#nuingiliath

[shredsandpatches]

like a well-regulated abbey or ghosts of departed quantities, please? 🥺

Secret for Ghosts of Departed Quantities: All of the rude things Henry remembers his father saying about his psoriasis are, verbatim, things my mother has said to me about mine.

Secret for Like a Well-Regulated Abbey: well, I've already told everyone the boring story of how I got reamed on yuletide_coal for this fic, and not even because of the fic but because of the tags and someone who recognized me and whose friendship with me had just ended disastrously. Also, I've got all the birthdates wrong and hadn't realized that the story of Mary and Henry's imaginary first son had been debunked, but that's not secret because you can see them if you just, you know, read the fic.

So here, because I didn't actually link it in the notes, here's a recording of the "Nay, Ivy, nay" song I used in it.

[nebylitsa]

Also, extremely important: what do you think of an AU where people from the WOTR are caught in the plot of 'Dracula'?

EXCELLENT QUESTION. honestly i see the words “wars of the roses au” and i instantly smash that like button. it could go one of two ways: the plot of dracula, but it takes place in the 15th century (which is plausible, seeing as the count is from an ambiguously medieval time period himself)

richard iii being like “hell yeah i can vibe with this dude”

henry vi feeling bad for dracula bc he doesnt want to hurt anyone, not even a vampire :’^(

dracula trying to make sense of the tangled mess of late medieval english dynastic politics (in the book he reads - among other things - train schedules, to improve his english and enhance his ability to blend in with victorian society; here he’d spend hours poring over genealogical tables, growing increasingly more frustrated because who the hell CARES who has the most royal blood flowing through their veins? its all blood anyway! precious, delicious blood...)

eleanor cobham and the woodvilles being accused not of witchcraft, but of colluding with vampires

cardinal beaufort becoming a vampire hunter by virtue of his religious vocation, stuffing the sleeves of his cassock full of consecrated hosts and extra large crucifixes

the princes in the tower disappear and of course its dracula’s doing. and then he adopts them because damn it, he may be an amoral vampire warlord but he cant stand to see these sweet, precocious children being used as pawns in a selfish political game

margaret of anjou and warwick each trying to cut a deal with dracula to get him to bite them and give them vampire superpowers, so he gladly bites them both

anne neville saying fuck this and going over to dracula’s side because are you tired of being nice? dont you just wanna go ape batshit??

or...

dracula with the standard 19th-century setting, but with a ragtag team of morally compromised megalomaniacs rather than a crew of light bound by the Power of Friendship

henry vi is an unassuming, soft-spoken solicitor and margaret of anjou is his badass educated New Woman wife. when henry goes to transylvania he immediately realizes his host is a vampire, but he just doesnt want to say anything because That Would Be Rude

margaret thinks vampires are cool (and respects dracula’s brides for exercising their Girl Power), but god damn it she’s the only one who gets to push henry around like that!

warwick is the shiftiest, least trustworthy van helsing ever. he isnt even all that invested in beating dracula and goes over to his side halfway through the story

the york brothers are the three suitors: edward is a dashing cowboy, george is a neurotic doctor addicted to drinking chloral, and richard seems like a quiet arthur holmwood type of guy, but deep down he’s kinda fucked up

anne neville is richard’s beloved fiancée who dies mysteriously and comes back as a horrific vampire, but richard’s like “jokes on you im into that shit”

in the 1931 dracula they partially merged renfield and jonathan together (mina has a husband in the movie, but his name is john and he has little to do with the jonathan in the book) so im gonna do the same thing here. henry has a nervous breakdown during his trip to transylvania and margaret finds him in a remote convent, in the grip of delirium and amnesia. sometimes hes completely unresponsive; at other times he raves about blood and eats bugs. after a stay at dr clarence’s asylum (which is admittedly not very humane by modern standards), henry slowly begins to recover enough to tell his story, though his mind is never truly the same again

thanks! <3

(feel free to add more ideas to this au - this is just what i could come up with but there are so many possibilities)

[beardofkamenev]

OTP meme, Catherine/Owen: 7, 16, 26 and 47.

AJKLDFJJDJKJKSJDKFAJKS THIS IS MY TIME TO SHINE!

7. Who comes up with the cheesy pick-up lines?

Owen for sure. While Catherine probably made the ‘first move’ in their relationship, she’s much too dignified to use cheesy pick-up lines on Owen lol. Historically, Catherine was a patron of poets such as John Lydgate, so I think she would take a more romantic approach to these things (an early copy of Lydgate’s Temple of Glas describes the poem as “a very pleasant dream made at the request of a lover” — with the “lover” possibly referring to Catherine). I can imagine Owen purposely trying to get under her skin by bombarding her with cheesy pick-up lines, which she pretends to hate but secretly loves.

