Ricardian Bulletin Produced by the Bulletin Editorial Committee, General Editor Elizabeth Nokes and Printed by St Edmundsbury Press
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Ricardian Bulletin Spring 2004 Contents 2 From the Chairman 3 Facts and Fiction 4 Society News & Notices 8 New Members 9 Media Retrospective 11 Classified Advertisement 12 News and Reviews 16 Barley Hall 17 Your Society Needs You 18 The Man Himself 24 The Debate: Whose Bones? 27 Stony Stratford: The Case for the Prosecution by Gordon Smith 32 War Horses at Bosworth by Lynda M. Telford 33 After Bosworth: A Fork in the Road by P. A. Hancock 34 The Middleham Window by John Saunders 37 Correspondence 41 Barton Library 45 Letter from America 46 Book Review 47 The Beauchamp Pageant 48 Report on Society Event 49 Future Society Events 52 Branches and Groups 56 Obituaries 57 Calendar Contributions Contributions are welcomed from all members. Articles and correspondence regarding the Bulletin Debate should be sent to Peter Ham- mond 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 The Ricardian and The Bulletin are available from Pat Ruffle. If you are interested in obtaining any back numbers, please contact Mrs Ruffle to establish whether she holds the issue(s) in which you are interested. The Ricardian Bulletin produced by the Bulletin Editorial Committee, General Editor Elizabeth Nokes and printed by St Edmundsbury Press. © Richard III Society, 2003 1 From the Chairman he fifteenth century has been much in the news of late. First, there was the splendid T ‘Gothic: Art for England 1400 – 1547’ exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which closed in January, having brought together many of the treasures of our period, including Margaret of York’s coronet from Aachen, Richard’s Book of Hours from Lambeth Palace Li- brary and the Middleham Jewel from the Yorkshire Museum. Our review captures some of the unique atmosphere of the exhibition. Naturally, we were disappointed with some of the negative references to Richard III in the accompanying literature and have written to the exhibition curator about these. At the beginning of the year, Channel 4 broadcast Tony Robinson’s ‘Fact or Fic- tion’ programme on Richard. The Society had been consulted at an early stage, so we were able to have some input into the programme, which overall gave a positive impression of Richard. This is to be welcomed and shows the importance of the Society being proactive in promoting the historic Richard III. There were some aspects we felt could have been handled more objectively and these points are expanded in the article that follows. The question of Edward IV’s legitimacy is a continuing source of controversy and we will have the issue as the subject for the Bulletin’s next Debate. Michael Jones and Joanna Laynesmith will be the debaters. Joanna has written ex- tensively on Cicely Neville and is well placed to have views on the supposed extramarital affair. The same evening, there was a follow-on programme tracing the ‘legitimate’ Yorkist descent through Margaret Pole, daughter of the Duke of Clarence, down to the current Earl of Loudoun, who lives quite happily in a country town in New South Wales. Understandably, he does not in- tend to pursue his claim to the throne, but he could make a good recruit for our Branch in that state! In England over the past year there has been a debate about the relevance of medieval history in schools and universities. Professor Miri Rubin of the University of London recently stressed the importance of medieval studies, saying, ‘We cannot understand who we are or where we came from without an understanding of our provenance, which goes way beyond the last few decades or generations … We lose the Middle Ages at our peril; such a loss will leave us igno- rant, confused, and impoverished.’ Our Society makes a meaningful and valid contribution to fifteenth-century scholarship and our understanding of the Middle Ages. The 2004 issue of The Ricardian with its wide range of articles and reviews is surely ample evidence of this. We can also take pride in the recent completion of the Society’s Wills Indexing Project. Once published, this will be of great value to historians of our period. My congratulations to all who have been involved with the project over the years. In noting the contribution we make to fifteenth-century studies, we should not forget that we are able to do this because the Society is built on the strong foundations laid by our early members. Therefore, I am very pleased that in the article on the Middleham window we recall the work of The Fellowship of the White Boar. Seventy years on, the window remains one of the most poignant memorials to King Richard. Finally, let me say that I look forward to meeting and talking to many of you throughout what should be a busy and en- joyable year for Ricardians. Phil Stone 2 Facts and Fiction This is an expanded version of the notice that was placed on the Society’s website immediately after the programmes were transmitted. The Channel 4 Programmes he Society welcomes the new insights into the life and times of Richard III highlighted in T the two Channel 4 programmes presented by Tony Robinson on 3 January 2004. The first of these re-examined the King’s character and motives, while the second attempted to trace the current ‘heir’ to the House of York based on the assumption that Edward IV was indeed illegiti- mate. The Society is particularly pleased that the programmes emphasised many of the positive qualities of Richard as King and Duke of Gloucester. Particular mention needs to be made of the contribution of The Ricardian editor, Dr Anne Sutton, who was one of the experts interviewed by Tony Robinson. Anne gave a composed and authoritative performance, which powerfully pro- moted Richard’s personal qualities and his administrative abilities. Other historians interviewed included Dr. Michael K. Jones, Professor Tony Pollard and Keith Dockray. The first programme could have handled the key period between April and July 1483 with more balance, recognising the realpolitik issues facing Richard and the fact that he was legally the Lord Protector. For this period there was an over-reliance on Shakespeare’s melodramatic interpretation. The crucial relationship with William Lord Hastings in particular was over- simplified and the programme made the assumption that the princes were indeed murdered whereas all we know for certain is that they disappeared from the Tower at some point during the second half of 1483. Also the programme did not explore the implications of the various ‘pretenders’ who surfaced during the reign of Henry VII. The fact that the most prominent of these, Perkin Warbeck, was accepted by many as Richard Duke of York does at least suggest that there was at the time uncertainty about the fate of the two princes. The debate over the illegitimacy of Edward IV and the implications that this has both for Richard’s motives and his claim to the throne is one to which the Society will contribute. The debate is in its early stages, but is an interesting new angle on the House of York and the behav- iour of its members during the late fifteenth century. The programme concentrated on Edward’s supposed illegitimacy and rather side-stepped Richard’s stated rationale for assuming the throne: the pre-contract with Lady Eleanor Talbot (Lady Butler) and the consequent illegitimacy of Ed- ward’s children by Elizabeth Woodville. The involvement of John Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells, both in 1478 at the time of Clarence’s trial for treason and with the pre-contract reve- lation in 1483, was also not mentioned. The Society does however recognise that the circumstances in which Richard became king and the fate of the Princes in the Tower and their possible illegitimacy remain areas of controver- sy. The quest to establish the current Yorkist ‘heir’ through the line of Margaret Pole was a thor- ough and entertaining exercise. However, no account was taken of the attainder of her father, George, Duke of Clarence, which rendered his heirs ineligible for the throne. Additionally the fact that Henry Tudor’s claim was also based on the right of conquest (as was the claim of the illegitimate William the Conqueror) was not addressed. Australian members who may not yet have seen the programme will be interested to note that the traced ‘heir’ is Michael Hastings, 12th Earl of Loudoun, who has lived in New South Wales since the early 1960s. The Society congratulates the programme makers for their handling of a complicated subject and making it accessible to a wider audience. We look forward to building on the positive pub- licity generated by the programmes. 3 Society News and Notices The Norwich Richard III Society Award The idea came to me while idly thinking how good it would be to get an award for writing the best history essay. So the Norwich Richard III Society Award was born but not as I originally thought for schools but at university level. I hope this will go some way to keeping the Society better known to young people. I went to the University of East Anglia here in Norwich and spoke with the history depart- ment. The idea was received very favourably, all the tutors feeling that winning such an award would look very good on a c.v. The remit for the prize was quite wide – i.e.