Sunday, 16 September 2012

more about the word 'renowned'

No sooner had I posted about the strange use of renown where I'd expect to see renowned, than I came across this usage on one of my favorite blogs - Medieval News:

A monster of sadism, duplicity and cunning, much worse than bad king John, more cruel than Henry VIII and less fit than Charles I for the English throne, Richard III is by far the most reviled entry in a catalogue of sovereigns not exactly renowned for their grace, distinction, or humanity.
I hope the time has come for Richard's name to be cleared of the unjustified disrepute heaped on him by that Tudor propagandist, William Shakespeare. (Yes, I know Will - whoever he was - wrote fantastically interesting and brilliant plays, poems, and so on, but he sure did a disservice to Richard III.)

2 comments:

proud womon said...

at least renowned was used properly! i totally agree with you about the word, and richard III... so much 'history' has been re-written according to 'the victors' though, and shakespeare had a vested interest - he wanted to stay alive!!

parlance said...

proud womon, I chuckled when I read your comment about Shakespeare's motivation. I'd have toed the party line also, if I'd lived in those days.

If I have my history right, I think at least that Tudor king did stop the constant wars for his lifetime and give the poor English people a break from killing. (Not sure I've got that right...)