The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – VI

Episode Six: End of Dynasty – Exit the Cerdicingas, Enter the Angevins: Scene Sixty-four; October 1173 – The Battle of Fornham, Bury St Edmunds and the Revolt of 1173-74: By the early 1170s, the king had already decided that, after his death, his dominions should be partitioned between his three eldest sons. Young Henry wasContinue reading “The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – VI”

The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – V

Episode Five – The King’s Peace and Justice; 1153-93: When Henry Plantagenet returned to England again at the start of 1153, bringing only a small army of mercenaries financed with borrowed money, he relied on the forces of Hugh Bigod and Ranulf of Chester. The churchmen who met him on the Hampshire coast also emphasisedContinue reading “The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – V”

The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – IV.

Episode Four: Scotland & England, 1093-1153 Scene Thirty-Nine – Dunfermline and Edinburgh, 1093; The Deaths of Malcolm and Margaret: In 1092, the peace agreement between Rufus and Malcolm signed five years earlier, broke down due to the building of another new castle by the Normans at Carlisle, even though the Scots claimed and controlled mostContinue reading “The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – IV.”