 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2012) |
 1971 paperback edition | |
| Author | Marjorie Bowen |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
Publication date | 1929 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 320 p. (hardback edition) |
Dickon is a 1929 novel by Marjorie Bowen about King Richard III of England. [1] It was one of many historical fiction works she wrote in her life.
The book follows the life of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England. [1] Born in 1452 to Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville, Richard was the eighth and youngest of the couple's children. The story begins in 1460, just after Richard's father, elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland and uncle Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury are killed at the Battle of Wakefield. Richard and his brother George, Duke of Clarence are hurried away to the Duchy of Burgundy. At this point a recurring character named Jon Fogge is introduced, who acts as a bogeyman and looming threat throughout the book. A character by the same name and who must be assumed to be the same, is Richard's last attendant after his defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth. As a historical character, Sir John Fogge was an early supporter of Edward IV, who later switched his allegiance to Henry VII and apparently did fight against Richard at Bosworth. [2] Fogge later married into the family of Katherine Haute, who was possibly the mother of Richard's illegitimate daughter Katherine.
The book is divided into three sections, covering the years of Richard's youth (1460–1466), his young adulthood serving his brother Edward IV (1470–1472) when the Warwick-Clarence rebellion occurred and the period encompassing Edward's death and Richard's own brief reign from 1482 to his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Although much is omitted from Richard's life, such as his life in exile as a child when he and his brother lodged with the printer William Caxton, the details of his wardship under his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Richard's military and administrative exploits on the Scottish border, the author includes what she sees as the major events of his life - the violent death of his father, the conquering kingship of his brother Edward, the secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville that nearly costs Edward his throne, the final triumph of Edward, the King's sudden death and Richard's own shock to discover that his brother's marriage was not legal, his own elevation to the throne of England, the tragic deaths of his wife and son and finally his betrayal and death at Bosworth. It seems that Bowen believes that Richard was completely unconnected with the mysterious disappearances of The Princes in the Tower for unlike some other fictional treatments, such as Michael Tyler-Whittle's Richard III, The Last Plantagenet, the episode is never even referred to in the book. In fact, the two princes are still presumably alive when Richard meets his own death.
Richard himself is the major character and the book's events are viewed through his eyes. There is little examination of other characters other than through Richard's own analysis, but that analysis is surprisingly sympathetic - although completely loyal to Edward, Richard is clearly able to see others' points of view as well. Throughout he is depicted as a sensitive, loyal and honorable man, a fierce and skilled - albeit sometimes reluctant - warrior and a loving family man, though constantly haunted by the violent events in his past. He is convinced throughout the book that he is followed by the Devil - a belief that appears to be justified at the very end by the Fogge character, while watching the defeated King's corpse being brought to the abbey. 'Sir, one of Sir William Stanley's men,' replied the knight, still smiling, but with a look which made the Tudor followers draw away from him, 'and many deeds have I done against Richard Plantagenet, and now I have my reward.' [3]
Dickon is one of several fictional treatments of the last Plantagenet king wherein the author argued for his innocence in the murder of his nephews and presented him as a good man and potentially a very good king. Other authors and historians who wrote defenses - both fictional and historical - of Richard included Horace Walpole, Josephine Tey, Tyler-Whittle and Thomas Costain. The book received good reviews at its time of publication,[ citation needed ] but is not as well known as some of Bowen's other works.
Richard III was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field marked the end of the Middle Ages in England.
George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, was the sixth child and third surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle between rival factions of the Plantagenets now known as the Wars of the Roses.
Anne Neville was Queen of England as the wife of King Richard III. She was the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. Before her marriage to Richard, she had been Princess of Wales as the wife of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, the only son and heir apparent of King Henry VI.
The Princes in the Tower refers to the mystery of the fate of the deposed King Edward V of England and his younger brother Prince Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, heirs to the throne of King Edward IV of England. The brothers were the only sons of the king by his queen, Elizabeth Woodville, living at the time of their father's death in 1483. Aged 12 and 9 years old, respectively, they were lodged in the Tower of London by their paternal uncle and England's regent, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, supposedly in preparation for Edward V's forthcoming coronation. Before the young king could be crowned, however, he and his brother were declared illegitimate. Gloucester ascended the throne as Richard III.
Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick was the son of Isabel Neville and George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, and a potential claimant to the English throne during the reigns of both his uncle, Richard III (1483–1485), and Richard's successor, Henry VII (1485–1509). He was also a younger brother of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury. Edward was tried and executed for treason in 1499.