16. Who reminds the other to put on sunscreen before going to the beach (or pool)?

Catherine. I feel that having already been widowed once, Catherine would be very overprotective of her new husband. Gotta protect him from the melanoma! Also, I think women in general are more fastidious about things like skincare and applying sunblock? A lot of guys I know don’t give a fuck about sunblock because of perceived notions of “strength” and “manliness”, which is dumb because you will never be stronger than UV rays lol. But societal expectations regarding conformity to gender roles would have been much more enforced in the 15th century, especially for men like Owen. And sun in Wales compared to France? That man definitely didn’t apply sunblock without his wife forcing him to.

26. Who puts the fork in the microwave?

Hhhhhhhh. I find it hard to believe that anyone who does this would survive to adulthood lol (then again, my first flatmate did this and she’s still in the gene pool last time I checked). If I had to pick out of the two, I think Catherine would be the more likely to do this? Perhaps she accidentally left a fork in the microwave the first time she used it because she was a ~princess and a ~queen so was used to an army of servants doing everything for her. Owen, on the other hand, was her former servant so he’d definitely know how to operate a microwave properly.

47. Who says I love you first? How did it happen?

MY HEART. Tbh, I can actually imagine both of them being the first to say it? The little we know about Owen’s personality suggests he was rather bold and wasn’t just a meek and mild servant (well, he definitely wasn’t if he married THE QUEEN). And in Temple of Glas, he’s the one who gathers the courage to speak to Catherine. Personally though, I think Catherine was more likely to have told him she loved him first. There was a huge status and power imbalance between them, and I don’t think that some random Welsh servant could have gotten away with making romantic advances towards the Dowager Queen of England if he wasn’t sure of her feelings first.

As for how it happened, I assume it happened in private with no one else around? Perhaps it happened as Elis Gruffydd suggested, during a secret nighttime rendezvous with Catherine dressed incognito. In those circumstances, I guess there could be absolutely no doubt from either of them that their love was reciprocated <3

(The OTP ask meme is still open!)

[richmond-rex]

The what if scenario with Margaret Beaufort and Teen Henry Tudor visiting Elizabeth Woodville, please?

Hi! Thanks for the ask ❤️ 

The idea behind this story was to explore Margaret’s feelings and thoughts during the Readeption: the reunion with her son (she had not seen him in five years), and her anxiety and fears as she realises her cousin King Henry is no longer fit to rule and Edward IV is still out there and can possibly sweep the country to his side again. I wanted to bring Margaret and Elizabeth together because it is a scenario where, contrary to them working together during the 1483 crisis, the former’s good fortune is the same as the latter’s downfall. Here goes an excerpt:

The truth must be spoken plainly to one’s soul if not out loud: her royal cousin had shrivelled, no more fortitude could be found in him than in the husk of a hollow tree ravaged by the wind. Standing next to Archbishop Neville, Margaret had found a distance swimming — almost overflowing — in his eyes, one that seemed to be no more stranger to him than a constant companion. Years spent as a prisoner in the Tower could do that to a man, Margaret reckoned, years spent in imprisonment could do that to any man, especially one kept in less dignity than his royal birth commanded — the Lord’s anointed no less, another Son of Man thrown into the litter of scorn. 

My problem with this WIP (and why I haven’t been able to finish it) is that I can’t seem to figure out the dialogue order (how to make it a crescendo in terms of tension). I know how I want to finish this story but I haven’t been able to get there (wah). Again, thanks for sending this ask :) 🌹x

WIP ask

[skeleton-richard]

I was checking Tracy Adams' Isabeau book and she makes a comment that Catherine was conceived during one of Charles VI's periods of madness - she was conceived late January/early February in 1401 and Charles had a "crisis" from 19 Jan-25 Feb. I don't know what to make of that, given the reports of his behaviour towards her during these periods (not saying that it was non-consensual or Catherine was the result of the adultery, it's just kinda exploding my mind right now) :\\

Hmmmmmm,,,,,,,,

I don’t know either. @princess-of-france, you’re our Catherine person, any thoughts?

Maybe he was briefly fine for a short time during that episode?

[feuillesmortes]

it's your birthday? HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Indeed it is 🤗🤗 thank you so much ❤️ you’re a darling! xx

[bending-sickle]

"mercy" for the wip meme please? :)

She meets Justin by their trucks and hands him his coffee without a word. Luca shuffles beside them sipping on a soda. How he can drink cold stuff in this weather is beyond her.  For her part, Mercy chugs her coffee down quickly.  These paper cups are useless against the cold, and the backs of her hands are growing numb by the second.  Her palms, on the other hand, are burning. “Fucking winter.”

“Think it’s technically fall, still.”

“What do you know?”

Justin gestures around them. “It’s a sun thing,” he says, as if that explained everything.

Luca plays with the metal tab of his can. “Equinox,” he mutters.

Justin points at Luca. “That.”

