Misplaced Pages

#321678

126-623: The Cuerdale Hoard is a hoard of more than 8,600 items, including silver coins, English and Carolingian jewellery, hacksilver and ingots . It was discovered on 15 May 1840 on the southern bank of a bend of the River Ribble , in an area called Cuerdale near Preston, Lancashire , England . The Cuerdale Hoard is one of the largest Viking silver hoards ever found, four times larger than its nearest rival in Britain or Ireland, according to Richard Hall . In weight and number of pieces, it

252-652: A "gyration" (tour) of the country to muster support for his cause. By installing de Vere as Justice of Chester , he began the work of creating a loyal military power base in Cheshire . He also secured a legal ruling from Chief Justice Robert Tresilian that parliament's conduct had been unlawful and treasonable. On his return to London, the King was confronted by Gloucester, Arundel and Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick , who brought an appeal of treason against de la Pole, de Vere, Tresilian, and two other loyalists:

378-562: A book on, and sponsored writing and discussion of them in his court. In June 1399, Louis I, Duke of Orléans , gained control of the court of the insane Charles VI of France . The policy of rapprochement with the English crown did not suit Louis's political ambitions, and for this reason he found it opportune to allow Henry Bolingbroke to leave for England. With a small group of followers, Henry landed at Ravenspurn in Yorkshire towards

504-527: A continuity in civil discord starting with Richard's misrule that did not end until Henry VII 's accession in 1485. The idea that Richard was to blame for the later-15th century Wars of the Roses was prevalent as late as the 19th century, but came to be challenged in the 20th. Some recent historians prefer to look at the Wars of the Roses in isolation from the reign of Richard II. Richard's mental state has been

630-410: A large extent by William Shakespeare , whose play Richard II portrayed Richard's misrule and his deposition as responsible for the 15th-century Wars of the Roses . Modern historians do not accept this interpretation, while not exonerating Richard from responsibility for his own deposition. While probably not insane, as many historians of the 19th and 20th centuries believed him to be, he may have had

756-463: A large, water-logged mass of soil that had slipped down towards the river, leaving an open rift in the earth some twenty yards above the water. In the rift lay the remnants of a wooden chest, inside which there was a disintegrating leaden box. When the soil and fragments of wood and lead had been cleared away, there remained a treasure comprising about a thousand ounces of silver in broken pieces and ingots, and over seven thousand silver coins. Ever since

882-414: A major issue of historical debate since the first academic historians started treating the subject in the 19th century. One of the first modern historians to deal with Richard II as a king and as a person was Bishop Stubbs . Stubbs argued that towards the end of his reign, Richard's mind "was losing its balance altogether." Historian Anthony Steel , who wrote a full-scale biography of the King in 1941, took

1008-468: A matter of three years, these councillors earned the mistrust of the Commons to the point that the councils were discontinued in 1380. Contributing to discontent was an increasingly heavy burden of taxation levied through three poll taxes between 1377 and 1381 that were spent on unsuccessful military expeditions on the continent. By 1381, there was a deep-felt resentment against the governing classes in

1134-459: A personality disorder, particularly manifesting itself towards the end of his reign. Most authorities agree that his policies were not unrealistic or even entirely unprecedented, but that the way in which he carried them out was unacceptable to the political establishment, leading to his downfall. Richard of Bordeaux was the younger son of Edward, Prince of Wales , and Joan, Countess of Kent . Edward, eldest son of Edward III and heir apparent to

1260-430: A psychiatric approach to the issue, and concluded that Richard had schizophrenia . This was challenged by V. H. Galbraith , who argued that there was no historical basis for such a diagnosis, a line that has also been followed by later historians of the period, such as Anthony Goodman and Anthony Tuck . Nigel Saul , who wrote an academic biography of Richard II in 1997 concedes that – even though there

1386-507: A regency led by the King's uncles was avoided. Instead, the King was nominally to exercise kingship with the help of a series of "continual councils", from which Gaunt was excluded. Gaunt, together with his younger brother Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham , still held great informal influence over the business of government, but the King's councillors and friends, particularly Sir Simon de Burley and Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford , increasingly gained control of royal affairs. In

SECTION 10

#1732765014322

1512-457: A semblance of greatness only after his fall from power. Writing a work of fiction, Shakespeare took many liberties and made great omissions, basing his play on works by writers such as Edward Hall and Samuel Daniel , who in turn based their writings on contemporary chroniclers such as Thomas Walsingham. Hall and Daniel were part of Tudor historiography, which was highly unsympathetic to Richard. The Tudor orthodoxy, reinforced by Shakespeare, saw

1638-577: A temple or church become the property of that institution, and may be used to its benefit. Richard II of England Richard II (6 January 1367 – c.  14 February 1400 ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux , was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent . Richard's father died in 1376, leaving Richard as heir apparent to his grandfather, King Edward III ; upon

1764-589: A tendency to stammer. While the Westminster Abbey portrait probably shows a good similarity of the King, the Wilton Diptych portrays him as significantly younger than he was at the time; it must be assumed that he had a beard by this point. Religiously, he was orthodox, and particularly towards the end of his reign he became a strong opponent of the Lollard heresy. He was particularly devoted to

1890-923: A village in Shropshire mentioned in the Domesday Book, or Cunetio, now Marlborough , in Wiltshire. Even the port of Quentovic, at the mouth of the River Canche, in Northern France, has been suggested as some of the Cuerdale coins bear that name in various forms and the port was often in Viking hands. Another suggestion is that Cunnetti may have meant 'Cnut's people', and that the inscription 'Cnut, King of Cnut Rex Cunnetti' simply means 'Cnut, King of Cnut's people'. Yet another ingenious suggestion

