Richard Armitage, your fans are the best!

My goodness, I have not been here since Richard's 42nd birthday in August. I had no idea that it had been that long! *hangs head in shame*

For the last few months, I have been forced to take a step away from my blog. I'm sure we've all been there: real life tends to take over now and then, taking our attention away from what's fun and exciting, and making us focus on what's really important for a while. My time, my mind (and my sleep) have been monopolised by other things and that has not done my inspiration any favours.

So, for a while now, I've had to watch Mr. Armitage and my fellow fans from afar and the distance has given me great insights. The most important one is this: Richard Armitage has got the absolute greatest fans. If I were in his shoes (or should I say 'boots'?), I would thank my lucky stars every single day for their unrelenting love and support. honestly, we're the best! :-)

Allow me to illustrate that point with 2 examples.

We love you when you're ugly
In these digital times, you can't always control which pictures of yourself appear online. A friend might snap a shot of you at a party and post it on Facebook and you 'll be horrified to discover it the next day because your hair, clothes or face didn't look great in the picture. That's how I think RA must have felt when this picture was released onto the world.

Picture taken from the Richard Armitage France page on Facebook

Personally, I think it's not the best shot of him. But, great fans that we are, we loved it! The beard, the boots, the long legs, the thighs, the glimpse of chest hair (which I don't like, by the way), the iPad (don't pretend you're not on the internet, dear Richard, even you couldn't resist a peek at what people are saying about you and about your version of Thorin forever), the jacket, the jeans... they were all discussed in the most meticulous detail and it was quickly proclaimed to be the new favourite picture of the fandom. You do ugly well, Richard, you do tired and dishevelled well, Richard. And the fans love it!

Our loyalty is as fierce as Thorin's majesty
Let's be honest, dearest Richard, you haven't exactly done much work lately (that we know of). We haven't exactly been spoiled with new examples of your excellent acting talents for about a year or so. Yes, we love Thorin and we can't wait to see more of him very soon. And it looks like Into The Storm will finally be released next August, which will be almost 2 years after you worked on it. I look forward to finally meeting your Gary Morris. But we are still here.

Beautiful new poster for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,
starring Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield

In the meantime, Aneurin Barnard got to play the dream role of Richard III and Batman went to Ben Affleck (I'm sure you were in the running for that role at some point, although I think you're capable of so much more than a rehash of a vintage superhero) and there's competition everywhere. Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston, just to name a few other excellent actors who have been churning out the films and the stunning performances like a well-oiled machine.

It would have been so easy to forget all about Richard Crispin Armitage and be mesmerised by one of your enchanting colleagues. But I don't think you've lost a single fan to any of them. On the contrary! I personally have never even been tempted by them. Fassbender amazed me with his portrayal of Bobby Sands, I love Benedict's brilliant Sherlock Holmes and Tom gave us an excellent Loki, but none of that has made me want to join the Cumberbitches or make this blog about Tom Hiddleston instead.  

Our loyalty is as fierce as Thorin's majesty. And that is not about to change. 

Long live King Richard!

So, The White Queen has come to an end with the death of King Richard III.

If you've read my review of episode 1, you know that I enjoyed the beginning of the seriesvery much and that I was looking forward to the rest of it. And I was especially looking forward to seeing Richard of Gloucester become Richard III, seeing him grow from a boy into a king. And although I feel the story of Richard's reign was rushed and important details forgotten or only touched upon, I was impressed by Aneurin Barnard. His portrayal of King Richard was spot on: silent, innocent, introverted, stoic, stylish and strong. Conflicted in the right place, emotional at the right time. Truly a performance fit for a king. I hope Aneurin Barnard is extremely proud of this role and I wish him all the best for the rest of his career. He can come back to play 'our Richard' anytime! ;-)

It's almost freaky how, thanks to the discovery of King Richard's remains in Leicester and the research done by the team at Leicester University, we now know exactly how accurate his portrayal was, even though Aneurin did not know that at the time when he was filming The White Queen. He was spooked by it, and so was I! Richard III's final scene was gripping...I definitely felt a chill down my spine...

Aneurin Barnard - remember that name!

But let me take you back to the main subject of this blog: have you noticed how similar Aneurin Barnard and Richard Armitage are? Yes, there's a bit of an age difference, but forget about that for a moment. No wonder I would love for Richard to get a chance to play King Richard as well... Actually, I can't believe nobody has come up with some Alternate Universe story yet in which Richard III miraculously survives Bosworth and lives on!

