Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society

'Richard III: Man and Myth' at the Yorkshire Museum

Banner for Richard III Man and Myth exhibition at York

With the Making Monuments on Rapa Nui: the Statues of Easter Island exhibition open I had the unaccustomed luxury of spending a free weekend in York and was delighted to see that there is a new exhibition about Richard III at the Yorkshire Museum. It seems almost gratuitous to say that the Richard III: Man and Myth capitalises on the incredible discovery of Richard’s remains in a car park at Leicester and the recent reburial which was covered on prime time TV. Readers of this blog who have been members of the Medieval Section over the last couple of years will be familiar with the story because Bob Woosnam-Savage from Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds spoke to us a year ago last Christmas and presented what were then very recent findings from the detailed examination of the last Plantagenet king’s skeleton. The Richard III Man and Myth exhibition occupies several of the rooms facing onto the Chapter House section of the Museum where the Medieval objects are displayed so it is worth pointing out that this is a relatively small exhibition, but it is a welcome extension to the earlier exhibition about Richard that was featured on this blog.

Richard III Man and Myth exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum

The exhibition is divided into several sections looking at ‘the Man’ and ‘the Myth’. It uses several well-known and beautiful exhibits from the Yorkshire Museum’s collection including the gold and sapphire reliquary pendant known as the Middleham Jewel, a silver gilt boar badge from Stillingfleet and the hoard of coins from Ryther in North Yorkshire.

As the introduction makes clear, the challenge is to try and untangle what we know for certain about Richard the man from the myth that has grown up around him, not least because of the way he is presented in Shakespeare’s play as a man ‘whose thoughts were evil and actions diabolical’. Was he a tyrant and a murderer or a fair and benevolent ruler, much maligned by history? The exhibition leaves it up to the visitor to decide.

Richard’s life was shaped by the Wars of the Roses, the civil wars between the Houses of Lancaster and York between 1455 and 1485. Richard was born at Fotheringhay Castle on 2nd October 1452. His father Richard Duke of York was killed at Sandal in 1460 and his elder brother Edward was killed soon after. This was a time of great danger for the family. Following the Yorkist victory at Towton in 1461, Richard was made Duke of Gloucester by his brother Edward. Richard was eight years old. This part of the Wars of the Roses is shown by one of the skeletons recovered from a burial pit close to the battlefield of Towton.The study of the skeletons shows that the men were mistreated by their captors before they were killed.

Bar where Richard of York's head was displayed — Micklegate Bar in York where Richard of York’s head was displayed

Richard entered the household of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick at Middleham castle in North Yorkshire to be brought up as a nobleman. There he met his future wife Anne, the Earl’s daughter, and Middleham became their home when they married in 1472. Richard was steadfastly loyal to his brother Edward and shared his exile when Warwick conspired to replace Edward with the second brother George in 1470 and to bring Henry VI back to power. Richard led one of the battle lines at the battle of Tewkesbury in May 1471. The Lancastrian threat was all but eliminated.

When he was appointed Lord President of the Council of the North in 1472 Richard became the most powerful man in northern England. The council met in a number of places including York. One of the most fascinating exhibits in the exhibition are minutes of York Council meetings known as minute books. They provide valuable information about the relationship with Richard. The volume between 1480 and 1486 shows the city council sent gifts of food and wine to Middleham and provided hospitality. Richard for his part intervened on behalf of the city in disputes and legal cases. As the exhibition points out: ‘it seems unlikely that the relationship was altruistic, or motivated entirely by affection or loyalty to the city’. That the relationship was more one of realpolitik was made clear when Edward and Richard, having returned to the North of England via Ravenser at Spurn Point in East Yorkshire to recover the throne in 1470, were hardly welcomed with open arms by the city. Edward had to ‘blag’ his way in. This should put any claim that Richard deserved to be reburied at York rather than Leicester because of his special relationship with the city into context. As is stated in the exhibition Richard had much to gain from securing the support of the leading men in the city at the centre of his powerbase. The city too derived real benefit in having the support of so powerful a nobleman as Richard, even more so after he became king.

