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Royal Forteana

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Anonymous

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I've just finished reading a biography of Richard I, and mentioned in it is an incident that occured whilst he was building Chateau Gaillard when a shower of blood fell on the unfinished walls in May 1198.

William of Newburg mentions this incident in the very last chapter of his history, but there is very little detailed information.

This was considered a bad omen by many of Richard's nobles, but nothing untoward seems to have happend to him in conection with it. He died a year later, though no one seems to connect the two incidents in anyway.

I would like to ask three questions:

1) Is there any further information on this incident that I haven't come across that I can look up?

2) What is the rational explanation of it? (I am assuming it wasn't real blood).

3) Are there any other documented incidents of bizzare occurances happening to or connected with other Kings/Queens etc? Where they considered bad/good omens?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Can someone tell me what the late Princess Margarets
personal emblem looked like and what the symbols on the standard mean.

I have waded thru lots of sites about royaltly and flags but no luck so far.

please help
 
I'm not sure what if she had her own Coat of Arms, or if she did that they were significantly different to the Royal Coat of Arms:

Coats of Arms of members of the Royal Family are broadly similar to The Queen's with small differences to identify them.
Click to expand...

Taken from theRoyal Family's own website.

If she did have separate Arms, they might be those of her husband, the Earl of Snowden. However, I can't find anything online about his Arms either (maybe because he was just a commoner before he married her;) ).
 
No doubt she had her own'; according to that documentary on TV the other night, she was extremely aware of her royal status . . .

Carole
 
Margarets personal standard

It was draped over her coffin when the hearse was used to transport her body. Will probably go to the library soon and try to do some research there.

Thanks anyway.
 
Do you mean stuff like the Thing in Glamis Castle and
the prediction by an old crone that Richard the Third would hit his head on the stone bridge where his foot had knocked as he went to Bosworth Field. After he was killed they slung him over a horse and his head bashed on the wall of the bridge as they took his body away ...
Give me a bit, I 'll probably think of some more!
 
I could tell you a bizarre tale about Princess Margaret but they'd probably hang me.
 
fbasil said:
Can someone tell me what the late Princess Margarets
personal emblem looked like and what the symbols on the standard mean.
Click to expand...
There's a site here that may be of help to you.;)
 
I know there are a nuber of ghosts at Hampton Court Palace, one of which is one of Henry 8ths wives (Anne, I think), she can be heard running to the royal chambers and begging for her life, then she is dragged screaming to her fate...on one of the walls, behind a curtain are her fingernail marks in the stone, they are covered by a sheet of perspex, but you have to know where to look.

I'll keep thinking,
As for the shower of blood, could it have been rain contaminated with desert sand, like we get every so often, from the Sahara?
 
Just did some checking up and I had got the wrong queen!
Anyway, this site has some good info on the place:

http://www.jannagraber.com/new_page_17.htm

I'll keep thinking, I'm sure there is more, I remember something on Windsor castle, but that is probably more hauntings.
I got the feeling that you were looking for curses and such.

Alys:)
 
Hauntings, curses, rumours... It's all good.

I couldn't access the last site you posted, but I'll try later.

Anything to do with Windsor castle would be especially appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Thanks for the link. I haven't time to follow it now, but I'll check it out later.

I'm looking into Royal 'weirdness' as an offshoot to research I'm doing for a book. Richard I and the other monarchs have nothing to do with the book (it's about Edward III - hence the avatar and sig.), but I was looking into the history of medieval warfare and came across the blood rain story. Being of a curious mind, I thought I would see what else people might be aware of and this seemed like the most logical place to ask. You never know when details like this might come in handy for future referance, plus I thought I might turn up an Edward III or Hundred Years War story that had been missed from the usual sources.

Anyway, thanks once again for your help - it is appreciated:yeay:
 
I have some earlier ones, taken from the chroniclers at the time,
Sources range from Geoffrey Le Baker through to Froissart. Funnily enough the re-enactment group I was with specialised in 100 years war to the death of Richard III, so I have LOTS of reference works.
So Here goes:

1232
King Henry accuses Hubert De Burgh of stealing a precious stone that has the power whereby its wearer would not be defeated in battle.

