Welcome to the NSW branch of the Richard III society web site.

Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, at the age of 32, in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. Following the discoveries of Richard’s remains in 2012 it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in Yorkshire. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015.

New members are welcome please contact us for details.

Chairperson’s Report October 2015

The Richardian Year 2014-2015 has proved a very exciting one for all members of the New South Wales branch of the Richard III Society Publicity concerning the discovery and the reburial has resulted not only in a boost to our membership but also greatly increased interest from many people outside the Society.

Several of our members were able to travel to Leiceister to participate in the celebrations to mark Richard III’s reburial in and around the city. Our Treasurer, Judy Howard, was fortunate enough to be selected to the Compline Service in the Cathedral when Richard’s remains were brought from Bosworth to lie in state. As close to this time as possible on 21st March many of our Sydney Richardians were able to commemorate Richard’s life and his achievements in a beautiful moving service at the Anglican Church of St James at King Street where in August we remember those who died with Richard at the Battle of Bosworth.

Upon their return from the United Kingdom, Dorothea Preis, Judy Howard and David Johnson presented a fascinating review of their time in Leiceister. During the discussion which followed, other members added their contributions which proved very enjoyable.
Particular thanks must go to our members who show such positive support to our hard-working committee but friendship to each other which ensures the smooth and enjoyable running of the Society. Our venue so centrally located at the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts with its proximity to public transport has proved very convenient to most people to access some even coming from as far as Brisbane and Armidale.

Throughout the year, members have been encouraged to learn more about Richard III and the world in which he lived. This has been capably encouraged not only by the very excellent Website presided over by Dorothea Preis but also with an array of wonderful guest speakers all of whom are experts in their particular fields. They have entertained us, inspired us to follow up their talks with research of our own and enriched our knowledge of Richard and his world. All talks have been presented in a well researched and scholarly manner, each subject being lavishly illustrated.
Wendy Schmit the President of the New South Wales Embroiderers Guild brought many beautiful examples of embroidery styles some of which have been practised since Medieval Times.
Almis Simans who has written a number of books about his extensive walks in the English countryside was able to illustrate his talk using contour maps and photos of physical features of the countryside where Richard would have ridden explaining the myths and legends associated with the land.
Maggie Patton, a well known curator from the State Library of New South Wales drew on the wonderful collection of delicately coloured maps held in the library to illustrate the “MappaMundi” how people in the fifteenth century would have perceived the wider world.

Another of our members the former parliamentarian, Chris Puplick, a self-styled medievalist, presented a lecture on the Garter Knights of Richard III
Margaret Rogerson an Associate Professor from Sydney University presented a wonderfully illustrated talk on the Medieval PlayCycle of York even supplying us with notes and references to study further.
We are very proud of the enjoyment our very own authors, Isolde Martyn with her medieval romances and Felicity Pulman who specialises in adult fiction have brought to us and the book reading public.

Some of our members, particularly Kevin Herbert and Julia Redlich contribute to the general community by giving talks about Richardian subjects to groups such as National Seniors, University of the Third Age and various Probus Clubs. Maureen Gray continues to make her delightful white rose jewellery which members enjoy wearing . Sadly, our former committee member Johanna Visser passed away during the year. Several members were able to attend her funneral in the Southern Highlands where Kevin Herbert and Janice Ratter presented eulogies. Our bouquet of splendid white roses was much appreciated by her daughter.

Our hard working committee has earned our sincere gratitude. Rachel Allerton continues as Secretary while Christine Field has taken over as Treasurer from Judy Howard who is now more fully engaged in tertiary studies.
Dorothea Preis has handed over her role as Webmaster to Timothy and Lawrence Osborn. Unfortunately Dorothea’s excellent magazine Chronicles of the White Rose will probably not continue for the time being. We thank Dorothea most sincerely for the very hard work which she has undertaken for the Society for several years and wish her well for her committee work for the Society in England.
Thanks to Lesley McCawley ably assisted by her husband Doug for editing our newsletter Affinity.
Lynne Foley has kindly offered to continue as membership and sales officer.
Jacqueline Turner hands over her chairpersonship to Joan Hansen who also presides over afternoon tea.
We are most grateful to these people who keep our Society running so smoothly contributing their time and effort in such a selfless way and look forward to another worthwhile year.

Judith Hughes,
Chairperson and
programs organiser,
10 October 2015

An Invitation to the Historical Novel Society Australasia Inaugural Conference

We received the following invitation from the Historical Novel Society Australasia to their inaugural conference which will take place in Sydney in March 2015.  I am sure that this fascinating event will be of interest to many of our members and friends.

HNSA Logo

The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) will hold its inaugural conference at Balmain Town Hall on the 21-22 of March 2015 with its opening reception held at the State Library of NSW on the 20th. Entitled ‘The Historical Novel in Peace and War’, the conference will celebrate the historical fiction genre in a weekend of talks, panels, debates, book launches and readings with super sessions on social media, researching and writing historical fiction as well as manuscript assessments. The weekend conference will showcase 40 speakers and is peppered with international authors such as Kate Forsyth (our patron), Felicity Pulman, Jesse Blackadder, Isolde Martyn, Juliet Marillier, Sulari Gentill, Sophie Masson, Toni Jordan and Colin Falconer.

