A-Maze-Ing! (but not in a good way)

As a fan of both American and British talk radio, I happily tuned into the BBC’s well-named Moral Maze program last week to hear Dr. Ashdown-Hill talk about the reinterment of King Richard the Third. For those of us who love the high-pitched tenor of American talk radio – which is often akin to being trapped…

Might this be Richard’s sister Margaret…..?

Yet again, while browsing around for something else, I happened upon this painting, which is of interest because of the suggestion that it is, in fact, an early portrait of Richard’s sister, Margaret of York/Burgundy. I found it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_Altarpiece_(Memling) It is a detail from the Saint John Altarpiece by Hans Memling (sometimes the ‘Triptych of…

Kingfinder General

(Reblogged from The Yorkist Age) Philippa Langley has announced that she is now involved in the search for King Henry I on the site of Reading Abbey. Reading Abbey was of course destroyed during the reign of that much-loved king, Henry VIII. A few ruins remain and the site is partially built over. It is…

The Sunday Procession (BBC News/ Channel Four)

I write, having watched some of the day live and then the highlights programme. It was moving in many different ways. Sadly, Channel Four decided to utilise Dr. David Starkey again for their coverage and he was even more erratic than usual when he strays from his own area of expertise. “The Richard III Society…

Richard III – The Answers

Originally posted on Matt's History Blog:
There are a glut of articles saturating the press at the moment posing some pretty unpleasant questions about Richard III. Maybe it’s time for some answers. We are constantly asked why we are celebrating a child-killing tyrant, or what Richard III ever did for us. Sadly many of…

Richard and Anne: Painting and Passion by Karen King

Chatting with California artist Karen King (2013) Rather by accident the work of California artist Karen King came to my attention via her magnificent painting, Richard and Anne. Inspired by a passage from The Sunne in Splendour, Sharon Kay Penman’s epic novel of Richard III, it depicts the then Duke of Gloucester and his future…

Review of ‘The “Princes” in the Tower’ (Channel 4)

There were many good things about this programme. Dr. Janina Ramirez joined Dr. John Ashdown-Hill and the lawyer Bertram Fields. All three have studied the late medieval period in detail and in different ways. Then there was Dr. David Starkey. He is a renowned expert on the 1509-1603 period but tends to derive his views…

Broom Sweeps Clean

The name Plantagenet came from Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, who was reputed to wear a sprig of the yellow ‘planta genista’ (also known as the Broom plant) in his hat. However, the Encyclopedia Britannica has speculated that the Plantagenet name ‘more likely’ arose because Geoffrey supposedly planted broom to improve his hunting covers. He…

The powers of the Constable of England

We know that Edward IV made the Duke of Gloucester Constable of England for life in 1471, when he was restored but deprived of the services of John Tiptoft (Earl of Worcester) and Richard, Earl Rivers, both of whom had been executed during the Warwick-Lancastrian revolt. So he was definitely Constable in the aftermath of…

Richard’s last journey, as depicted on some stamps:

http://www.bfdc.co.uk/2015/souvenir_covers/richard_iii_mounted_on_horse.html