Ricardian Bulletin

Contents Summer 2007

2 From the Chairman 3 Strategy Update 9 Society News and Notices 12 Media Retrospective 14 News and Reviews 17 The Man Himself: by Tony Goodman 20 Medieval Migration: by Peter W. Lee 22 A Proclamation Against Henry Tudor, 23 June 1485: by David Candlin 25 Hastings and the Meeting at St Paul’s: by Gordon Smith 27 Chedworth Parish Church: by Gwen & Brian Waters 29 A ‘Lost’ Medieval Document: by Lynda Pidgeon 30 Logge Notes and Queries: Helen Barker’s Miracles by Lesley Boatwright 33 Correspondence 36 Guidelines for Contributors to the Bulletin 37 The Barton Library 40 New Members 41 Australasian Convention 2007 44 Report on Society Events 52 Future Society Events 55 Branch and Group Contacts - Update 55 Branches and Groups 58 Obituaries and Recently Deceased Members 60 Calendar

Contributions Contributions are welcomed from all members. All contributions should be sent to the Technical Editor, Lynda Pidgeon. 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 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 Printed by St Edmundsbury Press. © Richard III Society, 2007

From the Chairman

ime for another issue of the Bulletin, and, all being well, you should have the 2007 edition T of The Ricardian too. As ever, this contains a wide range of articles and reviews which continue to maintain the highest standards in fifteenth-century scholarship, and which reflect so well on the Society. For all this, my thanks go to Anne Sutton, now in her twenty-ninth year as editor. ‘From the Chairman’ is always written once the first draft of the Bulletin has been assembled. That way, my comments can be kept as up to date as possible. (It also means that there is a tight deadline to have the piece ready in time; if not, guess who’s in trouble with the Editorial Team?) Looking through, I see that the team has put together another interesting and entertaining issue and for that it, too, deserves our thanks. In this issue, we have articles on two churches with close Yorkist connections, while Peter Lee explores the topical subject of migration, though from a medieval perspective. Tony Goodman examines Richard III, and the sacredness of kingship, and continuing that theme, Lesley Boatwright links a Logge will to one of the ‘miracles’ of Henry VI. Gordon Smith throws some new light on Lord Hastings’s motives during the early weeks of Ed- ward V’s reign and another article revisits Richard III’s 1484 proclamation against Henry Tudor – the one that rather charmingly refers to Henry’s ‘ambitiousness and insatiable covetousness’. Clearly, in that sense at least, Richard knew his enemy! There are reports from the three events held over the weekend of 13-15 April: the Australa- sian Convention, hosted by the New Zealand Branch, the York Study Weekend and the Scottish Branch Study Day. The accounts confirm that these events were great successes, with two themes common to two of the events: banquets and tournaments. The reviews reminded me that, wherever they are in the world, Ricardians know how to have a good time. Furthermore, I urge you all to read the article that gives an update on a number of issues that fall within the strategy remit. As well as some important news about future subscription rates, there is a summary of the Constitution Working Party’s review of the Society’s voting system, and news of an exciting development on the public relations front. Finally, we are asking for your views on the future of the annual Bosworth In Memoriam notice. It is with sadness that we record the death of Noreen Armstrong, the recipient of last year’s Robert Hamblin award for service to the Society. She had been ill for a long time. However, I understand from those who knew her well, she was one of those ladies for whom the word ‘indomitable’ was coined. Without Noreen, there would be far fewer members of the Society in Canada. Here in the northern hemisphere, summer fast approaches and it is worth noting that in medieval times, midsummer was celebrated with the lighting of bonfires, feasting and much merrymaking, traditions that largely disappeared during the Reformation, unfortunately, although some rural areas managed to maintain them into the nineteenth century. Far be it from me to suggest that Ricardians should revive these traditional celebrations of summer – but, what the heck, surely a little merrymaking wouldn’t go amiss? On that note, let me close by saying that I hope to see many of you during the summer season, and especially at our annual Bosworth gathering in Au- gust. Phil Stone

Strategy Update

ur on-going strategic review involves a number of key areas: making realistic decisions O about income and expenditure; improving the way the Society is managed; and exploring new opportunities to further our objectives. We promised in the last Bulletin to keep members up to date with progress on the strategy front and there have been a number of new developments recently which members need to know about, and these are outlined below. They all demonstrate that we are making sound progress with our review and are focussing on what more we can do to promote a positive picture of the life and achievements of King Richard III.

Subscriptions: An Inconvenient Truth The title of this piece is borrowed of course; but the essence of the message is the same: something we have to face up to but would prefer not to. In our case it is not global warming, however vital that is to humanity’s survival, but something that is vital to our Society’s survival, and this is the issue of subscription rates and categories. Throughout its history the Society has always aimed to keep subscription levels as low as possible. Indeed between 1991 and 1999 we didn’t increase the rate at all. Popular though this may be we all know that it was not sustainable and in many respects was only possible because of the legacy that we received from the late Edda Cur- ry.

Members will be aware that we have done a lot of soul-searching over the past five years whilst reviewing the way the Society operates, and this has inevitably included an examination of our financial position. This has led to significant changes to our membership, distribution and sales activities which have resulted in a small surplus in our accounts for 2005/2006 after many years of deficit. At this point it is worth quoting again Mr Micawber’s wise words ‘Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.’

We must now seek to consolidate this achievement to ensure that surplus remains the norm for the future, and it is important to emphasise that a surplus provides the Society with on-going capital to use for promotion, publications and research. In this spirit we are continuing to monitor our financial situation very closely and in so doing we have reached the point where realistic decisions have to be made about future subscription rates. One key fact to emerge is that the cost of providing the universal benefits of membership to some categories has for many years been more than the subscription being charged. This is clearly not a tenable situation, not least because it means that other members are subsidising these categories, which overall limits the surplus available to take forward the aims of the Society. It is therefore inevitable that a motion to increase subscription rates will have to be tabled at this year’s Annual General Meeting.

We are now taking a long-term view of our financial position and, reflecting on the subscription increases tabled at the 2001 and 2004 AGMs, we find that these simply provided us with sufficient income to maintain our existing services and activities, but did not provide us the crucial working capital to enable us to invest in activities that would help us promote the positive view of King Richard III. We feel that members want us to be in a position to do this and not merely tread water. To illustrate how a lack of working capital holds us back here are some examples:

 Our publications programme is stalling because we do not have the funds to finance the up- front costs of publishing; this is delaying the publication of the Wills Project.  Another key area where we are hampered by lack of funds is promotion and recruitment; vital areas for our long term survival. We currently have low stocks of our membership brochure; this will need to be redesigned and reprinted in the coming months. We would also like to promote ourselves in some of the popular history magazines which have large circulations; this would be a new departure for us and one which offers great potential for raising our profile and recruiting new members. Our website, developed so far with little cost, is now established as our principal source of new members. With more resources we could significantly develop its content and enhance its impact. We are planning to have a regular presence at historical events such as Bosworth and we are investigating the possibility of purchasing a portable stand and associated publicity material (see below). However, such things do not come cheaply and we need the resources to move from ideas to reality.

It would be helpful at this point to look at what your subscription currently pays for:

 The production, printing and distribution of the journals (the quarterly Bulletin and annual Ricardian). Please note cost of the domestic postage for the journals is taken into account when we look at costing overseas postage supplements. In other words such members receive an ‘allowance’ equal to the UK postage to offset the cost of shipping overseas.  The costs of accountancy and auditing; operating the membership department; running the library (although in recent years the annual book auction has reduced this cost to less than £100 p.a); room hire to hold meetings for the Executive and other committees (members do not receive any expenses for attending); Website development; holding the AGM (which is becoming increasingly difficult when held in London).  In addition to these regular administrative costs there are other items of expenditure such as grants and bursaries, In Memoriam notices, and donations. We have in the past funded special events such as the Festschrift launch in 2003 and the reception held to celebrate our Patron’s twenty-five years of service in 2004. However, in the future such events will have to be self- funding.  All events organised by the Visits Committee and the Research Committee are self-funding as were the 50th Anniversary celebratory events held last year.

Taking into account all the above, cost increases and the need to maintain a surplus to invest in the Society’s future, we are proposing the following increases in subscription rates:

Full Member from £18 to £24 Family Membership from £24 to £30 Senior Citizens from £13 to £18 Senior Citizen Family Memberships from £18 to £24 Junior and Student Memberships from £13 to £18

If agreed at the 2007 AGM the new rates will be charged to all new members with immediate effect, but to existing members from 2 October 2008. We acknowledge that it is a large increase, but we have some catching up to do and in comparison to similar organisations the new rates are far from excessive and indeed in terms of benefits of membership still very good value. For example, The Monumental Brass Society charges £25 for full membership and £35 for a family 4

membership, with the benefits of an annual journal (c. 100 pages) and three bulletins (20 pages each). Subscriptions for the major heraldry societies are even higher. We also found that very few offer concessionary rates to senior citizens or students. These categories constitute an important part of our membership and in terms of recruitment and retention we should continue to offer these categories. The following chart illustrates the composition of the Society’s member-

30 Series1

0 Full Snrs Family Snr Family Jnrs & Academic Students ship. We all belong to the Richard III Society because we have an interest in fifteenth-century England and a desire to see the king treated fairly in our history books. To manage and maintain the Soci- ety we need to be on a sound financial footing both now and into the future and it follows that to be more effective we need more resources. We are confident that members will view the subscription increases as a necessary step in raising the profile of our Society and seeking historical justice for King Richard III.

In Memoriam Notices – do we still need them? Members will be aware that since its refounding the Society has paid for In Memoriam notices to appear in The Times and the Daily Telegraph on 22 August each year although recently we have only used the former. Last year this cost us £170, a relatively small sum of money, but the question has been raised as to whether this represents good value, particularly at a time when newspaper circulations are in decline (mainly due to the impact of the internet). The In Memoriam notices have in the past been a significant source of new members; however, latest figures show that their impact is now negligible in recruitment terms. Our website on the other hand accounted for 228 new members over the past year. We are thinking that it would make more sense to invest the £177 in other Society activities such as website development; the In Memoriam notice would then be posted instead on the website to give it a world-wide circulation and much greater impact. However, we are conscious that members might think it is important to maintain the traditional newspaper approach and that the cost is justified. We would therefore be interested in your views before we make a final decision, so if you have strong opinions on this issue either way could you let the Chairman know? (Contact details on the back page.)

Constitution Working Party Report on Reforming the Voting System As you will know, at the 2006 AGM the Executive Committee (EC) were tasked with considering the following motion, that: ‘The Executive Committee institute procedures to amend the constitution of the Richard III Society to reform voting procedure by overseas branches and/or individual members of

the Society unable to attend the AGM. These amendments to be submitted for approval at the 2007 AGM.’ The Constitution working party were asked to discuss the details of this motion.* Their report was presented to the EC when it met on Saturday 21 April and was accepted with the one provi- so, that it was felt that votes for membership of the EC should also be included in the revised system. A summary of the report is as follows:

There are two voting options open to those not attending an AGM: proxy or postal voting.

Proxy Voting  Both proxy and original voter would need to be validated.  Proxies must be members and must attend the AGM. Option rejected because if members choose how the vote should be cast, they might as well vote directly as a postal vote, and proxy voting is also a process open to abuse.

Postal Voting  The Constitution would need to be amended to allow for this.  Postal voting could include e-mail voting.  A motion/proposition would need 66% of the vote to be passed.  Votes would need to be counted by a neutral (non EC) person – either member or non- member (solicitor?) or by a professional organisation – which could incur cost.  Voting would be done via a form in the Summer Bulletin – validation to be ideally by membership number but could be by name or signature and address. Mid-September would be cut-off date for votes.  Motions to be debated at the AGM and those attending cast their votes in the usual manner.  The AGM remains the supreme decision-making body of the Society and will not be replaced by postal votes. Attendance at the AGM is therefore as important as before.

Subjects that could be covered by postal votes:

Annual Accounts 1. To include accounts, these would need to be ready by no later than 15 April, to allow inclu- sion in the Summer Bulletin. However, for the accounts to be ready and audited about two weeks after the end of the financial year is impossible. 2. To accommodate this either:  The Society’s financial year could be set back to the end of December.  The accounts could be sent out as an insert in the Summer Bulletin.  The accounts could be published with a voting form in the Autumn Bulletin, the results being published in the following Spring Bulletin.

Appointment of Auditors 1. The auditors must be appointed annually. The name of the proposed auditor could be published with the accounts and voted on with them.

Approval of Previous Year’s Minutes 1. These would be printed in the usual way in the Winter Bulletin and approval asked for on the ballot paper published in June.

EC Membership 1. Nominations to be called for in the Spring Bulletin.

2. If by April 15 only nominations up to the total number of places available have been received this would be announced in the Summer Bulletin and the new EC declared elected at the AGM. 3. If there are more nominations than there are places then a ballot paper would have to be prepared and the existing preferential voting system could be changed to allow for ‘first past the post’ voting to simplify matters. 4. Votes for EC members would have to be received by mid September as with the other votes.

President / Vice Presidents 1. At the moment these are proposed by the EC and voted for at the AGM. If postal votes for these are adopted the same procedure as for the EC would be followed.

Substantive Motions 1. Motions to be called for in the Spring Bulletin and received by 15 April (the Summer Bulletin press date). 2. Motions to be published together with any backing statement from the proposer and seconder. 3. If thought desirable, the EC could add a statement, or the EC could propose an amended motion and members be invited to vote for whichever they thought best. 4. Any motion amended before it is voted on at the AGM will be voted on at the AGM and then opened to a postal vote in the Winter Bulletin. 5. Any emergency substantive motions (by the EC), if arising after the April deadline would have to be received and voted on at an AGM. 6. Any likely controversial motion could be published in the following Summer Bulletin for confirmation by post and the subsequent AGM.

It could therefore be argued that implementing postal voting for the above could complicate the administration of the Society considerably, cause a heavy burden on the Society’s voluntary administration and increase costs. More democracy is a good thing, but we believe that it would be perfectly within the terms of the motion we were asked to consider to recommend postal voting for all substantive AGM motions only. This would be relatively simple.

Conclusions Our conclusions were that postal voting but not proxy voting was a perfectly feasible proposition. However, we thought that the only things which could be conveniently voted for without considerable new organisation and work were substantive motions at the AGM.

The EC would like to invite Society members to contribute to this report, and welcome any comments or suggestions. Please send these to Phil Stone.

If you would like a copy of the full report, please contact Jane Trump.

The final motion will be printed in the Autumn Bulletin prior to the AGM.

(*Members of this working party were Peter Hammond (Chairman), Phil Stone, Elizabeth Nokes, Rosemary Waxman, Jane Trump, Neil Trump, John Ashdown-Hill and John Saunders.)

Raising our Profile As has already been mentioned, part of our strategy for moving forward lies in raising our profile in order to recruit more members which will allow us to promote more effectively the aims of the Society. Ideally we would like to place advertisements or advertorials (often seen in magazines

under the banner of promotionals, that is a paid-for article) in leading historical and genealogical publications, this however can be quite expensive. So it is rather a ‘Catch 22’ situation in that we really do not have the finances to do this but if we don’t do something the membership numbers will fall and so will our finances.

Nevertheless we need to address the question of raising our profile and as previously mentioned we are going to make a start by way of purchasing a small pop-up display stand, rather like the garden gazebo used by many people in case of inclement weather when having barbecues. We will then be able to attend various historical events that take place country-wide and have our own small stand promoting membership in the Society.

What better, or more appropriate place, to make a start than at the annual Bosworth Battlefield event in August. In fact it has been mentioned by a number of visitors to Bosworth that they found it strange that the Richard III Society was not in evidence at these events. For those members not aware of the fact, the Leicester County Council are in the process of spending some £750,000 on the new Bosworth Battlefield centre which will probably make it one of, if not the, leading, medieval visitor sites in Great Britain, all the more reason that we should be seen and heard at Bosworth. Visitor numbers could be well over 200,000 per year. If this number of people are prepared to make the trek to Bosworth then they must have an interest in medieval history which could make our task of recruiting that much easier.

In the same vein we are also looking at the possibility, Leicester Council permitting, of having a permanent display unit in the centre itself. The new Battlefield Centre is planned as an interactive unit with touch screens etc allowing visitors to call up all aspects of life in medieval times. The centre will also have a small medieval village in addition to the one that grows up in the surrounding fields during event weekends. If we do get permission to have our own small area this should not cost a lot as one of our local members who is well experienced in wood construction has very generously offered to supply and build our stand and our webmaster will look after the electronic side.

A new occasional series for the Bulletin coming soon

Living History The Richard III Society aims to work with the academic fraternity in the pursuit of a fair hearing for Richard III and a furtherance of research into the late Middle Ages and early Tudor period. However, although scholars can tell us how people lived in the past, there are others who bring that past to life by reconstructing and living it now. Living History is growing in popularity and more and more people are getting involved. These people research their chosen craft very thoroughly and then go that one step further by actually doing what they have researched and gaining the experience and knowledge that cannot be obtained from books. All kinds of activity are covered, from noble pursuits to rat catching and, in this occasional series, we aim to embrace Living History in all its variety and show how it can augment our understanding of the past.

It is anticipated that the first article will be about The Order of the Boar, the New Zealand-based jousting organisation.

Society News and Notices

Richard III Society Members’ Day and Annual General Meeting Saturday 29 September 2007

Notice is hereby given that the 2007 Annual General Meeting of the Richard III Society will be held on Saturday 29 September 2007 in Staple Inn Hall, High Holborn, London WC1V 7QJ

The formal business of the meeting will include reports from the officers, the presentation of the annual accounts of the Society to 21 March 2007 and the election of the Committee for the next year. Exact timings for the AGM will be notified in the Autumn Bulletin.

Nominations for the Committee should reach the Secretary, Mrs Jane Trump, at Gorsedene, Bagshot Road, Knaphill, Woking, Surrey GU21 2SF not later than Friday 14 September. All nominations must be proposed, seconded, and accepted in writing by the member proposed.

Resolutions for the Agenda, proposed and seconded, should also reach the Secretary by 14 September.

If you intend to come to the AGM, please book your place by completing booking form in this Bulletin.

Call to Branches and Groups If your branch/group wishes to make a report at the AGM, please let the Secretary know by Fri- day 14 September so that you may be included on the AGM Agenda. Reports can be made in person by a branch/group representative or, for overseas branches/groups, if no local representative is to be in London at the time of the AGM, in printed form, to be read at the AGM. Reports should not exceed three minutes and should consist of new material not previously reported ver- bally or in print. Full details and logistics for the Members’ Day and AGM will be published in the Autumn Bulletin but, in the meantime, if you have any queries, please contact the Secretary – address inside back cover.

Auction - Call for Items This year, we thought we’d have some fun and have an auction – but we need items to auction off. Would any of you, intending to attend, have any suitable items that you would be willing to donate to the auction and bring with you to the AGM? If so, please could you let Jane Trump know. Details on the back cover.

Refreshments and Lunch The London Branch has very kindly agreed to organise teas and coffees on arrival and in the afternoon. Lunch will be provided by the public house, The Cittie of York, across the road from Staple Inn. There will be a choice of six dishes, including a vegetarian option, which can be bought on the day for £6.50. Drinks may also be bought to go with the meal. However, we need to know numbers in advance so please let the Secretary know via the booking form.

