So far there is nothing new to report about the results from the dig in Leicester, as the results of the DNA analysis are only expected for December. To keep our readers entertained while waiting, there are two podcast which you might enjoy.
The first is by Steven Berkoff. He wrote a short and entertaining monologue “Richard III – My Car Park Years” for Broadcasting House.
The second podcast is on a somewhat more serious note. Dr Huw Griffiths, Dept of English, University of Sydney, gave a talk on 702 ABC Sydney on “Shakespeare’s Richard III : Royal Propaganda or Political Satire?“, where he stresses the attractiveness of Shakespeare’s villain and puts him into his historical (Elizabethan) context.
And of course there is the very well-reasoned argument of the Bishop of Leicester, why the remains, which have been lying in Leicester for over 500 years, should be re-interred in Leicester. If you have not seen and listened to this before, may be it is time to do so now.
Tags: Richard III, Shakespeare
This is an urgent appeal to all our members and friends.
Someone made a cash deposit of $100 into our bank account at Chatswood. Unfortunately there is no indication who made the deposit nor for what purpose. Could whoever made this deposit, please contact Judy urgently to help her allocate the funds.
Thanking you for your cooperation.
Tags: NSW Branch
The Richard III Society has awarded Philippa Langley the Robert Hamblin Award, which was established in 2002 to recognise work of outstanding service by a member. In addition, she was awarded honorary life membership in recognition of the particular merit of the Greyfriars Dig.
We would like to congratulate Philippa on these awards. Our branch would like to join all Society members world-wide in thanking her for her tireless work in making this dream come true.
You can read the Press Release of the Richard III Society here.
Tags: Archaeology, Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Richard III, Richard III Society
The New South Wales Branch celebrated King Richard’s Birthday – as it is a Must Do every year – on Sunday, 7 October. Yes, we know the previous Sunday was nearer to the anniversary his birthday in 1452 on 2 October, but our year’s programme planning has to take into account that the first Monday in October is a public holiday in NSW and the weekend is saturated with Grand Final festivities or wakes according to which football code your family follows. (And we always assume proudly that a NSW side will be involved in every code.)
So last Sunday saw a fine turnout of Ricardians and friends at Arthur’s in Oxford Street Mall, Bondi Junction, a pleasantly comfortable restaurant that is easy to reach (even when City Rail decides Sunday is ideal for trackwork!), has an extensive and affordable menu, is licensed and has a delightful welcoming staff.
Everyone was presented with a white rose tied with ribbons of murrey and blue and it was no surprise that the conversation concentrated on the discovery at Leicester, its implications and the wholehearted thanks of us all to those who have worked so hard with such conviction and diligence.
There was talk of friends and relations who had or have scoliosis and survive actively and with not a glimmer of a hunchback. There was also much wondering about where the internment of the bones should be should they be proved to be what we all hope. There was even queries about possible dates so a couple of members could plan visits to the UK to coincide. The “where” of course brought suggestions and, although we appreciate that Leicester will have a colossal claim thanks to the support of the City, the Cathedral and the University, there was much approval for York Minster a place Richard himself had allegedly requested and in a place that, on hearing he had been “grievously slain and murdered”, pronounced it was “to the great heaviness of this city”.
Westminster Abbey was roundly negated despite that fact that Queen Anne lies there. Several members visiting in recent times have been saddened by the fact that it now seems more of a tourist attraction and commercial enterprise, and the wonderful sense of its place in history can only be appreciated without accompanying crowds.
One of the pleasures of the afternoon was in meeting a new member, Dianne Herbert, for the first time. She has brought the programme of the RSC production at Stratford that she had attended earlier this year, featuring a great Richard who was suitably slimy and menacing, but who managed to do without the aid of limps, huge hunches and metallic aids to walking! What pleased her most – and us too – was the fact that the programme pointed out that Shakespeare actually got it wrong, and it had an excellent family tree and features giving useful facts about the man behind the myth.
The buzz of conversation was stilled when we were reminded of the reason we were all enjoying the company of friends. We charged our glasses and raised them to the memory of King Richard III.
Loyaulte me lie.
Tags: NSW Branch, Richard III
Many Ricardians from the New South Wales Branch have been inundated inrecent weeks with cuttings from the UK press and guides to websites. “ Did you know about this?” is a frequent question and we have kindly replied that “Yes, we did” and refrained from pointing out that even in the southern hemisphere we have internet access, over and above the constant stream of information provided by our contacts in the UK.
However, accompanying article titles on the lines of “we had a hunch it was Richard” only emphasised the opinion of the general public who until now have relied on Shakespeare and Sir Thomas as relaying the gospel truth. So when you find a headline such as “Was Shakespeare right about the Killer King?” and “The Truth about the Bard’s hunchbacked despot” you can’t blame the sinking of the hearts of countless Ricardians.
