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Posts from the ‘Late Medieval’ Category

Mar 14

jacquerie

Medieval Meaux

Meaux in the Middle Ages

During the late Middle Ages the rural town of Meaux – located about 40 km from the centre of Paris – turned into an important part of the greater region of Paris. In order to describe this shift from rural town to important suburb a new book focuses on the late medieval history of the town as well as the people, who lived there.

Economically medieval Meaux was dependant on textile production as well as the local vineyards. Fortunes were made delivering goods to the elites in Paris creating the foundation for a vibrant economic and political milieu; but it also turning Meaux into the central focus for a large peasant revolt – the Jacquerie – in 1358 as well as the constant warring in the 14th and 15th century.

Wilmart Meaux RMBLF Medieval Meaux The Jacquerie was a revolt centered in the Oise Valley north of Paris. These rebellions were known as the Jacquerie after the peasant revolutionary Guillaume Caillet, popularly known as Jacques Bonhomme (“Simple Jack”) or Caillet. French nobles, led by Charles the Bad of Navarre, captured Caillet in the end and tortured him to death by use of red-hot irons, suppressed the revolt. The word “Jacquerie” became a synonym for peasant uprisings, and for centuries the nobility lived in fear of a repeat performance.

The book not only traces the history of Meaux, but also discusses the construction of Ile-de-France as a wider Parisian region and thus presents the reader with part of the socio-economic background for the uprising in 1358.

Mickaël Wilmart is a historian, working at l’EHESS

Meaux au Moyen Âge. Une ville et ses hommes du XIIe au XVe siècle, Montceaux-les-Meaux
By Mickaël Wilmart
Editions Fiacre, 2013, 404 p.
ISBN : 978-2-917231-35-7.
28 euros.

See the content here

 

 

Feb 9

Edward IV and Richard III

Bring up the Bones III

How debilitating was Richard III’s scoliosis? And what did he really look like?

Richard III had an idiopathic scoliosis with a curvature of at least 600. Such a curvature may or may not have infringed upon his physical capabilities. The challenge here is that systematic analysis of the long-term effects of untreated scoli osis are nearly non-existent. The reason is that for most of the 20th century patients with more severe scoliosis have been treated with either braces or operations. Thus the consequence of an untreated scoliosis is complicated to evaluate.

Apparently we cannot really say what the consequences for a man like Richard were. Might it have infringed upon his respiratory function while he lived? Possibly – and probable had he lived longer. With time his scoliosis would probably have increased. Did he have arthritis? Yes definitely as can be seen from the photos generously made available at the dedicated website. However, whether it caused him pain is impossible to speculate about.

At least it did not hamper him in the lifestyle expected of a king. In August 1485, just before the battle, Richard took to Bestwood, an enclosed deer park in Sherwood Forest north of Nottingham. The park comprised some 3000 acres enclosed with a 3 metre high fence with a perimeter of 14 km.

richard III from another angle 300x200 Bring up the Bones IIIAt the centre of the deer-park was a royal hunting lodge- Hundred years later when a survey tells us it was a tiled, timber-framed building with laths and plaster. At that time it seems to have contained 38 rooms plus outbuildings. The quarry here would have been red deer and fallow deer. In 1607 a survey was undertaken. At that time the deer stock at Bestwood consisted of at least 300 fallow deer and 24 red deer. Here Richard III spent some days with friends while Henry Tudor began to move up from the coast. It was from Bestwood, Richard began his last fateful journey via Nottingham Castle towards Leicester on the 19th and arriving on the 20th of August. Hardly a man with a debilitating backache! With no more than 44.5 km from Nottingham to Leicester it was what any fit rider might easily cover in one to two days; but not something to undertake with a severe backache. Later on, of course, we know that he did not spare himself in the battle but took fully part in it, wielding his weapons as good as any knight.

spine © umiversity of leicester 300x135 Bring up the Bones IIIOn the other hand, he probably did not look the happy part, as the recent cranio-facial reconstruction seems to purport. In fact descriptions, which exists from persons, who had actually seen him unanimously describes him as thin, lithe and gaunt. Which is also the evidence gathered from his skeleton. Croyland uses the word “attenuated countenance” –meaning he was thin and drawn but with a livid even ghastly expression on his face on the morning of the battle of Bosworth. Indicating what? Restless pain? We cannot know. But what we do know is that Richard does not in the least look like his happy and a bit plump brother in the earliest existing portrait of him painted around 1520 from a now lost original. In this portrait he looks stern, serious and drawn as might reasonably be expected from a man otherwise described as a man with a restless nature. This does not mean that he was a smile-less creature (we know from his letters he definitely had a humorous disposition).

