Ricardian Bulletin Is Produced by the Bulletin Editorial Committee, General Editor Elizabeth Nokes, and Printed by St Edmundsbury Press

Ricardian

Bulletin Winter 2005 Contents 2 From the Chairman 4 The Robert Hamblin Award 2005 5 Celebrating 50 Years: The Programme 9 Society News and Notices 15 The Executive Committee: Who we are and what we are doing 16 A Gateway to the Fifteenth Century: Improvements to the Society’s website 18 Media Retrospective 19 News and Reviews 22 News from Barley Hall 24 Richard III & Yorkist History Trust Annual Report 26 The Man Himself 27 The Debate: Historical Novels: A good thing or not? 30 Logge Notes and Queries: Education, Education, Education by L Wynne-Davies 32 Battling for Bosworth by A D White 35 Irving, Cibber and Richard III by Angela Moreton 38 Richard III’s Christmas by John Ashdown-Hill 40 Correspondence 42 The Barton Library 45 Letter from America 47 Report on Society Events 51 Future Society Events 53 Branches and Groups Contacts 55 Branches and Groups Reports 61 New Members 62 Obituaries 64 Calendar

Contributions Contributions are welcomed from all members. Articles and correspondence regarding the Bulletin Debate should be sent to Peter Hammond and all other contributions to Elizabeth Nokes. Bulletin Press Dates 15 January for Spring issue; 15 April for Summer issue; 15 July for Autumn issue; 15 October for Winter issue. Articles should be sent well in advance. Bulletin & Ricardian Back Numbers Back issues of The Ricardian and Bulletin are available from Judith Ridley. If you are interested in obtaining any back numbers, please contact Mrs Ridley to establish whether she holds the issue(s) in which you are interested. For contact details see back inside cover of the Bulletin The Ricardian Bulletin is produced by the Bulletin Editorial Committee, General Editor Elizabeth Nokes, and printed by St Edmundsbury Press. © Richard III Society, 2005

From the Chairman

he Christmas season is almost upon us and in this issue we get an idea of what the season T would have been like at the court of King Richard III. There is also a new debate, focussing on the role of the historical novel. This is an interesting coincidence, for at the AGM this year the point was made that the Society owes a big debt to Josephine Tey. Over the years, her 1952 novel The Daughter of Time has led many to join the Society. As my opening remarks to this year’s AGM addressed many of the challenges that have recently faced us as well as looked forward to our anniversary next year, it has been suggested that these ought to be printed in the Bulletin so that they can be shared with all members. Consequent- ly, my remarks for this Chairman’s page are shorter than usual. I must however mention experiences by two members of the Society. First, the terrible fortunes of Carole Rike, who lost both her home and her business as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Carole is the editor of the Ricardian Register and distributes the Bulletin and Ricardian to members of the American Branch. All Ricardians, I am sure, will join me in sending her our commis- erations and best wishes for the speedy restoration of her fortunes. We have in the meantime been doing all we can to help Carole and the branch. I am sure that really, luck did not come into it, but the other person I must mention is Lesley Wynne-Davies. A member of the Executive Committee and prominent in the Wills Project, Lesley has recently been awarded her PhD and we offer her our heartiest congratulations on this well earned achievement. Finally, let me wish you all a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. Phil Stone

Chairman’s Opening Remarks to the 2005 Annual General Meeting We have had another year of change within the Society, and I think it is true to say that it has been a year of change for the better, and before I go any further, let me assure members that, contrary to the supercilious comments printed about us in The Times newspaper just after the Bos- worth commemoration, the Richard III Society is not in great financial trouble and it is still very much committed to its aims regarding the much maligned king. True, as members will be aware, our financial position for some years has been out of balance, with income not keeping up with expenditure. As Mr Micawber would have said, the result was ‘misery’. Consequently, we have had to take some tough decisions. Tough and necessary decisions. This year has seen us continuing with our review of the way we operate, looking at areas that can be made more efficient to reduce costs, while at the same time, of course, ensuring that we maintain and even improve our services to members To this end, we have reorganised the membership and sales functions, bringing them back in- house. This has saved money and, through better use of information technology, has improved the effectiveness of both. One indication that such reorganisation is working is evident when I tell you that this last year has seen the lowest number of membership lapses (i.e. members who have neither paid nor officially resigned) for well over ten years. One of the hardest bullets we have had to bite, though, has been the taking of a realistic decision about subscription rates. As a relatively small and basically voluntary society, we must

charge members the real cost of their membership. Having increased subscription rates across the board and raised the overseas postage supplement, this has now been achieved, and my thanks go to the membership for its understanding, and especially to our much valued overseas members, where increases have hit the hardest. Fortunately, we will not be needing to make any more increases as we have found an overseas bulk mailing system - called M Bags - that will enable us to keep the costs down for a while yet. In relation to these increases, members can be assured of two things: firstly, in all cases, we have explored the most cost effective means of serving the membership, particularly in respect of postage costs, hence the use of M Bags, and secondly, our subscription and postage rates com- pare very favourably with those of similar societies. I firmly believe that what we have achieved represents good value for money for members. These changes for the better have meant a lot of work and so I take this opportunity to thank all those involved in developing and implementing them. Overall, we have had another successful Ricardian year. We are continuing to expand and enhance our research capacity and, through the new research community initiative, we can expect much more. The triennial conference in Cambridge this year showcased all that is best in the So- ciety. It was greatly enjoyed by all who attended, and my thanks go to the Research Officer, Wendy Moorhen, for managing our research programme and for organising the conference. Now we look forward next year to the publishing of the results of the Wills project. The continuing excellence of The Ricardian, and increasingly the Bulletin, projects our positive image to the membership and the outside world. My thanks, then, to Anne Sutton for The Ricardian and to Elizabeth Nokes and the editorial team for the Bulletin. We are beginning to forge a new relationship with our branches and groups. Regional meetings are being planned, with the first having taken place in Bridport a few weeks ago. The dialogue has begun and we are listening. My thanks go to John Ashdown-Hill, in the newly created post of Branches and Groups Officer, for developing and taking forward this important initiative. As you will all know by now, John is doing some very interesting work involving DNA, and we wait with much anticipation to see where this may lead. John has also had what we think is a splendid idea for encouraging younger members of the public to develop a greater interest in Richard III, and it was enthusiastically taken up by the Ex- ecutive Committee, especially when it became obvious that we could get John to do most of the work! As a result, he has been organising a nationwide competition for schools. It is broadly divided into two parts, with subsections for different ages. The first is for an essay on the subject of Richard III, whilst the second is a poster competition, the subject being any Ricardian site. The essays will be marked by a group of history teachers, organised by Jane Trump, whilst the judges for the posters will include the artist Graham Turner and our own Geoffrey Wheeler. My thanks go also to the rest of the Executive Committee and to the officers of the Society for all the work they have done over the year. There is not time to mention everything and everyone, but I must mention our retiring treasurer, Bill Featherstone, and thank him for his invaluable contributions during his tenure. We wish him and his family well for the future. Next year, we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the 1956 refounding of the Society. We have a special logo (or badge) for the anniversary and a growing programme of events to enjoy, which I hope will involve as many members as possible. A highlight is undoubtedly the weekend of events in York around the AGM. It promises to be a Ricardian weekend to remember. It surely goes without saying that the Society would not have been refounded without the prodigious work of our senior Vice President, Isolde Wigram, and I think it is safe to say that we will be acknowledging her contribution on a number of occasions during 2006. So, now we have a much more efficient Society and we are looking forward to celebrating next year’s anniversary, but we must not rest on our laurels. There is still much to be done. I’ve already mentioned some of our recent achievements and whilst there is little doubt that the Society is making progress in pursuit of its aims, we still see on prime time television the

recycling of the old negative myths about King Richard and little, if any, recognition of his many positive qualities. David Starkey has sent us a clear message that we are still some way from securing the fair and just reassessment of Richard’s life and character that we seek. Of course, there has also been the more positive treatment which Richard received from Terry Jones and Tony Robinson, but these were instances where the Society had input into the programmes. We always knew that Starkey would be a challenge. However, let us remember that one of his first (if not the first) television appearances was as a witness for the prosecution in the 1984 Channel Four Trial of Richard III, when, of course, he was on the losing side. Given time, we can make sure that, where Richard III is concerned, at least, DOCTOR Starkey is always on the losing side. Just how do we counter the negative portrayals of Richard III? Well, there are two main ways. The first is through our research, publication and educational activities, which will always be our primary purpose. The second is by the range of other activities that we engage in - publici- ty and promotion, memorials, commemorative events, branch activities and social events. All can be used to make the general public more aware of the positive. Yes, all or any of these can help to promote the cause of Richard III, but let us remember, it is the combination that makes us, the Richard III Society, collectively so strong. Remember, too, that to keep us strong, we must have new members - the larger the Society, the greater the clout we will have when we argue our case. In the Summer Bulletin, we launched a recruitment campaign, asking you to go out there and pull in new members. We know it is not easy, but the more members, the more money. The more money, the more we can do. So, stick with it. Let us get the Membership Department busy enrolling new members. Over the next year, although we will rightly celebrate all that has been achieved over the past fifty years, it is my intention that we will continue to build on the reforms undertaken in recent years. At the end of 2006, I want the Richard III Society to be strong and vibrant and ready for another fifty years, though what its purpose will be once Richard’s name has received the honest reassessment for which we ask will not necessarily be for me to guess. By building on our reforms, we will increase our capacity to undertake more research and campaign more effectively for a fair hearing for Richard, and if we do that, the time must eventually come when we can speak of ‘Good King Richard’ and few will doubt the truth of what we say. That must be our aim. Indeed, that IS our aim. As Ramesses II says in The Ten Commandments, ‘So let it be written, so let it be done’.

Thank you.

The Robert Hamblin Award for 2005

This award went to Anne Smith and deservedly so. As many members will know, Anne served as Fiction Librarian until 2003 and prior to that she served for many years as the Society’s Sales Officer. This was indeed service over and above the call of duty, involving handling all the membership’s sales needs and wants, dealing with their queries, and taking many and heavy parcels to her local post office: where she liked to say that she had developed a really meaningful relationship. The post also involved housing the stock, and it was fortunate that she had and has, in Guildford, a whole house to be devoted to this object – even if this somewhat incommoded her cats – notably William Cat(esby). The Executive Committee would formally like to thank Anne, on behalf of the membership, for her past service. The Robert Hamblin Award for service was established in 2003 to commemorate the passing of our former Chairman. Previous recipients have been Bryan Longfellow (2003) and Pat Ruffle (2004).

Celebrating 50 Years: The Programme

ere, as promised in the last Bulletin, are fur- H ther details of the events to be held next year when we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Society’s re-founding. In the coloured centrefold of this Bulletin you will find a booking form with a closing date of 31 January 2006. If we still have spare spaces after that date we will invite further applications. We need to set a deadline because an early indication of the likely take-up of places will help us manage the year’s programme more effectively. We are also asking for indications of attendance at the AGM for the same reason, even though of course there is certainly no charge involved here. We hope that the information below is sufficient for you to make a decision about your attendance at events. We still have a few details to sort out with some of them and will keep members informed as things progress. Now to the events themselves:

MARCH Saturday 25 March 2006. Anniversary Seminar: ‘Troops and Tactics: Mili- tary Matters during the Fifteenth Century’. Tower of London Education Centre

Our first Anniversary Seminar will begin with coffee and registration from 10 a.m. The speakers and themes will be: Professor Tony Goodman – ‘The recruitment, array, and training of troops during the Wars of the Roses’. Tony has recently retired from Edinburgh University and his new book The Wars of the Roses- the Soldier’s Experience was published earlier this year. Dr David Grummitt – ‘The French Expedition of 1475 and what the campaign meant to those involved.’ David works on The History of Parliament project and edited The English Experience in France c. 1450-1558. Dr Michael K Jones – ‘Strategy and Tactics in the Fifteenth Century – Agincourt 1415 revisit- ed’. Michael needs little introduction to members and is of course the author of Bosworth: Psy- chology of a Battle and has recently published a new book on Agincourt. Chris Gravett – ‘Armour and Weaponry in the 15th Century.’ Chris will also demonstrate how armour is donned, and removed. Chris, formerly with the Royal Armouries, now works for the Woburn Estate. He has written several books published by Osprey on Wars of the Roses battles. Price per ticket £22. This includes admittance to the Tower (usually £14) and there will be free time to visit the attractions. Lunch is not included in the price but there is a restaurant within the Tower. The non-refundable deposit is £10. Balance of £12 is due 1 March 2006

MAY Friday 19 May 2006. Anniversary Reception at Staple Inn

The principal London-based social event will be a reception at Staple Inn Hall, which will begin at 6 pm and include wine, soft drinks and a buffet supper. Our Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, will attend this event to meet members and present the prizes for the schools competition. From 4 pm until 5.30 pm, and during the evening reception, there will be an exhibition of the competition entries and we hope that the winners will be there as our guests.. The evening will conclude at about 8.30 p.m. Afternoon entry will be free of charge, but for the reception the price per ticket is £25. The non-refundable deposit is £10. Balance of £15 is due 1 May 2006

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 29 September to 1 October 2006. Anniversary Weekend and AGM in York. There is no better place to hold our anniversary weekend and 2006 AGM than York, the most Ricardian of cities. Our exciting package of events includes:

Friday 29 September Evening - Lecture at the Hospitium. Refreshments 6 pm, lecture at 6.30 pm.

Professor Tony Pollard of Teeside University will talk about his ‘journey’ with Richard III, the state of Ricardian studies and the strange phenomenon of the unchanging popular perception of Richard III 50 years on. This should be a challenging and entertaining lecture, with time for questions. The Hospitium is a fourteenth-century building in the Museum Gardens and should prove an excellent venue to begin the weekend. It is hoped to find a suitable hostelry in York for members to gather after the event, if they so wish, and no doubt carry on the debate. Price per ticket, to include refreshments, £10. The non-refundable deposit is £5. Balance of £5 due 1 September 2006.

Saturday 30 September Morning and afternoon - AGM and Members’ Day

This will take place at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall which will open from 11 am. There will be the usual AGM attractions including Society and Branch/Group sales stalls, second-hand book stall, craft sale in aid of the RCRF and tables illustrating the work of the Society. We will also have workshops on palaeography, Latin, costume and music (with demonstrations by Trouvère), and hopefully also on armoury. The provisional timetable sees the AGM begin at 12 noon, followed by a buffet lunch (ticket details will be publicised in a later Bulletin). The workshops will each be held twice during the afternoon and will be free of charge. We are investigating other activities and will keep members informed through the Bulletin as these develop. In the meantime the confirmed attractions already make this a day of considerable interest for members.

Afternoon - Tours of the Minster – 3.30 p.m. and 4 p.m.

The tour will include the Minster and the Treasury and it is hoped to have on display the Vellum presented to the Minster by the Society in 1966. This records Richard’s first visit to the city as king and the investiture of his son Edward as Prince of Wales. Price per ticket £4.50, Concession (60 and over) £3.50. Total payable 1 September 2006.

Saturday 30 September Evening – Gala Dinner at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall

The dinner will be catered by At Home Catering. Members who attended the 2002 conference in York may recall the excellent meal that they served at the Hall for the conference dinner. The menu will be: Cauliflower & Coriander Soup with Caramelised Butter (V) Slow-Cooked Aromatic Lamb Lemon Meringue Roulade Cafetière Coffee with Chocolate Mints Vegetarian alternative: Root Vegetable Wellington with a Red Wine Sauce

Entertainment will be provided by the medieval troupe Trouvère. There has been much discussion about the dress code with views expressed both for and against the wearing of fifteenth- century costume. So we have come up with the perfect compromise: dress can be either costume or modern (in which case black tie or lounge suits for the gentlemen and cocktail/party dresses for the ladies). We will hold a best costume competition, to be judged by those in modern dress. Wine and mineral water on the table will be included in the cost and there will be a full pay bar available before dinner from 7 pm. Dinner will be served at 7.30 pm. Price per ticket £45. Non-refundable deposit £10. Balance of £35 due 1 September 2006.

Sunday 1 October Barley Hall – Ricardian Anniversary Fair

The Society has had close links with Barley Hall since it was first opened to the public and it is the regular venue for the medieval banquet held during the study weekends. The management of the Hall will be arranging for a number of medieval craft stalls to be set up to demonstrate and sell their wares. The Hall also has its own shop which sells original replica crafts. A local re- enactment group, the ‘Company of Palm Sunday 1461’, several members of which are also Soci- ety members, will be at Barley Hall and there will be demonstrations covering weaponry, herbal- ism and cookery, weaving and lucetting, candle-making, music and other non-martial skills. The day will provide a fascinating insight into fifteenth-century life in a genuinely fifteenth- century style town house built on the grounds of and with material from the original house that stood in Richard’s time. It will be a unique experience for Ricardians. Advance tickets £3.50 or £5.00 on the door.

An information pack for York, including suggested accommodation, will be put together and mailed out in spring 2006 – see booking form.

Saturday 21 October. Anniversary Seminar: ‘Chivalry, the Order of the Garter and St George’s Chapel’ - Windsor Castle, Vicars’ Hall

The Society has been most fortunate to secure this venue for its second Anniversary Seminar. The Vicars’ Hall is not usually hired out and is not usually open to the public. So this will be a rare opportunity for members to see this part of the castle. The Castle will be open from 10 am when refreshments will be available. The confirmed speakers will be: Tim Tatton-Brown is the Consultant Archaeologist to the Royal Peculiars of Westminster Abbey and St George’s Chapel and will be speaking on the latter Dr Diana Dunn is a Senior Lecturer in History at University College, Chester and will talk about

Margaret of Anjou, Chivalry and the Order of the Garter Peter Hammond, the President of the Society, will speak on the Garter Stall Plates in St George’s Chapel Dr Anne Sutton and Dr Livia Visser-Fuchs, well known to us all, will discuss Chivalry and the Yorkist Kings Dr Lesley Boatwright (Wynne-Davies), the Society’s Deputy Chairman, will talk about the mira- cles of Henry VI who is buried in the chapel We plan to have one more guest speaker. There will be opportunities to visit St George’s Chapel and the day will end with Evensong which begins at 5.15 pm. Lunch is not included in the price of the ticket but there are numerous cafes and restaurants in the vicinity and the joining instructions will include details of a selection of them. The event is being sponsored by Burke’s Peerage. Price per ticket £50. Non-refundable deposit £20. Balance of £30 payable by 1 October 2006

If you have any questions about the events please contact any member of the 2006 Anniver- sary Committee - John Ashdown-Hill, Wendy Moorhen, Elizabeth Nokes, Phil Stone and Rich- ard van Allen. 2006 Anniversary Committee

Some members of the Society who attended the Australasian Conference at Sydney University July 2005 (report in Autumn 2005 Bulletin)

Society News and Notices

Minutes of the 2005 Annual General Meeting of the Richard III Society The 2005 Annual General Meeting of the Richard III Society was held at the English Heritage Lecture Theatre, Fortress House, Savile Row, London on Saturday 1 October, 2005, at 12.00 noon. One hundred and five members were present. Apologies for absence were received from Helen Ashburn, Anne Ayres, Betty Beaney, Mi- chael Boon, Jill Davies, Ken Hillier, Philip Jackson, Janine Lawrence, Lynda and John Macgreg- or, Peggy Martin, Mary O’Regan, Joyce Spears, Josie Williams, and Juliet Wilson. The Minutes of the 2004 Annual General Meeting published in the Bulletin for December 2004, were approved and signed as correct. Chairman’s Remarks The Chairman welcomed members, from UK and overseas, including Henk Van Valen from Holland and Julia Campbell from Paris, noting that the AGM had been held in York, and last year in Bristol, but was now returned to a familiar venue. Firstly he apolo- gised for the late arrival of the Bulletin due to problems at the printers. The Chairman then reported on another year of change, as fully reported in this issue on page 2. Secretary Elizabeth Nokes read greetings from the American Branch of the Society, to whom greetings had been sent. Membership Liaison Rosemary Waxman was retiring from the post and from the executive committee, and the Chairman thanked her for all her work, noting that she would remain active on the Visits Committee. Branch/Group Liaison John Ashdown-Hill noted that a branches/groups meeting had been held in Bridport, the first such of multiple meetings to replace the single bi-annual meeting. It had been reported to all branches and groups, as also had the meeting of the Australasian Branch- es, and summaries would be published. He drew the attention of members present to the branches and groups information table in the foyer, which displayed a map of branch/group catchment areas, indicating areas lacking a branch or group. Any member who would like to set up a group in an area lacking one was welcome to contact him. One idea that had arisen from the Bridport meeting was that members could make informative bookmarks and leave them in appropriate library books. Research Officer Wendy Moorhen noted the ongoing development of the ‘research community’, encouraging members to join. The Wills Project was now in its concluding stages and would be published in 2006. Editor of The Ricardian Dr Anne Sutton took the opportunity to advise members that media contact was not easy, based on her own experience with Channel 5. Librarian Jane Trump reported that the new library catalogue was pending, with the fiction and audio-visual catalogues already mounted on the Society’s website. Because of the delay in receipt of the Bulletin the closing date for the book auction was extended. The Library Open Day had proved disappointing, with only a single visitor, so would be discontinued, but she remained happy to welcome members to the Library at any time, subject to prior appointment. Visits John Ashdown-Hill advised that he was retiring from the Visits Committee, which would now be chaired by Marian Mitchell. He would however remain as contact for the Requiem Mass, and would continue to administer the discount entry scheme. Fotheringhay The Chairman, in his role of Fotheringhay Co-ordinator, reminded members of the forthcoming Christmas event. Webmaster Neil Trump reported that the website was being revised and updated. The Chairman then reminded the meeting of the other executive committee members and officers: Howard Choppin, John Saunders, Richard Van Allan, Geoffrey Wheeler and Lesley

