Flavio Biondo, an Italian humanist, in the early 15th Century, first coined the term “Middle Age” (”medium ævum”) to designate the period between the Classical and the enlightened Renaissance revival of classical ideas, philosophies, aesthetics. In English, Dutch, Russian and Icelandic, the plural form of the term, Middle Ages, is used, however, other European languages use the singular form (Italian medioevo, French le moyen âge, German das Mittelalter.) The popular word we use commonly today, “medieval”, is a contraction of the Latin medium ævum or “middle epoch”. Enlightenment thinkers used it as a pejorative descriptor of the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages would come to be viewed as a Dark Age during which many of the advances and achievements of the Greeks and Romans would be eclipsed by warfare and the gradual disintegration of institutions and culture that the Europeans had inherited from the Classical era.
The beginning of the Medieval period is introduced with the fall of the Roman Empire, when in 476 C.E., the emperor was driven from his throne by barbarian invaders. The dissolution of the once expansive and powerful Roman Empire allowed for the formation of tiny kingdoms throughout Europe vying for territory. There was great instability as a result of such fragmentation and ongoing invasions and infighting bewteen tribes such as the Vikings, Visigoths, and Gauls, as well as the Moors began to change the nature of European life. 
A lack of centralized political power in the greater region gave the Catholic Church tremendous power and civilian life - in terms of cultural growth, education, literacy, political involvement, and commerce - was in many ways truncated by an era of conflict and unenlightened dogma. With lawlessness and warfare widespread, community became focused around small powers, nobles or kings, who established control of land and created feudal systems by which to garner work from the peasant-class in exchange for access to land and protection from marauding tribes.
In the midst of the bloody and violent history of the tower of London, a sad and intriguing event continues to confuse historians. The story of the two royal princes who disappeared from the tower is partly the stuff of legend and partly the stuff of history. The princes were royal brothers, Edward V and Richard, the young Duke of York.
Edward and Richard were the young sons of King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth. Edward was born in 1470 and his younger brother Richard came into the world in 1473. In 1483, the War of the Roses was nearing its end and the nation thought quieter times were ahead. Then King Edward IV died. By default, Edward V became the boy king. Being so young, Edward the boy would need a regent until he became Edward the man.
Enter Uncle Richard, better known as Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Richard was the late king’s brother and trusted friend. Who better than he to look after the two young princes and keep them safe from harm? The late king had declared his desire that Richard be the boy’s regent just before he died. This made Queen Elizabeth very unhappy as she despised Richard and wanted the job for herself.
The problem with Queen Elizabeth was a lack of loyalty from the public and the people at court due to the rumors that her sons were illegitimate. Apparently, King Edward had been married to another woman when he married Elizabeth and although the boys were Edward’s, the marriage was a matter of bigamy and therefore illegal under English law. This made the boys illegitimate and put their right to the throne in question.
The king had died in April and the coronation of the new king was set for June 22. At the time, the Tower of London held royal apartments and this is where Edward and his brother Richard were heading to so they could prepare for the upcoming coronation. In accordance with tradition, the royal party would leave the tower, cross London and make their way to Westminster Abbey for the crowning ceremony. On June 16 the royal party was intercepted by Uncle Richard and the young king was taken to the tower where he was soon joined by his young brother.
On June 25, 1483, the two young princes were determined to be illegitimate by the English parliament and stripped of their royal stature. This made Uncle Richard next in line for the throne and he gladly accepted the nomination the same day. June 25 is the last day anyone saw the two princes alive. Richard’s coronation took place on July 6, 1483 when he assumed the throne as King Richard III. Two years later, on August 22, 1485 King Richard III was killed in the battle of Bosworth Field against the house of Tudor who subsequently took over the royal seat.
