Richard III is prepared for his reinterment
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The crowds came out today to watch the re-interment of Richard III, an event televised live on Channel 4.
Although some are uncomfortable at all this adulation being shown towards a suspected child killer (although don't worry, Richard III fans. It'll not be long before the Met Police's "historical child abuse" investigation, Operation Yew Tree, arrests Jeremy Clarkson over the killings. You saw it here first.......)
Benedict Cumberbatch leads tributes to distant relative Richard III as remains of last English king to die in battle are finally given a royal burial in Leicester Cathedral
Coffin containing Plantagenet monarch's mortal remains taken to Leicester Cathedral for royal burial this morning
Queen led tributes in written message to: 'King who lived through turbulent times and whose faith sustained him'
Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch - believed to be a distant relative of the king - is due to read a 14-line poem entitled Richard penned by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy at the ceremony
The king's grave site had been thought lost to history until archaeologists discovered his crook-backed skeleton in the remains of an old monastery beneath a Leicester City Council car park
After more than 500 years shrouded in mystery, and buried in an anonymous grave discovered beneath a car park, Richard III has finally been laid to rest in a royal ceremony at Leicester Cathedral.
A coffin containing the Plantagenet monarch's mortal remains was taken to the Cathedral this morning where the Queen paid a written tribute to the last English king to die in battle.
In front of 700 people, including actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Lindsay, who had both played the much-maligned king in Shakespeare, an Army guard of honour bore the king aloft to his final resting place, with dignity, 530 years after his violent death at Bosworth Field.
The golden-coloured oak coffin was carefully lowered into place by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, marking the end of a journey which had seen the king lying in a forgotten and unremarkable grave under a council car park for more than five centuries - just 40 yards from his final resting place.
Although some are uncomfortable at all this adulation being shown towards a suspected child killer (although don't worry, Richard III fans. It'll not be long before the Met Police's "historical child abuse" investigation, Operation Yew Tree, arrests Jeremy Clarkson over the killings. You saw it here first.......)
Benedict Cumberbatch leads tributes to distant relative Richard III as remains of last English king to die in battle are finally given a royal burial in Leicester Cathedral
Coffin containing Plantagenet monarch's mortal remains taken to Leicester Cathedral for royal burial this morning
Queen led tributes in written message to: 'King who lived through turbulent times and whose faith sustained him'
Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch - believed to be a distant relative of the king - is due to read a 14-line poem entitled Richard penned by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy at the ceremony
The king's grave site had been thought lost to history until archaeologists discovered his crook-backed skeleton in the remains of an old monastery beneath a Leicester City Council car park
After more than 500 years shrouded in mystery, and buried in an anonymous grave discovered beneath a car park, Richard III has finally been laid to rest in a royal ceremony at Leicester Cathedral.
A coffin containing the Plantagenet monarch's mortal remains was taken to the Cathedral this morning where the Queen paid a written tribute to the last English king to die in battle.
In front of 700 people, including actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Lindsay, who had both played the much-maligned king in Shakespeare, an Army guard of honour bore the king aloft to his final resting place, with dignity, 530 years after his violent death at Bosworth Field.
The golden-coloured oak coffin was carefully lowered into place by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, marking the end of a journey which had seen the king lying in a forgotten and unremarkable grave under a council car park for more than five centuries - just 40 yards from his final resting place.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, a distant relation of the king, read a poem by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy during the service for the re-burial of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral
A coffin containing the mortal remains of Richard III has been taken to Leicester Cathedral to receive burial after they were discovered beneath a car park in the city in September 2012
Sophie the Countess of Wessex and the Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev Justin Welby during the re-interment of the remains of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral
Depicted by Shakespeare as a sadistic, crafty hunchback, Richard was re-interred at Leicester Cathedral some 530 years after he was slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field on Aug. 22, 1485
A coffin containing the mortal remains of Richard III has been taken to Leicester Cathedral to receive burial after they were discovered beneath a car park in the city in September 2012
Sophie the Countess of Wessex and the Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev Justin Welby during the re-interment of the remains of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral
Depicted by Shakespeare as a sadistic, crafty hunchback, Richard was re-interred at Leicester Cathedral some 530 years after he was slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field on Aug. 22, 1485
The cathedral has said the week of ceremony, which began with the procession, offered the king the 'dignity and honour' he was denied immediately after his death
Actor Robert Lindsay, who played Richard in an RSC production in 1998, is pictured beside the coffin. The service is the culmination of a wave of Richard-mania that has been building since archaeologists dug up his skeleton in 2012
Four year old Torin Weston from Leicester, dressed as Richard III waits with his grandmother outside Leicester Cathedral for the reinterment ceremony to begin. Richard fever has gripped the nation since Sunday
In a foreword to the order of service, the Queen said she recognised the 'great national and international significance' of Richard's reburial.
'Today, we recognise a king who lived through turbulent times and whose Christian faith sustained him in life and death,' she said.
She expressed her wish that Richard, slain at 32 in August 1485, would 'now lie in peace in the city of Leicester in the heart of England'.
The Countess of Wessex, attending alongside with the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, was among many wearing black, and watching the extraordinary events from the pews were other dignitaries including author Philippa Gregory, the writer of Downton Abbey Julian Fellowes and broadcaster John Sergeant.
Also watching was Philippa Langley, who had campaigned for years to mount a dig in the spot where the old king was eventually discovered by University of Leicester archaeologists.
The coffin had lain in repose inside the cathedral since a procession on Monday, attended by 35,000 people, through Leicester and its surrounding countryside. More than 5,000 people filed past to view the coffin, with some queuing times being up to four hours.
A seven-man guard of honour drawn from successor Army regiments of units which fought at Bosworth lifted the 242lb coffin where it stayed aloft throughout the lengthy eulogy, before it was taken to a plinth near the cathedral's holiest place, the high altar, led by the Archbishop.
The coffin had lain in repose inside the cathedral since a procession on Monday, attended by 35,000 people, through Leicester and its surrounding countryside. More than 5,000 people filed past to view the coffin, with some queuing times being up to four hours.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex greets (from right) the Bishop of Leicester Tim Stephens and Dean of Leicester David Monteith at the burial of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral
Actor Robert Lindsay, who played Richard in an RSC production in 1998, is pictured beside the coffin. The service is the culmination of a wave of Richard-mania that has been building since archaeologists dug up his skeleton in 2012
Four year old Torin Weston from Leicester, dressed as Richard III waits with his grandmother outside Leicester Cathedral for the reinterment ceremony to begin. Richard fever has gripped the nation since Sunday
In a foreword to the order of service, the Queen said she recognised the 'great national and international significance' of Richard's reburial.
'Today, we recognise a king who lived through turbulent times and whose Christian faith sustained him in life and death,' she said.
She expressed her wish that Richard, slain at 32 in August 1485, would 'now lie in peace in the city of Leicester in the heart of England'.
The Countess of Wessex, attending alongside with the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, was among many wearing black, and watching the extraordinary events from the pews were other dignitaries including author Philippa Gregory, the writer of Downton Abbey Julian Fellowes and broadcaster John Sergeant.
Also watching was Philippa Langley, who had campaigned for years to mount a dig in the spot where the old king was eventually discovered by University of Leicester archaeologists.
The coffin had lain in repose inside the cathedral since a procession on Monday, attended by 35,000 people, through Leicester and its surrounding countryside. More than 5,000 people filed past to view the coffin, with some queuing times being up to four hours.
A seven-man guard of honour drawn from successor Army regiments of units which fought at Bosworth lifted the 242lb coffin where it stayed aloft throughout the lengthy eulogy, before it was taken to a plinth near the cathedral's holiest place, the high altar, led by the Archbishop.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex greets (from right) the Bishop of Leicester Tim Stephens and Dean of Leicester David Monteith at the burial of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral
Professor Gordon Campbell of the University of Leicester spoke of Richard's upbringing, his life, adding the 'adverse judgement' levelled at Richard, most notably over the fate of his two nephews, the Princes in the Tower, had recently changed.
He said: 'Richard III has the greatest following of all English monarchs, apart from our present Queen'.
The Very Rev David Monteith, the Dean of Leicester, told the congregation 'today we are committing his mortal remains to consecrated ground in the cathedral'.
The king's own prayer book, the Book of Hours, was placed atop the king's coffin, which was covered with a a square of burgundy and royal blue cloth, and a wreath made by the villagers of Sutton Cheney from near the old battlefield.
The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, delivered his sermon for the last Yorkist king.
He said the world had been captivated by Richard's story, sparked by the 'astonishing discovery' of his remains in the ruins of Greyfriars church long lost under a council car park.
'Whether we are Ricardians or Shakespeareans, whether we see through the eyes of Olivier, McKellen or Cumberbatch, whether we recognise a warrior or a scholarly pious thinker, today we come to accord this King, this child of God, and these mortal remains, the dignity and honour denied them in death,' he said.
He added: 'Five hundred years after the Wars of the Roses we still face the risk of damaging tribal behaviours, of the destructive instincts which can so quickly turn neighbours into strangers and corrode our sense of the common good.'
Richard was then carried into the cathedral's ambulatory to the open space of his tomb, between the altar and the New Chapel of Christ the King, where the Archbishop cast holy water and incense over the coffin.
The Archbishop said: 'Whether we bear a white or a red rose, whether for Richard or Henry, whether for Stanley or Howard, whether for Leicester or York, we recognise at the graveside that all our journeys lead us to this place where reputation counts for nothing and all human striving falls to dust.'
In the final act of his journey, Richard's coffin was lowered into the tomb of Swaledale Yorkshire stone and, as it was, soil from the places of his birth, his life and his death were scattered over.
'Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,' said the Archbishop.
Mr Cumberbatch - himself a distant cousin of Richard's - read a specially-commissioned 14-line poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
'Grant me the carving of my name,' he read. 'These relics, bless.'
Afterwards, Ms Langley said she was 'exhausted' but the events of this week had been 'a long time coming'.
'The history books will now need re-writing,' she said. 'We now know where King Richard is buried.'
Tracey Archer, 46, of Nottingham, was one of the lucky few to win a seat in the packed cathedral at an over-subscribed public ballot.
'When the coffin was moved for reinterment and the choir was singing, it sent a shiver through me,' she said.
'It was momentous.'
