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Study Day Announced
There is now a provisional date for the next Study Day and AGM
of the Society, though these still have to be approved by a Committee of the Cathedral. See further possible details
in the list below. Should any members of the Society who live in Lincolnshire wish to form a second Local Members Group
and assist in the arrangements for the Study Day would you contact Roger Joy. Turning now to the other meetings
the following dates, dates after March are provisional and are subject to confirmation. To book a place for any of these
visits, contact Roger Joy (excepted where noted otherwise). If no-one has booked by noon of the preceding day, the visit may
be cancelled. All meetings start at 1 p.m. unless specified otherwise.
Saturday, March 6th , at 2 p.m.:
Leicester Castle Tour.
Leicester Castle was one
of John of Gaunt's main residences. It is the scene for the fictional Christmas celebrations in the Anya Seton novel when
John becomes jealous. The castle is also where John of Gaunt's father-in-law Henry (The Duke of Lancaster) died, and where
John himself passed away. Book tickets in advance on 0116 299 4444.
Leicester City Council pages on Leicester Castle
Further Future Meetings- Sunday, April 11th, 2010: Winchester Cathedral (Cardinal Beaufort’s Monument) and St. Cross
Hospital Gateway:
http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/
- April
28 Frederick Bailey: "John of Gaunt And Katherine Swynford"
Frederick's interest in Katherine started
with the Anya Seton novel in the 50's. He moved to Hungerford in 1969. John of Gaunt is very much associated with the
Town as tradition has it that he granted fishing rights to Hungerford along with other benefits, and the Town coffer contains
a horn which he is reputed to have given as confirmation of these rights, although it is believed that the horn has actually
been dated about 100 years later. Frederick is a former Chairman of the Association and lectured on John
of Gaunt about 12 years ago. He agreed when he retired as Archivist last year that he would give the talk on John and Katherine
on April 28th this year.
Roger has sent Frederick an image of Katherine's coat of arms to Frederick to show
at the talk.
The talk is open to members of the public at a cost of £2 per person and is held in the Hungerford
Town Hall.
Full details of the HHA can be obtained from the Association's web site: http://www.hungerfordhistorical.org.uk/Events/events.html
- Saturday, May 8th: Annual Katherine Swynford Study Day and Coach Trip to Kettlethorpe (date
to be confirmed). Lecture in the morning by Dr. David Marcombe followed by the AGM of the Katherine Swynford Society. Details
for the afternoon are still being discussed but are likely to include a coach trip to Kettlethorpe and other places of interest.
- May 10th. Anniversary of Lady Katherine's
death. Commemorated by the study day above.
- Saturday
May 15th. Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire.
- Another date in May or June (to be confirmed): The London Museum of the Royal College
of Surgeons to view the preserved hands, reputed to be those of Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter. For any members who consider
this too ghoulish a visit, you may join us at the second destination of the visit, The Temple Church at a time to be notified
later.
- Sunday, June 20th, 2010: Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland.
Park at Craster Car Park and walk one mile north along the coast.
- Feast of St John the Baptist. John's Feast Day. This would have been an important day for
John, there would have been religious services, and most likely other celebrations when practical, depending on where he was
at the time. There is no Society event on this day, it is marked by the 'Walk for Katherine and John' on 26th June
(see below).
- Saturday June 26th
- A Walk For Katherine And John, being held on the nearest Saturday to the Vigil of St John the Baptist (23rd June) and the
Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist (24th June) - the beheading of John the Baptist is marked on 29th August in the
Catholic Liturgy. The walk will start outside the Bookshop at Westminster Abbey then progress via King Edward III's Jewel
Tower; Palace of Westminster; site of Savoy Palace; St Clement Danes; Temple Church (Knights Templar); Southwark Cathedral;
St Paul's Cathedral; Billingsgate Fish Market; Tower of London; St Katharine's Dock (the site of St Katharine's
hospital where John Beaufort died). To be confirmed and subject to weather. Booking information will be published once details
are finalised (organiser for this activity is Graham Coult).
