Ricardian

Bulletin Magazine of the Richard III Society

ISSN 0308 4337 March 2011

Ricardian

Bulletin March 2011

Contents 2 From the Chairman 3 Society News and Notices including notice of the 2012 Triennial Conference (p.5) 11 Obituaries: Bill White, Anne Smith, Tony Gayfer 15 News and Reviews 24 Media Retrospective 27 Paul Murray Kendall, born 1911; a centenary tribute, by John Saunders 28 Paul Murray Kendall and his biography of Richard the Third, by Compton Reeves 31 The Man Himself: Hall, More and Shakespeare: are their descriptions of Richard III accurate? By Ariana Ellis 35 „Beeth of good comfort, and dreadeth not‟: Edward IV and the Battle of Mortimer‟s Corss by David Santiuste 39 Medieval Jokes and Fables, part 2, by Heather Falvey 41 Sultan Bayezid II: Richard‟s Turkish Contemporary, by John Saunders 43 St Winefride‟s Well and the Ricardian Chronicle, by Lynda Pidgeon 44 Another Boar Badge, by Rose Skuse 45 Lancashire and the Wars of the Roses, by Graham Ransom 46 Returning to Shakespeare‟s History Plays, by Gillian Lazar 48 Correspondence 53 The Barton Library 55 Future Society Events 56 Branch and Group Contacts 58 Branches and Groups 62 New Members 63 Recently Deceased Members 64 Calendar

Contributions Contributions are welcomed from all members. All contributions should be sent to Lesley Boatwright. Bulletin Press Dates 15 January for March issue; 15 April for June issue; 15 July for September issue; 15 October for December issue. Articles should be sent well in advance. Bulletin & Ricardian Back Numbers Back issues of The Ricardian and the 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 Micropress Printers Ltd. © Richard III Society, 2011

From the Chairman

ost of us in the British Isles had a rare White Christmas, though whether we enjoyed it is a M moot point since it was also one of the coldest Decembers on record. Naturally we all moaned about the sub-zero temperatures and disruption to daily life, but the New Year brought news of the tragic flooding in Australia and other parts of the world which rather put our complaints into perspective. The thoughts of us all are with our Australian members in particular, and especially those in Queensland, at this time. We hope of course that no members suffered as a result of these floods. Again, your Bulletin carries a wide range of articles, reviews and news which we hope will inform and entertain. David Santiuste writes on the battle of Mortimer‟s Cross, that crucial milestone on Edward IV‟s path to the throne; Graham Ransom takes a look at Lancashire‟s Wars of the Roses heritage; and Heather Falvey offers another medieval joke – I wonder how many more she has in store for us. A new young member from Canada, Ariana Ellis, contributes to The Man Himself and we welcome this new writing. May we have more of it in future. Reviews range from an exhibition at Wakefield to a Dutch production of Shakespeare‟s Richard III. There is a slight Turkish flavour too, with news from John Ashdown-Hill about his time in Turkey and an introduction to Richard‟s Ottoman contemporary, Sultan Bayezid II. For many members, Paul Murray Kendall‟s Richard III remains a classic, being the most comprehensive and sympathetic biography of the king and certainly the best written. We begin our celebration of PMK‟s centenary with Compton Reeves‟ thoughtful reflection on Kendall‟s life and work, and we look forward to hearing from his daughters, Callie and Gillian, in June. The Research Committee has recently been joined by three new members – Marie Barnfield, Tig Lang and Toni Mount – new to the Committee though hardly new to the Society, of course. This addition will greatly strengthen the work of the Committee as all three bring much experience and scholarship with them. I welcome their appointment. Our Research Officer, Lynda Pidgeon, writes on the new Ricardian Chronicle project as well as giving news of the exciting Triennial Conference planned for next year. We are sorry that Diana Lee, our valued Business Manager, is resigning. She will be a hard act to follow, but we hope that someone will volunteer to do so. Our new Branches and Groups Liaison Officers, Pauline Pogmore and Angela Moreton, who are well-known in Yorkshire, introduce themselves to the wider membership. On the subject of branches, let me take this opportunity to congratulate the Worcestershire Branch on their 25th anniversary which they celebrate this year. Sadly, this issue carries a number of obituaries, including those of three prominent Ricardians, Bill White, Anne Smith and Tony Gayfer, a former Treasurer. Bill and Anne were long-standing members and made significant contributions to our work, Bill through his osteological expertise and Anne through her many years as an office holder and Committee member. Both will be greatly missed. Another Ricardian year lies ahead of us, and there is much to look forward to. In a few weeks, some of us will be in York for the study weekend learning about the de la Poles, this being just one of the many dates in the year‟s calendar. As always, I look forward to meeting members at these events and elsewhere throughout the year.

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Society News and Notices

Change is in the Air The Society welcomes three new members to our Research Committee, Marie Barnfield, Tig Lang and Toni Mount; but sadly we must say goodbye to our Business Manager, Diana Lee. This means, of course, that we need a new Business Manager: please see page 7 for details. We have also asked the new Branches and Groups Liaison Officers, Angela Moreton and Pauline Harrison Pogmore of the Yorkshire Branch, to introduce themselves to the wider membership. Their profiles are on page 9.

Three New Members for the Research Committee The Research Committee has co-opted three new members, Marie Barnfield (who is also our new Papers Librarian), Tig Lang and Toni Mount. Members of the Society will know all three from their contributions to the Bulletin, and all three worked on the Logge wills project. All are active in fifteenth-century research. We asked each of them to write something about herself for the Bulletin.

Marie Barnfield writes I grew up not far outside Barnet, vaguely en route to St Albans, so I suppose an interest in the Wars of the Roses might seem to have been a rather natural occurrence. I still remember the thrill I felt one Sunday lunchtime as a child when my father told us about the great battle that had taken place around the Hadley Highstone in the days of knights in armour, but my interest in Richard III did not actually begin until I reached the age of fifteen and read The Daughter of Time. Why I yanked it off the library shelf is still a mystery – something haunting about the title, I suppose. At any rate, I was then hooked and engineered myself a copy of Kendall‟s biography for a sixteenth birthday present. It was to be another two years, however, before I tracked down and joined the Society, through its stall at the Barnet Quincentenary celebrations. As soon as the Society‟s paleography course came on stream, I signed up. I was a member of the transcription team for the Logge wills project, and have attended most of the research weekends since that time. Although I worked only on English wills for the Logge project, having dropped Latin at school after two years of study, I have since succeeded in reaching a level of competency with Latin transcription just about sufficient for the average will (no bishops, please) and routine legal documents, provided I am not expected to reinstate every abbreviated case-ending. I had also, in my youth, studied French, Middle English and medieval economic history as part of my degree course, but unfortunately ill health now precludes me from committing to any formal course of study. I have written for both the Ricardian and the Bulletin on the subject of Richard and Anne‟s marriage dispensation, and have also written articles for Blanc Sanglier. My long-term aim is a biography of that elusive young man, Edward, Earl of Warwick, and I am currently working on an article about the treason trials of Clarence‟s retainer Thomas Burdet and the astronomers Stacy and Blake. 3

Tig Lang writes I knew nothing about Richard III until my parents took me to the National Portrait Gallery exhibition in 1973. I viewed this with polite interest, and then read The Daughter of Time on the train on the way home, and wanted to go back to see the exhibition all over again (sadly not possible). The same year I also began growing herbs, following an interest in the history of medicine. These interests combined so that my initial interest in Richard III expanded into a more general interest in life in the fifteenth century, and specifically in medicine in the fifteenth century. My first degree was in Anglo-Saxon and Middle English language and literature, but in 1990, following a very inspiring talk by Peter Murray Jones (author of Medieval Medical Miniatures) at the Richard III Society's conference in York, I began postgraduate work in medieval medicine, obtaining my PhD in 1998 for work on early-fifteenth-century London surgeon John Bradmore. My time for original research since this has been very limited as I teach my daughter at home, but over the years I have given talks to local history groups, St. Andrews University students taking history of medicine as part of their Medieval History degree, and to several Richard III Society study weekends. I spoke most recently at the Yorkshire Branch 50th Anniversary celebration day. I have recreated medieval medicines not only for some of these talks, but also for exhibitions in the Museum of London and at Barley Hall in York, and have appeared on television twice, once to talk about John Bradmore („Royal Deaths and Diseases‟) and once to recreate a medieval herbal medicine for paralysis („History Cold Case‟). I first joined the Richard III Society in 1975, dropped out in 1981 and did not rejoin until 1989, thus missing out on all the quincentenary celebrations, but have sensibly remained a member ever since.

Toni Mount writes I am a history lecturer and joined the Richard III Society in 1986 – just missing the quincentenary – because I read Charles Ross‟s biography of the king and couldn‟t believe he was so villainous, especially as I followed up with V.B. Lamb‟s version which almost made Richard a saint. I wanted to know the truth – still do. Along the way, I became fascinated by the social history of the period and made good use of documentary evidence in the Barton Library. This evolved into a novel – working title: Richard Liveth Yet – still awaiting publication. I earned my BA Hons [Open], studying history, from Classical Rome to the History of Science. Sadly, the OU doesn‟t „do medieval‟, though in my final course on the Professionalisation of Medicine, I persuaded them to let me go back to 1420 for my project. My Masters at Kent followed with an in-depth study of a medical manuscript, dated 1454. The society kindly granted me a bursary and the resulting tome, A Manuscript for All Seasons: MS8004 in the Context of Medieval Medicine and the Dissemination of Knowledge (catchy little title, eh?) is available at the Wellcome Library. As a regular supporter of the Research Weekends, I was an active participant in the society‟s Wills Project. Having completed the Palaeography Course, it was great to use my new skills, though I kept to the English wills – despite doing O-level Latin, OU Latin and the National

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Archives‟ on-line Latin Palaeography course, I‟ve not progressed beyond „graveyard Latin‟: hic jacet Fred Bloggs, I can manage. I have written articles and short stories for Blanc Sanglier and kept members up-dated with the progress of my research in the Bulletin. I published a book on Medieval Housewives & Women of the Middle Ages for my history students which proved popular. In progress is a piece on an indenture, drawn up between Edward IV and those who accompanied him on his French campaign of 1475, including Our Dickon and a number of physicians and surgeons who drew my attention in the beginning. As a new recruit to the Research Sub-Committee, I‟m looking forward to the new Ricardian Chronicle project and hope other members will be enthusiastic too.

The Work of the Research Committee A very important function of the Research Committee is to organise the annual Study Weekends and the Triennial Conferences. Our research officer, Lynda Pidgeon, reports here on two events already in the pipeline.

The Study Weekend, April 2011 This year‟s Study Weekend has proved very popular and we were fully booked in almost record time. After last year‟s long waiting list members were quicker off the mark in getting their booking forms to us. Unfortunately, due to December‟s unexpected snow and icy weather, postal deliveries were disrupted, which didn‟t help matters for some members wishing to attend. We can‟t anticipate such adverse weather, of course, but we do try and give as much advance notice of events as circumstances allow. The good news is that we are now able to open bookings for next year‟s Triennial Conference.

The Triennial Conference, 20-22 April, 2012: Bosworth and Warfare: new finds, new ideas Our Fiction Librarian, Anne Painter, has been working on behalf of the Research Committee to find us a suitable venue for next year‟s conference. Anne has a background in the hotel industry which she has put to good use in locating an excellent venue: the Burleigh Court Conference Centre at the University of Loughborough. This is a four-star hotel with full conference facilities and disabled access. For more information visit their website: www.welcometoimago.com/ conference-venues/burleigh-court/ We wanted a venue which had good rail access and was reasonably close to Bosworth to allow us to take participants by coach to visit the battle site on Saturday afternoon. We also needed a large conference room and a sufficient number of bedrooms with the flexibility to increase our booking if we had enough interest. Burleigh Court fits the bill ideally so we have booked a hundred places with an option to increase to a hundred and fifty if there is the demand. Speakers confirmed to date are: Glenn Foard, who will speak on the recent discoveries at Bosworth; Anne Curry speaking on the documentary evidence for the battle and Livia Visser- Fuchs on Juan de Salazar, the Spanish mercenary who fought for Richard III. Other speakers are yet to be confirmed, but they will speak on topics that will focus on recent new discoveries and ideas about the battle of Bosworth and English medieval warfare. The visit to Bosworth on Saturday afternoon will include a guided tour of the battlefield and a visit to the Battlefield Centre, which now houses a number of the new finds from the battle‟s new locations. This will be a very popular conference so to secure your place please book early, using the form in the centre of your Bulletin. Please return them to the Research Events Administrator, Jacqui Emerson, at the address on the inside back cover. We are asking for a refundable deposit

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of £50 now to guarantee a place, since the Society has to pay a deposit itself to the hotel to confirm our overall booking. Our initial costings are based on the set hotel/conference costs and the estimated costs for speakers, coach hire and entry to the Battlefield Centre. On this basis we expect individual costs to be no more than £275 for single room occupancy and £410 for double/ twin room occupancy. Non-residents can also pay their deposit and reserve a place now, although final costings for this category will take a little longer to determine. We will keep you updated about the programme and final costs once they are to hand. If you have any queries, please contact Lynda Pidgeon (details on inside back cover). Other Study Occasions The East Midlands Branch Study Day: The Power Behind the Throne This will take place on Saturday 18 June at the Leicester Adult Education College in Wellington Street, Leicester (the „Hansom‟ building where the 2010 AGM was held), from 9.30 am until 4.30 pm. The speakers will be David Baldwin on „Warwick the Kingmaker‟, Dr Joanna Laynesmith on „Cecily Neville, Duchess of York‟, Wendy Moorhen on „William, Lord Hastings‟, and Dr Helen Castor on „Margaret of Anjou‟. The day will cost £20 a head, including refreshments (but not lunch, for which please make your own arrangements). There is an application form in the centrefold of this Bulletin. If you would like to attend this Study Day, please send the form, with your cheque, to the Branch secretary, Sally Henshaw, by 20 May 2011. Further information may be obtained from Sally. Her address is 28 Lyncroft Leys, Scraptoft, Leicester, LE7 9UW. Tel. 0116 243 3785, email: [email protected].

Advance notice: The Norfolk Branch Study Day: The Twilight Years of the Yorkist Cause This will take place on Saturday 12 November at The Assembly House, Theatre Street, Norwich. The speakers will be Sean Cunningham, Rosemary Horrox, Julian Humphrys and Frances Sparrow. Full details and a booking form will appear in the June issue of the Bulletin. In the meantime, if you have any queries, contact Annmarie Hayek (see p. 56 for contact details).

Notice of the Annual General Meeting of the Richard III Society

This year the Society’s AGM and Members’ Day will take place on:

Saturday, 1 October 2011

at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Malet St, London, WC1H 0XG The speaker will be Dr David Starkey.

Further details will be given in the June Bulletin, but in the meantime

please put this date in your diary

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Resignation of Business Manager It is with regret that the Executive Committee accepts the resignation of Diana Lee as the Society‟s Business Manager. Diana took on this role in 2009 and has been the liaison between the Society‟s printer and mailing agents with regard to the printing and distribution of our journals, as well as liaising with the Bulletin Committee, the Membership Department, the Treasurer, and overseas branch officers. The Committee would like to take this opportunity of thanking Diana for her service over the past two years and we hope that she and her husband Peter will enjoy their active retirement.

Your Society Needs You The Society needs a new Business Manager This is an important role, reporting to the Executive Committee, concerned with managing the administrative aspects of producing the Bulletin and the Ricardian by liaising with the Society‟s printers and mailing house, and with the subsequent distribution of the publications. The Business Manager is also responsible for looking after the Society‟s account with Royal Mail. He or she will need to liaise with the membership department, the editors of the journals, the treasurer and overseas branch officers. The Business Manager will also need to maintain a spreadsheet detailing costs of print pro- duction and distribution, receive and check invoices from the suppliers, and report on a quarterly basis to the Executive Committee. We are looking for a responsible person who has good communication skills, a working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, and access to email. If you are interested in undertaking this role, please write to or email the Chairman (see inside back cover for contact details), who will be pleased to discuss the role and provide further details as required. The closing date for applications is 31 March.

Membership Matters Following the resignation of Diana Lee as Business Manager, would members please note that if they do not receive their Bulletin (despatched in early March, June, September and December) or their Ricardian (despatched in June), they should contact the membership department for a replacement copy. (Contact details on inside back cover.)

Bequest to the Society Mrs Margaret Walker, whose death at the age of 94 was announced in the December Bulletin, has kindly left a bequest of £100 to the Richard III Society in her will „in recognition of the pleasure of being a member of the Society over many years‟. She was a member for at least 25 years, and even when house-bound in her last years she retained her interest in history, archaeology and all things Ricardian.

The Hassocks Competition About 35 members sent in the answer to this competition, which was, of course, „The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell Our Dog, Rule all England under the Hog‟. No-one got it wrong: next time we must make the competition harder. Enid Thresher of Somerton in Somerset was the first to reply, followed closely by Philip Ashe, Clair Eglen, Olwen Spence and Anthea Burdess. Answers came from far and wide, including one from Canada. 7

Branches and Groups Liaison: more changing scenes

The Chairman reported in the December Bulletin that our former Branches and Groups Liaison Officer, John Ashdown-Hill, had gone to live and teach English in Eastern Turkey, and that Angela Moreton and Pauline Harrison Pogmore would take over as Liaison Officers. We asked John to tell us about his new life in Turkey, and Angela and Pauline to tell us about themselves, and this is what they all said.

From John Ashdown-Hill Gaziantep is a large and expanding town in southwestern Turkey, not far from the Syrian border. Its origins are very ancient, dating back to the Hittite period at least. Later the Persian king, Darius III, passed by here on his way to meet Alexander the Great at the battle of Issus. The town of Iskenderun, on the coast, still preserves in mangled form the name of the Macedonian victor. Founded in 333 BC, it was formerly Alexandria ad Issum. I live in a suburb of Gaziantep, not far from the zoo. On the whole, life here is really quite modern, though we have the occasional power failure (UK-1970s-style). Candles stand ready for this in lounge, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. There is also the occasional annoying internet interruption. Just behind my home a new mosque is slowly rising, and although most of the structure is concrete, it is intriguing to see the medieval-looking wooden scaffolding. The markets in the town centre also retain something of a medieval flavour, with narrow streets, and small shops which tend to be grouped together by trade. However, the undulating street levels, which can be dangerous for the unwary, have more to do with the fact that everything here seems to be constantly under construction. Gaziantep is centred around a castle, Roman in origin, but rebuilt and extended later, in Byzantine and Ottoman times. Its outer curtain walls date mainly from the sixth century. Like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, they are the work of the Emperor Justinian. So why on earth am I here? If you prefer a simple answer, it is that I‟m teaching English at one of the local universities, and I chose Turkey because I had visited the country before, and liked it. But at a deeper level, I came here for strong personal reasons. In Turkey it is Gaziantep Castle possible, at least sometimes, for me to be with Hanif, whom I love, and who loves me. Unfortunately, at the moment, being together in the UK is not possible for us – but we live in hope. NB my email still works, for anyone who wants to use it: [email protected]

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From Angela Moreton I first met Richard III when Shakespeare‟s panto-villain version was being played by Paul Daneman in An Age of Kings on BBC TV. I was captivated by this spiv type, and wondered how on earth he could have been a real king. Now I know that Shakespeare‟s Richard bears no relation to the historical person. I read The Daughter of Time and also P.M. Kendall, as well as old-fashioned historical novels like The Tudor Rose and even Dickon. All this happened in the mid-1960s so the thirty-year gap before I joined the Society in July 1995 is possibly the longest incubation period of any member! All I can say is that other duties got in the way. I graduated in Spanish and French from Durham University and subsequently did my PGCE at Leeds. Over the years I have worked as a civil servant (involving such delights as Bridgwater tax office and head office at Bootle), a school secretary and a genuine school-room teacher of both adults and children. While in London in connection with Inland Revenue staff training, I managed to get to see the NPG Richard III exhibition, which was absolutely marvellous, and I still remember it fondly. During my years teaching Spanish and Spanish History for the WEA I was also a private tutor, a job in which I am still engaged. My household is run by two cats who have been most helpful in producing our magazine, especially when sitting on the table in front of the screen or on the printer. I have also, it appears, raised two Ricardian daughters, one of whom has been involved in Branch matters for over ten years. I joined the Yorkshire Branch Committee in 1998 and became editor of their long-standing magazine Blanc Sanglier the following year. I am still proud to be editor of this prestigious publication (advert!). I became Chairman of the Branch in September 2008, and so had the privilege of being in post when the Branch celebrated its 50th anniversary year last autumn.

From Pauline Harrison Pogmore I have been a member of the Society since 1995. My education, such as it was, was at the local comprehensive. However I had a truly magical history teacher with the good old Yorkshire name of Mrs Ramsbottom. She sparked my interest in history. On leaving school I achieved my ambition to become a florist, a career I loved. My introduction to Richard III other than Shakespeare was in Margaret Campbell Barnes‟ novel The King’s Bed. Richard plays a very small part but he certainly is not the character Shakespeare wrote about. My next Ricardian foray was Paul Murray Kendall, and after that anything I could lay my hands on. My reason for joining the Society was simple. I hate injustice and it seemed to me Richard had been very unfairly treated by history. He is also the only English king to have spent most of his life in God‟s Own County, Yorkshire. I retired early in 1997 which allowed me to pursue other interests. My first book, Who Was Who in the Wars of the Roses, was published in 2005. I have achieved another ambition with my second book, Richard III, the House of York, and their Supporters, published in 2010. My latest project is an idea I am told the late Arthur Cockerell had, booklets on northern families. As you have probably gathered, my interest in history is very much the people rather than the politics. In 2009 I took over as Yorkshire Branch secretary from Moira Habberjam, a hard act to follow. I am also Vice Chairman, Librarian and Research Officer for the Branch. In my spare time last year, as secretary, I was responsible for organising the Branch‟s 50th Anniversary Event in York.

