Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
Helen Cox, the author of The Battle of Wakefield Revisited and Walk Wakefield 1460, attended the recent conference “Interpreting Battlefield Finds: Making the Most of Museums”. Here she tells us her experiences from this interesting conference. Thank you, Helen, for sharing this with us!
Conference Review: Interpreting Battlefield Finds: Making the Most of Museums
Royal Armouries, Leeds, Saturday 11th June 2011
Productive partnership was very much the theme of Interpreting Battlefield Finds: Making the Most of Museums, jointly run by the Leeds Royal Armouries and the Battlefields Trust.
Proceedings were opened by Dr. Jonathan Riley, Director General and Master of the Armouries, who welcomed delegates and paid tribute to the late Richard Holmes.
Alex Hildred, Curator of Ordnance for the Mary Rose Trust, then gave the first paper on ‘Interpretation of a Shipwreck Assemblage from the Battle of the Solent, 1545’. Finds from Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, included 91 guns of varying size made from cast bronze, cast iron and wrought iron, complete with gun carriages, and thousands of stone, cast iron and lead projectiles. The Royal Armouries and Mary Rose Trust created working replicas of several types of gun, and undertook test firings to demonstrate the firepower of Tudor artillery. Armouries staff also identified a cartridge former and gunner’s rule (for checking cannonball sizes) in the assemblage – and, by recognising a maker’s mark, showed that Henry VIII’s army was using matchlock muskets imported from Gardone in Venice. The assemblage also contained more than 2000 arrows and 172 longbows – almost equalling the total number of firearms – indicating that archery was still important at this date. Archers could achieve a more rapid rate of fire and greater long-distance accuracy than musketeers, and longbows were a useful fall-back if gunpowder was spoiled at sea; however, within a few decades developments in firearm technology would render this traditional English weapon obsolete. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Battles, Conference, Ricardian Authors
Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
While I sit here writing this, it is just past 14h30 – that is here in Sydney, where – at least when it comes to time – we are ahead of most of the rest of the world. In about 9 hours, when it is 14h30 in the UK, a new walking trail will be officially opened at the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre.
The new trail takes the recent discoveries about the actual site of the battle into consideration. It runs in a loop around Ambion Hill with views across the relocated battlefield at two points. Along the way there is information on the lead up to the battle, an introduction of the main protagonists for the casual sight-seer (Ricardians visit because of one of the protagonists) and an explanation of the events of 22 August 1485 including reconstructed images of what the battlefield may have looked like on the day.
This trail is the final element of developments at the battlefield funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. And of course we all voted for the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre in the recent National Lottery Awards, though it seems that it did not make it to the finalists.
The new trail is open all year round and entry is free.
The opening of the new trail was announced on About My Area. You can find the results of the National Lottery Awards here.
Illustration of Richard III: © Andrew Jamieson, www.jamiesongallery.com
Tags: Books, Bosworth, Ricardian Authors
Posted by: Julia Redlich in News
Ashfield, that active Sydney suburb, has just opened its brand-new state-of-the-art Library. To mark this spectacular addition one of the regular speakers at the “Authors at Ashfield” programme, David Millar came to give a talk on “The Medieval World of Geoffrey Chaucer”.
And after the extremely interesting articles on Chaucerian connections by Lesley Boatwright and Peter Hammond in the June 2011 Ricardian Bulletin, this was a talk that couldn’t be missed.
David is a well-loved speaker, blending his knowledge of travel, history and architecture to cover a multitude of subjects. On Wednesday, June 22, he travelled, like Chaucer’s pilgrims, to Canterbury and his photography showed us much of England’s green and pleasant land, the delightful town of Canterbury which has happily remained mainly untouched by too much development – although as he remarked when showing a picture of an old inn where Queen Elizabeth once slept (yes, another one!), she would have found it hard to understand the prominent banner-style notice about Espressos being available. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Books, Chaucer, Church
The June Ricardian Bulletin, the quarterly magazine of the Richard III Society, and the annual journal, The Ricardian, have arrived in Sydney and will be posted to our members in the next few days. Both publications form part of a full membership of the NSW Branch of the Society, and as every member can tell you, are always a source of inspiring reports and new insights.
This time the one focus of the Bulletin is on Richard’s biographer, Paul Murray Kendall, commemorating his birth on 1 March 1911. The other is on the recent study weekend of the Society at York on the de la Pole family. Summaries of two of the talks are included, the other talks will follow. Peter Hammond’s ‘Chaucer and de la Pole heraldry’ from the tombs in Ewelme brought many happy memories.
