Posts from the ‘Late Medieval’ Category

aug 28

Richard III

British archaeologists hope to find the lost remains of King Richard III by digging up a car park believed to be his burial site.

Richard III – the small and slender villain of Shakespeares play died at Bosworth Field on the 22 of August 1485. The Lancastrians and their leader, Henry Tudor, won the battle. Following the battle, Richards’s dead body was transported back to Leicester and placed on public view. Subsequently he was buried in the choir of the Franciscan Church in Leicester

However, this Franciscan priory known as Greyfriars, was demolished in 1538 when the monastery was dissolved, and its roofs and lead was sold. In 1612 a mansion was built on the site and a stone pillar was erected to mark the site of Richard’s grave. After 1914 land and gardens were sold to the County, which erected offices around it and even this marker disappeared. Finally it was turned into a car park and tarmaced in 1940. The only physical remnant of the church is a small piece of a grey stone-wall, which can be seen next to the attendant’s hut in the car park.

Richard III dig 300x224 Richard III After the dissolution in 1538 it was rumoured that the remains of Richard were thrown into the River Soar. However researchers at the University of Leicester now think they be able to discover the actual site of the grave, situated somewhere beneath the car park. Even if Richard no longer lies there it is important to determine the actual layout of the church and the original position of the grave, says Richard Buckley, Co-Director of the Archaeology Service at the University of Leicester.

- The big question for us is determining the whereabouts of the church on the site, and also where in the church the body was buried, says Richard Buckley, co-director of Leicester University’s archaeology service, adding: “Although in many ways finding the remains of the king is a long-shot, it is a challenge we shall undertake enthusiastically. There is certainly potential for the discovery of burials within the area, based on previous discoveries and the postulated position of the church.”

If any remains are found it is hoped that it will be possible to have them undergo DNA-analysis at the University in order to compare them to the findings of Dr. John Ashdown-Hill, author of “The Last days of Richard III”. This very detailed (and recommendable) account of the last months in the life of Richard III presents the reader with not only a nuanced description of his daily routines as a king, but also a very interesting description of his actual burial and how and where it took place. Another account by David Baldwin is available here.

One of the initiators of the whole project is Philippa Langley, who is currently researching for a film, which is meant to tell the “real” story of Richard III, which according to her hides behind the spin of the Tudors who took over from the last Plantagenet. She is a screenwriter and member of the Richard III Society as well.

Visitors will not be able to view the dig once it commences, as it will take place at an operational council area, which is not publicly accessible. Further it is necessary to keep the dig as a so-called clean site in order to be able to get valid results from any DNA-analysis. However plans are underway to let the public in on the site, when the excavation culminates on the weekend of the 8th – 9th of September. If the remains of Richard III are identified, the plan is to exhibit them at Leicester Cathedral after they have been examined in order to gather information about his height, his build (his hunchback?) and the manner in which he was killed. It is presumed that this will also induce a massive logistical exercise in order to provide Richard with a burial that is appropriate to his status as an anointed King of England, whether at Leicester, Windsor or Westminster; or maybe York where he probably planned to be entombed together with his wife and son.

Video interview with archaeologist Richard Buckley

Richard III Society

Ricardian Britain – A Guide to sites associated with Richard III. By Beth and Phil Stonen. Richard III Society 2011

Recent books about about Richard III

Richard III
David Baldwin
Amberley Publishing 2012

The Last Days of Richard III
John Ashdown-Hill
The History Press Ltd 2010

Richard III and the Murder in the Tower
Peter A. Hancock
The History Press Ltd 2011 (2. Edition)

Richard III: The Maligned King
Annette Carson
The History Press Ltd 2009

Richard III and the Death of Chivalry
David Hipshon
The History Press 2009

Richard III (Routledge Historical Biographies)
David Hipshon
Routledge 2010

Extended booklist of publications about Richard III may be found here

maj 31

Europa Jagellonica

Art and culture of Central Europe during the dynasty of the Jagellonians 1386 -1572

The key dynastic group of Late Medieval Central and Eastern Europe was without doubt the Jagellons. Progenitor was the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vladislaus II (1351 -1434) who annexed the kingdom of Poland in 1386. His grandsons ended up as rulers of not only the Lithuania and Poland, but Hungary and Bohemia as well. How to get a grasp this dynastic entity, however, is complicated business.

