Detail of horse or camel rider from Manchester Museum’s Fragmentary Ancestors exhibition
I hope members will forgive me if I momentarily step beyond our usual Yorkshire boundaries to encompass some African archaeological material of a date broadly comparable with the early to mid Medieval period in Britain. The material is so spectacular it seemed churlish not to share it with anyone with an interest in matters Medieval, however specialised.
With little more than a week to go before we open our new temporary exhibition, Fragmentary Ancestors Figurines from Koma Land Ghana, on 25th October there is a real sense of expectation and anticipation building at Manchester Museum.
Work on this project began about a year ago when it was decided to put on an exhibition featuring the results of archaeological fieldwork in Koma Land in Northern Ghana involving the University of Manchester, the University of Ghana and the Ghana Museums and Monument Board.
Head of figurine from Koma Land, Ghana
This exhibition is the first ever officially approved showing of the clay figurines, which were made by a previously little-understood people in Koma Land in Ghana in West Africa. The figurines are often fragmentary and depict stylised two-headed creatures, bird figures, and animals. They are believed to represent the ancestors. It is possible that some had liquid offerings or libations poured into channels in the figurines, and that some might have been linked with healing and medicine. Scanning is now being carried out to study these channels in detail and to try and identify any substances that survive in them.
Terracotta head of man wearing cap from Koma Land
The figurines were discovered during archaeological fieldwork directed by Professor Ben Kankpeyeng (University of Ghana) and has involved Professor Tim Insoll (University of Manchester) with the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB). The Koma figurines have been dated to between approximately 500 and 1300 AD. This corresponds broadly-speaking to the early to mid Medieval Period in Britain.
We don’t know a great deal about how the figurines were used but it would appear that they were used in special ceremonies and rituals in which the spritis of the ancestors were invoked. In the course of these ceremonies the figurines were deliberately broken. Later the fragments buried in mounds, possibly because they were felt to have residual power and had to be disposed of carefully.
Janus figurine from Koma Land
As will be clear from the photos the figurines are full of character and have tremendous presence. For that reason the Koma Land figurines have generated considerable interest amongst collectors on the international art market with the result that the mounds where the figurines are found have been looted by treasure hunters. Of course, once removed from their original contexts and localities and the relationship between the objects as archaeological finds destroyed, a huge amount of invaluable information is lost. The GMMB and the University of Ghana have been working with local people to explain to them the cultural importance of the figurines and to support them in protecting the mounds. Though other figurines have been displayed outside Ghana these are the first to be exhibited abroad with the approval of the Ghanaian authorities.
The Fragmentary Ancestors exhibition opens to the general public on 25th October and runs until 5th May 2014. I’d be delighted to offer a tour of the exhibition for members of the Medieval section if we can agree a convenient date for any members who’d like this. Do drop me a line if you’re interested and hopefully we can arrange something
The beautiful photographs for the Fragmentary Ancestors exhibition were taken by Alan Seabright, photographer at Manchester Art Gallery. You can read a transcription of an interview with one of the Ghanaians who played a leading role in the campaign to save the Koma Land figurines on Manchester Museum’s Ancient Worlds blog.
This, the first lecture in the new-look programme for the Medieval Section for 2013, by Pam Judkins of Wakefield Council Arts Museums and Heritage, gave an account of the remarkable commemorative retracing of the route of the funerary procession from Pontefract to Fotheringhay for Richard Duke of York of July 1476, which was organised by Wakefield Historical Society in July 2010.
Bar where Richard of York’s head was displayed
Pam described the historical context for Richard’s death, which occurred near Sandal Castle, in December 1460 during the Wars of the Roses. The Duke’s frustration with the lacklustre rule of Henry VI had led him to press his own slightly stronger claim to the English throne, which directly threatened the right to succession of the son of Henry and his queen, Margaret of Anjou. In the fight at Sandal the Duke appears to have fallen into an ambush and his head, decorated with a paper crown, and that of his son Edmund, Duke of Rutland, were displayed above Micklegate Bar in York. The battle was one of the smaller engagements of the Wars of the Roses. It looked as though the Yorkist cause was dead but another son, Edward, having won a battle of his own in Wales, returned and on Palm Sunday 1461, with the help of his father’s old ally Warwick, defeated the Lancastrians at Towton. This may well be the largest and bloodiest battle ever to have taken place on English soil. Edward became Edward IV.
Once secure on the English throne, Edward made plans to give his father a decent funeral which involved taking the body in a formal procession from Pontefract in West Yorkshire to the favoured residence of the family at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. It is not clear why it took quite so long -16 years – to bring this about but the unsettled politics of the time and the reglazing of Fotheringhay Chuch may have had something to do with it. The route would take in many towns along the great north road that had been pillaged by Lancastrians after the Battle of Sandal. At each of a number of overnight stops the body lay on a funeral bier in a church. Four hundred poor men were paid to follow the procession. Anyone who turned up to join the procession received a penny and pregnant women received 2d. Richly clothed wooden effigies of the Duke and his son Edmund lay on the coffins. The event was carefully planned and choreographed lest there be any repetition of the unedifying scenes at the funeral of Charles VI of France when clergy and members of his household had squabbled over the funeral pall and clothing.
