Book Review:  The Logge Register – A wonderful resource

Lesley Boatwright, Moira Habberjam, Peter Hammond (eds.), The Logge Register of PCC Wills, 1479 to 1486, Richard III Society, Knaphill (UK), 2008.  ISBN 978-0-904893-18-2

Due a bit of a mix-up at the UK end of the Richard III Society I received today volume 1  of The Logge Register of PCC Wills, 1479 to 1486 and expect volume 2 to arrive soon.  As an avid reader of The Ricardian and the Ricardian Bulletin, I have heard a lot about this project over the years, but always assumed that its target audience would be academics with very specialised interests.  So it came as a wonderful surprise to realise what a great resource this is.

The Register has two volumes, which contain all of the 379 wills and testaments in the register of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury for the years 1479 to 1486.  Its name Logge Register is derived from the first will in the collection, which is that of John Logge, a woodmonger of London.  Some of the wills are in English, some are in Latin, with translations.  We find the wills of people that every Ricardian knows very well, like William Lord Hastings (will no. 105) and William Catesby (will no. 187), or my old “friend” William Waynflete (will no. 350).  However, also the wills of the less famous make fascinating reading as we can learn so much about the lives – and deaths – of medieval people.

What a wonderful resource and I’m deeply grateful for the mix-up!

The Logge Register can be order from the shop of the Richard III Society (the link on the top left hand corner of the website)

May promises to be an interesting month for friends of Ricardian fiction.  Anne Easter Smith’s much anticipated novel about Cecily Neville, Queen by Right, will be published early in the month.  This book on the mother of Edward IV and Richard III should be a real treat, as anyone who has read Anne’s previous books can confirm, including A Rose for the Crown, Daughter of York and The King’s Grace.  These are what historical fiction should be:  well-researched and sticking to the facts as we know them with some romance mixed in.

We now hear that Joan Szechtman will continue with the adventures of Richard III in This Time also in May in Loyalty Binds Me.  In This Time we shared Richard’s experiences when he has been transported by time travel from the moment before his death into present day America.

Lots to look forward to in May.

Helen Castor, She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth.  Faber and Faber, London, 2010, ISBN 978-0-571-23705-0.  RRP $45 (hardback)

The book opens with the death of the young King Edward VI, seeming to bring to an end the promise of a glorious Tudor dynasty.  There is no king to succeed him and for the first time in English history there is the prospect of a woman on the throne.

But which one?  Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn’s Elizabeth, or their cousins Mary, Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey.

Whoever is chosen, will she be as strong and as influential as four amazing women who “ruled” England at times between the 12th and15th centuries. Read the rest of this entry »

Fighting in the Streets – The Battles of St Albans

People who know me, will have realised that I have a particular interest in St Albans and anything connected to the town or the saint..  After I had previously looked at the goings-on at the Abbey and its cells, I am planning to turn my attention to the civilian population in the middle ages.  As the civilian population would have been very much at the receiving end of the two battles fought in their midst, irrespective of who won that battle, I recently read two books dealing with these battles. Read the rest of this entry »

A new contribution for the bookworms among our readers:

David Santiuste, Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses.  Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2010.  ISBN   9781844159307 (Hardback)

As the title indicates the aim of this book is not to offer a comprehensive biography of Edward IV, but as the author says “to illuminate Edward’s personal role during the Wars of the Roses”.  So the focus is on Edward’s military career.   I have to admit military matters do not normally interest me much, but I found this book very rewarding and interesting. Read the rest of this entry »

We know historical novelist Anne Easter Smith through her books A Rose for the Crown, Daughter of York and The King’s Grace, all of which are favourites with a lot of Ricardians.

She was recently interview by the Examiner Pittsburgh, where she talks about her previous novels as well as the upcoming Queen by Right, which is about Cecily Neville, the wife of Richard Duke of York and mother of Richard III.  You can read this interesting interview here.

We have reviewed this new book by Peter Hammond for your information.  Read the review  here.

The book is a thorough analysis of the lead up to the Battle of Bosworth and the battle itself, based on the recent discovery of the actual spot where the battle was fought.  Fascinating reading!

We heard from Susan Higginbotham of the American Branch that her latest historical novel Queen of Last Hopes is supposed to come out in the US on 1 January 2011.  An idea for a belated Christmas present?  The Queen of the title is Margaret of Anjou and promises to be fascinating reading for anyone interested in the period.

By the way, I spotted Susan’s previous book The Stolen Crown the other day at Abbey’s in the city.  This novel deals with the Ricardian period through the eyes of Katherine Woodville, the wife of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham.

To see more about Susan’s books, have a look at her website!

Lynne recently read Katherine the Queen and shares her thoughts as they concern Richard  about this book with us here.

Linda Porter, Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr. Macmillan, London/GB, 2010  ISBN 978-0-230-74955-9 (hardback).

The connection  through service to Edward IV and Richard as Duke of Gloucester king, and the ancestors of Henry VIII’s sixth wife are well documented in this book.

In discussing Richard as a builder or renovator, Porter states on pp. 316-17 about Sudeley Castle:  “much of its current appearance and appointments in the mid-sixteenth century, it owed to improvements made by Richard when he became king.  He added the banqueting hall and the state rooms and might have spent much more time there if he had reigned longer.”

Disappointingly, she thinks that Richard was out to gain the throne for himself and that was why his ‘lieutenant’ in the north, Sir William Parr, left court and returned to Kendal Castle when Richard became King; however his wife Elizabeth was close to Anne Neville and made a lady-in-waiting.  William’s younger brother Thomas died fighting with Richard at Barnet and is one of the six gentlemen mentioned by Richard when arranging for prayers to be said for their souls and for “all lovers of the House of York.”  So often we encounter his – Richard’s concern for the ordinary person.