One of the more famous monuments in Gloucester Cathedral is that of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. He was the eldest son of William the Conqueror, his brothers William (surnamed Rufus) and the youngest, Henry. On William's death in 1087 he envisioned that two brothers would each rule either England or Normandy and Henry preside over his own estates. As it turned out, William became King of England and was killed while out hunting in the New Forest, and Robert Curthose was challenged and imprisoned by the underdog Henry. Henry I assumed the throne, and on capturing Curthose, kept him imprisoned for around thirty years, while he took over affairs of both Normandy and England. Robert Curthose died at Cardiff Castle in 1134 and it was said that he specially chose Gloucester Cathedral as the place of his burial.

The effigy of the unfortunate duke was installed shortly after his death, made out of wood. He is represented in armour with crossed legs and wears a coronet. The effigy is also painted in primary colours. During the 1600s, during the English Civil War, it was taken apart, but rescued, and carefully replaced in its position in the later part of the century. The spurs on the figure are not thought to be original, but added in the seventeenth century, the earlier Norman spurs having been stolen or lost by then. 

Robert Curthose's nickname means 'short trousers' and probably refers to the fashions he wore. He married a wealthy heiress named Sybil, and took part in the Crusades in the Holy Land. On Sybil's death he became a widower, and he was then captured by his younger brother. The writer Henry Spence-Jones related the belief in the nineteenth century that Henry had actually blinded his brother, a claim that can't now be verified. Charles Wendell David suggested that it may have been Henry's punishment for Robert's repeated conspiracies to escape captivity and make his own bid for the crown. Despite all this drama and his status, Robert is quite an overlooked figure of history, although Charles Wendell David did manage to publish a book about him, with almost 300 pages - 201 of them of Robert's story.. 

If you stand and look at Robert's effigy today, remember his dramatic story. He had a dazzling start to life, as eldest son of the Conqueror king, but ended it with family fighting, grief and decades of imprisonment. One writer believed that he died on hunger strike, so tired of his long years alone. Robert Curthose today is a symbol of the chaotic struggle for power, and brutal treatment of those who wielded it, in the early medieval and Norman periods.

Interested in medieval history? Forgotten Women of the Wars of the Roses explores the roles of women from all sectors of fifteenth century society and the impact they had on the Wars of the Roses conflict. Order your copy here. 

I've also written Power Couples of the Renaissance. It features relationship dynamics that went against accepted norms of the period and power-hungry couples who ruled, fought and spread the patronage of art, science and culture across the globe during one of the most tumultuous periods of history. Find it on the Pen and Sword Books website. 

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Sources

Charles Wendell David, Robert Curthose Duke of Normandy. Havard University Press, 1920.

Henry Spence-Jones, The Dean's Handbook to Gloucester Cathedral, 1913.

In early 1628 the Cornishman Peter Mundy stepped off a wooden plank from the bow of his ship and into the warm heat of Shah Jahan's India, or as it was then, Hindustan. Mundy was a merchant and royal servant appointed to act on behalf of the East India Trading Company, visiting the country to support administration and trade between the nations. Mundy's presence here was therefore one of the links between Charles I's England and this far-away exotic land, where spices and other goods were bought and sold. Mundy was highly observant, and recorded a lot of interesting facts about his journeys around India and we can learn a lot about what it was like to travel here in the early 1600s. 

Shah Jahan had three wives, although it is usually agreed that his favourite was Mumtaz Mahal. As a young prince he made marriages for dynastic or political reasons, but it was with Mumtaz that he had most of his children. She also accompanied him at public ceremonies and travelled with him during military campaigns. On one occasion she angrily urged him to go to war after one of her maids was abducted by a group of foreigners.

Shah Jahan and his Peacock Throne, Public Domain via Metropolitan Museum

The couple lived in an opulent court and were carried in chairs mounted on top of jewelled elephants. They threw coins to crowds and drank from cups made of jade. They also glittered in diamonds and wore intricate fabrics that conveyed their power and wealth. Money for the couple seemed to be in abundant supply, and Shah Jahan's throne, where he received ambassadors and the public, was especially magnificently decorated.

In March 1632, Mundy made a note in his diary, recording Shah Jahan's 'Peacock Throne':

'At this time in Agra, the king sitteth out upon his throne... of which every king hath his own, there being one now making for this, that by computation cannot be worth less than 4 Courourees of rupees. Every Courouree is 100 Lack and every Lack is 100,000 which, in our money is four millions and three hundred thousand pounds sterling. All of pure gold, curiously engraven, enamelled and set with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, etc. Precious stones, taken out of the treasury. I saw the king sitteth out nine days under mighty high, rich and stately pavilions of Cloth of Gold, etc. with his Amrawes or Lords about him, al making the greatest shows of magnificence and mirth they can, in feasting, presenting, recreating, with several shows and pastimes and dancing wenches, fighting of elephants etc.'

