Today is my last day in England... I only had 8 full days in England and yet I managed to travel 1,415 miles within the country. If I were to include the flight miles the total would be 8,319 miles. I can honestly say that this has been the most interesting, informative, and fun trip I have gone on. Not to mention that is was school related! I am really glad I choose this topic. I understand why some of my peers decided to do more laid back projects, because after a year of hard work we kind of deserve it. I am not putting down their projects, I would have loved to take pictures of puppies or cooked Greek food, it's just that I love history and I love England. This trip allowed me to combine these interests while visiting family, taking fun road trips, and learning to surf. Looking back I did a lot in 8 days.

I was surprised at what I learned from this trip. The main purpose was to discover if King Richard III was actually the villain Shakespeare made him out to be. I did investigate this question but I also learned other things along the way. I learned that my irrational fear of writing stemmed from the restrictions of writing in school. In my opinion this blog is just as informative as any paper I have written at Williams. The difference is that I was allowed to set my own guidelines. I could make it as informal and funny as I wanted and I could included pictures. While writing I knew that no teacher would be grading my words and anyone who wanted to read it could and those who didn't care for the topic could choose not to read it. I doubt many people will come to my Senior Project presentation because I admit my enthusiasm for the English monarchy is strange and that most people fall asleep in History Class when the topic comes up. But you know what? I don't care. I love history and this project gave me the opportunity to explore a subject that I love in depth and I had a blast.

Another thing I learned is that when you reach out to people (like the Visits Officer I contacted to find out more about the exhibit in Leicester) they are more willing to accommodate you because you showed interest. I would not have known about all the places to visit if I have not put aside my fear of reaching out to a professional and asking for help. A bonus to this is that I am only 18. The adults I have talked to about the project are surprised and impressed by the fact that I picked an academic project when I could have done something more relaxing. As long as you show interest people will always be willing to help an this is a very important lesson for my future. 

Here is the third and final road trip. The driving was awful because of pouring rain and traffic. It took much longer than the projected 1 hour and 53 minutes to get there. That said, it was totally worth it. 

I did not get to see the actual skeleton but here is a picture of how the body was discovered. As you can see the upper part of the body looks squished, as if the grave was not long enough to lay him out flat. Another theory is that the location where the body was buried, the choir of the Greyfriar's church, was a very small space that was not usually used for graves. I have also added in a blueprint for the  church. It shows the small size of the choir and also how lucky the researchers were that they stumbled upon Richard's remains in one of the three trenches they dug out. Considering the amount of building activity that went on in the past 300 or so years in Leicester it is surprising that the skeleton remained as intact as it did, with only the feet missing. I wish we could have had more time in the city or that I had scheduled a guided tour of the dig but I am happy with what I was able to accomplish in about 2 hours.  

Here I am with Richard's reconstructed head. Scientists used his skull and were able to add the complex system of muscles and skin tissue using a computer program. From the computer model artists used wax and other realistic materials to show Richard's face for what it truly was. He was only 32 at the time of his death and unlike the doctored portraits of the Tudor era Richard's reconstructed face shows him to look much healthier, younger, and almost handsome. The reconstructed face is on a nation wide tour so I was really lucky to happen to be in Leicester when it was visiting the city. 

August 22, 1485 was a decisive day in the history of England. The day saw two kings of England and the closing and starting of new eras. The day started with the last Plantagenet King of England and ended with the first Tudor one. Richard III's death is generally regarded as the end of Medieval England and Henry VII's reign is considered the start of the Renaissance. Let's see how this momentous battle went down.  Here is a supposed map of the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard's Army is red and Henry's army is green. As you can see from the size of the armies drawn Richard should have had the advantage from the start. Richard did until he was betrayed by the Duke of Northumberland who refused to fight for his king and Lord Stanley who did not pick a side until he was sure that Henry was going to win. These betrayals were Richard's downfall and although he fought valiantly he became the last English King to be killed in battle. Richard was killed by Welsh pike men and his naked body was carried by horseback to the Greyfriars Church in Leicester where he was put on display for three days. He was then buried in the church choir and 10 years later Henry VII paid for a marble tomb for the King he had killed. Sadly this tomb was destroyed during the dissolution of the Catholic monasteries under Henry VII's son Henry VIII. 