Wynne-Davies, who was to be congratulated on her recent doctorate. He also noted Sally Emp- son, Sales Liaison Officer. Treasurer Bill Featherstone referred members to the accounts as printed in the annual report. He was standing down as Treasurer and committee member, but would continue in post until able to hand over to his replacement. The Chairman noted that an application for the post had been received. Adoption of the Accounts for 2004-2005 was proposed by Joan Cooksley, seconded by Di- ana Lee and carried nem. con. Appointment of Auditor for 2005-2006 The reappointment of Mike Pearce was proposed by Bill Featherstone, seconded by Kitty Bristow and carried nem. con. Robert Hamblin Award On the third occasion of this award, the recipient was Anne Smith, former Sales Officer of the Society and former fiction Librarian. The Chairman reminded the Committee that the award was for society members (exclusive of the committee) who had given notable service. Anne Smith had been advised of the award and had responded that she had sel- dom been so delighted: she had thoroughly enjoyed her roles for the Society and the contact with members they had offered. Robert Hamblin had been Chairman during her time in office and she had found him helpful and supportive. Election of President The re-election of Peter Hammond as President of the Society was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by Ros Conaty and carried nem. con. Election of Vice Presidents That John Audsley, Kitty Bristow, Carolyn Hammond and Isol- de Wigram should be re-elected as Vice Presidents of the Society for 2005-2006 was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by Renée Jennison and carried nem. con. The Chairman noted that it was proposed to add an Australasian vice-president: a request to the Australasian branches for a nomination had been raised, and the matter was under discussion. The meeting agreed that such nominee should be elected. Election of Committee for 2005–2006 Nominations having been received for the following, it was agreed that these members be elected to the executive committee for 2005-2006: John Ashdown-Hill, Howard Choppin, Marian Mitchell, Wendy Moorhen, Elizabeth Nokes, John Saunders, Phil Stone, Anne Sutton, Jane Trump, Neil Trump, Richard Van Allen, Geoffrey Wheeler and Lesley Wynne-Davies, proposed by Bill Featherstone, seconded by Ruth Gayfer and carried nem. con. Date of Bosworth and AGM, 2006 The Bosworth commemoration would take place on Sat- urday or Sunday 19 or 20 August 2006 and the AGM would take place on Saturday, 30 Septem- ber 2006, in York, as part of the Members’ Weekend. Celebrating Fifty Years The Chairman hoped that the proposed programme would have a varied appeal which would maximise attendance, and noted that it would run alongside regular activities, including the Requiem Mass, the York Study Weekend, Bosworth and Fotheringhay. There would be four events, together with, it was hoped, branch and group events. To enable cost planning by members, all four events would be advertised in the December Bulletin, through which advance booking, with deposit, could be made. This would spread the cost to members, and provide clear information of uptake. However newly joining members would not be excluded from participation. The Visits Committee had planned its programme in liaison with the anniversary programme, and would defer its major continental visit to Provence to 2007. A highlight of the Jubilee programme would be the Members’ Weekend in October based round the AGM. The four events would comprise: The Tower Seminar – a one-day event on 25 March 2006, at the Education Centre of the Royal Armoury, on a military theme, for forty participants, costing c. £22.00; Staple Inn Reception – on 19 May 2006, to showcase the winners of the Schools Competi- tion. HRH The Duke of Gloucester, our Patron, had been invited, to present the prizes. The event was for a hundred participants, costing c. £25.00; The Windsor Castle Seminar – a one-day event on 21 October, 2006, to be held in the Vic-

ars’ Hall, a unique opportunity to see this rarely available venue. The theme would be St. George’s Chapel, chivalry and the Order of the Garter, including attendance at Evensong in the Chapel, for eighty participants, costing c. £50.00, owing to sponsorship by Burke’s Peerage. Members’ Weekend and AGM – from Friday 29 September to Sunday 1 October, 2006. This would comprise on the Friday evening a talk in the Hospitium, at £10.00, followed by infor- mal gathering in a local public house; On Saturday 30 September, the AGM would be held in the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall in the morning, followed by stalls and workshops in the afternoon, together with guided tours of the Minster, and, in the evening a banquet, with entertainment, costing c. £45.00; On Sunday 1 October, a ‘St Nicholas Fayre’ in Barley Hall with living history re-enactments. This it was hoped would provide an exciting and interesting programme to celebrate the Soci- ety’s fiftieth anniversary of the re-founding, covering all aspects of the Society’s work and membership. The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust not having been raised in its agenda position, Peter Hammond now spoke on this subject, as Chair of the Trust, noting that it had made small research grants, continued its publication programme, including the Beauchamp Pageant, and had nine trustees. James Petre was standing down as Secretary of the Trust, while remaining a trustee, and Peter thanked him for his work, noting that the rôle of Secretary would now be taken by Lynda Pidgeon. Peter then thanked the meeting for re-electing him as President, and in this capacity thanked the Chairman, Phil Stone, for his work, and thanked the committee for their work. Any Other Business Raymond Bord sought to have a work of non-fiction reviewed, and was invited to submit a copy to the Editor of The Ricardian. Livia Visser-Fuchs asked that in future the executive committee and reporting officers should sit at the top table, rather than in the body of the hall. There being no further business the meeting then closed. It was followed in the afternoon by a well-received, and well-illustrated lecture by Dr Joanna Laynesmith on Cecily Neville: ‘The Right High and Excellent Princess and Queen of Right’, following which she was thanked by Peter Hammond, and the Chairman closed the meeting with thanks to all attenders, and to members of the Croydon Group for manning reception.

Major Craft Sale at Members’ Day / AGM The twenty-seventh Major Craft Sale, run by the Ricardian Churches Restoration Fund, was held at the 2005 Members’ Day/AGM from 11.00 a.m. until the start of the meeting, and during the lunch and tea intervals. The craft stall, art and ‘grot’ stall, Elaine Robinson’s cards, card/book stall and raffle, made a total of £950.50 We would like to thank all those who contributed items for sale or raffle, and who helped on the stalls during the day, including – Anne Cole, Joan Cooksley, Pamela Evans, Rachel Field, Peter and Carolyn Hammond, Renée Jennison, Sandra Pendlington, Elaine Robinson, Miss D K Strong, Geoffrey Wheeler and Isolde Wigram. Our thanks to them all, and our apologies to anyone we have omitted. Elizabeth Nokes, Kitty Bristow and Phil Stone

The Ricardian Volume 16 Articles that will appear in the 2006 volume of The Ricardian are:

 Antony Wydevile, Lord Scales and Rivers: Family, Friends and Affinity. Part 2 by Lynda Pidgeon  Alive and Well in Canada: The Mitochondrial DNA of Richard III by John Ashdown-Hill  The Moneyers of the Tower of London and William Lord Hastings by Jessica Freeman

 Gerard Von Wesel’s Newsletter from England, 17 April 1471 by Hannes Kleineke  The Tomb, the Palace and a Touch of Shakespeare: The Memory of Sir John Crosby by Christian Steer  Genealogical Conundrums by Wendy Moorhen  Alchemists, Pirates, and Pilgrims: Towards a revised model of English knighthood in the Lancastrian era by Gilbert Bogner  Lady Eleanor Talbot: New evidence; new answers; new questions by John Ashdown-Hill and thirty-one book reviews including The Three Richards: Richard I, Richard II and Richard III by Nigel Saul; The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 by Joanna Laynesmith, The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare by Jim Bradbury and Elizabeth Wydeville. The Slandered Queen by Arlene Okerlund. It is also planned to provide, for the first time, an integrated index to the volume. The Ricardian will be published in March 2006 and will be distributed separately from the Bulletin to UK members. Anne Sutton

Changes in the Membership Department - Important - Please read James Petre, the membership manager, has had to resign from this post due to a change of circumstances in his professional career. James took up the post last May when the membership function was brought back in-house and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking James, and his wife Sally, for their sterling work since the transition. In addition the Membership Liai- son Officer, Rosemary Waxman, did not stand for re-election at the AGM. I am, however, pleased to announce that Brian and Wendy Moorhen will become the Mem- bership Manager and Membership Liaison Officer respectively. Brian is a family member of the Society and Wendy is the Society’s Research Officer. She initiated and managed the transfer of the membership function from RIMMS and, therefore, has expert knowledge on both the membership processes and the computer system that is used. In addition she already manages the relationship with the Society’s main service providers, our printers St Edmundsbury Press and our mailing house RSVP who distribute the Society’s publications, and has therefore worked closely with James. This is, however, an interim solution until Wendy retires from full-time employment in 2007 at which time we will advertise for a new membership manager who Wendy will train for the rôle. James will continue in post for the next few weeks and the handover will take place at the end of January. So please continue to contact James with regard to membership matters and to contact Brian from 1 February 2006. I wish Brian and Wendy good luck in their new rôles. Phil Stone

Distribution of Publications to Australasia and Canada It was with reluctance that the Executive Committee had to raise the overseas postage supplement from £2 to £5 last year. Although an increase had not been made for several years it was nevertheless substantial and of concern to overseas members. Unfortunately it would not have been the end to the story as postage charges went up again in the UK earlier this year and inevitably these would have had to be passed on in the future. Fortunately the impact on postage costs to European members was minimal. As a consequence the Committee has looked very carefully at various options of how to distribute Society publications overseas, working closely with our mailing house, RSVP of Colches- ter, and the overseas branch secretaries regarding local postage costs. This was a lengthy and complicated process and I won’t bore you with the complexities of a subject that is highly spe-

cialised. Eventually the method that became the preferred option was to find volunteers within Canada and the Australasian branches who could receive a bulk consignment of the publications for their area, which would be individually wrapped and addressed, and then mailed locally after adding the domestic postage stamp. A cunning plan, but with a loophole. Not all members in these countries belonged to a branch and the Committee was anxious that everyone affected should benefit from the scheme. Negotiations began with the branches one by one. The proposal was as outlined above but with the request that the local branch mail out the publications to the non-branch members. We began with the ‘easy’ countries – New Zealand and Canada – as there was only one branch in each of the countries. In the true spirit of Ricardian friendship agreement was reached and the scheme piloted with New Zealand in time for the spring mailing, with Canada following in the summer. Australia was a little different because there are five branches but happily the scheme is now in place. NSW and Victoria will each receive their own ‘M-Bag’ (the method of bulk ship- ping) and Western Australia will mail out the publications for their own branch, South Australia, Queensland and the non-branch Australian members. I hope all the affected members will appreciate the service provided by Rob Smith in New Zealand, Tracy Bryce in Canada, Kevin Her- bert in NSW, Michael Iliffe in Victoria and Helen Hardegen in Western Australia. A major change to the postal services in the UK will take place next year when the Post Of- fice’s monopoly comes to an end. Whilst these changes are meant to encourage competition, concerns have already been expressed by RSVP that an already complex system will become even more complex. The Committee will be considering the new options and we will strive to provide an economical and practical service to members, and, wherever possible, maintain current sup- plements. Wendy Moorhen

Late Delivery of the Autumn Bulletin We would like to apologise for the late delivery of the Autumn Bulletin. This was due to a series of incidents which had a knock-on effect and proves the old adage, ‘what can go wrong will go wrong’. Essentially, a new supplier was used to ‘varnish’ the cover of the Bulletin but failed to complete the job on time. This resulted in a late delivery to the mailing house and consequently we missed our scheduled slot for processing. The job had to be re-scheduled which led to a further delay and then the machine which packs and wraps the individual Bulletins broke down! This was all very unfortunate and the first major problem we had encountered with both the printer and the mailing house, who normally provide an excellent and cost-effective service. It was of course particularly unfortunate that this happened in September as the Bulletin included the information about the AGM as well as time-critical items such as the booking of events and the postal book auction. Although deadlines were extended it was still all an incon- venience. Lessons, however, have been learned. In future, preliminary information about the AGM, such as notice, venue, timings, etc., will be published in the summer Bulletin. Greater lead times will be given to members where their response is time-critical, such as the postal book auction or if a service, event or product is on offer, particularly where limited numbers are involved, and then a closing date will be given and a draw will take place. This will replace the first come, first served method that has sometimes been used in the past and which could disenfranchise overseas members. The Bulletin editorial team works to a very tight schedule based on the published copy dates and will continue to ensure that the Bulletin is delivered to the printers by agreed dates. However, as we are sure you will now appreciate, the circumstances which affected the recent mailing were out of their control. For your future information the Bulletin is processed and mailed by the mailing house during the first full week of March, June, September and December and should reach UK members by the weekend or early the following week. The bulk mailings using ‘M-Bags’ are

shipped on a 10-14 working day service. If there are any delays in the future a notice will of course be posted on the Society’s website (www.richardiii.net). Please also note that the 2006 Ricardian will be mailed separately from the Bulletin to UK members. Executive Committee

A few words about visits . . . The Visits Committee organises a number of excursions each year. These consist of day trips (three or four a year) and/or a long weekend in the UK and a five-six day visit across the Chan- nel. For the Continental trip, we more often than not go to France, where we have covered several regions, but we have also been to Belgium, Holland and Germany. The trips are self-financing. We aim to cover our expenses, not to make a profit and therefore we do not have ‘spare’ funds to fall back on. For this reason, in the event of a participant withdrawing from the trip, it may not be possible to refund any deposit paid or, even, the full cost if the cancellation is very near the date of departure. It is therefore strongly advised, certainly with the longer trips where accommodation is involved, that participants take out their own insurance. We are not professional travel agents: we do our best to make sure that everything runs smoothly, gaining experience with each trip, but it is up to participants to protect themselves against loss. We try to dovetail our trips with other Society events to avoid clashes. Please support us. Joining a coach party is one of the best ways of getting to know other members. First of all you get to know faces, then names and then you are talking to each other. And you have all got at least one thing in common to talk about – King Richard III. If you have missed the application date for a trip, don’t despair: have a word with me (or the trip organiser) - we may still have room for you. If you have any ideas for trips, let me know. If there is a Ricardian connection, so much the better, or it may just be interesting - tell us about it. I can be contacted on telephone 01376 501984 (evenings) or email: [email protected]. Marian Mitchell, Chairman, Visits Committee

Sales Update It is just over a year since the new Society Sales Team took over from Time Travellers. The stock has been distributed between five stockholders scattered around the country and I receive the orders and pass them on to the relevant stockholder. Thus, if you order, for example, a Soci- ety tie and a Ricardian index, you will receive the order in two packages. This year has seen the publication of the Royal Funerals of the House of York at Windsor, which has proved to be an instant best seller. The most frequently asked questions are:  Is there an up-to-date sales catalogue? Yes. It can be viewed on the members’ area of the Society website, or I can send you a printed copy on receipt of an SAE.  Can I pay by credit card? Yes, but I can only accept Visa or MasterCard and at the moment the details can only be sent via the post. My email line is not secure. Details required are: the type of card, the name on the card, the number of the card, and the expiry date.  Can I place an order from overseas? Yes. Usually these transactions are paid for by credit card – see the information above. You will be charged the item cost plus the overseas postage. I wait until the item is despatched before advising you of the total cost to be charged to your card. Finally, on behalf of all the sales team I would like to thank all our customers, especially the earliest ones, who coped patiently with our inevitable teething problems. Sally Empson, Sales Liaison Officer

The Executive Committee: Who we are and what we are doing

he AGM elects the Executive Committee (EC) who hold office for the following year and T at its first meeting the newly elected EC allocates offices and responsibilities amongst its members. For most years it is just a process of confirming people in the offices they already hold. However this year there have been a number of changes of which members should be aware. We have had a couple of resignations and a new face so this is a good opportunity to update members about these changes and to outline the current rôles and responsibilities of EC members. Firstly we are delighted to welcome Marian Mitchell to the EC following her election at the AGM. Marian’s home town was Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire and she has always known about the Battle of Bosworth but a chance remark to the effect that ‘some people think Richard III’s not as bad as he’s made out’ sparked her interest. She joined the Society in 1985 and signed up for visits almost straight away and has been addicted to them ever since. It is, therefore, entirely appropriate that she has taken over from John Ashdown-Hill as Visits Officer and chair of the Visits Committee. John has stepped down from this rôle to give him more time to concentrate on his historical research and studies and his key rôle as Branch and Group Liaison Officer. Bill Featherstone has retired from the post of Treasurer and the EC following his move to a new home in the Midlands. We are very grateful that he has agreed to be acting Treasurer until his successor is in post. An announcement about the new Treasurer will be made in the Spring Bulletin. One of Bill’s responsibilities was to oversee the Society’s sales activity in conjunction with Sally Empson and her team of stockholders. This responsibility will now sit with Howard Choppin, who is also a member of the Bulletin editorial team where he oversees the magazine’s advertising account. Richard Van Allen, who joined the Committee last year as Reputation Management Officer, is now extending his rôle to provide a customer relations service to members. So if you have a problem or query and are unsure who to contact, Richard is available to help and can be reached by phone, e-mail or letter. If you do know the appropriate person to contact then you should approach them in the first instance. During his first year in office Richard has been successful in securing a sponsorship agreement with Burke’s Peerage and he is exploring opportunities with other publishing houses, as well as handling our public relations activity. The revision of the Constitution ratified at the 2004 AGM introduced the new office of deputy chairman, with the purpose of covering for the chairman should he be unable to attend meetings or events. This new post will rotate around the executive committee on an annual basis. We are very pleased to advise that Lesley Wynne-Davies will become the Society’s first Deputy Chairman. Lesley already undertakes a number of important roles: she is a member of the Bulle- tin editorial team, member of the Research Committee, co-editor of the annual report, co-editor of the Logge Wills and is our Latin consultant / facilitator. As Lesley has now been awarded her PhD she will increasingly be using her former name of Boatwright. The responsibilities of the remainder of the Committee remain unchanged. Phil Stone com- bines the chairmanship with the Friends of Fotheringhay liaison rôle and associated commemorative events. Elizabeth Nokes continues as Secretary of the Society, which includes work on the Procedures Manual, and is General Editor of the Bulletin and a member of the Visits Committee. Wendy Moorhen, in addition to the membership and business rôles outlined on page 12, continues in her primary job of Research Officer and is a trustee of the Richard III and Yorkist History

Trust. She also chairs the Bulletin editorial team, is The Ricardian technical editor, co-editor of the annual report and website team member. John Saunders continues to review the Society’s strategy and will now chair the annual report committee. He is also a member of the Bulletin editorial team and the Research Committee. Anne Sutton continues as editor of The Ricardian, member of the Research Committee and chair of the Managing Trustees of the Richard III and Yorkist History Trust. Jane Trump continues as the Barton Librarian. Jane holds the non-fiction books library, chairs the Education Working Party and is a member of the Research Committee and Website team. Neil Trump remains as webmaster and he is currently involved in the major overhaul of the website. And last but not least, Geoffrey Wheeler continues to maintain our press records, the audio-visual library and of course provides a unique and invaluable service with his artistic skills, vast knowledge and collection of illustrations, art and media matters. Under-pinning the work of the EC is the support provided by members who work on sub- committees, working parties and other teams whose activities cover research, visits, events, sales of books, merchandise and publications, library services, education, and publications. They give their time freely and generously, their support is much valued and the EC would like to thank them all. It’s a bit of a cliché, but we are elected to serve the Society and its members and that’s what we all endeavour to do. We aim to be transparent in our dealings and are always open to queries, comments and suggestions from members. So we would like to take this opportunity of issuing a special invitation to you to contact the appropriate officer, the chairman or write to the General Editor of the Bulletin. Executive Committee

A Gateway to the Fifteenth Century: Improvements to the Society’s Website

ext January, the beginning of our anniversary year, will see the launch of the Society’s new N website. Its look and feel will be familiar, but its content will be a lot different. We aim for it to be one of the best internet resources for the world of Richard III. We have had a website since the late 1990s: our first attempt was modest in comparison to what we now have. Initially the site has concentrated on the Society. We have been very con- scious of the excellent American Branch site (www.r3.org), which has developed into an impres- sive resource for all interested in our period. It holds a wealth of information on Richard III covering both primary and secondary material. However recent membership surveys and comparison with other similar historical sites strongly suggest that we could do a lot more with the Society’s main site to complement what the Americans are providing. In light of this the website team, together with our Reputation Management Officer, have reassessed the site’s content and purpose and agreed that we need to raise its profile and provide significantly more information about the life and times of King Richard III and the wider fifteenth century. So with all this in mind we have been working on three key expanded or new sections:

1. King Richard III: this will focus on the king and be subdivided into three areas: Richard The Man, such as his government, his piety, etc.; The Controversy which will examine such aspects as his appearance and the alleged ‘crimes’; and a Richard In Depth section looking at some of the detail surrounding the king.

2. The Wars of the Roses: this will cover the history of the second part of the fifteenth century and will include all the pitched battles of the wars, other military campaigns, a ’who’s who’, bib- liographies and much more. 3. The Fifteenth Century: this will look at various aspects of late medieval life and we see this as a section that will be added to and enhanced on an on-going basis.

Other new features will include:

Ricardian Archaeology: this will feature major sites such as Bosworth and Towton as well as examining controversial subjects including Richard’s burial place and of course the Princes in the Tower. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): this will cover a wide range of the most commonly- asked questions, and some not so common ones too. Membership Section: which will contain a comprehensive range of information about the services that the Society provides to members. Society Events Diary: this will provide full details of all the events we hold and will include downloadable booking forms. Ricardian Articles: a selection of articles from The Ricardian will now be available on-line.

A couple of other points to note:

 Later during 2006 we plan to introduce an on-line shop for Society sales items.  We plan to have a section for young Ricardians and would welcome ideas and offers of help here.  All the existing content of the website is being reviewed and updated where appropriate.  We will link to the American website wherever possible to ensure that there is maximum synergy between the two sites.

The new website will be an invaluable new resource for members and will further enhance the Society’s good reputation. We have engaged both Society members and external contributors for the new sections: for example the writer and historian Keith Dockray has written a summary of the Wars of the Roses especially for the site. Inevitably, with such an ambitious project, there will be a few pages ‘under construction’ but we will endeavour to provide content as soon as possible. Nonetheless we are confident that there will be something for everybody and we look forward to feedback from the membership following the launch in January. Wendy Moorhen and Neil Trump

ROSANDA BOOKS

Specialists in out-of-print Ricardian Fact and Fiction. If you would like to receive our catalogues please write to 11 Whiteoaks Road, Oadby, Leicester LE2 5YL or email [email protected].