He said: 'Richard III has the greatest following of all English monarchs, apart from our present Queen'.
The Very Rev David Monteith, the Dean of Leicester, told the congregation 'today we are committing his mortal remains to consecrated ground in the cathedral'.
The king's own prayer book, the Book of Hours, was placed atop the king's coffin, which was covered with a a square of burgundy and royal blue cloth, and a wreath made by the villagers of Sutton Cheney from near the old battlefield.
The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, delivered his sermon for the last Yorkist king.
He said the world had been captivated by Richard's story, sparked by the 'astonishing discovery' of his remains in the ruins of Greyfriars church long lost under a council car park.
'Whether we are Ricardians or Shakespeareans, whether we see through the eyes of Olivier, McKellen or Cumberbatch, whether we recognise a warrior or a scholarly pious thinker, today we come to accord this King, this child of God, and these mortal remains, the dignity and honour denied them in death,' he said.
He added: 'Five hundred years after the Wars of the Roses we still face the risk of damaging tribal behaviours, of the destructive instincts which can so quickly turn neighbours into strangers and corrode our sense of the common good.'
Richard was then carried into the cathedral's ambulatory to the open space of his tomb, between the altar and the New Chapel of Christ the King, where the Archbishop cast holy water and incense over the coffin.
The Archbishop said: 'Whether we bear a white or a red rose, whether for Richard or Henry, whether for Stanley or Howard, whether for Leicester or York, we recognise at the graveside that all our journeys lead us to this place where reputation counts for nothing and all human striving falls to dust.'
In the final act of his journey, Richard's coffin was lowered into the tomb of Swaledale Yorkshire stone and, as it was, soil from the places of his birth, his life and his death were scattered over.
'Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,' said the Archbishop.
Mr Cumberbatch - himself a distant cousin of Richard's - read a specially-commissioned 14-line poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
'Grant me the carving of my name,' he read. 'These relics, bless.'
Afterwards, Ms Langley said she was 'exhausted' but the events of this week had been 'a long time coming'.
'The history books will now need re-writing,' she said. 'We now know where King Richard is buried.'
Tracey Archer, 46, of Nottingham, was one of the lucky few to win a seat in the packed cathedral at an over-subscribed public ballot.
'When the coffin was moved for reinterment and the choir was singing, it sent a shiver through me,' she said.
'It was momentous.'
'MY SKULL SCARRED BY A CROWN': RICHARD, BY POET LAUREATE CAROL ANN DUFFY
My bones, scripted in light, upon cold soil, a human braille.
My skull, scarred by a crown, emptied of history.
Describe my soul as incense, votive, vanishing; you own the same.
Grant me the carving of my name.
These relics, bless.
Imagine you re-tie a broken string and on it thread a cross,
the symbol severed from me when I died.
The end of time – an unknown, unfelt loss –unless the Resurrection of the Dead …
or I once dreamed of this, your future breath in prayer for me, lost long, forever found;
or sensed you from the backstage of my death, as kings glimpse shadows on a battleground.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby ties a prayer ribbon to a fence before the reinterment service of King Richard III
As crowds of 'mourners' gather to watch the reinterment of the king, some have denounced the five day spectacle as a 'pantomime'
Two women in traditional costume make their way to the service. A piece of music has been written for the occasion by the Master of the Queen's Music Judith Weir, while poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy penned the 14-line poem entitled Richard to be read by Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch leads tributes to Richard III at royal reburial in Leicester Cathedral | Daily Mail Online
My bones, scripted in light, upon cold soil, a human braille.
My skull, scarred by a crown, emptied of history.
Describe my soul as incense, votive, vanishing; you own the same.
Grant me the carving of my name.
These relics, bless.
Imagine you re-tie a broken string and on it thread a cross,
the symbol severed from me when I died.
The end of time – an unknown, unfelt loss –unless the Resurrection of the Dead …
or I once dreamed of this, your future breath in prayer for me, lost long, forever found;
or sensed you from the backstage of my death, as kings glimpse shadows on a battleground.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby ties a prayer ribbon to a fence before the reinterment service of King Richard III
As crowds of 'mourners' gather to watch the reinterment of the king, some have denounced the five day spectacle as a 'pantomime'
Two women in traditional costume make their way to the service. A piece of music has been written for the occasion by the Master of the Queen's Music Judith Weir, while poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy penned the 14-line poem entitled Richard to be read by Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch leads tributes to Richard III at royal reburial in Leicester Cathedral | Daily Mail Online
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The completed stone tomb of Richard III is to go on public display after being lowered into position overnight - 530 years after his death in battle.
A special service marking the end of the king's journey from his forgotten grave under a council car park to a place of honour in Leicester Cathedral is being held today.
The 2.3-ton tombstone, with its Christian cross carved on the top, was lifted carefully into place overnight, sealing the king beneath.
The setting of the great slab of Yorkshire Swaledale stone marks the end of a week in which the king was reinterred in a ceremony that included a poetry reading by actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
The Queen called yesterday's service a moment of 'great national significance'.
The city of Leicester is hoping the tomb will draw in tourists from around the world for years to come.
Here, at long last, lies Richard III: Two-ton tombstone lowered over king's final resting place in Leicester Cathedral
The completed stone tomb of Richard III was lifted into position overnight
Service marking end of the king's journey to the cathedral being held today
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch attended a reinterment ceremony yesterday
The 2.3-ton tombstone will now go on public display at the cathedral
By Julian Robinson for MailOnline
27 March 2015
Daily Mail
The completed stone tomb of Richard III is to go on public display after being lowered into position overnight - 530 years after his death in battle.
A special service marking the end of the king's journey from his forgotten grave under a council car park to a place of honour in Leicester Cathedral is being held today.
The 2.3-ton tombstone, with its Christian cross carved on the top, was lifted carefully into place overnight, sealing the king beneath.
Final resting place: The completed stone tomb (pictured) of Richard III is to go on public display after being lowered in to position
A special Service of Reveal of the Tomb of King Richard III marking the end of the king's journey to the cathedral will take place today
The 2.3-ton tombstone, which features a Christian cross carved on the top, was lifted into place overnight at Leicester Cathedral. It bears the king's motto "Loyalty binds me"
The setting of the great slab of Yorkshire Swaledale stone marks the end of a week in which the king was reinterred in a ceremony that included a poetry reading by actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
The Queen called yesterday's service a moment of 'great national significance'.
Organisers aimed to rebury the king with the 'dignity and honour' he was denied in death, after his original burial in a hastily-dug grave in the old Greyfriars church following his death at Bosworth field.
The cathedral said it was expecting 'a considerable number of visitors from all over the world' to come and see the king's completed memorial.
The king was reinterred in a ceremony at Leicester Cathedral yesterday in a service described by The Queen as a moment of 'great national significance'
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch (pictured), Downton Abbey creator and writer Julian Fellowes attended the service, alongside the Countess of Wessex and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester
Today's 'service of reveal' will include interpretative dance charting the rediscovery of Richard's grave, the science behind identifying his remains and his reburial.
A banner with the king's coat of arms, provided by the Richard III Society, will also be hung over the tomb in the ambulatory during the service.
Liz Hudson, the cathedral's communications director, said: 'King Richard III's tomb is now a permanent feature in Leicester Cathedral.
Archaeologists discovered the king under a council car park not far from the cathedral in September 2012
'However, there are still a considerable number of visitors from all over the world in Leicester who we expect will want to take a last opportunity to see it before returning home.
'We anticipate a great deal of interest and suggest that people who live locally may find it easier to plan a visit to see the tomb at a slightly later date.'
Last Sunday, more than 35,000 lined the streets for a procession of the king's coffin from the University of Leicester, whose archaeologists discovered his grave, to Bosworth and finally on to Leicester.
Throughout the week, thousands waited in line for hours to see Richard's coffin as it lay in repose in the cathedral, before yesterday's reinterment presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, Downton Abbey creator and writer Julian Fellowes and historical novelist Philippa Gregory attended the service, alongside the Countess of Wessex and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Archaeologists discovered the king under a council car park not far from the cathedral in August 2012, after a campaign to find him led by Philippa Langley.
An extensive series of scientific tests established that the skeleton, found in a grave too short for his body, was that of the last Yorkist king.
His final rest was delayed by months after distant relatives brought an unsuccessful legal challenge through the courts, arguing he should be reburied in York.
A special service marking the end of the king's journey from his forgotten grave under a council car park to a place of honour in Leicester Cathedral is being held today.
The 2.3-ton tombstone, with its Christian cross carved on the top, was lifted carefully into place overnight, sealing the king beneath.
The setting of the great slab of Yorkshire Swaledale stone marks the end of a week in which the king was reinterred in a ceremony that included a poetry reading by actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
The Queen called yesterday's service a moment of 'great national significance'.
The city of Leicester is hoping the tomb will draw in tourists from around the world for years to come.
Here, at long last, lies Richard III: Two-ton tombstone lowered over king's final resting place in Leicester Cathedral
The completed stone tomb of Richard III was lifted into position overnight
Service marking end of the king's journey to the cathedral being held today
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch attended a reinterment ceremony yesterday
The 2.3-ton tombstone will now go on public display at the cathedral
By Julian Robinson for MailOnline
27 March 2015
Daily Mail
The completed stone tomb of Richard III is to go on public display after being lowered into position overnight - 530 years after his death in battle.
A special service marking the end of the king's journey from his forgotten grave under a council car park to a place of honour in Leicester Cathedral is being held today.
The 2.3-ton tombstone, with its Christian cross carved on the top, was lifted carefully into place overnight, sealing the king beneath.
Final resting place: The completed stone tomb (pictured) of Richard III is to go on public display after being lowered in to position
A special Service of Reveal of the Tomb of King Richard III marking the end of the king's journey to the cathedral will take place today
The 2.3-ton tombstone, which features a Christian cross carved on the top, was lifted into place overnight at Leicester Cathedral. It bears the king's motto "Loyalty binds me"
The setting of the great slab of Yorkshire Swaledale stone marks the end of a week in which the king was reinterred in a ceremony that included a poetry reading by actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
The Queen called yesterday's service a moment of 'great national significance'.
Organisers aimed to rebury the king with the 'dignity and honour' he was denied in death, after his original burial in a hastily-dug grave in the old Greyfriars church following his death at Bosworth field.
The cathedral said it was expecting 'a considerable number of visitors from all over the world' to come and see the king's completed memorial.