Mercy grunts. “Fine.” She tips the last of her coffee into her mouth.  Her hands are starting to hurt with the cold, so she pushes her cup into Justin’s hands and pulls her gloves back on.  Mercy whistles through her teeth, lip curling in disgust. “There’s snow. It’s winter.”

It’s an Alaskan winter, which is worse.  She’s been here three years, driving back and forth across the state, picking up people’s trash - sorry, “valued possessions” - and dumping it somewhere else. Somewhere just as empty and ugly.  These towns up here have no heart.

“Sure.” Justin crumples his paper cup and tosses it at the garbage can, doing his best three-pointer pose, but misses by a yard. He tries again with Mercy’s cup.  It does not fall as far off the mark, at least.  Luca makes a perfect throw and belches.  Justin glares at him as he goes to pick up the cups and throw them into the garbage.

Together they walk to their trucks - an eight-wheeler and, nearly dwarfed beside it, a box truck - in silence.  When they reach the box truck, Luca wastes no time in clambering into the cabin and starting the engine.  Through the window, Mercy can see him pressing his hands against the air vents.  The kid never wears gloves. 

“I’m going to pick up his fingers off the ground one of these days,” she tells Justin.

The old man shrugs and zips his jacket up tighter. “Young blood.”  He gives her a wink. “Vant to suck his blood? Ve vill be warm!”  His attempt at an accent is atrocious.

From inside the truck, Luca gives a half-hearted “Gura, ba!!”  From the number of times he’s said it, Mercy has figured out it’s something like shut up in Romanian.  She has to admire his tenacity.  He must get a Dracula joke at his expense nearly every day, and he still tries to stop it. 

“You heard the kid.”

“Yeah, yeah.”  Justin turns to go.  “See ya, blood suckers.”  He gives Mercy a double-handed gun gesture which Mercy has repeatedly told him makes him look ridiculous.

“Chupacabras are Puerto Rican, you idiot.” Mercy has told him this a thousand times, but Justin loves his joke too much to let it go.

[shredsandpatches]

falstaff fails at regicide please? :)

So this fic is a silly little AU crackfic where Falstaff is one of the men tapped by Exton to go and kill Richard and ends up saving his life instead (I think it was inspired by a conversation with someone years ago). 

It’s short, so I’m actually gonna go ahead and post all of it that exists. It is probably easy to tell that Richard is being played by Ben Whishaw (I wrote this not long after the Hollow Crown came out).

*

The road from London to Pomfret is quite a long one.

Long enough, really, to come up with some quite cunning plans, if the purpose of your trip is to come back with a present for the new king, one that is shaped remarkably like the old king, and one that would cost King Henry quite a bit of cold hard cash.

Which is, after all, what has gotten Sir John Falstaff into this business. It's not about the politics, since most of the time one king's as good as another. It's certainly not the fame. Not that Jack objects to fame, mind you, but there are much safer things to be well-known for. Like making the almost-impossible double Cheapside pub crawl.

But the money—that's something else again. Jack has a lifestyle to maintain, after all. He can handle a bit of dirty work. Granted this is dirtier than most, but it ought to pay well.

And so Jack Falstaff finds himself riding up to Pomfret in ungodly weather with equally ungodly company, contriving a plan which will result in him getting the lion's share of the money while committing a minimal portion of the...required business. It goes something like: step one, wait for other people to do the pointy things; step two, bring out bottles of sack for a celebratory job-well-done drink; step three, drink everyone else under the table; step four, return to Windsor with a big box of ex-king; step five, profit.

What he doesn't count on is that when the noise from the prison cell stops and he peeks nervously through the door, the last man standing, or rather, sliding down the wall in exhaustion, but still, the only one demonstrably alive, is the former king.

King Richard—former King Richard, whatever—looks a complete mess, all skinny and half-naked (in the dead of winter, no less) and covered in blood and sweat and dirt. Even though he has just, apparently, inexplicably cut down three men, Jack feels oddly sorry for him. Which is uncomfortable. It will make things a lot harder if he decides to go ahead with the stabby part (which seems a lot less of a good idea than it did ten minutes ago).

"I'm guessing this is a bad time," he calls out, sticking his head around the door frame, "but by any chance, is any of that blood yours?"

Richard looks up, startled, but he has enough self-possession left to ask: "What in God's name is wrong with you?"

"Well, I thought," Jack says, "you might have managed to get mortally wounded. Then I wouldn't have to stab you."

Richard grimaces incredulously. "You don't look like much of a killer."

Jack grins at him. "Neither do you."

"I am the son, and grandson, of the greatest warriors England has ever known," Richard says, pulling what remains of his dignity about him, and Jack shrugs.

"Fat lot of good it did you."

Richard raises an eyebrow. "I suppose you would know something about fat lots."

"The point is," Jack says, "I don't think you're in shape to kill me."

"And I don't think you have the nerve to kill me. I suppose that makes us even."

