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Richard III's Books: Ideals and Reality in the Life and Library of a Medieval Prince
What the most notorious of English kings read and what his reading reveals about Richard III's society.
- GenresHistoryBooks About Books
320 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1998
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About the author
Anne F. Sutton
22 books1 followerAnne F. Sutton is historian emerita of the Mercers' Company.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 15, 2023
Richard III’s Books: Ideals and Reality in the Life and Library of a Medieval Prince
By Anne F. Sutton & Livia Visser-Fuchs
Reviewed March 21, 2022
"Whoever...claims to be zealous of truth, of happiness, of wisdom, or knowledge, aye, even of the faith, must needs become a lover of books." ~Richard of Bury, Bishop of Durham, from Philobiblon (The Love of Books)
You can tell a lot about a person by the books he (or she) reads, and a look at one’s library can provide insights into what the owner likes or dislikes, perhaps even into their beliefs and prejudices. However, such an analysis should be approached with caution.
Richard III’s books are among the few personal possessions of his that survived his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth, likely because no matter how poorly he was thought of by the succeeding Tudor regime, the books themselves were highly prized. Although analyzing the man by looking at his books needs to be approached with caution, the books he reads can reveal something of a personal nature and can help give us an idea as to his likes and dislikes, as well as how his taste in reading material compares with contemporary book owners.
Ownership of these books doesn’t mean Richard read all of them, and it doesn’t mean he accepted the stories and opinions presented in them, but they will give us points of view and accepted ways of thought for his time. As the authors put it, “Studying Richard’s books is to take a crash-course in the literature of his time.”
Although we know next to nothing about Richard’s education, it is possible that prior to the death of his father and elder brother Edmund, that as a youngest son, he was originally destined for the Church.
“Some of the books he owned actually suggest that he received the sound grammar education a future cleric needed: the highly abbreviated Latin text of De regimine prencipum and the large, Latin Fitzhugh Chronicle demanded good Latin of their readers, and Richard was obviously pleased to receive Latin copies of the Historia Troiae and the Historia regum Britanniae. These were book only a man with good Latin and a habit of industrious reading – even a scholarly bent – could appreciate.”
When I read those lines, I was pleased to realize that Richard and I both read Historia regum Britanniae – he in the original Latin, and me in an English translation – and I felt the connection of one book lover to another, even if that other book lover died more than 500 years ago.
It is also suggested that Richard may have received some of his later education at an inn of court, which by this time were “providing a useful secular education for young men who had no intention of pursuing law as a career” and may be why, as Duke of Gloucester, Richard showed a good understanding of the law. But wherever he received his early education, there is no doubt that he completed his schooling at his brother’s court.
If you were hoping for some bombshell revelation about Richard from his books, I’m afraid there isn’t one. Those of his books that have survived (and it is pretty certain that many others either haven’t survived the centuries, or have had indications of their prior Ricardian ownership removed) are for the most part nothing fancy. These are not the ornate volumes that would have been owned by an obsessive book collector but are quite ordinary. Their relative plainness instead suggests that Richard was more interested in the text itself; that these books were meant to be read. Their range of standard and unexceptional titles implies that for a man of his status, Richard’s taste in books was very typical of English book owners of his day.
Richard III’s Religious Books: Devotional Books, Saints and Piety
I’m going to spend extra time on this chapter because not only do I find it extremely interesting, but also because a lot of attention has been given to King Richard’s devoutness, some pro and some con as in was he really devout or was it all an act?
Richard, both as Duke of Gloucester and King, would have owned many religious books. Surveys of the libraries of some of his contemporaries show that a high status person would have as many as thirty to forty for the use of the household’s chapel, as well as devotional treatises and saints’ lives. Although only five of Richard’s religious books survive, what we have provides a good cross-section of what was available and popular at the time, but rather than write about each one, I am going to focus on just two.
One of the books that often attracts a lot of attention is Richard’s copy of a Wycliffite Bible. If, as was earlier suggested, he was destined in childhood for the Church, then this Bible might be a relic of this period. Also, Richard’s copy contains nothing unorthodox or borderline heretical and, therefore, would have been considered “safe” by the Church. In short, no secret Lollard heresies here. The volume’s simplicity and age match the lesser quality of Richard’s other, mostly second–hand books, and once again suggests a genuine interest in the contents.
Another of his religious books, and the one I’m best familiar with, is his Book of Hours. This book was probably acquired as late as spring or summer of 1485, having originally been made in the 1420s for an unknown cleric, suggested as such by its many additional prayers. In fact, there are so many prayers that it can just as easily be called a “book of prayers.” And Richard III’s book not only has the extra prayers that were included when it was made, it also has a large number of extra devotions that he had added, ending up with many more than are found in most Books of Hours.