To a start, one of the odd characteristics of Eastern European History is this focus on the concept of “dynasties” or “ruling houses”. Although such dynasties might encompass several distinct rulers of diverse landscapes or kingdoms, in terms of Eastern European History they were (and still are) considered belonging to the same “ruling dynasty”; which then is made to imply that these kingdoms were indeed ruled together, constituting an “realm” or an “empire”.

To what extent the situation should rather be viewed as comparable to the German, where duchies and free cities created an amalgamated patchwork, kept together by the Holy Roman Emperor and the regular diets, is an open question. However, Polish historians favour a more nationalistic point of view, stressing the empirical character of the ruling dynasty, not least because the Hapsburgs were always considered the archenemy.

How to get behind these different perspectives and figure out how state formation took place – and not least the cultural significance – has been the subject of a large research project housed at the University of Leipzig. While we are still waiting waiting for the large “Buch” (two volumes with 53 interdisciplinary articles written by theologians, historians, art historians, musicologists etc. and accompanied by 250 biographies to be published in 2013 or 2014), the chance is now to see an important traveling exhibition.

The exhibition showcases the art and culture of Central and Eastern Europe – more precisely Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Bohemia during the years 1386 -1572. Focus is more precisely on the period around 1500. More than 200 grand pieces of art will be on show. The exhibition will travel between three locations, each complimenting the core of exhibited art with a more local context. In Kuttenberg, where it opened on the 19^th of May, the indsurty connected with the silver mines are presenting us with the perspective. Moving to Warsaw, architecture and culture will be at the centre. In Postdam the dynastic relations with amongst other families, the Hohenzollern, will provide the context.

On show will be:

Panels, drawings and prints by Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Elfelser, Hans Krell, Holbein, Hans Süss von Kulmbach and others
Richly illuminated manuscripts by the Krakow court painter, Stanislaw Samostrseelnik as well as royal and municipal charters, precious incunabula etc.
Sculptures and relief of wood and stone by Veit Stoss and others
The work of Jewellers and Goldsmiths like Melchior Beier, Marcin Marcinic etc.
Coins, small-scale-sculpture and medals
Liturgical and secular textiles
Astrological tools and globes
Amours, weapons and much else…

In short all the paraphernalia of the ruling classes of Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe.

The scientific catalogue will be published in January 2013

The official homepage - www.europajagellonica.eu – is unfortunately only in Polish.

However, the curators has prepared and English presentation which might be downloaded here

The venues for the exhibition(s):

19. 05.2012–30.09.2012  GASK – Galerie Středočeského kraje | Mittelböhmische Galerie Kuttenberg

29.10.2012–27.01.2013  Zamek Królewski w Warszawie | Königliches Schloss Warschau Museum Narodowe w Warzawie | Nationalmuseum Warschau

1. 03.2013–16.06.2013  Haus der Brandenburgisch-Preußischen Geschichte, Potsdam

maj 31

Tudor Obsession

The term ‘Tudor’ was hardly used in the 16th Century and its obsessive modern use by historians and writers generally gives us a misleading impression of the period, an Oxford historian has found.

Cliff Davies of Oxford University’s History Faculty has scoured official papers, chronicles, poems, plays and pamphlets for the ‘Tudor’ name, but have found it was hardly ever used as a designation of the monarchy. Not until the last years of Elizabeth’s reign, and even then sparingly. For instance of the many poems written to mark the death of Elizabeth and the accession of James I in 1603, only one talks of a change from ‘Tudor’ to ‘Stuart’.

Davies suggests that terms like ‘Tudor England’ and ‘Tudor monarchy’ used by historians and in TV and film dramas give a false impression of glamour and unity to the period from Henry VII to Elizabeth I, and that historians need to rethink many assumptions about 16th Century England.

In an interview to the Oxford University Media, he claims that ‘The word ‘Tudor’ is used obsessively by historians, often as a quite unnecessary reinforcing adjective to add an appropriate ‘period flavour’ to their work, but it was almost unknown at the time”.