The king was reinterred in a ceremony at Leicester Cathedral yesterday in a service described by The Queen as a moment of 'great national significance'
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch (pictured), Downton Abbey creator and writer Julian Fellowes attended the service, alongside the Countess of Wessex and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester
Today's 'service of reveal' will include interpretative dance charting the rediscovery of Richard's grave, the science behind identifying his remains and his reburial.
A banner with the king's coat of arms, provided by the Richard III Society, will also be hung over the tomb in the ambulatory during the service.
Liz Hudson, the cathedral's communications director, said: 'King Richard III's tomb is now a permanent feature in Leicester Cathedral.
Archaeologists discovered the king under a council car park not far from the cathedral in September 2012
'However, there are still a considerable number of visitors from all over the world in Leicester who we expect will want to take a last opportunity to see it before returning home.
'We anticipate a great deal of interest and suggest that people who live locally may find it easier to plan a visit to see the tomb at a slightly later date.'
Last Sunday, more than 35,000 lined the streets for a procession of the king's coffin from the University of Leicester, whose archaeologists discovered his grave, to Bosworth and finally on to Leicester.
Throughout the week, thousands waited in line for hours to see Richard's coffin as it lay in repose in the cathedral, before yesterday's reinterment presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, Downton Abbey creator and writer Julian Fellowes and historical novelist Philippa Gregory attended the service, alongside the Countess of Wessex and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Archaeologists discovered the king under a council car park not far from the cathedral in August 2012, after a campaign to find him led by Philippa Langley.
An extensive series of scientific tests established that the skeleton, found in a grave too short for his body, was that of the last Yorkist king.
His final rest was delayed by months after distant relatives brought an unsuccessful legal challenge through the courts, arguing he should be reburied in York.
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Britain mourns a monster – because he was a king. Richard III’s burial was absurd | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian
Britain mourns a monster – because he was a king. Richard III’s burial was absurd
Polly Toynbee
He may have been a child-murdering tyrant, but he was a king. So, in a nation where we still think like subjects, not citizens, thousands came to humble themselves before his 500-year-old bones
'We are all humbled by monarchy, even by a long-dead despot. Royalty forever drags us back to a feudal state of mind from which we have never quite escaped, a fairyland where people know their place.' Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA Thursday 26 March 2015 17.13 GMT Last modified on Friday 27 March 2015 19.15 GMT
Pinch yourself, very hard. This must be anti-royalist satire? No, we’re wide awake as the nation mourns its most reviled monster of a king. Never was adulation of monarchy taken to such transcendently absurd heights.
Richard III has been buried with pomp in Leicester cathedral by the archbishop of Canterbury, with the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and a black-clad Countess of Wessex as next of kin. Another relative, Benedict Cumberbatch, read a poem by the poet laureate. The Queen’s Division and Royal Signals bands saluted the fallen king. York has its own “commemoration” tonight. As they say, you couldn’t make it up.
It’s comical, but tragic too, as a reminder of the indignity the British accept in their accustomed role as subjects, not citizens. Here are church, royalty and army revering a child-killing, wife-slaughtering tyrant who would be on trial if he weren’t 500 years dead. This is the madness of monarchy, where these bones are honoured for their divine royalty, whether by accident of birth or by brutal seizure of the crown. Richard, whose death ended the tribal Wars of the Roses, is a good symbol of the “bloodline” fantasy. Our island story is one of royal usurpage and regicide, with imported French, Dutch and German monarchs who didn’t speak English. The puzzle is that this fantasy of anointed genes persists, even unto Kate’s unborn babe.
With Richard III and Jeremy Clarkson, we buried both monster and dinosaur
Letters: What we’re seeing is a mistaken attempt to see Richard through the prism of our own age, and not in the context of his time
Read more
I can see the dilemma: you can’t put even a bad king’s bones on show in a museum when preservation of the idea of monarchy requires holy respect. It matters not that so many have been villains or half-wits. The one benefit of a supremely privileged family is to prove, once and for all, that talent and brains are randomly assigned. Forget a super-race, this royal selective breeding with the very best education and top university tutors has produced the least intellectually curious, least artistic, dullest bunch of polo-playing, hunting, shooting, fishing dullards you could hope not to meet. But then their adherents praise their very “ordinariness” as a quality.
Finding Richard in a Leicester car park was a delight. So was the tourist-bait tussle between York and Leicester as last resting place. That 20,000 watched the cortege today is no surprise – what a spectacle, what an event. But the BBC reported tears and the dean of Leicester, the very reverend David Monteith, called the ceremony an “extraordinary, moving thing”. What? The bishop of Leicester said people stood, “humble and reverent”.
Humble – that’s the word. We are all humbled by monarchy, even by a long-dead despot. Royalty forever drags us back to a feudal state of mind from which we have never quite escaped, a fairyland where people know their place. Royal prerogative is an absolute power that is now grafted on to over-mighty prime ministerial authority. Soon we shall see Prince Charles’s interferences with government. After 10 years of freedom of information legal action by the Guardian, the supreme court at last says we can see his letters – perforce, of course, redacted – but they will arrive before the election.
Royalty costs some £299m according to the Republic campaign, counting all costs. But though they’re richer than Croesus with their Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and their biscuits, it’s less the money than their grip on public imagination that does the damage. Acceptance, even admiration of their phenomenal riches weakens instinctive indignation against the galloping greed of our swelling kleptocracy. Where’s the outrage at bankers and FTSE 100 CEOs with their 27% pay rise while most people’s incomes fell back? Shielded in a culture that celebrates, or at least tolerates, its head of state’s unearned wealth.
Richard may or may not have been the witty ogre of Shakespeare’s imagining, but that was irrelevant to today’s obsequies. The bishop intoned: “Today we come to give this king and these mortal remains the dignity and honour denied to them in death.” Never mind the nature of the man, kingship itself commands respect, however ill-gotten the crown.
Britain mourns a monster – because he was a king. Richard III’s burial was absurd
Polly Toynbee
He may have been a child-murdering tyrant, but he was a king. So, in a nation where we still think like subjects, not citizens, thousands came to humble themselves before his 500-year-old bones
'We are all humbled by monarchy, even by a long-dead despot. Royalty forever drags us back to a feudal state of mind from which we have never quite escaped, a fairyland where people know their place.' Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA Thursday 26 March 2015 17.13 GMT Last modified on Friday 27 March 2015 19.15 GMT
Pinch yourself, very hard. This must be anti-royalist satire? No, we’re wide awake as the nation mourns its most reviled monster of a king. Never was adulation of monarchy taken to such transcendently absurd heights.
Richard III has been buried with pomp in Leicester cathedral by the archbishop of Canterbury, with the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and a black-clad Countess of Wessex as next of kin. Another relative, Benedict Cumberbatch, read a poem by the poet laureate. The Queen’s Division and Royal Signals bands saluted the fallen king. York has its own “commemoration” tonight. As they say, you couldn’t make it up.
It’s comical, but tragic too, as a reminder of the indignity the British accept in their accustomed role as subjects, not citizens. Here are church, royalty and army revering a child-killing, wife-slaughtering tyrant who would be on trial if he weren’t 500 years dead. This is the madness of monarchy, where these bones are honoured for their divine royalty, whether by accident of birth or by brutal seizure of the crown. Richard, whose death ended the tribal Wars of the Roses, is a good symbol of the “bloodline” fantasy. Our island story is one of royal usurpage and regicide, with imported French, Dutch and German monarchs who didn’t speak English. The puzzle is that this fantasy of anointed genes persists, even unto Kate’s unborn babe.
With Richard III and Jeremy Clarkson, we buried both monster and dinosaur
Letters: What we’re seeing is a mistaken attempt to see Richard through the prism of our own age, and not in the context of his time
Read more
I can see the dilemma: you can’t put even a bad king’s bones on show in a museum when preservation of the idea of monarchy requires holy respect. It matters not that so many have been villains or half-wits. The one benefit of a supremely privileged family is to prove, once and for all, that talent and brains are randomly assigned. Forget a super-race, this royal selective breeding with the very best education and top university tutors has produced the least intellectually curious, least artistic, dullest bunch of polo-playing, hunting, shooting, fishing dullards you could hope not to meet. But then their adherents praise their very “ordinariness” as a quality.
Finding Richard in a Leicester car park was a delight. So was the tourist-bait tussle between York and Leicester as last resting place. That 20,000 watched the cortege today is no surprise – what a spectacle, what an event. But the BBC reported tears and the dean of Leicester, the very reverend David Monteith, called the ceremony an “extraordinary, moving thing”. What? The bishop of Leicester said people stood, “humble and reverent”.
Humble – that’s the word. We are all humbled by monarchy, even by a long-dead despot. Royalty forever drags us back to a feudal state of mind from which we have never quite escaped, a fairyland where people know their place. Royal prerogative is an absolute power that is now grafted on to over-mighty prime ministerial authority. Soon we shall see Prince Charles’s interferences with government. After 10 years of freedom of information legal action by the Guardian, the supreme court at last says we can see his letters – perforce, of course, redacted – but they will arrive before the election.
Royalty costs some £299m according to the Republic campaign, counting all costs. But though they’re richer than Croesus with their Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and their biscuits, it’s less the money than their grip on public imagination that does the damage. Acceptance, even admiration of their phenomenal riches weakens instinctive indignation against the galloping greed of our swelling kleptocracy. Where’s the outrage at bankers and FTSE 100 CEOs with their 27% pay rise while most people’s incomes fell back? Shielded in a culture that celebrates, or at least tolerates, its head of state’s unearned wealth.
Richard may or may not have been the witty ogre of Shakespeare’s imagining, but that was irrelevant to today’s obsequies. The bishop intoned: “Today we come to give this king and these mortal remains the dignity and honour denied to them in death.” Never mind the nature of the man, kingship itself commands respect, however ill-gotten the crown.
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Typical of of the Toynbee Guardianistas to hate somebody and call him a "monster" not because he killed two children (although there is no concrete proof that he did kill two children and many believe he wasn't the culprit) but because he was a king. To them, him once being a king is far worse than him supposedly being a child killer, even if he was a great, kind king who served his people well.
Very strange. Put it this way, far more people attended Richard III's funeral than will attend Toynbee's. The ordinary man turned out for Richard III's funeral. Only the left-wing, Fairtrade coffee drinking metropolitan chattering classes will attend Toynbee's.
