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Bulletin Spring 2009 Contents 2 From the Chairman 3 Society News and Notices 7 The Logge Wills now at www.logge.co.uk 8 Has Richard’s Coffin Been Discovered? 12 Media Retrospective 15 News and Reviews 18 Meet the Herald: An interview with Dr Clive Cheesman 21 Proceedings of the Triennial Conference 2008: Part 4: The Remains 27 Henry VII 1485-1509: A Retrospective on the Quincentenary of his death: Part 1 30 Living History: by Helen Cox 33 The Man Himself: The Bosworth Portal: by Wendy Moorhen 35 William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon: A Biography: Part 2: by Sarah Sickels 37 Tying Up Loose Ends in Research: by Toni Mount 38 Branch and Group Contacts Update 39 The Crime of Eleanor Kechen: by Lesley Boatwright 42 Edward IV’s Pre-contract of Matrimony: by Alison Hanham 43 Fotheringhay December 2008 44 York or Lancaster – A Rejoinder: by Ian Mortimer 46 The March From Leicester: by Sandra Worth 50 New Members 51 Correspondence 54 Barton Library 55 Report on Society Events 56 Future Society Events 57 Branches and Groups 62 Obituaries 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 spring issue; 15 April for summer issue; 15 July for autumn issue; 15 October for winter issue. Articles should be sent well in advance. Bulletin & Ricardian Back Numbers Back issues of the The Ricardian and Bulletin are available from Judith Ridley. If you are interested in obtaining any back numbers, please contact Mrs Ridley to establish whether she holds the issue(s) in which you are interested. For contact details see inside back cover of the Bulletin

The Ricardian Bulletin is produced by the Bulletin Editorial Committee, Printed by Micropress Printers Ltd. © Richard III Society, 2009

From the Chairman

have been wondering about banking crises in the fifteenth century. We know that the Spinelli I bank, a counterpart of the Medici bank, ran into serious difficulty in 1456 when Pope Calixtus III defaulted on a loan for a proposed crusade against the Turks. I’m not sure if that’s what we might call a sub-prime loan, but in those days, lending to popes and secular rulers was the price for operating in the market. It might be interesting and certainly very topical if we had an article in the Bulletin about how the banking system operated in Yorkist times. Are there any takers out there? Maintaining its reputation for a wide and lively range of articles, news and forthcoming events, this edition of the Bulletin sees a return of the interview series, this time with Meet the Herald. The subject is Dr Clive Cheesman, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant, and, whilst we might have preferred that he were Blanc Sanglier Pursuivant, we are nonetheless grateful to him for agreeing to be interviewed. For The Man Himself, the topic is the Bosworth Portal, something we are going to hear a lot more about in the future. It’s a major achievement for the Society, giving us an opportunity to present the positive case for King Richard at a major tourist venue, and I would like to give my thanks to all involved, especially the artists Gerry Hitch, Graham Turner and Geoff Wheeler. It seems to be the season for retirements, with Wendy Moorhen, Jane Trump and Moira Hab- berjam all stepping down from their posts. Sir Christopher Wren’s memorial in St Paul’s Cathe- dral has the inscription, ‘Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you’. So it is for Wendy, Jane and Moira. We need only look at the strong and active Society we have today, for which so much is owed to all three. We will miss their direct involvement on the front bench, but I’m sure they will be active backbenchers. The Society is fortunate, too, in that it has such excellent people to take their places, with the husband-and-wife team of David and Susan Wells becoming joint secretaries, Lynda Pidgeon, already a key player in our research activities, taking over as Research Officer, while, up in Yorkshire, Pauline Harrison Pogmore takes Moira’s place as secretary of that branch. Due to her new appointment, Lynda has passed on the job of collecting Bulletin material to Lesley Boatwright. Let me point out, though, that although we have successfully managed to replace Wendy, Jane and Moira, we still need a new Papers Librarian to take over from Rebecca Beale, who is also stepping down after many years of service for which we are most grateful. Our papers collection is an important part of the Barton Library and we want to keep this resource available to members, so if there is anyone interested in helping out, please get in touch with Carolyn Ham- mond (see page 54 for details) as soon as you can. It’s always good when members have books published, and in Eleanor – the Secret Queen, John Ashdown-Hill gives the shadowy figure of Eleanor Talbot some much needed prominence. Also, as many of you know, John has been at the forefront of research into Richard III’s mtDNA sequence, and it is with much regret that we record the death of Joy Ibsen, whom he traced and identified as a direct descendant in an all-female line from Richard’s sister Anne. Despite the economic gloom, we still have much to look forward to during the coming Ri- cardian year and since the Society was recently the subject of a question on University Chal- lenge, without anybody being rude about us, I guess that might even mean that we really have made it! Phil Stone 2

Society News and Notices

All Change The last twenty years or so have seen profound changes to the lives of many people. There is more technology about: we have mobile phones, computers, and spend time on the Internet. There is a greater expectation that things will be done ‘professionally’ as a business ethic has crept into our lives. The Society too has changed a great deal recently. It has cashed in on technology. We can pay our subscriptions by PayPal, order the Society’s books – and others – on line and, above all, we now have a website, which is one of our great glories. We are about to have an electronic presence at Bosworth, with our Portal, a rolling display putting the facts about Richard to the public who visit the battlefield. We have had a stand at the Who Do You Think You Are? – Live exhibition at Olympia in London, and shall do so again this year. In other words, we have raised our public profile immensely over the last few years. We used to have a nice little Bulletin, entirely produced by the hard work of Elizabeth Nokes. It had news and reviews, details of visits, notes, addresses, and a calendar, and was in its own way a good read, and looked forward to. But now we have a splendid new Bulletin. It still has the news and reviews, details of visits, notes and so on, but now we can have longer articles, and pictures to illustrate them, in a format which can take its place on any magazine stand and catch the eye. Many of these updatings and innovations came about because of the intense enthusiasm of Wendy Moorhen. With her background in business, and her organisational ability – and her ability to talk other people into helping – she has been one of the main movers in pulling our Society firmly into the twenty-first century. She was instrumental in making us have a revamped Bulletin, the website – and the additional Logge website which is part of it – and the Bosworth Portal, and did a great deal of work for all of them. Another person who brought a business background and organisational ability to the Society was our Secretary, Jane Trump. Unfailingly cheerful and efficient, Jane also became a leading light in the creation of an education pack for schools, a project which is still ongoing. We thought Wendy and Jane were fixtures, and relaxed, believing they were shepherding us on our continued way forward into the twenty-first century. But nothing is for ever. Jane’s new daytime job is demanding much more of her time, and Wendy’s home life will be much more demanding this year and she has for a long time wanted to do more research into the fifteenth century. So change has come again upon the Society. Our new secretaries are David and Sue Wells, and our new Research Officer is Lynda Pidg- eon. Good luck to all! Executive Committee

Goodbye For Now In December I stepped down from most of my Society roles: Execu- tive Committee member; Research Officer; Trustee of the Richard III and Yorkist History Trust; and also from the various sub- committees of which I was a member. I will, however, together with my husband Brian, continue to run the membership department and act as membership liaison officer. I was elected to the EC in 1994, and was appointed Research Officer in 2001, but for the past five years I have been mainly involved in the business side of Society affairs including the transition 3

of the membership function from our service provider, RIMMS, back in-house, the technical editing of The Ricardian, together with identifying new methods of distribution of the journals. Other projects have included the re-organisation of the sales function, organising the celebratory events of 2006 and project managing our presence at the Who Do Yo Think You Are? Live exhibition last year. All of this work has been immensely satisfying but time consuming and I feel it is now appropriate to stand down. Changes in my personal circumstances are a major contributory factor to my decision. Fol- lowing my retirement from full-time employment last year, Brian and I had announced our inten- tion of moving to France on a permanent basis. However, the credit crunch has affected this plan as we have been unable to sell our UK home and in any case the strong Euro has made it no longer financially viable. We had also hoped that the spinal surgery Brian is due to undergo would have taken place by now but we are still at the mercy of the NHS as we are awaiting a date for the operation. Under these circumstances, we have decided to stay in the UK. Taking all the above into account I came to the conclusion that it was the right time to step back from front-line Society duties and to spend more time with Brian and do what I most want to do, which is research into the late fifteenth century. It is through this activity that I will continue to support the Society’s aims to the best of my ability and the membership department role will keep me in touch with you all. As a footnote I would just like to mention that my last initiative, as part of the Bulletin Edito- rial Team, was to introduce a fictional short story to the pages of our journal and during the end of last year I engaged in correspondence with the American novelist Sandra Worth. Our ex- change culminated in a meeting in the village of Fyfield, Oxfordshire which took place in the chantry house built by Sir John Golafre in 1445 which is now the local inn. Sandra wanted to visit the village, where Lady Katherine Gordon lived and held the manor, as part of her research for her latest novel. As the biographer of Lady Katherine, I had already discussed some aspects of her life with Sandra and for a few hours, with our indulgent husbands looking on, we had a Katherinefest. If I needed any kind of a nudge to get back into research, this was it. The combina- tion of visiting relevant historic sites, trawling the records to reach back and to try to present the lives of those long dead is a heady, and ultimately, satisfying occupation – I thoroughly recommend it. I wish all success to the EC and in particular to the new research officer – you have a winner with Lynda Pidgeon. Wendy Moorhen

A Fond Farewell

After seven years on the Executive Committee, circumstances dictated that I resign from the EC and my role as Secretary in Decem- ber. This was not a decision that I took lightly and I have to say that I have very mixed feelings. I joined the EC back in 2001 as the Barton Librarian, a role I enjoyed, not least because I had all that wealth of knowledge at my disposal. My favourite memory of that time is one Open Day when there were a group of us sitting around the table debating a Ricardi- an topic and people were taking books off the shelves to look up evidence to support their views. It was magic – just how the Li- brary should be used. Another highlight was the success of the auctions I ran – raising nearly £1,000 one year. It was a lot of work but great fun and I am still impressed by the generosity of so many Ricardians, both in donating their books and in bidding for them. In October 2006 I took on the role of Secretary when Elizabeth Nokes retired from the post. Hers was a tough act to follow but I was ready for the challenge and was really looking forward to developing the role further and utilising the skills I had acquired throughout my 20+ years in a 4

corporate office. Unfortunately I did not take into account potential changes in my work load. My job is with a large consulting company and it is quite usual for people to move around within the organisation. The post I held when I took on the Secretary’s role allowed me the time to cover Society responsibilities and to do them justice. However, in August 2007 I changed de- partments and started to work in a far more challenging and demanding environment. As a result, I was finding it more and more stressful to do my job well and give the Society the time and consideration the role of Secretary merited. Back in December my boss warned me that the workload was only going to get greater this year. Therefore I decided that, to avoid not doing justice to both my job and my Society role, something had to give. Obviously my job pays the bills so it was with much regret that I took the decision to resign as Secretary. I have also resigned from the Bulletin Committee and Research Committee but still intend to be an active member of the Society and am continuing with the last phase of the Education Pack which I am very keen to see finalised and on school shelves. I wish the EC every success and thank Sue and Dave Wells for jointly taking on the mantle of Secretary. I know they will do a fantastic job. Jane Trump

Co-Option to Executive Committee Following the recent resignations from the Executive Committee, John Saunders has been co- opted onto the committee for the remainder of the year. John is a long-standing former EC member, and is currently a member of the Bulletin Editorial Committee and Chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Branch. He is also a regular contributor to the Bulletin and is one of the editors of the Annual Report. Executive Committee

The Credit Crunch Bites – Study Weekend Cancelled Few people or organisations seem to be immune from the effects of the credit crunch and we are no exception. Rarely in the past have we had to cancel an event, but, sadly, this year we do have to cancel the study weekend which was due to take place in York during April. We simply do not have enough bookings to make it viable. Full refunds will of course be made to those who have already booked, and the Research Officer will be in touch with them shortly. We have had a very successful run over the past seventeen years, with eleven well-attended and productive study weekends, and we are certainly not going to let this year’s set-back dam- age the momentum we have established. It will be a mere hiatus, and we will work hard to try to ensure that the study weekend is back in 2010. In the meantime, the Research Committee will be exploring the possibility of some one-day events, which would of course not make so many demands on the purse. The Research Committee

Society Bursary You will have seen in the winter Bulletin 2008 p. 13 details of the Bursaries awarded during 2008. This is to remind members that application for the 2009 award should be made by 31 July 2009. The bursary is for £500 and the conditions are:

 The bursary is open to members who are graduates and whose dissertation or thesis is related to the later medieval and early Tudor period, c. 1375-1540  The applicant must have been a member of the Society for not less than two years  The bursary will only be awarded to members who have not previously received any bursary funded by the Society including those administered by the IHR and the Centre 5

for Medieval Studies, York  If unsuccessful an applicant may apply in future years  The EC reserves the right not to make an award if the area of study is deemed unsuitable  The application must be supported by a letter of recommendation by the student’s tutor together with the name and address of a second referee

The Society gives to other bursaries. One is administered by the Institute of Historical Research in London and is open to those studying for higher degrees throughout the country, the second, administered by the University of York, Centre for Medieval Studies is open to students studying for an MA there. There is nothing to prevent members who are studying for higher degrees from applying for any of these awards provided they meet the conditions. All recipients of our bursaries are encouraged to contribute an article to The Ricardian and, if possible, to give a talk at a Society event. The application form for the Society bursary is available from me. Full details are also available on the website www.richardiii.net under education. Lynda Pidgeon, Research Officer

Important: New arrangements for the Bulletin Please note that from now on all material, including articles, items of news or for Media Retro- spective, branch and group reports, letters to the editors and dates for the diary should be sent to Lesley Boatwright. 47 Wyndcliff Road, Charlton, London SE7 7LP (email: Lesleyboatwright@ aol.com).

Leeds Medieval Conference 2009 The Society is sponsoring a session at this prestigious annual event. Our session will run from 9.00 – 10.30 am on Tuesday 14 July, and is entitled Will Power: Sex, Politics, and Salvation in the Logge Register of PCC Wills 1479-86. As well as moderating the session, I shall be talking about ‘Admission Fees at the Pearly Gates – Nice Little Earners for the Craftsmen and the Chap- lains’, Lynda Pidgeon will be looking at ‘Merry Widows and Grave Choices’ and Wendy Moor- hen will examine ‘The Will of William, Lord Hastings, Executed 1483’. If members are interested in attending the conference please visit the website www.imc.leeds.ac.uk. Once again, we will have a stall at the conference which will be run by our PR Officer, Rich- ard Van Allen, and there will be a range of the Society’s publications for sale. Lesley Boatwright

Resignation of Moira Habberjam as Yorkshire Branch Secretary The EC only learned of Moira’s resignation as the Bulletin went to press and an appreciation of her work for the Society and for the Yorkshire Branch will appear in the summer issue.

Notice of Annual General Meeting of the Richard III Society This year, the Society’s AGM and Members’ Day will take place on:

Saturday 3 October 2009 at Staple Inn Hall, High Holborn, London WC1 7QJ

Further details will be given in the summer Bulletin but, in the meantime, please put this date in your diary.

The Logge Wills now at www.logge.co.uk

urther to the announcement in the winter F Bulletin (p. 15) about the publishing of the Logge Wills, the Society has now launched a new website specifically to pro- mote the Wills to a wider audience. The publication of Logge is an important event for the Society, which stands alongside its publication of Harleian MSS 433 over twenty years ago. Whilst they are of great interest to Ri- cardians, the Logge Wills have a wide appeal to the academic historical community as well as to family historians and it was to this end that it seemed appropriate to develop the website so that prospective buyers could learn or ornaments, or the money to buy these, to more about the wealth of information that was chapels, parish churches or religious houses. now available. From these bequests we can imagine the visu- Geoff Wheeler has once again excelled al splendours inside these places of worship, himself and created a delightful logo for the with their images, plate and gorgeous vest- website, which is in the style of the several ments. logos he designed for the Society’s main web- Glimpses into the Medieval House: The site in 2005. wills of some widows read almost like inven- tories. Their households may well be broken up at their deaths, and they bequeath the contents of their houses room by room. Male wills, on the other hand, do not usually allow so many glimpses into their houses, but just occasionally there are hints about the furnish- ing of a room. Medieval Gold and Plate: Many testators bequeathed silver or silver-gilt cups, bowls, basins and ewers, plates, salt-cellars and spoons for domestic use. Some had silver pieces for religious purposes, such as chalic- es, paxes and stoups for holy water. Medieval Migration: Some testators tell us that they or relatives were born or baptised some way distant from their present residenc- es. Sometimes we see that these birthplaces One of the editors, Lesley Boatwright, has have been used as their surnames. already written a number articles based on the Other topics cover clothes, funerals, gene- Logge wills which have appeared in the Bul- alogy, servants, prices in the fifteenth century letin. These have all been included on the and the medieval jewel box, along with the website along with a new series based on sev- reproduction of the will of the poet Sir Rich- eral aspects of medieval life which are illus- ard Roos. Do visit, and more importantly, do trated in the wills including: buy (see sales catalogue in the winter Bulle- Inside a Fifteenth Century Church or tin). Chapel: Many people left vestments, books Wendy Moorhen 7

Has Richard’s Coffin Been Discovered?

On Monday 17 November BBC One’s The One Show broadcast a story about a stone sarcopha- gus that had been discovered in a garden in Earl Shilton and which the former gardener, Reg Colver, believed could be the coffin of King Richard. They despatched Dan Snow to watch the excavation, which was led by Richard Knox of the Leicestershire County Council’s Archaeologi- cal Service. The Leicester Mercury newspaper had picked up on the forthcoming film and ran an article on Saturday 15 November. The Society invited Richard Knox, who was our guest speaker at the 2007 AGM, to tell us the story.

The Earl Shilton Coffin It is made of stone, weighs around 2 tons A stone coffin was brought to an Earl Shilton and may be nearly 2000 years old. The Ro- garden from Leicester in 1903 to be used as a mans used stone coffins like this to bury par- water feature in the landscaped gardens of a ticularly important people, although only a large Arts and Crafts house. An iron pipe was handful are known from Leicestershire. A put through each end at that time to help the thousand years later, in the medieval period, flow of water. Before it was taken to Earl monks and friars used Roman stone coffins Shilton, the coffin had been used as a horse and newly made stone coffins to bury their trough in Leicester for many years. important dead, particularly bishops, abbots and priors.

The Earl Shilton coffin in situ

other, or it may be two different coffins. The White Horse Inn coffin is known to have been broken up and used to make some steps in the pubs cellar by 1758. The White Horse Tavern was demolished in the early nineteenth century, but as it was replaced by a bank it seems likely to have been close to the Greyfriars site. There are no seventeenth century records

Roman stone coffins in York, which are identical to the Earl Shilton example

After he was killed at the Battle of Bos- worth, King Richard III was buried in the church of the Franciscan Friary (known as the Greyfriars) in the centre of Leicester on 25 August 1485. To give due regard to his status, he may well have been buried in a reused stone coffin similar to this one. We do know that Henry VII ordered a marble tomb for Richard some ten years later, suggesting that little or no money was spent on his burial by the Friary. Many people believe that his body was dug up when the Friary was closed down by Henry VIII in 1538, and his bones were The White Horse coffin was the medieval thrown into the River Soar by a mob and his type, with a shape for the head and shoulders coffin used as a horse trough outside a tavern; cut out, like this one from Worcester. a story made popular in the early seventeenth century. Others believe he is still buried under of the Talbot Inn coffin and the Talbot is a modern Leicester in an unmarked grave. In long way out of town. 1612 Christopher Wren, the father of the ar- The Earl Shilton coffin was not associated chitect, was shown a three foot high stone with Richard III until the owner and the gar- pillar marking King Richard’s grave in the dener saw programmes on Richard III in garden of a house built over the site of the 1985. On learning about the story of Rich- friary by the Herricks. The Herricks and ard’s coffin being used as a horse trough and Wren both seem to have thought Richard was now having disappeared they put two and two still buried under the pillar. We will probably together and wondered if their coffin could be never know if he is still at rest there. Richard’s. In the mid seventeenth and the early eight- There is no way of knowing whether the eenth century several people recorded seeing Earl Shilton coffin really was Richard’s, but it a stone coffin outside Leicester pubs, ‘the seems very unlikely. This could be one of Greyhound’ (possibly the Talbot) and the many coffins that were buried in Roman and White Horse Tavern, which were claimed to medieval cemeteries in Leicester and the cof- be Richard’s coffin. These may be the same fin widely said to be Richard’s was destroyed coffin, which was moved from one pub to the many years ago.

The coffin will be put on show at the recently have sprung up about Richard III and the bat- redisplayed Bosworth Battlefield Heritage tle of Bosworth over the years. Centre in the New Year and will be used as a Richard Knox focus for the many myths and legends that Keeper of Donington and Bosworth

Déjà-Vu: We have been here before – with Geraniums Geoff Wheeler has dug into his archive and container for growing geraniums. found a similar story from March 1983. The story also includes the picture of a The former County Council land agent, skull which Mr Turner said had been carbon Edward Turner, spent many years following dated to ‘within a few decades of the Battle of ‘the fortunes of the luckless king’ and he be- Bosworth’ and which is reputed to have been lieved ‘Richard’s coffin may be in a collec- found when the present Bow Bridge was tion of cattle troughs owned by a Leicester- built. Geoff believes this to be a spurious sto- shire farmer.’ A photograph of the coffin is ry and dealt with it in the Bulletin (March included in the article, showing its use as a 2002, pp. 39-41.

