Archaeology news in the UK–exciting update!
I am always on the lookout for interesting archaeological finds or digs in the UK. I have three today: The first is the ongoing quest for the grave of Richard III: http://www.northwalesweeklynews.co.uk/conwy-county-news/uk-world-news/2012/08/24/archaeologists-in-richard-iii-dig-55243-31688154/ “King Richard III, the last Plantagenet, ruled England from 1483 until he was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. It is believed his body was stripped and despoiled and brought to Leicester, where he was buried in the church of the Franciscan Friary, known as Greyfriars.” Richard III is the king defeated by Henry Tudur, the descendent of Ednyfed Fychan, the seneschel to Llywelyn the Great. Henry became Henry VII. The interesting problem in this case, and it has happened all over the UK, is that they lost the location of the original church where they think he is buried! You wonder how that could have happened Read more…
The Best and Worst of King Arthur Movies
While we’re on the subject of King Arthur, which of course, we always are, except when we’re talking about Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, I thought we could talk King Arthur movies. Since I’ve ranted about the King Arthurs I don’t like to read about or watch (https://sarahwoodbury.com/the-fictional-king-arthur-rant/), how many King Arthur movie depictions have there actually been? And how many have been done well? Here’s the list from Wikipedia of straightforward King Arthur movies: Parsifal (1904) Launcelot and Elaine (1909) Il Re Artù e i cavalieri della tavola rotonda (1910) Parsifal (1912) The Quest of the Holy Grail (1915) The Adventures of Sir Galahad (serial) (1950) Knights of the Round Table (1953) Parsifal (1953) The Black Knight (1954) Prince Valiant (1954) The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (serial) (1956) Lancelot and Guinevere (1963) Siege of the Saxons (1963) The Sword in the Stone (1963) Camelot (1967) Arthur of the Britons (1972) Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) Lancelot Read more…
The Ninth Crusade
Edward I of England took the cross in 1268. His father, King Henry, was still alive at the time so he was able to take the opportunity to campaign in the Holy Land. The eighth crusade, which was very short and only lasted a few months, is sometimes lumped into the ninth. It’s leader, however, was Louis the IX of France, “sailing from Aigues-Mortes, initially to come to the aid of the remnants of the crusader states in Syria. However, the crusade was diverted to Tunis, where Louis spent only two months before dying.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades By 1270, things had deteriorated for the Christian states in the Middle East considerably. Jerusalem had fallen in 1244 AD and was never recovered. For Edward’s purposes, the Baron’s War against Simon de Montfort was over and the Welsh threat contained with the Treaty of 1267. Read more…
Sharing some pics from Wales …
My husband has kept these hidden on his drive until now, so I hadn’t even seen them! These two pictures were taken on a nothing of a road from Devil’s Bridge (east of Aberystwyth) through the Elan Valley to Cilmeri. The road was protected by a cattle guard on either end, was really only one lane (albeit paved), and we saw two cars and a million sheep for the two hours we were on it. The rock is broken over the English translation and at first I couldn’t believe what it said. It is at ‘Llywelyn’s Well’, which you reach by following a narrow path and some stairs behind his monument at Cilmeri. It should read “Legend has it that this is the well where the head of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was washed.” Dinas Bran: Dolwyddelan and Read more…
The Mortimers
The Mortimers were a powerful Marcher family that begin with Ranulf, who became lord of Wigmore after 1075. He was Norman, naturally, and was the Seigneur of St. Victor-en-Caux in Normandy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralf_de_Mortimer Once in England, however, the family rose to power and as far as I can tell, did everything in their power to hold onto it, regardless of how many times they switched allegiances between the English crown, the Welsh crown, and outright rebellion. “In historical terms we can go back to the Domesday Book for the first clear reference to Wigmore Castle. The relevant entry read “Ralph de Mortimer holds Wigmore Castle”, but he was not the nobleman to whom we can attribute the building of the stronghold. That honor goes to William Fitzosbern, but this Norman, one of the Conqueror’s captains, incurred William’s wrath in 1075 with an act of treachery and he Read more…
My Welsh Ancestry
I say in my bio that my ancestors came from Wales. While Woodbury is a Saxon name, my umpteenth great grandfather, William Woodbury, self-identified as a Welshman when he came to Salem in 1628. I discuss the origins of the name ‘Woodbury’ and its Welsh possibilities here: https://sarahwoodbury.com/about/the-origins-of-the-name-woodbury/ I am also descended from a host of Morgans, Thomas’, Kemries, Johns, Rhuns etc. The line I’ve researched most successfully descends from Llywelyn ap Ifor born around 1300. Six generations later, Sir John Morgan (1448) was knighted and is featured here: http://tredegarhouse.blogspot.com/2006/05/sir-john-morgan-7.html One of his sons, Thomas, married Elizabeth Vaughn and had Rowland (who became sheriff in 1588). The line then goes Henry-Thomas-Robert to Samuel, who had two children: Anna and Robert. Anna, born in 1685, married Hezekiah Ober. Their child, Joanna, married Elisha Woodbury, 8 generations up from me through my father. In turn, Read more…
Baby Steps to Mama
