Giles de Rais, Marshall. Murderer, Abuser
Giles de Rais was a well-known lord and soldier. He had acted as Marshall of France at the time of the French resurgence of the 1430s. In 1440 he became involved in a dispute at…
Recruitment of an army to array at Norwich by 12th May 1338
Edward III needed to recruit a new army in 1338 as his forces were stretched thinly. A force under the Earl of Salisbury was in the north, laying siege to Dunbar. Gascon nobles were complaining…
Owain ap Thomas’ manifesto
Owain ap Thomas’ manifesto issued in Paris Known as: Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri, Owain of the Red Hand, Yvain de Galles, Owain Lawgoch, Owen of Wales. Owain was a descendant on the male line from…
Katherine of Sutton, Abbess of Barking
Katherine of Sutton is the earliest female playwright whose name has been recorded in England. Between 1358 and 1376 Katherine, the Abbess of Barking, wrote or revised the Easter Plays that were performed at the…
Jeanne Daubenton
Jeanne Daubenton was a member of a group known as the Turlupins. This was a religious sect that was also known as the Society of the Poor or Fellowship of Poverty. In the second half…
Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia was born in Prague on 11th May 1366. She was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and his fourth wife. Anne’s brother was King Wenceslas of Bohemia. In 1382…
Beatrice of Portugal, Countess of Arundel
Beatrice of Portugal was an illegitimate daughter of John I of Portugal who was born in 1382, before the king’s marriage to Phillipa of Lancaster. It was Phillipa who had responsibility for the education of…
Eleanor de Bohun, Duchess of Gloucester
Eleanor de Bohun, Duchess of Gloucester was born in 1365/6 and died in 1399. Eleanor was the eldest daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd earl of Northampton, 7th earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Kent…
Catherine of Lancaster
Catherine of Lancaster. also known as Catherine of Spain, was the only child of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile to survive infancy. Through her mother she held a claim to…
Egidia and the Earl
Egidia and the Earl is a guest post written by Bev Newman. It is based on research that Bev is undertaking into a number of English families from the period of the Hundred Years War.…