Richard III

Treachery is one man’s meat and another’s poison….

Jan 22, 2023

anniversaries, battles, law, sources

Anne of Bohemia, Battle of Bosworth, chivalry, Chris Given-Wilson, Henry IV, Henry VII, Journal of Mediaeval History, Lords Appellant, Merciless Parliament, Radcot Bridge, Richard II, Richard III, Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland, rumours, sodomy, Thomas Walsingham, treachery

I have been reading a very interesting article from the Journal of Medieval History by E. Amanda McVitty, called False knights and true men: contesting chivalric masculinity in English treason trials, 1388-1415. (Vol. 40, No. 4, 458–477) There is an old saying that one man’s meat is another man’s poison, and by the…
Another Anglo-Saxon burial ground that’s also a treasure trove….

Jan 21, 2023

archaeology, art, religion

Anglo-Saxons, Buckinghamshire, HS2, jewellery, Richard III, Wendover

Exciting finds are still being unearthed, this time another Anglo-Saxon burial ground that is proviing to be a trove of treasure and information. “….The site, in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, contained 138 graves, with 141 regular burials and five cremation burials, which makes it one of the largest Anglo-Saxon burial grounds ever uncovered in Britain….” “….Items…
What if Henry Tudor had been a handsome, charismatic challenger….?

Jan 19, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, humour, law

“Princes”, Battle of Bosworth, beards, Henry VII, NPG, Richard III, royal portraits, squinting, Stanleys, treachery

As supporters of Richard III, we find it only too easy to dislike Henry VII. Not only did the churl defeat and kill Richard (not even through his own martial endeavours but through treachery!) but his looks mean we wouldn’t trust him an inch. He looks cold, calculating, shifty and downright untrustworthy, nor…
Another interesting article from Academia

Jan 15, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, law

“Lambert Simnel”, abeyance, Academia, allegiance, Anne Neville, Barons Scrope of Bolton, Barons Scrope of Masham, Bolton Abbey, Buckingham rebellion, Cicely Plantagenet, Domenico Mancini, Elizabeth Neville, Elizabeth Scrope, executions, Francis Viscount Lovell, Greystoke, Henry IV, Henry V, indenture, Lord High Constable, Lord Protector of the Realm, Marquess of Montagu, marriages, Northern Rising, pardons, property, Ralph Scrope, Richard III, Scottish campaign 1482, Sir Humphrey Stafford, Southampton plot, Stoke Field, titles, Warden of the West Marches, Yorkshire

This one, by Lorraine C. Attreed, is entitled An Indenture between Richard Duke of Gloucester and the Scrope Family of Masham and Upsall, one of the two noble branches of the Scropes, the other being those of Bolton. The indenture, a copy of which serves as an appendix, dates from mid-January 1476 shortly after the…
Thou shalt not spread porkies….

Jan 14, 2023

anniversaries, battles, law

“Lambert Simnel”, “Lancastrian”, “Perkin”, “Tudor” propaganda, Burgundy, Earl of Northumberland, Edward of Warwick, executions, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Ireland, John of Gloucester, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Percies, pillory, proclamations, rebellions, Richard III, rumours, York

“….[A] proclamation to tackle unrest, 1487… stated that any person found to be spreading rumours was to be put into the pillory….” (from this site ) Oh dear, Henry VII didn’t like doses of his own medicine! I speak of rumours and lies. What’s the word….? Um, calumny. That’s it. You know, the rumours…
Further facial reconstructions

Jan 13, 2023

anniversaries, art, law, religion, The play’s the thing

Catherine Howard, David Mitchell, Dundee University, Edward II, Edward III, Eleanor of Provence, executions, Henry III, Henry Lord Darnley, Henry VIII, James Hathaway, Kathryn Warner, Laurence Fox, Lewis, Panagiotis Constantinou, resemblances, Richard III, Robert I, Roger Mortimer, Upstart Crow, William Shakespeare

Dundee University has shown itself to be the gold standard for facial reconstruction in recent years, working from their subjects’ remains, as with Richard III, Robert I and Henry Lord Darnley. As Kathryn Warner shows here, Panagiotis Constantinou has generated several from effigies, sculptures and other images. They range, chronologically, from Henry III and Eleanor…
The Mysterious Disappearance of Henry Pole the Younger in the Tower of London

Jan 9, 2023

anniversaries, art, buildings, genealogy, religion, sources

Charles de Marillac, clerical celibacy, Cowdray, Edward Courtenay, Edward IV, executions, Francis I, George Duke of Clarence, Hazel Pierce, Henry Lord Montagu, Henry Pole the Younger, Henry VII, Henry VIII, hypocrisy, Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, Margaret of Salisbury, Mary I, Paul Delaroche, Reginald Cardinal Pole, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, royal apartments, royal tutors, Sir Geoffrey Pole, starvation, Tower of London

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com Picture this…a young lad of about thirteen or thereabouts. Royal Plantagenet blood coursing through his veins. His father is dead and no longer able to neither protect nor save him. His mother is also no longer around to help or comfort him. Life has changed for him…
Two tragic kings called Richard….

Jan 8, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings

“Princes”, Battle of Bosworth, Edward of Middleham, France, Henry IV, Isabella de Valois, peace, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Richard III, royal marriages, usurpation

I know I’ve rabbited about this before, because I’m fascinated by both King Richard III and his predecessor Richard II. Such fascination sparks latter-day loyalties. It certainly has with me. Tragedy struck them both, and as supporters of Richard III we know he was maligned as the killer of his two small nephews, betrayed,…
King Richard and the Duke of Gloucester….

Jan 6, 2023

anniversaries, genealogy, law, religion, sources

British Library, Dukes of Gloucester, Edmund Duke of York, Epiphany, Froissart, Harley 4380, John of Gaunt, Lord Protector of the Realm, Regency, Richard II, Richard III, Sir John Lackingay, Thomas of woodstock, tyranny

There are two instances (of which I know) involving a Duke of Gloucester and a king called Richard. The one that is best known to Ricardians is Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who became Richard III. But there was another instance in the previous century, when Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, made the life of…
Richard III’s many daughters….

Jan 4, 2023

art, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

Anne Boleyn, Anne Neville, Anne Norris, Bosworth, Captain of Calais, Cardiff Castle, disinformation, Edward IV, Elizabeth of York, executions, fake news, Francis Viscount Lovell, Frideswide Lovell, Henry Norris, Henry VII, Henry VIII, illegitimate children, Joanna, John of Gloucester, Katherine Countess of Pembroke, Manuel Duke of Beja, missing feet, Portuguese marriage plans, Richard III, scoliosis

Fake news. Ah yes. We regard this as a modern curse, but, of course, it goes back through the centuries. Probably ever since the humans in one cave fell out with the humans in another. Lies…erm, fake news…soon circulated. And if there was one King of England about whom there is fake news in…