The Princes in the Tower, page 50
17 It seems there was a campaign deliberately undertaken during the reign of Henry VII to destroy any records that might have proved embarrassing to the new regime and its supporters: A.J. Hibbard, ‘The Missing Evidence’, Court Journal, Vol. 26, Autumn 2019, p. 27 at www.revealingrichardiii.com/archival-destruction.html.
18 Albert Jan de Rooij, TMPP Research Report, 5.5.2020, from ADN, B 3521, nr 124564. Thanks to Dr Livia Visser-Fuchs for the original French transcription (16.7.2020). See the image of the receipt at Plate 18.
19 During the reign of King Maximilian, the Artillery Department was divided, and a separate Treasurer for War appointed. This Treasurer was permanently responsible for all military expenses. However, the responsibility for all artillery expenditure, such as ammunition, weapons and transport, remained with the ‘Recette de l’Artillerie’. From the end of the fifteenth century, these accounts and the accompanying accounting documents form a separate collection, kept in the archives in Lille.
20 John Glymes of Bergen, Lord of Walhain (1452–1532), was the second son of Jan II of Glymes, Lord of Bergen op Zoom (1417–94). Various members of the Glymes family, among them Henry of Glymes, Bishop of Cambrai, fulfilled key positions at the Burgundian-Habsburg courts under Maximilian I, his son, Philip the Handsome, and Charles V. In 1487, Walhain was a member of the Financial Council of King Maximilian. After his father’s death in 1494, he became Lord of Bergen op Zoom (John III). He maintained close links with the English envoys and kings ( just like his father, John II) as the prosperity of Bergen op Zoom was heavily dependent on trade with England. See Carl H.L.I. Cools, ‘Mannen met Macht, Edellieden en de Moderne Staat in de Bourgondisch-Habsburgse landen, c. 1475–c. 1530’ (2000), p. 310 at pure.uva.nl/ws/files/3087234/11364_Thesis.pdf.
21 In the continental accounts/records, Margaret of York (1446–1503) is often referred to as ‘Madame la Douagiere [Madam Dowager]’. For more on Margaret of York, see Chapter 17.
22 For the complete French transcription of the Lille Receipt and translation into modern English, see Appendix 2.
23 ‘And there was taken the lad that his rebels called king Edward’ (Heralds’ Memoir, p. 117), see also Bennett, p. 129, where the Heralds’ report dated 1488–90 (BL Cotton MS, Julius B.XII, f.27d-29d, amending John Leland, Collectanea, Vol. V, ed. Hearne [Oxford 1774], pp. 212–15) is added as appendix (h). For the boy from Stoke Field being called ‘John’, see Heralds’ Memoir, p. 117, and Lewis, p. 1. It is quite possible that the ‘John’ who was captured after the battle refers to King Richard’s base-born son, John of Gloucester, see also Chapter 6 for John’s incarceration in the Tower of London and probable death there in 1499.
24 ‘And anon after his departure the Lord Scropes of Bolton and Upsall, constrained as it was said by their folks, came on horseback to Bootham Bar, and there cried “King Edward”.’ See appendix (c) in Bennett, p. 123; June/July 1487, York House Books 6, f.98–99d; A. Raine (ed.), York Civic Records, Vol. 2, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series 103 (1941), pp. 22–24; York Books, Vol. 2, p. 572. Entries date the city’s report of the rebellion to 8–17 June 1487.