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Yorkshire Branch Website Some members will probably have been confused and dismayed by all the recent changes in Yorkshire Branch‟s website. In the last couple of years it seems to have had no fixed abode, but to have flitted about between different addresses which changed with bewildering rapidity, often between one issue of the Bulletin or our Newsletter and the next. Now that we have got ourselves established with what we sincerely hope will be our permanent address, the present Committee wishes to apologise for all the past upheavals, and in the interests of clarity and good PR try to explain what all the trouble was about. We feel it‟s the least we can do for those of you who visit our website and expect to find it still there, and correctly updated. Our original website was set up shortly before the millennium by the late Geoffrey Richardson, who worked on it with Bryon Symonds to produce a very attractive site which proved very popular and attracted many membership enquiries. Unfortunately, during 2003 the server, AOL, froze so that no amendments could be made to the site, and due to members‟ other commitments it had become necessary to find someone who would be able to run and update the site full-time for us. Various enquiries were made locally but came to nothing. During 2004, however, a friend of a then Committee member very kindly agreed to run and maintain our site for us, and www.richardiiiyorkshire.co.uk. was operating by the end of April 2005. It was successful for a while, but eventually delays developed in keeping it updated and liaison with the Committee was not kept up. In 2008 our then Chairman, Ralph Taylor, said he would take over the site, but after his sudden death that summer we accepted the offer from a new Committee member to run a new site with professional help. Since the professional involved was also a family member, it was appreciated that regular contact would be maintained in amending the site. www.richardiiiyorkshire.org Unfortunately, this too was closed down in September 2010. Under the circumstances, and especially bearing in mind the expense already involved, the Committee opened a new site with a free server. We have recently been made aware that this is not in fact practicable since constant working onsite is essential or the site will be suspended, so (once again) we have had to acquire a new site with another server. We are grateful to our new web manager, James Garton, who is experienced in the construction and maintenance of websites and who will ensure that Branch and membership information is kept up-to-date and our events regularly publicised. The new address (hopefully for the last time of asking!) will be www.richardiiiyorkshire.com. It is expected to be up and running very shortly, but in the meantime you can still reach us at www.richardiiiyorkshire.x10.mx. We have been reassured that during the crossover period no information will be lost. Angela Moreton

A Request from the Victoria Branch The Victoria Branch of the Richard III Society first met on 2 October 1959. As editor of the Victorian Newsletter I have been trying to obtain early copies of the Branch Newsletter. The earliest issues I have are from 21 January 1989. Does anybody have anything older? Please contact me if you can help in any way. My email address is [email protected] David Bliss

The Treasurer has changed his address Please note that Paul Foss is now at 46 Badminton Gardens, Bristol, BS16 6FG. His telephone no. (0117 957 0045) and email address ([email protected]) remain the same.

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Obituaries

William (Bill) White, 1944 – 2010 We are very sorry to have to announce the death of Bill White on 17 November 2010 from complications following a heart operation. He was aged 66. He was born in Harlesden in north west London and attended Acton County Grammar School and Salford University. From university he joined Glaxo (later SmithKlineGlaxo) as an analytical chemist and spent thirty years there helping to develop drugs for the market. While working for Glaxo, Bill joined the Society in Autumn 1972. It did not take him long to become an active member; he and I first came into contact when, probably in 1974, he responded to a notice that as Research Officer I used to put in the Ricardian, asking members who wanted a research project to contact me. He undertook to look through the back volumes of journals, including Archaeologia from 1773, to find useful articles, and indeed found several. His first Ricardian article was published in 1978 and was on „Changing Burial Practice in Late Medieval England‟, and he contributed many articles subsequently, many on similar topics. Recently he has reviewed books on death and bones. The Spring 2009 issue of the Bulletin contained his paper given to the 2008 Triennial conference, „The Remains in the Urn – Who were they?‟ This was his last article for us on this topic, one which fascinated him and which had resulted in the standard paper on the topic in the Society‟s 1984 Triennial Conference by Bill and myself – he did the bones and I did the historical introduction. This was published in the conference proceedings, Richard III: Loyalty. Lordship and Law, ed. P.W. Hammond, 2000. Bill memorably brought an actual skull and an axis bone to illustrate salient points in the talk. In the Bulletin article he touched on his suggestion that the bones in Westminster Abbey could be those of three or more individuals rather than just two, something that I know he wanted to develop further. While working for Glaxo Bill became interested in archaeology as a hobby and when he was given early retirement he did not hesitate to study archaeology in a more serious way and took a diploma course in archaeology and then a post diploma course in human skeletal remains at the University of London. At this point he said that he realised that this was what he wanted to do with his life and he became a volunteer at the Museum of London osteology unit. He was invited to join the permanent staff and eventually became senior curator there, a world-recognised expert on the study of human remains, researching and giving papers at conferences. In 2003 he helped found the Centre for Human Bioarchaeology in the Museum and became the inaugural curator of osteology for the Wellcome Osteological Research Database, a detailed online archive of the Museum‟s collection of skeletons and a worldwide resource for archaeologists. He took part in many projects at the Museum, some of international significance, including the opening of the sealed sarcophagus of a Roman woman excavated at Spitalfields market. Recently he was involved in the writing up of the research on the discovery of the Anne Mowbray coffin in 1964, a project close to his heart. He was consulted by many osteologists but also by such people as

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Patricia Cornwell the crime writer and Damian Hurst the sculptor when Hurst was working on his platinum cast of a skull encrusted with diamonds. In 2009 he (very) reluctantly retired from his post at the Museum but returned as an Emeritus Curator of the Osteology unit. Bill was a man of wide-ranging curiosity, interests and knowledge and captained a team of the Museum of London to victory in the quiz show Eggheads over a resident team of know-alls. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 2006, and amongst other societies was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a founder member of the British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. He was a very modest, friendly man, always willing to help and will be sadly missed by all his many friends and his family, his wife Jenny, his daughter, his four sons and his grandchildren to whom we send all our sympathy. Peter Hammond

Anne Elizabeth Smith 1946 – 2011 Anne died, of bone cancer, in the Royal Surrey County Hospital, on 5 January. Her funeral, held on 21 January in Guildford Cathedral, was well attended by representatives of her many activities, including a number of members of the Richard III Society, her interest in which was mentioned in the address, and to which a third of the retiring collection was to be offered. Anne joined the Society in 1972, and joined the London Branch in

September 1972, an early member though not quite achieving „founding member‟ status. She was a committee member of the Society, and Sales Officer, from 1981 to 1994, and the Society‟s fiction librarian from 1998 to 2003, roles which brought her into fruitful contact with members – fruitful both for them, as she provided an exemplary service, and fruitful for her, in that she enjoyed the contact with members and her ability to provide a service for them. Carrying parcels to, and receiving them from, the local post office meant she developed an interesting relationship with her local postman. For her work for the Society Anne was awarded the Robert Hamblin award in 2005, and her „thank you‟ letter on the earlier occasion of her retirement from Society office can be found in the December 1994 issue of the Bulletin. As can be seen, Anne took an active part in the Society, and she kindly provided the transport for many expeditions that she, Geoffrey Wheeler, and I, undertook to pursue Ricardian activities, such as the „year of three plays‟: 1975, when we went to Cleethorpes to see Dickon, by Gordon Daviot [Josephine Tey], and twice to Stratford- upon-Avon, to see John Ford‟s Perkin Warbeck and Shakespeare‟s Richard III. One of the two latter involved staying at a quite ordinary B&B – except for its novel South American restaurant, while the other must have been the occasion when we had a sumptuous but unappreciated lunch at the „Mucky Duck‟ [White Swan] at Minster Anne in medieval dress Lovell – we all had colds. Anne had taken her degree in music, and was interested in music and dancing, and was thus a natural recruit for the 1973 Lyons Corner House Medieval Feast, and the subsequent London Branch dance team, which was formed to attend Nonsuch Dance classes, and so perform at the Jubilee Medieval Banquet at Crosby Hall in 1975, as well as at Yorkshire Branch medieval parties, when she joined the train travellers at the hotel (the White Swan, and subsequently the Alhambra Court) in York. Her first costume was blue velvet with a white trim, followed by pink

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silk with black and silver trim, and a tall steeple henin, which proved a little troublesome to secure, and, failing hair pins, hat pins, combs, headbands, finally had to be secured by judicious application of glue. Anne took the Ricardian sales stock to events wherever it was needed, selling furiously to American visitors in the courtyard of the London pub to which they had invited us: they were starved of Ricardian items, and could not buy fast enough. Lalage Clay helped her a great deal with sales, and I did on occasion: I remember an overnight visit to Leicester to sell at an early conference, when we were slightly fazed to be offered a £50.00 note: not common currency even now, and this was many years ago. Anne taught history at Tolworth Girls‟ School, appreciating children once they became sufficiently sentient to appreciate history, and, following her retirement, continued to offer supply teaching: all the advantages of the role with none of the less appealing administration. She also undertook adult education teaching, as well as attending numerous craft and historical courses: I would receive postcards from interesting locations, explaining which course she was doing, in return for mine from foreign parts. While she was teaching, Anne was not usually able to attend „Melhuish Medieval Tours‟ as they took place in school term time, but she did come on the first Bruges visit in 1974. Although we had not met for some time, she and I had continued to keep in contact, with the aforesaid postcards, and regular Christmas/birthday communication. She has died too soon, and we shall all miss her very much. With thanks for facts/reminiscences to, in alphabetical order: Lalage Clay, Carolyn Hammond, John Saunders and Geoffrey Wheeler. Elizabeth M. Nokes

Anthony Gayfer 1926 – 2010 Tony Gayfer was Treasurer of the Richard III Society from

1992 to 1996. It was his wife, Ruth, who was the Ricardian, having joined the Society in 1971. Tony himself was a member of the George Bernard Shaw Society; indeed, he was its treasurer, and when Joyce Melhuish said that our Society needed a treasurer, Tony volunteered. He had joined in Richard III Society activities long before becoming treasurer, winning the prize for the Most Original Costume at the Jubilee Medieval Banquet of April 1975 held at Crosby Hall. He went as an executioner, in a pair of black tights, a black tee-shirt, his old R.N. sandals and a black mask, and he wielded a splendid axe with a long handle which he made himself. Other medieval banquets he attended as a monk. As treasurer, of course, he husbanded the Society‟s money carefully, but was always ready to agree to spend it when something needed to be done, notably in helping Sutton Cheney church with necessary repairs, including £750 in September 1995 for stonework in the south aisle. At his funeral there were beer mats which bore on one side the legend „Six pints of Special and a cycle ride home‟ and on the other „We believe CAMRA* now has a new celestial branch‟. Lesley Boatwright * The Campaign for Real Ale. Further obituary notes appear on p. 63. 13

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News and Reviews

Exhibition: The Battle of Wakefield Wakefield Museum, 23 October 2010 to 29 January 2011

o create a meaningful display on the Battle of Wakefield is no easy matter – there is hardly T any material to exhibit. No formal archaeological investigations have ever been done on the tiny surviving fragment of battlefield; and a handful of artefacts found over the centuries, together with human remains unearthed in the Victorian period, have mostly vanished without trace. So, with this new temporary exhibition, Wakefield Museum has made something from virtually nothing – but the achievement is deeply flawed. The exhibition‟s main strength lies in three themed cases of objects („Weapons‟, „Wounds‟ and „Evidence‟), many of which are seldom seen by the public. Wakefield Museum has contributed finds from its Sandal Castle collection, including arrowheads, spurs, weapon components, ceramics and some fine painted window glass, alongside relevant small finds borrowed from Towton and Bosworth, and two skulls from the mass graves at Towton Hall. These authentic artefacts are supplemented by excellent replica items loaned by re-enactors: surgical instruments, weapons and the kit to dress three mannequins for battle (an archer in a jack, another in a brigandine, and a knight in a handsome full suit of armour). So far, so good – although the inclusion of a skull fragment from Worksop Priory is a mistake; it has no proven connection with the „battle‟ of Worksop and may pre-date the Wars of the Roses by several hundred years. Otherwise, the exhibition unabashedly plays to the crowd. On the gallery wall, a massed schools performance of the choral work The Sun in Splendour runs in a continuous loop on a flat- screen TV. I understand the rationale behind this: introducing a dynamic audio-visual element, involving the local community and showcasing talents of which the performers can be justly proud. Great for the participants and their families – unfortunately, it just doesn‟t work very well. The dramatic impact is lost on the small screen, and the lyrics are unintelligible unless you stand close – and get eye-strain as the low-resolution image decays into pixillated squares. But the exhibition‟s greatest weakness lies in a questionable choice of centrepiece: a cartoon interpretation of the battle by local artist John Welding, printed on banners arranged in a circle. Around the outside, the main Yorkist and Lancastrian protagonists appear as rather sinister caricatures with brief descriptions summed up in a word: Richard of York – „ambitious‟; Lord Neville – „shifty‟; and Edmund of Rutland (as ever) – „young‟. While it may be necessary to make the extremely complex politics and characters of Wars of the Roses accessible to a general audience, this degree of dumbing down seems excessive – but even such a simplified version deserves to be factually correct, which is not always the case as the story continues inside. Here, the most significant episode in the city‟s medieval history is reduced to a comic-strip, complete with speech-bubbles and Beano-style exclamations like „Cor!‟ and „Har!‟ It tells us that as the armies head towards Wakefield, „battles big and small are fought on the way‟. News to me – I‟ve only heard of the Worksop encounter – so if anyone can enlighten me regarding other confrontations en route, I‟d appreciate the source references. Then the 15,000-strong Lancastrian army is described as gathering in secret – a remarkable feat – with heralds shouting insults up to York on his battlements. Thanks to this amusing image, the most unlikely and poorly evidenced reason for the Duke‟s decision to give battle will now be lodged firmly in visitors‟ minds. But apart from the misleading history, the worst gaffe is the scene of talking heads on Micklegate Bar, where York, Rutland and Salisbury say respectively, „Oh, how humiliating‟; „Oh, boy‟; and

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„Good view from up here, though‟. About as respectful and appropriate as illustrating a First World War battle with a corpse in no-man‟s land observing, „At least the rats are eating well‟. Altogether, it‟s a shame. John Welding is a marvellous artist whose skills could have been far better applied. I would have liked more of his moody evocations of Sandal Castle, and wish that (for instance) he‟d been commissioned to work with West Yorkshire Archaeology Service to create an accurate picture of the fifteenth-century battlefield landscape. So if you visit this exhibition expecting the local museum to have marked the Battle of Wakefield‟s 550th anniversary with a dignified, in-depth treatment, you may be as shocked as I was by its tabloid approach. In a word: disappointing. Helen Cox

Shakespeare’s Richard III, with music by Tom Waits The Orkater Theatre Company, Amsterdam

September 22 was a beautiful and very warm day and the people in Amsterdam were clearly enjoying it as the terraces in front of the many pubs were all crowded. It was hard to believe that it was already late September. Accompanied by a huge full moon I walked through the centre of Amsterdam on my way to the beautiful nineteenth-century municipal theatre to see Shakespeare‟s Richard III, played by the theatre company Orkater. I was lucky to have tickets for the premiere as all the plays had very quickly sold out. Orkater is a very respected company in the Netherlands, reaching a varied audience of around 70,000 visitors per year. To use their own description, „Orkater (a mixture of the Dutch words orkest and theater – orchestra and theatre) primarily makes contemporary music-theatre. Orkater holds dear the freedom with which performances are conceived, made and presented‟. And so they conceived the idea of combining Richard III with the songs of Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan. Although I know Shakespeare was, in my opinion, the greatest propagandist with regard to King Richard III, I was still very interested to see this play as it was originally through Shakespeare that I first learned about „Dickon‟. I very quickly became interested in the real Richard, and learned about his short and rather sad life and, of course, the misinformation surrounding him. Besides this, I‟m also a Tom Waits fan, so to have Dickon singing music by Waits was all the more reason to see the play. The respected Dutch actor Gijs Scholten van Aschat played, and also sang, the role of Richard III. He is not only a stage actor but has also appeared in films and television plays. The play wasn‟t set in any particular time, and, although music was used, you can‟t compare it with a musical; the songs were used more as an illustration, or to emphasise a scene. There was also a band on stage, set at the far end, but on occasion the musicians played between, and together with, the actors. It was fascinating to see a guitar-playing Ratcliffe! Usually there is a closed curtain to hide the stage wall at the far end of the stage, with the stage door being in the middle. Orkater didn‟t use the curtains and specifically not the one at the far end, thus providing more space for the band, so it was quite strange to see a „bare‟ stage in such a very classical nineteenth-century theatre. After Richard committed his first murder, two huge metallic plates were lowered from the ceiling. They ran counter to the stage and filled about a third of it, but leaving enough space for the actors to walk between them towards the stage door at the far end and „exit the world‟. But, unseen to the public eye, high up on either side of the stage, huge plastic bags and a metal chain were also hung. These bags contained, amongst other things, rubbish like empty plastic bottles,

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little pieces of wood, paper and styro foam. After Richard‟s first victim had walked between the plates to „exit the world‟, two bags and a metal chain came swinging down from both sides to crash heavily against the metal plates, accompanied by lots of flashing lights with a sound man ramping up the crashes into an earthshaking evil roar of thunder while the bags relieved their rubbish down on to the stage. From now on, every victim of Richard‟s would walk between the plates while the bags and chain crashed against the plates to tell the audience he was murdered, and a bigger mess was made. A nice metaphor for the „mess‟ Richard was creating for himself. This made quite an impression at first, but after a few times the effect lost its meaning, for we all know that Richard was creating a mess. I also felt sorry to the crew who had to clean this up night after night. The moments picked for the songs were good. Richard made use of them while he was manipulating people, and the dark, raw songs of Waits, being sinister like Richard, fitted perfectly with his evil intent. At other times the music was used to highlight the murders, with it being the last thing his victims heard. On one occasion, full of fire, Richard and his cohort sang the song „God‟s away on business‟ before killing Hastings. However, in spite of this, it didn‟t really appeal to me. To hear actors play in Dutch and the next moment sing in English didn‟t make sense to me. Had the lyrics been translated into Dutch it would have made a big difference. But translating Tom Waits is not a job I would dream of! Neither did I really like the way they acted. I‟m far from being an expert, but to my mind it was all a bit overdone and the production and the music, as it was played, too neat. And on a personal (musician‟s) note: an angry Elizabeth Woodville smashing up a guitar on the floor wasn‟t at all to my liking. Even though it was a stage-prop guitar, I strongly disagree with instruments being deliberately destroyed. The Dutch translation of Richard III was done by the writer Gerrit Komrij and I think he did a fantastic job. Overall, I‟m glad to have seen this production so I can add it to my „collection‟ of Richard III plays I have seen but, above all, I missed profundity in this one. As I like to put it: I had the feeling the actors were acting from their minds, rather from their guts. Johanna Hamminga

Note: Johanna tells us that an extra run of this play has been scheduled by the Orkater Theatre Company from 17 to 26 August 2011.

Tower of London: classic cinema or Hollywood hokum? Universal’s 1939 film now released as a DVD

1939 was a vintage year in USA cinema, so unsurprisingly this hastily-produced and late- released film has suffered by comparison. The advance publicity promised much: „See ... blood- boiling lusty excitement ... vast armies clash before your eyes!‟ posters headlined. „A royal thug, blood-brother to the devil himself!‟ „From grim pages long hidden by time ... storms the gripping drama of the most gruesome, most fascinating character in history!‟ Nothing could live up to this hyperbole. Reviews were muted: „As a horror picture it is broadly etched, but still so strong that it may provide disturbing nightmares as aftermath.‟ „Authentic crime robustly catalogued.‟ and Time magazine reported: „Director Rowland V. Lee and his scriptwriter brother have boned through 350 volumes of British history. This period thriller is less authentic than its elaborately spookily realisation of London‟s Tower.‟ Unjustly neglected since, with a single outing on UK terrestrial TV (August 1980), though more frequently seen in the States, and with only two screenings at London‟s NFT (1967, 1976) in the past 45 years, its reassessment is long overdue. Though appreciated by film buffs devoted

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to the genre, and respected by fans of its stars, several of whose biographies and websites include appreciations too of the historical Richard, its release on DVD last year should ensure a wider audience, and Observer film critic Philip French hailed it as a „cult classic, surprisingly literate‟, and singled out scenes of „Richard charting his progress by manipulating figurines in a secret cabinet representing the British court‟. (An inspired debt to Christie‟s Ten Little Indians.) A cast drawn from notable British ex-pats is headed by Basil Rathbone‟s Richard, at his most villainously suave. Despite references to his „crookback‟, he exhibits only a slight deformity and has numerous opportunities to display his swordsmanship. It is Boris Karloff who, as with his previous „monster‟ roles, has to undergo the most transformation into Richard‟s alter ego Mord, the club-footed, bald executioner. Ian Hunter essays a bluff, hearty Edward IV, with Vincent Price‟s Clarence, incipient drunkard, sneering pettishly into his lapdog‟s fur, completing the trio of Yorkist brothers. Impressive settings enhance its production values, with full-size exterior re-creations of Traitor‟s Gate, the Wakefield and Bloody Towers, and costumes, on the whole well designed. Variations on Richard‟s boar are particularly evident, but the odd eighteenth-century powdered wig jars. For the ladies, the usual steeple hennins are mercifully absent, though replaced by unusual butterfly headdresses, resembling the insect rather than the veiled creation. Unfortunately, most of the original score by Charles Previn (uncle of André) was rejected early on (a variation of the „Agincourt Carol‟ as a marching-song survives), to be replaced by more melodramatic themes reprised from the studio‟s Frankenstein films. Although reduced to around 50 minutes, the labyrinthine plot defies summarising, but what follows is a résumé of the highlights: the presence of John Wyatt, probably based on the

Still from Universal Films, 1939 Disappearing Duchess identified Speculation arose as to the identity of the lady seen here who appears in several stills from the film Tower of London (Universal 1939) but never in the released film itself, billed only as ‘Dowager Duchess’. Cecily Neville might have been a possibility, with the unnamed priest Stillington or Morton, but the presence of Edward IV (centre) rules this out. Rather, she appears to be Anne Mowbray’s mother Elizabeth, described as ‘that old crone’, whom the king attempts to marry off to Wyatt (right). An interested Richard looks on (left).

