Tag: character

Buc

Here it is at last, a publication sponsored by the Society of Antiquaries and the Richard III Society. Over forty years after his last edition of Buc‘s magnum opus, Arthur Kincaid has managed to remove the “wrapping paper” added by the author’s less painstaking great-nephew and namesake so that only the original remains. Through the… Continue reading Buc

KING JOHN AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

KING JOHN AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION King John was not a good man, He had his little ways. And sometimes no one spoke to him For days and days and days. And men who came across him, When walking in the town, Gave him a supercilious stare, Or passed with noses in the air, And… Continue reading KING JOHN AND THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

John of Gaunt by Kathryn Warner

This is a very valuable new biography of John of Gaunt. As usual with this author, the incredibly complex network of family relationships is successfully navigated. There is a fair amount of ‘correction of the record’. For example, Duchess Blanche did not die of plague in 1369, but of unknown causes in 1368. Duchess Constanza… Continue reading John of Gaunt by Kathryn Warner

The portrait at Hever Castle is more like Henry VI than Richard III….

I’ve seen this (awful!) portrait of Richard before. It just doesn’t look like him, more one of the invented Tudor versions of him, i.e. monstrous and evil, or weak and terrified of all things Tudor. This one fits the ‘weak and terrified’ mould, and if it were listed as a portrait of Henry VI, I’d… Continue reading The portrait at Hever Castle is more like Henry VI than Richard III….

Will the sequencing of Richard’s genome prove he was good or bad….?

On Tuesday 2nd March a new series commences on BBC2 (9 pm) about what may or may not be revealed by the in-depth study of DNA and sequencing genomes. Of course, this will include Richard. How can it not? Especially when Professor Turi King is involved. Richard is surely the most important and prominent historical… Continue reading Will the sequencing of Richard’s genome prove he was good or bad….?

Richard III owned religious books, but slept around….?

Yes, we’ve all seen the above illustration before, but for my purposes today it’s ideal. Was Richard a saint? Or a sinner? I’ve happened upon a very interesting paper about Richard, by Carole Cusack, in which she discusses his reputation and why he still has the power to influence us today. Just what is it… Continue reading Richard III owned religious books, but slept around….?

Now Richard’s bones “suggest….[he] was a control freak who had a friendly face”….!

Well, for idiotic claims, this one about takes the biscuit! How on earth can the examination of Richard III’s centuries-old remains tell anyone he was a control freak? Or that he was friendly? Yes, a reconstruction from his skull has proved he was good-looking, but that’s not the same as “friendly”. Mind you, as medieval… Continue reading Now Richard’s bones “suggest….[he] was a control freak who had a friendly face”….!

Richard was a brave, educated and progressive monarch….

Peter Rhodes, who wrote this article for the Shropshire Star, is favourable toward Richard III. So I’m favourable toward Peter Rhodes. Of course! “….AND off to Bosworth Battlefield for a glorious sunny day in a strikingly pretty corner of Leicestershire. Here in 1485 our last Plantagenet king, Richard III, was slain by Henry Tudor’s soldiers,… Continue reading Richard was a brave, educated and progressive monarch….

KING’S GAMES: A MEMOIR OF RICHARD III

A Verse Play in Two Acts with Commentaries By Nance Crawford “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” (Hamlet) To be honest, I am not much taken with modern Ricardian fiction. I think that in the last five centuries too much fiction and too little fact has  been written about… Continue reading KING’S GAMES: A MEMOIR OF RICHARD III