2016-560: A war chest belonging to Irish Norse exiles intending to reoccupy Dublin from the Ribble Estuary , but there have also been many other theories about its ownership and purpose. In 1966 the numismatist M. Banks suggested that the hoard was not even buried by Vikings, although it was Viking treasure, or much of it was. Banks suggested that the Cuerdale Hoard might have been a gift to English churches suffering persecution in

2142-648: Is a collection of personal objects buried for safety in times of unrest. A hoard of loot is a buried collection of spoils from raiding and is more in keeping with the popular idea of " buried treasure ". Votive hoards are different from the above in that they are often taken to represent permanent abandonment, in the form of purposeful deposition of items, either all at once or over time for ritual purposes, without intent to recover them . Furthermore, votive hoards need not be "manufactured" goods, but can include organic amulets and animal remains. Votive hoards are often distinguished from more functional deposits by

2268-569: Is firmly of the opinion that almost half the coins of the Cuerdale hoard were minted by the Vikings in Northumbria and that the treasure was the property of a Viking chief and was intended for his military or administrative needs. But both writers are agreed, as so many other numismatists have been, that the secrets of the Cuerdale hoard have not yet been unveiled. The workmen who unearthed the hoard on that May evening in 1840 certainly confirmed

2394-516: Is known, was found on 15 May 1840 by workmen at Hall Farm, Cuerdale, a total of 1,000 oz (31 kg) of silver ingots and 7,000 Anglo-Saxon coins. Deposited 903–905 AD. The local tradition was clear and insistent. Anyone who stood on the south bank of the River Ribble at Walton le Dale, and looked up river towards Ribchester, would be within sight of the richest treasure in England. Nobody knew how

2520-410: Is little evidence to tie Richard directly to the patronage of poetry , but it was nevertheless within his court that this culture was allowed to thrive. The greatest poet of the age, Geoffrey Chaucer , served the King as a diplomat, a customs official and a clerk of The King's Works while producing some of his best-known work. Chaucer was also in the service of John of Gaunt, and wrote The Book of

2646-443: Is no basis for assuming the King had a mental illness – he showed clear signs of a narcissistic personality , and towards the end of his reign "Richard's grasp on reality was becoming weaker." One of the primary historiographical questions surrounding Richard concerns his political agenda and the reasons for its failure. His kingship was thought to contain elements of the early modern absolute monarchy as exemplified by

SECTION 20

#1732765014322

2772-506: Is second only to the Spillings Hoard found on Gotland , Sweden . The coins in the hoard are from three sources, represented in the proportions 5:1:1. Viking kingdoms of eastern England are represented in the largest portion; the other two portions are of Alfred 's Kingdom of Wessex and of coins from foreign sources, which include Byzantine , Scandinavian , Islamic , Papal , North Italian and Carolingian mintings, many of

2898-452: Is that the name Cnut may be an acrostic, the initials of the Latin words 'Christus Nostrum Ubique Triumphans', meaning 'Our Christ (is) everywhere triumphant'. As these various suggestions imply, who Cnut was, where he reigned or indeed, whether he existed at all are matters of conjecture. Other inscriptions on coins of the Cuerdale hoard which are equally puzzling include Siefredus, apparently

3024-403: Is the owner of the property where the discovery was made. The ingots of silver, annulets, neck chains and rings and other ornaments, are stated to weigh about sixty three pounds, whilst the coins, including the wooden box in which they are enclosed and a portion of the fragments of the leaden case, the hind tells me weights twelve pounds, being about half the weight given in the papers. A portion of

3150-599: The Château-musée de Boulogne-sur-Mer . It is believed the coins were buried between 903 and 910, soon after the Vikings had been expelled from Dublin in 902. At this time the Ribble Valley was an important Viking route between the Irish Sea and York . The presence of large numbers of newly minted Norse coins from York and large amounts of Irish Norse bullion leads experts to believe this may have been

3276-588: The English Parliament genuinely feared that Richard's uncle, John of Gaunt , would usurp the throne. For this reason, Richard was quickly invested with the princedom of Wales and his father's other titles. On 21 June 1377, King Edward III, who was for some years frail and decrepit, died after a 50-year reign. This resulted in the 10-year-old Richard succeeding to the throne. He was crowned on 16 July at Westminster Abbey . Again, fears of John of Gaunt's ambitions influenced political decisions, and

3402-691: The King of Navarre and the King of Portugal ", were present at his birth. This anecdote, and the fact that his birth fell on the feast of Epiphany , was later used in the religious imagery of the Wilton Diptych , where Richard is one of three kings paying homage to the Virgin and Child . Richard's elder brother, Edward of Angoulême , died near his sixth birthday in 1370. The Prince of Wales finally succumbed to his long illness in June 1376. The Commons in

3528-508: The Lord Mayor of London , pulled Tyler down from his horse and killed him. The situation became tense once the rebels realised what had happened, but the King acted with calm resolve and, saying "I am your captain, follow me!", he led the mob away from the scene. Walworth meanwhile gathered a force to surround the peasant army, but the King granted clemency and allowed the rebels to disperse and return to their homes. The King soon revoked

3654-493: The Lords Appellant . On 20 December 1387 they intercepted de Vere at Radcot Bridge , where he and his forces were routed and he was obliged to flee the country. Richard now had no choice but to comply with the appellants' demands; Brembre and Tresilian were condemned and executed, while de Vere and de la Pole – who had by now also left the country  – were sentenced to death in absentia at

3780-668: The Merciless Parliament in February 1388. The appellants had now succeeded completely in breaking up the circle of favourites around the King. Richard gradually re-established royal authority in the months after the deliberations of the Merciless Parliament. The aggressive foreign policy of the Lords Appellant failed when their efforts to build a wide, anti-French coalition came to nothing, and

3906-477: The Tudor dynasty . More recently, Richard's concept of kingship has been seen by some as not so different from that of his antecedents, and that it was exactly by staying within the framework of traditional monarchy that he was able to achieve as much as he did. Yet his actions were too extreme and too abrupt. For one, the absence of war was meant to reduce the burden of taxation, and so help Richard's popularity with

