Going to visit a Medium for reassurance, closure or help is not something that would get you into trouble today. I see lots of requests for their services on local Facebook groups, and have even been approached by one offering to help me with researching forgotten people and historic sites. But in the late sixteenth century, receiving information from the spirit world could trigger accusations of witchcraft, which was a very serious thing. 

Elizabeth Dunlop lived in the Scottish region of Ayrshire, in a village called Lyne in the sources, but might refer to the area of Lynn Glen today. The married woman was in her 40s or 50s when she was hauled up in front of local interrogators for practicing witchcraft. Elizabeth, or Bessie as she was also known, revealed that she received information from the spirit world, specifically from a deceased gentleman named Tom Reid. Bessie maintained that Tom had been killed in battle at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547, part of the conflict we know today as Henry VIII's and Edward VI's 'Rough Wooing'. The conflict focused on putting pressure on Scotland to marry Mary, the young Mary Queen of Scots, to Henry's son Edward VI, to unite both crowns. It was unsuccessful. 

Woman Kneeling, Giovanni Battista Trotti, Met Museum, Public Domain

Bessie did not raise attention about her dealings with Tom, one commentator stating that she 'had nae kind of art nor science sae to do;’ and regarded it, at least after a while, as a normal occurrence. Bessie told investigators that Tom was 'ane honest, weel, elderly man, gray-beardit, and had ane gray coat with Lombard sleeves of the auld fashion; ane pair of gray breeks and white shanks [stockings], gartenit aboon the knee; ane black bonnet on his head, close behind and plain before; with silken laces drawn through the lips thereof; and ane white wand in his hand.' She said that she met Tom while she was travelling from her home to a yard in Monkcastle with her cattle, while her husband and child both lay sick. She did not expect her child to survive, and was herself exhausted from doing all the work for the family. Tom, she said, met her in the road or lane she was walking on, greeted her, and asked how she was. She told him her story, and he answered that she had annoyed God by doing 'something you should not have done'. He told her that her husband would improve, but her child would die, along with her sheep and cow. Tom then 'went away from me in through the yard of Monkcastle; and I thought he gaed in at ane narrower hole of the dyke nor ony eardly man could have gane through; and sae I was something fleyit [frightened].’

Tom appeared to Bessie often after that, showing her how to cure the sick using roots of plants, creams and powders. She treated the locals, along with their animals, always crediting Tom with giving her the information on how to help them. He also helped with lost belongings. The Lady Thirdpart of Renfrew (I can't verify this person), was said in the source to have come to her asking her to track down some gold and silver, and after Bessie spoke with Tom 'within twenty days, she sent her word wha had them; and she gat them again.’ 

One day Tom asked Bessie to go with him to 'Fairyland', and she confessed to having seen him many times in public, usually at around midday. She saw him in the market in Edinburgh's High Street, in a churchyard and at Restalrig Loch, where she saw a large group of riders heading into the water noisily. Tom hold her they were fellow spirits. Sadly, although it seems that Bessie helped many of her local residents, her talk of the supernatural reached the ears of authorities who regarded it with suspicion and fear. She was 'found guilty of the sorcery and other evil arts laid to her charge' and was 'consigned to the flames'. 

Today, whether you believe in the power of spirit Mediums or not, they are a source of closure, reassurance, and for many, faith. The Victorian writer Robert Chambers however, regarded it as 'hallucination, the consequence of diseased conditions'. Our sixteenth-century ancestors saw it as something far more worrying. Today, Bessie would not have received such a fate,  but lived in the suspicious and volatile world of the sixteenth century, where diversion from the accepted form of religion was viewed with absolute fear. 

Like this? You might also like Elspeth M'Ewen, The 'Witch' of Balmaclellan, Scotland; Strange Monsters of the Scottish Lochs 1500-1635; and the Coronation of Anne of Denmark, Queen of Scotland.

Bessie Dunlop lived during an age where medieval ideals were challenged and in many cases, dismantled. Find out more about her time in my third 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. 

Source: The Domestic Annals of Scotland by Robert Chambers, 1885.

Whenever I find myself away from home, I always look for interesting places to stay. I've ended up in Tudor House Hotel in Tewkesbury, and a medieval coaching inn in Romsey. There are just lots of interesting features and as I'm usually on a little history exploring trip, it just makes it that little bit more special. 

So it was with some excitement that I discovered that the Hotel du Vin in Henley-on-Thames is actually a converted Georgian brewery. It has a lovely bar, and to the side an old-fashioned library where you can enjoy a drink (we had a coffee) and relax. We stayed in a little cottage apartment on the side of the courtyard, and honestly it was lovely. They had even left little Ferrero Rochers for us on the desk. 

The room had a free-standing bath, along with a shower, toilet and a large king-sized bed. Everything has been converted beautifully, so that although you have everything you need in the modern day, you do still feel as if you're in a special historic place.

