Ralph Shaa (sometimes erroneously
[Shakespeare's Early History Plays: From Chronicle to Stage]
by Dominique Goy-Blanquet, published 2003 by Oxford University Press called John Shaa;
[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) died 1484) was a 15th-century English
theologian, the half-brother of the
Lord Mayor of London,
[Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama]
p. 174, by Peter Saccio, published 2000 by Oxford University Press 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
["Shaw's Sermon"]
in ''Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses'', by John A. Wagner; published 2001 by ABC-CLIO which claimed that
Edward IV
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
(as whose
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
he had served)
[Infamous Cheshire]
by Bob Burrows, published 2006 by History Press
The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...
had already been
betrothed to
Eleanor Butler[ at the time of his marriage to ]Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile;Although spelling of the family name is usually modernised to "Woodville", it was spelt "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton, but her tomb at St. George's Chapel, Wind ...
, and that Edward V
Edward V (2 November 1470 – mid-1483)R. F. Walker, "Princes in the Tower", in S. H. Steinberg et al, ''A New Dictionary of British History'', St. Martin's Press, New York, 1963, p. 286. was ''de jure'' King of England and Lord of Ireland fr ...
was therefore illegitimate and had no claim to the throne.[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)
Shaa is mentioned as "Doctor Shaw" in Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's play ''Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Bat ...
''.[CliffsNotes on Shakespeare's Richard III]
by James K. Lowers, published 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaa, Ralph
1484 deaths
Clergy from Lancashire
People of the Wars of the Roses
English theologians
Year of birth unknown