"You're probably right. Sounds like a good time for a drink to me!" Jack pulls a bottle from his holster and takes a swig. He's about to put it back when he thinks what moralizing types would consider better of it. Because Richard does look awfully cold and miserable. And he's probably going to die soon anyway, from this poxy weather if nothing else. What's he going to do, escape? 

Richard gives him what is patently an are-you-completely-insane look, but when Jack offers him the bottle, he takes it and drinks—after all, he's seen Jack drink, he obviously knows it's safe, and even if he'd been carrying a poison tablet in his mouth like some Italian assassin, it's not like Richard has anything to lose, really.

As soon as he's got a proper mouthful, though, Richard grimaces, although he manages to swallow anyway.

"How much sugar did you put in this, anyway?" he splutters.

"Oh, great," Jack says. "The doomed former king is a wine snob!"

[nebylitsa]

what (besides Dracula) are some of your favourite gothic books? What are the sexiest? Is there a difference between the two lists? 🧐

thanks for the ask! <3

i havent read all the famous gothic novels yet, but aside from dracula, my other top favorite one is frankenstein. i also have some favorite gothic short stories: “viy” by nikolai gogol, as well as “the fall of the house of usher,” “the masque of the red death,” “a descent into the maelstrom,” and “the oval portrait,” all by edgar allan poe. as a side note, alexander pushkin wrote some gothic-adjacent stuff that i really love - the short story “the queen of spades,” and four short plays known as “little tragedies.”

in terms of sexiness... thats a good question. certainly THE sexiest piece of gothic fiction is dracula. i find it funny when people are like “sexy vampires are a modern invention! the original vampires were NOT attractive!!!” because first of all, pretty much every dracula movie since 1931 contains sexual undertones. (whats a bit newer is the idea of the sympathetic/romantic vampire, of which the 1979 frank langella dracula is the earliest significant example, and the romantic vampire who is also a good guy or at least morally conflicted about their vampirism, which didnt originate with twilight but thats the major example of it that im familiar with.) and second of all, even the novel itself is pretty damn sexy??? bram stoker may not have meant it as a positive thing, but its... definitely there. the vampires may be described as scary and weird-looking and gross-smelling, but jonathan’s encounter with the brides? or dracula’s face being described at one point as “cruel and sensual”? or vampire lucy’s “languorous, voluptuous grace”? or the fact that dracula forces mina to drink his blood from a gash in his BARE CHEST and not like, his arm or something? absolutely horny on main. (which is why it might sound weird to say that im interested in asexual readings of this novel, but there you have it. dracula contains multitudes.)

as for other sexy gothic novels/stories - wuthering heights is pretty damn sexy, i admit begrudgingly. i have a tumultuous love-hate relationship with this book, which is fitting, i guess; it genuinely enrages and tires me but at the same time i get the urge to reread it every once in a while. (and i have to say, gothic romance doesnt get much better than “You said I killed you – haunt me, then! [...] Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!”) so im not sure if its on my list of favorite gothic novels but it certainly is on the list of sexiest ones!

out of the other stuff i mentioned, i guess poe also qualifies, but more in a “catching a glimpse of a beautiful, consumptive-looking young person / being tormented by horrific visions / dancing a slow waltz with the personification of death while wearing layers of fancy restricting clothes” kind of way. also, pushkin’s (admittedly only marginally gothic) “mozart and salieri” (from the little tragedies) is kinda sexy because its basically just “the inherent homoeroticism of developing an envious obsession with a young pretty boy-genius composer, inviting him to dinner in order to secretly poison him, and weeping when he plays the piano for you.”

[richmond-rex]

What do you think Henry VII remembers, if anything, of his other uncle Henry VI?

This is such an interesting question and something that I myself have been wondering, so thank you for providing me with the opportunity to expand my thoughts on here 🌹

We know that Henry VII only ever saw his uncle King Henry VI once during his life, when he was 13 years old. However, I’d argue King Henry must have caused quite a great impression on him, and considering Henry Tudor was old enough at that time, also a profoundly lasting one. So far young Henry Earl of Richmond had been living as a ward of his uncle Jasper’s enemies, the Herberts. By 1470 his old guardian, William Herbert, had been executed, and then, as the Earl of Warwick changed sides and brought about Henry VI’s readeption, Henry Tudor was returned to his uncle Jasper who took him to London to meet King Henry VI. That Jasper felt like acquainting his nephew with his brother denotes a special degree of closeness and advocates for his idea of family, in my opinion.

According to André, Henry VII’s court poet and self-styled regius historiographus, on 27 October 1470 Henry VI held ‘a splendid feast with the nobles and best men of the kingdom’ to commemorate his return to the throne. As the king was washing his hands, young Richmond was brought to his presence, and according to André, ‘the king prophesied that someday the boy would undertake the governance of the kingdom and would have all things under his own power.’ Polydore Vergil, a historian that began his service under Henry VII in 1506, wrote in his Three Books that in that 1470 meeting ‘the king... is reported to have said:’

“This truly, this is he unto whom both we and our adversaries must yield and give over the dominion.”