But neither can he solely have been the happy-go-lucky type visualized for us in the recent cranio-facial reconstruction presented this week. At the presentation it was claimed that the reconstruction was based on the skull. That may be so. But some choices have been made here regarding the challenge of adding the padding, the soft tissue. Did he really have this smiling, mischievous countenance? Or did he – like his contemporaries have told us – look much more gaunt, drawn and pained? Or was that just in the end? What is the evidence here?

The official presentation of the “What the Bones Tell us”

READ MORE:

Adolescant idiopathic scoliosis: natural history and long-term treatment effects.
Marc A. Asher and Douglas C. Burton.
Scoliosisjournal 2006 Vol. 1:2 p.

Bestwood Park – A Thousand Years of History
Richard Rutherford-Moore 2001
2001

 

Feb 5

letter-from-richard-III-christies

Richard Speaking

What would Richard III have sounded like?

Curious about how Richard III may have sounded ? We are fortunate to have some of his original letters and thus a little bit of evidence of his pronounciation.

In a University of Leicester exclusive podcast interview, Dr Philip Shaw from the School of English discusses how Richard III may have sounded in his own lifetime.

With the use of two letters with notes from Richard III himself, Dr Shaw delves deeper into what the man was really like.  Both letters provide a sneak peek into the world of Richard III’s language, spelling and grammar.

As both letters begin with formulaic and neat words from a secretary, Dr Shaw has used this as a point of comparison with Richards’ less polished notes.

The first of the two letters was written before Richard was king and is his earliest surviving letter, dating back to 1469. The letter itself was written when Richard was travelling with Edward IV to put down a disturbance in Yorkshire. Writing from Castle Rising, Norfolk, he urgently requests a loan of £100 from Sir John Say, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Richard appends a two-line note in his own hand to the letter, emphasising the urgency of his requirement.

The second letter was written in 1483, on learning of the Duke of Buckingham’s rebellion against him. King Richard dictated a letter asking his Chancellor to send the Great Seal to him. Richard also attaches a personal note at the bottom of the letter, expressing his desire that the Chancellor come in person, if possible, and expressing his expectation that he will soon suppress Buckingham.

Dr Shaw said: “I found that Richard III’s spellings are relatively consistent, and in many ways reflect the same educated spelling practices employed by his secretaries.  However, he also differs from the practice of his secretaries occasionally, and such quirks may provide clues to how he spoke.

“Like today, there were various dialects (with different features of accent and grammar) around the country. Unlike today, individuals were more likely to spell words in ways that reflected their local dialect. Therefore, by looking at Richard’s writing, I was able to pinpoint spellings that may provide some clues to his accent.

“The language used within the two postscripts shows no evidence of northern English dialect features, largely reflecting the relatively standard, London-derived spelling system also used by Richard’s secretaries. However, there is also at least one spelling he employs that may suggest a West Midlands accent.”

Find out more and listen to Dr Philip Shaw read out Richard III’s letters

The Photo is of a letter sold at Christies June 2012. It was valued to £10.000 – 15.000, but sold for £109.250.

 

Feb 4

richard-III-reconstruction

Man and Myth

The Man and the Myth

The discovery of the remains of Richard III might potentially change history

 Tudor accounts foregrounded the disabilities and villainy of Richard III giving the impetus for the later Shakesperean defamation of the last king of the Plantagenets. Since then a long parade of distinguished actors have tried to impersonate his crippled walk and his withered arm. Indeed, many has taken their inspiration from the words of Thomas More, who inspired Shakespeare: “…little of stature, ill featured of limbs, crook backed, his left shoulder much higher than his right, hard favoured of visage..”

The remains of the king, however, dispute this caricature and declares it unfounded. Yes, the man had an idiopatic adult scoliosis, a wicked and probably very painful curvature of his spine. Idiopatic however means that he was afflicted by it when adolescent and not born with it as was hinted at by Thomas More, one of his later detractors. Neither were any of his arms withered, which was later claimed.

