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| Commemorative & Celebratory | ||
| 42006 Celebrations | ||
| 4Annual Requiem Mass |
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| 4Bosworth Commemoration |
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| 4Fotheringhay Christmas
Lunch and Carols |
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The
Society is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its re-founding this
year and is organising a series of special events. Members have been
invited to send in their applications by 30 January and if there are
still spaces after that date the Society would welcome applications
from non-members.
Saturday
25 March 2006. Anniversary Seminar: ‘Troops
and Tactics: Military Matters during the Fifteenth Century’. Tower of
London Education Centre
Professor
Tony Goodman – ‘The recruitment, array, and training of troops during
the Wars of the Roses’. Tony has recently retired from Edinburgh University
and his new book The Wars of the Roses - the Soldier’s Experience
was published earlier this year.
Dr
David Grummitt – ‘The French Expedition of 1475 and what the campaign
meant to those involved.’ David works on The History of Parliament project
and edited The English Experience in France c. 1450-1558.
Dr
Michael K Jones – ‘Strategy and Tactics in the Fifteenth Century – Agincourt
1415 revisited’. Michael needs little introduction to members and is
of course the author of Bosworth:
Psychology of a Battle and has recently published a new book on
Agincourt.
Mr
Chris Gravett – ‘Armour and Weaponry in the Fifteenth Century.’ Chris
will also demonstrate how armour is donned, and removed. Chris, formerly
with the Royal Armouries, now works for the Woburn Estate. He has written
several books published by Osprey on Wars of the Roses battles.
Friday
19 May 2006. Anniversary Reception at
Barnard's Inn Hall, Holborn, London
The
principal London-based social event will be a reception at Staple Inn
Hall, which will begin at 6 pm and include wine, soft drinks and a buffet
supper. The Society’s Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, will attend
this event to meet members and present the prizes for the schools competition.
From 4 pm until 5.30 pm, and during the evening reception, there will
be an exhibition of the competition entries and we hope that the winners
will be there as our guests.. The evening will conclude at about 8.30
pm.
29
September to 1 October 2006. Anniversary Weekend and AGM in York.
There
is no better place to hold the anniversary weekend and 2006 AGM than
York, the most Ricardian of cities.
The exciting package of events includes:
Friday
29 September. Evening - Lecture at the Hospitium. Refreshments
6 pm, lecture at 6.30 pm.
Professor
Tony Pollard of Teeside University will talk about his ‘journey’
with Richard III, the state of Ricardian studies and the strange phenomenon
of the unchanging popular perception of Richard III 50 years on. This
should be a challenging and entertaining
lecture, with time for questions. The Hospitium is a fourteenth-century
building in the Museum Gardens and should prove an excellent venue to
begin the weekend. It is hoped
to find a suitable hostelry in York for members to gather after the
event, if they so wish, and no doubt carry on the debate.
Saturday
30 September. Morning and afternoon - AGM and Members’ Day
This
will take place at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall which will open from
11 am. There will be the usual AGM attractions including Society and
Branch/Group sales stalls, second-hand book stall, craft sale in aid
of the Ricardian Churches Restoration Fund and tables illustrating the
work of the Society. We will also have workshops on palaeography,
Latin, costume and music (with demonstrations by Trouvère), and hopefully
also on armoury. The provisional
timetable sees the AGM begin at 12 noon, followed by a buffet lunch
(ticket details will be publicised in a later Bulletin).
The workshops will each be held twice during the afternoon and
will be free of charge. We are investigating other activities and will
keep members informed through the Bulletin as these develop.
In the meantime the confirmed attractions already make this a day of
considerable interest for members.
Saturday
30 September. Afternoon - Tours of the Minster – 3.30 pm. and 4 pm.
The
tour will include the Minster and the Treasury and it is hoped to have
on display the Vellum presented to the Minster by the Society in 1966. This records Richard’s first visit to the city
as king and the investiture of his son Edward as Prince of Wales.