Executive Committee – the Low Down The past two Executive Committee (EC) meetings have again been lively affairs. Membership has been the main focus of our attention – how to serve the membership we have more fully and how to attract new members. Concern has been growing about the reliability of our journals arriving in time to our members in Australia. Despite all efforts, members there have been receiving their Bulletins weeks behind the rest of the membership – and some not at all. Wendy Moorhen is now our expert in postal arrangements of every variety – she has researched the lot! However, having looked at all the options that Wendy uncovered, both the Australian branches and the EC decided that, given all the options, the present arrangement would seem to be the best and we are all keeping our fingers crossed that this system (which is fairly new to us) will settle down and our Australian members will be as up-to-date on Society news as the rest of us – and Wendy can go back to researching the fifteenth century. Paul, as befits a dedicated Treasurer, has been looking at ways to simplify the payment of subscriptions and the purchase of goods by overseas members. We are now registered with Pay- Pal so that people can pay via the Internet into our new account. This system is not only conven- ient but is cheaper than paying by cheque as there will be no exchange costs. You will find full instructions below. Indeed subscriptions have been a main topic of discussion but this is covered elsewhere in the Bulletin so I won’t dwell on it here. With our 50-years celebrations successfully behind us, the EC is now turning its attention to the future. A good Society should never rest on its laurels and we have lots of projects which we would like to get off the ground in order to raise the profile of the Society and – more important- ly – to raise the profile of Richard himself. This is always an exciting time, planning for the future, and we hope that you will find our ideas as exciting as we start unfolding them – and if you have any ideas, please don’t be shy – come and tell us! We’re only too pleased to have members give us their ideas – we only have so many ‘little grey cells’ between us. Current events are often discussed. Leicester City Council contacted us regarding renovation plans for the Bow Bridge in Leicester. We were delighted to be consulted and sent them information on the original design and colour of the parapets and the plaques. We are always pleased when members alert us to Ricardian situations to be dealt with. A member kindly informed Wendy that, at Christchurch Priory, Richard III had been omitted from the family tree of Margaret Pole. Geoff will be looking into this and seeking rectification of this situation as soon as possible. Jane Trump

A few words of advice to new members and a reminder to others The following has been published before, but it doesn’t hurt to print it again for the benefit of new members who may be unsure of Society protocol, and for older members who, like me, get forgetful. Further to Richard Van Allen’s request in the last issue of the Bulletin about keeping him and other members of the Executive Committee informed about the need for public responses in the press, etc., may I also remind members that under no circumstances should the Society’s patron be approached by individual members, be it for his thoughts on a particular matter, for a personal address to a meeting, a foreword to a book, or whatever. When the Duke offered to become our patron so many years ago, it was under the strict condition that no such advances would be made. Indeed, it was agreed that all approaches to Kensington Palace and His Royal Highness would only be made through the Chairman of the Society. Phil Stone for the Executive Committee

Society PayPal Account In order to assist overseas members to make payments more easily to the Society I have opened an account with PayPal which offers a secure online payment service. Members will need to have an existing account with PayPal or to set up an account with them. This is quite a simple procedure: visit their website www.paypal.com Members can pay for any of our goods or services, i.e. membership subscriptions, postage supplements, visits and events, books, merchandise, back copies of The Ricardian and the Bulle- tin. Payments can be funded either directly from bank accounts or through credit cards registered with PayPal. To make a payment simply log-on to your account and select SEND MONEY. In the first box please enter our PayPal e-mail address which is [email protected] and indicate whether the payment is for services/other or goods. Enter the amount (always the pounds sterling amount minus the £ sign) and specify currency as GBP sterling. As with credit card payments, we are having to pass on the surcharge for this service, which is 5%, and this should be added to the total. For example a membership subscription of £18 plus overseas postage supplement of £6.50 plus 5% (£1.22) makes a total of £25.72. Press the Continue button and the information already entered is confirmed. Select your payment method. Finally please complete the Message to Recipient. This is very important as it is the only way in which I can identify the payment. In the subject box please type the name of your contact within the Society regarding the payment:

Membership Brian or Wendy Moorhen Sales Sally Empson Back-copies Judith Ridley Visits & Events The organiser as specified in the Bulletin

And finally in the message box please state what the service is you are paying for, e.g. purchase of Good King Richard?, or subscription (including category), the event or visit you wish to attend, etc. and end with your name and e-mail address. Please note that paying by PayPal does not replace using the usual renewal, booking or sales order forms. These should still be sent to the relevant officer who will then be aware of your requirements and which can be actioned once your payment has been received and identified. Failure to provide full information with your PayPal transaction will cause delays to goods and services being provided. It is hoped that with the introduction of the PayPal facility members will no longer need to send cheques drawn on foreign banks, which cost a great deal to negotiate and for which only the net amount received is credited to the member. Although the PayPal account has been set up primarily for use by overseas members there is no problem with it being used by UK members who wish to make secure online payments to the Society. Paul Foss, Treasurer

Media Retrospective

From Pauline Pogmore: clothes worn and the dating of the paint used, Heritage Magazine no. 132, January 2007. a date of about 1520 has been assigned to this Entitled ‘Shakespeare and History’, the full painting, which places it at least 50 years be- piece reads as follows: fore any other known secular wall painting in ‘Fortunately for Shakespeare, one cannot Britain. One inscription in Latin is apparently libel the dead. Actions for seditious libel, a quotation from the first century A.D. educa- defamation of character and slander would tional writer Quintilian. The Times renders it have otherwise rained down upon him like a as ‘a good teacher is able to distinguish and peculiarly vindictive thunderstorm. foster the talents of individual boys and ‘For Shakespeare, history was entirely in should not try to make them into automatons’. the service of drama and could bear a little The Times reports that Sir Eric Anderson, pruning for art’s sake. Richard III is the most Provost of Eton, believes that the painting obvious victim of this literary dead heading; could date from the time of William Horman, elsewhere Joan of Arc is not a brave young who became headmaster at Eton in 1485: woman, but a witch possessed by demons. Horman had been educated at Winchester, ‘But Shakespeare could not always get and the Winchester coat of arms appears in away with such historical double-dealing. In the painting. original performances of Henry VI Part One, Daily Mail, 19 February 2007 the avuncular rascal leading Prince Hal into a Heading: History Is Bunk disreputable life was named Oldcastle – pre- As well as the myth that Richard III was a sumably after Sir John Oldcastle, executed for hunchback (it was a Tudor invention to dis- heresy in 1457. In the sixteenth century, how- credit him), other myths that were debunked ever, Oldcastle was revered as an early form in this article by Andrew Roberts included: of Protestant martyr. Complaints about Alexander Graham Bell invented the tele- Shakespeare’s mistreatment of Oldcastle were phone (it was a poor Florentine named Meuc- led by Lord Cobham, his direct descendant. ci); Napoleon said ‘Not tonight, Josephine’ By the time Henry IV Part Two and The Mer- (the words first turn up in a play in 1844); the ry Wives of Windsor, the character’s name Philistines were uncultured (they were highly had been changed to Falstaff – a name now civilised); Marie Antoinette said ‘let them eat immortal as a byword for comic roguery.’ cake’ (she was sympathetic to the poor); and This piece appears alongside an article Thomas Crapper invented the flushing loo trying to reclaim Lady Macbeth’s reputation, (the Minoans had them, then Sir John Har- and I found it interesting that for the first time rington invented it for Elizabeth I and called such a criticism of Shakespeare appeared in it the Ajax; Crapper only came on the scene this magazine. However, I think it’s not be- in the 1880s). fore time. This item was also picked up by Pauline Pogmore and Sylvia Lewis From Marilyn Garabet: The Times, April 2007 The Times, 9 February 2007 ‘York. A 600-year-old, 4ft-long, lost medie- ‘Nothing old school about Eton’s lost mural’. val document has shed light on the origins of ... ‘Builders uncovered the mural, which de- the York Mystery Plays.’ This roll, which picts two rows of boys sitting on wooden once belonged to the ancient Pater Noster benches at the feet of their headmaster, when Gild in York, had been thought lost but was wood panelling was being repaired in the old found in a collection of documents given to Head Master’s Chambers.’ Not all the boys York University by Raymond Burton. ‘The are paying equal attention to their teacher: only other document about the plays is kept at one is playing with a spinning top. From the the British Library in London.’ 12

(See p. 29 for more details on the manuscript) One of the pieces of furniture he designed is the armchair in the picture shown here. There From Sandra Desmond: is no direct information on why it was chris- Broadleaf, the magazine of The Woodland tened ‘The Richard III Chair’ but the museum Trust, Spring 2007 catalogue describes it thus ‘when viewed ‘Boar basics. Wild boar have long, bristly from the front, [it] has the ample forms of a brown coats with thick brown underfur, a traditional club chair, but in profile it reveals very strong smell and, in the male, two up- its hollow structure and simple moulded plas- wardly pointing tusks. Eofor in Old English tic shell’. Does one detect a moral piece of meant ‘wild boar’, so Evershaw in Berkshire furniture? If so it is rather ironic in view of was probably ‘wild boar copse’, and Everdon the doubly double life of the President who in Northamptonshire ‘wild boar hill’, while commissioned it. Wildboarclough in Derbyshire speaks for itself. The boar has featured extensively in From John Saunders English heraldry: it was the emblem of Ed- ward III and, even more famously, of Richard III. Largely as a result of its heraldic use there are a good many Boar inns, notably the Boar’s Head in Eastcheap, where Sir John Falstaff and his friends made merry. The tradition of the Board’s Head Gaudy, dating back to the Middle Ages, is still celebrated annually each Christmas at Queen’s College, Oxford.’

From Bill Featherstone The Richard III Chair - No, this is not in the Following Australia’s recent victory in the same vein as Queen Elizabeth’s beds, a piece cricket world cup, the Sydney Morning Her- of worm-eaten furniture with an illegible la- ald reported the following: ‘Members of the bel reading ‘Dick sat here’! It is, perhaps, NSW Branch of the Richard III Society met proof that it is impossible for a Ricardian to for lunch on Sunday,’ writes Julia Redlich, escape his king, however modern and sophis- who holds high office in that organisation. ticated the setting. ‘The usual toast to King Richard III was A visit to the newly re-opened Musée des drunk, then it seemed appropriate that this Arts Décoratif in Paris (roughly the French was followed by another, to Ricky and our equivalent of the V&A although on a smaller third World Cup. The enthusiasm with which scale) might lead one to the bedroom of Ri- this was drunk could account for the fatigued gault d’Oureille 1455-1517, Seneschal of appearance of some who had obviously Gascony, equerry to Louis XI and butler to adapted the Society’s “Loyalty Binds Me” the next three French kings. It is well worth motto in following the action in Barbados seeing, but for the chair you need to visit – overnight. Binds me, or blinds me? It was the Contemporary Section. hard to see, that’s for sure.’ The Ricky re- Most people will have heard of Philippe ferred to is, of course, Australia’s captain, Starck, who has given a new design slant to Ricky Pontin. Our Australian members have everything from electric kettles to toothbrush- kindly spared us the details of their celebra- es, and from motorscooters to the Olympic tion after they won back the Ashes following flame, but in 1984 he was asked to design their five-nil drubbing of England. furniture for the private apartments of the Elysée Palace, the home of the French Presi- Media Retrospective continues on page 35 dent (in 1984 it was President Mitterand).

News and Reviews

DNA Research Update The Fotheringhay oaks - an update Many of you will probably have seen recent I am happy to report that the oak saplings, to national press coverage of my DNA research. the cost of which members contributed, were While attempts to arrive at a mtDNA planted late in February and can now be seen (mitochondrial DNA) sequence for the in front of the west wall of the churchyard. ‘princes in the Tower’ remain dependent up- There are four of them. Unfortunately, be- on obtaining access to a suitable sample of cause of their position, it isn’t easy to get a genetic material, progress has now been made good picture that shows them all – one day, in another direction. On my desk as I write, however, when we are all long gone, they will there is a cardboard box, about 10 cms look superb. Whoever it was that wrote how square. It contains a good deal of museum one plants trees for one’s grandchildren can packaging material, in the middle of which never have written a truer word. Beth and I nestles a sealed plastic envelope, in which visited the village on Easter Saturday, when there is a small box containing a sample of the sun was shining and everything was look- Edward IV’s hair. This has very kindly been ing its best, and I took the picture shown here. made available to me by the Ashmolean Mu- It shows one of the saplings surrounded by a seum, and an attempt will now be made to mixture of daffodils – a truly spring-like sce- extract mtDNA from it. ne. Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only in Phil Stone the female line, so this sample will provide no information about the ‘princes’. The aim is rather to substantiate the DNA sequence obtained for Edward IV, Richard III and their siblings last year from Joy Ibsen, a living descendant of Anne of York, Duchess of Exe- ter. While Joy’s line of descent is clear on paper (or parchment), it is always good practice in scientific research to verify one’s results. Assuming that it is possible to obtain a DNA sequence from the hair of Edward IV, this will hopefully match Joy Ibsen’s sequence, which will thus be confirmed. If the two sequences do not match, that will of course raise questions, and further investiga- tion will then be necessary. The immediate aim of this research has been to clarify the position in respect of the multiple possible remains of Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy, recovered at various dates during the last century from burials in the Franciscan Priory Church at Mechelen in Belgium. So far, both radio car- bon dating and DNA findings appear to indicate that none of these bones can be those of Margaret of York. John Ashdown-Hill

Restoration of the Medieval Glass sion of Yorkist white roses which then filled at Stratford St Mary Church, the windows of this church. A number of these medieval roses survive in the restored Suffolk window, and the nineteenth-century renova- Tuesday 23 January 2007 was a freezing tors retained the overall Yorkist decorative day, but it was the date set for the return of scheme by replacing replica roses in all the Stratford St Mary Church’s medieval stained other windows of the church. glass (to the restoration of which the Richard At one time the chancel roof bore painted III Society has contributed). Out came the shields with the conjoined arms of John de la temporary wooden partition, and by noon the Pole and his wife, Elizabeth of York. This window, at the west end of the north aisle, painted decoration has long since gone, but had been reglazed in clear glass. This new one shield of de la Pole arms survives in the clear glass will now form a permanent pro- restored window. There is also one represen- tective outer skin, behind which the restored tation of the royal arms. This, however, dates medieval glass will henceforth shelter. from the fourteenth century, as is revealed by The stained glass, which was collected in the French quarterings (which show many this window during the course of a nine- gold fleurs-de-lis instead of the three flowers teenth-century restoration of the church, is which were the norm in the fifteenth centu- but the meagre remains of the once rich me- ry). dieval glass which this church boasted dur- Stratford St Mary is proud to have redis- ing the Yorkist period. It was then under the covered its Yorkist royal connections. Grate- patronage of Elizabeth of York, Duchess of ful to the Richard III Society for its help, the Suffolk, sister of Edward IV and Richard III, village also made a stupendous effort of its and both kings probably saw the glass in its own to raise the very considerable sum nec- original glory, for Edward IV came to Strat- essary for the restoration of this window, ford St Mary as earl of March, while the which will now hopefully be safe for future future Richard III passed this way a few generations. years later, as duke of Gloucester. They would doubtless have appreciated the profu- John Ashdown-Hill

The Crowland Chronicler runs from 27 April to 3 September 2007. The Michael Hicks has just published in the Eng- exhibition is being held in celebration of the lish Historical Review (vol. 122, April 2007, Smithsonian NPG’s 150th anniversary and pp. 349-370), a very interesting review of the brings to America approximately 60 of the authorship of the Crowland Chronicle and finest painted portraits and photographs of the proposes a possible sixth candidate for the most significant British figures of the past authorship in addition to the five already sug- 500 years. For more information visit gested. Hicks argues persuasively for his can- www.npg.si.edu. Interestingly the usual por- didate who is Richard Langport, clerk to the trait of Henry VII is not currently on display royal council for many years and in a good either: Henry isn’t in Washington though, he position to know the political events that he is in store. What does that tell us? described. Hicks also discusses the previous John Saunders editions of Crowland Chronicle and the many articles on this topic in the past twenty years. A copy of this article is in the Society Non In Deadly Hate: Richard III and Fiction Papers Library. the Wars of of the Roses Peter Hammond On 20 March, The National Archives hosted a lunchtime lecture given by Drs. Sean Cun- The King Richard III College ningham and James Ross who presented on Following the letter that appeared in the Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III. This Spring edition of the Bulletin about the ‘King was combined with a display of the contem- Richard III College’ in Mallorca, I wrote to porary documents held by TNA. Needless to the Director, curious as to why the name, etc. say it was the last presentation that had at- In his reply, James Berry, the Director, tracted a number of Ricardians and it is prob- writes that he is a member of the Society and ably fair to say they were not disappointed. had named the College as a tribute to King Sean Cunningham examined Richard’s Richard as ‘a means of promoting the cause key role during the Yorkist regime of his of a much-maligned king’. He was also disap- brother, before looking at the events follow- pointed and surprised to learn that there were ing Edward’s death April 1483 including the pupils who did not know who Richard III problems of a minority kingship, Richard as was, and could only think that they ‘were new protector and his justification for taking the to the school’. Finally, Mr Berry comple- throne. Sean acknowledged that, despite mented us on the new-look Bulletin. much research, there is little evidence availa- So, now we know, and it makes me won- ble about whether there was a conspiracy der if there any more schools, colleges or against Richard or if he was engineering his other institutions out there that honour our usurpation and he concluded that Richard king? demonstrated strong rule – his parliament, his Phil Stone strong moral emphasis, reviving England’s foreign policies and the possibility of a cru- Richard goes to Washington sade, but that his capacity to rule was restrict- Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery in ed by the ambitions and actions of Henry Tu- London will look in vain for the portrait of dor. Richard III: it is currently on loan to the This was a refreshing talk without the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in prejudice we sometimes hear from historians Washington DC. It forms part of an exhibi- and it was much appreciated by the audience. tion entitled ‘Great Britons: Treasures from Wendy Moorhen the National Portrait Gallery, London’, which

