2 February 1461

Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, Herefordshire. The Yorkists were led by 18-year-old  Edward, Earl of March (later Edward IV) against Lancastrian forces led by Owen Tudor and his son Jasper.  Owen Tudor was killed. The Lancastrians outnumbered the Yorkists considerably and were better mounted and armed.  The Yorkists were encouraged by a parhelion, a meteorological phenomenon in which three suns appear.  This is the origin of Edward’s badge ‘The Sun in Splendour’.

Tags: Edward IV, Wars of the Roses, Yorkists

The first general meeting of 2010 promises to be a special treat and we are sure you will want to mark 13 February in red in your diary.

Our  speaker at this meeting will be Dr Carole Cusack.   A historian and broadcaster, Carole is Associate Professor in the Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney.  She has often been a guest speaker of our Branch of the Richard III Society, and for the last 10 years she has been the Honorary President of the Plantagenet Society.  Those of us who had the pleasure of hearing Carole speak on earlier occasions know what an exceptional pleasure it is to listen to her well-researched and lively talks.

This time her topic will be  “Writing about Richard:  Admissible Sources and Emotional Responses”.  She is going to look at the way how different historians’ biographical treatments of Richard III approach the question of admissible sources (remember, only Dominic Mancini is actually contemporary, all other sources were written at a later date).   Which sources historians accept, influences their picture of Richard III’s reign as well as their judgement on difficult questions like whether he ‘could have’ done away with his nephews.

Finally, reception history is interested in the way that historical persons and events are received by audiences across cultures and time periods.  What is it about Richard III that provokes an emotional response, when so many other British monarchs are of scant interest to twenty-first century people?

This is a meeting not to be missed.

As always, guests are most welcome.

Tags: Richard III

28 January 1457

Birth of Henry Tudor, son of Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort at Pembroke Castle, Wales.  Edmund Tudor was the son of Owen Tudor and Henry V’s widow Catherine of Valois (there is no documentation that they were married).  Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt (third son of Edward III) and his third wife and previous mistress Katherine Swynford.   The children of this relationship, the Beauforts, were disinherited by Letters Patent of King Henry IV from any claim to the throne.

Tags: Henry Tudor, Margaret Beaufort

18 January 1486

Marriage of Henry VII  (Tudor) and Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.

Tags: Edward IV, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, Henry Tudor

15 January 1478

Marriage of Edward IV’s younger son Richard of Shrewsbury to Anne Mowbray, the only child of John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk (died 17 January 1476) and Elizabeth Talbot (sister of Eleanor Talbot).  The wedding took place in St. Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster.  The bride was 5 years old, the groom 4.  She died on 19 November 1481. Her heirs would normally have been her cousins William, Viscount Berkeley and John, Lord Howard, but by an act of Parliament in January 1483 the rights were given to her husband Richard, with reversion to his descendants, and, failing that, to the descendants of his father Edward IV.

Tags: Edward IV, John Howard

14 January 1476

Death of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, second child and eldest surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville, sister of Edward IV and Richard III.

Tags: Richard III

I recently read about a board game called Richard III:  Wars of the Roses, which sounded intriguing.  Two players are fighting out the Wars of the Roses between York and Lancaster.  Will Henry VI and his Queen Margaret keep the throne or will the Duke of York recover it for the Plantagenets.  Other characters include Edward IV, Richard III, Henry Tudor, and Warwick, the notorious “Kingmaker”.  The object of play is to eliminate all five enemy heirs and/or win control of the powerful nobles of England. The Lancastrians start the game holding the throne, and the Yorkists are ready to take them on.  Kingship can be won or lost several times during the game.  Will Richard III emerge triumphant, or will he perish in battle as he did historically?

I read several reviews of this game which all seemed to be very favourable.  I know what I want for my next birthday!

You can find more information here or read a review.

Tags: Richard III, Wars of the Roses, Yorkists

The re-enactment of the Battle of Wakefield, which was to have been fought today, has been called off at short notice.

It commemorates the Battle of Wakefield fought on 30 December 1460 between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians, one of the battles of the wars of the Roses.  The Yorkists were greatly outnumbered and destroyed completely; nearly 3000 men fell in the hour long battle.  For Ricardians it is of particular poignancy because of the death of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, the father of Richard III.  His second son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, who was then 17 years old, was murdered after the battle, apparently by John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford, as revenge for his father’s death in the 1st Battle of St Albans.  Clifford was afterwards known as ‘Butcher Clifford’.  Also killed was Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury.  He was wounded and captured in the battle, apparently initially with an idea to ransom him, but was executed the next day.  The heads of these three Yorkists were stuck on poles and displayed over Micklegate Bar, York, with the Duke wearing a paper crown.  We can only wonder how history would have turned out if the real battle in 1460 had been called off!

This re-enactment has taken place annually since 2005, with more than 1000 people turning up in 2008.  Events planned for today included medieval crafts, food, costumes and stalls and, weather permitting, demonstrations of medieval combat and archery.  The cancellation is due to a combination of the closure of Sandal Castle Visitor Centre, illness as well as the snow and ice.

However, the wreath laying by members of the Richard III Society at the Duke of York’s Monument on Manygates Lane is set to go ahead at 2.15 pm.

You can read the full article from the Wakefield Express here.

Tags: Sandal, Wakefield, Yorkists

The NSW Branch of the Richard III Society wishes all its readers, friends and members a very happy new year.

Like with Christmas before, I was wondering what Richard III and his family would have done on New Year’s Eve.  Fireworks, champagne and ‘Auld Lang Syne’?  Well, not quite.  For starters ‘Auld Lang Syne’ was only written by Robert Burns in 1788 (1).  At that time fireworks were well established in England as Georg Friedrich Händel’s ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’, composed in 1749 (2), shows, though they do go back to 12th century China and have been recorded in Europe since 1258 (3).  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Christmas, Medieval Life, Richard III