The controversy of where the remains of King Richard finally rest has been extensively covered in various articles in the Bulletin, The Ricardian and other journals. For a summary, see ‘The Man Himself: The Burial Place of Richard III’ by Lynda Pidgeon, summer 2005, pp. 19-20. The article includes an extensive reading list. The most recent Bulletin article was by Chris Wardle, ‘Archaeological Excavations at Greyfriars, Leicester’, summer 2008, pp. 34-37. Alternatively visit the Society’s website, www.richardiii.net (Richard III/The Man/The burial place of Richard III). A series of short articles by John Ashdown-Hill is available online at www.bbc.co.uk/ legacies/myths_legends/england/leicester/article

Some Final Thoughts Richard could originally have been buried in one of two locations, the Greyfriars or in the New- ark, i.e. the church of the Annunciation of St Mary the Virgin. The evidence is contradictory. Could Richard have been buried in a lead coffin, as was his niece, Queen Elizabeth, in 1503? A tomb was built some ten years after his death in the Greyfriars. This could have been built over his grave in the Greyfriars, if known, and if he was buried there in the first place. His body could have been disinterred from a grave in the Greyfriars and re-buried in the new tomb. His body could have been disinterred from the Newark and placed in the new tomb at Greyfriars. There is no evidence to support any particular one of these hypotheses but presumably one of them is correct. Is it likely that a stone coffin containing Richard’s body would have been incor- porated into the new tomb? If Richard was originally buried in the Greyfriars in a second-hand stone coffin, and if this coffin was buried within the precincts of the church, and if the legend that his body was dug up after the dissolution is true, would a two-ton coffin also have been lifted from its sub terra resting place and moved to a local inn as a horse trough? Or could this story, not contemporary in 1538 but perpetrated some 70 years later, not simply be the exploitation by a greedy publican to attract customers to his inn? And finally, if Richard was disinterred by an angry mob in 1538, (and ask another question, why would there have been anti-Ricardian feeling?) how was he carried through the streets so that his bones could have been thrown into the River Soar? Certainly not in a two-ton coffin. Was he wrapped in a shroud? Could it have survived intact for over 50 years to be rough handled by a mob and still hold its cargo of bones? With so much dis-information is there any ’evidence’ that we can place any reliance in? Can 10

we reconcile John Speed’s story at the beginning of the seventeenth century, that the site of Rich- ard’s grave of Richard was ‘overgrown with weeds and nettles … and not to be found’ and Chris- topher Wren senior’s story of a ‘three Foot high pillar’ to mark the grave some ten years later? Somehow these stories have a ring of truth and that a grave marker could have been erected by Robert Herrick within a decade of Speed’s visit is a possibility. Would this give us some hope that Richard’s body was never moved, is resting peacefully and intact, and that the proliferation of stories, myths and legends about stone coffins and bones in the Soar are just the results of folk out to make a quick buck, their overactive imagination or their seeking fifteen minutes of fame? Wendy Moorhen

The Coffin at the Bosworth Battlefield and Heritage Centre – January 2009

The Bosworth Battlefield Centre, which had been closed during January, re-opened on Sunday 1 February. Due to the treacherous weather it was closed the next day but operations manager, Richard Mackinder, braved the snow and sent the above photograph to the Society. The exhibition board above the coffin summarises, on the left hand side, what is known about Richard’s burial, the Tudor tomb, the visit of Sir Christopher Wren to the house built over the site of the Greyfriars and the later legends of Richard’s grave being dug up and used as a horse trough and the bones being throw in the Soar. The right hand-side covers what is known about the stone coffin but concludes that ‘This particular coffin, although fascinating in its own right, is unlikely to be that of a king’. 11

Media Retrospective

From Geoffrey Wheeler famous letter with Richard’s postscript I Never Knew That About England, Christo- (written from Lincoln) denouncing the duke, pher Winn (Ebury Press 2008) once erroneously labelled as being his death In this ‘compendium of facts and anecdotes’, warrant. many of which the author admits in his Pref- Finally, the brief history of Ludlow Castle ace ‘are not eternal truths, but have only been (p. 195) recounts that it was the ‘home of handed down through time, sometimes by three Princes’: Henry VII’s Prince Arthur, word of mouth. Details can vary according to and ‘the Princes in the Tower’, Edward and different sources, but the essential substance his brother, Richard, Duke of York, who and essence remains’, every one of the refer- ‘lived most of their short lives here’ until the ences to Richard III, apart from his birth date death of their father in 1483, a continuously- at Fotheringhay (p. 166), has superfluous ad- repeated assertion that has appeared in both ditions which render them even more inaccu- castle guides and annual festival literature rate and incredible. since at least the 1960s. After it re-surfaced Among the church ruins at Eastwell is yet again this year, it is to be hoped that our said to be the ‘rough marble tomb’ (actually former Secretary Jane Trump’s polite letter to modern brick) of Richard Plantagenet, and in the authorities, pointing out the inaccuracy, the summary of the familiar legend he is tak- will have some effect in the future. After all, en to Bosworth and brought before the king, they had only to take note of the scenes in the who is ‘dressed in fine armour, drinking at a Shakespeare productions they stage, where, stone well’ (p. 126). However, the cairn was for once, he got his facts right, and shows not constructed over the spring until 1813. York with his mother in sanctuary at West- (Details concerning this, and some twenty minster. other Bosworth ‘legends’, which originally appeared in an A3 news-sheet published by From Geoffrey Wheeler the Battlefield Centre, have recently been 50 Things You Need to Know About British scrutinised and revised by John Ashdown-Hill History, Hugh Williams (Collins 2008) and myself, and the reprinted version should Doubtless we should be grateful that, with the be available next season.) The entry in Win- whole spectrum of British history to cover, n’s book for Leicester records Richard’s stay the author (who also devised the TV series of at the Blue Boar, and the Bow Bridge inci- the same name for The History Channel) dents, where apparently ‘After the battle his chose to devote Chapter 2 (pp. 88-93) to the dead body was indeed dragged back over the Battle of Bosworth, though this is summarily bridge, where it hung from the parapet for dealt with in less than a page. As for the inev- two days before being buried at Greyfriars itable ‘Ricardian contention’, he writes: Church. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries ‘There is no absolute evidence for the murder (it) ‘was dug up and flung into the river, but of the princes. In 1951 the writer Josephine his bones were later recovered and buried Tey wrote a novel called The Daughter of somewhere near Bow Bridge’ (p. 138). Obvi- Time in which her detective hero set out to ously the Society’s 2005 plaque should now prove that the real villain of the piece was not rectify this garbled version of events. Richard III but his successor, Henry VII. The ‘Angel Inn’ (recte ‘Angel and Royal’) Winston Churchill disagreed, and in A Histo- at Grantham, we read, was ‘visited by King ry of the English-Speaking Peoples he re- John and later Richard III, who sentenced the marked, “It will take many ingenious books Duke of Buckingham to death here’. (p. to raise this issue to the dignity of a historical 144). A perennially favourite error, arising controversy”. His dismissal of Josephine out of the display there of a facsimile of the Tey’s theory did just that. The mystery of the 12

princes is, and will remain, a historical mys- Herods Herod’. Admittedly, he is forced to tery.’ And later he reiterates, ‘Josephine conclude, ‘Some historians believe the chron- Tey’s detective comes to the conclusion that iclers may have exaggerated Richard’s de- Henry VII was a more likely murderer of the formities, but it says much about his reputa- princes than Richard III’. However, the rest of tion that it is the nervy and sinister hunchback the text dealing with the period shows little portrayed in Shakespeare’s Richard III that awareness of other recent revisionist opinions subsequent generations have come to know’ – on certain topics. The ‘Red Rose’ of Lancas- his only concession to any revisionist sympa- ter and the ‘Wars of the Roses’ are re- thies. rehearsed, Henry fines Oxford for his liveried The account of the reign is in a similar retainers and ‘Morton’s Fork’ is still attribut- vein: ‘Richard III was the hunchbacked ed to the cardinal, both of which first origi- usurper whose infamous murder of two inno- nate in Bacon’s Life of Henry VII (see S.B. cent children, one of them the rightful king of Chrimes, Henry VII (Eyre Methuen 1972, p. England, tainted the very throne he coveted, 190 n. 2 and p. 203, n. 6). and brought about his own destruction’. Needless to say, he believes the execution of From Geoffrey Wheeler Clarence in 1478 was also ‘possibly at Rich- Monsters – History’s Most Evil Men and ard’s behest’; then, ‘in 1483, in perhaps the Women, Simon Sebag-Montefiore (London most cold-blooded coup d’état in English 2008) history, he kidnapped and slaughtered his Lest anyone should be complacent about Les- own nephews, ensuring he will be remem- ley Boatwright’s assertion in the last Bulletin bered by generations of Englishmen for his that ‘the Society is getting its message across grotesque and pitiless ambition. Richard ini- loud and clear’ (p. 10), the appearance of this tially claimed he had secured the two boys for book a few weeks later should be a warning their own protection, and on specious charges that this may not be the case. Here Richard is ordered the execution of those previously in good company with other medieval notori- entrusted with their care. ... After quashing a eties, King John, Vlad the Impaler, Gilles de brief uprising against him he was crowned Rais, and, perhaps surprisingly, Richard II. Richard III at Westminster Abbey on 6 July The publisher’s blurb reveals that the author 1483. To secure his position Richard seized (born 1965) ‘read History at Gonville and and brutally murdered several barons who Caius College, Cambridge’, where evidently might oppose his accession. He was acutely the traditional views of Rous, More, Gairdner aware, however, that as long as they lived his et al. were still very much in evidence. His two nephews would pose a serious threat to earlier books, mainly on Russian history, are his rule, so it must have surprised no-one ‘world-wide best-sellers, published in 34 lan- when, in the summer of 1483, both boys were guages’, whilst the companion volume, ‘101 declared missing. That Richard murdered the World Heroes (2007) appeared in 10 lan- princes was accepted as true during his reign guages’, so this account is guaranteed maxi- and regarded with horror even in those brutal mum exposure. Accompanied by the NPG times.’ portrait (captioned ‘by an unknown 15th- century artist’ (a minor error compared to the A review by Jane Trump has now been posted rest), the unbelievably hostile text over two on Amazon’s website. Eds. pages can be characterised by his description From Geoff Wheeler of the king’s appearance. ‘For contemporary Otherwise Engaged: the life of Alan Bates, chroniclers, deformity was sign [sic] of an Donald Spoto (Hutchinson 2007), p. 97 evil character and Richard’s actions in 1483 As part of the preparation for playing Richard evoked the image of the startlingly ugly crea- III (Canada 1967) the actor apparently ture they described: buck teeth, excessive ‘visited the National Portrait Gallery in Lon- body hair from birth, a crooked back, with- don to gaze at the paintings [sic] of Richard: ered arm and haggard face’ which surely ‘out- “the face is like granite – but it’s not an evil

face. In the context of his own times he prob- called ‘The Impostor’ is devoted to the Battle ably had his virtues”.’ of Stoke and it seems a pretty fair account. Fort feels that the boy at the battle was of From Carrie Mcdowell, Isle of Wight royal blood – either Warwick or York – and ‘History’s Greatest Spinners’, Daily Express, was quickly disposed of and the fake boy then 18 November 2008 substituted to defeat any further trouble in This piece was subtitled, ‘This week’s revela- support of such a pretender. He even names tion that Henry VIII lied about the sinking of Robert Bellingham as the man carrying out the Mary Rose to preserve the nation’s morale the substitution; noting that he is named as is another example of how the truth has al- the man who captured the boy at the battle, ways been manipulated by our leaders’, and and who shortly afterwards escaped punish- contains the following paragraph: ‘It was the ment for serious crimes (the prosecution of- Tudors, who grabbed the English Crown at fered no evidence in a case of abduction and the battle of Bosworth in 1485, who took assault) and was made a royal bailiff. spin-doctoring to new levels of political geni- us. The rightful King they overthrew, Richard From Elisabeth Sjöberg III, was posthumously portrayed without any Car registration spotted in Pimlico RIII DAS. evidence beyond the circumstantial as the Does this car belong to a member? murderer of the young Princes in the Tower From Geoff Wheeler & Marilyn Garrabet as well as an evil hunchback.’ The Times, 13 December 2008: ‘Love affair From Bill Featherstone with the past’: review by Sarah Vine of A The Donor is the newsletter of the Blood Do- Secret Alchemy by Emma Darwin nation Service, and their winter 2008 edition ‘Anyone can dust down a set of fusty old had an article called ‘Blood Facts’ full of his- names, chuck in a few mead-fuelled brawls ... torical snippets, including ‘Then there’s the and be done with it. It takes real skill ... to Bloody Tower, part of the Tower of London. bring characters blurred by the passage of Here traitors were held before execution and time into focus ...’ the two little princes, sons of Edward IV, The book is about three main characters, were supposed to have been murdered and Elizabeth Woodville, her brother Antony, and buried.’ Hard to tease out the meaning of that, a modern historian named Una. Sarah Vine the English is so garbled? remarks that ‘for the historical novelist, this The winter 2008 edition of the Leicester- period is a gift, for its enduring mysteries shire Magazine contained a feature on Market (‘did Richard really have the boys put to Bosworth. It has a couple of interesting para- death?’) and immortal cultural legacy. ‘Her graphs: ‘Looking out over the countryside characters emerge from the rough marble of towards Ambion Hill, it is all too easy to im- time into beautifully rounded, polished fig- agine the scene 523 years ago, where hun- ures. It takes a while for the reader to get to dreds were slaughtered, including, of course, know them; but when you do, ... you feel the much maligned King Richard III. their fates all the more acutely.’ Such a scene is too much for many history enthusiasts and wannabe soldier schoolboys From Sue and Dave Wells & others to resist, with the result that many turn off left BBC Channel 2, ‘University Challenge’, 12 towards the assumed battlefield site before January 2008 reaching Market Bosworth …”. The key Question: ‘Prince Richard of Gloucester is the words are obviously maligned and assumed! patron of a Society established to restore the Finally, a recently published book by reputation of, and named after, which fif- Tom Fort called Downstream is the account teenth-century king?’ of the author’s walk and punt from source to The students from Manchester University, mouth of the River Trent. It is so full of despite being from the other side of the Pen- south-of-Watford bias and angst that I would nines, got the answer right. not recommend it to anyone, but Chapter 16

News and Reviews

Plans for a Ricardian Church in York The redundant church of St Martin cum Gregory, tucked away at the east end of Micklegate, is one of York’s lesser-known Ricardian churches. Mentioned in Domesday, the church is dedicated to St Martin of Tours and in the Middle Ages was owned by the nearby Holy Trinity Priory. Marked for demolition in 1548, the building was saved due to a petition raised by the parishion- ers and as a result became amalgamated with the parish of St Gregory. Richard of Gloucester became a patron of St Martin’s in 1476 and it was presumably in acknowledgement of his patronage that his boar cognisance was chosen to decorate the stained glass of the church. Fortunately for Ricardians, a portion of this glass escaped Henry Tudor’s attempts to eliminate all record of his predecessor and it can still be seen, nestled in a jumble of medieval stained glass in the south aisle of the church. Now deconsecrated, St Martin’s has lain unused for some time. However, it is now at the heart of exciting new plans to transform it into a centre for the creation and preservation of stained glass. The Stained Glass Trust will aim to provide workshops and demonstrations for visitors as well as permanent displays on the craft of stained glass making. In addition, they plan to stage lectures and courses in order to bring the skills and beauty of the craft to the attention of the general public. This is welcome news and it will be wonderful to see this church, once patronised by Richard, in use again for the benefit of the city as well as for history and stained glass enthusiasts from further afield. Details of the proposals and information on how to support the project can be found at www.stainedglasscentre.org.uk Wendy Johnson

Richard on the Screen …hopefully, if all plans go well! After the decades of Tudor dramas on screens, both large and small, it would appear that the emphasis is now moving to other areas of history. Recently it was reported that there were three movies either under way or in the pipeline featuring William of Normandy and now it may be Richard’s turn. I can report that there are three features on Richard in various stages of planning. One is a documentary being commissioned by the National Geographic/Discovery Television Channel of Canada which is ‘Richard and the Princes in the Tower’. This is to be one of a dozen episodes in a new series termed ‘Great Historical Mysteries’, covering a wide range of subjects and ages from ancient Egypt through to recent times. The series, as its title suggests, looks at the historical mysteries which have endured through the ages. The interesting point about this series is that in meeting representatives of the production company it was stated that the National Geo- graphic would not put its name to anything that was not thoroughly researched beforehand so hopefully this will be both a serious and interesting episode on Richard. The Society was contact- ed by the channel for assistance in providing contacts with both historians and academics special- ising in this period. As reported in the winter 2007 Bulletin, (p. 20), the second feature, also aimed at television, is a drama script written by one of our members involved in the television industry, Philippa Lang- ley from Edinburgh. Philippa has written a script for a three part drama for the BBC, in which it is hoped that the actor Richard Armitage, who recently starred in the BBC spy hit series ‘Spooks’, will feature as Richard. I understand that the script is with the BBC production department and Philippa continues to make the case for its production. 15

The third feature is aimed at the big screen. One of our members, Alexandra Syson, who has in her time been a screen actress but who has now been a script writer for the movie industry for some time, has procured the screen rights from author Sharon K. Penman’s novel The Sunne in Splendour. Alexandra, who has lived in London, New York and Los Angeles, has written a script based on the novel, and is now in the process of ‘going the rounds’ to locate the large amount of finance that it will take to produce this film. Alexandra reports that the script has been read by Shakespearian actor Kenneth Branagh and is awaiting a reaction. It has also been reported that the major American actor Al Pacino, star of the Godfather, rated as one of the best all time film series ever made, had said that he would like to portray Richard in a film. This would, of course, be his second appearance as the king, the first being in Looking for Richard (1996). Let’s hope that Alexandra can make this film happen. The most important point about these three proposed productions is that the script writers/producers involved are adamant that the productions will be factual and not changed for the sake of entertainment. Richard Van Allen

History Matters? Apparently Not … … according to the latest Government announcements that traditional subjects such as history and geography will be scrapped in a radical overhaul of primary education. Under this plan, theme-based lessons on topics including healthy living and the environment will be introduced, alongside more time for children to play. The plan comes amid growing evidence that progress in raising standards in the ‘Three Rs’ has stalled. One in five 11-year-olds leaves primary school unable to read, write and add up properly despite billions spent on education over the last decade. The current primary curriculum based on ten subjects will be replaced by what are described as six new learning areas, including understanding English, communication and languages technology, plus personal, social and health education. The Conservatives condemned the plan and warned that abandoning traditional subjects such as history and science would undermine educa- tional standards. Interestingly historian Andrew Roberts took up the challenge in an article in the Sunday Times magazine this weekend with the comment ‘If you scoff at history the whole of life be- comes a mystery’. He went on to quote the great eighteenth-century historian Edward Gibbon, who said that ‘History is little more than the register of crimes, follies and misfortunes of man- kind’. In order to avoid making the same mistakes as were made in the past, people must first know about it. A good working knowledge of history allows people to make more informed choices and where they want their country to go. That is why it is so depressing that, overall, Britons are becoming progressively worse informed about their history. Andrew Roberts went on to say that recent surveys tells us that 45% of Britons associate nothing with the word ‘Auschwitz’ and that vast numbers primarily associate ‘Churchill’ with a talking dog in an insurance advert. He went on to say that in another survey 70% of 11-to-18 year olds did not know that Nelson’s flagship at the battle of Trafalgar was called HMS Victory. One in seven adults thought that the Battle of Hastings was a fictional event and nearly a third of those teenagers who knew that it did really take place thought Oliver Cromwell was involved. It sounds as if it is going to be much harder in the future to talk to people about Richard III. How sad is that! Which leads me on to…. Richard Van Allen

The Indoctrination Game Historian Anthony Beevor wrote a fascinating article in a recent issue of the Sunday Times magazine entitled ‘The Indoctrination Game’, in which he said that in the West we tend to assume that the greatest threats to democracy and liberty come from the outside. We think of totalitarian sys- 16

tems of the last century and of fundamentalist terrorism of today, but what we fail to recognise is the viral strain that has developed out of our own entertainment industries. He makes the point that over the past dozen years or so television and movie-makers have managed to blur the border between fact and fiction to an unprecedented degree. They pretend that their film is based on a true story, with every device possible from computer-generated im- agery to place names and dates thrown on to the screen to suspend the disbelief of historically- illiterate audiences. Alarmingly, he says, the new technology has coincided with a dramatic growth in conspiracy theories. The author Damian Thompson has labelled this phenomenon ‘counterknowledge’. This, he says, includes the propagation of totally false legends, for example the many ‘conspiracy theories’ in existence. Examples of counterknowledge include the notion that Aids was created in a CIA laboratory, that Princess Diana was murdered by the Secret Intelligence Service and that the 9/11 attack on New York was orchestrated by the Bush administration. This problem is also ex- acerbated by the use of the internet from which hundreds of millions of people gain their knowledge. Dubbed the ‘Wikipedia age’, this is a notion that any individual has the right to correct or change the truth according to their own beliefs. Recent studies of internet sites reveal an unholy alliance between 9/11 conspiracy theorists, Holocaust deniers and Islamic fundamental- ists. Anthony Beevor concludes that it should be the duty of not just every scientist and historian, but also of every writer, movie-maker, TV producer and ordinary citizen to fight all attempts to exploit the ignorance and gullibility of audiences. Hear, hear! Richard Van Allen

The National Trust’s York Gaffe In an article entitled ‘Wonderwall’, about the city of York, published in The National Trust Magazine, spring 2009, author Vicky Sartain wrote: ‘Richard III’s bloody antics have been recounted by Shakespeare, as well as in the mocking nursery rhyme “The Grand Old Duke of York”. Some say the wicked king’s body now lies under a city car park.’ A number of indignant Ricardians have drawn our attention to this garbled paragraph, but our new secretaries were the first. They and Phil Stone created a stern letter in reply, pointing out that Shakespeare was not writing history, that the city of York placed on public record its sadness at Richard’s death, that ‘the Grand Old Duke of York’ is the son of George III, and that the car park under which Richard might or might not be buried is in Leicester. Two members have sent us copies of the protests they sent to the National Trust about this article. Mary Elliott commented, ‘The article about the city of York induced me to throw the of- fending publication across the room ... incorrect information should not be passed on as fact’. Dr M.A. Clark wrote, ‘Vicky Sartain ... has committed a couple of historical howlers ... [she] may be confusing [Richard’s] burial with Dick Turpin’s, in the same paragraph; all kinds of tales are told about his remains!’ It will be interesting to see which, if any, rebuttal the NT Magazine prints in its next issue. Editors

Another Biography on Richard Members may be aware that a new biography of Richard III has been written by Ann Kettle and published by Routlege at £56. ($80 in the States). It came out in the UK in February. I have learnt from the publishers that, if we wait, it will be released as a paperback, probably in December, 2009, for £14.99.