The Man Himself

RICHARD III AND THE MIRACULOUS

TONY GOODMAN

hen Richard III received the sacred soldiers of the day, and John Nesfeld, whom W unction of kingship, his status Richard had appointed to be an esquire of his changed to a uniquely semi-priestly one. He body, and whom he had come recently to became empowered to minister divine mercy entrust with special and delicate tasks.5 A through the performance of miracles, healing warrant dated Scarborough, 7 July, referring his scrofulous subjects by touching them, and to ‘our Army now being upon the sea’, shows his rheumatic ones through their being rubbed that the King was taking a pro-active part in by ‘cramp rings’ made out of coins that he planning naval operations.6 had blessed.1 We can reasonably assume that Serving aboard the fleet was a certain the numinous powers conferred on him by Henry Walter, a professional soldier, who had God made him more keenly aware of miracu- recently been a member of the English garri- lous manifestations in general. In the summer son in the castle of Guines, near Calais.7 One of 1484 he was probably told about a miracle of the accounts of miracles attributed to Hen- which may have been interpreted as having ry VI, kept at his shrine in St George’s Chap- some bearing on dynastic matters. He was el, Windsor Castle, tells us that he was from then focussed on fulfilling a prime traditional Guildford in Surrey, and gives particulars of secular duty of English kingship – ‘keeping his suffering and recovery from a terrible the seas’, in order to safeguard against inva- wound which he sustained in a brisk naval sion by Henry Tudor, and to counter endemic engagement under Everingham’s command. attacks on English shipping by foreign pi- This, according to the testimony, had oc- rates. On progress in Yorkshire towards the curred at about the time of Pentecost (6 June). end of May 1484, when staying at Scar- Walter was hit in the stomach by a cannon- borough’s imposing castle, on the bluff over- ball. There was little hope then of survival looking the harbour, he issued a commission, from serious abdominal gunshot wounds. He dated 22 May, for stocking the navy was not expected to live. After the engage- ‘appointed to the Sea in the northern parts’.2 ment, he was put overboard in a ship’s boat, This royal castle and lordship had been grant- because his wound was repellent and danger- ed to him in 1475 by Edward IV.3 A more ous to his fellow soldiers and crew. It appears prolonged stay at Scarborough, from 27 June that no expert medical attention was available to at least 11 July 1484, is suggested by the on shipboard. However, he survived at sea for dating of royal warrants.4 Richard’s extended eleven days, in delirious agony, until a fa- visit was connected with the naval expedition vourable wind enabled the ship towing him to based on the port, which he had planned in put into a port. During his ordeal at sea, an order to counter attacks – mainly Scottish elegantly built figure dressed as a pilgrim ones – on English shipping in the North Sea. appeared three times to him, whom he recog- The commanders whom he appointed were nised as Henry VI. Coincidentally, another Sir Thomas Everingham, a Yorkshireman, figure lay near the wounded man enduring and one of the leading English professional martyrdom, whom he recognised from the

way he was being tortured to death as St Eras- gloriously. Yet, considering Richard’s close mus. (He had allegedly been martyred by involvement in the naval expedition, the jux- having his intestines wound out on a wind- taposition of the first stages of the miracle lass, and was a patron saint of sailors.) On and the translation does give one pause. Wal- dry land, Walter was taken to a hospital, but ter’s precarious survival, and his surely fer- he was in such a bad way that no physician vent attribution of its continuance partly to would take on his case. He prayed for succour King Henry, would, one expects, have been to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Erasmus, and bruited as a sensation in harbour taverns. If King Henry. A surgeon gave Walter some so, the tale is likely to have come to the hope: he cut away the gangrened flesh on king’s attention, perhaps through the table either side of the wound, treated it with oint- talk of his two specially trusted commanders, ments, and bound it up. Walter’s state re- Everingham and Nesfeld. On this premise, it mained fragile, yet he felt sufficiently recov- can be surmised that Richard’s decision that ered to return home – a long haul for an inva- he should honour Henry – distancing himself lid.8 in the saint’s eyes from the probable instiga- It is not surprising that Henry VI had ap- tor of his murder, Edward IV – was con- peared to Henry Walter. Despite official dis- firmed by the protection the saint was giving approval, the king’s reputation as a miracle- to one of his stricken soldiers. Henry Tudor worker, who often appeared in person to had proclaimed his intention to marry Eliza- those who sought his help, had grown among beth of York – in order to reconcile the Hous- the common people as well as the elites in es of Lancaster and York. Perhaps Richard different parts of England. The cult was prob- was thinking of effecting his reconciliation of ably well known to Walter, as the king’s tomb the two Houses through a forgiving Henry VI. in Chertsey Abbey was within easy reach of For Richard’s approval and enhancement of Guildford. In his new career as an indefatiga- the cult instantly raised its profile, gratifying- bly hard-working and thoroughly sympathetic ly to the many who remembered favourably – saint, Henry had proved as irritating to Ed- and some doubtless guiltily too – the Lancas- ward IV in death as in life. However, in Au- trian allegiance they had perforce abandoned. gust 1484, at Richard’s command, Henry’s A fifteenth-century genealogical roll of the remains were exhumed (probably on the kings of England, from William the Conquer- 12th). They were re-interred with great and or down to 1430 in Henry’s reign, has added solemn ceremony in St George’s Chapel in to it a marginal note saying that Henry was Windsor Castle – a more fitting and promi- slain by his enemies, buried at Chertsey, and nent burial place.9 We do not know whether afterwards transferred to Windsor. ‘Now eve- Richard or any member of his family attended ry man may know what he was,’ it con- – if the King was staying at Westminster, as cludes.11 Richard must have realised that his seems likely from the dating of his warrants decision was likely to lead to a cause for can- for much of the month, he could have easily onisation, for which a record of miracles was done so.10 Immediately after Henry V1’s being compiled. A House of York purified by translation, Walter called for his sister to go Richard from his brother’s sins might now on pilgrimage to Henry at Windsor, carrying have among its icons the upwardly mobile an image of himself in wax. After that, his Lancastrian saint. The translation allows us a health slowly started to recover, and he was glimpse of one way in which Richard may eventually able to make the pilgrimage him- have been thinking of sanctifying his kingship self. The miracle was officially accepted as with a striking new holy theme, one which genuine. was popular, reconciliatory and unifying. Henry Walter’s survival of his prolonged Perhaps he was swayed in his decision to ex- ordeal at sea and in port, especially with the alt King Henry by the latter’s interventions in help of King Henry, may have been entirely the terrifying ordeal of Henry Walter. coincidental with Richard III’s decision to Notes have his predecessor’s remains translated so 18

1 M. Bloch, The Royal Touch, trans. J.E. An- 7 Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1476-1485, p. 298 derson (1973), p. 100 8 The Miracles of King Henry VI, ed. R. Knox 2 British Library Harleian Manuscript 433, and S. Leslie (1923), pp. 77-84. ed. R. Horrox and P.W. Hammond, ii 9A. Hanham, Richard III and his Early Histo- (Richard III Society, 1980), p. 134 rians 1483-1535, (1975), p. 123; W.J. White, 3 C. Ross, Richard III, (1981), p. 25 ‘The Death and Burial of Henry VI. Part ii, 4 Harleian MS 433, ii, pp. 145-7; R. Edwards, The Ricardian, vol. vi no. 79 (December The Itinerary of King Richard III 1483-1485 1982); A. Hanham, ‘Henry VI and his Mira- (Richard III Society, 1983), p. 21 cles, ibid. vol. xii, no. 48 (March 2000) 5 Ross, op. cit., p. 205; E.L. Meek, ‘The ca- 10 Itinerary, p. 23 reer of Sir Thomas Everingham’, Historical 11 Somerset County Record Office, Sandford Research, 74 (2000); R. Horrox, Richard III of Nynehead Collection, DD/SF/836 (1989), pp. 41, 79, 129, 147, 150. 6 Harleian MS 433, p. 146

Electronic e-bulletin

A new initiative that we are planning is the possible introduction of an electronic bulletin, in reality a news flash, to go out via e-mail. As our membership is so scattered we feel that this initiative will help members to feel more closely involved with the society.

Our Bulletin is a quarterly publication and obviously events happen between editions which means that by the time that members read about events they could have already taken place. The events in question could be television programmes or documentaries in which the society might have had an involvement, forthcoming plays on Richard III, articles on or concerning Richard that might be about to be published. So the aim is to have an e-bulletin that can go out giving brief details of such events so that members will not miss them. In case members are concerned about receiving pages and pages of information these e-bulletins will be brief news flashes with detailed reports appearing on the website and in print in the Bulletin.

The introduction of this service will of course depend on the take-up by members, so if you are interested please write or e-mail me (contact details on back inside cover of this Bulletin). Richard Van Allen

Medieval Migration

PETER W. LEE

aving read a most interesting article by and the earl of Chester, the earl’s rents passed H Mary O’Regan in the December issue to the queen. Then, probably guided by his of Blanc Sanglier, the magazine of our York- mother, in 1334 the young king granted free- shire Branch, entitled ‘Medieval Travellers’, I dom from tolls for the town’s merchandise should like to consider one class of ‘traveller’ throughout the kingdom. In 1340 he granted that only had a passing reference in Mary’s the right to form guilds, in 1341 a charter that article, those who were travelling to find a no lands or tenements within the town should new home. be taken by outsiders, and in 1345 a charter While we were researching the medieval incorporating the city. Finally in 1355 a tri- origins of our Warwickshire home, we exam- partite agreement was reached between the ined a mass of charters for individual proper- queen, the prior and the city, so that at last the ties, held in the Coventry Record Office, in an new corporation had full administrative pow- attempt to find the original residence of the ers throughout the city. builder and first owner. The date and place of At the same time, the lands outside and to interest centred on the year 1392 and on a the west of the city, which had also been part road in Coventry named Spon Street. This of the queen’s estates, were released for de- road lay just outside the old city walls and ran velopment, and Spon Street was born, outside almost due west for about 700 yards, roughly the city walls. The new guilds acquired many parallel to the meandering Sherbourne stream, of the plots on either side of the new street, from the great Spon Gate, next to Bablake and tenants came from near and far to occupy Hospital, to Spon Bridge over the Sher- the newly-built tenements, being given tenan- bourne. cy charters, all in accordance with the 1341 It is significant that while half of the town charter. of Coventry had been part of the estates of the Those charters dated between 1350 and prior of Coventry (the ‘Prior’s Half’ – now 1450 for this street were singled out for atten- generally thought to have been won through tion in our study; these numbered 729 in total. forged deeds!), the other half of the town had Most charters describe a property in the gen- been part of the estates of the Earl of Chester eral form as follows, ‘running from the street (the ‘Earl’s half’). The government of these to the stream’ (or ‘to the hill’) and naming the two manors was absolutely distinct, the Pri- occupant and his or her two neighbours. The or’s men having no privileges or jurisdiction examination of these 729 charters revealed in the Earl’s half, and vice versa. There were that some 443 surnames were listed, of which quite different customs in the two halves, they about a third could not be identified. Of those attended different courts, they paid different that could, 45% indicated a place, in the Mid- dues and had different markets with different lands or further afield, from where the man or tolls. woman in question could be presumed to All these differences in the treatment of have originated. what should have been fellow citizens caused Of the 129 individuals settling in Spon considerable and increasing resentment. Street who had surnames from 101 identifia- Eventually the problems were solved through ble places, 40 were from Warwickshire, 6 the machinations of Queen Isabella, wife and each were from Leicestershire, Northampton- later widow of Edward II, and mother of Ed- shire and Yorkshire, 5 each were from Shrop- ward III. By some bargain between the queen shire and Staffordshire, 4 each were from 20

Denbighshire and Gloucestershire, 3 each in the Plantagenet Times! According to Henry were from Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Worces- Bracton, Dean of Exeter and a Justice of Hen- tershire, 2 each were from Cumberland, Rut- ry III, who was writing his prestigious Trea- land and Wiltshire, and single individuals had tise on the Laws and Customs of England apparently come from Berkshire, Cheshire, between 1250 and his death in 1268, a day’s Derbyshire, Devon, Kent, Nottinghamshire, journey was reckoned to be about twenty Pembroke and Wales. Finally, one man bore miles, so within that radius people might well the name ‘Richard Bruges’ and had presuma- be attending markets to buy or to sell, visiting bly come from what is now Belgium; was he relations or getting gossip from travellers. one of the Flemish weavers that Edward III Plotting the locations, from which people had invited over to teach the English how to subsequently living in Spon Street had come, weave cloth, so that whole cloth could be shows that of the 129 people whose places of exported rather than raw wool, thus vastly birth can be surmised, no fewer than 38, or increasing both profits and royal revenues? 30%, had come from within a distance of One Ricardus de Holland et Emma uxor eius twenty miles, while a further 17 had come is listed as a member of the Guild of the Holy after a two-day journey, namely a total of 55 Trinity – could this be the same man? or 43%. What were the factors that encouraged However this still leaves 57% who had development of the Spon Street area and the come from further – often much further – migration of artisans from far and wide to afield. How did they know? One possibility is settle in this area? First, there were of course that they were known to people already living those factors that drove people from their in Coventry and that even in the fourteenth original homes, such as the horrific death- century, and even for artisans, messages count of the Black Death in 1348/9 and sub- could be passed over long distances. Another sequently, which left so many bereft of spous- possibility is that some of them were journey- es or indeed of whole families. The survivors men or itinerant workers, travelling the coun- might well feel obliged to flee the district. At try in search of employment, while a third the same time, that same Black Death loos- possibility might be that some were invited to ened or even removed the feudal bonds that come, bringing with them some special skills. had tied people to their lord’s domain, ena- It is recorded that a glazier from Coventry bling them to leave the district. Furthermore, travelled to York to work in the Minster there it was unfortunately not unusual for landown- round about 1400, and that at about the same ers to expel the few survivors to provide pas- time an artist came the other way, from York ture for sheep. to Coventry, possibly to work on the great Next, there were the factors that drew Doom Painting in Trinity Church. people to Coventry, and in particular to Spon As Mary O’Regan says in her article, trav- Street. Among these are the results of the elling within England was not as uncommon charters already described; the growth of as is sometimes thought, whether it was as a Coventry being encouraged by the freedom pilgrimage, to or from market, between the from tolls and the need for more workers. residences of the aristocracy or seeking em- Newcomers could not be accommodated ployment. The distances travelled do seem to within the bounds of the city but the new have been much greater than generally real- guilds were building tenements outside those ised, however. Clearly there was an enormous bounds in Spon Street. The City walls had spread of places which had given their names been begun in 1356 and not finished until to individuals who had come to live in Spon 1392 so masons and wallers were much in Street and work in Coventry, ranging from demand, as were other artisans to feed the Cumberland to Kent, from Devon to York- growing prosperity of Coventry. shire and from Wales to Norfolk. How did people at a distance hear about In passing, my research revealed that John these employment and accommodation pro- Broun and his wife Alice, wealthy drapers spects? Clearly there was no ‘sits vac’ column who were investing their wealth in land, and

building what would one day be our house in their parents Thomas and Agnes Broun, with Napton, had lived close to Spon Bridge. Their William and Emma Celet and William Bos- tenement ran down to the Sherbourne and was teler as their neighbours. Thomas Broun died opposite the Chapel of St James and St Chris- in 1387 and Agnes in 1404, while John sur- topher (now a ruin) where John’s brother vived until about 1435, according to the City Henry was the Chaplain. Next to them lived Leet Book.

A Proclamation Against Henry Tudor, 23 June 1485

DAVID CANDLIN

Introduction as he had so often in the past. The following proclamation, which many I think my main reaction to the proclama- will know from the excellent book by Peter tion now after fifty years is more one of sad- Hammond and Anne Sutton, Richard III, The ness that his predictions about a Tudor victory road to Bosworth Field, first came to my at- were so accurate. Even Richard could not tention when I was at Queens’ College, Cam- have foreseen the ultimate legacy of this re- bridge, in the 1950s. I discovered their book gime under Henry VIII, with the destruction in the college library, (which also has a copy of the church and ruthless suppression with- of The Paston Letters, the original source of out mercy of those who stood in his way. This the proclamation.). My immediate reaction was of course followed by further years of was one of considerable amusement at the mayhem under Edward VI and Mary. colourful language used in the denunciation As far as we can discern it after over 500 of the ‘seid rebelles and traytours’, and at the years, I think the document displays the char- dubious Tudor lineage. I was therefore moved acter of a man who was meticulous and thor- to read it at a ‘Tudor Evening’ in costume at ough in all his work. It is somewhat ironic my church recently, hoping it would make a that the two villains of Bosworth who be- suitable introduction to that event. It did. trayed King Richard, Sir William Stanley and Fifteenth-century English is surprisingly Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland are not easy to read, but for those who like me are not mentioned. As we now know, Richard’s hope history scholars by training, I have rewritten that they would be as loyal as they seemed to it in places in a more modern style. Having be at Buckingham’s rebellion was a disas- got to know it better as a result of the Tudor trous miscalculation. evening, I have thought more deeply about it and of King Richard’s mind in writing it. I Text think it is more likely that it is largely his own RICHARD by the grace of God, King of Eng- work rather than that of scribes and lawyers, land, France, and Lord of Ireland greets you: and we see him at a very difficult time being threatened when he had recently lost his son FOR AS MUCH as the King our sovereign and wife. There is no doubt he was very ap- Lord hath certain knowledge that Piers, Bish- prehensive about the rebellion, although it op of Exeter,1 Jasper Tydder, son of Owen was later reported that he expected to crush it Tydder, calling himself Earl of Pembroke,2 22

John, late Earl of Oxon,3 and Sir Edward dor might achieve his false intent and pur- Woodville,4 with divers other rebels and trai- pose, he has enlisted the aid, support, and tors, disabled and attainted by the authority of assistance of the king’s ancient enemy of the High Court of Parliament, of whom many France. He hath covenanted and bargained be known as open murders, adulterers, and with him and all the counsel of France to give extortioners, contrary to the pleasure of God up and release in perpetuity all the right, title, and against all truth, honour, and nature, have and claim that the kings of England have, forsaken their native country, taking them had, and ought to have, to the crown and first to be under the obeisance of the Duke of realm of France, together with the duchies of Brittany5 and to him promised certain things, Normandy, Anjou, and Maine, Gascony and which, by him and his counsel were thought Guisne, and the castles and towns of Calais, things too greatly unnatural and abominable Guisne, Hammes, with the marches belonging for them to grant, observe, keep, and perform, to the same.7 and therefore the same utterly refused. And for more proof and exposure of his The said traitors, seeing the said Duke and said purpose of conquest Henry Tudor has his counsel would not aid nor succour them, given as well to divers of the said king’s ene- nor follow their ways, secretly departed out of mies as well as to his said rebels and traitors, his country in to France, and there placed archbishoprics, bishoprics, and other high themselves under the obeisance of the King’s clerical positions, and also the duchies, earl- ancient enemy, Charles, calling himself King doms, baronetcies, and other possessions and of France.6 inheritances of knights, squires, gentlemen, The said rebels and traitors have chosen to and others of the king’s true subjects within be their captain one Henry Tydder, (otherwise the Realm, and intends also to change and Tudor) son of Edmond Tudor, son of Owen subvert the laws of the same. Tudor who of his ambitiousness and insatia- And over all this, the said Henry Tudor ble covetousness encroaches and usurps upon and others of the king’s rebels and traitors himself the name and title of the estate of already mentioned, have the intention at their royalty in this Realm of England, unto which coming, if they do take power, to carry out he has no manner of interest, right, title, or the most cruel murders, slaughtering, rob- colour, as every man well knows; for he is beries, and disinheriting that was ever seen in descended from bastard blood both on his any Christian realm. So for this and other father’s side and on his mother side; for Ow- inestimable dangers to be avoided, and so that en, his grandfather, was born a bastard, and the king’s rebels, traitors, and enemies may his mother was daughter of John, Duke of be utterly put off their malicious and false Somerset, who was son of John, Earl of Som- purpose if they enforce to land, the king our erset, son of Dame Katherine Swynford, and sovereign lord wills, charges, and commands begotten in their double adultery, and so it is each and every native and true subject of this quite evident that no title can, nor may be, his realm, like good and true Englishmen, to attributed to him, in him who fully intends to endeavour with all their powers to see to their enter this Realm, with the purpose of a con- own defence and that of their wives, children, quest. goods, and inheritance against the said mali- And if he should achieve his false intent cious purposes and conspiracies, which the and purpose, every man his life, livelihood, ancient enemies have made with the king’s and goods would be taken into his hands, and rebels and traitors for the final destruction of there would ensue disinheriting and destruc- this land. tion of all the noble and worshipful blood of And our said sovereign lord, as a good- this Realm for ever, and to resist and with- willed, diligent, and courageous prince, will stand this, every true and native born English- put his most royal person to all the labour and man must put his hand to the matter of his pains necessary on this account for the re- own safety and well-being. sistance and subduing of his said enemies, And to the extent that the said Henry Tu- rebels, and traitors for the greatest comfort,

