Shakespeare
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What do Matilda and Margaret, Eleanor and Elizabeth, plus two Henrys, add up to…?
“Beauforts”, Antioch, Catherine de Roet, Crusades, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth of York, Fair Rosamund Clifford, Gerald of Wales, Henry I, Henry II, Henry VII, John of Gaunt, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Matilda, Raymond of Poitiers, Richard III, Robert of Gloucester, Shakespeare, Stephen, The Lion in Winter, Viscount Welles, YorkistsTo my mind, it adds up to two very similar situations that are two centuries apart. Let us begin in the 12th century. On his deathbed, Henry I of England named as his successor his only surviving child, his daughter, the Empress Matilda. He obliged the nobility to agree. They reneged, of course. A woman…
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CAN A PICTURE PAINT A THOUSAND WORDS?
“Princes”, Anne Boleyn, Anne Neville, art, Baynard’s Castle, Catherine Howard, Cecily Duchess of York, Edward V, Edwin Austin Abbey, Elizabeth Wydeville, executions, Henry of Buckingham, Jane, John Everett Millais, John Morton, Margaret of Salisbury, Paul Delaroche, Philip Calderon, portraits, propaganda, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Shakespeare, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Three Estates, Tower GreenUPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/can-a-picture-paint-a-thousand-words-ricardian-art/ It’s said a picture can paint a thousand words. It certainly can but not always accurately. It can distort the truth. Art work based on the Ricardian period is certainly true of this. Take for example the stunning painting by Edwin Austin Abbey, Richard Duke of Gloucester…
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I have my priorities right with picture size! Anyway, here’s a laugh, courtesy of the Huffington Post. Errors and all. I have quoted it in full. “Be warned. There is a downside to dreaming big. To those of you who hope to reach life’s pinnacle — which obviously is becoming an obese, ginger tyrant —…
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An updated version of this post can be found at sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri Clattern Bridge, Kingston upon Thames, was built prior to 1293 and is still in use today. It was known as Clateryngbrugge in medieval times maybe because of the sound horses made crossing it. Unfortunately I can find no trace of King…
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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…
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This interesting article shows how John Shakespeare, as Bailiff of Stratford-upon-Avon, was forced to paint over some mediaeval murals. As a clue to what really happened, remember that Michael Wood thinks both John and William Shakespeare to have been Catholics. Let me reassure you that Henry VIII wasn’t still King sixteen years after he died,…
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Unfortunately, Dr Bronwen Price is Principal Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Portsmouth, and a specialist in Shakespeare, so we cannot expect anything about the real Richard. Still, if the illustration is anything to go by, at least he keeps up with the times. He’s been portrayed in numerous periods and settings, so maybe…
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A year ago I posted on my Facebook page a link about Robert Sheehan becoming the next Shakespearean Richard III. Not knowing the actor, my only comment was that at least he was the right age to play Richard. http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/misfits/news/a670513/robert-sheehan-doesnt-regret-leaving-misfits-early-i-was-just-a-restless-fella/#~ppnuTZvYf8bMXy I thought no more of it, until prompted by a Facebook reminder of what I’d…
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I thought I was very well acquainted with the local history of Exeter where I was born and where I have been working on and off for the last seventeen or so years. I also thought I had found out everything I could about the places of interest relating to Richard III in Exeter. I…
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