The Bible Page Update -- Four Great Books To Be Read Simultaneously -- March 29, 2025

Stories From Ancient Canaan, Second Edition, Michael D. Coogan, c. March 15, 2012. Notes here.

Michael Coogan is Lecturer in Hebrew Bible / Old Testament at Harvard Divinity School and Director of Publications for Harvard Semitic Museum. He has taught at a number of prestigious universities and colleges, and has participated in archaeological excavations in Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, and Egypt.

Who Really Wrote The Bible? The Story Of The Scribes, William M. Schniedewind, c. 2024, Princeton University Press. Notes here.

 

The Invention Of Hebrew, Seth L. Sanders, c. 2009. Notes here.

 

1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed, Eric H. Cline, c. 2021. Notes here.

Periodically I get interested (again) in the history of the Bible. This year was a banner year for me with regard to the Bible.

 

1177 BC The Year Civilization Collapsed, Eric H. Cline, c. 2021.

 1177 BC The Year Civilization Collapsed, Eric H. Cline, c. 2021. Updated.

The first thing I noted: "BC" and not "BCE." Interesting. 

Lots of place names in the eastern Mediterranean. An important book.

Hatshepsut: p. 24 and following.  Incredibly interesting.

 

Ordered March 29, 2025: Thutmose III and Hatshepsut, Pharaohs of Egypt: Their Lives and Afterlives; Hardcover – published, February 18, 2025 by Aidan Dodson (Author, Series Editor).

The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion, Ford Madox Ford, c. 1915.

The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion, Ford Madox Ford, c. 1915.

The lede, from the wiki entry:

The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion is a 1915 novel by the British writer Ford Madox Ford.

It is set just before World War I, and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham and his seemingly perfect marriage, along with that of his two American friends.

The novel is told using a series of flashbacks in non-chronological order, a literary technique that formed part of Ford's pioneering view of literary impressionism. Ford employs the device of the unreliable narrator to great effect, as the main character gradually reveals a version of events that is quite different from what the introduction leads the reader to believe.

The novel was loosely based on two incidents of adultery and on Ford's messy personal life, specifically “the agonies Ford went through with his wife and his mistress in the six preceding years."

Two couples.

Ex-patriot is the narrator. He and his wife live in Paris, in retirement. Very wealthy.

Winter: somewhere between Nice and Bordighera. The latter on the Mediterranean, twenty miles east of French / Italy border. Interestingly, Nice is twenty miles west of the French / Italy border, on the coast, just like Bordighera.

Summer: Nauheim, Germany, July to September. Metropolitan area of Frankfurt. 

The story begins with the narrator visiting England for the first time ever.

"had a heart": 

Narrator and Florence.

Captain Ashburnham and Lenora.

When they had first met, Capt A, 33, and Lenora, 31. At the time, narrator was 36, and Florence, 30.

On the day the story begins:
Narrator: 45
Florence: 40; narrator's wife
Capt A: 42
Lenora: 39

The way the narrator says this, it suggests both Capt A and Florence have died. Florence, the narrator's wife. 

Narrator at the Ashburnham home in England.

The term "Kur orchestra" in Germany typically refers to orchestras associated with a spa town or resort area, often with a history of providing musical entertainment for visitors. That makes sense -- "Kur" -- the cure -- spa. 

The affair:
nine years, six months less four days -- wow -- obsessed with exact number of days of that affair. 
so he would have known the exact day the affair began

A "hunt ball": A hunt ball is an annual event hosted by a mounted fox hunting club, most of which are located in Britain and the United States. These balls are traditionally held around the holiday season, which is why many American Hunts mark the end of the hunting year.

The Maniac (John von Neumann), Benjamín Labatut, c. 2023

March 27, 2025

The Maniac (John von Neumann), Benjamín Labatut, c. 2023. See this post. 

I don't know if I have written notes on this book or not.  

I bought this book a couple of years ago. I did not particularly enjoy / appreciate it. I put it down.

Now, yesterday, the book and the author's other book are reviewed in the current issue of The New York Review of Books (see the link above).

I need to go back and see what I missed.  I may have to order his second book, When We Cease To Understand the World.

 

Shakespeare -- Miscellaneous

 

Who Wrote Shakespeare? Link here. So much of this sounds like it comes from Brenda James' Henry Neville and the Shakespeare Code.

