tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21031350.post3664535216249078006..comments2023-11-12T09:52:42.825-05:00Comments on Medieval Woman: Blogging with Historical Novelist Susan Higginbotham: The Death of Edward of LancasterSusan Higginbothamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13517907583894026599noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21031350.post-6555993265431038302010-11-02T11:17:04.003-04:002010-11-02T11:17:04.003-04:00As regards EOL I think we can disregard the notion...As regards EOL I think we can disregard the notion that he was executed at Tewkesbury. I am certain that if that had been the case it would be his execution that would feature on a certain manuscript not that of the Duke of Somerset. If my memory serves me correctly the inscription on his tomb states he was slain not executed.<br /><br />As you know I recently visited Tewkesbury on the occasion of the medieval festival and battle re-enactment and took time out to look at the locality and the terrain. Admittedly I arrived following a very dry spell and the day itself was one of the hottest of the year –pity all those guys in armour including the gallant Gallics - but it didn’t take long to work out what conditions would have been like had the weather been less clement. For a start Tewkesbury lies on the Severn flood plain, a matter exacerbated not only by the confluence of the River Severn and River Avon, that Avon that flows through Stratford, but other tributaries as well. Flooding along the Severn plain seem to be becoming more and more of an occurrence and it’s only three years ago that Tewkesbury was well and truly flooded and just before that Shrewsbury . Second the Abbey lies at most between1/4 and ½ mile from the battle site and while the two are now separated by a main road way back in 1471 it would have been all fields There’s a stream that flows between the site and the Abbey and on the eastern and southern sides of the Abbey lies a large field, now a public space. According to one of the locals it can all become extremely boggy during a spell of wet weather and according to the master armourer trying to run away in a suit of armour would have been tricky even in more clement conditions. My feeling is that he managed to get off the field but that any boggy conditions would have made the going difficult to say the least and his all too familiar Prince of Wales tabard – royal arms and white strip – would have made him an all too obvious target. Poor guy never had the chance to make it to the Abbey.<br /><br />I wouldn’t set much store by the Frenchs accounts given how on this occasion King Louis had well and truly blown it. His primary objective in twisting the arms of MoA and Warwick and rendering military assistance was to blow the Anglo-Burgundian alliance out of existence and in f act had been rendered so angry by it that he even went so far as to try and intercept Margaret of York on her way to her wedding. Had he put off declaring war on Burgundy until the spring of 1471 MoA might have stood a better chance given that early on Duke Charles was not prepared to assist his brother-in-law E4 out of fear that Louis would use it as a pretext for declaring war. As it so happened Louis declared war at the beginning of December 1470 which finally gave Charles the excuse to render assistance and E4 being like Caesar very quick off the mark was back in England before MOA not helped by adverse weather keeping her in port. By the time she arrived back in England the Battle of Barnet had been fought and lost and the rest as they say is history.<br /><br />I certainly would not set any store on anything Buck had to say seeing he’s as much a liar as those two arch-liars of history Geoffrey of Monmouth and Plutarch. Found his extant copy of the Titulus Regius in the Croyland Chronicle did he? About as likely as it is to snow in the Sahara. Present company excepted when are historians finally going to get around to joined-up thinking? .<br /><br />BTW are you all set to drop in to the Tower later this month? If you are you might care to bear two things in mind. One as everyone in the City knows one cannot access the Tower without accessing the City first and two it’s a bad Lord Mayor – dare one say incompetent – that doesn’t know what’s happening on his own patch. And it’s that knowledge of the City including its history that has thrown a completely new light on the mystery of the Princes in the Tower.trish wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01292123010612021866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21031350.post-29520740044156248912010-10-31T15:48:47.708-04:002010-10-31T15:48:47.708-04:00I remember doing some research on this topic many ...I remember doing some research on this topic many years ago at uni, and I did think the reference to Clarence meant it was a subtle way of saying Clarence had 'done the deed'. I agree with you - he would surely have claimed credit. I think Edward was killed in battle, although I also thought the reference to Clarence might just have been to cover the fact he was executed afterwards.Anerjehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16305237339979790391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21031350.post-41386557495311102832010-10-31T10:25:20.045-04:002010-10-31T10:25:20.045-04:00Great post, Susan! Just like the death of Warwick ...Great post, Susan! Just like the death of Warwick at Barnet it becomes distorted with time. :-)Su_Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02847666627709808316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21031350.post-72014293225109523642010-10-31T04:14:18.101-04:002010-10-31T04:14:18.101-04:00Interesting to see how stories get embellished ove...Interesting to see how stories get embellished over time!Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21031350.post-20027334743715448902010-10-30T18:26:30.769-04:002010-10-30T18:26:30.769-04:00Great post, Susan, and I love your parting Aesopia...Great post, Susan, and I love your parting Aesopian morals, Susan! I share your sense of loss at the defiant prince, but 'it makes a better story' just won't do!<br /><br />I've always been intrigued by the list of purported murderers - all of them meeting their own fate at the hands of others. It almost seems they were selected for that reason...Ragged Staffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285451640470655380noreply@blogger.com