Henley Brewery was founded in Henley in 1711, but moved to its now Hotel du Vin site on New Street in 1812. It's just steps away from the river, where you can watch swans and ducks, and walk along the riverside to see all the boats. In the other direction there are beautiful Tudor houses, like Anne Boleyn's cottage (unlikely to have anything to do with Anne Boleyn) built in the 1400s. There's also a theatre which, according to a 1950s guide book, was established in 1805. The employees of the brewery would definitely have been to see plays here, just a few steps away from the brewery gates. The brewery was a great source of employment in the area, not only for those who worked here, but for local contractors. In the 1896 edition of The Building News and Engineering Journal a B. Hobbs of Hart Street in Henley posted a correction to an article they had previously published. He confirmed that he had recently undertaken contracts at the brewery amounting to £7,160, a large sum for the late nineteenth century. 

As we enjoyed coffee in the library on a comfy sofa, my husband mentioned that we decided to stay there because I like history. The barman's eyes lit up and he offered to take us for a little tour around the communal rooms, so we drank up and followed him out into the courtyard. He took us into some of the rooms used as meeting places, for weddings, dinners and other events - many of these having original timbers, pipes and other features. Taking us back to the courtyard, you can also see a number of the Georgian and Victorian features like 'The Henley Brewery' emblazoned on the brick wall outside, and a tower which would have once been part of the brewing process. The Henley Brewery was closed in the 1990s and sold in 2016 to the Hotel du Vin group. 

Medieval cottages on New Street

The hotel has a restaurant, but because we wanted to explore more of the town we ate at the Bull on Bell Street, becafore enjoying a walk along the river and then back to our room. The next morning, having to leave fairly early we grabbed a croissant in nearby Waitrose, but the breakfast did look good, as did the menu for food the night before. It's also worth mentioning that the hotel offered room service, and the menu for this looked lovely too. 

I've recommended the hotel to friends and people I've spoken to since, and I think we would like to return at some point for a more leisurely stay. Care was definitely made to make us feel welcome, everything was clean and converted with sensitivity to the historical site and it was in the old medieval historic area of the town. Thank you to Hotel du Vin for a lovely stay. 

Like this? You might also like The 1474 Inventory of Stonor Park, Henley-on-Thames; The Stonor Family of Henley-on-Thames During the Wars of the Roses and Historic Pubs: The Bull on Bell Street.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Breakspear Brewery, Henley-on-Thames

Building News and Engineering Journal, 1898. via archive.org

John Piper, Oxfordshire, not including the City of Oxford. Faber, 1953.

This beautiful effigy caught my eye on a trip to Westminster Abbey, as everyone filed past in search of those of more famous royals.

Frances Brandon was the daughter of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk and his wife Mary Tudor, the former Queen of France. Charles and Mary embarked on an initially secret relationship after the death of her husband Louis XII of France, marrying in private, without telling Mary’s brother, Henry VIII. On their return to England Henry was said to have been enraged when he found out, but softened after they paid a hefty fine for their audacity. He even threw them another wedding celebration after he calmed down.

As one of their daughters, she was a granddaughter of Henry VII, and cousin to Henry VIII's children Mary, Elizabeth and Edward. She married Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset, who was later created Duke of Suffolk by Edward IV. Their daughter was Lady Jane Grey, the queen who ruled for nine days before being imprisoned by Mary I and later beheaded at the Tower of London. Losing her husband and daughter through the succession crisis after Edward VI's death, Frances would have felt huge grief and adversity in the early years of Mary I's reign. But the Greys’ fate wasn’t really any of their fault. Edward IV, close to death in his teens, decided to sidestep his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth in the succession and wrote an order that the throne would instead pass to the heirs of Frances Brandon, in other words: Jane. It was even said that when the messenger arrived to tell Jane that she was now queen, she replied to say she didn’t even want the title but would take it out of respect of God's wishes.

After Mary’s successful coup and her accession to the throne, Frances lived quietly – a good idea for a woman with a bloodline so close to the throne. She married a second time, to Adrian Stock, a groom she knew from her household. She was not the only woman of her time to look for a humbler way of life in the fractious Tudor court of the 1540s and 1550s. Both Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset and Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk married men from their households after their first marriages ended.

Frances died in November 1559, and her second husband erected the tomb we see at Westminster today. Elizabeth I, Frances' cousin, issued a warrant that arms were to be borne at Frances' funeral, an act seen as a public nod and show of respect to her royal status. Frances’ effigy shows her lying with her head propped up on a cushion, wearing a cloak finished in ermine. Around her neck is a small ruff and she wears a coronet on her head. It is reasonable to imagine, like many of the other effigies of the period, that it might convey how Frances looked in life, with its strikingly individual features. She has hair tucked under a headdress, a rounded nose and care has been taken to carve a small double chin. Although speculative, I think that a family likeness can be seen when compared with portraits of other Tudors, particularly her uncle Henry VIII and cousin Mary I.

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. Order your copy here. 

https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/frances-brandon-duchess-of-suffolk

Westminster Abbey 

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.