I began with Katherine Swynford. Now I’m following her descendants, the people around Edward II and the places where their stories still leave traces.
Here you’ll find my visits, photographs and the questions behind my books. Choose a story to begin, or browse every article below.
Fotheringhay and its royal lives
A church, a vanished castle and the Neville family behind the royal names.
Eleanor Neville at Northampton
The battlefield and the losses that shaped a woman at the heart of my next book.
Latest articles
Newest first. For a route through the people and themes, visit Medieval Lives.
Katherine de Valois: A New Book Contract and a Queen Worth Rediscovering
I have signed with Pen & Sword History to write about Katherine de Valois: French princess, English queen and grandmother…
Fotheringhay and the lives behind its royal history
Words and photographs by Barry Aveyard | 6 October 2026 This afternoon I visited Fotheringhay, where the church tower rises…
The Battle of Northampton: Eleanor Neville and the Terrible Cost of the Wars of the Roses
A visit to Delapré Abbey and the Northampton battlefield explores why the battle mattered, and the losses at the heart…
Oakham Castle, Margaret de Clare and the world of Piers Gaveston
A visit to Oakham Castle reveals the story of two Margarets de Clare, Piers Gaveston’s 1307 charter, and the widow’s…
Ninety-three is that the magic number? Penises in the Bayeux Tapestry?
Why are there 93 penises in the Bayeux Tapestry, and who stitched them? A closer look at horses, naked figures,…
Heckington’s Royal Chaplain: Richard de Potesgrave and Edward II
At St Andrew’s Church in Heckington, Lincolnshire, the stonework opens a door onto the troubled reign of Edward II. Richard…