HNSA is offering members and friends of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society a special conference deal. The price of a Whole Conference ticket (normally priced at $250) will be reduced by 10% to $225. This ticket entitles the holders to attend all the sessions in the main program. The ticket also includes morning and afternoon tea, and a lunch voucher redeemable at a fantastic local café. The offer does not include tickets to super sessions or social events. Apply the coupon code (see below), when purchasing a standard whole conference ticket.

In addition to the discount on the whole conference ticket, HNSA is offering a giveaway of Sherryl Clark’s Do You Dare-Jimmy’s War to the first 50 ticketholders to the conference dinner on Saturday 21st March. All ticketholders to the opening night reception at the State Library of NSW on Friday 20th March will receive a free ebook bundle of the Janna Chronicles by Felicity Pulman.

For more information, visit the conference website – www.hnsa.org.au

Members and friends of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society please contact the Webmaster of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society, Dorothea (publications”AT”richardiii-nsw.org.au), for the coupon code to claim the reduced rate.

Reinterment of King Richard III at Leicester Cathedral in March on BBC Radio 4

Late this afternoon, at least for us in Eastern Australia, BBC Radio 4 transmitted as part of their ‘Sunday’ programme on the Reinterment of King Richard III at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015.  My congratulations go to the Revd. Pete Hobson, Acting Canon Missioner of Leicester Cathdral, Dr Phil Stone, Chairman of the Richard III Society, and Father Andrew Cole, Spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Nottingham, for explaining their stance in the face of certain allegations so succinctly.

I personally have no doubt that Richard will be shown all respect and dignity where these men are involved.  And am looking very much forward to being able to be in Leicester for Reinterment Week.  Of course, I am hoping, like tens of thousands others, for a seat in one of the services, but won’t mind watching the the re-interment on the big screens either.  The atmosphere will be worth the trip.

You can listen to the programme here, the discussion about Richard’s reinterment is approx 20 minutes into the programme.

It’s official:  the human remains found in last year in Leicester are indeed those of King Richard III.  A dig was carried out in August/September 2012 in the area, where the Greyfriars Frairy used to be in Leicester.  In the process two sets of human remains were found:  a fully articulated male skeleton and a disarticulated female skeleton.

The male one showed many indications that it could be that of Richard III, who was killed at the battle of Bosworth in 1485.  During the last months it went an extensive array of tests and the results have just been announced.  More about this tomorrow.

The following Press Release was published by the Executive of the Richard III Society in the UK on 30 October 2012.

DISABILITY IS NOT A DEFORMITY

• Greyfriars dig raises questions over Richard III’s ‘hunchback’ appearance
• Richard III Society calls for reassessment of ‘lazy hunchback myth’
• What is the difference between scoliocis and kyphosis?

It is time to end the lazy acquiescence with the Tudor and Shakespearean myths about Richard III. If the body found at the Greyfriars dig is Richard III, it proves he was no hunchback and if he suffered from scoliosis that is no reason to denigrate him. In this Paralympic year, we celebrate the achievements of all who overcome disabilities, let’s do the same for Richard III…

On 12 September at a press conference in Leicester’s Guildhall, Richard Taylor of the University of Leicester outlined the evidence that points to the skeleton discovered on the site of the Greyfriars being that of King Richard III. He also confirmed that it had a curvature of the spine known as scoliosis.

Scoliosis is a fixed and abnormal sideways curvature of the thoracic and lumbar regions of the spine. It can result in one shoulder being slightly higher than the other, in the case of the Greyfriars skeleton, the right shoulder.

The press conference also made absolutely clear that the skeleton did not have kyphosis, which can result in a hunchback.
So if this is Richard III, he was not a hunchback, contrary to the myths about his physical appearance.

Nowadays severe scoliosis can be corrected by surgery, although those with the condition still face challenges in their lives.

The Scoliosis Society notes that some are inspired by older siblings to overcome such challenges; Richard may well have been similarly inspired by his charismatic elder brother Edward IV. As duke of Gloucester and king Richard led an active life as an effective administrative and military commander, if he had a disability he clearly overcame it.

However there is no contemporary evidence that Richard III suffered from any visible physical problems. The only surviving description of the king is provided by a Silesian visitor, Nicholas van Poppelau, who spent time at Richard’s court in 1484. He described the king as lean, with delicate arms and legs and that he was ‘three fingers taller’ than Poppelau himself.

The legend of Richard’s hunchback began in the early days of the new Tudor dynasty when it was expedient to denigrate the reputation of the dead king; to contemporaries, a deformed body was easily associated with an evil mind. This reached its climax with Sir Thomas More, who described Richard as being ‘little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook backed …’.

Tudor chroniclers repeated the legend and provided the basis for Shakespeare’s portrayal of a king who is ‘determined to prove a villain’. It was all character assassination and historical ‘spin’.

-ends-

About the Richard III Society

With a worldwide membership and local branches the Society is actively engaged in original research through its own initiatives and through collaboration with other institutions bodies and scholars. Through the Richard III and Yorkist History Trust, a charitable body established by the Society, we publish important academic works and make research grants. The Society publishes an annual journal, The Ricardian, with original articles on fifteenth century history and a quarterly members’ magazine the Ricardian Bulletin.

Members of the Richard III Society are available for media interview on any topic concerning the life and times of Richard III, the Leicester dig or any related matter.

Richard III Society Press Office
NEW CONTACT DETAILS
Press Officer
Peter Secchi
+44 7780 866225
peter@crunchcommunications.co.uk
www.richardiii.net

Or contact the NSW Branch on:  webmaster@richardiii-nsw.org.au