The Princes in the Tower, page 46
42 David Johnson, ‘Coercion or Compliance: Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Elizabeth, Countess of Oxford’, Ricardian (2024, forthcoming), with thanks to Dr Johnson for early sight of this paper.
43 Christine Carpenter, ODNB.
44 Mancini, p. 63. Mancini locates this as being in mid-June, around the time Richard of York joined his brother at the Tower. Anne Neville arrived in London on 5 June 1483 (Coronation, p. 19). Warwick’s whereabouts 1481–83 are unknown, and nothing is known about his elder sister Margaret’s (1473–1541) early life. She is not recorded at the coronation on 6 July.
45 See Chapter 5. For 9–11 March 1484 in Cambridge, see C.H. Cooper, Annals of Cambridge, Volume 1 (1842), p. 230; Itinerary, pp. 15–16.
46 David Buss, The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill (2005). Professor of Psychology at Texas University (Austin), Buss surveyed 5,000 people and found that 91 per cent of men and 84 per cent of women had thoughts of killing someone, often hypothesising very specific victims and methods. In collaboration with a leading forensic psychiatrist, Buss cites numerous examples from an FBI file of more than 400,000 murders, with a highly detailed analysis of 400.
7. Richard III: King by Right – The Evidence
1 For consideration as figureheads for insurgency, see Chapter 11.
2 Coronation, p. 25.
3 Maligned King, pp. 112–13. Until Dorset absconded, he had Warwick’s wardship and marriage. Warwick then brought to the household of Richard’s wife, Warwick’s aunt Anne Neville. Though the putative threat from Warwick was scarcely less than from the princes, he was well treated throughout Richard’s reign. For Warwick knighted in York on 8 September 1483, see Chapter 4. For his presence with Richard and Anne in Cambridge in March 1484, see Chapter 9.
4 Cases were not infrequent due to the informality of most marriages. Settlement was subject to civil law for circumstantial evidence and canon law, which governed the sacrament of matrimony. In canon law, a sin could be compounded by later sin. For a full examination, see R.H. Helmholz, ‘The Sons of Edward IV: A Canonical Assessment of the Claim that they were Illegitimate’ in P.W. Hammond (ed.), Richard III: Loyalty Lordship and Law (1986), pp. 106–20.
5 Edward IV put himself beyond reach of expiation by both his marriages being secret. Not only was secrecy illicit under Church law, but the knowingly deceitful secrecy of the second marriage compounded his sins. He died without regularising the situation, leaving a disastrous outcome for his heirs.
6 Secret Queen, p. 129.
7 Dr David Johnson, Philippa Langley, Dr Sandra Pendlington, ‘More than just a canard: the evidence for the precontract’, Bulletin, September 2018, pp. 51–52.
8 Rot. Parl., Vol. 6, p. 241. The Text of Titulus Regius can be found at www.revealingrichardiii.com/the-pre-contract.html#titulus-regius.
9 Harley 433, Vol. 3, p. 29. For the discovery of the Parliamentary Act of Succession (1484), see Chapter 18, note 14.
10 The Chronicle as far as Bosworth was completed in November 1485. See Michael Hicks, ‘The Second Anonymous Continuation of the Crowland Abbey Chronicle 1459–86 Revisited’, EHR, Vol. 122, No. 496, April 2007, pp. 353–54.
11 Crowland, p. 161.
12 Michael Hicks, ODNB. For Stillington’s family tree, see W.E. Hampton, Crown & People, p. 170.
13 Michael Jones (ed.), Philippe de Commynes, Memoirs of the Reign of Louis XI, pp. 353–54, 397.
14 Secret Queen, Appendix 1, p. 209.
15 Year Book 1, Henry VII, Hilary Term, plea 1. Year Books recorded legal reports. Only the bishopric of Bath and Wells could be meant by ‘Bishop of B’, see listing in J.T. Rosenthal, ‘The Training of an Elite Group: English Bishops in the Fifteenth Century’, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 60, No. 5, 1970, p. 50.
16 Rot. Parl., Vol. 6, p. 292.
17 Year Book, ibid., plea 1.
18 Rot. Parl, Vol. 6, p. 288.
19 Gairdner, Richard III, p. 92.
20 Secret Queen, p. 213.
21 Coronation, p. 23.
22 Secret Queen, pp. 81, 213, 325 n. 32.
23 Philippa Langley, ‘The Accession of Richard III: Two Sources Supporting the Titulus Regius and Pre-contract Crisis of June 1483. Part One: The English Source’, Bulletin, March 2019, pp. 39–43: www.revealingrichardiii.com/the-precontract.html.
24 Walter Ullmann (ed.), Liber Regie Capelle (Henry Bradshaw Soc.,1961), Vol. XCII, pp. 40–41. See pp. 24–38 for Recognition in coronation ceremonies in England and France. French kings removed Recognition from coronations, ‘certainly from the ordo of Rheims (c. 1270) onwards’, see p. 34.