As for the tone of the prayers, the authors write, “The deeply penitent and humble tone of the prayer [the one often referred to as the ‘King Richard III’s prayer’] and its mention of, for example, the deliverance of Susanna from false witness have been used by modern scholars as indications of Richard’s disturbed emotional state and a sense of guilt. When compared to other texts, however, this devotion, though impressive and obviously considered very effective by Richard’s contemporaries, contains nothing that was unusual at the time and many anonymous, innocent and ordinary people knew and used it and hoped it would alleviate their misery.”
So what do his religious books tell us about Richard III?
“The evidence of the religious books that Richard owned as duke and king is not unequivocal, but it is positive rather than negative. The contents of his hours, his worship of particular saints and the mere ownership of Mechtild’s Booke of Gostlye Grace and the English Bible show us a man whose piety may have been conventional but certainly not lukewarm.”
The rest of the books
I am not going to spend much time on the other genres in Richard’s library, as that would make this review far too long. Instead, I will note that discussed are books on chivalry, “mirrors” for princes (instruction books on how to be a perfect prince), books of pedigrees and genealogy, histories, prophecy & the House of York, and stories read to pass the time such as tales of courtly love. These are all extremely fascinating topics in their own right and provide some understanding of Richard III’s character, but I’m already going on three pages for this review so will leave further details of these books for the interested reader to discover.
So, what was Richard’s attitude toward books? As the authors summarize,
“All the facts seem to point to Richard, both as duke and king, having a ‘positive’ attitude to books, being conscious of their existence and their value, and capable of protecting them by the 1484 proviso. He did not collect books as objects but used them for what they could give him and others in the way of instruction, consolation and entertainment.”
This book is filled with numerous illustrations and photographs, both black & white and color plates, and is a Ricardian book lover’s delight. There is also a catalog of Richard III’s books and books associated with him, as well as a short list of books wrongly attributed to his ownership. The only way this could be better is if I had access to Richard’s actual library, but since I don’t, this will have to suffice.
By Anne F. Sutton & Livia Visser-Fuchs
Reviewed March 21, 2022
"Whoever...claims to be zealous of truth, of happiness, of wisdom, or knowledge, aye, even of the faith, must needs become a lover of books." ~Richard of Bury, Bishop of Durham, from Philobiblon (The Love of Books)
You can tell a lot about a person by the books he (or she) reads, and a look at one’s library can provide insights into what the owner likes or dislikes, perhaps even into their beliefs and prejudices. However, such an analysis should be approached with caution.
Richard III’s books are among the few personal possessions of his that survived his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth, likely because no matter how poorly he was thought of by the succeeding Tudor regime, the books themselves were highly prized. Although analyzing the man by looking at his books needs to be approached with caution, the books he reads can reveal something of a personal nature and can help give us an idea as to his likes and dislikes, as well as how his taste in reading material compares with contemporary book owners.
Ownership of these books doesn’t mean Richard read all of them, and it doesn’t mean he accepted the stories and opinions presented in them, but they will give us points of view and accepted ways of thought for his time. As the authors put it, “Studying Richard’s books is to take a crash-course in the literature of his time.”
Although we know next to nothing about Richard’s education, it is possible that prior to the death of his father and elder brother Edmund, that as a youngest son, he was originally destined for the Church.
“Some of the books he owned actually suggest that he received the sound grammar education a future cleric needed: the highly abbreviated Latin text of De regimine prencipum and the large, Latin Fitzhugh Chronicle demanded good Latin of their readers, and Richard was obviously pleased to receive Latin copies of the Historia Troiae and the Historia regum Britanniae. These were book only a man with good Latin and a habit of industrious reading – even a scholarly bent – could appreciate.”
When I read those lines, I was pleased to realize that Richard and I both read Historia regum Britanniae – he in the original Latin, and me in an English translation – and I felt the connection of one book lover to another, even if that other book lover died more than 500 years ago.
It is also suggested that Richard may have received some of his later education at an inn of court, which by this time were “providing a useful secular education for young men who had no intention of pursuing law as a career” and may be why, as Duke of Gloucester, Richard showed a good understanding of the law. But wherever he received his early education, there is no doubt that he completed his schooling at his brother’s court.
If you were hoping for some bombshell revelation about Richard from his books, I’m afraid there isn’t one. Those of his books that have survived (and it is pretty certain that many others either haven’t survived the centuries, or have had indications of their prior Ricardian ownership removed) are for the most part nothing fancy. These are not the ornate volumes that would have been owned by an obsessive book collector but are quite ordinary. Their relative plainness instead suggests that Richard was more interested in the text itself; that these books were meant to be read. Their range of standard and unexceptional titles implies that for a man of his status, Richard’s taste in books was very typical of English book owners of his day.
Richard III’s Religious Books: Devotional Books, Saints and Piety
I’m going to spend extra time on this chapter because not only do I find it extremely interesting, but also because a lot of attention has been given to King Richard’s devoutness, some pro and some con as in was he really devout or was it all an act?