His skeleton had 10 wounds and the wounds suggested that he lost his helmet during battle. He had numerous Portsmouth injuries known as "insult injuries". These were most likely inflicted by victorious knights who wanted to mock and humiliate their dead enemy as his body passed by on the way to town. They made sure to not do too much damage to his face though because Henry Tudor wanted the body to be recognizable so he could prove that Richard III was dead and that he was now King Henry VII. 

Unfortunately we did not make it to Bosworth Field. It was pouring rain and our day trip to Leicester was in danger because of all of the traffic and it was no small feet that we managed to get home at a reasonable hour. We did visit the location where the body was discovered last year. Pretty cool parking lot, eh? We weren't allowed to go any farther and I really wish I had called ahead to arrange a private tour of the dig. Although, the weather was so awful it might not have been worth it. The exhibit on Richard and the discovery of his body was fascinating. There was an interactive skeleton that displayed and explained the various markings on the body and showed that while Richard had scoliosis  the basis of which Shakespeare based his dis formed hunchback, it only raised his right should slightly and did not affect his fighting ability. The most interesting feeture of the discovery of the remains was that the skeleton did not have feet. Researchers believe that the various buildings that were built on the site in the years to follow disturbed the body and the feet were somehow lost. Scientists were able to prove that the skeleton they found under the parking lot was actually Richard III through DNA testing. Although Richard has no living decedents his sister Anne of York does and the DNA is a perfect match. Using his skull and advanced computer technology scientist were are able to reconstruct Richard's face. I will post a picture of me with the reconstructed head and a more detailed description of the process in a later post. 

Just for fun :)

In the summer of 1483 the 12 year old uncrowned king of England Edward V and his 9 year old brother Richard vanished. They were last seen in the Tower of London and the common theory is that they were murdered by their blood lusting and ambitious uncle Richard III. They were not the first English princes with a claim to the throne to vanish mysteriously. When Richard I died he did not have a legitimate heir. He named his nephew Arthur, Duke of Brittany, as heir to the kingdom. Richard's brother John took the throne and after putting down a rebellion led by Arthur the recently turned 16 year old prince disappeared. 

 

The Princes in the Tower, as they came to be known, were declared illegitimate by Parliament because their father Edward IV had already had a betrothal contract with another woman when he married their mother. Richard III, then Duke of Gloucester, was Protector of the Realm for his underage nephew. Parliament offered Richard the throne after his nephews were disinherited and after pretending to be reluctant he accepted. That's all good but what happened? There wasn't any proof at the time that Richard murdered his nephews. That accusation came to light in Shakespeare's Richard III. Now why would Shakespeare talk trash about Richard when he had praised other kings in his plays? It was all about money and endorsement  . Shakespeare rose to prominence during the reign of the fifth Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I. Her grandfather Henry VII, the victor at Bosworth Fields, had done everything in his power to ruin Richard's reputation. Richard only ruled for two years and two months and yet the propaganda under the Tudors destroyed the image of a king who actually accomplished a lot it such a short amount of time. A few months after his coronation Richard created the Court of Requests, a court designed for poor people who could not afford to pay to be represented. He introduced the concept of bail into the English court system to protect the accused   and in 1484 created the College of Arms, a complex organization that to this day grants new coat of arms, genealogy research and recording of pedigrees. To finish off the list he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English, and put down a full fledged rebellion in 1483. 

Not too shabby, eh? Richard III did a relatively good job as king compared to a few of England's monarch before and since. For example Richard I spent the entirety of the English treasury funding a mercenary army  to fight his hated enemy the French, to fight in the Holy Land, John lost all of England's possessions in France, Edward II lost his kingdom to his wife and her lover because he refused to give up his male favorites and was not brave enough to take action, poor Henry VI went through periods of madness and walked around in bed clothes, Henry VIII had six wives and murdered two of them, Bloody Mary  tried to force Catholicism on newly Protestant England and burned hundreds at the stake, Charles I lost his kingdom (and his head) because he decided to rule without ever calling a Parliament into order, as King of Great Britain George I could not speak English, George III lost the entire American colonies and went completely mad, Edward VIII gave up the throne so he could marry a divorced American woman.... the list goes on and on! Every single on other these monarchs ruled longer than Richard and yet Richard III is easily the most hated. I will continue to investigate this in my next post by looking through paintings and Tudor propaganda for the lies told about Richard.