Henry Neville and the Shakespeare Code, Brenda James, c. 2008.

"in cold blood"
p. 62
Timon of Athens, Act 3, Scene 5.
"As you are great, be pitifully good.
Who cannot condemn rashness in cold blood."

The phrase "cold-blooded" first appears in Shakespeare's "The Life and Death of King John," Act 3, Scene 1.

Neville's continental tour: 1578 - 1583,

The characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Shakespeare's Hamlet are thought to be named after Tycho Brahe's ancestors, Frederik Rosenkrantz and Knud Gyldenstierne, who were prominent Danish noblemen and cousins of Brahe.

Cecil: 

*********************
The Shakespeare Sonnets

Since the mid-1600s, scholars have been perplexed by the "Shakespeare Sonnets." 

Finally, finally, finally, the dots begin to connect.

This hits very, very close to home. 

At the turn of the 15th/16th century, in London, there was a trio of really, really close teen-age friends: Henry Neville, Robert Cecil, and Henry Wriothesley. 

Robert Cecil's father, William, was the Secretary of State of England.

Henry Wriothesley was the 3rd Earl of Southampton.

And, of course, we all know who (Sir) Henry Neville was.

From Brenda James, 2008:

The Cecils were always trying to ally themselves with the British aristocracy through advantageous marriage arrangements, and the young Earl of Southampton [royalty] seemed a perfect match for old [William] Cecil's granddaughter. 

When Wriothesley became a teenager, his relatives, in collusion with Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley, were in correspondence about the idea. The trouble was they couldn't persaude young Wriothesley to take much interest in the girl.

However, it's always seemed that the first 17 of the Shakespeare Sonnets were written in order to try and persuade a young man to marry.

Wriothesley's name (usually pronounced "Risely" or "Risley") was often also pronounced "Rosely" at the time, so "beauty's rose in Sonnet Number One seems straight away to be a reference to him. Not too much left to the imagination when it comes to persuading him to marry and produce an heir, either! 

My contention is that old Cecil probably asked young Henry Neville to write those sonnets. Old Cecil knew the Nevilles. He knew how clever and learned young Henry was. The Nevilles were family too -- they could be trusted not to give old Cecil's scheme away.

It is, however, unthinkable that Cecil would have asked an unknown Stratford boy to have pried into his affairs and written all those very pointed words. 

Besides, the division  of the classes in those days was as strong as any caste system. Cecil would simply have had to have chosen a writer whom he knew personally, who was related -- and probably one who was in some manner under his power. All these circumstances applied to Neville. This would  explain, too, why the sonnets were published only after theold Cecil had died, and only after the Earl of Southampton was married and had an hear.

The Earl didn't marry Cecil's granddaughter, in the end. He ran away to fight for Henri of Navarre in France, together with the Earl of Essex. And once again, coincidence piles up on top of coincidence, since Neville was already in this circle, and was later to serve as Ambassador to France, under that very Henri, after he became King of France. 

But because the sonnets weren't published for years, Sir Henry Neville was able to keep adding to them. The later sonnets apply to Sir Henry's subsequent life in a way that both meaningful and poignant. It would take a whole book to explain all these overlapping circumstances, but as this present book proceeds I shall briefly demonstrate how the sonnets tie in graphically with Henry's life.

CODE: Brenda James, 2008, p. 92.

To the onlie begetter of these insuing sonnets Mr W H x All happiness ennd that eternitie promised by our everliving poet wisheth he well wishing adventure in setting forth

 

 

Stories From Ancient Canaan, Second Edition, Michael D. Coogan, c. March 15, 2012

 

Stories From Ancient Canaan, Second Edition, Michael D. Coogan, c. March 15, 2012. 

Michael Coogan is Lecturer in Hebrew Bible / Old Testament at Harvard Divinity School and Director of Publications for Harvard Semitic Museum. He has taught at a number of prestigious universities and colleges, and has participated in archaeological excavations in Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, and Egypt.

INTRODUCTION

Introduction: 

... lines that were written 3,000 years ago; the speaker is the storm god Baal, and the text in which he is quoted comes from ancient Ugarit, a city destroyed not long after 1200 BCE and rediscovered in 1928 thanks to a Syrian plowman who accidentally opened a tomb. 

