Elite Man–Courtesan Romance: Both Ned and Will Hastings fall in love with the vivacious, working class Jane Shore, but she falls hard for Ned to Will's chagrin, as he had been involved with her first. Hoist by His Own Petard: Elizabeth Woodville formed alliance with Margaret Beaufort to make Bess Queen of England. Only ended up being walled up in an abbey and her lands confiscated. A Child Shall Lead Them: The major cause of all the strife. Richard II was deposed after being a Royal Brat, and then after being made a king as a baby, Henry VI turns out to be Royally Screwed Up and a Puppet King. It's no wonder that when faced with another boy king, and one in the control of the corrupt Woodvilles, that Richard's friends and enemies alike encourage him to act on Stillington's information.

Badges came into general use by the reign of King Edward III. The king himself deployed many badges alluding to his lineage, as well as new personal devices. [6] List of royal badges [ edit ] Monarch Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: The much-maligned double turncoat George of Clarence was the one who fell upon and killed the defeated Lancastrian prince Edouard; King Edward is greatly relived that it was his unscrupulous brother who took it upon himself to kill off his teenage counterpart. Later, Edward makes the contentious decision to execute — or, if you like, murder — the boy's captive and deposed father, Henry VI, whose mere existence, however harmless on its own, continued to serve as a wellspring for rebellion. Edward knows that he's crossing a major line with this, and his dismayed inner circle all consider it a despicable, honourless act... except for George, of course, who thinks it's a wonderful idea. Tudor Rose: This was variously represented. Burke and Woodward both mention the forms {a) quarterly argent and gules, and (b) a white rose superimposed upon a red rose; whilst Woodward also mentions {c) per pale argent and gules. On one of this king*s standards (MS. I. 2, Coll. Arms) both red roses barbed and seeded proper, and white roses barbed and seeded proper, are found, as also " a red rose surmounted of a white rose with two buds slipped vert," and "a red rose sur-mounted of a white rose encircled by rays of the sun goldTeen Pregnancy: Richard was in his teens when he fathered his bastard children Johnny and Katherine. In heraldry, the royal badges of England comprise the heraldic badges that were used by the monarchs of the Kingdom of England. The book was written when even Ricardian historians presumed the Princes in the Tower were dead by the time of Bosworth Field. Thanks to new information, most Ricardians now believe that the princes were alive at that time, with Richard III having sent them into exile. It was actually Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York who adopted the Plantagenet name for him and his descendants in the 15th century. It is obscure why Richard chose the name but it emphasised Richard's hierarchal status as Geoffrey's, and six English kings', patrilineal descendant during the Wars of the Roses. The retrospective usage of the name for all Geoffrey's male descendants became popular in Tudor times probably encouraged by the added legitimacy it gave Richard's great-grandson, King Henry VIII of England. [5]

Royal badges have been in use since the earliest stages of English heraldry. They are invariably simple devices, and numerous examples were adopted and inherited by various sovereigns. These are found in the glass and fabric of royal palaces and memorial chapels, and sometimes in the houses of those who enjoyed or anticipated royal patronage. [2]

Edward's is Lust. His prodigious sexual appetite installs an unsuitable tyrant as queen, granting her scheming family members undeserved position of power, and causes a major issue of succession when a secret plight-troth he'd once made to another woman technically voids his marriage and disinherits his children as bastards. Broken Pedestal: Edward IV to Richard, especially after George's execution. The saintly, inviolable image of his dearest brother is gradually torn down as the novel goes on; by the end, Richard has come to deeply resent the legacy left by a predecessor whose many flaws and mistakes have cast dark shadows over his own reign. Ms. Penman's novel, rich in detail and research, attempts to set the record straight . . . it is an uncommonly fine novel, one that brings a far-off time to brilliant life." --"Chattanooga Daily Times" Like Father, Like Son: Henry Tudor's initial attitude towards Bess was based on his disdain towards her mother Elizabeth Woodville.

Artistic Licence – History: As a work of Ricardian fiction, the book treats Edward's betrothal contract with Eleanor Butler as legitimate. In reality, with the exception of the Richardian faction, most royalist historians are rather dubious of its authenticity since the only source for this claim is Parliment's decree de-legitimizing Edward's marriage and there's zero evidence for it anywhere else, making it come off as a convenient excuse so Richard to grab the throne.

Nobody Likes a Tattletale: Early in the book, Richard earns Ned's respect when he doesn't snitch on Edward for hooking up with Joan. Edward brings this up years later, when they are exiled in Burgundy. a Rose Gules within a white one, impaled with a demi-roundel parted palewise Vert and Azure, charged with a bundle of arrows Argent, ensigned with a crown, surrounded by rays Or Old Dog: Gareth is given to Richard when the dog is just a puppy and Richard is still a boy. But time passes, and Richard and Anne, now adults, find the old dog's passing sorrowful. Richard thought Joan was pleased to see Ned, too. Her face was suddenly the colour of rose petals and she was looking at Ned sideways, filtering laughter through her lashes in the way Richard had seen other girls do with Ned. Richard was glad; he wanted Joan to like his brother. What Joan thought mattered a great deal to him. The nurses he’d had in the past, before he’d come this spring to live at Ludlow Castle, had not been at all like Joan; they’d been dour, thin-lipped, without laps or humour. Joan smelled of sunflowers and had burnished bright hair, as soft and red as fox fur. She laughed at his riddles and had enthralling tales to tell of unicorns and knights and crusades into the Holy Land.

This special thirtieth anniversary edition of the bestselling The Sunne in Splendour, features an author's note from Sharon Penman. It was used as a badge by Edward II of England, and was later adopted by Edward IV following the appearance of a parhelion or "sun dog" before his victory at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in 1461. [3] [5]

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It's easy to lose himself in the memories. They remind him of a sweeter world, one where Edward was still bright and golden, beyond hurt, beyond mortality. He clings to them in the dark, when his mind slips.