Meet the Herald: An interview with Dr Clive Cheesman, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant

r Cheesman met us outside the gates of that there is no fixed method. Nowadays most D the College of Arms in Queen Victoria new appointees have an arts degree and a Street, not only because we merited special professional background of some kind, for consideration (!) but because, as he explained, example as barristers, before they come to the Princess Anne had that morning arrived at the College, thus giving them a useful area of College rather unexpectedly and it would be expertise to use in their practice. Sometimes easier for him to meet us and take us into the sixth formers come as part of a work experi- College by a side door than to make us run ence opportunity or students do temporary the gauntlet of the security checks in place. work after graduation and in both cases can He led us up the staircase to his rooms, show- go on to become probationers at the College. ing us on the way the splendid cartoon of However, for anyone hoping to work at the their Founder, reproduced opposite. College a keen interest in heraldry and gene- Welcoming us into his rooms, Dr Chees- alogy is essential. man sat us down, made us cups of coffee and On appointment to the College as a full invited our questions. Having seen the picture member the new herald is given a room or set of the College Founder the obvious first ques- of rooms. These are completely empty and tion was what did he think of having Richard have to be furnished and provided with equip- III as their founder? The answer was rather ment and books for use in the practice by unexpected, that he felt it was more interest- each new herald. All full members of the Col- ing to have someone who is ambivalent in his lege, four pursuivants, six heralds and three status, thought by some to be a tyrant but by kings of arms, are members of the Royal others to be a hero, than to have someone Household and undertake very occasional unequivocally good or bad. It was like the duties relating to this, such as attendance at situation of many cities in the ancient world, the opening of Parliament and the annual ser- whose founders were reputed – rightly or vice of the Order of the Garter at Windsor. wrongly – to have been ambiguous figures, They wear the Court uniform on formal occa- cunning or physically disabled or both. How- sions; this consists of a red ‘coatee’ (a close- ever Dr Cheesman told us he was rather fitting jacket with tails) with some gold em- proud that the first Rouge Dragon Pursuivant broidery on the chest, cuffs and tails, and dark was appointed by Henry VII on 29 October trousers with gold piping on the sides. Over 1485, the eve of his coronation. His title is this they wear their elaborate tabards when thus the only one in the College with a clear carrying out official duties. Dr Cheesman foundation date. showed us his Court uniform; the tabards are We next asked how someone could be- stored in St James’ Palace when not in use. come a herald or pursuivant. The answer is Each herald takes it in turns to act as Of-

This splendid drawing is by John Bainbridge. It hangs in the College of Arms and is a representation of the Laurence Olivier stereotype of Richard III. He is holding the College of Arms in the post-1666 form in his hand, and it was drawn for the quincentenary in 1984 of the founding of the College by Richard. It appears here by courtesy of the Kings, Heralds and Pursuivants of Arms.

ficer in Waiting in the College for one week are because heraldry developed for military at a time and when on duty they deal with purposes and the helmet (on top of which the enquirers and with letters or phone enquiries. crest is shown) was felt to be inappropriate These enquirers become the client of the her- for women. However, married women show ald concerned who receives any fees for work their arms on shields and there are plenty of carried out. As officers of the Royal House- historical examples of spinsters doing the hold they do receive salaries but these are same. Things do change in heraldry, and from very low; they were reduced by William IV time to time the senior heralds or kings of and have never been increased. As Rouge arms issue rulings adjusting the details of Dragon Pursuivant Dr Cheesman receives questions like this. £13.95 per year. Because of these low salaries Dr Cheesman thought that the College of each herald has for centuries carried out gene- Arms still had a part to play in the modern alogical research for private clients. They do world and could have a more important part. not usually carry out basic family history en- He thought that the College could encourage quiries nowadays, since these can be easily a greater use of heraldry in the corporate carried out on line and do not need special world as an expression of the firm’s corporate expertise, but undertake more advanced en- identity. The colours and design of the usual quiries. Direct consultation of the records by corporate logo are totally fixed whereas there the public does not take place, but anyone is much more flexibility in the use of a coat of with a scholarly reason to consult a particular arms and badge which, within the terms of the manuscript (and there are many that are of grant, can always be redrawn to suit twenty- great antiquarian interest, not necessarily first century ideas. In a different area, the forming part of the official records) may do College had a role to play in such things as so in the College’s student room on payment peerage inheritance; now that this is not regu- of a small daily fee. lated by the House of Lords, a ‘roll of the Grants of arms may be applied for by any- peerage’ is maintained and this would soon be one who is a citizen of the UK or of any hosted and publicly available on the College realm recognising the Queen as sovereign. website. Honorary grants are made to US citizens but There was much else that we could have it is always emphasised that these have no talked about but we felt that we had taken up legal status in the USA. Grants can be made enough of Dr Cheesman’s time. Before we to women and have been for many centuries. left, though, he showed us the College Rec- The use of arms by women is complex; arms ords room and some of the records that it con- are inherited by the male and female descend- tains. ants of the original grantee but a woman can pass her paternal arms to her descendants (Members who would like to know more only if she has no brothers, or her brothers about the College of Arms should go to their leave no surviving issue. An unmarried wom- web site www.college-of-arms.gov.uk) an can use arms but would normally display them on a lozenge and traditionally never Clive was interviewed by Peter and displays her family’s crest. These restrictions Carolyn Hammond.

Caption Competition Winner

The winner is Joan Cooksley for:

‘You wait all your life for a damsel in distress, then three come along at once!’

Well done, Joan, this certainly amused the Bulletin committee!

Proceedings of the Triennial Conference 2008. Part 4: The Remains

This section almost concludes the publication of the talks given at the triennial conference held at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester in April 2008. By necessity they have, of course, been summarised. In the summer Bulletin there will be Sean Cunningham’s talk on Henry VII and as part of our series on the first Tudor king, Jennie Powys-Lybbe will be writing about Mar- garet Beaufort based on her contribution to the debate held at the end of the conference.

The Other Bones

PETER HAMMOND

he bones now in Westminster Abbey, covery although since the bones were found T discovered in 1674, are well known to in a room it could just be a very garbled ver- all members of the Society, but there were sion of either of the next two accounts. apparently other bones said to have been The first of these is found in Ralph found in the Tower at various times. There Brooke’s Catalogue of the Kings of England, are four of these other sets of bones, all have published first in 1622. It may be a version of been mentioned and described at various Buck’s bones (Brooke and Buck certainly times and all were discovered in the seven- knew each other), although it is not very like teenth century or, in one case, possibly in the it. Brooke has a muddled account of how the late sixteenth century. There are considerable bones of the two Princes had been found resemblances between them and one, the one ‘mured up’ under a ‘heap of stones and rub- made it is said about 1647, has some plausi- bish’. This is reminiscent of the discovery of ble-sounding names as witnesses of the dis- 1674 but the reference to ‘mured up’ sounds covery. It seemed possible that this one would as if the bones were found walled up in a be worth investigating room somewhere. Brooke was York Herald Chronologically an account of these four and could have heard of this discovery sets of bones starts with some described by through his office. George Buck in his History of King Richard The next discovery was not published III. This was written in 1619 and revised in until 1680 but appears to refer to a time late 1620 (although not first published until 1646) in Queen Elizabeth’s or early in King James’s and apparently not long before the date of reign. It appears in a book by one Lewis Au- writing some bones, ‘like to those of a child’ brey de Maurier published in 1680. The book were found in one of the high turrets of the relates that De Maurier’s father had been told Tower. They were first of all inevitably iden- by Prince Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Or- tified as one of the Princes but afterwards ange, that ‘in Queen Elizabeth’s time’ two were dismissed as probably those of one of skeletons were found, on a bed, on opening a the apes from the Tower zoo who had walled up chamber. These skeletons were climbed up and died there. This may very thought (of course) to be those of the Princes well have been the case and no further refer- and the Queen ordered the room to be closed ence appears to have been made to this dis- again. However the Prince went on to say that 21

he had been told that later the chamber had fictitious account. Considerable work was been opened again and the King of England carried out on the King’s Lodgings under had ordered that the bones be buried in West- Henry VIII, so it might have been expected minster Abbey. This last fact cannot have that these bones would be discovered then, come from either De Maurier the elder or although since the Lodgings were not rebuilt Prince Maurice (who died in 1625), but must then scope is left for mysterious bricked-up have come from De Maurier the younger, and rooms to have existed. Much construction and be a recollection of the recent events in 1678 reconstruction work was carried out in vari- when the 1674 bones were installed in the ous places in the Tower under the early Stu- Abbey. However, the rest of the story could arts so those works would provide opportuni- have been related to Prince Maurice before he ties to find this room. died, and sounds very like the story told by Thus since it appears that the place of Brooke. It does seem rather unlikely that discovery is not impossible John Webb’s ap- there were two rooms in the Tower with skel- parently plausible account can be looked at to etons in. see if all of the witnesses mentioned in it Finally there remains the fourth of the sets could have been in or around the Tower in the of bones. The description of this discovery first half of the seventeenth century at about was quoted by Tanner and Wright in 1934 the same time, the time. that is. when Lord and initially in Notes and Queries in 1889. It Grey of Wilton and Sir Walter Raleigh were comes originally from the fly leaf of a copy of there. Lord Grey took part in the Bye plot to Thomas More’s Richard III dating from 1641. replace James I by Arabella Stuart and for It contains more detail than either Brooke’s this was imprisoned in the Tower from July and De Maurier’s and it seemed possible that 1603 until he died in July 1614. Sir Walter following up these details might show that the Raleigh was imprisoned in the Tower in July account was based in fact. 1603 and released in 1616. These bones were The passage quoted by Tanner and Wright thus apparently found at some point in the begins as follows ‘August the 17th 1647. Mr years 1603 to 1614. Johnson a Counsellor son of Sir Robert John- Next we have ‘Mr Johnson, a Counsellor son affirmed to me and others when in Com- son’ of Sir Robert Johnson. Sir Robert was an pany that when the Lord Grey of Wilton and MP for Monmouth Boroughs and, more im- Sir Walter Raleigh were prisoners in the Tow- portantly here, Clerk of Deliveries of the Ord- er the wall of the passage to the King’s Lodg- nance from July 1602 to (probably) 1618. The ings there sounding hollow ...’ and goes on to Board of Ordnance was housed in the Tower. describe the finding of the bones of two chil- Sir Robert died in 1625. In 1604 a Robert dren of six or eight years old in a hidden Johnson, probably his eldest son, was made room. All present thought them to be the joint Clerk with him. Robert the younger died bones of the Princes. The passage goes on to before 1606 and in 1618 two other Johnsons, say that the Mr Johnson mentioned was an probably Sir Robert's younger sons, Edward eyewitness of the discovery, together with a and Henry, were made joint Clerks. They Mr Palmer and Mr Henry Cogan, who were remained in office until 1640. Either of these officers of the mint. The whole is signed Jo. could be the ‘Mr Johnson’ referred to and Webb who says that he had discussed this either could reasonably be expected to be with the three witnesses. regularly in or about the Tower. The passage is accompanied by a small The next two witnesses of this ‘discovery’ plan (reproduced in Tanner and Wright’s arti- were Mr Palmer and Mr Cogan. Mr Palmer cle) and although there is no way to check its must be Andrew Palmer, son of an Andrew accuracy since we have no plans of the Palmer who was a goldsmith, an MP, briefly King’s Lodgings the plan does add a degree Chamberlain of London and Comptroller of of verisimilitude to the whole thing, since it the Mint. As with the Board of Ordnance, the seems unlikely that anyone would go to the Mint was housed in the Tower. Palmer the length of inventing a plan to go with a wholly elder obtained for his son the post of joint

Assay Master of the mint in 1628, although it nesses to this discovery we have a group of appears that he had occupied lesser posts at high officials, all working in the Tower of the Mint before this. Palmer the younger was London, all of whom must have known each removed from his post by Parliament, togeth- other, speaking to an architect with reason to er with most of the old officials at the Mint, in frequent the same place and who would have 1649. He probably died in 1658. The other known them all. It thus seems likely that in witness was Henry Cogan. He was also an this account of the discovery of some bones official of the Mint, being appointed comp- there is a very strong possibility that this story troller in 1627 although as with Palmer he of 1647 is true and that two skeletons were had probably occupied lesser posts before found in a bricked up room in the Tower of this. He too was ousted from his post in 1649. London, in about 1610, some 60 years before He died in 1655. the bones said to have been found in 1674. Last of all there is John Webb, the man Both of these sets of bones could conceivably signing the report. He is a well known archi- be the same set of bones. Perhaps all of those tect, living from 1611 to 1672. In 1628 he discussed here were in fact the same. There became a pupil of Inigo Jones and was close- cannot have been that many bones hidden in ly involved with Jones’s work as Surveyor of rooms in the Tower. the King’s Works. He was thus certainly a person to be interested and involved in archi- tectural work at the Tower and to discuss it Reading list with others. He married a kinswoman of Lawrence Tanner and William Wright, Jones and was left a large legacy and the bulk ‘Recent Investigations regarding the Fate of of Jones’s manuscripts. Webb was a Somerset the Princes in the Tower’, Archaeologia, vol. man, as was, it seems, Henry Cogan, and 84, 1935, pp. 1-26. Cogan was one of the overseers of Jones's ‘Skeletons of the Two Murdered Princes’, will. Notes and Queries, 7th Series, vol. 8, 1889, It therefore appears that in the named wit- pp. 361-362, 497.

The Remains in the Urn – Who were they?

BILL WHITE

round the year 2000 there was an have been the Princes. The investigation A online petition, not sanctioned by the would then stop at that point, with no further Richard III Society – despite appearances – concern about the fate of the bones. This to secure a new examination of the bones in approach was most unsatisfactory. If a sec- the urn in Westminster Abbey, given the ond investigation of the bones is permitted, major flaws of the 1933 investigation by positive statements about the deceased, who- Lawrence Tanner and Professor Wright of ever they were, would help to justify disturb- the bones, found in 1674, and promising to ing them. bring to bear the manifest new techniques Under different circumstances the bones that had arisen in the interim. However, the examined in 1933 would warrant no great thrust was one of dismissal, seeking merely attention today. The description of the con- to disprove the conclusions of the earlier tents of the urn, comprising a mixture of study. It was anticipated that the application human and animal bones, wood, building of radiocarbon dating would show that the materials and metal objects, reveals nothing human remains were too early in date to more remarkable than the sort of undistin- 23

cant overlap.3 Wright claimed support for his age estimate for the older child by looking at the extent of fusion of the bones of certain parts of the skeleton. Thus, the unfused state of the odontoid process of the axis was taken to show that the child had not yet reached the age of 13 (consistent with the age of Edward V in 1483) and this was corroborated by the incomplete fusion of the laminae of the first sacral vertebra. In fact, modern research shows that these two bones show the requisite fusion by the age of guished disarticulated material to be seen 12 (odontoid process) and between 7 and 15 today in environmental samples from many years (laminae).4 Taken together, these obser- an archaeological excavation in London. Re- vations instead would permit a revised con- grettably, the disarticulated nature and under- clusion that this child had died aged under 12 documented provenance of the urn contents years of age, which makes no sense with re- did not deter the inexperienced team 75 years gard to the traditional identification of this ago, who instead drew the unjustified, much- individual as Edward V. criticised but far-reaching conclusion that the Furthermore, recognition that the growth traditional story, as told by Thomas More, of earlier peoples during childhood lagged was correct in its main outlines.1 behind modern experience does not resolve Professor Wright, the anatomist, had sort- the problem that the children were rather ed the human bones into two separate but short to have been of the ages calculated by incomplete skeletons of juveniles based simp- Wright, as the gap in age between the two ly upon size criteria. No attempt was made to children is much closer to two years than the determine the Minimum Number of Individu- three-year difference required for the brothers als present (MNI), as would be done by mod- Edward and Richard.5 Theya Molleson was ern forensic specialists. It is surprising that bothered that the younger child was rather too this simplistic estimate has been seriously tall to have been Richard, Duke of York, at challenged only once.2 Wright’s pre-judged the age of 10; instead the child appeared to be and over-simplified approach was to cause of a size corresponding to that of a medieval unforeseen problems. Among them, certain child aged between 11 years 6 months and 14 anomalies in the estimation of the ages the years.6 Close inspection shows that the leg children were at the time of death are best bones attributed to the younger child are re- resolved by assuming that the bones represent sponsible for the age disparity, whereas the the co-mingled remains of more than two arm bone lengths are more consistent with the individuals. child’s age as indicated from the dental age The dental evidence for ageing remains quoted. These inconsistencies could be re- the strongest part of the traditional case but solved by concluding that the older (now old- no longer is compelling. The ages of children est?) child has the most complete skeleton but based on their teeth bear a degree of impreci- that the younger (youngest?) child is repre- sion, so that the older child could have been sented at most by a torso and skull fragments. of any age from 11 to 14 years at death and Thus, the remaining bones (the other leg the younger from 7 to 12 years, with a signifi- bones, the contentious axis and its associated

atlas and sacrum) could be held to belong to a the nature of the disease shown in the lower third (or fourth) child. In other words the jaw concerned.12 Thus, Wright described it as MNI figure (above) would be three and not osteitis (infection and inflammation of the two as presumed originally. The question as bone). Dr Lynne-Pirkis, the anatomist who to how many juvenile individuals are repre- advised Paul Murray Kendall, diagnosed oste- sented by the bones in the urn could finally be omyelitis (i.e. bone marrow inflammation), solved during a fresh examination. but was uncertain whether the condition was Theya Molleson used a different approach terminal. Hargreaves and MacLeod (1994) to Wright, utilising tooth development rather consider other diagnoses including a cyst than simple eruption, so that if two children (‘Stafne Defect’), scurvy and also, interest- can be correctly identified the mostly likely ingly, the consequence of dental surgery – time of death was not the summer of 1483 but with the left lower wisdom tooth being delib- almost a year later. Peter Hammond in a letter erately removed, rather than being congenital- to The Times in May 1987 brought up the ly absent in the first place (thus further under- folly of relying on the Great Chronicle, with mining the case for consanguinity). They then its erroneous entries, to support death in consider ‘Histiocytosis X’, an ill-understood 1484.7 suite of progressive diseases that may prove The evidence for family relationship be- fatal, which the photograph and X-ray are tween the children via missing teeth is pro- said to resemble. Unfortunately, Histiocytosis foundly undermined if the younger X should affect other bones in the skeleton, (youngest?) child lost its milk molar early in whereas Wright’s report suggests not. This life, just as Anne Mowbray had.8 The study of diversity of diagnosis and prognosis empha- Anne Mowbray and her congenitally missing sises that in a fresh investigation it will be teeth (anodontia) broached the subject of a necessary to look again at all the surviving close family relationship with the Princes bones in the urn in order to attempt a differen- because the older (oldest?) of the children tial diagnosis of the disease most evident in found in the urn also showed anodontia. the jaw. Molleson’s unhelpful view was that it result- Ancient DNA analysis (aDNA) potentially ed from common descent from Edward III.9 is capable of establishing sex from pre- However, it has been reiterated that if one pubertal bones. Furthermore, the quaint theo- concentrated on Anne Mowbray’s mother’s ry of the late Jack Leslau, that two sons of ancestry her ‘anodontia’ was shared with Edward IV outlived Richard III and were someone closer in Anne’s direct line of de- brought up in Sir Thomas More’s household, scent, viz her maternal grandfather Sir John could be tested via aDNA. Leslau was far- Talbot.10 sighted in that he began to plan a programme At this point in the 1933 report, the lack of of judicious exhumations of relatives of the comment upon sex ought to be seen as a fail- Princes for the authentication of their remains ing. Wright seems to have regarded them as by comparison of the DNA in their bones. boys from the outset. Molleson in quoting the Unfortunately he died before the first steps familial studies of teeth and their absence could be accomplished. If we look ahead in- showed that congenital absence of permanent stead to aDNA analysis of the bones in the teeth occurred in only 3.1% of boys but in urn, it may first be used in attempts to demon- 5.7% of girls. That is, girls are twice more strate kinship between the deceased and then likely to have teeth missing congenitally, yet to exhibit a family relationship with selected the obvious conclusion that the older child historical persons. therefore is more likely to have been a girl Another technique that has come to the than a boy has rarely been drawn.11 fore in the last 20 years is analysis of bone for The evidence for serious illness in the stable isotopes. Thus, the ratios of carbon older child has caused difficulties because of isotopes in human bone can provide evidence the primitive nature of the published X-rays, on vegetables consumed in the diet. Simulta- with modern pathologists unable to agree on neous analysis of the nitrogen isotopes can

