Report on University of Winchester RKE Symposium
Posted by: mholford 9 years, 11 months ago
The Inquisition Post Mortem of Richard III project was part of a panel on new evidence on Richard III held at The University of Winchester RKE (Research and Knowledge Exchange) Symposium on 28 April 2014. Along with Professor Michael Hicks, who talked about the possibilities stemming from finding what many believe to be Richard III's bones, and Dr James Ross, who shared his research on the earl of Oxford and Richard III, Dr Gordon McKelvie presented the project to colleagues from Winchester and beyond. The project is still in its early stages of development and therefore the focus of the paper was on the potential of the project and the importance of the contribution it will make to late medieval scholarship. Several areas of importance were highlighted, notably the scope of the project, the value of inquisitions post mortem for a range of historians and the potential research questions that these important documents can address. It also highlighted the way in which the Richard III calendar can complement the research of Professor Hicks, Dr Holford and Dr Tompkins on the larger ‘Mapping the Medieval Countryside' project. The paper was well received and members of the audience were eager in asking questions ranging from technical questions pertaining to the calendaring process to broader questions regarding the value of inquisitions and proofs of age. Future papers at similar events will further disseminate the findings of this project in due course.