The Richard III Foundation, Inc. 2016 Annual Symposium

The Richard III Foundation is pleased to announce its 2016 annual symposium “King Richard III: Politics, Power and People”.

Saturday, October 29 2016

Our conference will be held at the Dixie Grammar School in Market Bosworth.  Registration begins at 8:30 am with the conference starting promptly at 9 am and ending at 5:00 pm.

Our speakers and topics are:

  • Nathen Amin – Rhys ap Thomas: Friend and Foe
  • Anne Crawford – ‘Loyalty Binds Me: John Howard and the Battle of Bosworth’
  • Matthew Lewis – Richard III in Parliament: In his time were many good acts ade
  • Mike Ingram – The Battle of Northampton: A Battle Rediscovered
  • James Mulraine – ‘For by his Face straight shall you know his Heart: Revealing a panel portrait of King Richard III and exploring the popularity of Richard’s image in Tudor and Jacobean houses.’
  • Professor James Ross – ‘A man of so great nobilytie and knowledge in the warres’? John de Vere, thirteenth earl of Oxford and the Battle of Bosworth
  • John Sadler – King Richard III and Henry Percy – Magnates of the North

For a copy of our registration form, please contact us

The St Bees Knight by Chris Robson

Edited shortened version of lecture given to the Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society about the St Bees Knight, by Chris Robson of St Bees Historical Society. Filmed at the Swarthmore Education Centre on 12th December 2015, and edited by Bryan Sitch, Honorary Secretary of the Medieval Section. Posted 15th June 2016.

 

South Leeds Archaeology Conference

Mike Turpin of South Leeds Archaeology Group contacted the Section recently to say they are currently relaunching their activities and have a number of projects in place.

A major project is the conference in July, at Oakwell Hall, near Birstall and just off the M62.  The theme for this conference is the ‘The Future of Practical Archaeology and the Role of Community Volunteer Archaeologists’.  They are hoping to have an audience from both volunteer archaeologists and professionals in order to share views.  There are still some places left and an early booking is recommended.

They asked to help circulate details.

 

YAHS Excursions – Summer 2016

Both of interest to Medieval Section members 🙂

This summer’s society excursions are to Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, on 8 July, and York Minster on 3 September.

Markenfield is a moated medieval house near the presumed site of a village. It’s open for only a few weeks each year.

The York Minster visit is a private guided tour of the ground floor, with access to the Undercroft included in the price.

The visits each cost £10 and places are limited. Make your own transport arrangements, though there are possibilities for sharing lifts.

Enquiries to yas.excursion@gmail.com.

Download full details and the booking form :

Summer excursions 2016

Plans for events to mark 950 battles at Fulford and Stamford Bridge July

Plans for events to mark 950 battles at Fulford and Stamford Bridge

July

  • As a part of the Council for British Archaeology, festival of archaeology, starting on Saturday 16 July we will be digging at the ford to expose more of the ancient road and land surface of 1066
  • When the dig is over on 31 July the site will be covered over to protect it from the weather and prepared to allow visitors to inspect the battle surface

August

  • Open Fulford site with free public access to the archaeology.
  • Site is open 11-4 every day but accessible outside these hours for unguided access
  • Access is free but a £10 family ticket is planned for those wanting to take part in the dig
  • A living history camp will be making items and talking to visitors
  • Prepare tableaux of three battles with panels to explain the history and the battles

September

The site will remain open to visitors as long as weather conditions permit. The hope is to keep them open until the battle of Hastings in mid-October, weather and floods permitting, to maximise visitor opportunities

Saturday 17

  • Riccall Rampage – 9.00 Talk at Riccall and Viking ‘breakfast’ when the walk reaches Fulford. The walk takes about 3 hours and is along paths and bike tracks
  • Living history and site open all day with several battlefield walks during the day
  • Workshop for school children make armour and paper weapons for the battle, 1-4
  • Private feast for supporters and sponsors on the site starts at 5

Sunday 18

  • 00 Judging the best dressed Viking prior to Children’s re-enactment of the battle
  • 10 – 12.30 Battle on the playing fields with children and some Viking leaders. Parents must stay behind the barriers. Only children and Vikings allowed on the battlefield. Great photo opportunity as the battle moves back and forth on the surface where the battle was fought
  • Living history and site open all day with several battlefield walks during the day

Monday 19

  • Site will be configured to receive field trips from local schools

Tuesday 20  (950 anniversary)

  • Dedicate the memorial for the warriors of the battle.
  • Mid-day walk round the battlefield
  • Focus will be on attracting media attention in the build up to the Stamford Bridge weekend

Wednesday 21

  • 11-4 Brainstorm Conference “Where did the 1066 battles actually take place”
  • Themed Poetry and music evening in Fulford

