The voice of King Richard III

There have been several media reports about a project to reconstruct the voice of King Richard iII. The result seemingly spoken by an avatar ( which manages to look very unlike both the initial reconstruction of the King’s head from his skull as found in Leicester and the recognised portraits ) has been on exhibition in York in recent days. The Guardian reports on it at Hi-tech recreation of Richard III’s voice has a Yorkshire accent 

I am sure the devotees of the King will be deeply moved by it as it has been in parts sponsored by the Richard III Society. The choice of a Yorkshire accent will also appeal to those who make so much of his time spent in the county and his apparent popularity there.

I cannot claim any expertise in matters of dialect and pronunciation and indeed in the way in which those have changed over the centuries. However listening to the re-created ‘voice’ I felt myself completely unmoved by it and indeed it seemed really rather implausible. 

First of all, Yorkshire accents very considerably over quite small distances, and reflect influences coming from neighbouring areas and also legacies from the distant past.  Thus the East Riding accent preserves both dialect words and pronunciation that reflects Danish heritage of the area. The dialect of the Tees Valley as much that of the north east as it is of the county of Broad Acres.

Secondly, English pronunciation has evolved significantly since the fifteenth century. Whilst this is recognised in this recreation, it does not seem to match up very well with reconstructions of the language of Chaucer or of the late sixteenth century language as used and understood by Shakespeare ( mention him not to the Richard III enthusiasts ) and his contemporaries.

Thirdly, although King Richard spent a number of years in Yorkshire we do not know what the voice patterns of his parents’ household were, he was born in Northamptonshire, which might give him an East Midlands tone, then spent some time in his early years on the Welsh borders at Ludlow, as well apparently in Warwick’s household in Yorkshire or elsewhere. By the end of the 1460s he was then in and around London, as well having a second exile in Flanders, before he moved to make Yorkshire his primary residence. By that time it is likely that his accent would have already been largely formed. If he did actually speak with a northern accent it might well have reinforced. alongside his northern followers, the point emphasised by Charles Ross in his biography of him, that he was an outsider to the London and southern political elite. Caxton’s point about the mutual incomprehension of a Yorkshireman and a Kentish woman is an indicator of how accent and dialect marked individuals out. 

Fourthly, and here I speak ( pun intended ) from personal experience, it is perfectly possible to live in Yorkshire for much longer than the total life of King Richard and to have only slight elements of a Yorkshire accent - mainly in the enunciation of vowels.

Fifthly although we know modern ‘received pronunciation’ is largely a product of the 1920s following the establishment of the BBC radio service, and that before then prominent public figures spoke with accents that might seem surprising today. The surviving recording of Gladstone shows elements of his Scottish ancestry as well as his Liverpudlian birthplace. I have read that Lord Curzon the “ most superior person”, Oxford educated, Viceroy of India and political heavyweight always spoke with a noticeable Derbyshire accent. To what extent the leading figures of fifteenth century England spoke with a distinctive accent is not clear, if knowable. In the sixteenth century that is evidence for the fact that King Henry VIII had a rather high-pitched voice and Queen Elizabeth I recorded by one French ambassador in her native years as speaking with the aristocratic drawl that uses long m-drawn out vowel sounds as in paar maa fwaa for par ma foi. 

Maybe King Richard III did speak like the reconstruction, but I am far from convinced.

Sculptured stones from Old Sarum emerge in Salisbury

The BBC News website recently reported the discovery during repair work on the medieval walls of the Close at Salisbury Cathedral of carved stones which had been reused from the previous cathedral at Old Sarum. The proposal is to display these in the cathedral stonemason’s yard. 

