Ralph Shaa Explained

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]

Notes and References

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=K_8hd8MEthIC&dq=%22ralph+shaa%22+shaw+shakespeare&pg=PA220 Shakespeare's Early History Plays: From Chronicle to Stage
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=7AlqW5mSEkgC&dq=%22ralph+shaa%22+augustinian&pg=PA59 The History of King Richard III and Selections from the English and Latin Poems
3. https://books.google.com/books?id=ygKxt1dP71AC&dq=%22ralph+shaa%22&pg=PA174 Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama
4. https://books.google.com/books?id=ubXnWRMt6uoC&dq=shaw+%22richard+iii%22&pg=PA249 "Shaw's Sermon"
5. https://books.google.com/books?id=xSoTDQAAQBAJ&dq=%22ralph+shaa%22&pg=PT11 Infamous Cheshire
6. http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/BPL_Images/Journal_Samples/HISR0950-3471~73~182/111.PDF Richard, Son of Richard: Richard III and Political Prophecy
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=FZbZBvt2ytQC&dq=%22richard+iii%22+%22doctor+shaw%22+shakespeare&pg=PA28 CliffsNotes on Shakespeare's Richard III