The Ricardian Volume 11 (1998-1999)

March 1998 No. 140

‘Author! Author! Crowland Revisited’
Alison Hanham

This article discusses the authorship of the Crowland Chronicle. The author believes that several authors were involved in the continuations of 1459–1486, not one as hitherto argued, perhaps with the account of the years from 1459–1485 being based on a 'secular' chronicle written outside Crowland Abbey and adapted as necessary

‘Niclas Von Popplau – His Work and Travels’
Piotr Radzikowski

Discusses the family, background, education and travels of Niclas von Popplau. Also discusses, partly from the point of view of Polish historians, Popplau's report of his European tour of 1483–1486. 

June 1998 No. 141
‘Edward IV's Only Romance? Cambridge Corpus Christi College Ms 91, L'histoire Des Seigneurs De Gavre’
Livia Visser-Fuchs

A discussion of this important late-fifteenth-century manuscript and of its probable ownership by Edward IV. His ownership would be important in the context of the type of book he owned. 

‘The Reburial Expenses Of Sir Thomas Arundell’
Hannes Kleineke

An edition of a manuscript account of the expenses incurred in moving the body of Sir Thomas Arundell of Lanherne from a temporary burial in the parish church of Waddesdon, Bucks, to his final tomb in the church of the Grey Friars in Dorchester. 

‘Roses With Thorns: The Dangers Of Restoration And Interpretation’
John Ashdown-Hill

A discussion of whether white and red roses painted on the tower ceiling of St Alban's Cathedral and a red rose on Cardinal Beaufort's Chantry at Winchester Cathedral were contemporary or not. The author believes not. 

September 1998, No. 142 
‘The Case Against Edward IV's Marriage And Offspring: Secrecy; Witchcraft; Secrecy; Precontract’
H.A. Kelly

Discusses the statements put forward in the act Titulus Regius about Edward IV's 'ungracious pretense marriage' to Elizabeth Grey. The act's conclusions that the marriage was invalid and that its offspring were illegitimate are discussed, particularly with regard to witchcraft as an impediment to marriage. 

‘Reflections On Lady Eleanor’
Muriel Smith

This article considers the situation in canon law that would have arisen if Lady Eleanor Talbot and Edward had consummated their marriage and why Edward did not marry Elizabeth Woodville sub conditione if he felt any doubt as to the validity of his marriage to her. 

‘The Missing Molars: A Genealogical Conundrum’
John Ashdown-Hill

Discusses 'stiff fingers' and congenitally missing teeth with respect to the Talbot family and the possible skeleton of Lady Eleanor Talbot. It relates missing teeth to the skeletons of Anne Mowbray and the skeletons (of the 'Princes') from the Tower of London. 

‘Varieties Of Error And Kingsford's Stonor Letters And Papers
Alison Hanham

Some comments on the new reprint of C. L. Kingsford's edition of the Stonor Letters, edited by Christine Carpenter, pointing out the many errors of transcription. 

December 1998 No. 143
‘The Royal Burials Of The House Of York At Windsor’
 Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs 

As the first of a series of articles on funerals of royal members of the House of York, this covers the burial of Edward IV, King of England, in April 1483. Includes a description and discussion of the ceremonies from the hour he died at Westminster, to the moment he was buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor. Explains various features of 'chivalric' funerals, such as the offering of the horse and the knightly achievements of the deceased, the role of the heralds and the other people present, the route of the cortège and what happened along the way. Prints the full texts of the reports of the heralds, in English and French (with translation). The series is to be continued by articles on Edward IV's tomb, his remains, the poems written immediately after his death, and the burials of his daughter, Mary, and his queen, Elizabeth Woodville. 

March 1999, No. 144
‘James Gairdner: A Colossus Of Victorian Historians Of The Wars Of The Roses, Richard III And Henry VII’
Keith Dockray

James Gairdner (1828–1912) was a dedicated archivist, a prolific editor of fifteenth-century records and chronicles, and an accomplished narrative historian. His two-volume Letters and Papers of Richard III and Henry VII (1861, 1863) was a pioneering, and still valuable, selection of record evidence; his 1904 edition of the Paston Letters remains the best available; and his 1878 History of the Life and Reign of Richard III, so often unjustly denigrated for its hostility to the king and undue reliance on Tudor tradition, is a well-informed, scholarly and stimulating study. 

‘The Royal Burials Of The House Of York At Windsor: Ii. Princess Mary, May 1482, And Queen Elizabeth Woodville, June 1492’
Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs

Describes in detail the funeral ceremonies of Mary, daughter of Edward IV, and of his queen, Elizabeth, and discusses all their aspects, including reference to Edward's other children who died very young. Prints the texts of the surviving contemporary narratives. Includes a map of the route of the funeral cortège. Part of a series that includes the funeral of Edward himself and the poems written on his death. 