On the other hand the skeleton shows that he was a slender person probably more than five feet tall (his full height is something which the researchers have had problems deciding because of the scoliosis). With near effeminate physiognomy he may indeed have looked somewhat like a very early description, which state that he was with “quite slender arms and thighs, and also a great heart” (Niclas Von Popplau 1484). There is thus no reason to believe that he was a crippled coward; rather he must have been a capable, experienced warrior.

Richard III earliest surviving portrait 222x300 Man and Myth

This is also the physiognomy which can be detected in the very early portrait which exists in the Royal Collection and which has recently undergone a detailed examination. From this it has been possible to show that this portrait shortly after its creation, or perhaps in order to ‘complete’ the image, underwent significant changes. Thus the outline of the King’s right shoulder (the left shoulder as we look at the painting) was extended upwards in an arch from the elbow to the neck so that one shoulder was made to seem higher than the other, creating the impression of a hunched back. The artist also appears purposefully to have turned the corners of the sitter’s mouth downwards to make the facial expression seem severe.” (read more about the portrait here).

All in all the discovery of the remains of Richard III has the potential to induce researchers to revaluate a number of the very early sources, which tells a different story than that of his later detractors.

As the Chancellor of the University of Leicester has claimed: “History may have to rewritten”.

Read more about the importance of the identification of the remains of Richard III

Read about the identification of the skeleton as that of Richard III 

See photo of skull and skeleton of Richard III


READ MORE and FIND THE LINKS:

Richard III found

The fight for the upcoming reburial 

 

About Richard III

Middleham Castle

The Book of Hours 

The Bosworth Boar

Battle of Barnet

Richard III‘s Inn
Latest biography of Richard III:

Feb 4

scoliosis-richard-III

Richard III – Indeed!

DNA indisputably identifies skeleton as that of Richard III

DNA analysis conducted by the geneticist Dr. Turi King at Leicester University has without doubt confirmed that the skeleton found at Greyfriars in August 2012 is indeed that of Richard III. This identification has been based on the identical mitochondrial DNA of two independent descendants of Anne of York, the sister of Richard III and the DNA extracted from the skeletal remains from Greyfriars.

These results were presented at a press conference earlier today in Leicester where other details were given about his manner of death.

Battle Wounds
It appears that the skeleton carried ten wounds, some perimortem and some probably postmortem wounds. Although it is not possible to decide without doubt which of these wounds were the fatal ones, at least two, which had been inflicted to the skull must have been deadly. One was a heavy blow probably inflicted by a halberd or the like at the back of his neck and cutting off a significant slive, while another was from a blade stuck into the brain.The researchers have speculated that the trauma to the head must have been the result of the loss at some point of the helmet of the king.

Several wounds were of a slighter character and done by daggers. The researchers have compared these to those found on individuals who were buried in a mass-grave at Towton in 1461. These individuals were found with skulls and skeletal remains, some of which were defaced post-mortem. It is generally believed this was done as part of a wilful defamation of the vanquished foe.

skull with injuries 300x199 Richard III – Indeed!

Man-handled Corpse
At the news conference the view was voiced that Richard III might have suffered the same treatment, since some of the wounds must have been inflicted after the body had been stripped of its armour.

This corresponds very well with a contemporary text, which says that after King Richards body had been discovered among the dead “many other insults were inflicted, the body was carried to Leicester in an inhuman way, a rope being placed around the neck” (Crowland Cronicle). Probably the head was tied to the rope which was strung between the feet and the hands of his body. Maybe a remnant of this fact may be discerned from the grave itself. Apparently the body of Richard III was interred with his hands still tied in front of him as opposed to the usual position of the arms and hands at that time, being laid parallel to the dead body.

On the other hand, although it is known that the body was slung naked over the back of a horse, one source tells us that it was ridden by his pursevant of arms, one Blanch Senglier or White-Boar. Thus there is no doubt that he was stripped at the battlefield; something which was done routinely by the victors and their accompanying throng of looters. Such stripping may very well have been done with the help of daggers, explaining the some of the smaller knife wounds inflicted on the body. The wounds, however, may not have been part of a willful defamation.

