Archibald Whitelaw, Scotland’s Renaissance Man

At the time of Whitelaw’s memorable meeting with Richard III, he was nearly seventy. He had already been a scholar, a teacher, a cleric and a diplomat in the service of James II, James III and his regents, having negotiated the unusual Stewart-York treaty that preceded the siege of Roxburgh. He had already enjoyed up…

LONDON’S GUILDHALL: Where Buckingham Did Not Spit

In the heart of the City of London stands the medieval Guildhall. Built between 1411 and 1440 on the site of a much older structure, for the most part it survived the Great Fire of London, and still dominates the square in which it stands, a true relic of the London of Richard’s day. Legend…

Most-Famous 20th-Century Tarot Deck Features Death’s Banner Emblazened with the White Rose of the House of York

The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck (RWS) is arguably the most famous of 20th-century Tarot decks. For decades, I’ve been using the RWS as an aid to developing fictional characters. Only recently did I notice the Death card in the Major Arcana features a skeletal knight carrying a banner on which is imprinted the White Rose of…

THE MALIGNED RICARDIANS

Part 1 – Sir William Cornwallis the younger “ His virtues I have sought to revive, his vices to excuse” (The Encomium of Richard III, Sir William Cornwallis) It is conceivable that historians do not take the early revisionist histories of king Richard III seriously owing to an assumption that the authors were not themselves…

A Slightly Different Ricardian Novel

I, RICHARD PLANTAGENET :TANTE LE DESIREE: Richard III fiction is ‘big business’ these days, after some years of stagnation in the 1990’s and first decade of this century. Many of the new novels, in order to keep their subject matter fresh, have added fantasy elements or alternative history, or have been written from the viewpoints…

A New Theory about Richard III’s Boar Badge

Originally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS:
Richard III fascinates people because his story has so many profound mysteries.  Take, for instance, the case of the disappeared Princes in the Tower.  Or the execution of William, Lord Hastings.  These two events have filled up hundreds of pages of speculation in books, have spawned endless social media threads,…

How relics were venerated in mediaeval times

http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/19/worthy-veneration-skepticism-europeans-regarded-relics-medieval-renaissance-europe/

They died on the same day …

15 November 1558 – Deaths of Queen Mary I, known as Bloody Mary for her executions of Protestants, and her Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Reginald Pole. Mary’s accession marked a return to Catholicism for England after her father Reformation and her brother’s passion for Protestantism. Many Protestants were executed, including Thomas Cranmer, Henry VIII’s Archbishop…

Sir Thomas Vaughan (executed 1483)

If you try to research Sir Thomas Vaughan on the internet you may become quite confused. Some sites suggest he was of the Tretower branch of the Vaughans. Highly unlikely, you might think, given that that family were strong Ricardian Yorkists. Others link him with the Vaughan family of Hergest Court. There were of course…

Three Rivers – A Ricardian Poem

River Ure from Worton Bridge   The River Nene, flowing far away On past the castle of Fotheringhay Passing the good news away to the sea Richard Plantagenet, newborn is he Youngest son to the Duke and Duchess With joy we greet you and wish you success Chorus: Three rivers he knew Three rivers passed…