The Princes in the Tower, page 28
She had only a few remaining months to live. On 2 February 1503, Elizabeth gave birth early, but she and the child, a daughter (Katherine), died. After lying in state for eleven days at the Church of St Peter ad Vincula, she was buried at Westminster Abbey. Overcome with grief, Henry’s health never fully recovered. He would also abandon the Tower, ‘ensuring its decline as a royal residence’.93
Cecily, Duchess of York (1415–95): Paternal Grandmother
Cecily Neville was the tenth child of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland and his second wife, Joan Beaufort.94 The family home was Raby Castle, near Barnard Castle.
By October 1424, Cecily was betrothed to Richard, Duke of York. She was the mother of two kings of England: Edward IV and Richard III. Both accepted the throne at Baynard’s Castle, her London residence. It is not known if Cecily attended Richard’s coronation, but their relationship was close, with Richard staying with her for nearly a week at her castle at Berkhamsted on his way to Bosworth.95
At Bosworth, Cecily’s Neville/Westmorland kinsmen fought for Richard. Following his death, Cecily was careful to avoid Richard’s name in more public documents which could be viewed by Henry VII’s officials; in contrast to private ones where Richard is described as king and ‘worthy king’.96
Cecily had eighteen Plantagenet grandchildren. These included King Edward V and Queen Elizabeth of York. Cecily did not attend her granddaughter’s coronation but seems to have come to terms with Henry VII and in her will employed flattery to achieve her aim of burial with her husband at Fotheringhay.
With limited surviving materials about Cecily, it is difficult to extrapolate what she may have thought about the two Yorkist claimants to the throne. At her death, she owed £21 to the sanctuary at Colchester where two of her close affinity had taken refuge: John Howard in 1471, during the Readeption (recovery of the throne by Henry VI), and Francis Lovell, following Bosworth.97 In 1494–95, Cecily’s trusted priest and dean of her chapel, Richard Lessy, was released from the Tower of London after being found guilty of misprision of treason for concealing knowledge about Richard of York.98
Cecily was buried at Fotheringhay Church beside Richard, Duke of York, and their second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland. Known for her piety, Cecily was buried wearing an indulgence (a papal remission of punishment for sins).99
Lionel Woodville, Bishop of Salisbury (c. 1452/53–84): Maternal Uncle
On 18 April 1483, Lionel Woodville, Bishop of Salisbury, took part in Edward IV’s funeral procession.100 By 9 June, he was in sanctuary at Cheney-gates Mansion with his elder sister, Elizabeth.101
Lionel seems to have left sanctuary (possibly at around the same time as his nephew, Richard, Duke of York) and come to terms with Richard III’s reign. Immediately upon Richard’s accession, he was named on a commission for Dorsetshire on 26 June.102 On 24 July, as Chancellor of Oxford University, Lionel welcomed the king on his royal progress. Over the next two days, the king and court heard disputations on moral philosophy and toured the university.103
By 26 August, Lionel was removed from the commission in Oxford, suggesting he was possibly under some suspicion.104 By 22 September 1483, he was writing letters from Buckingham’s manor at Thornbury, Gloucestershire. It is not known if he was there voluntarily or was committed to Buckingham’s custody (like Morton).105
Lionel involved himself in the October uprising and on 20 October 1483 the university removed him from the chancellorship.106 He took sanctuary at Beaulieu Abbey.
On 14 February 1484, he was summoned to the king’s presence.107 On 15 March 1484, Thomas Langton was granted Lionel’s forfeited temporalities in the Bishopric of Salisbury.108 In 1484, several plaints for debt were brought against him.109 Lionel was still alive on 22 July 1484 but had died by 1 December110 and was buried at Salisbury Cathedral.111
Sir Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers (c. 1446–91): Maternal Uncle
Together with his father and elder brother Anthony, Richard Woodville was pardoned in 1462 by Edward IV for his adherence to the Lancastrian cause.112 On Anthony’s death, Richard became 3rd Earl Rivers. He was the last of his family to hold the title.