It seems not even Vergil lends much credence to this tale as expressed by his choice of words: reported to have said. As expected, this myth has largely been viewed as Tudor propaganda and indeed the episode has been immortalised in Shakespeare’s Henry VI part III. In the play, King Henry VI meets a toddler Henry Richmond (then escorted by Somerset), calls him ‘England’s hope’, and says Richmond was ‘Likely in time to bless a regal throne’. Given that King Henry VI had his own son Prince Edward as his heir at the time, it seems unlikely he would ever have said such a thing. However, if anything remotely close to that happened, then I agree with Leanda de Lisle in saying that it must have been King Henry VI taking Henry Tudor to be his own son Edward, who thanks to his imprisonment in the Tower he had not seen for five years (and would not ever see again). It’s absurdly sad to think King Henry VI would confound his nephew with his son but arguably also not out of the realm of possibility. We don’t know if Henry Tudor saw his uncle King Henry again, but it’s also not unlikely that he, his mother and uncle Jasper stayed at court for the feast of All Hallows’ (1 November) and All Souls’ Day (2 November).

If King Henry VI ever made such prophecy, wittingly or not, then it must have greatly impacted on Henry Tudor. Henry VII believed to have been chosen by God to, against all odds, become king of England. He once wrote about ‘the crown which it has pleased God to give us with the victory over our enemy at our first field’. Henry Tudor was reported to be very pious—he made pilgrimages to the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury every Easter, as well as frequent pilgrimages to the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and donations to the shrine of St Vincent Ferrer in Brittany. He also founded the cult of the Breton saint St Armel in England and boosted the teachings of St Francis by his patronage of the Franciscan order. He especially favoured the Observants (the Franciscans, also known as the Greyfriars), granting them annuities for the establishment of monasteries in England and abroad. It seems he also favoured staying at religious houses when travelling or going on progress around the kingdom.

Most importantly, Henry VII held a singular devotion to the Virgin Mary and his adoption of the red rose as his personal symbol—aside from dynastic reasons—had everything to do with the religious connotations of that flower. Henry VII could have associated himself with his uncle Henry VI by adopting his antelope badge, for example, but instead, he chose the five-petal flower associated with the Virgin Mary and the Passion of Christ. The Franciscans were noted for their devotion to the Passion, and Henry VII had come in contact with the Observants during his exile in Brittany. The rose had five petals like the five wounds of Christ—St Bernard of Clairvaux once stated: “As many wounds as there are on the Saviour’s body, so many roses are there! Look at His feet and His hands; do you not see roses?” 

Forgive me for still going on a tangent about it, but Henry VII’s personal devotion to the Virgin Mary and the doctrine of her Immaculate Conception is exemplified in his Book of Hours, where a miniature shows a figure representing the king kneeling at a prayer desk before a vision of the Virgin as a baby held by her mother, St Anne (or, alternatively, The Virgin and the Child Jesus). His devotion to the Virgin was also highlighted in his rebuilding of the Lady Chapel (now Henry VII’s Chapel) at Westminster Abbey which I will return to in a moment.

I’m not sure but I think it was Vergil who reported Henry VII as having said that religion was his ‘continual refuge’ during exile. His piety has been largely attributed to the influence of his mother Margaret Beaufort, herself also a very pious woman. But given how many years—and formative years those were—they spent apart, I imagine that Henry must have looked up to someone closer to him at the time, namely his uncle Jasper Tudor. We know that after the death of Catherine of Valois Jasper and his brother Edmund were raised by nuns at Barking Abbey, and that then at some point they joined King Henry VI’s court. According to John Blacman, Henry VI’s biographer and chaplain writing in 1485:

[…] and like pains did [Henry VI] apply in the case of his half-brothers, the Lords Jasper and Edmund, in their boyhood and youth; providing for them most strict and safe guardianship, putting them under the care of virtuous and worthy priests, both for teaching and for right living and conversation, lest the untamed practices of youth should grow rank if they lacked any to prune them.

Blacman also claimed that the king personally protected his half-brothers from sexual temptation by keeping ‘careful watch through hidden windows of his chamber’ (yes, I know). Like his uncle King Henry VI, Henry VII would also set a court that ‘maintained the highest standards of sexual behaviour’. Indeed, Retha Warnicke made an extensive compilation of scandals during the first two Tudor reigns and not a single case of sexual misconduct was found to have taken place during Henry VII’s time, marking his court as a decidedly different one than Edward IV’s had been.

