And he believes that the three-times former league champions, graced in the past by names like Mal Aspey, Eric Hughes, Mick Burke and the Myler family, and by Martin Offiah, Joe Lydon, Andy Gregory and Jonathan Davies in their great days of the late 1980s, can go on to reprise former glories.

BBC: O'Connor buoyant over Widnes Vikings' Super League bid

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism among competing papal claimants.

NPR: Pope Resigning On Feb. 28, Conclave In March

"Our special relationship with the north east of England is a source of great pride to the company, " said the RSC's artistic director Gregory Doran.

BBC: RSC returns to Newcastle after cuts

Gregory is a good boy, though all the Latin he has learned, all the sonorous periods of the great authors, have rolled through his head and out again, like stones.

NEWYORKER: Invitation to a Beheading