The article can be read at Workers at Salisbury Cathedral find stones from Old Sarum site

It is long been known that the previous cathedral was dismantled and its masonry reused to create its successor on the new site on the banks of the Avon. English Heritage

list individual items in the collection at the present cathedral and also indicates which parts of it are believed to have been built with masonry brought down from Old Sarum on their website at Sources for Old Sarum

Such reuse of masonry was not unique to Salisbury.  At York the eastern crypt built in the fourteenth century reused material from the twelfth century choir of Archbishop Roger on the same site. In Winchester garden walls in the cathedral close have yielded a substantial number of pieces of sculpture from the late mediaeval High Altar screen. At some point in the middle of the sixteenth century these high-quality sculptures were removed from their niches, sawn up, and reused as blocks for mundane walling. These surviving portions of the figures can now be seen in the gallery of cathedral treasures displayed in the South Transept. I have linked to information about this in my 2020 post Our Lady of Winchester

The most recent archaeological investigation of parts of the Close at Salisbury by Wessex Archaeology can be seen in their report here

This helps provide the context for the reused stonework and for other lost features. It  concentrates on investigative work on the site of the fifteenth century chantry chapel of Bishop Beauchamp and of the thirteenth century freestanding bell tower. These were both very regrettably demolished at the end of the eighteenth century by the architect Wyatt. The Wessex Archaeology report quotes Pugin’s scathing judgment on Wyatt -‘ the Destroyer…. this monster of architectural depravity…. this pest of cathedral architecture .. ‘  I wrote about his catalogue of destruction at the cathedral between 1788 and 1792 in a piece in 2011 entitled Vandalism at Salisbury Cathedral - I still, by the way, think the belfry tower and its wooden superstructure should be recreated.

Quite by chance, or by the sensitivity of the algorithm, as I finished this blog I saw an article from today in The Independent about fundraising to purchase a thirteenth century Bible written and illuminated in his Salisbury workshop by a recognised artist, the Sarum Master, and to house it ib the cathedral library. The volume is one of just six identified works by the artist. The illustrated article, which includes a donation link, can be seen at Sarum Master Bible campaign receives £10,000 donation

Remembering the battle of Varna in 1444

Every year this point in November with Remembrance Day and the anniversary of the 1918 Armistice focuses the thoughts of most of us on the casualties of the two World Wars of the twentieth  century, and of subsequent campaigns involving the armed forces of the Crown.

Not a little of that reflection is about the pity and the horror of war and its consequences in personal and social terms. Beyond that, it may lead to thought about the place of war not only in the history of the last century and a quarter, and in the present, but also throughout history, and in all places. Wars may well be justified, or they may be completely illegitimate, and their consequences are wide and far-reaching. Not only are troops and civilians killed and maimed, with all the attendant consequences, and maps redrawn and territories lost or gained, and we tell ourselves not just that we won, or lost, but that the right cause won, or lost. War is Original Sin and the fallen nature of humanity made manifest in all its variety and contradictions - nobility, bravery, gallantry, cruelty, savagery, misery all enmeshed and blended together. I am not a pacifist, war is sometimes, regrettably, necessary, and the best way to peace is by strong defence and vigilance, but let us make no mistake - war is terrible and terrifying.

It is with those thoughts in mind that I look now not at events since 1914 - many still raw and still difficult to process - but to an anniversary that falls today from the period in which I tend to have a particular interest. 580 years ago today the battle of Varna was fought between a central European Christian coalition and the Ottomans on the shore of the Black Sea in Bulgaria. The catastrophic defeat of the Christian forces helped shift the political parameters of the Balkans and beyond for centuries to come. Reading something about it is not just to look at distant events but in fact at ones with a continuing legacy, and in the fates of individuals find something we can empathise with.

Wikipedia sets the scene with Crusade of Varna and an account of the conflict in Battle of Varna

It also has biographies of the two commanders who did not survive the day - the Polish and Hungarian king Władysław III of Poland and Cardinal Julian Cesarini - and of one who did - in John Hunyadi

War and the consequences of war do not end when the fighting stops.

Anglo-Saxon culture and the Silk Road

I have quite often written about evidence for the interrelated patterns of trade and cultural contact that bound Anglo-Saxon England not only to Europe but the Near East and indeed to territories beyond. 

This is brought out splendidly in a beautifully illustrated and informative article from Current Archaeology and available on The Past website. It is based around the current British Museum exhibition Silk Road which has  drawn together a spectacular array of exhibits from across the British Isles and across the world. The article also draws on the most recent research and paint an impressive picture of remarkable cultural interaction in the period. The idea of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries returning to England with the latest fashion ideas for military man from Byzantium Is both visually and also mentally stimulating. The striking thought that the cloisonné work with garnets that we associate with Sutton Hoo is part of a shared tradition that extended as far east as Korea is fascinating, but also perfectly credible once the evidence is presented. 

