In January the team of conservators at Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, made a surprise discovery:  when removing the Henry Hyde Monument from a wall in order to repair and clean it, they found hidden behind the monument the remains of some beautifully written English text.  The monument marks the grave of Sir Henry Hyde, who was executed in 1650 by Parliament for supporting King Charles I and was erected soon after 1660.

There are several lines of a large textual inscription, which had subsequently been whitewashed over making it difficult to read but the good gothic lettering is clearly visible.  Due to the age of the monument the writing was originally thought to be from the 16th century, when the nave was fitted out with high pews for people to sit in to listen to the ‘new’ sermons preached there.  Inscriptions of the bible, the Word of God, would have been written on the inside walls of the building following the Reformation, having been translated into English in Cranmer’s bible. Read the rest of this entry »

The Times informed us today that the real location of the Battle of Bosworth has finally been uncovered.  Today it was revealed that the battle took place “round the back of Alf Oliver’s arable farm, just off the old Roman road from Atherstone to Leicester in a field as featureless as any in England”. The newly identified site is approx. 2 miles from the Bosworth visitor centre on Ambion Hill.  To get there you drive south and west from the visitor centre, passing a farm enterprisingly selling “battlefield beef”.

Glenn Foard, the archaeologist who headed the team searching for the true battlefield site, explained:   “My best guess is that Richard’s last charge came down the Roman road there”, pointing to where occasional cars passed one side of the field. “He is then driven back into the mire and killed somewhere near here.”

Mr Foard also showed a gilt solid silver boar, which was found by Carl Dawson, a retired university lecturer with a metal detector.  Only 1½in (38mm), it is a thing of beauty: a snarling beast rippling with muscle definition and with gilded highlights on its tusks, tail and bristles. As we know, the boar was the emblem of Richard III. Only one similar one is known, in the British Museum.  He went on to point out: “If we were looking for any artefact at all and if there’s any location we might want to find that artefact, then it’s the white boar badge of Richard III next to the marsh. This is almost certainly from a knight in Richard’s retinue, who rode with him to his death on that last charge.”

Following the article are several comments on it.  Two are particularly poignant pointing out how different history would have unfolded had Richard III won the day instead of the usurper Henry Tudor.

So now we know where “on this day [22 August 1485] was our good king Richard piteously slain and murdered to the great heaviness of the city [of York]”.

Loyaulte me Lie.

Note:  read the full article from The Times as well as the comments here. You can watch a video of the site on the BBC website, which also includes a picture of the found boar badge and a map showing the new location.  Thank you to our friends from the American branch for bringing this to our attention.

I recently read about a board game called Richard III:  Wars of the Roses, which sounded intriguing.  Two players are fighting out the Wars of the Roses between York and Lancaster.  Will Henry VI and his Queen Margaret keep the throne or will the Duke of York recover it for the Plantagenets.  Other characters include Edward IV, Richard III, Henry Tudor, and Warwick, the notorious “Kingmaker”.  The object of play is to eliminate all five enemy heirs and/or win control of the powerful nobles of England. The Lancastrians start the game holding the throne, and the Yorkists are ready to take them on.  Kingship can be won or lost several times during the game.  Will Richard III emerge triumphant, or will he perish in battle as he did historically?

I read several reviews of this game which all seemed to be very favourable.  I know what I want for my next birthday!

You can find more information here or read a review.

The re-enactment of the Battle of Wakefield, which was to have been fought today, has been called off at short notice.

It commemorates the Battle of Wakefield fought on 30 December 1460 between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians, one of the battles of the wars of the Roses.  The Yorkists were greatly outnumbered and destroyed completely; nearly 3000 men fell in the hour long battle.  For Ricardians it is of particular poignancy because of the death of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, the father of Richard III.  His second son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, who was then 17 years old, was murdered after the battle, apparently by John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford, as revenge for his father’s death in the 1st Battle of St Albans.  Clifford was afterwards known as ‘Butcher Clifford’.  Also killed was Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury.  He was wounded and captured in the battle, apparently initially with an idea to ransom him, but was executed the next day.  The heads of these three Yorkists were stuck on poles and displayed over Micklegate Bar, York, with the Duke wearing a paper crown.  We can only wonder how history would have turned out if the real battle in 1460 had been called off!

