When earlier this year archaeologists made the discovery of the true location of the Battle of Bosworth public, they showed various artefacts that led to the discovery.  One of them, and for me the most fascinating and poignant one, was a small silver boar badge.  The White Boar was Richard’s emblem and badges like this would have been worn by his knights.  They were primarily awarded at ceremonies like Richard’s coronation or the investiture of his son as Prince of Wales.  It is believed that this one was lost from the tunic of one his knights as he fought alongside his rightful king against the usurper Henry Tudor. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Battles, Contemporaries, Richard III

Sheriff Hutton Castle, one of Richard III’s main bases in the north, is up for sale.[1]

The first castle was built in 1140 by Bertram de Bulmer, who was then Sheriff of York, as a grand manor house.  Through the marriage of his daughter Emma it passed on to the Nevilles.  The existing castle was built in the 14th century, replacing the original manor.[2]  After Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, was killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471, the castle came into the possession of Edward IV, who gave it to his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester.[3] Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Castles, Richard III, Yorkshire

We would like to welcome Jenny Savage from the Richard III Society in the UK.  Jenny attends our general meetings whenever she is in Sydney, where she is always a most welcome guest.  We are very excited that she has agreed to contribute to our website.

Today she makes a start with a review of Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton AD 1461 (which you can read here).

We are looking forward to hear from Jenny soon again.  All our contributors are highly appreciated, but this goes particularly for those from outside of  our branch.

A very big welcome, Jenny!

Tags: Books, NSW Branch

During last weekend’s conference, Lynne reviewed Richard:  The Young King to Be by Josephine Wilkinson.  You can read her review here.

Tags: Anne Neville, Edward IV, Richard III

From our friends at Barley Hall in York (more info here), or to be precise from the April 2010 issue of Quid Novi?  A newsletter for the friends and supporters of Barley Hall, we learned that the York Archaeological Trust has agreed to take over the Museum at Micklegate Bar and make it one of their attractions.  This means that the Bar joins Barley Hall as the second mediaeval attraction in their portfolio.

Micklegate Bar in York (author’s own photograph)

Micklegate Bar is York’s most important gateway and has served a number of important roles since its construction in the 12th century, including being the main point of entry through which a reigning monarch enters the city.

The new museum will open later in May and an interesting programme of events has been planned.  To celebrate the launch of the new exhibition, the Wars of the Roses will be brought to life in York once more with various Bank holiday events and talks to tie into.

The programme kicks off on 29 May at Barley Hall with the drama of The Queen’s Tale: Margaret of Anjou.  The following day there is a coach tour to Sandal Castle.  31 May sees Helen Cox launching her book The Battle of Wakefield Revisited at Micklegate Bar and at the Mansion House there is a series of talks on Great Battles of the Wars of the Roses.

Later in the (Northern hemisphere) summer there will be a series of guided tours to various battle sites in the area.  For Ricardians the most interesting would surely be the one to Sheriff Hutton on 15 June, and a day at Pontefract Castle and the Wakefield battle site under the heading Dukes, Earls and Nursery Rhymes: Yorkshire at War in the 15th Century, which is led by Helen Cox, on 1 August.  For more information on all these fascinating events check out the website of Barley hall as well as that of the Jorvik Viking Centre (here).

Tags: Battles, Books, Sandal, Yorkshire

Today, May 20, is a time to celebrate. Exactly a year ago our new website took off, thanks to the inspiration and guidance of Mathias Burbach. Mathias, we can’t thank you enough.

Since then, in the skilled and sure hands of our webmaster Dorothea Preis, the site has developed into a place well worth visiting. There’s the latest news about our Branch as well as information about the people involved with it. Plus plenty of information about what is happening Ricardian-wise around the world such as the recent archaeological discoveries at Bosworth and the newly suggested site of Redemore Plain, developments at Micklegate Bar in York and new research into the Battle of Wakefield.

New items of interest are added regularly: the Medieval Calendar gives daily reminders of what happened when, where and to whom; medieval style recipes have begun to make an appearance; we’re visiting places that have a distinct Plantagenet presence. Our book list is filled with suggestions that range from classic research such as John Ashdown-Hill’s Eleanor: the Secret Queen to entertaining – but not necessarily historically accurate – novels. Our library list grows weekly and our bookshelves are filling rapidly – and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

What has really thrilled us in the past twelve months is the amount of new friends from around the world who have made contact with us, offered us articles and illustrations, posted some of our items on other sites – and congratulated the Branch on its website. Take a bow, Dorothea!

Please continue to keep in touch with us. In fact we hope you make Many Happy Returns to our site and get to know the New South Wales Branch of the Richard III Society even better. Loyalty binds us.

Tags: NSW Branch

Helen Cox, the author of the forthcoming new evaluation of the Battle of Wakefield (see here), let us know that a half-hour programme on the Battle of Towton has just been broadcast on BBC 1, as part of a series called ‘A History of the World’.  Helen and a number of other Towton Battlefield Society/Frei Compagnie re-enactors feature in this programme.

She also informed us that the programme would be available on the BBC iPlayer (here).  We were so thrilled to think that now we would also be able to watch programmes like this, but alas the BBC iPlayer for TV is available to the UK only.  Why this discrimination?

Tomorrow, 20 May, BBC2 will broadcast in its ‘History Cold Case’ series a programme on the skeleton of a man found at Stirling Castle who died after a jolly joust.  That would also be interesting, if only we could watch it!

Tags: Battles, Media

Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire – New Town with Roman and Medieval Roots

Before migrating to Australia, we lived for 5 years in Welwyn Garden City, where I had spent a memorable year as a German assistant in 1980/81.  Welwyn Garden City is in Hertfordshire, so I started wondering what Ricardian or Yorkist connections I could discover in that county and these will be discussed over time.

But I would like to start with Welwyn Garden City itself.  On a purely personal level the town is of great Ricardian relevance:  In autumn 1980 I bought in what was then the Welwyn Department Store (now part of the John Lewis Partnership) my copy of Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time, so you could say that was where my obsession with this king and the period began. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Contemporaries, Hertfordshire

Our day-long mini-conference on 15 May included reviews of several books.  One of them was Peter A Hancock’s Richard III and the Murder in the Tower.  If you missed the conference, you can read it here.

Tags: Books, Contemporaries, Richard III