Saturday
30 September. Evening – Gala Dinner at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
The
dinner will be catered by At Home Catering. Members who attended
the 2002 conference in York may recall the excellent meal that they
served at the Hall for the conference dinner.
The menu will be:
Cauliflower
& Coriander Soup with Caramelised Butter (V)
Slow-Cooked
Aromatic Lamb
Lemon
Meringue Roulade
Cafetière
Coffee with Chocolate Mints
Vegetarian
alternative: Root Vegetable Wellington with a Red Wine Sauce
Entertainment
will be provided by the medieval troupe Trouvère. There has been
much discussion about the dress code with views expressed both for and
against the wearing of fifteenth-century costume. So we have come up
with the perfect compromise: dress can be either costume or modern (in
which case black tie or lounge suits for the gentlemen and cocktail/party
dresses for the ladies). We will hold a best costume competition, to
be judged by those in modern dress.
Wine and mineral water on the table will be included in the cost
and there will be a full pay bar available before dinner from 7 pm.
Dinner will be served at 7.30 pm.
Sunday
1 October. Barley Hall – Ricardian Anniversary Fair
The
Society has had close links with Barley Hall since it was first opened
to the public and it is the regular venue for the medieval banquet held
during the study weekends. The management of the Hall will be arranging
for a number of medieval craft stalls to be set up to demonstrate and
sell their wares. The Hall also has its own shop which sells original replica crafts.
A local re-enactment group, the ‘Company of Palm Sunday 1461’, several
members of which are also Society members, will be at Barley Hall and
there will be demonstrations covering weaponry, herbalism and cookery,
weaving and lucetting, candle-making, music and other non-martial skills.
The day will provide a fascinating insight into fifteenth-century life
in a genuinely fifteenth-century style town house built on the grounds
of and with material from the original house that stood in Richard’s
time. It will be a unique experience
for Ricardians. The event will be open to the general public, tickets
£5 each.
Saturday 21 October. Anniversary Seminar: ‘Chivalry, the Order
of the Garter and St George’s Chapel’ - Windsor
Castle, Vicars’ Hall
The
Society has been most fortunate to secure this venue for its second
Anniversary Seminar. The Vicars’ Hall is not usually hired out and is
not usually open to the public. So this will be a rare opportunity for
members to see this part of the castle. The Castle will be open from
10 am when refreshments will be available. The confirmed speakers will be:
Mr
Tim Tatton-Brown is the Consultant Archaeologist to the Royal Peculiars
of Westminster Abbey and St George’s Chapel and will be speaking on
the latter
Mr
Peter Hammond, the President of the Society, will speak on the Garter
Stall Plates in St George’s Chapel
Dr
Anne Sutton and Dr Livia Visser-Fuchs,
well known to us all, will discuss
Chivalry and the Yorkist Kings
Dr Lesley Boatwright (Wynne-Davies), the Society’s Deputy Chairman, will talk about the miracles of Henry VI, who is buried in the chapel
Dr
Rowena Archer, lecturer at Brasenose College, Oxford, will talk about
Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk and her connections with Windsor and
Eton.
There
will be opportunities to visit St George’s Chapel and the day will end
with Evensong which begins at 5.15 pm.
Lunch is not included in the price of the ticket but there are
numerous cafés and restaurants in the vicinity and the joining instructions
will include details of a selection of them.
Every
year, on the Saturday closest to the anniversary of the death of Anne
Neville, the Society organises a Requiem Mass for King Richard III and
Queen Anne. This is based upon the belief that this is something which
they themselves would have wished for. We know that Richard himself
was assiduous in commemorating deceased friends and relations in this
way, and that his own friends provided for such an annual commemoration
in Cambridge, on the anniversary of the battle of Bosworth, which only
came to an end as a result of the Reformation.
When
the Requiem is celebrated in London it is followed in the afternoon
by a wreath-laying ceremony at Queen Anne Neville’s plaque at Westminster.
When the Requiem is celebrated elsewhere, then the wreath-laying at
Westminster takes place separately, usually on the anniversary day itself.
