The September 2012 issue of the Ricardian Bulletin has just arrived in my letter-box.  As always it promises to be an interesting read.  The NSW branch is well represented with the invitation to the Australasian Convention in 2013, which will be hosted by our branch, an article on Dorothea being able to attend the Bulletin Committee meeting in London and the sad news of Harold passing.

The Bulletin has been mailed out from the UK to each member directly and we hope that all of you will receive your copies in the near future.  Should there be any problems, please let me know.

Tags: NSW Branch, Richard III Society

Editor’s Comment: Our branch was approached at the beginning of this year by Thomas Layton, who was considering writing his HSC major work essay for Extension History on Richard III.  My daughter, who had also written her HSC essay on Richard III, and I had a chat with Thomas and gave him some advice on books and other material he might find useful.  Thomas received outstanding results for his essay and we are only too happy to include it on our branch website.

Thomas Edward Layton

Extension History

Historical Investigation

To What Extent can Thomas More’s ‘History of King Richard III’ be

Considered a work of Tudor Propaganda?

From the historiographical debate surrounding England’s King Richard III I have narrowed down my research to studying the influence of propaganda on Thomas More’s History of King Richard III. When Henry Tudor overthrew King Richard in 1485 he took by force a throne to which he had only a fledgling claim. Propaganda was then forwarded to validate his title, by depicting Richard and his Yorkist family as tyrants whom Tudor was divinely mandated to overthrow. Propaganda of this ilk was formalised by Polydore Vergil, Tudor’s official historian who described King Richard as the epitome of evil. 21st century largely views More’s as an inaccurate image of Richard III, but the question remains if it is propagandist. With Richard painted in a negative light also by Thomas More many revisionist historians group him with Vergil as a Tudor Propagandist. On this issue I compare the arguments of More and Vergil to first confirm More’s image of him as similar to the Tudor party line. I also seek corroboration for More’s account in the Crowland Chronicle of the period and the account of Dominic Mancini, in order to determine the balance in More’s account between fact and fiction. I also examine his political attitudes, his philosophical and moral views, and the source material he based history upon to first determine whether or not he wrote his History to serve the Tudor cause. These questions will be posed employing historians of both traditionalist views such as Charles Ross and Alfred Rowse, and revisionist views such as Jeremy Potter, Paul Kendall and V.B Lamb; all of whom base their account to a degree on their interpretations of Thomas More. Also employed are numerous textual analyses of More’s History, as well as Richard Sylvester’s view as More’s translator, and Richard Marius’s view as his biographer. Based on my conclusions thereof I propose that he wrote to use the Tudor image of King Richard as an archetype for evil, remembering the renaissance view of history was different to ours. The pre-existence of Tudor propaganda that impacted More’s sources meant More saw Richard in this light, and applied his image to a general discourse on tyranny for a philosophical purpose, rather than the purposes of Henry Tudor. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Richard III, Thomas More

Although Ricardians regret that Shakespeare’s interpretation of the last Plantagenet King was heavily prejudiced by the ideas of Tudor spin doctors, they recognise that it is great theatre. Even after every production reinforcing the idea in the eyes of the general public that Richard was a Bad King, who is it that we remember after golden boy Richmond claims the crown and promises paradise under the Tudors?  Richard, of course, who remains firmly and memorably in our minds.

Test this for yourselves,should you be lucky enough to be in Queensland at the time, and attend the ninth annual University of Southern Queensland Shakespeare in the Park Festival at USQ Toowoomba, when one of history’s most captivating and charismatic villains will take centre-stage. The Tragedy of King Richard III, directed by Scott Alderdice, will be presented on October 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 and 27 on the Festival’s open-air stage, starting at 6.30pm.

The gates open at 5.30 and audiences are encouraged to pack a hamper and bottle of wine (site licensed for BYO alcohol only), bring a rug or chair and enjoy an alfresco dinner as the sun sets before Richard (Shannon Haegler) appears in what promises to be an interesting interpretation.