Let's take a look at these two Richards...

They both look good in black...

Aneurin Barnard as King Richard III

Richard Armitage as Sir Guy of Gisborne

And they both look good in candle light... They have both mastered the look of a brooding, conflicted royal prince...

 

 

And they both have that majestic style: dark hair, pale skintone, a royal grace... and piercing blue eyes!


Someone should write a great script and put them in a film together. Now there's something I would pay money to watch!!

Did you watch The White Queen? Or maybe you're watching it in the USA where it has only just started? What do you think?

The White Queen - Episode 1

Tonight, we finally got to see the first episode of a long-awaited new Original British Drama series on the BBC: The White Queen.

The White Queen tell the story of Elizabeth Woodville who, although her family supported the Lancastrian king Henry VI, married king Edward IV of York during the time of the Wars of the Roses in 1462, and became queen of England.

 
I liked it. I liked it a lot.

The White Queen is based on Philippa Gregory's famous novels about the English wars of the roses, the conflict in which supporters of the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York fight for the throne of England. And although Ms Gregory's novels are not necessarily 100% historically correct, they are based on true events or speculation about what could have been, and in that respect, they do justice to the course of history in the best way possible. There is simply so much that is unknown about the exact details of this period, that some creative license must be allowed.

Rebecca Ferguson is quite convincing as Elizabeth Woodville and Max Irons, son of Jeremy Irons, brings Edward to life as I would have imagined him: tall, blond, handsome and confident as king, but quite easily seduced and driven by his emotions, not necessarily by political gain.

The rumours that Elizabeth's mother Jacquetta used magic to make Edward fall for her daughter and that Elizabeth had the power to see the future are taken as true and they provide a more sinister aspect to Edward and Elizabeth's seemingly idyllic meeting and subsequent secret marriage.

James Frain plays Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick. I don't want to judge the character too much after only one episode, but I was slightly disappointed in Frain's portrayal of The Kingmaker. I was expecting him to be more glamorous, more arrogant, more lavish. Instead, he was rough and rude and loud. It will be interesting to see how this character develops in the future episodes. 

I look forward to the next episode. I want to see the Yorkist princes in action: Edward and his brothers George and Richard. If you've read this blog before, you know that I have a specific interest in Richard III, so I especially look forward to seeing Aneurin Barnard as Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the future king Richard III. 



The brothers of York, the Plantagenet princes: David Oakes as George, Duke of Clarence, Max Irons as king Edward IV
and Aneurin Barnard as Richard, Duke of Gloucester

FanstRA4 - The Stolen Crown

Now that production for The Hobbit is almost completely at the end, over the next two years or so, Richard Armitage will have some time between movie premiers and appearances to figure out what he wants to do next. He has mentioned that these films and especially this character is one of the best things he will ever do in his career and, while I don’t disagree with that, I personally hope that he will also go back to his project of bringing the life of King Richard III of England to the big screen.

With the recent discovery of Richard III’s remains under a car park in Leicester and the involvement of screen writer Philippa Langley, this seems to be very much a case of “now or never”.  Ms. Langley has even been reported as saying that she can simply not look past Richard Armitage for the portrayal of ‘her’ Richard III, meaning the character of Richard III that she has created in a screenplay. For the moment, Richard is keeping his mouth securely shut when it comes to this screenplay. Yes, he has acknowledged that he has read it and that he’s very much interested in Richard III and in telling the ‘true’ story of the King. He has even said that he would love to play Richard III, but at the same time, he’s always very quick to add: “but I’m probably a bit too tall and a bit too old to play him.”

Facial reconstruction of Richard III, based on the remains found in Leicester

Ever since Richard announced his interest in this project and he revealed his personal dedication and affiliation to the medieval king, the fans have been rallying support, hoping that he would one day be able to make this dream a reality. Have you signed the petition yet?

Of course, in order to be able to support a project, you need to learn more about it and about its subject. I have taken a specific interest in Richard III, and especially in his wife and queen, Anne Neville. I even turned to her when it came to naming this blog, and I try to learn more about Richard and Anne by reading both fiction and non-fiction about them.

