Here is Richard Maudelyn, um, Richard of Conisbrough, um….or someone….

Well, if ever a computer compiled a dog’s breakfast of information, it’s this one. Or, of course, I shouldn’t blame a computer because the culprit was some dumbcluck human. Or maybe it was the cat, which strolled to and fro over the keyboard. Whatever, here goes:

“….Richard MAUDELYN, 1385 – 1415
Richard MAUDELYN was born on month day 1385, in birth place, to Richard II PLANTAGENET d Angleterre and Anne PLANTAGENET d Angleterre (born de BOHÊME).
Richard had one brother: Richard Maudelyn.
Richard married Anne Plantagenet (born de Mortimer, Countess of Cambridge).
Anne was born on month day 1388, in birth place.
They had one son: Sir Richard Plantagenet 3rd Duke of York.
Richard passed away on month day 1415, at age 30 in death place.
He was buried in burial place….”

Right, where to begin with this little jumble… Well Richard II and Anne of Bohemia didn’t have any children at all, let alone one called Richard Maudleyn! No, I correct myself, two children called Richard Maudelyn! Why call them Maudelyn anyway?

And how could Anne have given birth in 1367 (see below) if she wasn’t born until 1388? Well, 1388 according to this silly site. She was actually born 11 May 1366, so she’d have to have given birth before she was one year old! And well before she and Richard II were married in 1382.

Richard Maudelyn (well, one of them) then married Anne Mortimer! Really? And together they had a son, none other than Richard, 3rd Duke of York. Good Lord! Richard Maudelyn then passed away in 1415, and was buried in a place of burial. No kidding.

Oh, and the illustration (see above) used is usually credited to Richard of Conisbrough, who did marry Anne Mortimer, who was the 3rd Earl of Cambridge and who was the father of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.

So this site spouts a load of conflated old codswallop regarding the mysterious Richards Maudelyn, one of whose fame in history is that he was a lookalike for Richard II. NOT because the king was his father, but more probably that Maudelyn was the illegitimate son of one of Richard II’s uncles. The finger of suspicion usually points at John of Gaunt, but nobody knows anything really. Another generally accepted tale is that Maudelyn’s mother was Hawise Maudelyn, who had waited upon Katherine Swynford, who became Gaunt’s third duchess. In 1381 Gaunt confessed publicly that he’d committed the sin of lechery with Katherine Swynford and “many others in his [then] wife’s [Constance of Castile] household”. See Alison Weir, Katherine Swynford, page 150 of my copy.

The unfortunate lookalike Maudelyn was hanged, drawn and quartered. I don’t have a date for this, but the ill-fated man was certainly disposed of in this barbaric way early in the reign of the usurper Henry IV.

This second site (Richard Maudelyn b. 6 Jan 1376: MontyHistNotes) also credits Richard II with being Maudelyn’s father. Um, 6 January 1367 is the date Richard II was born, so if Maudelyn was too it had to be coincidence. Anyway, presumably this is how it’s arisen that Richard Maudelyn had a brother Richard Maudelyn. One of them a.k.a. Richard II.

I’ll go now, with apologies for having made your heads ache….