well-being, and safety of all his true and faith- ostentatious rebuilding of St Peter and St ful liege men and subjects. Paul, Lavenham, as a thank-offering. And over and above this, our sovereign 4 Sir Edward Woodville (1455-1488), brother lord wills and commands all his subjects to be to the queen of Edward IV. In May 1483 he ready in their highest order of defence and commanded a fleet to the east of Kent op- prepared to do the highest war service, when posed to Richard, then Protector. Following there is an open proclamation, or otherwise mutiny by all but two of his ships Woodville shall be commanded so to do, for resisting the fled to Brittany to join Henry Tudor. After king’s said rebels, traitors, and enemies. Bosworth he was created Captain of the Isle Given at Westminster, 23rd day of June, of Wight. He was killed supporting the duke in the second year of our reign. of Brittany against the French. 5 Francis II (1433-1488), the last duke of Brit- Notes tany, died after a fall from his horse. His 1 Peter Courtney (1440-1492), Bishop of Exe- daughter and heir, Anne, was forced to marry ter. After the failure of the duke of Bucking- Charles VIII of France in 1491, and the ham's rebellion in 1483, he fled into Brittany Duchy was absorbed into France. 6 to the earl of Richmond. After he became Charles VIII of France (1470-98). He asking, Henry VII elevated him to the see of cended the throne in 1483. He married Anne Winchester in 1486, where he died in 1492 of Brittany as described above, but none of 2 Jasper Tudor (1431-1495), of Hatfield, was their children survived. 7 half brother to Henry VI. His father was The duchies of Normandy, Anjou, and Owain Tudor. Paul Murray Kendall asserts Maine stretched from the north coast to the that his marriage to Catharine of Valois, wid- Loire, and Gascony and Guisne were in ow of Henry V, was illegal. This would have south-western France. They had all been lost made Jasper a bastard, but here Richard states by this date, apart from the Channel Islands, his father Owen was bastard born. Owain’s and. one wonders how seriously Richard father Maredudd was escheator of Anglesey thought they could be restored to England. in 1392, and also steward to the bishop of The castles and towns of Calais, Guisnes, and Bangor. His wife was Margaret, daughter of Hammes formed a defended complex on the Dafydd Fychan ap Dafydd Llwyd. It has been north coast, and were in English hands until said that Maredudd killed a man, was out- 1558 during the reign of Mary I. Hammes lawed and fled to Snowdon, with his wife, was a coastal fortification and Guisnes is in- and that, there, Owain Tudor was born; but it land on the border with France. It was here seems more likely that Maredudd fled alone that Henry VIII stayed at the time of the and that Owain was born in his absence. Per- ‘Field of the Cloth of Gold’ in 1520. haps Richard had proof that the child was illegitimate. Jasper was created Duke of Bed- NB, Thomas Grey (1455-1501), Marquess of ford in 1485 on Henry’s usurpation. Dorset is also mentioned in an earlier version 3 John de Vere, Earl of Oxford (1443-1513), of the proclamation. He joined Buckingham’s had escaped from the castle of Hammes in rebellion in 1483 and when the rebellion 1485 with the connivance of the captain, failed he fled to Brittany to join Henry Tu- James Blount, and they both defected to Hen- dor.Thomas first married Anne Holland, only ry Tudor in Paris. He successfully clashed daughter of Anne of York, dowager duchess with the forces under John Howard, Duke of of Exeter and sister of Edward IV. After she Norfolk at the start of the battle of Bosworth, died young without issue, he married Cecily and Howard was killed. After the battle his Bonville, and by this marriage Lady Jane lands as earl of Oxford were restored to him Grey was to be his great-grand-daughter. (including lands given to Queens’ College Cambridge), and he later effected the rather

Hastings and the Meeting at St Paul’s

GORDON SMITH

ust before midnight on the night of 30 the day’, according to Kendall, Hastings re- J April – 1 May 1483, the queen Elizabeth ported back to Richard, but a rider galloping Woodville in London received momentous hard through the night would perhaps com- news. Her son Edward V had been captured plete the return journey by midday on 2 May. earlier that day at Stony Stratford by his uncle But by that time Richard had moved back to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and Henry Staf- Northampton, some fourteen miles further ford, Duke of Buckingham. Professor Alison away, and so Hastings’ messenger would Hanham has argued that messengers would perhaps arrive there by the evening. take longer than a day to travel 52 miles from According to Kendall, Hastings’ report Stony Stratford to London. With such urgent said the royal fleet under Sir Edward Wood- tidings, however, horsemen could surely have ville had sailed, Dorset had rifled Edward covered the distance in the time between early IV’s treasure in the Tower of London and, morning and midnight. Nevertheless it would although he had taken it back from the queen, be a day’s hard ride, a consideration which Rotherham had been deprived of the Great will recur later. Seal by the lords. After reading the report, During the queen’s move into sanctuary Kendall has Richard writing in Edward V’s following the news, the lord chancellor name to Thomas Bourchier, cardinal arch- Thomas Rotherham, archbishop of York, bishop of Canterbury. The report seems to brought a message from her rival, the cham- contradict the extant letter, in which Bourchi- berlain William, Lord Hastings. According to er is asked to keep secure the Great Seal, and More, Hastings assured the queen that all to call a meeting of the royal council to safe- would be well, but it seems more plausible guard the Tower and its treasure. that he would try to stop a build-up of sepa- These requests seem prompted by Richard rate armed groups. The refusal of the queen to receiving a dispatch expressing concern but treat with Hastings meant that groups merged no firm news (as from Hastings) about the into two: one supporting the queen around Seal and treasure, presumably from Richard’s Westminster, the other supporting Hastings in servants in London. The dispatch could have the city of London. Yet in this situation of been written early the previous day, advising armed stand-off Kendall believes Hastings Richard that because of factional divisions, could call a meeting of the lords in St Paul’s his entry into the capital would probably not cathedral, mentioned by both Vergil and be opposed. There seems no clear evidence More. Hastings wholeheartedly (Kendall) or that Hastings was in contact with Richard. with private reservations (More) supported According to Kendall, on 2 May Richard Richard’s coup at Stony Stratford, and a letter at Northampton wrote again to the lords and from the duke was read out. the mayor of London, now announcing his Apparently Kendall envisages a courier intention of bringing Edward V to the capital. receiving a letter from Richard at Stony Strat- Other sources only seem to be aware of this ford before the duke went to bed, and then second set of letters, and if we ignore Ken- galloping hard through the night. After a dall’s first set, we can assign a later date to day’s hard ride, the courier could have arrived the meeting at St Paul’s. at St Paul’s in the afternoon. ‘By the end of Late on 30 April or during 1 May the

king, Richard and Buckingham had moved so much bloodshed in the affair as might have back to Northampton. This might herald the come from a cut finger.’ Hastings does not king being taken further north with Rivers, endorse Richard’s accusation that the Wood- Grey and Vaughan, the three accused by villes planned to kill him and Buckingham by Richard of attempted ambush. If it took a day ambush near Stony Stratford, and the com- to reach London, news of a possible further ment on the transfer of government seems to removal of Edward V could have arrived be the commonly expressed dislike of the there some time during 2 May. This news males of the Woodville-Grey clan mentioned would have been a strong enough inducement even by the chronicler. for Hastings and the Woodvilles to end their An attempted rapprochement and a com- confrontation and meet at St Paul’s. Hastings’ bined meeting at St Paul’s suggest Hastings object would not have been the defence of was intending to help the Woodvilles to res- Richard’s coup on 30 April, but the rescue of cue Edward V. Richard’s arrival with the king Edward V from Richard’s clutches, as sug- on 4 May could have caught Hastings on the gested by Vergil. wrong foot. This could explain why Richard Vergil claims Hastings repented of his promoted Hastings only to master of the mint, previous opposition, and conferred with the a post he had previously held until February. boy king’s friends on future action. Some The chamberlain needed to cultivate Richard favoured armed intervention, but the rest de- and Buckingham; perhaps more emphasis cided to await Richard’s arrival and explana- should be placed on the remark that Hastings tion. Richard could have been helped by his seemed to serve the dukes. Having reached letters to the lords and mayor, written at an understanding with the Woodvilles before Northampton on 2 May. More says Richard 4 May, however, whose side was he really and Buckingham ‘were so nere, and came so on? shortelye on with the kynge’, and indeed Ed- ward V and the dukes were approaching Lon- don, reaching St Albans, about twenty miles Notes away, on 3 May. This suggests the meeting at Alison Hanham, Richard III and his Early St Paul’s was held on that day, when the Historians, Oxford 1975, p. 8 (notes 3,4) meeting would discover it was too late and Sir Thomas More, The History of King Rich- unnecessary to rescue the king. Wendy Moor- ard III, ed. by Richard S. Sylvester, New Ha- hen links Vergil’s account with some meeting ven 1963, pp. 20-24, 188 (notes) of minds between Hastings and Dorset. Paul Murray Kendall, Richard the Third, The entry into London on 4 May accord- London 1955, pp. 180-182 ing to Kendall owed much to Hastings’ sup- Polydore Vergil, Three Books of Polydore port of the dukes, a view apparently support- Vergil’s English History…, ed. Sir Henry ed by the Crowland chronicler: ‘Lord Has- Ellis, London 1844, pp. 175-6 tings, (who seemed to serve these dukes in Dominic Mancini, The Usurpation of Richard every way and to have deserved favour of III, 2nd ed. by C.A.J. Armstrong, Gloucester them) bursting with joy over this new world, 1989, pp. 80-83 was asserting that nothing had so far been Wendy E.A. Moorhen, ‘William, Lord Has- done except to transfer the government of the tings and the Crisis of 1483: an assessment. kingdom from two blood-relatives of the Part 2 (conclusion)’ The Ricardian, vol.9 queen [Rivers and Dorset] to two nobles of (1991-1993), p. 483 the blood royal [Richard and Buckingham], Gordon Smith, ‘Hastings and the News from moreover he asserted that this had been ac- Stony Stratford’, Ricardian Bulletin, Summer complished without any killing and with only 06, pp. 48-49

Chedworth Parish Chuch

GWEN & BRIAN WATERS

he church of St Andrew is pleasingly the County of Gloucester, Vol. VII, p. 167.) T situated on rising ground above the very The nave of the church was built in Nor- attractive village of Chedworth. It backs into man times, about 1100, but was considerably the hillside and lies just below the field heightened in the fifteenth century to corre- known as St John’s Close; here a number of spond with the newly-built south wall. Inter- grass-covered mounds are thought to cover nally the church is flooded with light from the the remains of buildings associated with the superb windows. The rood loft stairs, with the Temple Priory at Quenington. The grounds of original door, are entered through an opening the Manor House bound the churchyard on in the southeast corner of the nave. Furnish- the southern side. As one enters by the south- ings of note include a good example of a tub ern gate one gets the full visual impact of the font, dating from the Norman period, and the magnificent perpendicular windows which fill pulpit, which is fifteenth-century and is an much of the south façade and contrast with example of the wineglass shape moulded the general simplicity of this late Norman from a stone block. The chancel, rebuilt in the church. There are three almost full-length twelfth century, has a lovely arch with foliat- windows and two shorter ones above the thir- ed capitals and, a charming little window teenth-century porch. Below the roof there is filled with fragments of glass, several bearing an embattled parapet with a quaint array of the Yorkist symbols and one showing a very gargoyles and bosses representing strange unusual head. animals, a bishop, a man blowing a horn and another sitting cross-legged. This south aspect of the building is more splendid than one would normally expect to see in a small country church and opinion is divided as to who the benefactor or benefactors may have been. For about four hundred years the manor of Chedworth was in the possession of the Beau- fort/Neville families and the rectory and ad- vowson of the church had been held by Sheen Priory in Surrey from 1414. During the fifteenth century, ownership of Chedworth changed a number of times. When Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, died in 1471, his son-in-law, George, Duke of Clarence, held it until his death in 1478. It then reverted to Anne, the widowed countess, who regranted it to the Crown until 1489 when it was restored to her for life. Anne died in 1492 and the Crown held it until 1547; it was then granted to the newly created Earl of Warwick, John Dudley. It is likely that family members or their agents stayed at the Manor when visiting Chedworth. (See The Victoria History of Anne Neville, Countess of Warwick

It was in the fifteenth century that the fen- wold wool trade. The first date, 1461, records estration of the south wall was constructed. the death of Richard Scly [sic] in the Latin High up on the inner side of this wall are cor- epitaph, which is carved on the buttress near bel heads of four of the notable people who the porch. Scly is probably a form of the local may have been connected with this work; name Sly. Scly is one of the main contenders those over the porch, are, reputedly, Richard for the honour of being responsible for the Neville, Earl of Warwick, and his wife, Anne wall-building enterprise and he is buried im- Beauchamp, or, alternatively, as these heads mediately below the portion of wall that rec- are wearing ducal coronets, George, Duke of ords his death and that of his wife. The writer Clarence, and Isabel Neville, his wife. (As the of the Church Guide thinks he may have been male head appears to be bearded it is difficult a wealthy wool merchant. David Verey, in the to think either the earl or the duke is por- Pevsner Guide to the Buildings of England, trayed, as it was the fashion of the time to be Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds, p.148. clean-shaven.) The corbel in the southwest writes: ‘It is traditionally said that the south corner is said to represent Henry VII, and that wall was built by the Neville family (the in the southeast corner his queen, Elizabeth of Duke of Clarence to be more precise)’ – so York. The representation of Elizabeth is par- was Scly the overseer of the work? Local ticularly charming, and gives the impression tradition, however, favours Henry VII as the of being lifelike as her hair is loose and curl- benefactor. ing and her expression slightly smiling. Farther along the south wall, and inscribed To whom, then, can the re-building of the about 4-5 feet from ground level, is the date south wall and/or the installation of the win- 1485. Does this record the Battle of Bos- dows be accredited? There are two dates in- worth, or the accession of the first Tudor, or, cised on the exterior and a third inside the merely, when some additional work was car- porch and all are in Arabic numerals which ried out on the fabric? The inscription must were not in common use at the time but may have been cut when the wall was at least half- reflect the international nature of the Cots- completed but did Scly’s involvement include the installation of the windows? There is no visible evidence that the two structural operations were carried out at different times, as the masonry appears homogeneous. The Church Guide does not really commit itself on the issue but, in a leaflet in the church, Annette Seymour, a local resident and a member of our Society, writes: ‘The splendid fifteenth-century (Perpendicular) windows are thought to have originated at Henry’s expense – he is said to have reimbursed himself by annexing both church and manor.’ This is where the third date, 1491, may be significant. It is carved (in similar style to the other two) on the right-hand jamb of the inner porch door; it is thought it may commemorate some special occasion which took place that year and well-established tradition suggests that such an event was the visit to Chedworth and its church by Henry’s queen, Elizabeth of York. The belief is that this was a private visit, as the king did not accompany her, so Elizabeth of York why did she come to a little country parish?

Did she have some personal connection with the time, but possibly she may have done. church or manor? Or could it have been that Queen Street in the village is said to be she wished to see and admire the work the named in honour of her visit. king, her husband, had initiated and spon- Until, if ever, definite archival evidence sored? Annette points out that 1491 was the comes to light, these interesting possibilities year of the birth of Prince Henry and perhaps cannot be confirmed as fact – but Warwick, that would not have been the most suitable Clarence, Tudor, York – surely few small time for making the arduous journey to the village churches can compete with Chedworth Cotswolds. She also records that there is no in claiming association with such principal local confirmation of the queen’s staying at players in the dramatic events of the fifteenth the manor, which was in the king’s hands at century?

A ‘Lost’ Medieval Document

‘lost’ document dating from 1399/1400 has recently been rediscovered in the Borthwick A Library, University of York. It is an account roll of the Paternoster Gild or Gild of the Lord’s Prayer, York. The roll was first mentioned by James Raine in the late nineteenth century, but by 1928 it was considered lost. Fortunately chance brought it into the collection of Dr Ray- mond Burton, who donated it to the University library, and thence into the Borthwick Collection where it was re-discovered. As with the Gild of Corpus Christi, the Paternoster Gild produced playlets, based on the Seven Deadly Sins. The roll lists the eight wardens for the year 1399 and its 150 members. The annual payment to the gild was 4s. 4d. for individuals and 5s. 5d. for couples. The initial joining fee was 7s. 4d. A number of members appear to have been regularly in arrears and fines were charged for failing to attend meetings for the intercessions for the souls of members, which were held every six weeks. One member fined was a chaplain, William Holme, his fine amounted to 5s. for his absences. It is unclear if he was the chaplain to the gild. Generally however members appear to have attended regularly. Membership was not restricted to a particular trade or craft, with members coming from a wide variety of York trades and crafts. They all tended to be of a reasonable economic and social standing, and covered most of the parishes in the city. Comparing the names of members to extant wills many members also left bequests to the gild; so far twenty-nine have been identified. Expenditure included payments made to sick members, payments for funerals and the payment of repairs and rents. However, the greatest expenditure was on the gild feast. The feast was held annually to hand over the accounts and appoint the gild wardens for the following year. The gild did not have its own hall, but rented a house from the prior of Bridlington. The priory’s houses were on Aldgate. It was here they would probably have held their feast which cost over £10, more than a third of the annual income. Every kind of meat was consumed as well as geese and twenty-nine dozen doves. 800 eggs, two gallons of honey, dates, pepper, raisins, sugar, cin- namon, saffron, figs and almonds were also purchased. This was all washed down with twenty- nine gallons of wine and 198 gallons of ale. By 1444/6 the gild had merged with the gild of St Antony. One familiar member of the gild was Alicia (Alice) Snawshill, grandmother of William. Alt- hough she paid her fee of 4s. 4d. in 1399 as well as 7s. 3d. for 3½ ells of cloth for the play, she still owed part of her entrance fee of 2s. 4d. during from the time of William Garnett. A full account of the roll is given in Northern History, vol. 44, March 2007, ‘The Accounts of the Medieval Paternoster Gild of York’ by Philippa M. Hoskin. Lynda Pidgeon