The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III. In time, it also represented Edward III's senior line, when an heir of York married the heiress-descendant of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Edward III's second surviving son. It is based on these descents that they claimed the English crown. Compared with its rival, the House of Lancaster, it had a superior claim to the throne of England according to cognatic primogeniture, but an inferior claim according to agnatic primogeniture. The reign of this dynasty ended with the death of Richard III of England at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. It became extinct in the male line with the death of Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, in 1499.
Sharon Kay Penman was an American historical novelist, published in the UK as Sharon Penman. She was best known for the Welsh Princes trilogy and the Plantagenet series. In addition, she wrote four medieval mysteries, the first of which, The Queen's Man, was a finalist in 1996 for the Best First Mystery Edgar Award.
Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk, KG, Duke of Suffolk, was an English nobleman and soldier. The son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Elizabeth of York, he was through his mother the nephew of the Yorkist kings of England Edward IV and Richard III and the cousin of Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York and of Henry VII's queen Elizabeth of York.
David II was King of Scotland from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five, and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, becoming the first Scottish monarch to be anointed at their coronation. During his childhood, David was governed by a series of guardians, and Edward III of England sought to take advantage of David's minority by supporting an invasion of Scotland by Edward Balliol, beginning the Second War of Scottish Independence. Following the English victory at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, King David, Queen Joan and the rump of his government were evacuated to France, where he remained in exile until it was safe for him to return to Scotland in 1341.
Cecily Neville was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), and the mother of two kings of England—Edward IV and Richard III. Cecily Neville was known as "the Rose of Raby", because she was born at Raby Castle in Durham, and "Proud Cis", because of her pride and a temper that went with it, although she was also known for her piety. She herself signed her name "Cecylle".
Richard III is a play by William Shakespeare. It was probably written c. 1592–1594. It is labelled a history in the First Folio, and is usually considered one, but it is sometimes called a tragedy, as in the quarto edition. Richard III concludes Shakespeare's first tetralogy and depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of King Richard III of England.
Lady Isabel Neville was the elder daughter and co-heiress of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Anne de Beauchamp, suo jure 16th Countess of Warwick. She was the wife of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence. She was also the elder sister of Anne Neville, wife and consort of Clarence's brother, Richard III.
The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck: A Romance is an 1830 historical novel by Mary Shelley about the life of Perkin Warbeck. The book takes a Yorkist point of view and proceeds from the conceit that Perkin Warbeck died in childhood and the supposed impostor was indeed Richard of Shrewsbury. Henry VII of England is repeatedly described as a "fiend" who hates Elizabeth of York, his wife and Richard's sister, and the future Henry VIII, mentioned only twice in the novel, is a vile youth who abuses dogs. Her preface establishes that records of the Tower of London, as well as the histories of Edward Hall, Raphael Holinshed, and Francis Bacon, the letters of Sir John Ramsay to Henry VII that are printed in the Appendix to John Pinkerton's History of Scotland establish this as fact. Each chapter opens with a quotation. The entire book is prefaced with a quotation in French by Georges Chastellain and Jean Molinet.
Richard III of England has been depicted in literature and popular culture many times. In the Tudor period he was invariably portrayed as a villain, most famously in Shakespeare's play Richard III, but also in other literature of the period. Richard's life was not much depicted again until the 20th century when the "Ricardian" movement sought to restore his reputation. Much of more recent creative literature has portrayed him in a positive light. However his reputation as a hunchbacked villain has remained a familiar historical cliché within popular culture.
Edward IV of England has been depicted in popular culture a number of times.
The Sunne in Splendour is a historical novel written by Sharon Kay Penman. Penman became interested in the subject of Richard III while a student and wrote a manuscript that was stolen from her car. She rewrote the manuscript, which was published in 1982.
Katherine Neville, Baroness Hastings, was a noblewoman and a member of the powerful Neville family of northern England. She was one of the six daughters of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and the sister of military commander Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known to history as Warwick the Kingmaker.
Sir John Fogge was an English courtier, soldier and supporter of the Woodville family under Edward IV who became an opponent of Richard III.
Sir Humphrey Stafford of Grafton Manor in Worcestershire, was an English nobleman who took part in the War of the Roses on the Yorkist side. He was executed by Henry VII following his fighting for Richard III and his role in the Stafford and Lovell rebellion.
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings – Henry II, his sons the "Young King" Henry, Richard I, and John, and John's son Henry III.