A valuable study marred by trivial errors
John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester is famous for two things - as the ‘Butcher of England’ as Constable of the realm and as one of the first English humanists. This book is the first about him in virtually eighty years and bridges the gap between those two not inconsistent aspects of his life.
It is a valuable addition to fifteenth century studies for both the academic and the wider interested public - and it is not about Richard III - whom the author ventures ( brave man ) to see as guilty….
Spring draws attention to much that is new or specialised - the importance of Tiptoft as a government minister in the 1450s and again in the 1460s - his studies in Italy, his apparently Italianesque house at Brassingbourne, and the events in Ireland that surround the execution of the Earl of Desmond in 1468.
A lot of research has gone into this book and it has an excellent bibliography.
Having said all that it seems a little churlish to turn to the limitations of the work. As a book it needed better copy editing - we have Dartmouth for Dartford several times, Lionel of Clarence is said to be the son, not the brother of John of Gaunt, surnames not always consistent, and as with so many books it is awkward in its use of ecclesiastical church terminology - most notably several references to the “coronation” of Archbishops of Canterbury….
At times the style gets too tabloid - words such as “schmooze” and “nincompoop” irritate, as do the use of Brexit analogies which are pushed too far and are too simplistic.
Too often the text is repetitive as to stressing Tiptoft’ importance and abilities.
On the whole I would be very positive. Much in the book is not easily available. There is new material, it is wide ranging, informative, evocative of Tiptoft’s era. It is a rounded view of one man’s life and of his times, its culture in all senses. The analogy it makes with Thomas Cromwell is thought provoking.
Does Peter Spring make Tiptoft human? Yes. Does he make him likeable? Probably not.
Originally posted on Amazon on 3.7.2021
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