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IMC 2016: Sessions

Session 1732: The Life, Death, and Reputation of the Royal Prince

Thursday 7 July 2016, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Society for Fourteenth Century Studies
Organiser:James Bothwell, School of History, University of Leicester
Moderator/Chair:Alison McHardy, Department of History, University of Nottingham
Paper 1732-aReputation and Public Opinion: The Political Trials and Tribulations of John of Gaunt, 1376-1386
(Language: English)
Gwilym Dodd, Department of History, University of Nottingham
Index terms: Administration, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1732-bStarving Prisoner, Starving Guests: The Death of Richard II and His Missing Funerary Meal
(Language: English)
Anna M. Duch, Department of History, University of York
Index terms: Administration, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1732-cRoyal Wills and the Royal Will
(Language: English)
Chris Given-Wilson, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Index terms: Administration, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract

This session offers new research in the lives of key members of the royal family in the fourteenth century. Dodd looks at the mid-career period of John of Gaunt, considering why Gaunt attracted such negative reaction, how widespread these criticisms were, and Gaunt's response. Duch considers the lack of a funerary meal for Richard II, and further examines the significance of a king suffering a pauper's death. Given-Wilson discusses the issue of royal wills, the kinds of matters which kings included therein, the strategies they adopted to try to ensure that their wishes were obeyed, and the extent to which these were successful. Overall, this session offers interesting insights on various points of the 'lifecycle' of princes in the Middle Ages.