In 1465, following Edward IV’s marriage to his sister, Richard was made a Knight of the Bath. During the readeption of Henry VI, he was issued a pardon by the Lancastrian government. Richard appeared on several commissions during Edward IV’s reign,113 specifically for Northamptonshire. These were undertaken with the king’s brother, Richard of Gloucester.114
Although his sister fled to sanctuary following King Edward’s death and his younger brother Edward absconded with two ships and some £10,250, Richard is nevertheless listed on a further commission with Gloucester in Northamptonshire on 14 May 1483.115 It is not known if he served on the commission. Shortly afterwards, he seems to have come under suspicion: five days later, his lands at Wymington in Northamptonshire (now Bedfordshire) were confiscated by Gloucester on the king’s behalf.116
Richard Woodville seems to have taken part in the October uprising against King Richard and is listed among the rebels at Newbury in Berkshire. In the 1484 Parliament, he is described in the attainder of rebels as ‘Richard Widevill late of London Knyght’.117 It is not known where Richard’s London home was located. On 30 March 1485, Richard Woodville was awarded a pardon for life.118 He did not fight at Bosworth.
Following the accession of Henry VII, Richard’s lands at Wymington were restored.119 He seems to have taken an active role in the early part of King Henry’s reign and was present on the king’s first progress on 14 March 1486 and at York Minster on St George’s Day (23 April 1486), where he is described as Earl Rivers (3rd).120
On Sunday, 24 September 1486, at Prince Arthur’s christening, ‘Richard Wodevile’ is listed as an Esquire of the Body.121 At the coronation of his niece in November 1487, he is again described as Earl Rivers.122 He did not fight at Stoke Field in June.123
Richard Woodville took little part in Henry’s later reign and seems to have retired to Northamptonshire.124 He was not present on the king’s second progress in the spring–summer of 1489125 and died, unmarried, on 6 March 1491, when the earldom became extinct.126 His lands were bequeathed to his heir and nephew, Dorset. In his will, he sought no prayers for his parents or family members, including his niece, the queen. Richard Woodville is buried at the Abbey of St James in Northampton, ‘in a place made ready’.127
Sir Edward Woodville (c.1454–88): Maternal Uncle
Sir Edward Woodville was the youngest brother of Elizabeth Woodville. For Edward, see the foregoing and Chapter 3, also Chapter 10 for Henry VII’s spy in his household in 1487. For Woodville’s non-engagement with Edward V’s forces in 1487, see Chapter 19.
On 18 January 1486, Henry VII married Sir Edward Woodville’s niece, Elizabeth of York. Shortly afterwards, on 23 January, the 1484 Act of Parliament bastardising Edward IV’s children was repealed. Soon after this event, Woodville left for Spain on Crusade to fight against the Moors.
His actions at this time replicated those of his elder brother, Anthony. In 1471, Anthony had travelled to Portugal to fight the Moors, but his request had incurred the slur of cowardice from Edward IV. In 1476, Anthony incurred the same denigration by the Duke of Burgundy when he made his excuses and left prior to the Battle of Morat.128 Sir Edward’s campaigning, coupled with his use of Anthony’s title ‘Lord Scales’ on the continent (see p. 250), suggests he now viewed himself as the head of the family, and might perhaps be interpreted as an attempt to restore the family’s name there.
His adoption of this leading role may be further supported by his visit to Portugal on the way back from Spain, when he made a diplomatic intervention with King John II for a new version of a marriage previously agreed with England in 1485. At that time, King Richard III had promised his niece, Elizabeth of York, in marriage to King John’s nephew, Duke Manuel de Beja. Sir Edward now proposed marriage to the duke for one of Elizabeth’s sisters,129 though there is no record whether this mission to Portugal had the knowledge or consent of King Henry.
Woodville returned to England in the late summer of 1486 where he attended Prince Arthur’s christening at Winchester Cathedral on Sunday, 24 September. With three other lords, he carried the young prince’s canopy.130
As noted previously, in November 1487, following the Battle of Stoke, Woodville did not attend his niece’s coronation. It is not known why. He may have been ill.
On Sunday, 27 April 1488, Woodville was admitted to the Order of the Garter. Within two weeks of this event, he led a force of 800 men across the Channel (from his home on the Isle of Wight) to fight for Brittany against France, causing a diplomatic catastrophe for Henry VII. This is an unusual event which requires further analysis. Why did he risk everything to fight for the Bretons at the apparent height of his success?
