Book Recommendation - The Last Knight

Hi All,

Just bought The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I, the catalogue, a somewhat paltry term for a massive and lavish hardback, to the Met's exhibition of Maximilan I's armour and related artifacts.

I've seen some of these pieces in the flesh before but  his personal collection of battle, tournament and ceremenoial armour was hugh.

It contains numerous images of his personal and contemporary armour, and related images such as portraits, Maximilan's self commissioned and self-publicising semi-autobiography - check out the Freyal tounement pictures, and lots of Burgundian and Hapsburg related images.

These are accompanied by a series of essays whose core argument is that he used armour and the image of the knight as part of his public diplomacy campaign.

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Hampden and Chalgrove

Following up from my last post, I cycled past the Battle of Chalgrove site a few weeks ago. Herees the monument to it and Hampden. You may be able to make out his coat of arms.

Lord Dacre’s last drink

 

 

 This stand has taken me probably 6 months. Mainly due to other things getting in the way but it has taken more planning and a modest amount of conversion compared to normal. I think only 2 or 3 figures had no modifications, though most of the others only had minor changes.

 

The story goes that during the battle, that Randolf Dacre, 1st Lord Dacre of the North of Gilsland, paused for a drink and taking off his bevor, was shoot thorough the neck and killed. It is claimed that he was hit by a bolt fired from behind a bur tree by the son of a man Lord Dacre killed previously.

 “This Lord Dacres, as the report goeth, was slayne by a boy, at Towton Field, which boy shot him out of a burtree, when he had unclasped his helmet to drink a cup of wyne, in revenge of his father, whom the said lord had slayne before, which tree hath beene remarkable ever since by the inhabitants, and decayed within this few yeares. The place where he was slayne is called the North Acres, whereupon they have this ryme. The Lord Dacres Was slayne in the North Acres” Glover 1585

  

Hence the dead body in Yorkist colours and the separate crossbow man. Who knows how true the story is but I thought it made for a good vignette. 

 

I’ve drawn heavily on the excellent Towton Battlefield Archaeology Project site by Tim Sutherland. It includes a reference to the location of the burr tree, based on the 1908 O/S map. Do have a look, I think Sutherland is one of the most interesting researchers on Towton.

As the website notes, archelogy around the location of “the tree” provided significant numerous artifacts including human bones and Sutherland concluded that the “bur tree” is a “probable site of former grave marker.”

 Dacre is buried at Saxton Church. His tomb states,

HIC JACET RANULPH / DNS DE DAKAR ET G[ILLESLAN]D VERU MILES Z STRENUUS IN BELLO / PR… .HENRICO VI / …O DNI MCCCCLXI XXIX DIE MNSI….RCII VIDL DNICA RAMIS PALMARU / CU’ AIE P’PCIET D’S AME

“Here lies Randolf, Lord of Dacre and Gilsland, a true knight, valiant in battle in the service of King Henry VI, who died on Palm Sunday, 29 March 1461, on whose soul may God have mercy, Amen.” Boardman (1996, 90)

Again, the Towton Battlefield Archaeology Project  has been working on the tomb too.

His burial is linked to the other legend about him, that he was buried mounted on his horse.

Dacre’s banner, which I’ve taken from the Lance and Longbow Heraldic Banners of the Wars of the Roses booklet is a hard one – and is a photocopy-paint-on. 

The other figure with a coat of arms is Sir Thomas Hampden.   

According to the Towton Battlefield Society list of combatants at Towton, he fought with Dacre. I chose him as he comes from my current next of the woods, the Chilterns. And was an ancestor of the far more important Sir John Hampden, a key figure in the pollical debates that led to the English Civil Wars. The family coat of arms is Argent a saltire glues between four eagles azure.

Whether Thomas had this coat of arms is conjecture and I have no proof beyond the TBS list that he was at Towton. The representation of the heraldry on the figure isn’t great – the eagles are more aspirational than actual. 

I’m currently working on an annotated gazetteer of Oxford/Bucks gentry in the WORs, which I’ll post on here in due course and there are likely to be a few more local figures in my WoRs stands as I progress.

