Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Get ready for some STONE OF SCONE facts in this week’s video from History Calling, as we look at this famous rock (also known as the Stone of Destiny) upon which so many Scottish, England and British monarchs have been crowned. Currently housed in Edinburgh Castle along with the Scottish Crown Jewels (aka the Scottish Regalia, or Honours of Scotland), the stories around this stone’s origins are legion. Some claim it dates to Biblical times and is the same stone as that which Jacob used as a pillow at Bethel, mentioned in the book of Genesis. Others claim it came from Egypt and perhaps had a pit stop in Ireland on its travels. Its earliest confirmed location is medieval Scotland however, where it was used in the coronation ceremonies for Scotland’s Kings. That is until 1296 When King Edward I of England stole it and took it to London, where a special chair, known as St Edward’s Chair or the Coronation Chair was created to hold it. It stayed in England, almost without break for the next 700 years, where it was usually kept in Westminster Abbey and used in the coronations of dozens of monarchs. It has been attacked and broken by suffragettes, hidden from Nazi bombs, stolen by Scottish nationalists, and eventually returned to its ancient home in 1996. But what is the coronation stone and how many of the tales from the Stone of Destiny’s history can we really believe? What’s more, how do you pronounce Stone of Scone anyway? In this video to mark the coronation of Charles III, you’ll find out.
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TREASURE PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0ExMFIdms9p5lOj7W7coGo9
Wild history of Scotland’s Crown Jewels
ttps://youtu.be/EJ6yp90SUWQ
Queen Victoria’s coronation
youtu.be/isfHxMtd7II
History of St Edward’s Crown
youtu.be/sYLOdnBUb0Q
History of the Cullinan Diamond
youtu.be/kKrUQJPmon4
Story of the Black Prince’s Ruby
youtu.be/C6_C9hf_VyE
History of the Hope Diamond
youtu.be/HxQ6Vq5VDVM
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LEARN MORE:
Warwick Rodwell, The Coronation Chair and Stone of Scone: history, archaeology and conservation (2013). Available at amzn.to/3ThT3ur
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
Get ready for some STONE OF SCONE facts in this week’s video from History Calling, as we look at this famous rock (also known as the Stone of Destiny) upon which so many Scottish, England and British monarchs have been crowned. Currently housed in Edinburgh Castle along with the Scottish Crown Jewels (aka the Scottish Regalia, or Honours of Scotland), the stories around this stone’s origins are legion. Some claim it dates to Biblical times and is the same stone as that which Jacob used as a pillow at Bethel, mentioned in the book of Genesis. Others claim it came from Egypt and perhaps had a pit stop in Ireland on its travels. Its earliest confirmed location is medieval Scotland however, where it was used in the coronation ceremonies for Scotland’s Kings. That is until 1296 When King Edward I of England stole it and took it to London, where a special chair, known as St Edward’s Chair or the Coronation Chair was created to hold it. It stayed in England, almost without break for the next 700 years, where it was usually kept in Westminster Abbey and used in the coronations of dozens of monarchs. It has been attacked and broken by suffragettes, hidden from Nazi bombs, stolen by Scottish nationalists, and eventually returned to its ancient home in 1996. But what is the coronation stone and how many of the tales from the Stone of Destiny’s history can we really believe? What’s more, how do you pronounce Stone of Scone anyway? In this video to mark the coronation of Charles III, you’ll find out.