Cuerdale Hoard - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-593: The "tyranny" of Richard II began towards the end of the 1390s. The King had Gloucester, Arundel and Warwick arrested in July 1397. The timing of these arrests and Richard's motivation are not entirely clear. Although one chronicle suggested that a plot was being planned against the King, there is no evidence that this was the case. It is more likely that Richard had simply come to feel strong enough to safely retaliate against these three men for their role in events of 1386–1388 and eliminate them as threats to his power. Arundel

4158-431: The Commons in parliament. However, this promise was never fulfilled, as the cost of the royal retinue, the opulence of court and Richard's lavish patronage of his favourites proved as expensive as war had been, without offering commensurate benefits. As for his policy of military retaining, this was later emulated by Edward IV and Henry VII, but Richard II's exclusive reliance on the county of Cheshire hurt his support from

4284-664: The Cuerdale hoard contained some 1,800 silver coins minted in memory of the East Anglian king St Eadmund, who was killed by the Danes in 870 AD, about 850 coins of King Alfred, and fifty of his son and successor, Edward the Elder. There were also just over a thousand coins of European origin, mostly Frankish from mints in Touraine, and a few from further east, including Kufic, or Arabic, and Byzantine coins. Most historians believe that

4410-460: The Cuerdale hoard was buried between 903 and 905 AD. Those were troubled times in England. King Alfred, by courage, force and diplomacy, had managed to achieve a working relationship with the Viking invaders but their share of the country, the Danelaw, covered the north and east of a line drawn from London to Chester. Alfred's death in 899 removed his restraining influence and the Vikings were soon on

4536-457: The Duchess as a eulogy to Gaunt's wife Blanche . Chaucer's colleague and friend John Gower wrote his Confessio Amantis on a direct commission from Richard, although he later grew disenchanted with the King. Richard was interested in occult topics such as geomancy , which he viewed as a greater discipline that included philosophy , science , and alchemic elements and commissioned

4662-605: The Elder , and Athelstan ; and as the last named monarch died in the 941, the coins have probably been buried for a period of about nine centuries. I have also seen a penny of Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, of a type similar to Plate X11.fig.4., Ruding; this last however is stated to have been found near Ribchester. Scarcely any two of the Ecclesiastical pennies of St Eadmund have the same reverse, and most of them are probably unpublished, as well as St Eadmunds halfpenny, of which I have only seen one specimen. With regards to

4788-469: The English king pay homage to the King of France—a condition that proved unacceptable to the English public. Instead, in 1396, a truce was agreed to, which was to last 28 years. As part of the truce, Richard agreed to marry Isabella of Valois , daughter of Charles VI of France , when she came of age. There were some misgivings about the betrothal, in particular, because the princess was then only six years old and thus would not be able to produce an heir to

4914-591: The French and Bohemian courts that had been the homes of Richard's two wives, but also the court that his father had maintained while residing in Aquitaine. Richard's approach to kingship was rooted in his strong belief in the royal prerogative , the inspiration of which can be found in his early youth, when his authority was challenged first by the Peasants' Revolts and then by the Lords Appellant. Richard rejected

5040-414: The King disinherited Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke , who had previously been exiled. Henry invaded England in June 1399 with a small force that quickly grew in numbers. Meeting little resistance, he deposed Richard and had himself crowned king. Richard is thought to have been starved to death in captivity, although questions remain regarding his final fate. Richard's posthumous reputation has been shaped to

5166-418: The King previously had been addressed simply as " highness ", now "royal majesty ", or "high majesty" were often used. It was said that on solemn festivals Richard would sit on his throne in the royal hall for hours without speaking, and anyone on whom his eyes fell had to bow his knees to the King. The inspiration for this new sumptuousness and emphasis on dignity came from the courts on the continent, not only

Cuerdale Hoard - Misplaced Pages Continue

5292-484: The King's friends, making Richard an absolute ruler unbound by the necessity of gathering a Parliament again. On 3 February 1399, John of Gaunt died. Rather than allowing Henry to succeed, Richard extended the term of his exile to life and expropriated his properties. The King felt safe from Henry, who was residing in Paris, since the French had little interest in any challenge to Richard and his peace policy. Richard left

5418-571: The Lancashire tradition that there was a vast treasure buried on the banks of the Ribble, but how it came to be there, whose property it was, and even where the majority of the coins were minted: these are questions which still await an answer." Many opinions and speculations are afloat as to the original owner of the treasure, and the circumstances under which it was buried. With these vague surmises I will not trouble your readers, but rather consult

5544-555: The Realm Edmund, Duke of York , had little choice but to side with Henry. Meanwhile, Richard was delayed in his return from Ireland and did not land in Wales until 24 July. He made his way to Conwy , where on 12 August he met with Northumberland for negotiations. On 19 August, Richard surrendered to Henry at Flint Castle , promising to abdicate if his life were spared. Both men then made their way to Chester Castle where Richard

5670-509: The Tower. The next day, Friday, 14 June, he set out by horse and met the rebels at Mile End . He agreed to the rebels' demands, but this move only emboldened them; they continued their looting and killings. Richard met Wat Tyler again the next day at Smithfield and reiterated that the demands would be met, but the rebel leader was not convinced of the King's sincerity. The King's men grew restive, an altercation broke out, and William Walworth ,

5796-498: The antiquities market, it often happens that miscellaneous objects varying in date and style have become attached to the original group. Such "dealer's hoards" can be highly misleading, but better understanding of archaeology amongst collectors, museums and the general public is gradually making them less common and more easily identified. Hoards may be of precious metals , coinage , tools or less commonly, pottery or glass vessels. There are various classifications depending on

