Today’s word of the day, courtesy of Words Coach (https://www.wordscoach.com/dictionary), is panegyric. Pronounced either / ˌpæn ɪˈdʒɪr ɪk / or / ˌpæn ɪ ˈdʒaɪ rɪk / (I have heard the second far more than the first), panegyric is a noun that means “a lofty oration or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy” or “formal or elaborate praise” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/panegyric).

Samuel Johnson, in his 1755 Dictionary, spells the word with a k at the end and defines it as “An elogy; an encomiastick piece” (https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=panegyric). Merriam-Webster defines it as “a eulogistic oration or writing,” “also : formal or elaborate praise” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panegyric). M-W then explains, “On certain fixed dates throughout the year, the ancient Greeks would come together for religious meetings. Such gatherings could range from hometown affairs to great national assemblies, but large or small, the meeting was called a panēgyris. That name comes from pan, meaning ‘all,’ and agyris, meaning ‘assembly.’ At those assemblies, speakers provided the main entertainment, and they delivered glowing orations extolling the praises of present civic leaders and reliving the past glories of Greek cities. To the Greeks, those laudatory speeches were panēgyrikos, which means ‘of or for a panēgyris.’ Latin speakers ultimately transformed panēgyrikos into the noun panegyricus, and English speakers adapted that Latin term to form panegyric” (ibid.).

Panegyric entered the English language “c. 1600, from French panégyrique (1510s), from Latin panegyricus ‘public eulogy,’ originally an adjective, ‘for a public festival,’ from Greek panēgyrikos (logos) ‘(a speech) given in or addressed to a public assembly,’ from panēgyris ‘public assembly (especially in honor of a god),’ from pan- ‘all’ (see pan-) + agyris ‘place of assembly,’ Aeolic form of agora (see agora)” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=panegyric). The agyris comes from the Proto-IndoEuropean *ger- “root meaning ‘to gather.’ It might form all or part of: aggregate; aggregation; agora; agoraphobia; allegory; category; congregate; cram; egregious; gregarious; panegyric; paregoric; segregate (ibid.).

On this date in 1485, “Henry Tudor’s forces defeat English King Richard III during the last battle in the Wars of the Roses. Richard is killed, becoming the last English monarch to die in battle” (https://www.onthisday.com/events/august/22).

The Wars of the Roses had a lot of backstory. We could go all the way back to 1066 because the relationship between England and France becomes intertwined at that point, but instead we’ll start with the 100 Years’ War and Edward III, part of the Plantagenet dynasty. Edward had 13 children. The oldest was Edward, the Black Prince, so-called in part because he died before his father. Edward also initiated that 100 Years’ War with France, a war over territory and who was the rightful king of France. Edward’s sons, other than the Black Prince, included John of Gaunt, who married Blanche of Lancaster and had multiple children, including Henry Bolingbroke, and Edmund of York, who founded the Yorkist side of the Plantagenet dynasty. When Edward III died, just one year after his son the Black Prince, his grandson was crowned king though just 10 years old. Richard II’s reign began under the control of his uncles, but as soon as he reached maturity, he broke away from their control. The unhappiness created by that led to Richard’s being usurped by Henry Bolingbroke, who became Henry IV.

Notice that Henry IV is part of the Lancastrian side of the Plantagenet dynasty. Henry IV’s reign was troubled by civil unrest. Shakespeare has an interesting take on why things were so difficult for Henry. Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was instrumental in getting Bolingbroke the throne. In Act 5 of Richard II, the deposed King Richard says to Northumberland,

Northumberland, thou ladder wherewithal
The mounting Bolingbroke ascends my throne,
The time shall not be many hours of age
More than it is ere foul sin, gathering head,
Shall break into corruption. Thou shalt think,
Though he divide the realm and give thee half,
It is too little, helping him to all.
He shall think that thou, which knowest the way
To plant unrightful kings, wilt know again,
Being ne’er so little urged another way,
To pluck him headlong from the usurped throne.
The love of wicked men converts to fear,
That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both
To worthy danger and deservèd death.

And of course that is exactly what happens.

Henry V followed Henry IV, and he became one of the most celebrated kings in English history, though only Alfred in English history is called “the Great.” Henry won the Battle of Agincourt, also made famous by a Shakespeare play. In fact, Shakespeare’s two tetralogies, beginning with Richard II and going through Richard III, cover this entire period. But Henry V, like Edward the Black Prince, died relatively young (live by the sword, die by the sword, and all that, except that it was from disease), so his son became king at an even younger age than Richard III. Henry was less the one year old.

“His early reign, when England was ruled by a regency government, saw the pinnacle of English power in France. However, setbacks followed once he assumed full control in 1437. The young king faced military reversals in France, as well as political and financial crises in England, where divisions among the nobility in his government began to widen. His reign saw the near total loss of English lands in France” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VI_of_England). “Henry suffered a mental breakdown in 1453, triggering a power struggle between the royal family: Richard, 3rd Duke of York, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and Queen Margaret. Civil war broke out in 1455” (ibid.). Henry VI was deposed in 1461 by Edward IV, one of the sons of Richard of York.

In 1470, Henry was returned to the throne by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, but he stayed on the throne for only a year. Edward IV took the throne again in 1471, and stayed on it until his death in 1483. His son Edward briefly became Edward V, but Richard of York, who was made protector of the 13-year-old king, put Edward and his 10-year-old brother Richard into the Tower of London, supposedly for their own protection, and the boys were never seen again.

Henry Tudor was a great-great-grandson of John of Gaunt, whose son Henry Bolingbroke sort of started this whole mess way back in 1399. His somewhat dubious claim to the throne came through his mother’s side of the family; “Lady Margaret Beaufort was the daughter and sole heiress of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (1404–1444), (a legitimised grandson of John of Gaunt and Gaunt’s mistress Katherine Swynford)” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Margaret_Beaufort). Despite the dubiousness of the claim, Henry brought an army to England and defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He became Henry VII, and established the Tudor dynasty, which would last only until 1603, when it would die with the death of Elizabeth I.

Shakespeare was writing those history plays during the reign of Elizabeth I, and he took as his source material writings that were also created at that time. As a result, Shakespeare and the others helped to create what is now called the Tudor myth, the idea that Henry VII not only had a legitimate claim to the throne but that God supported that claim. As a result, Henry Tudor is held up as a hero, and Richard III is the villain.

There’s actually a fair amount of controversy over that last bit. There is actually a Richard III Society which tries to maintain that Richard was actually a good king much disparaged by others. It used to be said that history is written by the winners, so it may be very hard to figure out how much of the Tudor myth is a lie. But given the difficulties of explaining the Princes in the Tower, it is like that Richard III will be receiving no panegyrics anytime soon.

Today’s image is from a 2022 Shakespeare in the Park production of Richard III, directed by Robert O’Hara. For the title role, he cast Danai Gurira, best known for her roles in The Walking Dead and The Black Panther series (https://www.salon.com/2023/05/18/danai-gurira-richard-iii-pbs/). I’m sure she did a fine job, but I’m also pretty sure Richard III did not look like her.