give information on the type of protein con- the Princes in the Tower’ Archaeologia, 84, sumed, whether vegetable protein, meat or (1935) pp. 1-26. fish and if fish, whether marine or freshwater. 2. Philip Lindsay, On some bones in Westmin- If the remains in the urn are properly identi- ster Abbey, Ivor Nicolson & Watson (1933), fied then the bones as those of royalty are p. 36. likely to produce a dietary signal with a high 3. D. Hetherington, ‘Dental evidence’ Herit- animal protein level. If the deceased are from age Today (March 1998), p. 56. any other period or walk of life the diet will 4. Louise Scheuer and Susan Black, Develop- probably tend to be more diverse but less rich. mental Juvenile Osteology, Academic Press, Isotope analysis can also shed light on (2000), pp. 200 and 207. geographical origins, via the proportions of 5. Peter Hammond and William White, ‘The isotopes of oxygen, strontium and lead pre- Sons of Edward IV: a re-examination of the sent in the tooth enamel. The analytical re- evidence on their deaths and on the Bones in sults are typical of the water and geological Westminster Abbey’, in P.W. Hammond background of a person’s early years of life, (ed.), Loyalty, Lordship and the Law, Richard while the tooth enamel was forming. Thus, it III Society (1986), pp. 121-170, (especially is known that Edward V spent ten years of his pp. 148-9). short life in Ludlow, whereas his brother 6. Theya Molleson, ‘Anne Mowbray and the Richard rarely ventured outside of London. Princes in the Tower: a study in identity’, Thus, if correctly identified, this crucial dif- London Archaeologist, 5, (Spring 1987), pp. ference in upbringing should be immediately 258-262. demonstrable by the chemical analysis of the 7.Elizabeth Longford (ed), The Oxford Book tooth enamel. of Royal Anecdotes, OUP: Oxford, (1989), These latest scientific tests (carbon dating, pp. 181-5. DNA analysis and stable isotope analysis) are 8. Martin Rushton, ‘The teeth of Anne Mow- capable of building up a complex picture of bray’, British Dental Journal, 119, (1965), the deceased, with regard to state of health, pp. 355-9. place of residence, socio-economic status, 9. Theya Molleson, ‘Anne Mowbray and the etc., whoever they were. Even if actual names skeletons in the Tower’, in P. Bahn (ed.), cannot be applied to the skeletal remains, Written in Bones: how human remains unlock much of a positive nature could be adduced the secrets of the dead, David and Charles, during a fresh investigation that is not limited (2002), pp. 151-4. to a sterile attempt to confirm or refute their 10. John Ashdown-Hill, ‘Make no bones traditional ascription. But what should be the about it’, Heritage Today, (June 1998), p. 56; fate of these children once they are shown not Hammond and Wright, pp. 158-9. to have the traditional identities? For exam- 11. Hammond and White, pp. 159-60. ple, if radiocarbon dating shows them to have 12. N.H. Bramwell and R.W. Byard, ‘The been of Romano-British or earlier date they Bones in the Abbey: are they the murdered have no place in St Peter’s at all. If one looks princes?’, American Journal of Forensic at the Natural History Museum one finds that Medicine, 10, (1989), pp. 83-7; A.S. Har- the forged remains of ‘Piltdown Man’ are greaves and R.I. MacLeod, ‘Did Edward V carefully preserved in a safe. Several muse- suffer from Histiocytosis X?’, Journal of the ums would vie for the privilege of caring for Royal Society of Medicine, 87, (1994), pp. 98- the remains of ‘The Princes’, such is the im- 101. portance that they have acquired in English history. Glossary Atlas: first spinal bone. Notes Axis: the bone on which the head turns. 1. Lawrence Tanner and William Wright, Sacral vertebra: one of the lower vertebra. ‘Recent investigations regarding the fate of Sacrum: this bone is in the pelvis.

Henry VII 1485-1509: A Retrospective on the Quincentenary of his Death: Part One

nniversaries have always been dear to the hearts of Ricardians and 26 years ago saw the A Society celebrating the quincentenary of the accession of Richard III to the throne of Eng- land. The celebrations continued for two years until the quincentenary of the usurpation of Rich- ard’s throne by the invader, Henry Tudor. Those members who recall those golden years will now have witnessed the same passing of time for Richard’s successor who died on 21 April 1509. It therefore seems appropriate to mark the passing of the first Tudor king with a series of articles throughout the 2009 issues of the Bulletin. We begin with a look at the opposition to the rule of the Tudor invader. The first article examines the very early activities against Tudor and was written by the late Bill Hampton and first published in The Ricardian in December 1976 and included in the re-publication of the early Ricardian articles in Crown and People (1985). This article stands the test of time and as many members of the Society have joined since this time the Bulletin team felt it was worth repeating. A second part in June will cover later opposition which shows that for the majority of his tenure as king of England ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’ seems a fitting epitaph for Henry Tudor though Shakespeare had another king in mind when he wrote these words. David Baldwin will contribute an article about Henry’s wife, Elizabeth of York, and their relationship. This will be followed by a paper from Jennie Powys-Lybbe on the activities of Mar- garet Beaufort during the reign of King Richard when she actively promoted the interests of her son which culminated in his invasion in August 1483. This will be an expanded version of Jen- nie’s talk at the triennial conference at Cirencester in April 2008 and will conclude the Proceed- ings of that event. And of course, it should not be forgotten that Margaret Beaufort only outlived her son by a mere two months and 2009 also sees the quincentenary of her demise. Finally we hope to examine the differences, or similarities, between the reigns of King Richard and King Henry. The image of Henry Tudor and his mother, shown above, was painted by Gerry Hitch, as was the picture of King Richard on page 33, and both are used in the Bosworth Portal.

Opposition to Henry Tudor After Bosworth

BILL HAMPTON

lthough several historians maintain that England quickly accepted the verdict of Bosworth A as that of trial by battle, there is in fact much evidence of unrest immediately after Bos- worth, and continuing until, and after, Stoke Field. Let us briefly examine some of the evidence. In September 1485 Robert Throckmorton was appointed Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leices- tershire (Richard’s Sheriff, Richard Boughton, having been killed on his way to Bosworth – per- 27

haps in resisting Henry’s forward troops, or perhaps through treachery – an incident strangely ignored) and was replaced in November. He petitioned for a pardon of fines and arrears touching his office, ‘which sheriffwik your said liege occupied but by space of one month or full little more, and in which time of occupation was within this your realm such rebellion and trouble, and your lawes not stablysshed’ that he could not execute his office to the King’s profit.1 We have Henry’s own testimony. On 17 October 1485, he wrote to Henry Vernon of Haddon (one of Richard’s Esquires of the Body) telling of his ‘knowledge that certeyne our rebelles and traitours being of litell honour or substance confedered with our auncient ennemyes the Scottes (against their allegiance, etc.) … made insurreccion and assemblies in the north portions of our realme, taking Robin of Riddesdale, Jack St Thomalyn at Lath, and Maister Mendall for their capteyns, entending if they be of power the fynall and abversion … of our realme’. Vernon was urged to come with his attendance and assistance in all haste, the letter being under the King’s sign manu- al2. Such pseudonyms as ‘Maister Mendall’ and Robin of Redesdale’ must have seemed to Henry ominously reminiscent of the forces which overthrew Edward in 1469-70. Was Sir John Conyers involved? Lathes, in the Cleveland district of the North Riding of Yorkshire, was held by Sir John’s son, Henry. John Thomlynson (whose sister was married to Edmund, son of Miles Metcalfe) was a beneficiary in the will of Sir John’s brother, Christopher, all of which could point to Sir John and his widely spread and influential family. On 25 September Sir John had been one of those ordered to array troops in the north to resist the Scots, with Lord Strange’s forces available if required. Until pardoned in August 1486, a group of Richard’s supporters, escaped from Bosworth – Harringtons, Huddlestons, Middletons, Frankes – remained unsubdued on ‘Furneys Fells’. Chris- topher Urswick was sent to James Harrington and others in Hornby Castle, with letters under the Privy Seal, and Milo Childe was sent not only to Sir Richard Tunstall (who was early reconciled to the new order) but to Richard Duckett of Gilthwayterigg, Westmorland, father-in-law of Ralph Brackenbury, Sir Robert’s nephew and heir male’.3 Several of the Furness Fell ‘rebels’ died at Stoke Field. Edward Franke survived and continued to work against Henry, until 1489, when he was reported to have been hanged – or beheaded, according to another report – on Tower Hill.4 After Bosworth Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was captured and imprisoned. Soon after 6 December 1485, he was released, and immediately sent to the North by Henry Tudor, who was reluctantly forced to employ him there because of the inability of Lords Strange and Fitz- hugh to subdue English rebels who had encouraged the King of Scots to besiege Berwick. Ber- wick was relieved, but resistance continued west of the Pennines’.5 One would like to know if the death, on 28 March 1486, of Lovell’s brother-in-law, Sir Brian Stapleton, was connected with these Spring insurrections, which culminated in an attempt by Lovell to seize Henry VII at York. On that occasion Henry Percy is said to have personally saved the King’s life, on St George’s Day.6 During the King’s visit the Earl of Lincoln was reported as wanting to go ‘over the walls’ to join Robin of Redesdale. Among those willing to assist Lincoln was Sir Thomas Mauleverer, a former retainer of Richard III, who had made him a knight ban- neret in Scotland, in 1482. The rebellion of Humphrey Stafford, his brother Thomas and their adherents Giles and Chris- topher Wellesbourne, may have been less political than part of the struggle for the inheritance of Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon, and a continuation of the feud with the Harcourts. Giles had married the widow of John Harcourt, her daughter Margery being married to Humphrey Welles- bourne. Yet the Staffords were sheltered by John Sante, Abbot of Abingdon, friend of Lovell and of Edward Franke. In February 1486, Henry VII sent his uncle, Jasper Tudor, into Wales ‘to se that country’,7 Not even in Wales was Henry’s rule everywhere welcome. On 14 October 1486, the keeping of a warren and lands in Marcle ‘alias Markeley’, and property in Stretton, Herefs., were granted to Thomas Acton. These had been seized into the King’s hands by reason of the rebellion of Thomas Hunteley ‘and his adherence to the rebels of Wales’.8 A brief mention may also be made of Lords Scrope of Bolton and of Masham who in June

1487 made an attack on York. They were imprisoned until 1488 when they were required to remain within a twenty mile radius of London. There was the Northumbrian, James Lilbourne, who was arrested but escaped early in 1487, and there was also Sir Henry Bodrugan who put up some resistance in Cornwall. All of these ‘rebels’, we may note, opposed Henry Tudor’s regime in the eighteen months between Bosworth and Stoke Field. The resistance did not end there.

Notes and References 1. William Campbell (ed.), Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry VII, Rolls Series, Vol. 1. (London 1873), pp. 282-3. 2. Henry Kirke, Sir Henry Vernon of Haddon, Journals of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, Vol. 42, (1920, p. 12. 3. Materials … Vol. 2, (London 1877), pp. 98, 100. 4. Plumpton Correspondence, ed. T. Stapleton, Camden Society, (London 1839), letter lxxi, p. 87, citing Collectanea Lelandi, Vol. 4. 5. M.A. Hicks, ‘Dynastic Change and Northern Society’, Northern History, Vol. 14, (1975), pp. 93-3, 96-7 where Dr Hicks also examines the rebellions of 1485, 1486 and 1487, observing that Robin of Redesdale was also involved in Viscount Lovell’s insurrections in the Ripon and Mid- dleham areas in 1486. 6. Edward Harrington Fontblanque, The Annals of the House of Percy, Vol. 1, (1887), p. 300, citing Drake’s Eboracum. 7. Plumpton Correspondence, p. 50. 8. CFR 1485-1509, pp. 60-1.

Booking Form

‘Mary Rose’

16 May 2009

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Living the History: A Re-enactor’s Experience of the 15th Century: Part 1

HELEN COX

This article is part of our occasional series on the theme of living history. Helen is Secretary of Towton Battlefield Society’s in-house re-enactment group, The Frei Compagnie. Some of you may have met Helen at the 2008 York AGM and Members’ Day or enjoyed her talk at the York Study Weekend in 2007.

rior to joining Towton Battlefield Socie- Archery P ty in 2004, I knew very little about the I was initially drawn into Wars of the Roses fascinating, fulfilling, (also expensive and, re-enactment by the longbow. Modern high- arguably, madly eccentric), lifestyle hobby tech archery with its cantilevered, carbon- that is historical re-enactment. Now, as a fibre, telescopically-sighted bows leaves me comparatively seasoned ‘campaigner’, I’d cold; but the longbow – that’s a different mat- like to share something of what I’ve learnt, ter. I’d nurtured Robin Hood fantasies – who through this two-part article on aspects of hasn’t? – since I was a child, and consequent- King Richard’s age as experienced by some- ly was delighted to find that, in accordance one who enjoys ‘living the history’. with an un-repealed medieval statute, TBS

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encourages its members to practise traditional thentic needle bodkins and barbed arrows are archery skills. only used for show ’n tell – they’re just too As soon as I tried it, I was hooked. Shoot- dangerous for shooting). ing the longbow is a simple, accessible way Before too long I became a reasonably of connecting directly with the medieval ex- competent shot – if you pass by the Crooked perience (all males over the age of 7 were Billet near Towton on the third Sunday of the required to practise at the butts; many females month, you may see us practising in the field. probably did too, for sport, hunting and home Then the lure of being able to take part in defence). An English longbow is a living, ‘battles’ and shoot at live human targets organic, beautiful thing; its wood responds to turned me from a ‘civilian’ TBS member into the temperature and humidity of the environ- a re-enactor. (Of course, we only use rubber- ment; like an athlete’s muscles, it needs headed arrows in battle re-enactments; do ‘warming up’; it is powerful, graceful – and they still hurt when they hit you? You bet!) deadly. So the next step was acquiring a costume… I found it profoundly exciting to develop proficiency with the weapon that won us Ag- Dressing the Part incourt, contributed to the Yorkist victory at Looking right is a painstaking business. Seri- Towton and made the English medieval army ous re-enactors try to be as authentic as prac- such a force to be reckoned with. Archery is a tically possible; this means avoiding synthetic very Zen pastime, a great field sport that can fabrics and excessively bright modern dyes in be enjoyed just as much either solo, practising favour of natural wools, linens and leather in against oneself, or in company. My first long- colours and styles that would have been bow was a composite of hickory and lemon- known in the fifteenth century. Luckily there wood, purchased for £120, and to go with it I are hundreds of sources – illuminated manu- acquired that archer’s essential, the leather scripts, formal portraits, stained-glass win- wrist bracer, to protect my inner forearm from dows, tomb effigies, church brasses and so painful bowstring recoil (if you ever try forth – that clearly show what medieval cos- shooting without one, you quickly understand tume looked like, what it was made of and how necessary this is). Shortly afterwards I how the garments were worn. My first cos- was lucky enough to find a classic ‘knobbly tume was a basic man’s outfit bought from stick’ of yew (which is hard to come by these fellow re-enactors: a linen-lined, woollen days – you can’t get wood of the right quality, livery coat in the Yorkist colours of azure and and most modern yew staves are imported murrey (blue and mulberry red) and a pair of from Europe) with a draw weight of 45lb at brown woollen hose, with pointy-toed black full draw. This is very lightweight by medie- leather boots which I found at a specialist val standards –fifteenth-century war bows market and a leather belt and azure-and- were made of yew or ash, with a draw weight murrey livery cap I made for myself. Soon I’d of 100-120lb, giving a range of some 300 added to it with a linen shirt, linen-lined red yards. My yew bow cost £350, but it was woollen doublet and leather pouch; then a worth every penny – it’s a joy to shoot, being linen under-shift, woollen kirtle and linen wonderfully springy and pliable, unlike ash, ‘tailed’ cap, to give me the choice of being which I find has a much stiffer feel. I also male or female on events. obtained a sheaf of arrows of traditional de- The basic wardrobe can then be extended sign with shafts of cedar (not used in the fif- ad infinitum, depending on one’s craft skills teenth century) or ash, horn inserts to and purse. Garments and accessories of all strengthen the nocks, and real goose feathers kinds can be bought from re-enactment mar- for the fletchings; they have modern competi- kets and specialist suppliers, or made at home tion points because replica medieval arrow- using the re-enactors’ ‘Bible’, The Medieval heads would soon slice our straw butts to Tailor’s Assistant. Ideally, everything should pieces – but they still make a lovely whistling be put together by hand, and the fabrics dyed sound as they fly through the air. (Our au- with natural vegetable dyes, although for the

sake of cost and practicality, compromises are can be a distasteful experience. Finally, alt- often made – for instance, seams can be ma- hough (with the exception of body-linens) our chine-stitched and the visible finishing-off costumes are very seldom washed, being nat- done by hand. So, thanks to re-enactment, ural, breathable fabrics they seem to remain I’ve rediscovered the art of hand-sewing and remarkably un-smelly even after a long hot made a few simple garments – and having summer of re-enacting! Maybe our ancestors equipped myself with a set of replica medie- were not as offensive to the nose as we often val brass needles and pins, wooden thread think… bobbins, shears instead of scissors and an And although it’s great fun to swan open-topped thimble, I can sit and sew on around in medieval finery, in the real fif- events in perfectly authentic fashion. A useful teenth-century world there would have been complementary skill I’ve also learnt is how to few (if any) fine ladies on the average battle- make the laces commonly used for fastenings field – while there may well have been sol- (e.g. tying the doublet to the hose, or lacing dier’s wives, female members of gun crews, the kirtle): the quickest and easiest method is cooks, nurses, seamstresses and tarts. Hence finger-weaving, akin to knitting a row of a most of the costume (both male and female) single stitch using one’s index fingers as nee- I’ve made or bought falls into the category of dles. This produces a strong, decorative lace ‘respectable working class’. I chose this de- which is finished at either end by stitching on liberately to reflect the role I most often play a brass point so that it can be easily threaded on events: wife of a captain of archers with a through the eyelet holes on a garment. small business of her own (clothing repairs, What has replica costume taught me about making livery badges); this allows me to en- the fifteenth century? I’ve come to appreciate gage realistically in the pursuits I most enjoy that clothes, even the simplest, were valuable on re-enactments – such as campfire cookery, commodities in the days when every single of which more in Part 2. component had to be hand-woven, dyed and assembled; we modern peacocks probably have far larger wardrobes than our medieval Further Reading: counterparts, apart from the wealthiest. That Longbow, Robert Hardy, Patrick Stephens they’re amazingly comfortable, practical and Ltd., 2005 flattering to a wide range of figures; to my Medieval Costume in England and France, eye at least, the re-enactors are a much more Mary G. Houston, Dover Publications Inc., aesthetically appealing lot than the mass of 1996 garish, synthetically-shell-suited crowds, and The Medieval Tailor’s Assistant, Sarah Thurs- resuming modern garb at the end of an event field, Ruth Bean Publishers, 2001

Ancient and Medieval History Books (c. 4500 B.C. - c. 1550 A.D.)

For a catalogue of second hand fact and fiction, Please send SAE to: Karen Miller Church Farm Cottage, Church Lane, Kirklington, Nottinghamshire NG22 8NA

The Man Himself

THE BOSWORTH PORTAL

WENDY MOORHEN

The Bosworth Portal is a joint project between the Society and the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre and Country Park to provide visitors to the Centre with more information about King Richard. It has given the Society a unique opportunity to tell his story to a wide audience. The Centre, recipients of Lottery funding, has re-invented itself with a new exhibition and other facilities. The Society’s portal, sited in the main ticket office, will significantly raise the profile of Richard, and of the Society.

he project, known as the Bosworth Por- the opening screens show the Society of Anti- T tal, was the result of discussions be- quaries portrait of Richard which is used on tween our PR Officer, Richard Van Allen, the front cover of the Bulletin, on our bro- and his then opposite number at the Bosworth chure and on the home page of the website. Battlefield Heritage Centre, in the summer of With the artwork in place I then had to 2007, which gave the Society the opportunity look at the text and quickly found it far easier to provide information on King Richard to to write more words than fewer. So to tell complement the new exhibition that was be- Richard’s story succinctly was another chal- ing built. It was eventually agreed that this lenge and I am very grateful for the collabora- would take the form of a PC programme us- tion with John Saunders and the useful coming a touch screen so that visitors could select ments from Peter Hammond and Lesley Boat- what aspects of the story appealed to them. wright – my usual dream team. Richard handed over the project to Neil So, what will visitors learn about King Trump, for the technical part, and to myself to Richard? Obviously we wanted to give a posi- provide the content. This was obviously a tive image without dwelling on the ‘crimes’ wonderful opportunity but where to begin? attributed to him and by simply taking the The structure of the programme was brain- story of King Richard as it happened, without stormed with Jane Trump and we came up hindsight from Tudor detractors, it all came with the idea of presenting Richard at various together quite easily. points in his career. The first challenge, how- We have presented four aspects of Rich- ever, was to make this visually interesting as ard, as a soldier, as a duke, as a king and as an a screen just displaying text would not attract uncle. Visitors can click on any of these sub- too much attention. We decided to have illus- jects to learn more. trations on every page and we easily identi- Richard the Soldier covers the four major fied our artists. Graham Turner is well known campaigns he was involved in, namely the to the Society for his superb medieval paint- battles of Barnet, Tewkesbury, the Scottish ings and, generous as always, he agreed that campaign and, of course, Bosworth. we could use some of his work. Our own The section entitled Richard the Duke ex- Geoff Wheeler was an obvious second candi- amines his activities as the Lord of the North, date and Geoff produced some wonderful art- where he lived, his family life and his illegiti- work for the project. Finally we agreed on mate children. Geoff and Gerry produced a Gerry Hitch, who although better known for stunning series of images for the castles and his sculptures of Richard III, is no mean art- perhaps the most endearing image is of Rich- ist. To provide consistency with our ‘brand’, ard, Anne and their son in an imaginary scene 33

at Aysgarth Falls, simply relaxing and having The content was scrutinised by Leicester- fun as a family. shire County Council staff and management Richard as King inevitably looks at the of the Centre, who after a few very minor circumstances under which he took the throne changes, were pleased to agree the pro- and then moves on to his Progress which end- gramme. ed in York and the autumn rebellion. An im- Despite the uncertainty of the actual site portant section is Richard as a lawmaker of the battle of Bosworth, the Centre is proba- where visitors will learn that on the first day bly unique in the UK in terms of commemo- of his reign in 1483 he instructed judges and rating a battle and attracts thousands of visi- lawyers to dispense justice fairly to all regard- tors each year with the battlefield trail, special less of wealth or position and the section clos- events, exhibition and reconstructed medieval es with the activities of Margaret Beaufort, village, all supported by excellent catering the Stanleys and Henry Tudor in the summer facilities and well-stocked shop. They have of 1485 which led to Richard’s downfall. received the status of museum and have a Finally the thorny issue of the Princes is special area where artefacts can be displayed examined under Richard the Uncle. The use in a secure environment. The Centre has a of the Tower as a lodging for the young Ed- strong ethos of ‘entertaining whilst educating’ ward V is put into context and mention is and they offer a wide range of programmes, made that the Bloody Tower was still known many hands-on, to educate schoolchildren as the Garden Tower until at least the middle and students. It is this audience in particular of the sixteenth century. The Princes are in- that we hope will enjoy our portal and learn troduced to the visitors and their disappear- about the real King Richard. ance recounted. Finally the question is raised The Centre has its own website at if they died or survived and the claims of the www.bosworthbattlefield.com pretenders are examined.