Going back to Henry VI’s supposed prophecy, his words surely must have acquired a great weight in Henry Tudor’s mind by 1483 when he made his bid to the English throne. By that time King Henry VI had become a popular saint in England and even though Edward IV had tried to have him modestly—and somewhat obscurely—buried in Chertsey Abbey, Surrey, people had started to flock to his grave. A peasant claimed that Henry VI helped him when he had a bean trapped in his ear, which only popped out after he prayed to the king. Painted images of King Henry VI began showing up in churches around the country, like this one at Barton in Norfolk:

One of King Henry VI’s most ardent devotees was Henry Tudor’s mother Margaret Beaufort (Jasper’s feelings towards the cult are unknown) who had met her kinsman when she was about nine years old. When King Henry VI allegedly offered her the option of remaining married to Suffolk’s son or be remarried to his brother Edmund, Margaret says St Nicholas came to her in a dream dressed as a bishop, telling her to choose Edmund. Again, if this story is true or not, we may never know, but Margaret told that to her confessor John (bishop, then saint) Fisher—why would a famously pious woman such as Margaret Beaufort lie to her own confessor, thus committing a sin? It might be that the events took a mystical turn in Margaret’s imagination as a young girl, but that she associated divine intervention to hers and her son’s fate, and likewise to King Henry VI’s proposal, is clear.

It seems Richard III tried to control King Henry VI’s ever-growing cult by moving Henry VI’s body from Chertsey Abbey to St George’s Chapel at Windsor, a place where visitors wouldn’t have easy access to the king. Nevertheless, when Henry VII came to the throne he wholeheartedly encouraged pilgrimages to the place. Henry VII launched an official campaign to have his uncle canonised, with several petitions to popes Innocent VIII, Alexander VI and Julius II. Henry also ordered the compilation of a book of miracles worked by his uncle, and a biography of Henry VI was published in 1500 claiming that Henry VI had been ever pious and chaste during his life, towards his queen never behaving ‘unseemly ... but with all conjugal honesty and gravity’. Henry VII planned to have the body of King Henry VI re-interred at the heart of the new Lady Chapel he was planning at Westminster Abbey. 

However much Henry VII enjoyed good relations with the papacy, especially Pope Innocent VIII, his campaign to have his uncle King Henry VI canonised never came into fruition. Henry VII decided for him and his wife to be buried at his new Lady Chapel instead, next to the tomb of his grandmother Queen Catherine of Valois. In his will, he stated his wish for his body to be buried:

“in the Chapell where our said graunt Dame laye buried, the which Chapell we have begoune to buylde of newe, in the honour of our blessed Lady.”

That doesn’t mean Henry VII set aside the memory of his uncle King Henry VI. He employed the same man that was overseeing the construction of the Lady Chapel at Westminster, Reginald Bray, to continue the rebuilding of St George’s Chapel at Windsor set in motion by his predecessor Edward IV (it came to be informally known as the Bray Chapel). The modest thirteenth-century chapel of Edward the Confessor was expanded into a vast cathedral-like chapel where, importantly, Henry VI’s body was placed alongside a famous relic, the fragment of the True Cross (a reliquary known as the Cross of Gneth) and the bones of John Schorne (revered for curing gout and toothache).

We may argue that Henry VII’s campaign to have King Henry VI’s canonised was fundamentally political (much like Richard II’s campaign for Edward II) as many historians have done. King Henry VI as a saint, combined with his supposed prophecy, would successfully contribute to the image of Henry VII’s reign as one chosen by God. When we put Henry VII’s religious devotion into perspective, though, his efforts to have ‘the glorious King Henry’ canonised take another dimension—in fact, there’s no doubt that in Henry VII’s eyes God had intervened in his favour. Henry VII’s will also stated his wish for an image of himself to be placed in St Edward’s chapel at Westminster, depicting him returning to God and the Virgin Mary the circlet with which he had been crowned at the Battle of Bosworth.

This is me purely speculating, but I think that even though Henry VII only came in contact with King Henry VI once in his life, his half-uncle might have exercised a great influence on him through his uncle Jasper. Jasper seemed to have been genuinely attached to his brother Henry on a personal level as well as devoted to his political cause. If Henry VI’s saintly qualities had been enough to impress Margaret Beaufort, it is very likely that they might have impressed young Henry of Richmond as well.

[ardenrosegarden]

reverse unpopular opinion: constance did nothing wrong and richard i was just a shitlord

You know what? Honestly, yeah.

I could play devil’s advocate here and make a case for Richard’s position with his brother and Philip II but 1.) it’s real reverse popular opinion hours 2.) I still don’t think that excuses what Richard did and how he chose to move forward.

Honestly, I can’t believe Ranulf would’ve kidnapped Constance himself if he didn’t know he would have Richard backing him up, and I think to believe Richard didn't want Constance out of the way or help plan it is just naïve.

There are two larger arguments I tend to hear that Richard was unhappy that Constance didn’t let Arthur grow up in the English Court so he had to take him by force and that he was unhappy that Constance made Arthur duke without consulting him.  In either case...being angry that she made either of these decisions was considered an insultingly massive overreach of Richard’s power; while he was their overlord, he was not Duke of Brittany and there was a reason none of the Plantagenet kings could ever title themselves as such- because Brittany would go into open revolt.