Media Retrospective

From Patricia Potts service at York station marked a trip by the New Books, ‘We met the author’, Guy Pringle engine Duke of Gloucester to celebrate the meets up with Marika Cobbold: ‘Q: Which 175th anniversary of the world’s first passen- are your three favourite literary villains and ger railway …’ what is the secret of their appeal ?’ ‘A: … Richard III … Richard is also an arch bloke. From Geoffrey Wheeler When he says to Elizabeth, who understanda- Daily Mail 7 October, Christopher Matthew bly is a little peeved at the fact that he’s mur- on ‘Elizabeth 1’ Channel 4: ‘ .. the success of dered her sons, “Harp not on that string, Mad- historical drama depends on the quality of the am, that is past”, he sounds to me like just script. If you are Shakespeare, your language about everyman.’ rises so far above your material that the question of authenticity becomes an irrelevance – From George Cobby to wit Richard III’. ‘I have just bought Paul Murray Kendall’s Warwick the Kingmaker in the Phoenix Press From Wendy Moorhen paperback version. The blurb on the back Dramatic Circles: The BBC documentary cover begins with this sentence: “During the series Drama Connections aired on 18 Octo- fifteenth century Wars of the Roses, when the ber featured the 1990 drama series House of armies of the White Rose of Lancaster fought Cards and included an interview with Ian those of the Red Rose of York, it was Richard Richardson who played the villain, Francis Neville, Earl of Warwick who exercised regal Urquhart. power”’. One of the rather unusual aspects of the

serial was Urquhart’s frequent appeals direct From Jen Callow to the camera and therefore the audience. In Jen notes that the Clwyd Theatre, Mold, ran a effect he was explaining his motives and ac- Shakespeare Schools Festival in October tions which Richardson likened to another 2005 as part of a nationwide celebration of character he had played on stage, Richard III. Shakespeare in schools, including Richard III, However, what struck me as rather curious and using scripts from the twelve-part series was a clip from the series which showed Ur- Shakespeare – the animated tales. quart, I believe meant to be incognito, dressed

in a light linen suit, panama hat and some From the Editor rather distinctive sunglasses. The image was The Guardian, 20 September: ‘Church of familiar and came from a film in which the England canon blesses steam locomotive’: ‘villain’ was being driven in a limousine with The first steam locomotive to be honoured by his pill-popping wife Anne. The film? Rich- the Church of England has been blessed by ard Loncraine’s Richard III! Was House of the chancellor of York Minster at a ceremony Cards the inspiration for the director or star to ‘give thanks for the benefits that this Brit- (Ian McKellen) for this scene or was it pure ish invention has brought to the world’. The coincidence?

News and Reviews

The Society’s ‘In Memoriam’ Notice Over the years, on the anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth, we have regularly placed a small ‘In Memoriam’ announcement in the leading quality newspapers. This announcement, although small, is nevertheless quite costly and although both The Times and the Telegraph have a dedicated ‘In Memoriam’ section the Guardian and the Independent do not and so our announcement was often not clearly visible in the latter two papers. The executive committee therefore took the view that we would get better value for members’ money, both in monetary and in visibility terms, if we were to place one advertisement only, and that would be in the Telegraph. The Telegraph’s rates are not only cheaper but it also has a much larger circulation, nearly a million compared to just over half a million for The Times. Just prior to the Bosworth date we received a call from The Times reminding us that we needed to submit our advertisement if we were to get it in on time for publishing. This was followed by another call actually demanding to know where the usual advertisement was, as if it was their (The Times’) due. We advised that we were reviewing the situation and that it was really a question of money. Letting them down gently… The Times, however did not take this well and responded to this perceived rebuff by including a few sarcastic comments in Andrew Pearson’s ‘People’ column – ‘Is the Richard III Society seriously dedicated to improving the king’s nasty image in trouble? The Times notes the absence of the usual advert yesterday on the anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth at which Richard died in 1485’. Phil Stone, our Chairman, responded to this with a letter pointing out that the paper should not necessarily take for granted the fact that the Society would automatically place an advertisement with them and that their disparaging comments were surely beneath the standards one ex- pects from a paper like The Times. Phil went on to say that in printing these comments they had cast doubts on our credibility and caused concern to our members and, last but not least, we would expect a published apology. The response from The Times – absolutely nil! If this is the way that The Times treats its advertising customers, the life blood of publishing, it then comes as no surprise that their circulation is only half that of the Telegraph. When will organisations begin to learn that the customer always comes first? - without the customer there is no business. Richard Van Allen

Monarchy by David Starkey The second half of David Starkey’s television series on Britain’s monarchy resumed recently on Channel 4. Viewers may remember that the first half ended just prior to Richard taking the throne of England and we all waited with baited breath to see how he, Starkey, would deal with Richard. Despite forebodings Starkey painted a not unreasonable picture of Richard, considering the style in which he has dealt with the other monarchs and it is evident from this he has no liking for the monarchy. On the plus side he did not rehash the usual myth of the hunchback and said that Richard III was Shakespeare’s stage villain and that before the lure of the crown got to him, he was ‘a good brother’. On the debit side he did leave the murder of the princes in the Tower an open question and also suggested that Richard was present in the Tower the night that Henry VI died although on which night Henry died or whether Richard was present is of course unproven. In viewing this series it should be remembered that Starkey is not doing a straight-forward historical record of Britain’s monarchy; he has a theme and that is that power once gained cor-

rupts and changes people dramatically, or to be more precise when they become monarchs. To quote Starkey – ‘Lust, betrayal, plots, treason and murder – the story of our monarchy is more gory than glory’. However, it was interesting to see Starkey’s take on Sir John Fortescue and his ‘Governance’ which seemed to be drafted in purely to support Starkey’s particular theme. The ‘Governance’ compares the English and French monarchies and although the latter monarchs may well have had the opportunity to tax the populace directly, the problem of ‘over-mighty’ nobles was surely an issue both sides of the channel! Although members were undoubtedly upset by Starkey’s portrayal of Richard it must be some compensation that Henry VII came off much, much worse. Starkey says that although Hen- ry started out as a man full of ideals he in fact ended up being a suspicious money-grabbing mi- ser. However, credit where credit is due. Starkey has a compelling manner on screen. He appears to have gravitas and throughout the programme made clear, concise statements, which to the uninitiated appear to be the absolute truth. Of course Ricardians know enough to challenge those statements. As a response to this programme Chairman Phil Stone has written to Channel 4, the Daily Telegraph, the Radio Times and BBC History pointing out the unsubstantiated statements that Starkey made, thus helping to continue the black history begun by the Tudors to justify their usurpation of the crown. Richard Van Allen

The Other David Starkey and An Audience with Richard III The long-awaited second series of David Starkey’s Monarchy arrived in September, with the first episode covering the reigns of the Yorkist kings and Henry VII, which has been reviewed above. However, those members who cared to put aside their prejudices for forty five minutes, earlier in the year, would have been treated to the eminent doctor’s choice of Desert Island Discs (BBC Radio 4), a programme which is often as revealing as In the Psychiatrist’s Chair, and this proved no exception. For those amateur ‘pop-psychologists’ who often seek to analyse Richard’s character and motives from the meagre surviving records, here was a chance to ‘turn the tables’ and see what lies behind one of his prominent critics, and it did not disappoint, proving an almost text-book case. From his humble working class origins, through a disturbed adolescence, dealing with his disabilities, and the ‘stifling love and adoration of an over-protective mother’, he has some of these experiences in common with that other notable Richard detractor, A L Rowse, who shared his antipathy to the aggressively heterosexual Edward IV and dislike of Richard III. Sue Lawley pointed out the dichotomy in his character: ‘there are really two David Starkeys, the “talking” one, and the “writing” one. The former, who loves making mincemeat of people (with “the rudest man in Britain” tag – worth £100,000 a year? – “a bad underestimate!”) and the other a scholarly academic: “everything I say is underpinned by evidence”.’ Though showing how much he has mellowed with age since the 1984 TV Trial of Richard III – ‘I have a soppy side, Sue!’, there were the odd flashes of humour, as well as flattering flirtations with the inter- viewer: ‘Academic life has a dangerously self-destructive point about it … these immensely in- telligent people, badly underpaid … seriously underemployed, exercising their talents – or should I say talons, upon each other! A colleague once said that the collective noun for a group of historians should be a “malice”!’ And after another bon mot: ‘you inspire me, really, Sue!’ His great quarrel with G R Elton was touched upon, a rift which was never healed before the Professor’s death: ‘I suppose it was the ultimate academic dispute, one that neither party should be proud of. Intellectually, I have no regrets, but, personally, it was a scandal.’ As for the records chosen, there were no great surprises. Predictably, Henry VIII’s Pastyme with Good Com- panye, accompanied with the inevitable re-telling of his favourite scatological anecdote

(introduced as often as possible into any of his accounts of the Tudor court) of the king’s ‘groom of the stool’ – Henry VIII’s lavatory attendant. (No wonder More’s account of Richard III’s de- liberation on the princes’ murder ‘sitting on a draught’ proves so irresistible.) Purcell’s March for the Funeral of Queen Mary, the male duet from Don Carlos (‘in my wilder days we used to refer to it as the “gay national anthem”’) and the Battle Pavane – the first record he and his part- ner bought together, ‘so (oh, God!) this is “our tune”!’ ending with the Hallelujah Chorus. Fa- vourite book: ‘the Microcosmographia Academica by Francis Cornford, a wonderful satire on Cambridge life, which will remind me of what I am happy to have left behind.’ Luxury: ‘hot and cold running water, a large bath tub, and bath oil.’

An Audience with King Richard III, is a recording of Michael Bennett’s one-man show at York St John College. It is the latest in a number of similar attempted reincarnations of the last Plantagenet, though it is doubtful if any of his contemporaries would recognise this petulant and whining individual, with more than an overtone of the late Leonard Rossiter, or Richard Wilson’s Victor Meldrew. The incessant denouncement of Shakespeare and actors (without whose play, he ought to acknowledge, there would be no need for his performance) becomes as wearisome as does the repeated pretence of forgetting and instantly recalling names and events. Obviously he must have encountered Oscar Wilde in the afterlife, as at least two of his more famous aphorisms are paraphrased amongst other, rather desperate, attempts at humour, whilst amongst the more dubious historical references worked into the narrative is one that he ‘even suggested to Parlia- ment that, should anything happen ... to me or my son, they should find a way of reversing the princes’ illegitimacy, thus putting an end to Tudor’s pathetic claim to the throne.’ Towards the end, a rather uncomfortable ‘Question and Answer’ session is introduced, elicit- ing some response from the meagre dozen or so (gratifyingly young) audience. A challenge from a Sheriff Hutton resident catches ‘the king’ off guard (though he shows that he is at least aware of some of the doubts that have been cast on the tomb there) but has to conclude that, remarka- bly, he has no idea where his son is buried! The performance concludes with a song ‘written by your “Uncle Richard”’, of rather maudlin sentimentality, the film focussing on the clichéd image of a lone, white rose. Geoffrey Wheeler

Another view of Michael Bennett’s play appears in Correspondence on page 41. Editor

Report from Brancepeth – St Brandon’s Church Following the fire in 1998, the structural rebuilding was completed in November 2003, and interior fitting is ongoing, each item of liturgical furniture being designed and made as an individual commission, using local craftsmen and designers. On St Brandon’s Day, 15 May, 2005, the church was re-categorised from being ‘redundant’ during the rebuilding to ‘parish church’, ena- bling worship to resume. The building was re-dedicated on 23 October, followed by an inaugural concert for the Father Willis Organ on 28 October, and the first full peal of bells is being rung to coincide with the annual reunion of the Durham University Society of Change Ringers. The Brancepeth Festival of Flowers and Music takes place from 15 to 18 June 2006, and the end of major work on the rebuilding project will be celebrated with a service of thanksgiving, culminat- ing with celebration in Autumn 2006. For information email [email protected] or visit www.brancepathchurch. Editor

News from Barley Hall

arley Hall, the restored medieval town room and this year we introduced new infor- B house in York, is supported by the So- mation packs. These include a description of ciety in numerous ways, by financial support the items to be seen in each room and the (the Society is a long-term member of the medieval craftsmanship together with a good Barley Hall Guild of supporters) and by us- variety of images. These packs supplement ing the Hall for events – many members will the tour and guidebook and there are also know how wonderful are the costume ban- copies of the packs for sale in the shop. quets held in the Great Hall as part of the Next year Barley Hall intends to take part Study Weekends. We like to keep members in the Corpus Christi Mystery Plays by hold- informed about events in the Hall and in the ing a medieval pilgrimage. This will take lead up to Christmas to remind you about the place in the week of 6 to 9 July and will con- St Nicholas Fair. This is held in York every sist of an event at Nostell Priory, the Prior of year at the end of November and Barley Hall which built Barley Hall in the fourteenth takes part. On the stalls century, followed by a there are craftsmen walk pulling a medieval demonstrating and sell- pageant wagon from ing medieval crafts and there to York over the this year we had a bar next few days. We hope selling traditional ales to go via Pontefract and wines. This year the castle for more celebra- Fair was held over the tions, then on the next weekend of 24 to 27 day to Tadcaster via the November. The Barley battlefield of Towton Hall shop will be stock- and then down into the ing a large range of rep- centre of York at a time lica crafts, books and to coincide with the smaller items too. start of the Mystery For anyone who is thinking of doing Plays. Planning is still in the very early stag- some Christmas shopping in the Barley Hall es but we hope to include various stops for a shop this year there will be three Candlelit variety of events so as to involve as many evenings on 8, 9 and 16 December when people as possible. People are invited to join visitors will be able to explore Barley Hall the walk just for a day or for the full four by candle light while enjoying seasonal en- days and we hope to get as much sponsor- tertainment and refreshments. There will be ship as possible. At least half of the money a charge for this of £7 (£5 for concessions). raised will go to Barley Hall but we will be These evenings are popular so it is necessary giving to other charities too. We hope to to book in advance at the Hall. have as many people as possible in authentic Another event in the Hall this year was a medieval clothing but walkers in twenty-first change to the way we present the infor- century dress will be very welcome. As plans mation in each room. We have always had become finalised we will keep you all in- our guidebook and our audio tours to de- formed. scribe what would have happened in each Barley Hall itself is still run by the inde- 22

pendent charitable trust set up in 1997 to also hired the Hall for functions, parties and maximise its benefits for all visitors. It is weddings. open throughout the year and as a liv- All of these successes have been a ing history museum the Hall offers a real joy for the Hall’s small team of hands-on environment that allows people hardworking staff and its team of loyal to experience history first hand in the life volunteers but the Hall still does not pay time of Alderman William Snawsell, mayor for itself. Each year we have to raise of York and friend of Richard of Gloucester. funds to maintain this rambling property Our audio tour contains many friendly refer- and this Christmas we have launched a ences to Richard III – in fact Barley Hall is special appeal asking visitors and supporters one of the very few places where he is re- of Barley Hall to Give a Present to the Past garded as undoubtedly good. and so help to preserve this wonderful pro- The work to refurnish the Hall is under- ject into the future. We will welcome dona- way with the completion of rooms such as tions of any size but many people may in- the stunning Great Hall to show what life stead (or also) prefer to join our organisation may have been like in a medieval town of Friends or our Guild of supporters. You house. Following our Heritage lottery can give online at our website (www. grant and development of our education barleyhall.org.uk) where you can also apply programme school and other groups visit to join our Friends and or our Guild of sup- us for fun-packed educational experienc- porters, or you can write to Barley Hall at 2 es. Regular living history events, period Coffee Yard, Off Stonegate, York YO1 8AR and craft fairs, drama, music and poetry (phone 01904 610275) all add to the Barley Hall experience, as do Lynda Pidgeon, Society Trustee our family activity days. Many people have and Peter Hammond, Trustee

New Ricardian Index

The index to Volume 12 of The Ricardian (2000-2002) is now available. The index costs £2 which includes postage and packing.

Please order from the Sales Liaison Officer Miss Sally Empson 42 Pewsey Vale Forest Hill, Bracknell Berkshire RG12 9YA or e-mail [email protected]

Richard III and Yorkist History Trust

The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust is a charitable trust established by the Richard III Soci- ety in 1986 to further education and research related to the history of late fifteenth-century Eng- land and to encourage the publication of such research. It took over most of the Society’s academic publishing activities but retains close links with its parent body which appoints the majority of its nine trustees.

ANNUAL REPORT for the year 1 August 2004 to 31 July 2005

During the year, the Trust continued in its mission to further education and research related to the history of late fifteenth century England both by making research grants to scholars engaged in appropriate studies and through commissioning and guiding other academics in the preparation of specific sources for publication by the Trust.

GRANTS The Trust donated a sum of £400 towards the publication costs of a festschrift for Prof. Colin Richmond. That work has now appeared, entitled, Much Heaving and Shoving: late medieval gentry and their concerns. Essays for Colin Richmond, ed Margaret Aston and Rosemary Hor- rox. The Trust’s contribution is clearly acknowledged.

In addition, the Trust also provided sums of:

£220 to Miss Helen Martin (now Carrel), towards elements of her PhD on Fifteenth Century Civic Pageantry, and £250 to Miss Samantha Crossman-Joliff to finance research at the Bodleian as part of her PhD at UEA on the rôle of Herbalists in the Fifteenth Century.

PUBLICATIONS The Trustees continued with their work in liaising with and guiding those academics who had agreed to edit a variety of sources with a view to eventual publication. Progress was made with a number of projects, and in October 2004 the Trust published The Estate and Household Ac- counts of William Worsley, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral 1479 – 1497, ed. Hannes Kleineke and Stephanie R Hovland. On this occasion, the Trust was fortunate in having been able first to have concluded an arrangement that the London Record Society contract for a considerable number of copies to despatch to their members, as set out in the Trust’s Costs and Sales Sheet.

MEETINGS OF THE TRUST The Trust’s affairs were discussed and arranged at the AGM of 6 November 2004. No separate meeting of the Managing Trustees proved possible in the year.

TRUSTEES AND TREASURER Those serving as Trustees at the outset of the year continued as such without change or interrup- tion. James Petre took on the additional rôle of Treasurer at the AGM of 6 November 2004. Mr P W Hammond, Chairman of the Trust Mrs W E A Moorhen Dr A F Sutton, Chairman of the Managing Prof. W M Ormrod Trustees Mr J O Petre, Secretary and Treasurer Prof. C M Barron Prof. A J Pollard Prof. J Boffey Dr C Th L Visser-Fuchs

Memorials of the Wars of the Roses An occasional series devoted to notables who lived during this period and whose memorials were published by the late W E Hampton in 1979. In view of the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot this issue features William Catesby, whose descendant Robert plotted treason in 1605.

Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptonshire 1485. (SIR) WILLIAM CATESBY, AND HIS WIFE MARGARET ZOUCHE Brass, the canopy appropriated, of c.1440, and of good quality, the effigies local, the man’s oddly striking, and of circa 1495. Son of Sir William Catesby by Philippa Wilcotes (or Bishopston); m. in 1471, Margaret, dau. of William, Lord Zouche and Seyntmaur, by Katherine, dau. and coh. of Rowland Lenthall, by Lucy, dau. of the 4th Lord Grey of Codnor. Margaret’s older sister Elizabeth, m. John Carew of Haccombe, Devon, who fought for Henry Tudor at Bosworth. William’s career may be studied in DNB, Wedgwood, and Kendall. Originally in the service of Wil- liam, Lord Hastings, he adhered to Richard Duke of Gloucester in 1483, became Speaker, Chancellor of the Earldom of March and of the Exchequer, Esquire of the Body, and was employed as a diplomat, treating with Scotland and Burgundy. His rewards were great, but not excessively so. Bray, Lovell (Sir Thomas), and Empson, were more influential and rapacious under Henry Tudor, but no Collingbourne fixed them with a doggerel in the nation’s memory. As Speaker he may have helped to frame much of the meritorious legislation of Richard’s parliament. Dasent (“The Speakers of the House of Commons”, London 1911) compares the Yorkist Speakers very favourably with the “servile tribe” of Tudor lawyers who succeeded them. Few other historians comment (as they do, sometimes inaccurately, when writing of Rivers, Buckingham, and others) on the lack of a legal trial when, having fought for the king at Bosworth, he was afterwards taken, and beheaded at Leicester. He was allowed to make his will. His concern for his wife and children, and for those he had wronged, makes a favourable impression, somewhat marred by an unconvincing expression of his regard for Henry Tudor. He remembers his friend Viscount Lovell, and, in a thought-provoking line, makes clear that the Stanleys, to whom he may have surrendered, have failed to save his life as he trusted. He seems also to re- proach his uncle, Sir John, a judge. He even tries to help a friend (his last confessor?) to “the best benefice”. It does seem that, contrary to the usual belief, Catesby may have been knighted by Richard III between May 25 and June 10, 1485, for among the feoffees of Viscount Lovell named in a legal instrument sealed at Woburn on the latter date are Lord Scrope of Upsale, Rich. Ratclyf, Wm Catesby, and Thom. Malyverer knts, and several other supporters of Richard III, including the Franks, Geoffrey and Edward. In “Testament Vetusta” (p. 381) occurs the will of “William Catesby, knight, 1485. My body to be buried at Ashby Ledg- ers; Margaret my wife”. This is followed by the wills of his half-brother, John Catesby of Althorpe (pr. 1486), and of William Allington, esq., who died at Bosworth. On p. 389 is noted the will of his uncle, Sir John. Could Catesby have made this brief will in haste before the battle? If so, he prudently refrained from disclosing his rank in the will made shortly before his execution. So, for Henry Tudor’s benefit, did William Berkeley repudiate this honour, received at Richard’s hands, when making his will. William’s widow, Margaret, died in 1494. In 1495 his son George obtained the reversal of his father’s attainder, but he was, if not already, soon to be, Sir Richard Empson’s son-in-law. Note the deliberate falsi- fication of the date of William’s death in the inscription (given as Aug. 20, 1485) in order to conceal the circumstances. 25

The Man Himself

A MARRIAGE DISPENSATION FOR RICHARD OF GLOUCESTER

ost of the details surrounding Rich- mally forbidden degrees of kinship and since M ard’s marriage are unclear, including there appeared to be no record of a dispensa- the date. However an article in the most re- tion there has been speculation that they mar- cent issue of the English Historical Review ried without one. This has always seemed (‘English Royal Marriages and the Papal Pen- unlikely since without a dispensation mar- itentiary in the Fifteenth Century’, Peter D riage within the forbidden degrees was al- Clarke, vol. 120, pp.1014-1029) has thrown ways open to challenge. The provision in the some light on the matter and on three other act dividing the Neville estates between Rich- marriages of interest to us. ard and his brother George saying that if The new information comes from work in Richard and Anne be subsequently divorced the Vatican archives, in the records of the Pa- Richard could retain the estates whether or pal Penitentiary, the functionary who dealt not they remarried (provided he did not re- with everything relating to matters of con- marry any one else) has been interpreted to science that appeared before the Pope. These mean that no dispensation had been obtained. were matters that were reserved to the Pope However speculation is now at an end. Rich- for absolution and included dispensations ard and Anne did apply and one was granted from the provisions of canon law prohibiting to them on 22 April 1472. It released them marriage between couples related within four from the impediment of being related within degrees of blood or marriage (this is second the third and fourth degrees of kinship, for cousin or nearer). This was almost always the which relationship they also needed a littera case with royal marriages in the fifteenth cen- declaratoria, also granted. Richard was de- tury. scribed as dux Glouirestere, laicus Lin- The four marriages discussed in Clarke’s colniensis diocesis (duke of Gloucester, lay- paper are those between Margaret of York man of the Lincoln diocese) and Anne as An- and Charles of Burgundy, Anne Neville and na Nevile, mulier Eboracensis diocesis Edward of Lancaster, Anne Neville and Rich- (woman of the York diocese). Normally the ard of Gloucester and between Elizabeth of diocese is the birth one. Richard’s is correct, York and Henry Tudor, all of great interest. Fotheringhay is in the Lincoln diocese, but There has never been any doubt that the first Anne was born in Warwickshire in the two and the last marriages had received dis- Worcester diocese. She may have been de- pensations although this paper sheds much scribed as from York because the Neville es- light on the politics surrounding the requests tates obtained by Richard were largely in for dispensations. I will only mention here Yorkshire. These dispensations sometimes that, while we knew that Henry and Elizabeth are very vague as to who the parties are, de- had received a dispensation in early 1486 af- liberately so in politically sensitive marriages. ter the battle of Bosworth, Clarke’s research For example in the first dispensation of Eliza- reveals that one was granted to them as early beth of York and Henry Tudor they are de- as 27 March 1484, nearly 18 months before scribed as Henry Richemont and Elizabeth Bosworth. Plantageneta. However the marriage concerning us here Although Richard and Anne received is that between Anne Neville and Richard. their dispensation on 22 April we still do not They were certainly related within the nor- really know when they were married. In the

religious sense they were free to marry from have married until the dispute was finally set- that date but political considerations, i.e. the tled in 1474. At least we now know that they question of the division of the Neville estates, did receive a dispensation from the church to might have prevented it and they may not do so.