For more information: visit www.usq.edu.au/shakespeare or call the USQ Artsworx Box Office on 07 4631 1111 to book tickets.

Tags: Richard III, Shakespeare

While we are waiting for the outcome of the DNA analysis, it seems to be the right time for some reflection.   This has been the most exciting time for any Ricardian or anyone interested in the period.   We would like to thank everyone concerned, the University of Leicester, Leicester City Council and the Richard III Society for making this investigation possible.  Our special thanks go to Philippa Langley of the Society, whose determination made her dream become reality.

Thanks also go to our friends on the Society Yahoo group, who posted a link to the full 35 minute video on You Tube of the press conference at Leicester, held on 12 September 2012.  This is an unlisted video, but as Richard Taylor of the University of Leicester tweeted the link, I suppose I can share it here.

Tags: Archaeology, Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Richard III

This was the subject of the lecture organised by The Australian Heraldry Society on Friday evening, 14 September.  The Carmichael Room at the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts – opened to double length – was nicely crowded.  Pre-lecture talk among the Ricardians present buzzed with the news from Leicester of course but, as soon as speaker Robyn Boyer began to talk, we were deep in a world of colourful pageantry and display.  Robyn is a medieval history enthusiast, with degrees of Bachelor of Visual Arts and Bachelor of Arts with Honours in History, currently working towards in PhD in medieval political philosophy at the University of Queensland.  We were definitely in safe hands.

What a fascinating world was opened up.  The information given was accompanied by a wonderful selection of illustrations that included men’s armorial and heraldic garments such as part of the Black Prince’s armour displayed in Canterbury Cathedral near his tomb, and the picture of Edward III formally granting Aquitaine to his eldest son.  Women’s heraldic garments were mainly shown on funeral monuments and effigies and from illuminated manuscripts such as the Luttrell Psalter, as well as garments and textiles that are still in existence.  The quality, colour and detail of the latter was striking.

Chivalry and nobility were all-important in the tapestry of medieval courtly life – although the heraldic motifs, even complete heraldic arms on some costume illustrations are suspect.  A fallacy perhaps in contrast to the fashionable formality in most portraits.

The variety was enormous.  Splendid heraldic horse cloths glowing with colour and design, sideless surcoats that appeared on ceremonial occasions  indicating rank if not royalty.  Brass rubbings showed great design detail as well as a surprising flow of fabric.

Ricardians welcomed the familiar portrait of Queen Anne Neville, sumptuous in her coronation robes, and the interesting brass funeral effigy from 1485 of William Catesby and his wife, Margaret Scrope, at Ashby St Legers in Northamptonshire.

It was an inspiring evening that swept us all along in a world of brilliant colour and rich textures, showing the personalities who wore them from Alfonso, King of Spain to Margaret Ferrers, wife of the 4th Earl of Warwick, from Charles IV and his bride Marie de Luxemburg to Mary, Queen of Scots and Francis of Lorraine.

Tags: Heraldry Australia

No, I’m not talking about the dig in Leicester at the moment, but rather about the Time Team episode on ‘Groby Old Hall’, which will have a repeat broadcast on ABC1 next week.

The announcement on the ABC website says that “The team visit Groby Old Hall in Leicestershire, once home to the legendary White Queen Elizabeth, the wife of Edward IV.”    The description of Elizabeth Woodville as “White Queen” has strong resonances of Philippa Gregory’s novels, but let’s hope that the research Time Team has done is more in-depth than that of a novelist.

Groby Hall was the property of the family of Elizabeth Woodville’s first husband, John Grey.  Later, it passed to their son Thomas Grey.

In spite of any misgivings about the description, the programme should be interesting to watch.  It is on at 18h00 on 18 September 2012 on ABC1.

The above photograph of Groby Old Hall is © Copyright Mat Fascione and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Tags: Archaeology, Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville

It’s good to see that the news about the discovery in Leicester of a skeleton which might indeed be the remains of Richard III (subject to DNA testing) are getting quite a bit of exposure in the Australian media.  Our branch received a few requests for radio interviews and so far we found the interviewers interested in hearing our side of the story.