Following the unexpected death of Edward IV, Richard became Protector of the Realm and moved quickly to secure his nephew the son of Edward IV. Richard’s behaviour at this time is hard to fathom. Was he plotting all along to usurp the throne or was he simply responding to actions taken by his in-laws the Woodvilles to secure the person of Prince Edward? Whoever had the prince in their control was in an extremely powerful position. A coronation was planned but then doubt was cast on the princes’ legitimacy when it was claimed that Edward IV had been married previously before he married Elizabeth Woodville.

White boar livery badge for Richard III (replica)

Richard was crowned king in London on 6th July 1483 and made a royal progress around the kingdom, arriving in York with his entourage on 29th August. Of course, it was at this time that the Princes in the Tower disappeared in mysterious circumstances and the interpretation of this is decisive in any evaluation of Richard’s reign. During the three week stay, on 8th September, Richard and Anne’s son Edward of Middleham was invested as Prince of Wales. Eight hundred badges showing Richard’s heraldic insignia were issued and a further 13,000 were sent to York for distribution during his stay. One of these badges can be seen in the exhibition.

Medieval pottery in the Richard III Man or Myth exhibition.

Although no record of the feast eaten at Richard’s arrival in York has survived the exhibition not unreasonably draws upon accounts of Richard’s coronation celebrations as an example. This an opportunity to show an impressive selection from the Yorkshire Museum’s impressive collection of Medieval pottery against a painted backdrop.

On 23rd August following news of the battle of Bosworth, the council wrote to the Earl of Northumberland saying ‘King Richard late mercifully reigning upon us was through great treason of the duc of Norfolk that turned ayainst hyme with many other lordes and nobiles of this north parties, was piteously slain and murdered to the great hevynesse of this city.’ This looks like a genuine expression of grief for the king in circumstances in which such declarations might seem ill-advised but the context of the relationship between Richard as powerful nobleman and the city council makes it clear one shouldn’t read to much into the letter.

In one respect this differs from the earlier exhibition in showing an image, not the 3D facial reconstruction of Richard based on the remains recovered from the car park in Leicester. This may be as close as we can come to seeing Richard’s likeness. As the exhibition points out, coins are of no help in providing a portrait of the king because they were standardised, whilst the painted portraits of Richard that have survived post date his death, and in some cases appear to have been tampered with in order to show his deformity. As Bob Woosnam-Savage said in a Christmas lecture to the section Richard’s scoliosis need not have been visible to people in the street and may only have been known to his tailor.

Richard III: Man and Myth runs from 27th March to 2nd October

Medieval Section AGM April 11th 2015

David Asquith at Claremont with copies of Medieval Yorkshire

If you are wondering what our Honorary Joint Editor is smiling about, it’s the opportunity to acquire back-copies of the section journal Medieval Yorkshire for free. Yes all those obscure back numbers of the journal that you’ve been scouring second hand book shops, Amazon and ABE in search of, you may find being given away at the next section AGM on Saturday April 11th at 2pm.

Last Saturday at our most recent committee committee meeting we considered what to do with previous issues of Medieval Yorkshire and other section publications such as Medieval Dairying. This is in response to the main society asking the sections to think about what needed to kept and what could be disposed of when Claremont is eventually sold and the society moves into new premises.

Now that electronic publishing is a viable option we can provide researchers with a pdf in return for a payment on PayPal without having to maintain a large stock. We already have four issues scanned and with Axel Muller’s assistance we are working on scanning the rest. We shall of course keep a couple of issues of each volume for future reference but it does mean we can be a bit more economical space-wise.

If you’d like back copies of Medieval Yorkshire we’ll be giving them to members at the next AGM so do come along, to take part in the meeting, at which some new faces will be presenting themselves for election, and you can also enjoy the next presentation in our lecture programme by Richard Thomason about ‘Hospitality in a Cistercian Abbey: the Case of Kirkstall in the Later Middle Ages’. So do come along.

Sadly we had some hiccups with the latest mailing of the new look Medieval Yorkshire (New Series). Due to circumstances beyond our control we only have enough to distribute to fully-subscribed members and a few extra copies for review. It looks unlikely that we shall have many to sell to non-members. Of course, a pdf download copy of Medieval Yorkshire can be provided for the more modest sum of £5.50.

