Archaeologists are DNA testing some bones they've found to see if they might be the remains of Richard III. Are there any other members of the Royal Family....

[seeker]

where DNA testing might produce interesting results?

Margaret George - The Autobiography of Henry V111 (with notes by his fool, Will Somers) is still my favourite work of fiction.

Hi, this is Signy, Sieglinde's daughter.
I insist on a state funeral! Medieval liturgy. In Latin. With me invited, please! I maintain that it should be in Westminster Abbey. Or maybe St Georges Chapel, Windsor so he can be next to his brother?
Also isn't it just as likely that the little princes didn't die as it is that they died? Couldn't Richard have smuggled them out of the country before Bosworth? I think Perkin Warbeck WAS Richard, Duke of York and Edward V died earlier probably from a disease he may have had in the 1480s Yes?
And (not really on the same subject), no offense to anyone but the Catholic Church was up and running by at least 100 AD; therefore by 11th century it had been around for 900+ years.

By the way, another thing people are sniffy about is Wikipedia and I cannot understand why. I have an undergrad degree in history and a masters in medieval history, and as far as I'm concerned there is nothing wrong with getting an outline grasp of a period or a person's life off Wikipedia. The main facts are too well known to be in dispute, it is highly unlikely that they will be definitively wrong.

You can't, obviously, write essays from it, because it's usually not detailed enough and it won't present the conflicting arguments that books will discuss in depth. But for an overview, to dip into a subject, fine. And often more than fine actually, I've seen plenty of highly authoritative academic books I'm familiar with used very effectively as sources on there (probably by people as obsessive as me).

Also Norah Lofts "The Concubine" , another favourite fiction about Anne Boleyn.

I loved the Tudors even though it was full of nonsense. Pretty people having lots of sex in lovely costumes, what's not to like?

I love Norah Lofts. She had a very gritty grasp of history. She grew up on a farm and she was more interested in how ordinary people made a living than in romanticising anything. The Old Vine trilogy is wonderful.

Thank you for moving to Classics, MNHQ

Plan-tadgenetts, Blisterpack

Well the Tudors had Johnathan Rhys Meyers and Henry Cavill in it. That's enough for me!

Planta Genista is the Latin name for broom.

It's a soft "G" (like jelly) blister, named for the Planta genista (common broom) sprig Geoffrey of Anjou habitually wore in his hat. Geoffrey was the father of Henry II (husband to the magnificent Eleanor of Aquitaine) and coincidentally, the Plantagenet's remained the England's royal house right up until the defeat of Richard III at Bosworth. in 1485

Hi Signy, I think I've heard this theory, is this the one about Edward having a lot of doctors in attendance around May/June 1483, hence it is thought he may have been ill and could have died of natural causes?

One thing I am really interested in is, whether Perkin Warbeck was Richard of York or not, is why Margaret of Burgundy backed him. To be a PITA to Henry is the obvious answer. But did she really believe it was him? Did she persuade herself, because she wanted it to be him? That must have been, at the very least, a weird and emotional time for her - all her brothers dead, her whole family defeated and chucked off the throne, her nephews disappeared, and then suddenly a young man turns up saying he's from a bit of that past she thought was lost...

God! you have to be quick around here!
Anya Seton is a good intelligent read too by the way.

I love CJ Sansom and Bernard Cornwell's books (Azincourt probably my favourite).

I have also read two or three by Posie Graeme Evans (?) which were very evocative of the time of Edward the Confessor (?) but would like to know the MN history panel's views on her writing? Pop history bonk buster or well researched?

One more thing... This would be better in 'baby names' but :) as all the mediaevalists are here... My name and my mother's name are both British queens/princesses of the 20th century. If I was to have a girl baby, I would like to carry on that trend. Suggest me some I might not have thought of, and the story. I like Charlotte but (a) she was basically German and (b) died in childbirth and (c) it's quite a popular name now. Also like Anne as she was almost (?) a queen in her own right, which my mother's namesake is and also was the first time round too. I am not adventurous enough to use Aethelburga or the like, and Eleanor is already used by a close friend, but can you give me some good Plantagenet princesses/queens to name my potential future possible DC2?

I think Margaret wanted to believe and also wanted Henry off the throne or at the very least to harass him. Also, Henry V11's claim to the throne was so, erm, tenuous she probably felt an imposter had as much right to the throne as Henry Tudor....

okay, a bit earlier, but Juliet Barker's 'Agincvourt is also a fantastic read ( and for anyone who is a Project maanger - the logistics were astounding )

What about Alienor the Latin form of Eleanor, or Petronilla for her sister, or the fabulous Berengaria for the Lionheart's wife?

oooooh, Henry Cavil

Ooh, princesses & queens.

York: Anne, Elizabeth, Margaret, Mary, Cicely, Bridget, Catherine, Isabel, Ursula.
Lancaster: Blanche, Philippa, Mary, Joanna, Marguerite, Anne.
14th C: Isabella, Philippa, Eleanor, Margaret, Joan, Mary

Just all the ones you'd expect really - I do like Cicely and Blanche. And Elizabeth Woodville's mother's name was Jacquetta, which is also nice.

Wow history lesson or what!!

Sweet Cicily, lovely!

Can someone tell me what happens to threads in Classics? Does the thread still have to end at 1000 posts and if so, what do we do then?

Alexandrina?

Queen Vic's proper first name.

I was just thinking that, maybe I'd we'd better stop jabbering on or we'll never make it through the 12 weeks!

I imagine for MN to make a new section for us there has to be sufficient interest from a wide range of posters, so I will shut up for a while.

Please don't shut up Mad At worst we could start a new thread entitled
"Waiting for Dick"

Ach no, we'll just start up another thread and grovel to MNHQ......