Battle of Edgecote Moor (actually Danes Moor in Northamptonshire), a battle of the Warwick Rebellion.  In the North, one of the captains of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (‘The Kingmaker), calling himself Robin of Redesdale (actually a trusted Neville captain, Sir William Conyers) started a rebellion against Edward IV, which was supported by Warwick and George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III.  Edward IV was at Nottingham, where he hoped to meet up with Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon, and William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.  Apparently Devon and Pembroke quarreled on the way, with Pembroke continuing on his own, encountering the rebels near Banbury.  Pembroke, his brother Sir Richard Herbert as well as Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers (Elizabeth Woodville’s father), and his son John were taken prisoner and executed on Warwick’s orders without trial.

Tags: Edward IV, Nevilles

This is the title of a ‘Special Interest Weekend to re-evaluate an historically neglected but pivotal English conflict’ which will be held from 24 to 27 March 2011 at Christ Church in Oxford in association with Holts Battlefield Tours and The Richard III Society.  To a Ricardian the description of a “neglected” conflict is hardly appropriate, as it is essential to our period of interest.

Special Interest Weekends are offered every spring by Christ Church, offering sound scholarship by distinguished speakers to their visitors.  Participants will stay on campus and enjoy college life.  The social highlight of the weekend will be the Gala Banquet on Saturday night.

This weekend promises to take the participant through one of the most complex narratives of English History and to explore the debates surrounding the parts played, not just by the king but by the aristocracy.  The talks include:

•    The Origins of the Wars of the Roses
•    The Role of Margaret of Anjou
•    Edward IV and the Establishment of the House of York
•    Richard III:  Reputation and Reality
•    The Army of Richard III
•    Alice Duchess of Suffolk and the Wars of the Roses – this will take place at Ewelme Church, where she is buried
•    The Battle of Bosworth – Dr Glenn Foard, who led the team that discovered the real battle site, will talk about their research.

What a pity that we are so far away, the weekend does promise to be fascinating!  It would be good if we could find out whether the talks might be published in book format after the weekend.  This would allow people, who live too far away and haven’t got the means to just pop over to Oxford for weekend, can enjoy some of it.

For a copy of the programme and a booking form click here.

Tags: Bosworth, Richard III, Wars of the Roses

Louis XI becomes King of France.  His coronation is on 15 August 1461.  Due to his scheming and love for intrigue he became known as ‘The Spider King’.

Tags: France

Margaret, George and Richard, the three youngest children of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, stay for a few weeks at the house, which had belonged to Sir John Fastolf, in Southwark, where they are visited every day by their eldest brother Edward, Earl of March (later Edward IV).

Bibliography:  Christine Weightman, Margaret of York:  The Diabolical Duchess.  Amberley Publishing, Chalford, 2009.  ISBN 978 1 84868 099 9 (paperback)

Illustration:  Old London Bridge in 1616 with Southwark Priory, now Cathedral, in the foreground, by Claes van Visscher

Tags: Edward IV, George of Clarence, House of York, Margaret of Burgundy, Richard III

I have just finished reading this excellent new book by Helen Cox and would like to recommend it to everyone interested in the period.  You can read a review of it here.

Tags: Books, Richard Duke of York, Wakefield

Battle of Castillon, Aquitaine, the last battle of the 100 Years’ War between the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet for the French throne.  John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and father of Eleanor Talbot (Butler), is killed.

Bibliography:  John Ashdown-Hill, Eleanor – The Secret Queen. The History Press, 2009  ISBN 978-0752448664 (hardback)

Illustration:  The Death  of John Talbot at the Battle of Castillon, by Charles-Philippe Larivière (1798-1876)

Tags: Eleanor Talbot

Some of our members received their Ricardian 2010 (Volume XX) at the beginning of this month in the post.  These copies had been individually mailed from the UK.  The committee assumed that they had reached all our members, but we have heard in the meantime of a number of people who did not receive their copy.  As this was not a group delivery by M-bag, which would be distributed here, we were not able to check whether all copies were included.

We therefore would like to ask all members of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society, who normally receive the Ricardian, to check whether they did receive Volume XX.  If you did not receive it, please let Julia know urgently, to enable her to sort the matter out with the executive in the UK.

So far there are unfortunately no news about the delivery of the Summer issue of the Ricardian Bulletin, which is normally distributed together with the Ricardian.

