13thcenturyhistory

               Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England Magna Carta clause 39: No man shall be taken, imprisoned, outlawed, banished or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land. This clause in Magna Carta was in response to the appalling imprisonment and starvation of Matilda de Braose, the wife of one of King John’s barons. Matilda was not the only woman who influenced, or was influenced by, the 1215 Charter of Liberties, now known as Magna Carta. Women from many of the great families of England were affected by the far-reaching legacy of Magna Carta, from their experiences in the civil war and as hostages, to calling on its use to protect their property and rights as widows  Sharon Bennett Connolly.  Source: historytheinterestingbits.com This book is highly recommended and the author is a very skilful as a histori...

       Some thoughts on Bouvines- An important but unknown battle                                                                           1827 painting of the battle by Horace Vernet, in the public domain courtesy of Wikipedia Hope all blog readers are surviving these strange times . I have quite a number of blog-posts half written, but am not in position to cross reference my work with lockdown being in place and the closure of libraries . Decided instead to share my thoughts about the Battle of Bouvines 1214. Never recall this battle being mentioned at school, yet the defeat of the alliance between England, Flanders and the Holy Roman empire  ( and others) at the hands of Philip of Augustus of France had a far reaching impact on Western Europe. Said defeat was also...