The Double Standards of the Cairo residents

“I think we have to change things by going after those who continue to slew the historical evidence at every possible opportunity. When a writer refers to Richard raising an army against a defenceless Woodville entourage in 1483 we need to respond with the evidence that he did the exact opposite and that it was…

Richard III: Elected Monarch or Usurper?

From Barbara Gaskell Denvil: “Very little reliable documentary evidence survives from the Middle Ages. The life and times of Richard III therefore remain a period of frustration and fascination for historians, scholars and interested amateurs alike. So why is it – when one very clear contemporary document survives from that period – that so many people…

Sir Galahad in stained glass….

I recently posted a picture that I had fiddled with to put Richard’s head on a painting of Sir Galahad by George Frederic Watts. Just now, while looking for something else (doesn’t it always happen?) I came upon a stained glass window of the same painting. It’s the Cryder Memorial Window, before 1910. Leaded glass,…

Book Review: Sacred King: Richard III: Sinner, Sufferer, Scapegoat, Sacrifice

by J.P. Reedman “Sacred King” is styled as a “historical fantasy novella” about Richard III, but don’t let that stop you from reading it. The book is in no way a “Mary Sue” story that you often find in the fantasy section of your local Ricardian book store. Reedman has already written several books dealing…

Those mobile bones

The bones, purporting to be of the former Edward V and the elder of his brothers, have an interesting history of their own. 1) More relates that they were buried at night by one priest, without anyone knowing – which narrative is regarded as a Fifth Gospel by Cairo residents, if regarded as a farce…

More Cairo antics

Another example: Someone wrote to suggest that Richard’s final charge at “Tudor”, in which he killed Mr. William Brandon (“Tudor”‘s standard bearer) and unhorsed Sir John Cheney, was a sign of cowardice. Never mind that thosee paid by the first two “Tudors” to lie about him admitted that the King died “fighting manfully” ….. “in…

Eulogy for Richard III

Today, we observe the 529th anniversary of King Richard III’s death on Redemore Plain. It is a sad day, full of grief for those of us who believe that he was a good and just King, a man of multiple dimensions, a loving husband, a tender father, a dutiful son and brother, and a man…

Richard III at Bosworth (2): The Final Moments

On this date in 1485, the last Plantagenet king of England died on Bosworth Field defending his crown from Henry Tudor. Today, thanks to archaeological investigations on the battlefield, we know whereabouts the combat took place and that at least one side (probably the king’s) deployed artillery. The question of exactly how Richard III came…

The latest Channel Four documentary on Richard III….

I have now seen the excellent Channel Four documentary on whether or not Richard III could have led the cavalry charge at Bosworth. Well, of course, it was already known that he did, so the question was, how efficiently could he do it? The …answer was “Bl–dy well!” The young man, Dominic Smee, whose scoliosis…

More Cairo fun

It seems as if those denialists, rather than give up and concede that the evidence*since Kendall is favourable to Richard, are descending into self-parody. Apart from someone, with a name that is quite valuable at Scrabble, resurfacing after five years, we have had some new claims. The Calais garrison were suggested to have defected to…