Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Sunday 3 January 2021

Recalling the Battle of Wakefield


I came upon an article online from the Wakefield Express about the 560th anniversary of the battle of Wakefield, fought on December 30 1460. 

The article has occasional errors in respect of the death of the Earl of Rutland, who was the  second of four sons of the Duke of York, and I am doubtful about the casualty rate it gives.


I have a strong interest in the history of this particular battle. Not only was it fought in my  home area but I was born in a hospital on the on the battlefield site. I remember visiting the site when I was a very young boy of five and seeing the monument to the Duke of York and the earthworks of Sandal Castle. It was therefore the first battlefield I walked. Watching the BBC’s Age of Kings Shakespeare series in 1960-61 reinforced that interest. A few years later I watched the impressive re-excavation of Sandal Castle and its presentation as a historic monument, and later still took local history groups to visit the castle and battlefield. With all that and the great heritage of Pontefract no wonder I am a late medievalist at heart

I wrote about the battle in a post in 2010 which can be seen at The Battle of Wakefield 1460


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