It is very possible that he felt a deep sense of loyalty to Brittany after the duchy supported him following his flight from England in May 1483, and this may be the single determining factor. However, as we have seen, Brittany was the ally of Maximilian, who had only recently equipped, at great cost, two fleets to fight on behalf of Woodville’s nephew, Edward V, the second fleet being redeployed when France attacked Brittany (see Chapter 13). Woodville also planned a return visit to Portugal, where his other nephew, Richard, Duke of York, resided.
Henry VII had made it clear that to travel to Brittany at this time was forbidden ‘on pain of death’.131 Woodville had, apparently, asked the king on several occasions for permission to travel to the duchy but his requests had been refused. To gather 800 men (including 500 bowmen)132 takes considerable time so it seems Woodville had already taken steps prior to the Garter ceremony. Significantly, his cousin, the brother of the Earl of Arundel (Woodville’s elder sister, Margaret, was married to Arundel) was to follow him.
Henry, however, seized his ships and company and arrested the young knight before he could sail. In his letter to Charles VIII from Windsor on Tuesday, 27 May 1488, an outraged Henry informs us that Woodville’s force had been gathered ‘secretly and hastily’ and that it was formed of 300 men which Woodville ‘had drawn from places of sanctuary where they had been for several years on account of their crimes and misdemeanours’.133 In his apologetic and obsequious letter to the King of France, Henry implies that Woodville’s army was full of vagabonds – but his use of the word ‘sanctuary’ is revealing and strongly suggests many in Woodville’s force may have previously opposed Henry and taken sanctuary. King Henry adds, ‘all has been done without our knowledge and assent and against our prohibition and interdiction and we are as much displeased as of anything that has ever happened since we have been in this kingdom’.134
At Southampton, many men waited to take ship for Woodville. Aboard one, which sailed with 200 men, was ‘an ambassador from the King of Scotland who is now in great trouble, together with his son and other Scots Lords’.135
Had Sir Edward Woodville survived the Battle of St Aubin du Cormier on 28 July 1488, it seems he may have required refuge for a second time in Brittany. Was Woodville’s secondary (and possibly covert) motive to aid Maximilian, and thereby his nephews, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York? Investigations in this regard are ongoing.
Henry VII’s letter confirms that Sir Edward had been ‘calling himself Lord Scales’, a title previously held by Earl Rivers, head of the Woodville family.
John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln (c. 1460–87): Paternal Cousin
John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, was the eldest son of Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk (Richard III and Edward IV’s elder sister, d. 1503/04), and John, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (d. 1492). In July 1471, Edward IV placed Francis Lovell in the care of the de la Pole family, where it seems he and John (aged about 14 and 11 respectively) formed a lasting friendship.136
On 18 April 1475, John (aged about 15) was knighted with Edward V (4) and Richard, Duke of York (2). He also attended the wedding of Anne Mowbray to York in January 1478 and was present at Edward IV’s funeral and interment in April 1483. On 6 July, he carried the orb at Richard III’s coronation.137
Following the death of King Richard’s son, Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales, John was made Lieutenant of Ireland; the office hitherto awarded to the heir-presumptive of the House of York.138 Based at Sandal Castle in Yorkshire, John was President of the King’s Council of the North and in charge of Sandal’s Royal Nursery. He was present at the Battle of Bosworth (although incorrectly listed among the dead), but escaped attainder and imprisonment.
On the surface at least, John seems to have come to terms with Henry VII. He was present at York on the king’s first progress of May 1486, following the collapse of the uprising led by Lovell and the Stafford brothers.139 He headed the enquiry into the Staffords’ treason and was present at Prince Arthur’s christening in September.