25 Patent Roll 2, Henry VII [sic], nr 7 (National Library of Ireland, MS UR 016658, Ref: D 1855) chancery.tcd.ie/document/patent/2-Henry-VII/7. Written in Latin and issued and sealed in the name of ‘King Edward’ (see Plates 21 and 22). In this letter patent, Peter Butler is granted by ‘Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland … the office of sheriff of our County of Kilkenny…’ It was witnessed ‘by our very dear cousin, Gerald, Earl of Kildare … at Dublin, on the 13th day of August in the first year of our reign’. The document has been noticed by several historians, their views differing as to whether the year of its issuance was 1486 or 1487. The grant itself offers no clue, but those who attribute it to 1487 tend to be those who subscribe to the centuries-old orthodoxy that ‘King Edward’ was not Edward V. Thus, it is usually relegated to a curiosity emanating from a period of turmoil and shifting loyalties. More recently, John Ashdown-Hill (The Dublin King) and Randolph Jones (see below) have argued that ‘King Edward’ was Edward, Earl of Warwick – an identification that fails in the face of the Maximilian I receipt. Gordon Smith (op. cit., pp. 516, 533 n. 124) concludes that issuing patents in the name of the rebels’ king in 1487 after the Battle of Stoke was unlikely, with the most unforced interpretation being that the patent of 13 August was issued under King Edward V in 1486. In any case, if still at liberty in August 1487, he would have had more pressing concerns than appointing an Irish Sheriff under the royal seal. Historians have also comfortably ruled out the writ belonging to April–June 1483 or to the reign of the Tudor Edward VI. Whichever way Edward V may have chosen to begin his regnal year (and there are several possibilities), August 1486 accords naturally with most variations. Another argument of Ashdown-Hill and Jones that requires discussion is that ‘King Edward’ was known as Edward VI. Ashdown-Hill’s argument relies on an entry in the York city records which, upon forensic investigation, is unreliable. The entry giving King Edward the regnal number ‘VI’ does indeed exist, but is a copy of a scribal introduction, in other words, a description of a text (a letter from King Edward) originally appended, which has been lost or destroyed (see Chapter 19); therefore we are left with the numeral ‘VI’ occurring only in the scribe’s words without any means of checking their accuracy: York Books Vol. 2, p. 570 (York Archives: Y/COU/1/1/4 f.97 r). In extant communications from the Dublin King, he never assigned himself a regnal number; indeed, as king, this followed established procedure. Jones also claims the regnal number ‘VI’ was recorded in another document no longer extant, i.e., a membrane in the now-destroyed fifteenth-century Irish Exchequer Memoranda Roll. There are three modern notes of it (made in the 1820s, 1855 and 1912–15), of which the most reliable is the repertory by Rolls Office Clerk William Lynch in the 1820s, where his notes contain a reference to a regnal year ‘/1 Ed 6/’ (‘New Evidence for ‘Edward VI’s’ Reign in Ireland?’, Bulletin, Sept 2014, pp. 43–45). The later two, less-satisfactory notations may well have copied this first one since it provided a ready-made translation of the Latin original. (NB: On the grounds that two sources giving the same information are better than one, Jones argues that because the membrane is recorded with differing reference numbers in the modern notes, there must have been two identical membranes in the original Roll, both containing exactly the same information about exactly the same writ. Two identical membranes are far less likely than a case of modern confusion over numbering of the single original, considering the way medieval manuscripts have a history of being routinely assigned different (or erroneous) reference numbers, depending on their binding and filing over the years by collectors, clerks and catalogue-makers.) As to the reference ‘/1 Ed 6/’, the two forward slashes surrounding the regnal year (which don’t occur around other regnal years on the same page) are important: they are probably Lynch’s system of carets indicating an interpolation or interlineation that he observed had been added after the entry was first engrossed in 1487–88. As such, the words could have been added at any time between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries.
26 David Johnson, ‘Reluctant Groom’, Bulletin, March 2020, pp. 37–41, reveals how Henry VII did not legitimise Elizabeth of York until the second session of Parliament on 23 January 1486, after their marriage on the 18th. Also available at: www.revealingrichardiii.com/the-pre-contract.html.
27 Annals of Ulster, author unknown, U1485.22, celt.ucc.ie/published/T100001C. html. It is noteworthy that the word ‘expelled’ is used in the Lille Receipt. Clearly, ‘the son of King Edward’ had been expelled from his dominion, his exile being further recorded in the Annals of Ulster for the year 1487, which mention his probable crossing to Ireland: ‘A great fleet of Saxons came to Ireland this year to meet the son of the Duke of York, who was exiled at this time with the Earl of Kildare’ (op. cit., U1487.12). It is unclear who is meant by ‘the son of the Duke of York’, as after Bosworth no sons of the late Duke of York (1411–60, former Lieutenant of Ireland) remained alive, but the Irish records cited in this chapter fit his grandson, Edward V.
