The Ricardian

The Ricardian is the research journal of the Richard III Society. Members of the Society receive the current year’s volume as a benefit of membership and earlier issues, from the early years up to and including 2020, are available to everyone in their entirety. In future, volumes will be added to the online series after a minimum of five years.

The Ricardian vols 3–30, October 1974–2020, can now be consulted and searched online, for free, here. All these texts can be downloaded as Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files and/or printed out (subject to our the Terms of Use).

Contributions include many detailed biographies of men and women whose lives were directly relevant to Richard III, such as relatives, officials and servants, but also of merchants, craftsmen, artists and scholars of the period whose careers add to our general knowledge of fifteenth century society. There are discussions of aspects of social life, political and economic issues, important events, including battles, crucial texts – both literary and historical – heraldry, works of arts and archaeological finds. Specific Ricardian issues are dealt with, of course, such as the controversial portraits of Richard III, his favourite saints, the mystery of the princes in the Tower and the problem of Edward IV’s marriage pre-contract followed by a secret marriage which, taken together, would have made his sons illegitimate under canon law and cleared Richard’s way to the throne. The volumes which are now online include the original articles that together analysed the interesting book collections of Richard III and his family, as well as the studies of the elaborate funerals of Richard, Duke of York, Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth Woodville. Review articles cover a wide range of books that dealt with similar material throughout these years and brief summaries guide the reader to shorter publications on these subjects. Maps, family trees and unusual illustrations complete the information provided.

Festschrift Edition

The Ricardian was originally published quarterly in March, June, September and December but since 2002 it has been published as an annual journal. Volume 13 was a special Festschrift edition, in honour of Anne Sutton’s twenty-five years as editor of the journal and contained thirty-seven articles.