The Princes in the Tower, page 33
Sir Brian Stapleton, of Carleton in Yorkshire, had owned half of the lands at Bedale. Stapleton married Lovell’s sister, Joan. Brian and his brother William fought for King Richard at Bosworth. For Lovell’s other sister, Frideswede, see John Norris (p. 263).
During Henry VII’s reign the official view was that Lovell died at Stoke Field. This was recorded in 1502 by the London merchant Richard Arnold, also by Henry VII’s historian Polydore Vergil, and by Edward Hall in his Chronicle of 1548 when Lovell was said to have drowned during his escape from the battle while swimming his horse across the Trent River at Fiskerton.234
Thomas Rydley (Ridley)
The Rydley family were based at Ridley Castle at Willimoteswick, in Northumberland by Unthank, the family seat of Sir Nicholas Rydley (also described as Nicholas Rydley Esquire), and nearby Langley Castle, seat of Sir Archibald Rydley.
Nicholas Rydley (died after 1491) was Esquire of the Body for King Richard and in 1484–85 was involved in peace negotiations with Scotland. By 1485, he was Constable of Bewcastle. A commissioner and Justice of the Peace, he was granted the office of Bailiff of Tynedale by Henry VII in March 1491. Thomas Rydley’s relationship to Sir Nicholas and Sir Archibald is currently unknown, with investigations in this regard ongoing.235
On 25 January 1484, Thomas was appointed Captain, Keeper and Governor of the Island of Guernsey by King Richard; the position previously held by Sir Edward Brampton. As Governor, Rydley’s residence was the heavily fortified Castle Cornet. Today, the castle is joined to St Peter Port by a Victorian harbour, but at the time of Rydley’s governorship, the royal castle, perched high on a rock, was an impregnable island fortress. Surrounded and supplied by the sea, it operated with its own English garrison, language, customs and community.236
Castle Cornet is of significant interest to the project as a potential location of Edward V, prior to his removal to Francis Lovell in Yorkshire in April 1486. Sir Archibald (the ‘good’ Rydley) fought for King Richard at Bosworth.237 At Easter 1486 (26 March), Edmund Weston became sole Governor of Guernsey for King Henry.238 It is not known what happened to Thomas, whether he accompanied Edward V to Yorkshire, was present for the king’s coronation in Dublin, or joined the rebel force.
Sir William Stanley (c. 1435–95)
The second son of Thomas, 1st Baron Stanley, of Latham in Lancashire, Sir William first came to prominence in his early twenties when he fought for the House of York at the Battle of Blore Heath on 23 September 1459, probably fleeing overseas with the Yorkist leaders. In November, he was attainted a traitor by the Lancastrian Parliament at Coventry. He also fought at Towton.239
On Edward IV’s accession in March 1461, he became a mainstay of the Yorkist regime, being made Chamberlain of Chester, Constable of Flint Castle and Sheriff of Flintshire for life in May and knighted in July, becoming a Knight of the Body and King’s Carver.240 Sir William was one of the first to declare himself for York in 1471 on Edward’s return from exile and was made banneret after the Battle of Tewkesbury. Four years later, he took part in the invasion of France. In February 1483, he was appointed Steward of the Prince of Wales’ household at Ludlow, by which time he had gained prominence in North Wales and Cheshire.241
In late 1465, Sir William married Joan Lovell (née Beaumont), mother of Francis Lovell (aged about 8). Joan died nine months later, possibly in childbirth with William Jnr.
In 1471, Sir William married another Yorkist heiress, Elizabeth Hopton (d. 1498) and had two daughters, Joan and Catherine.242 He also had an illegitimate son, Thomas.
Following Edward IV’s death, he attended King Richard’s coronation243 and with his elder brother, Thomas, 2nd Baron Stanley, helped suppress the October 1483 uprising. After Buckingham’s execution, Sir William succeeded to the duke’s former post of Chief Justice of North Wales and by 1484 had acquired Holt Castle.244
At the Battle of Bosworth, his intervention on behalf of the pretender Henry Tudor was decisive in securing Henry’s crown and, possibly, saving his life. In reward, Henry VII made Sir William his Chamberlain and subsequently (possibly before 27 May 1487, but certainly by 16 November 1489), created him a Knight of the Garter. The stall allocated to him at St George’s Chapel was that of Edward IV’s youngest son, Richard, Duke of York (see Chapter 9).245
Sir William was not present at the Battle of Stoke on 16 June 1487. His elder brother Thomas was also absent (following his usual pattern of behaviour), but this time sent his son, Lord Strange, to fight for Henry VII. Their cousin, Peter Stanley of Hoton, fought for King Edward.246
As King Henry watched the ensuing battle from a safe distance, possibly a church tower or windmill at Syerston or Elston, the Stanley rear-guard under Strange failed to engage, despite the vanguard seeming to crumble at one point.247 Two years later, Sir William raised a large company of men to help King Henry suppress an uprising in Yorkshire, for which he was significantly rewarded. He had, by this time, reputedly become the wealthiest commoner in England.248
Sir William’s future seemed secure, but in 1495 he was executed for treason. He confessed his guilt (from 14 March 1493)249 and was found to have sent Sir Robert Clifford to Burgundy three months later to enter the service of the Yorkist claimant (Richard, Duke of York). Clifford had known York as a child and in Burgundy recognised him ‘by his face and other lineaments of his body’.250
Clifford would send York’s supporters to Sir William in England to conspire by ‘a certain private sign agreed between them’. Sir William would ‘aid and support them with his whole power’. He would ‘raise him [York] up to be king of England, and would also depose and destroy the same present lord king [Henry VII]’.251
A co-conspirator with Sir William was King Henry’s Steward, John Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter. Previously, on 14 January 1493, Fitzwalter had agreed to array 500 men on behalf of Edward IV’s youngest son and instructed Clifford to urge the young prince in Burgundy to make war on Henry in order to secure the throne.252
What brought Sir William to this ignominious end? At Bosworth, he had commanded the Stanley family contingent almost certainly with the knowledge and support of his brother. Thomas, though absent from the battle (see Chapter 10), would become its principal beneficiary, gaining significant rewards, including the earldom of Derby. By contrast, Sir William received no peerage or major landed advancement. Denounced prior to the battle by his nephew, Lord Strange, and proclaimed a traitor by Richard III, Sir William did not join Tudor’s ranks, pitching his camp between the two opposing armies,253 and arriving late to cause Henry ‘no small anxiety’.254 It seems Henry Tudor never fully trusted William Stanley,255 and may have made him Chamberlain to keep him close.
From 1494, bonds for allegiance were issued against Stanley servants and clients, being evidence of the bondee’s support for Sir William’s rebellion, with general pardons sought following his arrest.256
At Westminster on 6 February 1495, Edward, Duke of Buckingham, handed down the sentence for treason of hanging, drawing and quartering,257 which was later commuted by Henry. On 16 February at Tower Hill, Sir William was beheaded, bearing himself haughtily, according to observers. Sir William was buried at Syon Abbey, where the rebellion on behalf of Edward IV’s youngest son had taken hold.258 Anne de la Pole (d. 1501) was the prioress at Syon. Having seized all Sir William’s lands and goods, King Henry contributed towards the burial.259
Following his execution, the Stanley family rallied to write the family history using the ballad tradition and making Sir William at Bosworth into a kingmaker. His granddaughter Joan (Jane), through his son, Sir William Jnr, married a Brereton; in the early sixteenth century, ‘The Song of the Lady Bessy’ was written by a Brereton.260 It seemed his surviving line would ensure his name was on the right side of Tudor history.261
By contrast, when we dig down, another story reveals itself. With Sir William attainted, his son and heir, Sir William Jnr 262 ‘lived out the remainder of his life as a minor country gentleman’ and died in relative poverty, three years later, ending the male line of this junior branch. In 1495, Sir William’s illegitimate son, Thomas, was placed in captivity for some fifteen years and would not be released until Henry VIII’s reign. He then went abroad and joined the last Yorkist claimant, Richard de la Pole.263 At one time, de la Pole believed him to be a spy.264
On 1 June 1487, as King Edward invaded and battle loomed, one of King Henry’s courtiers alleged that Sir William had equipped his men in the rebel colours.265 After Sir William’s execution, a gold Yorkist collar of sunbursts and roses was discovered at Holt Castle. This may have been the insignia for his office of Steward to the Prince of Wales (later Edward V).266
18
Avenues for Exploration
As the investigation continues, there is also room for reflection and speculation. This may inform new lines of enquiry.
What if that second armada had sailed from Burgundy in support of King Edward as planned, and executed a pincer move on King Henry’s forces at Stoke?
Henry’s reign, and possibly his life, would have ended on 16 June 1487. The first Tudor monarch would have reigned for 663 days, or 664 if we use Henry’s redating of his reign to 21 August, the day before Bosworth.
However, had events turned against Henry, he may well have escaped. At Bosworth, Jasper Tudor’s absence from the battlefield is believed to indicate that he was waiting nearby to conduct Henry to safety should the conflict turn against Henry’s general, the Earl of Oxford. Is this what transpired at Stoke? Was Jasper waiting for Henry in the event of defeat?
The Battle of Stoke has been viewed for centuries with the distortion of hindsight and through the prism of the later Tudor narrative. A thorough re-evaluation of this key confrontation and last battle of the Cousins’ War is now required.
Henry VII was not present but watched from a safe distance. It seems he had learnt his lessons from Bosworth, but also he may not have trusted in the outcome. Many had deserted Henry’s forces prior to the conflict, with the king himself thought to have fled1 and only Oxford’s vanguard engaged. The Stanley contingent in the rear-guard and the flank, which included Sir Edward Woodville (probably as commander), took little part, picking off stragglers as the outcome became evident. We are told that the battle was fierce and could have gone either way. Indeed, early reports confirmed victory for the Earl of Lincoln.2 As at Bosworth, it was Oxford’s leadership which secured the day for Henry.
Sir William Stanley, Henry’s apparent champion at Bosworth, stayed away. Did he follow his elder brother’s example at Bosworth and feign illness, or did he, as he would in 1495, tell Henry that he ‘would never take up arms’ against Edward IV’s son?3 Did Henry, new and insecure, have little option but to accept Sir William’s excuses, thinking it never to be repeated? And is this why Henry’s spies watched the younger Stanley for a year or more until his eventual arrest? Henry would never fully trust his erstwhile champion.
Following Oxford’s victory at Stoke, over sixty men were knighted, most on the field. Had they all fought in the vanguard? Possibly, but more likely Henry followed his usual pattern of reward and punishment to control England’s elite, carefully constructing a potent image of a victorious, rightful king upheld in battle for a second time by verdict of God’s judgement.
And what of the men of God? It seems many supported the young claimants to the throne. In 1487, as the newly crowned Edward V made his way through the north-west of England to confront Henry VII, the men of the Church provided succour and rallied to his cause, despite a Papal Bull condemning those who challenged the king’s royal title.4 And in the case of Richard, Duke of York,5 some ecclesiastics were pardoned or retired, but many were imprisoned; this despite the threat of excommunication obtained by Henry from Pope Sixtus in 1496 should anyone try to wage war against him again. Henry VII had learnt the lessons of both Bosworth and Stoke.
Yorkist servants would rally in significant numbers to support both claimants.6 Edward IV’s master bow-maker, Thomas Mashbrow, stood up for Richard of York. Was he the bowyer who fashioned Howard’s gift for the young boy in 1483?7 And what had driven Elizabeth of York’s Yeoman of the Household (Edwards) to join their number?8
We come next to the royal houses of Europe. Those who supported Edward V transferred their support to Richard of York. Outwardly, the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, declared Richard an impostor but their secret communications code for their spies and ambassadors told a different story. Richard’s code – DCCCCVII – revealed he was Edward IV’s youngest son, Richard, Duke of York.9 Monarchs would not risk their consecrated legitimacy for an impostor to the royal blood; if they set such an immoral precedent it could then happen to them.
