ABSTRACT
Holinshed, whilst at times following Hall very closely and writing throughout on similar lines, added much from authorities like Walsingham and Froissart. The meeting of Henry with his supporters, and events at Berkely, do not appear in Hall’s Chronicle, so the third scene of the second act is derived solely from Holinshed. Hall, besides the more ordinary sources, had used the Traison et Mort du Roy Richard, which he refers to as written by ‘ one who seemeth to have great knowledge of Richard’s affairs ’. Holinshed in addition cites
Cretan’s poem as ‘ Master Dee’s French book ’.1 From the former come the dubious incident of the speech on Richard’s behalf by his one faithful friend the Bishop of Carlisle and the unauthenticated story of Richard’s murder by Sir Piers of Exton,2 both made familiar by Shakespeare. Thus the outlook of the play is not purely Lancastrian. It is also Yorkist sympathy which makes Hall, followed by Holinshed, give a favourable view of Edmund of York, the easy-going man of pleasure of whom Hardyng wrote:
When all the lordes to councell and parlyament Went, he wolde to hunte and also to hawkyng.
