Monk and Mickelgate Bar

Cris and I became friends decades ago when I first moved to York to research Sunne. We’ve remained good friend, and I recently came upon a stunning photo she’d once sent me of the Monk Bar medieval gatehouse in York decked out for Christmas. I just shared it with all of my Facebook friends and readers. Unfortunately, I cannot do that here, but you can see it on all five of my Facebook pages.
It really is spectacular.
Most of you are probably more familiar with Micklegate Bar, for after the Duke of York and his teenage son Edmund had been slain at the battle of Wakefield, their heads were mounted on Micklegate Bar, grisly trophies of a Lancastrian victory that would prove very fleeting and very costly. That shocks modern sensibilities, but medievals became inured to such sights. I remember reading a chronicle in which it was reported that the citizens of Coventry were complaining about the heads of rebels mounted above the city’s main gate. But they were not repulsed; they were annoyed because one of the heads had not been properly attached and it kept plummeting down, sometimes hitting carts and passersby.