if would look like if someone hacked off another guy’s arm and bashed him over the head with the soggy end, then Ironclad is the film you’ve been waiting for all your life. (Yes, you really do see that in the film.)

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I know. Knock me over with a feather.

So I did a post a couple years back about the twelve known illegitimate children of our very busy Plantagenet bad boy, King John. It would appear that John had at least one additional illegitimate child, probably a daughter, who was the mother of Roger de Meulan, bishop of Lichfield, the king's "dear nephew" ( ( Read more... )

I'm just watching this now on C4… Why the hell are they using Philippa Gregory as a 'historical expert'? She's a novelist, and not an accurate one, either…

It was recently reported that a study on infant growth carried out in the Czech Republic shows that children reared in homes where coal is the main source of energy for heating and cooking are significantly shorter - 1.3 centimetres less at 3 years old - than children from homes using any other kind of energy (including wood stoves).

I had always ( Read more... )

A few days ago I took his Richard the Lionheart: King and Knight  out of my university library. I confess so far I have only been able to skim it, but my attention was caught by his unqualified characterisation of Henry as a “paedophile” on the basis of his alleged relationship with Alys of France.

Flori says:
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I found this interesting information about Chastoiement des dames, a mid-13th century ettiquete book by Robert de Blois, in "Courtly culture: literature and society in the high middle ages" by Joachim Bumke. Here's what was expected of a well-born lady ( Read more... )

Richard II skull drawings have been found!