Ugarit, now called Ras Shamra (Cape Fennel) is located on the north Syrian coast of the Mediterranean and was one of the major Canaanite city-states during the second millennium BCE. The vaulted tomsb and painted pottery of Ugarit's cemetery initially led archaeologist to think that the city was a Mycenaean colony, but as the first texts were excavated, deciphered, and translated it became clear that Ugarit was Semitic. There were Mycenaeans there, but they were only part of a polyglot and cosmopolitan port that included Hittites, Babylonians, Hurrians, and Egyptians, as well as the native Canaanites (think of one of the opening scenes in the "original" Stars Wars movie franchise.

Canaanite: a group of Semitic peoples who during the third and second millennia BCE occupied parts of what is today Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan.  There were never organized into a single political unit; nevertheless, the relatively independent city-states such as Ugarit, Byblos, Sidon, Tyre, Shechem, and Jerusalem had a common language and culture (with local idiosyncrasies), which we call Canaanite. 

To give just one example, the same type of alphabetic cuneiform writing used int eh texts translated here has turned up at several sites in Israel and Palestine. According ot ancient Egyptian geography, Canaan's northern border was just south of Ugaret, it it is clear from innumerable religious and literary features that Ugaret had enormous cultural overlap with Canaanite society. With this in mine, we call its literature "stores from ancient Canaan."

The tablets at Ugarit, since 1929, thousands.

In this book: seventeen (17) tablets translated.

The Scribe

Found in the environs of the city's temple district, and most had the same scribe, Ilimilku from Shuban. see page 4.
King Niqmaddu, king of Ugarit -->
Chief Priest Attanu -->
scribe Ilimilku from Shuban (simply copied them).

The gods and goddesses of Ugarit.

El: head of the pantheon

Baal cycle.

El / Baal overlapped: as if El was the executive power and Baal was the military power in the cosmos.

Baal: Ugaritic god of agricultural fertility and the city's divine patron. Baal: "Lord of Ugarit."

Baal associated with Mount Zaphon which can be seen from Ugarit.

The language of Ugarit in relation to other languages at the time. Like modern Hebrew and Arabic, Ugarit a written language without vowels.

Bicolon / tricolon: p. 9.

Also used in the Bible.

A synonym for a number (x) is the next unit higher (x +1). Page 10.

The measurement of time: seven days; seven years. How that developed is unknown. May be related to Joseph's dream of seven years feast / famine.

"Seventh day God rested."

Most amazing, the fall of Jericho: "... occurred on the seventh day after seven priests with seven trumpets marched seven times around the city."

Seven days is the standard length of a journey and a wedding feast. 

Relationship between Ugarit tablets and the bible.

El, Baal, Yahweh closely related, p. 15.

Mount Zion associated with both Yahweh and Baal.

Three goddesses, Ugarit: Astarte, Asherah, and Anat.

Also, in the Bible, allusions, references, p. 17. 

As this brief overview has shown, Canaanite motifs permeate the Bible. Most significant is the fusion of Baal language and El language in the descriptions of Yahweh and his activity; the god of Israel may be unique, but the formulas that Israel used to express its understanding of him were not. The more we learn of the cultural context in which the Israelites lived, the more the prophetic remark rings true: 

By origin and by birth you are the land of the Canaanites. (Ezek. 16:3)

********************************
Seventeen Tablets

Aqhat: three fragmentary tablets (3)

The Rephaim: three tablets (3)

Kirta: three tablets (3)

Baal: six tablets (6)

The Lovely Gods: one tablet (1)

El's Drinking Party: a short text. Found in 1961; the latest found of those translated in this book. (1)

Seventeen tablets.

Glossary of names.

The question is this: like the Dead Sea scrolls, why were these tablets lost for so long? It's almost as if there was a concerted effort by Israelites (Jews), Muslims, and Christians to do what they could to literally and figuratively "bury" the scrolls and the tablets.

 

The Battles Of The Wars of The Roses

The Wars of the Roses saw numerous battles fought between the Houses of York and Lancaster, including the Battle of St. Albans, Battle of Towton, and Battle of Bosworth Field. Here's a more detailed look at some key battles:

• First Battle of St. Albans (1455): This battle, fought on May 22, 1455, marked the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, with the Yorkist forces led by the Duke of York defeating the Lancastrian army.
  