25 Coronation, p. 204 n. 19; BL, Add MS. 18669. For dating, see Coronation pp. 204, 212, etc.
26 Coronation, p. 204. The Acclamation comes at the end of the Recognition when the people (congregation) signify their loud and enthusiastic approval for the coronation.
27 Ibid., pp. 212, 224 n. 120.
28 Ibid., pp. 204 n. 19, 212; BL, Add MS. 18669.
29 Coronation., pp. 4, 204, 207.
30 Ibid. – deletions/marginal notes in the manuscript indicate adjustments, including the substitution of the Bishops of Exeter and Ely for key roles that were traditionally performed by the Bishops of Bath and Wells and Durham as supporters, see p. 219 n. 72.
31 Ibid., p. 218. Asaph may have been chosen for the Acclamation. Also note 56.
32 Ibid., pp. 218–19. Text modernised: for original, see note 23.
33 Ibid., pp. 20–21 n. 68. Three bishops were absent – Lionel Woodville, Bishop of Salisbury, John Morton, Bishop of Ely, and Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York. Salisbury was in sanctuary following the failed Woodville coup; Ely and York were imprisoned in Wales as accomplices in the Hastings plot (Crowland, p. 159).
34 Coronation, p. 214 n. 11, e.g., the Mayor of London, Sir Edmund Shaa.
35 Ibid., p. 285.
36 Ibid., p. 280 n. 130. Grafton’s list concludes, ‘And at the other bords sat dyvers noble and worshipfull personages.’
37 www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8154425/Westminster-Abbey-a-royal-wedding-venue-steeped-in-history.html (accessed 3 January 2019).
38 Harley 433, Vol. 3, pp. 25–28, 35–38, 47–51 for early communications in 1483. For letters to Ireland concerning Richard’s son as Lieutenant of Ireland (19 July) conveyed by William Lacy, see pp. 36–38; to Philip, Duke of Burgundy (30 July), see pp. 26–28. See the response from James III of Scotland (9 September) on pp. 47–48. See also pp. 52–53 for safe conducts for eleven of King James’ ambassadors with sixty others.
39 C.A.J. Armstrong, Usurpation (1969), p. 134 n. 112: the celebration in Bruges was impossible on 6 July as Philip the Fair was paying a state visit.
40 Harley 433, Vol. 3, p. 26. King Louis says, ‘Dear Cousin, I have seen the letters that your White Boar messenger had for me and I thank you for the news that you gave me and if I can be of any service to you I would do it with very good heart because I very much want to have your friendship. And I commend you to God (farewell), my Cousin, written at Montilz Les Tours the 21st day of July.’ Trans. thanks to Clive Atkinson.
41 Louis had sent his letter via Buckingham Herald, as Richard’s earlier reply to Louis of 18 August indicated, ‘My Lord Cousin, I have seen the letters that you sent me by Buckingham Herald’. Richard’s letter to Louis on 20 August showed that Blanc Sanglier was still at Louis’ court. For both letters, see Harley 433, Vol. 3, p. 28, trans. thanks to Marie Barnfield.
42 Harley 433, Vol. 3, pp. 23–26.
43 Ibid., p. 24. Sasiola communicated Queen Isabella’s antipathy to Edward IV for ‘his refusing of here [sic]’, ‘and taking to his wiff a wedowe of England’. Sasiola seemingly had no issue speaking ill of Edward IV’s marriage, even within the general dictates of diplomatic language. Elizabeth Woodville is not referred to as his queen.
44 Ibid., p. 24. Sasiola had joined the royal party on 8 August at Warwick. Richard knighted him on 8 September in York (Harley 433, Vol. 1, p. 2.), when he invested his son Prince of Wales.
45 Mancini, p. 67.
46 Ibid., p. 69.
47 Ibid., p. 67.
48 Philippa Langley, ‘The Accession of Richard III: Two Sources … Part Two: The French Source’, Bulletin, June 2019, pp. 34–36: www.revealingrichardiii.com/the-pre-contract.html.
49 Masselin (ed.), Journal des Etats-généraux de France 1484; Harding, Medieval Law, p. 284.
50 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_War (accessed 2 January 2019).
51 Ibid. The revolt or ‘Mad War/Silly War’ was also known as the ‘War of the Public Weal’. It encompassed 1483–88, beginning with Charles VIII’s reign when Louis d’Orléans (Louis XII) tried to seize the regency.