In fact, the Peacock Throne was said to have been worth around one and a quarter million sterling in 1632. The sight of Shah Jahan seated among this magnificence would have conveyed an important message of power, wealth and resources. From other sources we know that he sat on a large seat with cushions, and that there was a jewelled canopy above his head which was supported by emerald-studded pillars. Three steps took him to his seat, which acted as a stage where peacock sculptures looked down at him from the top of each column, decorated with rubies, garnets, diamonds, emeralds and pearls. The history of Shah Jahan's reign, the Badsah-nama by Abdul Hamid Lori, stated that it took craftspeople seven years to complete the throne. No wonder it became an object of legend, and so eagerly eyed by Mundy.

Find out more about Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal in my book Power Couples of the Renaissance. It features relationship dynamics that went against accepted norms of the period and power-hungry couples who ruled, fought and spread the patronage of art, science and culture across the globe during one of the most tumultuous periods of history. Find it on the Pen and Sword Books website. 

The Saxon legend of Melangell is haunting and beautiful, and not often told. The first I ever heard of the saint was after some people I knew visited Pennant Melangell in Wales. At the village's church, as curious ghost hunters, they left a tape recorder recording during their visit. When they played it back, they claimed to have heard the unmistakable whisper of 'Melangell' crackling out from the machine's speakers, which they had not heard while inside the church. Whether you believe in this or not, the legend of this impressive woman is thick with strength, resistance and faith.

Photo by Natalia Sobolivska on Unsplash

Melangell was the daughter of an Irish king. Despite choosing to remain unmarried for life, she was promised as a bride by her father to a member of his nobility. Running away, she lived on the lands near Pennant Melangell for fifteen years without being discovered. However in 604AD a man named Brochwel Yscythrog, Prince of Powys and owner of the lands, was hunting nearby when he followed the path of a darting hare and found Melangell in a thicket of brambles. With her was the hare he had been chasing, sheltering under her gown, but staring back at him, unafraid of his dogs. Brochwel was shocked to see Melangell so devoutly at prayer and living on his estate by herself, and even more shocked when his dogs refused to snatch the animal from her. They talked, and Melangell told him all about her story and why she had chosen to live in the countryside in secret, to escape her fate. The prince, sympathetic to her, granted her some property of her own and instructed her to build an abbey, so that others could find sanctuary in the same way that she had. She founded the nearby church, and the village was named Pennant Melangell in her honour. Dying in her eighties, she is buried in the church, which quickly became a shrine to her memory throughout the medieval period. She also seems to have gained wider fame later on. The eighteenth-century writer Thomas Pennant remembered being shown the actual bed Melangell slept in while living on Brochwel's land, 'in the cleft of a neighbouring rock'. 

St Melangell's Church, via Wikimedia Commons by Rosser1954, CC BY 4.0

Sadly, any trace of Melangell's tomb or any of the decorations which once were laid there have been removed. However medieval carvings at the church record the legend, including depictions of hares as well as Melangell herself. She is also known as St Monacella. Pennant revealed that in the 1600s, locals were too afraid to hunt for hares in the parish because of her spiritual influence, and in the 1700s, they believed that if any hare was chased, a shout  of 'God and St Monacella be with thee' would save its life. Descriptions of the fifteenth-century carvings were recorded in the nineteenth century by a local reverend, and include Melangell standing with a foliated crozier and a veiled headdress in her capacity as abbess at the church here. He also took care to note that she is depicted larger than the prince and the huntsman, signifying a heightened importance, as she sits on a red cushion.

A tale of early Christianity, women's strength and strong resistance to the ideals and expectations of the time, Melangell's story is one we should remember. It is a tantalising view of a Saxon-era legend, but also reveals the fifteenth-century residents that put their hopes on the saint, depicting her and her assertiveness inside their church. 

Liked this? You might also like: The Welsh Legend of Nelferch, 10 British Castles to Visit by Train and The Warrior Women of the Wars of the Roses.

You might also like my book Forgotten Women of the Wars of the Roses, published by Pen and Sword. 

