Richard III
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Richard III really will have to try harder if he is going to live up to that interesting reputation of his. After all, what good is a serial incestor if all he does is simply marry his cousin (with a Papal dispensation) which occurs all the time nowadays anyway – without the Papal dispensation? And…
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There is an argument in some quarters that Ricardians are “nutters”, “obsessives” and a lot of other ruder words. There is an element of truth in this, given that virtually all human activity beyond eating, sex and sleeping is inherently pointless. Unless one is part of the enthusiasm, it is equally hard to understand why…
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With news coming out of Leicester Cathedral as to how they plan to observe the re-interment of Richard III in March, 2015, I was reminded yet again of how the public continues to perceive this monarch from the 15th century. Even well-intentioned and balanced reporting in the media continues to perpetuate a historiography that emphasizes…
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Laurence Olivier once took a bullet for Richard. Well, not a bullet, exactly, but an actual arrow shot into his unprotected calf from a professional archer during the making of his 1954 film “Richard the Third.” Sir Laurence would go on to take many more arrows in his career – from being pilloried for “The…
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This is another review of the Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester, and is refreshing because the only criticism is about the coffee! (About which I cannot comment.) Nor are there are any of the usual orchestrated Tudor lies about Richard. Not one of the wearisome old chestnuts makes an appearance, even the ‘princes’ in the Tower.…
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“I think we have to change things by going after those who continue to slew the historical evidence at every possible opportunity. When a writer refers to Richard raising an army against a defenceless Woodville entourage in 1483 we need to respond with the evidence that he did the exact opposite and that it was…
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From Barbara Gaskell Denvil: “Very little reliable documentary evidence survives from the Middle Ages. The life and times of Richard III therefore remain a period of frustration and fascination for historians, scholars and interested amateurs alike. So why is it – when one very clear contemporary document survives from that period – that so many people…
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The bones, purporting to be of the former Edward V and the elder of his brothers, have an interesting history of their own. 1) More relates that they were buried at night by one priest, without anyone knowing – which narrative is regarded as a Fifth Gospel by Cairo residents, if regarded as a farce…
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Another example: Someone wrote to suggest that Richard’s final charge at “Tudor”, in which he killed Mr. William Brandon (“Tudor”‘s standard bearer) and unhorsed Sir John Cheney, was a sign of cowardice. Never mind that thosee paid by the first two “Tudors” to lie about him admitted that the King died “fighting manfully” ….. “in…
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Today, we observe the 529th anniversary of King Richard III’s death on Redemore Plain. It is a sad day, full of grief for those of us who believe that he was a good and just King, a man of multiple dimensions, a loving husband, a tender father, a dutiful son and brother, and a man…
