King Richard was a great builder.[27] He founded collegiate churches at Middleham, Barnard Castle, and All Hallows Barking, built a memorial chapel at Towton, another at Sheriff Hutton, endowed Queens' College, Cambridge,[28] and erected a handsome tower at Westminster. He pushed forward the works at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, begun by his brother, and repaired the castles of Skipton, Carlisle, Nottingham, and Warwick. His cognizance of the white boar is still to be seen on the stonework of an oriel window at Barnard Castle. Richard was a prince of literary tastes, and among his books a manuscript copy of the romance of Tristan de Leonnais and a Wickliffe Bible have been preserved. He was the friend and patron {162} of Caxton, who dedicated a book 'Of the Ordre of Chyvalry and Knyghthode' to 'his redoubted Lord King Richard.' By letters patent, dated March 21, 1484, he gave the Heralds a charter of incorporation, and was thus the founder of the College of Arms. He also granted them 'a right fayre and stately house,'[29] called Pulteney's Inn. He was devout and religious, striving to promote greater activity among the clergy in improving the morals of the people. Richard was a keen sportsman, devoted to the chase both with hawk and hound. He kept large hunting establishments at Westminster and in Yorkshire. King Richard was probably conscious of the political change that was impending in the world, for he was a vigilant observer of the signs of the times, and was well versed in the political questions which were engaging the attention of European statesmen. He had witnessed the fall of his brother-in-law, Charles the Bold, and the collapse of the system he upheld. He must have seen that feudalism was giving way to a new era, in the age of the Renaissance. The young Plantagenet was well fitted by nature to rule the destinies of England during this period of change. He had received an excellent training. For years he had been accustomed to confer with the authorities at York on their local affairs, he had often been in consultation with clerical advisers when framing statutes for his collegiate churches, and from early youth he had had unusual opportunities of acquiring a knowledge of the needs and wishes of the people. He desired to {163} reign in the hearts of his countrymen. His proclamations and letters show that he wished to take his people into his counsels, to consult public opinion, and to be guided by it. He was an administrator of no mean ability, and although he was bold even to recklessness in facing the consequences of his acts, he always showed anxiety to have the public feeling with him. He would, in all probability, have respected the rights and liberties of his subjects while leading them into new ways. [Sidenote: Richard and the Tudors]