Further, the fact that he was not wrapped in a cloth or blanket while being carried from the battlefield may reflect nothing more than the need for the new king, Henry VII to exhibit his trophy thus avoiding any rumours that king Richard had succeeded in fleeing from the battle.

This also accounts for the fact that his dead body apparently was paraded for several days at Newark, the city hall, before being interred at Grayfriars. The body was presumably laid to rest unshrouded as it had not been pressed together as would have been the case had it been wrapped in a piece of textile. No personal objects of any kind were found in the grave.

Read about the scientific findings concerning the skeleton of Richard III at the dedicated website at Leicester University

The future
At the News conference a spokesman for the cathedral told what was decided several months ago that King Richard III will be reinterred at Leicester Cathedral some time early next year. At that time a proper exhibition is expected to be opened at a location near the former Greyfriars.

However already a smaller exhibition is announced to be opened at Leicester Cathedral on the 08.02.2013.

Tonight (04.02.2013)  the full story of the location of the grave, its excavation and the scientific study of the skeleton will be aired at Channel Four at 9PM. Here a facial reconstruction will be shown as well as a reconstructed film showing how Richard III may have walked due to his massive scoliosis.

Channel four – full story tonight 9PM.

Jan 24

richard-III-tombstone

Richard III?

The Search for King Richard III ends

In ten days the on-going search for King Richard III will end. At a press conference in Leicester on Monday February 4th 2013 at 10am the first results of the scientific investigations of the skeleton found at Grey Friars in August 2012 will be presented.

The University of Leicester has been leading the search for King Richard III, in association with Leicester City Council and the Richard III Society.  At a press conference in September, the University announced that it had found human remains with evidence of what was believed to be scoliosis and battle trauma. The University said that these remains, found at the Church of the Grey Friars, would need to be subject to rigorous scientific analysis in order to confirm their identity.

Since that discovery, University experts have subjected the remains to a series of tests to determine the identity of the skeleton. The University has been analysing results of these tests and will announce the conclusions of its investigations at a press conference. Richard Taylor, of the University of Leicester, said: “There is a huge anticipation and excitement about the University’s announcement. The University of Leicester is poised to unlock a 500-year-old mystery by announcing the outcome of our search for King Richard III. The Search has caught the world’s imagination and has featured in media across the globe and has been the focus of intense speculation. Over the past five months, since we announced the discovery, our experts from a range of departments have subjected the human remains found at Grey Friars to rigorous examination.Key tests are due in over the next few weeks. Whatever the outcome of our analysis, this project has been tremendously exciting and one that has been very much in the public eye, helping to demonstrate the importance of University research to the wider world.”

The Leicester Press Conference will be held in the Council Chamber of the Fielding Johnson Building and start at 10am and end at approximately 11am.  Access will be available from 6.30am through the main front door.

It will consist of a series of presentations by experts from the University of Leicester who have been conducting scientific tests on the Grey Friars skeleton. At the end of the presentations from the experts, the University of Leicester will announce its conclusion based on the archaeological and scientific evidence.

This will be followed by reactions from the University’s partners in the project: The Richard III Society and Leicester City Council

Due to the enormous interest only representatives from the Press have access. However, in September the initial press conference was broadcasted and the same will surely happen here.

Interested may read about the upcoming press conference here

Read also about the preliminary presentation of the archaeological findings at the September Press Conference

A Twitter feed from the press conference will be made available: @uniofleicester

READ MORE and FIND THE LINKS:

 

Richard III found

The fight for the upcoming reburial 

 

About Richard III

Middleham Castle

The Book of Hours 

The Bosworth Boar

Battle of Barnet

Richard III‘s Inn

 

Dec 20

blu-boar-richard-III

Richard III‘s Inn

The Blue Boar in Leicester – where Richard III is believed to have spent his last night before Bosworth – is being recreated

According to myth, Richard III spent his last night at a famous inn in Leicester. Leicester’s medieval castle was apparently no longer fit to accommodate a king, and Richard set up his headquarters at an inn located at Leicester’s medieval high street. Originally named the White Boar Inn – sporting the badge of Richard III – it was afterwards told that the innkeeper on the morning after the Battle of Bosworth hastily painted the sign over with some blue paint and changed the name to “The Blue Boar In”. While the White Boar was the badge of Richard III, the Blue Boar was the badge of John de Vere, supporter of Henry Tudor and post-Bosworth, the future Earl of Oxford.