The most interesting article for me in The Ricardian was the one touching on Queens’ College, Cambridge. Other articles investigate the Yorkist effigy in the church of Minster in Kent, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Edmund de la Pole and ‘The Library of John Austell’. Add to this reviews of many new books (my wish list is getting longer and longer!) and you get an idea of what to do during the long, cold evenings.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Society’s new Business Manager, Stephen York, on taking on the job and to congratulate him on the way it was handled without any hiccups. We are hoping for a long and successful cooperation. And it was especially nice to recognise, when I saw Stephen’s photo in the Bulletin, that I knew him from the ‘Blood and Roses’ weekend in Oxford.
Tags: NSW Branch, Richard III Society
Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
There has been much anticipation for a new production of Richard III at the Old Vic in London with Kevin Spacey in the title role. It is set to open on 29 June and I know that some of our Ricardian friends in the UK have got tickets to go and see it. Kevin Spacey has been the artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre Company since 2003.
The production will be directed by Sam Mendes, both Mendes and Spacey worked together on the 1999 movie American Beauty, for which they both won Oscars. It will be part of the Bridge Project, which has been a three-year US-British collaboration.
After the initial season in London, the production will tour the world – and will also come to Sydney, the only Australian city to be included. This will be the first production of the Old Vic Theatre Company to be staged in Australia since 1948, when Laurence Olivier brought also Richard III.
From 1 December there will be 11 performances at the Lyric Theatre. Tickets go on sale on 25 July.
Of course Shakespeare’s Richard III is a marvellous stage villain, but as my prof at Bonn uni all those years ago said “he does not seem to bear much resemblance to the real person”.
For more info on the stage production read the announcements in the Daily Telegraph, from Nine News as well as an older article from the Guardian. For more info on the relationship between play and reality have a look here.
Tags: Richard III, Shakespeare
Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
Margaret (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503) was the sister of Edward IV and Richard III. She married Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, in 1468. He died on 5 January 1477 and the dowager duchess remained influential in Burgundian politics until the end of her life.
Did Margaret like Chocolate? Hardly, chocolate hadn’t been introduced to Europe during her lifetime. A pity really, as today Belgian chocolates are world famous and as Duchess of Burgundy, Margaret would have been right on the spot.
Chocolate was only introduced into Europe after Hernan Cortes saw the Aztecs drink the beverage during his visit around 1519. In Belgium, chocolate was only produced on a large scale in the 19th century and what comes to mind when we hear the term ‘Belgian chocolates’ was only developed in the early 20th century. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Margaret of Burgundy
Our latest branch meeting was held on a chill and windy Saturday, 11 June 2011, which also marked the 555th birthday of Richard’s Lady Wife, Queen Anne Neville. The Sydney Mechanics’ Institute’s smallest meeting room was filled to overflowing with members happy to be warm indoors.
Opening remarks were made by our Chairperson Judith, who then invited Judy to deliver her first report as our new Treasurer.
In her Secretary’s report, Julia talked about forthcoming meetings and also covered some future social events as Social Secretaries, Jane and Xavier, were unable to attend and offered their apologies. She was pleased to confirm the venue for the 2012 Branch Ricardian biennial conference, which is to be held next May, in the Mittagong RSL. Details will be distributed closer to the time. You can find exact times and other information on future meetings and events in our Upcoming Events section. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Anne Neville, London, NSW Branch
Our next general meeting on this coming Saturday, 11 June 2011, promises to be a real treat.
First our member, respected historical novelist Isolde Martyn, will speak on ‘Medieval London’. Isolde’s talks are always highly appreciated for her thorough research and entertaining presentation.
The day marks also the 555th birthday of Richard’s queen, Anne Neville, so make sure that you come and join us for the party.
The meeting will take place at our normal time and venue, 14h00 at the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney.
Looking forward to seeing you!
Tags: Anne Neville, London, NSW Branch
Posted by: Dorothea Preis in News
The Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485 was fought between King Richard III and the invading army of Henry Tudor, ending with the death of Richard. Last year, an archaeological survey finally established the actual site of the battlefield, which on subsequent maps had moved further and further eastwards from its depiction on the earliest map (Saxton 1575).
For the visitor to Bosworth the interactive visitors’ centre is a must, showing information on the battle and its consequences. It also showcases the archaeological finds made during the survey, including the largest collection of 15th century cannonballs from any battlefield in Europe. You can walk the new Battle of Bosworth Trail around Ambion Hill, which also includes two interpreted views across the actual battlefield site. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Battles, Bosworth