52 Harding, Medieval Law, p. 284, translates this as ‘approval’.
53 Masselin, pp. 37, 39. Trans. Albert Jan de Rooij (December 2017).
54 Coronation, p. 204.
55 Ibid., p. 204 n. 23. For the removal from publication of the king’s recognition speech, see L.G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records (Westminster 1901), Chapter 18, p. 196 (also ‘Little Device’, Chapter 20, p. 219, for mention of King Richard’s Recognition speech when describing Henry VII’s coronation). Legg refers only to its opening and closing lines: ‘Sirs, here present is Richard, rightful and undoubted inheritor to the crown’ and ‘Yea, yea, yea, so be it; King Richard, King Richard, King Richard.’
56 Coronation, p. 218 n. 67. In a marginal note is written ‘Assop’ for the Bishop of St Asaph (Richard Redman). For which coronation, it is unclear, though a later Henry VII insertion suggests Asaph may have been considered to carry the patten (as he had done for Richard), but his name was deleted, see p. 219 n. 74, p. 217 n. 45. A key supporter of Richard, it is unlikely he participated in Henry VII’s coronation. He was not summoned to Parliament in November 1485 but received a pardon on 22 February 1486 (R.K. Rose, ODNB).
57 Coronation, pp. 257 n. 24, 266–67. See also Grafton, Hardyng’s Chronicle (1543, ed. Ellis 1812).
58 In his Chronicle at Large (1569, ed. Ellis 1809), Vol. 2, p. 113, Richard Grafton referred to Richard’s accession as a ‘mockish election’, so possibly he decided against publishing the Recognition.
59 This also included the Heralds’ largesse. Hardyng’s Chronicle: ‘… the kynges champion, making a proclamacion, that whosoeuer woulde saye that kyng Richarde was not lawfullye kyng, he woulde fighte with hym … and threwe downe his gauntlet … After that the herauldes cryed a largesse thryse in the halle.’
60 Hardyng’s Chronicle, ed. Ellis, pp. 517–18; Grafton, Chronicle at Large, Vol. 2, pp. 115–16; Hall’s Chronicle (1548, ed. Ellis 1809), pp. 375–76; Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577, augmented to 1586, ed. Ellis 1808), Vol. 3, pp. 399–400. Neither GC, p. 233, nor Fabyan, New Chronicles of England and France In Two Parts (1516, ed. Ellis 1811), p. 670, mentions the coronation or the Challenge in Westminster Hall and Heralds’ largesse. See above and Coronation, pp. 260, 277.
61 Ullmann, Liber Regie Capelle, pp. 80–81. Trans. thanks to Dr Betty Knott (6.1.2019): ‘… the king meantime standing in his place and turning to the four sides of the said dais while the priest addresses the people, and when they according to custom give their consent and cry out with one voice “So be it, so be it” and “Long live the king”, gladly proclaiming the name of the said king, then the choir shall sing … etc.’ See also Legg et al., English Coronation Records, p. 85; Coronation, p. 202; Daron Burrows, ‘The Anglo-Norman Coronation Order of Edward II’ in Medium Ævum, Vol. LXXXV, No. 2, 2016, pp. 278–313 (p. 289, lines 25–40), trans. thanks to Clive Atkinson.
62 D. Johnson, ‘The King’s Royal Title: A Tale of Two Parliaments’, The Court Journal, Richard III Society, Scottish Branch, Vol. 29, Autumn 2022, pp. 11–16.
63 PROME, ‘Henry VII: November 1485, Part 1’: ‘… be it ordained … by authority of this present parliament, that the inheritance of the crowns of the realms of England and of France, with all the pre-eminence and royal dignity pertaining to them, and all other lordships belonging to the king [etc.] … abide in the most royal person of our present sovereign lord King Henry VII, and in the lawfully begotten heirs of his body, and in no-one else, thus to endure forever’.
64 S.B. Chrimes, Henry VII (1972), p. 62. Henry’s acclaimed biographer describes it as ‘a masterpiece of terse assertion which, as a statement of the fait accompli, could scarcely have been bettered.’
65 E.F. Twinning, The English Coronation Ceremony (1937), pp. 90–91. For the double coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth: ‘the king is presented to the east and is said Garter Principal King at Arms in a loud voice: “Sirs, I here present unto you King ____, the undoubted King of this Realm: Wherefore all you are come to this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?” The people signify their willingness and joy by loud and repeated acclamations of “God save King ____!” The Archbishop of Canterbury and Herald then proceed to do the same on each side.’ See also, The Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (King George’s Jubilee Trust,1953), p. 31.
66 Norman Davis, The Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century, Part II (2004); Christine Carpenter, Kingsford’s Stonor Letters and Papers 1290–1483 (1996). Note also Thomas Langton, Bishop of St David’s famous letter (September 1483) to William Selling, Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury. Sir William Stonor was present at the coronation (Coronation, p. 272). It is probable that Thomas Langton was also present (see p. 46), believed to have processed carrying the eagle ampulla at the pre-coronation vigil. If Sir George Browne’s cryptic/undated letter to John Paston III was written during Richard’s reign, it probably refers to their secret support of the October rebellion. Paston’s actions tend to suggest Lancastrian/Oxford sympathies and/or attachments. For Browne’s letter, see Carpenter, p. 443: ‘Loyalty Always. By your honourable G. Browne, Knight. It shall never come out for [from?] me.’ Transcription thanks to Wendy Johnson (6.01.2019).