• Battle of Towton (1461): This was a decisive Yorkist victory, with the Yorkist army led by Edward IV defeating the Lancastrian forces.
• Battle of Bosworth Field (1485): This battle, fought on August 22, 1485, saw the death of King Richard III and the rise of the Tudor dynasty to the throne, effectively ending the Wars of the Roses.
• Battle of Barnet (1471): A Yorkist victory that saw the death of the Earl of Northumberland.
• Battle of Tewkesbury (1471): Another Yorkist victory, resulting in the capture and execution of Henry VI.
• Battle of Wakefield (1460): A Lancastrian victory where the Duke of York was killed.
• Battle of Mortimer's Cross (1461): A Yorkist victory that saw the death of the Earl of Pembroke.
• Second Battle of St. Albans (1461): A Lancastrian victory that saw the death of the Earl of Salisbury.
• Battle of Blore Heath (1459): A Yorkist victory that saw the death of the Earl of Northumberland.
• Rout of Ludford Bridge (1459): A Lancastrian victory that saw the death of the Earl of Devon.
• Battle of Northampton (1460): A Yorkist victory that saw the capture of Henry VI.

***************************
Another Timeline

Another timeline. Link here.

***************************
The Richard III Society

Link here.

Richard III lived from 1452 to 1485 which spanned virtually all of the series of conflicts known as the Wars of the Roses, hence the title of this website.

******************************
The Battles Of The Wars Of Roses

Alphabetical: wiki.

Wars Of The Roses -- Emergence Of A Playwright

 

From unknown book, posted March 22, 2025

Wars of the Roses

NOTE: Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, the “kingmaker,” so-named because he was instrumental in seeing two English kings dethroned.

Emergence of a Playwright

p. 18: emergence: first plays mentioned

Henry VI — parts 1, 2, 3 and Richard III

LOL: records show that Shakespeare had already made his mark as a playwright by 1592. His early plays — the Tragedy of Titus Adronicus; Henry VI, parts 1, 2 and 3; The Comedy of Errors; and Richard III — mimic the form of the Roman playwrights he studied in grammar school —- LOL — does anyone really believe this crap?? LOL.

10 History plays:
8 plays: 15th century Plantagenets
1 play: early Plantagent King John (1199 - 1216)
1 play: Tudor King Henry VIII (1509 - 1547

Late in Richard III: three royal ladies — the Dowager queens Margaret and Elizabeth the the dowager duchess of York —

Margaret: had an Edward (her son Prince Edward) until Richard killed him. I had a Harry (Henry VI?) until Richard killed him. [To Elizabeth} You had an Edward (Edward IV??) until a Richard killed him .. you had a Richard — sone of Elizabeth I ?? — until Richard killed him.

Duchess to Margaret: I had a Richard too until you, Margaret, killed him — Margaret?

Plantagenet: family name of the line of English kinds from King Henry II to Richard III

From The Richard III Society website, which is inaccurate: Richard III lived from 1452 to 1485 which spanned virtually all of the series of conflicts known as the Wars of the Roses.

Plays:


• A double tetralogy: 1422 - 1485: Henry VI, parts 1, 2, 3 and Richard III
• 1398 - 1422: Richard II, Henry IV, parts 1 and 2, Henry V

Bookends to the two tetralogies:

• King John: 1199 - 1216
• King Henry VIII: 1509 - 1547

So, this is what we have, ten history plays -- wars of the roses -- beginning, main story involving the Nevilles, and then the end:

• King John, 1199 - 1216
• Richard II, Henry V (parts 1 and 2), Henry V: 1398 - 1422
• Henry VI (parts 1, 2, and 3), Richard III: 1422 - 1485
• King Henry VIII: 1509 - 1547

p. 32

***********************

Bosworth

Begins: Battle of Wakefield —> 1460 — near York
Richard, Duke of York defeated
25 years before Bosworth

Father, Richard, Duke of York
Son: Richard — third of three brothers — 8 y/o
Also referred to as “York”
Family shocked by his death / defeat at Wakefield

Clare in Suffolk: Richard, York’s fan club after his death; his wife kept his name alive

p. 58: Cecily Neville — ** author Michael Jones !!!

p. 59: Richard III — how he “knew” his father

Chapter 3: The Theater of Pain

Brothers York
Three Sons / Three Suns
p. 6: Cecily m Richard (orphan)
For 39. Years — faithful support of Lancasterians.

Richard / Cecily — huge dominion in France
— regent of France
— Rouen

Three children while in France — in quick succession.

