Margaret Beaufort

Marriage of Margaret Beaufort and Henry Stafford

On 3 January 1462, Margaret Beaufort married Henry Stafford, son of Humphrey, duke of Buckingham.

She had been married as a child to John de la Pole, though the marriage was soon dissolved.

She married in 1455 Edmund Tudor, but he died on 1 November 1456 from the plague.  She gave birth to Edmund’s son Henry on 28 January 1457, who would later defeat King Richard III at the battle of Bosworth and take the crown as Henry VII.

Margaret had no further children.  However, her marriage to Henry Stafford seems to have been happy.  He died on 4 October 1471.

In June 1472 she married Thomas Stanley, surviving him for five years until her own death on 29 June 1509, just two months after her son had died.

Reference:

Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, ‘Beaufort, Margaret , countess of Richmond and Derby (1443–1509)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [last accessed online 2 Jan 2020]

Michael Jones, ‘Lady Margaret Beaufort’, History Today, Volume 35, Issue 8 (August 1985).  URL: http://www.historytoday.com/michael-jones/lady-margaret-beaufort  [last accessed 2 Jan. 2020]

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Henry Tudor, Margaret Beaufort, Richard III

Marriage of Henry V and Catherine of Valois

Death of Catherine of Valois

On 3 January 1437, Catherine of Valois, mother of Henry VI, and grandmother of Henry Tudor, died in London.  She was buried at Westminster Abbey.

More information on Catherine of Valois here.

Tags: Henry Tudor

George of Clarence and Isabel Neville (stained glass at Cardiff Castle, © Wolfgang Sauber)

Death of George and Isabel’s Son

On 1 January 1477, Richard, the infant son of George, duke of Clarence, and Isabel Neville, died.  He was born on 6 October 1476.  His mother had died on 22 December 1476, two and a half months after his birth.

For more information on the marriage of George and Isabel you may wish to read Karen Clark’s blog.

Tags: George of Clarence, Isabel Neville

Anne of York and Thomas St Leger (Brass at St George’s Chapel, Windsor)

Death of Anne of York

On 14 January 1476, Anne of York, duchess of Exeter, died soon after childbirth .  She was born on 10 August 1439, the second child and eldest surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville, and a sister of Edward IV and Richard III.

She was first married to Henry Holland, 2nd duke of Exeter, in January 1446, they were divorced on 12 November 1472.

She later married Thomas St Leger and they had a daughter, also Anne. Michael Ibsen, whose DNA was used to determine whether the remains found in Leicester in 2012 were those of Richard III, is descended in an all-female-line from this daughter Anne.

Reference:  Michael Hicks, ‘Holland, Henry, second duke of Exeter (1430–1475)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.  (accessed online:  27 December 2014)

Tags: Richard III

King Richard III’s remains were reinterred in Leicester Cathedral in a dignified and moving service on 26 March 2015.  The service was conducted in the presence of the Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury.

The order of the service was designed in cooperation with Dr Alexandra Buckle.  Dr Buckle had found a manuscript, which contains details of a medieval service for the reburial of the human remains of a noble person.  She was researching Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who was reburied in Richard’s presence in 1475. This document served as a basis for Richard III’s reinterment service.

During the service, Richard was also reunited with his Book of Hours, about which I had written on another site, though before Richard’s reinterment.

Richard III’s tomb

On the following day, 27 March, Richard III’s tomb was revealed during a service.  Together with several friends, I had in the opportunity on that Friday afternoon, to see the tomb in all its glory.  For me, the floor tiles with inlaid Yorkist roses were a nice touch.

Floor tiles with Yorkist roses

Together with many, many other Ricardians, I was able to spend the Reinterment Week in Leicester, a profound and exhilarating experience.  The week started for me by watching the cortege passing at Jubilee Square.  On Monday, 23 March, Memorial Service for members of the Richard III Society was held in Leicester Cathedral. I had been lucky in the ballot and received an invitation to this beautiful service. From where I was seated my view of the proceedings was obscured, but I had a clear view of the reason for the service, the coffin of Richard III. It was covered with a beautifully embroidered pall, on the one side displaying figures from the 15th century and on the other side figures involved in the 21st-century discovery of the King’s remains.

The Choir sang In Memoriam: Ricardus Rex by Graham Keitch.  Many of us remember this from the 2013 Australasian Convention in Sydney, where we were able to play it by permission of the composer. There can be no doubt though that to listen to it in a church sung by an outstanding choir beats a recording played over a loudspeaker system.

We all would have liked to attend the actual reinterment service in the Cathedral, but space did not allow that.  However, along with several of our branch members from NSW, I was able to watch the service on TV live at our hotel in Leicester.  The most memorable part for me was a natural phenomenon:  It was an overcast grey and drizzly morning, but at the exact moment, when Richard’s coffin was lowered into the ground, the sun broke through. His troubled afterlife had finally come to rest.

It should also be mentioned that the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society made a donation to Leicester Cathedral to help cover the costs of the reinterment.  This was received by Revd Peter Hobson with thanks to all members of the NSW Branch in the name of Leicester Cathedral.

Tags: Books, Leicester, Leicester Cathedral, Richard III Reinterment, Richard III Society

Our last branch meeting took a completely different format.  Instead of all facing and listening to a speaker, we sat around a table and discussed what we admire most about Richard.

Jan, one of the longest serving members of our branch,  began by reminiscing about the origins of the NSW Branch of The Richard III Society.   Apparently in the 1970s a handful of Ricardians met in someone’s home, but as they became more numerous they ventured to a restaurant to share a meal together instead.  As the membership grew so, too, did the need to become more structured and meet in more formal surroundings, which got us to where we are today.