The Debate:

HISTORICAL NOVELS: A GOOD THING OR NOT?

We have all read historical novels, some good, some bad and some truly awful. Are they a good thing, in that they help bring the past to life, or bad because they may mislead us as to what the past was actually like? Such novels may generate strong feelings – see the letter from Lynda M. Telford on page 40. We hope that the two pieces here will start an interesting debate. First we print a case against and then the case for reading them.

From Tony Pollard: the case against the detective story genre. Her history is all wrong of course; and her notion of a research student ludicrous, but at least it is well craft- y first point is that historical novels ed. The best novels on Richard III and his M about Richard III are usually pretty contemporaries purport to be histories. This bad. There are one or two exceptions, such as is an honourable tradition which starts with Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time, but Thomas More and spawned some excellent for the most part they are Mills and Boon, twentieth-century exemplars, usually, such as pseudo olde English, focussing on forlorn Kendall’s book, from a different viewpoint. maidens caught up in the fringes of high poli- Mind you, Desmond Seward splendidly up- tics in which (in the case of those of particular held the Thomas More approach to fictional- interest to many members of this Society) ising the subject Richard III turns out to be a jolly good chap. The plays are for the most part far better; I can't read them; by which I mean I just starting of course with the first one. Now this skim-read, seeing how all the old formulae is a brilliant piece of writing. The author and cliches are unrolled and then cast them knew he was writing ‘fiction’, he didn't care a aside. An alternative approach seems to be to fig about accuracy, he sought to make a wider fictionalise a historical account, by which I point about good and evil, he was funny. The mean write the mainstream history with the real trouble I suspect is that too many authors characters ‘brought to life’. Here you find that of novels who have addressed Richard III they are made into moderns, with modern directly do so because they want to justify psycho baggage or attitudes. If we are going him; to make him a hero. Why? Most kings to have them, let’s have something different. were nasty pieces of work. It goes with the How about making Anne Neville the Lady territory. The novelist and the playwright’s Macbeth of the piece? Why is she always rôle is to prick the pomposity and arrogance such a wet? Or why don’t we have something of power, not to bolster it. that grapples seriously with the eternal dilem- What most modern authors do not seem to mas, compromises and hard decisions of poli- understand is that an historical novel is actu- tics and power? One would have thought that ally about the timeless in that it uses a partic- someone might have immersed themselves in ular past to say something for the concerns of the Paston Letters and emerged with a real today. All the great historical novels do this. sense of the society with which they are deal- In essence a good novel is not written as an ing. I can't think of one that has. Tey gets alternative means of writing history. On the round it by writing in the present and using other hand it could be argued that this is no 27

more than what history is. The author who The criticisms one might make about factual claims to be a historian, and deploys all the errors in a particular novel, while valid, are conventions and codes of historical writing, no more important than the criticisms we especially in respect to the duly weighed and might make about an error in a scholarly considered evidence, is still bound by the work. The single mistake does not mean the present in which she or he writes. And this is entire book is invalid, any more than a single as true of the historians of Richard III as of poorly-researched example invalidates an any other subject. Members of the Society, entire genre, be it novels or scholarship. Pla- who enjoy nothing more than engaging with to’s Republic uses the fictional style: should the professionals, especially in finding them one therefore regard all western philosophy as wrong, know all too well that Richard III has nonsense? become a wonderful vehicle for all sorts of An historical novel is a reconstruction variations on the uncertainty principle in the exercise, and this is as valid as creating work- study of history. Just think, if we did finally ing models of, say, Roman water wheels or find out for certain what happened to those fifteenth-century printing presses, to see if the sweet innocent babes, we’d all have to pack way we imagine them to have worked, does up, novelists and historians alike. And then so in practice. Each novel suggests that it may there would be no more Ricardian Bulletin. have happened this way, and even if the reconstruction is proved false, the attempt was a From Shaun Tyas: the case for step in the right direction. Today, the British If I were a natural historian and had taken the Museum reconstructs the Sutton Hoo helmet insects of Madagascar as my subject, my re- differently than in the 1950s. That the earlier search would be dismissed as nonsense if I reconstruction has now been superseded does had adopted the attitude ‘I'm leaving out the not mean that it should never have been tried. blue insects because I don't like blue. I don't In some ways novels might attempt the recon- think blue is a proper colour for an insect. struction of something which an historian Insects shouldn’t be blue’. The logic of histo- might not be interested in, such as a sense of rians who think historical novels should be personal motivation as an explanation for past ignored is just as unscientific. events, or the day-to-day details of a past life Historical novels exist, and their study is or a past trade. The historian acknowledges justified for that reason alone. Yet, they are the importance of the wool trade in the fif- also an art form in their own right, they are teenth century but only a novelist like Cynthia full of interesting ideas, are a useful educa- Harnett (in The Woolpack) would seek to tional tool and they also represent the sociolo- reconstruct how it worked in detail. So, in gy of the subject of history, which scholarly some cases, the historical novel can offer works, being consciously written for a small more than non-fiction. I am being too apolo- audience, do not. getic. Some historical novels are indeed great Culture is important. If we argue, like the works of historical scholarship, not to men- nineteenth-century writer Alessandro Manzo- tion of literature, and they often appear in ni, that historical novels are a debased art scholarly footnotes as examples of where form because they are an uncomfortable com- particular ideas have been explored. Fine ex- bination of fact and fiction, then we should amples are Duggan’s Conscience of the King; also dismiss painting after the invention of Bates’ The Way of Wyrd; Tey’s The Daughter photography, regard the entire Gothic Revival of Time; Seton’s Katherine; Prescott’s The as invalid, and dismiss all literature as a mere Man on a Donkey; and Irving Stone’s The false reflection of reality. I for one enjoy cul- Agony and the Ecstasy, the fictional biog- ture and whether I am primarily an historian, raphy of Michelangelo which took ten years scientist, student of literature, or citizen of a to write and which involved the author com- country, experiencing historical fiction can be missioning pioneering translations of fif- as rewarding as any other art form. But his- teenth-century texts which had never been torical fiction is also full of interesting ideas. published before. 28

Writing a critique of an historical novel is historians emphasise the importance of trade a perfectly valid exercise for students of his- in the lives of the Vikings, and one wonders tory. Frankly, the more factual errors in the whether this is entirely because of new evi- novel, the more there is for the student to say. dence or because of the prevailing free- The more errors there are to find, the more enterprise culture in Britain since 1979. Now- careful the thought needs to be to say why adays there is also more interest in gender such a detail is wrong (and perhaps, even, the subjects, non-Christian religions, and ecologi- more fun in the exercise). I am not even going cal matters. Recent novels, and scholarship, to argue, therefore, that novels with many are full of these subjects too. There are two factual errors have no value. One thinks of the recent Ricardian novels which blur history Ricardian Mills and Boon novel, Proxy Wed- and fantasy: Freda Warrington’s The Court of ding by Belinda Grey. Among many errors, the Midnight King and Robert Carter’s The the heroine visits the Tower of London, in Language of Stones, but although historians 1483, as a tourist (including queuing for a will be dismayed by these works, the histori- ticket!). This howler, however, makes one ographer can still see them as products of the wonder: just when did the Tower become a twenty-first century, cite them as examples of tourist attraction, and, when it was still func- their type, and even study them for their tech- tioning as a fortress, how was the access of niques. ‘Blue insects’ like these, including visitors controlled? one called The Da Vinci Code, exist, and they Novels can offer you a general under- are out there exerting their influence whether standing of, and a feeling for, a period or a we like them or not. My research reveals that course of events or an historical personality there are nearly 5,000 ‘medieval’ historical which can stay with you long after the de- novels published since 1700, in English. The tailed facts have been forgotten. They are pace of publication changes from one decade therefore useful as introductions to history. to another. Initially, there was no real separa- In my discussions with academic historians at tion between historical novels and historical international conferences, several have told writing, but the novel flourished even more me that they were moved to take up a career after the professionalisation of history in the in history after reading children’s historical universities. The First World War seriously fiction when they were young. Rosemary affected production. There was a major reviv- Sutcliff is frequently cited as one such al in the 1960s. Today, the adult historical ‘motivating’ author. This traditional educa- novel has never been more popular, while tional role, assumed by the children’s histori- children’s settings are in serious decline. cal novel in the 1930s, is still with us. Measured by new publications, children seem Scholarly works are careful and cautious, to be no longer reading historical novels, at but are still influenced by the values of the least not medieval ones. times in which they were written. Yet their Using novels as evidence, historiographers ideology is rarely blatantly apparent. If one of the future may therefore see the first dec- wishes to research the changing ways in ade of the twenty-first century as a crucial which generations have thought about their turning point in the fortunes of their disci- past, the works intended for a mass-market pline. I began with an ecological metaphor. are the source material. The further back into History, like other sciences, perhaps really historiography, the more obvious the ideology does need bio-diversity to survive. may be, but one can see ideological interpre- tations prevailing in recent work too. Modern

Our contributors: Tony Pollard is a historian; amongst other positions he is chairman of the Re- search Committee at the University of Teesside. He has written many books and articles, including Richard III and the Princes in the Tower and North-Eastern England During the Wars of the Roses. Shaun Tyas has been a bookseller and is now a publisher, editor and author. He is the publisher for the Richard III and Yorkist History Trust.

Logge Notes and Queries: Education, Education, Education

LESLEY WYNNE-DAVIES

here are very few references to chil- and mass, and every school master that was T dren’s schooling in the Logge register present at the dirige, month’s mind and mor- wills. Many of the testators did have under- row mass was to have 8d. Robert Galon age children, whose future inheritances and (278), chaplain at Eton College, left the Col- upbringing they entrusted to the custody of lege books and land, a silver bowl to the their wives, but very few specifically men- clerk, and a spoon and a gown to John tioned their education. Indeed, what would Blakmore, a poor scholar of the college. our testators have considered ‘education’? ‘To school’ (Latin ad scolam, ad scolas), John Logge himself, the woodmonger is an ambiguous expression, as it can mean after whose will the register was named either ‘to school as a child’, or ‘to University’ (being the first entered in it), left an under-age – a sense it still retains in some expressions, son, Richard. He bequeathed the residue of such as the London School of Economics, or his estate to his wife to support the boy until ‘bred in the Schools’. It is sometimes hard to he came of age, or was placed in some em- know if the testator is leaving money for a ployment or became an apprentice. child at school or a student at University. Three possible courses are thus envisaged When the sums are small, perhaps a child at for the boy: a job where he would not need school is meant. Another indication might be his family’s support (perhaps in a household that a University is in question when the sum where he would be brought up while acting as is left to the scholar himself, not someone a servant, i.e. a life-cycle servant), organised responsible for him. entry to a craft (a specialised form of educa- Thomas Bowes, keeper of the exchange in tion), or neither of these; in which case he London (122), left to his son William £30 ‘to might well have continued at school. find him to school’, as well as his best primer, John Burghard of Linton (will 297) is a psalter covered with cloth of gold, and 6 more specific. His feoffees were to allow his spoons weighing 5 oz. Troy. This bequest wife Alice to take the profits of his lands and might well have been for his support at Uni- tenements until his sons reached the age of versity. On the other hand, perhaps John 16, ‘fynding my seid sonnes to scole to the Molder, who was left 40s. towards his finding seid age’. John Hertlond, burgess of Glouces- to school by his cousin, the widow Agnes ter (will 231) leaves similar instructions: his Chestyr (89), was a schoolboy. Several other wife is to support their son John at school testators left money for the education of boys until he can support himself. who do not seem to have been related to Perhaps John Mapilton, parson of Halstow them. Robert Bifeld, ironmonger of London in Kent (311), took in boys as life-cycle serv- (40) left 20s. ‘towards the finding to school of ants whom he then taught their letters: ‘to Thomas Morley, son of John Morley my Philip my child a boke of Onglish and a chist, neighbour’. and that myn executours aray hym honestly As to University education, nearly all the and geve hym money in his purse and send bequests are made to students of divinity, and hym to his fader.’ There was already a gram- most of these are for higher studies, in that mar school at Chichester. The mayor, Wil- the recipients are often expected to be priests liam Jacob (131), left 6d. to ‘the scolemaster already, and some are named as ‘master’. of the gramer scole’ if he came to his dirige There is an emphasis on preaching. Natural-

ly, bequests were made to support relatives at nent scholars and churchmen whose wills are Oxford or Cambridge: these include Agnes entered in the Logge register left money to Cely (81), who left £3 ‘to my cosyn master fund poor scholars. They left their books to John Cely, student at Oxford, ... towards his religious men and religious institutions, and preferrement in his lernyng’; Ralph Shaa, money for college buildings and upkeep, and DD, residentiary of St Paul’s (the preacher of bought themselves vast quantities of masses the ‘bastard slips shall take no root’ sermon), and prayers from religious men (and women) who left ‘to Edmund Lathum my syster son safely established in their abbeys, convents or towards his exhibition to school’ 10 marks friaries, as well as from the poor (to whom (96). Other testators gave money for named God would listen carefully), but they were not men to further their studies: Margaret Leyn- given to founding scholarships. Sir Thomas ham, widow of Finchley (44) left 10 marks a Lytleton, justice of the common pleas and year for five years for master Christopher author of a celebrated legal treatise (27), had Radclif to study at Oxford; William Godde, a three sons, but left all his books (mostly secu- clerk (54), was more cautious, leaving £4 to lar) to institutions and parish churches. Were John Lympyn to support him for one year at his sons not bookish? On the other hand, Sir Oxford and, if he continued a further year Humphrey Starkey, chief baron of the ex- ‘and in the opinion of my executors is learn- chequer, said that his son Richard (who was ing well’, another 30s. for the second year. under age) was to be ‘at lernyng and at com- To assist in his studies he also received ‘a mons in Cliffodes Inne’ until promoted to the paper book called an alphabetical calendar’. Temple or another Inn of Court, and had ar- Other testators bequeathed money for ranged the funding. Richard got his father’s scholarships, generally specifying that the bible and law books of England. All other recipients be honest and virtuous as well as books were to be sold and the money used for poor. John Don, mercer of London (14) fund- Sir Humphrey’s soul (351). In no will is ed two virtuous poor scholars, who intended there a sense of a love of books or learning to preach, to read divinity, one in Oxford and shared between father and son. one in Cambridge. Each was to have 6 marks All the foregoing has, of course, been con- a year for five years. ‘If their condition concerned with the education of boys and the tinnyue not vertuous’ – or they got other further education of men. The only form of funding – another poor scholar was to be sub- further education open to girls in Richard’s stituted in their place. Each had to preach in day that did not require departure to a nun- Don’s parish church of St Thomas the Apos- nery was apprenticeship. Two testators men- tle, London, where he had requested burial, tion female apprentices. Sir Thomas Hille, one on Easter Day and the other on the last lord mayor of London (225), left 10 marks to Sunday in Advent, and each was to get 6s. 8d. his cousin Annes Hill, apprentice with Mar- travel expenses for the occasion. gery Kyrkeby, silkwoman of London; and One man of wider interests was Walter John Olyver, brewer of London (326), says, Herne of Tetbury, who told his executors to ‘Item I committe and bequeth my two find a chaplain who was to celebrate for his maydens Isabell and Alice to the guyding and soul, and those of his nearest and dearest, at discretion of Margery Temple my suster, she Oxford for two years, and to pursue the study to be stowe thaym and rule them as my most of letters at the same time, in return for £4 a trust is in heir ...’ These two girls are not his year. The recipient was to spend two weeks daughters; his daughter is named Thomasyn. in Tetbury, one at Christmas and one at East- Later on he says that his two apprentices er, though we hear nothing about his travel- should serve out their terms by the will and ling expenses (237). In their wills, Don and disposition of his sister Margery. It seems Herne thus arranged special preaching treats clear that Isabell and Alice are the apprentices at Christmas and Easter for the sorrowing in question. Olyver is perhaps rather mean in relatives they left behind. that he has not left them legacies, or short- It is strikingly obvious that few of the emi- ened their terms, as many masters did.

Battling for Bosworth

A D WHITE

ichael Jones’s rediscovery of the ac- write off this work by introducing ‘another M count of the Battle of Bosworth by a possibility’ that ‘Redemore is another name French mercenary, used by the military histo- for Dunsmore Heath’ and by doing so under- rian Alfred Spont (1897), is an important mines his own argument. His proposal is in- achievement. However, his treatment of this volved and detailed, but he misses the signifi- source and other evidence to support his argu- cant point: that if the battle was fought on ment (see Summer 2003 Bulletin) is open to Dunsmore, east of Coventry, it could not have criticism. been fought at the same time near Merevale, Jones raises a number of questions, not north of Coventry. least that, whether or not Ambion Hill provid- Jones begins by suggesting that Redemore ed too little room to launch a cavalry attack, may refer to ‘reddish-brown heathland’. we have to ask if a cavalry charge did actually (This in effect revives the explanation given take place? Jones claims that the French sol- by William Hutton in 1788.) This contradicts dier wrote that ‘Richard charged his opponent the derivations given by authorities such as with his entire cavalry division’. But the re- Eilert Ekwall (1960) and Margaret Gelling printed fragments of this letter do not mention (1984), followed by Foss who say that the cavalry, neither horses nor riders. However, origin of Dunsmore is ‘Dunn’s moor’. It this paper will mainly deal with the question comes from a personal name, not a colour. of the battle site. Next, Jones quotes the household chroni- Jones states that the Crowland chronicler cle of a London merchant family, the puts Merevale Abbey ‘within the larger con- Frowyks: this says that the field of Redmore text of the ‘Bosworth campaign’, but fails to [sic] was fought eight miles ‘beside Coven- substantiate this point. For instance, the report try’. This should be read with the comment by Diego de Valera to Ferdinand and Isabella in the Crowland Chronicle that King Rich- of Castile gives ‘the nearest major town to the ard’s army left Leicester and made their camp engagement as Coventry, not Leicester’. about eight miles from that town, near to Jones fails to explain that Coventry was a Merevale Abbey. (Note that Crowland is not cathedral city, unlike Leicester, and one of the giving the distance between Leicester and richest towns in England. It also lay on a Merevale.) The Dadlington-Bosworth area is main route from York to London. The size at roughly equal distances from Leicester and and reputation of the city were more im- Coventry. Ambion Hill is about 20 kilometres portant than its nearness. or almost 12 statute miles from the centres of Jones could have relied on the grants both cities. Both Frowyk and Crowland seem made by Henry VII to the abbot of Merevale to have used ancient units of measure, ‘old and the villagers of Atherstone and its eastern English miles’, which were longer than stat- neighbours, with supporting references from ute miles, introduced in the reign of Elizabeth the Crowland Chronicle and John Rous. He I, (old English miles were about 1.3 to 1.5 could have written off the importance of the statute miles). The Frowyk household chroni- Dadlington chantry by claiming it may have cle cannot therefore be used to prove that been only one of several different chantries Londoners thought that Redemore was some- around the battlefield whose details have been where apart from Dadlington. (Jones prefers lost. This still leaves the references to Re- to value the one genuine contemporary refer- demore and the connection P J Foss has es- ence to Dunsmore more highly than the sever- tablished between Redemore and Dadlington al mentions of Redemore.) which have to be explained. Jones tries to Foss writes that the compiler of the Crow- 32

land Chronicle ‘did not know this area is marsh between the two armies on his right shown by his inexact understanding of the flank ‘to serve his men as a defensive wall’. It distances involved’. This view may be mis- was the obstacle (the marsh) that was im- taken, whether the compiler was a visitor con- portant, because it allowed Tudor’s army to nected with the royal court or a monk belong- manoeuvre safely while leaving one flank ing to Crowland. Merevale Abbey had been open to King Richard’s army: the direction of visited several times by royalty and lay near the sunlight was a coincidental detail. (Also, the junction between the Watling Street and we cannot take for granted that the battle was one of the routes between Leicester and Cov- fought during the morning.) Secondly Foss entry – this was often used in the reigns of has already explained this manoeuvre in his Edward IV and Richard III. The abbey was book (See figures (i) and (ii) below based on also a local place of pilgrimage. A courtier his maps). It can be accommodated in the might therefore be expected to know where it ground between Dadlington and Shenton. was. A monk also need not be ignorant of Jones points out that the references to places distant from his mother house. Crow- Merevale in the Crowland Chronicle and to land for example had manors at Sutton Chen- the Warwickshire border by John Rous are ey and Stapleton. about 90 years earlier than the first printed Jones then asserts that Henry Tudor used reference to Ambion Hill, in Holinshed’s the legend of a monstrous and terrifying Chronicles (1576). But this ignores the impli- beast, the Dun Cow, defeated on Dunsmore cations of the Dadlington chantry. The licence Heath, ‘to denigrate his vanquished oppo- to collect donations (1511) and the letters of nent’, Richard. The alleged proof of this is confraternity (1511 and 1518) belonging to that one of the three standards presented by the chantry for the battle-dead bring both the Tudor in old Saint Paul’s cathedral showed fight and Henry Tudor ‘to the vicinity’ of the Dun Cow. However, the symbol of the Ambion Hill. Dun Cow can be seen as an allusion to the He overlooks another early source. The hero who killed it – Guy, earl of Warwick, Stanley Ballad of Bosworth Field, dated to from whom Henry claimed descent. 1495 or before, says that their forces These may show that Henry Tudor was as ‘removyd to a highe mountayne’ from which concerned with chivalric symbolism as King they looked into a dale crowded with the Richard was. The standard of the Dun Cow armed men and horses of Richard III’s army. was accompanied by two others. One showed This can be interpreted as describing a move the arms of Saint George, the archetypal from the Witherley-Fenny Drayton area, Christian knight, and the patron saint of Eng- across the Lindley-Upton ridge into the plain land and its premier order of chivalry, the shown by the cartographers, Christopher Sax- Order of the Garter, and the other was Hen- ton (1576) and John Speed (1610), as ‘King ry’s red dragon standard. The three standards Richard’s Field’. were relics of a trial by battle: Jones’s argu- Jones tries to devalue references to the ment seems to be that the Dun Cow standard Bosworth-Ambion-Dadlington area by ques- was created after King Richard’s defeat as an tioning the researches of William Burton act of propaganda. This would leave it with- (1575-1645), author of Leicestershire’s first out real chivalric and religious value – a false county history (1622). He dismisses Burton’s relic. account of how his grandfather, John de According to Jones, the Tudor historian Herdwick of Lindley, helped Henry Tudor. Polydore Vergil reported that Henry Tudor Jones refuses to believe that Tudor would ‘undertook a manoeuvre to gain the ad- march his army ‘into the gathering darkness’ vantage of the strong morning sun behind led by Herdwick, ‘across Whitemoors, the him’. Jones also claims that ‘for the first moorland west of Ambion Hill’. But in Bur- time’ we can make sense of this detail. But ton’s account there is no night march – he Jones makes two mistakes. Firstly Polydore also does not mention Whitemoors. It would Vergil wrote that Henry deliberately left the be difficult for Herdwick to give Tudor ‘the