67 See ‘Introduction’ for the massacre at Limoges; Jones, The Black Prince (2017), pp. 367, 371–73, Appendix, pp. 405–08. For Pépin’s discovery (2014), see p. 408.
68 A.M. & A.J. Salgado (eds), Alvaro Lopes de Chaves, Livro de Apontamentos (1438–1489), Codice 443 da Colecção Pombalina da BNL (Lisbon, 1983), pp. 254–56. Thanks to Annette Carson. See also Barrie Williams, ‘The Portuguese Connection and the Significance of “the Holy Princess”’, Ricardian, Vol. 6, No. 80, March 1983, pp. 138–45.
8. Sir James Tyrell’s Confession: Fact or Fiction?
1 On 2 December 1495, Tyrell’s age is confirmed as 40. See M.A. Hicks, ‘The Last Days of Elizabeth Countess of Oxford’, EHR (January 1988), Vol. 103, No. 406, p. 89. From a statement in a court case where Tyrell offered evidence, a calculation of Tyrell’s age on 6 May 1502 when executed makes him 46. Consequently, his birth year is here amended to 1456 (for c. 1455 see Horrox, ODNB). Some writers have suggested a slightly earlier date of c. 1450, perhaps due to Tyrell’s age at the Battle of Tewkesbury, see note 6.
2 Maligned King, p. 190 n. 24, from Harley 433, Vol. 2, p. 187.
3 Ibid., p. 190 n. 25. Carson aptly calls this vast sum a ‘king’s ransom’. From Harley 433, Vol. 2, p. 191.
4 More, pp. 88–89.
5 Joanna Laynesmith, Cecily Duchess of York (2017), p. 96. William Tyrell (James’ father) had been Richard, Duke of York’s Receiver General.
6 If Tyrell’s age was recorded correctly in December 1495 (see note 1), he was aged about 16 when he fought at Tewkesbury. This could be suggestive of his calibre and ability, the ‘greatness, reputation and personal bravery’ described by his biographer, Reverend W.H. Sewell (see above and notes 11 and 71).
7 TNA, SP 46/139/fo167, Letters Patent of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 28 April. On 10 February 1480, Thomas Salle was appointed as Tyrell’s deputy. For Robert Brackenbury (d. 1485) as Duke Richard’s Treasurer at this time, see Horrox, ODNB. Richard knighted Brackenbury around Christmas 1484.
8 W.E. Hampton, ‘Sir James Tyrell’, Crown & People, p. 214; CPR 1476–85, p. 241: ‘Grant for life to Elizabeth Darcy, lady mistress of the king’s nursery. For her good service to the king and his consort the queen and his son the prince, of a tun of wine yearly in the port of London.’ Elizabeth Tyrell, wife to Sir Robert Darcy, was daughter of Sir Thomas Tyrell (c. 1411–76) and Anne Marney. Widowed in 1469, Elizabeth married Richard Haute of Kent (c. 1470), son of William Haute and his second wife, Joan Woodville, who was Elizabeth Woodville’s aunt. Elizabeth Darcy would become mistress of Prince Henry’s Nursery (1491) – the future Henry VIII (Alison Weir, Elizabeth of York (2013), pp. 299, 533 n. 44) – from Exchequer Records E404.
9 Hampton, ibid., p. 205; CPR 1476–85, p. 317. Tyrell shared the office of Vice Constable with Sir William Parr and Sir James Harrington (CPR 1476–85, p. 317).
10 For Tyrell’s children, see Hampton, ibid., pp. 212–13, family tree. They are named as Sir Thomas Tyrell, James, William and Anne. Only William seems not to have married. For Margery Tyrell, who married Richard Garneys, see www.geni.com/people/Anne-Tyrrell/6000000008064424506. ODNB records only Tyrell’s son Thomas, who was arrested with his father in 1502. For the pre-nuptial agreement of 1469 at Lanhern for Tyrell to marry Ann, daughter of Sir John Arundel, see TNA, AR/1/835.
11 Reverend W.H. Sewell, ‘Memoirs of Sir James Tyrell’, Proceedings of the Suffolk Natural History and Archaeological Society, Vol. 5, Part Two, 1878, pp. 125–80 (see pp. 133–34). During the search for his rebel father, 5-year-old Edward Stafford had his head shaved and was dressed as a girl to avoid capture. See also Hampton, op. cit., p. 205. Following Richard’s death, Edward and his younger brother Henry were placed in the household of Margaret Beaufort. For Edward Stafford and Tyrell’s trial, see note 18.