A SELECTION OF SCREENS FROM THE PORTAL

William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon: A Biography: Part 2

SARAH SICKELS

ith the restoration of Edward IV to the lowing days. After Buckingham’s rebellion W throne in April of 1471, William Her- and execution in the autumn of 1483, Herbert bert spent much of the 1470s governing was given back the title of chief justice of Wales as Justice and Chamberlain of South Wales which his father had held, making Wales. He was present in France when Ed- clear that he was becoming a powerful lord in ward IV was attempting to make peace during the regime of Richard III (although he never his war in July of 1475, and though the ma- did receive the earldom of Pembroke back). It jority of lords supported peace it is possible was crucial to Richard to have loyal men such that he supported the continuation of fighting as Herbert controlling Wales, as this region as he seems to have been close to the duke of was of Tudor sentiment and would probably Gloucester. In 1476, his wife Mary gave birth side with the usurper should he launch an to their only living child Elizabeth. However, attack. by 1479 at the age of 30 William Herbert was In the spring of 1484 Herbert, aged 33, a widower; a great blow to his status with the became even closer to Richard III by marry- royal family. Perhaps because of this or being his illegitimate daughter Dame Katherine cause the king thought it would be tidier Her- Plantagenet. Very little is known about Dame bert was persuaded to resign his title of earl of Katherine; it is said that her mother may have Pembroke in favour of the Prince of Wales, also been named Katherine but no one is sure and in return was created earl of Huntingdon if she was a full sister to Richard’s other ille- with lands in Somerset. gitimate child, John of Gloucester, or even It was probably this action that caused where or when she was born. It is likely that Herbert to resent the growing Wydeville pow- she was no younger than ten years of age at er in Wales; he felt that his father’s closeness the time (putting her birth year at 1474) as it to Edward IV had not in fact paid off and that is generally accepted that Richard was faith- the upstart Wydevilles were an ominous dan- ful to Anne Neville throughout their marriage. ger. One can assume that he was not opposed It is also probable that she was no more than to Richard’s actions in 1483 that led to his eighteen years old as Richard himself was accession to the throne, as Richard aimed only 32 in 1484 (making her birth year 1466, hugely to decrease the power the Wydevilles when Richard was 14). Dame Katherine was had over the realm. Herbert developed a rela- probably in her mid-teens when she married tively strong relationship to King Richard III, Herbert as this was a common age for young becoming one of Richard’s important sup- women to be married in the fifteenth century. porters as he tried to solidify his power across Katherine and Herbert made a marriage the nation. Herbert was present in York in covenant on 29 February 1484 in London, early September 1483 for Edward of Middle- where, ‘the said erle promiseth and graunteth ham’s investiture as Prince of Wales, and was to our said souverain lord, that before the fast probably with the royal family during the of St Michael next commying by God’s grace celebrations that took place there in the fol- he shall take to wiff Dame Katerine Plantage- 35

net.1 In this covenant, Herbert agreed to march through Wales unopposed. On 22 Sep- make a jointure in lands of £200 per year to tember 1486 he was pardoned of, ‘all fines, Dame Katherine, and Richard agreed to pay issues, forfeit, and accounts due from him’5, for the wedding and to give them manors, which further secured his stable position un- lordships, lands, and tenements in the value of der the new ruling dynasty. It is believed that £1000; some of these lands came directly his wife Katherine had died by 25 November from Buckingham and Lord Stanley after 1487, as at the coronation of Elizabeth of Buckingham’s rebellion the year before. In York he was listed among the guests who addition, Richard also agreed to an annuity of were known to be widowers. He had no living £152 10s. 10d. from issues in Carmarthen, children by his second wife, and did not mar- Cardigan, and Haverford West. These were ry again for the rest of his life. Because of granted to the couple on 3 March 1484. It is this, his position as earl of Huntingdon was assumed by many that Dame Katherine and affirmed by Henry VII on 17 May 1488: he Herbert married before May 1484 as Richard may have feared that the death of his wife granted manors in Cornwall, Somerset, and made his position precarious in the new Tu- Devon to Herbert and Katherine later in dor regime. His final years appeared to have March, and because the official documents of been relatively quiet compared to the years he the various money and land grants began to spent with the House of York, and he seems refer to ‘William Erle of Huntingdon and to have had a cordial relationship with King Katheryn his wif.’2 Henry VII. There is no indication that he was Despite his relationship to the king, Wil- part of any of the rebellions which plagued liam Herbert was not present at the Battle of the early years of Henry VII’s reign; he was Bosworth. Some sources, such as A.J Pol- probably trying to stay out of sight as many lard,3 report that he was unable to make it to Yorkists were being targeted by the king so the battle in time, but others say he was per- that he might solidify his undoubtedly uncer- suaded by his supporters not to oppose Tudor, tain claim to the English throne. due to the closeness the two had as youths. William Herbert, earl of Huntingdon, died Herbert did hold Carmarthen and Brecon in on 16 July 1491 at the age of 40. The earldom the summer of 1485, and thus did hinder Hen- of Huntingdon became extinct and he was ry Tudor’s movements in Wales; rather than succeeded in his barony of Herbert by his travel south-east, the hope of the House of daughter Elizabeth, who eventually married Lancaster was forced to go north through Charles Somerset, the first earl of Worcester, Powys before reaching England. Little is in 1492 at the age of 18. Elizabeth’s only son known of Herbert’s reaction to the usurpation was Henry Somerset, second earl of Worces- of Richard III’s throne; he may have been ter, who in 1514 became known as Lord Her- torn due to his closeness to Richard as his bert. None of his descendants ever received son-in-law while at the same time having the earldom of Pembroke that had so briefly been close to Henry Tudor who spent nine been a part of the family’s holdings, but years of his young life with Herbert at Rag- George, Lord Hastings, the second husband lan. It is generally accepted that William Her- of Walter Herbert’s wife, eventually received bert simply, ‘said nothing and lay low’4 dur- the earldom of Huntingdon on 8 December ing this time of political uncertainty. 1529. Whatever his reaction to the result of the Overall, William Herbert was a man Battle of Bosworth Field, Herbert did retain whose entire life had been intimately en- his title of earl of Huntingdon under Henry twined with the twisting fates of the Wars of VII and appears to have suffered no ill effects the Roses, and who, despite the rapidly from the change of dynasty. He did not, how- changing political winds, managed to sustain ever, receive any major benefits from the his titles and maintain a relatively secure life change of regime either, unlike his brother Sir during this great time of upheaval in medieval Walter who was highly praised by Henry Tu- England. dor for his role in allowing the usurper to

Notes 4. L.T. Greensmith in Helen Maurer, ‘Further 1. P.W. Hammond and Anne F. Sutton, Rich- Notes on William Herbert, Earl of Hunting- ard III, The Road to Bosworth Field don’, The Ricardian vol. IV (1977) p. 9. (Constable, 1985), pp.167-68. 5. Cal. Pat. Rolls 1485-1494, p. 141, in Helen 2. Harleian MS 433, vol. 1, p. 269. Maurer, ‘Further Notes on William Herbert, 3. A.J. Pollard, Richard III and the Princes in Earl of Huntingdon’, The Ricardian, vol. IV the Tower (St Martin’s Press, 1991), p. 171. (1977), p. 10.

Tying Up Loose Ends In Research

TONI MOUNT

t last, I believe I am reaching the end of mal way of things. However, if one humour A my current research into the Physician’s became too excessive, with the humours total- Handbook, MS.8004, dated to 1454, at the ly out of balance, the individual would fall ill. Wellcome Library in London. I am now well Sometimes this could be remedied by diet – into my third and final year of part time study an excess of cold, moist phlegm could be for my MPhil by Research with the Universi- reduced by eating spicy red meat; a feverish ty of Kent. I think I know the manuscript excess of blood could be aided by eating pretty well by now but, in order to set it something cool and refreshing. Thus far, you properly into the context of fifteenth-century can probably see the logic in this but, if a medicine, I’m still searching out similar and change of diet wasn’t sufficient to cure the related texts. problem, bleeding was the next stage. MS.8004 has two full-colour, full-page There was some disagreement even at the miniatures – yes, even big images were still time on whereabouts on the body the incision called ‘miniatures’, nothing to do with size, should be made, if it should be made at all. the word comes from ‘minium’, the Latin for Children under twelve, pregnant women and the red lead used in the coloured inks. One frail elderly folk should never be bled. As for miniature is of a Vein Man, showing the sur- the rest, it depended on the phase of the geon where on the body to make his incisions moon, the date the patient first fell ill, and in order to bleed the patient for various ail- which star sign governed the part afflicted – ments; and a Zodiac Man that shows which Pisces ruled the feet, Gemini the arms, Aries astrological sign ‘governs’ which part of the the head, etc. Some thought if the right side of body. My supervisor suggested I find versions the body was problematical then blood, con- of these images in other manuscripts in order taining all the unbalanced humours, should be to make comparisons. drawn from the right to remove them. Others Medieval physicians believed that good disagreed, thinking this would only serve to health was a matter of keeping the body in a attract more unbalanced humours to that area state of balance. It was understood that man’s and it was better to draw them away from the body consisted of four humours: blood, affliction by bleeding from the left side. Yet phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, all com- others believed the matter was decided by bining to produce an individual’s complexion. whether the illness was acute or chronic, A man in whom blood was the predominant though which was which still depended on humour would be of a sanguine nature; more which text you chose to read. phlegm made him phlegmatic; yellow bile Looking for other examples of Vein Men made him choleric and black bile made him and Zodiac Men, I found an almanac, about melancholy, and this was reckoned the nor- the size of a spectacle case, at the Wellcome 37

Library, WMS.40. If you like, you can view it summaries, the Vein Man and the Zodiac on the Internet at: Man – all vital for correct diagnosis, progno- http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus. sis and treatment. The writing is small – the Although the catalogue description says ‘late physician would need good eyesight to read 14th century’, it is actually dated 1463. The it, though spectacles to aid the longsighted almanac is a miracle of origami in vellum and magnifying glasses had been available consisting of seven sheets of ‘A4’ parchment, since the late thirteenth century. each folded in half and then twice more the Finding little gems like WMS.40 is one of other way to produce the ‘spectacle case’ the best things about research, knowing this shape and size. Each folio sheet was then small almanac was carried around, hanging given a vellum hinge and they were all sewn from the belt of a fifteenth century physician. together in a parchment cover designed to be They say ‘walls have ears’. If only books had attached by a cord to a belt. This meant the tongues, I wonder what this almanac could almanac would always be handy for refer- tell us of its owner’s practice, his patients and ence. his travels? WMS.40 contains all the calendar infor- Now all I have to do is write it all up. mation for 1461-1481 and the phases of the Wish me luck. moon, along with various useful medical AND HAPPY RESEARCHING…

Branch and Group Contacts Update

Please see the autumn Bulletin for a full listing

Queensland Branch Contact details for this branch are the same as the New South Wales Branch: Julia Redlich, 53 Cammeray Towers, 55 Carter St, NSW, 2062, Australia. Email: [email protected]

Yorkshire Branch Pauline Harrison Pogmore, 169 Albert Rd, Sheffield S8 9QX Tel: 0114 258 6097. Email: [email protected]

Sussex Group Robert Parson, 403 Mile Oak Rd, Portslade-by-Sea, BN41 2RD Tel: 01273 413696

Forget-Me-Not Books

Out of print and second hand history books, fact and fiction

For my new spring catalogue please contact: Judith Ridley 11 Tamarisk Rise, Wokingham Berkshire RG40 1WG Email: [email protected]

The Crime Of Eleanor Kechen

LESLEY BOATWRIGHT

n the winter 2008 issue of the Bulletin more. Today we may consider the theft of I there was an article by David Baldwin something worth a shilling (5p) ‘minor’, but summarising the talk he gave at the Triennial fifteenth-century law did not agree. The say- Conference in April that year, in which he put ing ‘I might as well be hanged for a sheep as forward the theory that Richard, Duke of for a lamb’ arose from this stern fact: a small York and younger son of Edward IV, became theft got you hanged, so you might as well Richard Plantagenet, a bricklayer who commit a large one. claimed to be an illegitimate son of Richard In the second place, royal pardons for fel- III, and died at Eastwell, Kent, in 1550. This ony were part of the regular machinery of idea was the theme of his book The Lost justice. If you offended the king by being Prince, published by Sutton Publishing in sexually involved with a potential claimant to 2007. the throne, that was not a felony, just a piece Part of his argument involved a widow of of stupidity. You might get pushed down- Colchester named Eleanor Kechen, or Kitch- stairs, or a dagger in the ribs, but you could en, ‘huswyf’, who received a royal pardon in not be indicted for it as a felony in a court of February 1491 ‘for offences before 18 De- law. And a royal pardon for felony was grant- cember last, provided that she find security ed only to someone found guilty of that felo- not to go at large during the rest of her life, ny by a jury in a court of law, or who had but remain in the custody of her parents or confessed it. nearest kinfolks’. Baldwin says, ‘Eleanor had A person accused of felony would have clearly offended the Crown in some way or been committed to the local gaol by local she would not have needed a royal pardon, justices of the peace to await trial. The JPs but the conditions attached to it were quite could try felonies themselves after committal remarkable. ... Any prospect of re-marriage but left difficult cases to the judges of the was apparently to be denied her, and she was bench, or to the justices of assize or gaol de- to be supervised by members of her own fam- livery, who came round twice a year to try the ily in what can only be described as a state of prisoners awaiting trial.1 The justices would perpetual house imprisonment. This does not include prominent men of the county as well suggest that she had committed some minor, as national figures (who might in fact not all everyday felony ...’ and he goes on to specu- attend). late that Eleanor had ‘acquired some Some of these gaol delivery cases may be knowledge or information that touched the found in the records of the King’s Bench at king personally’. He then speculates further The National Archives: the original indict- that young Richard of York had fallen for ments and any writs removing the case to Eleanor ‘and the possibility that he might Westminster in the Ancient Indictments series secretly marry her and sire children would (KB 9), the official trial records in the plea have rung alarm bells all over Westminster’. rolls (KB 27), and the king’s attorney’s notes Very romantic. But it didn’t happen that in the Controlment Rolls (KB 29). way. From these records it was not difficult to In the first place, in the fifteenth century find out what Eleanor Kechen had really been there were no ‘minor, everyday felonies’. If accused of. you were convicted of a felony, you were She had, with others, feloniously exer- executed. Felonies ranged from homicide to cised the art of multiplication (felonice exer- the theft of an article worth one shilling or cuer[unt] artem multiplicandi, in the Latin). 39

She had made and uttered counterfeit coins. peace of the lord king. And that the same El- Not only was this a felony, it was also eanor Kechen and others on the first day of petty treason, in that it involved counterfeit- the month of September in the fifth year of ing the king’s portrait – and not only was it the reign of King Henry VII [(Wednesday) 1 punishable by death, it was punishable by a September 1489] at Colchester aforesaid nastier form of death. A man found guilty of falsely, feloniously and treasonably made and petty treason would be drawn and hanged, fabricated five hundred pence of false money and a woman burnt at the stake. in the likeness of good and legal money of The main document recording Eleanor’s England from the aforesaid false and forged trial is KB 27/919, the record of King’s silver and one hundred pieces of gold called Bench business at Westminster in the Easter half angels from the aforesaid false and Term 6 Henry VII (1491). It is in Latin, on m. forged gold ... And that the same Eleanor 2 of the Rex section (the criminal cases), and Kechen [and others] on the fourth day of the is actually a record of the occasion [Friday 22 same month of September in the year afore- April 1491] when Eleanor showed her pardon said [(Saturday) 4 September 1489] at Col- to the justices and was released, but it con- chester aforesaid feloniously and treasonably tains a narrative of her trial, which had taken uttered and paid over the same forged and place at Braintree on 27 April 1490. You will false pence and angels to various unknown recognise the names of some of the justices lieges of the said lord king, against the crown, who heard Eleanor’s original case. Here is a dignity and peace of the said lord king.’ translation of the relevant parts. The document then says that Eleanor was ‘Delivery of the gaol of the lord king of brought to court at Braintree on Tuesday 27 his castle of Colchester, made at Braintree April 1490 by John Boteler, esquire, the sher- before John, Earl of Oxford, Sir Thomas iff of Essex. She pleaded not guilty, so faced Montgomery, Sir Thomas Tyrell, Thomas a jury trial on the same day. Heigham, Richard Heigham, Roger Philpot, ‘And the jurors of the aforesaid jury, John Brewode and Robert Plomer, Justices of namely William Morell, Richard of France, the same lord king appointed to deliver that John Potter, William Porte, Thomas Causton, gaol on this occasion from the prisoners being John Rawlyn, John Gebolon, Richard Raude in it, on Tuesday next after the feast of St [or Rande], Thomas Gauge, William Turnour, George the Martyr in the fifth year of the John Syday and John Spylman, ... say on their reign of King Henry VII [27 April 1490]. oath that the aforesaid Eleanor is guilty in all Essex. Eleanor Kechyn late of Colchester things of the aforesaid treasons and felonies. in the county of Essex, widow, arrested ... by And that she has no lands or tenements, goods means of an indictment made before the lord or chattels, etc.’ king’s guardians of the peace and his justices The point about lands, goods, etc., was appointed to hear and deal with various felo- that if she had any they would be confiscated nies, trespasses and other offences in the and given to the king. county of Essex, on the grounds that she and The next step should have been the pass- others, on the sixth day of the month of Au- ing of the sentence, but Eleanor, like all con- gust in the fourth year of the reign of King victed defendants, was permitted to speak at Henry VII [(Thursday) 6 August 1489] at this point, and promptly said that she was Colchester ... feloniously practised the art of pregnant. This was a fairly regular ploy by multiplication and ... from copper, brass, al- female convicted felons, and the next step caminum and silver, together with dusts and could be to empanel a jury of married women other confections mixed in, feloniously multi- to investigate the claim. This is not said to plied, made and fabricated three pieces of have happened in Eleanor’s case. Perhaps she forged and false silver called Wegges was in full sail, or perhaps it was simply ac- [wedges], weighing 20 ounces, and three oth- cepted as a standard delaying tactic, the first er pieces of forged and false gold called step in applying for a royal pardon in a case Wegges, weighing 20 ounces, against the where the punishment was to be burnt alive.2

The justices ruled that she should be handed The account finishes with a section report- back into the sheriff’s custody until the king ing that Eleanor had found such surety ‘for had been consulted, which was the regular behaving herself well towards the lord king procedure in cases where a judgment was and all his people according to the form of the postponed. statute provided in a case of this sort, and that It so happened that the delay lasted one she will remain in the custody of her nearest year, from April 1490 until April 1491, but friends’ [proximorum amicorum suorum – not we hear nothing further about a baby. The of her parents or kin] ‘for the rest of her life’, new sheriff of Essex, Robert Turbervyle, es- and the king directed his justices on 18 Janu- quire, brought her ‘to stand to the right’ at ary 1491 that ‘they should not trouble nor Westminster ‘for certain treasons and felonies burden the aforesaid Eleanor in any way of which she had been attainted. And it was against the tenor of the letters patent of the immediately inquired of her if she had or lord king’. And so Eleanor was set free by the knew anything to say on her behalf ... And court. she says that the present lord king, of his spe- Lay people in the Middle Ages were not cial grace and from certain knowledge and of regularly sentenced to a period in gaol as a his own accord, has by his letters patent par- punishment. If they were in gaol, they were doned, remitted and released to the same El- generally either debtors, or awaiting trial. A eanor Kechyn ... the suit of peace which be- convicted felon who was pardoned and not longs to the king against Eleanor for treasons executed had to find sureties for future good of false moneys or fabrications of other met- behaviour. This is what happened to Eleanor als and the aforesaid felonies and attaintings Kechen. Her sureties had to see to it that nev- of them and for all other felonies of any kind er again did she attempt to exercise the art of ... [a long list of possible offences] ... done or multiplication or counterfeit coins. But why perpetrated ... by the same Eleanor before the was the custody of her nearest friends deemed eighteenth day of December [1490] ...’ necessary? Here is the one point in which I She showed the court the letters patent agree with David Baldwin, that a requirement containing her pardon, and the account gives for such supervision is very unusual. The only the exact wording, some of which is worth parallels I have been able to find are for earli- repeating here. er insane killers who received the king’s par- ‘Know that we of our special grace ... don.3 Watch this space. have pardoned, remitted and released ... to Eleanor Kechyn late of Colchester in the Note: my thanks to Christopher Whittick and county of Essex widow [a long list of possible Susanne Jenks for their help concerning legal variations in the spelling of her name, etc.] all matters. forms of treasons of false moneys or fabrications of other metals, felonies [long list of 1. The Law Courts of Medieval England, A. offences as in the account] ... provided always Harding (Allen and Unwin 1973, p. 96). that the said Eleanor should find surety that in 2. It might be that counterfeiting, which was future she is to remain in the custody of her only technically treasonable by statute, was parents or nearest blood-relatives for the rest felt by the courts not to deserve the harsher of her life, and that she will not go at large punishments laid down for those found guilty outside that custody for the rest of her life. of other petty treasons such as killing a mas- [Dated 5 February 1491]. ter or a husband. The treatment of convicted Note that the stipulation is that Eleanor is counterfeiters might repay study. not to go outside the (abstract) custody of her 3. The King’s Pardon for Homicide before kin for the rest of her life. There is no stipula- AD 1307, Naomi D. Hurnard (Oxford, Clar- tion that she has to stay indoors, in their endon Press, 1969), p. 162. house.