Long live the Queen!
Very strange. Put it this way, far more people attended Richard III's funeral than will attend Toynbee's. The ordinary man turned out for Richard III's funeral. Only the left-wing, Fairtrade coffee drinking metropolitan chattering classes will attend Toynbee's.
Long live the Queen!
7 places that shaped the life of Richard III
A new book charts the many significant locations that influenced Richard III’s life.
This article was first published in February 2015
Thursday 26th March 2015
BBC History Magazine
In The World of Richard III, Kristie Dean takes readers to more than 80 sites associated with the last Plantagenet king – resplendent castles, towering cathedrals, manor homes and chapels – each brought to life with photos and floor plans.
Highlights include Richard’s adopted childhood home, Middleham Castle, and Tewkesbury Abbey, where Richard helped his brother, Edward IV, secure his throne.
Here, writing for History Extra, Dean explores seven of the most significant sites in Richard’s life…
Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire
The scanty remains of the birthplace of Richard III. The castle was also where Mary, Queen of Scots, was tried and executed in 1587
Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire was once a main residence of the dukes of York. Today a few crumbled pieces of masonry and a grassy mound are all that remain of the once grand home of the York family. On 2 October 1452, Richard took his first breath in a chamber inside the stone keep. The 11th child and fourth surviving son of his parents, Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, Richard entered a world that was full of conflict.
Most of his formative years were likely spent here, shielded from the turmoil of the country. The collegiate church of St Mary the Virgin and All Saints nearby, which his family had founded, also played a part in Richard’s history. One particularly momentous occasion was July 1476, when he escorted the bodies of his late father and brother Edmund of Rutland to the church after his brother, Edward IV, organised for them to be moved from the priory of St John in Pontefract. The bodies were reinterred in an elaborate funeral, and afterwards a grand feast was held both inside and outside Fotheringhay Castle.
Middleham Castle, North Yorkshire
Middleham Castle in Wensleydale was where Richard spent much of his youth
Richard was placed in the household of the Earl of Warwick to complete his education. Because Middleham Castle was an important centre for the earl, Richard would have spent much time in this formidable stone fortress. Here, Richard fostered friendships with the nobles who would later die fighting for him.
Following the death of the Earl of Warwick at Barnet and Richard’s subsequent marriage to his daughter, Anne Neville, Middleham became one of Richard’s most important holdings. It was here that he entertained Nicholas von Poppelau, who later described Richard as having a “great heart”. Richard and Anne stayed at Middleham often, and it was here in the ‘prince’s tower’ that his only legitimate son, Edward, was born.
As Richard and Anne visited other holdings, Edward was left in the ‘nursee’ under the care of his nurse. Legend holds that it was here that Edward also died, leaving Richard bereft of his son and heir.
Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire
A small market town on the River Ouse (not the same River Ouse which flows through York), Stony Stratford was the scene of one of the most important events in Richard’s life. After learning of his brother Edward IV's death, Richard headed to intercept the party of the new king, Edward V (the late Edward IV's son), on its way from Ludlow towards London.
On 29 April 1483, Richard and Buckingham met the young king’s maternal uncle, Anthony Woodville, at Northampton. The men spent the evening in pleasant conversation, but the following morning, Woodville was arrested. Richard then rushed towards Stony Stratford, where the king was staying. After entering the village, Richard arrested the king’s half-brother, Richard Grey, and the king’s chamberlain, Thomas Vaughan.
Treating the young king with all deference, he explained that these men had been involved in a plot to harm Richard. Likely feeling he had little choice, Edward V yielded to his uncle’s authority. With this action, Richard sparked a chain of events that would ultimately result in his coronation.
Westminster Abbey
Several locations in London were significant in Richard’s life, but probably none more so than Westminster Abbey, where his coronation occurred. On the morning of 6 July 1483, Richard left Westminster Hall in a regal procession towards the abbey. The entire route from Westminster Hall to the west door of the abbey had been covered in ray cloth.
Richard walked barefoot under a canopy of green and red silk brocade interwoven with gold threads, with the Duke of Buckingham carrying his train. Anne’s procession followed the king’s, with Margaret Beaufort carrying Anne’s train. Inside the abbey, St Edward’s chair had been prepared for the king, while another richly decorated chair had been set up for his queen. Following the coronation ceremony, which was the same one that had been used for the kings of England for centuries, a lavish celebratory feast was held in Westminster Hall.
York
During his time in the north, Richard had often intervened for York’s citizens, both in disputes with powerful nobles and even with Edward IV when the king threatened to revoke the city’s liberties. As king, Richard began plans to fund a chantry at York Minster, which was to be served by an additional 100 chaplains to the ones already at the Minster. They would say prayers for him and the members of his family.
York Minster was also the site of another important event in Richard’s life. In September 1483, Richard and Anne travelled to York for the investiture of their son as Prince of Wales. Following mass at York Minster, the ceremonies moved to the Archbishop of York's Palace, where Edward was knighted and invested as Prince of Wales. Following Richard’s death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, York’s public records illustrate its dismay: “King Richard… piteously slain and murdered, to the great heaviness of this city”.
While many towns and cities were already submitting to the rule of the new king, Henry VII, York was willing to show its affection for its former king.
Nottingham Castle
Perched on a narrow sandstone ridge, Nottingham Castle was an immense fortification often visited by royalty. Richard and Anne were at Nottingham when they received the tragic news that their son had died. Their grief was so intense that the Croyland chronicler remarked on it.
However, as king, Richard could not let his personal sorrow keep him from ruling the country. Worried about a possible uprising, Richard decided to pursue peace with Scotland. A Scottish delegation met with Richard and his men in the Great Hall, and a treaty, which included a promise of marriage between Scotland's James IV and Anne de la Pole, was arranged.
Richard’s next visit to Nottingham Castle was in June 1485, when he made Nottingham his base: the impregnable castle was a central location from where he could counter any invasion. At the end of July, Richard left Nottingham for Leicester.
Leicester
In 1483, near the start of his reign, Richard stayed in Leicester Castle. While here he wrote a letter to the French king, Louis, to enquire about what protection France would offer English merchants. This visit was full of promise and hope for the future, since Richard had every reason to believe that his reign would be long and prosperous. In October, Richard stopped in Leicester for a few days to await the men he had summoned to help put down Buckingham’s rebellion.
Richard arrived in Leicester on what would be his final visit in 1485 – on 20 August, as the sun began to set. The next morning he left the Blue Boar Inn to meet Tudor’s troops on the battlefield, arriving on the morning of 22 August. After the Battle of Bosworth, which took place near the border with Warwickshire, Richard’s body was slung across a horse and brought back to Leicester to be put on display for several days before being buried by the Greyfriars in their priory church - where he would be found 527 years later by University of Leicester archaeologists.
Visiting each location associated with Richard III brings to life his short reign, and grants valuable insight. Between his birth at Fotheringhay and his burial in the priory church of the Greyfriars, Richard lived a life that continues today to intrigue.
Richard III remains one of the most controversial rulers in history. Whether he was guilty of murdering his nephews or not is a mystery that perhaps will never be solved. Even the location of the battlefield where, on 22 August 1485, Richard was struck down has been a matter of debate. This book leads you on a journey through the landscape of Richard's time. Following Richard's trail, you will visit resplendent castles, towering cathedrals, manor homes and chapels associated with Richard. The Middle Ages come alive again as you visit Tewkesbury Abbey, where Richard helped his brother secure his throne. Witness the stunning vista of Wensleydale as you visit Middleham Castle, Richard's adopted childhood home. Each location is brought to life through engaging narrative and an extensive collection of photographs, floor plans and images.
The World of Richard III by Kristie Dean is published by Amberley, 2015. To find out more, or to purchase the book, click here.
Richard III: 7 places where his life changed | History Extra
A new book charts the many significant locations that influenced Richard III’s life.
This article was first published in February 2015
Thursday 26th March 2015
BBC History Magazine
In The World of Richard III, Kristie Dean takes readers to more than 80 sites associated with the last Plantagenet king – resplendent castles, towering cathedrals, manor homes and chapels – each brought to life with photos and floor plans.
Highlights include Richard’s adopted childhood home, Middleham Castle, and Tewkesbury Abbey, where Richard helped his brother, Edward IV, secure his throne.
Here, writing for History Extra, Dean explores seven of the most significant sites in Richard’s life…
Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire
The scanty remains of the birthplace of Richard III. The castle was also where Mary, Queen of Scots, was tried and executed in 1587
Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire was once a main residence of the dukes of York. Today a few crumbled pieces of masonry and a grassy mound are all that remain of the once grand home of the York family. On 2 October 1452, Richard took his first breath in a chamber inside the stone keep. The 11th child and fourth surviving son of his parents, Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, Richard entered a world that was full of conflict.
Most of his formative years were likely spent here, shielded from the turmoil of the country. The collegiate church of St Mary the Virgin and All Saints nearby, which his family had founded, also played a part in Richard’s history. One particularly momentous occasion was July 1476, when he escorted the bodies of his late father and brother Edmund of Rutland to the church after his brother, Edward IV, organised for them to be moved from the priory of St John in Pontefract. The bodies were reinterred in an elaborate funeral, and afterwards a grand feast was held both inside and outside Fotheringhay Castle.
Middleham Castle, North Yorkshire
Middleham Castle in Wensleydale was where Richard spent much of his youth
Richard was placed in the household of the Earl of Warwick to complete his education. Because Middleham Castle was an important centre for the earl, Richard would have spent much time in this formidable stone fortress. Here, Richard fostered friendships with the nobles who would later die fighting for him.
Following the death of the Earl of Warwick at Barnet and Richard’s subsequent marriage to his daughter, Anne Neville, Middleham became one of Richard’s most important holdings. It was here that he entertained Nicholas von Poppelau, who later described Richard as having a “great heart”. Richard and Anne stayed at Middleham often, and it was here in the ‘prince’s tower’ that his only legitimate son, Edward, was born.
As Richard and Anne visited other holdings, Edward was left in the ‘nursee’ under the care of his nurse. Legend holds that it was here that Edward also died, leaving Richard bereft of his son and heir.
Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire
A small market town on the River Ouse (not the same River Ouse which flows through York), Stony Stratford was the scene of one of the most important events in Richard’s life. After learning of his brother Edward IV's death, Richard headed to intercept the party of the new king, Edward V (the late Edward IV's son), on its way from Ludlow towards London.
On 29 April 1483, Richard and Buckingham met the young king’s maternal uncle, Anthony Woodville, at Northampton. The men spent the evening in pleasant conversation, but the following morning, Woodville was arrested. Richard then rushed towards Stony Stratford, where the king was staying. After entering the village, Richard arrested the king’s half-brother, Richard Grey, and the king’s chamberlain, Thomas Vaughan.
Treating the young king with all deference, he explained that these men had been involved in a plot to harm Richard. Likely feeling he had little choice, Edward V yielded to his uncle’s authority. With this action, Richard sparked a chain of events that would ultimately result in his coronation.
Westminster Abbey
Several locations in London were significant in Richard’s life, but probably none more so than Westminster Abbey, where his coronation occurred. On the morning of 6 July 1483, Richard left Westminster Hall in a regal procession towards the abbey. The entire route from Westminster Hall to the west door of the abbey had been covered in ray cloth.
Richard walked barefoot under a canopy of green and red silk brocade interwoven with gold threads, with the Duke of Buckingham carrying his train. Anne’s procession followed the king’s, with Margaret Beaufort carrying Anne’s train. Inside the abbey, St Edward’s chair had been prepared for the king, while another richly decorated chair had been set up for his queen. Following the coronation ceremony, which was the same one that had been used for the kings of England for centuries, a lavish celebratory feast was held in Westminster Hall.
York
During his time in the north, Richard had often intervened for York’s citizens, both in disputes with powerful nobles and even with Edward IV when the king threatened to revoke the city’s liberties. As king, Richard began plans to fund a chantry at York Minster, which was to be served by an additional 100 chaplains to the ones already at the Minster. They would say prayers for him and the members of his family.
York Minster was also the site of another important event in Richard’s life. In September 1483, Richard and Anne travelled to York for the investiture of their son as Prince of Wales. Following mass at York Minster, the ceremonies moved to the Archbishop of York's Palace, where Edward was knighted and invested as Prince of Wales. Following Richard’s death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, York’s public records illustrate its dismay: “King Richard… piteously slain and murdered, to the great heaviness of this city”.
While many towns and cities were already submitting to the rule of the new king, Henry VII, York was willing to show its affection for its former king.
Nottingham Castle
Perched on a narrow sandstone ridge, Nottingham Castle was an immense fortification often visited by royalty. Richard and Anne were at Nottingham when they received the tragic news that their son had died. Their grief was so intense that the Croyland chronicler remarked on it.
However, as king, Richard could not let his personal sorrow keep him from ruling the country. Worried about a possible uprising, Richard decided to pursue peace with Scotland. A Scottish delegation met with Richard and his men in the Great Hall, and a treaty, which included a promise of marriage between Scotland's James IV and Anne de la Pole, was arranged.
Richard’s next visit to Nottingham Castle was in June 1485, when he made Nottingham his base: the impregnable castle was a central location from where he could counter any invasion. At the end of July, Richard left Nottingham for Leicester.
Leicester
In 1483, near the start of his reign, Richard stayed in Leicester Castle. While here he wrote a letter to the French king, Louis, to enquire about what protection France would offer English merchants. This visit was full of promise and hope for the future, since Richard had every reason to believe that his reign would be long and prosperous. In October, Richard stopped in Leicester for a few days to await the men he had summoned to help put down Buckingham’s rebellion.
Richard arrived in Leicester on what would be his final visit in 1485 – on 20 August, as the sun began to set. The next morning he left the Blue Boar Inn to meet Tudor’s troops on the battlefield, arriving on the morning of 22 August. After the Battle of Bosworth, which took place near the border with Warwickshire, Richard’s body was slung across a horse and brought back to Leicester to be put on display for several days before being buried by the Greyfriars in their priory church - where he would be found 527 years later by University of Leicester archaeologists.
Visiting each location associated with Richard III brings to life his short reign, and grants valuable insight. Between his birth at Fotheringhay and his burial in the priory church of the Greyfriars, Richard lived a life that continues today to intrigue.
Richard III remains one of the most controversial rulers in history. Whether he was guilty of murdering his nephews or not is a mystery that perhaps will never be solved. Even the location of the battlefield where, on 22 August 1485, Richard was struck down has been a matter of debate. This book leads you on a journey through the landscape of Richard's time. Following Richard's trail, you will visit resplendent castles, towering cathedrals, manor homes and chapels associated with Richard. The Middle Ages come alive again as you visit Tewkesbury Abbey, where Richard helped his brother secure his throne. Witness the stunning vista of Wensleydale as you visit Middleham Castle, Richard's adopted childhood home. Each location is brought to life through engaging narrative and an extensive collection of photographs, floor plans and images.
The World of Richard III by Kristie Dean is published by Amberley, 2015. To find out more, or to purchase the book, click here.
Richard III: 7 places where his life changed | History Extra
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5 things you probably didn’t know about the Plantagenets
It was one of the most violent periods in history, famed for the Hundred Years’ War, the Peasants’ Revolt, and the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. Yet through the chaos of the Middle Ages, the Plantagenets rose to seize control of England.
This article was first published in November 2014
Tuesday 24th March 2015
Submitted by: Emma McFarnon
BBC History Mag
The Peasants' Revolt, during the reign of King Richard II, 1381
The dynasty ruled England and much of France during the medieval period - monarchs included Henry II, Henry III, Edward II, the boy king Richard II, and Richard III - and their hatred, revenge, jealousy and ambition transformed history.
Here, writing for History Extra, historian Dan Jones reveals five things you probably didn’t know about the Plantagenets…
1) The Plantagenets weren’t just kings of England
As the French-sounding name suggests, the Plantagenet dynasty originated across the channel, and both in blood and outlook they were decidedly continental. At various times Plantagenet princes ruled – or claimed to rule – Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Aquitaine, Brittany, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Castile, Sicily and France. Together with England - which came under Norman rule in the 11th century - these were collectively known as the Angevin Empire.
In the 15th century Henry VI was actually crowned king of the French in Paris. The family maintained close links with the Holy Land through the crusades. This was a truly international project. Only after 200 years did English, rather than French, become the official language of law and parliament in England, and even by the time of Chaucer, most sophisticated courtiers still spoke and corresponded in French.
Despite this, however, the Plantagenets laid down the foundations of England’s laws, borders, language, public architecture and national mythology.
It was Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, a descendant of Edward III (who we now class as a Plantagenet) who adopted Plantagenet as a family name for him and his descendants in the 15th century. Plantegenest (or Plante Genest) had been a 12th-century nickname of Geoffrey of Anjou, the dynasty's founder and the father of Henry II, perhaps because his emblem may have been the yellow sprig of bloom blossom (planta genista in medieval Latin) that he wore in his hat.
2) Bloodshed was an occupational hazard
Even before the Reformation descended, this was still a very violent age: Henry II’s great quarrel with Thomas Becket ended with the archbishop chopped down by four knights and his brains scooped out on the floor of a cathedral; the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 saw another archbishop beheaded in the street, and when Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, lost the battle of Evesham in 1265, he was hacked to pieces and his genitals were stuck in his mouth.
Edward II’s reign dissolved into an orgy of slaughter that ended with the king being forced from the throne and murdered in 1327 - supposedly by having a red-hot poker shoved up his anus - while his close ally Hugh Despenser the Younger was hanged, drawn and quartered in front of the queen, who actually feasted while she watched the bloodthirsty show.
The skull of Simon Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury killed during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, still has some of its skin attached
Thanks to a facial reconstruction based on the skull, we now know what Sudbury looked like
3) They had to deal with drone warfare
We may associate the unmanned deployment of death from above with 21st-century US special forces, but drone warfare has a far longer history than that. During the 13th century there was a spate of devastating clashes between kings and their barons – the worst being a long-running feud between Henry III and de Montfort. In the course of all this, records show that the sheriff of Essex plotted to attack London using cockerels who would have firebombs attached to their feet.
There were a few basic flaws with this plan: cockerels cannot fly for very long distances, and feathers are somewhat flammable. So in the end there was no cockerel-led blitz. But it was an enterprising use of military technology, which is worth applauding for sheer chutzpah if nothing else.
4) You didn’t have to call them ‘your majesty’
Not until Richard II’s reign, anyway. The usual forms of address for a king for much of the Plantagenet era were ‘your highness’ and ‘your Grace’. Richard, however, had a grander and more elaborate vision of kingship than many of his predecessors, and he introduced the terms ‘your majesty’ and ‘your high majesty’ to the court vocabulary.
During his later reign, there are vivid accounts of the king sitting in splendour on his throne after dinner and glaring around the room at his assembled courtiers. Whomever his gaze rested upon was to fall to their knees in humble appreciation of his royal awesomeness.
Eventually this wore rather thin, and in 1399 Richard was deposed by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, who took the throne as Henry IV and abruptly ended the unbroken succession of Plantagenet kings that had continued since the 12th century.
A portrait of Richard II (mid-1390s), the first-known portrait of an English monarch in likeness. The tyrant liked to sit on his high throne and glower at those around him
5) There’s a bit of Plantagenet in all of us
Well, most of us, anyway. According to calculations made by Ian Mortimer in his biography of Edward III, somewhere between 80 and 95 per cent of the living English-descended population of England shares some ancestry with the Plantagenet kings of the 14th century and before. In other words, there’s a pretty good chance that you are, on some level, a Plantagenet.
This is not, I should say, a mandate to start slaughtering archbishops; hanging, drawing and quartering your enemies or sticking your wife in a dungeon. But it’s pretty cool, all the same.
5 things you probably didn’t know about the Plantagenets | History Extra
It was one of the most violent periods in history, famed for the Hundred Years’ War, the Peasants’ Revolt, and the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. Yet through the chaos of the Middle Ages, the Plantagenets rose to seize control of England.
This article was first published in November 2014
Tuesday 24th March 2015
Submitted by: Emma McFarnon
BBC History Mag
The Peasants' Revolt, during the reign of King Richard II, 1381
The dynasty ruled England and much of France during the medieval period - monarchs included Henry II, Henry III, Edward II, the boy king Richard II, and Richard III - and their hatred, revenge, jealousy and ambition transformed history.