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historical Sir Henry,* but here a „cousin‟ of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, and the film‟s love interest, at the execution of „Lord de Vere‟ (presumably John, Earl of Oxford, executed 1462) arouses the displeasure of the king and Gloucester. Suggested by the notorious „diabolical marriage‟, the king proposes a match between Wyatt and the aged duchess of Norfolk, but by refusing he ends up in the Tower, and is later exiled. News that the Lancastrian Prince of Wales (an improbable moustachioed middle-aged figure) has invaded prompts Richard to take the imbecilic „paper-crown‟ King Henry VI to the ensuing Battle of Tewkesbury, but when he survives Mord despatches him at his prayers on Richard‟s orders. Anne Neville, disguised as a serving-maid by Clarence, is discovered by Mord and taken by Gloucester to the king who, as pre -arranged, agrees to release her on condition that she marries Richard. Their betrothal is announced, much to the chagrin of Clarence, at the wedding of Anne Mowbray to Richard of York, here staged in St John‟s chapel, not Westminster. Their quarrel over the Warwick estates and the duke‟s fate are brilliantly realised in a drinking-bout between the brothers, which culminates in the inevitable butt of Malmsey. 1483 finds Wyatt in France with „that troublesome Henry Tudor‟. On his deathbed Edward pardons him, encourages him to marry Alice, and names Richard as protector. News is brought to the two princes, both apparently already in the confines of the Tower, at a game of tennis! Edward V is proclaimed king, and at a council meeting Richard persuades him that he should be re-united with his brother York, who has fled to sanctuary with the queen, and it is Hastings (very much alive) who oversees his delivery. In almost no time the populace are murmuring „the sentiment in the city is for a strong king‟ and confronting Richard, demanding that he must accept the crown. (Buckingham‟s role has been ruthlessly excised from the story, as has his later rebellion.) Richard feigns reluctance. Only after Wyatt‟s return, when persuaded by the queen he steals the royal treasure, does Richard declare „Edward married beneath him. His son is not of royal blood‟. After his capture and obligatory torture by Richard and Mord, Wyatt again escapes. Richard vows to crush the queen‟s spirit once and for all, and orders the murder of the princes (Millais‟ iconic images brought to life), at which, for once, Mord seems reluctant, and to feel some compassion, but supervises the deed. A fog-shrouded Bosworth pits Wyatt against Richard‟s henchman, who falls to his death down an impossibly deep ravine. Richard‟s last duel is with Henry Tudor, and his body, deprived of its circlet-crown, is dragged from the muddy field to the insults of soldiers. The final montage shows Wyatt and Alice marrying at Henry‟s court, and the requisite happy ending. Just what role a singing Cockney chimney-sweep (years ahead of Mary Poppins) plays in the tale you will have to discover for yourselves. The film is now available on video or DVD from the AV Library (contact details on inside back cover).

* See the September 2010 Bulletin, p. 35. Geoffrey Wheeler

Kevin Spacey plays Richard III a whole year earlier In the last Bulletin (p.30) we reported that Kevin Spacey was scheduled to play Richard III at the Old Vic in 2012, news which we found in several sources (including the Press Association), so the error appears to have been widespread. We now hear that the production, directed by Sam Mendes and starring Kevin Spacey as Richard, is scheduled for 18 June until 11 September this year, 2011, not 2012, and will not thus be a rival attraction to the London Olympics. Tickets went on sale for Old Vic Friends and Club Members in January, and were available to the general public some time in February.

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From our Jousting Correspondent In the last issue of the Bulletin (p.19) we reported that Graham Turner and his horse Magic had won the Queen‟s Golden Jubilee Trophy, the most prestigious prize in jousting, at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, in

August 2010. We now have a picture of this stirring occasion: Graham and Magic are on the left. Graham tells us that he and Magic are training through the winter to be ready to build on their successes last year. He will put details of the events for this year on his website when he has them (www.studio88.co.uk). He will be exhibiting his work at the Towton commemoration on 17 April and at the Tewkes- bury Medieval Festival (9- 10 July). He has made a splendid new drawing of Richard III at Bosworth, Graham Turner and Magic (left) in action of which more in June.

‘Perfect for the Ricardian in your life’ Philippa Langley recently came across this (extremely lengthy) website and thought it may be of interest to readers, as it sells artefacts described as „perfect for the Ricardian in your life‟ (you do have to enter the whole lot): www.zazzle.co.uk/richard_iii_motto_sticker-217899654653230325 The stickers are circular, two sizes, and show a detail of the stained glass window at York Minister which has Richard‟s arms, boar and motto. Philippa says she couldn‟t resist, and has ordered some (£4.95 for a sheet of 20 small ones, i.e. 1½ inches across).

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Morte d’Arthur at Stratford Little did we guess, when travelling to Stratford in late August 2010 to see this baggy, over-long performance of Morte d’Arthur, directed by Greg Doran, what we would find. Suddenly, in the form of Mordred, Arthur‟s wicked illegitimate son who steals his crown, we were confronted by the villainous figure of „Wicked Uncle Richard‟, resplendent in black velvet doublet, inky hose, and a natty shoulder-length bob as glossy as a crow‟s wing. On his back, a gilded hoodie raised the height of the left shoulder by three or four inches. There was a funny walk too – not in the manner of John Cleese, but more like a disabled insect hopping and gliding across the floor. The programme told us that Mallory wrote Morte d’Arthur when he was himself in prison for various crimes. He was a Lancastrian, and it is suggested that he was writing a commentary on the times: the breakdown of medieval society during the Wars of the Roses and the replacement of old loyalties amongst the aristocracy by political opportunism. From this, were we to assume, with this production, that Mallory saw Richard III as the villain of the incredibly long saga that he wrote? This turned out to be an oversimplification of Mallory‟s own history. He was imprisoned for exploiting the lawlessness of the time by acts of theft, extortion and possibly attempted rape but when released in 1462 he fought under Warwick for the House of York. When Warwick switched sides, Mallory turned his coat too. In 1468 he was back in prison for a failed Lancastrian plot, probably imprisoned alongside the deposed Henry VI. In 1470 he was excluded from the list of Lancastrian prisoners pardoned by Edward IV. He probably began to write Morte d’Arthur in his early imprisonments but it was finished at last in 1470. His work complete, Mallory died in the same year. Fifteen years later, in the fateful year of 1485, Caxton published Morte d’Arthur. Gillian Lazar

Medieval girl power comes to Bosworth Battlefield ...... according to a press release issued on 28 January by Leicester County Council‟s Public Relations Unit. The free-entry exhibition at Bosworth in 2011 will be „The Medieval Woman: instrument of the Devil, exulted above all angels‟. It will open on 2 February, and end on 30 December. It will look at the roles of European women in the Middle Ages, and how they were perceived by the Church and the Law. „Girl power‟ is not an obvious aspect of medieval life, as the press release itself acknowledges: „For much of the time girl power really did not feature in life as medieval women had their lives controlled by men. A girl obeyed her father and a wife was the property of her husband‟ ... „there were some opportunities for women to make their own lives, although they were few and far between ...‟ Women could and did work alongside men in a few areas: in trades, and in the countryside, where their „power‟ would be the sheer amount of physical slog they were able to put into agricultural tasks. „Wealthy widows,‟ says the press release, „had a certain amount of independence, although they could be required by the king to remarry to ensure their lands were under male control. And the mothers and wives of important men could have enormous influence on politics.‟ The women whose lives will be followed in the exhibition include Margaret Beautort, the Empress Matilda, and Eleanor of Aquitaine „the strident mother of Richard the Lion- heart‟ (strident is a belittling adjective for a forceful lady, if ever I heard one), Roesia de Verdun, who founded Grace Dieu Priory in Leicestershire, and the French writer Christine de Pisan. The highlight of the artefacts on display appears to be „a wonderful glass linen presser‟.

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Shakespeare, George Buc and The Pinner of Wakefield Annette Carson‟s „Cautionary Tale‟ (Bulletin, September 2010, p.45) brought to mind some passages in James Shapiro‟s book Contested Will (Faber & Faber 2010) on the seemingly endless controversy – recently resurrected – of the Shakespeare authorship question (a controversy second only to the re-establishment of Richard III‟s reputation, according to the late Prof. A.L. Rowse) and a subject which seems also to exercise the minds of many Society members, particularly Americans. This book should really, once and for all, put an end to the numerous conspiracy theories that abound – a „must-read‟ for anyone remotely interested. In his acknowledgement, towards the end of the work, Shapiro, a Columbia University professor, admits, „One of the unspoken arguments of this book is that electronic resources can only take scholarship so far; libraries and their largely untapped archival riches remain as crucial as ever. Libraries have been a second home to me whilst researching this book.‟ His chapter on „The Evidence for Shakespeare‟ throws up a name familiar to Ricardians: „one of those who recognized Shakespeare and knew him by name was George Buc, a government servant, book collector, and eventually Master of the Revels – the officer to whom Shakespeare‟s company would submit all play scripts for approval. A familiar acquaintance of the earl of Oxford, Buc also knew Shakespeare well enough to stop and ask him about the authorship of an old anonymous play published in 1599: George a Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield, a copy of which he had recently obtained. Shakespeare did his best to help Buc, recalling that the play had been written by a minister, but at this point his memory apparently failed him. But Shakespeare did volunteer an unusual bit of information: the minister acted in his own play, as the Pinner (someone who impounds stray animals). A grateful Buc wrote down his finding on the quarto‟s title page, leaving a space to insert the author‟s name later: “written by ... , a minister who acted the pinner‟s part himself. Teste (i.e. witnessed by) W. Shakespeare”. Buc‟s flesh-and-blood encounter with a man he knew both as an actor and a playwright suggests that once you begin to put Shakespeare back into his own time and place, the notion that he actively conspired to deceive everyone who knew or met him about the true authorship of his works that bore his name seems awfully far-fetched.‟ Elsewhere (p.309) Shapiro interestingly relates, „While at work in the British Library, I called up one of the two surviving copies of a volume of Elizabethan poetry called Licia or Poems of Love, published anonymously in 1593. It contains 51 sonnets, along with an ode, an elegy and an unusual poem about “The Rising to the Crown of Richard the Third”, told as if “written by himself”. It was just the thing that might have caught Shakespeare‟s eye, busy at this time on his own sonnets and working on his Richard the Third as well.‟ Geoffrey Wheeler

A French Book on Richard III Fred Hepburn has sent us news that Amazon are offering (for 17.10 euros instead of 18) a book by Sophie Cassagnes-Brouquet entitled Meurtres à la Cour de Richard III, published by Larousse in March 2008. The dust-jacket has Paul Delaroche‟s picture of the Princes in the Tower sitting on a bed, clutching a book and looking apprehensively to their right. The „author‟s presentation‟ given by Amazon says, „ ... Who is Richard III? A bloody tyrant who did not hesitate to kill his young nephews to take the throne? Or perhaps a shrewd monarch who tried to restore the greatness of the kingdom, and whose black legend was written by chroniclers in the service of the rival dynasty of the Tudors? This king has divided opinions for 500 years; he benefits today also from several societies of friends working for his rehabilitation. In the course of a breathless narrative, Sophie Cassagnes-Brouquet here presents some material unpublished in French (présente ici des éléments inédits en français).‟ That presumably means „material not published before in French‟ rather than that she is publishing, in French, material not published (anywhere) before. French scholars please confirm.

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Medieval England was wealthier than the poorest modern nations Fiona Price has sent us a note about a paper, „British Economic Growth 1270-1870‟, from an account by Matthew Cooper of the Press Association. The account does not give the paper‟s place of publication, but says that the research was conducted by „economists at Warwick University‟s Centre of Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy‟, led by Professor Stephen Broadberry. The researchers looked at manorial documents, farming and probate records, and concluded that per capita incomes in medieval England were substantially higher than the „bare bones sub- sistence‟ levels experienced by people living in poor countries in the modern world. Previous estimates had been that incomes averaged 400 US dollars a head (£253) when compared with currency values in 1990; the new work had shown that the figure was more like 1,000 US dollars for the late medieval period in general, and about 800 dollars at the start of the Black Death in the late 1340s. Professor Broadberry is quoted as saying, „The majority of the British population in medieval times could afford to consume what we call a “respectability basket” of consumer goods that allowed for occasional luxuries. By the late Middle Ages, the English people were in a position to afford a varied diet including meat, dairy produce and ale, as well as the less highly processed grain products that comprised the bulk of the “bare bones subsistence diet”.‟ There is a page on Warwick University‟s website about the project. The link is: www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/centres/eri/bulletin/2010-11-1/broadberry where you will find a link to a pdf of the whole paper (69 pages). Anne Mowbray Update Peter Hammond writes: Members will remember the interesting article in the September Bulletin by Bruce Watson, „Anne Mowbray, Duchess of York: her place in history‟. This set the scene for the forthcoming publication of the research on the discovery of Anne‟s body in 1965. Some of us went recently to hear Mr Watson talk about this work, and he updated us on the publication, saying that he and his colleagues will be submitting a paper to the Antiquaries Journal this year. This will probably be published next year. He also mentioned a paper in the London Archaeologist in Summer 2010. There is a copy of this in the Society‟s Papers Library, and a copy of the Antiquaries Journal article will be placed there in due course.

Masterpieces of Medieval Art Tig Lang recommends that members look at the recent British Museum publication Masterpieces of Medieval Art, by James Robinson, which has excellent illustrations. Among many other beautiful things it shows a ring found on the battlefield of Towton, the Fishpool hoard buried during the Wars of the Roses, and a sword of state which belonged either to Edward V or Edward of Middleham.

The Society’s new print of King Richard’s Standard In the last issue (p. 6) we announced the production of an A4 print of King Richard III‟s standard, designed by Geoffrey Wheeler. The pricing information needs clarification. The members‟ price is £2, plus postage and packing of £1 for the UK, £1.50 for the EU, and £2 for the rest of the world. We can also offer A3 prints, and framed A4: for prices, apply to the Sales Liaison Officer, Sally Empson (contact details on inside back cover).

Apologies to Alison Coates for calling her Alison Carter in the account of the AGM in the last Bulletin and on the caption to a picture of her selling raffle tickets in her character of Widow Jennyt Grooby.

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Media Retrospective

Discoveries at Towton side of his head, presumably by a right- From Geoff Wheeler, who comments, handed opponent standing in front of him. ‘After the discoveries at Bosworth, the race None is likely to have been lethal. The next is on to find the earliest use of guns’. one almost certainly was. From behind him Metro (newspaper given away on London someone swung a blade towards his skull ... Underground), 3 December 2010, p.42: „First the blow opened a huge horizontal gash into bullets ever fired in battle found‟, by Fred the back of his head ... a slit you could post an Attewill. envelope through. ... Another small blow to „Evidence of the first use of firearms on a the right and back of the head ... Finally British battlefield nearly 550 years ago has another blade ... bisected his face, opening a been uncovered. Bronze barrel fragments and crevice that ran from his left eye to his right very early lead shot were unearthed by a jaw ...‟ metal detectorist at the site of the 1461 battle This is a most interesting and well-written of Towton ... The fragments belonged to two article, largely concentrating on the crudely cast, pole-supported guns which excavation process and the bones found. The exploded because of the cold as the battle men were on average 1.71 metres tall, which raged in a snowstorm, lab tests confirmed. ...‟ is just 4 cm. shorter than the average modern The short piece concludes with the comment, Englishman. One of the original team of „everybody has heard of King Richard III and excavators, Christopher Knüsel, is quoted as if it hadn‟t been for Towton ... he would not saying, „It is only in the Victorian era that have taken the throne.‟ people started to get very stunted‟. „Dietary Editor. Note the progressive sexing-up of this isotopes‟ from their kneebones showed that story. The article itself says „evidence of the the Towton bodies were fairly healthy, and, as first use on a British battlefield‟ rather than sugar was not widely available then, their „first evidence of the use on a British teeth were strong. There was some damage to battlefield‟ – and the subeditor has gone a their teeth, though. „A few of the Towton step further: „first bullets ever fired in skeletons had been clenching their teeth battle‟ (in the whole world?). A nice example together so tightly that bits of them splintered of misinformation in the making. off.‟ In the 1980s, a brushfire enabled From Richard van Allen archaeologists at Little Bighorn in Montana The Economist, 18 December 2010, pp. 50- (the scene of General Custer‟s last stand 52: „Nasty, brutish and not that short‟. No against the native Americans in 1876) to map author is named, but the subheading reads the site using metal-detectors to locate bullets, „Towton. Medieval warfare was just as cartridge cases, and so on, which in turn terrifying as you might imagine‟ and the first enabled them to trace the soldiers‟ page (white writing on a black ground) is movements over the battlefield. The mostly taken up by a full frontal picture of a archaeologists tried to do the same at Towton. butchered skull. The first search, for ferrous materials such as „The soldier now known as Towton 25 arrowheads, turned up too much modern had survived battle before. A healed skull ferrous debris, so they looked for non-ferrous fracture points to previous engagements ... metals instead, the bits and pieces that But on March 29th 1461, his luck ran out. soldiers would have had about their persons: Towton 25 suffered eight wounds to his head „badges, belt-buckles, buttons, pendants and that day. ... The first five blows were coins that would have been ripped off during delivered by a bladed weapon to the left-hand the fighting. [This] proved to be much more

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fruitful. After identifying clusters of these “There are things we can learn from Disney. personal effects, which seemed to mark the There has been far too much hostile main lines of battle, researchers went back to presentation of the past in our houses – the looking for ferrous metals and started finding signs that say „do not enter‟, „do not touch a concentration of arrowheads. Arrows were this piano‟ ... and all those roped-off areas. I not the only things flying through the air that do not like ropes.‟ He does agree, however, day. Some of the first bullets were, too. The that there are things too fragile and precious Towton battlefield has yielded up the earliest to be touched. „You cannot have blazing sun lead-composite shot found in England.‟ on a medieval tapestry, or children bouncing Many of the skeletons had suffered mul- on an ancient bed. But it is jolly nice to have tiple blows. The article quotes Graeme Rimer a bed they can bounce on somewhere.‟ of the Royal Armouries as saying, „Given how much damage you can do with one blow, The „members‟ revolt‟ seems to have petered why land another twelve?‟ And there were out: signs of mutilation: „marks on the left side of From Lesley Boatwright Towton 32‟s head suggest that his ear had National Trust Magazine, Spring 2011, p. 29. been sliced off‟. Were these skeletons were „Looking lively!‟ Report on the National men who had fled from the battlefield? Trust‟s AGM by Anthony Lambert. „Disorientated, tired and outnumbered, their „Chairman Simon Jenkins ... emphasised the enemies would have had time to indulge in progress towards fulfilling the two messages revenge. Even at this distance the violence is he had heard on becoming chairman: the need shocking.‟ to release the Trust from centralisation and to relieve properties from “corporate identity”. Disneyfication of historic buildings ... He hoped members had noticed a The September 2010 Bulletin had an extract difference in the way properties are being from English Heritage Conservation Bulletin, animated, but he stressed that every impact of Summer 2010, in which the Chairman of the these changes had been assessed.‟ National Trust, Simon Jenkins, recommended Talk about an EGM seems to have been the restoration of ruins which had become relegated to a discussion about bringing down „just a work of art or piece of archaeology‟. It the costs, and „the likelihood of one being was illustrated by a picture of Middleham called by a single-issue campaign using the Castle, described as a „difficult-to-read ruin‟. internet‟, though the paragraph on this matter Geoff Wheeler has sent us more on Sir is obscurely worded. There was, however, a Simon and his ideas. „light-hearted debate on whether bringing our Daily Telegraph 16 October 2010, „There are properties to life means dumbing down‟. The things to learn from Disney ...‟ Interview with Architectural Editor of Country Life said „the Sir Simon Jenkins by Peter Stanford. Trust‟s diverse properties called for more „The overwhelming message [Sir Simon] scholarship to interpret them to an audience picks up ... is one of approval as [the NT] eager for history‟. The Chief Curator at changes its ways from a museum-like Historic Royal Palaces said, „Some aren‟t stiffness towards much great informality.‟ But interested in history. We need to use new he is facing a members‟ revolt, and some ways to reach out.‟ The audience, said the people are trying to secure an Extraordinary report, were in full agreement. With what? General Meeting. „This is a battle for the soul of the trust with the rebels opposing what Misjudging Henry VI they see ... as the “Disneyfication” of historic From Geoff Wheeler houses and the “suburbanisation” of the History Today, January 2011. „Henry VI: A countryside by the addition of trails, barbecue Misjudged King?‟ by Michael Hicks plots and even facilities for surfers ...‟ „It is hard to imagine reigns more cata- „Though “Disneyfication” is meant as an strophic than those of Henry VI (1422-61, insult, Sir Simon prefers to see the positives. and 1470-71).‟ Unimposing, „no athlete, no 25

soldier or jouster and no orator‟, pious, but Henry VII was enjoying his fourth year of completely passive and not in the best mental rule after defeating our own Yorkist monarch health, Henry did not compare well with his Richard III (cue loyal hissing from the back father Henry V. of the class). ... we have recently opened the However, „Henry‟s many critics, both Percy Chapel in our north east corner for contemporary and modern, have overlooked everyone to visit. This contains the tomb of the sheer impossibility of governing mid-15th Henry Percy, the fourth Duke of Northumber- -century England. Inheriting an unwinnable land ... in the nasty and suspicious mind of war against the might of France, Henry was Henry VII a potential rival for the throne plunged into a 15th-century credit crunch that itself. ... So how lucky it was for him that bankrupted him, denied him both revenues Henry P. was killed in riots led by Sir John and access to credit and enraged his subjects, Egremont of Yorkshire against increased who expected government somehow to solve taxes ...‟ its problems. .. [but] there could have been no The column goes on to detail some of the Wars of the Roses had he simply bowed to his expenses incurred at Percy‟s funeral, from „a critics in 1450, 1452 and 1455 and transferred surviving copy‟ (not further described). The the reins of government to [the duke of] total bill, excluding the costs of the Percy York .. there is more to his role than mere Chapel itself, came to £1,008 3s.4d., which in resignation and delegation.‟ modern terms would be £5.5 million. He carried out „all the formal duties of office‟ ... „while taking responsibility for his From Fiona Price decisions, Henry did not acknowledge any- Lawrence James, The Life and Legend of body to whom he was accountable but God Lawrence of Arabia (2005 edition) and hence accepted no personal liability. .. He „[Aldington] suggested that there might be simply refused to give way.‟ His loyalty to his two Lawrences: one the figment of his own ministers was dangerous, and „his seemingly and his friends‟ imagination ... and the other eternal willingness to forgive ... did ultimately quite different and far less attractive charac- enable the defeated Yorkists ... to prevail.‟ ter. By arguing ... Aldington had forced sub- „Henry‟s greatest defect was in his man- sequent biographers into two camps, traditio- management skills, especially in his relations nal and revisionist. Lawrence was thrown into with Richard, Duke of York. ... Henry that historical literary arena hitherto occupied unfortunately accepted York as exceptional by figures such as Richard III, where cham- and was unwilling to treat him as harshly or pions and their adversaries rode their hobby- violently as York had treated the king‟s other horses into battle.‟ ministers. It was a fatal flaw that brought both men to ruin and to violent deaths.‟ From Susan Toet, Northampton Hicks ends by noting that Henry‟s Beautiful Britain, November 2010 memory was cherished, and pilgrims came to Tower of London, London: his tomb, both at Chertsey Abbey and later in „Hampton Court is not the only royal palace St George‟s Chapel, Windsor – and adds that putting an an ice show this winter. The Tower Richard III „probably used the pilgrims‟ of London is famous as a prison for out-of- offerings to finance the move [to Windsor]‟. favour royalty, but it was actually founded by No evidence is adduced for this remark. William the Conqueror as a luxurious London residence. The ice rink is in the moat around Also Observed: the Tower. Skate beneath its battlements and From Pamela Spence, Appleby the White Tower, one of London‟s best- Beverley Advertiser, 12 August 2010 known landmarks, and take a tour inside to „Beverley Minister verger Neil Pickford see where tragic claimants to the throne Lady opens his history books.‟ Jane Grey, Mary Queen of Scots and the „Cast your mind back, if you will, to the young sons of Henry VI – the Princes in glorious days of 1489 when the Tudor King the Tower – were kept in captivity.‟ 26

