Daily Medieval

When Henry III's son  Edmund Crouchback was 23 years old, he pledged to go on crusade with his brother, Edward, and a cousin, Henry of ...

A queen can have several duties, one of which is to produce heirs that can either succeed their parents or be used to make politically advan...

Simon de Montfort was in control of London in April 1264. Northampton was under siege by supporters of King Henry, and Simon assembled his ...

So the first phase of the Second Barons' War happened very quickly. The rebellious barons invaded London and captured King Henry III and...

With Dafydd ap Gruffudd executed for high treason and Wales under his control, it was time for Edward to establish the government he wanted...

With Llywelyn ap Gruffudd dead  in December of 1282, the title Prince of Wales went to his younger brother, Dafydd ap Gruffydd. Dafydd was n...

The Treaty of Aberconwy  in 1277 was supposed to make everyone happy. Dafydd ap Gruffydd (his coat of arms is shown here) was out from under...

Hostilities between Wales and anyone living to the east who wanted to control them was ongoing for centuries, but it wasn't until Edward...

Ranulf de Blondeville died in October 1232 without leaving an heir to the title Earl of Chester , so King Henry III needed to choose one. Fo...

The controversy between King Henry II and his best friend, Thomas Becket, was far from the only clash between temporal and ecclesiastical p...

One of the Keepers of the Wardrobe for five years (1290 - 1295) under Edward I was Walter Langton (1243 - 1321). He used the surname Langt...

Eleanor of Castile, as Queen of England, wanted advantageous marriages for her children. She and Edward I had 16 or more, but although many ...

Eleanor of Castile (1241 - 1290) was not always well-liked by the English. Although she was performing the expected duty of providing childr...

Ferdinand III of Castile and his queen, Joan the Countess of Ponthieu, had two children together. One, a son named Ferdinand, went on to bec...

( Part One ) So the 13 claimants for the throne of Scotland came down to the four most likely candidates. The  An t-Adhbhar Mòr  (Scottish G...

After the death of Alexander III of Scotland and his granddaughter, Margaret , the problem of who would rule Scotland rose again in Septemb...

When King Alexander III of Scotland died unexpectedly , the only heir to the throne was his granddaughter in Norway, Margaret. He had named ...

Last week, a young co-worker expressed his disbelief that there were ever things like outhouses. I told him that I had used an outhouse many...

Isabella of France was the only surviving daughter of King Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre, promised to the Prince of Wales (later...

One of the complaints about King Edward II of England by his barons was that he took the wrong people into his confidence and acted on thei...