Here, writing for History Extra, historian Dan Jones reveals five things you probably didn’t know about the Plantagenets…
1) The Plantagenets weren’t just kings of England
As the French-sounding name suggests, the Plantagenet dynasty originated across the channel, and both in blood and outlook they were decidedly continental. At various times Plantagenet princes ruled – or claimed to rule – Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Aquitaine, Brittany, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Castile, Sicily and France. Together with England - which came under Norman rule in the 11th century - these were collectively known as the Angevin Empire.
In the 15th century Henry VI was actually crowned king of the French in Paris. The family maintained close links with the Holy Land through the crusades. This was a truly international project. Only after 200 years did English, rather than French, become the official language of law and parliament in England, and even by the time of Chaucer, most sophisticated courtiers still spoke and corresponded in French.
Despite this, however, the Plantagenets laid down the foundations of England’s laws, borders, language, public architecture and national mythology.
It was Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, a descendant of Edward III (who we now class as a Plantagenet) who adopted Plantagenet as a family name for him and his descendants in the 15th century. Plantegenest (or Plante Genest) had been a 12th-century nickname of Geoffrey of Anjou, the dynasty's founder and the father of Henry II, perhaps because his emblem may have been the yellow sprig of bloom blossom (planta genista in medieval Latin) that he wore in his hat.
2) Bloodshed was an occupational hazard
Even before the Reformation descended, this was still a very violent age: Henry II’s great quarrel with Thomas Becket ended with the archbishop chopped down by four knights and his brains scooped out on the floor of a cathedral; the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 saw another archbishop beheaded in the street, and when Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, lost the battle of Evesham in 1265, he was hacked to pieces and his genitals were stuck in his mouth.
Edward II’s reign dissolved into an orgy of slaughter that ended with the king being forced from the throne and murdered in 1327 - supposedly by having a red-hot poker shoved up his anus - while his close ally Hugh Despenser the Younger was hanged, drawn and quartered in front of the queen, who actually feasted while she watched the bloodthirsty show.
The skull of Simon Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury killed during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, still has some of its skin attached
Thanks to a facial reconstruction based on the skull, we now know what Sudbury looked like
3) They had to deal with drone warfare
We may associate the unmanned deployment of death from above with 21st-century US special forces, but drone warfare has a far longer history than that. During the 13th century there was a spate of devastating clashes between kings and their barons – the worst being a long-running feud between Henry III and de Montfort. In the course of all this, records show that the sheriff of Essex plotted to attack London using cockerels who would have firebombs attached to their feet.
There were a few basic flaws with this plan: cockerels cannot fly for very long distances, and feathers are somewhat flammable. So in the end there was no cockerel-led blitz. But it was an enterprising use of military technology, which is worth applauding for sheer chutzpah if nothing else.
4) You didn’t have to call them ‘your majesty’
Not until Richard II’s reign, anyway. The usual forms of address for a king for much of the Plantagenet era were ‘your highness’ and ‘your Grace’. Richard, however, had a grander and more elaborate vision of kingship than many of his predecessors, and he introduced the terms ‘your majesty’ and ‘your high majesty’ to the court vocabulary.
During his later reign, there are vivid accounts of the king sitting in splendour on his throne after dinner and glaring around the room at his assembled courtiers. Whomever his gaze rested upon was to fall to their knees in humble appreciation of his royal awesomeness.
Eventually this wore rather thin, and in 1399 Richard was deposed by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, who took the throne as Henry IV and abruptly ended the unbroken succession of Plantagenet kings that had continued since the 12th century.
A portrait of Richard II (mid-1390s), the first-known portrait of an English monarch in likeness. The tyrant liked to sit on his high throne and glower at those around him
5) There’s a bit of Plantagenet in all of us
Well, most of us, anyway. According to calculations made by Ian Mortimer in his biography of Edward III, somewhere between 80 and 95 per cent of the living English-descended population of England shares some ancestry with the Plantagenet kings of the 14th century and before. In other words, there’s a pretty good chance that you are, on some level, a Plantagenet.
This is not, I should say, a mandate to start slaughtering archbishops; hanging, drawing and quartering your enemies or sticking your wife in a dungeon. But it’s pretty cool, all the same.
5 things you probably didn’t know about the Plantagenets | History Extra
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Well you could say that the usurpation of the throne by Henry VII from the Plantagenets.. which established the shortlived Tudor dynasty.. brought to the throne England's great tyrant King, Henry VIII.. a schismatic and heretic who destroyed the rich monastic legacy of Britain and livelihoods of 10's of thousands who worked on monastic farms or trades, and the cruel terror of the Tudor persecution of Catholics, which lasted through his daughter, Elizabeth I's, reign. In that sense Richard III's loss at Bosworth Field was a tragedy for Britain.
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Yes, Blackleaf has the same pride that Americans and Canadians once had, now they are ashamed to be American.
Obama's apology tour speaks volumes.
Good Go Blacky
Love the facial reconstruction.. amazing science.
Very few of the religious establishments that the great Henry VIII shut down were actually monasteries. Most of them were other types of religious houses.
Also, the Dissolution of the Monasteries was not an original or unique act in Europe. Other European countries also took action against the depraved and corrupt orthodoxy of the Roman Catholic Church. In what is now Germany, Martin Luther, the best-known of the Protestant reformers, preached against the depravity of the Roman Catholic Church. By the end of the 16th Century, other European countries which had adopted Lutheran or Reformed faiths saw monasticism almost entirely disappear. Even many Catholic countries saw the number of monasteries greatly reduced.
When Henry sent his inspectors out to England's religious houses they brought back to Henry evidence of corruption and debauchery inside them, including oppression of the poor, charging their tenants very high rents, running up huge debts to finance their lifestyle, and, last but not least, sexual immorality of all kinds. Not only that, but the monasteries and other Catholic religious houses were becoming too wealthy and powerful - I think in Henry's reign they owned most of the land in England. They were debauched, depraved, too powerful and Henry needed to shut them down.
Bullcrap. The Tudors didn't persecute Catholics. None of them did. They did, however, persecute Protestants. All of the Tudor monarchs except Henry VII - Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I - saw large numbers of Protestants persecuted during their reigns. During Mary I's reign, which lasted just five years, 300 Protestants were executed, mainly being burnt at the stake, for their beliefs. Protestants were also executed during the reign of Elizabeth I's successor, James I (VI of Scotland).
The excesses of this period were recorded in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. First published in English in 1563 by John Day, it includes a polemical account of the sufferings of Protestants under the Catholic Church, with particular emphasis on England and Scotland. The book was highly influential in those countries, and helped shape lasting popular notions of Catholicism there. The anti-Catholicism felt in England and Scotland - even today - all stems from the persecution that Protestants suffered at the hands of Catholics.
Protestants in England and Wales were executed under legislation that punished anyone judged guilty of heresy against the Roman Catholic faith. Although the standard penalty for those convicted of treason in England at the time was execution by being hanged, drawn and quartered, this legislation adopted the punishment of burning the condemned.
Plaque in Maidstone, Kent, commemorating those Protestants burnt nearby
Go here for a list of Protestants executed during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I and James I: List of Protestant martyrs of the English Reformation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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There was only ONE reason that Henry VIII disassembled the monastaries... Loot and Property. The monastaries in fact were models of orthodoxy and true faith (as they always have been). They provided employment at fair wages and dignity to workers.. which they were to lose to the oppression of the feudal landlords Henry foisted upon them.
There was vast corruption in the Catholic Church, especially under Pope Alexander VI, the Borgia Pope, a despotic and debauched pretender to the Throne of Peter.. and the sale of indulgences and the dissolute quality of much of the Catholic priesthood and episcopate in the 15th and 16th Centuries.. but the flame of the true Church was held in pure form by the monastaries and the cadre of honourable priests and bishops.. many of whom died at the hands of Henry and his daughter in the cruelest of circumstances.
The Church would re-establish its true character in the Counter Reformation and great Council of Trent in the late 16th Century, whereas the Luther's Reformation spiralled down into chaos, barbarity, confusion, division and interminable inner schisms and heresies.
Henry trumped up charges of corruption in the monastaries to suit his own ambitions, powerlust (and just plain lust) and greed.. as he did with his personal life.. and with the politics of the court. He lied and used the power of the Crown and judiciary to persecute and plunder. It was truly and Reign of Terror.. by a monstrous megalomaniac.
This is list of 40 Catholic Martyrs and Saints of England and Wales.. a small representative of those who Henry VIII or Elizabeth I hung, beheaded, disemboweled, quartered, crushed or burnt. Going from the great statesman Thomas More.. to the faithful housewife and mother in Margaret Clitherow (crushed).
Forty Martyrs of England and Wales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There was vast corruption in the Catholic Church, especially under Pope Alexander VI, the Borgia Pope, a despotic and debauched pretender to the Throne of Peter.. and the sale of indulgences and the dissolute quality of much of the Catholic priesthood and episcopate in the 15th and 16th Centuries.. but the flame of the true Church was held in pure form by the monastaries and the cadre of honourable priests and bishops.. many of whom died at the hands of Henry and his daughter in the cruelest of circumstances.
The Church would re-establish its true character in the Counter Reformation and great Council of Trent in the late 16th Century, whereas the Luther's Reformation spiralled down into chaos, barbarity, confusion, division and interminable inner schisms and heresies.
Henry trumped up charges of corruption in the monastaries to suit his own ambitions, powerlust (and just plain lust) and greed.. as he did with his personal life.. and with the politics of the court. He lied and used the power of the Crown and judiciary to persecute and plunder. It was truly and Reign of Terror.. by a monstrous megalomaniac.
This is list of 40 Catholic Martyrs and Saints of England and Wales.. a small representative of those who Henry VIII or Elizabeth I hung, beheaded, disemboweled, quartered, crushed or burnt. Going from the great statesman Thomas More.. to the faithful housewife and mother in Margaret Clitherow (crushed).
Forty Martyrs of England and Wales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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When Henry sent his inspectors out to England's religious houses they brought back to Henry evidence of corruption and debauchery inside them, including oppression of the poor, charging their tenants very high rents, running up huge debts to finance their lifestyle, and, last but not least, sexual immorality of all kinds. That's the main reason why Henry closed the monasteries. And it's something which happened throughout Europe, not just England.
Catholicism isn't the true church. It's an idolatrous and heretical and evil church.
