George Peter Algar – The Shepherd Lord

One’s death the other’s fortune?

You will ask, what we mean with that subtitle. But that is exactly the fateful combination between the “Shepherd Lord” and King Richard III. King Richard’s death leads to the change in the ‘Shepherd Lord’s’ fortune.
The Shepherd Lord is son to John Clifford, the 9th earl, an enemy of King Richard III and his family, who is said to have personally killed King Richard III’s brother Edmund, the Earl of Rutland, after the battle of Wakefield, where also King Richard III’s father died in the year 1460.

The Shepherd Lord’s father once again fought for the Lancastrian side against King Edward IV in the battle of Towton on Palm Sunday of the year 1461, where he is defeated and killed. This leads to the hiding of the son Henry, to assure his safety. After the end of the Plantagenet’s reign, Henry Clifford was able to come back into his power, rightful inheritance and family name and he became the 10th Earl after his father.

I can console you, King Richard, as always, cannot be seen as complete and total enemy and bad guy in these bloody events. He intervened in favour of “The Shepherd Lord’s” family, while his brother Edward IV’s was still king, and once again takes an ambivalent position, which remains for us to chose, do we see him as totally bad or through and through good person. King Richard III rarely allows us to see him in a mediocre way, but rather black and white, depending on one’s perspective.

Though King Richard III only plays a background figure in the events of this story, the book sheds more light on the intrigues and family interests of this time and the gripping story of “The Shepherd Lord” is a worthy recommendation in its own right.

David Santiuste interviewed author and researcher Mr. Algar for Historytimes.com and kindly let us re-publish his interview. (Please follow the link to the full interview):

Interview with George Peter Algar about “The Shepherd Lord”

Algar, George Peter: The Shepherd Lord

The basis for the story about Henry Clifford and the first literary mentioning of the ‘Shepherd Lord’ is William Wordsworth’s poem

“Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle”

of the year 1807,

which we link in here via  The Project Gutenberg, to give you a further appetizer for the book about “The Shepherd Lord”. The re-print of the poem by Project Gutenberg also contains further annotations of the author William Wordsworth about the historical background, which are interesting to read as well.

Author’s website: The Shepherd Lord

Author’s blog: GeorgeAlgar.com