I recently read The Stolen Crown, a historicalfiction novel by Susan Higginbotham. The novel tells the story of Richard III from a completely different angle. It takes the point of view of Henry (Harry) Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham and his Duchess, Katherine Woodville. That last name should definitely ring a bell to anyone who has investigated this period. Katherine was the youngest sister of Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort to Edward IV, Richard’s older brother, and mother of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, the ‘princes in the Tower’ and of queen Elizabeth, wife of Henry Tudor, or Henry VII who took the crown of England by defeating Richard III in the battle of Bosworth.

 

As was often the case in those days, Kate and Harry were matched by their families and married at a very young age. Kate was only 7 years old when she became a married woman and the novel describes very well how she and Harry don’t particularly like each other at first, but they grow to care for one another over the years. So much so that when the time comes for them to consummate their marriage when Kate is sixteen, she is very eager to please her husband and he, in return, would love only her from that day on, which is quite remarkable for a time when husbands of noble birth were almost expected to have mistresses and illegitimate children.

Susan Higginbotham shows us the very strong and slightly obsessive friendship between Harry and Richard of York, Duke of Gloucester who will later become King Richard III. Harry’s relationship with King Edward IV is rather difficult and he is not given the honours at court that even much lesser nobles are receiving because of his family’s previous Lancastrian affiliations. Harry focuses on his friendship and love for Richard and ultimately allows him to manipulate him into doing his bidding when it comes to taking the crown of England instead of pledging allegiance to Edward V. Looking back on the story, it seems as if Richard has been manipulating Harry all along, comforting him in difficult times, getting him into king Edward IV’s favour, taking him out drinking and becoming his ‘blood brother’ in a drunken show of appreciation and undying love. And Harry falls for it. He loves Richard unconditionally and would die for him if necessary. He never questions any of the stories Richard feeds him about a previous promise of marriage between Edward IV and Eleanor Butler which would make his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville (Harry’s sister-in-law) invalid and their children bastards, making Edward V’s claims to the throne illegitimate. When Jacquetta, Katherine and Elizabeth’s mother, is accused of witchcraft, when Richard’s brother George is executed for treason and when Kate’s family is persecuted, Harry remains loyal to the monster that is Richard.

The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower, 1483 by Sir John Everett Millais, 1878,
part of the Royal Holloway picture collection

So did Richard really go as far as to kill his nephews, the princes in the Tower? From this story, you would not be surprised if he did because it’s exactly the kind of thing this manipulative, egotistical, power hungry Richard would do.

This is a fictional story. Yes, it is based on certain historical facts, but so many of the details are uncertain or completely unknown that many fiction writers have been able to interpret them in many different ways. All of these stories definitely provide food for thought. I would gladly believe that Richard III was a good man after all, but the many different theories provide for great stories and probably the necessary perspective and background to make the characters more than one-dimensional cardboard cut-outs of themselves. In that respect, this was a great story and I enjoyed it very much!

 

Want to know more about FanstRAvaganza 4?
Check out the official FanstRAvaganza website where you'll find a list of all paticipating blogs: http://fanstravaganza.com/2013-event/participants/
If you have a Twitter account, follow @FanstRAvaganza where tweets about new posts will appear. Like the Facebook page to stay in touch:
https://www.facebook.com/FanstRAvaganza

RIII: The King in the car park

"Researchers from the University of Leicester confirm that a skeleton found under a car park is that of King Richard III following extensive testing.

A series of papers presented at a news conference on Monday, 4 February detailed the highly-anticipated results of tests carried out on a skeleton thought to belong to Richard III, who died in battle more than 500 years ago.

Richard Buckley, dig project leader, said: "It is the academic conclusion that beyond reasonable doubt, the individual exhumed at Grey Friars in September 2011 is King Richard III - the last Plantagenet king of England."

I still can't believe it's actually him. What an extraordinary find!

For those of you who, like myself, are not in the UK and therefore did not have a chance to watch the Channel 4 documentary about the search for Richard III, here it is.

A big 'Thank you!' to LilyElizabeta for making it available on YouTube.

Richard III: The King In The Car Park - Broadcast on UK Channel 4 on Tuesday, 5 February 2013.

Random Thoughts: Coming clean

You may or may not have noticed that it's been rather quiet on this blog for the last month or so. That was not planned. I found myself completely overwhelmed with the constant influx of news about RA. As if there was no more room in my brain for anything creative while I was trying to absorb all the news, video, photoshoots, interviews... and of course the film: The Hobbit.  I've seen it (only) 3 times now, in 48fps 3D and I'm trying to stop myself from going to the cinema just one more time.