5922-434: The appellants. The fines levied on these men brought great revenues to the crown, although contemporary chroniclers raised questions about the legality of the proceedings. These actions were made possible primarily through the collusion of John of Gaunt, but with the support of a large group of other magnates, many of whom were rewarded with new titles, and were disparagingly referred to as Richard's "duketti". These included

6048-401: The approach his grandfather Edward III had taken to the nobility. Edward's court had been a martial one, based on the interdependence between the king and his most trusted noblemen as military captains. In Richard's view, this put a dangerous amount of power in the hands of the baronage. To avoid dependence on the nobility for military recruitment, he pursued a policy of peace towards France. At

6174-597: The areas called the Danelaw that were occupied by pagan Vikings. Since so many of the coins were apparently minted across the Channel , said Banks, they were probably a contribution from the Frankish Christians to their English brothers. Many such mysteries surround the Cuerdale trove. Little archaeological investigation has yet been done of the site of Cuerdale Hall. Such an investigation might reveal why

6300-435: The banners of the courageous Dane, and from which expedition he never returned. Athelstan was victorious, and to him belongs the glory of having established what has ever since been called the kingdom of England. The charitable donations of the three immediate predecessors of Athelstan to the churches of England, gave rise to an intercourse between the English and the transmarine Britons, who still lamented their banishment from

6426-585: The border suggest the man had a mental illness, one also describing him as a "beggar" by the time of his death in 1419, but he was buried as a king in Blackfriars, Stirling , the local Dominican friary . Meanwhile, Henry V  – in an effort both to atone for his father's act of murder and to silence the rumours of Richard's survival – had decided to have the body at King's Langley reinterred in Westminster Abbey on 4 December 1413. Here Richard himself had prepared an elaborate tomb, where

SECTION 50

#1732765014322

6552-473: The charters of freedom and pardon that he had granted, and as disturbances continued in other parts of the country, he personally went into Essex to suppress the rebellion. On 28 June at Billericay , he defeated the last rebels in a small skirmish and effectively ended the Peasants' Revolt. In the following days rebel leaders, such as John Ball, were hunted down and executed. Despite his young age, Richard had shown great courage and determination in his handling of

6678-487: The childless Richard. Discord broke out in the inner circles of court in December 1397, when Henry, Duke of Hereford, and Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, became embroiled in a quarrel. According to Henry, Thomas had claimed that the two, as former Lords Appellant, were next in line for royal retribution. Thomas vehemently denied these charges, as such a claim would have amounted to treason. A parliamentary committee decided that

6804-425: The coins and other antiques still remain in the hall for the inspection of visitors, whilst some of the relics of by gone days are stated to have found their way into the hands of private individuals; and this is not improbable, as several pieces, it is said, have by diligent scratching, been gleaned from the soil since the bulk was removed to the bank. If it may be allowed to judge of the whole from those exhibited in

6930-456: The coins of Alfred several types occur, and one in particular, that appears unpublished; its beautiful reverse is not, I believe, found on any Anglo Saxon coin figured by Ruding; it is in the possession of the hind at Curedale Hall. Several moneyers' names are found, not to be met with in Rudings list. The rarest however, of Alfreds coins is his halfpenny, not hitherto, known to exist ( a specimen

7056-551: The country in May for another expedition in Ireland. In the last years of Richard's reign, and particularly in the months after the suppression of the appellants in 1397, the King enjoyed a virtual monopoly on power in the country, a relatively uncommon situation in medieval England. In this period a particular court culture was allowed to emerge, one that differed sharply from that of earlier times. A new form of address developed; where

7182-512: The cult of Edward the Confessor, and around 1395 he had his own coat of arms impaled with the mythical arms of the Confessor. Though not a warrior king like his grandfather, Richard nevertheless enjoyed tournaments , as well as hunting. The popular view of Richard has more than anything been influenced by Shakespeare 's play about the King, Richard II . Shakespeare's Richard was a cruel, vindictive, and irresponsible king, who attained

7308-595: The day of its discovery the Cuerdale hoard has puzzled numismatists. Even the dating of it proved difficult, particularly as many of the coins were unknown or exceedingly rare. Undoubtedly the most puzzling were some 3,000 silver pennies minted for a king named on them as Cnut . On the reverse many bear the word Cunnetti, apparently the name of the town where the coins were minted but which cannot be identified. Some numismatists think that it may have been Chester-le-Street , in County Durham. Others have suggested Cuneet,

7434-428: The difficulties of the past years had been due solely to bad councillors. He outlined a foreign policy that reversed the actions of the appellants by seeking peace and reconciliation with France, and promised to lessen the burden of taxation on the people significantly. Richard ruled peacefully for the next eight years, having reconciled with his former adversaries. Still, later events would show that he had not forgotten

7560-400: The direction of Richard II and buried at Cuerdale. Other theories include that the silver was intended for a casting works in the vicinity. Remains of fortifications and moat suggest that a larger building once occupied the present site of Cuerdale Hall. The existence of the hoard may have been known long before its eventual rediscovery. A local Preston tradition said that anyone who stood on

7686-399: The discovery of hidden treasure, which had for many centuries laid inhumed in that delightful and secluded vale within three feet of the surface of the pasture, and about thirty yards from the edge of the river. A portion of the earth, under the spot where the treasure lay, having been previously removed, the leaden case, which was in a corroded state, was crushed to pieces by the fall, aided by

SECTION 60

#1732765014322

7812-482: The disgrace of executing a prince of the blood. Warwick was also condemned to death, but his life was spared and his sentence reduced to life imprisonment. Arundel's brother Thomas Arundel , the Archbishop of Canterbury, was exiled for life. Richard then took his persecution of adversaries to the localities. While recruiting retainers for himself in various counties, he prosecuted local men who had been loyal to