Having exhumed the bodies of the Duke and his son Edmund at Pontefract, the procession set out from Pontefract on 22nd July, staying in Doncaster on 22nd-23rd July, Blyth on 23rd-24th July, Tuxford on 24th-25th July, Newark on 25th-26th July, Grantham on 26th-27th July, Stamford on 27th-29th July (an extra day was allowed because this was a Sunday), and finally reaching Fotheringhay on 30th July 1476.
Wakefield Historical Society hoped to commemorate the procession but unfortunately an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund failed, and the organizers threw themselves on the mercy of churches and local societies along the route. In hindsight this was not an entirely disastrous outcome because it did result in local people being involved on a more voluntary and ad hoc basis. Wakefield Historical Society decided not to re-enact the procession but to follow the route on the dates when the procession had taken place, staying at the same locations overnight where the body of Richard had rested. They were helped in this by the fact that the Richard III Society had published contemporary accounts of the procession [see Anne F.Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs with P.W.Hammond (1996) ‘The Reburial of Richard Duke of York 21-30 July 1476’ The Ricardian, the Journal of the Richard III Society, vol. X, no.127, December 1994]. Some stretches of the route had long since disappeared because of later development and changes to the modern road lay-out but the participants did walk the route where they could. Our speaker described this as quite an emotional experience and said that being there was important. Due to changes in the road lay-out some places that had been thriving historically were now quiet backwaters. The present day tranquil bridge at Wentbridge, for instance, had been widened three times, reflecting the importance of the river crossing when this was the main north-south road for travellers and a route for herds of animals being taken to London for slaughter. The participants also visited other Medieval places of interest along the route that would have been there in the late 15th century.
At Doncaster the Duke’s body lay overnight in Greyfriars’ Franciscan Friary. What the connection was with the Franciscans was, is not known but Edward’s sister, Margaret of York was also a patron of the order. Much of the Medieval Doncaster has been lost through development so the participants visited the site of an important Medieval shrine to the Virgin Mary, recently revived by the Roman Catholic Church. A Vespers service was held at this and each of the subsequent overnight stops. It is probably no accident that a number of towns along the route had been granted charters by Edward IV in the years before the funeral procession. Perhaps this was in recognition of, and to make amends for, the widespread looting of places along the route by Lancastrians after their victory at Sandal.
The next section of the route to Blyth has been destroyed by extensive mining but the participants called at Conisborough Castle where Richard was born and Roche Abbey, which was close enough to send a party of monks to join the funeral procession. The body rested at Tickhill were there was a Benedictine Priory, a daughter-house of Rouen. There the participants saw a Doom painting which had survived the Reformation. Blyth appears to have been more important historically but now that the route of the A1 has shifted, it is quiet backwater.
Gainsborough Old Hall
On 24th July the party travelled to Tuxford. The participants walked a quiet stretch of what is very likely to have been the main north-south road with a local guide and society. They diverted to Gainsborough Old Hall which was owned by the Yorkist de Burgh family and which was said to have been destroyed by Lancastrians. However, tree-ring dates taken from timbers suggests many of the trees were felled in the 1460s so perhaps the devastation was overstated. The Medieval kitchen is particularly well-preserved there. The party also visited Laxton where strip farming is still practised and where court leet meetings are still held to manage disputes. At Tuxford the party squeezed into the small church for Vespers. Again the presence of large inn betrayed the fact that the town had been far busier in the past.
From Tuxford they travelled to Newark. The body of the Duke lay at St Mary Magdalene in Newark. The money for the church came from wool. Newark retains its open marketplace and a number of buildings around it give a real sense of what it was like in the Middle Ages. The procession may have doubled the size of the population the night that the funerary procession spent there.
From Newark the party went to Grantham, another town that benefited from a charter from Edward IV. Again the body stayed overnight at the Greyfriars even though there was an impressive church there. The facade of a 15th century hotel still survives at Newark.
From Newark the party travelled to Stamford. They saw Elis Manor with its wall paintings dating from about 1500 depicting woodland scenes. Tickencote and Losecote, nearby, was the site of another battle during the Wars of the Roses. The body lay for two nights at Greyfriars in Stamford as the following day was a Sunday. The George Inn at Stamford is an early courtyard inn.
The next day, Monday, the party travelled to Fotheringhay, stopping at Longthorpe Tower near Peterborough to see some 14th century wall-paintings. Apethorpe Hall was built about 1500 and is so close to Fotheringhay it may have been linked to the House of York.
On 29th July the body arrived at Fotheringhay. Little remains of the castle save for a mound and ditch. A procession led by Edward IV came to meet the funerary procession. The body was guarded overnight by men who had served with the Duke. The funeral took place on Tuesday 29th July. Requiem masses were sung by and a sermon preached by the Bishop of Lincoln. A black war horse was ridden into the church. There were 400 lights on the hearse. In 2010 the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Gloucester, came for the final event. A plaque was presented to the church as at each of the previous overnight stops. In 1476 some 1500 people were served food and drink in tents but perhaps 5000 may have attended. £311 17s 1d was spent on 8000 gallons of beer, 48 beef, 210 sheep, and large quantities of fish and poultry. Cooks were brought up from London to provide the catering.
Our speaker finished her talk by saying that she felt the Wakefield Historical Society had made a real contribution to making members of the general public more aware of their history, especially in stopping off points along the route of the procession, as well as linking historical events at the local and national level.
Lecture summary by Bryan Sitch, Hon Secretary, Medieval Section. For any errors the writer is responsible.
Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society 