lauradull

[lauradull]

Reading the Cely letters this morning (or skimming more appropriately) and came across this funny little letter, 1479, from Robert Radclyff at Calais to George Cely at Bruges (No. 65). 

"Brothur George Sely, I commaund me vunto you, etc., lettyng you haue yn knowledge that I vnderstond by my felow Gilbert Hussy that a flecked spaniell off myn was late at your logyng at the Sterre, the qwych I wold be loth to forgoo, and specially this seson, prayng [you] to help that my seruant this berer myght haue hum delyuered//I haue non othur cause to send hum fore bott only that...."

As the owner of an intinerant beagle, I couldn't help but smile.

The Cely Letter, 1472-1488.  Ed. Alison Hanham.  London:  Oxford UP.  1975.

[lauradull]

Anthony's Prologue to the Dictes and Sayings

I am so conditioned by the wealth of resources available on the web that I could not believe that no one seemed to have posted a transcription of Antony's prologue.  The 1477 edition is available in facsimile online from the University of Toronto Libraries.

I have tried my hand at a transcription and am stumped by one abbreviation (my paleography is very rusty).  The abbreviation is on the first page after "inquytees & fawtes before."  It looks like donn, but this doesn't seem to fit here.  

Missing this one word does not impact my overall purpose in transcribing the prologue.  I hear Antony's voice and get a sense of his vocabulary.  This is a welcome change from reading others interpreting Antony's actions and character.  

I welcome any comments on the transcription and especially thoughts about that troubling abbreviation.

[lauradull]

The Serendipity of Interlibrary Loan

My Antony Woodville project is starting to go from fuzzy and blob-like to gaining some clear areas of focus, some definition.  Today as I was thinking about reading More's History of Richard III over the weekend and am working on transcribing Antony's preface to the Dictes and Sayings while Mancini sits on the table waiting, I was struck by the way in which the serendipity of interlibrary loan may be shaping my project.  We know, from reading research and brain research, the way new ideas, in proximity to one another, inform one another, and structure the neural networks we are building when we learn about new topics and build new ideas.  It's funny, in analyzing the way in which my sources have come in, to realize that first have come the journal articles, now the primary sources.  The monographs await.  So detailed more minute studies to highly biased primary sources, and then out to bigger picture arguments.  

That may be one of my favorite pieces of doing research--the joy of feeling it "all come together" and having at first the sense that I am the architect, only to realize I am only one piece of a team influencing this project.  

Thank god for librarians, without whom the serendipity would not be possible.  You know who I'm talking to, Tina!

[lauradull]

Why is Anthony Woodville the bad guy?

Michelle Moravec (@ProfessorMoravec) blogs about writing in public (http://historyinthecity.blogspot.com/) and I love the idea, but, I have to admit, it's a little scary.  What if someone (somehow) sees what I'm thinking about and runs with it?  It's that old school mentality rearing its ugly head, but I'm taking a big gulp, playing Sara Bareilles' Brave, and running with @ProfessorMoravec's challenge.

This week, as my reading of the secondary sources on Anthony has progressed, a "big question" emerged.  Anthony is the star of at least two tournaments, at which he puts on a good show for the spectators in terms of costume and drama.  He is a humanist and a patron of Caxton.  He goes on pilgrimage at least twice.  He serves his king loyally, even fleeing into exile.  Despite this loyal service, he is called a coward and, from most perspectives, is not well rewarded in terms of lands.  He is used as a pawn in Edward's Heiratspolitik, but never given a powerful bride.  He goes into what some might consider exile for a man of letters with the social flair of the Anthony of the tournaments in order to act as guardian to the young Prince of Wales.  He acts with complete trust of his comrade in arms, his brother-in-law's brother, Richard, and is, again, rewarded not by returned loyalty and material gain, but by execution.  

All of these facts being agreed upon, most authors still portray Anthony as the bad guy.  He is the star of the tournaments, but there are questions at each.  Does he violate the rules?  Is he, indeed, a coward?  His literary activities are mentioned, but not really explored.  His pilgrimage seems more a proof of his cowardice, leaving England, so reading the documents with Edward's perspective, than proof of piety or deep spirituality.  His failure in the game of Heiratspolitik is proof of his family's unredeemable lowly social position rather than of Edward's brutal use of the Woodvilles.  His actions as guardian, again ignoring any literary input, are seen as selfish and grasping.  His trust of Richard foolhardy rather than admirable.  

What has made a man who seems to be a empathetic figure so hated by historians?  This is my big question.  I hope to use this question as an opportunity to try text mining.  

[lauradull]

Key events in life of Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, Lord Scales

Every historical research project needs to identify the when(s).  I am trying a tool recommended at the AHA by @ProfessorMoravec,  TikiToki, for my own project as well as to explore it for classroom use.

[lauradull]

Why Anthony?

In 2005 I received my PhD in medieval history from the University of Notre Dame.  My dissertation was on La Tour Landry's Book of the Knight of the Tower, which had been written in French, then translated into English and printed by Caxton, then translated into German and printed by several printers and illustrated with rich woodcuts.  The story of Caxton's translation took me into the story of the end of the War of the Roses and the Woodville family, where I met Anthony Woodville, the brother of Queen Elizabeth, wife to Edward IV; the guardian of the Prince of Wales, the uncrowned Edward V, the oldest of the Princes in the Tower; patron of William Caxton, the first printer in England.

Fall 2013 I had the great fortune to teach Renaissances and Reformations to a group of excited and talented students.  In modeling for them modern research methods, I found returning to Anthony Woodville as an example and my growing excitement made me realize the time had come to explore his story.

I was trained, however, at the end of the 20th century, when digital tools were available, but not ubiquitous.  As a graduate student, I moved between online databases and hardbound references.  Many of the archives I visited had email, but no websites, ancient photocopiers, but no scanners.  The last years of my work were consumed with editing and polishing, refreshing historiography.  Thus I missed the training that those who followed me received in the rush of digital tools.  Because I took a job at a community college, my primary duties have focused on teaching and shared governance, which have made starting new research projects difficult.  Soon I realized my knowledge of the tools was out of date.  A whole new field had emerged, digital humanities, and it was time to get on or get out of the way.  I chose to get on. 

I'm using this blog to catalog my process for my students and interested others.  I welcome your comments and suggestions.