Paul Murray Kendall, born 1911: a Centenary Tribute JOHN SAUNDERS

aul Murray Kendall was born in 1911, and this year we are celebrating the centenary of this P iconic biographer of Richard III. We begin with an appreciation by Compton Reeves, historian and member of the American Branch, who provides a comprehensive account of Kendall‟s life and his academic achievements. His daughters Callie and Gillian will be visiting England for the anniversary of their father‟s birth, as his ashes were scattered on the battlefield of Bosworth after his death. We shall carry a report on their visit in the June Bulletin. They have very kindly agreed to be interviewed about their father and we shall also carry this in the next issue. During 2005, the fiftieth anniversary year of the publication of his Richard the Third, we published a number of articles in the Bulletin about Kendall, his book and its impact on the development of the Society. First published in England during December 1955, it had significant impact on Ricardian studies and remains a most important landmark in the progress of revisionist opinion. In the words of our late Chairman, Jeremy Potter, „(Kendall) was the long awaited answer to the revisionists‟ prayers. Here at last was the champion of their dreams, and a historian well disposed towards Richard who could not be summarily dismissed as insane like Buck, perversely Paul Murray Kendall eccentric like Walpole, femininely romantic like Halstead or an interloping adventurer like Markham. Here too was the perfect complement to Josephine Tey. What she achieved at a popular level he was to match in the world of scholarship.‟ Kendall‟s book was to reign as the principal biography of Richard III for the next quarter- century and it certainly remains the best written. That it remained so for the important formative years of the Richard III Society was a distinct advantage. Over the years, Josephine Tey‟s The Daughter of Time, Olivier‟s Richard III, and Kendall‟s biography of the king have inspired many to find out about the real Richard III and for many also to join the Society. A contemporary noted of Kendall‟s character that „always he was a man who found fun and delight in everything he did, from sowing a lawn to carrying out prodigious researches into remote areas of history. To him the past was every bit as real as the present.‟ He died in the autumn of 1973 and his obituary in The Times recorded that „he had a singular gift for writing vividly and excitingly, while remaining wholly reliable as an historian‟. As we commemorate the centenary of his birth we should again recall words written by Compton Reeves back in 1995 „… we students of Richard and his era must in all fairness and candour acknowledge our debt to an Ohio University Professor of English‟.

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Paul Murray Kendall and his biography of Richard the Third COMPTON REEVES

ifty-six years after its publication in Shakespeare. Shakespeare was Kendall‟s F 1955 Paul Murray Kendall‟s Richard the forte, and the history plays were his best Third is still in print, and that is an amazing loved. There are stories of students bringing feat for any book, perhaps especially for a folding chairs into his fully subscribed Ohio book on a topic of fifteenth-century English University classes to get a dose of history. It would be interesting (if impossible) Shakespeare according to Kendall, and it was to know the percentage of today‟s Ricardians in contemplating Shakespeare‟s Richard III for whom the first non-fiction book they read that Kendall became curious about the man about King Richard III was Kendall‟s behind the bard‟s portrait. Richard the Third. Any book that has Kendall did not immediately, however, remained in print for so long can only be become one of the more notable members of judged to have been an excellent introduction the university‟s teaching staff. It was not until to its subject, and readers of the Bulletin 1947, for instance, that he was granted tenure, might be interested in a brief account of and in a letter of 14 May 1951, having Kendall‟s life, and reading about some of the recently turned forty, he expressed the hope early reactions to his Richard the Third. that he might at least be considered for Kendall spent the majority of his promotion from Associate Professor to academic career teaching English at Ohio Professor. Kendall seems to have been University in Athens, Ohio, USA. The slightly too unconventional for some staid English Department and the Archives and figures in the Dean‟s office. Special Collections Department at Alden He had in 1950 been awarded the Library, Ohio University, together with Marburgh Play Prize from The Johns Hopkins conversations with Kendall‟s daughter Callie, University for his three-act play, The Ant have made it possible to put together this Village, and he had published some light sketch of Kendall‟s life. verse in such magazines as the Saturday Paul Murray Kendall was born on 1 Evening Post, and a scholarly article on March 1911 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Shakespeare‟s Troilus and Cressida in a and graduated from Frankfort High School in Festschrift. In the 1951 letter noted above, that suburb of Philadelphia in 1928. Outside Kendall mentioned he had „finished about a of school, Kendall enjoyed tennis, and third of a fictional-biographical study of became a junior champion in Philadelphia. He Richard III, the object of which is to show continued his love of tennis, and remained a that Shakespeare‟s portrait of that monarch is good player in adulthood. From Philadelphia, totally unhistorical‟. In the spring 2005 issue he moved on to the University of Virginia, of the Ricardian Bulletin Callie Kendall where he took all of his profesional training: wrote that she was not sure just when King A.B. in 1932, A.M. in 1933, and Ph.D. in Richard became a member of the Kendall 1939. Before completing his doctorate, family, but it was certainly by 1951. Kendall became, in 1937, an instructor in the Kendall could not have helped but feel a English Department at Ohio University. His vote of professional confidence when he was primary teaching responsibility was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship for Renaissance literature with an emphasis upon 1952-53, and the fellowship gave a boost to 28

the completion of Richard the Third, which Two years after Richard the Third, was published by W.W. Norton in 1955. Kendall had two more books appear: Norton brought out another printing of the Warwick the Kingmaker and History of Land book in 2002 which included an introduction Warfare. For the academic year 1957-58 by his daughter Gillian. In that introduction Kendall had the first of his two Guggenheim she wrote: „My father set himself the fraught Fellowships; the second was for 1961-62. task of retrieving an icon of evil from a work Warwick the Kingmaker won the Ohioana of great literature [Shakespeare‟s Richard Award in 1958 as the best nonfiction book III].‟ Gillian Murray Kendall went on to say: published by an Ohioan in the previous year, „To rescue Richard the Third from fiction and and the New York Times called it one of the bring him back into history required a top biographies of 1957. By this time Kendall biography with literary as well as scholarly had been promoted to professor and in 1959 merit.‟ The reviews of the book when it Ohio University named Kendall and two appeared in 1955 were entirely friendly, other professors the first Distinguished suggesting that Kendall achieved the goal he Professors in the history of the University. set for himself as a biographer. Kendall was not yet finished with fifteenth E.F. Jacob, who was six years away from -century England, for The Yorkist Age publishing his volume in the Oxford History appeared in 1962 and his second Ohioana of England series, The Fifteenth Century, Award followed in 1963. A work edited and 1399-1485, wrote in the Manchester introduced by Kendall was published in 1965: Guardian (13 January 1956), „This new life Richard III: The Great Debate: Sir Thomas of Richard III has two principal merits: it More’s History of King Richard III and deals with his whole career, not merely with Horace Walpole’s Historic Doubts on the Life the last two years; and it is carefully and Reign of King Richard III, and in the constructed from original authorities‟, and same year there appeared The Art of went on to credit Kendall with „distinguishing Biography, for which Kendall was nominated between genuine contemporary testimony for the Pulitzer Prize and which demonstrated (even if much of that is hearsay) and Tudor that he had thought hard about the writing of myth, and making it clear when resort is had biography. It is appropriate to mention that to conjecture‟. when the biographer of nineteenth-century R.B. Dooley, writing in the Catholic United States history, Stephen B. Oates, was World (November 1956) said: „In all the offered a professorial chair at the University reams of writing in print that have been of Massachusetts at Amherst he chose to call spilled by the enemies and friends of Richard it The Paul Murray Kendall Chair of III, this is actually the first objective Biography. biography‟. Further recognition followed for Kendall To mention but one more early review, during his lifetime. The Ohio Board of A.L. Rowse stated in the Chicago Sunday Regents named him a Regents Professor in Tribune (26 August 1956) that „Mr. Kendall 1966 and renewed the appointment each year has achieved the best biography of Richard III until 1969 when he was named permanent that has been written‟. In a review a few Regents Professor. In 1970 Kendall retired years later, in a demonstration of independent from Ohio University to join Professor and unencumbered judgment, Kendall Charleton Hinman in the teaching of eviscerated Rowse‟s Bosworth Field and the Shakespeare at the University of Kansas. Wars of the Roses (1966), and Rowse was Kendall was continuing with other projects immensely displeased. also, most notably his projected edition, with As Kendall‟s first book, Richard the Third Professor Vincent Ilardi of the University of had admirable reception and was a runner-up Massachusetts, of the fifteenth-century for the National Book Award in 1956, as well Milanese ambassadorial dispatches. It was as being picked one of the best books of the while at Kansas, in 1971, that Kendall‟s final year by the American Library Association. historical biography, that of King Louis XI of

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France, was published. Meanwhile, Ohio for the things that he cared about: following University, where Kendall had taught for the Ohio University baseball and football thirty-three years, awarded its Regents teams, as well as the New York Yankees. He Professor Emeritus an honorary Doctor of was an avid fan of American football, and of Humane Letters degree. English football as well, where he rooted for It should be noted that Kendall was not Arsenal and did the pools. the only author living under his roof. In 1939 Paul Kendall did not have long to work on Kendall married Carol Seeger, one of his the University of Kansas campus in students at Ohio University, and Carol Seeger Lawrence, for he died in Lawrence on 21 Kendall was an author in her own right. She November 1973 at the age of sixty-two. won an Ohioana Award in 1960 and was Kendall had been a heavy smoker, and he runner-up for the 1960 Newberry Award for died of lung cancer. His ashes were scattered one of her children‟s novels, The Gammage on Bosworth Field in Leicestershire. In his Cup (issued in Britain as The Minnipins), career Kendall had written extensively, and published the previous year. Kendall himself although King Richard III was not his wrote a novel, My Brother Chilperic, which singular passion, he did a major service for was published posthumously, in 1979. the study of Richard. He told Richard‟s story The Kendalls had two daughters, Carol in a compelling fashion and, even if historians and Gillian, but only the elder had been born might grumble that Kendall put a major issue when Richard the Third appeared, and hence like the disappearance of Edward IV‟s sons in the dedication of the book „To my two an appendix of Richard the Third, there could Carols‟. Daughter Carol subsequently be no disparaging the interest Kendall changed her name to Caroline, and is known stimulated in the life and reign of King as Callie. Callie is a writer, editor, and Richard III. researcher, and her son Christopher Kendall Books by subsequent writers have „Tick‟ Ahearn is following a career in deepened and made more subtle our publishing. Gillian Kendall is a professor of understanding of Richard and his times, but English at Smith College in Massachusetts while delving into such tomes as Charles where she teaches Shakespeare and other Ross‟s Richard III (1981), P.W. Hammond‟s English courses. She married Robert Dorit, a and A.F. Sutton‟s Richard III: The Road to professor of biology at Smith College, and is Bosworth Field (1989), Rosemary Horrox‟s the mother of Sasha and Gabriel Dorit- Richard III: A Study in Service (1989), A.J. Kendall. Kendall‟s widow resides in Pollard‟s Richard III and the Princes in the Lawrence, Kansas. Callie Kendall speaks of Tower (1991), or M.A. Hicks‟s Richard III her father‟s vast knowledge of historical facts (2000), students of Richard and his era must and the playing of family games similar to in all fairness and candor acknowledge a „Twenty Questions‟ – he could stump genuine debt to an Ohio University professor everyone with his knowledge of Napoleon‟s of English born exactly one hundred years generals – but he displayed an occasional lack ago, whose own book on Richard III first of awareness of the minutiae of life. Kendall appeared in 1955. was as great at organizing the details of a trip as he was at organizing the details of a written narrative but, in spite of an admiration for About the author: technology, was not especially handy around Compton Reeves is a past Chairman of the the house. He always wore a suit and tie, a American Branch and Professor Emeritus at black tie until a class of students imposed Ohio State University, where Paul Murray variety upon him, and owned no sport shirts. Kendall spent most of his career. Professor Even when tending his garden, which was Reeves‟ articles in the Bulletin include known for its tomatoes and flowers, he would „Cathedral Deans of the Yorkist Age‟ (2008) simply remove his suit coat and perhaps his and „King Richard III at York in Late tie. Callie remembers her father‟s enthusiasm Summer 1483‟ (2002).

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The Man Himself Hall, More and Shakespeare: are their descriptions of Richard III accurate? ARIANA ELLIS

Ariana is a pupil in Grade 12 at the Northern Seconary School in Toronto, Canada. She wrote this essay as part of her Ancient Civilisation course. They were asked to choose a topic and write a paper on it, and Ariana chose Richard III. She says, „Richard is a historical figure I have long found interesting. What specifically draws my attention to Richard is the pursuit of the true man behind the written history, particularly the mystery surrounding his true character, and the discrepancies in the many differing viewpoints relating to him as a man and as a king. I elaborate on specific discrepancies in my essay.‟

The majority of information on medieval conflicting evidence can be found within personalities used as proof in modern day Sean Cunningham‟s Richard III A Royal historical papers is gleaned from sources Enigma and Emma Smith‟s Shakespeare’s written by notable and trusted contemporary Histories. In reference to the „broken sword‟ authors of the period. However, these authors portrait of Richard III, Sean Cunningham were not free from bias and influence from writes that an „x-ray … of the portrait reveals outside sources. This lack of objectivity exists deformity of the left hand and a crude hump within the texts, Hall’s Chronicles written by painted onto the left shoulder‟.2 Furthermore, Edward Hall, The History of King Richard III in Emma Smith‟s book, she writes that „A by Thomas More, and The Tragedy of King portrait…painted about 1505, shows a Richard III by William Shakespeare. These Richard with straight shoulders, but a second sources depict King Richard III as an evil, portrait seems to emblemize the whole sinful, conniving and treacherous tyrant with controversy, for in it, x-ray examination physical deformities; however, conflicting reveals an original straight shoulder line, information, including that taken from the which was…painted over to present the raised aforementioned texts, leads us to question the right shoulder …‟3 These x-rays of Richard‟s image of King Richard III, creating portraits raise doubts regarding the truth of reasonable doubt as to the accuracy of this Richard‟s disfiguration, as his deformities description of his physical appearance, were not originally included within the personality and leadership style. paintings. Richard III has been depicted as greatly In Thomas More‟s The History of King disfigured in all three previously listed Richard III, he writes that Richard is „little of contemporary sources. Conflicting stature‟.4 However, both modern and information derived from earlier writings, historical writings raise doubts regarding nineteenth century analytical resources and More‟s assertion. While on diplomatic travels from Hall’s Chronicles itself provides for the Holy Roman Emperor, Ambassador opposing views. In Shakespeare‟s The Nicolas Von Poppelau visited England. While Tragedy of King Richard III, Richard III is staying at the royal court, Poppelau described described as a „bunched backed toad‟,1 which his meeting with Richard III in his travel refers to his hunched physique. However, diary. Poppelau writes that Richard is „Three

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fingers taller than himself‟.5 Armstrong writes evidence. Descriptions of Richard prior to the that Poppelau is thought to be a „big man‟ in Tudor dynasty do not include any distinct relation to his „extraordinary strength‟, and so references to Richard‟s physical deformities. Richard III‟s height must have been In fact, contemporary historians who disliked considerable.6 Richard used his attractive physique as a In a modern day context, a letter in the means of describing an evil character. Rous, a British Medical Journal states that „Richard contemporary historian, writes „ut scorpio … no doubt…didn‟t make much of a showing vultu blandiens, cauda pungens, sic et ipse beside his brothers Edward and George … cunctis se ostendit’. which, roughly Poppelau tells us, however, that Richard was translated, means „when the scorpion taller … by three fingers, although slighter … [Richard] smiled to flatter, the poisonous tail this suggests not ... small… but possibly tall had yet to show itself‟.11* In other words, and thin”.7 Another article, discussing old Richard‟s smile and good looks fooled others, age, height and nutrition during the medieval and hid the evil personality beneath. In the period, confirms the average male height works of Hall, More and Shakespeare, small during the medieval period to be 5‟ 7½” and stature and physical deformity were used as Edward IV‟s height to be 6‟3” and described indications of a vile personality. However, as exceeding tall.‟8 Based on this research, conflicting evidence arising from a variety of Richard III may have been considered short contemporary and modern sources give rise to and thin in comparison with his brothers, but questions regarding the accuracy of these tall in comparison to the average male of the historical depictions. medieval period. The works of Hall, More and Shakespeare Thomas More also includes the following use the physical appearance of Richard III as description of Richard III in his book: „Of an indicator of his evil personality. However, body he was but low, crooked-backed, hook- Richard‟s actions, factual evidence and the shouldered, splay-footed, and goggle-eyed; writings of others from the period dispute the his face little and round, his complexion accuracy of these authors‟ statements on swarthy, his left arm from his birth dry and Richard‟s personality. During Richard‟s withered; born a monster in nature, with all initial soliloquy in Shakespeare‟s play, he is his teeth, with hair on his head, and nails on portrayed as a disloyal character. This is his fingers and toes: and just such were the evident in the lines: „Plots have I laid, qualities of his mind.‟9 The accuracy of inductions dangerous, by drunken prophecies, More‟s information can be doubted due to the libels and dreams, to set my brother Clarence source of his information, his phrasing, and and the king in deadly hate the one against the contemporary sources of the period. Thomas other … This day should Clarence closely be More was a young child when Richard III mew‟d up, about a prophecy, which says that was killed, and so obtained his information G of Edward‟s heirs the murderer shall from Morton, Bishop of Ely, a man he be.‟12 The disloyal nature displayed in this deemed to be a reliable source. However, quotation can be questioned based on Morton was known for his dislike of Richard contemporary evidence. When Edward IV III, due to Richard‟s discovery of an was forced into exile during 1470, Richard attempted rebellion in which Morton was remained by his side, fighting with his brother involved, and his subsequent house arrest until the throne was regained. Edward IV with the Duke of Buckingham. This dislike confirmed his brother‟s loyalty through his would have likely led to bias on Morton‟s letter to Pope Sixtus IV in 1482, in which he part, tainting the information he provided to wrote, „Thank God, the giver of all gifts for More. the support received from our most loving When More writes about Richard‟s brother.‟13 Shakespeare‟s play also describes appearance, he includes the comment, „as the Richard III as ungenerous. This is evidenced fame runs‟,10 which indicates that this in his dialogue with Buckingham. description is a rumour and not factual „Buckingham: I am thus bold to put your