The Society’s annual
Bosworth visit is statutory, as enshrined in the Constitution, and takes
place on the Sunday nearest to 22 August – the anniversary of the battle
- each year. Originally a visit
was made to the well and cairn on the battlefield site, where a wreath
was laid, and a short service held, and Sutton Cheney church continues
the tradition of a service at the well on the actual anniversary, 22
August.
In 1967 the Society presented
a commemorative plaque to Sutton Cheney church, the text of which reads:
‘Remember before God,
Richard III, King of England, and those who fell at Bosworth Field,
22 August, 1485, having kept faith. Loyaulté me Lie’
The plaque was unveiled
in May 1967, and thereafter the annual Bosworth service has taken place
at Sutton Cheney church, followed by lunch in the village hall, in support
of the church, courtesy of ladies of the village, led by Miss Ann Read,
and by a visit to the battlefield. This has continued following Leicestershire County Council’s development
of the battlefield site.
In the past, following
the service and lunch, visits have been made elsewhere, including Ashby
de la Zouch, and to Leicester, to visit the statue of Richard III in
Castle Gardens, given to the City by the Society.
The ‘Bosworth’ visit
has also encompassed visits to the alternative battlefield sites at
Atherstone, as posited by Peter Foss, in 1987, and at Merevale, as posited
by Dr Mike Jones, in 2004.
The event remains a core
activity of the Society, one of the main occasions, together with the
AGM, at which members can meet each other, both often attended by overseas
members, and Bosworth has welcomed visiting American members as part
of their UK tours.
Arrangements
for 2006
To be advised
Fotheringhay
Christmas Lunch and Carols
As can be seen throughout this web site,
the Society has many reasons for maintaining its links with Fotheringhay,
but one of the most joyous is the tradition of the Christmas lunch followed
by a carol service in the church. It was begun nearly twenty-five years
ago by Joyce Melhuish and though the basic format of the day has remained
the same, the details have evolved over the years. Lunch used to be
in the Falcon Inn, but now it takes place in the Village Hall. Also,
the event has traditionally taken place on a Sunday in mid December,
making it more of an Advent celebration, but for a change in 2005, it
was held on a Saturday, as it will be in 2006.
The day begins with getting to Fotheringhay and for that
there is a coach from London for those who wish it. Otherwise, members
and their families make their own way to the Village Hall for lunch,
after which, suitably fortified with a turkey buffet, followed by Christmas
pudding, all washed down with a glass or two of wine, they walk up to
the church, to be greeted by the bells, and join with members of the
local community.
At 3 pm, after the vicar, resplendent in the heraldic
cope given by the Society, has greeted everyone with a few words, the
service begins with the choir singing a solo item. This is followed
by the congregation singing the traditional Advent hymn, “O come, o
come, Emmanuel”, and from then on, the service is similar in style to
the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge,
with readings from the Bible, congregational hymns and music from the
choir all interspersed to tell the Christmas story.
The readings are shared between parishioners and members
of the Society, and for the most part, they are traditional, but for
the eighth lesson, which tells of the three kings, the poem ‘Journey
of the Magi’ by T S Eliot has been used since the very beginning. More
recent introductions have been the singing of “While shepherds watched”
to its traditional tune, better known as ‘On Ilkley Moor’, together
with the singing of the Latin words, ‘Adeste fideles’, to ‘O come, all
ye faithful’ to close the service.
The service is always a great success, not in the least due to the superb
singing of the choir, the St Peter’s Singers, who are based in the Peterborough
area, and for many, the event is considered as the great sign that the
Christmas season has really begun. It is an excellent opportunity for
members and friends alike to get together in a convivial atmosphere
in the magical medieval surroundings of the church that means so much
to so many members of the Richard III Society.
Details of the next Fotheringhay Christmas, which will
take place on Saturday, 16 December, 2006, will be in the Autumn (September)
issue of the Ricardian Bulletin.