According to Davies, the Tudor name was deliberately played down, because it was an embarrassment in England; Henry VIII would rather boast of the “Union”, of the families of Lancaster and York, which he embodied through his mother.

– ‘Periods’ are artificial constructions by historians. What makes the concept of the ‘Tudor period’ so seductive is that we believe it to have been current at the time. This was not the case. We need to revise our concepts, says Davies, who is obviously a bit annoyed by the “Tudor Craze” apparent in films, television series and the Living History re-enactments flourishing around the countryside each summer.

C.S.L. Davies is Keeper of the Archives at Wadham College and a distinguished “Tudor” Historian, as it somewhat ironically says on the blurb of a selection of essays, which were presented to him in 2002 (Authority and Consent in Tudor England: essays presented to C.S.L. Davies. Ed. by G. W. Bernard and S. J. Gunn. Ashgate 2002). His main work is a detailed and generally very admired study of “Peace, Print and Protestantism 1450-1558”, published at Hart-Davis MacGibbon, 1976.

C.S.L. Davies has published the background for these reflections in an article:
Information, disinformation and political knowledge under Henry VII and early Henry VIII (pages 228–253) in: Historical Research, May 2012, Vol. 85, issue 228: pp. 228 – 253

Read more at Oxford University Media

maj 14

Captured Goods

New exhibition in Bern shows captured goods from 1250 -1520

During the 15^th and early 16^th century Switzerland took part in a series of successful wars against the Burgundian Dukes. At the battles of Aaargaus 1415 and Waadt 1536 rich prey fell in the hands of the burghers of Bern. The greatest trophies, however, stem from the battle against Charles the Bold in 1476, when the ducal treasures were seized in total. Part of these treasures ended up in the History Musuem in Bern, where they are currently exhibited. For those who did not have the chance in 2008, when the “life and times of Charles the Bold” was the object of a major European exhibition in Brussels, the possibility is here again to experience at least some of the priceless treasures.

Some of these magnificent pieces are the Mille-Fleur tapestry from 1466, which once belonged to Phillip the Good, the tapestry of the Adoration of the Magi from Brussels or Tournai ca. 1450 -1460 and a portrait of Phillip the Fair.

Each of these pieces represents the refined and exclusive taste, which governed at the Burgundian court in the later Middle Ages. Many of the treasures are currently being restored, and as part of the exhibition it is possible to watch the conservators at work as well as question them about the techniques, procedures and materials.

Captured Treasure – Court art in Bern (1250–1520)- Erobertes Gut – Höfische Kunst in Bern (1250 – 1520)
Bernisches Historisches Museum
Helvetiaplatz 5, Bern

The Catalogue from 2008:
Katalog zur Ausstellung «Karl der Kühne (1433–1477)»
Hrsg: Historisches Museum Bern; Bruggemuseum & Groeningemuseum Brügge
Verlag: Mercatorfonds, Brüssel 2008

apr 26

Catalonia 1400

Beautiful exhibition in Barcelona highlights Gothic art..

Catalonia 1400 is the first major exhibition of Catalonian art from one of the most creative periods, characterized by its affinity to what is generally termed “International Gothic”. Prominent in the exhibition is works by artists like Louis Borrassà, Rafael Destorrents, Peter and John Bernat Martorell.

Objects exhibited range from the delicate miniatures found in illuminated manuscripts to embroideries, golden metalworks and paintings in the form of retables. Four panels from a retable of Saint George by Bernat Martorell are on loan from Louvre. They used to hang in the chapel of St. George in the Palau de la Generalitat.

Another highlight is the miniatures found in the Missal of Saint Eulalia by Rafel Destorrents and the Ferial Psalter and Book of Hours by Bernat Martorell.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.

Catalunya 1400. El Gòtic International
29.03.2012 – 15.07.2012

Catalogue: Catalunya 1400. El Gòtic International. Barcelona 2012

apr 26

1 Comment

Royal Devotion

This year sees the celebration of the 350^th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer has had an enormous influence upon the language and the traditions of the English people. Not only did it present the nation with a treasured collection of texts and words by which people were obliged to perform their daily rites of faith as well as rites of birth, christening, confirmation, marriages and burials. It also presented the English Nation with an iconic text at the same time symbolising unity and strife. And it became the primary vehicle for the exportation of the English Language and way of life to the British Empire and later the Commonwealth.

