I'd like to take this (oblique) opportunity to plug a really marvellous book, Mother Leakey and the Bishop, by Peter Marshall. Nothing about Spenser, I'm afraid, but it does involve the Earl of Cork. Barnard's ODNB entry doesn't mention him, but one of the main forces in the effort to regain the lands and income of the church in Ireland was John Atherton, who was proposed by Wentworth for the bishopric of Cork. All went bust, seemingly because of a report that Atherton's mother-in-law (Mother Leakey) had come back from the dead to deliver a secret message to her daughter (a different one) to deliver to Atherton in Ireland. Atherton was brought up on charges of incest and fornication, and was hanged for buggery in 1640 -- apparently the only CofE bishop ever executed for such a "crime" (!!) The story is bizarre and gripping already, but Marshall uncovers much more, tracking the ghost story and the legends about the wicked bishop as they morph over time, and in the process
he reveals much about the nature of history and its retelling. If you pick this up, you won't be able to put it down. I think it would also teach extremely well.
Sorry to ride on your email, Helen, but I felt the urge to puff this book!
Hannibal
Hannibal Hamlin
Associate Professor of English
The Ohio State University
Book Review Editor and Associate Editor, Reformation
Mailing Address (2007-2009):
The Folger Shakespeare Library
201 Capitol Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
Permanent Address:
Department of English
The Ohio State University
421 Denney Hall, 164 W. 17th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210-1340
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vincent, Helen" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:51 pm
Subject: Richard Boyle: life of the week
> Richard Boyle, first earl of Cork, is a Life of the Week at the Oxford
> DNB website at the moment, which means that you can read his life for
> free for a week here:
> http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/lotw/
>
> His kinswoman Elizabeth and in-law Edmund don't get a mention, but
> thereare some interesting insights into the Munster of Spenser's
> day.
>
> Helen
>
>
> Helen Vincent
> Senior Curator
> Rare Book Collections
>
> Tel: +44 (0) 131 623 3894
> Fax: +44 (0) 131 623 3888
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
> National Library of Scotland
> George IV Bridge
> Edinburgh
> EH1 1EW
> Scotland
>
>
>
>
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