Logge Notes and Queries: Helen Barker’s Miracle

LESLEY BOATWRIGHT

ust occasionally there comes a moment in a tick found and published an account of pro- J researcher’s life when a great light dawns ceedings in the court of King’s Bench against and you feel like St Paul on the road to Da- John Walson, a labourer of Bexhill, for this mascus. attack, which was actually a mugging: they For several years now I have been dili- stole the vicar’s cash, rosary, ring, silver and gently searching the public records for evi- gilt trinkets, and a black silk purse with 52 dence for the historical existence of the ordi- pearls.2 nary people mentioned in BL MS Royal 13 C Damascus isn’t always a distant place. I viii, which records the miracles attributed to should have looked closer to home. the intercession of Henry VI.1 The MS was This is the story of Henry’s miracle no. commissioned about 1500 by John Morgan, 112. then dean of Windsor, and compiled from the One day at the end of April in a year un- evidence given by people who had experi- specified John Ravenyng, soap-maker of the enced miracles and reported them either to parish of St Martin Orgar in London, missed Chertsey or Windsor, Henry’s successive some property. We are not told what it was; burial places. 174 miracles are listed, of the writer of the narrative himself did not which 23 are noted in the margin as proved. know. Something small, portable, desirable. These annotations arise from one of the two Being perhaps of a hasty temper, he accused attempts to canonise Henry VI. Henry VII his maidservant Helen Barker of having sto- opened negotiations with the Pope but len it, flinging insults, accusations and threats dropped the idea in 1509 when he found out at her, so that the poor girl ‘was so scared of how much the legal fees would cost; Henry the terrible accusation of theft, and so scared VIII re-opened the matter but stopped in 1528 of the rage of her fulminating master, that she when his divorce from Catherine of Aragon could not bear to live any longer ... confused ended his relations with the Papacy. by terror and shame she looked for some- As far as I know, independent evidence where to hide, and climbed up to an attic bed- for the existence of the people in only one room.’ Ravenyng did not chase her upstairs. such miracle has so far been discovered in the ‘While she was alone there, the Devil sug- public records and published. I am not talking gested to her that it would be better to die about the major players, such as Sir Thomas than to be miserable and in disgrace.’ Fear of Everingham and John Nesfeld, who appear in shame might not have been the worst of it; in Tony Goodman’s piece, but obscure people the fifteenth century theft of property worth who have made no other contribution to histo- more than a small amount was a capital of- ry. Miracle 8 records how in November 1488 fence. So she listened to the Devil, picked up Dr William Edwards, vicar of Hollington in a knife and cut her throat. Immediately after- Sussex, was attacked and horribly mutilated wards she realised that suicide would incur by three of his parishioners, who out of devil- the penalty of the everlasting fires of hell, and ment and hatred cut out his tongue and regretted her deed. ‘Bitten by her conscience,’ stabbed his eyeballs; he prayed to Henry VI, she implored the help of Henry VI. and recovered his power of speech and the She had presented Henry with a hard task. sight of one eye. In 1983 Christopher Whit- ‘With her throat cut deep within, from the

wound that gaped from one ear almost across gave it. On the next day a surgeon came, and to the other there spewed forth a river of on the twentieth day since her suicide attempt blood, so copiously that with her life-force Helen was cured. That was on St Dunstan’s weakened – nay, rather I should say extin- day, 19 May. guished – the girl breathed her last.’ She fell On 26 June Helen came to Henry’s tomb to the floor. and dedicated the knife with which she had After some time people started to look for tried to kill herself, together with ymagine her. The mater familias, the lady of the house, facti, ‘a representation of the deed’. One won- (presumably Mrs Ravenyng), wondered ders what it showed: a gaping throat? Was it where she had gone and why she was not of wax, or wood, and painted? Did John coming when she was called, so searched Ravenyng pay for it? through the house and came up at last to the From the very fact that this piece appears attic. The narrator tells us that ‘her two sisters as ‘Logge Notes and Queries’, you will per- followed her, not without hesitation and fear’. haps have worked out what comes next. In the He milks every millilitre of drama from his Logge Register we have the will of a John narrative, which is perhaps where the hesita- Ravenyng. It is no. 33. I wonder if Jacqueline tion and fear come from; one might more Simpson and Dinah Coyne remember tran- reasonably think that they were expecting to scribing it? meet weeping and hysteria rather than a Is he the same John Ravenyng as the one messy suicide. They found her lying senseless in the miracle story? on the floor, ‘her body drenched everywhere The testator of Logge 33, who wrote his with her own blood’, and reacted with terror, will on 5 February 1482 and died within a ‘bewailing with trembling hearts the horror fortnight, describes himself as ‘citizen and and fearful fortune of the deed’. They carried salter of London’, and asks for burial in the on like this for half an hour. church of St Mary Somerset in Thames Then other people came, including men – Street, London, ‘afore the image of saint Mar- the Latin changes to masculine forms. One garett att the queer door their whereas the man picked her up, the rest bent their heads in body of Johanne late my wif restith buried’. prayer, asking help from the powers above, Wrong occupation, wrong parish? But his by the intercession of the Virgin and King first personal bequest was ‘I biqueth to my Henry. It was not in vain. Contrary to every- sonne John Ravenyng in money x marc [£6 one’s expectations, she breathed again, and 13s.4d.], a standing pece with a covere of there was great rejoicing. The narrator re- silvere and my litle cast vessell of bras with marks that they were all worried about her. the lede therto longing for sopemaking.’ Well they might be! And perhaps John The John Ravenyng of the miracle narra- Ravenyng most of all, because it cannot have tive must be either our testator, or his son been pleasant to think you have driven some- John, each of whom owned the little brass one to suicide. They quickly sent for doctors, vessel for soap-making. It is a thousand pities begging them to do everything to find a cure. that, while the narrator gave us the date of St These miracle narratives never have a Dunstan’s Day, he did not add the year. The good word to say for doctors, who are arch- first recorded miracle is noted as happening rivals to miracle-workers, but they do not on 31 August 1481, when Henry revived the disguise their presence. They merely stress four-year-old grandson of a miller in Kent, that the miracle-workers are prayed to before who had fallen into the millpond and the doctors are sent for, so that the miraculous ‘drowned’, so if this John is the father it is a can operate through the medical. very early miracle. For two days nothing seemed to do any What more can we deduce from the will? good, and everyone said such a dreadful Three other children are named, a daughter wound could not be cured by human care or Anneys who is married to a Robert Chapman, skill, and begged again for the help of ‘the and William and Joan who are both under aforesaid man of God’, i.e. Henry VI. And he age. William and Joan are each to have £10

and ‘a parice pece’ of silver; Anneys gets 10 about the church of St Mary Somerset: ‘it is a marks and a silver-gilt cup with a raven on proper church, but the monuments are all de- the cover. The testator has married again. His faced.’4 The two parishes are not adjacent, but new wife is named Isabel, and she has a sister there are 700 yards – and 6 river-front parish- Cecily Wright. (Her two sisters followed the es – between them. St Mary Somerset is west lady of the house upstairs to Helen’s attic.) of Queenhithe, at a point where once Old Fish Isabel is one of his executors, and Martyn Street met (Upper) Thames Street and near Blundell ‘bierman’ is the other, with the local Salters’ Hall, St Martin Orgar was to the east parson, Sir John Denham, as overseer. He had of Cannon Street station, where St Martin land in Mildenhall, Suffolk, which he leaves Orgar Lane once met Canwick Street (now to Isabel for her life, and then to his son Wil- Cannon Street). Both suffered in the fire of liam and the legitimate heirs of his body. The 1666, and only their re-built towers survive reversion of this land, should William die today.5 It may well be that John Ravenyng without such heirs, is slightly unusual: it is junior lived in the parish of St Martin Orgar, a then to go to his daughter Joan and the legiti- different parish from his father, and was the mate heirs of her body; if this line fails, it is John Ravenyng of the miracle. to go to his son John and the legitimate heirs The miracle was not one of those proved, of his body, then to his daughter Anneys and but investigations were under way. There is a her heirs and assigns for ever more. We may marginal note: testes inducti super hoc, probably deduce from this that John and An- ‘witnesses were produced on this’. neys were the children of his deceased wife My own investigations are now under Joan, and that the land in Mildenhall was way, and I hope soon to be able to produce a brought to him in dowry by his second wife more detailed account of the background to Isabel. this miracle. Ravenyng is not one of those testators who left small individual sums to each of his Notes servants. The only other named legatee is 1 This is published as Henrici Sexti Angliae Anneys Godefelawe, who gets 20s. to pray Regis Miracula Postuma, ed. P. Grosjean for for him. the Society of Bollandists, Brussels 1935, a The miracle narrative clearly says that book which is written completely in Latin – John Ravenyng lived in the parish of St Mar- including the introduction, title page and foot- tin Orgar (the actual text appears to say notes. ‘Organ’). Stow, who wrote his Survey of Lon- 2 Sussex Archaeological Collections vol. 121, don in the later sixteenth century, is rather 1983; the court proceedings are in TNA KB disparaging: ‘The parish church of St Martin 29/119 m.15d. Orgar is a small thing.’ On the other hand, ‘St 3 Stow, Survey of London, p. 200. Martin Orgar lane ... is on both sides down to 4 Stow, Survey of London, p. 319. a well, replenished with fair and large houses 5 British Atlas of Historic Towns, vol. 3, The 3 for merchants.’ He also has very little to say City of London (1991), map 3.

Cumbria Group’s Richard III Penrith Trail

The Cumbria Group has recently published a Richard III Penrith Trail leaflet. Among other things the leaflet discusses the attribution of the stained glass in Pen- rith Church which was traditionally claimed to represent Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville. Copies of the trail brochure are available from the Secretary of the Cumbria Group (price 20p).

Correspondence

Will contributors please note the letters may be edited or shortened to conform to the standards of the Bulletin.

Biographies of Elizabeth of York no surprise at all if some of his advisers had From Joanna Laynesmith (née Chamber- argued for such a marriage. Richard and layne), Reading Anne’s only son had died, after all. With Further to Carrie Sharlow’s letter in the Bulle- Anne seriously ill, the council would natural- tin [Spring 2007] my DPhil thesis ‘English ly address the question of who would make a Queenship 1445-1503’ has in fact been pub- suitable queen if she died, and who might lished, but under my married name: J.L. produce another heir. The rumours of such a Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens. Eng- marriage would then have stemmed from one lish Queenship 1445-1503. Although the orig- or more members of the council thinking inal print run has sold out, Oxford University aloud, and not on Richard talking of the idea Press are still producing it on a print-on- of marrying Elizabeth. Richard’s public rejec- demand basis, but it’s rather expensive that tion of the idea would have been natural and way, so I’d recommend going to the library. politic, and not a forced denial as the Croy- Elizabeth of York was the queen for whom I land Chronicle proposes.’ found I had the most interesting material that did not make it into the final thesis, so I agree More about La Beltraneja with Professor Okerlund that this queen really From Angela Moreton, Yorkshire deserves several new biographies. I very Further to Pamela Hill’s letter in the Bulletin much look forward to reading hers. [Spring 2007], it was not entirely ‘earlier Tu- dor propaganda’ which caused England to A Second Wife for Richard III consider Juana ‘La Beltraneja’ as an impos- From Donald MacLachlan, Vancouver, Can- tor, keen though it was to include her rival as ada queen of Castile, Isabel, among the in-laws of In skewering Michael Hicks [Bulletin, Winter the infant Tudor dynasty. It is not even agreed 2006], Helen Cox touches on Richard’s denial among Spanish chroniclers as to whether Jua- of any intention to marry his niece, Elizabeth na was legitimate or not, or whether Henry IV of York. of Castile ever declared her his heir, orally or The prime source of the original story in in a written testament. Portuguese writers as- the Croyland Chronicle, which insisted that sert that there was a will declaring her Hen- Richard’s councillors brought in a dozen the- ry’s sole heir, but that is not surprising since ologians to tell him that such a marriage was she was betrothed to the king of Portugal impossible, and then forced him to make a shortly afterwards. (She never married him, public denial of his plan: ‘Shortly before as the Pope revoked the necessary dispensa- Easter, therefore, the king took his place in tion, and, despite attempts to marry her to the great hall of St John’s, in the presence of other European princes and nobles, she ended the mayor and citizens of London, and in a her days as a nun at Coimbra.) distinct, loud voice carried out fully that ad- No will of Henry IV of Castile has ever vice to make such a denial, as many people been discovered and, although it is tanta- believed more by the desire of the councillors mount to heresy in some circles to criticise than his own.’ Queen Isabel, it is not beyond conjecture that But perhaps it was really the marriage, not she came across such a document at some the denial, that was more the desire of the time and discreetly destroyed it for the good councillors. As I suggest in a Ricardian book of the country. Her husband Ferdinand of that is taking ages to complete: ‘It would be Aragon, a man easily as wily as Henry

Tydder, would have done so without batting lutely astounded me was not only the garter an eyelid. piece and its inscription within his famous It is worth remembering that neither Juana film but also the Latin chant sung by those nor Isabel would ever have been considered two monks. Marvellous! I only hope that Dr heir to the throne of Castile if Isabel’s brother Mike Jones has read the article too. Alfonso had lived, but he died in 1468 at the I myself am going to watch the said film age of 15, another of the fragile youths with for the very first time from beginning to end, which European royal houses seem to have having previously found it too distasteful and been amply provided at this period. Of course been unable to get much past the opening there were the inevitable rumours that he had minutes. been poisoned (by a dish of trout, apparently), but the official cause of his death was ‘the ‘Richard-bashing’ in Germany pestilence’. His sister Isabel, present at his From Dr Anne-Marie Liethen, Germany deathbed, and many other courtiers, managed Since I wrote [Media Retrospective, Bulletin, to survive unscathed. Spring 2007], I have received a long answer

(three pages) from the research editor of the Jockey of Thebes German magazine GeoEpoche. He concedes From Eric Swainsbury, Bristol that there was a mistake concerning Richard Not long ago I read The Gates of Hell by Paul II’s death, as their source (Prof. Schwanitz, Doherty, part of a trilogy on Alexander the Englische Kulturgeschichte, vol. 1, Tübingen Great. I came across the following passage. 1995) seems to have omitted to say that his Alexander is laying siege to Halicarnas- remarks about Richard II were just an as- sus; inside the city are Orontobates, the Gov- sumption. The remarks about Richard III, on ernor of the city, Memnon of Rhodes, a Greek the other hand, reflect their strong belief in mercenary, and Ephialtes, a Greek renegade. Richard’s guilt in murdering the Princes (or in While they are conversing, an arrow is fired having them murdered), as well as his overall over the wall with a message attached. This sinister rule. Here they cite Prof. Suerbaum, reads, ‘Alexander of Macedon to Ephialtes of Das elisabethanische Zeitalter, Stuttgart Thebes, traitor: Ephialtes of Thebes, be not so 2003, who seems to be absolutely sure about bold, For Memnon, thy master, is both bought Richard’s guilt. The editor also mentions that and sold.’ the website of the Richard III Society is no I wonder if Paul Doherty discovered this reliable source for him, as the society is from his researches into Alexander and ‘single-sided and leading a fight with their whether Shakespeare adapted it from the opponents calling this “a great debate”.’* I same source. Does anyone have any ideas? have already written an answer, but believe

that their mind is so settled that I can only At Last I Can Watch Olivier’s Film hope that they will at least think about the ar- From Philippa Langley, Scotland guments. My thanks go to Geoffrey Wheeler for his re- *An unfortunate comment by the GeoEpoche cent articles: ‘Lord Olivier – A Closet Ricard- editor as many of the articles on the website ian?’ [Autumn 2006/Spring 2007 Bulletins] about King Richard were contributions from for divulging so comprehensively the history leading academics! Research Officer that lay behind my innocent enquiry as to

Lord Olivier’s possible viewpoint as to our king’s character and reputation. Tailpiece The articles were hugely enjoyable and A notoriously difficult WHAT after lunch? very informative and I was particularly From Lesley Boatwright, a somewhat shaken pleased that the evidence would indeed seem proof-reader to suggest that the man most associated with I wonder if anyone is going to believe me? Shakespeare’s hunch-backed villain probably When I gave the proof copy of the last Bulle- thought otherwise. In particular what abso- tin a final read-through before it went for

printing, those words on page 46 were ‘the These things do happen. I remember once notoriously difficult slot after lunch’. I have a supervising an A-level examination in which copy of the proof to prove it. there was a misprint on the question paper, Some readjustments apparently had to be and I had to read out a correction: ‘question 3 made to fit the picture in properly, and it is should read “Why do large numbers of the my firm belief that Archbishop Morton – he population speak another language?” not who sends the driving rain down on visits and “Why do large members of the population ensures that funerals are taking places in speak another language?”’ I also remember a churches we want to see – saw an opportunity student typist who copied the practice sen- to create trouble from his vantage point in tence ‘In what sizes are typewriters made?’ as hell and removed the ‘l’. ‘In what sexes are typewriters made?’ (No, it A number of people have been kind wasn’t me.) enough to say that they laughed till they cried. Morton, get back into the bonfire and stay Luckily Rosemary Horrox saw through Mor- away from us. ton’s ploy and was not upset.

Media Retrospective continued From Wendy Moorhen dic badge identifying the wearer as a retainer The Hinckley Times, 26 April – Could this of a particular nobleman. Unfortunately it is badge solve 500-year battle mystery? broken so we can cannot identify whose A small silver badge was found on farmland badge it is’. The badge has been deemed as near Sutton Cheney in December 2005 and treasure at a Loughborough inquest on 19 has been dated back to the late 15th century April and is likely to be ‘acquired by the or early 16th century by the British Museum. [Leicestershire] County Council and will go Richard Knox of the Bosworth Battlefield on display at the Bosworth Battlefield Cen- Centre commented ‘we believe this is a heral- tre’.

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 e-mail [email protected]

Guidelines for Contributors to the Bulletin

Over the last few years we have tried to make the new-look Bulletin a publication we can be really proud of, interesting to read and pleasant to look at, full of news and views, with informative and thought-provoking articles. One most encouraging development has been the growing readi- ness of members to contribute their own pieces for publication: we don’t want a magazine written by just a handful of people, but by lots of you, so don’t hide your light under a bushel – pick up your pen, or sit at your keyboard, and get writing. But please read these few paragraphs first. The editorial team quickly realised that we needed a few basic rules if the Bulletin was going to look really professional. We had to decide to what extent we were going to develop a ‘house- style’. In the end, we agreed that a certain consistency in our approach would mean that the Bul- letin was easier and clearer to read, and we put together a few pages of guide-lines, covering such matters as lay-out, spelling, capitalisation, treatment of numbers, etc., and part of my job as proof-reader has been to ensure that all contributions conform to our chosen techniques. While of course we are happy to receive typed, or even hand-written, copy, ideally we should like finalised submissions in a Word document, on disk or via e-mail. We convert all text to Times New Roman font, 10 point, with single line-spacing, and justified – if you submit it like that, so much the easier for us. And, dear Ricardians, my proof-reading job would be made very much easier if you would please do a few other things. Look at this present piece, for example. The first paragraph isn’t indented, but the subsequent ones are indented 0.5 cm. No lines are left between the paragraphs, and there is only one space after each full stop. I have written ‘capitalisation’, not ‘capitalization’. Both forms are correct, and I indeed (like Inspector Morse) prefer to spell with a ‘z’, but the modern tendency is to use ‘s’. I suspect that this is because ‘s’ is easier to find on a keyboard than ‘z’, which lurks bottom left. Therefore, when proof-reading, I change all ‘-izes’ to ‘-ises’. A bit of bargaining went on here: I agreed to ‘s’ in exchange for being allowed my rather old-fashioned approach to hyphens. After all, ‘his great-grandson’ is a different person from ‘his great grandson’, and it is easier to understand what is going on with ‘three one-day events’ rather than ‘three one day events’. Correcting other people’s grammar, spelling and punctuation often feels rather arrogant; changing someone’s deathless prose to conform to a house-style can be very annoying to that author. I do stress that there are different ways of doing things, and more than one may be correct. But, on balance, we think that a certain uniformity of approach produces a more professional result. And the more uniform all contributors are, the easier my job is. If you would like a copy of the editorial guide-lines, please let me know. For those of you on e-mail, I can send you an electronic copy. If you are not on e-mail, please send me a stamped A5 envelope – an ordinary first- or second-class stamp will be enough. Lesley Boatwright

The Barton Library

An Appeal In my brief time as Non-fiction Librarian I have come to realise that there must be a wealth of material out there concerning the second half of the fifteenth century that could be usefully added to the Barton Library, particularly locally-published articles and books, dissertations etc. So if members have knowledge of material they feel could be usefully added to the Library would they please contact the relevant Librarian. Contact details are on the inside back cover of the Bulletin.

