What would Richard III have sounded like?

Research at the University of Leicester can even give us a clue as to what Richard III sounded like. Dr Philip Shaw, Lecturer in English Language and Old English in our School of English, has studied two letters written by Richard when he was Duke of Gloucester. In the podcast below, you can hear Dr Shaw read these letters using the approximate pronunciation and accent that we believe Richard would have used. Interestingly, the language and spelling betrays no sign of a northern dialect, being closer to what we now consider a West Midlands accent.

https://soundcloud.com/university-of-leicester/what-would-richard-iii-have

1120 – The 'White Ship' sinks in the English Channel

25 November

The White Ship was a vessel that sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur, on this day in 1120.

Only two of those aboard survived. Those who drowned included William Adelin, the only surviving legitimate son and heir of King Henry I of England. William Adelin's death led to a succession crisis and a period of civil war in England known as the Anarchy.

1180 – Phillip II becomes king of France

Philip II, called Philip Augustus (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223) was a King of France from the House of Capet who reigned from 1180 to 1223.

Philip's predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself king of France. The son of King Louis VII and his third wife, Adèle of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed "God-given" because he was the first son of Louis VII, born late in his father's life. Philip was given the nickname "Augustus" by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the Crown lands of France so remarkably.

1307 – According to legend, William Tell shoots an apple off his son’s head

William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland. His legend is recorded in a late 15th-century Swiss illustrated chronicle. It is set in the time of the original foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century.

According to the legend, Tell—an expert marksman with the crossbow—assassinated Gessler, a tyrannical reeve of Habsburg Austria positioned in Altdorf, Uri.

On this day in 1307, Tell visited Altdorf with his young son and passed by the hat (which Gessler had placed and demanded be saluted by anyone who passed), publicly refusing to bow to it, and so was arrested. Gessler—intrigued by Tell’s famed marksmanship yet resentful of his defiance—devised a cruel punishment: Tell and his son would be executed, but he could redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of his son, Walter, in a single attempt. Tell split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow.