Richard II
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SHAKESPEARE’S RICHARD III: HERO OR VILLAIN?
“Princes”, “Tudor” “sources”, Anthony Sher, Anthony Woodville, bias, Catholicism, Ceaucescu, Coley Cibber, Edmund of Rutland, Edward IV, Elizabeth I, Ferdinando Stanley, fiction, First Folio, George Duke of Clarence, Hamlet, Hannibal Lecter, Henry IV, Henry of Buckingham, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, historical drama, Hitler, Idi Amin, John Manningham, Lady Margaret Clifford, Laurence Olivier, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Lord Strange, Mao Tse Tung, Margaret d’Anjou, Polonius, Privy Council, Richard Burbage, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Rylance, Saddam Hussain, Shakespeare, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Sir William Stanley, Stalin, tetralogy, Thomas Stanley, Tillyard, tyranny, White Surrey” Never let it be said that fate itself could awe the soul of Richard. Hence babbling dreams, you threaten here in vain; Conscience avaunt, Richard’s himself again” (The tragical history of King Richard the Third)[1] Richard’s himself again: or is he? There is a moment in Olivier’s film of Shakespeare’s play…
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I have just watched a truly aggravating documentary from this 2014 series. In particular the episode called “Secrets of Westminster”. It starts with the tomb of Edward the Confessor…for which they show the correct tomb, yes, but then include a lot of lingering close-ups of the tomb effigy of Richard II. The implication is, it seems,…
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When researching the movements of King Richard II, I came upon a reference to Knapp Castle, where he stayed in 1384. Well, it proved awkward to locate at first, but then, when searched for under its correct spelling—Knepp—there it was in West Sussex . A lot of our medieval kings stayed in the original Norman…
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London: 2000 years of history (channel 5)
Admiralty Arch, Aldwych, Alfred the Great, ampitheatres, Anderson shelters, Anglo-Saxons, Black Death, Blitz, Boudicca, bridges, Brunel, Channel Five, Charles Booth, Charles I, cholera, City of London, Commonwealth immigration, coronations, Covent Garden, Crossrail, Dan Jones, Docklands, Edward VII, Elizabeth I, Ethelred II, Euston, expansion, glass, Golden Hind, Great Fire of London, Great War, Green Belt, Guido Fawkes, GWR, Hampstead, Harold II, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry VIII, hills, industrialisation, Jack the Ripper, Joseph Bazalgette, Kent, Lamb Street Teenager, land reclaimed, Londinium, London, Londonburgh, Londonwich, Metroland, Metropolitan Line, MI5 building, Norman stone, Normans, Northern Line, Old London Bridge, Paddington, pottery, railways, rebellions, Richard II, Richard Whittington, Rob Bell, Roman walls, Romans, Royal Ordnance factories, Samuel Pepys, Savoy, Selfridges, sewage system, shipping containers, Shoreditch, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Francis Drake, Spanish ‘flu, Spitalfields, St. Paul’s, stone, Suffragettes, Suzannah Lipscomb, Thames, Thomas Wolsey, Tower of London, trials, Underground, Viking raids, War Office, Westminster, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Hall, White Tower, Whitechapel, Whitehall Palace, William I, William Wallace, ZeppelinsWho let Dan Jones out? At least, as in his last outing, he is accompanied both by a historian (Suzannah Lipscomb) and an engineer (Rob Bell), narrating and illustrating almost two millennia of the city’s past. In the first episode, we were taken through the walled city of “Londinium” being built and rebuilt after Boudicca’s…
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Here is a question that has bugged me for some time now. If, during medieval centuries, a journey could be made around the English coast, rather than across country, was the sea option likely to be chosen? I will take a particular example. It’s from the 14th century, but could be from the 13th or…
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Why I dislike John of Gaunt….
Aldersgate, Anya Seton, Beaufort family., Canterbury Cathedral, Castile, changelings, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, entail mail, France, George Kay, Henry IV, Henry Percy, heresy trial, Hundred Years War, Ian Mortimer, Joan of Kent, John of Gaunt, John Wycliffe, Kennington, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Marshalsea Prison, Mortimers, Parliament, Peter Courtenay, Phillipa of Ulster, Phillippa of Hainault, Richard II, riots, Savoy Palace, The Fears of Henry IV, William of WykehamAs Ricardians, we know very well now, history can be twisted to suit. The matter of those strawberries and what happened next, for instance. I mean, the different versions are legion, even to the point of whether or not Thomas, Lord Stanley was ever present at all, let alone injured in a scrap and obliged…
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“There was nothing at Westminster Abbey yesterday to alert visitors to the renewed speculation that one of its most revered sites may not be what it seems. To the unwary, King Richard II still lies in the south aisle of the Lady Chapel just where he has for nearly six centuries. A sign points out…
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The Tudors were past masters with propaganda, and there just wasn’t much of it being used against them. So how about we expunge them from history? How about we produce proof that Richard III was the victor at Bosworth….? Good idea, I think! You saw it here first, folks – and just to make sure…
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7 things to know about the struggle between York and Lancaster….
Anne Neville, Constance of York, Constanza of Castile, Crusades, duchesses, dukedoms, Edmund Crouchback, Edmund Holland, Edward I, Edward II, Epiphany Rising, executions, Henry IV, illegitimacy, Isabel of Castile, Isabella Beaumont, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Pedro I, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Richard III, Thomas Despenser, Thomas of Lancaster, usurpation, Wars of the RosesThis link provides some interesting reading about the origins of the Wars of the Roses, as most people describe the civil wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster. A lot of the points are from very early on in the proceedings, which makes them all the more interesting to me.
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One hears about the dreadful expense occurred by the nobles who played host to various monarchs. But grand houses weren’t the only destinations for our perambulating kings and queens. For instance, in January 1398, on his way to Parliament in Shrewsbury, Richard II travelled with his young French wife, five dukes, four earls, three bishops,…