Henry VI: 
Beaufort relatives
descendants of the dynasty’s founder, John of Gaunt and mistress Katherine Swynford

Beaufort’s killed the king’s de facto heir — his Uncle Humphrey, due of Gloucester — Role of royal heir: unofficial. But felt: Richard of York

From France and Ireland where Richard / Cecily had a second son: George

Edward, Edmund (died), daughter, then George (Ireland).

To Ireland
Successor as regent to France —
King’s cousin Edmund Beaufort — duke of Somerset — Lost Normandy!!
This forced Richard to return to England via Wales

So, Henry VI
—> Duke of Somerset — Edmund Beauford

—-> Duke of York — Richard

!! Seeds of the Wars of the Roses!!!
p. 10: Richard’s sons Edward, 10 y/o, and Edmund, 4 y/o— both in Wales

Then fourth son 2 Oct 1452 — Richard (to be III)

1453
England lost all of France except Calais; too much for Henry VI — catatonic

Richard seizes his opportunity — puts Somerset in the Tower

Richard

Edward, Early of March, 12 y/o

Brother-in-law Richard, Earl of Salisbury
Head of the Powerful Neville family !!!

Salisbury’s oldest son: Richard Neville Earl of Warwick (“kingmaker”) — kingmaker because he was responsible for deposition of two kings

“Exceptionally wealthy man of ruthless political instincts — Warwick

Warwick hated Somerset (Tower)

So: York-Neville bloc. Vs Henry VI / Margaret (Somerset’s ally) p. 12

1450: England falling apart; Henry Vi
P. 6

Kent, UK — Jack Cade executed
York returns from Ireland

p. 7 — doesn’t mention who York’s ward was — interesting


Marriage arranged
Regent of France — France —> Ireland —> Wales

1457: Margaret of Anjou becoming stronger

1455 — St Albans battle bloodshed

Now 1458 — Henry VI up front; behind them Margaret — York — joined hands

False friendship — York and Margaret

Warwick was running Calais

To the English, Warwick was a hero — causing Margaret headaches

Ludlow — situated close to Wales — near the midpoint of the England-Wales border
This time: Ludlow seat of the Council of Wales and the Marches

1459: everything finally reached crisis point
Margaret — Great Council in Coventry — charged Yorkists with treason

Three lords meet with Henry VI:
York: in the Welsch Marches (Ludlow)
Warwick: Calais
Salisbury (Neville): Yorkshire

********************
The War of the Roses — John Gillingham c. 1981

 Chapter 8: Five battles, 1459 - 1461

1 - Lancaster ousted by York
2 - YOrk ousted by Lancaster
3 - finally — Lancaster ousted by Cork — Nov 1459 — Coventry

As a fugitive, York sets himself up as rule of Ireland

Warwick grabs Calais — holds off the Lancastrian’s.

p. 108: Warwick to Ireland to confer with York, 1460

Jne, 1460 — Yorkists march on London

1st of 5 battles: Northampton, p.113

“Warrick and March —> Edmund (York’s 1st-borne son)

King Henry VI took prisoner by Warwick.

Warwick: took over reins of government
—brother: George Neville, bishop of Exeter, appoint Chancellor!!

If Henry VI captured, who become king??

Henry VI son: Edward — Duke’s son: one of the three

Propaganda: Henry VI illegitimate son Edward !!!
p. 118: Jasper Tudor — Welsh mentioned — aligned with Margaret

1460: Battle of Wakefield send of five
York killed on the battlefield
also killed: Sir Thomas Neville; Sir Thomas Harrington, others
Edmund also killed

Sons of those killed at St Albans killed five years earlier -  now butchered the Yorkists at Wakefield.

Was a Neville responsible of the loss of Wakefield!!!

Now, p. 124 — stubble had been portrayed as a dynastic struggle — but now portrayed as a war of the north against the south, Civil War. P. 1124.

3rd of five battles: Mortimer’s Cross — 1st of. Many spectacular victories by Edward !!!
“Three suns” p. 124

Owen Tudor — Jasper’s father executed.

Sir Henry Neville 1564 - 1615 married Anne Killigrew

Parents: Henry Neville, Elizabeth Gresham

Henry Neville (gentleman of the Privy Chamber — King Henry VIII)

Holy mackerel.

1520 - 1593
    Billingbear House, Berkshire

Parents: Sir Edward Neville / Eleanor Windsor
Sir Edward Neville (courtier)
d. 1538 — in Henry VIII’s household; esquire the body

Parents: George Neville, 4th Baron Bergavenny
And Margaret (daughter of Hugh Fenn)

Parents
Sir Edward Neville, brother of George Neville, 5th Baron of Bergavenny, so through George Nevill, married after father

Family diagram

1459 - 1461

Henry VI part III

1 — York wins at St Albans #1 — now on throne king of England
Clifford orphaned when father killed here

2 — next battle — Wakefield #2
Margaret meets York in battle
York’s youngest son Rutland and the York himself captured and killed — by Clifford and Northumberland (Percy) — also, Sir Thomas Neville killed

Edward and Richard told of their father’s murder and their youngest brother’s murder.

Edward / Richard — unite with Warwick (rich Neville)

Warwick declares Edward the new Duke of York

#3 Mortimer’s Cross — 3 sons
#4 — St Albans #2

#5 — Towton

3 — Duke of York (Edward), Richard (III)
Warwick defeat Lancastrians at Towton (5ifth of 5)
Margaret flees
Clifford killed
Henry VI captured
 4— a broken promise !!!
Warwick meets with Margaret. They get news that Edward has married Lady Elizabeth Grey in spite of agreement to marry French King Louis’ sister Lade Bona

This insult throws both Warwick and Louis against Edward
Warwick pledges support to Margaret — release Henry Vi from the Tower — restoring him as King

5 — Warwick leave London to muster army — Edward returns and re-captures Henry VI

6 — Edward and Warwick meet @ Barnet.
Warwick killed
Margaret arrives in England —with reinforcements

7). Margaret for last time meets Edward at Tewkesbury where after much bloodshed — the Yorkist are victorious. Wars of Rose finally seems to be over.

At Tewkesbury — Shakespeare’s great-grandfather was knight for his role in defeating Margaret at Tewkesbury


***********************************

Asimov: Henry V

p. 459: the legalistic justification for the first part of the Hundred Years' War -- Edward III's foray into France.

Henry V was now on the throne and eager to tak up once more the argument of Edward III.

Genealogy:
Edward III
fourth son, John of Gaunt / Blanche of Lancaster
Henry IV
Prince of Wales -- Prince Hal -- Henry V -- so Henry V was the great-grandson of Edward III

Henry V was eager to claim the throne as the French king despite the Salic Law.
inheritance of property; and,
inheritance of titles, and kings.

Now, p. 461: Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March.

Hotspur (again): 

Sir Henry Percy KG (20 May 1364 – 21 July 1403), nicknamed Hotspur or Harry Hotspur, was an English knight who fought in several campaigns against the Scots in the northern border and against the French during the Hundred Years' War. 

The nickname "Hotspur" was given to him by the Scots as a tribute to his speed in advance and readiness to attack. The heir to a leading noble family in northern England, Hotspur was one of the earliest and prime movers behind the deposition of King Richard II in favour of Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. He later fell out with the new regime and rebelled, and was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 at the height of his fame.

Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland. Landowner; rebelled against Elizabeth I.

p. 464

 

British History: The Shakespeare Plays

 

**********************************************
The Shakespeare Plays

Dan Jones:

• first book, 1154 - 1399: The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England, c. 2012

• 1154: Henry II
• 1399: Richard II dies; Henry IV (Henry Bolingbroke) will take the throne 1400

• second book, 1400 - 1558? The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors, c. 2015. 

• Henry VIII: 1509 - 1547
• Edward VI: 1547 - 1553
• Queen Jane -- 9 days queen -- 1553
• Queen Mary: 1553 - 1558
• Queen Elizabeth I: 1558 - 

Dan Jones:

Making Of A Playwright -- Shakespeare -- Notes

First posted March 20, 2025

Rough draft. 

Will "fix" over time.

Wars of the Roses

Emergence of a Playwright

p. 18: emergence: first plays mentioned

Henry VI — parts 1, 2, 3 and Richard III

LOL: records show that Shakespeare had already made his mark as a playwright by 1592. His early plays — the Tragedy of Titus Adronicus; Henry VI, parts 1, 2 and 3; The Comedy of Errors; and Richard III — mimic the form of the Roman playwrights he studied in grammar school —- LOL — does anyone really believe this crap?? LOL.

10 History plays:
8 plays: 15th century Plantagenets
1 play: early Plantagent King John (1199 - 1216)
1 play: Tudor King Henry VIII (1509 - 1547

Late in Richard III: three royal ladies — the Dowager queens Margaret and Elizabeth the the dowager duchess of York —

Margaret: had an Edward (her son Prince Edward) until Richard killed him. I had a Harry (Henry VI?) until Richard killed him. [To Elizabeth} You had an Edward (Edward IV??) until a Richard killed him .. you had a Richard — sone of Elizabeth I ?? — until Richard killed him.

Duchess to Margaret: I had a Richard too until you, Margaret, killed him — Margaret?

Plantagenet: family name of the line of English kinds from King Henry II to Richard III

Plays:

A double tetralogy: 1422 - 1485: Henry VI, parts 1, 2, 3 and Richard III
1398 - 1422: Richard II, Henry IV, parts 1 and 2, Henry V

Bookends to the two tetralogies:

King John: 1199 - 1216
King Henry VIII: 1509 - 1547

p. 32

***********************
Bosworht

Begins: Battle of Wakefield —> 1460 — near York
Richard, Duke of York defeated
25 years before Bosworth

Father, Richard, Duke of York
Son: Richard — third of three brothers — 8 y/o
Also referred to as “York”
Family shocked by his death / defeat at Wakefield

Clare in Suffolk: Richard, York’s fan club after his death; his wife kept his name alive

p. 58: Cecily Neville — ** author Michael Jones !!!

p. 59: Richard III — how he “knew” his father

Chapter 3: The Theater of Pain

Brothers York
Three Sons / Three Suns
p. 6: Cecily m Richard (orphan)
For 39. Years — faithful support of Lancasterians.

Richard / Cecily — huge dominion in France
— regent of France
— Rouen

Three children while in France — in quick succession.

Henry VI: 
Beaufort relatives
descendants of the dynasty’s founder, John of Gaunt and mistress Katherine Swynford

Beaufort’s killed the king’s de facto heir — his Uncle Humphrey, due of Gloucester — Role of royal heir: unofficial. But felt: Richard of York

From France and Ireland where Richard / Cecily had a second son: George

Edward, Edmund (died), daughter, then George (Ireland).

To Ireland
Successor as regent to France —
King’s cousin Edmund Beaufort — duke of Somerset — Lost Normandy!!
This forced Richard to return to England via Wales

So, Henry VI
—> Duke of Somerset — Edmund Beauford

—-> Duke of York — Richard

!! Seeds of the Wars of the Roses!!!
p. 10: Richard’s sons Edward, 10 y/o, and Edmund, 4 y/o— both in Wales

Then fourth son 2 Oct 1452 — Richard (to be III)

1453
England lost all of France except Calais; too much for Henry VI — catatonic

Richard seizes his opportunity — puts Somerset in the Tower

Richard

Edward, Early of March, 12 y/o

Brother-in-law Richard, Earl of Salisbury
Head of the Powerful Neville family !!!

Salisbury’s oldest son: Richard Neville Earl of Warwick (“kingmaker”) — kingmaker because he was responsible for deposition of two kings

“Exceptionally wealthy man of ruthless political instincts — Warwick

Warwick hated Somerset (Tower)

So: York-Neville bloc. Vs Henry VI / Margaret (Somerset’s ally) p. 12

1450: England falling apart; Henry Vi
P. 6

Kent, UK — Jack Cade executed
York returns from Ireland

p. 7 — doesn’t mention who York’s ward was — interesting


Marriage arranged
Regent of France — France —> Ireland —> Wales

1457: Margaret of Anjou becoming stronger

1455 — St Albans battle bloodshed

Now 1458 — Henry VI up front; behind them Margaret — York — joined hands

False friendship — York and Margaret

Warwick was running Calais

To the English, Warwick was a hero — causing Margaret headaches

Ludlow — situated close to Wales — near the midpoint of the England-Wales border
This time: Ludlow seat of the Council of Wales and the Marches

1459: everything finally reached crisis point
Margaret — Great Council in Coventry — charged Yorkists with treason

Three lords meet with Henry VI:
York: in the Welsch Marches (Ludlow)
Warwick: Calais
Salisbury (Neville): Yorkshire

********************
The War of the Roses — John Gillingham c. 1981

 Chapter 8: Five battles, 1459 - 1461

1 - Lancaster ousted by York
2 - YOrk ousted by Lancaster
3 - finally — Lancaster ousted by Cork — Nov 1459 — Coventry

As a fugitive, York sets himself up as rule of Ireland

Warwick grabs Calais — holds off the Lancastrian’s.

p. 108: Warwick to Ireland to confer with York, 1460

Jne, 1460 — Yorkists march on London

1st of 5 battles: Northampton, p.113

“Warrick and March —> Edmund (York’s 1st-borne son)

King Henry VI took prisoner by Warwick.