The article can been at From Samarkand to Sutton Hoo: Exploring the impact of the Silk Roads on early medieval Britain and Ireland  

The threat to the Lincolnshire landscape

Yesterday the Daily Telegraph had a timely article about the threat posed to the Lincolnshire countryside by the plans for a line of pylons and the related infrastructure to carry renewable sources electricity across the eastern part of the county for onward transmission. Taken together with the numerous applications for solar farms in this rural area that is a serious threat to the landscape of this county. That risk may increase further with the iniquitous proposal to charge 20% inheritance tax on substantial areas of farmland. Although more expensive an off-shore cable system along the coast to transfer North Sea wind-farm generated power would be in the long term more environmentally friendly. The same could surely be said for similar threats in Norfolk.

Lincolnshire is not a well-known county and it is indeed surprising how many people either who never been there or whether or not they have ever visited it assume that it is all flat with bulb and beet fields - as indeed the south-east of the county. By contrast the hills and sweeping landscape of the Lincolnshire Wolds and the Lincoln Edge, the distinctive landscape of the Marshland and coast, and the gently rolling countryside of Kesteven are little known to outsiders. Were it a better known part of the English landscape there would, I imagine, already be more outrage at the threat that is now posed.  As someone whose ancestors, in part, lived in the county I feel I have skin in this game.

The battle is by no means lost, indeed has barely begun, and articles such as this one that not only draws attention to the danger but also highlights the variety and distinctive features of Lincolnshire are a necessary part of the campaign.

The article can be seen at The tranquil corner of England about to be lost forever

A Bridgettine volume at the British Library

The British Library Medieval manuscripts blog has a feature about Harleian MS 612 from the great Bridgettine house of Syon Abbey founded by King Henry V, and which is on display as part of the Medieval Women exhibition at the Library.

It is a massive mid-fifteenth century compendium of the life of the fourteenth century monastic foundress and mystic Saint Bridget ( Birgitta ), of her writings and of writings about her. It is the work of Thomas Colyngbourne, one of the brothers of the community and written for the use of the other brothers as part of their devotional formation.

They blog article particularly concentrate on the delightful and delicate marginalia which are included to indicate important sections of the text or to pass comment upon it. 

The illustrated description can be seen on the website at Birgitta's marvellous marginalia

The remarkable history of Syon Abbey and its endurance from its foundation in 1415 down to the tragic decision to close in 2011 is set out by Wikipedia at Syon Abbey

That article is regrettably too concise in its account of the travels and travails of these English nuns living in exile until their final return to England in 1861.

In 2004 with a relative who lived nearby I paid fleeting visit to the community house at South Brent in Devon and did see one of the Sisters in her very distinctive Bridgettine habit taking her morning walk in the grounds. A rare privilege and now, alas, unavailable to others.

 

 

It’s still not Mrs President

So another US Presidential election has come and almost gone, and we know who will be the occupant of the White House for the forthcoming four year term. Inevitably in the modern world thing one tends to follow at least some of the news about American elections and also one has opinions as to the eligibility and suitability of the candidates. However I will keep my opinions on that matter largely to myself but I will say that I never really thought that Kamala Harris would win the election. She just didn’t seem to me to be a sufficiently strong candidate for the post. 

Had she been successful she would have course of been the first female President of the USA. When that might actually happen, remains still an open question. However, there is also the question of when did a woman first run for this exalted position. If you want to keep up-to-date with your fund of knowledge of pub quiz trivia, such as the fact that Donald Trump will be only the second US President to have two separate terms in office, the other being Grover Cleveland, then who and when was the first female candidate is clearly of great importance. The answer is surprising both in the date and also in the very eventful life of that first female candidate.

It was in the election of 1872 that Victoria Woodhull ( later Woodhull-Martin ) was nominated, although that was technically invalid as she was not yet 35, the minimum age under the Constitution. She also sought to be a candidate in 1884 and 1892, but by then she was no longer based in the United States, but in the United Kingdom.where she lived from 1877. In 1878 she met her third husband-to-be whom she married in 1883. Following his death in 1897 she remained in England and from 1901 lived at Norton Park at Bredon’s Norton on the southern edge of Worcestershire. That is where she died aged 88, and was buried in the churchyard in 1927. 

