Death of St Cuthbert at Inner Farne Island, off the coast of Northumberland.  He is venerated at Durham Cathedral.

He must have had special relevance for Richard III, as the statutes for his college at Middleham, which it has been suggested Richard might have written himself, state that one of the stalls for the priests should be named for St Cuthbert.  St Cuthbert’s was one of the principal feast days to be celebrated at Middleham.

Further reading:

Melhuish, Joyce M., The College of King Richard III, Middleham.  Richard III Society (nd)

Rollason, David & Dobson, R.B., ‘Cuthbert [St Cuthbert] (c.635–687)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ]Oxford University Press, 2004  [last accessed online 2 March 2020]

Sutton, Anne F. & Visser Fuchs, Livia, The Hours of Richard III.  Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd (first published 1990, paperback 1996)

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Middleham, Richard III, Saints

Death of Richard III’s wife Anne Neville at Westminster, probably of tuberculosis.  She was buried at Westminster Abbey, but the location of her grave is unknown.  It is often said that Richard openly wept at her funeral, though the origin of this assumption is unclear.  There is a plaque for her at Westminster Abbey donated by the Richard III Society.  Unfortunately it does not get mentioned in the audio guide, so you have to look out for it.

The illustration on the left is from the in memoriam card which accompanied the wreath for Queen Anne’s tomb at Westminster in 2007. (© Richard III Society)

Tags: Anne Neville, Richard III

Edward IV and his brother Richard (later Richard III) arrive back in England on their return from exile in Burgundy, landing at Ravenspur.

Tags: Edward IV, Richard III

Edward IV leaves Burgundy to return to England and win back his throne.  He is accompanied by his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III)

Tags: Burgundy, Edward IV, Richard III

Elizabeth Woodville and her daughters leave sanctuary at Westminster Abbey and are reconciled with Richard III.

Tags: Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, Richard III

Facial Reconstruction of Richard III (used by permission of the Richard III Society)

An unforgettable event:

Press Conference at the University of Leicester – it is Richard III!

A press conference at the University of Leicester was specially convened on 4 February 2013.  At 10h40 (local time) it was announced that the human remains found during the archaeological dig in the area of Leicester’s Greyfriars were those of King Richard III.

The identification was based on a wealth of scientific evidence, including radiocarbon dating, radiological evidence, DNA and bone analysis and archaeological results.

In conclusion to a presentation of the various strains of evidence, Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist on the Search for Richard III, said: “It is the academic conclusion of the University of Leicester that the individual exhumed at Grey Friars in August 2012 is indeed King Richard III, the last Plantagenet King of England.” *

You can watch and listen to the whole press conference again at  http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2013/february/watch-or-listen-to-the-richard-iii-press-conference-online

* ‘University of Leicester announces discovery of King Richard III’, University of Leicester (4 Feb 2013).  URL:  http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2013/february/university-of-leicester-announces-discovery-of-king-richard-iii [last accessed 1 Feb. 2020]

Tags: Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Richard III

Westminster Hall in the early 19th century

Meeting of Richard’s only Parliament

The meeting of Richard III’s only parliament at Westminster in the presence of the King began on 23 January 1484.  It had been summoned on 9 December 1483 and would be dissolved on 20 February 1484.

Attending were 37 Lords and 10 Judges (including the Attorney General) as well as 296 members of the Commons. It was opened by a speech from Chancellor Russel.  This parliament ratified Richard’s title by Titulus Regius.  The rebels from the October 1483 rebellion were attainted.

Of interest are the 15 public statutes of this parliament, which included ending benevolences, protecting land purchase rights, reforming the justice system, preventing commercial dishonesty in the cloth trade, protecting English merchants, and preventing fraudulent collection practices.  However, while trying to limit the activities of foreign merchants in England, the statutes included a proviso, exempting all merchants and craftsmen concerned in the book trade from the scope of the Act.

Richard’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Catesby was chosen to be the speaker of the Commons; and the receiver of petitions was Thomas Barowe, who had been in Richard’s service since at least 1471, who was also Master of the Rolls.

References:

Christopher Puplick, ‘He Contents the People Wherever He Goes:  Richard III, his parliament and government’, The Chronicles of the White Rose:  Journal of the New South Wales Branch of the Richard III Society, Vol.2 (2008/09), pp.14-32 (last accessed online 2 Jan. 2020)

Anne Sutton, ‘Richards III’s Parliament’, Richard III Society.  URL:  http://www.richardiii.net/2_3_0_riii_leadership.php#parliament (last accessed 2 Jan. 2020)

Susan L. Troxell, ‘The Tenth Coin: Richard III’s Parliament and Public Statutes’, Ricardian Register, Vol.44, No.4 (December 2013), pp.8-16 (last accessed online 2 Jan. 2020)

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Parliament, Richard III

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

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