Richard, both as Duke of Gloucester and King, would have owned many religious books. Surveys of the libraries of some of his contemporaries show that a high status person would have as many as thirty to forty for the use of the household’s chapel, as well as devotional treatises and saints’ lives. Although only five of Richard’s religious books survive, what we have provides a good cross-section of what was available and popular at the time, but rather than write about each one, I am going to focus on just two.
One of the books that often attracts a lot of attention is Richard’s copy of a Wycliffite Bible. If, as was earlier suggested, he was destined in childhood for the Church, then this Bible might be a relic of this period. Also, Richard’s copy contains nothing unorthodox or borderline heretical and, therefore, would have been considered “safe” by the Church. In short, no secret Lollard heresies here. The volume’s simplicity and age match the lesser quality of Richard’s other, mostly second–hand books, and once again suggests a genuine interest in the contents.
Another of his religious books, and the one I’m best familiar with, is his Book of Hours. This book was probably acquired as late as spring or summer of 1485, having originally been made in the 1420s for an unknown cleric, suggested as such by its many additional prayers. In fact, there are so many prayers that it can just as easily be called a “book of prayers.” And Richard III’s book not only has the extra prayers that were included when it was made, it also has a large number of extra devotions that he had added, ending up with many more than are found in most Books of Hours.
As for the tone of the prayers, the authors write, “The deeply penitent and humble tone of the prayer [the one often referred to as the ‘King Richard III’s prayer’] and its mention of, for example, the deliverance of Susanna from false witness have been used by modern scholars as indications of Richard’s disturbed emotional state and a sense of guilt. When compared to other texts, however, this devotion, though impressive and obviously considered very effective by Richard’s contemporaries, contains nothing that was unusual at the time and many anonymous, innocent and ordinary people knew and used it and hoped it would alleviate their misery.”
So what do his religious books tell us about Richard III?
“The evidence of the religious books that Richard owned as duke and king is not unequivocal, but it is positive rather than negative. The contents of his hours, his worship of particular saints and the mere ownership of Mechtild’s Booke of Gostlye Grace and the English Bible show us a man whose piety may have been conventional but certainly not lukewarm.”
The rest of the books
I am not going to spend much time on the other genres in Richard’s library, as that would make this review far too long. Instead, I will note that discussed are books on chivalry, “mirrors” for princes (instruction books on how to be a perfect prince), books of pedigrees and genealogy, histories, prophecy & the House of York, and stories read to pass the time such as tales of courtly love. These are all extremely fascinating topics in their own right and provide some understanding of Richard III’s character, but I’m already going on three pages for this review so will leave further details of these books for the interested reader to discover.
So, what was Richard’s attitude toward books? As the authors summarize,
“All the facts seem to point to Richard, both as duke and king, having a ‘positive’ attitude to books, being conscious of their existence and their value, and capable of protecting them by the 1484 proviso. He did not collect books as objects but used them for what they could give him and others in the way of instruction, consolation and entertainment.”
This book is filled with numerous illustrations and photographs, both black & white and color plates, and is a Ricardian book lover’s delight. There is also a catalog of Richard III’s books and books associated with him, as well as a short list of books wrongly attributed to his ownership. The only way this could be better is if I had access to Richard’s actual library, but since I don’t, this will have to suffice.
October 12, 2023
An invaluable reference work for Ricardians.
May 31, 2022
There’s a lot of information here, but I found its interest to be somewhat uneven. Some chapters, such as those dealing with the history of his family, and his own life, were easier to read. But some, like “Mirrors for Princes,” I felt were a bit of a stretch. There’s a certain dryness to the book, and adding in such truly esoteric topics doesn’t help.
Still, as the writers state, you can learn a great deal about a person from the books they own. Here, you learn, not just about Richard, but about the learned class of his time in general.
This isn’t a book I would recommend for the casual reader. But for those interested in the times, or in Richard III, it makes for interesting reading.
Still, as the writers state, you can learn a great deal about a person from the books they own. Here, you learn, not just about Richard, but about the learned class of his time in general.
This isn’t a book I would recommend for the casual reader. But for those interested in the times, or in Richard III, it makes for interesting reading.
March 5, 2024
Insightful look into the late Medieval world of this Yorkist king by analyzing the books that shaped his thinking and culture.
July 11, 2014
This is not a casual reading book, but it is a wonderful look into the literary world of the 14th century. Using Richard III's library as a lens, it looks the values literature reflected and projected on society at the time. It's dry, I'm not going to lie, but the information is fascinating and for anyone making a study of that period, it is a vital book.
September 10, 2013
I almost gave it just 3 stars for being quite dry, but the information is too good for that. Some insights into Richard's character and a lot about what literate people read in the late 15th century.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews