Tea at Trianon: A Damning Discovery?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, December 6, 2024

A Damning Discovery?

From historian Matt Lewis at Made by History:

Before I continue, the claims are based on more stunning archival research by Professor Tim Thornton. He is finding unique documents that have never before been examined, at least not in this context. Like his previous discovery around the Princes, it’s valuable and hugely admirable research. But, like his other revelation, it proves nothing. It certainly does not do the job it is being asked to perform. I look forward to seeing how many of those who sneered at the results of the research of The Missing Princes Project seek to hold this flimsy, wet cardboard tube up as the new sword of their conviction in Richard III’s guilt.
Also, before I continue, I did some filming for this documentary about Edward V’s upbringing at Ludlow Castle. I have no idea whether any of it made it past the cutting room. I was strictly forbidden from mentioning what might have happened to Edward and his brother after he left Ludlow. Now I know why. I can’t pretend I’m not frustrated to have been involved but not told that the documentary would present new evidence. Feels like bad form, Lion TV.
So, what is this evidence?
Professor Thornton has uncovered the will of Lady Margaret Capell, dating from 1516, and put into effect on her death in 1522. In it, Lady Margaret leaves an item of her late husband’s to their son. The piece of jewellery is described as his ‘faders Cheyne which was yonge king Edwarde the Vth’ (father’s chain which was young king Edward V’s). This seems to be the first uncovered reference to property that had belonged to either of the sons of Edward IV, so I can understand the excitement.
The will is purported to add weight to Sir Thomas More’s gruesome account of the murder of the Princes in the Tower. Lady Margaret Capell’s maiden name was Arundell. Her older half-sister, Anne Arundell, had been married to Sir James Tyrell, the man Thomas More collars as the murderer of the two boys (or at least, the man who has it done by Forest and Dighton). (Read more.)