Richard III

A year of anniversaries

Dec 23, 2016

battles, television reviews, The play’s the thing

Anglo-Saxons, anniversaries, Battle of Hastings, burial, Canterbury Cathedral, Channel Four, Cnut, Cordelia, drama, Edmund Ironside, epitaph, Ethelred II, feet, Ground Penetrating Radar, Helen Castor, House of Wessex, inaccuracy, John Morton, King Lear, Richard III, Shakespeare, skulls, Stamford Bridge

2016 has been the 1000th anniversary of Edund Ironside’s accession and death, also of the death of his father Ethelred Unraed and the double accession of Cnut of Denmark. It has also been the 950th anniverary of the battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings, being the end of the House of Wessex after its interruption.…
RICHARD RETURNS TO THE TOWER THIS CHRISTMAS

Dec 22, 2016

buildings, Events, travel

“The Tower of London”, history, medieval history, Richard III

The Tower of London is holding an event of interest to Ricardians. Between December 27 and 31, you will be able to enter King Richard III’s court as it celebrates Christmas 1484. Court intrigue and plotting takes place amidst the pageantry, glorious costumes, and revels, all under the eye of the traditional Lord of Misrule.…
DIGGING FOR BRITAIN–NEW NEWS ON the BATTLE OF BARNET

Dec 18, 2016

archaeology, battles, television reviews

Barnet, battle sites, BBC4, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Tewkesbury, Wars of the Roses

Like Bosworth, the actual site of the Battle of Barnet has been the subject of much conjecture, especially as the area is heavily modernised. On the latest episode of DIGGING FOR BRITAIN, airing on BBC 4 on December 20 at 9 PM, experts take a new look at the site and believe they can now…
Usurpers? ALL of them…?

Dec 17, 2016

Book Reviews, genealogy

“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, Anthony Steel, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward V, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Lancastrians, Mortimers, Richard II, Richard III, usurpation, Yorkists

Well, all of them except Richard II. The following are extracts from the Introduction to Anthony Steel’s 1941 biography of Richard II. I think it is a very succinct and interesting description of the right to the throne of all the kings of England from Richard II to Henry VII. However… (see my comments at…
History and cultural history (II)

Dec 16, 2016

The play’s the thing

Anne of Denmark, Caligula, Claudius, Cordelia, curtains, David Starkey, Denmark, executions, Hamlet, John Ashdown-Hill, King Lear, Polonius, Richard III, Robert Cecil, Robert Graves, Shakespeare, symbolism, Wars of the Roses

In this piece, we introduced the idea that Shakespeare, although a very inaccurate historian, accurately reflected the cultural history of his time with respect to the political execution of women. We have also discussed how the Bard’s Richard III may actually have been a portrayal of Robert Cecil. Another piece showed the uncertainty as to…
A beautiful cover for a beautiful king….?

Dec 8, 2016

battles

art, Laura Ashe, Penguin Monarchs, Richard II, Richard III, Rosemary Horrox, Wars of the Roses

This likeness of Richard II is from the cover of the Penguin Monarchs edition on this fascinating king, written by Laura Ashe. (Penguin Monarchs: Richard II – A Brittle Glory by Laura Ashe. http://tinyurl.com/zbur7aw) The reviews and comments at Amazon are mixed – the commenters even have a little spat. I will purchase it because I…
THE LOST PRIORY OF AMESBURY

Dec 2, 2016

buildings

Amesbury Abbey, Arthur Plantagenet, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Edmund Crouchback, Edward I, Edward IV, Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Eleanor of Brittany, Eleanor of Castile, Eleanor of Provence, Fontevrault, Henry II, Henry III, Hexham, Isabel of Lancaster, John, John de Warenne, John Lord Wenlock, Margaret lady Hungerford, Mary of Woodstock, Plantagenets, Reformation, Richard I, Richard III, Robert Baron hungerford, ruins, Stonehenge

The palatial 17thc mansion called Amesbury Abbey (now a private nursing home) stands in beautiful landscaped gardens near the curve of the Avon and on the edge of the Stonehenge World Heritage Landscape. The original monastic building from which it takes its name, the Fontrevraudine Priory of Amesbury, is long gone, a victim of Henry…
THE ANGLO SCOTTISH WAR 1480-82

Nov 30, 2016

anniversaries, battles

AJ Pollard, Alexander Stewart Duke of Albany, Anzio, Archibald Douglas Earl of Angus, Bamburgh, Berwick, Canon Alexander Leigh, Carlisle, Cecilia, Charles Ross, Charles the Bold, chevauchee, Cheviot Hill, Commines, Cora Scofield, Cordingham, Crowland, Dockray, Dumfries, Dunbar, E. Nesbit, Earl of Northumberland, Earl of Oxford, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, Edward Woodville, Froissart, George Buck, George Duke of Clarence, Hedgeley Moor, Henry VI, Hewitt, Hexham, Hicks, J.D. Mackie, James III, James IV, John Ashdown-Hill, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Kincaid, Lancastrians, Lauder, Leith, Lord Linton, Lord Scrope of Bolton, Louis XI, Margaret of Anjou, Margaret of Scotland, Marie of Guelders, Marquess of Montagu, Michael K Jones, Middleham, naval fleet, Neville’s Cross, Nevilles, Norham, Norman MacDougall, Nottingham, Otterburn, Paul Murray Kendall, peace treaties, pensions, Percies, Picquigny, Readeption, Reivers, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Robert Lord Boyd, Roxburgh, Salerno, Scotland, Scottish Marches, Sean Cunningham, Sheriff Hutton, siege of Edinburgh, Simon Payling, Sir Robert Plumpton, Sir Thomas Fulford, Stirling, Thomas Howard, Thomas Lord Stanley, Topcliffe, Towton, Treaty of Lincluden, York

Richard duke of Gloucester – The King’s Lieutenant in the North “And he governed those countries very wisely and justly in time of peace and war and preserved concord and amity between the Scots and English so much as he could. But the breaches between them could not so strongly be made up to…
Auction of coins from Edward III to Richard III….

Nov 29, 2016

Events

Calais, coins, Edward III, Henry IV, Henry VI, Lord Stewartby, Richard III, Spink Auctions

No illustrations of Richard’s coins, unfortunately. The above is a Henry IV groat, estimated price of £3-4,000). But Richard’s coin(s) are in this auction today. Get your plastic cards out, ladies and gentlemen… http://www.coinweek.com/dealers-companies/spink-dealers/spink-auctions-edward-iii-richard-iii-lord-stewartbys-4th-sale/
Thomas Langton: Richard III’s Character Witness

Nov 16, 2016

religion, Uncategorized

Archbishop of Canterbury, Bologna, Cambridge, Charles Ross, Charles VII, credibility, Croyland, Dockray, Dunbar, Henry VI, Italy, John Morton, John Rous, Lionel Woodville, Louis XI, Macenas, Oxford, Padua, Paul Murray Kendall, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Rosemary Horrox, Salisbury, Scotland, Selling, St. David’s, Thomas Bourchier, Thomas Langton, Thomas Rotherham, Wales, Westmorland, Winchester, wine, witnesses

Originally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS: Amongst the glories of Winchester Cathedral, there is a chantry chapel of outstanding beauty and magnificence. The man who is buried there, and for whom the roof bosses provide a rebus clue, is Thomas Langton, who died of plague in 1501 only days after being elected by Henry VII as…