1250
Emperor Frederic II died greatest of earthly princes. This man, the wonder of the world, an amazing revolutionary, died contrite and humble, absolved of his sentence in the habit of a Cistertian monk, his death took place on 13 December giving meaning and significance to an earthquave which coincided with it.
{Frederic was married to an English princess}

{there are lots of reports of earthquakes and comets but they don't seem to be tied to anything, then,}

1304
One day during the siege (of a Scottish castle) something not merely unusual but even miraculous happened to the king.

while he was riding repeatedly round the castle, unarmed, someone hurled a javelin, called in English a springald,from a sling in the tower. It struck between Edward I's legs, neither touching his flesh nor even wounding his feet.
Immediately this was held to be a miracle, for not once, but a hundred times, weapons directed at him fell to his right and his left, never harming him but frequently wounding those around him.
{they needed to aim better!:D }

1315
Certain portents show the hand of god was raised against us. For example, in the previous year there was such heavy rain that men could scarcely harvest the corn or bring it safely to the barn.

Now here we go.....Edward III.... Thomas Walsingham reports
1361
In this year , at noon, on 6 May, there was an eclipse of the sun. in the same month it rained blood on Burgundy and on 27th may, the feast of Corpus Christi, a bloody cross appeared in the sky at Bolougne, from morning until six o'clock in the evening and many people saw it. Then it moved all by itself and fell into the middle of the sea. It followed that , in those parts, wolves left the woods and sought out villages and devoured men alive.

In summer of that year, both in England and in France, in deserted and open places, many people saw two castles suddenly appear, from which two armies emerged, one army was duly equipped and bore distinguishing knightly devices; the other , however was clothed in black. When joined in battle, the knights vanquished the black force, then engaging in battle again, the black force overcame the knights, then they returned to the castles and everything disappeared.

Then comes Edward IV. .Everyone sing.........
"See three suns in splendour in the sky, Shining on our victory, the enemy shall be lost, so rally round together, rally round together, rally round togetherrrr, at Mortimers Cross"
God how embarrassing! if you have a copy of that video, have a look at the cannon crew, thats my family that is, Dad, Brothers, Mum, Sisters..I wasn't in it 'cos baby was due any day , for which I am eternally grateful!

Anyway I'll keep looking. Hope this helps
Alys:hah:
 
Thanks everyone for your help, there's a lot to look into here. I never realised I had missed so much.

The bloody cross over Bolougne and the disappearing armies sound very interesting - I'll make sure to check those out. And I'll make sure to get a copy of that video.;)

On the subject of Glamis castle, I thought deformities in the royal family were normal. Just look at Prince Charles (lol).

Anyway, thanks once again. I guess I better start doing some of my own research now.
 
D'ya need a research assistant?.....

Good luck on finding a copy of the video (if you really want one!). It is about fifteen years old now and relatively hard to get, the last one I saw for sale was going for roughly thirty pounds.
The history is accurate, as far as I know but it was made on the cheap, none of your big name actors. The king was played by this forty year old and to quote my mum "Lord! doesn't ol' Teddie look raddled this morning, I know he had a hard life, but he shouldn't look quite THAT dissipated YET!":D

BTW, if you get stuck for references or are looking for summat in particular, let me know. Someone else in the group may have a lead on it, if I can't help... I even have a copy of Froissart, somewhere!:laughing:

Getting stuff to you wouldn't be a prob. either, as my SOs grandparents live in Strood, just up the road from Rochester, or I can scan and post if that would work better. (Good castle, Rochester, can't stand Dickens week though, the area has much better history than that!)

Good luck with the book anyhow.
Alys
 
Research Assistant? Sounds like I ought to let you write the whole thing (It'll probably me a lot more accurate!). I'm sure I'll need you're help again soon, just let me follow up on everything you've come up with so far (quite a task in itself).

I was born and raised in Strood, so I can sympathise with you're SOs Grandparents (lol - its a nice place really - my mum and the rest of my family still live there). My old house is right next to Cobham Wood you can see it from the motorway as it drops down toward the Medway. I only moved to this side of the river five years ago.

I've always enjoyed Dickens week (esp. Dickensian Christmas - all that fake snow, mulled wine and chestnuts etc...:D ). Anyway, IMO it beats Navy Days. The castle is great, as are the forts at Upnor and Amhurst (sp?). Unforturnately, the new Eurotunnel rail link has destroyed the area believed to be the site of the Roman's battle against Caractacus and Togodumnus, but you can still picture it if you have a good imagination (Waffle...waffle...waffle...OK I'll stop now.)

Cheers and I'll be in touch.
 
Did you know that Amherst has ghosts in it?
As I remember, people get pushed out of the way and figures are seen ducking into the control station.
We liked the Napoleonics gunnery display (well we would wouldn't we!:D )
I have never been there for a Dickensian Xmas, Perhaps I'll give it a try. I always felt there was too big an emphasis on it though.
The Normans at the castle are a laugh, when they're there, they enjoy a good heckler, especially if you can heckle with good historical references!
I'll leave you alone to get on with your studying, now, but feel free to get in touch at any time.
Alys
 
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