[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-155117-en":3,"doc-seo-155117-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":11,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},155117,549768072016,"WPS_1786070896","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d",2,"Literature","A Murder of Crows and Princes - Episode 144","Episode 144, “A Murder of Crows and Princes,” examines linguistic and historical developments in mid-1400s England, linking the rise of new collective noun terms (such as a school, a gaggle, and a murder) with a broader political transition toward the end of the Plantagenet era. The episode discusses Richard III’s controversial legacy and the debated fate of his nephews, framing it as a “murder of princes.” It also traces earlier narrative context, including the Wars of the Roses, Edward IV, and William Caxton’s printing press, then explains the origin of “without rhyme or reason” through John Russell’s Boke of Nurture.","THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS  \nEPISODE 144:  \nA MURDER OF CROWS AND PRINCES  \nPresented by Kevin W. Stroud  \n©2012-2021 Seven Springs Enterprises, LLC  \nEPISODE 144: A MURDER OF CROWS AND PRINCES  \nWelcome to the History of English Podcast – a podcast about the history of the English language. This is Episode 144: A Murder of Crows and Princes. In this episode, we’re going to look at an interesting phenomenon that was emerging in the English language in the mid-1400s. It was a fad for coining new terms for collective nouns like a school or fish, and a gaggle of geese, and a murder of crows. It was also a time of transition in England. The Plantagenet era was coming to an end. The last Plantagenet king was Richard III – one of the most controversial kings in English history. Much of that controversy surrounds the fate of his two nephews who disappeared in the Tower of London. According to popular tradition, he had them murdered in order to secure the throne for himself. That verdict is still a matter of debate, but it points to a different kind of murder – a murder of princes. So this time, we’ll explore those historical and linguistic developments.  \nBut before we begin, let me remind you that the website for the podcast is [historyofenglishpodcast.com. And you can sign up to](historyofenglishpodcast.com. And you can sign up to) support the podcast and get bonus episodes and transcripts [at Patreon.com/historyofenglish](at Patreon.com/historyofenglish).  \nNow this time, we’re going to resume our overall historical narrative. Over the past few episodes, we’ve explored the Great Vowel Shift, so for those of you who listen in real time, it’s been several months since we considered what was happening on the ground in the late 1400s as Middle English evolved into early Modern English. Since it’s been a while, I thought it might bea good idea to remind you where we were in our overall story before our digression into the vowel shift.  \nAs you might recall, the first major phase of the Wars of the Roses came to an end when the first Yorkist king Edward IV defeated his Lancastrian cousin Henry VI. Edward had been the king for several years before being briefly deposed. And the victory over Henry allowed him to recover the throne and continue the reign of the House of York. The victory also saw the defeat and death of the main line of Lancastrian kings – those who were directly descended from John of Gaunt and his first wife Blanche. The Lancastrian story wasn’t over yet, but the defeat was devastating for the Lancastrian cause, and it allowed Edward and the Yorkists to rule England for more thana decade in relative peace.  \nAt the time, Edward had an infant son also named Edward, and a short time later, he and his wife had a second son. So Edward had not only re-secured the throne for himself, he also secured his eventual succession with sons who could inherit the throne when he died. Edward also had a younger brother named Richard. At the time, Richard was held in high regard and was seen as a loyal supporter of his brother. But that perception would change over time.  \nA short time after Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians and re-secured his position as king, William Caxton arrived in England with the printing press. It was the first printing press to be placed into operation in the country, and we looked at that development back in Episode 139.  \nThe main benefit of the printing press was the ability mass produce books. I discussed all of the benefits of the printing press in that earlier episode, but there were also some drawbacks. It was very easy for the type setter to make a mistake, and that meant the mistake occurred in every copy of the book. Of course, that wasn’t an entirely new problem. Scribes sometimes did the same thing when they copied a text by hand. And if another scribe came along and made a copy of that copy, then the mistake could be repeated over and over in each subsequent copy. So it was common t","cbCaijAguSSwyE55","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijAguSSwyE55","pdf",132119,1,16,"English","en",105,"# Episode 144: A Murder of Crows and Princes\n## Collective nouns in the mid-1400s\n## Political transition and Richard III\n## Printing press and repeated mistakes\n## Origin of “without rhyme or reason”\n## John Russell’s Boke of Nurture","[{\"question\":\"What linguistic trend does Episode 144 highlight in the mid-1400s?\",\"answer\":\"It highlights a fad of coining new terms for collective nouns, such as a school or fish, a gaggle of geese, and a murder of crows.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the episode connect Richard III’s controversy to the phrase “murder of princes”?\",\"answer\":\"It discusses popular tradition that Richard III was involved in the disappearance of his nephews in the Tower of London, while noting that the verdict is debated; the episode uses this to explore the idea of “murder of princes.”\"},{\"question\":\"Where does the phrase “without rhyme or reason” come from, according to the episode?\",\"answer\":\"It traces the phrase to lines in John Russell’s “Boke of Nurture,” explaining that “rhyme” refers to poetic form and “reason” to the substance or content, so mistakes belong to the author rather than the scribe.\"}]","A Murder of Crows and Princes - Episode 144 | PDF",1787905404,25,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"a-murder-of-crows-and-princes-episode-144","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-murder-of-crows-and-princes-episode-144/155117/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-07","2026-08-28",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":11},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What linguistic trend does Episode 144 highlight in the mid-1400s?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It highlights a fad of coining new terms for collective nouns, such as a school or fish, a gaggle of geese, and a murder of crows.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How does the episode connect Richard III’s controversy to the phrase “murder of princes”?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"It discusses popular tradition that Richard III was involved in the disappearance of his nephews in the Tower of London, while noting that the verdict is debated; 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