Bredon’s Norton is very close to Tewkesbury and in the ambulatory of the abbey church is a handsome colourful wall tablet, topped with the crossed Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes and which commemorates her, her work for the “great cause” of Anglo-American friendship and records that she played a significant part in securing the open lawns which set the Abbey off to the east. Her political and publishing career is not mentioned. Although I had seen the monument in Tewkesbury Abbey on my many visits there it was quite by chance that I came across her entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography when it was the featured life of the day and I recognised her name. Looking at her life span I did vaguely wonder when looking at the monument what she had experienced in the land of her birth before and after the Civil War, but reading her life was far more interesting than one could glean from the memorial in Tewkesbury Abbey.

In addition to the ODNB there is a quite detailed life of her on Wikipedia at Victoria Woodhull

Her remarkable and varied life story really would make a good film or television series.

The Coronation of King Henry VI in 1429

595 years ago today, King Henry VI was  crowned at Westminster. Two years later he was to be crowned as King of France in Notre Dame in Paris, the only Plantagenet or later monarch to receive the crowns of both realms. The young king was a month short of his eighth birthday and the move to crown him followed from the events of the spring when his uncle King Charles VIi had been crowned King of France at Reims. The view of the government was that King Henry should be crowned as soon as possible in France and that meant that his English coronation had to take place first.

In the early fifteenth century the English coronation rite had assumed probably its most elaborate form following from the compilation of the Liber Regalis in the reign of King Richard II. Thus the boy King was at the centre of a ritual that had been celebrated in 1399 for his grandfather and in 1413 for his father.At its heart was the use of the eagle ampulla believed to have been delivered by the Virgin Mary to St Thomas of Canterbury for anointing English kings, but not used before 1399.

The King Henry VI website, which unfortunately appears to be dormant,has a quite detailed description of the ceremony in Westminster Abbey and in the Palace afterwards, which can be seen at The English Coronation – KING HENRY VI

It is not a criticism of the blog author to say that this does not include everything that must have happened, such as the homage of the peers, and that there appears to be some confusion presumably on the part of the contemporary chroniclers as to some precise part of the liturgy, the account of which seems curiously repetitious or confused as to the number of the King’s prostrations and what he wore at certain  points, and not in line with the norms of an English coronation at that time or subsequently. That said a lot of what we witnessed last year in Westminster Abbey at the present King’s Coronation would have been recognisable to those attending in 1429. Whether Archbishop Chichele had as many very obvious problems getting St Edward’s Crown straight on the monarch’s head as his successor did last year is not recorded.

Effigy of Archbishop Henry Chichele in Canterbury Cathedral 

Image: Wikipedia 

There is more about the Coronation Banquet in Westminster Hall after the ceremonies in the Abbey in a feature from last year on the British Library Medieval manuscripts blog which can be seen at The Coronation Banquet of Henry VI

Some slight idea of what might have been seen that day can be gleaned from the illumination of the charter granted by the King in 1445-6 to his new fo foundation of King’s College in Cambridge.

Although the king was by now in his twenties, he is still depicted as a small boy in his robes of state supported by the Lords Spiritual ( including Cardinals Beaufort and Kempe ) and Temporal ( in the earliest serving coloured depiction of their robes with the differing bars of ermine indicating their rank ) and by the faithful Commons in Parliament assembled offering the new foundation to the Virgin Mary and to Saint Nicholas.

King Henry VI and his Lords and Commons

Image: kcctreasures.com

King Henry VI

Image:kcctreasures.com

The fact of his anointing and coronation and the oaths made to him were doubtless a very potent factor with many in rhe political elite, and hence the reluctance of a large part of the aristocracy to set the King aside in 1460 in favour of the Yorkist line. Furthermore it helps explain the continuing Lancastrian loyalism, expended in blood, until his own violent death in 1471, and even thereafter in his cult as a saint invoked by ordinary people as well as by King Henry VII.

Preparing this article, I came upon another blog Friends of Henry VI which was active iin 2019, but not seemingly since. It can be viewed at Friends of Henry VI