The story of how the Book of Common Prayer came to be is both circuitous and painful. In its first version, it was famously written by Thomas Cranmer and officially inaugurated at Whitsun in St. Pauls Cathedral in London in 1549. In 1553 it was officially banished, when Mary I was crowned queen of England and the realm reverted to Roman Catholicism. However, in 1552 her successor, Elisabeth I, once again reversed religious policy and in 1559 she and Parliament passed an Act of Uniformity and provided for a new edition of the seminal text. Never quite protestant enough nor satisfyingly Calvinist in its leanings, the Book of Common Prayer later became one of the key symbols of the division between the warring parties during the English Civil War. As such it was abolished in 1645. After the 1660 restoration, the book once again became the cornerstone of the Church of England, although in a new and revised edition. It is the anniversary of this “Book of Common Prayer” which is celebrated 2012.

Royal Devotion
Lambeth Palace is the London seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The library – housed in the Great Hall – contains more than 120.000 manuscripts, books and letters. “Royal Devotion” is the name of the exhibition this summer, which runs from the 1^st May to the 14^th of July. The exhibition showcases a number of books relating to the connection between the English Monarchy and the Book of Common Prayer. The centrepiece of the exhibition will be the 1662 revision of the Book of Common Prayer. However, other highlights of the exhibition will include a 1549 printing of the Book of Common Prayer plus Medieval illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Hours of Richard III, Queen Elizabeth I’s personal prayer book and a copy of the book of private devotions compiled for Queen Elizabeth II in preparation for her coronation. Another more recent item is the personal copy of the prayer book of The Prince of Wales, which was given to him by his godfather, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was killed by an IRA bomb in 1979. The exhibition will also include the silk and silver-thread gloves worn by Charles I at his execution in 1649 and an ornate ivory chalice belonging to his close friend, the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. He is believed to have taken his final communion from the chalice at the Tower of London on the morning before he was executed in January 1645, a few days after the Puritans abolished the Book of Common Prayer.

Choral Evensong
Another flagship event of the celebrations this year (most of which are local) is the Choral Evensong in St. Paul’s Cathedral on the 2^nd of May 2012 at 5.00 PM, followed by a reception in the Crypt (Tickets required in advance).

Seminal publication
Recently the three early texts of the Book of Common Prayer, more precisely the texts from 1549, 1559 and 1662, were edited by Brian Cummings, professor of English at the University of Sussex. This edition not only provides the reader with a meticulous edition of the three texts, but also presents him or her with an enjoyable introduction to this centrepiece of Englishness.

Popular history
However, if the interest lies more in the overall picture, the Prayer Book Society recently published a more popular introduction edited by Prudence Dailey. “The Book of Common Prayer: Past, Present and Future: A 350th Anniversary Celebration” is accompanied by a foreword by The Prince of Wales, while the afterword is by the Bishop of London, respectively Lay and Ecclesiastical Patrons of the Prayer Book Society. Prudence Dailey has edited this varied, nicely produced, inexpensive and very readable collection of essays, which also holds and appendix by Terry Waite, the well known Anglican and Quaker, who spent almost five years in captivity in Beirut. The book is in four sections, dealing in turn with the history, language, liturgy and mission of the Book of Common Prayer. A booklet with the story has also been published in connection with the anniversary.

The Prayer Book Society

The Book of Common Prayer 350

The Lambeth Palace Library and the exhibition “Royal Devotion”

The Book of Common Prayer. The Texts of 1549,1559 and 1662. Ed: Brian Cummings. Oxford University Press 2011.

The Book of Common Prayer: Past, Present & Future. Ed. by Prudence Dailey. Continuum Publishing Corporation 2011

Booklet: Celebrating 350 years of the 1662 BCP

Lambeth Palace Library: Treasures from the Collection of the Archbishops of Canterbury. Scala Publishers 2010

mar 23

Walraversidje

Close to airport of Osteende, Belgie, lies a proper hidden gem, the Walraversijde archaeological site.