Thursday 22

  • Tadcaster to Stamford Bridge ride & stride

Friday 23

  • Embroidery day with dye workshop on site

Saturday 24

  • Full day of events at SB including a battle
  • Victors feast and celebration for warriors in the evening

Sunday 25  (950 anniversary)

  • Second day of events at SB
  • 5pm English Heritage ride to Hastings sets off from central York

October 15

  • English Heritage commemorates 1066 at Battle Abbey with a massive re-enactment

 

Most events are free but they depend on http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/1066-battle-of-fulford/

The programme is still subject to change but these events are all being planned

http://groupspaces.com/FulfordBattlefieldSociety  and click the events tab for updates

 

28 April 2016

April 2016 AGM followed by St George & England

 

The next Medieval Section AGM will take place on Saturday 9th April 2016 2pm at the Swarthmore Education Centre. Our AGM will be followed by a talk on St George and England by Samantha Riches who will be talking about the material in this largely international cult, and how St George relates to England, including the late Medieval material culture at Windsor, as seen in wall paintings, jewellery, etc.

The image of St George – the medieval knight on his horse, slaying a dragon – is so familiar that it is tempting to assume his history is a simple one, but the reality is very different. St George is one of the most significant mythic characters in Christian culture but he can also be found in other religious traditions, appearing in numerous different guises in cultures the world over. An important figure in Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and western European churches, his analogues can be found in Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and the Afro-Brazilian belief system Candomblé; he also makes frequent appearances in ‘pagan’ belief systems due to his identification with nature, springtime and healing.

With or without his dragon, St George has been repeatedly reinvented over the last 1,700 years. Samantha Riches explores this saint’s significance in nations as varied as Lebanon, Ethiopia and Estonia as well as his totemic role for the Roma people, and provides first-hand accounts of celebrations in Georgia, Greece, Malta and Belgium. She describes the inspiration that artists, poets and playwrights have found in myths of St George and considers the sometimes controversial political uses to which the saint has been put.

The first book to draw together many aspects of the international cult of St George alongside some of the evidence for elements in his English cult that have been largely forgotten, St George: A Saint for All published by Reaktion Books is a fascinating history of an enduring icon.

Samantha Riches is a cultural historian based at Lancaster University. She is the author of Gender and Holiness: Men, Women and Saints in Late Medieval Europe (2011) and St George: Hero, Martyr and Myth (2005).

 

IMS Open Lecture Series. 11th-Century Conqueror Kings: A Comparative Approach to Cnut and William

Elizabeth van Houts, Honorary Professor in the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge

Date: 15-03-2016
Time: 17.30
Location: Nathan Bodington Council Chamber

As a result of modern historiographical conventions Cnut and William the Conqueror often find themselves discussed on either side of the 1066 divide in studies of medieval English history. The distortion resulting from such practice can easily wipe out the cumulative effect of evolving views on conquest by contemporaries. How did the survivors of Cnut’s regime react to William’s arrival? Did William’s entourage seek out advice from those who had witnessed Cnut in action? Can we gauge the awareness of the English around 1016 and 1066 as to what consequences of conquest were lying in store for them? Did they view the conqueror-rulers as foreigners from overseas threatening indigenous wealth and culture? Questions like these are not new, yet this commemorative year seems an appropriate point in time for us to ponder them, not least in view of our present discussion on England’s place in Europe.

Lecture on 'The Norman Conquest of Yorkshire' by Dr Paul Dalton

Anglo-Saxon/Norman iron axehead in the Manchester Museum collection
Anglo-Saxon/Norman iron axehead in the Manchester Museum collection

Victor Khadem, Programme Secretary for the Saddleworth Historical Society, has kindly provided details of a lecture assessing the impact of the Norman Conquest of Yorkshire on Wednesday at 7.30pm on 6th April at The Conservative Club, High Street, Uppermill. The lecture will be given by Dr Paul Dalton, a leading authority on the subject.

Even after defeating King Harold at the battle of Hastings in October 1066 and securing his coronation as king of the English at Westminster on Christmas day 1066, William the Conqueror still had much to do to complete the Norman Conquest of England. During the next five years he was confronted by a series of major English rebellions against his authority, some of which received support from Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Denmark. Yorkshire was the focus of some of the most determined resistance to Norman rule.

Viking reenactment enthusiasts
Determined resistance in York

This talk will explore the methods William used to deal with this resistance, and important aspects of the dramatic impact the Norman Conquest had on Yorkshire. It will also suggest that the region of Saddleworth might have been directly caught up, albeit briefly, in this process of Conquest.

Dr Paul Dalton is a Principal Lecturer in History at Canterbury Christ Church University. He has published widely on the political and religious history of the Anglo-Norman world, including a monograph book Conquest, Anarchy and Lordship: Yorkshire 1066-1154 published by Cambridge University Press.

Entry for non-members is £3.

Wednesday 6th April, 7:30 p.m.The Conservative Club, High Street, Uppermill