7938-585: The division of Europe caused by the Western Schism , Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire were seen as potential allies against France in the ongoing Hundred Years' War. Nonetheless, the marriage was not popular in England. Despite great sums of money awarded to the Empire, the political alliance never resulted in any military victories. Furthermore, the marriage was childless. Anne died from

8064-454: The end of June 1399. Meeting with Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland , who had his own misgivings about the King, Henry Bolingbroke insisted that his only object was to regain his own patrimony. Northumberland took him at his word and declined to interfere. The King had taken most of his household knights and the loyal members of his nobility with him to Ireland, so Henry Bolingbroke experienced little resistance as he moved south. Keeper of

8190-405: The field of architecture was Westminster Hall , which was extensively rebuilt during his reign, perhaps spurred on by the completion in 1391 of John of Gaunt's magnificent hall at Kenilworth Castle . Fifteen life-size statues of kings were placed in niches on the walls, and the hammer-beam roof by the royal carpenter Hugh Herland , "the greatest creation of medieval timber architecture", allowed

8316-520: The forces to disperse the rebels and that the only feasible option was to negotiate. It is unclear how much Richard, who was still only fourteen years old, was involved in these deliberations, although historians have suggested that he was among the proponents of negotiations. The King set out by the River Thames on 13 June, but the large number of people thronging the banks at Greenwich made it impossible for him to land, forcing him to return to

8442-565: The former Lords Appellant Also among them were With the forfeited lands of the convicted appellants, the King could reward these men with lands suited to their new ranks. A threat to Richard's authority still existed, however, in the form of the House of Lancaster , represented by John of Gaunt and his son Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford. The House of Lancaster not only possessed greater wealth than any other family in England, they were of royal descent and, as such, likely candidates to succeed

8568-595: The hall, and from casts taken from some of the coins in possession of Mr Asshetons agent, I should say, that not more than a third part are Anglo Saxon, the remainder being foreign, chiefly French, with probably a mixture of prelatical coins from other parts of the Continent, and a few even bearing characters similar to those of the Cufic Coins, described in a late number of your interesting chronicle. The Anglo-Saxon coins are chiefly of St. Eadmund , Alfred , Edward

8694-460: The history of the eventful times in which the property in question appears to have been concealed. We find that in the reign of Athelstan, Northumbria, was in a very disturbed state, that the King of the Scots, eagerly sought to free himself from his dependence on the English monarch, and that, with this view, he entered into alliance with Howel, King of Wales; and although the powerful army of Athelstan

8820-629: The hoard does not appear to have been accumulated by casual looting, since the Cunnetti coins and most of the Frankish coins seem to have been minted within a short period of time and in a limited area of either Britain or France. Careful packaging of the hoard indicates that it was probably a consignment of coins and bullion gathered for a specific purpose. In an article in the Numismatic Gazette for December 1966, Mr M Banks suggested that

8946-610: The hoard was buried in that location. The orientation of the old hall and roads and fields to the south suggests that a ford or bridge existed near the present site of Cuerdale Hall. Rob Curedale, a descendant of the De Keuerdale family, proposed an alternative theory that the hoard was buried by Sir Thomas de Molyneux who occupied Cuerdale Hall and raised an army of several thousand with help from Irish nobility to support Richard II . The treasure could have been several hundred years old when brought from an unknown location in Ireland at

9072-477: The indignities he perceived. In particular, the execution of his former teacher Sir Simon de Burley was an insult not easily forgotten. With national stability secured, Richard began negotiating a permanent peace with France. A proposal put forward in 1393 would have greatly expanded the territory of Aquitaine possessed by the English Crown. However, the plan failed because it included a requirement that

9198-483: The introduction of the immense number of French coins found in this hoard. 53°45′35″N 2°38′53″W  /  53.759748°N 2.648121°W  / 53.759748; -2.648121 Hoard Hoards provide a useful method of providing dates for artifacts through association as they can usually be assumed to be contemporary (or at least assembled during a decade or two), and therefore used in creating chronologies. Hoards can also be considered an indicator of

9324-612: The king was an elevated figure. The King's dependence on a small number of courtiers caused discontent among the nobility, and in 1387 control of government was taken over by a group of aristocrats known as the Lords Appellant . By 1389 Richard had regained control, and for the next eight years governed in relative harmony with his former opponents. In 1397, he took his revenge on the Appellants, many of whom were executed or exiled. The next two years have been described by historians as Richard's "tyranny". In 1399, after John of Gaunt died,

9450-512: The land of their fathers; and when the Normans, under Rollo depopulated Bretagne, numbers of the natives sought and obtained an asylum under the protection of Athelstan. Edgiva, the sister of the English monarch, was also the consort of the French king, Charles the Simple. The circumstance, then, of a friendly intercourse thus subsisting between the two countries, may not unsatisfactorily account for

9576-400: The last from Aquitaine perhaps, Richard Hall suggests, acquired there in the Viking raids of 898. The hoard was found by a group of workmen repairing the embankment of the river. It was in a lead box, which shows evidence of the hoard having been parcelled into small bags or packages. After discovery it was quickly recovered by the landowner's bailiffs , ensuring it remained together, though

9702-517: The latter's death, the 10-year-old Richard succeeded to the throne. During Richard's first years as king, government was in the hands of a series of regency councils, influenced by Richard's uncles John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock . England at that time faced various problems, most notably the Hundred Years' War . A major challenge of the reign was the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, and

9828-523: The leaders Wat Tyler , John Ball , and Jack Straw . John of Gaunt's Savoy Palace was burnt down. The Archbishop of Canterbury , Simon Sudbury , who was also Lord Chancellor , and Lord High Treasurer Robert Hales were both killed by the rebels, who were demanding the complete abolition of serfdom . The King, sheltered within the Tower of London with his councillors, agreed that the Crown did not have