However, readers who live in the Sydney area, might have seen yesterday’s article in the Sydney Morning Herald with the headline ”Hunchback skeleton may be good fit for a king”.  A friend phoned me to talk to me about a similar article in the Australian (which I don’t read), so the story about the ”hunchback king” seems to have done the rounds.

Wednesday’s press release from the University of Leicester explicitly stated that the man, whose remains they had found, was not a hunchback.  He suffered from scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine, which would be hardly noticeable on a clothed person.  Above all it is very well possible for someone with scoliosis to be athletic, which a medieval soldier definitely had be, and Richard was an acknowledged good soldier.  I read that Usain Bolt has scoliosis – hardly the misshapen cripple of Shakespeare’s play.

Well, to cut a long story short, I was pretty annoyed with the story in the SMH.  Sufficiently annoyed to write a letter to set the record straight.  And I am glad that my letter was accepted for publication.  You can read it on the letters’ page of today’s paper or on the digital version here (you have to scroll down a bit).

No, I never thought Richard was a hunchback and if this skeleton is indeed his (and I think that there is a very good chance that it is), then it proves that he was not a hunchback.

Tags: Archaeology, Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Media, Richard III

I have been following the press conference at Leicester on Twitter and this report is based on their tweets.  You can also read them on the update from the University of Leicester.

The press conference revealed that two skeletons were found, one of them was female and thus obviously not Richard III.  The male skeleton was found in the choir area, where according to historical records Richard was buried.

This skeleton appears to have suffered significant peri-mortem trauma to the skull, which would be consistent with an injury received in battle, and a metal arrowhead was found between vertebrae of the upper back.   It was near the spine, but not actually embedded in bones.

The man, whose skeleton it is, had spinal abnormalities, but was not a hunchback.  It would be consistent with severe scoliosis, where the spine is curved from side to side [Wikipedia].

The next step is to try to extract DNA from the bones to match it to the DNA of the man, who is descended in the all female line from Richard’s sister.

Philippa Langley of the Richard III Society stated that the aim of the “project has always been about finding out about the real man, not the Tudor myth”.

The findings so far look extremely promising, but DNA analysis will give us the truth at last.  Truth is indeed the “Daughter of Time”.

Tags: Archaeology, Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Richard III

Editor’s Comment: Sally Henshaw, Secretary of the Midlands East Branch of the Richard III Society, send us the following guest post on the archaeological dig in Leicester.   She and Richard Smith, Chairman of the Midlands East Branch, had the opportunity of a private tour of the site.

Richard Smith and I went to see the dig yesterday and Philippa Langley of the Richard III Society showed us round. We also had a few words with Richard Buckley, lead archaeologist of the project, who we know, as he has given talks to our branch on several occasions.

I took photographs of the first and second trenches as Philippa explained what things were (see below).

Unfortunately we were not allowed to see the third trench as they are working on that one at present. They have found a medieval coin, but as yet have not been able to date it. They have also found pieces of medieval stained glass and brightly painted floor tiles. They hope the choir of the church (where Richard was buried) is located in the car park where they are now digging and not under the building (although it may be possible to dig a trench if it is) It would be awful to have come so far only to find that the part we really need to get at is under a building.

Trench 2:  internal cloister walkway showing the herring bone pattern (© Sally Henshaw)

Trench 2: The white part is a rounded step which they are calling the Leicester Step at present, as no one has seen anything quite like it before. (© Sally Henshaw)

Trench 1:  showing where the all cuts across (© Sally Henshaw)

Trench 1:  the white area is a bench they found where the monks would have sat in the chapter house (© Sally Henshaw)

Window tracery (© Sally Henshaw)

Frieze on a choir stall, early perpendicular (?) (© Sally Henshaw)

Plan of the dig (© Sally Henshaw)

Tags: Archaeology, Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Richard III