Figure 1. The manoeuvre covered by the Figure 2. Royal counter-attack marsh

advantage of ground, wind, and sun’ at night. Reading List At first sight the Merevale and Atherstone Ballad of Bosworth Field, quoted in Michael reparation grants – especially the phrase used Bennett, op.cit. ‘at our late victorious field’ – seem to give J A Barrow, Medieval Writers and their firm grounds for arguing that a battle was Work: Medieval Literature and its Back- fought in the Witherley-Atterton-Fenny Dray- ground, 1100-1500, (1982) ton area on 22 August 1485. But in the con- Michael Bennett, The Battle of Bosworth, text of other evidence, the interpretation fa- (1985) voured by Jones, and endorsed by Dr Sean B O Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dic- Cunningham, appears to be too narrow. The tionary of English Place Names, (4th edition meaning of the phrase must also apply to 1960) events on the eve of battle. P J Foss, The Battle of Redemore, (second It is the weight of the other evidence dis- edition, 1998) cussed here that shifts the balance against Dr Margaret Gelling, Place Names in the Land- Jones. Unless he can present better proofs, we scape, 1984 shall continue to look to the mapmakers and O D Harris, ‘Tudor Heraldry’, in Richard III: antiquaries of the sixteenth and seventeenth Crown and People, ed. J Petre, (1985) centuries to guide us to ‘King Richard’s Michael K Jones, Bosworth 1485: Psychology Field’. of a Battle, 2002 John Nichols, History and Antiquities of Leicestershire, (vol. 4, 1811)

Irving, Cibber & Richard III

ANGELA MORETON

n Friday 13 October 1905 Sir Henry I venture to suggest that the playgoer O Irving, on the tour which was intended owes Irving an immense debt. The kind of to mark his half-century on the stage and end thing which Cibber thought would improve in his retirement from it, collapsed and died on the original included ‘Off with his head! after a performance of Tennyson’s Becket, in So much for Buckingham’ and ‘Richard’s Bradford. He was 67. Superstitious theatricals himself again’, which were actually retained duly noted the date of his death, and also the by Olivier in his 1955 film. The splendid fact that playbills had read ‘Farewell to Henry opening soliloquy (which has become a gift to Irving’. would-be Olivier imitators) becomes the Like many artists, Irving was regarded at opening of Act I scene 2, replaced as scene 1 the end of his career as a reactionary - notably by a very low-key exchange between the lieu- by the ‘new’ dramatists like Shaw, whose tenant of the Tower of London and an officer work he had not cared to produce - and his about whether or not Henry VI has yet taken later attempts to stage plays by contemporary his morning walk. writers (apart from Tennyson, hardly a mod- Shakespeare gives Anne few appearanc- ern dramatist) had not been very successful; es, but Cibber’s Act III scene 2 (‘Another but during his career he had introduced vari- Room in Crosby Palace’) features her in an- ous technical innovations, such as the dim- other sparring match with her husband, with ming of the auditorium lights, and a new, such lines as more subtle approach to the depiction of char- ‘Anne - What have I done? What horrid acter, particularly in Shakespeare. His knight- crime committed? hood, bestowed in 1895 although first offered Gloster - To me the worst of crimes; out to him twelve years earlier, was the first ever lived my liking . . given to an actor, and it was because of his Thou art the only soul I never yet de- managerial success for over 20 years at the ceiv’d; Lyceum Theatre in London and his impres- And ‘tis my honesty that tells thee now, sive and authoritative productions of Shake- With all my heart I hate thee.’ speare - in acting texts which, though perhaps deficient to us, were a distinct improvement Tirrel [sic] undertakes the murder of the on what had gone before! - that he raised the princes through Catesby without ever having social and artistic status of actors to an ac- appeared onstage himself, and while the mur- ceptability which they had not enjoyed be- der is being done Richard lurks outside the fore. room in the Tower. Ricardians have a love-hate relationship At Bosworth the ghosts duly appear to with Shakespeare’s pantomime, but at least it Richard in his tent, but his great speech of is Shakespeare and not without some dra- horror and despair is reduced by Cibber to: matic and technical merit. If it had not been for Henry Irving, we might still have been ‘Cold drops of sweat hang on my trem- faced with Colley Cibber’s version, rear- bling flesh; ranged and ‘freely embellished’ in 1700, and My blood grows chilly, and I freeze with with interpolations from Henry V and Henry horror: VI Part 3. Richard III is Shakespeare’s sec- O tyrant conscience! how dost thou afflict ond longest play, and Cibber condensed it to me; under two hours. When I look back, ‘tis terrible retreating;

I cannot bear the thought, nor dare repent; Richard III (Cibber’s version) had been one I am but man; and fate, do thou dispose of the great roles of Edmund Kean earlier in me’ the nineteenth century, but he played him

rather like a brigand, with a lot of swagger Much of the end of the play is as in and bluster, and in Elizabethan costume with Shakespeare (including the kingdom for a a notable hump-back and a wig of black ring- horse), and the last word is given, fittingly, to lets. Irving restored late fifteenth-century Stanley, who says to Richmond, quite conver- dress to both the productions in which he ap- sationally, that ‘We’ve found the crown’ (!) peared, and was by comparison refined and and that the young man is now ‘Henry the unexaggerated. One never forgot that he was Seventh, king of England!’ Few readers, I a nobleman. Reporting on the 1877 produc- imagine, will consider this any match for tion, the critic Clement Scott noted that ‘With Shakespeare. all his craft of conduct and subtlety of schem- The mention of Olivier above isn’t totally ing, a certain degree of kingly dignity is asso- irrelevant, since hearing him is possibly the ciated [and Richard’s] deformity is no more nearest we shall get to the rather nasal timbre obtrusive than is needful to justify the refer- of Irving’s own tones, as Olivier himself ences of the text’ openly acknowledged. Irving did make a re- In 1877 Irving made much of Richard’s cording, probably in the late 1880s, of part of bitterness and evil ambitions being due to his the opening soliloquy of Shakespeare’s Rich- physical afflictions; in his soliloquies he ap- ard III, and over all the surface hiss and peared earnest and indeed intensely tragic, crackle one can just about hear a strong and while not forgetting the great opportunities confident declamation, but it is just that - a for sardonic glee in such scenes as the one at studio recitation, not a stage performance Baynard’s Castle where Gloucester is offered interacting with those of others. the crown. Irving appeared as Shakespeare’s Richard In such moments as the despairing ‘And III in two productions, at opposite ends of his if I die, no soul will pity me’ before Bos- career and with varying fortunes. In January worth, Irving made the character very sympa- 1877 he was the leading member of the Bate- thetic - but only for an instant, and in private, man management at the Lyceum, taking over as it were; his final combat with Richmond as sole lessee and manager the following was savage and he went to his death ‘a bold, year. In December 1896 he was already 58, callous villain.’ and shortly after the opening performance In 1896 it was noted, however, that the sustained an injury to his knee which put him character was less embittered but more cyni- out of action for nearly two months. Bernard cally amused at his own machinations, as if Shaw chose this production for one of his self-mockery was his only genuine emotion. fiercest diatribes against the outmoded style It was a more ‘theatrical’ but less sensitive of acting he felt Irving epitomised. Yet Henry reading, stressing the idea of Richard as James commented that the role summed up Showman. some of Irving’s best-known characteristics In an article in the English Illustrated as an actor: ‘[Irving] plays on the chord of the Magazine of 10 September 1893 (and so be- sinister-sardonic, flowered over as brilliantly tween his two Richards), Irving wrote on four as may be with the elegant-grotesque. No favourite Shakespearean roles: as well as figure could have more of this livid complex- Richard, he chose Hamlet, Iago and Lear, all ion and Gothic angularity than this monster of whom he had actually played. He remarks drawn by Shakespeare.’ that in restoring Shakespeare’s Richard III to As an actor Henry Irving was strongly the stage he ‘undertook a duty which the drawn to either the saintly or the villainous, stage had long owed to Shakespeare’s reputa- but it was noted that in his portrayal of Shake- tion’, and he indicates the different view speare’s Richard he made the man’s behav- which he held of Richard and which he con- iour at least understandable, if not excusable. sidered lacking in Cibber’s version. Actors

who had played Cibber acted with a ‘pictorial villainy . . . They are monuments of crime – lowering, truculent ... Extremely effective in the blood-and-bombast vein, and, in the last act, more like a pugilist at bay than [a] prince.’ On the other hand, Irving wrote, ‘Shake- speare’s Richard is a Plantagenet with the imperious pride of his race, a subtle intellect, a mocking ... duplicity, a superb daring which needs no roar and stamp, no cheap and noisy exultation.’ It would be interesting to know what Ir- ving would have thought of some more recent attempts at the exotic ogre, who has been rendered as anything from Hitler to Andy Pandy, but it cannot be denied that the sheer wit, energy and intellectual superiority of Shakespeare’s Richard have made him – in Terence Rattigan’s words – one of the most attractive characters ever to disgrace the stage. It is largely due to Sir Henry Irving that playgoers have been able to enjoy the Shake- spearean Richard’s unholy glee, even as we admit that we know perfectly well the historical Richard wasn’t a bit like that, and in the Henry Irving as Shakespeare’s Richard III centenary year of Irving’s death it is good to (from an unsigned illustration in Clement remember this. Scott, From The Bells to King Arthur, 1897)

Reading List Brereton, Austin, The Lyceum and Henry Arthur’, (London, 1897) Irving, (London, 1903) Shakespeare, William, King Richard III, Ed- Irving, Henry, Sir Henry Irving: Theatre Cul- mund Kean’s Performance as recorded by ture and Society, ed. Jeffrey Richards, (Keele James H Halkett, ed. by Alan S Downer Univ. Press, 1994) (Society for Theatre Research, 1959). Cibber’s Scott, Clement, From ‘The Bells’ to ‘King text, from which all quotations are taken.

Richard III’s Christmas

JOHN ASHDOWN-HILL

hrist was not, of course, born on 25 De- in church. On this and other counts the Socie- C cember, and in the early centuries of the ty’s Fotheringhay carol service would have Christian era the church observed no special astonished Richard. Carols formed no part of festival to mark his birth. After several centu- the church’s liturgy, but were songs which ries, however, 25 December (already celebrat- were sung by the waites through the streets, ed by pagans as the feast of Sol Invictus – the as they collected alms for the poor. This was Unconquered Sun) was chosen by the western a custom also at other festivals, for in the fif- (Catholic) church to mark the memorial of the teenth century ‘carols’ did not specifically birth of Christ. By the fifteenth century the refer to Christmas songs. Of course, most of feast of Christmas was very well established the English Christmas carols which are now in western Europe and had acquired the accre- regarded as ‘traditional’ were unknown to tions of a millennium of tradition. Richard. The majority are of quite recent in- The custom evolved of decorating church- vention, many of them dating only from the es at Christmas, and by Richard III’s time it nineteenth century. was traditional to do this on Christmas Eve However, some of our Christmas music with holly and ivy, together sometimes with would have been familiar to him. He would broom (though mistletoe was never used). certainly have recognised the tune of ‘O The greenery was often attached to a hanging come, O come, Emmanuel’. He would also frame decorated with candles (a tradition have recognised the words, although he which survives in the advent wreaths which would have been used to singing them in Lat- adorn Catholic churches today). Similar deco- in, and with the verses in a different order. rations were sometimes put up in private They comprise, in fact, the so-called ‘“O” homes. Large numbers of candles were con- Antiphons’, one of which which was sung in sumed in churches at Christmas. Apart from cathedrals and monastic and collegiate their symbolic value, they also provided the churches at vespers (evening prayers) on each only sources of heating and light. of the seven days leading up to Christmas, Christmas Eve was a day of abstinence. concluding with Veni, veni, Emmanuel (which The penitential mood was broken only after we use as our first verse) on the last day — nightfall, when the vigil mass of the Nativity Christmas Eve. We can be fairly confident (‘midnight mass’) was celebrated. This was that these antiphons would have been sung at usually followed by a celebratory meal, a Fotheringhay during Richard’s lifetime. tradition which continues to this day in some There are a few other pieces of our Christ- countries as in France. In the fifteenth centu- mas music that Richard might have known. ry, as still today, two further masses of The beautiful plainsong hymn Corde natus ex Christmas were celebrated: the dawn mass, parentis (‘Of the Father’s love begotten’) was and the day mass. Each of the three masses of already extremely ancient, even in Richard’s Christmas had its own special liturgy, which lifetime, having been written a thousand years included, as resources allowed, special Christ- earlier. He might possibly have heard the mas chants. Coventry Carol (‘Lully, lulla, thou little tiny Carols, although they certainly existed in child’) on some occasion, though not, of Richard’s day, would never have been heard course, in church, for it belonged to the Cov-

entry cycle of mystery plays. ‘Good King hierarchy. In many places a presiding figure Wenceslas’ dates from the thirteenth century, was chosen from the lower orders, and he but in the middle ages it was sung after ruled over the Christmas festivities. In secu- Christmas, and again, of course, it did not lar contexts he was sometimes called ‘the belong in church. In dulce jubilo is four- lord of misrule’. In large churches a similar teenth century, but it originated in Germany, custom was kept by appointing one of the and may not yet have been known in Eng- choirboys as ‘boy bishop’. land in Richard’s day. The same applies to Despite the fact that in England in the the fifteenth-century hymn, Puer nobis nas- fifteenth century the new calendar year actu- citur (‘Unto us is born a son’). ally began on Lady Day (25 March), 1 Janu- On the other hand, Richard would have ary, the old Roman New Year’s Day, was known some lovely Christmas music which always called ‘New Year’s Day’. It was also is now generally forgotten. At Ely Cathedral, the feast day of ‘Mary, Mother of God’, the where it had been composed, the hymn oldest of the feasts of the Virgin Mary. It Christe, redemptor omnium (O Christ, re- was marked by the giving of presents, a tra- deemer of all) was no doubt sung. It is sad dition which, in England, has now been that this and the simple but beautiful reces- transferred to Christmas. sional Puer natus in Bethlehem (a boy born On 6 January a further and final decora- in Bethlehem), which was widely used at the tion, in the form of a large gilt star, appeared end of midnight mass, are not better known in many churches, and the coming of the today. Magi was celebrated in the feast of the It was traditional for the wealthy to enter- Epiphany (from a Greek word meaning tain the poor with food and drink at Christ- ‘manifestation’). This ended the Christmas mas, and Richard probably did this. Turkey, season. All the decorations were then taken of course had yet to reach these shores, but down, and the following Sunday, ‘Plough the ancestors of Christmas pudding and Sunday’, the agricultural implements were mince pies (both of which originally con- blessed to signify ‘back to work’, and to tained meat) may have formed part of the bring good fortune for the coming year. menu. On Christmas day and after the fast Richard III, as king, kept both the Christ- of the previous day the gentry ate their usual mases of his reign at Westminster, and we meals with much spiced food and meat dish- know that on 6 January 1483/4 the celebra- es including duck and chicken. The Christ- tions concluded with a Twelfth Night Feast mas festivities, which lasted until the Feast which took place in the White Hall, and was of the Epiphany (‘Twelfth Night’), com- attended by the Lord Mayor of London. prised board games, card playing and enter- tainments including plays. Few of the latter Further Reading have survived, and many may never have Rhoda Edwards, The Itinerary of Richard III, been written down. These plays did not nec- (1983) essarily have a religious theme (though some Ronald Hutton, The Rise and Fall of Merry did). The Christmas season was also marked England, (1994) by a deliberate up-turning of the usual social

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From historical fiction to academic works. Please send SAE to : Karen Miller, Church Farm Cottage, Church Lane, Kirklington, Nr Newark, NOTTS NG22 8NA.

Correspondence

Dear Editor, that I learnt that she was unwell and had sent I read the recent Bulletin with pleasure, en- a locum – a male. What could I do ? We had joying its usual excellent mix of news and ar- four male readers. ticles, until I came to the book review section. With the best will in the world, I try to be Firstly, I was surprised and disappointed even handed with the limited opportunities to see a full page advertisement, together with that this great event affords, but even the a lurid illustration, for a novel of the bodice- chairman of the Society cannot control the ripper variety. I do not feel this is a suitable common cold and influenza viruses! subject for the Bulletin, despite being told that Phil Stone, Chairman the novel has a Ricardian theme. We are often reminded that we are an Dear Editor, ‘academic’ society – though I hope this does I was interested to read the suggestion not mean we are not human and fun loving (September 2005 Bulletin) that the North too – but have been discouraged from local Cumbrian expression ‘to be in Dickie’s mead- advertising as being ‘beneath’ the Society’s ow’, meaning ‘to be in serious trouble’, might image. This seems to me to be a worrying ex- possibly refer to Richard III. ample of a double standard. The Cumbrian ‘Dick’ was possessed of Lynda M Telford more than a dicky meadow. He also had a most peculiar hatband. Dear Editor, My mother’s father (who died before I It has come to my notice that some members was born) came from a village near Kendal, of the Society were upset last year at the in what was then Westmorland, and one of his Christmas at Fotheringhay event because I regular sayings was, ‘it’s as queer as Dick’s had not asked any women members to read hatband’. Pressed, my mother could never any of the lessons. Perhaps I can explain. explain who Dick was, nor exactly what was In the past, the event was organised by queer about his hatband. Joyce Melhuish who, for reasons never fully Research in the Oxford English Diction- understood, would never ask women to read. ary, and Notes and Queries (volume 8), re- She considered their voices ‘unsuited’ to the veals more, with variants. The hatband ‘went purpose. (What Joyce would have made of nine times round and wouldn’t meet’; some- women priests, let alone women bishops, I times it was made of pea-straw. An Oxford- dread to think.) shire version said it went half way round and Consequently, as soon as I took over as tied in the middle. Sometimes the saying was Fotheringhay Co-ordinator, I made certain ‘as fine as Dick’s hatband’, or ‘as curst’. One that there would always be at least one wom- suggestion, in Notes and Queries for June an and one member from outside the south of 1897, was that the Dick in question was Rich- England to read a lesson. Whenever possible, ard Cromwell, son of Oliver, who became two would be asked, but with two of the four Lord Protector of England after his father’s lessons available to the Society to be read by death. But then in July 1897 a man in Con- myself and the then chairman, Robert Ham- necticut wrote to say it was a well-known ex- blin, both male, this was sometimes difficult, pression in New England, commenting, ‘the especially when members volunteered to English ancestors of the New England folk – read. nearly all of them – came here in the latter Last year was no exception. A woman part of the reign of Charles I. If they brought reader had been arranged and there was no the expression with them, which I do not reason to expect a problem. It was not until I doubt, it antedates by many years Richard arrived at the church just before the service Cromwell’. 40

This American usage is important evi- anything amusing in Richard’s damaged repu- dence for the dating of the saying, as the ear- tation and whether such an approach would liest example quoted by the OED is as late as do anything for his cause. However, my fears 1796. The dictionary remarks, ‘Dick was were totally unfounded. Michael brought probably some local character or half-wit Richard and his times to life with such whose sayings were repeated’. knowledge, wit and pathos that not only did I have often wondered if the sartorially- he have his audience rolling in the aisles and challenged Dick of the saying might be Rich- then hushed to the point of hearing a pin drop ard III. But would he have had a hatband? for Richard’s song, but all of this very clearly Possibly. The OED’s first reference to a hat- won them over. This was proved at the end band (as opposed to Dick’s queer one) is to an when during the question and answer session almoner’s roll of 1412-23: ‘pro hatbandys de many of the questions arose from those in the serico nigro, 2s.’ – ‘for hatbands of black silk, audience who had, by the very nature of their two shillings’. question, never before heard a good word Lesley Boatwright about Richard. It is interesting to consider the mathemat- Dear Editor, ics here. Michael has been espousing Rich- This year marks the hundredth performance ard’s cause to audiences of between thirty and of Michael S. Bennett’s play, An Audience forty people a hundred times which gives us a with King Richard III and for those who have figure of somewhere between three and four not yet had the privilege of seeing it may I thousand who are now, if not potential con- recommend it as a not-to-be-missed evening verts, at the very least questioning the Tu- should you or your friends find yourself in dor/Shakespeare legend. York during August. Congratulations to Michael on achieving I was lucky enough to be there this year his hundredth show on a nine-year crusade for and so was thrilled, and I have to say also a our king’s cause. May it long continue. little apprehensive, to be seeing the play for Philippa Langley the very first time. Knowing it was ‘light- hearted’ I wondered if I would be able to find [See Geoffrey Wheeler’s review on page 20 ]

West Midlands Group

The West Midlands group is in need of a new chairman and new members. I have been ac- tively engaged with the branch/group since 1971 and chairman for the last fifteen years. After many busy years, when we had monthly meetings and several outings each summer, we went into decline four years ago when we lost a group of members who had previously travelled to meetings together. By 2002, it was clear that meetings would be no longer viable and we reduced our outings to only an occasional visit. In 2005, our only activity was a get-together lunch at our secretary’s house. We need a new chairman with the time, energy and enthusiasm to rebuild our membership. If there is anyone out there willing to volunteer, please get in touch with either myself or our secretary, Brenda Cox. We will give him or her all the help we can and we have some cash in the bank to help rejuvenate the branch. Neil Skidmore, [email protected]

The Barton Library

New additions to the Non-fiction Books Library Listed below are a selecton of books that have been added to the Non-fiction Books Library.