For little more than £10 extra you can subscribe to the section and enjoy up to eight top quality lectures about different aspects of Medieval Yorkshire and elsewhere. That’s just £1.25 per lecture, though I noticed recently that people who are not members of the section have been taking liberties and attending the lectures as prospective members repeatedly. Without wanting to be too officious about this the committee thinks it is perfectly acceptable to come to one or two lecture meetings to see if it is ‘for you’ but after that someone who comes along should really make a contribution to the cost of organising the lecture. At least £2. Otherwise those members who have paid their subscriptions are effectively subsidising prospective members and that simply isn’t fair. We would always wish to make joining the Medieval Section by payment of the annual subscription (£16) the most cost effective option for people. And don’t forget that in addition to the lectures paid-up members also receive the section journal Medieval Yorkshire. I can’t think of many societies where you would receive all these benefits for such a modest subscription.

Medieval Yorkshire (New Series) Volume Available

Jo Heron has informed me that the first volume of Medieval Yorkshire (New Series) has been sent out. Despite our best efforts over the last year we still can’t always be sure who has paid and who hasn’t so if you have not received your copy by 4th March and you think you’re entitled to one please contact me, or our Honorary Treasurer, Jo Heron, either by email or through Claremont. If you are not a member and you’d like to buy a copy we intend to sell the small surplus stock but only after we’ve made sure paid-up members have their copies. At just £16 for annual membership I hope you’ll agree it’s not a bad deal.

Another way to obtain a copy of this publication is to follow this direct link to Medieval Yorkshire 2014 in the shop, where it is available for just £5.50.

To be entitled to a copy your subscription needs to be up-to-date, and by that I mean ideally paid in early January. The reason for stressing this is because we ask the office at Claremont for a list of addresses of members to send out a mailing and if your subscription hasn’t been received by Claremont before we do the mailing it is likely that your details won’t be on the list and you may not receive a copy of the publication. If you pay subscription later in the year we may no longer have copies to send out to you because we have a limited print run so we’re not left with excess back-catalogue stock.

Subscriptions aside, the more observant among you will have noticed that this is a new-look journal, more compact at A5 format size and less likely to sag in the middle on your bookshelves at home. It is also a New Series publication so as to leave the way clear for any follow-on volumes of the old journal. The new series volume 1 includes original research and contributions in the field of Yorkshire Medieval history and archaeology, and has summaries of many of the lectures and other meetings that have been held over the last 18 months. For this we are deeply endebted to David Asquith who fearlessly took on the challenge of editing and bringing the journal to press, ably assisted, I hasten to add, by Sue Alexander, who took responsibility for the lay-out and technical matters.

Eighteen months ago some questioned whether the Medieval Section had a future but this publication is the third leg of a recovery strategy that also includes an annual lecture series and this Blog. We currently have a total of something like 50,000 ‘hits’ annually.It is gratifying to know that something like a third of the visits are made by people outside the United Kingdom. Naturally we’d be delighted to hear from readers abroad if you have comments or suggestions. If section members who read this would like to explore other options such as visits to places of Medieval interest, exploring museums with Medieval collections or taking part in fieldwork then do please let me know. We thrive as a society only in so far as our members are engaged in our activities and making suggestions.

Bryan Sitch
Honorary Secretary
Medieval Section

25th February 2015

Tolkien, the Early Middle Ages and Leeds

Tom Holland in The Times (3/1/2015) made a topical link with the theft of treasure story in Beowulf and J.R.R.Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The great inventor of dungeons and dragons and patron saint of nerds and geeks the world over enjoyed a respectable academic reputation writing about Beowulf, though whether he would have approved of the final part – no, make that any part – of Peter Jackson’s interminable cinematic interpretation of The Hobbit is another question.

In 1920 Tolkien was appointed to the post of Reader in English Language at the University of Leeds. In 1925 he was appointed to the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. Tolkien’s time in Leeds is the subject of an article in the Guardian by Leeds-based journalist Martin Hickes. Tolkien didn’t write The Hobbit whilst he was living in Headingley. Maybe this takes the Medieval Section into a new area of Yorkshire-focused Medieval studies, in which the county and its Medieval history serve as inspiration for works of fiction.