| To this day, no-one knows what happened to the 12 and 9 year old princes. Although Richard and his cronies remain the most probable suspects, the disappearance of the princes was not | ||||||||||||
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necessary for him to become king. The presumption is the boys were murdered in the tower and their bodies secretly removed by boat at night to an undisclosed burial ground. Or perhaps, their small corpses were simply dropped weight-laden into the Thames. Nobody knows. The mystery remains and the story of the two princes in the tower will always be remembered as a symbol of the corruption and evil that too much power can bring. | |||||||||||
Tags: 1470, 1473, 1483, Battle of Bosworth Field, Couter, Cuirass with Tassets, Death of Richard III, Duke of Gloucester, Duke of York, Edward IV, Edward V, King Henry Jousting Helmet, King Richard III, Medieval Salade with Bevor, Medieval Store, Prince Edward V, Queen Elizabeth, Rerebrace, Richard of York, Tower of London, Two Princes and the Tower of London, Vambrace, War of the Roses
Though the modern archaeological record dates Glastonbury Abbey to the early seventh century, that has not stopped it from holding a place in many a set of much older mythologies. To some it is the resting place of the Holy Grail, shepherded to England by Joseph of Arimathia following the Crucifixion. To others it is a conduit of Earth’s natural power and lynchpin of the supposed Ley Line network crisscrossing the English countryside. But to most, the now ruined abbey will forever be known as the final resting place of Albion’s “Once and Future King,” the legendary Arthur Pendragon.
Located in the west of England, the earliest recorded account, dating from 1090 AD, attribute the abbey at Glastonbury to St. David, patron saint of Wales. However, half a century later, early medieval historian and Glastonbury monk, William of Malmesbury, erroneously dated its foundations to the era immediately following Christ’s death – a thread later picked up on by French Romantics in subsequent centuries and one that would indelibly link England’s own inborn Arthurian tropes with the ever-evolving Grail lore of the continent.
Whether that anecdotal evidence supported such claims or not, in the era following Malmesbury’s death, the resident monks of Glastonbury decided to capitalize on the Arthurian myth’s prominent place in the English psyche. In 1190, they claimed to have discovered the mortal remains of Arthur and his ill-fated queen, Guinevere; the bodies were supposedly identified by means a leaden cross baring the convenient inscription of “Here lies renowned King Arthur in the island of Avalon.” Though the bodies and cross – if they ever existed to begin with – have not been located since, history does record that they were reburied in the floor beneath Glastonbury’s High Altar in 1278 before a cadre of true believers, including King Edward I. As expected, the Abbey’s tourism trade boomed thereafter.
Considering the ubiquity of pants in contemporary costume throughout the West and more and more visibly in the East, it is interesting to note that they were not a staple in men’s fashion until very late in recorded history. Pants or trousers really only became a feature of fashion after developing from the hose and breeches of the 15th through 18th centuries. What we see men and women wearing today is a variation of something quite different that evolved in men’s costume as tunic’s became shorter in the medieval period. 
In the 12th century the tunic dropped to about knee-length and men would wear often loose-fitting hose underneath. The hose would rise above the knee and would fasten to drawers (called braies) or be held in place by leg bands, thus providing warmth and coverage but still not considered a separate garment. By the middle of the 1300s hose were made of progressively tighter knits and as they became more fitted they also rose in length to compensate for the shortening of the tunic. As the tunic shortened and gave way to the more form-fitted doublet (that initially was worn under the tunic but soon dominated as a form) the hose gained in length and would be fastened to the doublet. The doublet narrowed at the waist and flared slightly at the hips to accentuate a certain ideal of figure and the well-fitted hose complemented this. By the 14th century it was typical for hose to form a single garment (as opposed to the separate pieces for each leg) and since the doublet had become even shorter with time the hose would be refitted for modesty by the attachment of a codpiece.
Towards the 1500’s the hose again transformed and evolved to become a single garment that ended at the knee and which the wearer would complement with separate stockings held up over the knee with garters. This shorter version of the hose would lead to the padded hose which would express, in their girth, a flamboyance and degree of excess compatible with the spirit of Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. The padded hose then gave way to rich silk and satin breeches that would dominate until the period of the French Revolution and the dissolution of certain class ideals and distinctions. 
Positions of authority and power often are enhanced by costume and accessories that distinguish the wearer’s bearing among other people and set him/her apart visually. A crown, diadem, or tiara is one such accessory that has been a display of authority throughout history and one that is particularly notable in the history of Western European monarchies is the Iron Crown of Lombardy.
It was first worn by Theodelinda, Queen of the Lombards from 588 to 628, who was influential in promoting a branch of Christianity throughout Italy that would later prevail as the dominant tradition. The Iron Crown of Lombardy thus became a symbol of Christian faith tied to monarchy and rights to rule. Queen Theodelinda donated the Iron Crown to the Italian church in Monza in 628 and it remained there as a religious relic and as one of the oldest crowns of monarchy in preservation.