I've already pointed out that Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I persecuted PROTESTANTS, not Catholics.
The Marian Persecutions, which saw hundreds of people burnt at the stake for their beliefs by the CATHOLIC Mary I, was a persecution of Protestants, not Catholics.
When Henry VIII was crowned king, he was a member of the Catholic Church.
It was still seven or eight years before Martin Luther wrote his Ninety-Five Theses, laying out his objections to the same of Indulgences. This was the first act in what would become the Protestant Reformation. Henry VIII responded with a book affirming Catholic Orthodoxy, and it was this book which led the Pope to honour him with the title “Defender of the Faith“, which still appears a F D or Fid. Def. (Fidei Defensor) on our coinage (although today, the monarch is the Fidei Defensor of the Church of England). Even after Henry broke with Rome when the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and inaugurated what became know as the English Reformation, he remained orthodox. In effect he had made himself his own, and England’s, Pope.
He was never a Protestant - and he continued to persecute Protestants.
Lutheranism is still a major branch of Protestantism followed by 72 million people.
And you've got no evidence of that whatsoever. The debauchery and depravity and immorality and the oppression of the poor by the Catholic religious houses was in fact well known throughout England at the time.
The number of Protestants executed for their beliefs during the Tudor period dward the number of Protestants. Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I condemned to death shockingly large numbers of Protestants just for their beliefs.
300 Protestants were executed furing Mary I's reign alone and she only reigned for five years. And most of these were entirely innocent people who were executed simply because they were Protestants, unlike the 40 Catholics in your list who were executed mainly because they committed laws like treason.
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Henry was excommunicated for adultery in divorcing Catherine of Aragon and marrying Anne Boleyn in 1533. This fomented his breaking of all ties with Rome as Pope Clement VII had refused to recognize the dissolution of the marriage. To legitimize his coup of Pontifical power, Henry accepted the tenets of Protestant theology, well after Luther had nailed his theses to the Wittenberg church door in 1517. The Church of England remained Catholic ONLY in appearance and episcopal structure and in pretense.. not in principle and certainly not in union with the Holy See.. thereafter.. and to this day.
He then imposed a reign of terror to seize the monastic properties.. and to ruthlessly eradicate Catholicism from Britain. Thereafter the practice of Catholicism was deemed to be an act of treason rather than heresy, and subject to hanging, drawing and quartering as punishment. Henry had usurped legitimate ecclesiastic authority from the Pope, banished the Roman Catholic Church from the land and irreparably severed his link with Apostolic succession. He was in NO way orthodox or Catholic. Catholic rebellions in the North were ruthlessly put down, and their leaders killed. A secret service was enlisted by both Henry and Elizabeth to ferret out Catholic priests and practitioners who were invariably murdered.
Henry was quite willing to extend his terror to political enemies as well. as was Elizabeth.. so its possible Protestants got caught up in the pogroms... but Henry ceased being a Catholic on his excommunication. The Anglican Church.. is a Protestant church.. not a Catholic one. Only briefly did Catholicism return as the the state religion.. with Henry's legitimate daughter Mary Tudor, under whom major figures of Henry's persecutions were arrested and some burned (for heresy).. including the Bishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cramner, a notorious executioner in his own right.
Henry's mad megalomania simply wanted all political and ecclesiastic power.. which he used to plunder, pillage and rape the countryside. He cared nothing for real Christianity except as tool of power.
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And Henry told the Pope and the Catholic Church to sod off.
After the excommunication, the English authorities stated that England was an empire, governed by one supreme head and king who possessed 'whole and entire' authority within the realm, and that no judgements or excommunications from Rome were valid.
One of the greatest things a political leader has ever done was break England free from the grip of Rome and the Pope. The British monarch now doesn't have to act like some sort of Popish, papist lackey.
He didn't divorce Catherine. He had their marriage annulled.
He shut down "monasteries" - in reality, very few of them were actually monasteries, but Catholic religious houses of other types - because they were dens of corruption and debauchery who took advantage of the poor.
Many religious houses were breaking the Benedictine rules and abusing their power and wealth. The monks were turning beggars away; they were gambling; were wearing finery; they were breaking relics; they also ignored the poor. Henry was right to shut them down.
That's bull****. Henry didn't try to "ruthlessly eradicate Catholicism from Britain" (he wasn't King of Britain, for a start. He was King of England and, later, Lord/King of Ireland). And, even if he did try to do so, then so what? Catholicism, with its corruption and power and wealth, was extremely unpopular in England.
The vast bulk of the English population were very angry at the way the Roman Catholic Church had used them as a source of money. To get married you had to pay; to get a child baptised (which you needed to be if you were to go to Heaven, so the Catholic Church preached to keep you under their control) you had to pay; you even had to pay the Church to bury someone on their land (which you had to do as your soul could only go to Heaven if you were buried on Holy Ground). Therefore, the Catholic Church was very wealthy while many poor remained just that….poor. Their money was going to the Catholic Church. Therefore, there were no great protests throughout the land when Henry kicked out the Pope and took control of the English Church himself as many felt that Henry would ease up on taking money from them. Henry knew of the Catholic Church’s unpopularity and, therefore, used this to his advantage.
The most wealthy Catholics in England were the monasteries where monks lived. They were also the most loyal supporters of the pope. This made them a threat to Henry. Not only that but, as I've already mentioned, these Catholic religious houses were extremely corrupt whilst they were making money off poor people. Henry was right to shut them down.
The practice of Catholicism was NOT deemed to be an act of treason. Henry did not himself accept Protestants innovations in doctrine or liturgy. He basically remained a Catholic himself all his life. But he did execute for treason those people who disagreed with England's break from Rome, such as the former Lord Chancellor Thomas More and Bishop of Rochester John Fisher.
He also executed many of those who took part in the Pilgrimage of Grace of 1536 and Bigod's Rebellion of 1537, but he didn't execute Catholics merely for practising their beliefs.
Who says it was legitimate? Why should an English monarch be treated as some sort of vassal of a foreign religious leader?
More good things came out of England's break with Rome than bad things.
Liberty | The Break From Rome
The Roman Catholic Church owned about two-thirds of the land in England for its monasteries and religious houses in which corruption and debauchery were taking place on a huge scale with the Catholic Church becoming rich on all the charges it was placing on poor people. Henry was right to shut these places down and it's something which occurred elsewhere in Europe, not just England.
Yes, he was. He was born Catholic and continued with Catholic practises throughout his life. He did not accept Protestant innovations. It was his son, Edward VI, who really accepted Protestant innovations and to turn England Protestant.
They were executed for treason because they disagreed with Henry's break from Rome. If you took part in an uprising against the monarch in them days you were severely dealt with.
No. Elizabeth I's government brought out laws forbidding Catholics to practise their faith in secret. And you can't blame them for doing so, what with the Rising of the North and the Babington Plot (which was discovered by Elizabeth's spies, led by Sir Francis Walsingham), both of which saw Catholics secretly plotting to kick Elizabeth off the throne, even assassinate her, and replace her with her Catholic cousin Mary, Queen of Scots.
As a result, to prevent more such plots being planned Catholics weren't allowed to meet in secret. Any Catholics caught meeting in secret by the authorities were often tried for treason and executed. Catholics often still met in secret, in places like country houses, where special priest holes - many of which still exist - were constructed for them to hide in should the authorities come calling.
Catholics were, however, allowed to practise their faith in public.
But this is all something the Catholics brought on themselves.
Which was quite normal.
Mary Tudor burned 300 Protestants at the stake in just five years simply because they were Protestants. Also, burning at the stake was never a punishment used by Henry or Elizabeth.
But whereas Henry and Elizabeth only executed those Catholics who plotted against them or disagreed with the break from Rome, Mary burnt Protestants at the stake during the Marian Persecutions simply because they were Protestants, nothing else.
On 27th June 1556, the Stratford Martyrs, a group of eleven men and two women, were burned at the stake at almost the exact spot where the London 2012 Olympics were held. It seems they were burnt simply for being Protestants.
A memorial to them was erected in 1878 in St John's churchyard in Stratford Broadway, east London.
And then there were the Canterbury Martyrs, a group of eight men who were burnt at the stake in Canterbury between 1555 and 1558. Their charge? Hersesy - in other words, having beliefs at odds with the Roman Catholic Church. Not plotting against the monarch or anything like that. Their only "crime" was being Protestants.
Henry was a great king, one of the most popular England as ever had, and he said this country onto the path of greatness.
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Oh thank heavens, I've been agonizing over whether and when Richard III's re-internment would take place.
My previous comments stand unrefuted, Blackleaf.
Henry was a despot. I have not seen a modern representation of the man, from film, to television (notably the BBC's The Tudors) or stage that did not depict Henry for what he was, a cruel and lascivious despot.. and increasingly deranged during his reign, an object of scorn, ridicule and vilification. I think you might be in a small minority of British subjects who do not view Henry VIII as a blight on the history of the monarchy.
The Pigrimage of Grace was the most notable popular uprising against the persecution of the Catholic Church and dissolution of the monastaries, which were held in high public regard. Henry used deceit and promises of negotiation and respect for the free practice of the Catholic sacraments to quell it.. then with demonic ruthlessness elimated its leaders with the noose, the knife, the stake and the axe when they had disarmed in good faith. Henry was a monster.. a king from hell.
Pilgrimage of Grace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You are absolutely wrong in stating that there was free practice of religion under Elizabeth. Read some of the biographies of the 40 Martyrs of England that i posted a link to earlier. Most of them were brutally executed for being priests, or harbouring priests or allowing their homes to be used for Mass.
Without stating an oath that denied the primacy of the Holy See and the Magisterium, and swearing allegiance to the Queen as the sole and supreme head of the Church in England, in all of its doctrines, beliefs and liturgies..which a faithful Catholic cannot do and remain Catholic, they were not allowed to pracitice.. hence it was forced underground. They were ruthlessly exposed and murdered under Elizabeth's secret police state. There was no freedom under that royal bitch Elizabeth.
Although theatrical presentations of Elizabeth have been kinder than those of her Father.. she matched him in the ruthlessness and terror, and outmatched him in cunning.. imposed by her chosen henchmen, Francis Walsingham, her spymaster and radical Calvinist, or Puritan as that became known, first amongst them..
