History

Manuscript by Mary, Queen of Scots up for sale

<![CDATA[A very rare piece of history will take centre stage at an American auction on 18th September as a manuscript that was signed by Mary, Queen of Scots before her execution is being put up for sale. The document in question relates to an estate in France where one of the country's biggest and bloodiest massacres took place. More than 60 Protestant worshippers were slayed in a barn in…
Read more
History

The Day Diana Died: Royal Central shares their memories

<![CDATA[ Saturday in Chicago by Cindy Stockman It was early Saturday evening and I tuned into NPR (National Public Radio) to catch the BBC news. What I thought was a typical evening of listening to the news before heading out to dinner proved to be wrong. It was Sunday…
FeaturesHistory

The women behind the Crown: Influential Queen Mothers - Empress Matilda

<![CDATA[ “Great by birth, greater by marriage, greatest in her offspring: here lies Matilda, the daughter, wife, and mother of Henry” – The epitaph on Empress Matilda’s tomb In the first blog of this series, we looked at the prominent medieval figure of Eleanor of Aquitaine. However, Eleanor wasn’t the only dominant female, or ‘Queen Mother’ to be…
Read more
FeaturesHistory

History Rewind: The Battle of Bosworth

<![CDATA[The Battle of Bosworth, which was fought on 22nd August 1485, is one of England’s defining battles as it resulted in the end of Richard III’s reign and led to Henry Tudor becoming King Henry VII. This marked the beginning of the infamous Tudor dynasty. Henry Tudor had a claim to Richard’s throne, however it wasn’t particularly strong as it came from John of…
Read more
History

Elizabeth I to visit Cambridge

<![CDATA[No, the title of this article is definitely not wrong. Queen Elizabeth I will be making an appearance in Cambridge. Of course it will not be the real 'Virgin Queen', as she died over 400 years ago, but nonetheless Cambridge will be graced with the…
FeaturesHistory

A brief history of heraldry

<![CDATA[ Perhaps one of the most enduring aspects of Medieval England is heraldry. Though it originated in the 12th century, coats of arms and other forms of heraldry continue to be used even today, be it by religious and educational institutions, by countries, and, most importantly for us here at Royal Central, by the Royal Family. The concept of heraldry emerged around 900 years…
Read more