By Mark Bialczak
LPL Communications Specialist
The Royals are in, even here in the United States.
People are fascinated with the doings of the descendants of Queen Elizabeth, nowadays particularly Prince William and his wife Kate and their little Prince and Princess George and Charlotte. William is the man that will be King, after all.
Folks like to look back as well. Have you binge-watched yet the compelling Netflix series “The Crown,” fashioned on the early years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign?
The upcoming Massive Open Online Course will delve even further back into Royal history.
“England in the Time of King Richard III” will investigate England in the 15th century, plus the much more recent revelations surrounding that notorious monarch.
The online portion of the MOOC starts Monday, Feb. 27, with registration a must at Futurelearn.com. Participants can study the material presented by scholars from the University of Leicester at their own pace.
The six Liverpool Public Library sessions run from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the Sargent Meeting Room on six successive Fridays, beginning March 3 and continuing March 10, March 17, March 24, March 31 and April 7. The discussion classes will be led by Susan Savion. Savion is a retired teacher who has written several books, including “Quoting Matilda,” touching upon the life of abolitionist and suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage. Participants must register on the calendar page at LPL.org.
The curriculum will include a look back at life in England during the times of King Richard III. And what a Royal he was. He ruled for just two years of his lifetime of 1452-85, but was given the onus of the murder of his two nephews to get the crown. Shakespeare’s play “King Richard III” painted him as a tyrant, but modern scholars have also pointed out evidence that his rule was successful.
Richard III resurfaced in the news in 2012 when remains unearthed in a Leicester parking lot were said to be his. DNA tests eventually confirmed it. He was eventually buried again in 2015 with a service at Leicester Cathedral that drew comment from Queen Elizabeth about the day’s national and international significance.
