Medieval Murder Mysteries
The medieval period gave us some of the greatest, most enduring stories in history. Some are of them were real – some are altered into pure Legend. These legends usually had somebody doing villainous deeds. The even greater thing is that most of these were surrounded in mystery or conspiracy. Medieval Murder Mysteries uses modern thinking from historical police criminology combined with forensics and human osteologists blended with current historical ideas to try and solve what really happened all those years ago. Magnificent castles, chivalrous knights, powerful kings and queens? You’ll have them. Also require dark deeds, illicit lovers, greedy nobles, mad cardinals? Look no further. They’re all here.
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The effeminate and weak son of the warrior king Edward Longshanks met a death almost too horrible to contemplate in Berkeley Castle in 1327 (it involved a red hot poker). This is a simply extraordinary tale of sexual shenanigans and medieval politics - but is the awful story of Edward's death actually true? Or is it another example of powerful medieval propaganda?
Bad, bad King John - the treacherous brother who tried to take his brother King Richard's throne while he was away fighting during the Crusades. John is something of a pantomime villain these days and his popular image as a selfish, cruel, tyrannical, violent man is largely true, although he was well-read and a capable administrator. But did he personally murder his errant nephew Arthur of Brittany to prevent him from succeeding to the throne of England. It's a great story, shocking if true - but is it?
Since he showed up in a Leicestershire car park a short while ago, Richard III has been at his most popular for 500 years - not that he was that popular in the late 15th Century. He is universally blamed for the deaths of the Two Little Princes in the Tower in 1483 - his guilt or innocence is still debated today. We'll gather all the evidence, plus we'll explore the new theory that Richard actually had his own wife killed to smooth his path to the throne.