Here is the second road trip. We started out on Friday afternoon from Weybridge (A) and spent the night in Wincanton (B). The next day we left at 7 AM and thanks to traffic we did not make it to St. Ives (C) until 11:30 AM. On the way back we drove down to Land's End (about 30 minutes from St. Ives) and then did the entire 267 miles in one go.

Cornwall is absolutely lovely! It took us forever to get here but we are here! This doesn't really have anything to do with Richard III, it is just a get away with the family. It had been raining for the past three days so imagine my surprise when we arrived in St. Ives Cornwall at 11 AM to have our surf lesson and the sun was shining without a cloud in the sky! I even managed to stand up! I was super excited. We walked around the quaint cobble stone alleys of the town, ate authentic Cornish pasties, and went shopping.We all needed (and deserved) the sun and beach after the winter we had. Today we spent all day on the beach surfing, soaking up the sun and wearing sweaters because it was freezing!!! I was very proud of myself because despite my gingerness I did not get a sunburn. We stayed for two nights and then traveled down to Land's End in the pouring rain to visit the southern most point in the UK. Overall it was tons of fun and had nothing to do with learning. Back to the real work...

As much fun I it would be for me to give my own summary of the life of King Richard III I fear my version would be too long, contain unnecessary details, and bore the crap out of you. Here is a lovely concise version I found online  at http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/timeline-of-king-richard-iii.htm. 

Timeline of Key Dates	Timeline of King Richard III Key events
r. 1483 -1485	Reigned as King of England: 26 June 1483 - 22 Aug,1485
1452	King Richard III was born on 2 October 1452 at Fotheringay Castle. He was the son of Richard, Duke of York (1411-1460) and Cecily Neville (1415-1495) and the brother of King Edward IV
1460	The Battle of Wakefield: Richard's father was killed in the battle. Richard spent his childhood at Middleham Castle under the tutelage of his uncle Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick ( the Kingmaker )
1461	Warwick was instrumental in deposing King Henry VI and replacing him with Richard's eldest brother, Edward on March 4: Edward of York was declared King Edward IV of England
1472	July 12, 1472: Richard married Anne Neville (c. 1456-1485) who was the younger daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Anne Beauchamp
1473	King Richard has a son: Edward of Middleham, also known as Edward Plantagenet (1473 - April 9, 1484) was born in 1473, he was the only son of King Richard III of England and his wife Anne Neville.
1482	Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Scots
1483	Easter: King Edward IV fell ill during Easter 1483. He named his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester as Protector after his death and entrusted his young sons and little princes, Edward and Richard, to his care. Richard had always remained loyal to King Edward IV
1483	King Edward IV died: April 9, 1483 at Westminster. He was buried at Windsor Castle
1483	The young prince ascended the throne as Edward V when his father died in 9th April 1483. Edward V was joined by his brother Prince Richard at the Tower of London to await his coronation
1483	16th June 1483:  The coronation of Edward V was cancelled
1483	June 25 1483: Parliament declared the two little princes illegitimate and, as next in line to the throne, their uncle and Protector, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was declared the true King. The two little princes were never seen again
1483	26 June 1483: Richard, Duke of Gloucester was declared King Richard III
1483	July 6, 1483: Richard was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
1484	April 9 1484: Edward of Middleham, also known as Edward Plantagenet the only son of King Richard III of England died suddenly, cause unknown
1484	March 16 1484: Anne Neville, the wife of King Richard III died of tuberculosis
1485	Battle of Bosworth Field 22 August 1485: King Richard III  was killed and his supporters defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire against Lancastrian forces led by Henry Tudor
1485	Richard was the last king of the Plantagenet family, who had ruled over England for more than three hundred years. Richard's defeat at Bosworth Field by Henry Tudor ended the Plantagenet dynasty and the Wars of the Roses and heralded the Tudor dynasty

Here is a Google Maps shot of my first road trip. My sister lives in Weybridge and the Magna Carta was signed in Runnymede which is only 10 miles away from Weybridge and 20 miles away from the center of London.

