Wars of the Roses Blog

Richard III and Anne Nevile?

2009-11-11T08:37:00.001-08:00

Sorry its been a while! I have been super busy with EverythingTudor.com! But, I am back and hope to make it through the mountains of e-mails I have.

To business!

History Hoydens has posted an article debating the relationship of Richard III and Anne Neville.
Here's the link.

Royal Reviews has written up a nice review for The King's Grace, a novel by Anne Easter Smith. The novel follows Grace Plantagenet, illegitimate daughter of Edward IV. Here's the link to the review.

"Daughter of Time" Review

2009-09-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

This is a novel by Josephine Tey. According to the review,

"It is the story of Alan Grant, a policeman with Scotland Yard, who is laid up in the hospital after being injured on the job. A friend brings in a portrait of Richard III and he has a hard time believing that the man in the picture is the horrible, nephew murdering hunchback that he is familiar with. This sparks his interest and to relieve his boredom he takes up the 400+ year old case of Richard III - did he or did he not murder his nephews in the Tower? He and an American researcher working in the British Museum sort through all the evidence they can get and look at the case through a policeman's perspective - considering motives, opportunities, written accounts from the times, looking for breaks in the normal routine of the main players, etc. Grant becomes convinced that, based on the evidence, that Richard did not murder his nephews. In fact, he had absolutely nothing to gain and quite a bit to loose if he did."

For the full review, go here.

Post on Margaret d'Anjou

2009-09-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

I found this nice blog "Medieval Women" where Susan Higginbotham has posted two nice articles.

The first is on Margaret d'Anjou, queen of Henry IV. The article is titled "Margaret The She-Wolf?" She says, "Margaret is usually depicted in historical fiction as a vengeful and half-mad harpy, intent on destroying anyone who gets in her path..." concluding that "Just because such propaganda served a purpose in the fifteenth century, however, is no reason for us to blindly perpetuate it today."

Here's the link.

There are also some other nice posts on Wars of the Roses related topics on this blog.

"The White Queen"

2009-09-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

Philippa Gregory, best known for her fictional account of Mary and Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl has recently released a new novel, The White Queen. The novel is set during the Wars of the Roses and follows Elizabeth Wydville, who eventually became wife and Queen of Edward IV. She is also the mother of the two "Princes in the Tower" who later disappeared.

Linked below is a nice review of the book which gives a very good synopsis. To me, the synopsis goes fairly well with history...but I have heard that Gregory said this is the least accurate of her historical fiction works so far. Hum, we shall see.

Here's the link.

500 Year Old Ring Found

2009-09-12T18:27:00.001-07:00

A ring, though to belong to a 15th Century Mayor of Bristol was recently found by a medal detector. The ring is a thumb seal ring, and is made of silver. It is excellent condition! Mayor Spencer, who the ring is thought to have belonged to, was accused of treason and imprisoned for a few weeks, but was released under the instruction of King Edward IV.

"Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses"

2009-09-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

Alison Weir has a new book that was released last August. The publisher states that "Alison Weir’s lucid and gripping account focuses on the human side of history, on the people and personalities involved in the conflict. At the centre of the book stands Henry VI, the pious king whose mental instability led to political chaos; Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and Henry’s rival; and most important of all, Margaret of Anjou, Henry’s wife who took up arms in her husband’s cause and battled for many years in a violent man’s world."

For more on this book, visit the amazon page here.

Weir also has another book about the Wars of the Roses, The Wars of the Roses, which I have read and enjoyed. I suppose this is a different approach. I am interested in reading it!

Welcome!

2009-09-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

I have decided to expand my site, Everything Tudor.com, to include more about the Wars of the Roses. I intend to post all relevant news, books, and anything else related to The Wars of the Roses here! Hope you enjoy! Please feel free to add comments or suggestions!