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Source: Archaeologica Cambrensis, Volume 3, London, 1847

Looking through the Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic of the reign of Henry VIII for a special piece of research, I came across this entry of 1537, detailing some of the jewellery owned by Jane Seymour. Jane was Henry's third wife, who died tragically shortly after the birth of her son Edward, at Hampton Court Palace. After her death Henry was plunged into grief, and there are mentions in private letters of him not wanting to see anyone, and even less marry again, despite his reputation today as an enthusiastic bridegroom. Shortly after Jane's death, an enquiry was made into the jewels she owned and if she had gifted any. Special mention was made as to the recipients of any of the jewels. All this information was detailed in 'A book of the Quenes juelles'.

Not only does this short document show us the different types of jewellery Jane owned and wore, but reveals some of her alliances within the court. She gave strings of beads to women such as Margaret Douglas (the king' niece), and also to Lady Mary, her stepdaughter. The women mentioned were ' lady Bewham, (sic), lady Duddeley, lady Weston, lady Page, lady Douglas, lady Norfolk, lady Calthrope, lady Lyell, lady Lyster, Mrs. Oxenbryg, lady Guldeford, lady Audeley, lady Mary'.

Jane Seymour. New York Public Library Digital Collections, Public Domain.

She was also recorded as giving other jewels, pomanders and tablets to the Lady Mary as well as to Henry's second daughter the Lady Elizabeth, from his marriage to Anne Boleyn. Jane is well known for her accommodating and friendly attitude towards Mary, the daughter of Henry and Katherine of Aragon, but her gifts to Elizabeth show that she was also friendly towards her. This is often overlooked, and Jane perceived as dismissive to the four-year old daughter of Anne Boleyn, the queen she supplanted in Henry's affections. The list of men and women who received similar gifts were: 'lady Lister, Mrs. Oxenbrygge, Mr. Knyffet, lady Rocheford, lady Russell, Mr. Longe. lady Marquis Dorset'. It was also noted that Jane had owned 'A glass with the images of the King's father and others', showing that she wore, or held, images of her father-in-law Henry VII.

Jane also gifted a girdle, an (often jewelled) chain that hung around the waist, to the Countess of Surrey 'at the christening of her child'. Gertrude Courtenay Marchioness of Exeter also received a girdle as a gift from the queen. Once again, the lady Mary makes an appearance here. We also see that Jane owned several brooches made of gold, and the gifts of these are more widespread. Her brother Thomas Seymour received one from her, as did 'Cutberd the King's poticarie', an apothecary of the court. This may have been given as a gift in thanks for his service to Henry or for herself. Elizabeth Cavendish, later to become Bess of Hardwick, also received one, as did the Lady Elizabeth (future Elizabeth I) on New Year's Day. 'Palmer the Lord Privy Seal's servant' also received one (a servant of Thomas Cromwell). Here's the full list: 'A catalogue of "brouches of gold," some given to Mr. Thomas Seamowre, Mr. Hennage, Guilliam the brotherer, Cutberd the King's poticarie, the lady Shelston, Palmer the lord Privy Seal's servant, Fras. Elmam, Eliz. Cavindishe, Dr. Benteley, Dr. Augustine, Mr. Russell, Mr. Browne, Mr. Carowe, lord Zouche, Mr. Pownes, Ant. Denny, lady Musgrave, Cruche, the lady Grey, Mrs. Eliz. Darsye, lady Elizabeth at New year's day'. Jane also gifted gold buttons, bracelets and chains to members of her household and to people present at court, although these are not individually detailed in the publication, at least as it appears in the transcript of Letters and Papers.

Gifts of jewels were important, and could be given to gain trust, support and promote friendship. Jane's widespread giving of items to the apothecary, ladies of the court and servants of important men suggest that she was likely working to secure backing as a relatively new queen in a turbulent court. She only ruled for little over a year - from May 1536 to October 1537.

Liked this? You might also like: Will the Real Jane Seymour Please Stand Up, Who Was Henry VIII's Favourite Wife?, and Entertaining Henry VIII: His Visit to Wolf Hall in 1538.

Interested in Tudor history? You might also like my second book, Power Couples of the Tudor Era, published by Pen and Sword Books, which explores the contributions couples made to their own times as well as how they influenced our own. Edward and Anne Seymour are one of the couple explored in depth. 

Order your copy here. 

The Tudors are famous for creative expression, art and the theatre during their reigns. But the English Renaissance started a lot earlier than 1485. Find out more in my book Power Couples of the Renaissance. It features relationship dynamics that went against accepted norms of the period and power-hungry couples who ruled, fought and spread the patronage of art, science and culture across the globe during one of the most tumultuous periods of history. Find it on the Pen and Sword Books website. 

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Source: Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic. James Gairdner. Volume 12, Part 2. London, 1891. Page 340.