Ely Cathedral

My group (Mid-Anglia) and some other Society members are visiting on
the 19th. Bourchier (Richard's cousin) was one of it's Bishops.
Are any other posters going?

--- In , "stephenmlark"
<smlark@t...> wrote:
> My group (Mid-Anglia) and some other Society members are visiting
on
> the 19th. Bourchier (Richard's cousin) was one of it's Bishops.
> Are any other posters going?

No, but look up earl Byrthnoth's tomb for me! I have long wanted to
see it but have never yet made it to Ely. Light a candle maybe for
another valiant Enlishman who died, like Richard, fighting off the
invader.

Brunhild

--- In , "brunhild613"
<brunhild@n...> wrote:
> --- In , "stephenmlark"
> <smlark@t...> wrote:
> > My group (Mid-Anglia) and some other Society members are visiting
> on
> > the 19th. Bourchier (Richard's cousin) was one of it's Bishops.
> > Are any other posters going?
>
> No, but look up earl Byrthnoth's tomb for me! I have long wanted to
> see it but have never yet made it to Ely. Light a candle maybe for
> another valiant Enlishman who died, like Richard, fighting off the
> invader.
>
> Brunhild

Are you familiar with Tolkien's long poem, 'The Homecoming of
Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm's Son'?
Tolkien's view is that Beorhtnoth was not entirely a hero in that he
suffered from 'ofermod', a sort of pride that might be translated
as 'excess of chivalry', which led to the disaster and the deaths of
so many men. The same could perhaps be said of Bosworth except that
Richard's charge cut short a battle that would otherwise have been
far bloodier.

Marie

--- In , "mariewalsh2003"
<marie@r...> wrote:
> --- In , "brunhild613"
> <brunhild@n...> wrote:
> > --- In , "stephenmlark"
> > <smlark@t...> wrote:
> > > My group (Mid-Anglia) and some other Society members are
visiting
> > on
> > > the 19th. Bourchier (Richard's cousin) was one of it's Bishops.
> > > Are any other posters going?
> >
> > No, but look up earl Byrthnoth's tomb for me! I have long wanted
to
> > see it but have never yet made it to Ely. Light a candle maybe
for
> > another valiant Enlishman who died, like Richard, fighting off
the
> > invader.
> >
> > Brunhild
>
> Are you familiar with Tolkien's long poem, 'The Homecoming of
> Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm's Son'?
> Tolkien's view is that Beorhtnoth was not entirely a hero in that
he
> suffered from 'ofermod', a sort of pride that might be translated
> as 'excess of chivalry', which led to the disaster and the deaths
of
> so many men. The same could perhaps be said of Bosworth except
that
> Richard's charge cut short a battle that would otherwise have
been
> far bloodier.
>
> Marie

I think what Byrtnoth did was certainly a military mistake, but in
the time it may have been the only option really, the alternative
probably being viewed as cowardice. A lot of debate has gone into
Harold's wisdom in fighting at Hastings when he need not have done.
Waiting would have increased his advantages and penning William into
the headland there with nowhere to go but home has obvious
advantages. But William porobably knew his man. He had pillaged and
burned Harold's own lands. What kind of leader stood by and allowed
that? Not Byrtnoth, not Harold - and not Richard. Admittedly Richard
waited in the centre, probably unsure which way Henry would go and
therefore able to cut him off in any direction. As I understand it
the Tudor force don't seem to have done that much damage en route,
though I don't suppose that had any bearing on Richard's final
actions.

I was lucky enough to attend an academic day in the Tower to
celebrate the thousandth anniversary of Maldon, with a reading of
the great poem in Anglo-Saxon amongst other things.

I think all my heroes except Caesar and Athelstan have one thing in
common - they all fight a losing battle: Richard, Rupert, Edmund
Ironside, Harold Godwinson. And Byrtnoth has a special little spot
too.
B