Happily in this case we have nothing to fear: In an article in the UK Daily Express dated 13 September 2012, Julie Carpenter kicks off by saying that Richard has always had a bad press and it is all Shakespeare’s fault and, because “ it is a cracker of a play, it is regularly performed”. Then she does a swift recap of recent productions that revealed him as bleach-blond psychopath, slithery reptilian brute, and limping menace with a metal leg brace.
So she welcomes the news of the dig at Leicester that may shed more light on the real Richard – or at least make people think more carefully about the damning press he has suffered over the centuries. She has great quotes from those involved who, by coincidence or deliberate care at their christenings by parents with foresight, are named Richard. They includeRichard Taylor of the University of Leicester whose archaeologists discovered the skeleton – “The search for King Richard III has taken a dramatic new turn”.
This is followed by a complimentary look at the Richard III Society, whose belief in the need for the King’s reputation to be rehabilitated, backed up by our Patron HRH Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Then some great comments from Richard van Allen, the Society’s public relations officer who succinctly sums up the Tudor line of thought, “Henry Tudor wasnot directly inline and killing a king was a fairly heinous crime … TheTudors were always very aware that, if you like, they had stolen the throne.” Hence the anti-Richard propaganda plans.
Richard van Allen also denies that Polydor Vergil’s description of Richard being “little of stature, deformed of body” has no foundation. “From the age of about 14 he was an active soldier … He was the last warriorking and the lastking of England to lead histroops into battle.”
As for the Princes in the Tower: “there are many theories but nothing can be proved academically,” says Richard van Allen. “We don’t actually know what happened to them… Lots of people had a good reason to kill them.” He also comments on Richard’s concern regarding the laws of the land and his beginning of overhauling them. “He had the potential to be a very good king”.
He goes on, “Even if the newly unearthed bones are not his, we hope this discovery will attract more interest in Richard and have people asking `what was he like?’ It gives us a chance to say that we have lots of academics of medieval history who overturn the view that he was a villainous murderer.”
That said, it is such a shame that the main illustration for this article is of Kevin Spacey lurching villainously across the stage epitomising the ill-informed general opinion of the last Plantagenet king. The portrait of Richard, the one with which all Ricardians are so familiar, is a small inset. I longed to see that someone had selected a picture of the statue in Leicester’s Castle Gardens that shows Richard III as a splendid soldier and upright king.
Loyaulte me lie
PS Perhaps I am too harsh about Killer King and Hunchbacked Despot headlines! A career on countless magazines from high gloss fashion to celebrity gossip has seen me write similar headlines and intros to attract unsuspecting readers and draw their attention to the excellent informative main story. Let’s hope it works here and introduces more people to the Man Behind the Myth.
We just received the sad news that Dr Lesley Boatwright passed away.
Phil Stone, Chairman of the Richard III Society, said on behalf of the Exceutive Committee:
It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of Dr Lesley Boatwright after a short illness. She died in the early evening of the 4thOctober.
Lesley, also known by some as Lesley Wynne-Davies, will be greatly missed,both as a friend and as a Ricardian.
A full tribute to her will appear in due course in the Bulletin.
The Executive Committee
I had the pleasure of getting to know Lesley, when attending a Bulletin Committee Meeting this July, and found her to be very helpful and enthusiastic. So it was very sad to learn that she had been taken ill and her passing not long after.
The Executive Committee had appointed her a Vice-President on Monday and we heard that she was pleased about this well-deserved recognition.
Our branch and the Society as whole have lost a good friend.
Tags: Richard III Society
You may remember the guest post about the dig in Leicester by Sally Henshaw, the Secretary of the Midlands East branch of the Richard III Society, from about 2 weeks ago. Sally returned for another visit to the site, after the skeleton was found, and has kindly sent us some photographs of special relevance with the find.
Place where the male skeleton was found between the yellow markers. The head was at the marker at the front of the photo facing the picture of Richard III (facing east). (© Sally Henshaw)
Yorkist retainers keeping watch. (© Sally Henshaw)
The dig and its findings are based on the research by John Ashdown-Hill, which he published in his book The Last Days of Richard III. It was fitting that it should have been him, who removed the excavated bones from the site. [according to an article in the Daily Gazette, see here]
In the meantime, while we are all waiting for the results of the DNA tests, the Australian media seem to have lost interest in the findings, but not so in the UK, where arguments about where Richard should be re-interred (provided it is established that it is him, of course) and with what kind of ceremony are going backwards and forwards. I just hope they decide on a place that is quieter and more dignified than Westminster Abbey, though that is where his wife, Queen Anne Nevill, is buried. I visited the church this July and was fairly horrified – it was not a church but some sort of theme park.
Tags: Archaeology, Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Richard III
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.
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
