Events & GMM 

ZOOM TALK

Richard III’s Parliament

Matt Lewis, Author, Podcast host, and former Chair of the Richard III Society

Have you ever heard that Richard III invented the concept of universal bail? That he was a protector of the emerging field of moveable-type printing? That his laws regarding property conveyancing are still considered legal landmarks? Or have you heard that he tyrannically bullied lawmakers and cynically adopted a progressive program just to make himself more popular? How much of this is fact or fiction? Join us for an engaging discussion with Matt Lewis, former chair of the UK Richard III Society, who will talk about what happened at the king’s first and only parliament.

Matt Lewis is an author, historian and podcaster. He has written biographies of Richard III, Richard Duke of York, Henry III, and Henry II & Eleanor of Aquitaine, along with other non-fiction books including The Survival of the Princes in the Tower. Matt is co-host of History Hit’s Gone Medieval podcast, host of the Echoes of History podcast, and appears in documentaries focussing on the medieval period. His main area of interest is the Wars of the Roses, and particularly King Richard III.

ZOOM TALK

Meet Author
Annie Garthwaite

Annie Garthwaite, Author of “Cicely”

This is a chance to meet longtime Ricardian and author Annie Garthwaite, whose books Cecily and The King’s Mother have received universal acclaim. Focusing on the life of Cecily Neville, Richard III’s mother, her novels weave together the stories of four ferocious women who were not afraid to play the political long-game in order to see their sons crowned as England’s king. Praised for tautly drawn plot, “jump off the page” characters, and historical detail, many reviewers are asking whether the new Hilary Mantel has arrived.

Annie Garthwaite grew up in a working-class community in the northeast of England where, inspired by an enthusiastic history teacher, she became a Ricardian and joined the Richard III Society in 1977. She went on to study English at university before embarking on a thirty-year international business career, having promised herself that, at age 55, she would ‘give up the day job’ and write the story of Richard III’s mother. That promise has been fulfilled with her two novels. Her debut Cecily was published by Penguin in 2021 and named a ‘top pick’ by The Times and Sunday Times on publication, a ‘Best Book of 2021’ by independent bookshops and Waterstones. It has recently been optioned for TV. Annie’s second novel, The King’s Mother, was published by Penguin in July 2024 and was immediately named ‘Book of the Month’ by The Times.

ZOOM TALK

Medieval Manuscripts in the New World

Lisa Fagin Davis. Executive Director, Medieval Academy of America

Have you ever wondered how so many European medieval objects and manuscripts found their way into American collections? Who were the people collecting these objects and what motivated them? Lisa Fagin Davis, Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America, is a specialist on European manuscripts and will share with us the fascinating history of how American collectors, some of whom were wealthy eccentrics or used dubious means, amassed libraries of medieval texts that continue to attract scholars around the globe to their study. She will also touch on the ethical implications of collecting objects from another country.

Lisa Fagin Davis received her PhD in Medieval Studies from Yale University in 1993. She has catalogued medieval manuscript collections at Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley College, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Boston Public Library, and several private collections. Her publications include: the Catalogue of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, Vol. IV (with R. G. Babcock and P. Rusche, Tempe, 2004); The Gottschalk Antiphonary (Cambridge University Press, 2000); numerous articles in the fields of manuscript studies and codicology; and the monograph, La Chronique Anonyme Universelle: Reading and Writing History in fifteenth-century France (a translation, critical edition and detailed study of a fifteenth-century French world chronicle, published by Brepols Publishers in 2015).

ZOOM TALK

The Itinerary of Richard as Duke of Gloucester

Marie Barnfield, Research Officer of the Richard III Society, CLG (UK)

Learn about the Society’s new publication of the Itinerary of Richard as Duke of Gloucester – its revelations about his activities and the challenges such a massive project encountered.

ZOOM TALK

American Branch Celebrates the Society & the King

The American Branch welcomes any member of the Richard III Society or its branches and groups to attend our celebratory Zoom talk by its chair Susan Troxell and research officer Dr Compton Reeves.

The event will include a virtual toast to the Society on the occasion of its 100th anniversary, a brief presentation on the Society’s history, achievements, and the American Branch’s role in supporting its mission, and a lecture detailing the historic and well-documented double coronation of Richard III and Queen Anne in 1483. 