Promo poster for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield

The enormous media coverage has also caused an explosion of the RA fandom. The Armitage Army is no longer some marginal group of people from around the world who follow the career of some English guy that most of their friends and family have never even heard of. Our man is suddenly public property and, although it's exactly what I was expecting, it's still scary. Don't get me wrong, I welcome the change with open arms. It's so wonderful to see that Richard is finally getting the attention and appreciation that he deserves. And the more people know about him, the closer we get to convincing the entire world of Richard's extraordinary talent.

Richard Armitage in New York, at a photoshoot for Glamour Magazine

So, I don't mind sharing the fandom with the world, but the fact that the fanbase has grown exponentially has made me re-evaluate the place I want to take up in it. I feel the need to explain myself, to elaborate further on the kind of fan that I am. I don't know if that makes any sense at all, but it feels like the right thing to do. Please keep in mind that you don't have to agree with anything that I say in this blogpost. Actually, I hope you don't. Wouldn't the world be a horribly boring place if we all had similar opinions about everything? But I need to share my own opinions about certain things. I'll start by taking a stand on some of the ideas that have been going around in the fandom lately.  

Do I want Richard to play James Bond?
No. Please, no! Not that he wouldn't be a wonderful 007, but he's so much better that that. Stepping into a billion dollar franchise like James Bond would haunt him for the rest of his career. He'd be typecast for all eternity. And the interesting, challenging roles that he so desperately wants to play, would pass him by, because people would not be able to see past a certain spy... Lucas North: yes. James Bond: No.

To me, this will always be Richard's 'James Bond' picture, simply because of his casual elegance and obvious grace.
Behind the scenes at the 2009 BAFTA awards

Do I want Richard to star in a romantic comedy?
No. Please, no! Again, I'm sure he'd be wonderful at it, but there are so many more exciting roles waiting for him. Why should he waste his time on cheap, easy, romantic fluff? One book in particular seems to be circulating in the fandom these days: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. I haven't read it, so I don't mean to judge the book or the author, but if I had anything to say about Richard's career, I would advise him not to be a part of a screen adaptation of the novel. That's just my opinion, feel free to disagree.

Do I want Richard to play Matthew Clairmont?
Honestly, I have no idea who Matthew Clairmont is. I haven't read Deborah Harkness' books and I don't want to pass judgement on them. But I do know that Matthew Clairmont is a vampire. For that simple reason, RA should stay well away from him and leave the vampires to the likes of Robert Pattinson or Stephen Moyer.

Do I want Richard to play Richard III?
Yes. Yes, please. Richard III is such an interesting character to play because there is so much we know about him but there's also so very much we don't know, leaving the details of his character and the truth about his abilities as a monarch open to creative interpretation. Now that his remains have been found and the eyes of the world are on Leicester, the challenge would be to make Richard III a real man, giving equal importance to his many wonderful accomplishments and the horrible dark truths about his reign while giving them the historical context required for us to completely understand their significance. Let me quickly add 2 things:

1. If Richard ever gets to play RichardIII, I can only hope that this film or series also pays tribute to the women in this story: Cecily Neville, Anne Neville, Isabelle Neville, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beauchamp, Marguerite of Anjou, ...the lust goes on and on. Their significance may have been overlooked by the history books, but these women play a vital part in the story of the wars of the roses. Ah, to play Anne or even Cecily - I wouldn't even mind sinking my teeth into such a challenge myself (wishful thinking, I know!)

A facial reconstruction of Richard III. Does it look like RA? Not necessarily. Is the resemblance enough for RA to be able to play him convincingly? Without a shadow of a doubt!

2. What if RA decides, as he has often said, that by the time this project actually happens, he will be "too tall and too old" to play the role? Fine by me, as long as he gets to make the decision for himself. He'd be brilliant as Warwick the Kingmaker or even as Richard's father, the Duke of York. Alternatively, he could produce the piece and I'm sure you'll agree that his storytelling abilities would benefit very much from having him in the director's chair. Ah, such a dilemma! (sorry for going on and on about this, I should really do a separate piece about the RIII thing) 

OK, enough confessions for today. I didn't mean to just be negative and I promise to also talk about other things that I would love for Richard to get involved in. In the meantime: is there anything you want to ask me? Anything you would like me to share? Please leave a comment and I'll do my very best to answer all of your questions.