9954-547: The lower levels of English society. Whereas the poll tax of 1381 was the spark of the Peasants' Revolt , the root of the conflict lay in tensions between peasants and landowners precipitated by the economic and demographic consequences of the Black Death and subsequent outbreaks of the plague. The rebellion started in Kent and Essex in late May, and on 12 June, bands of peasants gathered at Blackheath near London under

10080-459: The mayor of London, Nicholas Brembre , and Alexander Neville , the Archbishop of York . Richard stalled the negotiations to gain time, as he was expecting de Vere to arrive from Cheshire with military reinforcements. The three peers then joined forces with Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke , Earl of Derby, and Thomas de Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham  – the group known to history as

10206-417: The more established nobility. Another member of the close circle around the King was Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford , who in this period emerged as the King's favourite . Richard's close friendship to de Vere was also disagreeable to the political establishment. This displeasure was exacerbated by the earl's elevation to the new title of Duke of Ireland in 1386. The chronicler Thomas Walsingham suggested

10332-523: The name of a king, and two place-names of towns where coins may have been minted, Orsnaforda and several versions of Ebraice. Siefred may have been a Viking earl who succeeded Cnut as leader of the Danes in Yorkshire, though he too cannot be identified with any certainty. Orsnaforda has been tentatively identified as either Oxford or Horsforth, in Yorkshire, and Ebraice as either York, or Evreux, in northern France, but these attributions are little more than optimistic guesses. As well as these numismatic teasers,

10458-422: The nature of the goods themselves (from animal bones to diminutive artifacts), the places buried (being often associated with watery places, burial mounds and boundaries), and the treatment of the deposit (careful or haphazard placement and whether ritually destroyed/broken). Valuables dedicated to the use of a deity (and thus classifiable as "votive") were not always permanently abandoned. Valuable objects given to

10584-439: The nature of the hoard: A founder's hoard contains broken or unfit metal objects, ingots , casting waste, and often complete objects, in a finished state. These were probably buried with the intention to be recovered at a later time. A merchant's hoard is a collection of various functional items which, it is conjectured, were buried by a traveling merchant for safety, with the intention of later retrieval. A personal hoard

10710-672: The new king and restore Richard in the Epiphany Rising . Although averted, the plot highlighted the danger of allowing Richard to live. He is thought to have starved to death in captivity in Pontefract Castle on or around 14 February 1400, although there is some question over the date and manner of his death. His body was taken south from Pontefract and displayed in St Paul's Cathedral on 17 February before burial in King's Langley Priory on 6 March. Rumours that Richard

10836-430: The north of England fell victim to a Scottish incursion . Richard was now over twenty-one years old and could with confidence claim the right to govern in his own name. Furthermore, John of Gaunt returned to England in 1389 and settled his differences with the King, after which the old statesman acted as a moderating influence on English politics. Richard assumed full control of the government on 3 May 1389, claiming that

10962-461: The official record, read by the Archbishop of Canterbury during an assembly of lords and commons at Westminster Hall on Tuesday 30 September, Richard gave up his crown willingly and ratified his deposition citing as a reason his own unworthiness as a monarch. In contrast, the Traison et Mort Chronicle suggests otherwise. It describes a meeting between Richard and Henry that took place one day before

11088-424: The original three Romanesque aisles to be replaced with a single huge open space, with a dais at the end for Richard to sit in solitary state. The rebuilding had been begun by Henry III in 1245, but had by Richard's time been dormant for over a century. The court's patronage of literature is especially important because this was the period in which the English language took shape as a literary language . There

11214-473: The parliament of October that year, Michael de la Pole – in his capacity of chancellor – requested taxation of an unprecedented level for the defence of the realm. Rather than consenting, the parliament responded by refusing to consider any request until the chancellor was removed. The parliament (later known as the Wonderful Parliament ) was presumably working with

11340-473: The parliament's session. The King succumbed to blind rage, ordered his own release from the Tower, called his cousin a traitor, demanded to see his wife, and swore revenge, throwing down his bonnet, while Henry refused to do anything without parliamentary approval. When parliament met to discuss Richard's fate, John Trevor , Bishop of St Asaph, read thirty-three articles of deposition that were unanimously accepted by lords and commons. On 1 October 1399, Richard II

11466-404: The plague in 1394, greatly mourned by her husband. Michael de la Pole had been instrumental in the marriage negotiations; he had the King's confidence and gradually became more involved at court and in government as Richard came of age. De la Pole came from an upstart merchant family. When Richard made him chancellor in 1383, and created him Earl of Suffolk two years later, this antagonised

11592-554: The portrait. Of the pennies of Edward the elder, bearing the portrait I have only seen two; they are in fine preservation, but differ materially in the form of the head from those appropriated to this monarch by Ruding. Of Athelstan's pennies I have not seen or heard of one bearing the bust. The French coins are of Charles le Chauve, Louis le Begue, &c; and several occur bearing the names of towns, among which may be mentioned, Bourges, Evreux, Limoges, Orleans, Quentin, Toulouse, and Tours; and of some of these in denominations smaller than

11718-515: The property, adding that the pieces of metal were probably of pewter or solder and consequently of little value, and that the coins appeared to be nothing more than tin counters. Upon this, the greater part was unpocketed, and being collected together, the treasure was conveyed to the hall, deposited in a tub of water and well washed with a birch-besom, and on the following day deposited in the old bank of Preston. William Asheton Esq., now in Florence ,

11844-556: The rampage again. They raided Ireland and into north-west England; from the Orkney Islands they plundered Scotland and the Isle of Man; they even conquered the part of France which was later named after them, Normandy. In uncertain times such as those, the safest place for a man's treasure was deep in the earth. The Vikings were particularly avid for silver, as they had no sources of supply in their native Scandinavia. Their raids and

