[Artemisia] Re: Artemisia Digest, Vol 39, Issue 34

[Ysabel de Lille]

Oh...and one other thing....Richard III wasn't as horrible as all that...

First off, he was NOT a hunchback...that famous picture of his was x-rayed and found that the hunchy part was a later addition...probably part of some smear campaign.

Second off, the entire town of York signed a petition AFTER he was murdered/executed/assasinated whatever you want to call it, and AFTER Henry was crowned in his place, saying what a pity it was he'd been killed, and they all stood behind him and his goodness.  In fact, the records of the town throughout Richard's reign and before show what a nice guy he was.

As for the princes, not a clue.  I know that their mother was an objectionable regent, and that most of the lords were horrified that a *commoner* would get her greedy hands on the throne, which is why I think Richard III declared them illigitamate and took the throne for himself.  Whether he killed them or had them killed?  No clue, really.  I think that's one of those mysteries that is going to stay a mystery...rather like "did Adam have a belly button"...

Anyway, Shakespeare's villain was mostly made up.  Richard seemed to be a pretty cool guy, and what better way to support the...ahem...upstart...than to smear the name of the man who preceded him?  Showing Richard to be an absolute tyrant and portraying Henry as a sort of a saviour is an excellent political move.  And rather like Joseph of Egypt, the pharaohs of that particular time and place had his good works erased as much as they possibly could so they could re-write the history books to their own liking.

Right, gauntlet's down.  Let's have some fun!  :D

~Ysabel de Lille