Helen Cox, Walk Wakefield 1460: A Visitor Guide to Battle-Related Sites, YPD Books, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9565768-1-1
We all know Helen Cox from her fascinating analysis of the Battle of Wakefield.
This new book will be essential reading if you plan to visit the site of this decisive battle in the Wars of the Roses, or are just interested in seeing the historical setting in today’s geography. Both are aspects which interest me, so Walk Wakefield 1460 has top place on my wish list.
This new book covers the campaign of the winter of 1460, from its opening skirmish at Worksop to the grisly aftermath in York, through sites connected with the battle. Each section of the concise illustrated guide features a brief history, directions to the sites (including maps), and up-to-date information on opening times and admission charges for visiting. The sites covered are:
Worksop Priory & Castle
Sandal Castle
Duke of York’s Monument
The Battlefield at Wakefield Green
St Mary’s Chantry Chapel
Pontefract Castle
Micklegate Bar & York City Walls
The book will be launched at Waterstones Booksellers, The Ridings Shopping Centre, Wakefield, on Saturday 19 March 2011, from 11h00 -13h00. What a pity, this is just before my trip to the UK to attend the Blood and Roses Weekend in Oxford. Should you be in the area though, I am sure Helen would be delighted to see you and sign a copy for you.
You can also get signed copies of both Helen’s books at the Friends of Sandal Castle Open Meeting at Sandal Castle Visitor Centre on Saturday, 26 March, when she will be speaking alongside popular author Keith Souter on ‘Sandal Castle in Fact and Fiction’.
And for all those who cannot be there, we can order this publication from YPD Books.
Watch this space for more news after the launch!
Tags: Battles, Books, House of York, Ricardian Authors, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, Yorkists
The Queen Anne Lunch will be held on Sunday, 20 March 2011, at the North Sydney Leagues Club in the Eatwell Bistro from 12.30 pm.
We have not arranged a set menu as it seems preferable to allow each person to choose their own meal.
Would you kindly RSVP to me at this email address by Wednesday, 16 March 2011 so I can confirm numbers with the Club.
Tags: Anne Neville, NSW Branch
To commemorate the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Towton on 29 March 1461 a fascinating new DVD is available. It is based on a BBC documentary, but includes so much more which due to time constraints had to be cut out of the documentary. This is not to be missed.
On a cold and snowy day in 1461 Henry VI’s Lancastrians and Edward IV’s Yorkists met on a field near Towton in Yorkshire. It has been estimated that 100 000 men fought at the 12 hour battle. At the end of the day approx. 28 000 men were dead, an equivalent of 1% of the English population at the time, Britain’s bloodiest battle.
During building work in 1996 the workmen found a mass burial pit from the battle. This was excavated and analysed by archaeologists of the University of Bradford. The results from this investigation have helped tremendously in our knowledge of the fighting in the period of the Wars of the Roses, as anyone who has read the book Blood Red Roses will know. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Battles, Towton, Wars of the Roses, Yorkists
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)
Tags: Books, Medieval Life, Ricardian Authors
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.
Tags: Books, Cecily Neville, Family, Ricardian Authors, Richard III
Our first branch meeting of the new year was held on Saturday, 12 February 2011. The Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts meeting room was once again filled to capacity with old members and new. Judith’s husband Don Hughes was present for the first time since meetings were held in North Sydney (2007), so was able to meet people who had joined since then. Several of the regular members not in attendance were instead at the Plantagenet 1-day course held at the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Sydney. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Medieval Life, NSW Branch
Another opinion from James I/VI – this time on football:
Certainly bodily exercises and games are very commendable, as well for banishing of idleness as for making his body able, but from this compte [list] I debarred all rumling violent exercises as the football. (Basilicon Doron, 1599)
Football in those days was certainly a much more violent affair than the game played according to rules today. It seems the football hooligans could often be found on the field, rather than surrounding it. James was not the only one and by no means the first who held this opinion. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Medieval Life, Scotland
We are looking forward to welcoming Dr Penny Bishop to our General Meeting on Saturday, 12 February 2011, at 14h00. Penny will talk on “Plagues and Pestilences in the Middle Ages”, which promises to be a fascinating and informative talk.
Don’t forget, our meetings are not just for members, but visitors are always more than welcome.
Tags: Medieval Life, NSW Branch
The classic film starring Laurence Olivier in the title role of Shakespeare’s Richard III will be shown on the ABC1 next Monday at 1.20 am. If we look past the fact that Shakespeare’s Richard has nothing to do with the real Richard, this is must see television, if for the outstanding acting alone. To find out more about the relationship between the play and reality, click here. And for Monday morning, set your recorders!
The above illustration showing the murder of the princes in the Shakespearean tradition is a work by Finnish artist Riikka Nikko and is reproduced here with the permission of the artist.
Tags: Shakespeare
Although it wasn’t a special date on the Ricardian calendar for us, it was decided it would be a good idea to replace our old January Picnic in the Park with another informal social event. Because we all enjoyed our Ricardian Birthday Lunch last October at the Sutton Forest Inn, a small group of members headed back there, meeting up with a welcome Canberra contingent as well as members and friends from the Southern Highlands.
After meeting the train at Bowral for the Sydney members, David Chandler took us on the scenic route to Sutton Forest via Berrima, stopping at a lookout over Bowral, old Berrima Gaol and the lovely church where his and Ann’s daughter will be married in mid February.
We loved our special table in the sunny bistro and as usual it was conversation, frequently about Richard and his life and times of course. Other catch-up stories and laughter were interspersed with appreciative murmurs of the delightful menu choices, and pauses for agonising decisions whether to give in to the temptations of home-made desserts. Some yielded and voted the penance they would have to pay was well worthwhile.
Naturally we didn’t forget the reason why the gathering was taking place was because of our interest and loyalty to the Richard III Society. The toast to King Richard was strong affirmation.
Tags: Canberra, NSW Branch, Sydney
