David Baldwin (historian)

David Baldwin FRHistS ( 22 December 1946 (?) – 4 April 2016) was a British historian, author and former university lecturer, who lived near Leicester, England.

Baldwin specialised in late Medieval history—"the great medieval families of the Midlands"—and wrote several books about the people and events of the Wars of the Roses.[1] Before retiring from teaching,[2] Baldwin had previously worked as a lecturer at both the University of Leicester and the University of Nottingham.[1] In 1986, over 25 years before the 2012 excavation and the discovery of the king's body, he predicted that Richard III's remains would be found at Greyfriars, Leicester.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

In his 2010 book, Robin Hood: The English Outlaw Unmasked, Baldwin argued that the 'real' Robin Hood was Roger Godberd, a disinherited supporter of Simon de Montfort. He drew attention to the many similarities between Godberd's career and the stories told of Robin in the earliest ballads, and to a grave slab in Loxley churchyard in Warwickshire which appeared to be identical to one associated with Robin in earlier centuries.

In his 2007 book, The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York, Baldwin discussed the possibility that the younger of the Princes in the Tower, Prince Richard, survived, and was the "Richard Plantagenet" who died in December 1550 at Eastwell in Kent. Richard had worked as a bricklayer at St. John's Abbey, Colchester, until 1539, but, unusually for someone of his class, could read Latin.[9] He is sometimes said to have been an illegitimate son of King Richard III.[10]

Baldwin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2012.[11]

A religious man, Baldwin was a member of a Christadelphian congregation in Leicester.[11]

  1. ^ a b Amberley Publishing. "David Baldwin". Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  2. ^ University of Leicester (28 September 2012). "'What was Richard III really like?' – A new study of the last Plantagenet king". Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  3. ^ University of Leicester (28 September 2012). "New study from historian who 'predicted' whereabouts of the remains of King Richard III". Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Leicester historian who predicted discovery of Richard III site in book launch". Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  5. ^ "University of Leicester announces discovery of King Richard III". University of Leicester. 4 February 2013. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  6. ^ "Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king's". BBC. 4 February 2013.
  7. ^ Burns, John F (4 February 2013). "Bones Under Parking Lot Belonged to Richard III". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Richard III dig: Eyes of world on Leicester as Greyfriars skeleton find revealed". Leicester Mercury. 13 September 2012. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013.
  9. ^ "What happened to the Princes in the Tower?". Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  10. ^ BBC Kent: "Richard Plantagenet: Illegitimate heir's tomb in Kent?" 27 August 2010. Accessed 5 September 2013
  11. ^ a b "Historian David Baldwin who predicted the location of Richard III's Greyfriars grave dies aged 69". Leicester Mercury. 18 April 2016.[permanent dead link]