ASTON, Margaret & HORROX, Rosemary (eds) Much heaving and shoving: Essays for Colin Richmond A collection of essays to celebrate the work of Colin Richmond. Subjects include: Perkin Warbeck and the murder of the Princes in the Tower; An ostrich visits the east of England; Anthony Woodville, Norwich and the crisis of 1469.* DOCKRAY, Keith & FLEMING, Peter (eds) People, Places and Perspectives: Essays on Later Medieval & Early Tudor England in Honour of Ralph A Griffiths Subjects include: Fas- tolf's Will; Late Fifteenth-Century Parliaments 1461-85; Cinque Ports in the Early Lancastrian Period; the Tudor view of history. HARRISON POGMORE, Pauline Who was Who in the Wars of the Roses This book contains most of the major characters in the Wars of the Roses with a mini biography and comments on each one. A useful introduction to the conflict and those involved. OKERLUND, Arlene Elizabeth Wydeville: The Slandered Queen Latest biography of Eliza- beth Woodville. Sympathetic to Elizabeth, not so to Richard III.* RIORDAN, James & PLAYER, Stephen The Shakespeare Collection: Richard III This thin paperback gives a simple re-telling of the Shakespeare play for children and is well illustrated throughout by Stephen Player. It is the only time I have seen Richard III portrayed as a craggier version of Harry Enfield's teenage creation, Kevin - and with ginger hair!

 Reviewed in the forthcoming Ricardian Vol. 16

I have also received an MA Dissertation from Rebecca Oakes entitled ‘Pennies to Heaven’: The nature and influence of public donations made to the Fabric Fund of York Minster, 1469-1485. Rebecca was the recipient of the Society’s bursary at York University in 2002. Rebecca subsequently gave a talk at the 2003 Study Weekend on the scope and progress of her research for the dissertation.

Postal Book Auction May I extend my thanks to all those members who participated in this year’s postal book auction and apologies to those who did not get the chance to bid due to the late arrival of the Autumn Bulletin. Again, the decision to broaden the selection of books on offer to non-Ricardian fiction and non-fiction seemed popular with you and the auction was another resounding success. This year’s auction would have raised £700 for library funds but a very generous bidder, who wishes to remain anonymous, felt it would be wonderful if the auction raised £1,000 and has, therefore, donated £300, for which I would like to say ‘thank you’. The most popular item with nine bids was The Unpopular King: The Life & Time of Richard III Vol.II by Alfred O Legge. The highest bid was £30 for The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds by Nikolaus Pevsner (ed) & David Verey.

The winning bids for each title were as follows:

Ricardian Non-Fiction CLIVE, Mary This Sun of York (£5) CUNNINGHAM, Sean Richard III: A Royal Enigma (£9.50) DENING, John & COLLINS, RE Secret History: The Truth about Richard III & the Princes (£8)

DOCKRAY, Keith Richard III: A Source Book (£15) EDWARDS, Rhoda The Itinerary of King Richard III: 1483-1485 (£3 & £1) GILL, Louise Richard III and Buckingham's Rebellion - 2 copies (£15 & £12) HANKEY, Julie (ed) Shakespeare, Richard III: Plays in Performance (£5) HICKS, Michael False, Fleeting, Perjur'd Clarence: George, Duke of Clarence 1449-78 (£10) HICKS, Michael Richard III: The Man behind the Myth (£12) HORROX, Rosemary Richard III: A Study in Service (£6) HORROX, Rosemary & HAMMOND, PW (eds) British Library Harleian Manuscript 433 - Vol 1 (£15) HORROX, Rosemary & HAMMOND, PW (eds) British Library Harleian Manuscript 433 - Vol 2 (£12) HORROX, Rosemary & HAMMOND, PW (eds) British Library Harleian Manuscript 433 - Vol 3 (£15) KENDALL, Paul Murray The Yorkist Age (£6) KENDALL, Paul Murray Warwick the Kingmaker (£5) KINCAID, A N (ed) The Encomium of Richard III by Sir William Cornwallis the Younger (£6) LAMB, VB The Betrayal of Richard III (£4) LEGGE, Alfred O The Unpopular King: The Life & Time of Richard III (Vol. II) (£15) LINDSAY, Philip On Some Bones in Westminster Abbey (£10) MACALPINE, Joan The Shadow of the Tower (£5) MANCINI, Dominic The Usurpation of Richard III (£6) POLLARD, AJ Richard III and the Princes in the Tower (£8) POTTER, Jeremy Good King Richard? (£5.25) RICHARDSON, Geoffrey The Hollow Crowns (£3) SHER, Antony Year of the King (£7) ST AUBYN, Giles The Year of Three Kings: 1483 (£7.50) TREVOR-ROPER, Hugh The Chronicles of the Wars of the Roses (£14) WEIGHTMAN, Christine Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy 1446-1503 (£12) WEIR, Alison The Princes in the Tower (£6)

General Historical Non-Fiction BENNETT, HS The Pastons and their England (£10) BENNETT, HS The Pastons and their England (£6.55) BRADBURY, Jim The Medieval Archer (£10) DOBSON, RB The Church, Politics and Patronage (£12) FILBEE, Marjorie A Woman's Place: An illustrated history of women at home from the Ro- mans to the Victorians (£10) GAIRDNER, James Henry the Seventh (£7) GRAVETT, Christopher Knights at Tournament (£3.50) HEBDEN, William Yorkshire Battles (£15) HOME, Gordon Medieval London (£15) SALGADO, Gamini The Elizabethan Underworld (£7) SMURTHWAITE, David The Ordnance Survey Complete Guide to the Battlefields of Britain (£10) WOLFFE, BP The Crown Lands 1461-1536 (£5)

General Non-Fiction ALEXANDER, Marc British Folklore, Myths and Legends (£9) MORRISON, Elspeth The Dorothy Dunnett Companion (£10) PEVSNER, Nikolaus The Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol (£12) PEVSNER, Nikolaus (revised by Enid Radcliffe) The Buildings of England: Yorkshire West Riding (£15) 43

(Apologies: this item was listed as 3 copies available when there was only one - my typo!) PEVSNER, Nikolaus (revised by Elizabeth Williamson) The Buildings of England: Leicester- shire and Rutlund (£15) PEVSNER, Nikolaus & John Newman The Buildings of England: Dorset (£15) PEVSNER, Nikolaus (ed)/David Verey The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire: The Cots- wolds (£30) PEVSNER, Nikolaus & Jennifer Sherwood The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire (£12) PEVSNER, Nikolaus & Alexandra Wedgwood The Buildings of England: Warwickshire (£20) PEVSNER, Nikolaus The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire (£15) PEVSNER, Nikolaus (revised by Elizabeth Williamson) The Buildings of England: Derbyshire (£12) PEVSNER, Nikolaus (revised by Bridget Cherry) The Buildings of England: Wiltshire (£12)

Historical Fiction (hardback) CAMPBELL-BARNES, Margaret The Passionate Brood (£1.55) EDWARDS, Rhoda Some Touch of Pity (£2) HARROD-EAGLES, Cynthia Morland Dynasty 1: The Founding (£5.55) HAWLEY-JARMAN, Rosemary We Speak No Treason (£1.50) HAWLEY-JARMAN, Rosemary The King's Grey Mare (£5 & £4) HAWLEY-JARMAN, Rosemary Crown in Candlelight (£5) HAWLEY-JARMAN, Rosemary The Courts of Illusion (£5) IRWIN, Margaret Young Bess (£1.55) NEVILLE, Katherine The Eight - historical puzzle/mystery (£2.55) PENMAN, Sharon K The Sunne in Splendour (£4) PLAIDY, Jean The Reluctant Queen (£5) SUTCLIFFE, Rosemary Lady in Waiting (7.50) YORK, Elizabeth The Heir of Berkwell (£10)

Historical Fiction (paperback) CARLETON, Patrick Under the Hog (£3.55) ERSKINE, Barbara Lady of Hay (£3.00) PENMAN, Sharon The Queen's Man (£2) TEY, Josephine The Daughter of Time (£2 & £1.50) Edward IV Set: Julie Hamilton Son of York / Jean Plaidy The Goldsmith's Wife (£8.55) Henry VII Set: Margaret Campbell Barnes The Tudor Rose/Rosemary Hawley-Jarman The Courts of Illusion/Marion Palmer The Wrong Plantagenet (£5) Tudor Set: Margaret Campbell Barnes My Lady of Cleves/Betty King The Rose both Red and White/Maureen Peters Katheryn, The Wanton Queen/Jean Plaidy Gay Lord Robert/Jean Plaidy Royal Road to Fotheringhay (£10) Jane Trump, Society Librarian

Audio Visual Library Update Latest additions to the library are the episode dealing with Richard III from David Starkey’s Monarchy series, Desert Island Disks featuring David Starkey and An Audience with Richard III by Michael Bennett. Reviews of all three programmes are included in this issue’s News and Re- views, see page 19. Geoffrey Wheeler

Letter from America

The 2005 American AGM in Chicago

he Hilton Garden Inn, located just two blocks from the Magnificent Mile (an area of Chica- T go’s premiere retail stores, specialty stores, and restaurants on Michigan Avenue) was the venue of the Richard III Society American Branch’s 2005 AGM, which took place from Septem- ber 30 through October 2. The event was hosted by the Illinois Chapter and was co-chaired by Nita Musgrave and Joyce Tumea. Committee members included Maggie Cantrall, Debbie Gup- till, Jane Munsie, Evelyn Perrine, Kate Skegg, Mary Ann Vissers, and Janice Weiner. The group divided up the various tasks of making site arrangements, organizing presentations and entertainment, registering, decorating, conducting sales, and printing up programs. The Friday evening registration and welcome reception was held in a hospitality suite on the 23rd floor. A special ‘icebreaker’ form (a sheet of questions for each person to ask the others) was given to participants to facilitate introductions; the majority of attendees had arrived by then. Members questioned each other about previous AGMs attended and other Ricardian experiences. Names could only be used once. Marsha Jensen, a member from Texas, saved the question, ‘Name someone who has read Paul Murray Kendall’s Richard III’ until last because she assumed that everyone there had read the book. When two women then came into the room, she put the question to them. They smiled and introduced themselves as the Kendall sisters. ‘I won't for- getthat question,’ remarked Marsha. On Saturday, October 1, a buffet breakfast was held in the Garden Room near the hotel lob- by. Jane Munsie and Mary Ann Vissers manned the sales table, selling deeply-discounted books. Raffle tickets for books, CDs, a DVD, jewelry, posters, pictures, a brass rubbing, and household items were also being sold, and ticket buyers could apportion their tickets to the items they want- ed. In one corner of the room were photoboard figures of a medieval jester and a lady, with holes for the faces; the figures’ clothes were made from real fiber and sculptured in a bas-relief fashion. Joyce Tumea and Debra Guptill were the two creative artists behind this endeavor. Kate Skegg, the official AGM photographer, was available to take photos for a nominal fee for those who didn’t or couldn’t use their own cameras. After breakfast Saturday morning, there were three workshops, given in meeting rooms on the 12th floor. The first was called, ‘The Medieval and the Metaphysical,’ by Joyce Tumea, a 10- year member of the Illinois Chapter and its current president. She discussed two books on the topic, Echoes from Medieval Halls: Past Life Memoirs from the Middle Ages, by Barbara Lane, and Secret History:The Truth about Richard III and the Princes by John Dening and RE Collins. The second workshop was about ‘The Art of Medieval Brass Rubbing,’ and was presented by Joan Read, a member of the Monumental Brass Society. Originally from England, she has made a number of these during trips back to see relatives, and has collected a vast number of books on the subject. Brasses covered the tombs of many notable figures in medieval England and have been useful for studying genealogy, history, costume and dress, armor, heraldry, and jewelry. Joan brought several samples of rubbings from tombs and memorials, some ‘full size,’ for us to look at while she talked. (It helped many of us to see these better when Anne Easter Smith, who is tall, held them up high.) Joan’s skills in teaching have been used since her retirement to demonstrate the process of brass rubbing from libraries to historical societies. Our third speaker, Robin Maxwell, author of To the Tower Born, could not be available personally due to family circumstances, but she sent a video presentation about her book as a substitute. Maxwell had spent many frustrating years in Hollywood trying to get costume dramas

made, but finally left it to write historical novels of the Tudor era, or, in this case, the late medieval era. In this book, Nell Caxton, daughter of the famous publisher, and Elizabeth of York get caught up in the intrigue and treachery surrounding the throne in a time of instability, and the book ends with an unusual twist. For the keynote speech during the luncheon, Callie Kendall talked about her father, Paul Mur- ray Kendall, whose book, Richard the Third, appeared in print fifty years ago. Richard was discussed so frequently and intensely that he virtually became such a part of the Kendall family, and Callie learned at a young age to defend this English king. Everyone enjoyed hearing about the family dynamics involved by PMK’s commitment to his cause. The afternoon business meeting went quickly, as members had received committee reports in the registration packets and found nothing to dispute. Maria Elena Torres, treasurer, provided the most recent data. No officer elections were scheduled for this year. Jacqueline Bloomquist, American Chapter Vice President, was presented with the Dickon Award, which goes to a member who has provided exemplary service to the Society in the previous year. Anne Easter Smith brought up the topic of establishing links between Ricardian authors and the Richard III Society website and offered to help organize a committee to study implementation and the various issues which would be involved. The Ricardian Banquet Saturday evening lasted several hours. About half of the attendees transformed themselves into medieval personalities by the use of medieval costumes. After the banquet, playwright Robert Fripp of Canada introduced us to a scene of his play, Dark Sovereign, which is written in the language of Renaissance England, the first such work in almost four centuries. Mr Fripp has had extensive experience in television and film production, including the CBS’s The Fifth Estate program. The evening was finished off on a lighter note with brief selections written and presented by members of the Illinois Chapter: They are listed in the program as: The Sport of Kings by Janice Weiner Our Ricardian Tour, a poem by Jane Munsie Maid Mary and Noble Knights by Joyce Tumea The True Story of Richard III (in the year 1535) a poem by Debra Guptill, writer and RN, about a different outcome to Bosworth Field. The Sunday, October 2, Schallek breakfast featured a program called Medieval Women with Moxie: A ‘Read-n-act-ment.’ Created several years ago by writer Joyce Tumea, and researched by the Illinois Chapter, it was a presentation with script about several notable women from throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, several of them related to Richard. This has been performed several times before historical groups, a retired teachers’ organization, and other or- ganizations and area libraries as a way of publicizing Ricardianism. Beginning with an overview of medieval times and medieval women in three classes: noble, merchant middle class, and peasant, it included ‘major portraits’ of Artemisia Gentilschi, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Cecily Neville. ‘Miniature biographies’ were done in three sets of five, the most familiar figures to Ricardians being Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Paston, Christine de Pisan, and Hildegard von Bingen. The presentation ended with a Neville scene between Anne and her sister Isabel. Participants were Joyce Tumea, Nita Musgrave, Jane Munsie, Janice Weiner, Debbe Guptill, Dawn Benedetto, Kate Skegg, and Maggie Cantrall as Cecily Neville. The Schallek raffle prize of a stained glass boar was awarded, and Joyce Tumea closed the meeting after reading a short work, Regarding Ricardians.

Hurricane Katrina has caused not only the relocation of Carol Rike, but other New Orleans members, most notably, our technical expert and unofficial ombudsman, Peggy Allen, who relo- cated within Louisiana. Our Fall Ricardian Register may be a little late to arrive, but Carole is determined to achieve this task despite all obstacles. Pamela Butler

Report on Society Events

Summer Weekend in Edinburgh Edinburgh The 2005 Ricardian invasion of Scotland commenced on Wednesday 29 June from Kings Cross, albeit somewhat less warlike than Richard’s foray in 1482. We had all made our own arrangements to get to Edinburgh, but the bulk of the party seemed to be on the 11 a.m. train from Kings Cross, getting to our destination mid-afternoon. Our accommodation was at Pollock Hall Cam- pus of Edinburgh University, a peaceful enclave a little out of the centre of Edinburgh, which is easily reached by bus or taxi and, in fact, not too onerous to walk if you are so inclined. Edinburgh is a lovely city; clean and friendly; busy but not frenetic, and full of history. A good way to get your bearings and have a good look around is to take one of the tour buses: if you choose to pay a bit more for your 24-hour ticket, you can hop on and off any of the different liveried tour buses. Two major attractions are, of course, the Castle, dominating the city, and Holyrood House. Unfortunately, Holyrood House was out of bounds and barricaded against invaders – something to do with objections against some foreign big-wigs who were due for a few days’ jolly! The Castle has been the scene of strife and bloodshed over the years; parts have been demol- ished and parts added, but it is almost certainly an area of Edinburgh which Richard, Duke of Gloucester, would have visited during his Scottish campaign. The annual Military Tattoo is held on the Castle Esplanade, and it is here that several hundred women were burned as witches between 1471 and 1722. The castle contains St Margaret’s Chapel, which is the oldest building in Edinburgh and probably dates from 1076; and the Scottish regalia is kept in the Crown Room. The castle also witnessed the birth of Mary Queen of Scots’ son, James, who was to unite Eng- land and Scotland. Unfortunately we did not visit the Castle on this occasion (although many of our party did) due to the fact that we kept getting side-tracked...... such as spending an absorbing couple of hours at the Camera Obscura on the Royal Mile just below the Castle. Holograms and 3-D photos, funny mirrors and magic pictures are on offer in its ‘History of Illusions’ exhibition. The view of the city through the ‘dark room’ lens at the top of the tower is fascinating, spying on the ant-size citizens of Edinburgh going about their business. Also on the Royal Mile is St Giles ‘Cathedral’, or rather ‘High Kirk’. The present building is basically fifteenth century and replaces earlier structures. Its altars and relics were lost at the Reformation and there have been changes and turmoil within its walls down the years. It is now serene and majestic, in tune with modern times and reverent to its past. Due to the inclement weather we took advantage of a trip on one of the ‘hop-on-hop-off’ buses to take an excursion to Leith where a very enjoyable addition to modern history is the Royal Yacht Britannia; still looking very regal and beautiful in her exile, spick and span as if the Queen were due on board at any moment. On view are the Queen’s office, sitting room and bedroom, laid out as they were when she was aboard. The banqueting room is set and waiting for guests. All around are mementoes of voyages and visits, and photos of the Royal Family with Britan- nia’s crew. We were very impressed with the way the Royal Yacht has been preserved but sad that it is no longer in service. A peaceful place to visit is Greyfriars Kirkyard, last resting place of a little Skye terrier known as ‘Greyfriars Bobby’. You can still see the somewhat eerie ‘mort safes’ in the kirkyard; these being cage-like devices set up by grieving relatives in an effort to stop the bodies of their loved ones being stolen by the macabre ‘Resurrection Men’ who supplied newly-dead corpses to the Anatomy Department of Edinburgh University. 47

We also managed to partake of some refreshments in one of Edinburgh’s oldest public houses, the Jinglin’ Geordie, named after an eighteenth-century gentleman who always carried gold coins in his pockets which jingled when he walked. Another treat was a visit to the National Library which, after some initial confusion, was able to show us the Chronicles, two medieval manuscripts, beautifully illustrated, which would probably have existed at the time of Richard III. The librarians had also taken the trouble to give us modern printouts of the manuscripts. It was a pity that the demonstration on Monday 4 July resulted in most of Princes Street being closed and cordoned off and it was sad to hear that some of the protesters had broken into Princes Street Gardens and torn up the flower beds but, that aside, our visit was not disrupted in any way and I think the majority of our members enjoyed their visit to this lovely city. Marian Mitchell and Carolyn West

‘Castles, culture and church’ or ‘Arms, art and amour’ – the coach tours Friday: After the dull grey skies and late afternoon downpour of the day before, the sun was shining as we boarded the coach for Stirling, with Juliet Middleton’s daughter, Andy, as our guide. Along the way she pointed out Murrayfield, the home of Scottish rugby, and the ruined palace of Linlithgow. Our first stop in Stirling was at the castle where Andy took us around the ancient fortress. Less forbidding than Edinburgh Castle, the palace at Stirling, with its gardens and views of the distant hills, has been nicely restored and made for an interesting and most enjoyable visit. Down in the town, we were let loose to get lunch and to explore. While some walked about, others took the bus tour of the major sites, which included the Wallace Memorial; the University, where it was graduation day and the grounds were full of graduates, most of the young men being in gowns and kilts; the Old Bridge; the Church of the Holy Rood, where James VI was crowned; and, of course, the Castle. There’s a lot of history in Stirling! Coming back, we stopped at Bannockburn, where the Scots, under Robert the Bruce, had thrashed the English - or was it? Although the local council purchased the land and set up a visitor’s centre some years ago, there is now much debate as to where the battle actually took place. Certainly, the size of the present Bannockburn does not fit with contemporary accounts of the battle. It is all somewhat reminiscent of another well known battlefield site. Wherever, the present memorials are an attractive sight and we were duly impressed. At least, there isn’t a large bronze equestrian statue of Henry Tudor at Bosworth. Saturday: Our destination this day was Glasgow and the Burrell Collection. Housed in its own specially built home on the outskirts of the city, this treasure trove began as a private collection to cover the arts in all forms - painting, sculpture, tapestry, glass and ceramics, stained glass, needlework, etc, and from all periods from ancient times to the middle ages and the present day. We were given a guided tour, the highlight of which for many of us was being shown the display of armour by the curator, Dr Toby (Tobias) Capwell. (He is an expert in English armour of the late middle ages, and it is hoped that he will be able to speak on this to the Society some time.) The equipment on display, by the way, includes the hilt of a sword given by Edward IV to the be the ‘state sword’ of the City of Coventry. By tradition, such gifts were usually the monarch’s personal weapon. After lunch, some of the party went into Glasgow for a few hours, while others walked up to Pollock House and the rest of us looked at the Burrell Collection in greater detail. It will surprise no-one who knows me to learn that Beth and I spent a lot more time amongst the items in the Ancient Egyptian display! Our journey back to Edinburgh was uneventful and surprisingly quick - surprising, as the city had been hosting a major protest event (related to the G8 conference) with a parade and a concert. Back at the residence, we were able to talk with people who had taken part in the rally and discover what an enjoyable time they had had. Would that the later protests had been the same.