Latest Additions to the Library Listed below are a selection of books that have been added to the Library. All the books are hardback unless otherwise described.

Non-Fiction Books BALDWIN, David The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York (Sutton Publishing Lim- ited, 2007) The story of Richard of Eastwell, perhaps (my italics) revealing for the first time the true fate of the younger prince, Richard, Duke of York. My thanks to Sutton Publishing for kindly donating this book to the Barton Library. (See pages 17-18 of the Spring 2007 Bulletin for a detailed discussion of this book). GOODMAN, Anthony The Wars of the Roses: The Soldiers’ Experience (Tempus Publishing Limited, 2005) An attempt to view the common soldiers’ experiences of warfare and rebellion in the fifteenth century, and to discover what sort of people they were and why did they repeatedly buckle and saddle up for combat? CRAWFORD, Anne The Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty (Hambledon Continuum, 2007) A study of the characters of the three Yorkist kings, Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III and of the truth behind Shakespeare’s stories about them in his history plays.

Fiction Books CHEVALIER, Tracy The Lady and the Unicorn (paperback, 2003) An imaginative recreation of the story behind the famous Lady and Unicorn tapestries: Jean le Viste, a fifteenth-century nobleman close to the French king, hires an ambitious artist to design six tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court. In Brussels the renowned weaver Georges de la Chapelle takes on the big- gest challenge of his career as his workshop struggles to translate the designs into the finest tapestries he has ever produced. SMITH, Anne Easter A Rose for the Crown (paperback, 2006) Kate Haute leaves behind her old life on the family farm when her mother’s cousin Richard Haute of Ightham Mote invites her to become companion to his daughter Anne. Through this connection she meets Richard of Gloucester and becomes not only the mother of his illegitimate children Katherine and John but also of Richard of Eastwell. WORTH, Sandra Fall from Grace (paperback, 2007) This is the final instalment of the Rose of York Trilogy. It takes the story from Richard’s coronation to his death on Bosworth Field; with an Afterword telling what happened to all the principal characters in the story after the Battle of Bosworth.

Audio Visual Collection Added to the Audio section is an item from BBC Radio 3 Night Waves programme on Books of Hours with Kevin Jackson and Mara Hoffman, responsible for the current British Library exhibition on the Bedford Hours. Added to the Video section:

A Tudor Christmas (BBC2) with Historic Royal Palaces staff from the kitchens at Hampton Court visiting Haddon Hall in Derbyshire to re-create an authentic medieval/Tudor feast in the original kitchens. This includes a rare demonstration of how to skin a peacock, preserving the skin whole and complete with feathers in order to serve it ‘in its pride’. Flog It! (BBC2) an excerpt from the ‘poor man’s Antiques Road Show’ when the programme visited Leicestershire. Paul Martin the presenter interviewed Society Research Officer Wendy Moorhen on the battlefield at Bosworth, (see pages 13 -14 of the Spring 2007 Bulletin for a full report).

Summer Reading Now is the time to explore places of Ricardian interest – the long summer days are the perfect time to visit historic venues. The Non-Fiction Papers Library has an extensive collection of guide books and topographical information for you to borrow. So if you are planning a day trip or maybe a short holiday why not take a look at the catalogue on the Society’s website under the heading Education, sub-heading Barton Library. Tthe section on Topographical Papers lists over 200 guidebooks to castles, churches, medieval buildings etc and the section on Battles and War- fare has articles on visiting battlefields. Have you ever thought of climbing the battlements at Framlingham Castle, visiting the beautiful churches of Thaxted or Fotheringhay, investigating the medieval buildings and streets of Ludlow or walking the battlefields of Towton or Bosworth? If you can’t see what you want or would like any help with collating a package for a particular trip Rebekah Beale will be happy to help.

If you have any questions or want to borrow any items you will find the contact details for all the Librarians on the inside back cover of the Bulletin.

Postal Book Auction Thanks to the generous donations of books from various members, here is another selection of books on offer to the highest bidder. An asterisk (*) denotes a book which you can also purchase new from the Sales Department. I have given a very rough estimate of each book’s value but you can bid above or below that figure – each book will be sold to the member who puts in the highest bid for it. In the event of identical bids, the winner will be the bid received first. All the books are in reasonable condition, and are hard-backs unless otherwise stated. Please send your bids to me: Keith Horry, 36 Hesketh Lane, Tarleton, Preston, Lanca- shire PR4 6AQ or email them to me at: [email protected] to arrive before Friday 31 August 2007. If you wish to be reassured that I have received your postal bid(s) please enclose a stamped addressed envelope. Please do not send any money now. The successful bidders will be notified by post and the cost of postage added to the invoices, unless you would like to collect the books from the Preston area in person or you can pick them up at the AGM on 29 September 2007. It would be helpful if you could add a note to your bids saying if you expect to be at the AGM and giving me a phone number for contacting you to check. I regret that I shall not be able to write to everyone who puts in a bid so if you do not hear from me it will mean that your bid was unsuccessful. Another alternative to posting or bringing the books to the AGM (there is a limit to how many books I could carry to London) would be to arrange a meeting at one of the motorway services. Ferrybridge would be the limit eastbound, say Knutsford southbound and Penrith northbound. For members perhaps going on holiday to the Lakes or Scotland I could meet them at Charnock Richard just after junction 28 on the M6. Finally, in the past some members put bids in by stating ‘one pound higher than the highest bid’, I feel that this is not really fair, so could I respectfully request members not to do it. Thank you.

Alderman, C.L. Blood-Red the Roses: The Wars of the Roses (£4) Alexander, Michael Van Cleave The first of the Tudors (£8) Bagley, J.J. Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England (£4) Baldwin, David Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower (£12) Bennett, Michael Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke (pbk - £5) Bennett, Michael The Battle of Bosworth (3 copies - £6 each) Boardman, A.W. The Battle of Towton (pbk - £5) Carpenter, Christine The Wars of the Roses: Politics and the Constitution in England, c. 1437- 1509 (pbk £5) Cheetham, Anthony The Life and Times of Richard III (2 copies - £6 each) Cheetham, Anthony The Wars of the Roses (£5) Cherry, John The Middleham Jewel and Ring (pbk - £3) Cole, Herbert The Wars of the Roses (£5) Cook, David R. Lancastrians and Yorkists: The Wars of the Roses( 2 small pbks - £2 each) Dawson, Ian The Wars of the Roses: History in Depth (pbk text book for 11-16 yr olds - £3) Dockray, Keith Richard III: A Reader in History (3 copies, pbk - £4 each) Dockray, Keith Richard III: A Source Book (updated edition of the above book, pbk - £6) Dockray, Keith Edward IV: A Source Book (pbk - £6) Drewett, Richard & Redhead, Mark The Trial of Richard III (3 copies pbk - £4 each) *Edwards, Rhoda The Itinerary of King Richard III: 1483-1485 (4 copies small pbk - £1 each) Evans, H.T. Wales and the Wars of the Roses (£7) Fraser, Antonia (Ed) The Wars of the Roses (£4) Gillingham, John (Ed) Richard III: A Medieval Kingship (2 copies pbk - £4 each) Gillingham, John The Wars of the Roses: Peace and Conflict in Fifteenth Century England (pbk - £3) Goodman, Anthony The Wars of the Roses (cover wrong way round - £4) Haigh, Philip A. The Military Campaigns of The Wars of the Roses (£8) Hallam, Elizabeth (Ed) The Chronicles of The Wars of the Roses (£7) *Hammond, P.W. The Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury (£7) Hammond, P.W. & Sutton, Anne F Richard III: The Road to Bosworth Field (2 copies £8 each) Haswell, Jock The Ardent Queen (Margaret of Anjou) £5 Hicks, Michael Richard III (£6) Hicks, Michael Richard III: The Man behind the Myth (£7) Horrox, Rosemary Richard III: A Study in Service (pbk - £4) *Horrox, Rosemary & Hammond P.W. (Eds) British Library Harleian Manuscript 433 – vol- umes 1 to 4 inclusive (£30). If no bids for the 4 volume set, will split. Jenkins, Elizabeth The Princes in the Tower (2 copies - £3 each) Kendall, Paul Murray Richard III (3 copies, pbk - £2 each Lamb, V.B. The Betrayal of Richard III (4 copies - £1.50 each) Lamb, V.B. The Betrayal of Richard III – with intro and notes by P W Hammond (pbk - £4) *Lander, J.R. The Wars of the Roses (2 copies - £2 & £4) Legge, Alfred O. The Unpopular King: The Life & Times of Richard III (very old book £2) Lockyer, Roger Henry VII – Seminar Studies in History (pbk - £2.50) Neillands, Robin The Wars of the Roses (2 copies - £8 each) *Petre, J. (ed) Richard III Crown and People: A selection of articles from The Ricardian March 1975 to December 1981 (£6) Pollard, A.J. Richard III and the Princes in the Tower (2 copies - £8 & £6) *Pollard, A.J. Richard III and the Princes in the Tower (4 copies, pbk - £3.50 each) *Potter, Jeremy Good King Richard? (£4)

Ross, Charles Edward IV (pbk - £6) Ross, Charles Richard III (paperback 3 copies - £3.50 each) Rowse, A.L. Bosworth Field and the Wars of the Roses (pbk - £1) Seward, Desmond Richard III: England’s Black Legend (two copies - £4.50 each) Sher, Anthony Year of the King (£4) Simons, Eric N. Henry VII (£8) Storey, R.L. The Reign of Henry VII (pbk - £4) Tudor, Miles The White Rose Dies (small pamphlet - £1) *Visser-Fuchs, Livia (Ed) The Ricardian, Volume XIII: Essays in Honour of Anne F, Sutton (pbk - £7) Walpole, Horace Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (£7) Weir, Alison Lancaster & York: The wars of the Roses (pbk - £2) Weir, Alison The Princes in the Tower (£4) Weir, Alison The Princes in the Tower (one large and two small pbks - £2 & £1 each respective- ly) Williams, Neville The Life and Times of Henry VII (pbk - £6) Williamson, Audrey The Mystery of the Princes (2 copies - £3 each)

New Members

UK 1 January 2007 – 31 March 2007 Leona Beales, Lincoln Catherine McArdle, London Malcolm Beddard, Worcester Janet Messenger, Harwich Frances Blake, Chorleywood Chris Newman, Orton Wiston Stella Brown, London John Priestley, Shipley Dorothy Corkill, Knowlsey Niz Smith, Leighton Buzzard Debbie Hague, Peterborough Tracey Statham, Walsall Colin Harris, London Anne Templeman, Dronfield Mike Jones, Teignmouth Paul Walton, Oxford Glynis Knotts, Lincoln Elaine Williams, Nr Abergele Robert Long, Bolton Derek Woodman, Old Windsor

Overseas 1 January 2007 – 31 March 2007 Suzanne Berends, Spring Texas USA Bernice Gilmore, Victoria, British Columbia Linda Orr, Delaware City, Delaware, USA Canada Lindsay Nicholson, Prahran, Victoria, Australia Shirley Gunnarsson, Norrkoping, Sweden

US Branch 1 January 2007 – 31 March 2007

Lori Braunhardt, New Mexico Marianne Willers Miro, Wisconsin Alexander J. Brown, Wisconsin Gay Reno, Arizona Ruth Dean, California Theresa Sheehan, Arkansas Deirdre Heffernan, Illinois Lynn Irwin Stewart, Georgia Herbert W. Lockwood Jan Swanson, Alabama Dr David Lowell, Connecticut Anne Teyssier, Maryland Judith and Donald Machen, New Mexico Beth Topping, Illinois Mike McDonald, Texas Thomas Turrentine, Arkansas 40

Australasian Convention 2007

ROB SMITH

onths of planning came to fruition dur- register and uplift their Convention satchels M ing the weekend of 13-15 April when and orders of specially-designed souvenir 46 Ricardians and nine partners and guests clothing. The satchels were particularly popu- gathered at picturesque Wallaceville House lar, containing a variety of items including near Upper Hutt for the biennial Australasian top quality writing paper and envelopes, wa- Convention of the Richard III Society. ter-marked with the Society’s emblem, a hand Friday ushered in a cold and wet southerly covered note book and a small souvenir pen- as local members gathered at Wellington Air- dant. After registration everyone socialised

port to meet the overseas visitors. The first over a drink before NZ Branch Chair, Deirdre scheduled arrival failed to materialise, having Drysdale, welcomed everyone and called on missed his connection in snow-bound Convention Registrar, Rob Smith. After ac- Queenstown but, by and large, Ricardians knowledging sponsors and contributions from the UK, Western and South Australia, made by Branch members, Rob read greetings Queensland, Victoria and NSW all arrived on and messages from our Patron, HRH Prince time, with the late arrivals making it to the Richard, Duke of Gloucester; the Society’s opening ceremony just in time. President, Peter Hammond, and the Chair- On Friday evening everyone gathered to man, Phil Stone. 41

Those present were particularly delighted with papers on a great variety of subjects in- that HRH had recognised the Convention. In terspersed with many a light-hearted moment. passing on his good wishes HRH commented Featured later in the day was a talk on joust- how delighted King Richard would be to ing by Callum Forbes, our guest from ‘The know that, even so far away, his reputation Order of the Boar’ , after which the inimitable was still a matter for speculation. Phil Stone Blair Martin, from Queensland conducted a remarked on the vast distances travelled by game show based on ‘Blankety Blank’, a pop- some to attend and urged overseas members ular TV show of earlier times but with a Ri- to be actively involved in the Society’s future. cardian theme. Contestants had to match their

Tripping the light fantastic – medieval style

Deirdre then conducted a candle-lighting answers with those of the ‘Celebrities’ forci- ceremony inviting Rob, as the Society’s local bly coerced into their roles earlier in the day Vice President, to light the candle for the So- by Blair. ciety, after which representatives from the After a reasonable break for everyone to UK and Overseas Branches together with all freshen up and change all returned to Wal- the Australian States followed suit, with Deir- laceville House for the highlight of the week- dre lighting the NZ Branch candle. After the end, the banquet. By far the majority had cho- ceremony a delicious supper was served, par- sen to change into costume and, as people ticularly enjoyed by our late arrivals who had arrived to enjoy a pre-dinner drink, the de- spent the day in airport transit lounges wait- lightful venue was transformed into a blaze of ing to be rescheduled. A DVD of Olivier’s colour as beautiful dresses and male costume Richard III was played for those seeking re- were paraded for the cameras. In addition to laxation, while others continued to socialise the ‘nobility’ represented there were, of or took to their beds. course, the odd monk, jester and even the Saturday was set aside for a full day of wounded Sir Vivor fresh from Towton field. presentations. All Branches were represented The Banquet, a credit to our hosts, com-

menced with Blair Martin delivering Grace, All gathered again on Sunday morning for appropriately in Latin, and all enjoyed a mag- a continuation of the programme which in- nificent repast. After the main course, toasts cluded a business session at which Rob Smith to ‘The Queen’, ‘King Richard’, ‘The Society was reconfirmed for a further term in his joint coupled with the name of our Patron HRH role of Australasian Vice President and UK The Duke of Gloucester’ and ‘The NZ Branch Liaison Officer. Perth, Western Australia was on the occasion of its 21st Birthday’ were chosen as the venue for the 2009 Convention. offered. We were joined for dessert and cof- Deirdre then had the sad task of formally fee by eight members of the Wellington Me- closing the 2007 Convention. She thanked the dieval Guild. NZ members, all of whom had contributed so The evening’s entertainment commenced much to the success of the Convention. She with hilarious skits performed by local was not allowed to leave the floor before a Branch members, followed by the Medieval number of our overseas guests spoke warmly Guild who entertained us with a number of of her leadership throughout the Convention items of music, song and dance before invit- and also expressed their enjoyment and ap- ing all on to the floor to join them in a few, preciation of the efforts of the NZ Branch thankfully simple, dances. As midnight drew members. near, Deirdre closed the evening, offering Some were soon to fly home to Australia, thanks to all concerned, and a few hardy souls while others stayed on to enjoy all that NZ continued on into the early hours. has to offer.

