Ricardians
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Ricardians is a collective term for those interested in rehabilitating the posthumous reputation of King Richard III of England from detractors; principal amongst whom is William Shakespeare, whose play paints Richard in such an unpleasant light.
Their work has produced excellent editions of documents from Richard's reign and a blizzard of articles and research which has shed an enormous amount of light on the 1480's in England. Ricardians can occasionally, however, prove dogmatic and rigid in their thinking and sometimes use outmoded and discredited evidence to support the view of a blemish-free Richard.
Ricardian fiction would include Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time, based around very outmoded research by George Markham. Ricardian historiograpy would include works by Horace Walpole and Sir George Buck. Modern historians such as Charles Ross and Michael Hicks who write relatively favourably about Richard could broadly be referred to as Ricardians but would probably themselves shy away from the term because of the (now largely unfair) association with uncritical adulation and distortion of evidence.
See also
External links
- Richard III Society UK (http://www.richardiii.net)
- Richard III Society US (http://www.r3.org)