It seems, however, that John was acting as a spy at the heart of the Tudor government for his close friend Lovell, raising funds that Christmas which, with others, were sent abroad on 1 January 1487.140 When the revolt in Ireland on behalf of King Edward became known, John hastened to Flanders to join Lovell at its head. This followed Henry VII’s parade of Edward of Warwick (12) at St Paul’s, where John spoke with the boy for some time.141 By 25 March, Lincoln was sending gold and silver to the north via a servant who was seen at Doncaster.142
Given that Warwick was barred by his father’s attainder, John (27) was next in line after Edward V and Richard of York. John’s presence, together with Francis Lovell, at King Edward V’s coronation in Dublin on Sunday, 27 May 1487, shows that he recognised the Dublin King’s superior claim to the throne. Two surviving artefacts reveal that, after the death of Edward of Middleham, John had been King Richard’s de facto heir. The first is the illuminated de la Pole Pedigree (Genealogical) Roll which records for Richard III ‘he justly and lawfully ordained John Earl of Lincoln … as his lawful heir … being the next apparent by true succession to the crown of England’.143 The second is John’s seal matrix (see Plate 23). Imprinted in wax, a seal matrix closed (or sealed) a letter or document, giving it legal authority and providing ‘visual evidence of status and power’. Dated to 21 August 1484 to 22 August 1485, the seal is larger than any of his de la Pole predecessors’ and further records John as ‘nephew of Richard III, King of England’. Part of a collection in the British Museum, ‘this feature, linking a nephew to the king’s person in such a way, is unique in sealing practice’.144 John died fighting for Edward V at Stoke Field on 16 June 1487. He was buried in one of the unmarked mass graves; a willow stave was said to have been thrust through his heart.145 It seems his family was not allowed to reclaim the body or were too afraid to ask.
Before 1480, John had married Margaret (died after 1524), daughter of Margaret Woodville and Thomas Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel, Lord Maltravers.146 They had no surviving issue and Margaret never remarried.147
The de la Pole Family: Paternal Cousins
Following John, Earl of Lincoln’s death and attainder, the family lost their dukedom, which was reduced by Henry VII to an earldom. John’s father, Suffolk, was loyal to England’s new kings and his mother, Elizabeth, attended her niece Elizabeth of York’s coronation. In the years that followed the demise of the two royal ‘pretenders’, Edward V and Richard of York, Plantagenet de la Pole brothers would each claim the throne of England as rightful heirs and suffer indictment for treason.
Edmund was imprisoned by Henry VII and executed in 1513 by Henry VIII; Richard, also known as ‘the White Rose’, became an exile and died in battle in France in 1525. Their brother William, although he never claimed the throne, was imprisoned by Henry VII in the Tower of London in 1501 and died there in 1539. Sir George Buc states that their sister, Katherine, Lady Stourton, was also imprisoned at the Tower, where she too may have died by 1513. Glover states that Katherine died in the Tower in 1502, the same year as the capture, trial and execution of Sir James Tyrell.148 Their sister, Anne de la Pole, was Prioress of Syon [Abbey] where Sir William Stanley’s conspiracy on behalf of Richard of York began in 1493 (see Chapter 17). Anne died on 25 April 1501.149
Conclusion
The survival of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, can be supported by the actions of their close family members during the reigns of Richard III and Henry VII.i With the birth of Prince Arthur, the Woodville family returned to favour as the maternal family of England’s future monarch, and here they should have stayed. However, what we see is several family members involved in potential activities against King Henry. Significantly, with King Richard III dead, there was no need for any secrecy or fear with regard to the princes’ murder (if this was what was believed) and the family could coalesce in vigorous support of the new monarch, in word and deed, as their saviour.
Indeed, this is the traditional view, but as we have seen, it does not stand up to scrutiny. It has been argued that the family’s actions were simply real-politik, but this too does not stand up to scrutiny. Any inherent self-interest was for the family members to be Henry’s most ardent and loyal supporters.
It has been surmised that Elizabeth Woodville retired to Bermondsey Abbey as she wished to devote herself to a religious life. This suggestion, however, lacks support.150 Elizabeth’s forty-year lease on the sanctuary at Cheneygates Mansion indicates instead that this was her intended long-term residence. Deprivation by a displeased Henry VII seems more likely.
In the next chapter, we will look at the non-family members who were involved in the survival and removal to safety of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York. This will include those involved in their struggle for recognition and their claim for the English throne.
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i For reasons of space, biographies concerning the least-prominent (and least-documented) family members (sisters Cecily, Anne, Katherine and Bridget of York, and their aunts, Margaret and Mary Woodville) are not included here. For context, Margaret of Burgundy (aunt) is included in Chapter 17. For Edward, Earl of Warwick, (cousin) see main text.
