William of Worcester's Chronicle of England

William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.

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Effigy of Effigy in Great Malvern Church

Effigy of Effigy in Great Malvern Church is in Monumental Effigies of Great Britain.

THIS unappropriated figure is of the same period with that of Longespee, Earl of Salisbury. There are some remarkable peculiarities in the arms which it bears. In the right hand is a formidable martel de fer, horseman's hammer, or pole-axe, formed on the same principle as the pick-axe of the labourer, but shorter in the head, which measures about nine inches, and has one cutting and one pointed end; apparently a most efficient weapon for breaking defensive armour, beating down and wounding opponents. In the left hand is a circular target, eighteen inches in diameter. On the left side is suspended the broad-bladed sword of the time.