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
TREASURE PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0ExMFIdms9p5lOj7W7coGo9
Wild history of Scotland’s Crown Jewels
ttps://youtu.be/EJ6yp90SUWQ
Queen Victoria’s coronation
youtu.be/isfHxMtd7II
History of St Edward’s Crown
youtu.be/sYLOdnBUb0Q
History of the Cullinan Diamond
youtu.be/kKrUQJPmon4
Story of the Black Prince’s Ruby
youtu.be/C6_C9hf_VyE
History of the Hope Diamond
youtu.be/HxQ6Vq5VDVM
GEAR USED
Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (for video editing): amzn.to/3S6IoRK
DJI Drone: amzn.to/38h1vXr (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/39hROZm (US LINK)
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3EPIK9U (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rTWScL (US LINK)
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/37CdC1r (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3vaVxjU (US LINK)
Memory Card: amzn.to/36QvcOQ (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3KeLZZs (US LINK)
Microphone: amzn.to/3MFtoaK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rYtjH8 (US LINK)
LEARN MORE:
Warwick Rodwell, The Coronation Chair and Stone of Scone: history, archaeology and conservation (2013). Available at amzn.to/3ThT3ur
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses

![Who was BESSIE BLOUNT? Henry VIII’s mistress | Elizabeth Blount | Tudor history documentary
Henry VIII’s MOST SUCCESSFUL MISTRESS (in my view) was a teenage girl called Elizabeth Blount, also known as Bessie Blount. A lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon, she had a relationship with the King in 1518 which resulted in a pregnancy. In June 1519 she gave birth to their son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Henry did not resume his relationship with her and she was quickly married off to Gilbert Tailbois, Baron Tailbois, by whom she had three additional children. When he died in 1530, she was a sought-after bride but refused at least one suitor and ultimately married (between 1532 and early 1535) a much younger man named Edward Fiennes de Clinton, Baron Clinton and Saye, later Earl of Lincoln. She had another three daughters by him and died herself between 1539 and 1541, several years after the death of her illegitimate son, who had passed away in 1536.
Why do I think she was so successful as a mistress to Henry VIII? There are several reasons; because she gave him a son, because Henry didn’t marry her, because she remained on good terms with him for the rest of her life and because she escaped his clutches with her head on her shoulders, two favourable marriages of her own and a comfortable existence. As she saw how Henry VIII treated the other women in his life, she must surely have been grateful for that.
In this week’s Tudor history documentary I tell you all about the life of this elusive figure, from her background, to her time at the royal court, her relationship with her eldest son, her marriages, her interactions with Henry after their relationship had concluded and finally, her death. This is the story of the mistress who got away.
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THE BIRTH OF ANNE BOLEYN
https://youtu.be/iA_9SM0UTyw
TUDOR FERTILITY PROBLEMS
https://youtu.be/eQ0Xv9vGMVw
CHARLES BRANDON, DUKE OF SUFFOLK
https://youtu.be/hc6UxVIAKv0
THE LIFE OF HENRY FITZROY, DUKE OF RICHMOND AND SOMERSET
https://youtu.be/TNyyDPwl2yQ
THE SHORT LIFE OF PRINCE HENRY TUDOR, DUKE OF CORNWALL
https://youtu.be/7F6WYqzGURk
TUDOR MONARCHS’ PLAYLIST
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0FD_vatnjVq9egboPYy8Kg0
SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII PLAYLIST
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0Hb5Wjykc2hBrBddQYXDUqU
LEARN MORE:
Elizabeth Norton, Bessie Blount: Mistress to Henry VIII (2013)
https://amzn.to/3xMQhXu
Beverley A. Murphy, B**stard Prince: Henry VIIIs Lost Son (2004)
https://amzn.to/43P9TWH
Robert Hutchinson, Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII (W&N, 2012). https://amzn.to/3mu5liP
David Starkey, Henry: Virtuous Prince (Harper Press, 2008). https://amzn.to/39y2jVK
Giles Tremlett, Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s Spanish Queen (London, 2010)
https://amzn.to/3UfGmmx
Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005)
https://amzn.to/3xLivgr
[FREE] Norton, Elizabeth, ‘Elizabeth Blount of Kinley: an image of Henry VIII’s mistress identified’ in Shropshire History and Archaeology: Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society, lxxxiv (2011), pp 21-6.
