Sir Thomas Markenfield, who was born around 1447 and died in 1497, is celebrated for his attachment to Richard III. What might have once been considered universally as a mark of shame is now seen by many as a badge of honour. In particular it is believed that he fought valiantly for his lord and king on Bosworth Field. But what was the nature of that attachment? How did Sir Thomas first come into the king’s service? What, service did he give? And how did he adjust to life after Richard III? Professor Anthony Pollard has the answers.
This autobiographical account of the early life and times of the Honourable Richard Henry Brinsley Norton, who became 6th Baron Grantley of Markenfield, is both hilarious and outrageous. By his own admission he was “brought up on a silver spoon”. The book chronicles the twilight of the aristocracy, refers to Hitler in the present tense and peppered with inaccuracies (including his assertion that a Norton ancestor was the lover of Mary Queen of Scots – well, I suppose you never know…). Join 6th Lord Grantley on a rip roaring ride around the early C19th.
A glorious reproduction of the original type-written manuscript of 6th Lord Grantley's autobiography - both hilarious and outrageous by turn. The manuscript takes its reader up to 1915, after he had been severely wounded in the First World War. The full transcript was published in 1954, the year he died, and chronicled "the twilight of the aristocracy". It has long been out of print, but finally a large portion of it is available to the public once more. As Mark Twain once said: "never let the truth get in the way of a good story"...
Handmade in Dorset, Beebombs are a mix of 18 British wildflower seeds, fine, sifted soil and locally sourced clay. The seeds are native species and designated by the Royal Horticultural Society as "Perfect for Pollinators" Beebombs just need to be scattered onto cleared ground to create a wildflower meadow that will #bringthebeesback
Re-live the good old days when Markenfield's moat was still patrolled by the Hall's two Black Swans. Declare your allegiance to Markenfield! Is it too early to introduce an Otter pin badge...? Probably not in good taste.
A pack of 10 Christmas cards and envelopes (2 of each design) depicting a snowy Markenfield and the Great Hall decorated for Christmas at Markenfield. The message inside reads "wishing you peace and happiness for Christmas and the New Year".
Henry VIII is the King who changed most and changed England most as well. The King himself changed from the young, handsome and athletic “virtuous prince”, who was hailed by Thomas More as the liberator of his country, into the grotesquely bloated, brutal tyrant of his maturity, who judicially murdered More, two of his own wives, and hundreds of his subjects.
The change inflicted on England was even greater as, standing his own religion on its head, he broke the kingdom’s thousand-year-old allegiance to Rome, dissolved the monasteries and made himself “Supreme Head on Earth” of the schismatic national Church of England. This lecture, which takes on added resonance from Markenfield’s past as a recusant house, asks why Henry changed and how he got away with revolutionary change he forced on England. And offers radically new and surprising answers.
Markenfield Hall is renowned as a masterpiece of medieval architecture. Enlarged and embellished under royal license in the early fourteenth century, it represented in stone the wealth and influence of its owner, John of Markenfield. But who was John and how did he acquire such power?
In this talk, Paul Dryburgh, Principal Records Specialist at The National Archives, will explore some of the darker episodes in the life of the man who served both as canon of York Minster and, for two years, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, reveal the nefarious strategies John used to protect and extend his familial networks in the North and his position as a senior northern clerk in the service of King Edward II.