Medieval Recipes

For this issue the recipe is a very simple but a well known one, the cooking and presentation of the peacock on the table in all its glory. The description makes it seem decep- tively simple. It obviously was not easy as a video of a television programme recently added to the Society Li- brary shows. The bird in this film was wisely not eaten. It might be thought that even in the middle ages they might have thought that hygiene considerations would advise against eating the bird with a raw unwashed skin. Take a peacock, break his neck and cut his throat. Flay him, the skin and feathers together and the head still to the skin of the neck and keep the skin and the feathers together, draw him as a hen and keep the bone to the neck whole and roast him. Set the bone of the neck above the broche as he was wont to sit when alive and bow the legs to the body as he was wont to sit when alive. When he is roasted enough take him off [the heat] and let him cool. Then wind the skin with the feathers and the tail about the body and serve him forth as if he were alive or else pull him dry and roast him and serve as you do a hen. This last part sounds rather as if it is saying ‘and if you cannot be bothered with all this fuss just roast the bird. Peter Hammond

Report on Society Events

‘Medieval Warfare’ Study Weekend, York, 13 – 15 April 2007 Although battles at home and abroad played a decisive part in the politics of fifteenth-century England, and although Ricardians are particularly interested in the battles that comprised ‘the Wars of the Roses’, most of us know little about either the mechanics of medieval warfare or the weapons and dress used by combatants. Thanks to the various speakers, members who attended the 2007 Study Weekend in York now know much more than they did about a fascinating, and sometimes disturbing, subject. The themes of the weekend’s illustrated talks ranged from the ideals of chivalry, through the topography and archaeology of two fifteenth-century battlefields, to harsh realities of battlefield combat. On Friday evening, Peter Hammond began the weekend with an overview of the concept of chivalry. Early definitions of chivalry in the Oxford English Dictionary referred directly to warfare, such as ‘bravery or prowess in war; warlike distinction or glory’, but it gradually came to mean ‘the military art (of the middle ages), knightly skill and practice in arms and martial achievements’. The education of young princes and nobles concentrated principally on the arts of war and the behaviour of a ‘good prince’ or a ‘good knight’. These were described in contemporary manuals, like The book of the ordre of chyualry, which recalled knightly usages of past times. Several chivalric orders were established during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the best-known being the Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III in about 1348. Through their oath of membership, knights confirmed political loyalty to the order’s leader, thus these were, in theory, societies of fighting men loyal to their lord and companions. A ruler might also seek to secure diplomatic alliances by conferring membership of his own order on foreign kings and princes. Orders also promoted such communal activities as tournaments and religious ceremo- nies. Peter suggested that chivalric ideals were not always adhered to or attained; for example, although chivalry dictated that in war knights be taken prisoner and ransomed, frequently knights were slaughtered in the heat of battle. In conclusion, he questioned how seriously medieval knights and rulers took chivalry, arguing that since chivalric orders were mainly political, it was difficult to tell how committed to their ideals members really were. Nevertheless, these orders continued to flourish in the fifteenth century. Lynda Pidgeon continued the theme of knights and chivalry in ‘Tournaments: A return to Camelot?’, illustrating her talk with slides of relevant manuscripts. She commenced by defining various activities now encompassed by the term ‘tournament’. Originally it was a mass combat involving two opposing teams of numerous mounted knights; a ‘mêlée’ involved hand-to-hand fighting on a similar scale. However, from about 1350 onwards ‘tournament’ invariably meant ‘joust’: single combat on horseback, where individual knights could demonstrate their prowess with weapons. Tournaments or jousts might be à outrance (as at war) or à plaisir (for entertainment); indeed, jousting was popular with spectators. Very early on, tournaments became opportunities to gain prestige or confer patronage. Knights, such as William Marshall, used them to win fame and fortune. Edward I saw tournaments as training grounds for war as well as sporting occasions. He also became fascinated with the legends of King Arthur. Edward III carried this further in 1344 by holding a Round Table at Windsor to launch his Calais campaign. (The remains of the specially erected arena have recently been excavated by Time Team). The fifteenth century saw the idea of tournaments based on romances raised to a new level, when they were designed to celebrate special occasions or for political ends. The most famous example is the tournament held to celebrate the marriage of Margaret of York and Charles the Bold in 1468, which John Paston likened to the court of King Arthur and which is still re-enacted in Bruges as the Feast of the Golden Tree. The fullest account of a joust in England describes the encounter between Anthony Wydevile and the Bastard of Burgundy in June 1467, but although the pavilions

and the attire of the knights and their horses are recorded in detail, unfortunately reports of the joust itself are much more sketchy and indeed offer conflicting evidence. In conclusion, Lynda suggested that by the fifteenth century the ideal of chivalry was conditioned by romances, that is, fiction, and that the reality was indeed little different from our own Arthurian image of tournaments. Because the weekend was held in York, two of the battles of the Wars of the Roses that took place in Yorkshire were Saturday’s subjects. Between them, Helen Cox and Wendy Moorhen unfolded the linked stories of the battles of Wakefield and Towton. Firstly Helen, an archaeolo- gist and medieval re-enactor (wearing a particularly authentic-looking medieval costume), outlined the events at Wakefield. She described the actual site of Sandal Castle and explained that only a small proportion of Richard of York’s force of 3,000 to 6,000 men could have been accommodated inside. She suggested that on 30 December 1460 he left the safety of the castle to attack the Lancastrian forces because he believed that he could defeat them; he was certainly far too experienced to simply be lured out by enemy taunts. Indeed, York had been expecting rein- forcements led by Lord Neville, who, in the event, sided with the enemy. The subsequent display of the heads of his father and brother on Micklegate Bar had the predictable result of rousing Edward, earl of March, and set the houses of York and Lancaster firmly on the road to Towton. Wendy then outlined the (scant) known details of the battle of Towton and showed the heraldry of the major players. Charles Ross has estimated that some 75% of the peerage took part in the battle but actual numbers of combatants, and of the dead, reported by chroniclers (both contemporary and later) vary greatly, suggesting as many as 25,000 Lancastrians and 20,000 Yorkists, excluding the men under the duke of Norfolk. Next Wendy took us through the initial encounters at Ferrybridge and Dinting Dale and the possible arrangements of the troops during the night of the 28/29 March. Helen then demonstrated the subsequent positions of the two armies in Towton Vale, on the morning of the 29th, the Lancastrians’ position being the more advantageous. She showed slides of the sites of the various engagements and explained how the battle progressed as pieced together from the sparse written records and the archaeological finds. Although the battle occurred on Palm Sunday, 29 March 1461, it took place during a snowstorm. The unseasonable weather was a crucial factor in the Yorkists’ victory: for example, the strong wind carried their arrows further and severely restricted the flight of Lancastrians’ arrows. The most decisive effect of the weather, however, was that snow and melt-water caused the Cock Beck to flood so that when the Lancastrians were forced to flee downhill and over the beck hundreds drowned in its unusually deep water. Edward ordered that no quarter be given nor prisoners taken. Wendy drew our attention to a document held by a previous owner of Towton Hall in which Richard III pledged to rebury those killed at Towton in consecrated ground, some at Towton parish church and some at nearby Saxton; there was to be no favour granted to Yorkists over Lancastrians in this reburial. The document itself is genuine, and several other contemporary sources record Richard’s intention to commemorate the Towton dead. To help us get some idea of the human angle, Mick Doggett, also a re-enactor, donned his archer’s armour and weapons. He wore: a padded jack, made up of eighteen layers of linen, which could deflect arrows shot up to 200 yards away; small metal plates to protect his elbows when shooting; an open-fronted metal salet (helmet), which protected his head and neck; a two- colour tabard to show friends and enemies on which side he was fighting. His weapons comprised: a longbow, which drew 100 to 120 lbs; goose-fletched arrows, some with armour-piercing bodkins, others with horse-galling arrow-heads; a sword and buckler (very small circular shield) for skirmishing; a rondel dagger for close fighting. This joint presentation provided an excellent introduction to the afternoon’s visit to Towton. Helen and Mick (in twenty-first-century high visibility jackets) first took us to the tiny chapel of St Mary, Lead, now situated in the middle of a field that is probably the site of a deserted medieval village. The chapel contains several interesting features, including four Norman tombs and an eighteenth-century triple-decker pulpit. Part of the east window contains a stained glass boar donated by the Yorkshire Branch to commemorate

Clockwise, from top left: Helen Cox and Mick Doggett The Yorkshire Branch’s Window at Lead Chapel Lead Chapel The Cock Beck (and the nearest we could get to it)

the chapel’s proximity to the Towton battlefield. We then visited the battlefield memorial cross (probably originally a medieval wayside cross), on which wreaths and posies of both red and white roses had been laid. The footpath leading from the cross takes visitors across the centre of the battlefield to a board explaining the layout of the site. Just down the steep hill is the Cock Beck and Bloody Meadow, where many Lancastrians drowned. As this is private land, it is not possible to walk down to the beck; both Helen and Mick believe that excavations in that area would prove very fruitful but permission has not been granted for such work. Looking towards the southern ridge, where the Yorkists took up their initial position, we could see clearly against the skyline several model aircraft enthusiasts. This demonstrated the distance between the opposing forces, although the combatants themselves would not have seen more than a few yards ahead in the swirling snow. As Towton Vale covers a wide area, we only had time to visit parts of the battlefield but, nevertheless, we could appreciate the positions of the opposing armies and the topography of the site. Given the glorious sunshine, however, we were unable to appreciate the terrible conditions in which the battle took place. On Saturday evening, as is now traditional, there was a reception and medieval banquet at Barley Hall. The talking point of the occasion, however, was not the tasty meal (vegetable soup; sweet pastries; beef with dumplings; carrot and swede mash with barley and onion pudding; red wine jelly with milk and rosewater sweetmeats), nor even the musical entertainment provided by Trouvère, but the new shoes belonging to Casimer, King of Poland, aka John Saunders. Unlike the emperor’s new clothes, however, these hand-crafted confections were highly visible. Glasses were raised to HM The Queen, King Richard and to the Australasian members gathered in New Zealand for their convention which was being held on the same weekend. On Sunday morning James Petre cleared our heads with a whistle-stop ‘tour’ of the castles and fortified houses of the North and the Borders. From his brief outline of the Anglo-Scottish wars, it quickly became clear why Northumberland was the most fortified county in England. Many of the buildings were tower houses with a tunnel-vaulted ground floor, surmounted by two, three or four upper storeys, such as Norham and Belsay. Others were more ‘traditional’ castles, like those at Pickering and Dunstanburgh. James explained that it is very difficult to ‘label’ different types of fortified buildings because the meanings of various terms have changed over time; for example, ‘pele’, as in ‘pele tower’, originally meant a ‘defensible enclosure’. Most of the northern fortified houses were essentially gate-house towers, that is, the living quarters usually served as the gate-house to an enclosed area, rather than being positioned in the middle of that enclosure. Such buildings were relatively easy to defend against attacks by marauding enemies but they could not withstand cannon shot. This was not, however, a great disadvantage since only royal armies used heavy siege weapons; thus the development of gunpowder artillery did not necessarily spell the end of castles in the medieval period. Defensible farmhouses, small towers and large castles were not only architectural expressions of the state of war but also physical manifestations of their owners’ social status. Graeme Rimer, academic director of the Royal Armouries Leeds, gave the final presentation, which was on ‘Medieval weapons and armour’. As he had assisted the archaeologists who worked on the mass grave at Towton Hall, he was able to give detailed explanations of the findings there. Firstly he outlined the significance of the site at Towton: prior to its discovery the greatest medieval mass war grave had been that at Visby in Sweden (battle in 1361). The Towton grave, therefore, is of international importance and it is vital that its contents are understood properly. It had contained thirty complete skeletons and parts of a further ten, nearly all of which had suffered head injuries, implying battle deaths. Furthermore, many of these injuries were on the backs of the skulls, suggesting that the victims had been killed in a rout. It is probable, therefore, that they were Lancastrian troops. The most puzzling aspect is the fact that so few bodies have been recovered at Towton, given that even the most conservative estimates suggest that some 8,000 died on the field and a further 5,000 in the rout. Graeme showed close-up slides of many of the skulls and explained how his knowledge of weaponry and of the ‘signature scars’

that various weapons caused had enabled archaeologists to identify what had inflicted the differ- ently shaped wounds. Interestingly, as well as weapons held at the Armouries, he used medieval manuscript drawings to identify causes of injuries. For example, the skeleton known as ‘Towton 10’ had received a striking blow to the left temple that was probably inflicted by a mace; ‘Towton 9’ had a small ¾-inch square wound caused a poleaxe. To further illustrate the points that he had made, Graeme then showed us several weapons that might have been found on a medieval battlefield. Handling them brought home to us just how difficult it must have been to wield the various bows, knives and swords in battle. Thus was a fascinating and informative weekend brought to its conclusion. As ever, thanks must go to Wendy for her efficient organisation. Over Sunday lunch, participants were already discussing the next study weekend, which will be held in April 2009. Heather Falvey

1482: Crisis in Edinburgh This year’s annual Scottish Branch lecture was expanded to a conference day of four presentations. Philippa Langley had charmed the MOD into providing a free venue and a lecturer. The venue turned out to be a stone, barrel-vaulted, wood-panelled room in the heart of Edinburgh castle, and the lecturer, Lieutenant Colonel Bernie Hewitt, a serving communications and logistics engineer. He was joined by Dr Harry Snitker, lecturer in Medieval History at Edinburgh Uni- versity, Professor Norman MacDougall, retired Professor of Medieval Studies at St Andrews University, and Jim Herbert, museum designer at Berwick Museum and one of the few people to have built a trebuchet and tried to knock down walls with it. Professor Tony Goodman (Branch member, and retired Professor of Medieval History at Ed- inburgh University) introduced the historians, who batted first.

Norman MacDougall introduced the three key characters in his lecture ‘A Man who would be King’:  Alexander, Duke of Albany and Earl of March. He was brother, and secret challenger, to the imprisoned James III. He was of ill repute, having been involved in the mysterious execution of the earl of Mar in a house on Edinburgh’s Canongate in December 1479. The victim was drowned in his bathing vat. I wonder what else he had in common with Clarence?  James III, whose taxation policies and change of governmental style to centralised state rule from Edinburgh certainly contributed to the crisis which overwhelmed him in 1482, and his imprisonment by his own nobility.  Richard, Duke of Gloucester, looking to expand his personal wealth and influence, and to consolidate his own northern border. His future as king of the English was unanticipated: he had his own interests in mind, as well as service to the realm.

Norman encouraged us to follow the money: the tax demands and expenditures, dowries and foreign pensions: the money was the key to the whys, hows and outcomes of the English invasion. After all, James’ crisis was precipitated by the tax demands he made of his people, and the outcome of the 1482 campaign was settled by taxes – those Edward IV spent on the punitive expedition to Berwick – several times the value of the annual Scottish exchequer.

Harry Snitker begged to differ. In ‘Trouble with the Neighbours’ he urged us to look at the politics:  The maze of alliances and counter alliances, and the fevered political activity which built up to it. (James III was sent an elephant as a gift from Burgundy – I must find out what happened to that.)

 The manipulative contacts between England, Scotland, France and the dissident groups and warring factions in Burgundy, and throughout the Low Countries. These countries were de- stabilising north west Europe as they jockeyed for advantage over each other.  The result that years of war and conflict had had on the European price of cereals. The real 1482 crisis was ‘The Cereal Crisis’: monarchs everywhere were faced with the prospect of hungry, rebellious subjects.  Scottish pirates were harrying English and Hanseatic shipping in the Channel and the North Sea. Trade was suffering.  The fact that the court records of most of key European states are curiously silent about the 1482 expedition. Harry and Norman were unable to agree which of the events, Berwick or Edinburgh, was the key objective of the campaign – but that made for some sparkling debate. After lunch, Jim Herbert took us on a gallop through the 17 occasions that Berwick has changed hands – 10 by force of arms, twice by purchase, twice by treaty, and thrice by betrayal. His ‘The History of the Medieval Defences of Berwick upon Tweed, 400AD to 1482’ was practised, witty and persuasive. He led us from the theory of medieval defence construction, to the actual defences of his borough and its castle, using contemporary records and maps, and more one-liners than a pocket full of comedians on a Saturday night. Professor Norman MacDougall and This was an impeccably researched, bravura Professor Tony Goodman performance, which speared into the events of 1482 in the questioning which followed.

Finally the Army rolled out its big gun. It is fair to say that Bernie Hewitt painted a picture of the movement of a medieval army new to most of his audience. He focussed us on constraints to Richard’s ability to manoeuvre:  An army of 20,000 soldiers is simply too large to live off the surrounding land, and thus carried most of its supplies with it. The navy was too small to have any significant impact on the march.  An army that size, carrying a supply reserve of 15 days – which has been the accepted necessary operational norm for several hundred years – needs a baggage train of at least 750 carts hauling two tons each, if not 1,000 (e.g. at least five carts of arrows – calculated on an archer’s firing rate, and what he can carry himself – and 20 carts of horseshoes, as well as food, fodder, boots, fighting clothes, armour, etc.)  It marched less than 12 miles per day, and would be spread out over a length of 16 to 20 miles, dictated by width and state of the road we now call the A1 along which they marched.  Because a fit soldier carrying 60lbs of food and equipment on foot can travel further than a mounted one (a horse can travel faster, but hasn’t the staying power, and needs more recovery time) Richard’s small army walked from Berwick to Edinburgh. If they did it in the 2½ days reported, they would have arrived exhausted.  When Richard marched north his army had been paid for one month’s campaigning. His ‘most probable’ mission statement was therefore something like, ‘seize Berwick and place Albany on the throne within a month’.

 Militarily his campaign was tactically and operationally a brilliant success, but strategically – which is what counts in the long run – it was less so, because it failed to achieve one of the key objectives: Albany never made it to the throne.

By the time Bernie’s session drew to a close the cumulative sense of excitement generated by the four presentations was almost tangible. We had a new vision of one of the key campaigns of the period, which conformed to contemporary records, but had form and reason in a way we hadn’t foreseen, and in the faces of the four presenters you could read but a single thought – there could be a book in this … In a thousand-year-old fortress that old Sunne of Yorke had shone out over Edinburgh, we had witnessed five hours of scintillating lecture and debate, the MOD had laid on lunch – on a sun- lit terrace with the most exclusive view in the capital – and opened their bar for us; and Rich- ard of Gloucester’s Edinburgh campaign had at Above: Dr Harry Snitker and Jim Herbert last come out of the shadows. Every Ricardian Below: Lt Col Bernie Hewitt should be allowed one day like this!

The branch would like to thank everyone (and the MOD) involved in the organisation and deliv- ery of a day that will live in the memories of those present for years. David Fiddimore

In exsequiis Ricardi III Regis et Annæ Reginæ, 2007 style On Saturday, 17 March, 2007 – the feast of St Patrick – the Society performed its rites for the memory of King Richard and his wife and queen, Anne Neville, beginning at 12 noon with a requiem mass in St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, the London chapel of the medieval bishops of Ely. Surrounded by the glorious modern glass, commemorating such names as Bishop Alcock, tutor to Edward V, and the Cardinal Archbishops of Canterbury, Thomas Bourchier and John Morton, 50

we took part in a Latin mass, not unlike one of the many that Richard himself may have heard at the time of his beloved wife’s passing. We began with the Angelus and then moved into the opening rite of the requiem. The readings were in English, but otherwise we did our best to keep up with the Latin spoken by the priest, though even with the aid of our service books it wasn’t always easy. However, the singing from the choir was exquisite and the entire event had a moving quality that befitted the occasion. A collection was taken and donated to the church, the final offering amounting to £152. From Ely Place, many of us made our way by various routes to Westminster Ab- bey. There not being a communal lunch this year, the usual arrangements having become prohibitively expensive, some found the refectory in the cloisters and had coffee and pasties and biscuits, etc., according to taste. Shortly before 3 p.m., we went into the choir for Evensong. It was packed and we found ourselves sitting in the south transept, not far from the Anne Neville’s (probable) burial place. Once again, the choir was in glorious voice. Reference was made in the service to St Patrick and, in his honour, we sang his hymn. Following Evensong, we assembled by the gates into the ambulatory, which were then un- locked for us by the Dean’s verger. Shortly after, he reappeared with the new Dean of Westmin- ster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall. Introductions were made and we passed through the gates to stand around the plaque that the Society erected nearly 40 years ago to honour Queen Anne and to mark the site of her burial. Dr Hall spoke a few words of welcome and then invited us to place our wreath on the small desk provided. This was done by Wendy Moorhen. Jane Trump then read from the letter that the Doge of Venice sent to King Richard, describing Anne as a most gracious and honourable lady. In the same letter, the Doge advised Richard to bear up during these difficult times. (I paraphrase, of course.) This reading was followed by a few prayers and we departed with the Dean’s blessing. (Incidentally, a further donation was made to the Abbey.) Speaking with Dr Hall after the wreath-laying, I thanked him for having conducted the service himself, and he told me that he is trying to do as much as possible in this, his first year, in the hope of it helping him to understand the workings of the Abbey and the events that take place therein. The commemoration over, we walked back through the empty nave to the great West Door and emerged into the sunlight to go home. I would like to thank Ros Cummings, Dave Perry and John Ashdown-Hill, and all other members of the Mass Committee, for putting together such a splendid day. My thanks, too, to all the members who came to the take part in these events. Whether in Latin or English, I think we honoured Richard III and his beloved wife, Anne Ne- ville, with due reverence. Phil Stone

Future Society Events

Bookable Events Bosworth Sunday 19 August 2007 This year our one-day visit to Bosworth comprises the traditional service in Sutton Cheney church, and visit to the Battlefield Centre, including tea. Much work is being undertaken at the Battlefield Centre and we will be able to visit the new exhibition, featuring (according to the Bat- tlefield Centre website):  New displays depicting medieval life, warfare in the medieval period, the history of the Wars of the Roses, and the birth of Tudor England  An evolving battle room with a graphic re-telling of the events of 22 August 1485 and a continuation of the debate into the location of the battle  Displays featuring the alternative theories regarding the site of the battle and setting our the latest archaeological surveys, results and artefacts found as Leicestershire County Council carries out a research programme to determine the battle location  A new film about the Battle of Bosworth, the Wars of the Roses, and the lives of Richard III and Henry VII  Costumed guides to talk visitors through the new exhibitions  A time-line history of the Ambien Hill site covering the 5,000 years of human occupation We hope that as many members as possible will attend during the day, as this is one of the Society’s major social events and an occasion during the year when members from all over the world can meet.