A little gem of an RA interview

This interview is brilliant - had me laughing out loud!! :-)

There will be more in-depth analysis of the film and the previous weeks and days very soon, but as it's already 01:40am here, I need to get some sleep first. Or maybe I'll just quickly watch this interview again... ;-)



Richard Armitage on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight- Toronto, Canada
Video shared on Youtube by TheHour

Thirty Days to Thorin (13) - Richard and Richard

 

For a while now, I've been wondering whether Richard Armitage is still thinking about playing King Richard III. Richard was named after the English king as he was born on 22 August, the day Richard III was killed in the battle at Bosworth Field in 1485.

A few years ago, Richard was planning to create a film to redeem the wronged King and restore his reputation. The fans loved the idea and have been rallying support for this project ever since. But with everything that has happened in Richard's career over the last few years and months, does Richard still have Richard on the brain? Or has he moved on?
Someone on that Red Carpet for The Hobbit in Wellington had obviously done their homework on Richard and asked him that very question. And I could not be happier about his reply... notice the twinkle in his eye and that small sigh of regret when he is confronted with the memory of Richard III... *runs off to watch the video again* 

Video uploaded to Youtube by Britu 21

 

Would you like to know more about King Richard III? I would recommend the excellent historical novel The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman, which was actually a great favourite of RA's father.

Would you like to support Richard and make his dream of playing Richard III a reality? Sign the petition at http://kingrichardarmitage.rgcwp.com/

A birthday countdown in pictures (#16)

There's finally proof of Richard's return to designer stubble. The beard is indeed gone! As you all know by now, I really loved that beard. But I have to admit that it's good to see his face again. Basically, it's just good to see him: it looks like the RA drought is finally over!

As those new pictures were all over the Twitter and Facebook today, I decided not to post them here. Actually, I suddenly realised that after 16 days of this countdown, I have not posted one single picture of Richard as Guy of Gisbourne. (This one doesn't really count, right?) Shame on me!!

So, I tried to find the very best picture of Sir Guy but, as you can probably guess, that's an impossible task as almost every single one of them looks incredible.

Here's my favourite Black Knight:

One thing I've realised, looking at my selection: I like him in close-up! :-)

Whenever I think of Richard playing King Richard III, I imagine him looking like Guy of Gisbourne. That reminds me, I have a review to publish of a book about the reign of Richard III. So much to do, so little time... :-) That's coming soon!

Enjoy your Guy Day tomorrow!

What's a birthday without a birthday present? But what do you get the man who's living his dream?
This year, consider donating to one of Richard's selected charities (Shelter, The Salvation Army, Childline and Barnardo's) - visit his Just Giving page. Thank you!

FanstRAvaganza 3: Richard III - a biography

This post is part of FanstRAvaganza 3, a week of Richard Armitage blogging fun. The King Richard Armitage chain was started yesterday by Maria Grazia on Fly High and will continue tomorrow on Fabo's White Rose blog.

*****

“The most mighty prince Richard by the grace of God King of England and of France and Lord of Ireland by true matrimony without discontinuance or any defiling in the law by heir male lineally descending from King Henry II”

If you’re a Richard Armitage fan, you surely know about a little project of his: telling the story of one of England’s most controversial monarchs, King Richard III. Richard was named after the king by his father and he was born on 22 August, the exact day of Richard III’s demise in the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.

Richard started speaking about this project as early as in 2007. In his message to fans that year, he said:

"Richard III is still very much in development, I am weighed down with history books in my determination to unvover as much fact as possible before we embark on telling this story, which will ultimately be a fiction!"

Since then, the fans have tried to follow in his footsteps to find out as much as possible about what seems to be a project that is very dear to RA's heart. To show fan enthusiasm for the project, a group of fans have started the Richard III for Richard Armitage project, including a petition, a website and a Facebook group.

Visit the website here

In my ownsearch for details about the King, I stumbled upon a biography, Richard III, written by Michael Hicks, a Professor of History at King Alfred's College, Winchester.

According to the book's back cover blurb, Professor Hicks "has written extensively on medieval England and is regarded by many as the leading expert on the Yorkist dynasty".

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-Revealing-History-Michael-Hicks/dp/0752425897

In this biography, Michael Hicks provides a scientific look at the life and reign of RichardIII. By focusing on Richard's reputation during his lifetime, Hicks tries to provide a balanced account of the history of this controversial king, instead of looking back upon his usurpation and his reign with our 21st-century expectations of what a "good and fair king" should be.