Whether a fact or a popular fairy-tale may no longer be decided. A fact is though that the earliest mentioning of the inn dates from the 1570’s and the story of where Richard spent his last night at Leicester is first presented in the History of Speede in 1611. Further the actual date of the famous inn cannot be determined archaeologically, since it was pulled down in the 19th century in the name of progress.

richard III inn 300x200 Richard III‘s InnOddly enough, though, the entrepreneur Henry Goddard, who demolished the inn in the 19th century, apparently made an extremely detailed account of the structure of the timber-framed building, complete with accurate measurements in feet and inches and with precise drawings of the different fittings and joints. Looking into other archival material from the Goddard Family, researchers from Leicester University recently found this notebook by accident.

Due to its detailed information it has been possible to contract with an architect, Stephan Davis, who has made a three-dimensional cad drawing of the building. Further, on the basis of this, a scale model was produced using a 3D printer in the university’s department of physics and astronomy at the University, giving a sense of the place and offering the possibility of resurrecting the inn once more.

The Bed
Another relic from the time of Richard III is a bed, which used to be exhibited at the Inn, while claiming it to be the last one he spent a night in before Bosworth.

Apparently it was rumoured that Richard “slept ill in strange beds”. Accordingly his bed was part of his pack-train and put up wherever Richard stayed for the night. Later the bed was never claimed and became part of one of the “sights” of Britain, as claimed in a versed rhyme presented in Tom Coryat’s Crudities in 1611:

The lance of John O’Gaunt, and Brandon’s still i’ the Tower
the fall of Nineveh, and Norwich built in an hower
King Henry’s slip shoes, the sword of valiant Edward
the Coventry Boare’s shield, and fireworks seen but to bedward
Drake’s ship at Deptford, King Richard’s bedsted i’ Leyster
The White Hall whale bones, the silver bason i’ Chester

At that time the bed was still said to reside at the Blue Boar Inn probably incurring a lot of income for the Clarke’s, later innkeepers (of whom it was even rumoured that they had found a treasure of gold-coins stacked in the bottom.) At this time the bedstead  - if indeed it belonged to Richard III – was mounted with Jacobean posters. It is generally believed though that the bottom of the bed might very well be medieval.

bed richard III 300x200 Richard III‘s InnHowever, even if a proper archaeological investigation of the bed might confirm a medieval date of the timber, substantiating the myth would be near nigh impossible. Probably what was meant was, that Richard liked to bring his own bed linen plus mattresses including leather sheets, which helped to protect a sleeping person from the mites and vermin living in common beds at common inns. If Richard indeed did stay at the inn and indeed slept in the bed, he would have slept in his own bed-clothes. What would have been left behind would have been a timber-frame or bedstead, which probably had been there before he came; later this bedstead was turned into a relic having held the anointed body of the much maligned king.

In due course the bedstead was sold, finally ending up at a manor North West of Leicester, Donington le Heath Manor House. This is a remarkable is a surviving example of a family home built around seven hundred years ago; although modernised in 1618 it still oozes of the Middle Ages. This rare and beautiful house is a valuable historic resource for the local community as well as for the whole country. Today it is kept as a museum as well as rented out for local events. The bed may be seen there…

Reconstructing the Site of Richard III’s Last Resting Place before Bosworth - Press release from Leicester University

READ MORE:
Speede, J.: The History of Great Britaine. London 1611 (1614) as quoted in The Last Days of Richard III by John Ashdown-Hill. The History Press 2010

Read other articles about Richard III and the dilemmas and politics in connection with the reburial.

Oct 24

orb-york-minster-stained-glass-exibition

York Apocalypse

21st century displays for 15th century stained glass at York Minster

The great East Window at York Minster has been described as the English equivalent of the Sistine Chapel. The stained glass panels were designed by one of the grand glaziers, John Thornton. He began the work in 1405 and completed it on time in 1408. The main part – 81 of 108 panels – depicts the apocalypse (The End of the World). This year half of the panels have undergone a total restoration, while the rest are queuing for the same treatment. The work, which is undertaken by the York Glaziers Trust, is expected to be finished in 2016.