11970-514: The rebellion. It is likely, though, that the events impressed upon him the dangers of disobedience and threats to royal authority, and helped shape the absolutist attitudes to kingship that would later prove fatal to his reign. It is only with the Peasants' Revolt that Richard starts to emerge clearly in the annals . One of his first significant acts after the rebellion was to marry Anne of Bohemia , daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor , on 20 January 1382. It had diplomatic significance; in

12096-455: The relationship between the King and de Vere was of a homosexual nature, due to a resentment Walsingham had toward the King. Tensions came to a head over the approach to the war in France. While the court party preferred negotiations, Gaunt and Buckingham urged a large-scale campaign to protect English possessions. Instead, a so-called crusade led by Henry le Despenser , Bishop of Norwich ,

12222-926: The relative degree of unrest in ancient societies. Thus conditions in 5th and 6th century Britain spurred the burial of hoards, of which the most famous are the Hoxne Hoard , Suffolk; the Mildenhall Treasure , the Fishpool Hoard , Nottinghamshire, the Water Newton hoard, Cambridgeshire, and the Cuerdale Hoard , Lancashire, all preserved in the British Museum . Prudence Harper of the Metropolitan Museum of Art voiced some practical reservations about hoards at

12348-404: The remains of his wife Anne were already entombed. Contemporary writers, even those less sympathetic to the King, agreed that Richard was a "most beautiful king", though with an unmanly "face which was white, rounded and feminine." He was athletic and tall; when his tomb was opened in 1871, he was found to be six feet (1.82 m) tall. He was also intelligent and well read, and when agitated he had

12474-437: The royal image. Unlike any other English king before him, he had himself portrayed in panel paintings of elevated majesty, of which two survive: an over life-size Westminster Abbey portrait (c. 1390), and the Wilton Diptych (1394–1399), a portable work probably intended to accompany Richard on his Irish campaign. It is one of the few surviving English examples of the courtly International Gothic style of painting that

12600-417: The same time, he developed his own private military retinue, larger than that of any English king before him, and gave them livery badges with his White Hart . He was then free to develop a courtly atmosphere in which the king was a distant, venerated figure, and art and culture, rather than warfare, were at the centre. As part of Richard's programme of asserting his authority, he also tried to cultivate

12726-593: The south bank of the Ribble at Walton-le-Dale , and looked upriver to Ribchester , would be within sight of the richest treasure in England . The Ribchester Helmet had been found as part of a Roman hoard in 1796. The presence of the Vikings can be seen today in Preston through numerous place names. The Cuerdale Hoard is an example of the rich archaeology that exists around the Preston area and includes evidence of prehistoric and significant Roman history. The hoard

12852-442: The support of Gloucester and Arundel. The King famously responded that he would not dismiss as much as a scullion from his kitchen at parliament's request. Only when threatened with deposition was Richard forced to give in and let de la Pole go. A commission was set up to review and control royal finances for a year. Richard was deeply perturbed by this affront to his royal prerogative, and from February to November 1387 went on

12978-416: The throne of Castile in 1386 amid rumours of a plot against his person. With Gaunt gone, the unofficial leadership of the growing dissent against the King and his courtiers passed to Buckingham – who had by now been created Duke of Gloucester – and Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel . The threat of a French invasion did not subside, but instead grew stronger into 1386. At

13104-543: The throne of England for many years. Although Richard sought peace with France, he took a different approach to the situation in Ireland. The English lordships in Ireland were in danger of being overrun by the Gaelic Irish kingdoms, and the Anglo-Irish lords were pleading for the King to intervene. In the autumn of 1394, Richard left for Ireland, where he remained until May 1395. His army of more than 8,000 men

13230-629: The throne of England, had distinguished himself as a military commander in the early phases of the Hundred Years' War , particularly in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. After further military adventures, however, he contracted dysentery in Spain in 1370. He never fully recovered and had to return to England the next year. Richard was born at the Archbishop's Palace of Bordeaux , in the English principality of Aquitaine , on 6 January 1367. According to contemporary sources, three kings, "the King of Castile ,

13356-723: The time of the Soviet exhibition of Scythian gold in New York City in 1975. Writing of the so-called "Maikop treasure" (acquired from three separate sources by three museums early in the twentieth century, the Berliner Museen , the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology , and the Metropolitan Museum, New York), Harper warned: By the time "hoards" or "treasures" reach museums from

13482-413: The tradition had originated or how old it was. Nobody knew what the treasure might consist of, or precisely where it might lie. The skeptics naturally scoffed, especially when diviners paced the riverside meadows, hazel twigs, willow branches and silver chains limp in their hands. One day in 1810, it was recorded, a farmer deep ploughed his furrows twice in the hope of turning up a buried treasure. His reward

13608-477: The treasure may have been intended to support the English churches in the Danelaw, where they were in serious financial difficulties as a result of the Viking occupation. He also suggested that as so many of the coins were apparently minted in France, they were probably a contribution from Frankish churchmen to their less fortunate co religionists in beleaguered England. On the other hand, Dr C H V Sutherland, in his English Coinage 600 to 900, (B T Batsford Ltd, 1973),

13734-715: The tribute money, Danegeld, which they extracted from the notorious King Ethelred the Unready, have resulted in their being more English 10th-century coins in Scandinavian museums than there are in British. The Cuerdale hoard was so great a treasure that it almost certainly belonged to a person of importance, perhaps a Viking army commander or king. The valley of the Ribble and the old Roman town of Ribchester lay on well-defined routes which an army might use when marching from Yorkshire to North Wales or from Chester to Carlisle. Yet

13860-500: The two should settle the matter by battle, but at the last moment Richard exiled the two dukes instead: Thomas for life, Henry for ten years. In 1398 Richard summoned the Parliament of Shrewsbury, which declared all the acts of the Merciless Parliament to be null and void, and announced that no restraint could legally be put on the King. It delegated all parliamentary power to a committee of twelve lords and six commoners chosen from