The excavation of the deserted medieval fishing village of Walraversijde started in 1992. Due to the ravaging wars at the beginning of the 16th and 17th century the village had de facto been deserted. Hence, when archaeologist started digging, they were able to uncover a vide variety of material culture, which characterised this fishing community in the Middle Ages. Part of these rich findings have together with inspiration from amongst other sources the painted interiors of the Flemish Primitives resulted in a faithful recreation of four houses anno 1465.

A visit starts with an audio-visual presentation in which the history of the Domain of Raversijde is evoked by means of virtual reality technology. Then follows a walk through the reconstructed medieval landscape, which takes the visitor to four fisherman’s houses: the house of the rich ship-owner, the house of the fisherman’s widow, the house of the fisherman and his family and the fish smokehouse cum bakery.

This is followed by a ‘transitional experience’ where visitors move from a ruin of a village house to an archaeologist’s working space, thus returning to the 21st century. The excavation site is some metres away, exactly on the spot where the four fisherman’s houses were discovered.

The visit to the site ends with an exhibition in the museum buil-ding, where some of the original objects are displayed in their context by means of the latest interactive techniques.

Walraversijde
Already in the 12th century a number of fishermens’ settlements existed along the coast. At that time the larger towns and ports had important fleets and organised off-shore ventures in the new lucrative marine enterprises. Walraversijde seems to have started as nothing but a seasonal mooring place, probably organised by the Counts of Flanders. Here large catches of herring and flatfish were landed and processed – either by drying, smoking or salting, using the local marine salt.

During the 13th and 14th century the built environment consisted of small dispersed groups of houses. Somewhat later the village moved inland and prospered due to the exploitation of the local resources: fish in the sea, peat for the saltworks and part-time labour from the populous inland. However, due to the extensive peat-digging, the dunes started drifting. Further, the coast was hit by the devastating St. Vincentius flood of 1394, which basically left the village in front of the dunes on the beach. Once more it was moved back. Due to the wars in the 16th and 17th century this settlement was eventually deserted, which left a virtual “plum” for the archaeologists.

What surfaced was a picture of a flourishing community with a large group of people, half of whom were away from home for along time. At the top were the Schliepiden, the captains and owners of the fishing vessels. These were manned with up to 20 free fishermen, who brought their own nets and had a share in the profits. These fishing enterprises were highly commercial.

An important precondition for success was access to local knowledge about pilotage or guidance of ships through the estuaries, the location of “good” fishing spots, the tackle and the conservation methods. Later, when fishing on the Doggersbank started, capital and investment in large fishing vessels came from the nearby cities like Oostende.

At that time Walraversijde consisted of around 100 houses, a common “draeyplats” for rope-making, the brewery, the local inn and from around 1435, a chapel. The settlement was quite compact, leaving no room for gardening or small household farming. People lived off the sea and the fish.

Brick was the dominant building materials of the thatched houses. The flooring was either made of bricks or just plain clay covered with sand. If the houses were large (more than a 100 m2) they were usually characterised by brick latrines, brick walls, red painted plastering and coloured glass windows. The heating device was situated against the wall or very close to the wall. Artificial light was made with bronze chandeliers or ceramic oil-lamps. In many houses Spanish lustre wares from Valencia, Màlaga and Sevilla were found, probably stemming from payment for piloting. As is usual for villages close to the shore, the material culture was also marked by income from privateering, wreckages and beach-combing.

All this and much more may be studied at the recreated village and in the museum.

Walraversijde Museum
Nieuwpoortsesteenweg 636,
Oostende, Belgie

At the English wikipedia entrance for Walraversidje, five research articles may be downloaded

Posts from the ‘Late Medieval’ Category

Richard III

Europa Jagellonica

Tudor Obsession

Captured Goods

Catalonia 1400

Royal Devotion

Walraversidje

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Posts from the ‘Late Medieval’ Category

Richard III

Europa Jagellonica

Tudor Obsession

Captured Goods

Catalonia 1400

Royal Devotion

Walraversidje

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