Turns out we were not able to make it to Leicester. We ended up going to Runnymede, the location where the Magna Carta was signed by King John in 1215. A couple interesting facts about the Magna Carta...

1. It was not actually signed! It was sealed in wax by the King.  
2. More than one copy was produced and sent out to officials across the kingdom. 
3. The original Magna Carta had 63 clauses. Only three are still in use today.

• One defends the freedom and rights of the English Church
• Another confirms the liberties and customs of London and other towns
• The last one of the three is the most famous; it covers the court system and the rights guaranteed to the accused. These rights included what would later become known as trial by jury, the right to a government paid lawyer and other rights that contributed to our 6^th Amendment. 

     4. King John did not listen to the rules set out by the charter and faced a two year long rebellion. 

     5. There is more than one version of the Magna Carta. It was revised and set out in 1216, 1217, 1225,       and 1297. Each time clauses were removed and created by kings depending on the situation. 

Here is a picture of me at Runnymede in the field where the Magna Carta was sealed. As you can tell by my clothes it was raining when I left the house. And it was raining 10 minutes after this picture was taken. Thank you to the English weather gods for given me some sun for my photo shoot :) 

Now you may be asking yourself, what on earth does the Magna Carta have to do with Richard III. Well, the Magna Carta changed the course of history. It limited the power of the previously absolute monarchs of England and set into place the foundation for constitutional law as we know it. It paved the way for the first Parliament to meet in England under the reign of John's son, King Henry III in 1258. Parliament was the institution that declared Edward IV's children illegitimate and offered the throne to Richard III. Therefore if King John hadn't sealed the Magna Carta then there wouldn't have been a Parliament that created Richard as King of England. 

What was the War of Roses? I believe some background information is necessary for those of you with social lives who don't memorize the genealogy of English Kings for fun. The war can be traced back to King Edward III of England. He reigned for 50 years and helped create a strong and militaristic England that was the poster child for the medieval world. Edward and his decedents were technically all part of the House of Plantagenet but his sons' children would go on to create factions within the family. He had eight sons, five of whom lived long enough to amass power and pass large titles onto their heirs. These sons were Edward Duke of Cornwall, Lionel Duke of Clarence, John Duke of Lancaster, Edmund Duke of York, and Thomas Duke of Gloucester. John of Gaunt became the patriarch of the House of Lancaster when his son Henry usurped the throne from Richard II (son of Edward Duke of Cornwall) and became Henry IV. Edmund's son Richard married the great granddaughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence and founded the House of York. It was Edmund's Yorkist great grandson Edward that fought against the Lancaster king Henry VI and won the throne of England as Edward IV. The House of Lancaster divided even further to produce the House of Tudor. Lancastrian king Henry V married Catherine of Valois but died right after his son Henry VI was born. Catherine got remarried to a man named Owen Tudor and they had a son named Edmund Tudor. Edmund went on to marry John Duke of Lancaster's great granddaughter Margaret Beaufort and their son Henry VII became the first Tudor king. Confused yet? :) Basically one family, the Plantagenet family, divided into two factions Lancaster and York. Lancaster divided even further and produced the House of Tudor. So the line of kings went Plantagenet, Lancaster, York, Tudor. The red rose of Lancaster fought against the white rose of York and lost. These roses represented each family and that is why it is called the War of Roses. Tudor King Henry VII married the daughter of Yorkist King Edward IV and combined the red and white roses to create the Tudor Rose. Here is a picture for those of you who need a visual aid.


I hope this makes more sense now. Or not :) The family tensions and divisions resulted in one of the well known wars in history thanks to the fabrications of one William Shakespeare. 