Edward IV’s Precontract of Matrimony

ALISON HANHAM

ohn Ashdown-Hill’s ‘Eleanor Matters’ of fourteen he was to marry one or other of J (Bulletin, winter 2008, pp. 43-44) calls for Stonor’s younger daughters. If the elder some response. At issue is the statement in daughter died before she became thirteen, her the petition to Richard to take the throne, en- place was to be taken by a sister. But the con- shrined in the act of parliament of 1484, that tract was not to be binding upon the two children. It was firmly stated that if the boy, at at the time of contract of the same pre- fourteen, or the girl at thirteen, disliked the tensed marriage [to Elizabeth] and be- proposed marriage, the contract was ‘void and fore and long time after, the said King undone’. There cannot have been any formal Edward was and stood married and betrothal between the pair, because ten years troth-plight to one Dame Elianore But- later quarrels between the boy’s parents and teler … with whom the same King Ed- the girl’s brother, William Stonor, put the ward had made a precontract of matri- marriage in doubt. It seems that it took place, mony, long time before he made the all the same, at some date before January said pretensed marriage with the said 1482 – presumably with no disagreement Elizabeth Grey. from either of the children. In the absence of any substantial evidence If the petition’s author meant to say that about Edward IV’s alleged contract of matri- Edward had been both married to Eleanor, mony with Eleanor Talbot, and if we are to betrothed (‘troth-plight’) to her, and, before believe that allegation at all, one possibility that, contracted to marry her, he was over- may be worth raising. Namely, that well be- egging his pudding. Had there been some fore Eleanor, aged about thirteen, was mar- firm evidence that a marriage had in fact been ried to Sir Thomas Butler in 1449-50, Rich- solemnised between the two, there was no ard, Duke of York, and his old companion in need to add anything about betrothal and con- arms, John Talbot (created earl of Shrewsbury tractual obligation. In the context, however, in 1442, and killed in France July 1453), had the word ‘precontract’ must refer to Edward’s reached an understanding to marry York’s alleged prior engagement with Eleanor before eldest son, Edward (born 28 April 1442), to his marriage to Elizabeth. Ashdown-Hill Talbot’s daughter Eleanor (born 1436?). Ob- agrees, but then confuses the question by cit- viously, if any union was proposed, it was ing the words ‘precontract of matrimony’ as never consummated (or, as the Stonor docu- proving in themselves that Edward and Elea- ment puts it, ‘fleshly knowledge had’, be- nor had actually married. A contract could be tween the two children). But knowledge of much less binding than that. Basically it some such agreement would furnish sufficient meant no more than ‘agreement’ or ‘bargain’, ammunition for anyone who later wished to and it could even be made by two parties on argue that Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth behalf of others. One very interesting contract was invalid. At the very least, this hypothesis of marriage was drawn up in 1466 or 1467 appears more likely than the alternative usual- between Thomas Stonor II and Thomas ly offered, which involves supposing that, Rokes senior. By the terms of this, when the once he became king, Edward IV adopted a young Thomas Rokes junior reached the age positive habit of marrying widows in clandes- 42

tine fashion; secretly wedding Eleanor Butler gave only a short summary in his head-note to after her husband’s death about 1460, and letter no. 87 in Stonor Letters and Papers, then, in May 1464, making a similar marriage 1290-1483 (Royal Hist. Soc., Camden 3rd with the widowed Elizabeth Grey. No mem- Ser., vols. 29, 30 (1919). Kingsford wrongly ber of the Society of Sceptics would accept supposed that the two children were closely that story on the evidence offered. related. 2. John Ashdown-Hill, ‘Lady Eleanor Tal- Notes bot’s other husband: Sir Thomas Butler, heir 1. Chancery Miscellanea (C 47) 37/9/38-39; a of Sudeley, and his family’, The Ricardian, much-revised draft of which C.L. Kingsford vol. xiv (2004), pp. 62-81.

Fotheringhay December 2008

The Society’s annual pilgrimage to Fotheringhay took place on Saturday 13 December. Ricardi- ans came from far and wide and many enjoyed a splendid lunch in the village hall whilst others sampled the fare at local inns. The church was cold. However, blankets were available to cover knees, or for those with colds, to wrap around shoulders, if they had failed to discover the pews that have heating. The choir was in excellent voice and for many this event represented the beginning of the Christmas celebrations. Pictured above is member Barbara Ellams who read one of the lessons. Thanks to Phil Stone for arranging such an enjoyable day. 43

York or Lancaster – A Rejoinder

IAN MORTIMER

agree with John Ashdown-Hill when he ‘heir male’ designation) to rule out the idea I states in his letter in the last issue of the that he was referring to his matrilineal ances- Bulletin that ‘it is undoubtedly the case that try. The first is well-known, although Ash- Henry IV’s claim to the throne, as put to Par- down-Hill ignores it. If women could pass on liament in 1399, was that he “cam oun lyneal- the claim to the throne, then Henry would li of Kyng Harri, the sone of King Johan, and have had to admit the superiority of the Mor- was the next heir male of his blod”.’ The rolls timer claim. As Ashdown-Hill correctly of parliament state that Henry IV claimed the notes, this manner of claim would only have throne as the heir of Henry III. However, worked in Henry’s favour if Edmund Crouch- Ashdown-Hill is wholly wrong to state that back had been the elder son of Henry III, ‘this claim implied (albeit falsely) that Ed- which he was known not to be at the time by mund Crouchback was Henry III’s elder son’. the panel of legal experts advising the king. Such a statement incorporates a number of The second reason to doubt the traditional mistakes and assumptions which have misled narrative arose in the course of my research readers for many years – centuries, in fact – for The Fears of Henry IV. There were techni- and is precisely the sort of blunt interpretation calities preventing Henry IV from claiming to that I was trying to improve upon in my arti- be the heir male of Richard II or Edward III cle. or even Edward I (see pp. 182-86 of Fears of Let me begin with the most obvious point, Henry IV, as well as my article). In brief, all which is a basic misunderstanding. ‘Heir three of these kings had tried to direct the male’ (inheritance purely through males) is succession after their deaths, and the first and not the same as ‘heir general’ (inheritance last both directed it away from the Lancastri- through males and females). John Ashdown- ans. As I explained in my article, Edward I Hill’s quotation, referring to Henry as the permitted inheritance through females, and ‘heir male’ of Henry III specifically rules out Richard II directed the throne to his uncle, the his claim being through a woman, and thus duke of York, and his sons. No doubt Henry would eliminate the claim being a matrilineal would have liked to claim that he was Edward one, as Ashdown-Hill claims. But the original III’s male heir, but Richard’s settlement pre- writer could have been misinformed. So we vented him. Had he set this aside, others need to be more thorough, and investigate the could later have done the same with that of reliable information available to us. Edward III, thus questioning his right to be Henry IV was descended from Henry III king. So Henry set all the settlements aside, through both his father and his mother. Thus a and went right back to the period before kings statement that Henry was the heir of Henry III assigned the throne according to their will. implies nothing more than that he claimed the This alternative explanation as to why throne through one (or both) of these two Henry did not claim the throne as the heir descents. Ashdown-Hill’s statement about male of Edward III is more satisfactory than Edmund Crouchback is based on his assump- the traditional one, as it is not prone to the tion that Henry must have been referring to flaws in his matrilineal claim, and it takes into his descent from Henry III through his moth- consideration the evidence of the settlements er. He does not consider that Henry was refer- (which can hardly be ignored). Of course, it is ring to his descent through his father. theoretically possible that Henry made a There are two reasons (apart from the claim based on a line of reasoning which he 44

knew to be false, and his lawyers simply inherited the kingdom through his mother, he patched up the wording. He did suggest at one did so as a result of an agreement made with point solving the legal problem by claiming Stephen in 1153. That agreement was made in the throne by right of conquest. But Justice the wake of the death of the last male de- Thirning dissuaded him from that approach. scendant of William I, so Matilda was the Given the involvement and, indeed, the con- only relative; she did not take precedence trolling influence of Justice Thirning and over any other Norman royal family member. many other lawyers, it seems sensible to sug- Thus the situation was not the same as in gest that the wording of Henry’s claim was 1399. And finally, in his last point concerning based on their professional advice and not on the English matrilineal claim to the French a simple but flawed claim through his moth- throne, he has failed to read my article er’s ancestor. properly. This is exactly what I am driving at: Wth regard to John Ashdown-Hill’s pe- that the Lancastrian basis for claiming the nultimate point, that ‘the entire Plantagenet thrones of England and France were funda- dynasty [was] dependent upon [matrilineal mentally different. The claim to the French descent] as the very premise for its claim to one was undoubtedly spurious, the claim to the English throne’ the answer has to be ‘only the English one arguably so. in the absence of male heirs’. When Henry II

The Western Australian Branch will be hosting the bi-annual Australasian Convention from 9 to 11 October, 2009. For further information and/or registration please contact Helen Hardegen at [email protected] or Jenny Gee at [email protected].

The March From Leicester

SANDRA WORTH

Fiction in its many guises has always appealed to members and indeed it is often through reading a historical novel that an interest in King Richard has developed; Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time being the classic case in point. We are fortunate to have a number of novelists amongst our membership and the editorial team think it is about time we gave them an opportunity to contribute to the Bulletin. It was always been our aim to have a balance in the magazine between factual historical articles, Society news and creative features. We realise that we need to do a bit more in respect of the latter, hence the invitation to our novelists. The team also thought that it would be good to provide a focus for their stories, so we have suggested that they choose a paint- ing by Graham Turner as their inspiration. In this instance our contributing author, Sandra Worth, has chosen The March from Leicester, which illustrates Richard leaving the city for the last time as he goes to meet his destiny at Bosworth.

Graham Turner has been a member of the Society for many years and has produced a large number of paintings with strong Ricardian themes, as well as illustrating several publications for Osprey. In recent years he has developed an interest in jousting, taking part in the sport, which has undoubtedly influenced his paintings on this theme. To learn more of Graham’s work visit his website at www.studio88.co.uk

Sandra Worth is an award-winning novelist who has written a trilogy known as the Rose of York series and her latest book, The King’s Daughter, tells the story of Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth of York. She is currently researching for her latest novel about Perkin War- beck/Richard of York and his wife Lady Catherine Gordon. To learn more of Sandra’s work visit her website at www.sandraworth.com

stone marks the place where I was born, good name attached the vile calumny of in- A and a stone the place where I breathed fant murder. my last. The old walls that heard my sighs There are those who call me hideous – a and caught a smile have long since dissolved deformed monster guilty of regicide, fratri- into dust. The soil of the land I loved no long- cide and the shedding of infants’ blood. They er holds my bones, and I have no descendants have stripped me of the honor for which I to watch over and guide. The tide of centuries sacrificed so much while still alive. They say has washed them away. You may wonder, that, propelled by greed and raw ambition, I then, why it is that I return. usurped my brother’s throne and murdered I return in search of the justice denied me his sons. That I lusted for my niece, and poi- in the realm of the living. For in my youth, I, soned my wife in order to wed her. They say an honorable knight, a true and loyal subject that I died a coward in battle. of my brother the King, in accepting the No doubt, this is the face you recognize, throne that I had no desire to take, had for I am Richard III, last of my Plantagenet thought to bring peace to my land, and to re- line, by God’s grace King of England. But dress human wrong by fashioning a kinder fellow countrymen, citizens of the world – I world – one where the law did not serve as an come to tell you that the truth has been twist- instrument of oppression, but alleviated hu- ed in the hands of my enemies, and I am not man misery. Alas, by my action, I rained that villain! down doom on all that I loved, and to my Perhaps you already know this and count 46

yourself a friend – one who has judged me immortal infamy. But enough of my protesta- innocent of the charges laid against me. If so, tions! Allow me, gentle lord, fair lady, to take I am heartened that you draw to my side, you by the hand, move aside the centuries, much as this artist has done who captured the and show you my memories of that day. moment in time when I marched to battle Then, perhaps, you may judge me for your- across the old Bow bridge in Leicester, on the self… eve of my death. He does not depict me as the Saturday, the twentieth of August, dawned fanged hunchback with the gnashing teeth, bright and windy. talons and tail that my successor, Henry Tu- To the marching tunes of drummers and dor, claimed I was. Instead, with uncanny pipers, my royal cavalcade trooped out of accuracy, he renders me much as I remember Leicester where we had spent the night and myself on that day – erect in the saddle, but headed to Market Bosworth, clarions blaring, tense, focused on what lay ahead, and sad- baggage carts rumbling, pennants flying. In dened that it had come to this. the narrow streets, the townspeople watched The bridge is gone now, and another has us silently. They had seen too much of war; been raised in its place, but the plaque re- too much of Lancaster killing York and broth- mains to relate how a peasant woman seated er killing brother. Rivers had run red with there as we crossed foretold my fate. Two English blood for over thirty years, and my days after her prophecy, it did befall as she poor people hungered for an end to war. had promised. My dead body, stripped naked They did not know – and I could not tell with a noose around the neck, was slung over them as they watched me pass – that peace a horse’s back, and taken across that same was coming to England, for I had vowed to bridge on its way to an ignoble burial and a fight but one more battle. Either I would pre- nameless grave. As she foretold, where my vail, or it would be Henry Tudor, the champi- spur had struck as I crossed the bridge, there on of Lancaster. Then the land I loved would did my head strike on the way back. at last find rest. This was my gift to them, Thus began my descent into the abyss of whether I lived, or died. 47

Clad in full armor and riding my proud blaze of gilded tassels and golden embroidery war horse, Barbary, I left Leicester that sunny on white silk shot across the tiled floor. In the morning in August, my heart heavy with center stood a nut-colored cow. memories. Above me floated my banner of When last I’d seen the emblem of the Dun the White Boar, displayed along with the Cow of Warwick, it had been in the fog of Cross of St George and the White Rose in the Barnet, and I’d fought on the opposing side. sunburst of the House of York. Ahead flut- ‘We have been working on it all winter,’ tered the Dun Cow of the Nevilles, my little Elizabeth said. ‘Cousin Edward helped in the nephew’s banner, carried by a herald in a design. He is talented in things artistic.’ tabard quartered with the royal lilies and leop- I knelt and took the child’s hands in my ards. Edward, Earl of Warwick, son of my own. ‘I shall bear your banner at my side and dead brother, George, Duke of Clarence, had my thoughts shall be of you, Edward, and of fashioned it for me with my niece Elizabeth’s your noble grandfather, Warwick the King- help. Well do I remember, even after the pas- maker, and all those of the House of Neville sage of so many centuries, the last time I saw whom I loved so well.’ A loud sob escaped the child. We were in the palace at Westmin- from the boy. I pulled him close in a final ster, and I was bidding Elizabeth and the embrace. As I did so, I felt the wet of his tears young ones farewell. Dressed in black velvet, against my cheek, and realized that they were Edward had stood at Elizabeth’s side. He was not Edward’s, but my own. ten years old, and nothing in his face or man- A shout broke into my thoughts, jarring ner resembled my brother, George, or his me back to the present. ‘Good King Richard – mother Bella, or even his proud grandfather, may God grant thee victory!’ In grateful ac- Warwick the Kingmaker, for there was noth- knowledgment, I raised a gauntleted hand to ing gay, or proud, or bright about him, and he the old man who waved to me from a black- did not dream great dreams. But his heart was smith’s shop. I was not without friends, yet I gentle and would always remain so, since his had felt hopelessly alone since the loss of my mind would forever retain the blessed inno- beloved queen, and my son. All were gone cence of childhood. now – my father, my brothers, my cousins – ‘You must go to Sheriff Hutton, you’ll be all of my blood whom I had cherished. My safe there,’ I had said thickly, overcome by eyes, moving to the sky in prayer, caught emotion. again on young Edward’s banner. If I lost the Elizabeth had nudged little Edward for- battle and Henry Tudor took the throne, what ward. ‘Uncle, I would s-seek… a favor of would become of this child who stood close you,’ he had stuttered. to me in the line of rightful succession? I ‘Dear nephew, whatever it is, you know I blinked to banish the thought. In the outcome will try to grant it,’ I replied, my heart aching of battle lay God’s judgment. His will would for the boy. be done. ‘I w-w-wish I c-could fight for you – ’ He All around me the colorful pennants of my drew a deep breath, made fists with both his gathered knights flapped in the wind. I was hands in an effort to suppress his stammer keenly aware of one notable absence. Thomas and, after a long moment, the words poured Lord Stanley, the mightiest of my lords, had forth like a waterfall, ‘I wish I could fight the sent no response to my summons to arms, bastard Henry Tudor, dear lord Uncle, but as I though Henry Percy, the Earl of Northumber- am too young to help you slay him, will you land, had finally arrived – albeit late the pre- take my banner into battle instead of me – ?’ vious evening, and with his customary excus- He hung his head, embarrassed by the effort it es. Many other nobles had not answered my had taken him to get the sentence out. plea, but Howard and his son had been wait- Elizabeth placed her arms around his little ing in Leicester with their contingents, true to shoulders and nodded to a servant in the cor- their word. ner of the room. The man brought forth the Good, trusty Howard had always been folded banner and unfurled it before me. A faithful to York, I thought, warmed by affec- 48

tion as I glanced at the barrel figure riding a against the parapet as I fought to restrain my short distance behind me. He rose barehead- spirited destrier in the narrow space. At ed, his thick mane glistening with crystalline length I subdued the proud beast and we clat- brilliance in the sun. I had a sudden sense that tered across. Barely had we cleared the bridge I’d been here before, done this before. Aye, when a disturbance made me turn. Amid indeed I had; as a twelve-year-old I’d ridden shouts, someone had raised a sword. to Bosworth with Howard at my side, just so, ‘Halt!’ I roared over the din of marching leading an army to my brother King Edward. men and music of minstrels. The sword froze We had shared much together since then, and in its hand and was lowered. A young knight with his caring ways and jovial manner, the galloped up through the ranks. old duke had done much to fill the hollow ‘What happened there, Clarendon?’ I de- space in my heart that my father, and later my manded. cousin John Neville, had left behind. ‘My lord,’ said Clarendon angrily, out of I turned in my saddle to look at my many breath, his armor glinting in the sun. ‘There friends. All the northern lords and most from was a wise-woman sitting by the bridge, and I the midlands had answered my call: Zouche; asked her of the success of our enterprise.’ the Scropes of Bolton, of Upshall, of Mas- I looked at him steadily. ‘And what did ham; Ferrers of Chartley; and Dacre. As for she say?’ Greystoke, that good man had brought a ‘My lord, she said – the accursed witch mighty contingent with him. Even Bracken- said that where your spur struck the stone,’ bury was here, though the gentle knight had the knight swallowed visibly, ‘your head will had to lash his horse all the way from London be broken on the journey back.’ to reach Leicester in time. My gaze ran along I sat very still, remembering another wise- the length of pikes and spears stretching be- woman who in my youth had foretold my hind me as far as the eye could see. Men had early death, just as ancient prophecies had streamed in to join the royal army until late warned the legendary King Arthur of his into the night. Loyal men. And tomorrow, doom. What had been Arthur’s reply? many of them would pay for their loyalty But let what will be, be. with their lives. I glanced at my boyhood I squared my tense shoulders, ignoring the friend, Rob Percy, riding at my side. ‘Since old wound from Barnet that ached again. I Roman times armies have marched along this glanced towards Leicester’s Bow bridge that road, men to kill other men, Rob. When will my horse had refused to cross, then at Claren- it end?’ don whose eyes blazed with outrage. ‘For ‘When greed ends, Richard. And that, I this, you wished to strike her dead?’ fear, will be never.’ ‘Aye, my lord, for she lies!’ Greed, I reflected, swaying in the saddle ‘Soon enough you’ll have your fill of to the rhythm of my horse’s hooves. Greed bloodshed.’ for power and material gain had driven Mar- With a jerk of my tasseled bridle, I guerite d’Anjou and Edward’s Woodville spurred my war horse westward, to Market queen, splintering the realm. Greed had Bosworth. fueled my cousin Warwick’s ambitions, and Such was that day, long since passed into my brother George’s follies. Now greed pro- history… pelled the bastard Tudor to reach for a crown If you wonder why I return to dwell on to which he had no right. what cannot be changed, I answer thus. The ‘Aye, Rob, my friend. Greed is surely the cry for justice is eternal. Though you know it root of all evil.’ not, what happens in the sphere of the living We were nearing the west bridge over the matters to those who no longer breathe, and River Soar. All at once Barbary balked. Rear- tis to find the truth seekers that I come—those ing and plunging as if hed seen a phantom, he whose hearts can be touched, and who care neighed wildly and refused to cross. I enough to right a wrong, no matter how old it slammed my knee and struck my golden spur be. With hope in my breast, I follow them 49

into the dawn and past the break of day into lift a candle to let in the light, and I find sol- the rays of the sun. Sometimes my whispers ace that some day, by their efforts, all the reach them on the night wind, and sometimes darkness will be cast out and I shall rise up to I take their hand and show them my memo- take my rightful place in human history. ries, as I did with you, on this old bridge in Gentle Reader, whoever you are, bestow Leicester. Time reveals all, and so I wait for on me your prayers. justice, as I have waited for over five hundred years. One by one, I watch the truth seekers