When it came to Richard of York’s downfall, Margaret of Burgundy and Maximilian, King of the Romans, later Holy Roman Emperor, would each beg for York’s life, humiliating themselves on the world stage before the man on the English throne whom they viewed as a usurper and interloper to the royal dignity. Margaret offered her deepest apology to Henry with a promise of good behaviour and Maximilian his friendship to secure the young prince’s life.10 This included his own letters patent of assurance that York would renounce his claim. To facilitate an agreement in which Henry VII would not put to death his own ‘brother in law’, the financially pinched monarch offered 10,000 gold florins.11
In 1495, Margaret and Maximilian appealed directly to the pope through official legal supplication. The first line of Maximilian’s legal address emphatically contradicts Henry’s post-Bosworth propaganda and is worth repeating here. It reveals in stark relief events in England following the death of King Richard III at Bosworth:
Most Holy Father, most Reverend Lord. Whereas of late years, after the invasion and slaughter of Richard King of England, Henry of Richmond occupied that kingdom, and having espoused the daughter of Edward, the late King, brother of said Richard, causing it to be believed that said Edward had left no male progeny. [Emphasis added.]12
With so much on record contradicting the version of history handed down by Henry VII, how has the mythology of the murder of the princes flourished for so long?
Certainly, too many of our historians have failed to question and investigate. To discover the truth, we must set aside conscious bias lest it lead to the dismissal of new material. If the Gelderland document had been investigated when it was first discovered in the early 1950s, our knowledge would have moved on exponentially and it is very likely The Missing Princes Project research initiative would not have been needed.
The loss and destruction of documents in English territories from this period has been a significant factor in hampering our investigations.13 Henry VII ordered the destruction and burning of every copy of King Richard’s title to the throne (and any supporting evidences) on threat of imprisonment. One copy of the King’s Title survived, whether through mismanagement or deliberate concealment.14
In 1574, during the reign of Henry’s granddaughter Elizabeth I, it was reported by John Caius at Cambridge (a founder of Gonville and Caius College) that Henry’s historian Polydore Vergil had ‘committed to flames as many ancient manuscripts as would have filled a wagon, in order that his faults in his history might not be discovered’. Vergil is similarly reported to have pillaged libraries and sent a shipload of manuscripts to Rome.15
In the north of England significant records have been lost. The Patent Roll for the Chancery Records for the Durham County Palatinate (1483–90) for our key period of investigation no longer survive,16 nor do records from Middleham, Sandal, Sheriff Hutton or Barnard Castle. At Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, home of the Markenfield family with their close connection to the Coldridge investigation, their archive was removed during the Tudor period when the family seat was appropriated (searches for this are ongoing).17
In York, its city archives are said to have survived relatively intact because the city fathers refused to select Henry VII’s candidate for Recorder. In the spring of 1486, the city chose its own nominee at great risk of incurring the new monarch’s displeasure.18 Yet, as we will see in Chapter 19, following King Henry’s visit after the Battle of Stoke, the city’s records reveal signs of adjustment and loss. John Rous, the Warwickshire priest, created two handsomely illustrated armorial chronicle rolls during King Richard’s lifetime. The roll written in English, with its eulogy of Richard, survives in the British Library. However, the roll written in Latin was edited following the king’s death, his image among the group of kings cut out and the text relating his good acts as monarch entirely removed.19
In Richard III’s book of prayers (his Book of Hours), the rubric to the king’s prayer is missing.20 This is the page which tells you about the prayer and explains what it meant to Richard and why he said it. Following his death at Bosworth, Richard’s prayer book was discovered in his tent. Its next owner was Margaret Beaufort, King Henry’s mother. It is not known when the rubric was removed.
Unlike other monarchs of the period, King Richard’s Baga de Secretis (store of secret documents) was found empty. This may have been part of the destruction and burning ordered during Henry’s reign, along with the king’s will, household records21 and private correspondence.
One of Henry VII’s closest adherents was John Morton. On Henry’s victory at Bosworth, Morton’s nephew, Robert, was immediately reinstated as Master of the Rolls (records). John Morton was created Archbishop of Canterbury and it is interesting to note that, while all records pertaining to this office exist at Lambeth Palace, those for King Richard’s reign are missing.22
Records were destroyed and burnt in Ireland on King Henry’s orders. In Jersey, the building which held all island records was also burnt to the ground during Henry’s reign, at the time of the executions of Sir James Tyrell and significant others – the executions supporting Richard of York’s account.