That compounded with refusing to let Constance and the other hostages go as he originally agreed as well as the damage his men and mercenaries caused, I really can’t see how Richard was in the right here.

[skeleton-richard]

I learnt recently that Roger Mortimer (of Isabella of France fame) is descended from Welsh royalty so where's his magical Welsh woo-woo novel? (Also, given Eleanor is descended from him, where's her magical Welsh woo-woo novel?!)

Oh my God. Oh my God. OHhhh my Goddddd.

I did not know any of that. And yes where is the Welshaboo novel where he (via power inherited from his mother natch) uses Ancient Cetlic Magicks in the rebellion? And Eleanor, remember I asked about something similar since she was imprisoned on the Isle of Mann, which is one of the six Celtic nations? Because she’s descended from the Welsh, she’s got Ancient Celtic Magicks that are activated by being in another Celtic nation.

Also correct me if I’m wrong but usually in those novels isn’t Wales always the good guys? Which would cause some issues if you’re trying to go with the witch!Eleanor angle.

[feuillesmortes]

I saw your post about Cardinal Beaufort but didn't have the chance to respond and now it's gone :( But anyway, he is very petty and his relationship with his nephews is fascinating too and I get to write (some) of that when I get around to writing the Eleanor Conham novel. :D

Oh, I thought it was tumblr being tumblr again and not sending you the notification! But yes, I think there are so many layers to that relationship, and of course, it shifts depending on the nephew. I’ve been fascinated for a time now about his, almost sort of partnership with Bedford? 

Like on that infamous episode of the London Bridge barricade, Gloucester and (then bishop) Beaufort raising their own armies etc, and Bishop Beaufort goes on to write to Bedford for help — ‘my right noble and after one, levest lord, I recommend me unto you with all my harte’, appealing to Bedford’s desire of good governance and perhaps a shared opinion regarding his brother — ‘suche a brother you have here, God make him a good man’ — which denotes a certain type of closeness, at least, to be talking so openly about his brother (his political superior) with such frankness. The fact that Bedford personally gave him his cardinal hat, or that the cardinal sought to appease the Duke of Burgundy when Bedford and the duke were on bad terms, although politically motivated actions, I think they don’t exclude the fact that they had a partnership of sorts. I don’t know, I think it’s easier to think about the cardinal being close to his nephew Edmund Beaufort (who probably lived with him in his episcopal palace for a time), but there’s this relationship with Bedford and also the fact that apparently he didn’t resent Henry V for denying him his cardinalate at the end of his life but obstinately left Clarence and Gloucester out of his will. It’s so multifaceted, it’s fascinating. I’m sure it will be a very fun thing to write! ❤︎x

[thewritingpossum]

Do you think Edward II survived past 1327? The more I read about it, the more I think it's possible but I always get hung up on how unlikely those sorts of "secretly escaped death" stories tend to be...

Eh dear! Sorry for the super long delay, this week has been…A lot, lol. I’m even more sorry because I feel I ramble a lot to see few things but oh well, what’s new under the sun? I hope you’ll still find it interesting :)

(loong answer under)

I’d say that there’s some fairly good basis for the theory: I don’t think it comes from nowhere. The fact that Edmund of Woodstock himself believed that his brother could still be alive could very well indicate something, as does the Fieschi Letter. The fact that no one apparently ever saw Edward’s dead body is also highly suspcious, as I feel like Isabella and Roger Mortimer would have probably liked to clear any possible doubt and show that the King was indeed dead. So yeah, I understand why this theory became somehow popular and some of my favorite historians seems to believe in it, at least to an extent. As for myself…Not so much.

I still think that all the elements I just mentioned are noteworthy, but I don’t think any of them are strong enough of an evidence for me to believe in it. Edmund was apparently influenced by Roger Mortimer who pretty much wanted to give him enough rope to hang himself by getting proof of his treachery. I also feel that (and that’s pure speculations on my part), I believe that Edmund, who was not at all a constant person, who was shifting to new political allegances and who had, after all, betrayed his King and brother at some point just before his death may have latched on the idea that Edward was not really dead because it gave him a change to redeem himself: insteand of being another traitor, he would have been the savior bringing back his big brother to his throne. I can easily see the appeal that would have on a grieving man dealing with an incredibly fucked up and unstable political situation and I don’t think that means much. 

The Fieschi Letter may have been a simple attempt to discredit Edward III. And as for the body… Medieval people had ways to embalm bodies, of course, but even today moving a body without any refrigeration is pretty much always a case of hoping for the best so it may have just been that by the time he reached Gloucester, it may just not have been in a state that allowed an open casket funeral. Not a very pleasant image but not a very hard to believe one either, as far as I’m concerned.

