Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Sunday, 26 June 2022

The Westminster Tournament of 1511


The British Library’s Medieval manuscripts blog is always well worth looking at. A recent post on it looked at a unique item in the BL collection, the Westminster Tournament challenge from 1511, in connection with it going on display in an exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

The Westminster Tournament was held by King Henry VIII to celebrate the birth of his first son, Henry Duke of Cornwall on January 1 1511-2. Sadly the infant was to die on February 22 but the celebrations that accompanied his brief life are outlined by Wikipedia in Henry, Duke of Cornwall

Had the young Duke lived, of course, the history of the English speaking world might well have been very different, as his father might well have had no reason to seek the annulment of his marriage to Queen Katherine and all that led to …..

The illustrated BL article can be seen at The Tudors in Liverpool


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