Sunday: The third coach tour took us first to Lennoxlove, where Richard of Gloucester had stayed during his foray into Scotland in 1482. We were shown the woods where his troops had camped, and speculated about which tree grew on the site where Richard must have stood to address his men. Our guided tour of the house began in the newer part, which is the home of the Duke of Ham- ilton, but it was the old part, with the great hall and its anterooms, that especially took our interest. They have memorabilia of Mary, Queen of Scots, including a death mask, and also a portrait of Henry VI. No explanation for this was given, and I understand that, in the past, this picture has been labelled as being Henry VII. It bears no label at all today. From Lennoxlove, with its medieval history and its romantic connections with Frances Stew- art, we visited the town of Haddington for lunch and to see the church. In the middle ages, Had- dington had been even more important as a gateway into Scotland than Berwick. The name of the Sixteen Kings Restaurant in the Maitlandfield Hotel refers to the number of kings, including Richard III, known to have visited the town. Our last stop was at Rosslyn Chapel, which is a truly remarkable place. For some, its wealth of carved detail was overpowering and unpleasant, while for others, it was fascinating and awe- inspiring. Everywhere one turned, there was no surface that had not been decorated with foliage, angels, woodwoses, biblical scenes, etc., which is not to forget the world famous pillars, one carved by the master mason and the other, much more elaborate one, carved by the apprentice. Sadly, thanks to the popularity of a grossly overrated book, the chapel was packed with visitors and it was very difficult to get a good look at anything. Our guide was Stuart Akers of the Socie- ty’s Scottish Branch, and our thanks go to him for showing us as much as he did. Back at the hall of residence, it was time for the customary ‘grand dinner’ for which we were joined by local members of the Society. For me, I know, it was a very pleasant evening and amongst other things, we were much entertained watching the police coming and going outside the window of the room where we were gathered. Officers from half the forces in the north of England must have been staying at the campus. The dinner also gave me the opportunity for giving thanks to the people who had done so much of the work in making the trip to Scotland possible – Juliet Middleton and her daughter Andy for Stirling and Glasgow; Philippa Stirling- Langley for Lennoxlove and Haddington, Elizabeth Nokes for the university arrangements, and to Carolyn West and Marian Mitchell for co-ordinating it all. Phil Stone

Society visit to Leicester, 20 August 2005 Our booking confirmation advised the coach would depart at ‘09.15 sharp!’ – and it did. Less than three hours later the ladies of the W.I. were welcoming us for lunch. After a very pleasant lunch a short coach journey brought us to Leicester cathedral where we were greeted by our guides for the afternoon, Jane and Virginia. Separated into two groups we started our tour. Our first stop was inside the cathedral to see the memorial stone to King Richard. Departing the cathedral we saw the medieval Guildhall and then ‘Wygston’s house’, the best preserved medieval house in Leicester. At our next site of interest, where King Richard stayed on his journey to Bosworth, we had to be content with a drawing of the fine building that once stood there. On this site now stands a public house, the King Richard III, and a café called the Blue Boar. We viewed the remains of the Roman Jewry Wall and baths, and St Nicholas church, which has pieces of Roman masonry in its tower, and arrived at Bow Bridge at 14.30 and joined the other guided tour group for our plaque unveiling. Phil Stone gave a short speech explaining why we were there. Benjamin Broadbent, in 1856, had presented a plaque to the city, which was in- stalled on the former site of the Austin friars. It states that ‘near this spot lie the remains of Rich- ard III, last of the Plantagenets’, rumour being that, during the reformation, King Richard’s bones 49

had been thrown into the river Soar. Our new plaque was to set the record straight and state the modern belief that Richard’s remains probably still lie at the Greyfriars. Phil introduced Christo- pher Broadbent, great-great-grandson of Benjamin, who had kindly agreed to unveil the new plaque. Christopher gave a short speech and in time-honoured fashion cut the cord for the unveiling. A round of applause was followed by Phil’s thanks to Christopher and all those who had contributed to making the plaque installation possible. Amongst these were Barbara Howard, representing the current occupiers of the building on which the plaque is fixed, our guides, and Sally Henshaw and other members of the local branch. Thanks went to Elizabeth Nokes for organising the visit, and to John Ashdown-Hill for his contribution to organising and co-ordinating the day’s events and for putting up the plaque and the curtains.

From left to right: Christopher Broadbent, Phil Stone and John Ashdown-Hill

Whilst at Bow bridge we read the panels at each end that relate the story of Richard’s spur striking the bridge and the prophecy that where his spur had struck so would his head. In the centre is King Richard’s coat of arms flanked by two white boars. Via the West bridge we walked to Castle gardens where we gazed at the statue of King Richard, sponsored by the Society, and un- veiled on 31 July 1980 by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Next, on to St Mary de Castro, which was founded in the twelfth century. Here, in the early fifteenth century Henry VI, as a boy of five, was knighted. Across the green, where Catesby was beheaded after the battle of Bosworth, is situated the castle hall where Richard is known to have stayed. Since 1695 this hall has had a brick frontage, though much of the medieval interior remains. Onward to the Hawthorn building of de Montfort University where, by pre-arrangement, we gained admittance to see the, sadly few, remains of the Collegiate Church of the Annunciation of our Lady of the Newarke. This church, founded in 1354 by Henry Plantagenet, first Duke of Lan- caster, fourth Lancastrian Earl of Leicester, was where the mortal remains of King Richard III were publicly displayed for two days following the battle of Bosworth. Our final venue was the former site of the Greyfriars, where it is believed the bones of King Richard still lie. There is a beautiful large tree in this typical utilitarian car park and it was to this tree that we gravitated and where we dreamed of the day that the car park is excavated. It is not a fit resting place for a man who was King; a man and a King who died too young. Here our guided tour ended. Time for afternoon tea and on to the service in commemoration of King Richard III and all who fell at the battle of Bosworth. St Martin’s church has been used by Christians for at least 900 years. In 1927 it was endowed

with cathedral status and is now known as Leicester St Martin’s Cathedral. Much is now Victori- an reconstruction though the original fourteenth-century north porch remains. The Precentor, the Reverend Canon Dr Stephen Foster, resplendent in embroidered cope, warmly welcomed us all (about sixty in number). In his address Dr Foster advised that this was his first dealing with the Richard III Society and that we would be truly welcome to come again. Following John Ash- down-Hill’s reading, in Latin, of an extract from the prayer of Richard III, Gwen Millan, Carolyn West and Margaret York each collected from the front of the altar a wreath and laid them on the memorial stone to King Richard. These three wreaths, made by member Ruth Green, laid on behalf of the Canada branch, the Australasian branches and the main Society in the UK, joined the lone wreath, already in position, given by members of the East Midlands branch. Our service concluded with the rousing hymn ‘Thine be the glory’. Dave Perry

Future Society Events

Bookable Events

Annual Requiem Mass and Anne Neville Commemoration, Westminster and Minster Lovell, 18 March 2006 On Wednesday 15 March, the vigil of her anniversary, the Society will as usual leave a tribute of white roses at Queen Anne Neville’s tomb at Westminster. The short ceremony will take place at 2.30 and any member of the Society who wishes to attend will be very welcome to do so. Please meet at the West Door at 2.20. It is also hoped that mass for the souls of King Richard III and Queen Anne will be offered at St Etheldreda’s Church, Ely Place during the week of 16 March. (This will not be a solemn Requiem Mass.) On Saturday 18 March the Society’s annual Requiem Mass for King Richard III and Queen Anne Neville will be celebrated. This year, for the first time since its institution, the Mass will be celebrated according to the Anglican rite, by a member of the Society, Fr Adrian Gabb-Jones, rector of Minster Lovell, at his parish church in Oxfordshire, which houses tombs of members of the family of Francis, Lord Lovell. Francis lived (and possibly died) at Minster Lovell Hall, the ruins of which are adjacent to the church.

The plans for the day are as follows: 09.30 Coach leaves Charing Cross Embankment (Comfort stop en route) 12.00 Mass at Minster Lovell 13.00 Visit Hall ruins 14.00 Coach departs for Bladon 15.00 & 15.45 tea Church visit (Bladon Church houses the tomb of Sir Winston Churchill) 16.30 (approx.) Coach departs for London

As there are no facilities for obtaining a light lunch in Minster Lovell, members of the coach party are asked to bring a packed lunch to eat on the coach or during the Hall visit. It is hoped that, in addition to the coach party from London, many members from Oxfordshire and beyond will wish to attend using their own transport. To book for this event, please complete the form in the centre pages. John Ashdown-Hill 8 Thurlston Close, Colchester, Essex CO4 3HF

Study Weekend, 21 – 23 April 2006 Next year’s study weekend has been arranged for Friday evening to Sunday lunchtime, 21 – 23 April 2006 (one week after Easter), at the College of St John, Lord Mayor’s Walk, York. This is the College’s main campus, just outside the city walls opposite the Minster. Accommodation will be in single study bedrooms. The college does not have any en-suite facilities or car parking. The theme for the weekend will be The Logge Wills. After many years of transcribing the wills in the Logge Register of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury we would now like to showcase some of the results of this mammoth research project. We will open the weekend with a general talk on wills by Dr Ann Rycraft and then have an update on the publication of the wills from Lesley Wynne-Davies followed by:-

Court & City: the ‘great and the good’ in Logge - Wendy Moorhen Word & Wordsmiths: books found in Logge wills – Anne Sutton Case Study: the poet Richard Roos – Lesley Wynne-Davies Clerical, Medical & Litigators: wills of those who cared for the soul, the body and the pocket – Mary O’Regan Silver & Salets: references to metals for display, adornment and protection – Peter Hammond

I am also negotiating with two further external speakers to complement Mary’s and Peter’s talks. The Great Hall in Barley Hall will once again be the venue for our traditional medieval banquet with medieval-style food and live medieval music from Trouvère. The wearing of medieval costume is positively encouraged though it is not mandatory. The cost of the weekend will be £150 with a supplement of £35 for the banquet. The cost includes dinner at the college for those delegates not wishing to attend the banquet. There will be a limited number of non-residential places at a cost of £80 and this includes Friday night dinner, lunches and refreshments. The banquet cost for non-residents is £49. Inevitably costs have risen slightly since the last weekend at the college in 2003. If you would like to attend please complete the centrefold booking form and send to Mrs Jacqui Emerson, 5 Ripon Drive, Wistaston, Crewe, Cheshire CW2 6SJ. Joining instructions will be sent out in early March. Wendy Moorhen

Cheshire in Black and White – a Splendour of Medieval Monochrome Cheshire is the venue for the Society’s long weekend tour 7-10 July 2006. King Richard III does not seem to have had many connections with Cheshire – at least nothing outstanding seems to have been documented (although I am sure I will be put right on this!), so this is more of a ‘period of’ rather than an ‘in the footsteps of’ trip. Little Moreton Hall (bits built between 1450 and 1580) and Gawsworth Hall (built around 1480) are two of the weekend’s highlights, plus a whole day exploring Chester. Visits to Alder- ley Edge, Beeston Castle and some interesting churches are also under consideration. Accommodation will be at the Warrington Campus of Chester University. Please note that university accommodation is on a single room basis. However, it may be possible to arrange some double rooms (but not guaranteed) so if you would like one, please specify on the form. Single rooms are en suite, but any double rooms may have shared facilities, and be in a different block from the single accommodation. The cost of accommodation includes bed, breakfast and dinner. The total cost of the trip is estimated in the region of £220.00 per person. This is based on a party of thirty. If you are interested in coming, please complete the relevant coupon, and send it, with a deposit of £50.00 per person, by 31 January 2006, to: Marian Mitchell, 20 Constance Close, With- am, Essex, CM8 1XL. Tel. 01376-501984, email: [email protected]. Marian Mitchell 52

Branches and Groups Contacts

United Kingdom Branches

Devon & Cornwall Mrs Anne E Painter, Yoredale, Trewithick Road, Breage, Helston, Cornwall, TR13 9PZ. Tel: 01326-562023 Gloucester Angela Iliff, 18 Friezewood Road, Ashton, Bristol, BS3 2AB Tel: 0117-378-9237 Greater Manchester Mrs Helen Ashburn, 36 Clumber Road, Gorton, Manchester, M18 7LZ. Tel: 0161-320-6157 Hull & District Terence O'Brien, 2 Hutton Close, Hull, HU4 4LD. Tel: 01482- 445312 Lincolnshire Mrs J T Townsend, Lindum House, Dry Doddington Road, Stubton, Newark, Notts. NG23 5BX. Tel: 01636-626374 London & Home Miss E M Nokes, 4 Oakley Street, Chelsea, London SW3 5NN Counties Tel: 0207-351-3391 Midlands-East Mrs S Henshaw, 28 Lyncroft Leys, Scraptoft, Leicester, LE7 9UW. Tel: 0116-2433785 Norfolk Mrs Annmarie Hayek, 20 Rowington Road, Norwich, NR1 3RR. Tel: 01603-664021 Scottish K Stuart Akers, 17 Eliots Park, Peebles, EH45 8HB. Tel: 01721- 723600 Thames Valley Jenny Hutt, 27 Wheatsheaf Lane, Staines, Middx. TW18 2PD. Tel: 01784 453440 Worcestershire Ms Val Sibley, Fieldgate House, 32 Grove Road, Dorridge, Solihull, B93 0PJ Yorkshire Mrs M Habberjam, 10 Otley Old Road, Leeds LS16 6HD.Tel: 0113- 2675069 Also: Airedale: Mrs Christine Symonds, 2 Whitaker Avenue, Bradford, BD2 3HL Tel: 01274-774680 South Yorkshire: David Turner, 746 Upper Wortley Road, Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham, S61 2PL. Tel: 0114-2463065 Scarborough (Northstead): Miss Marie Belfitt, 10 Greengate, Sandybed, Scarborough, North Yorkshire. YO12 5NA. Tel: 01723- 360878 Wakefield: Mrs Val Stringer, 21 The Heathers, Sharlston, Wakefield, WF4 1TQ.

United Kingdom Groups

Bedfordshire & Mrs D Paterson, 84 Kings Hedges, Hitchin, Herts, SG5 2QE. Buckinghamshire Tel: 01462-649082 Bolton Miss C L Carr, 677 Tonge Moor Road, Bolton, Lancs, BL2 3BW. Tel: 01204-308461 (in affiliation with Greater Manchester Branch) Bristol Keith Stenner, 96 Allerton Crescent, Whitchurch, Bristol Tel: 01275- 541512 (in affiliation with Gloucestershire Branch)

Croydon Miss Denise Price, 190 Roundwood Rd,NW10. Tel: 0181-451-7689 (in affiliation with London & Home Counties Branch) Cumbria John & Marjorie Smith, 26 Clifford Road, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 8P Dorset Mrs Judy Ford, 10 Hengeld Place, Dorset Street, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7RG. Tel: 01258-450403. Durham Mrs E Watson, Oakcliffe House, 4 North Terrace, Aycliffe Village, County Durham, DL5 6LG. Tel: 01325-310361 Mid Anglia John Ashdown-Hill, 8 Thurlston Close, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3HF. Tel/fax: 01206-523267 Midlands-West Mrs Brenda Cox, 42 Whitemoor Drive, Shirley, Solihull, West Mid- lands, B90 4UL North East Mrs J McLaren, 11 Sefton Avenue, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 5QR (Contact: 0191-265-3665) Nottinghamshire Mrs Anne Ayres, 7 Boots Yard, Huthwaite, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts & Derbyshire NG17 2QW South Essex Mrs Maureen Collins, 41 Linkway, Hornchurch Essex, RM11 3RN. Tel: 01708-447548. South Wales Chairman: Mrs Glynis Edwards, 2 Garth Street, Taffs Well, CF15 7PJ, Tel.: 029-2033-7523 Sussex Miss Josie Williams, 6 Goldstone Court, Windsor Close, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 6WS West Surrey Rollo Crookshank, Old Willows, 41a Badshot Park, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 9JU (in affiliation with London & Home Counties Branch)

Overseas Branches

America Laura Blanchard, 2041 Christian Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146, United States of America Australia Victoria: Hazel Hajdu, 4 Byron Street, Wattle Park, Victoria, 3128, Australia New South Wales: Julia Redlich, 53 Cammeray Towers, 55 Carter Street, New South Wales, 2062, Australia. Queensland Debbie Smith, c/o PO Box 117, Paddington, Queensland, 4064, Australia South Australia Mrs Sue Walladge, 5 Spencer Street, Cowandilla, South Australia, 5033, Australia Western Australia Helen Hardegen, 16 Paramatta Road, Doubleview, Western Australia 6018, Australia Canada Mrs Tracy Bryce, 5238 Woodhaven Drive, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, L7L 3T4 New Zealand Robert Smith, “Wattle Downs”, Udy Street, Greytown, New Zealand

Overseas Groups Continental Frau R. Diefenhardt-Schmitt, Am Eichpfad 8, D-61479, Glashutten 3, Oberems, Germany.

Branches and Groups

Branches and Groups News In July the Australian and New Zealand Branches of the Society held a meeting in Sydney. For obvious reasons, I was not present at this meeting, but a full report of it was sent to me, and this has been circulated to all Society Branch and Group Secretaries. The Australasian meeting raised a number of specific issues relating to finance, postal charges and geography, which are best understood by reading the full circulated report. Underlying these, however, was a clear feeling on the part of the Australasian Branches that their contribution has not been properly valued by the Society as a whole, and that they lack proper representation in the Society’s decision-making processes. The executive committee of the Society takes these anxieties very seriously. Already provision has been made for an Australasian vice president. The decision of the Australasian branches to contribute a memorial wreath to the Bosworth commemoration in 2005 was welcomed, and detailed dialogue on specific points which they have raised is now in progress. In the UK, the last planned national Branches and Groups meeting, two years ago, failed to materialise. In the light of this I have, since taking office as Branches and Groups liaison officer, proposed a series of devolved meetings spread around the country. The first of these was held in Bridport on 17 September 2005. Further meetings are currently being planned for Ipswich, York and Warwick in 2006-07. At the Bridport meeting I met representatives of Bristol Group, Devon and Cornwall Branch, Dorset Group, and West Surrey Group. This was a very productive and friendly meeting, from which useful contacts and ideas emerged. While there were specific criticisms, the meeting concluded on a very positive note. It was felt that valuable inter-branch and -group contacts had been made, and that there had been a significant shift of perception in respect of what branches and groups are able to do, and how they might relate to the ‘centre’. One delegate summed this up by saying that she now felt ‘empowered’. Once again, I have already circulated a detailed report of the Bridport meeting to all Branch and Group secretaries, and by the time this is published secretaries will also have received a summary of the Executive Committee’s responses to specific queries raised in both the Australasian and the Bridport meetings. Meanwhile, the following points which emerged from the Bridport meeting may be of wider interest:

 Local initiative is important and is valued.  Local interaction between groups and branches can take place without my presence, or that of any member of the Executive Committee.  To bring about personnel changes on the Executive Committee you have only to propose new people! (To make this easier for you, we will publish a proposal form in the Summer Bulletin in 2006.)  A representative of the Dorset Group proposed that Branches and Groups should make bookmarks advertising the Society, and leave them in suitable library books. This is a brilliant idea, which I strongly commend to all.

I was asked to try to encourage the formation of new Branches or Groups in areas which are currently not served. In the end this must depend on local interest, but I will see what I can do, starting in 2006.

John Ashdown-Hill

Canadian Branch It is with great pleasure that I report on the activities of the Canadian Branch of the Richard III Society for the 2004-2005 year. The year began with the Joint Canadian-American AGM in Toronto, attended by 56 Ricardi- ans from across North America. For this, we were honoured to receive a ‘Dickon Award’ from the American Branch in recognition of our efforts. This year we had seven regular meetings, four executive meetings, our Founder’s Day Picnic and our annual Bosworth memorial service. The papers presented included ‘David Hume’s The History of England’ and ‘Charles Ross and his View of Richard III’ both by Doug Woodger, Sheilah O'Connor’s ‘Medicine in the Middle Ages’ and a paper by Alexandra Hauser-Kowaguchi on ‘The Power of Women is Stronger than the King’ based on that play by William Shakespeare. We also had a lively Ricardian book review meeting and a viewing of the television program ‘Britain’s Real Monarch’. At the most recent meeting, we played a recording of John Ashdown- Hill’s interview with CBC Radio concerning his research into the House of York’s descendants, which we were delighted to assist with, as a living descendant was traced to Canada. At the executive level, Noreen Armstrong stepped down as membership and corresponding secretary. Noreen has been on the executive for more than 20 years and to commemorate her dedication to the Society and her hard work, the Armstrong Award has been created where we will make an annual donation to a Ricardian site to honour Noreen. Tracy Bryce, after serving 10 years as Chair of the Society, is stepping down to take over the membership post and Victoria Moorshead, serving two years as Vice Chair, becomes Chair. We look forward to another exciting year as plans begin for the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Canadian Branch. Victoria Moorshead, Chair of the Richard III Society of Canada

Gloucestershire Branch During the last quarter we have held AGMs for both the Gloucestershire Branch and the Bristol Group, resulting in full programmes for the year ahead. Two representatives attended the South- ern Branches and Groups meeting held in Bridport, Dorset. This was the first in a series of regional meetings planned by John Ashdown-Hill. We found the session most rewarding - it was really good to meet fellow Ricardians from proximate Branches and the positiveness apparent from the proceedings was very encouraging. Hopefully successive meetings will continue to foster the progressive attitude generated. Anyway, many thanks to John for arranging, attending and facilitating such a beneficial gathering. Our recent Annual Lecture event featured Suzi Clarke who provided an afternoon discussing ‘Late Fifteenth Century Costume’ .We achieved an excellent Branch turnout and much appreciat- ed support from visiting Ricardians from the south who were kind enough to supplement our numbers. Suzi was able to maintain a sustained programme throughout the afternoon and, had time permitted, we could have carried on much longer. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the afternoon and, especially to Suzi for traveling to the West Country to engage us so effectively with this rich and fascinating subject.

