George Plantagenet and Isabel Neville, Duke and Duchess of Clarence, and Benefactors of Tewkesbury Abbey – Peeling off layers and reassessing sources

Overshadowed by his two royal brothers Richard III and Edward IV, George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (1449 – 1478) is either overlooked or dismissed by modern scholars. At best, he is either 'the guy with the Malmsey' or Shakespeare’s often misquoted ‘false, fleeting, perjur’d Clarence’. His wife Isabel is mostly seen as a mere pawn in the struggle for power and wealth during the turbulent period known as the "Wars of the Roses". But do we really know them? What are their connections with Tewkesbury? By comparing and reassessing contemporary sources  and peeling off layers of myth, this talk will show a different picture of this controversial prince of York and his almost invisible wife; one that challenges established narratives and scholarly (mis-)interpretations.

The Clarence Project:

Dr Claudia Zimmermann has studied Celtic languages and archaeology together with medieval history, English and history of arts at the universities of Marburg and Gießen. In 2021 she earned a doctoral degree in Celtic studies with a thesis on the Welsh Ystoryaeu Seint Greal ('Stories of the Holy Grail') and their French sources. Her main research interests are the history of the Wars of the Roses as well as medieval insular translations and their socio-cultural environments. She is currently working as a freelance researcher on the biography of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence.

Katy Weber has studied medieval history, Byzantine history and history of arts at the universities of Regensburg and Munich and graduated with the degree of Magister Artium in 2006. In her studies she focused her research on historical textiles and clothing which earned her internships at the departments of historical textiles at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and Germanic National Museum, Nuremberg in 2007. From 2008 to 2016 she worked as an independent researcher and curator, specialising in Medieval History and Historical Dress & Textiles. She curated exhibitions and held lectures on various topics such as ‘Medieval courtly rules in the context of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival’ (2010), ‘Wôl gebunden – descriptions of women’s attire in German High Medieval poetry’ (2012) and ‘Folk costumes in focus: Traditional clothing of the Upper Palatinate’ (2016). Since 2016 she is Head of the Department of Studies of Regional and Traditional Dress and Folk Customs in Nuremberg.

Date and Time:

Friday 1st May

Talk starts at 7.30pm

Doors open at 7.15pm

Location:

Old Baptist Chapel,

Old Baptist Chapel Court,

Off Church Street,

Tewkesbury,

GL20 5RZ

Tickets:

£5 per person

Booking:

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