This ruined castle in Pembrokeshire was the home of Rhys ap Thomas, the Welsh lord whose support for Henry Tudor was a crucial factor in the overthrow of King Richard III. After Bosworth, Rhys became the highest officer of the crown in southern Wales.

Carew Castle, built on the upper reaches of the Carew River, which flows into Milford Haven was Rhys’s favourite residence and although it is now a ruin, it has a cosier family atmosphere than the huge, intact royal castle at Pembroke.

The original motte and bailey were built in the Norman era to guard the river head and the building is not far from an 11th century Celtic Cross commemorating a king who died in 1035. In the time of Edward I when fortress building reached its zenith, the castle was rebuilt.  After his rise to great eminence, Rhys ap Thomas made more changes by putting in oriel windows, a guest bedroom for when King Henry visited, as well as a new great hall and gatehouse. In April 1507 he hosted a five-day great tournament to celebrate being made a knight of the garter. (In April 2010, when we visited, a modest archery contest was being held and the bright coloured tents, pennons and historical costumes gave a feel to how splendid the castle must have looked during the jousting.)

Rhys’s grandson was executed by King Henry VIII and the castle was given to Sir John Perrot, reputedly one of the king’s bastards. Perrot built a three storey north range with a long gallery and mullioned windows, but he was convicted of high treason and much of the glazing was never finished. The castle was fought over during the English Civil War and the south range was deliberately destroyed by the Roundheads. From then on the building fell into decay. Today the castle is managed by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and with its river setting, tidal mill, and C11th Celtic Cross, it is certainly worth a visit.

References
Carew Castle: a souvenir guide, Pembrokeshire  Coast National Park Authority
Evans, H.T, Wales and the Wars of the Roses, Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd., 1988

Tags: Wales

It is well-known that the history you find in books is not necessarily what actually happened.  It is also no secret that authors often change the story even further if they think it makes better entertainment – Shakespeare’s treatment of Richard III is a point in case.  This example also shows the danger of willfully changing facts -  the made up story becomes the new truth.

We recently heard from John Ashdown-Hill about the latest in rewriting history.  Last Sunday, 11 July, villagers of Grafton Regis, Elizabeth Woodville’s birthplace,  planned to re-enact the 15th century kidnapping of the uncrowned King Edward V in Stony Stratford High Street.  The word “kidnapping” set alarm bells ringing, but it got even more fanciful.  Straight from Shakespeare’s rewriting of history, we then get the usual stuff about Edward and his younger brother Richard being murdered in the Tower on the orders of Richard III.  And then we are informed that later during the re-enactment Elizabeth Woodville would arrive on horseback to search in vain for her son.

As John pointed out, how does one re-enact something that never happened?  Elizabeth Woodville was during the whole episode in London, too far away to just pop over to look for her son.  And as the whole meeting of Edward’s party and that of his uncle Richard of Gloucester had been arranged well in advance this was hardly a “kidnapping”.

In the meantime we received an eye witness account from Iris of what actually took place that day at Stony Stratford (I mean 11 July 2010).  Not only did Elizabeth Woodville get on her  motorbike (the equivalent to arriving on horseback) to chase up the A5, she took her younger son Richard and daughter Elizabeth along as well.  Contrary to the announcement, their search was successful and all returned happily to London in the evening.  The evil kidnapper was not even present, but just sent a letter to Elizabeth (how he knew that she would be in Stony Stratford is anyone’s guess).

The purpose of this strange re-making of history was to advertise a two-day History Fayre which will take place in Grafton Regis on Saturday 31 July and Sunday 1 August.  There episode two of this comedy of errors will be told:  the organisers promise us the re-enactment of a battle to attempt to rescue the kidnapped heir to the throne.  Their aim, raising funds for repairs to the village Church windows and a new kitchen for the Village Hall, is undoubtedly very worthwhile. But does the end justify any means, even making up battles which never took place?

Our branch committee discussed this event at our meeting last Saturday and we were unsure whether to laugh or cry.  We are pleased to hear that the Richard III Society, in the person of the chairman Dr Phil Stone, has written to the local press commenting upon the inaccuracies of the scenario.  In the meantime we continue to do our best here to pick up on inaccuracies in the press and it has fortunately been some time since we have had to reprove crossword compilers for “Usurping king (7)”.  However, it remains a long way to establish that “Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority” (Sir Francis Bacon), the  quote which is the basis of the title of  Josephine Tey’s classic.  Although today it would be appropriate to say “Truth is the daughter of time, not of entertainment”.

Julia Redlich and Dorothea Preis