Furthermore, I just have a hard time beliving that Edward could have get away with living in hiding for, idk, 20 years or however many years he’s supposed to have gotten. By the time he lost his crown he was almost in his mid 40’s and had been king  for twenty years. I just don’t think that someone who was used to that level of privilege could have been integrated in an even somehow efficient way. I do believe that Edward, who probably spoke english and frequently interacted with his people would have been more prepared for it than let’s say Richard II (poor boy would have survived about 3 seconds) but even if being the king was often more a curse than a blessing for him, there’s no doubt he believed that rulling was his god-given right and that said god had decided to put thim in this role. I can’t imagine him just giving that up and never looking back, especially during the first years of Edward III’s reign, when Roger Mortimer and Isabella were clearly pulling the strings.

On an even more basic, less serious and more emotional level, I don’t really want to believe in that theory because I don’t find it to really be a happy ending or even an happier ending than what Edward is believed to have got. I mean, I don’t think getting murdered in prison is good and fun but I absolutely don’t believe in the hot poker theory so I always believed that he was probably either poisoned or, most likely, strangled (maybe after being drugged in a way or another: Edward was still a strong man at the time of his death and if you want to be sure that there won’t be any fight/traces on the body, you better take precaution) which, as far as I’m concerned, is not really the worst way to go: at least when done properly, it’s fairly quick. 

Gloomy, I know, but I mean…What’s the alternative? 20 years or more cut from anyone he ever known or love, completely powerless when it came to decisions regarding his one children (honestly, he would have cut off his right hand with a rusty knife before marrying his daughter witing the Scottish nobility as far as I’m concerned), most likely forced to live a life of calm penance in a monastary…No, I really don’t think Edward would have find much happiness in this life and for that alone, I’ll always kill him at the end of my own hf even if that makes me cry a little.

So here’s my boring, vague answer: I don’t personally believe in it and won’t until presented with more evidence but I also don’t think it’s absurd and won’t dismiss a book just for using it :)

[bending-sickle]

Tag 8 People You Want to Know Better and Answer These Questions

tagged by: @nuingiliath

tagging: @beenworkingonacocktail @pepperf, @seschat, @notascreepyasyouthink, @cateyedcrow

Favourite colour: after a lifetime of blue, i’m going to have to say it’s turned into purple, because ???

Last song I listened to: Cornelius Link’s “Pumped Up Kicks (Medieval Style)”

Favourite musicians: every question that involves the word “favourite” immediately makes my mind go blank so... *casts about wildly* *realizes i haven’t changed my music list in nearly a year* *casts about more wildly* this year i’ve been pretty into Karen Kilgariff and also The Dreadnaughts?

Last movie I watched: The Handmaiden (아가씨) (2016) way back in early september. i’m planning on watching dawn of the dead for halloween, though. unless it’s day of the dead? idk, the one where they’re in a mall. i’ve never watched it.

Last show I watched: Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 – 도깨비) a.k.a. Goblin (2016-2017) though i’m working my way through (20 eps in out of 70!) Story of Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略) (2018)

Sweet, spicy, or savoury: sour, motherfucker (but like, all of the above are good)

Sparkling water, tea, or coffee: what misbegotten list is this? since when is sparkling water put in with hot, often-caffeinated beverages? why not “hot chocolate, tea, or coffee”? that said, anything but sparkling water, which is vile and tastes like metal

Pets: 6 garden snails (and one tiny baby!), 12 beetle grubs (one was in nymph mode and i hope it’s still alive - i haven’t dug around to check on them in a while), a whole lot of woodlice, and one elusive little milipede (i think that’s what it is). not sure if the earthworms are back or not (i can’t seem to keep them happy. sometimes i’ll see red wrigglers up against the terrarium glass, and other times when i’m cleaning not find a single one). not sure a terrarium of invertebrates counts as pets, but we take what we can get (and by get i mean abduct off the street)

[shredsandpatches]

🌹

More bad pregnancy timing au!

*

Anne obediently begins to say her prayers, trying to focus on the words, but it's hard to really concentrate on what she's saying. Juliana, a thin, somber woman with watery blue eyes, holds a bundle of herbs under her nose, which is pleasant but not helping her concentration.

"These will make your womb fragrant," Juliana says. "If you need to sneeze, your grace, hold your nose."

Anne nods. She has no idea how that will help. Perhaps it will make the baby want to come out. She can't blame it. The smell is a bit overwhelming. She hasn't remembered to say her prayers, either, which occurs to her at the same moment another contraction seizes her and she gasps and cries out.

"How many was that, Margery?" Mistress Avice asks.

"I only counted fourteen," Margery says, "but it was hard to hear and her grace stopped saying Aves after we gave her the herbs."

"It was hard to concentrate," Anne says.  

The Countess of Hereford leans in to stroke her hair. "It's all right, dear," she says. "I'll say them for you."