Warwick: took over reins of government
—brother: George Neville, bishop of Exeter, appoint Chancellor!!

If Henry VI captured, who become king??

Henry VI son: Edward — Duke’s son: one of the three

Propaganda: Henry VI illegitimate son Edward !!!
p. 118: Jasper Tudor — Welsh mentioned — aligned with Margaret

1460: Battle of Wakefield send of five
York killed on the battlefield
also killed: Sir Thomas Neville; Sir Thomas Harrington, others
Edmund also killed

Sons of those killed at St Albans killed five years earlier -  now butchered the Yorkists at Wakefield.

Was a Neville responsible of the loss of Wakefield!!!

Now, p. 124 — stubble had been portrayed as a dynastic struggle — but now portrayed as a war of the north against the south, Civil War. P. 1124.

3rd of five battles: Mortimer’s Cross — 1st of. Many spectacular victories by Edward !!!
“Three suns” p. 124

Owen Tudor — Jasper’s father executed.

Sir Henry Neville 1564 - 1615 married Anne Killigrew

Parents: Henry Neville, Elizabeth Gresham

Henry Neville (gentleman of the Privy Chamber — King Henry VIII)

Holy mackerel.

1520 - 1593
    Billingbear House, Berkshire

Parents: Sir Edward Neville / Eleanor Windsor
Sir Edward Neville (courtier)
d. 1538 — in Henry VIII’s household; esquire the body

Parents: George Neville, 4th Baron Bergavenny
And Margaret (daughter of Hugh Fenn)

Parents
Sir Edward Neville, brother of George Neville, 5th Baron of Bergavenny, so through George Nevill, married after father

Family diagram

1459 - 1461

Henry VI part III

1 — York wins at St Albans #1 — now on throne king of England
Clifford orphaned when father killed here

2 — next battle — Wakefield #2
Margaret meets York in battle
York’s youngest son Rutland and the York himself captured and killed — by Clifford and Northumberland (Percy) — also, Sir Thomas Neville killed

Edward and Richard told of their father’s murder and their youngest brother’s murder.

Edward / Richard — unite with Warwick (rich Neville)

Warwick declares Edward the new Duke of York

#3 Mortimer’s Cross — 3 sons
#4 — St Albans #2

#5 — Towton

3 — Duke of York (Edward), Richard (III)
Warwick defeat Lancastrians at Towton (5ifth of 5)
Margaret flees
Clifford killed
Henry VI captured
 4— a broken promise !!!
Warwick meets with Margaret. They get news that Edward has married Lady Elizabeth Grey in spite of agreement to marry French King Louis’ sister Lade Bona

This insult throws both Warwick and Louis against Edward
Warwick pledges support to Margaret — release Henry Vi from the Tower — restoring him as King

5 — Warwick leave London to muster army — Edward returns and re-captures Henry VI

6 — Edward and Warwick meet @ Barnet.
Warwick killed
Margaret arrives in England —with reinforcements

7). Margaret for last time meets Edward at Tewkesbury where after much bloodshed — the Yorkist are victorious. Wars of Rose finally seems to be over.

At Tewkesbury — Shakespeare’s great-grandfather was knight for his role in defeating Margaret at Tewkesbury




Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt, by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Basic Books, c. 2025

From Clarement Review of Books, Winter 2024 / 2025, page 62: "Age Cannot Wither Them," The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt, by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Basic Books, c. 2025, 384 pages, $34.

The lede: "Ptolemaic Egypt is a paradox. The kingdom was founded by Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great's generals. It lasted for about three centuries -- roughly the length of the Hellenistic period that followed Alexander's death in 323  B.C.

To the victor went the spoils. In this case, to Alexander the Great -- the victor -- the spoils went to his three generals. General Ptolemy got "Egypt."