Northumbrian Sceats

The speaker at this month’s Medieval Section lecture will be Tony Abramson. Tony has studied early Anglo-Saxon coinage since the early 1990s. He has written a number of books on the topic, the most recent of which reclassified the silver proto-pennies or ‘sceats’ issued from the 670s to the 750s south of the Humber and well in to the ninth-century in kingdom of Northumbria. There are more than 630 varieties of these tiny coins, rich in the iconography of the Conversion Period. Tony initiated the biennial symposia in early medieval coinage and is editor of the resultant publications.

Tony qualified as a chartered accountant after graduating in economics from the University of Lancaster in 1970. He spent the last 25 years of his career launching technology start-up companies but has recently retired to take a PhD in numismatics at the Department of Archaeology, University of York.

His illustrated talk will trace the evolution of the coinage of Northumbria from the élite gold of the seventh-century, through the mercantile silver sceats of the eighth, to Northumbria’s unique brass widow’s mite or ‘styca’ issued in huge numbers before the fall of York to the Vikings in 866/7.

Building Bolton Abbey Lecture on 22nd March

The second annual St Cuthbert Lecture, ‘Building Bolton’, will take place in Bolton Abbey Priory church on Sunday 22nd March at 3pm. This year’s lecturer is Professor Richard Morris. An invitation has been extended to members of the Medieval Section to attend this lecture.

As both an archaeologist and historian, Richard has an unrivalled knowledge of the Yorkshire Dales and the historical secrets that lie hidden within its landscape and ancient churches.

Richard writes: ‘In my Lecture I set out to answer four linked questions: Who built Bolton Priory? Why does it stand where it does? In the eyes of its benefactors what was it for? Why were parts of it altered?’ During the talk Richard will set Bolton in the context of other medieval religious houses in and around the Yorkshire Dales, and examine the contemporary ideas that brought them into being.

Thanks are due to John Cruse who kindly relayed the invitation.

Syon Priory Herbal

A colleague has kindly drawn my attention to the very recent publication of the late Medieval Herbal from Syon Abbey (edited by John Adams and Stuart Forbes). A thick handsome volume, from a Yorkshire perspective it includes a short ‘case study in love’ (pp.61-63) about the relationship between James Grenehalgh of Sheen Priory and Joanna Sewell of Syon who had met before the latter’s novitiate. Grenehalgh gave Sewell a number of books that he had copied out by hand ornamented with their entwined initials. This came to the notice of Grenehalgh’s superiors who removed him to Coventry in 1507 or 1508 and thence to Kingston-upon-Hull Charterhouse. He died about 1530. Joanna Sewell died in 1532.

The Heineken Effect

A member of the public has sent a photograph of a Medieval horse harness pendant that he found whilst metal-detecting recently. The finder found the account of David Harpin’s lecture about Richard of Cornwall last autumn on the Medieval Section blog. Although the cross is of a slightly different design it is very similar to the one that David showed us with the coat-of-arms of the De Montfort family, with its link to the heraldry of the South of France and the suppression of the Albigensian heresy. The enquirer has requested information about his discovery. Over to you David. It all goes to show that the Medieval Section Blog reaches places and people other means of communication find it hard to reach.

De Montfort cross pattee on a horse pendant. — De Montfort cross pattee on a horse pendant that David Harpin showed the Medieval Section recently.

Something to look forward to on Valentine's Day

I am delighted to be able to share the news that Booths the printers have informed David Asquith, our Acting Honorary Editor, that they are dispatching the new-look section journal Medieval Yorkshire today. The box is being sent to Claremont and ought to be available for collection in the next week. Better still, why not come along to the lecture by Tony Abramson of Yorkshire Numismatics Society on Northumbrian sceats at 2pm on Saturday 14th February and you can collect your copy (if you are paid up member) and enjoy the presentation.

Bryan Sitch
Hon. Secretary

The West Yorkshire Hoard

The Medieval Section is endebted to Kat Baxter, Curator of Archaeology and Numismatics at Leeds Museums and Galleries, for speaking to us in November and for providing photographs of some of the very handsome Medieval treasure objects from the West Yorkshire hoard. Kat began her talk by giving an overview of Leeds Museums and Galleries and by telling us about the development of Treasure legislation. The success of the Treasure law can be seen in the fact that before 1997 26 finds per year were found to be treasure but in 2011 970 cases were reported as treasure – 95% of them found by metal-detectorists.