New Members UK 1 October - 31 December 2008 Mary, Jennie & David Anderson, Swindon Christina Hubbard, Saltburn by the Sea Karen Austin, Stowmarket Susan, Richard & Robert Johnston, Ripon Brian Bishop, Bridport Eddie Kings, Lancing Nicola Bright, Ipswich Dennis Lander, Sutton Coldfield Margaret Clark, Ludlow Penelope Lawton, Leek Michael Clifton, Congleton Colin Marsh, Leicester Victoria Dos Santos, Earl Shilton Barry Paine, Abbots Langley Hermione Dowling, Farringdon Julian Penczek, Peterborough Philip Feakin, London Louisa Reece, Northampton Katherine Fletcher, York Jean Robertshaw, Bradford Hilary Girling, Ipswich Rosanna Salbashian, London Elizabeth Gude, Huddersfield Riona Thomas, Benbecula Vicki Hadfield, Chesterfield Margaret Thomas, Llanelli Margaret Hall, Woodbridge Wendi Watson, Southampton Margaret Hart, Exmouth John Willson, Sutton Coldfield Suzanne Hilder, Brighton Anne York, Botley

Overseas 1 October - 31 December 2008 Janet Genders, British Columbia, Canada Lorraine Street, Nova Scotia, Canada Sarah Goldfinch, New South Wales, Australia Leanne Tremblay, British Columbia, Canada Renate Maier, Germany Rayma Turton, New South Wales, Australia Elizabeth Sjőberg, Sweden Peter Young, Ontario, Canada

US Branch 1 October - 31 December 2008 Sandra Brock, California Grace Obermann, Virginia Elizabeth Dibble, New Hampshire Joshua Paulin, Massachusetts Dorothy Dodson, Illinois Diane Prete, Rhode Island Libby Frost, Minnesota Sandra Pritchard, Florida Gary Jackson, Nevada Marie M. Stanley, Illinois Linda S. Lovell, Virginia Sarah Vallieres, Florida Lisa Martin, Texas Kimberly Williams, Missouri Keith J. Meland, Arizona

Correspondence

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

The Wrong Margaret no suggestion that Edward IV and Eleanor From Sonia St John Butler lived together, and if Edward thought Part of a recent Richard III publication was he was obligated to her it is remarkable that brought to my attention by a history lecturer he did not end the arrangement when he mar- connected with Aberystwith University. The ried Elizabeth Woodville in 1464. ‘News and Reviews’ page with your by-line Other writers have made it clear that a was entitled ‘Saint Margaret Beaufort?’ and precontract was a distinct undertaking, only a included a picture of the open central panels little less binding than marriage, and preclud- of the polyptych at Lydiard Tregoz (the mon- ed marriage with a third party while it re- ument has 11 visible panels, but is often mis- mained in force. If one accepts the precon- takenly called the triptych). tract story, the situation was, apparently, that The error seems to be in the caption under King Edward was not married to Eleanor But- your name. The lady in the triangle at the top ler but could not legally marry Elizabeth is Margaret Beauchamp not Margaret Beau- Woodville. In other words, he remained a fort. As the caption states - the ‘blessed’ Mar- bachelor all his life. garet - and the article is about the possible Sainthood of Margaret Beaufort, the reader In Defence of Time Team will think the portrait to be that of Margaret From Bill Featherstone, Derbyshire Beaufort. There is no mention on this page of I noted with some puzzlement the comment in Margaret Beauchamp. the AGM account that ‘Time Team were not popular with other professional archaeolo- All the heraldry with the portrait indicates gists’. clearly that this is Margaret Beauchamp and I would not wish to think there were any shows the history of all three of her husbands. Her second husband was Margaret Beaufort's more hypocrites in the rank of that profession father. (See, for example, illustrations and than any other, but it is odd if on the one hand they are disparaging the programme and on text in Curiously Painted by Brian Carne, p. the other queuing up for its services. Each 9, p. 50.) year there are more than six times as many Could you please acknowledge this mis- applications to Time Team as they have pro- take in a future publication. It is so easy for a grammes available. Some county archaeolo- mistake of this kind to be repeated by others gists put in applications every year in the who have read this article and seen the pic- hope that one will be successful. ture. Why do they do this? According to the Thank you. county archaeologists of my acquaintance it is [Oops! This shows the importance of making (a) because a site they want to investigate but sure you not only get your references right, have neither the financial or human resources but note where you got them from Eds.] to tackle will at least be validated; (b) that validation opens up other sources of funding A Bachelor all his life? and grants; (c) the work will be carried out to From James Simons, Southampton the highest standards (and that includes the I must take issue with John Ashdown-Hill’s JCB drivers); (d) they will have the benefit of assertion that a pre-contract was the same as a experts who they would not normally have marriage (winter 2008 Bulletin, pp. 43-4). If it such easy access to for comment on finds; was, then why not call it a marriage? There is and (e) they have a timely and professionally 51

written up record of the work – a rarity these as traitors, to which the council as a whole days in archaeology. The work is not limited was apparently opposed. We may want to de- to the three days shown but often includes fend Richard against the blackening of his several days of preparatory work and further character by those who saw Bosworth as a days at the end to complete any unfinished judgement of God but we should not do so at areas, complete recording and seal the site. the cost of other men’s reputations. Let’s re- There are, of course, frustrations. Televi- member the principle of English law that a sion has its own demands which cause delay man must be presumed innocent until proved and irritation, but I know of no one who guilty. It should apply to the people of the would not go through it again given the op- past as well. portunity. I have heard similar views to those at the AGM expressed within the Society and Response to Bill Needham everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if the From Wendy Moorhen facts don’t support this view, as a society ded- I am afraid I do have to take issue with Bill icated to historical truth, we should, perhaps, for claiming that I carried out a character as- refrain from giving them credence? sassination, albeit to a ‘lesser extent’, on Wil- liam, Lord Hastings. My response to David Isn’t it enough to lose one’s head: must one Johnson’s hypothesis was, due the strictures lose one’s reputation too? of Bulletin articles, brief but my comments From Bill Leedham, formerly lecturer in edu- were based on earlier research published in cation (history), University of Plymouth The Ricardian where I carried out a thorough As a teacher of history at undergraduate level examination of Hastings’ career and my com- I’ve often made use of the interest generated ments about dismissing More’s ‘loving man’ by historical films and television series (such and opting for the ‘hard-headed tough noble- as the recent Tudors). On the other hand I’ve man’ were firmly based on the evidence. For also thought that there ought to be a commis- the record, I have a high regard for Hastings, sion set up to reply on behalf of the people he was a multi-faceted man, probably not featured in them (was not the Richard III So- unique in those times, as opposed to the ciety founded with just such an aim?). I’m ‘specialisation’ of today, and I regard his fate prompted therefore to protest at what I can as one of the saddest parts of Richard’s story. only call the character assassination of Wil- I have no doubt in my own mind that Richard liam, Lord Hastings, by David Johnson and – was justified in ordering the execution, but to a lesser extent – Wendy Moorhen, in their both men went back a long way and circum- recent contributions to the Bulletin. On what stances dictated a no win situation. evidence should we prefer Hastings the con- spirator to Hastings the conspired-against? John Scrogin: a corrective apology Wendy talks about ‘grey areas’ in history From Doug Weeks, Ashford where new thinking can bring a freshness to Following on from my piece on John Scrogin the search for the truth, but sometimes such in the book Darkmans (winter Bulletin, p. 49) new thinking simply diverts attention from – did I say that Scrogin was Richard III’s the few facts we have. Why should we prefer fool? He of course belonged to Edward IV’s Wendy’s ‘hard-headed, tough nobleman’ to court, otherwise his Rivers remark makes no Thomas More’s ‘loving man, passing well- sense. beloved’ who had to be eliminated before Ed- From The Great Chronicle of London, ed. ward V could be dethroned? David Johnson A.H. Thomas and I.D. Thronley, 1938, we himself reminds us that Hastings was delight- find chronologically pre Robin of Redesdale’s ed that the Stony Stratford coup had succeed- rising, this passage (my modernisation): ed without the shedding of blood. If anything ‘About this time one Woodhows unsettled him in his good opinion of the pro- [Woodhouse], a clever sayer being in good tector it was likely to be Richard’s demand favour of the king’s grace for his manly and that Rivers, Grey and Vaughan be condemned honest disport which he often exercised in the

court, came upon a day of the hot and dry places that I have passed the rivers have been summer into the king’s chamber, clad in a so high that I could hardly scape [wade?] short coat cut by the points and a pair of boots through them, but as I was fain to search the on his legs so long as they might be tied to his depth with this long staff.’ points and his hose and in his hand a long The chronicler then goes on to tell of the Marys Pike. When the king beheld his apparel executions of Earl Rivers and his son, Sir he ‘ffraynyd’ [enquired] of him what was the John Wydville. We are left to wonder who cause of his long boots and his long staff. ‘Woodhows’ was – obviously a brave indi- ‘Upon my faith, sir,’ said he, ‘I have passed vidual. through many countries of your realm, and in

Not the Society’s Research Week-end ...

... but Keele University’s Latin and Palaeography Week

Every July for the past 31 years Keele University has run a Latin and Palaeography Summer School for people who are interested in doing their own historical research, whether it’s family, local, or national history. Absolute beginners are catered for, as well as more advanced and experienced researchers. As Keele’s advertising says, ‘The approach is serious but friendly, and attracts a wide range of people’. Many people come back year after year. Not that they are slow learners – it’s great fun as well as a marvellous opportunity to meet like-minded people, many of whom are doing their own small-scale research, and really get to grips with medieval sources. I should know. I’ve been attending the School for more than 20 years, mostly as a student but the last few as a tutor. One person – she’s a member of this Society – has been to all 31 previous Schools, and will be there this year too. Several other Ricardians are regular attenders. This is what is on offer for 2009: for beginners, there is a choice of (1) an introduction to medieval Latin, assuming no previous knowledge of the language whatsoever; (2) an introduction to medieval documents, for people with basic Latin but not necessarily any experience in reading old handwriting; (3) a seminar on Life in the Countryside, with all the documents in English, so that you can concentrate on understanding the handwriting. There are also two ‘intermediate modules’. In one, archivist Christopher Whittick will look at depositions made by witnesses and others in civil and church courts. Many of these are in Eng- lish, and are full of interest to local, family and social historians. The second is the one I am teaching, and it’s called More Tricks of the Trade. It’s basically about how to get the important points out of a document – and get them right. I go over tricky points of palaeography and try to clarify how Latin works (it isn’t difficult if you know how – honestly!) and show where in a long document to look for the nitty-gritty. I try to find documents that are interesting in themselves – such as the one about an ex-soldier accused of carrying a Saracen’s head around in a bag, and the football-hooligan vicar I wrote about in the Bulletin for autumn 2007. There are two advanced modules, for people of experience. One is on Latin and English sources for medieval and early modern agriculture, and in the other the eminent legal historian Dr Paul Brand will look at records from the Kent eyre of 1293 – rather early for most Ricardians. The bad news is that Keele is pricey (though they try every year to find savings and keep the price down). It runs from the evening of Saturday 25 July until lunch-time on Friday 31 July. Residential full board costs £570. Residential half board, at £485, is most people’s preferred option, as the meals are all large and snacks are available on campus. If you are interested, contact the Centre for Continuing and Professional Education at Keele University, tel. 01782-733244. or email the director: [email protected] Lesley Boatwright 53

The Barton Library

The Papers Library: an Appeal In the last issue of the Bulletin we reported that Becky Beale, our dedicated Papers Librarian for the last seven years, has had to give up looking after the Collection because of problems with her eyesight, so this part of the Library service has been in abeyance since the end of the year. We desperately need someone to come forward and take on this job, otherwise the Collection will have to be put into store or else disposed of. Can we allow such a unique and accessible resource for research into every aspect of late medieval history just to be thrown away? This would be a very sad day for the Society and what it has tried to do in encouraging research. The job of the Papers Librarian involves caring for the Collection, responding to requests from members to borrow items, and keeping a look out for interesting new items to add to the Collection. You do not need specialist knowledge or professional experience, just an interest in the wide range of information to be found in articles and booklets. We will explain all you need to know about doing the job. The material in the Collection is arranged so that the items are easy to find, and as there are normally only one or occasionally two requests each week, the job does not take up much time. You could be based anywhere in the country since the Library operates by post, but access to emails and the internet would make life easier. The Collection is presently housed in two standard four-drawer filing cabinets and approximately eight shelves of books and folders – these will all be supplied. All expenses (mainly postage and photocopying) will be refunded by the Society. If you feel you might be interested in joining the Library Team, which we can promise you will find both interesting and rewarding, especially the contact with other like-minded members, please do get in touch with me or with Becky to discuss the possibilities and any questions you may have – our contact details are on the inside back cover of the Bulletin. Carolyn Hammond, Library Team Leader

Additions to the Book Collections First a new novel by Emma Darwin called A Secret Alchemy. The story is seen through the eyes of Elizabeth Woodville, beautiful widow of Edward IV, her brother Anthony, surrogate father to the doomed Princes, and Una, a present day historian researching the reading habits of Elizabeth and Anthony Woodville. The secrets and betrayals that Una discovers in the past link in with the tragic events in her own life. See p. 14 for report of a review on this book. Two additions to the Non-Fiction Collection Richard III: the Maligned King by member Annette Carson (History Press, 2008) Historians still trot out the old pronouncements about Richard’s ruthless ambition, usurpation and murders – the author seeks to redress the balance by examining the events of Richard’s reign as they really happened. For a detailed review see pages 24-25 of the winter Bulletin. Shakespeare’s Queens (of England) by Kate Parrott (Trafford Publishing, 2007) This book looks at how Shakespeare depicts the lives of a number of England’s queens in his history plays, including Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville and Anne Neville – how much is dramatic licence and how much is historically accurate? The book includes biographies of the queens, and notes on past productions of the plays. Contact details for borrowing books are on the inside back cover of the Bulletin

Additon to the Audio-Visual Collection: Video By ‘Royal Appointment’ (ITV 1). Hannah Scott-Joynt visits Windsor and Maidenhead looking at Royal patronage and associations. Involves tours of St George’s and Eton College chapels.

Report on Society Events

Norfolk Branch Study Day – Inspirational Monarchs The annual Norfolk Branch Study Day was held at Norwich’s Assembly House on 15 November 2008. The speakers were: Professor Michael Prestwich from Durham University. whose speciali- ty is thirteenth- and fourteenth-century England; Dr Michael Jones, author and former teacher at Glasgow University and Winchester College, and long-time friend of the Society; and Dr Phil Stone, Society Chairman. Professor Prestwich opened the study day with the military leadership of Edward I. Edward fought battles against the Welsh and the Scots and was responsible for assembling enormous armies. Among the many elements of his success, Professor Prestwich mentioned Edward’s personal courage; his choice of subordinates; his use of chivalric activities, such as locating the graves of Arthur and Guinevere; and the building of a series of castles in Wales. Edward I inspired loyalty by fear rather than personal admiration by his subjects. Dr Michael Jones’ first session was on Edward III, who inherited an England severely dam- aged by his father, Edward II. The first years of his reign were focused on healing wounds. He learned from experience and when his first battle against the Scots ended in disaster, he vowed it would never happen again. Edward’s attributes included personal courage, largeness of heart and the ability to connect with the aristocracy as one of them. His presence on the battlefield gave his subordinates the opportunity to actually know him. The Order of the Garter, which he founded, was admired throughout Europe. Sadly, Edward’s reign did not end as it had begun and was deemed to have been too long. Following the lunch break, Michael discussed the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V, briefly touching on the reign of Richard II, who was expected to be like his father, the Black Prince. However, Richard’s vision differed greatly from that of his advisors, who disagreed with his plans to heal the rifts in Christendom and to make peace with France. The reign of Henry IV never truly recovered from the act of usurpation and Henry V acknowledged the wrongs done by his father. Henry V had a conscious acceptance of risk and reopened the war with France, giving tainted aristocrats the opportunity to win back their rights and privileges in stages. Personally brave, he took the royal regalia to war, and wore a battle crown that made him visible to the troops and, of course, the enemy. Was he foolhardy or calculating? He inspired his troops by quick, powerful images, and the victory at Agincourt made peace with the past. The last speaker was Dr Phil Stone, who spoke about Edward IV and Richard III. One Plan- tagenet trait was impetuousness, demonstrated by both brothers and their father. While Richard had to work hard at it, Edward had a natural gift of leadership. The brothers were opposites in many ways. Both had large libraries but Richard, not Edward, was the reader. Edward spent a great deal of money on building churches and castles, the military and on his pleasures, while Richard was careful with money. Edward chose his servitors from the lower ranks, but didn’t do much for his subjects. Richard, on the other hand, preferred the common man and was loved for it. Richard believed in fair dealing and had the laws issued in English. If Edward had a fatal flaw, it was not being able to look ahead and see the consequences of his actions. Richard had similar trouble. Did he not foresee the furore that would follow the disappearance of the Princes? We may never know. Phil closed his talk with an example of an inspirational leader from the Ameri- can Civil War. General Robert E. Lee, whose army was devastated because of his stubbornness at the Battle of Gettysburg, continued to be loved by his soldiers even after the war was lost. Thanks go to the Norfolk Branch for another superb study day. They are always well organised and the subjects are always thought-provoking. Beth Stone 55

Future Society Events

Bookable Events

Mary Rose and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Saturday 16 May 2009 ‘By the time she sank off Portsmouth harbour in 1545, the Mary Rose was obsolete: cumber- some, vulnerable to attack and ill-equipped for sixteenth-century warfare. Fifty years earlier, however, she had been the pride of Henry VIII’s fleet. The Mary Rose was built at Portsmouth between 1509 and 1511. Named for Henry VIII’s favourite sister, Mary Tudor, later queen of France, the ship was part of a large build-up of naval force by the new king in the years between 1510 and 1515. Warships, and the cannon they carried, were the ultimate status symbol of the sixteenth century, and an opportunity to show off the wealth and power of the king abroad.’ Ex- tract from The Mary Rose: A Great Ship of Henry VIII, by Andrew Lambert It was 10 April 1986 when we first set eyes on this famous lady, albeit through a misty spray. It was on one of Joyce Melhuish’s renowned ‘at the double’ day trips, when we also visited Southsea Fort and Chichester. Our visit this time will be more leisurely and we will spend the whole day at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Our inclusive ticket provides entry to all the attractions; as well as Mary Rose, you will be able to visit HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and the Royal Naval Museum. There is a coffee shop, restaurant and tea-room within the Dockyard complex. The cost of the trip, based on a party of 30, is £29.50 for seniors and £31.50 for adults. This amount will include cost of coach, Dockyard entrance and driver’s tip. If you wish to pay in two instalments, your first instalment should be £15 payable immediately and the balance in April. The coach will leave from London (Charing Cross Embankment) at 9 a.m. A pick-up in Bromley can be arranged for those who let us know. If you are interested PLEASE BOOK AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE YOUR BULLETIN to enable us to take advantage of lower advance-booking prices, see page 30. If you miss the deadline, you can still join the coach party but the cost will be £34 for seniors and £36 for adults. APPLICATIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, PREFERABLY BEFORE 27 MARCH but certainly by 24 April 2009 to Marian Mitchell, 20 Constance Close, Witham, Essex CM8 1XL. T: 01376 501984; Email: [email protected]. Booking form on page 30.