ZOOM TALK

Report on Edward IV Roll Project

Prof. Emily Steiner, Dot Porter, Ariel Bates, Emma Dyson, Noa Nikolsky – University of Pennsylvania; hosted by the Free Library of Philadelphia

Join us for an exciting presentation by the team of scholars who have been working on transcribing, translating, mapping, and “decoding” FLP Lewis MS E201 – one of the great Yorkist genealogies created during the first years of Edward IV’s reign. The team will share their discoveries about the roll and its function as propaganda, as political prophecy, and as a powerful tool for asserting the Yorkist claim to the English, French, and Castilian crowns.

ZOOM TALK

Philippa Langley Answers Your Questions about the Missing Princes

Philippa Langley MBE

Join us for an engaging Q&A with Philippa Langley, author of The Princes in the Tower: Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case, about her “Missing Princes Project” and what evidence she found of the Princes in the Tower surviving into the Tudor period. Members of the American Branch will have a chance to submit their questions in advance of the talk and to participate in a live discussion with her. Don’t miss this opportunity to talk to one of the movers and shakers in the Ricardian community!

Philippa Langley MBE is a historian and award-winning producer, best known for her role in the discovery and reburial of Richard III in 2012. She is a co-author of the bestselling The Lost King with Michael Jones, as well as Finding Richard III. On the ten-year anniversary of discovering the king’s remains, her extraordinary story was released as an acclaimed feature film, The Lost King, directed by Sir Stephen Frears and starring Sally Hawkins. In November 2023, Philippa once again rewrote the history books in her new work: The Princes in the Tower: Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case (The History Press, UK; Pegasus, USA). Based on her remarkable new research initiative The Missing Princes Project its now seven-year investigation revealed the Princes survived to challenge Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, for the throne of England. It has been made into a feature-length Factual Special TV documentary by Channel 4, PBS in America and SBS in Australia.

ZOOM TALK

Heraldry, Blazonry and the Plantagenets

Sally Keil, secretary of the American Branch

In this class we will learn all about heraldry: its history, its function, and its current place in English society. The evolution of the College of Arms will be presented, and the development of arms as vital medieval symbols of power will be reviewed. The arms carried by the Plantagenet family, kings of England for over 350 years, will be discussed as the class will learn about blazonry. By the end of this class each student should be able to blazon a simple shield. (Blazon?! What the heck is that? Come find out!)

Sally Keil has brought her interest in history to life for her many
students in her previous presentations. A resident of Gulfport FL and
Tellico Lake TN, Sally holds a BA Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa
from Wheaton College (MA) and a Masters Degree from the U of
Pittsburgh (PA). She is the retired President and CEO of AcquiData, Inc.
She is the current Secretary of The Richard III Society – American Branch
as well as past Membership Chair. She formed ‘The Missing Princes
Project in America’, the US arm of the UK-based ‘Revealing Richard’
project.

ZOOM TALK

“Richard III’s Bodies”

Dr. Jeffrey Wilson, Harvard University

“Richard III is a disability icon,” writes Jeffrey R. Wilson. Addressing both the man and the myth, Dr. Wilson’s talk will explore the aspects of disability that Richard III may have encountered in his life as well as those that shaped his legacy during the century that led up to Shakespeare. Our discussion of disability as a dramatic device in Shakespeare’s plays about Richard III will open up conversation about how Richard’s disability continues to be a fraught issue in theater, history, and society today. 

Jeffrey R. Wilson is a Shakespeare scholar at Harvard University. He is the author of Richard III’s Bodies from Medieval England to Modernity: Shakespeare and Disability History and editor-in-chief of Public Humanities, a new journal in development at Cambridge University Press.

ZOOM TALK

“Labor & Leisure in Medieval Old Age”

Dr. Compton Reeves, American Branch Research Officer

Upending the popular misconception that all medieval people died very young, Dr. Compton Reeves will explain that not only did many people in medieval times survive to old age, but thrive. The talk will begin by examining who was considered to be an old person, with a survey of literary depictions of the aged. After noting a few rare comments about their own status by elderly medievals, we will review the Ages of Man theories and discuss provisions medieval society made for the elderly. The rest of the talk will focus especially upon the sorts of work older individuals might pursue and the kinds of leisure pastimes available for older people.

Dr Reeves joined the Richard III Society in 1968, and has served four terms as Chairman of the American Branch. Dr. Reeves is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he served as Chair of the History Department. He has authored and edited a number of books. His most widely-read book, Pleasures and Pastimes in Medieval England (a History Book Club selection in the UK and US), began as a talk for the American Branch. Compton has also written dozens of academic articles, including numerous articles for the Ricardian and Ricardian Register, and his published research has resulted in his election as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in the United Kingdom.