#john ashdown-hill

[meandrichard]

Sad news

Dr. John Ashdown-Hill, who worked so faithfully for years in the area of Richard III / Plantagenet history, and who was instrumental in the recovery of Richard III’s remains, has been diagnosed with ALS (in the UK called “motor neurone disease” or some of us in the US still call it “Lou Gehrig’s disease”). There is still no cure for this disease. Richard Armitage participated in the worldwide…

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[somepallings]

Pinnacle of 2015 frankly

[olganmwriter]

#Bookreview ELIZABETH WIDVILLE, LADY GREY: EDWARD IV'S CHIEF MISTRESS AND THE 'PINK QUEEN' by John Ashdown-Hill (@penswordbooks) #history

#Bookreview ELIZABETH WIDVILLE, LADY GREY: EDWARD IV’S CHIEF MISTRESS AND THE ‘PINK QUEEN’ by John Ashdown-Hill (@penswordbooks) #history

Hi all. I bring you a book that digs deep into a fascinating historical period.

Elizabeth Widville. Lady Grey by John Ashdown-Hill

Elizabeth Widville, Lady Grey: Edward IV’s Chief Mistress and the ‘Pink Queen’ by John Ashdown-Hill

Wife to Edward IV and mother to the Princes in the Tower and later Queen Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Widville was a central figure during the War of the Roses. Much of…

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[scribblesincrayon]

This is the funniest thing that I’ve read in a long time.

First, the article repeatedly refers to the Princes in the Tower as twins, but later notes that Edward and Richard were aged 12 and 9 respectively.

Second, the entire premise of John Ashdown-Hill’s latest theory is that dental analysis of the remains in the Tower demonstrates the princes had hypodontia. Richard III’s skull does not show this condition. Therefore, the remains do not belong to the princes! Um, WHAT?

The only thing you can conclusively glean from Richard III’s skull is that he didn’t have hypodontia. We cannot draw any conclusions regarding the Tower remains. After all, the princes may have acquired the hypodontia from their mother! (The condition is considered X-linked, so inheritance of the trait in the female line is much more likely).

Moreover, hypodontia is very common in the European population, so this finding proves only that the Tower remains are probably European in origin, a fact never in doubt in the first place.

I have admiration for Dr. Ashdown-Hill’s contributions to locating Richard III’s remains and to tracing lines of descent to find a mitochondrial DNA match to confirm identity of the remains. But since then, his findings have all revolved around speculation that makes no sense once you drill down.

I also think the Richard III Society’s desperate need to prove Richard’s innocence actually does more harm than good. Maybe the Society could instead focus on the totality of the man’s life instead of this one (unprovable) event.

[goldenhelikaon]

The Third Plantagenet

by John Ashdown-Hill

I’m currently reading it. Interesting read. George is quite fascinating, mainly because much less is known about him than his brothers and he was such a massive turncoat.

Recommendations for other books about the late Plantagenets/Richard III/Wars of the Roses? The better books on the subjects, not just any old book. Also, are there any books specifically about George’s dad, Richard, Duke of York? I haven’t had much luck in finding any if they do exist.

[meandrichard]

Richard Armitage one degree of separation honors

Richard Armitage one degree of separation honors

To Kevin Spacey (now Kevin Spacey, KBE) and Phillipa Langley and John Ashdown-Hill, now MBEs (via King Richard Armitage), in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours. Congratulations!

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[great-things-hang-on-a-kiss]

John sassdown-Hill

[heartofoshun]

Anybody (George-fans?) read this yet? I have to be very frugal at the moment and even the Kindle version is not dirt cheap.