‘Further Reflections On Lady Eleanor Talbot’
John Ashdown-Hill

This article answers some of the points raised in Muriel Smith's recent paper on Lady Eleanor. It considers whether Eleanor could realistically have brought a case against Edward IV in the church courts, looks at the precise nature of her association with the Carmelites and considers how defective her inherited Beauchamp genes really were. 

'One Prince Or Two'
Gordon Smith 

Michael Hicks suggested that, according to the founders' chronicle of Tewkesbury Abbey, either Richard III had a second son George born in 1476, or Richard's only son Edward of Middleham was born then. The second suggestion seems reliably supported by a mention of Edward's age in Rous's Historia Regum Angliae. 

June 1999 No. 145
‘The Elusive Mistress: Elizabeth Lucy And Her Family’
 John Ashdown-Hill

This paper traces the Hampshire origins of Edward IV's mistress, evaluates the social standing of her family, which was less obscure than has sometimes been suggested, and considers the issues of which children she bore the king and what ultimately became of her. It also looks en passant at Edward IV's reputation for promiscuity. 

‘The Royal Burials Of The House Of York At Windsor: III. Laments For The Death Of Edward IV’
Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs

Introduces and prints 'The Lament for the Soul of Edward IV', New York, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning Glass Centre MS 7, ff. 131–32; 'The Death of Edward IV', Manchester, John Rylands University Library MS Eng. 113, f. 3r-v; the first stanza of the fragmentary 'Lament of the Ladies for the Death of Edward IV', British Library MS Harleian 3952, f. 105v, and – with translation – the only known Latin lament on the death of Edward IV, Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson C. 86, f. 174. 

REVIEW ARTICLE:
‘ “He Hardly Touched His Food, But Talked With Me All The Time”: What Niclas Von Popplau Really Wrote About Richard III’
Livia Visser-Fuchs 

A translation and discussion of the German text of Popplau's meeting with Richard III from Reisebeschreibung Niclas von Popplau, Ritte,; Burtig von Breslau, edited by Piotr Radzikowski, 1998, Krakow. 

September 1999 No. 146
‘The “Ravishing” Of Isabel Boteler: Abduction And The Pursuit Of Wealth In Lancastrian England’
Shelley A Sinclair

This article is a study of three petitions concerning ravishment contra voluntatem brought by Isabel Boteler, Margaret Mallefaut and the family of Joan Beaumont before parliament during the reign of Henry VI. They reveal not only terrible crimes committed against these particular women, but also chart a steady decline in the ability of the judicial system to bring evildoers to trial. Rape, abduction and ravishment had occurred before 1400, of course, but by the fifteenth century ravishment had evolved into a method of acquiring a woman's financial resources. Victims were captured through trickery or force, coerced into marriage, and raped to consummate the 'union'. Then the instability of royal authority, the king's willingness to grant pardons indiscriminately, and the corruption of local officials ensured the increasing ineffectiveness of the legal system to procure arrest and conviction. Isabel Boteler, Margaret Mallefaut and the family of Joan Beaumont could only turn to parliament (and to threats of attainder and harsh financial penalties against both felon and judicial officials) in hopes of restoring their property and status. 

‘ “'The Retirement” Of Elizabeth Woodville, And Her Sons’
Isolde Wigram, Gordon Smith, Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs

Further discussion of whether Elizabeth Woodville was incarcerated by the order of Henry VII in Bermondsey Abbey and the evidence which survives for this. 

‘Edward Of Middleham’
Peter Hammond

Further discussion of the date of birth of Edward of Middleham, concluding that this was indeed likely to have been 1476, given the evidence and the probable date of 1474

December 1999 No. 147
‘Margaret Of Anjou And The Lancastrian March On London, 1461’
B.M. Cron 

The march of Margaret of Anjou and her army early in 1461 from York to St Albans has usually been described as a march accompanied by terrible devastation and looting. The author of this article points out that to allow an army such unbridled licence would be very counterproductive and shows that there is no evidence that any great damage was caused. He also shows that Margaret probably did not intend to assault London as Yorkist propaganda declared. 

‘Richard Was Late’
Livia Visser-Fuchs

A brief discussion of the date that Richard of Gloucester arrived in Holland in 1470. It has previously been assumed that he fled from England with his brother but the author gives good reason to suppose that in fact Richard arrived later than this, possibly having tried to raise troops for his brother.