History of The Masses

The second section of a three-part piece on Richard III and the effects of Tudor propaganda. This week explores how the Tudors presented Richard as a bloodthirsty killing machine through deaths such as George, Duke of Clarence, Henry VI, and Edward of Westminster.

The first part of a section on Richard III, the most notorious English monarch of all time. This section addresses Tudor propaganda on Richard’s scoliosis and how he was characterised as a hunchback and with a withered left arm. It provides explanations for how disability was viewed in the fifteenth century, why people believed Richard had a hunchback, and how archaeological evidence and historical research has challenged the view that Richard was a hunchback.

This episode provides a brief biography of Piers Gaveston, the first earl of Cornwall and potential lover of King Edward II of England. It explains the role of the favourite in the Ordinances of 1311, and the consequences of Gaveston’s death. All written and produced by a history undergraduate at York. After, there are a few questions and sources to help encourage further research.