I’m delighted to welcome Brynne McKay to my blog today. She’d the author of five novels, including her latest contemporary literary fiction, Baby Steps to Mama. And let me just say, not only is it garnering great reviews, but it’s free at the moment at Barnes and Noble and Apple: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baby-steps-to-mama-brynne-mckay/1112113028?ean=2940044717282 It’s wonderful to have you here, Brynne. Can you tell us a little bit about your book? My new novel, Baby Steps to Mama, is a story about community, motherhood, and family. When Lindy Marston moved back home to the little town of Murray,Oregon after escaping a bad relationship, she never expected to end up a housekeeper and nanny for her older sister. But when her sister dies in a car accident, Lindy at twenty-five finds herself mother to three-year-old David and infant Jenny. Unprepared, Lindy must face her own Read more…
Welsh Place Names
I just have to share with you this site I found today. It’s a list of Welsh place names and their meanings. http://www.domesdaymaps.com/Welsh+Place+Names+Index.htm Just some highlights: BANGOR (Gwy) Bangor (1291). Earliest Welsh Record: Benchoer moer in Britannia (634). Meaning:from WELSH bangor ‘strong plaited rod in a fence’. The original monastic cell was either made of wattle or surrounded by a plaited fence. BEDDGELERT (Gwy) Bedkelerd (1269). Earliest Record: Bekelert (1258). Meaning: from WELSHbedd ‘grave’ and a (probably Irish) personal name Celert or Cilert. Bethgelert, the 16th century spelling, is the first time the name appears to be linked with Llywelyn’s famous hound, Gelert(canine babysitter extraordinaire). The commemorative stone was erected by the enterprising landlord of the Royal Goat Hotel, David Prichard, in the 18th century to reinforce the legend. CAREW (Dyf) Carew Meaning: possibly from WELSH carw ‘stag’. The Norman castle was rebuilt c. 1300. (I discussed the meaning elsewhere on my blog: https://sarahwoodbury.com/better-know-a-castle-carew/ DEE / DYFRDWY (Riv) Dee (1043) / Deverdoe (10th century). Earliest Record: Deova Read more…
Welsh Faeries
The Welsh had a pantheon of gods and goddesses before the coming of the Romans. With the defeat of the druids and the extermination of their sites on Anglesey, the druid religion in Wales went into decline–and perhaps that is the reason there are relatively few Welsh gods and goddesses compared to the Irish, whose religion flourished during the Dark Ages and also developed a unique form of Christianity alongside it. Within the belief system, faeries, or Tylwyth Teg, the modern designation, had a role, divisible into five classes: the Ellyllon, or elves, the Coblynau, or mine fairies, the Bwbachod, or household fairies, the Gwragedd Annwn, or fairies of the lakes and streams; and the Gwyllion, or mountain fairies. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/wfl/wfl02.htm Ellyllon: “The Ellyllon are the pigmy elves who haunt the groves and valleys, and correspond pretty closely with the English elves. Read more…
Medicinal Herbs in Wales
Most plants and herbs used as medicines can cause harm when taken in excess or used inappropriately (see Medieval Poisons), but a whole host of plants were employed for medicinal purposes during the Dark and Middle Ages in Wales. “Medical activity in Wales has a long history: although no primary sources now exist it seems likely that at the time of Hippocrates, around 430 BC, the laws of Dynwal Moelmud acknowledged and protected the art of medicine in Wales. It is possible to ascertain with greater certainty the contribution to medicine made in the tenth century by the Welsh King, Hywel Dda (c. 890 – 950AD) when he drew up the code of laws which were to be used in Wales until the time of Edward I. The physician was an important member of the household: his remuneration was clearly Read more…
The Fall of Rome
The coming of the ‘Dark Ages’ was predicated on the fall of Rome. Rome had dominated Europe (and parts of Africa and Asia) for nearly 800 years when Alaric, a Visigoth, sacked it. According to the excellent documentary, The Dark Ages (available on Netflix here), Alaric had served in the Imperial forces until passed over for a promotion, at which point, he took his cause directly to the City of Rome. He and his men then camped outside the walls in 408 AD, cutting off all food and succor to the city, for two years, until in 410 the citizens opened the gates. That Rome no longer had the military resources to relieve the city in all that time indicates the extent of its decline. Read a great description of the 40-year lead-up to the sacking here: http://www.mmdtkw.org/VAlaric.html The story Read more…
The Third Crusade
In 1188, Gerald of Wales travelled through Wales as part of Archbishop Baldwin’s tour, the purpose of which was specifically to find recruits for the Third Crusade. He wrote both his Journey through Wales and On the Education of a Monarch as part of his devotion to the Crusade ideal. http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/whatson/?event_id=3923 Here is the link to the map: http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/images/crusades/third/third_crusade_route_map.jpg The Third Crusade “was led by Frederick I Barbarossa of Germany, Philip II Augustus of France and Richard I the Lionheart of England . . . all of whom were experienced military leaders, although Philip and Richard were already at odds before the crusade began. The crusaders travelled by two separate routes. Barbarossa marched overland from Germany, leaving in the spring of 1189. His march was one of the best organised of any crusade . . . but late in the summer Frederick was Read more…
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