A Timeline of Britain
1
Above: The Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre in Leicestershire stages regular events and reenactments
of Shakespearean drama, really have his young nephews Edward and Richard murdered in the Tower of London to grab the Crown for himself? There is no doubt that Shakespeare’s character assassination of Richard took the line of later Tudor propaganda, and The Richard III Society (
www.richardiii.net) is today encouraging a reassessment of this much-maligned king. Alison Weir argues that the evidence, including the
discovery of two children’s skeletons, does point to the boys’ murder. But Richard’s plan to secure the throne was bound to backfire, “because while most people in that age had little problem with men dying violently in the field of battle, and political murders were common- place, the shedding of infants’ blood shocked Richard’s contemporaries as much as it does us today.” Previously, Richard had been loyal to his brother
Edward IV, and during his short reign (1483-5) he oversaw legislative reform and treated his subjects fairly. However, the spectre of the ‘Princes in the Tower’ would not go away, and laid him open to a string of conspira- cies. Enter Henry Tudor, grandson of the lovebirds Catherine and her Welsh squire Owen. In 1485 Henry Tudor defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth in Leicestershire, retrieving the royal crown from beneath a gorse bush, or so the story goes. “Richard was killed as he made a last, desperate
charge, and his death brought to an end the rule of the Plantagenets, who had governed England for 331 years. It also paved the way for the Tudors, who brought revolutionary change to England,” Alison says. “Thus far, the murder of the Princes could be said to have changed the course of history.”
IN OUR NEXT ISSUE... The Tudors, in which Alison Weir highlights some of the great houses of the Tudor period from her Tudor Treasures Tour. For details of Alison’s exclusive new historical tours service, based around her books, visit
www.alisonweirtours.com.
86 BRITAIN
7 ARCHITECTURE
The 15th century saw the final flowering of Gothic architecture in the Perpendicular style, displaying medieval masons’ technological ingenuity as they dispensed with masses of solid wall and incorporated greater expanses of glass. Fan vaulting provided a grand finale: as for instance in the breathtaking intricacy of stone ribs over the nave of Sherborne Abbey, Dorset, bathed in light from the clerestory windows. Towers with lanterns, crowns and pinnacles are
another late Gothic feature, often added as extensions. The famous 272-foot ‘Boston Stump’ of St Botolph’s Church (6), Boston in Lincolnshire, is the tallest tower of any English parish church. Keep looking heavenwards
and you’ll find another fine achievement of the late Middle Ages: elaborate timber roof structures. Among the most splendid examples are the hammer- beam ceilings: the one at Westminster Hall dates from the 14th century. All Saints(10), North Street,
www.britain-magazine.com
PHOTO:
WWW.VISITBRITAINIMAGES.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100