13986-538: The usual size. One, of Toulouse, bears on the obverse, 'Oddo Rex' . There are also several coins which I am unable satisfactorily to appropriate, bearing on one side, 'Cunnetti', and others of a nearly similar type and fabric, with 'Siefredus Rex', 'Mirabilia fecit, ' and c. The ownership of the property is undecided, and will probably become a question between the Crown and Mr. Assheton, as agents for both parties have already put in their respective claims. (Courtesy of Treasure Hunting Magazine ) The Cuerdale Hoard, as it

14112-483: The weight of the superincumbent soil, and disclosed its extensive and varied treasures before the astonished gaze of the workmen, who immediately set up a simultaneous shout. The attracted the attention of the hind of Curedale Hall, who, hastening to the place, found the workmen collected around the treasure in the act of the general scramble, each endeavouring to obtain the greatest share of the booty. The hind, however, lost little time in informing them that they must return

14238-660: The workmen managed to keep a coin each. The remainder was declared treasure trove and handed to Queen Victoria as the Duke of Lancaster . The Duchy passed it to the British Museum in London, where the bulk of it remains today. About 60 items selected from the hoard are held and displayed by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford . Some coins minted at Quentovic in northern France (possibly near present-day Étaples ) are held by

14364-527: The young king played a central part in the successful suppression of this crisis. Less warlike than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Years' War. A firm believer in the royal prerogative , Richard restrained the power of the aristocracy and relied on a private retinue for military protection instead. In contrast to his grandfather, Richard cultivated a refined atmosphere centred on art and culture at court, in which

14490-497: Was developed in the courts of the Continent, especially Prague and Paris. Richard's expenditure on jewellery, rich textiles and metalwork was far higher than on paintings, but as with his illuminated manuscripts , there are hardly any surviving works that can be connected with him, except for a crown, "one of the finest achievements of the Gothic goldsmith", that probably belonged to his wife Anne. Among Richard's grandest projects in

14616-686: Was dispatched, which failed miserably. Faced with this setback on the continent, Richard turned his attention instead towards France's ally, the Kingdom of Scotland . In 1385, the King himself led a punitive expedition to the north , but the effort came to nothing, and the army had to return without ever engaging the Scots in battle. Meanwhile, only an uprising in Ghent prevented a French invasion of southern England. The relationship between Richard and his uncle John of Gaunt deteriorated further with military failure, and Gaunt left England to pursue his claim to

14742-477: Was formally deposed. On 13 October, the feast day of Edward the Confessor , Henry was crowned king. Henry had agreed to let Richard live after his abdication. This changed when it was revealed that the earls of Huntingdon, Kent, and Salisbury, and Lord Despenser, and possibly also the Earl of Rutland – all now demoted from the ranks they had been given by Richard – were planning to murder

14868-508: Was held in the crypt of the Agricola Tower. On the journey to London, the indignant king had to ride all the way behind Henry. On arrival, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London on 1 September. Henry was by now fully determined to take the throne, but presenting a rationale for this action proved a dilemma. It was argued that Richard, through his tyranny and misgovernment, had rendered himself unworthy of being king. However, Henry

14994-486: Was irresistible, that Anlaf shortly afterwards made a desperate attempt to reconquer the Northumbrian dominions. The celebrated battle of Brunanburgh was fought, and never before, it is stated, was such a carnage known in England. Does it not appear probable, then, that some powerful Northumbrian chieftain, relying on the numerous and hardy allies of Anlaf, might deposit his property in this solitary spot, to serve under

15120-400: Was no more than a weightier crop that autumn. So much for local tradition. But one evening in May 1840 the long-standing fiction was found to be fact. It was a wet spring in the north-west and the meadows along the Ribble were sodden with rain. On 15 May a group of workmen were trudging home through the fields of Hall Farm, at Cuerdale, on the outskirts of Preston. At one point they came upon

15246-431: Was not next in line to the throne; the heir presumptive was Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March , great-grandson of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence . Henry's father, John of Gaunt, was Edward's third son to survive to adulthood. The problem was solved by emphasising Henry's descent in a direct male line, whereas March's descent was through his grandmother, Philippa of Clarence . According to

15372-597: Was number 9 in the list of British archaeological finds selected by experts at the British Museum for the 2003 BBC Television documentary Our Top Ten Treasures presented by Adam Hart-Davis . To the Royal Numismatic Society Published 1841 On the evening of 15 May 1840 workmen, engaged in repairing the southern embankment of the river Ribble, near Curedale Hall, and about three miles from Preston, were agreeably surprised by

15498-515: Was obtained by a collector in London sometime before the discovery of this hoard) of which a cast has been shown me, bearing the moneyers name, Aberht; and another specimen, bearing on its reverse the London monogram. With respect to the pennies of Alfred, it may be observed, that the greater number appear to be of the type without the portrait and place of mintage. Of the Oxford type, comparatively few specimens occur, and much fewer still of those bearing

15624-559: Was still alive persisted, but never gained much credence in England; in Scotland, however, a man identified as Richard came into the hands of Regent Albany , lodged in Stirling Castle , and serving as the notional – and perhaps reluctant – figurehead of various anti-Lancastrian and Lollard intrigues in England. Henry IV's government dismissed him as an impostor, and several sources from both sides of

15750-414: Was the first of the three to be brought to trial, at the parliament of September 1397. After a heated quarrel with the King, he was condemned and executed. Gloucester was being held prisoner by the Earl of Nottingham at Calais while awaiting his trial. As the time for the trial drew near, Nottingham brought news that Gloucester was dead. It is thought likely that the King had ordered him to be killed to avoid

15876-405: Was the largest force brought to the island during the late Middle Ages. The invasion was a success, and a number of Irish chieftains submitted to English overlordship. It was one of the most successful achievements of Richard's reign, and strengthened his support at home, although the consolidation of the English position in Ireland proved to be short-lived. The period that historians refer to as

#321678