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grace in mind of what you promised me. King had a high regard for Richard; conflicting Richard III: … thou keep'st the stroke betwixt information to that provided by Hall himself, thy begging and my meditation. I am not in More and Shakespeare. the giving vein to-day.‟14 This quote causes Another example of the populace‟s regard the reader to assume that Richard is only for Richard can be found in the York City generous when it is in his best interests. This Records dated 1485. Following Richard‟s conclusion can be disputed based on death at the battle of Bosworth, it was Richard‟s actions. recorded that „King Richard, late mercifully An excerpt from Richard‟s letter to the reigning over us was piteously slain and Great Wardrobe concerning clothing for his murdered to the great heaviness of this city.‟18 son‟s investiture illustrates Richard‟s Overall, the information provided by a variety generosity towards members of his family. of historical sources is antithetical to the „We wolle & charge you to deliver unto the portrait of Richard‟s personality and its effect bringere hereof for us thise parcelles folowing on others painted by the Renaissance authors that it to say First one doublet of purpille Hall, More and Shakespeare. satyne lyned with holand clothe and Hall, More and Shakespeare all imply that entrelyned with Buske, one doublet of Richard was a bad ruler who only thought of Tawney sattyn lyned in likewise, ij short helping himself. These sources make direct gowns of Cremsyne clothe of gold that one references to Richard‟s cruelty and tyranny. with droppis & that other with nettes lyned Contradictory evidence can be found in the with grene velvet …‟15 writings of Hall and John Stow, author of A Richard‟s generous nature towards others Survey of London in 1598. Richard III‟s is exhibited through his instructions relating address at Westminster in 1483 indicates a to the repairs to be done on a church. „… we rule based on lawfulness and fairness. „… of our grace … have graunted unto oure justly and duly administer the laws without trusty and wel belovede in god Thabbot & delay or favour, (dispensing justice) Convent of Coverham xxli of money indifferently to every person, as well as to towardes the belding theire Churche and poor as to rich.‟19 This speech indicates that reperacione of other things necessarie within Richard III intended to carry out the laws of thaire place...we therefore wolle & charge England and consider persons of all different you to content & pay unto the said Abbot & classes equally. This is diametrically opposed Convent the said somme ...‟.16 Overall, the to the image produced in Hall‟s Chronicles, information provided by a variety of More‟s history and Shakespeare‟s play. historical sources is antithetical to the portrait According to Richard‟s letters, he also of Richard‟s personality and its effect on contributed to the Church and to education. others painted by the renaissance authors This is evidenced by John Rous‟ description Hall, More and Shakespeare. of Richard‟s contributions in 1486. „This According to all three historical sources, King Richard was praiseworthy for his Hall, More and Shakespeare, Richard‟s building, as at Westminster, Nottingham, personality and evil acts made him unpopular Warwick, York, and Middleham, and many with the general public. However, other places … He founded another in the information from Hall’s Chronicles, York church of St. Mary of Barking, by the Tower City Records and the personal of London, and endowed the Queen's College correspondence of citizens creates doubt as to at Cambridge with 500 marks annual rent. their accuracy. In Hall’s Chronicles, the The money which was offered him by the author includes the following sentence. „Thus peoples of London, Gloucester, and King Richard … grew to high praise and Worcester he declined with thanks, affirming honour, and then by the admiration and that he would rather have their love than their judgement of the common multitude he was treasure.‟20 This description indicates that most esteemed to be exalted into heaven‟.17 Richard was a ruler interested in helping his This phrase indicates that the common people subjects and contributing to the improvement

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of society; contradicting the descriptions Notes found throughout Hall‟s Chronicles, More‟s 1 Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard History of King Richard III and Shake- III, Act IV Scene 4. speare‟s The Tragedy of King Richard III. 2 Cunningham, Sean, Richard III: A royal Finally, Hall‟s information and an Annal enigma, (TNA, 2003), p.96. written by John Stow indicate that Richard III 3 Smith, Emma J., Shakespeare’s Histories, listened to his subjects and passed laws for Blackwell Guides to Criticism, 2003, p. 49 the benefit of England. John Stow‟s writing 4 More, Thomas, The History of King includes a reference to Richard‟s actions in Richard, (Hesperus Classics, 2005), p.7. Woodstock. „The king then removed to 5 Mancini, Dominic, The Usurpation of Oxford, and to Woodstock, where by popular Richard III, ed. C.A.J. Armstrong (Alan request he disafforested a great area of the Sutton, 1984) , p. 137. country which King Edward IV his brother 6 Armstrong, ibid. had annexed and incorporated in the forest of 7 Letter from Jeremy Potter in British Medical Wychwood under forest law, against Journal, 25 February 1978, p.506. conscience and to the public damage.‟21 This 8 Felinah Memo Hazarah Khad-ad-Din, Old quotation indicates that Richard took the Age, Height and Nutrition: Common miscon- people‟s opinions into account when making ceptions about medieval England, 2003: decisions regarding his kingdom. www.sirguillaume.com/Downloads/ In Hall‟s Chronicles, the author mentions Old_Age-Height-Nutrition.pdf Richard‟s actions in Parliament, and includes 9 More, p.7. the sentence, „[Richard] enacted many good 10 More, p. 7. laws and profitable estates, one against 11 Rous, Historia, ed. Alison Hanham, strangers and foreign wrought wares Richard III and his Early Historians 1483- [taxes].‟22 Since this fact is embedded within 1535, 1975, p. 120. an anti-Richard source it indicates its truth, 12 Shakespeare, Richard III, Act I, Scene 1. and contradicts the assertion that Richard was 13 Hammond, P.W. and Anne F. Sutton, a ruler who did nothing to benefit the people. Richard III, the Road to Bosworth Field In summation, there appear to be (Alan Sutton 1985), p. 86. discrepancies between Richard‟s leadership 14 Shakespeare, Richard III, Act IV, Scene 2. style as described in Hall, More and 15 Horrox, Rosemary, and P.W. Hammond, Shakespeare, and his leadership style as British Library Harleian Manuscript 433, illustrated through contemporary evidence vol. II, p. 42. from the period. 16 Horrox and Hammond, op. cit., p. 20 The Renaissance sources Hall‟s 17 Hall, Chronicles, p. 380. Chronicles, Thomas More‟s The History of 18 York House Books, ed. Lorraine Attreed King Richard III, and Shakespeare‟s The (Alan Sutton, 1991), vol. 1, p. 368. Tragedy of King Richard III describe King 19 See The Coronation of Richard III: the Richard III as a tyrannical ruler with an evil Extant Documents, ed. P.W. Hammond and personality and physical deformities. Anne F. Sutton (Alan Sutton, 1983), p. 25 However, conflicting information garnered 20 Rous, Historia, in Hanham, loc.cit. from both historical and modern sources 21 Stow, John, A Survey of London (1598). generates reasonable doubt as to the accuracy 22 Hall, Chronicles, p.381. of these Renaissance descriptions. Differing 23 York House Books, vol. 1, p. 373. opinions regarding this controversial king continue to arise, confirming the thoughts of * Editor‟s note: the more literal translation the City of York. Richard III truly is „The of the Latin is „like a scorpion, flattering with most famous prince of blessed memory‟.23 his face, stinging with his tail, he [Richard] too thus showed himself to all‟.

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‘Beeth of good comfort, and dreadeth not’: Edward IV and the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross DAVID SANTIUSTE

he year 2011 marks the 550th London, while Duke Richard marched out to T anniversary of several battles of the confront the growing Lancastrian army in the Wars of the Roses. north. The third part was entrusted to Edward, Whilst the Battle of Towton will then earl of March, who received his first understandably receive most attention, the independent command. Edward was still only other battles should also be remembered. The eighteen years old, but he had already gained Battle of Mortimer‟s Cross, fought on 3 military experience. His first exposure to February 1461, was much less significant in warfare came at the first battle of St Albans,1 terms of size than Towton, but in certain other when he had barely reached his teens, respects it was vital to the Yorkist cause. although it is unlikely that Edward took an Above all, the battle was a key moment in the active part in the fighting there. He probably career of the young Edward of York, shortly „won his spurs‟ during the skirmish at afterwards Edward IV. His victory at Newnham Bridge, fought on St George‟s Day Mortimer‟s Cross, which appeared to be 1460, when the duke of Somerset‟s forces divinely inspired, confirmed Edward‟s were repulsed from Calais. We can be certain emergence as a formidable military leader. that he subsequently fought at the Battle of In order to understand the background to Northampton, where Wavrin tells us that these events we must return to the previous Edward‟s men were the first to breach the year, to October 1460, when a Parliament was Lancastrian defences.2 gathered at Westminster. On 10 October the Leaving London in early December, assembly witnessed the arrival of Edward‟s Edward was despatched to the heartland of father, Richard, duke of York, who then the House of York: the Welsh Marches. publicly claimed the throne. York met a cold Edward spent Christmas at Shrewsbury (or reception, however. Yorkist forces had perhaps Gloucester), where he gathered crushed a royal army at Northampton in July, further troops. His army included several men but the majority of the lords were still who would become important figures during reluctant to depose Henry VI. Eventually, in his reign, notably Sir William Herbert. London, a strange compromise was agreed: Doubtless Edward was expecting to campaign Henry would remain king until he died, in Wales proper, aiming to break the power of although York would become his heir. But of Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke, Henry VI‟s course this disinherited Henry‟s son, the half-brother. Pembroke‟s movements are young Prince of Wales, and Margaret of uncertain during this period – he may even Anjou could hardly have been expected to have spent some time abroad – but his honour such an agreement. Within weeks, the influence remained considerable. The Yorkist leaders were preparing for renewed Lancastrians held the important castles of civil war. Denbigh, Harlech, Pembroke and Tenby, and The Yorkists divided their existing forces it is likely that these strongholds were into three. The earl of Warwick remained in Edward‟s key targets. 35

Early in the new year, however, Edward‟s The additional „suns‟ are called parhelia, and preparations were interrupted by terrible are caused by an illusionary effect. Parhelia news. On 30 December his father had been come about on particularly cold days, if the defeated and killed at the Battle of Wakefield; sun is low in the sky, when light is refracted Edward‟s younger brother Edmund, earl of through ice crystals. Medieval people saw Rutland, was also among the dead. But there such things as evidence of divine providence, was little time for Edward to mourn, because however, so the fear displayed by the Yorkist a messenger from South Wales brought him soldiers is understandable. But Edward, as further disturbing tidings. The earl of portrayed here, shows confidence and resolve. Pembroke was now active in the south-west He provides a simple yet powerful of Wales, where he was raising an army. interpretation of the parhelia that would have Pembroke‟s Welsh followers were supported given fresh heart to his men. by a force of Breton mercenaries, who had Whilst we might question the reliability of landed in Milford Haven. The Lancastrians the chronicle, a wide range of evidence were also joined by James Butler, earl of testifies to the significance of the parhelia for Wiltshire, who had recruited a force of the Yorkists. It is well-known, for example, Irishmen. that Edward used a „sun with streams‟ as a Intelligence reached Edward that personal emblem, which may plausibly have Pembroke was preparing to march east. The been intended as a reference to the events at Yorkist commanders decided that he must be Wigmore.5 But a clearer, and more striking, brought to battle. Edward and his advisors reference to the parhelia comes from a cannot have been certain about Pembroke‟s genealogical roll commissioned early in intentions, but they correctly determined that Edward‟s reign.6 A series of cartoons a base near Ludlow would allow them to illustrate important episodes from Edward‟s intercept the Lancastrians, thereby forcing an life. At Mortimer‟s Cross Edward is depicted engagement. Moreover, as many of Edward‟s calling out to God for guidance, just like Paul soldiers were from the Marches, a battle on at Damascus: „Lord, what would you have me home soil would ensure that his men would do?‟ As if in answer, the three suns are fight hard, knowing that a Yorkist victory presented streaming light through three would protect their homes and families from crowns, representing divine sanction for the assault.3 power that Edward would soon hold. On 2 February Edward was at his The two armies met on the morning of 3 ancestral castle of Wigmore, a few miles from February, although it is not easy to Ludlow, secure in the knowledge that his reconstruct the course of the battle. As is the enemies were now close at hand. The English case with many medieval battles, we know Chronicle provides the most detailed account more about the events beforehand and of that morning‟s extraordinary events.4 At immediately afterwards then about the around ten o‟ clock, we are told, „were seen fighting itself. However, local historian three suns in the firmament shining full Geoffrey Hodges has identified a plausible clear‟. The Yorkist soldiers are terrified, but site that would have suited the Yorkists well.7 Edward rises to the occasion magnificently: This is just to the south of the modern crossroads at Mortimer‟s Cross, about four „The noble Earl Edward them comforted miles from Wigmore, near the village of and said, “Beeth of good comfort, and Kingsland. A battle here would have enabled dreadeth not; this is a good sign, for Edward‟s forces to take up a position with these three suns betoken the Father, the well-protected flanks, with the River Lugg to Son and the Holy Ghost, and therefore their left and a steep wooded bank to their let us have a good heart, and in the name right. (Hodges surmises that the Yorkists of Almighty God, go we against our adopted traditional English tactics, with their enemies”.‟ archers to the flanks and, initially, to the front.)

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Edward IV at Mortimer’s Cross. Revised reconstruction from British Library MS Harley 7353, incorporating the observation by Dr Toby Capwell (Wallace Collection) that the armour of the principal figures was originally painted in silver leaf (now oxidised to black). (Geoffrey Wheeler)

The heading reads: Sol in forma triplici sic Edwarde r. Anglie (‘the sun in triple form - thus, O Edward, king of England).

Edward is saying (as St Paul said on the road to Damascus, Acts of the Apostles 9:6) ‘Domine, quid vis me facere.’ ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’

The hand of God holds a scroll with the words ‘veni coronaberis de capite amana de vertice sanir et hermon’ (Song of Songs, 4:8) ‘Come, you shall be crowned from the top of Amana, from the peak of Sanir and Hermon’.

If we may assume the Lancastrians had armour, so they would have suffered heavy fewer archers (because much of their army casualties during the „arrow storm‟, but when was made up of foreign mercenaries), the they reached the Yorkist lines a mêlée would onus was on Pembroke to attack. According have ensued. The Yorkist archers would have to an Elizabethan poem by Michael Drayton, given ground, allowing the more heavily which may conceivably preserve earlier oral armoured noblemen and men-at-arms to close traditions, Wiltshire and his Irishmen were in with the enemy, before then rejoining the the van.8 Most Irish warriors fought without fray. 37

In the chaos of the mêlée there was little Notes opportunity for commanders to affect the outcome through tactical decisions, although 1 Edward‟s presence at the battle may be they could continue to inspire their men inferred from „Brief Notes‟, in Three through individual feats of arms. Testimony Fifteenth Century Chronicles, ed. J. Gairdner, survives of Edward‟s personal prowess at (Camden Society, 1880), pp. 151-52. Towton, Barnet and Tewkesbury. At Barnet, 2 J. de Wavrin, Receuil des Croniques et for example, we are told that he, „with great Anchiennes Istoires de la Grant Bretaigne, violence, beat and bore down afore him all ed. W. Hardy, vol. V (Rolls Series, 1864-91), that stood in his way‟.9 We may therefore also p. 300. imagine him in the thick of the action at 3 Following the rout of Ludford, in October Mortimer‟s Cross, wielding the poleaxe that 1459, Lancastrian forces had brutally sacked would have allowed him to make use of his the town of Ludlow. great height and strength. 4 An English Chronicle, 1377-1461 ed. W. Eventually the Lancastrian lines were Marx (Woodbridge, 2003), p. 99. English broken, and they fled the field, pursued by the spelling has been modernised throughout. triumphant Yorkists. The earls of Pembroke 5 Hugh Stanford-London strikes a note of and Wiltshire managed to escape, although a caution, pointing out that Edward was not the number of prisoners were taken. These only medieval king to use a sun badge included Owen Tudor, Pembroke‟s father. (Richard II also used the „sun shining‟ as a The captives were taken to Hereford, where device). See H. Stanford-London, Royal they would face execution. According to Beasts (East Knoyle, 1956), p. 31. „Gregory‟s Chronicle‟ Tudor „trusted on 6 British Library MS Harley 7353. For pardon and grace‟, even when he was on the discussion see J. Hughes, Arthurian Myths scaffold, but Edward – doubtless with the fate and Alchemy: The Kingship of Edward IV of his father and brother in mind – was (Stroud, 2002), pp. 82-85. implacable.10 The Yorkists left Tudor‟s head 7 G. Hodges, Ludford Bridge and Mortimer’s in Hereford, on the highest step of the market Cross (Almeley, 1989), pp. 48-49. Hodges‟ cross, as a grisly symbol of their victory. arguments are supported by place-name The significance of Mortimer‟s Cross was evidence and local traditions. heightened two weeks later, when the earl of 8 Hodges, op.cit., p.50. Warwick was defeated at the second battle of 9 Historie of the Arrivall of Edward IV in St Albans. Warwick deserves great credit for England and the Finall Recouerye of his extricating at least part of his army, but this Kingdomes from Henry VI, ed. J. Bruce was a serious blow to his reputation. (Camden Society, 1838), p. 20. Warwick‟s support remained important, of 10 „Gregory‟s Chronicle‟, in Historical course, but did Edward really need a Collections of a Citizen of London, ed. J. „kingmaker‟? Many of the Yorkist army that Gairdner (Camden Society, 1876), p. 211. swept into London on 26 February had followed Edward from the Marches, now trusting to a bond forged in battle. Edward – About the author: soon to be depicted as a saviour who would David Santiuste is the author of Edward IV heal the land – had proved himself in and the Wars of the Roses. He is a member of adversity. There would be further tests in the the Society and is a former recipient of the days and weeks to come, but he was equal to Richard III Society Bursary. these challenges. On 29 March Edward stood victorious on the bloody field at Towton, indisputably king of England.

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Medieval Jokes and Fables, part 2 HEATHER FALVEY

eproduced below is the text of the shows that some aspects of life don‟t change. R second of the fables of „Poge the If such an episode were played out today Florentyn‟ that were published by William between a wealthy widow and a Big Issue Caxton in 1484, at the end of his edition of seller, it might make the News of the World or Aesop‟s Fables. The illustration is Geoff a daily tabloid; in the 1480s it provided a Wheeler‟s version of Caxton‟s original cautionary tale. Perhaps, as has been woodcut for this fable. suggested to me, the fable is also a medieval This second fable opens another door on illustration of the saying „there is no such everyday medieval life, showing how, in the thing as a free lunch‟. period before the Elizabethan Poor Laws, At first sight, the title of this fable – „of which regulated poor relief and criminalised the Woman and of the ypocryte (hypocrite)‟ – begging, the poor might go from door-to-door seems to be at odds with the introductory seeking relief but without actually having to paragraph, which is somewhat rambling and request it. Householders would give aid repetitive in style, and obscure in meaning. unasked: „somtyme the customme of alle the The writer notes that the „generacion or byrth poure Was that they Wente before the folks of the ypocryte is moche dampnable and dores withoute sayene ony Word‟. It also evylle‟ and he relates how hypocrites might

William Caxton’s original woodcut illustrating the fable of the Woman and the Ypocryte, re-drawn by Geoffrey Wheeler

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want, or be seen, to give financial aid to the to doo / And as she gaf hym the mete she poor but would actually prefer that person to loked on hym / and seying hym soo fayre / remain in their needy state: „an ypocrite have and wel made of body / she thenne fylled of somtyme Wylle for to helpe somme poure carnal concupiscence / and brennynge and Indygent / Nevertheles he hath a [burning] in the fyre of love / requered and condycyon within hym self / that is to Wete / Instantly prayd hym that he Wold retorne that he shold rather see a man at the point of thyder within thre dayes / and promysed to dethe / than for to save his lyf of an hym that she shold gyve to hym a ryght good halfpenny / And this presumpcion is called dyner / And the poure man syd to her / that he ypocrysye‟. This observation seems to imply shold doo soo / And Whanne he came that those giving aid to the poor were often ageyne / he sette hym self as before / atte [at hypocrites; indeed, the fable itself shows how the] dore of the Wydowes hows / whiche the the woman, having given food to the poor Woman knewe Well Whanne he shold come / man, urged him for something in return. Wherfore she came to the yate [gate] and According to the introduction this would sayd / Come within good man / For now We indicate that the woman was a hypocrite; shalle dyne / to the Whiche prayer the poure however, as the fable is „of the woman and of man assented / & entred Within the hows / the the ypocrite‟, the title suggests that it was the whiche wydowe gaf to hym good mete / and poor man who was the hypocrite, his good drynke / And whanne they hade wel hypocrisy being demonstrated by his excuse dyned / the sayd wydowe pressyd the good that he only gave in to the woman‟s urging man strongly / and after she kyssed hym / because she made him. The OED defines requyrynge hym that she might have the „hypocrisy‟ as „the assuming of a false copye of his love / And thene the poure man appearance of virtue or goodness, with al ashamed & vergoynous (OED ashamed) dissimulation of real character or knowynge her thoughte and her wylle / inclinations‟: so, the virtuous poor man was ansuerd thus to her / Certaynly my good lady hiding his real character. But what, then, does I dare not / but nevertheles he wold fayne this say of the character of the woman who have done hit / And the wydowe al embraced wanted something in return for her „charity‟? with love beseched and prayd hym more and more / And thenne whan the poure man sawe The second fable is of the Woman and of that he myght not excuse hym self / he sayd the ypocryte (Caxton, Esope’s Fables, folio to the wydowe in this manere / My frend syth 135). that thow desprest it for to doo soo moche and soo grete an evylle / I take god to my wytnes / It happed thenne on that tyme that a poure that thow arte causer of hit / For I am not man moche faire and of good lyf Wente to consentynge to the faycte or dede / sayenge serche his lyf fro[m] one dore to another / these wordes he consented to her wylle. And upon a day emonge other he Wente and sette hym self upon a grete stone before the Source: William Caxton, Here begynneth the yate [gate] of a Wydowe / Whiche Wydowe book of the subtyl historyes and fables of was acustommed to gyve hym ever Esope whiche were translated out of Frensshe somewhat / And whan the good Woman in to Englysshe by wylham Caxton at knewe that he Was at hir dore she dyd brynge westmynstre in the yere of oure Lorde M. to hym his porcion as she was custommed for CCCC.l xxxiij (Caxton, London, 1484). Stop Press: Time Team Digs ‘the House of the White Queen’ On Sunday 20 March, Time Team (Channel 4) will conduct excavations – „just three days to do it‟ – at Groby Old Hall in Leicestershire, the home of the Grey family. Current Archaeology for March 2011 included a complete episode guide to the new series. The blurb for 20 March says, „from the Conquest to the 1500s, Groby was the seat of the wealthy and powerful Grey family, who climbed the social ladder, eventually marrying into Royalty‟.

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Sultan Bayezid II: Richard’s Turkish Contemporary JOHN SAUNDERS

Last year during November, for the first time, not hard to find: Richard‟s direct Turkish I visited Istanbul, once the legendary city of contemporary would have been the Sultan Constantinople, the capital and raison d‟être Bayezid II, and both the mosque he founded of the Byzantine Empire. Today the city is the and his tomb are still standing and accessible. fastest growing in Europe and its sprawling Bayezid II was born in about 1447 in modern suburbs stretch rather roughly into modern day Didymoteicho in western Thrace, what was once the rural hinterland of the city. the son of Mehmed II and Mükrime Hatun; It‟s grown without any real planning and at an there is a Turkish legend that she was a alarming rate, and it shows. However, within French princess kidnapped by Mehmed. the land walls of the city and surrounded by Bayezid married Ayşe Hatun, a Greek convert the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, the old to Islam, and she was the mother of his city remains, the ancient core of a modern successor Selim I, who in turn was succeeded megapolis. Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman by his son, the rather better known Suleiman traces mingle with the more recent, and all the Magnificent. dominated by the magnificent Hagia Sophia, once a Byzantine church, then a mosque and now a museum where chants and prayers are replaced by the hushed chatter of tourists and constant clicking of cameras. We know that Richard III had a deep desire to go on crusade against the Ottoman Turks. The Silesian traveller Nicolas von Popplau, visiting Richard‟s court in the spring of 1485, recorded his conversations with the king. Nicolas told him about Mathias Corvinus, the king of Hungary, and his success in fighting the Turks, and Richard replied „I would like my kingdom and land to lie where the land and kingdom of the king of Hungary lies, on the Turkish frontier itself. Then I would certainly, with my own people alone, without the help of other kings, princes or lords, completely drive Sultan Bayezid II away not only the Turks, but all my enemies Beyazid‟s father Mehmed earned the and opponents!‟ epitaph „the Conqueror‟. He was the sultan The thought came to me that if Richard who led the siege and capture of had ever achieved his ambition it would have Constantinople in 1453. This seismic event been the rulers of the Ottoman Empire that he sent shock waves through western would have faced in battle. And who would Christendom and was one of the great they have been and are there any traces of defining moments of that century. Richard III them left in Istanbul today? The answers were would have been very well aware of both the

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city‟s fall and its significance to the west. to the Ottoman Empire through the ideas and With the city in Ottoman hands, it made their skills they brought with them. It was no incursions into Christendom easier, and they coincidence that the first printing press in pushed further and further into the Balkans Constantinople was established by Jews from and toward the heartlands of Eastern Europe. Spain in 1493; however, a black mark against It was thanks to strong and intelligent kings Bayezid is his outlawing of all printing in like Mathias and Poland‟s Casimir IV that the Arabic and Turkic, a ban that lasted in the Ottoman tide was stemmed, at least for the Islamic world until 1729. time being. In later centuries they would of Bayezid II‟s final years saw an inevitable course reach the gates of Vienna. succession battle between his sons Selim and What sort of ruler was Bayezid? He came Ahmed. Selim triumphed and Bayezid II to the throne in the traditional Ottoman way abdicated in his favour on 25 April 1512. He by quarrelling with his brother Cem, who departed for retirement in his native claimed the throne himself. Bayezid prevailed Didymoteicho, but he died a month later and and Cem became a pawn in the hands of Pope was buried next to the Bayezid Mosque in Innocent VIII, who tried to use him to Istanbul. destabilise Bayezid, but this came to nothing The Bayezid Mosque, which dates from and Cem ended up in a Naples prison where 1506, is the oldest surviving Imperial mosque he died. in the city. Its courtyard is replete with richly- Like his father, Bayezid II was a patron of coloured marble including twenty columns of western and eastern culture and he was also a verd-antique, syennetic granite and porphyry. very literate man and wrote poetry in both Inside the mosque is a perfect square Arabic and Persian. Unlike many other mirroring the dimensions of the courtyard, Ottoman rulers he devoted much time to and it has a great central dome, similar to domestic matters; he built mosques, colleges, Hagia Sophia‟s but smaller. Behind the hospitals, and supported jurists, scholars, and mosque is the tranquil turbe garden; turbe is poets. In Ottoman history his name carries the the Turkish word for tomb or mausoleum. epitaph „the Just‟ and that very much reflects Here Bayezid is buried in a simple and well- the quality of his domestic rule. He was also proportioned limestone turbe. Inside his body active on the foreign policy front; during his rests in a sarcophagus, at its head a wooden reign Herzegovina came under direct pole surmounted by a white cloth Ottoman Ottoman rule, and control over the Crimea turban. and Anatolia was strengthened. He fought His thirty-one-year reign left a strong campaigns against the Persians to the east and legacy. The areas under Ottoman control had the Mamluks in the south. In the west he expanded rapidly during the fifteenth century engaged in numerous successful campaigns and this had caused inevitable economic and against the Venetians to gain control of social tensions within the empire. These were Morea (the Peloponnese peninsula in southern successfully addressed and resolved during Greece), a strategically important area for the the long and relatively peaceful reign of future of Ottoman naval power in the eastern Bayezid II, thus making possible the empire‟s Mediterranean. even more substantial expansion under his When Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the successors during the first half of the Jews and Moors from Spain in 1492, Bayezid sixteenth century. sent his navy to rescue them and he issued Had Richard ever embarked on that proclamations that the refugees were to be crusade, I wonder how he and Bayezid would welcomed within his empire. He said of have regarded each other? Given their Ferdinand, „You venture to call Ferdinand a characters, I think there would have been a wise ruler – he who has impoverished his large degree of mutual respect, similar own country and enriched mine‟. These were perhaps to that some three centuries earlier perceptive remarks, for the exiled Moors and between two other great adversaries – Saladin Jews of Spain made a significant contribution and Richard Coeur de Lion.

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St Winefride’s Well and the Ricardian Chronicle LYNDA PIDGEON

oing research can often seem a time- partner to visit only a couple of castles and D consuming, even tedious occupation. absolutely nothing Ricardian – being in North Hours spent trawling through books, records Wales this seemed a fairly safe promise. or more often these days the internet, looking Trawling through an old guide book I for that elusive piece of information which found that further along the coast from will throw light on a person or event. No, I do Llandudno, where we were staying, was not expect to find that one vital piece of Holywell and the site of St Winefride‟s Well. information, the Holy Grail of Ricardians, the The old black and white picture showed a piece of paper that says „I killed those tire- spectacular building, and, ignoring the some brats, signed … ‟ Although serendipity Stanley links I thought it was worth a look. It does play a large part in research, so you was with Brother Cadfael in mind rather than never know! Richard that we set off for Holywell. This item is for those of you who don‟t The chapel built above the well was really enjoy research but do enjoy visiting unfortunately closed. However, the museum places of interest between morning coffee and and well were open. Still very much a cake and afternoon cream tea, and may wish working shrine, at specific times pilgrims are to contribute to the Chronicle. Information on permitted to get into the modern pool, while Richard and his times can be found in the inside the museum was a display of discarded most unlikely of places. This year I spent my crutches to show that people had been cured holiday in North Wales with a promise to my by St Winefride. What really caught my attention was one of the information panels relating to the medieval period. According to Adam of Usk, Henry V had visited the well from Shrewsbury to give thanks for his victory at Agincourt. It went on to say that the Welsh poet Tudur Aled had mentioned a visit by Edward IV in 1461. Edward had taken some moss from the well and placed it upon his crown in token of his devotion to the saint. This was followed by the St Winifride’s well, Holywell 43

additional information that „In 1484 the last could trace the source of the information. For medieval English king, Richard III, gave ten once the guide book was excellent and gave marks annually for the “yearly sustenaction the reference, „Harleian M.S. 433 F37B‟. and salerie of a prieste at the Chappelle of St It was almost enough to make me Wynefride”.‟ overlook the author‟s rather barbed comments The panel added that in about 1485 on Richard. William Caxton had published a 14th-century Once home I was able to check my copy life of St Winefride by John of Tynemouth, of Harley 433. There on p. 119 of vol. 1, that five English churches were dedicated to f.37b, was the full entry: „Thabbot and her and that there is a statue of her in Henry Convent of Basingwerke x marc yerely for VII‟s chapel. Other devotees of St Winefride the sustentacione and salerie of a prest at the were William Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, Chapelle of Sent Wynefride, to be perceyved and his wife Isabel. (of) at thschequer of Chestre by the hands of Here then was an unexpected piece of the Chambreleyn etc.‟ information for the Chronicle, provided I

Another Boar Badge ROSE SKUSE

The discovery of one of Richard III‟s boar badges at Bosworth brought the total known to four, the previous finds being one at Chiddingley, one near the Thames and one at Middleham. However, Geoffrey Wheeler wrote to me after he saw a photograph of yet another in the exhibition at Bosworth Battle- field Centre. It was captioned „P.A.S. Bed- fordshire‟, and, as this is in our Beds and Bucks Group area, he thought I might investigate it as it has not been previously heard of. The Maulden boar, drawn by Geoffrey Wheeler The people at the Battlefield Centre knew nothing about the badge, or when it was Its official listing reads: „Medieval, 1460 found, so I contacted the person who deals to 1485, may indicate the wearer‟s allegiance with the P.A.S. in Bedfordshire (Portable to Richard III‟. Antiquities Scheme, connected to the British Unfortunately, once authenticated and Museum), with the following results. recorded, it was retained by the finder who, it The badge was found with a metal would appear, did not want the exact location detector on Monday 15 June 2009 at Maul- divulged. Maulden is quite a small place not den, Bedfordshire. It is in the form of a left- far from Bedford, so did Richard and his facing boar, cast in copper alloy, 54 mm long, retinue visit or pass through at some time? 22 mm wide and 3.5 mm thick. It weighs Were there any Yorkist homes, ruins, 11.26 grms. It has a wrinkled snout, bristles skirmishes, etc., in the area which would along its back, but has lost most of its legs. connect with Richard? I can‟t think of any- Rather corroded, it has two circular sectional thing obvious, but I hope other members may prongs on the reverse for pinning on. come up with some ideas.

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Lancashire and the Wars of the Roses GRAHAM RANSOM

ne of the curious ironies of the Wars of Thirdly, I have recently, and sensationally, O the Roses is the question of what is the discovered that Lancashire does have a claim significance of the geographical county of to fame as the home of events that set the seal Lancashire. The answer is practically zero on the wars, Richard‟s fate and thus the whole and, as a resident of Lancaster, I was left pattern of English history.3 Just along the scratching my head when asked by a member road from me in the village of Hornby is a of the Society‟s visits committee at the magnificent castle, now divided into separate Bosworth commemoration if a visit to private residences, built on the site of a Lancaster by the Society might be medieval castle which proudly dominated this worthwhile. Of course, popular myth part of the Lune Valley. It was owned by the interprets every clash between a team from Harrington family but coveted by – guess this side of the Pennines with our enemies who? – the slimy Stanleys. The Harringtons from the east as a „Roses Battle‟. Look at the were staunch Yorkists, supported in their papers when United play Leeds (if they get struggles with the Stanleys somewhat ambi- promoted – already red rose 1, white 0), when valently by Edward IV because of his wheeler Lancashire play Yorkshire at Headingley, or dealing, but vigorously supported by his when the Universities of Lancaster and York northern lieutenant, the duke of Gloucester. lock pikestaffs in their annual „Roses‟ As we all know the duke put loyalty first, encounter. The results of this last series of Harringtons having died with his father at battles are an amusing inverse of the past and Wakefield. Even though subsequently a very close-run thing, with York currently supposedly reconciled and handsomely rewar ahead by one with one draw after 46 years. -ded, did the Stanleys ever forget Richard‟s So what can Lancashire actually claim as opposition during Hornbygate? – especially a contributor to the events of the fifteenth when, jaw-droppingly, they saw Richard century? I am able to list just three episodes: charging across their bows one fateful August First, the earl of Lincoln‟s Irish army day. Oh Richard, what a dreadful mistake. landed in Cumbria, marched across the sands This is all wonderful stuff and why many of Morecambe Bay and then across north of us enthusiastic amateurs, including my Lancashire en route to its doom at Stoke daughter, so love learning about the period Field. and being members of the Society. Laced Secondly, Henry VI was finally captured with a touch of historical licence, it is brilliant near Brungerley Bridge over the river Ribble material with which to regale our visitors to near Clitheroe in July 1465 after his furtive this beautiful part of the world. Does anyone wanderings through northern England post know anything else about Lancashire and the Hexham. A plaque in Clitheroe Castle Wars? It would be most gratefully received. commemorates his overnight stay there in prison. The drama of his capture is poignantly References and graphically described by Desmond 1 Desmond Seward, The Wars of the Roses Seward1 and, I quote daringly in these pages, 2 Alison Weir, Lancaster and York, The Wars Alison Weir.2I have stood several times on of the Roses Brungerley Bridge in quiet reflection of this 3 The Harringtons of Cumbria, published by sad event. There is nothing there to mark the the Richard III Foundation Inc.; David Hip- spot. shon, Richard III and the Death of Chivalry. 45

Returning to Shakespeare’s History Plays GILLIAN LAZAR

he Society‟s visit to Calais last year, the conviction of the dramatist as well as the T with a fascinating tour of the battlefield skill of the actor. of Azincourt and the Museum, sparked a But of course, readers will be quick to return, for me, to Shakespeare‟s History observe that Hotspur dies at the hands of the plays. future Henry V, himself an ideal of chivalry. As Ricardians, we recognise Shakespeare This is indisputable. It is not until some 80 the dramatist rather than as a historian; years later that the calculating Tudor achieves moreover he was constrained by political the death of Richard III and, with it, the end considerations under an Elizabethan police of the Middle Ages, to be replaced by what state. Indeed, as the Society website informs Tudor propaganda coerced posterity to us, it was not until after the end of the Tudor believe was the beginning of a more modern dynasty that it was safe or possible to apply and better age. But it is perhaps implicit in new research and revisionist theory. Henry‟s very public rejection of his old friend We had witness of this fact last year when Falstaff that he anticipated the Machiavellian driving round the battlefield site as our concept of kingship demonstrated so French guide was at pains to tell us that the ruthlessly by the Tudors. In contrast to the scene where Henry V returns to camp to find rule of the nobler Richard, no enemy that the young boys have all been slaughtered perceived or potential was ever permitted to by the French, („I was not angry until now survive. …‟) is untrue. In the museum later, there was The three parts of the Henry VI plays were mention only of the sack of baggage in the written before Richard III, early in camp. Shakespeare‟s career, a first attempt at Orson Wells, whose film Chimes at writing history plays. The writing is raw and Midnight depicts the period covered by Henry uneven. If Shakespeare‟s portrayal of Richard IV, Parts I and II, and who regarded this as III can be explained by the constraints of the best film he ever made, spoke memorably Tudor politics, it must also be understood about Shakespeare‟s view of history. Welles, within the context of drama at that time. always interesting if controversial, saw In his youth, Shakespeare may have seen Falstaff, the great comic anti-hero, beloved by the cycles of religious mystery plays. It is audiences, as an almost perfect man. He likely that he may have accompanied his believed that Shakespeare not only sought to father to see the morality plays performed at express, in Falstaff, a romantic idea of Coventry a few miles away. It is also on „Merrie England‟, but regretted the passing of record that in 1569 John Shakespeare, then the medieval age of chivalry. Hotspur, the bailiff of Stratford on Avon, gave permission chivalric ideal, must die, but we regret his to the players to perform in Stratford itself. death. Those old enough and lucky enough to Did Will, then only five years old, creep into have seen Michael Redgrave‟s Hotspur at the performance, or sit astride his father‟s Stratford in 1951, played innovatively with a shoulders to watch? rough Northumbrian accent, will remember In the 1550s and 1560s the plays that he acted the young Hal (Richard Burton) performed in travelling repertory were largely off the stage with a success that comes from morality plays. They were of simple stuff, a 46

warning of the consequences of a life of sin. Tamburlaine must surely have been at the They had stock characters who embodied back of Shakespeare‟s inventive mind when abstract concepts such as Youth or Virtuous he sat down to create his Richard of Life and deadly sins like Pride or Lechery. Gloucester in the Henry VI trilogy whose Evil personified in the character of Vice story would be rounded off in Richard III. So struggled for the soul of the protagonist. He too, was Vice, in Richard‟s shameless brought humour to the sermonising, the soliloquising, his witty asides and in the grim audience enjoyed his antics and his insulting humour with which he reviews the murderers of the dull characters of Virtue. In the end whom he has employed to kill his brother they knew he would be defeated but they Clarence. Shakespeare seems to have revelled loved Vice just as we love an entertaining in depicting the cynically quick-tongued villain today. Richard, just as he had once revelled in the It is clear that the Vice was not far from wit of the Vice. Shakespeare‟s mind when he created his great When the Birmingham Rep (the first comic character, Falstaff. Hal refers to him as company to perform a cycle of Histories in „that reverend Vice, that grey iniquity‟. In the twentieth century) played the three parts Richard III, it is Richard who likens himself of Henry VI in the early 1950s, Paul Daneman to „the formal Vice, Iniquity‟. was outstanding as the young Richard, In 1587, when Shakespeare was probably saturnine, dazzlingly attractive, glorying in only recently come to London, Marlowe‟s his own evil and utterly charismatic. He was Tamburlaine was pulling in the crowds and far and away better than Ian Holm on must have made a great impression on the crutches, or Marius Goring, looking like Ozzy young provincial. In this violent and cruel Osborne in a long red wig, at Stratford in play, a poor shepherd rises by energy and 1953; better by far than Sir Larry hamming ruthlessness to conquer most of the known his way through his own film of Richard III. world. Shakespeare learned much about his Today, when I think of Richard and recognise craft from this play but unlike Marlowe, who that Shakespeare got it wrong, I still I feel the departed entirely from the old morality plays whisper of Daneman‟s presence as Richard in to leave Tamburlaine unpunished and that little theatre in Birmingham more than 50 unchecked (rewarded both by his conquests years ago. and his forthcoming marriage to a beautiful For me this demonstrates the paradox of young girl), Shakespeare is held by more than being a Ricardian. Whilst we work towards history to conventional morality on sin and its our very genuine and necessary purpose – to medieval comeuppance. In time he would research and reassess fifteenth-century history learn to invest his villains with psychological and Richard in particular, to redress the understanding and create great flawed tragic wrongs perpetrated on his name and heroes such as Hamlet and Lear. reputation, to explode Tudor mythology – are Shakespeare‟s conventionality may have we not in danger of presenting to the world, a been driven partially driven by caution. Richard III who was indeed loyal, honest, Through his mother‟s side he was related to worthy, merciful - but unsubtle and a little the Ardens, a Catholic family prominent in dull? I believe our Chairman, Dr Phil Stone, Warwickshire. Edward Arden, the head of the hinted at this in a recent talk. In describing his family, was wrongfully implicated in a more glamorous brother, Edward IV, I Catholic plot and he and his wife were sent to fancied that there was an implication that the Tower where, after torture, Edward was Richard was dull, at least in comparison. I executed for treason. Another poet, Robert hereby invite Phil to correct me in no Southwell, to whom Shakespeare was uncertain terms, if this is not the case. distantly related, once Jesuit confessor to the earl of Southampton, who always swore loyalty to the Queen, was also executed, in the 1590s.

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Correspondence

Will contributors please note that letters may be shortened or edited to conform to the standards of the Bulletin. The Bulletin is not responsible for the opinions expressed by contributors.