"Richard was a hawk rather than a dove" page 107

I have serious doubts about Michael Hicks' objectivity towards Richard III and this biography is not the most compelling read, but it offers a great insight into 15th century politics and society.

Hicks uses this image of 15th century England to show Richard as "an egotist, whose own interests took priority over his brother, consort and son". Claiming that Richard, although he probably did genuinely love her, married Anne Neville as a way to realise his ambition to establish himself as the true heir of the Earl of Warwick ('The Kingmaker'), bringing him the wealth and lands of the old Beauchamp and Despenser families. Even before Queen Anne's death on 16 March 1485, Richard was supposedly getting ready to replace her with his niece Elizabeth, daughter of his brother king Edward IV.

"Crowland reports that at Christmas 1484 Richard stopped sleeping with his queen and dressed her and princess Elizabeth in similar clothes." Page 244

According to this biography, Richard's marriage to Elizabeth did not take place for the simple reasons that the Northerners objected to the discarding of queen Anne and the clergy objected to the marriage between an uncle and his niece. In my opinion, if Richard had really wanted to marry Elizabeth, he would have found a way to make it happen.

Instead, everything that I have read about Richard III has made me believe that Richard was a good king who had the best intentions towards his wife, his family and especially his country. In that respect, Michael Hicks' biography is a disappointment, as it does not validate this belief. Instead, under the pretence of objectivity, it provides questionable evidence for the way the king was portrayed by Tudor historians: as a cruel and ambitious king who would go to great lengths (even so far as to murder his nephews, the Princes in the Tower?) to win the throne and establish himself as the rightful ruler of England. An ambition that finally led to his demise.

"Just as he had engineered his accession, so his own actions determined his fall." Page 272

The chapter about Richard III's usurpation of the throne is certainly worth reading as it offers different views of the events in the structure of a trial. Hicks' presents the case for the prosecution and the case for the defence of Richard III and he presents a 'star witness': Dominic Mancini, an Italian member of the clergy who visited England during Richard's accession and wrote the story down in great detail. The fact that Mancini's account was written down as the events were taking place makes this an extremely important piece of evidence as all other surviving accounts were written many years later.

But Mancini did not understand a word of English and had to rely on the translations that his friends and other clergymen (whose loyalties we cannot check) would provide. That is indeed the greatest weakness of the star witness, so we still do not have 100% conclusive evidence of what took place in the months and days leading up to Richard, Duke of Gloucester becoming King Richard III.

You can probably tell that I could go on and on about this biography and about Richard III, but I'll leave you to make up your own mind. Anyway, whether Richard III was good or evil, devil or angel, a murderer or a protector, a usurper or a rightful king, it doesn't really matter. His life and the mysteries surrounding his reign make this extremely interesting material for an artistic interpretation. And our dearest Richard Armitage would do an excellent job portraying this extremely layered and controversial character, leaving him enough freedom and artistic liberty to fill in the blanks. He already looks like royalty, don't you agree?



Richard Armitage looking like royalty as Sir Guy of Gisbourne in season 3 of Robin Hood



*****

This post is part of FanstRAvaganza 3, a week of Richard Armitage blogging fun. The King Richard Armitage chain was started yesterday by Maria Grazia on Fly High and will continue tomorrow on Fabo's White Rose blog.

To make sure you don't have to miss any of the FanstRAvaganza fun, the full list of events is available on this site.

Description of Richard III in The Rows Roll

FanstRAvaganza - Here we go!!

In the beginning, Richard Armitage made scores of fans -- and he keeps on making them! To kick off the fandom chain, Didion converts friends to Armitage love • Phylly3 reports on her fandom experiences • In the Hobbit chain, Ana Cris writes on her recent film location visit •

Mrs. E.B. Darcy speculates about what our hero will do in An Unexpected Journey (spoilers!) • King Richard Armitage chain begins with Maria Grazia on a film adaptation of Richard III • Beginning the fanfic chain, fedoralady explains fanfic's mainstream appeal • Annie Lucas woos us with a Guy of Gisborne one-shot, "One Chance" • In the freeform chain, Fabo files an eyewitness report on Richard Armitage's visit to U.S. accent school • jazzbaby1 wonders "what were they thinking?" re: Lucas North's women • and ChrisB opens the Armitage Alphabet, with "A is for Action" • Links to all FanstRA 3 posts appear here at the end of each day.

Time to call a spade a spade...