Henry was a despot. I have not seen a modern representation of the man, from film, to television (notably the BBC's The Tudors) or stage that did not depict Henry for what he was, a cruel and lascivious despot.. and increasingly deranged during his reign, an object of scorn, ridicule and vilification. I think you might be in a small minority of British subjects who do not view Henry VIII as a blight on the history of the monarchy.
The Pigrimage of Grace was the most notable popular uprising against the persecution of the Catholic Church and dissolution of the monastaries, which were held in high public regard. Henry used deceit and promises of negotiation and respect for the free practice of the Catholic sacraments to quell it.. then with demonic ruthlessness elimated its leaders with the noose, the knife, the stake and the axe when they had disarmed in good faith. Henry was a monster.. a king from hell.
Pilgrimage of Grace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You are absolutely wrong in stating that there was free practice of religion under Elizabeth. Read some of the biographies of the 40 Martyrs of England that i posted a link to earlier. Most of them were brutally executed for being priests, or harbouring priests or allowing their homes to be used for Mass.
Without stating an oath that denied the primacy of the Holy See and the Magisterium, and swearing allegiance to the Queen as the sole and supreme head of the Church in England, in all of its doctrines, beliefs and liturgies..which a faithful Catholic cannot do and remain Catholic, they were not allowed to pracitice.. hence it was forced underground. They were ruthlessly exposed and murdered under Elizabeth's secret police state. There was no freedom under that royal bitch Elizabeth.
Although theatrical presentations of Elizabeth have been kinder than those of her Father.. she matched him in the ruthlessness and terror, and outmatched him in cunning.. imposed by her chosen henchmen, Francis Walsingham, her spymaster and radical Calvinist, or Puritan as that became known, first amongst them..
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So do mine.
Henry VIII was one of England's greatest, if not the greatest, king.
Well you've never watched Wolf Hall.
And just because dramas and plays and films and books don't show somebody in a good light does not mean that that portrayal is accurate.
Richard III has long been perceived as an evil monarch - Richard the Turd as he used to be known (though people are now calling him Richard the Interred) - but people are now starting to realise that that portrayal of him as an evil monarch is highly inaccurate. All those who portray Good King Hal as being "evil" and "deranged" have got it wrong.
Codswallop.
Is he really? And why would that we, considering he did a lot of good during his reign, enacting policies that were hugely POPULAR, like breaking with Rome?
Henry VIII was an extremely popular monarch amongst his people and still remains so.
Also, I'm not a subject. I'm a citizen.
The Pilgrimage of Grace was NOT a popular uprising. Not that many people took part. And they weren't marching against the persecution of the Catholic Church as there was no persecution going on. As I've already explained, Henry didn't persecute Catholics and was a Catholic himself.
Very few of the religious houses which were shut during the Dissolution of the Monasteries were actual monasteries.
And they were NOT held in high public regard. As already pointed out, these Catholic religious houses were dens of corruption, vice and depravity which exploited the poor, and which were run by corrupt monks wearing fine clothes. There were also rumours that nuns and monks were not following their vows of chastity. As a result of all this, the popularity of the monasteries and religious houses in England had dropped.So they were shut down, just as they were throughout Europe, because of the their corruption and depravity and it was a very POPULAR thing which most of the people supported.
Not only that, but the monasteries and religious hosues were a stronghold of the Pope's power in England. As Henry, rightly, had broken England free from the interference of the Pope and the Vatican, Henry would not tolerate this.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries was also nothing new. Cardinal Wolsey shut down a number of religious houses years before the attack by Cromwell and Henry. He had done this with the full blessing of the Pope
How was Henry any different from any other monarch of the time in this situation? If you rose up in rebellion against the monarch in those days you were just asking to be executed. Would any other monarch other than Henry have spared the lives of those who took part in the Pilgrimage of Grace? I very much doubt it.
Catholics were free to practise their religion in public in Elizabeth's reign.
However, they were not allowed to secretly meet in groups. And you can't blame Elizabeth's government for coming up with this law. It was all in response to Catholic plots like the Babington Plot, which planned to assassinate Elizabeth and put her nefarious Catholic cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, onto the Throne.
Had Catholic plots like the Babington Plot not occurred, Elizabeth would not have instituted laws which forbade Catholics meeting in secret. The Catholics brought it onto themselves.
Henry VIII's Oath of Supremacy required any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Henry brought the oath in as the Church of Rome was now a foreign jurisdiction, power, superiority and authority. It was hardly an unreasonable oath.
Bullcrap.
First off, Walsingham should be congratulated for helping to prevent the Babington Plot and have the plotters severely dealt with.
Secondly, as I've already said, Elizabeth did not persecute people for being Catholic. Catholicism was effectively illegal in England, but it was for not attending church that Catholics were fined, not for simply being Catholic, and the fine applied to dissenting Puritans as well as to those of the Catholic faith.
Also, Elizabeth's stance against the Catholics was all caused by the Catholics themselves, the fact that many English Catholics, often supported by countries like France and Spain, plotted against Elizabeth. Elizabeth was defending herself from nefarious, plotting Catholics. She did not actively seek to persecute Catholics. It was the Catholics who wanted to do her harm.
In 1559, a 12 pence fine for refusing to go to church was created, and the loss of office for Catholic clergy refusing to take the oath of supremacy. Attendance at mass was to be punished by a fine of 100 marks, but the saying of mass, or arranging for it to be said, carried the death penalty, although Elizabeth ensured that this was never implemented before 1577 as she disliked such extremism. As far as Elizabeth was concerned, so long as Catholics behaved themselves, were loyal to her, and attended church now and then, they were free to believe what they wished. Elizabeth tried to accommodate Catholic beliefs in her religious settlement so that they could go to church without feeling guilty or disloyal to their faith, and often turned a blind eye to Catholics who had secret services in their home. There was no attempt to ruthlessly seek out Catholics, and no desire to put ordinary men and women to death simply for their faith.
It was only as the Catholic threat against Elizabeth from Europe heightened as the reign progressed, that the Elizabethan government had to take a harsher stance against Catholics than they had initially anticipated. Some of Elizabeth's ministers, such as Sir Francis Walsingham, were zealously committed to the Protestant cause and wished to persecute Catholics in England, but their ambitions were always held in check by the Queen. For the first decade of the reign, the Catholics suffered little. It was not until the Papal Bull of 1570 that the situation changed.
The new pope, Pius V, did not like Elizabeth. Like all Catholics, he believed she was illegitimate, and thus had no right to the throne of England. Catholics believed that the true Queen of the land was Mary Queen of Scots. In 1570 he issued a bull "Regnans in Excelsis" (a papal document) against Elizabeth, that excommunicated her and absolved all her subjects from allegiance to her and her laws. This was a drastic step, and one that was not approved of by Philip II of Spain, or some English Catholics, who knew that this would make things difficult for Catholics in England. Excommunication was a great disgrace to Catholics. An excommunicated person was not to be dealt with, as it was believed that they were unchristian and would go to hell.
The excommunication of Elizabeth must have been a very painful experience for her Catholic subjects. They were cruelly torn between two loyalties - loyalty to the Queen many of them respected, if not loved, and loyalty to the Pope who they believed was God's representative on Earth. Many Catholics probably never solved the dilemma, ignored it, or remained loyal to both, separating their spiritual and secular allegiances. From this moment on, Catholics were seen as a great threat to the Queen and the realm.
The plots against Elizabeth's life that occurred from the 1570's onwards also did much to fossil the idea that Catholics were traitors, as did the continuous flow of Jesuit priests into the country. The entrance of Jesuits into the country was prohibited by law in 1585, but still they came in the hope of converting the English population to Catholicism. It was these who bore the brunt of the Catholic persecution. Many of them were executed for treason. William Cecil devised questions to be asked of English Jesuits and Priests, and the question over who they would support if the Pope invaded the country - Pope or Queen, was their down fall every time. This question became known as it is still known today, "The bloody question", as there was really only one answer that a true Catholic could give.
Politics and religion were so intricately connected in the Elizabethan period that it was difficult to determine one from the other. In 1581 an Act was passed that made it treason to withdraw English subjects from allegiance to the Queen or her Church, and fines for recusancy (refusing to go to church) were increased to twenty pounds - a phenomenal amount to the Elizabethans, considering that the annual income of a knight would only be about fifty pounds. The Elizabethan government genuinely believed that Catholics, particularly the Jesuits, posed a serious threat to the Queen's life and reign, and the literature produced by the leaders of the "English Mission" (an active campaign to restore Catholicism in the land and depose Elizabeth) such as William Allen and Robert Persons, seemed to confirm their suspicions.
Elizabethan Catholics
There has been speculation about what turned Henry VIII from the promising young monarch into what he became.. a tyrannical monster.. his reign imbued with terror, cruelty, paranoia.. from which all of his subjects suffered, especially those committed to their Catholic faith.
Some think he might have been brain damaged in a jousting accident after which the most appalling of his crimes were perpetrated. I'm doubtful of that. I think he just fell into a pit of power lust, gluttony and pride, cut his ties to real Christianity.. and sealed his pact with the Devil.
In any event by the time of his death (at 55) he was a prisoner of his obese, sore ridden body.. feared, ridiculed and hated by his subjects.. with the blood of many on his hands.. victims of his rage and megalomania. He was Britain's Hitler.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-turned-henry-viii-into-a-tyrant-1670421.html
Elizabeth certainly didn't have any excuse.. she was just a chip of the old block.. and came by her cruelty and viciousness naturally.
And that was it for the Tudors.. little lamented by England (except by a few zealots of the Protestant heresy).. and good riddance to blood soaked earth they left in their wake.
Some think he might have been brain damaged in a jousting accident after which the most appalling of his crimes were perpetrated. I'm doubtful of that. I think he just fell into a pit of power lust, gluttony and pride, cut his ties to real Christianity.. and sealed his pact with the Devil.
In any event by the time of his death (at 55) he was a prisoner of his obese, sore ridden body.. feared, ridiculed and hated by his subjects.. with the blood of many on his hands.. victims of his rage and megalomania. He was Britain's Hitler.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-turned-henry-viii-into-a-tyrant-1670421.html
Elizabeth certainly didn't have any excuse.. she was just a chip of the old block.. and came by her cruelty and viciousness naturally.
And that was it for the Tudors.. little lamented by England (except by a few zealots of the Protestant heresy).. and good riddance to blood soaked earth they left in their wake.
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