This is an article on the tomb monument to Bessie’s parents and includes images of a likely statue of Bessie.
https://shropshirearchaeologyhistory.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/shropshire-transactions-vol.-84_sm.pdf
BUY OR RENT:
The Tudors, season 1
https://amzn.to/2VCwQ0j
The Tudors, season 2
https://amzn.to/2VMPnHw
The Tudors, season 3
https://amzn.to/3BijsPB
The Tudors, season 4
https://amzn.to/3z16S58
Henry VIII and his Six Wives (2016 docu-drama)
https://amzn.to/3jiCkag
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THUMBNAIL: Ruta Gedmintas as Bessie Blount in The Tudors, season 1, ep. 2. Showtime (2007). Fair Use
Open Street Map copyright information
https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
Creative Commons licenses used see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay. Who was BESSIE BLOUNT? Henry VIII’s mistress | Elizabeth Blount | Tudor history documentary](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7BkXXfDqFJE/mqdefault.jpg)



![LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT, mother of Henry VII | The real red queen | winning the Wars of the Roses
The life of LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT, mother of Henry VII, was full of danger, intrigue, child marriage and near-death experiences as she battled for her only child’s rights in an epic fight for the throne which lasted for decades. A wealthy heiress and a descendant of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, at the age of 12 Margaret was married off to the half-brother of King Henry VI, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond. She was then left widowed and pregnant at just 13. She remarried to Henry Stafford the following year, but her child was taken from her while he was still just a small boy and ended up in exile as a teenager, as two branches of the Plantagenet royal family (the Lancastrians and the Yorks) fought for control of England, putting young Henry’s life in danger as Edward IV and Richard III sought to capture and kill him. This battle was known as the Wars of the Roses and Margaret was one of its smartest and ultimately most successful players, who used marriages to create alliances, switched sides when needs be and collaborated with other famous women, including Queen Elizabeth Woodville, to protect Henry Tudor’s life and ultimately help to steer him to the throne. Indeed she could rightly be credited with winning the Wars of the Roses alongside her son and one-time brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford. In this week’s video from History Calling, I’ll tell you the extraordinary story of how this little girl, who started out as nothing but a pawn, rose to become the red queen (to give her a later appellation attached to her) so that by the time she was 40, Margaret was the most powerful woman in the kingdom and had earned her place as one of the most famous women of the Wars of the Roses. Her story intersects with famous events including the very fishy death of Henry VII, the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower (which Margaret has sometimes been accused of causing) and the Battle of Bosworth, when the Plantagenet dynasty’s hold on the throne was finally extinguished.
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THE WARS OF THE ROSES PLAYLIST https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0EVv2DJZOZT5ZyQwSJ4o7oZ
LIFE OF CECILY NEVILLE, PART 1
https://youtu.be/2yRxDJKronM
LIFE OF CECILY NEVILLE, PART 2
https://youtu.be/V0-mbw4MyRs
LIFE OF MARGARET OF ANJOU, PART 1
https://youtu.be/st0BaWyYXSE
LIFE OF MARGARET OF ANJOU, PART 2
https://youtu.be/PP2 8Z7Fwc
ELIZABETH WOODVILLE PART 1
https://youtu.be/3JcONIQQV_o
ELIZABETH WOODVILLE PART 2
https://youtu.be/btl-S3Wz5pE
LIFE OF JACQUETTA OF LUXEMBOURG
https://youtu.be/6S9IlEW4w8U
WHAT HAPPENED TO EDWARD V AND RICHARD DUKE OF YORK?
https://youtu.be/WQ6FIe4dLTo
HOW DID HENRY VI DIE?
https://youtu.be/E_tWkpAv878
EXECUTION OF GEORGE DUKE OF CLARENCE
https://youtu.be/QjveCvqxiRo
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READ MORE:
Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King’s Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (Cambridge, 1992) available at https://amzn.to/3EgInG7
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The King in the Carpark (2013). Documentary about the discovery of Richard III’s skeleton in 2012. https://amzn.to/3C0loMF (UK LINK)
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT, mother of Henry VII | The real red queen | winning the Wars of the Roses](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/86i3a_G7gl4/mqdefault.jpg)