Forthcoming Events Saturday 7 January ‘Roger Mortimer and the Controversial Death of Edward II’ talk by Liz Claridge [Branch] Saturday 4 February ‘Medieval Beliefs’ talk by Gwen Waters [Branch] Friday 17 February Video/DVD Evening. Selection of members recorded programmes or events [Bristol Group] Saturday 4 March ‘The Templars’ talk by Julian Lea-Jones [Branch] Friday 17 March ‘Favourite Saints’ Short papers [Bristol Group] Venues as per the Programmes Keith Stenner 56

Lincolnshire Branch The Branch has enjoyed a full six months with a diverse programme arranged by Secretary Jean Townsend. At the end of April, Kevin Harrison, Blue-Badge Guide in London and Lincolnshire, spoke on ‘Three Cathedrals’ – York, Durham and Lincoln. In May we had a successful stall at Denton Street Market, followed by a Shrewsbury weekend, staying in the Prince Rupert Hotel in the town, visiting Ludlow and Stokesay castles and Hergest Court. At the end of May we held our Fifty Plus fun evening. In June we visited Mannington Court, home of Lord Walpole, who claims descent from Horace Walpole, well known to Ricardians, where we had a guided tour, before going on to Norwich for the cathedral, bookshops and other shops. We then had the Zarosh Mugaseth Memorial Lecture, when Dr Jonathan Foyle, Assistant Curator at Hampton Court, spoke to us on ‘Historic Buildings on Television’, having himself appeared on ‘Time Team’, ‘Renaissance Secrets’, Meet the Ancestors’, ‘Regency Feast’, and ‘The Worst Job in History’. The two events in August were also very successful: the ‘Table Top Sale’ raised £382.00 for our charity this year, and we also had a picnic lunch, courtesy of Maureen and Richard Wheeldon, before visiting Stowe Minster and Coates Church. Stowe dates back to the tenth century, and Coates escaped the vandalism of the sixteenth century and still has the fifteenth-century wooden rood loft. In September some of us went to Mechelen and Ghent, visiting the exhibition ‘Women of Power’, one of whom was Richard’s sister, Margaret of Burgundy. The Lincolnshire Branch is celebrating its thirtieth birthday next year, and there are a lot of exciting items on the new Branch programme. We hope some of you will attend our Medieval Banquet at Gainsborough Old Hall next September and help us celebrate in style. Marion Moulton

Scottish Branch 2005 has been a very special year for what was originally ‘The Edinburgh and Lothian Court’. Not only did we welcome the society visit in June, and have a full calendar of events to look forward to, but we also finally took the much-mooted step of changing our name to one that reflect- ed our increasingly Scotland-wide membership – ‘The Scottish Branch’ now having members as far afield as Oban, Elgin, Wester Ross, Fife, Perthshire, Peebles, Kent and of course Glasgow and Edinburgh. This step is also the first in taking our meets across Scotland [for the forthcoming Glasgow Lecture please see Forthcoming Events at the end of this report]. We began the year in March with our AGM and a talk by Doug Weeks on the Harrington family - a family that none of us knew very much about apart, of course, from their famous dispute with the Stanleys, and Doug’s talk did not disappoint. Starting with the first known member, a man called Osulf, it quickly became clear that this was a family who were not only well established long before the arrival of the Bastard but by using the customary medieval devices of war and marriage managed to raise their fortunes and prominence to such a level that they became just as powerful and successful as their Norman neighbours. Doug took us through a very detailed and minutely researched family tree, the various members of that tree, and how one or more could always be found at almost any battle that you cared to mention, particularly those of the Wars of the Roses. In June forty members of the Society dared to cross the heavily patrolled border at Berwick and enter the land of the Scots. Knowing that the G8 Summit and the Walk for Poverty were hap- pening at the same time made this a very brave move indeed but one they all agreed made the trip north even more exciting. Mention must go here to Juliet Middleton who not only helped to or- ganise day trips and the material for the ‘welcome pack’ but also went on every trip to ensure that all went smoothly and to act as guide. Our grateful thanks go to Juliet for all her very hard work. When it was discovered that the society would also be visiting Rosslyn Chapel our Treasurer and renowned local expert, Stuart Akers also stepped into the breach taking the members around this most amazing place of worship for the afternoon. As I write the film crews and Tom Hanks et al are at Rosslyn now. Very soon this quiet place of worship will be taking its own starring role in

the forthcoming film, The Da Vinci Code. Our grateful thanks also go to Stuart for taking time out of his busy schedule. We then joined the society for the formal dinner at the Pollock Halls where our Chairman, Dave Fiddimore, inspired many of those present to join him on a walk the following day around some of the lesser-known places of historical interest i.e. the ones that do not always get into the guidebooks. Members may also be interested to learn that Dave was one of the winners in the recent First Novel Competition on Richard and Judy [Channel 4, February 10th]. Out of some 46,000 entries Dave’s book, Tuesday’s War, was chosen along with five others to be published by Pan Macmillan and launched live on air. In May we welcomed Dr Ann Wroe to Blackwell’s Bookstore for an outstanding talk on ‘Perkin Warbeck and the Scottish Connection’. It turned out to be a fascinating evening that sparked much debate and with Professor Tony Goodman along it also gave us the opportunity to hear his thoughts as well. We also met some of our very newest members for the first time in Ruth Shroud and Rachel Letby. A very warm welcome to them from us all. At the end of July the first competitive International Jousting Tournament in Scotland for over one hundred and sixty six years was held at Tam Dalyell’s home, The House of the Binns, near Linlithgow. In glorious summer weather we watched Scotland’s representative – the Bur- rell’s armouries expert, Dr Tobias Capwell - trounce the opposition to take home the Scottish Tournament Trophy (a sword). Dr Capwell was jousting all in black and looked the very part. One of his opponents was an Englishman called Steve Mallet – his emblem being an extremely large ‘mallet’ on both his horse-trapper and surcoat but it did not do enough to scare off our all- conquering hero.

Forthcoming Events

The Glasgow Lecture at the Burrell, Sunday 15 January 2006

The autumn/Christmas lecture has been deferred this year to January 2006. The day’s theme is ‘The Fifteenth-Century Fighting Man’ and will be a series of talks and a guided tour at the Bur- rell. Talks will be: ‘Being a Fifteenth-century Soldier’ by Professor Tony Goodman and ‘Arms and Armour for the Fighting Man in the Fifteenth Century’ by Dr. Tobias Capwell. The day will start at 11 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m. with lunch in the Burrell café. Further details will be sent to those in Scotland but all members are very welcome to attend. For further details please call Philippa Langley on 0131 336 4669. Our thanks also go to Juliet Middleton for organising the Lecture Day while studying for examinations. Finally, a call to arms for Scotland. We are currently looking for our new team for 2006. If you would like to become part of the Scottish squad for the exciting fiftieth-year celebrations, then we would very much like to hear from you. We are currently looking for our next Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Research Officer, so please do get in touch. We are also looking for members who might be willing to take part in a series of talks about Richard to a small group of selected schools across Scotland in order to mark our fiftieth-year celebrations. If you would like to be involved then please do get in touch. Philippa Langley

South Essex Group The year’s events began, appropriately enough, with the Group’s AGM, held at a member’s house. Membership remains small but loyal, various activities were discussed, and the meeting concluded with a talk by John Ashdown-Hill. Members from the Group joined others from the Mid Anglia Group in Witham in April for a talk by Dr Ann Wroe entitled ‘Who was Perkin Warbeck?’, focussed on the enduring mystery surrounding the ‘pretender’s’ identity. Members from the two groups linked up again for a visit to medieval Colchester organised by John Ashdown-Hill, which included St John’s Abbey Gate-

house and a viewing of fifteenth-century seals in the Museum Resources Centre. Members also took part in official Society events throughout the year, such as the Requiem Mass in March and the Ninth Triennial Conference in Cambridge in April. Two of our members, Ros and Alan Cummings, visited Santiago de Compostela in September 2004 and Ros contributed a report thereon for our Newsletter. They were able to attend mass in the great cathedral, which culminated in its famous thurible, filled with incense, being lowered by six attendants and then swung from side to side, billowing incense. It is hoped that the Group will hold its usual Christmas meal in December and that it will continue to thrive as we approach 2006. Sue Taylor

Thames Valley Group With an innovative start to the year, we had our Christmas get-together in January, combining it with the AGM. Wendy Moorhen, Jenny Hutt and myself were re-elected as Chairperson, Secre- tary and Treasurer respectively. Once the plans for the year ahead had been discussed and noted, we adjourned to the Yorkshire Rose in Bracknell. Unfortunately the year has since proved to be a quiet one with many of our meetings having to be changed or cancelled at the last minute owing to events outside our control. Sadly even our annual weekend away – this year to Pembrokeshire – was thwarted by the petrol crisis and the M4 blockades. Three of us attended the Cambridge Triennial Weekend in April, all of them kept busy on the Society bookstall. Now I know what the January sales are like from the other side of the counter! The Thames Valley Branch was once again well represented later in the year at the AGM. In May we visited Dorney Court, the home of the Palmer family for over 400 years. Although each generation has changed the house in some way, parts of it date back to the fifteenth century as, we suspect, do some of the cobwebs. At the time of writing this we still have the Society Carol Service at Fotheringhay, and the ‘Battle of Wakefield’ to look forward to. If our accounts of the battle from the viewpoint of many an adopted persona is anything like our Tewkesbury battle, it should prove to be a lively meeting. Sally Empson

Worcestershire Branch Preparations are under way for the celebration next year of our twentieth anniversary. We will be holding a banquet on 10 June 2006 at Inkberrow Village hall, which will be open to members and visitors alike – more details in next issue. We had a stand at the re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury: I must say that the fun for me is in seeing the men of the Duke of Gloucester marching past in full battle array. Sharing a tent with Graham Turner’s paintings is also always tempting and enjoyable. Our visit in August was an evening outing accompanied by Tim Bridges of the Worcester- shire County Council Archaeology Service, and we visited Ripple and Queenhill churches, the former with beautiful misericords, and a window of old glass containing the three lions of Eng- land. Queenhill is a beautiful small church once part of the estate of the Bishop of Worcester. In September we visited Lichfield Cathedral.

Forthcoming events Saturday 14 January 2006 Ralph Richardson will give a talk on his other interest, at Beoley Saturday 11 February 2006 Talk by Dr Ann Wroe on Perkin Warbeck, at Lyttleton Rooms, Malvern 59

Saturday 11 March 2006 Play reading, at Inkberrow Education Centre.

For full details of our programme, or to attend the banquet, please contact our Secretary Val Si- bley. Jane Tinklin

Yorkshire Branch As usual the Branch visited Middleham several times this summer, having a stall in the castle grounds on two occasions and commemorating the Battle of Bosworth with the placing of flowers, supplied by Margaret Moorhouse, beneath King Richard’s window in St Alkelda’s church. At this last event we were glad to welcome visiting Ricardians from the US and Australia. We also had a presence at Barnard Castle church on a hot day in July, providing some genuine ‘glitter’ at a medieval afternoon gala: the vicar’s wife, Kim Harding, is one of our members. Our Branch Research Officer, Janet Senior, did sterling work descending in mediaeval costume on intrigued passers-by and advertising the Society with panache. In September the Branch held its AGM in York, where John Audsley - who continues as our Chairman in 2005-6 - was presented with his Society Vice-President’s badge by Peter Hammond. We were very pleased that several members had made a special effort to attend this occasion and see John’s very many years of invaluable service and support to Yorkshire Branch and the Socie- ty officially recognised. (Like the re-formed Richard III Society, he is now ready for the next half-century!) Our Chairman was in the party of members who attended the London AGM in October, where we had a very sociable and enjoyable day and did very brisk business on our sales stall, even managing to get one senior Executive Committee Member (who shall be nameless here) to make a special trip to a cash point in order to pay for their purchases. We are delighted to report that the latest publication by the Branch’s Rosalba Press - Pauline Harrison Pogmore’s Who was Who in the Wars of the Roses - is selling extremely well. If you have not yet got your copy, you can obtain one directly from the author at 169 Albert Road, Sheffield S8 9QX at a cost of £8.20, to include postage; cheques payable to Rosalba Press, please. The cost to Yorkshire Branch members who received a discount form with their August Newsletter is £7.00. Other publications of the Rosalba Press, including Mary O’Regan’s Brief Life of Richard III and Jean Gidman’s Sir William Stanley, may be obtained directly from 18 St Martin’s Drive, Leeds LS7 3LR. Janet Senior’s Sheriff Hutton and its Lords is almost sold out now but stocks of other books remain. On Friday 30 December the Branch commemorates the Battle of Wakefield and the death of Richard, Duke of York, meeting at Sandal Castle at 2.00 p.m. or the duke’s statue in Manygates Lane at 2.15, for a short act of remembrance and the placing of a wreath. All are welcome, and afterwards a visit to the castle’s new visitor centre for refreshments is highly recommended. We have booked the usual venue (Leeds City Art Gallery’s lecture hall) for our Branch Spring Lecture on Saturday 8 April 2006 at 2.00 p.m. The topic will be the current excava- tions being undertaken at Harewood Castle, a place with links to some notable names in the later fifteenth century such as the Gascoigne, Ryther and Redmayne families. In the church nearby are the effigies of Sir William Gascoigne (d. 1487) who was made a knight banneret by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, on the Scottish campaign of 1482 and supported the king at Bosworth, and Edward Redmayne (d. 1510), Esquire of the Body to King Richard, who also fought there. Angela Moreton

New Members

UK 1 July- 30 Sept 2005 Matthew Archer and family, Dewsbury Vivienne Knight, Ashford Stuart Ayre, Burnhope Lesley Lambert,York Godfrey Beer, Rochester Philippa Levy, Caterham Ashley Bilbrough, Taunton Edward Lewis, Leeds Ann Bowtell, Walton on Thames John & Lynda MacGregor, Hereford Paula Carpenter, London Gerald Maiello, Maulden Helen Challinor, Saxilby Lesley Marshall-Williams, Dorking Pauline Chappell, Bridgwater Susan Mcwhirter, Edinburgh Alison Coates, Leicester Graham & Beverley Mellstrom, Liphook John Curtis, Lincoln Marion Nixon, March Ronald Gadd, Burnham on Sea Janet Preston, Swadlincote Dorothy Gibas, Jarrow John & Carol Rothery, Keighley Catherine Glithero, Mears Ashby Andy Smith, Ashtead Marjorie Hodgkinson, Bradford Cecilia Voss, London Glen Ingram, Bicknacre Denis Walton, Torquay Francis Johnson, Rickmansworth David Weaver, Totton

Overseas 1 July - 30 Sept 2005

Ayako Otsuka , Kanagawa-Ken, Japan Susan Taylor, California, USA Evgueny Romanov, Russia

US Branch 1 July - 30 Sept 2005

Father Constantine Belisarius, Virginia Kathleen A Jones, Ohio Sheila Bloom, Virginia Suzanne Mealer, Illinois Abigail Humburg Comber, Indiana Juanita V Miller, California Nance Crawford, California Salena Moffat, Colorado Richard Foster, Michigan Henry Mulloy, Massachusetts Paul Frisch, Pennsylvania Nona Robbins, Arkansas Susan Giannotta, Michigan Margaret Schroder, Illinois Dr Victor E. Hill IV, Massachusetts Eva Veller, Michigan

Obituaries

William (Bill) Hampton, 1924-2005 It was with great sadness that we learnt of the death of Bill Hampton a few months ago. Many members will have read his work in the form of his Ricardian articles (the last appeared in the Festschrift volume two years ago) or will have used his book Memorials of the Wars of the Ros- es, published by the Society in 1979. Bill was an excellent and incredibly knowledgeable geneal- ogist of our period. I first came into contact with him when he submitted his first article to the Ricardian in 1975 and we became good friends and greatly enjoyed collaborating in articles. Bill was by training an artist and sculptor. He studied fine arts at Kings College, Durham Uni- versity, interrupted by service in the King’s Dragoon Guards in the Second World War. After the war he worked as a stained glass artist, a portrait painter and taught oil painting at the University, then based in Newcastle, where he met his wife Olive. They had two children, a boy and a girl. He was not only interested in the fifteenth century but had studied deeply many other periods of history, including the Normans, and Italy and the Renaissance, which he came to love through his military service there. Latterly though and fortunately for us he concentrated on the Wars of the Roses and the genealogy of that period. He spent many hours in the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History library in Taunton unravelling puzzles for himself and for other people. I remember how he would report his triumphs in sorting out a particularly knotty problem there. Bill was not only an artist and historian, he greatly enjoyed touring Europe in his 1937 Alvis Speed 25 and working with wood. He and his wife restored Lotley Grange, the ruinous farm- house in Somerset in which they lived (down a long track from the road which cannot have made the work any easier), rebuilding the staircase and panelling the rooms amongst much else. He was also passionately fond of music, particularly grand opera. He was diagnosed with cancer behind his eye in 1989 and despite several operations finally died from cancer on Easter Sunday this year. He was an excellent companion with a ready wit and will be greatly missed in the wide academic community and by those of us who counted him a good friend. Peter Hammond

An appreciation by Tony Pollard I met Bill through Charles Ross. The connection was Alan Sutton who published Memorials for the Society in 1979 in the same year as the collection of essays entitled Patronage, Pedigree and Power, two of Alan’s earliest ventures. Charles was rightly a great fan of Bill’s book, and of Bill. This might surprise some members. But Charles was no academic snob and saw that Bill was a gifted prosopographer. Many of us came to rely on his meticulously researched genealogical notes. As all members of the Society know, he instinctively understood that no historian gets everything right all the time – hence the sheets of typed corrigenda and addenda, some of which, now somewhat dog-eared, are with my work. We got to know each other because he lived on the edge of Exmoor, not too far from my home town of Taunton, where I visited my father and his sister regularly. I remember going to Lotley Grange, when I didn’t meet him and Olive in Taun- ton. The other link was that he and Olive came from county Durham. So, we had swapped places. Until his eyes began to dim, tragically early in his life, he was a glass painter; and Olive a weaver. The prosopography was a substitute for the art. They lived a wonderfully alternative life-style. I relied a lot on his work when I was researching the north-eastern gentry. In later years we did

not meet. My relations died; I did not make sufficient effort, especially after they moved down to Bampton. But we always exchanged Christmas cards, through which I learned of the lives of his children (by then adults) and the distressing details of his various operations as he fought his creeping illness. But even though his sight was impaired, he kept up the distinctive calligraphy, however difficult it must have become. I will miss him; and always regret the visits I did not make.

Helen Combes Helen Combes, a member of the Richard III Society for many years and a recipient of a Society bursary, died in the Royal Marsden Hospital on 9 September 2005 after a long battle against cancer. She received her BA from the University of Hull and was later awarded her MA in Later Medieval Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her interests were always in late medieval piety and she began research for a PhD at Royal Holloway based on the medieval records and accounts for the London parish of St Nicholas Shambles. Helen was a gifted speaker and spoke to members of the Thames Valley branch and London branch and at various conferences on a variety of aspects connected to her research on St Nicholas Shambles. Her research on the inventory of St Nicholas Shambles was published by the London and Middlesex Archaeolog- ical Society in 1997 and in 2000 Helen published an account of William Abell, one of the most influential parishioners of St Nicholas Shambles, in The Ricardian. At the time of her death, Hel- en was preparing an edition of the churchwardens’ accounts of St Nicholas Shambles for the London Record Society. Arrangements have been made for this to be completed as a legacy to Helen’s deep interest, enthusiasm and passion for her subject. Helen was a brave, compassionate and witty person, who continued to laugh and to study despite the tough obstacles she faced. Many of her friends and members of the Society joined her husband Tony, her sons, Eddie and Nick, and her step-daughter, Abi, at a Requiem Mass led by the Very Reverend Victor Stock at Guildford Cathedral on 20 September. Christian Steer and Stephanie Hovland

Morris McGee The Executive Committee were saddened to learn of the passing of Morris McGee, a member of the American Branch and Vice President of the Society. An obituary will appear in the next issue of the Bulletin.

Calendar

We run a calendar of all forthcoming events: if you are aware of any events of Ricardian interest, whether organised by the Society – Committee, Visits Committee, Research Committee, Branches/Groups – or by others, please let the Editor have full details, in sufficient time for entry. The calendar will also be run on the website.

Date(s) Events Originator 2005 10 December Fotheringhay Nine Lessons and Carols and Lunch Phil Stone

2006 15 January Glasgow Lecture at the Burrell Collection, See page 58 ‘The Fifteenth Century Fighting Man’

18 March Annual Requiem Mass, Minster Lovell See page 51

25 March ‘Troops and Tactics’, The Tower of London See page 5

8 April London day visit. British Museum and Charterhouse Visits Committee

21 - 23 April Study Weekend at York See page 52

5-7 May AGM Continental Group, Lilbosch, Holland

25 May ‘Celebrating 50 Years’ Reception at Staple Inn See page 6

10 June Worcestershire Branch tenth anniversary banquet, See page 59 Inkberrow

7-10 July Long weekend visit based on Chester See page 52

20 August Bosworth, traditional site, Sutton Cheney etc. Visits Committee

9 September Day Visit, Romney Marsh and Smallhythe Visits Committee

29 Sep – 1 Oct AGM and Members’ Weekend. York See page 6

21 October ‘Chivalry, the Order of the Garter and See page 7 St George’s Chapel’, Vicars’ Hall, Windsor

16 December Fotheringhay Nine Lessons and Carols, and Lunch Phil Stone 2007 13-15 April Australasian Convention, Wellington , New Zealand

Early May Visit to Provence Visits Committee 64