Programme Coach departs Embankment Underground Station (Embankment exit) promptly at 9.15 a.m. 12.30 Memorial Service in Sutton Cheney Church, with Society wreath-laying Lunch Bring packed lunch: picnic area available, or pub. Village Hall ploughman’s lunch will be available for those booking and paying in advance Coach leaves Sutton Cheney for Battlefield Centre 16.30 Tea at battlefield 17.45 Coach leaves Bosworth for London, arriving c. 20.15

Members attending independently on the day may book for such elements of the day as they wish: Cost for London Day Outing Coach (coach + battlefield entry + tea) = £33.00 Cost for Village Hall lunch = £5.00 (Please note: this is now pay-in-advance, rather than on the day, to ensure that bookings are taken up, and that suppliers are not left out of pocket) Cost for Tea only = £7.00 Please see booking form in centre pages Elizabeth Nokes

Bosworth in Colchester Saturday 25 August 2007 No, the Mid Anglia Group is not proposing yet another new location for that famous battle of 1485. However, we are planning this year to commemorate the men of Colchester and the surrounding area who marched with John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, and who fought at the battle of Bosworth (wherever that took place!) Our planned commemoration will be held on Saturday 25 August 2007 – one week after the Society commemoration in Leicestershire, so there will be no

difficulty about attending BOTH events if you wish. Colchester is less than an hour by train from London, and our commemoration will have some unique features, including what we think will be the first service at St John’s Abbey since the Dissolution, and tea at John Howard’s Colchester home (though sadly he will not be joining us for the occasion). St John’s Abbey probably housed Richard, Duke of Gloucester, when he visited Colchester, and it certainly gave refuge to John Howard in 1470, and to Lord Lovel in 1485.

Provisional programme: 11.00 The Castle Methodist Church Hall, Colchester – Introduction by the Group Chairman, followed by a talk by John Ashdown-Hill on Colchester's connections with the battle of Bosworth 12.00 Break for lunch (if you wish to bring a packed lunch, tea and coffee will be available) 13.00 A presentation on weapons of the Bosworth period by local re-enactor John Morgan 14.15 Wreath-laying at the war memorial in memory of the men from Colchester and surrounding area who fought at Bosworth 14.45 Vespers of the Dead, St John's Abbey Gatehouse 15.30 Tea at the Red Lion (in the upstairs restaurant – a room for which Lord Howard purchased timber in 1481). The tea will include sandwiches, cakes and tea or coffee.

Attendance at the talks, wreath-laying and service is free. The tea will cost £7.95 per person, and must be pre-booked. Please note that numbers for Vespers at St John’s Abbey will be limited, and in case of over-subscription places will be allocated on a strictly first-come, first-served basis. Please note also that access to the room at the abbey where Vespers will be celebrated is by means of a narrow spiral staircase. Members wishing to come should make their own travel arrangements, but the Mid Anglia Group is happy to offer help and advice. If you would like to attend this unique occasion, please complete the booking form in the centre pages. John Ashdown-Hill

Romney Marsh Churches and Winchelsea Saturday 8 September 2007 Our first stop will be at the Royal Oak, Brookland, for coffee and biscuits (included), and to meet our guide, a member of the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust. The first church to be visited is St Clements church, Old Romney. Historical evidence sup- ports there having been a Saxon Church on the present site sometime in the eighth century. After the Norman invasion a stone church was built possibly around 1140. The next church to be visited will be St Nicholas’ Church, New Romney. One of the oldest churches in the Marsh, parts of the building date back to the time of William the Conqueror whose brother-in-law Bishop Odo began the construction in 1086. New Romney is one of the five ancient Cinque Ports. After lunch in New Romney, we will visit Winchelsea which has a most interesting history. The church of St Thomas the Martyr was founded by Edward I in 1290 to be the centrepiece of the New Town. The Old Town was swept away by a great storm and submerged in 1287. The New Town was built on a grid-iron principle of straight lines which criss-crossed and provided plots of land based on previous holdings in the Old Town. The perpetual rent of £14 11s 5 ¾d ordered by Edward I in the thirteenth century as interest on the loan for the building of the New Town, is still collected each year. This amounts to a little over £14.50 today and is paid to the Winchelsea Corporation and not the Crown.

Ellen Terry lived here before moving to Smallhythe which we visited last year. The cost of the trip will be £22.00. The Coach will leave Embankment Station at 9.00 a.m. sharp. Please see centre pages for the booking form. Kitty Bristow

The Norfolk Branch Study Day: Crown and Sword Saturday 10 November 2007 The Assembly House Theatre Street, Norwich Programme 09.30 Coffee on arrival 09.55 Welcome to the Study Day 10.00 Witnessing War, Diagnosing Defeat: the domestic impact of the Hundred Years War reconsidered. By Dr David Grummitt 11.00 Coffee 11.30 Generalship in the Wars of the Roses. By Matthew Bennett 12.30 Lunch 14.00 John Lord Talbot, a Medieval War Hero? By Dr Michael K. Jones 15.00 Tea 15.30 The Military Reputation of Warwick the Kingmaker. By Prof. A. J. Pollard 16.30 Question and Answer session chaired by Dr Michael K. Jones 17.00 approx. Vote of thanks and close

Cost £20 per person. Please see centre pages for booking form Annemarie Hayek

Future Events 2008 Triennial Conference The Society’s 10th conference will be held at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester on 28 – 30 March 2008. The subject of the conference will be the controversy surrounding the disappear- ance of the Princes from the Tower of London. The programme will be published in the next Bulletin together with a booking form. Academ- ic venues are rapidly catching up with their private sector competitors and increasingly we need to confirm numbers of delegates far in advance of events, so it will be necessary for members to register their interest together with a deposit, although final payment can be delayed until near the event. Wendy Moorhen

Branch & Group Contacts - Update

East Midlands Branch Change of e-mail address:- [email protected]

Greater Manchester Branch Change of e-mail address :- [email protected]

Scotland Philippa Langley, 85 Barnton Park Avenue, Edinburgh, EH4 6HD. Tel: 0131 336 4669. [email protected]

West Surrey Group Correct e-mail address:- [email protected]

Worcestershire Mrs Pam Benstead, 15 St Marys Close, Kempsey WR5 3JX [email protected]

Western Australia Correct e-mail address is: [email protected]

Durham Branch and Croydon Group are no longer listed.

Branches and Groups

The Durham Group It is with regret that I announce the closure of the Durham Group. I started the Group in April 1985 and, though we never looked like getting Branch status, our numbers for some time were comfortably into double figures. I look back with pleasure to our numerous enjoyable outings, our connection with the quon- dam Kent Branch and our Ricardian-themed Christmas parties. Now, however, our numbers have dwindled, which makes the formal aspects of our Group unsuitable. Needless to say, we remain loyal to the Society. Elsie Watson

Gloucestershire Branch Report The Branch and Bristol Group have enjoyed three excellent meetings during the spring. Mike Jones and Mark Henderson from Bowmen of the Rose joined us in March for a very interesting talk on ‘The Medieval Bowman’. Mike has spent a lifetime studying the subject and ‘living the life’. He explained his strength in pulling progressively heavier poundage bows and the accuracy he could now display could only be achieved by total dedication over this kind of extended period. Dressed as late-medieval bowmen Mike and Mark brought along a large display of bows, arrows and associated equipment all required by the professional archer. Fighting techniques were discussed in some depth and the whole presentation enabled a very full appreciation of the supreme skills of these formidable fighters. Attendees were later invited to ‘have a go’ and a short attempt to do so really emphasised how much brawn and stamina would be required to send the twelve arrows per minute expected from the professional archer of the time. All-in-all an absolutely fascinating afternoon. The Bristol Group meeting later in March invited ‘Short papers’ and a number of very thought provoking subjects were covered. The recently topical subject of the possible wherea- bouts of Richard’s burial site and if bones might survive prompted lively debate. The dispute between the Bonville and Courtenay factions also featured when the notorious murder of Nicholas Radford was reviewed. We hope to visit some of the associated sites, time permitting, when we travel to Tiverton in May. 55

We welcomed back Stephen David in April for his new talk on ‘Art and Ritual In The Yorkist Court’. As expected this proved to another brilliant piece of very original thinking as Stephen skilfully explained how the royal paintings we know from the period have clearly visible associa- tions with the importance the Yorkist monarchy attached to ritual and the projection of Yorkist majesty.

Forthcoming events Saturday 7 July Fairford Church – conducted tour (Branch) Friday 13 July ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Open-air Shakespeare in the grounds of Hazelbury Manor, Box, Wiltshire. (Group) Friday 17 August Bristol Group AGM Saturday 1 September Branch AGM

Venues for the above are listed in the Branch/Group Programmes. Please contact Committee members for more details. Keith Stenner

Worcestershire Branch Report We are very pleased to have welcomed some new members to our Branch recently and we hope they will enjoy the future programme we have arranged. It was with some trepidation in February that we awaited a visit from our Society Chairman Phil Stone. A few days prior to the visit it snowed heavily in Worcestershire. Meetings and events were being cancelled all around the county and we anticipated the worst, but the tempera- ture rose and the snow and ice retreated just enough for us and our speaker to reach Upton Snods- bury village hall. Phil’s talk was entitled ‘The Marriage of Margaret of York’ and he began by relating Margaret’s position in life as the daughter of the duke of York, sister to Edward IV and Richard III, and the arrangement of her marriage to the duke of Burgundy. He concluded with some thoughts about the origin of the ‘pageant of the Golden Tree’, explaining that the exact def- inition of the ‘Golden Tree’ is uncertain but it is known that a tournament was held at that time and it could have been part of that, perhaps a tree to be decorated or a trophy of some kind. It is known that there was serious fighting involved in the festivities and Edward Woodville was tri- umphant. Our afternoon concluded with an excellent slide show of Phil’s trip to Bruges to see the re- enactment of the Pageant that takes place every five years. A most interesting and informative afternoon that should inspire some of us to make the trip to Bruges ourselves in the future. Eric Greenwood provided the illustrated talk in March. His subject was ‘The Medieval Mon- asteries of Yorkshire’ and was well supported by some excellent slides. He began by reciting the rhyme about ‘Little Jack Horner’, a reference to the dissolution of the monasteries. It is said to refer to the Abbot of Glastonbury who offered the deeds of the abbey to the king and they were apparently delivered in a pie. Eric told us that there were 83 monasteries in Yorkshire. However, by 1066 very little remained of the earliest Anglo-Saxon abbeys and those that are identifiable all date post 1066 when William the Conqueror sent monks from Evesham to York to establish new abbeys and rebuild those in ruins. The monks would all have been Benedictine at that time. Eric’s slides began with Whitby Abbey, destroyed in the tenth century, rebuilt in the thirteenth century and still in use today as a parish church. Eric explained that when abbeys were dissolved the buildings would be left if the local people were accustomed to worshipping in them. Eric showed slides of St Mary’s in York, Bolton Priory, Rievaulx Abbey, Fountains Abbey, Kirkstall near Leeds and many others, and related many fascinating facts. We learnt about the differences between the orders of monks, Augustines were all priests as well as monks: Cistercians had a work ethic and were mainly farmers, including lay monks who worked in the fields and were not al-

lowed to be educated although they wore the habit and attended services even more than the monks, and finally the Carthusians who each lived alone in a small house facing outwards around a square and only met once a week in the Charter House. The members agreed it was a most interesting afternoon with lots of ideas for places to visit in Yorkshire. We are presently busy preparing for our major event of the year at the Tewkesbury Festival on the weekend of 7 – 8 July. Suitable merchandise has been sourced locally and display materi- als are being refreshed, a rota of attendance times is quickly filling up and costumes are being brushed off and altered where required. It’s all hands to the wheel for this event despite the fact it is actually in Gloucestershire! We do hope some of the Gloucestershire Branch will be able to join us this year, as the Tewkesbury festival organisers always make us very welcome.

Forthcoming events 8 September We are planning a trip to Boscobel House in Shropshire. Pat Parminter will lead this outing. The date of this meeting may need to be changed. 13 October Social event at Warndon Church Hall, with a quiz, sales stall and an opportunity to chat with other members old and new. (£2 entrance fee) 10 November Holy Innocents Church Hall in Kidderminster. Talk and demonstration of ‘Medieval Underwear’ by Sarah Thursfield. (£3 entrance fee.) 8 December Annual Christmas Social at Upton Snodsbury with a ‘Bring and Share’ fes- tive tea. (£2 entrance fee). Our indoor meetings all begin at 2.00 p.m. unless otherwise stated. There is a charge of £2 or £3 including refreshments, depending on the type of meeting (see above). Outdoor events are arranged individually with details and directions sent to members prior to the event. Details of our programme can be found on our excellent branch web site www.richardiiiworcs.co.uk or contact our Programme Planner Joan Ryder 01384 394228, for further information. We are always pleased to welcome friends and prospective members at any of our meetings Pat Parminter

Yorkshire Branch Report The Branch’s members, supporters and friends spent a much warmer and more pleasant day at Towton Hall this Palm Sunday than last year, and did very good business at our stall. The TBS and other groups provided plenty of examples of living history and displays (including falconry) for the many visitors to enjoy, while not forgetting – in a simple and moving ceremony – the reason for our being at Towton on this day. The Branch’s informal commemoration of the battle of Bosworth will take place at St Alkelda’s church, Middleham, on Sunday 19 August at 2.00 p.m. As usual we hope to meet locally for lunch beforehand. If you would like to join us, please contact John Audsley on 0113 294 2656. Yorkshire Branch AGM will be held on Saturday 8 September at our usual venue: Wheat- lands Hotel, Scarcroft Road, York, and will start at 1.30 p.m. (sharp). Booking forms for afternoon tea at the meeting will be sent out with the Branch’s August Newsletter. As stated in the last Bulletin, our Branch trip will be on Saturday 22 September; for more information about booking, please get in touch with Janet Senior at the YAS on 0113 245 7910. Our Boar Dinner has been provisionally booked for Saturday 20 October, and I hope to be able to give more details in the next report and our Newsletter.

Angela Moreton

Obituaries

Noreen Armstrong After a long fight with cancer, Noreen Armstrong of the Canadian Branch, passed away on Satur- day 31 March. A full obituary will appear in the Autumn Bulletin.

David Yuill We are sorry to report the death of Canadian member David Yuill on December 11, 2006. David was one of our most westernmost members, living on Denman Island, a small island off the east coast of Vancouver Island. David joined the Society in October 1998, and proved to be a passionate advocate for the innocence of Richard III. In addition to being a talented artist, his many interests included history and architecture. In the early 70s, he built an entire medieval city out of paper, which he named ‘Cherincor’, a prodigious project which consumed hundreds of hours. We hope to feature an article about the construction of Cherincor in a future edition of our journal, RIII. In the weeks before his passing, David was reading Jeremy Potter’s Good King Richard? which he had lately purchased from the Society. David’s sister, Barbara Hall, has donated this book to the Canadian branch library, and in her accompanying note added: ‘The book was beside his bed in the hospital, but I think he only reached chapter 12 – as there was a marker in it there.’ David, we hope you rest secure in that infinite knowledge of the ultimate truth. Tracy Bryce

Cherincor at the Vancouver Museum before going on show in the Foyer, June 1974. In the model, the view is looking due north. The highest tower (centre) is the Guildhall, centre right is the Cathedral. On the left is Berinscor Castle. Far left is St Nicholas Abbey.

Dorothy Mitchell – a tribute Further to our obituary in the last Bulletin of the founder of the Society of the Friends of Richard III who sadly died last February, Rita Diefenhardt-Schmitt has written the following personal tribute:- I knew Dorothy Mitchell very well, as she was, for a long time, a pen-pal, and it was she who introduced me to the York of Richard’s time. During my many visits in this lovely old town, she helped me to explore the buildings and places connected with Dickon in and around the city. 58

Apart from this, she was an excellent and pleasant guide through the city’s history. She had a deep love of Richard and his family and was his great defender and a loyal and staunch servant which would surely have pleased Richard. That led to a great enthusiasm, which was not always understood, but without this behaviour, Richard would be less well known in his once beloved York. Apart from founding the Friends, she raised money for many Ricardian matters like the restoration of buildings connected with Richard; for the opening of the Richard III Museum in one of the towers of the city wall; and the signing of locations of places connected with Richard. She wrote articles for magazines and was an expert in the history of Richard’s time. She wrote a play about Richard which was successfully performed on stage during the Quincentenary celebrations in 1985. Also, as part of these celebrations, she organised the donation of a chalice and paten to York Minster to replace a set given by Richard and now long lost. She organised the service at which the donation was made and which was attended by members of her society and ours. She asked if I would like to take part, as an active Ricardian, presenting the paten and chalice with her. At first, I was shy about it, but she convinced me. It was a marvellous ceremony, still well remembered in York. I shall never forget it and I still have the little booklet which was given to me during this service. I am very proud of it. It is a lovely memory of her. It should not be forgotten that Dorothy was a staunch and loyal Ricardian, even if she separat- ed from our Society many years ago. Dorothy’s loss leaves a big hole within the Friends. I hope her service will be well appreciated.

An obituary of Dorothy also appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 24 February 2007, and subsequently in its international edition.

The Window presented to York Minster by the Society of the Friends of Richard III in 1997 in commemoration of the King’s 554th birthday.

Recently Deceased Members

Mr R.I. Cummins of Great Badow, near Chelmsford, Essex Mrs Lois Anne Thomas of Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire 59

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 Lynda Pidgeon have full details, in sufficient time for entry. The calendar will also be run on the website.

Date Events Originator

2007 2 June Cromer Commemorative Plaque Norfolk Branch

9 June Visit to Battle Abbey and Rye or Hastings Visits Committee

6-9 July Norfolk Weekend Visit based at King’s Lynn Visits Committee

19 August Bosworth Commemoration Visits Committee

25 August Bosworth in Colchester J. Ashdown-Hill

8 September Follow up visit to Romney Marsh Trust Visits Committee churches: Lydd and New Romney.

29 September Society AGM, Staple Inn, London Secretary

10 November Norfolk Branch Study Day: Crown and Sword Norfolk Branch

2008 17 March Annual Requiem Mass, Clare Priory, Suffolk J. Ashdown-Hill

28–30 Triennial Conference, Royal Agricultural College, March Cirencester Research Officer

Early May Visit to Provence Visits Committee