The figures are a mix of Perrys, Essexs and the Wargame Foundry Swiss Character pack – the reminder of which may appear as C16th Scots in another project.

Iran and Artillery

Been a bit side tracked with life and other projects, including planning some Operation Contenance figures and vehicles, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941. I've not made of painted anything yet on the latter but have a P38t to convert into the earlier TNHP. And after some German WW1s for Iranian forces and eventually some Perry's 8th Army with the Indian forces. It has a similar feel to the Spanish Civil War - mix of cutting edge and more antiquated kit, on the British and Soviet as well as the Iranian side. And just enough quirkiness to make it different. But unlike WoRs, there is a lot more source material - including excellent Pathe New footage. More on this, in due course, probably on Lead Adventures Forum.

But before I go too off-piste, something WoR-related finished, one of the Perry's artillery pieces, straight out of the box, bar the wooden barrel and cannon balls. It was fun and nice not to have to worry about liveries.

Still working on my first Lancastrian stand, Lord Dacre and troops at rest.

Castles

Managed to see two of the castles on my wish list this summer - Haut-Koenigsbourg and Guedelon. Both were fantastic and essentially modern interpretations but I think I and my family found Guedelon the most inspiring and enjoyable. The fact its a living project with a sense of community and activities I think won it  - builders, rope makers etc and plenty of enthusiastic workers ready to explain whats going on.

 Guedelon

  

Haut Koenigsbourg

Koenigsbourg in the mist

 

In addition, we visited the Ecomusee in Alsace - slightly odd name for a collection of historical building rescued  and rebuilt on the site - a plethora of medical houses in very bright colours and a tower from Mulhouse city walls.

 Enjoy the photos.

The Nevilles

As I've said before, Warwick for some reason was why I was first interested in the WoRs - after the Ladybird book, I think Kendall's Warwick the Kingmaker biography of him was the first book I read at Uni, and it wasn't on the syllabus.

So I'm glad to have finally completed these two Yorkist command stands - Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and his more battle-hardened  uncle, William Neville, Lord Fauconberg and Earl of Kent. The latter is accompanied by Edward Neville, 1st Baron Bergavenny - the figure pointing with the red cap. Like Fauconberg  another of Ralph Neville's sons and uncle of Warwick. Sources differ as to whether he was at Towton. There also seems to have been bad blood between Warwick and Bergavenny of inheritance.. Stuart on Army Royal has a piece devoted to his grandson, George, the 3rd Lord Bergavenny, with a template for his standard his banner.

 Whilst Warwick was clearly charismatic and an excellent political operator and recruiter, his two uncles had great military experience, during the end of the Hundred Years' War. Facounberg appears to have been a better military commander, and the year after Towton, he was again on Calais, raiding Breton lands. He died the next year, 1463.

Mourner on Richard de Beaauchamps tomb

There is an excellent blog, about writing fiction on the WoRs, which has numerous near contemporary images of Richard Neville, along with the mourner on his father-in-law, Richard de Beauchamp's, tomb at St Mary's Church, Warwick,  - https://suwritesstuff.blogspot.com/2013/03/keeping-up-appearances.html - Until I read this site I hadn't realised that there were so many, produced within living memory of him.Sadly, I've lost the link but here are the two most common contemporaneous/near contemporaneous ones.

Warwick - Rous Roll

 The figures are as usual a mix of Perrys and Essex with a Front Rank trumpeter.

The figure of Warwick, is conversion of one of Essex Miniatures' best medieval figures - full gothic harness (I have three of them I liked its so much). I added a Perry polearm and a Warlord landskneckt capped head, to substitute for an arming cap.The flags are over paints of the Perry ones.

 

 

 The trumpeter is hand painted - its as good as I could do.

 I think that all the Yorkist bar some mounted figures I have planned for now.

Tewkesbury - The annual trip

A few of my favourite photos from the family visit to Tewkesbury.

And, excuse the pun, a small step to getting my own re-enactor's kit.