“What signifies knowing the names, if you know not the nature of things.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Starting a blog is relatively easy. Select a blogging service on the web, follow the instructions, adjust a few settings and voilà, a blog is born. The one thing I struggled with was finding a name for it. In my welcome message, I said that this blog will be about anything and everything that happens to be on my mind at a particular moment in time, so when it came to naming the blog, I reached for the two things that were on my mind on that day. I found an interesting detail about both of them and put them together. That’s how Crispin’s eclipse was born. In this post, I will once more separate the two items and explain their origins.

Crispin

"Any child can tell you
that the sole purpose of a middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble."
~ Dennis Frakes

On this particular day, I had been watching a DVD of one of my favourite TV shows: Spooks. People who know me, know that I have developed a rather addictive admiration for the leading man of season 7, 8 and 9 of Spooks, who portrays the character of Lucas North. His name is Richard Armitage and I honestly believe that he is one of the most (if not the most) talented and skilled actors of his generation.

Richard Armitage as Lucas North in Spooks

(Source: http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/)

Crispin just happens to be Mr. Armitage’s middle name and although I had never really heard this name before I became interested in this man, I think it really suits him. The fact that Saint Crispin is the patron saint of weavers will mean nothing to most people, but fans of Richard Armitage will see the link with his heritage (his father’s family were weavers and spinners) and with one of his most beloved characters: Richard played cotton-mill owner John Thornton in the BBC’s adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel North & South.

Richard Armitage as John Thornton in North & South

(Source: http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/)

As you can probably guess, this man seems to be on my mind quite often, so he will probably  feature in this blog on a regular basis. But I’ll try not to ramble on about him too often… and fail miserably, most likely.

The eclipse

The term eclipse is derived from the ancient Greek noun ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis), which means "the abandonment", "the downfall", or "the darkening of a heavenly body". (Source: Wikipedia)

So now you know who Crispin is, but what about this eclipse? In fact, you could say that it was again Richard Armitage who is responsible for planting the concept of the eclipse into my brain.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s start at the beginning.

For the second part of this ‘Name that blog’-exercise, I looked for inspiration in the book that I was reading. On page 856, I found this paragraph:

“Shortly before dawn on Wednesday, March 16, Anne was given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church. She died in midmorning, with Richard and Véronique at her bedside. Church bells were still tolling throughout the city when a queer noontime darkness began to settle over London, and as people watched in awe the sun was slowly blotted out, blackness radiating outward haloed in light. To a superstitious age, a solar eclipse was seen as a sign of God, was seen by all as an ill omen, and by many as proof that Richard had sinned against God in taking his nephew’s throne; for why else, people argued, should the sun go dark on the day of his wife’s death?”

When I was in school, my favourite subject, besides English, was history, and I can only say that this love has grown extensively over the years. I love history, not because I like to memorise important dates or life-changing events, but because history is essentially a collection of stories about people. Real people who, by the lives they lead and the choices they make, shape the world we live in.

The text above is from The Sunne in Splendour, a historical novel by Sharon Kay Penman about the life, reign and death of Richard III who was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485. This paragraph describes the death of his beloved queen, Anne Neville.

The Sunne in Splendour - A novel of Richard III by Sharon Kay Penman
(Source: http://www.sharonkaypenman.com/)

I have the annoying habit of looking at historical events from the point of view of the women. Anne Neville was daughter of ‘The Kingmaker’, wife of two future kings, Queen  consort of England and heiress of two grand English families (Warwick and Beauchamp) but she is barely more than a footnote in the history books. So while people marvel over the history of the Plantagenet princes (Edward IV, Richard III and George of Clarence), I look at their mother, their wives, their sisters and their daughters who have possibly had an even more influential, and certainly more interesting, role to play in this story.

The reference to the solar eclipse that occurred on the day that queen Anne died, is therefore my way of honouring all women in history and Anne Neville in particular.

Oh, before I forget: What does Richard Armitage have to do with this? Well, he was born on 22 August 1971, exactly 486 years after the day that Richard III died in the Battle of Bosworth Field. The Sunne in Splendour was one of his father’s favourite books (as Richard mentioned in an interview for the Vulpes Libris blog) and he named his second son after this mysterious and tragic king.
And Richard just happens to be working on a project to bring the story of Richard III to the screen in a film or a TV series. With himself in the role of his namesake, hopefully.

There you go: Crispin’s eclipse – Richard and Anne

Until next time!