Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
At present Stirling Castle is undergoing extensive refurbishment with the aim to return the castle to its 16th century magnificence.
The first step was to find out how the palace might have been furnished and decorated. In some cases there were surviving records, for instance that there were a great many tapestries and also that James V had bought himself some four poster beds, which were the latest fashion in his day.
Other inspiration came from comparison with Scottish royal and noble residences of the time, paintings and inventories of people’s belongings, as well as surviving items in museum collections in the UK and overseas.
Top-quality craftsmen were commissioned to use authentic materials and techniques to refurnish and redecorate the palace. A team of weavers are also recreating a series of late medieval tapestries.
A special feature are the Stirling Heads. Thirty three of these large oak medallions, which once decorated the ceilings of some of the royal apartments, have been handed down to us. They are carved with the faces of Scottish kings and queens, European royalty, Roman emperors and Classical heroes. The original ones will be on show in a special display area on the first floor of the palace. The gallery will also have exhibits and displays about the fine stone statues on the outside walls of the palace, and about Scotland’s place in Renaissance Europe. However, a replica set of the heads has been hand-carved and will be used to decorate the ceiling of one of King’s Presence Hall.
The refurbishment should be finished by Easter 2011, when visitors will be able to experience the 16th century in all its splendour.
To find out more about this fascinating project click here, there is also a link to a short film about the refurbishment on YouTube
Illustration: The Great Hall at Stirling Castle, © Copyright Iain Russell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Tags: Castles, Scotland
Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
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, Oxfordshire, Richard III, Wars of the Roses
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: Battles, Books, Ricardian Authors, Richard Duke of York
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Castles, Wales
Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Our branch members Leslie and Doug have just finished reading the Ricardian classic Some Touch of Pity by Rhoda Edwards. We are very happy and grateful that they immediately let us know their thoughts on this excellent novel.
You can find their review on our “Book Shelf” in the “Ricardian Library” or click here.
Tags: Anne Neville, Books, Richard III
Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
If you found us after reading the paper this morning we would like to welcome you to our site. We hope you find lots of interesting articles and would be happy to welcome you soon again.
A note of explanation to our regular readers. We reported on Tuesday, 6 July, that Richard III’s coronation was mentioned in Column 8, a regular feature of the Sydney Morning Herald. We were wondering whether our secretary Julia had anything to do with it, but it turns out that any prompting from her side had not been necessary. However, efficient as ever she immediately sent an email to Column 8 thanking them for the mention of ‘our Man’ and this appears in full in today’s paper (have a look here). Thank you very much to Column 8 and Julia as well.
Tags: Media, NSW Branch, Richard III
Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
The anniversary of Richard and Anne’s coronation in 1483 made it into today’s Sydney Morning Herald (could Julia, our excellent secretary, have anything to do with this?). Column 8 lists several events connected with 6 July. In case you are wondering about “St Sexburga’s Day” (and did not read Column 8 yesterday), St Sexburga was an Abbess of Ely in the seventh century.
Read today’s Column 8 here (the first entry) and yesterday’s here (the last entry).
Tags: Media, Richard III
Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
We may be 550 years late for the Battle of Northampton, fought on 10 July 1460 between the Yorkist forces commanded by the Earl of Warwick and Henry VI’s Lancastrian forces, but this coming weekend there will be lots of action for latecomers like us (and more peaceful, too). A wide variety of Battle related activities will take place at at the original battle site at Delapré Abbey, including a re-enactment of part of the Battle. Other attractions are: Jousting on horseback with full armour, gunpowder and large canon demonstrations, the display of a soldiers’ encampment and music from the period of the Battle. And if all this makes you hungry and thirsty there will also be food stalls offering medieval fare.
This fun weekend will be followed by a conference on the Battle of Northampton on the anniversary itself (10 July) at the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, organised by The Battlefields Trust. The programme promises to be fascinating with talks on “The Wars of the Roses and the Northampton Campaign”, “Developments in Warfare During the 15th Century”, “The Battle of Northampton”, “Where Is the Battlefield?” and “Finding Medieval Battlefields”.
You can find more information on the weekend at Delapré Abbey here and about the conference at Northampton Museum here.
Illustration: War of the Roses © Andrew Jamieson, www.medieval-arts.co.uk
Tags: Battles, Nevilles, Wars of the Roses