Drawings of the West Yorkshire hoard — The West Yorkshire hoard (drawings copyright of Leeds Museums and Galleries and Archaeological Services WYAS – drawings by Jon Prudhoe)

The story of the West Yorkshire hoard began when the Finds Liaison Officer for West Yorkshire sent Kat some photographs in 2008 asking if she might be interested in the objects. At this point five objects had been discovered. A rescue excavation was organised to see if there were any other pieces from the hoard still in the ground. A further two items were recovered by the metal-detectorist on a return visit to the site. The objects included a very fine 10th century gold and garnet ring, a 9th century niello ring, two filigree rings, a fragment of a 7th century cloisonne brooch, a piece of gold ingot or hack gold, and a lead spindle whorl.

The 10th century gold and garnet ring is particularly fine and has not suffered any wear. It has an enlarged stepped bezel and is decorated with granulations of gold beads. The garnet looks too small for its dog tooth setting – either this garnet is a replacement or it has sunk as its mount has degraded.The gold content of the ring is very high. The back of the ring has a twisted hoop of gold wire with decorative terminals. It is so fine it may have belonged to a bishop. It certainly belonged to someone of high status.

Drawing of niello ring — Drawing of gold and niello ring (drawing copyright Leeds Museums and Galleries and Archaeological Services WYAS drawing by Jon Prudhoe)

The 9th century niello ring is a different kind of ring. It may have been worn over the gloves. It has four large oval panels decorated with leaf or zoomorphic motifs picked out in niello (a black mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides used as an inlay). It has suffered a lot of wear.

Smaller gold filigree ring (drawing copyright Leeds Museums and Galleries and Archaeological Services WYAS drawing by Jon Prudhow)

The filigree ring is smaller and thinner and of lower gold content. It is decorated with filigree and granulation. It is not symmetrical and though a beautiful piece of jewellery it is not of the same quality as the piece described earlier.

Gold cloisonne brooch fragment (copyright Leeds Museums and Galleries – photographer Norman Taylor).

The cloisonne brooch or pendant fragment is the earliest item in the hoard and dates from the 7th century. It has cells for inlays such as garnets but these have been hacked on one side and torn or bent out of shape. It would have been a stunning high class object when complete.

Large filigree ring (copyright Leeds Museums and Galleries – photographer Norman Taylor)

The second set of objects from the hoard consist of a another high quality ring with a high gold content with granular decoration. The ring appears to have a hollow bezzle and although it rattles when shaken nothing shows up on x-rays. the ring may have been an ecclesiastical ring owned by someone of high status. Like the earlier ring it shows no wear and appears to be brand new.

The last object is a lead spindle whorl and at present it is not clear why this was included in the hoard of gold objects. Two of the rings are of the highest quality known from Anglo-Saxon England. However, the rings cover a considerable period of time (the brooch has been dated to the 7th century, the rings are later, perhaps between the 9th and 11th centuries). It has been suggested they may have been part of a thief’s stash and that the hoard was consumed little by little, the individual pieces hacked up and semi-precious stones chiselled out. It is interesting that another fine ring was found between Aberford and Sherburn in 1870. It is clear that in the 10th century there were some affluent individuals living in the vicinity of Leeds. It may be that some of the rings have ecclesiastical associations. It is unusual not to find any coins with the hoard. The hoard is important because it is the only Anglo-Saxon hoard found of this quality in the area. As such it is an important addition to local history. Certainly it raises more questions than it answers; why do the rings range so much in date, and why were they buried in a field?

The hoard took three years to go through the Treasure process and after being valued at just under £172,000 four months were allowed to raise the money needed to reimburse the finder, as is usual in cases of Treasure. The National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund made generous grants. The Headley Trust usually only makes a contribution if a Victoria and Albert Museum grant has been made but the latter had already been exhausted and the Headley Trust kindly made a grant award regardless. Further sums of money were given by Leeds Museums and Galleries, Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, the Friends of Leeds Museums and Galleries, and the Goldsmiths’ Company. The remaining money was raised by a public appeal and the hoard was secured for Leeds. The objects went straight on display in the Leeds City Museum, and a brand new display about the hoard, partly funded by the Art Fund, will be going up this Spring.