Truth and the Historical Novelist explain in the author‟s note to Sacred From Ian Mortimer Treason, the change of name was not a I have to respond to the letter on page 45 of mistake but deliberate, to reflect the fact that I the December 2010 edition of the Bulletin by am writing fiction, and I gave the real Carol Hartley. She states that, on reading a herald‟s name there. The story developed in piece in this journal‟s „Media my imagination having done considerable Retrospective‟ (about an article I had written research into a friend of William Hervy‟s – in the Guardian about historical fiction, the writer, parish clerk and Merchant Taylor, published under my fiction-writing name Henry Machyn (d. 1563) – for the Oxford James Forrester), she had been „disgusted‟ by Dictionary of National Biography. my statement that „historical novelists should In not using my historical-writing persona, not be ashamed of telling lies‟. She went on in changing the lead character‟s name, and in to snipe at my novel Sacred Treason with a explaining that Sacred Treason is a work of line about her colleagues at the College of fiction in the first line of the author‟s note, I Arms having better things to do than read it. have done all that an author possibly can do What modern heralds read in their spare to avoid being mistaken for distorting the time is not my business, but „disgusted‟ is a past. On this point, Carol Hartley owes me an very strong word to use, especially as Carol apology. Hartley had clearly read neither Sacred There is a serious question in her letter, Treason nor the original Guardian article that contained in one of her rhetorical questions. sparked the „media retrospective‟ piece. She says: „the mere act of distorting the truth My article „The Lying Art of Historical seems to me disgraceful. What is the point of Fiction‟ made some serious points about selecting a particular historical period, place assumptions of accuracy in historical fiction. and person, if one is then going to give false The strapline in the paper explains my stance particulars about them?‟ neatly: „Judging historical fiction is not as I chose to set my story in the year 1563 simple as “accurate equals good” and “in- because I wanted to create a climate of accurate equals bad”. It depends on whether religious and state-induced terror that one the inaccuracies are constructive lies or simply does not have in modern England. accidental mistakes.‟ The article is freely Society does not take religion, heresy, state available on the Guardian’s website (http:// secrets and sexual fidelity as seriously today www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/ as it did in 1563. aug/06/lying-historical-fiction). I think Carol Carol Hartley‟s statement that any Hartley should have read this first before distortion of truth is „disgraceful‟ means that composing her tirade – it behoves the good she must find all historical fiction disgraceful historian to check her sources – even if she and approves of none of it, including Robert does not want to read my novel. Graves‟s I Claudius, Tolstoy's War and I would add that she should have looked at Peace, Boris Pasternak‟s Doctor Zhivago, Sacred Treason before speculating that I Mary Renault‟s books and, let‟s face it, „mistook‟ the name of William Harley (my Shakespeare‟s history plays. All of these fictitious character) for William Hervy (the writers have deliberately distorted historical real Clarenceux king of Arms in 1563). As I reality for literary effect. This was exactly my

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original point in the Guardian. You should text is „well written and well argued and holds not judge historical fiction by its accuracy the attention” is indeed much appreciated. She (although accidental inaccuracy always further indicates that readers might well find it counts against it) but by its literary merit. And „… interesting, if not to agree with, certainly to if you want your books to be historically discuss its main thesis‟, and then proceeds accurate – read history, not fiction. directly to raise some issues for debate to which I feel I should respond. Carol Hartley comments: The first point turns upon the issue of time. The editor has kindly given me an oppor- LVF inquires „is it likely, given the tunity for a response. There are two points I complications and implications of the pre- would like to make. Dr Mortimer takes me to contract, which was only important if task for commenting on Sacred Treason considered together with the fact that Edward without having studied it. He is of course IV‟s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was quite correct to do so, and I am happy to offer clandestine, that Richard immediately him my apologies. In his final paragraph he comprehended all its political possibilities – as says, „Carol Hartley‟s statement that any dis- well as the implications of Hastings‟ silence – tortion of the truth is disgraceful ...‟. In fact and understood them so well that he became what I said (as quoted by Dr Mortimer else- “incandescent” with rage on the spot and had where in his letter) was that „the mere act of his brother‟s trusted associate executed at once distorting the truth seems to me disgraceful‟, and without trial?‟ [emphasis in the original]. It and I‟d like to draw attention to the difference is indeed a fair point. However, I will not reply as courteously as possible. That has always immediately since LVF‟s next comment is been my instinctive feeling. contingent and rather more critical in nature. She indicated that: „Unfortunately, Hancock The editor comments: himself blithely passes over the intricacies of Apologies to Dr Mortimer for not giving him the legal problem: he says he will not go into the same opportunity to comment on a letter “the nuances of the law”, but leaves them to before publication. We had not realised that others.‟ She then goes on to criticise my Dr Mortimer was a member of the Society relative neglect at that point of the work of and therefore ought to have been consulted. Professor Helmholtz which addresses such Members might remember that the merits legal issues in detail. Here I will be the first to of historical novels was the subject of The acknowledge that my expertise in the matter of Debate in the Winter 2005 Bulletin, when fifteenth-century law is certainly limited. Tony Pollard wrote (p.27): „What most Further, I also agree that it might have indeed modern authors do not seem to understand is been relevant to introduce at least the central that an historical novel is actually about the elements of Professor Helmholtz‟s timeless in that it uses a particular past to say observations. My only excuse is that I did not something for the concerns of today. All the want to plunge the reader into such a complex great historical novels do this.‟ This is exactly argument at that point of the narrative. the point that Dr Mortimer makes, that the However, with respect to the „nuances of the past can be used to illuminate the present. law‟ I stand myself much in the same position as Richard himself during the fateful Council meeting of 13 June 1483. In essence, we both Richard III and the Murder in the have alongside of us (myself metaphorically Tower and Richard most probably in actuality) an From Peter A. Hancock individual who was perhaps the epitome of a A review of my book Richard III and the fifteenth-century law expert – William Catesby. Murder in the Tower appeared in a recent The presence of this man allows us now to issue of the Ricardian, in which Livia Visser answer both LVF‟s initial and subsequent Fuchs (LVF) took issue with some of the inquiry as well as addressing my own legal points that I raised. Her observation that the shortcomings at one stroke. Richard was able to

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„immediately comprehend all its political there is a reference, closer in time to the possibilities – as well as the implications of actual events, which also identifies Hastings‟ silence‟ because Catesby was there Stillington.* However, in general, LVF‟s explicitly to advise him on those very issues. point is well-taken here. For the thesis as The question of time and timing is now advanced, and especially because of the addressed since, in the thesis embodied in my degree of speculation involved, there is the text, Catesby had had some twenty years in potential for the whole edifice to collapse if which to consider the complications and certain assertions are shown manifestly to be implications of the pre-contract. Presumably, false. In this respect, however, I do not think by then he was extremely well versed in the the issue of translation is such a falling exact aspects of the law that impinged upon keystone. the problem and was able to summarize and I hope I have contributed to the beginning communicate these directly to Richard, of the solution of one of the mysteries of although as LVF would emphasise, and I Richard‟s reign and will further explore this certainly agree, we have no direct evidence and the other mysteries in a forthcoming that this conversation ever occurred. larger text on the full reign of Richard III. LVF takes me further to task over my use and interpretation of the 1855 translation of * For this reference and my extended de Commines work, as opposed to the response, see my book, pp. 111-114. original or Michael Jones‟ later translation. At first, arguments about individual word translations may seem somewhat less than The Croft Brothers profound concerns. However, if we leave Clifford S.L. Davies aside the thorny issue of translation between In his article on „Edward‟s Younger differing languages in general, LVF‟s point Brother‟ (Bulletin, December 2010) Peter here is somewhat more substantive than it Hammond mentions the letter sent by the young first might appear. The issue concerns the Edward IV, then earl of March, and his brother identification of Robert Stillington, late Edmund, earl of Rutland, to their father Bishop of Bath and Wells, as the source of Richard, duke of York, probably in April 1454. Richard‟s knowledge of the pre-contract. If he The brothers complain about the „odious rule was the person who first informed Richard, and demeaning of Richard Croft and his clearly Catesby could not be and thus my brother‟. Peter goes on to point out that Richard thesis would suffer accordingly. De Croft later became Treasurer of the Household Commines becomes important as he is the to Edward‟s son, Edward, Prince of Wales, at major source for the identification of Ludlow, „so Edward had presumably forgiven Stillington in this instance. I have argued that him by then‟. That appointment was in 1473 or Stillington‟s act was to confirm what Catesby soon after. Before that Richard Croft had had told Richard but he was not himself the probably fought for York at Ludford Bridge, original source. Thus De Commines‟ had certainly fought for Edward at Mortimer‟s observations take centre stage here. LVF Cross, had been a leading administrator on the corrects my interpretation which she directly Yorkist estates in the Marches, and fought asserts are „incorrect‟ translations. However, again at Tewkesbury in 1471, when he was the larger point perhaps concerns De knighted. He was later credited with capturing Commines‟ reliability as a source. It has been the Lancastrian Prince of Wales at Tewkesbury. noted previously that De Commines was not a The situation is complicated by there having reliable commentator on English politics. been two Richard Crofts, brothers or probably Nevertheless, we must be careful about our half-brothers. They had a youngest brother, use of sources and, however tempting it is, we Thomas. I wrote an article on „The Crofts; cannot simply dismiss those that prove Creation and Defence of a Family Enterprise inconvenient. For the sake of completeness of under the Yorkists and Henry VII‟ in Historical this particular argument I should note that Research, 68 (1995), pp. 241-65, in an attempt

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to disentangle the careers of the three There is, incidentally, an excellent brothers. The article was summarised in my photograph of the 1454 letter, written in a entries for Sir Richard and Thomas in the secretary hand but signed by the York Oxford Dictionary of National Biography brothers, in Charles Ross, Edward IV, (1974), (Oxford, 2004; available on-line). facing p.48. All three brothers were to hold office under the Yorkist kings. Thomas became Customer of Bristol. He disappeared from the Royal Genealogy before it happens English scene early in 1485, and I suggest he Stephen Lark may have joined the future Henry VII in April 29 will see the marriage of Prince France, possibly taking with him the Bristol William of Wales to Miss Catherine Middleton. customs receipts. A different Thomas Croft, When the engagement was announced, many Sir Richard‟s bastard, fought for Henry at articles proclaimed their common descent from Bosworth. Perhaps because of these Edward III and I have investigated some of connections all three brothers rapidly their assertions: regained favour and office under HenryVII. (1) They are descended through the king‟s The letter from the young earls has often second son, Edmund. Quite apart from the been taken to imply that the elder Richard uncertainty in some sources over the seniority Croft was their tutor or governor. I suggest, Edward‟s sons, this is false. John of Gaunt is however, that the reference may have been to their common ancestor. the younger Richard and his brother Thomas, (2) Agnes Gascoigne, great-great-great- who would have been in their late teens. They great-grand daughter married Sir Thomas may have been servant-companions, perhaps Fairfax and the lines divide by their two sons: mentors, to the earls, aged twelve and almost true. ten at the time. Perhaps they bullied or ragged (3) This Sir Thomas was the Civil War their charges. But it may be that the letter was Parliamentary commander: false. Thomas was a facetious, a joke. Conceivably one of the popular name in the Fairfax family and Agnes‟ Crofts may indeed have been the writer and/ husband lived from 1476 to 1520. The soldier or the bearer of the letter (who was to give was descended from a cousin, had only a further details). It is difficult to detect daughter and no grandchildren. deliberate humour in occasional letters of this Catherine Middleton‟s descent passes sort. through the Meadows family of Chattisham Whatever the truth of this suggestion, the (near Ipswich) and the Martineau family from Crofts, as I tried to show in my article, Norwich before marrying into a Yorkshire provide a fascinating picture of important family. Prince William‟s descent passes office-holding in a swathe of the country from through the Belasyse family into the Binghams the Marches to Oxfordshire, including Bristol, (earls of Lucan) and into his maternal line. and its determined defence. That included a At the same time, I was able to view Prince united family party led by Lady Croft William‟s other maternal ancestry (his paternal allegedly killing their enemy‟s servant in the family seven generations back being largely church at Rhyader. Sir Richard‟s own career German or Scottish), including the frequently culminated in his breaking his staff as mentioned Charles II connection. Furthermore, Steward to Arthur, Prince of Wales, into the he fits my modern definition of „Yorkist‟ in that prince‟s grave at Worcester in 1502. The he has a descent from one of Richard III‟s younger Richard acquired extensive property siblings without a Tudor connection – Anne of in Oxfordshire. Thomas in Bristol was Exeter being the matriarch of the (Manners) tangentially involved in Atlantic exploration, earls and dukes of Rutland, the first duke of the search for „Brazil‟. The elder Richard is Rutland being progenitor of the (Russell) earls ancestor to a distinguished family still to be of Bedford, eventually leading to the Spencers. found at Croft Castle in Herefordshire, where I can supply a few links on request. he is buried.

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Editor’s note: Gustav Holst, Peter Warlock and David Agnes Gascoigne‟s mother was a Percy, and Willcocks have also arranged it). Several the descent is through Mortimer. medieval poems set to music illustrate the birth of Jesus with a lullaby, including the The Coventry Pageants lovely one beginning „lullay, my liking.‟ From Angela Moreton I read with great interest Peter Lee‟s article in Kenilworth again the September Bulletin (p. 44) about the From Phil Stone Coventry pageants, which King Richard may Further to Geoff Wheeler‟s comment in the have seen in June 1485 and which it is December Bulletin concerning my report on recorded Margaret of Anjou saw in 1457. (It‟s the visit to Kenilworth, perhaps I ought to possible, too, that Shakespeare may have seen have made it clear that by my reference to the them as a boy since their performances only castle as not being Ricardian I meant that ended in 1579.) Richard would not have known any of the Mr Lee states that it is believed there were buildings still extant today. It is well known about ten separate plays or „pageants‟ that Richard visited Kenilworth whilst he performed at different places in the city of awaited the invasion of Henry Tudor during Coventry at Corpus Christi, that the number the summer of 1485. I apologise for not of plays seems to have varied from year to making myself clear at the time. year and that no scripts have survived. While it‟s true that the fifteenth-century prompt Richard Armitage as Richard III copies (or their equivalent) have been lost, we From Elizabeth Butler do have early versions of two of the Coventry With regard to the article in the December plays, and associated with them one of the Bulletin (p.30) on the actor Richard Armi- most famous of traditional carols. age, I have read that his father, who was an An MS of the pageant of the Shearmen avid Ricardian, named his son after King and Tailors, which dealt with Biblical events Richard III. Thus the actor would be an ad- from the Annunciation to the Massacre of the mirable choice to portray the part, and indeed Innocents, survived until 1879 when it was a television channel might be persuaded to lost in a library fire. Fortunately it had been present a favourable history of the man. transcribed and published by Thomas Sharp in 1817 and 1825 in about 900 lines. The first Lighten up and celebrate! 203 lines are reproduced in A.C. Cawley‟s From Steven Guy Nabazas by email edition of Everyman and other medieval plays I like your site. It is very informative, it is a first published in 1956 (pp 71-7). good history. When I have some money, I The other Coventry pageant to have will join. Only thing I did not like is that you survived is that of the Weavers, which overstate the case on how many people includes the meeting of the young Jesus with believe him to be a murderer of Princes. At the doctors in the Temple; a sixteenth-century the time your society started, that was true. MS, edited by Hardin Craig for the Early You have great victories and should acknow- English Text Society, used to be (and may ledge them. Virtually every recent book I see still be) in the Coventry civic archives. A in bookstores and libraries are all either version of this play was performed in 2006. putting it on Buckingham, Henry VII or in the We also have surviving from the most recent, To Know a Lion by his Claws, Shearmen and Tailors‟ play the haunting they escaped. Lighten up and celebrate! In „Coventry carol‟, a mother's lament over her five decades you changed five centuries of lost child in the massacre at Bethlehem. The unfair press. He is finally getting fair press. text was first written down in the 1530s and Until the UK decides to examine the 17th the best-known tune dates from 1591 century bones, it is all speculative anyway. (although over the years composers including Thanks for your work.

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The Barton Library

From the Non-Fiction Books Librarian No new non-fiction books to report on for this Bulletin, but grateful thanks to Peter and Carolyn Hammond for their donation of a previously missing book, K.S. Wright‟s The Field of Bosworth, the synopsis of which is on the website under military history. On the subject of missing books, it would be appreciated if members would have a look on their shelves to see if they have any books belonging to the Barton Library. Over the years a sprinkling of books have gone missing and borrowers have become keepers, I am sure unwittingly for the most part. The major difficulty faced by the Library is postage costs and I am not really sure how to solve it. For instance, the book donated by Peter and Carolyn would cost £6.70 return and it is not particularly heavy. I am prepared to go roughly a two-hour round trip to deliver a book, which is approximately the southern Lake District or South Cheshire from where I live. If any member has any suggestions I would be pleased to hear from them. For instance I was thinking of something like a pony express system, where I drive to a meeting point, drop a book off to a member, who then passes it on to the member who requested to borrow the book, but in practical terms it just may not be feasible. Finally, in the December 2010 Bulletin on page 46 there is an article „Demolishing the Tudor false front‟. Due to pressure of space it was much truncated, but if any member wants to see the full article I can send them a copy either via email or Royal Mail.

From the Non-Fiction Papers Librarian The following are some recent additions relating to some of the battles that are currently most topical: Towton, celebrating (if that is the right word) its 550th anniversary later this month; Barnet, which will reach its 540th anniversary next month; and Bosworth, the site of which was just last year announced by the archaeological team to have been found not quite where any historian had previously placed it.

„Killing Time: Challenging the common perceptions of three Medieval Conflicts – Ferrybridge, Dintingdale and Towton‟, by Tim Sutherland (Journal of Conflict Archaeology, vol 5, no 1, 2009, pp. 1-25). Tim Sutherland, Towton battlefield archaeologist, argues, with reference to the archaeology and contemporary documents, for a reinterpretation of the timeframe of these three conflicts, and of the relationship of the engagements at Ferrybridge and Dintingdale to the final battle at Towton.

„Nasty, brutish and not that short‟, (The Economist, 16 December 2010, pp. 50-52). A review of the battle, the physical condition of its participants and the injuries that killed them, based on information from the human remains discovered during work at Towton Hall in 1996.

Reappraisal of the Battle of Barnet 1471, by B. Warren (Potters Bar and District Historical Society, 2009). A 44-page booklet in which local historian Brian Warren, using primary accounts, early maps and local documentary sources, presents the case for a relocation of the battle about a mile north of the conventional modern site of Hadley Green.

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„FOCUS: Finding Bosworth‟ by Glenn Foard (Battlefield, vol. 4, issue 4, Winter 2009/10, pp. 9- 11). Summarises the conduct of the archaeological survey, the finds to date and their implications for understanding the battle. Includes colour illustrations of the lead shot recovered from the field.

Additions to the Audio-Visual Library On pp. 17-19 of this Bulletin, Geoff Wheeler has written a review of a new, shortened version of Universal‟s 1939 film Tower of London, which is now available as a DVD or video from the Audio-Visual Library.

Contact details for all the Librarians are on the inside back cover.

NEW SOCIETY PUBLICATION RICHARD III AND EAST ANGLIA A record of the proceedings of the Triennial Conference of the Richard III Society held at Queens’ College, Cambridge, 15-17 April 2005

Edited and with foreword by Livia Visser-Fuchs

Contents include: Richard of Gloucester and his East Anglia Lands: Anne F. Sutton Friends and Foes: Richard III and the East Anglian Magnates: The Howard Family: Anne Crawford The de Vere Family and the House of York c.1440-1485: James Ross The Last Yorkist Rebellion? Henry VII and the Earl of Suffolk, 1499-1501: Sean Cunningham Socio-religious Gilds of the Middle Ages: David Dymond ‘As dear to him as the Trojans were to Hector’: Richard III and the University of Cambridge: Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs

MEMBERS’ PRICE £5.00 + p&p (UK £3.00, EU £4.50, rest of world £5.50) Available from Anne Sutton, 44 Guildhall Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1QF

Please make cheques payable to The Richard III Society

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Future Society Events

Visit to Abingdon and Oxford Saturday 14 May 2011

Although Abingdon does not seem to have any direct connection with King Richard, it is an attractive, ancient town with a long history as a commercial, ecclesiastical and administrative centre. Indeed, it claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited town in Britain, but so do other places. It offers a wealth of interesting buildings. We shall be visiting the Merchant‟s House at 26/26A East St Helens Street (which is owned by the Oxford Preservation Trust). This was originally a merchant‟s hall house and was built c.1430. The Long Alley Almshouses (originally St Helen‟s Hospital) are close by and can been viewed via the public footpath through St Helen‟s churchyard. These date back to 1446 and have been owned by Christ‟s Hospital since 1553. St Helen‟s church itself is worth a visit. Most of it dates to the fifteenth century, including its beautiful spire, which rises to a height of 150 ft. There are four aisles flanking the nave, which makes it the second widest church in England, ten feet wider than it is long. The painted ceiling dates from the end of the fourteenth century. Nearby is Burford Bridge, built 1416. After lunch, we shall travel the short distance to Oxford, where we know Richard spent two days in July 1483; his host was Bishop Waynflete, founder and benefactor of the Magdalen College. Oxford has an abundance of colleges, museums, libraries and churches waiting to be explored. The town has always been noted for its distinguished scholars, attracting students since the twelfth century; they formed small, residential communities which later became the formal colleges. Merton, Balliol and University dispute the claim to be the oldest; but New College has the oldest buildings, including a gatehouse and hall dating from 1386. As well as the colleges, there are other delights such as the Bodleian Library, Christ Church chapel, Wren‟s Sheldonian Theatre, the Ashmolean, St Mary‟s Church . . . need I go on!

The coach will leave from London Embankment at 9am (from Bromley at 8am) to arrive in Abingdon just before 11am. We shall go on to Oxford after lunch, where we shall spend the rest of the day, leaving at approx 5.30pm. The cost of the trip will be £20 per person, which will include cost of coach, a donation to Oxford Preservation Trust and driver‟s tip. A booking form is in the centrefold of this Bulletin. Please send it with your cheque to: Marian Mitchell, 20 Constance Close, Witham, Essex CM8 1XL (tel: 01376 501984; email: [email protected]) by 23 April 2011.

If you miss this date, don‟t panic; please contact me to see if there are any vacant seats on the coach. Members travelling by their own transport are very welcome to join us, but please let me know you are coming. Marian Mitchell, Visits Officer

Triennial Conference: Bosworth and Warfare: new finds, new ideas 20-22 April 2012 at the University of Loughborough For details please see pp. 5-6.

