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Richard’s “accusations” sentenced George of Clarence….?

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medieval combat society

The excerpt below is from http://www.themcs.org/garter.htm, a list by the Medieval Combat Society of all the Knights of the Garter. George of Clarence comes in at number 185:-

“185 (app c.1461) George (Plantagenet), Duke of Clarence. Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Rebelled against his brother Edward IV, with his father-in-law, Richard, Earl of Warwick, the “King-maker.” Returned to his allegiance. Convicted of treason on the accusation of his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III, he is said to have been drowned in a butt of Malmsey.”

On the accusation of Richard????? What a blooper! It was George and Richard’s eldest brother, Edward IV, who did all the dirty work. Richard had nothing to do with it, but yet again he gets the blame.

The Medieval Combat Society site is interesting, as is the list of KGs, but if they are going to be specific about the why, who and what of a Knight’s fate, they should get their facts right. If they can make this error, how many others might they have made?

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8 responses to “Richard’s “accusations” sentenced George of Clarence….?”

  1. wordynerdbird Avatar
    wordynerdbird

    They obviously based their understanding on the Tudor reinvention of the story. That’s how it went down in Shakespeare’s Richard III.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. hoodedman1 Avatar
      hoodedman1

      Indeed. Quite often Richard’s supporters get told ‘it’s just a play, everyone knows it’s fiction’ when in fact, quite the opposite is true. Elements of it have passed into the mainstream as ‘fact’ when they simply are nothing of the sort.
      The other day on a group I saw someone who was also ‘into’ re-enactment saying ‘George mentioned being drowned in malmsey in front of Richard and Edward while they were sitting at the high table,’ implying when the time came they were both ‘in on it.’ Pure fantasy and sounds like it came from someone’s novel, but the person who mentioned it wasn’t having any of it; it was gospel truth. No one of course actually knows how George really died, but Edward was his accuser and confronted him with the charges at the trial (apparently Edward spoke to George alone and vice versa–this is documented.)

      Liked by 5 people

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      1. wordynerdbird Avatar
        wordynerdbird

        Yes.
        It’s most frustrating.

        Like

  2. blancsanglier Avatar
    blancsanglier

    You can order a copy of Clarence’s Attainder from the National Archives if you so wish: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C6527905

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. super blue Avatar
      super blue

      True – and it is also published in “Eleanor”.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. jrlarner Avatar
    jrlarner

    We should complain to them – here is their email address: info@themcs.org

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  4. jay Avatar
    jay

    the bio of george published on the richard 111 society website is equally jaw dropping. (as was their bio of john mowbray earlier this week on facebook).

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  5. da45ve Avatar
    da45ve

    More Tudor codswallop. I’ll drop them an email

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