As of now visitors are not able to see for themselves how the work is progressing. At the same time the Minster has wished to show the restored treasures to the public at close hand. Each panel is in itself a piece of great art. Nevertheless only conservators have until now been able to enjoy the delicacy and delights of seeing each panel up close.

In order to remedy this, York Minster has installed an “Orb”, a metallic dome placed in the under-croft, where five panels will be shown permanently. Four will be permanently on display, while one will change each month during the Orb’s three-year tenancy. The metallic exterior of the Orb is subtly illuminated with moving projections of stained glass to add extra colour and movement to the domed roof. The Orb is a 10 metre wide, 3 metre tall dome that has been installed to the East of York Minster’s Quire, directly below the Great East Window (where a replica is currently in place while restoration is proceeding).

DSC 8311 199x300 York Apocalypse

Assemblage of kings from York Minster

The installation of The Orb is part of York Minster Revealed, a five-year project generously supported by a £10.5 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which incorporates the largest restoration and conservation project of its kind in the UK.

Flanking the Orb, St Stephen’s Chapel and All Saints Chapel feature interactive exhibitions, which are inspired by the major works taking place on the Minster’s east front. The work of York Minster’s stonemasons is highlighted in the All Saints Chapel with displays explaining the scale of the work facing the artisans in restoring the stone tracery that supports the glass. A touch screen game allows children to virtually chip away at a block of stone, with interactive displays featuring tools and stone taken from the building.

In St Stephen’s Chapel, the role of the glaziers is examined. A second touch-screen game invites young visitors to join John Thornton’s team of artists and glaziers to create a virtual stained glass window, whilst display panels explain the huge scale of the project currently being undertaken by conservators at the York Glaziers Trust. Dedicated visitors might book a special tour and visit the actual restorers at their work behind the scene.

coventry cathedral mosaics 211x300 York Apocalypse

Mosaic of faces from Coventry Cathedral

John Thornton
York Minster holds a copy of the contract from 1405 by which John Thornton was commissioned to undertake the work. This is the only written document, which links him to a specific window in existence. It required Thornton to do all of the ‘cartooning’ (full-scale design of the window) of the window’s 311 panels himself, and also to do some of the painting “with his own hand”. However, with a project of this size, he would have had a team of artists working to his design. The document shows that he was paid £56 for his involvement in the project, and it is known that he received a £10 bonus for its completion on time. Afterwards Thornton was made a freeman of York, but by 1413 he was back living in the narrow street, St. John’s bridges, in Coventry. The products of his workshop can be recognized by their favouring of white glass and yellow stain set against blue and ruby backgrounds. Not least the very distinctive modeling of the faces reveal his hand.

These characteristic faces are one of the reasons why scholars attribute the stained glasses of Coventry Cathedral to the artist. The glass from the cathedral was removed before German air raids left the building a total ruin. Later it was decided to build a new modern cathedral and the fragments of glass were left store under appalling conditions in a basement. Currently a project is underway to restore the 5000 fragments. In total, the collection now amounts to at least several thousand unsorted pieces spread across 127 trays, plus hundreds more leaded into 40 of the original and still largely intact pre-World War II ‘mosaic’ panels, which had been removed in 1939. However, until now only a few choice panels have been extracted and exhibited at the new cathedral as well as the medieval guild-hall in Coventry. Most of the fragments remain unexamined and virtually un-catalogued. Using laser-scanning and digital processing it is hoped that the grand puzzle may be underway. It is believed that the scholarly reexamination of the York panels, which are accompanying the restoration work, will allow a better evaluation of the artistic provenience.

Whether a direct reconstruction of the panels in Coventry will take place is currently being debated. Some modern artists want’s to make postmodern collages out of the fragments. Not so in York: there the glaziers work with veneration and respect for the artistic oeuvre of a long-gone artist.

 The Orb at York Minster

READ MORE

York Minster: The Great East Window (Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, Great Britain, Summary Catalogue 2)
Thomas French
Oxford University Press 2003

Stained Glass at York Minster
Sarah Brown
Scala Publishers 1999

The stained Glass of Coventry Cathedral. In Vidimus:33

Coventry: Medieval Art, Architecture and Archaeology in the City and its Vicinity
British Archaeological Association Transactions, XXXIII
Linda Monkton and Richard K. Morris, Editors
Maney Publishing 2011

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