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Branch and Group Contacts

Branches America Nita Musgrave, 48 Tupelo Avenue, Naperville, Illinois 60540, USA. Tel: 630 355 5578. Email: [email protected] Canada Ms Sheilah O‟Connor, 156 Drayton Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4C 3M2 Canada. Tel. 416-693-1241. Email: [email protected] Web site: http://home.cogeco.ca/~richardiii Devon & Cornwall Mrs Anne E Painter, Yoredale, Trewithick Road, Breage, Helston, Cornwall, TR13 9PZ. Tel. 01326-562023. Email: [email protected] Gloucester Angela Iliff, 18 Friezewood Road, Ashton, Bristol, BS3 2AB Tel: 0117-378-9237. Email: [email protected] Greater Manchester Mrs Helen Ashburn, 36 Clumber Road, Gorton, Manchester, M18 7LZ. Tel: 0161-320-6157. Email: [email protected] Hull & District Terence O‟Brien, 2 Hutton Close, Hull, HU4 4LD. Tel: 01482 445312 Lincolnshire Mrs J T Townsend, Westborough Lodge Farm, Westborough, Newark, Notts. NG23 5HP.Tel: 01400 281289. Email: [email protected] London & Home Counties Miss E M Nokes, 4 Oakley Street, Chelsea, London SW3 5NN. Tel: 01689 823569. Email: [email protected] Midlands-East Mrs Sally Henshaw, 28 Lyncroft Leys, Scraptoft, Leicester, LE7 9UW. Tel: 0116-2433785. Email: [email protected] New South Wales Julia Redlich, 53 Cammeray Towers, 55 Carter Street, New South Wales, 2062, Australia. Email: [email protected] Website: www.richardiii-nsw.org.au New Zealand Robert Smith, „Wattle Downs‟, 61 Udy Street, Greytown, New Zealand.Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Web site: www.richard3nz.org Norfolk Mrs Annmarie Hayek, 20 Rowington Road, Norwich, NR1 3RR. Tel: 01603 664021. Email: [email protected] Queensland as New South Wales Scotland Juliet Middleton, 49 Ochiltree, Dunblane, Perthshire, FK15 0DF Tel: 01786 825665. Email: [email protected] (lower-case l, not figure 1) South Australia Mrs Sue Walladge, 5 Spencer Street, Cowandilla, South Australia 5033, Australia. Email: [email protected] Thames Valley Sally Empson, 42 Pewsey Vale, Forest Park, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 9YA. Email: [email protected] Victoria Hazel Hajdu, 4 Byron Street, Wattle Park, Victoria, 3128, Australia. Email: [email protected] Western Australia Louise Carson, P.O. Box 240, Maddington 6989, W. Australia email: [email protected] Web site is still http://members.iinet.net.au/~hhardegen/home.html but this may change soon Worcestershire Mrs Pam Benstead, 15 St Marys Close, Kempsey WR5 3JX Email: [email protected]. Website: www.richardiiiworcs.co.uk Yorkshire Mrs P.H. Pogmore, 169, Albert Road, Sheffield, S8 9QX Tel: 0114 258 6097. Email: [email protected]

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Groups Bedfordshire/ Mrs Rose Skuse. 12 Brookfield Rd, Newton Longville, Bucks, Buckinghamshire MK17 0BP Tel: 01908 373524 Email: [email protected] Bristol Keith Stenner, 96 Allerton Crescent, Whitchurch, Bristol, Tel: 01275-541512 (in affiliation with Gloucestershire Branch) Email: [email protected] Continental in process of formation: contact Rita Diefenhardt-Schmitt at Ulmenweg 8, 65520 Bad Camberg-O.selters/Ts., Germany Croydon Miss Denise Price, 190 Roundwood Rd, London NW10 Tel: 020 8451 7689 Cumbria John & Marjorie Smith, 26 Clifford Road, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 8PP Dorset Babs Creamer, 27 Baker Road, Bear Cross, Bournemouth, BH11 9JD. Tel: 01202 573951 Email: [email protected] North East Mrs J McLaren, 11 Sefton Avenue, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 5QR Tel: 0191 265 3665. Email: [email protected] North Mercia Miss Marion Moulton, 6 Shrewbridge Crescent, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5TF. Tel. 01270 623664 Email: [email protected] Nottinghamshire Mrs Anne Ayres, 7 Boots Yard, Huthwaite, Sutton-in-Ashfield & Derbyshire Notts, NG17 2QW. Email: [email protected] Sussex Liz Robinson, 14 Queen‟s Park Rise, Brighton, BN2 9ZF, tel. 01273 609971, email: [email protected] West Surrey Rollo Crookshank, Old Willows, 41a Badshot Park, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 9JU. Email: [email protected]

The Australasian Convention 2011

will be hosted by Victoria Branch

Friday 5 August to Sunday 7 August 2011

at the Victoria Hotel, 215 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Programme

Friday 5 August (evening): informal get-together to welcome interstate and overseas guests; drinks and canapés included Saturday 6 August full day of presentations 7.00 pm, banquet (partners and guests most welcome) Sunday 7 August a casual mix of talks, games, trivia (perhaps a workshop) followed by lunch

Costs: convention (including Friday night get-together, plus morning and afternoon tea and lunches on Saturday and Sunday): $ 200.00. Banquet (per person, including wine and soft drinks), $ 90.00. This does not include accommodation, which should be booked and paid for direct to the hotel (www.victoriahotel.com.au).

Further details and registration form are available on the Victoria Branch website: www.home.vicnet.net.au/~richard 3

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Branches and Groups

Canadian Branch Report 2010 We‟re a little behind the times, but we‟ll try to catch up ... Our 2009-2010 Ricardian year was typical of most, with seven general meetings in addition to our AGM and Potluck Banquet in October, and Founder‟s Day picnic. In Toronto, the monthly meetings featured either research papers prepared by members, a guest speaker, or an audio-visual presentation. In November 2009 we were pleased to welcome Linda Phillips, the Artistic Director of the Poculi Ludique Societas (PLS) who gave an informal chat on the subject of staging medieval drama. She described some of the plays staged by the PLS, including The True Tragedy of Richard the Third, and regaled us with behind-the-scenes stories of triumphs and catastrophes. She also brought along various props, photographs and costumes from past productions, explaining the difficulties of staging medieval plays in the modern era, given that stage directions do not survive. At the same meeting, Amy Macfarlane, an Associate Editor of The Walrus magazine, asked our members what motivates people to attempt to restore the reputation of a long-dead king. Needless to say, this generated a flurry of discussion. The final result was a not entirely flattering article in the June/July 2010 edition of The Walrus: http://www.walrusmagazine.com/ articles/2010.07-frontier-history-in-play/ But, as someone pointed out to me, even negative publicity is better than no publicity. In January, the exciting news of the discovery of the true location of the Bosworth battlefield prompted a presentation reviewing past theories on the site of the battle (Foss, Williams, Jones), culminating with pictures of the fascinating artefacts found to date at the Fenn Lane Farm site. Victoria Moorshead presented a paper on the Black Death in February, explaining its spread geographically and interpersonally. She described the social impact of this disease, both during outbreaks and in the aftermath. Christine Hurlbut took the floor in March to deliver a talk on medieval sermons, based on her PhD thesis. She related how the common people experienced church, what they saw and heard, and the all extra-curricular activity (secular and otherwise) that took place during the service. The April meeting featured Ray Rawlings‟ paper on „Jews in the Middle Ages‟, in which he described the intolerance, prejudice and personal danger that Jews experienced in medieval society. Host Garry Marnoch added interest to the meeting by providing food that was typical of what a medieval Jewish family would eat, and put us to the test in spotting the anachronisms on the table. I presented a paper in May on the battle of Empingham, better known as Lose-Coat Field. This battle confirmed the treachery of the earl of Warwick and duke of Clarence, and was the precursor to the decisive battle at Barnet. Following the talk, we had the opportunity to watch an episode of Mystery Files, the British documentary which attempted to exonerate King Richard of the murder of the Princes by presenting the other contenders for the dastardly deed: Buckingham and Henry Tudor. We have Society Chairman Phil Stone to thank for sending us this DVD, which now resides in our library. Margaret Towers graciously hosted the annual picnic, which turned out to be an indoor affair owing to our capricious June weather. Cate DeSantis introduced us to sekanjabin,* a medieval Arabic version of oxymel, which is a general term for medicinal drinks combining vinegar with sugar syrup or honey. It was light, refreshing, and a perfect treat. We concluded our Ricardian year in September 2010 with our annual book club, discussing the merits of Philippa Gregory‟s The White Queen. For the most part, our readers were not

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impressed with the book for various reasons, most notably its anachronistically modern speech, and the tiresome emphasis on the Melusine theme and water imagery. Elizabeth was not a sympathetic character in the book. However, we agreed its chronology, for the most part, was sound, and the mystery of the princes was handled in an interesting manner. We are now into our 2010-2011 year, with interesting things in store, including a presentation on the Coronation Couture of Richard and Anne, an examination of the life of Machiavelli, a talk on the Mongols, and an assessment of Richard‟s campaign in Scotland.

Tracy Bryce * To make sekanjabin Dissolve 4 cups sugar in 2-1/2 cups of water; when it comes to a boil, add 1 cup good quality wine vinegar. Simmer 1/2 hour. Remove from fire, let cool. Add a handful of mint, or use a flavoured vinegar such as raspberry. Dilute the resulting syrup to taste with cold water (about 5 to 10 parts water to 1 part syrup). The syrup stores without refrigeration. Sekanjabin was first mentioned in the Fihrist of al-Nadim, a tenth-century survey of Muslim culture.

North Mercia Group Report This group was formed on 13 March 2010, so by the time this report is read we shall be a year old. At the moment, we have seventeen members, including an Australian member, a nice way to have contact long-distance. Members come from South Cheshire, Staffordshire and Flintshire. We also meet up with members from the Greater Manchester Branch of the Society. We began to meet once a month on a Wednesday evening, but changed to a Saturday afternoon when the days got shorter, in October. Meetings consisted of members talking about their particular interests in the period and book reviews. In June we had our first outing, to Edstaston church in Shropshire, with lunch at the Battlefield Visitors‟ Centre and a guided tour of Battlefield church. In October, Julia and Dennis Cranston gave us a very interesting introduction to heraldry, and then in December we had our first Christmas lunch at the Crown Hotel in Nant- wich. We sat in the oldest part of the hotel, which is Elizabethan, and the Christmas lunch was quite sumptuous. Our next meeting is our AGM, and then in March we hope to have a „pot luck‟ medieval meal. There is a full programme of meetings up to December, which includes outings to Buildwas Abbey and Much Wenlock in Shropshire, and Norbury church and manor in Stafford- shire and a special lunch at The Boar‟s Head at Walgherton in August. All in all it‟s been an excellent beginning and we hope to enjoy good times and good camaraderie in the future. Thanks must go to Jacqui Emerson for enabling us to meet in her home. Marion Moulton

Yorkshire Branch Report The Branch‟s 50th birthday celebrations in York on 23 October were given a great official write- up in the last issue of the Bulletin, for which the Committee would like to thank the team at head office. We have received many messages of thanks and congratulations from members who clearly enjoyed the day, the banquet, and/or both. I should like to take this opportunity, also, to thank those members who have sent the Committee Christmas cards – your support is much appreciated. The Branch‟s commemoration of the battle of Wakefield, on the 550th anniversary, took

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place at Sandal on 2 January. We were extremely lucky with the weather, which took time off from sending large quantities of snow and ice to West Yorkshire so that we could easily travel to Sandal and place flowers by the Duke of York‟s statue. An illustrated report appeared in the Wakefield Express; but to many of us who were there the abiding image will be of the photographer lying at full length in the road in order to get suitable pictures of the group, and of the flowers – a dignified arrangement including, as always, white roses, and created by our Secretary Pauline Pogmore. Once again we were overtaken by events since I reported in the last Bulletin that the Sandal castle visitor centre would be open at New Year: a victim of „the cuts‟, it remained closed. There were no re-enactments or displays so the commemoration this year was brief, but the confused and confusing skirmish at Wakefield had such tremendous repercussions for the House of York and for England that it should never be forgotten by Ricardians. Among those repercussions is the untimely death of Edmund of Rutland, a young man whose memory is overshadowed by those of his surviving brothers but whose contribution to the Yorkist cause in the 1460s and 70s, had he lived, might well have resulted in a different outcome for this country. We shall be going to Towton again on Palm Sunday, 17 April, to attend the day‟s activities organised by the Towton Battlefield Society on the anniversary of the terrible encounter which put Edward IV on the throne. This year marks the 550th anniversary of that engagement, and this fact will be reflected in our Arthur Cockerill Spring Branch Lecture, which will be held at Jacob‟s Well, Trinity Lane, York, on Saturday 7 May at 1.30 p.m. We have had to change the venue from Leeds since our traditional meeting-place, the City Art Gallery, has put up its charges so much (the figure of £400 was quoted) that it is now out of the question. The speaker will be Scowen Sykes, and his topic, naturally, the battle of Towton. Many years ago Scowen began the campaign to recognise, examine and explain the battlefield as well as the action of Towton, which has resulted in the Battlefield Society and much recent archaeological work at the battle site conducted by Bradford University. The lecture has been named in honour of one of Yorkshire Branch‟s most loyal and hard-working officers: for some thirty years from its beginnings Arthur was a guiding figure in the Branch, Chairman several times, setting up our Rosalba Press and maintaining Yorkshire independence in (often rather brisk) dealings with the parent Society. The present Committee is indebted to him. Some early notice now of a Branch trip to Conisborough castle on Saturday 2 July; please meet in the castle visitor centre at 2.00 p.m. for a guided tour and a talk on the FitzWarrenne family and the building of the castle. All our future events are advertised on our website, but I have to report that our hopes for our new site, mentioned in the last Bulletin, have been dashed. We were using a free server, as we had to keep a keen eye on our finances, but have since been advised that this arrangement is not appropriate for us, so have had to shop elsewhere. We are due to open the new site www.richardiiiyorkshire.com very shortly, but you can keep an eye on our existing site for any developments and during the crossover period no information will be lost. Elsewhere in this Bulletin there is an item explaining the difficulties the Branch has experienced over the years with its website. The Committee is aware of the confusion which has arisen, and appreciates members‟ concern, so we felt it only right to explain the situation.

Finally, may I remind all Branch members that our SGM is to be held at Jacob‟s Well on Saturday 2 April, starting at 1.30 p.m. Following the business of the meeting there will be a talk by Pauline Pogmore on „Northern Mediaeval Families‟. Refreshments will be available at £3.50 per head (payment on the day). Would those members who would like refreshments please let Pauline know in good time? Angela Moreton

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Worcester Branch Report Fortunately the severe weather did not cause the cancellation of our winter meetings, though members did have to battle through the snow to reach one venue. In November, former Chairman of the Branch, Ralph Richardson, gave a fascinating talk, entitled „The Bones‟, in which he re-examined many aspects of the story of the bones which were found in the Tower and decreed by Charles II to be those of the Princes. He also took us through More‟s account of the Princes‟ murder and Tyrrell‟s confession to lead us into a general and wide -ranging discussion of the problems of bias and lack of evidence. Members were particularly perplexed by the problems created by More‟s statement that a hole had been dug under a staircase during one night without anyone among the residents of the Tower hearing a sound. Another issue that was highlighted was the possible contamination, or even loss, of the bones between their discovery and their subsequent burial in the Abbey, since during that time they were left somewhere in the Tower precincts, not apparently separately preserved. In December, we held a social meeting with a „bring and share‟ tea and quizzes and a giant crossword on Ricardian themes. Rather than send each other Christmas cards, we made a collection which we have sent to Kinlet church as a donation to the fund for preserving the fine medieval stained glass windows there. Max Keen, a teacher and a passionate Ricardian, gave us a most entertaining and lively re- appraisal of Richard III at our meeting in January. He started with a very good imitation of Laurence Olivier, but then dramatically threw off his cloak and his hump and proceeded to demolish the traditional interpretation, presenting a picture of a very different king, supporting his argument with evidence from a range of sources. 2011 is the Worcestershire Branch‟s 25th Anniversary. We have a full programme of events, including a banquet at Belbroughton in June. Please consult our website for details (www.richardiiiworcs.co.uk). Carol Southworth

In The Ricardian for 2011 The Ricardian for June 2011 is shaping up well, though the final list of articles has not been settled. Proposed articles include one on supposedly treasonable words spoken in Norwich concerning Edmund de la Pole, a case which went on to involve Richard Empson. Earlier in date is a study of another chantry established at Queens‟ College Cambridge, with Richard of Gloucester‟s support in the 1470s, for Sir John Skrene. Skrene was a young man of the de la Pole household who had been knighted at Tewkesbury and was accidentally killed by Edward Tyrell. A well-documented analysis of the tombs at Minster, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, will interest those who study monuments and the Cheney family. The library of John Austell, Canon of Wells (died 1500) adds the clerical world to subjects covered. Lastly, a biography of Jacquetta de Luxembourg, Duchess of Bedford, draws together the short supply of material surviving on this lady who was the subject of so much gossip and innuendo. Anne Sutton

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New Members

UK 1 October to 31 December 2010 Hermione St John Spiggott, Oldham, Lancs Nigel Sutcliffe, Holt, Norfolk Audrey Adams, Hebden Bridge Helen Teal, Sowerby Bridge, W.Yorks Philip Ashe, Leeds Keith Tothill, Great Bookham, Surrey Hector Banda, London Edward Triance, Huntingdon Jan Barnes, Leintwardine Colin Uttley, Bulkington Caryn Barratt, Marlow, Bucks Geoff Wallis, Consett, Co. Durham Dave Besag, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Elaine Ward, Brompton-on-Swale Christopher Bullivant, Huddersfield Jane Weaver, Chingford, Essex Adam Byrom, Truro H. Weston-Smart, Grantham, Lincs M. Cockayne, Bury St Edmunds Jonathan Wilkinson, Scarborough Victoria Cooke, Amersham, Bucks David Yorath, Bristol Jacqui Cotton, Southampton Christine Darlington, Leeds Overseas Joseph Dey, York 1 October to 31 December 2010 Jonathan Evans, Beckenham, Kent Beverley Fairfoull, Warrington, Cheshire Susan Crawford, Halifax, Nova Scotia Madeleine Fowler, Stroud, Glos Margaret Dunsdon, Toronto, Canada Alexandra Gayler, Surbiton, Surrey Leslie Hart, Westmount, Canada Joy Hart, Henryd, Conway Juliet Howland, Gatineau, Canada Shaun Hart, Cambridge Roger Hubbard, Toronto, Canada Colin Hathersall, Cambridge Peter Ingle, New South Wales Vincent Hirst, Redditch, Worcs Callie Kendall Orszak, South Hadley, USA Graham Howard, Edinburgh Emilie Laforge, Rockland, Canada Iain Jones, London Angela Ledger, Fairlight, Australia Esther Ketskemety, London Doug and L. McCawley, Randwick, New Dorothy Latham, Romney Marsh, Kent South Wales Allen & Sue Lovelock, Bath Catherine Ollerhead De Santis, Orton, Canada Kayla McPherson, St Andrews, Fife Seppo Rimmi, Helsinki, Finland Clifton Martin, Barrow-upon-Soar, Leics Wendie Ryder, Calgary, Canada Katherine, Gerard & John Michauc, Barnsley Vera Stratievskaya, Moncton, Canada Elizabeth Outen, Brentwood, Essex Peter & Barbara Page, Bourne US Branch Jessica Palmer, Gloucester Chris Pattison, Lichfield, Staffs 1 October to 31 December 2010 David Potter, Hinckley, Leics Christopher Rae, Ilkley, W.Yorks Connie Davidson, Rochester, MN June Rankin, Scarborough Zoe DuPlantis, New Orleans, LA Duncan Rogers, Ratley, Oxon Grace Lloyd, Chicago, IL John Rubin, Manchester Mary Nair, Chicago, IL Jane Simpson, London William Nunn, Greencastle, IN

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Recently Deceased Members

We are sorry to report the death of the following: Francis Armstrong, Braintree, Essex, joined 2006 Jane Bayley, Christchurch, New Zealand, joined 2006 Rob Brown, Chesham, Bucks, joined before 1985 Tony Gayfer, Blackheath, London, joined before 1985 Anthony Goodrum, Nottingham, joined 2009 Valerie Kerr, Welwyn Garden City, joined 2008 Barbara Plumbridge, Bury St Edmunds, joined before 1985 Anne Smith, Guildford, joined before 1985 Barbara Sykes, Wakefield, joined before 1985 Bill White, Chesham, Bucks, joined before 1985

Obituary Notes

Cressida Lindsay Cressida Lindsay died aged 80 last November; she was the only daughter of Philip Lindsay, the author and active member of The Fellowship of the White Boar. Philip Lindsay will be best known to members for his books On Some Bones in Westminster Abbey, King Richard: a Chronicle, and his numerous historical novels. Cressida was also a novelist, and a number of years ago was very helpful to me in providing photographs and information about her father. John Saunders

Barbara Plumridge I never met Barbara, but we corresponded over several years in the 1990s in connection with the Wills Indexing Project. Working in her local library, Barbara was one of our most prolific indexers, capturing some 1,700 wills published in several sources, many obscure and local to East Anglia. Hers was a very significant contribution to the project. Barbara is survived by her husband, Peter. Wendy Moorhen

Barbara Sykes We are very sorry to have to report the death of Wakefield member Barbara Sykes on 15 January after a long illness. Barbara had been in Yorkshire Branch for very many years, and was responsible for reviving, just after the Millennium, the Sandal wreath-laying, which had been one of the branch‟s earliest commemorations and is now firmly back in our calendar. With her husband she was on the „housekeeping rota‟ for the chapel at Lead, near Towton, on behalf of the branch, who share responsibility for its upkeep with other agencies including the Ramblers Association. The present committee of the branch was only recently made aware of the extent of their service to Lead. When the branch‟s Wakefield group was formed some years ago, Barbara hosted several early meetings to get the enterprise going. She always attended our Spring Lecture and the Sandal event, and her presence and support will be greatly missed by her Ricardian friends. Angela Moreton

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Calendar

We run a calendar of all forthcoming events notified to us. If you are aware of any events of Ricardian interest, whether organised by the Society (Executive Committee, Visits Committee, Research Committee, Branches/Groups) or by others, please let Lesley Boatwright have full details in sufficient time for entry. The calendar will also be run on the website.

Where applicable, full details of forthcoming events will appear in future issues of the Bulletin.

Date Events Originator

2011 26 March The Wars of the Roses: one-day conference Royal Armouries at the Tower of London celebrating 550th malcolm.mercer@armouries. anniversary of the battle of Towton org.uk

24-27 March Blood & Roses: special interest weekend at Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church, Oxford (see Sept 2010 Bulletin)

8-10 April Study Weekend at York Research Committee (now fully booked, with a waiting list)

14 May Day visit to Abingdon and Oxford Visits Committee (see p.55)

11 June Worcester Branch 25th anniversary Worcester Branch celebration banquet, Belbroughton Church Hall

18 June East Midlands Study Day on „The Power East Midlands Branch Behind the Throne‟ (see p. 6)

14-18 July Long Weekend based in Sussex Visits Committee

5-7 August Australasian Convention Victoria Branch (see p. 57)

3 September Day visit to Anglesey Abbey Visits Committee (to be confirmed)

1 October Society Annual General Meeting Executive Committee (see p. 6)

12 November Norfolk Branch Study Day on ‟The Twilight Norfolk Branch (see p. 6) Years of the Yorkist Cause‟

2012 20-22 April Triennial Conference at Burleigh Court Research Committee (see Conference Centre, Univ. of Loughborough pp. 5-6)

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