On this day in history...

     Edward IV, King of England and  of France and Lord of Ireland, died today (April 9) in 1483. He fell fatally ill on Easter 1483, and lasted for about three weeks (give or take), just enough to adjust his will- the most notable change to name his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as his Lord Protector.  He was just shy of his forty-first birthday (April 28). He was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. He was succeeded by his son,  His motto was modus et ordo (method and order). Edward, Prince of Wales, who became Edward V, though he was never crowned.

    It is not definitively known what caused his death. Everything from pneumonia to typhoid to poison has been theorized. Perhaps he just let himself go?

    All I have to say is...Loyaulte Me Lie.

    Source: Wikipedia and my own memory.

Light in the, "Dark Ages"?

    One of the biggest modern-day criticisms of the Middle Ages is a lack of knowledge. While there is some truth to this, many Universities were founded by the Church during this time. By Columbus’s time, most people knew that the Earth was round. I don’t think that knowledge was as lacking as we think it was.

The dialect of English which was shaped by the Vikings

The dialect of English which was shaped by the Vikings: The story of a dialect of Old English that was strongly influenced by Old Norse during the early Middle Ages, namely the Northumbrian dialect.

Medieval Times given an unfair Reputation?

         Does anyone else feel that Medieval Times are unfairly vilified nowadays? Of, course, if you’re speaking about hygiene, you’re probably right-but no one is really speaking about hygiene when that ask this question, do they? Was life any better or worse than in any other age? What do you guys think?

How a deal made by a French King eventually led to 1066

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We all (hopefully) might know about the invasion of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror. What you might not know is how that came to be in the first place.

In the 800s .A.D., one of the biggest problems facing Christian Europe was invasion by Vikings. The first Viking invasion on the West (before then, Vikings had only gone East to raid) was on the monastery at Lindsfarne (off the coast off England) in 793 .A.D., in the Anglo-Saxon city-state/Kingdom of Northumbria.
In the beginning, many Kings thought that they could just make the Vikings go away by bribing them with lots of gold. Sometimes that worked; sometimes that didn’t.
A lot of them may have taken, and did take it as a sign of weakness, which inspired them to return more. This was especially the case in England, but also in France. One such deal was between the King of France and a Viking named Ralf (Latinized Rollo). The descendants of Charlemagne had never been as good as the man himself; always weak and willing to give in. Finally, however, instead of gold; one King of France decided to give the Vikings something infinitely more valuable: land. It included a title, legitimacy, etc. Rollo accepted. Of course there were some conditions: conversion to Christianity, an expectation to fight against other Vikings, etc. Since they were, “Northmen,” or ,”Norsemen,” the area the settled became known as, “Normandy.” Rollo’s great-grandson was William the Conqueror himself! That is how the deal affected 1066 and World History.

Happy Easter, everyone!!

Happy Easter, everyone!!! I hope you have a great day...

The Tudors- a half-bastard line?

    The Tudor dynasty started after the death of Henry V of England. He and his wife, Catherine of Valois, had had Henry VI, who would eventually go crazy and ascended to the throne when he was about twelve (give or take- I could be wrong on that). After Henry V’s death, Catherine started an affair with a servant of hers, Owen Tudor. The had two sons and children overall Edmund and Jaspar Tudor, in that order. Henry VI would later legitimize his half-brothers, and give them estates and titles in Wales, which was always loyal to them as a result. Edmund married Margaret Beaufort, and they would have one child: Henry VII, who would overthrow Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. Of course, the question mark on the title is a little misleading- it’s not like we don’t know this for a fact. Plus, many of you might have already known this. If you didn’t know this before how do you feel about this new information? For people who already knew this- how did this change your outlook on the Tudors, if it did so at all?