Our discussion showed that we all admire Richard for his loyalty to his friends and family, for his caring nature and thoughtfulness for the people as expressed by Richard’s innovative laws and justice.  Several members remarked that he worked to better the lives of ordinary people, citing several examples, among them especially the exemption of books and printing from taxation to foster learning.  This led to the idea to include a section on Richard’s achievements on our website, but we have to ensure only to include those reforms and innovations which can be easily proved.

Illustration:  © Andrew Jamieson, www.andrewstewartjamieson.co.uk

More individual experiences were also aired.  Kevin was especially impressed by the closeness which seemed to exist between John Neville and Richard, whose mottos, respectively, were:  Loyalty, Honour and Love (John Neville) and Loyalty Binds Me (Richard). Judith commented on what a joy it was to discover medieval history after she had been immersed in Victorian matters previously.  This joy was shared by Win who also spoke of the joy of learning to appreciate medieval history.

Carol shared a special experience with us by thanking Richard and his family for one of her happiest memories in England when she and her husband went to Fotheringhay and enjoyed a perfect day there with a picnic.

She commented on the fact and that his achievements in such a short time were incredible in comparison with other monarchs who reigned for much longer and did comparatively little in the first few years of their reign.

New members Leslie and Doug remarked on how noble a person Richard seemed to be and how wonderful it was to meet up with a group who shared their passion for this great and underrated man.

Everyone felt this discussion was a very worthwhile exercise.  And we were all grateful to him for making his times so interesting to us all – and for bringing us together.

Tags: NSW Branch, Richard III

VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB 2021

SAVE THE DATE:  Saturday April 17th, 2021

from 2pm – 4pm.

We have chosen historical fiction novel “Mistress to the Crown” by Isolde Martyn, one of our most treasured and long-standing members of the society and are thrilled to welcome Isolde to be part of our Book Club discussion as well as answering questions on this intriguing novel.

“Mistress to the Crown” introduces readers to Elizabeth Lambard who is best known to history as Jane Shore, mistress of English King Edward IV. The novel follows Elizabeth’s life from the time of her marriage to merchant William Shore as teenager, to the start of her second marriage shortly after the death of King Edward. Told from Elizabeth’s perspective, the novel paints a vivid and authentic portrait of a woman about whom very little is known.

If you would like to participate in this wonderful LIVE Zoom event, please RSVP to Marnie Lo   at:  affinity@richardiii-nsw.org.au  so we can send you an exclusive Zoom invitation.

To purchase this book for advance reading, it is currently widely available from Booktopia, Amazon.com.au, Abbey’s Bookstore, The Book Depository & Dymocks for $19.99 or for $8.99 on Kindle. A signed copy for $10 can also be purchased from Isolde directly by emailing:                                              isolde@isoldemartyn.com or by calling Isolde on: (02) 9449-7962

We look forward to welcoming you all to this very special event and sharing your impressions         on this very unique & intriguing historical figure.

Birth of Richard of Shrewsbury, second son and sixth child of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, at Shrewsbury.

Tags: Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville, Family

We are very grateful to our long-term member Ann Chandler for sharing her thoughts about Kevin Herbert’s funeral with us.

The Farewell to Kevin Herbert

The 5^th of March, the day of Kevin’s funeral was a drear day with rain bucketing down in cold sheets……and the skies were grey, perhaps in reflection of our feelings. Inside the church, however, it was a different story. The light was soft and the leadlights glowed. Kevin’s casket was adorned with natives and our white roses were nearby, while Richard looked down from a close screen.

The service was just as Kevin wished and the music was sublime. So many lovely, traditional hymns sung by Jeremy Curtin, Giselle Grape, Gina Marshall and The Fathers Choir. Gerard Herbert, Maria Kelly and I presented the three eulogies. I made sure I was dressed in Richard’s colours, complete with Ricardian badges and a white rose. I also read out Julia’s letter on behalf of our society and Rob Smith’s (New Zealand Branch) letter to Kevin which he received before he passed.

After the beautiful mass, our dear friend was interred with his beloved mother. We all returned to the Belrose Hotel where we mingled and shared our stories and memories of Kevin. The food was fabulous, and Kevin’s family did Him proud! While we ate, drank and remembered, we were treated to a wonderful slideshow, compiled by our fellow Ricardian, Helen Porteus. It was great to see Kevin in his various costumes and familiar gestures. Helen’s husband, Allan, also generously gave a portrait of Kevin, which he had painted, to Kevin’s grateful family. It was a sad day and the end of an era but our dear Kevin was farewelled very well indeed… a true celebration of a life well lived.

Kevin at the Australasian Convention in Sydney, 2013.

I will now include my portion of his eulogy:

I first met Kevin through the Richard The Third Society, almost thirty years ago. We immediately became great friends, bonded by our common interests and he became a most wonderful friend to my family—as he was to all of you. Kevin was always his own man, but he shared his life with extraordinary generosity. He was a tireless worker for our society and was the Social Secretary for many, many years and what a Social Secretary he was! We enjoyed so many great events, organised by Kevin and I know I speak for our society when I say that whenever Kevin was due to give a talk or deliver a speech, we were all excited because he had such a wealth of information and interesting anecdotes, all delivered with Kevin’s customary verve and enthusiasm. He was one of the most learned men I have ever met.

When I first met Kevin, I rather loftily stated, “I walk with the King!” Now other people may have looked over their shoulders with some alarm to check if Elvis was in the building………. but not Kevin. Quick as a flash, he replied, “And so do I!” And now our dear friend truly does walk with the King. He has taken his rightful place, by his side ….. his loyal and liege man. Yours was, indeed, a life well lived, so walk tall dear, dear Kevin.

Ann Chandler