This re-enactment has taken place annually since 2005, with more than 1000 people turning up in 2008.  Events planned for today included medieval crafts, food, costumes and stalls and, weather permitting, demonstrations of medieval combat and archery.  The cancellation is due to a combination of the closure of Sandal Castle Visitor Centre, illness as well as the snow and ice.

However, the wreath laying by members of the Richard III Society at the Duke of York’s Monument on Manygates Lane is set to go ahead at 2.15 pm.

You can read the full article from the Wakefield Express here.

The archaeological investigation of the battlefield of Bosworth has concluded, but the report, which identifies the site, would not be made public until February to prevent treasure hunters looking for spoil doing damage to the site.  The actual site of the battle has been a contentious issue for some years, with three localities suggested as the site – the report is sure to be of interest to Ricardians and also historians and archaeologists.

For more information you can read the full article from the Guardian here.

We recently noticed an article in The Stranger, a Seattle newspaper, about a new play about William Shakespeare (1).  Equivocation by the Jesuit Father Bill Cain premiered this year at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  The description sounds fascinating, let’s hope it comes to a stage in Sydney, too!  Read the rest of this entry »

 On October 23rd six Ricardians accepted the invitation of Heraldry Australia to hear Professor Stephanie Trigg of Melbourne University talk about eminent women who became members of the Order of the Garter.   It was an interesting subject covering the Order, its establishment, robes, and ladies past and presently companions of the Order, which is the premier honours system in the UK. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are further news on the research carried out to establish where exactly the Battle of Bosworth was fought (for our previous article please click here).  

Ben Hoyle of the British Times reports that Glenn Foard, a battlefield archaeologist who has led the investigation into the whereabouts of the fighting, is convinced that he has unearthed the proof.  The interesting bit about this proof is that  Mr Foard’s team has discovered more lead artillery shot at Bosworth than has so far been recovered from all the other 15th-century and 16th-century battlefields in Europe put together.  Abandoned cannonballs and bullets are of special interest to battlefield archaeologists because they are made of lead like the ones at Bosworth and decay far less quickly than iron and steel handweapons.  According to Steve Walton, a specialist in medieval artillery at Pennsylvania State University, the use at Bosworth predates by ten years the earliest hard evidence for cannon used as mobile battlefield weapons, as opposed to on board ships, in garrisons or for long-term sieges. Read the rest of this entry »

We just heard that Loyalty Binds Me announce the new double feature DVD Sandal Castle:  The Battle of Wakefield 1460 & Building Sandal’s Castle.

Loyalty Binds Me is a small, independent film production company based in the North-West of England.  They specialise in a unique style of DVD feature where by computer reconstruction they take us on a guided tour of both an existing castle site and  the castle as it may have been in its glory days.  You may have seen their previous DVD, the fascinating Middleham Castle: A Royal Residence.  This new DVD promises to be equally stunning.  It contains two parts:

The Battle of Wakefield 1460
A 30 minute feature exploring the castle’s place in history.
When Richard Duke of York perished at Sandal Castle, the House of York faced extinction. Did the Duke’s folly bring this disaster on their heads? What really happened at Wakefield?

Building Sandal’s Castles
A 45 minute feature exploring the history of the castle.
Take a journey through time, as we track Sandal Castle’s development from the Aisled Hall of the 12th century to the stone fortress of the 15th. See why King Richard III chose it as the headquarters for his government of the North.

Additional features include full chapter selections, English subtitles and a Slideshow Gallery of castle images.  Written and presented by John L Fox, featuring the voice talents of Robert Hardy and Richard Dodd, the Sandal Castle DVD is the second instalment in The Richard III Collection.

For more information and to order have a look at the website of Loyalty Binds Me.