Rouen

Rouen Cathedral is where Edward IV was christened. Rouen, the capital of Normandy, is also where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake in 1431.

Where Edward IV was conceived is quite another matter. His brothers George and Richard said that after Edward’s death, their mother told them he was illegitimate. She wasn’t the only one. Dr Michael Jones unearthed a document in the cathedral indicating that Richard, Duke of York, and his wife Cecily Neville were a hundred miles apart when Edward was conceived.
Edward ordered the death of George, duke of Clarence who was, according to legend, tipped head first in a barrel of Madeira wine which, as deaths go, could have been worse. He is buried in Tewkesbury Abbey, Richard III of course ended up under a car park in Leicester.

Inside Rouen Cathedral is the tomb of Richard I, The Lion Heart, which contains his heart. His body, however, is at Fontevraud Abbey.

Post by Pamela, photography by Mark