Future Events

Norfolk Branch Study Day Towton - Past and Present: Saturday 14 November 2009 Speakers: Mark Taylor, The Towton Battlefield Society ‘The Battle of Towton’; Dr David Grum- mitt ‘Towton 1461 – the false dawn of the Yorkist Age’; Helen Cox and Mick Doggett, ‘Interpreting Towton through living history’ and Anthea Boylsdon, Bradford Archaeological Department ‘The Towton Project: An Update’. The day will start at 9.30 a.m. and finish at 5.00 p.m. The venue is The Assembly House, Theatre Street, Norwich. Cost £22. Please note that places are limited to 40 so book early to ensure a place. Please contact Ann Marie Hayek, 20 Rowington Rd, Norwich NR1 3RR or email: [email protected]. 56

Branches and Groups

Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Group Report Yet another year has gone by, and as usual it feels like a couple of months! The year has been a mix of the fascinating, the successful, the almost-disastrous and the sad. We heard about the death of our friend and former member Jackie Gillard through an obituary in the Bulletin. I con- tacted Wendy Moorhen to confirm it was indeed our Jackie, and then wrote to her mum with our condolences. One of her daughters got in touch and kindly asked if we were interested in some of Jackie’s Ricardian books. I met up with her at Jackie’s mum’s house for a special couple of hours filled with fond memories, and I brought home a varied collection of books which I know have now gone to good homes where they will be appreciated. Those of us who knew Jackie, last joining us about five years ago in her little green mini, will remember her gentle smile and unassum- ing ways with warmth and affection. The books were indeed the high point of our near-disaster meeting in October; it’s a major disadvantage for a speaker to have no voice at all. I managed to fill in for about half an hour on the basics of Richard’s story with my A4 laminated portraits (Powerpoint – what’s that?) and people were very tolerant, but I was shocked at how quickly I finished and how much time there was still left to fill. ‘Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking …’ – never a truer word. But with the book sale, half-price entrance and some special raffle prizes, we muddled through the afternoon quite well and even made a profit on the day. Other events turned out more successfully: the exhibition of props and costumes from the BBC Robin Hood series at Nottingham Castle (‘Richard Armitage WORE that!’), the Hardwick Hall Christmas opening, and an excellent talk by Rowena Edlin-White on ‘Four Medieval Wom- en’. Other visits included a very good guided tour of Haddon Hall, Warwick Castle again to experience the new ‘Dreams of Battle’ exhibition; and in August we visited the new Battlefield Centre during the re-enactment weekend at Bosworth. This was particularly opportune as it led to a contact for our next talk, planned for March: Alan Harley is an expert who spends his weekends ‘in’ the fifteenth century with the Wars of the Roses Federation. He and his partner Jayne will tell us how to tell lords from commoners, and demonstrate arming a knight, complete with press-ups in full armour. But of course, for eight of us and four partners, the highlight of the year was our two-day trip to Paris, where we saw the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries and other wonderful medieval artefacts at Cluny Abbey, the Musée National Du Moyen-Age. The efficient Eurostar journey began from the restored Gothic splendour of St Pancras Station. The left-bank Hotel Cluny Square was small, clean and elegant, with clever use of mirrors to reflect light and space, but its greatest advantage was the position, facing the Museum, yet just up the road from Ile de la Cité and Nôtre Dame. And the tapestries were everything we had hoped for, vibrant in colour yet curiously calming when in the dimly-lit semi-circular room. On the curved wall is each of the Five Senses, with the Lady and the Unicorn in gardens abounding with foxes, rabbits, flowers, orange trees and even a little monkey. They face the final tapestry on the opposite wall, where the Lady hands a jewelled collar to her maidservant, renouncing all earthly things. The quiet mystery of the story has never been quite fully deciphered and understood, but when confronted with their beauty, the modern world seems to fall away, and you are transported to a different age, where people were quite at home with myth and legend. The weekend went all too quickly. We were all free after the museum to follow our own particular interests, be it the galleries of the Louvre, or the Galer- ies Lafayette! I was particularly grateful to Judith, who insisted we visit the superb Sainte Chapelle, Gothic architecture at its glorious height. Back now to future plans, and our visits next year will include Coughton Court near Stratford 57

(a lovely old house with Gunpowder Plot connections), Charlecote Park near Warwick, where Shakespeare is reputed to have been caught poaching, and finally the splendidly over-the-top black and white timbered ostentation of Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire. If any of this sounds your sort of thing and you haven’t yet joined a local group do feel free to contact us. You could pick and choose events that take your fancy, and there’s no pressure to join, just a warm welcome. If you’d like a 2009 itinerary, do get in touch, and I’ll send one out as soon as possible. Anne Ayres

West Surrey Group Report Following a programme on television about the medieval ship discovered in the river mud at Newport, some of us went to see it for ourselves in May. The ship, which had been abandoned around the time of the Wars of the Roses, came to light in 2002 during building work for New- port’s Riverfront Arts Centre. It is an amazingly large ship, a merchantman, built in the northern European tradition, 35 metres in length and about 12-15 metres wide. The timbers are mostly oak with a beech keel and these have all been carefully numbered, recorded and are being treated and preserved in enormous tanks of water inside a vast hangar, watched over by a dedicated group of ‘Friends’. Some of the artefacts found within the ship are on display – coins, Portuguese pottery, shoes, combs etc., and it is hoped that eventually the ship will be reconstructed and put on display to the public. A lot of water will have to flow under the bridge before that, if you’ll pardon the pun. Having spent several hours being shown around the ship and the incredible electronic equip- ment which is in use to discover her secrets, we paused for lunch at a nearby hostelry, then went to have a look at the Roman baths and fitness centre at nearby Caerleon, once a very important outpost of the Roman Empire. These are beautifully presented and in first class condition – well worth a visit. We also saw the site of the large Roman barracks and the enigmatic amphitheatre. Caerleon must have been quite a settlement some 2000 years ago. In June, we once again spent a very enjoyable weekend in Leicester for the East Midlands Branch Study Day. It was good to meet up with fellow Ricardians, whom we don’t often see, including our Chairman Phil Stone (who is coming to speak to us in February on the subject of Fotheringhay). All four speakers gave excellent lectures and we were very impressed by Gareth King’s portrayal of a medieval peasant, with countless changes of costume to suit his varied subjects. I believe he must have been a cottar in a previous life, he so convincingly lived the part! As usual, the East Midlands Branch gave us an entertaining and hospitable day. On the following day, in a bitter north-east wind we visited Bosworth and were very impressed with the new Visi- tor Centre. July, of course, was the Tewkesbury Medieval Fair, which was once again enjoyed by some of our group’s members. A few of us were able to spend a very exciting weekend in the middle of August, when we ‘B and B’d’ near Stamford. We went to a really first-class outdoor performance of Richard the Third at Tolethorpe Hall, acted stunningly by the Stamford Shakespeare Company. John Murray, in the title role, was incredible. His acting was so brilliant that, although I went prepared to hiss and boo at certain moments, I just couldn’t do it. En route home the following day, we went to have a look at Croyland Abbey, where we were shown around by one of the guides, who was most interested when we told him about the Society. Before leaving Crowland we inspected the quaint three-legged bridge, which was originally erected in the early Middle Ages at the confluence of two small rivers. No water now and the bridge has been left high and dry at a crossroads in the town. Very picturesque! On a very rainy day in September, a few of us braved the elements to visit Cowdray Castle at Midhurst (now better known for the polo). First, a call at the nearby village of Easebourne to see the church of St Mary. Here is the tomb of Sir David Owen, who married Mary, the eldest daughter of the last of the De Bohun family, lords of the manor in the early sixteenth century. Then on 58

to the romantic ruins of Cowdrey Castle, accompanied by tremendous rain squalls. We received a warm and friendly greeting from the staff in the Visitors Centre, who kindly rang around the tea- rooms in Midhurst to find one that would still be open for a welcome ‘cuppa’ when we left the castle. In the Visitors Centre we were able to watch a video of the castle’s history before exploring the ruins. The castle was built by the afore-mentioned Sir David Owen around 1530. In 1542 the estate was given by Henry VIII to his Master of the Horse, Sir Anthony Browne, who was also given control of Battle Abbey in East Sussex, where, at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he razed the church buildings to the ground and evicted the monks, the last of whom cursed him and told him that his family line would perish by fire or water. After the castle’s heyday in the reign of Elizabeth, who was entertained there lavishly by the second Sir Anthony Browne, the estate came into the hands of the eighth Viscount Montague (a descendant of Browne) who drowned in a boating accident in 1783. A week later Cowdray Castle burned to the ground, leaving the ruins seen today. The estate then passed to the Viscount’s sister, whose two sons also drowned in a boating accident in 1815. Spooky, eh? The ruins certainly look very eerie, especially in the moonlight.* In October we spent a most convivial evening at the home of our Treasurer and his wife. Purely social, with chat, food and drink to a background of medieval music, some from the time of Richard. Our November talk was given by member Judith Ridley, of Forget-me-not Books, and cen- tred on the life of Katherine Courtenay, daughter of Edward IV, who was the longest to survive of his children. Judith brought several boxes of her books with her, which we fell upon after her splendid talk. At the beginning of December we once again gathered for our Christmas lunch at a very good pub near Farnham. There were 23 of us, including our much-missed friends Pat and Kathryn, who now belong to the Worcester Branch, having recently moved to Malvern and whom we all intend to visit in 2009, though maybe not all at the same time. Renée Barlow

PS. On a personal note, I visited my family in Western Australia in September and once again I was welcomed and entertained to a sumptuous breakfast in Perth by our members of the Western Australia Branch. They are holding the Australasian Convention of the Richard III Society in Oc- tober 2009 in Perth and any of us who are able to be in W.A. at that time would be made very welcome. For more information please contact Carole Carson by email at: [email protected].

* Easebourne, Cowdray Castle and Midhurst all feature in Anya Seton’s Green Darkness, a time- slip novel set in the mid-sixteenth century. The author is perhaps better known for her book Katherine, based on the life of Katherine Swynford, ancestress of King Richard. Editors.

Worcestershire Branch Report Despite some extreme weather conditions in the Midlands we completed our 2008 programme with an excellent talk on ‘The Worcester Pilgrim’ in November and a most enjoyable Christmas tea. Katherine Lack’s talk was a fascinating account of the very first pilgrim burial discovered in 1987 near the foundations of the tower of Worcester Cathedral. She explained how important the saints’ days and pilgrimages were to medieval man, and then went on to describe his mode of at- tire and the various signs that made her believe he was a pilgrim. He had been buried up against a 1347 wall, his dress, the cloth and style placed him in the fourteenth-fifteenth century, he had a full sized, well used pilgrim’s staff that was coloured using raw red and boneblack dye, and his boots were well worn. Katherine believed his family could have been in the dyeing trade. She did 59

not think he was clergy but was affluent enough to be buried in the cathedral. There were also scallop shells in the grave. Katherine has carried out an investigation to try and discover who this man was and she has found three archive wills for Worcester that fit the circumstances. Of these three she thinks Rob- ert Sutton is the most likely: he was a dyer, buried in the cathedral in 1454 and donated money to many churches and monasteries, Greyfriars, Blackfriars and St Andrew’s church. He also paid for the floor of the bell tower we know as the Glover’s Needle, a notable Worcester landmark. The talk concluded with an account of a pilgrimage from Worcester to Compostello, an arduous journey even for the most hardy, and the return journey even more so. We asked how they found their way without the help of maps, in a foreign land. ‘With great difficulty and danger,’ was the answer. Many pilgrims didn’t make it back but their families were reassured knowing that their loved one would go straight to heaven! Katherine is an excellent speaker whom we are pleased to recommend to other branches. Our Christmas Tea at Upton Snodsbury Village hall was well supported and we enjoyed a wide range of tasty dishes brought by members. Our Christmas Card fund raised £35 and was donated to the Tewkesbury Battlefield Society. At our January meeting, prior to our forthcoming visit to the cathedral this July, the Worces- ter Cathedral Archaeologist, Christopher Guy, gave us an interesting talk about St Wulfstan’s Ca- thedral. Our Chairman Judith Sealey has kindly written the following report on that meeting. ‘At the time of Wulfstan’s birth (1008), Worcester was very different from its modern day appearance; it retained the traces of the earlier Roman settlement near the present day cathedral and later archaeological digs have shown an earlier bridge on the site of the present one. We know that in 1086 the population was 2,000; a few streets were being built in what is now New Street and the Shambles. The earlier Saxon defences, consisting of a palisade and ditch were fall- ing into disrepair, and several new parish churches were being built. Wulfstan’s cathedral is not the first on its site; there were several other Saxon cathedrals built to house the monastic foundation at Worcester. However Worcester’s original twelve monks had grown to fifty as a result of Wulfstan’s reputation, and a new cathedral was required. Several archaeological digs in the last century have revealed much evidence of earlier buildings on the site of the present cathedral, and we saw slides of rows of coffins and bodies that lie under the present chapter house. The graves show that many bodies were packed in with stones round their heads to keep the skull in an east-west alignment in keeping with Christian burial rites. Cathedral builders were great re-cyclers, and much of the present nave has been rebuilt using stones from Wulfstan’s day. Wulfstan’s fine crypt remains almost intact however, showing the skill of its masons and revealing many examples of dressed capitals. Perhaps the most interesting slide showed a portion of fabric discovered in 1890 that, thanks to modern day photographic techniques, is thought to date from Wulfstan’s time. It’s probably a portion of a stole, a cloth to cover the wrist, and a cope, all of which remnants depict a bishop. The textile is made up of silk wrapped round silver plates. At present these are being investigated at the Southampton Textile Conservation Centre, and hopefully will shed more light on what is a fascinating time of Worces- ter’s history.’ We are looking forward to an interesting programme this year:

14 March Geoffrey Wheeler will visit us to speak on the National Portrait Gallery Exhibition of 1973 at Holy Trinity Church Hall in Malvern. 18 April AGM and tour of Upton Snodsbury Church. 9 May Visit to Kenilworth Castle. 13 June Three Battles Festival in Worcester Guildhall, in which we are taking part. 11 July Guided tour of St Wulfstan’s Cathedral with Christopher Guy.

Details of our programme can be found on our branch web site www.richardiiiworcs.co.uk or 60

contact our programme planner, Joan Ryder, on 01384 394228, for further information. We are always pleased to welcome friends and prospective members at any of our meetings. Pat Parminter

Yorkshire Branch Report The Committee regrets to report that our Secretary, Moira Habberjam, has retired as of 18 Janu- ary. Both she and her husband Gerald are not in the best of health at present and she has taken the sensible decision to devote more time to domestic peace and quiet. Anyone who knows Moira at all will appreciate that she has given 100% plus of her time and energy to Society and Branch matters for nearly thirty years, service acknowledged by her being presented with the Robert Hamblin Award last October. We hope that she will continue to attend events when she can and provide good advice where necessary. I know that committee meetings will be very different without her. Yorkshire Branch commemorated the battle of Wakefield on 27 December this year: we had a sales point at the castle visitor centre, and an arrangement of white flowers (including roses) made by Pauline Pogmore was laid at the duke of York’s statue on behalf of the Branch by our chairman, Angela Moreton. She briefly put the deaths of the duke and his son the earl of Rutland, and the subsequent execution at Pontefract of the earl of Salisbury, York’s brother-in-law, in context by reminding listeners that Edward of March, York’s eldest son, took his retaliation for his kinsmen’s deaths less than four months later in the dreadful battle at Towton which confirmed him as king. We also observed a minute’s silence for those who died at Wakefield. On Sunday 28 December the Towton Battlefield Society laid a wreath at the duke’s statue, but I am very sorry to have to report that both these floral tributes were stolen at some time on the Sunday afternoon. This has never happened before and one can only deplore the mindset that could entertain such an act. Helen Cox of the TBS gave an interview about it to the Wakefield Express the following week. We are now able to report, very much in advance, that the next Wakefield commemoration will be held at Sandal on Saturday 2 January 2010. The preceding Saturday is of course Boxing Day, and was thought too near Christmas, bearing in mind members’ family commitments. York- shire Branch and the TBS will both mark the day with a presence at the castle. Our two organisations will also be at Towton Hall on Sunday 5 April 2009 (Palm Sunday) with various displays and a sales and publicity stall. Events start at about 10.00 a.m. and there will be the usual short act of remembrance at the cross in the Hall grounds at about noon. For further details, see the TBS website at www.towton.org.uk. Yorkshire Branch’s own newly-overhauled website is now up and running, with some new features: see www.richardiiiyorkshire.co.uk. The site also contains an updated Library List of our Dorothy Appleyard library, which is well worth a look. The Branch’s annual lecture is due to be held in May – further details in our April magazine and Newsletter. May we remind subscribers that their subs are now due and should be paid to our Treasurer, Christine Symonds, 2 Whitaker Avenue, Bradford BD2 3HL. Among our new Branch merchandise we are now offering full-colour postcards of details of the interior of St Alkelda’s church at Middleham, from original photos taken by our late chairman Ralph Taylor. Designs include the altar frontal, pulpit fall and commemorative window placed by the Richard III Socie- ty. The cards are A6 size and cost 55p each or two for £1. If you would like to buy some, please contact our Sales Officer Mrs Cris Reay Connor, Dunroyal Cottage, 19 Dunroyal Close, Help- erby, York YO61 2NH; email [email protected]. Cheques should be made payable to Yorkshire Branch, Richard III Society, please. Any queries regarding Branch membership and events should now be addressed to Pauline Harrison Pogmore at 169 Albert Road, Sheffield, S8 9QX. Tel: 0114 2586097. Please note the new email address, [email protected]. Angela Moreton 61

Obituaries

Matthew Kelly The New South Wales Branch is sad to report the death of a long-time member, Matthew Kelly. Although he had been unable to attend recent meetings, he always looked forward to receiving his copies of The Ricardian and the Bulletin. He was the generous donor of several items of medieval interest to our Branch, which were on display at the 2005 Australasian Ricardian conference at Sydney University. His daughter told us that he expressly asked her just before he died to tell us how much he valued his membership of the Society. Julie Redlich

A Tribute to John Dening It is with great sadness that I write to inform members of the death of John Dening on 7 July 2008 at the age of 86. Many in the society were personally acquainted with John and a great many more will be familiar with his best-selling Ricardian vindication Secret History: the truth about Richard III & the Princes. It was John’s lifelong fascination with all things paranormal together with his unflinching commitment to Richard III that culminated in Secret History. His tireless one-man marketing campaign quickly ensured that the book was a run away success, leading to a succession of reprints. John’s charming manner and infectious enthusiasm worked wonders, and he must have been one of the best PR men Richard ever had. One of John’s great strengths was a rare ability to bring people together, most often in support of Richard or the organisation of a paranormal investigation. John would go to inordinate lengths to ensure the success of such occasions, and would not be dissuaded from trying again if things didn’t go to plan. Despite his advancing years John continued to travel and to meet people. I saw him last at Middleham only a month before his death. But apart from these central preoccupations John flexed his muscles in a number of different fields. He was passionate about cricket, tennis and football, and would regularly travel great dis- tances to watch his beloved Hampshire, Britain’s Davis Cup team, or Aldershot, Norwich and Peterborough football clubs. No matter what the season or time of year, John would be sitting in a stand watching professional sport of one kind or another. Away from sport John regularly visited Scotland and other parts of the country in pursuit of his deep interest in wildlife, and even travelled abroad to catch a glimpse of certain exotic animals. And on top of all this his fluency in the Russian language made him a valuable member of the Bletchley Park intelligence community during World War II. However, this remarkably energetic and dedicated man will be remembered most for his deep and unshakeable devotion to the House of York and to Richard III in particular. Everyone who met John Dening will have a tale to tell (I’ve got a couple of belters), but most will recall his ge- nial warmth and gentle sincerity. David Johnson

Joy Ibsen It was with sadness that I learned, just after Christmas, of the death of Joy Ibsen of Lon- don, Ontario. As most members of the Rich- ard III Society will already know, Joy was a direct descendant in an all-female line of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter. Thus Joy had preserved into the twenty-first century the mitochondrial DNA of Richard III and his brothers and sisters. So far as I am currently aware she and her immediate family (brothers and children) are unique in this respect. Joy was kind enough not to think me a crackpot when, with the help of the Canadian Branch of the Society, I first made contact with her some years ago. Subsequently she willingly gave a sample of her DNA to help me clarify the situation with regard to the multiple possible ‘Margaret of York’ bodies which had been excavated from the Franciscan priory church at Mechelen in Belgium. Comparison with Joy’s DNA has since confirmed what carbon dating had already suggested, namely that none of the bodies discovered so far could be that of Marga- ret, Duchess of Burgundy. I never actually met Joy face to face, but through email and the telephone we were quite often in contact, as she supplied snippets of her more recent family history for my planned book on my Yorkist DNA research. We also discovered other shared interests in animals, and in a love of nature. Joy was proud of her newly-discovered Plantagenet blood – and she had good reason to be, for in her case the heritage was very special. I had known for a year or more that Joy was battling with cancer, so the news of her death was not a total surprise to me. On behalf of the Richard III Society (and particularly Canadian members, who have had the opportunity of meeting some of them) I should like to extend sympa- thy to Joy’s husband and three children. For myself I remain enormously grateful to Joy herself for helping my research. Thanks to her enlightened interest, Richard III’s mtDNA sequence is now on record and preserved for the future. John Ashdown-Hill

Recently Deceased Members

Mavis Bailey, Coalville, Leicestershire, joined 2004 Brenda Bentall, Tonbridge, Kent, joined in or before 1985 Derek Calton, Charing, Kent, joined in or before1985 John Dening, Brandon, Suffolk, joined 1988 Peter Fellgett, Bodmin, Cornwall, joined 2003 J. Jones, Dukinfield, Cheshire, joined in or before 1985 Matthew Kelly, St Peters, New South Wales, Australia, joined 1987 63

Calendar

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

Date Events Originator 2009

14 March Annual Requiem Mass, Church of Our Lady John Ashdown-Hill and the English Martyrs, Cambridge

21 March Annual Wreath Laying at Queen Anne Neville’s John Ashdown-Hill Monument, Westminster

24-26 April Study Weekend at York St John University. Lynda Pidgeon NOW CANCELLED see p. 5

16 May Visit to Mary Rose, Portsmouth Historic Dock Visits Committee see p. 56

10-14 July Long Weekend Visit Visits Committee South Wales, based in Swansea

5 September Visit to Croyland Abbey Visits Committee

3 October AGM & Members’ Day Secretary Staple Inn Hall, London

9-11 October Australasian Convention Helen Hardegen

14 November Norwich Branch Study Day Ann Marie Hayek see p. 56

2010 Visit to Carcassonne, France Visits Committee