Further information on St John the Baptist in the
Catholic Liturgy: http://www.catholictradition.org/Passion/john-baptist4.htm
- Sunday, July 4th, 2010: The Chetwynd Fair, organised by Joanna and Robin Spencer, Wellbank Farm, Pickstock, Newport, Shropshire. (http://www.shropshirelavender.co.uk/chetwynd%20_fair.html).
- Sunday, August 8th, 2010:
Tutbury Castle.
http://www.tutburycastle.com/
- August 22nd - Kenilworth Castle
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.16873
- Monday, September 6th , at 12 Noon: The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance at Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire.
- Another
possible date in September: The Parker Library of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, a visit to view the
MS of Troilus and Criseyde, with its frontispiece showing presumably Chaucer
reading to an audience containing various members of the nobility, including possibly Katherine. For a general survey of the
Library history and holdings (but nothing on the Chaucer MS) see http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/parker-library .
- Sunday, October 17th, 2010: St
Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St. Edmunds, and possibly churches at Thorpe Morieux and Sudbury. Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter was laid to rest in the Abbey church here (the present Cathedral is part of the former
abbey complex):
http://www.stedscathedral.co.uk/
- Sunday, November 14th, 2010: Exeter Cathedral.
Founded in 1050, the Cathedral
was established to provide support for the Bishop of Exeter in his ministry and mission across Devon, and to be a community
of prayer, and christian worship. The first Cathedral in Devon was at Crediton, a few miles away.
The Cathedral
building, dedicated to Peter, one of Jesus' earliest followers and the model for all subsequent bishops, is said to be
the finest example of Decorated Gothic architecture in any Cathedral.
Items of interest include the monument to
the Earl and Countess of Devon (the latter being Margaret de Bohun who died in 1391). Thomas Beaufort was of course the Duke
of Exeter. Also (according to 'Exeter Cathedral: A Short History and Description' by Audrey Erskine, Vyvyan Hope and
John Lloyd pp104-5) the tomb of Bishop Edmund Stafford (in office 1395 to 1419) is a typical piece of fifteenth and sixteenth
century alabaster work and was almost certainly made in one of the workshops set up near the quaries at Chellaston in Derbyshire
and Tutbury in Stafforshire. This may well be in the same material and style as the lost tomb of John and Blanche in St Paul's
Cathedral, London. http://www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/
- Thursday November 25th: St Catherine's Day.
Provisional: Katherine, Duchess of Lancaster Saint's Day Lecture - most likely to be held at the Roundhouse or Christ
Church meeting rooms in Highbury - accessible via the Great Northern Electrics (First Capital Connect) Moorgate to Finsbury
Park line, the North London Line (Richmond and Clapham Junction to Stratford via Highbury & Islington run by London Overground),
and the Victoria tube line.
- Saturday, December 4th, at 11:45 a.m: Westminster Abbey, with the Marie
Stuart Society - ceremony to mark the birthday of Mary Queen of Scots.
http://www.marie-stuart.co.uk/
Further information on Blithfield Hall on the official website
Abbots Bromley
Multimap page showing location of Abbots Bromley
Past Events
Sunday,
February 7th, 2010: Norwich
Cathedral and St. Julian’s Church Norwich Cathedral has a nine hundred year history. Notable figures include Bishop Despenser who led a fierce response to
the rebels in the Peasnat's Revolt. St Julian's Church is the site of Mother Julian's cell. St Julian features
in the Anya Seton after the Peasant's Revolt when Katherine has gone on pilgrimage to Walsingham for the safe return of
her daughter Blanchette. Mother Julian certainly existed but this episode in the novel seems to be fictional - there is no
evidence as far as we know for Katherine visiting Walsingham and subsequently Mother Julian's cell. Anya Seton did visit
St Julian's cell, and we recommend this visit to Norwich to all those with an interest in Katherine and this period in
history.
| Photo courtesy of Morguefile |

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| Norwich Cathedral |
Norwich Cathedral website
Link to Norwich Cathedral's web pages about Bishop Despenser
Link to Norwich Cathedral's web pages about St Julian.
Link to Multimap showing position of Norwich Cathedral
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