I finally arrived in England today! I was thoroughly surprised by the lack of rain upon arrival and while it isn't sunny at the moment I would consider this a lovely day :)

Now on to the actual project. Before arriving in England I tried to do as much research as I could. I read novels that took various stances on Richard's reputation, watched movies that portrayed him in different lights, and read textbooks that showed what is written down in history and taught to schoolchildren. The novel I read was The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. A light read of 936 pages the book has all of the historical facts mixed in with  fascinating and interesting dialogue between main characters. The book also jumps around and is told from various characters points of view. I found it interesting to observe the same event from three or four different points of view. Overall I can say that I appreciate Ms. Penman's enthusiastic approach to trying and redeeming Richard's reputation. She put all of the issues he had to deal with into context and sheds light on what he was able to accomplish as king for only two years and two months. I own a textbook titled The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England. Written by Antonia Fraser the book is the straight facts with all the names and dates. This book helped me gain an understanding of the situation that Richard found himself in. I learned about the warring factions of the House of Plantagenet, the Lancasters, Yorks, and Tudors. The kings I examined were Henry VI (Lancaster), Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III (York), and finally Henry VII (Tudor). All of these men played an important role in the War of Roses and the book helped me grasp just how complex the monarchy of England was. Lastly, I watched three movies based on Richard III. I watched the Ian McKellen and Robert Downey Jr. 1995 version of Shakespeare's famous Richard III, Sir Laurence Olivier's 1955 version, and Al Pacino's 1996 version titled "Looking For Richard". Here are two links for the movies.

http://www.solarmovie.so/watch-richard-iii-1995.html

http://www.solarmovie.so/watch-looking-for-richard-1996.html

The original plan was that tomorrow we would head north to Leicester and visit the parking lot where Richard III's body was recently dug up. Before we headed up there without asking around I emailed Marian Mitchell, the Visits Officer of the Richard III Society. She responded quickly and with a lovely long note about how unfortunately the car park is not open to the public (thank God I asked before I went up there and embarrassed myself) but that there is a exhibit across the street. She was also nice enough to include a list of other places we could visit. We can not go tomorrow because something came up with my nephews. We will instead go next Tuesday. I am very excited about this project. Not only am I getting to research one of my favorite topics but I also get to visit my favorite country and test out writing a blog. Wish me luck!

Before I get to England and begin my project I think it would be best if declared the purpose of the project and set some goals. 

The main purpose of this project is to come to my own educated conclusion based on intense research on the topic of whether King Richard III of England was truly the villain William Shakespeare made him out to be. Through watching of movies, reading of novels, reading textbooks, resources available on the internet, and visiting the locations associated with Richard I hope to come to a concrete opinion of Richard's reputation. Here are some sources I plan on using. 

The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England by Antonia Fraser

The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain

The Richard III Society

BBC's page on Richard III

My main goal is to update the blog at least once a day during my stay in England. I acknowledge that this may not be possible because of the long road trips that require sitting in traffic for hours on end. If I do not meet the quota for the day I plan on posting twice the next day. My second goal is to focus on the topic at hand. I tend to get distracted and the amount of information I will have to sift through will be very tempted to investigate further upon. My last goal is to have fun. Yes this is technically a school project but I get to travel to England (which just so happens to be my favorite country!), visit my sister, and research a topic that is an obsession of mine. I can't wait to see how the trip and project go. 

  

King Richard III. A hunchbacked villain who murdered his innocent nephews in order to ascend the throne of England.  Or did he? Shakespeare's play Richard III put forth this representation of Richard and the generations that followed believed that Richard truly was a murderous usurper to the throne. This distortion of Richard's image can be attributed to the victor of the Battle of Bosworth Fields, Henry VII. Henry was the Tudor claimant to the throne and he was pronounced king after Richard was slain on the battle field. The House of Tudor sought to strength their claim to the throne by ruining the image of the House of York and in doing so destroyed the reputation of the last Yorkish king, Richard III. He ruled for only two years and two months and yet he is one of the most hated kings in English history. Why? That is the purpose of my project. Through reading numerous sources, watching various depictions, and travelling to the places associated with King Richard III I hope to discover the true about the man. Was he hated as much by his contemporaries as he was by generations to follow or was it simply the Tudor's propaganda that destroyed his image? Only research can tell.