Articles by Simon Payling
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The poetic memorialization of late-medieval MPs
Producing biographies on late-medieval MPs comes with its unique set of challenges, notably the lack surviving records indicative of their…
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Legitimism and the origins of the Wars of the Roses: the motivations of Richard, duke of York
Following recent articles on the origins of the Wars of the Roses, Dr Simon Payling of our House of Commons…
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Lineage and Architectural Display: the ‘Golden Chapel’ at Tong (Shropshire) and the Commemoration of Sir Henry Vernon, governor of the household of Prince Arthur
Dr Simon Payling of our 1461-1504 section explores the life and remembrance of MP for Derbyshire Sir Henry Vernon, and his family’s enduring…
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An unwilling ‘pretender’: reassessing the unfortunate career of Edmund Mortimer, earl of March (1391-1425)
Although heir presumptive to Richard II, Edmund Mortimer, 5th earl of March never took the throne after the Lancaster usurpation…
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Bosworth and other battles: the illustrious career of Sir Gilbert Talbot (d.1517) of Grafton, KG
Dr Simon Payling of our Commons 1461-1504 project explores the career of the early Tudor figure Sir Gilbert Talbot, who…
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The origin of the Wars of the Roses? The marriage of Richard of Conisbrough and Anne Mortimer and the union of the houses of York and Mortimer
Whilst many see the ignition of the Wars of the Roses as taking place later in the 15th century, Dr…
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A Lancastrian City? Coventry and the Wars of the Roses, 1451-1471
This piece is in memory of Professor Peter W. Fleming, who died in April 2025. His publishing career spanned 40…
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Parliament and Politics in the Later Middle Ages
Dr Simon Payling, of our 1461-1504 section, tracks the development of Parliament and Politics in the Later Middle Ages, from…
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Did they believe in portents? Severe weather and other extreme natural phenomena in Walsingham’s Chronica Maiora and other late-medieval monastic chronicles
Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the theme of extreme weather in medieval chronicles. It is a familiar…
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From Lancaster to York and back again: the political evolution of the Derbyshire Blounts
Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the fortunes and shifting loyalties of one gentry family in Derbyshire during…
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‘One of the wyrste bataylys that ever came to Inglonde, and unkyndyst’: The battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403
Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the background and significance of the battle of Shrewsbury, which took place…
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A Yorkist Family during the Wars of the Roses: the Devereuxs of Weobley in Herefordshire
Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the fortunes of one particularly loyal Yorkist family during the Wars of…