Ralph Shaa (sometimes erroneously[1] called John Shaa;[2] died 1484) was a 15th-century English theologian, the half-brother of the Lord Mayor of London,[3] Edmund Shaa. Shaa (pronounced and sometimes spelled "Shaw") played a minor but pivotal role in the Wars of the Roses by preaching a sermon on 22 June 1483[4] which claimed that Edward IV (as whose chaplain he had served)[5] had already been betrothed to Eleanor Butler[4] at the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, and that Edward V was therefore illegitimate and had no claim to the throne.[6]

Shaa is mentioned as "Doctor Shaw" in Shakespeare's play Richard III.[7]

References

  1. Shakespeare's Early History Plays: From Chronicle to Stage, by Dominique Goy-Blanquet, published 2003 by Oxford University Press
  2. The History of King Richard III and Selections from the English and Latin Poems, by Thomas More; 1976 edition by Yale University Press; edited by Richard S. Sylvester; note footnote 3: "John Shaa, brother to the mayor", "i.e., Ralph Shaa" (italics in original)
  3. Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama, p. 174, by Peter Saccio, published 2000 by Oxford University Press
  4. 1 2 "Shaw's Sermon", in Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses, by John A. Wagner; published 2001 by ABC-CLIO
  5. Infamous Cheshire, by Bob Burrows, published 2006 by History Press
  6. Richard, Son of Richard: Richard III and Political Prophecy, by Lesley Coote and Tim Thornton; in Historical Research Volume 73, Issue 182, Pages 321-330 (October 2000)
  7. CliffsNotes on Shakespeare's Richard III, by James K. Lowers, published 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.