Re: Was R3rd maligned?

[einar@cvn.net (carl christianson)]

Poster: einar@cvn.net (carl christianson)

>
Alfredo wrote:
>
>If Richard III had a "whithered arm", as William
>Shakespeare claims, how could he fight on horseback?
>Wouldn't he need one hand for the reins and another
>for his sword?  And Shakespeare is mistaken on that
>score, mightn't he be wrong also about Richard being
>hunchbacked, and about certain words and actions
>that he attributes to Richard which would tend to
>impugn his character?
>
>Or am I mistaken about needing two hands to fight
>on horseback?

I don't think you are mistaken.  I did some riding as a girl, and I have
seen people who could guide a horse with their knees even through Western
stock saddles, notably my uncle and one of my cousins...much depends on
training of the animal to notice subtle weight shifts and knee position and
pressure changes.  

Remember, Shakespeare was one of a long line of Tudor-era writers to write
about Richard.  He'd been pretty thoroughly villainized by the Bard's era.
Contemporary paintings show a man of normal build, with no noticeable hump.
One of my favorite historical novels is Sharon Kay Penman's "The Sunne in
Splendour" (ISBN 0-345-36313-2).  In her author's note she wrote "None of
the chronicler contemporary with Richard - the Croyland Chronicle, the
'Arrivall,' Warkworth, Mancini - make mention of a deformity.  Nor does
Philippe de Commynes, who knew Richard personally. ...Thomas More..mentioned
the unequal shoulders (and) gave Richard a withered arm, which would have
been a remarkable handicap for Richard to overcome, given his proven prowess
on the battlefield."

I would also like to note that there is  an organization known as the
Richard III Society, which continues to research the deposed king's life and
rehabilitate the history of his reign.

As for the deaths of his brother's sons, no-one really knows how or when
they died, or even for a certainty by whose hand and order.  Personally, I
don't think Richard would have been that stupid.

Elen Prydydd
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