28 Smith, pp. 517–19; Lewis, p. 9.
29 Smith, pp. 503, 516: ‘… would best fit Edward V, since he is described as a young man and in exile’. Also: Jan Reygersbergh’s ‘Dye Cronijck van Zeelandt’, 1551 (Chronicle of Zeeland), p. 121r: objects. library.uu.nl/reader/index.php?obj=1874-214708&lan=en&lan=en#page//91/43/30/91433052808069834501754765627324050519.jpg/mode/1up.
30 Lewis, p. 2.
31 For a full analysis of contemporary sources, see Chapter 5.
32 Lewis, p. 6. From André, p. 45.
33 Randolph Jones, ‘The Extraordinary Reign of “Edward VI” in Ireland, 1487–8’, Bulletin, September 2021, pp. 48–56 (p. 49, n. 22). Following his journey to Ireland, Yonge was made Somerset Herald for life (CPR 1485–1494, p. 460).
34 Matthew Lewis, TMPP Research Report, 22.8.2018. From J.S. Brewer (ed.), ‘Henry VIII: August 1526, 11–20; 2405. Ireland’, in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Vol. 4, 1524–1530 (1875), pp. 1066–81 (p. 1075), 17–18 August 1526.
35 Lewis, from Bernard André, pp. 5–6; for Henry VIII briefing note and Pope Innocent VIII, p. 4.
36 Philippa Langley, TMPP Research Report, 27.5.2022. Ascension is the fortieth day after Easter Sunday when Jesus ascended into heaven. Latin terms used for the Christian feast (ascensio and acensa) signify that Christ was raised up by his own powers.
37 Sir John Thomas Gilbert, History of the Viceroys of Ireland: With Notices of the Castle of Dublin and Its Chief Occupants in Former Times (1865), p. 606 n. 3: ‘All records, processes, stiles, pardons, liveries, acts, and ordinances of Council, and all other acts done in the “Laddes” name annulled, and persons keeping, concealing, or receiving them after proclamation deemed traitors attainted.’ Henry VII’s deputy in Ireland, Sir Edward Poynings, ordered the destruction on Henry’s behalf in the Parliament of 1494. Thanks to Randolph Jones for transcription and identifying BL, Add. MS 4801 (8.9.2021). See also Smith, p. 515.
38 This logical consequence is supported by the recently rediscovered (contemporary) manuscript in the Gelderland Archive in the Netherlands concerning the fate of the younger son of Edward IV, Richard, Duke of York: Nathalie Nijman-Bliekendaal, TMPP Research Report, 21.11.2020. See also Chapter 14.
39 In a private paper of instruction at Sheen, 10 August 1494, given by Henry VII to ‘Richmond, otherwise Clarenceux King of Arms’ (Roger Machado, his confidential envoy to France), Henry writes, ‘And it is notorious that the said garçon is of no consanguinity or kin to the late king Edward, but is a native of the town of Tournay, and son of a boatman, who is named Werbec’: Frederic Madden, ‘Documents Relating to Perkin Warbeck, With Remarks on his History’, Archaeologia, Vol. 27 (1837), pp. 12 n.y. 13. It is interesting to note that in his ‘official confession’ a few years later, Perkin confesses that he is ‘the son of a controller’ named ‘Osbeck’ – an echo of the job-switching applied to ‘Lambert Simnel’ who, according to Henry VII, started his career as ‘the son of an organ maker’ and very soon afterwards (John de la Pole, Act of Attainder, November 1487) is described as ‘the son of a joiner’. See also notes 10 and 23.
13. The Yorkist Invasion of 1487: Edward V and the Second Fleet
1 This chapter is the result of original research in the Low Countries by the Dutch Research Group of Philippa Langley’s The Missing Princes Project. Thanks are due to everyone of the Dutch Research Group for their support and valuable insights, and to Philippa Langley for assistance with queries, drafts and editing. Thanks also to Nathalie Nijman-Bliekendaal, particularly regarding Margaret’s Domain Accounts.
2 Zoë Maula, ‘The Glymes and the Yorkist Invasion of 1487’ (research paper: 19.6.2021), Bulletin (forthcoming).
3 Ibid.
4 Zoë Maula, ‘John II of Glymes, Lord of Bergen op Zoom (1417–94) at the Court of Richard III in May 1484: A Puzzle Solved’, Bulletin, December 2020, pp. 54–58; Zöe Maula, ‘Richard’s Dutch Visitor Revealed’, Bulletin, June 2022, pp. 32–33.
5 Anne F. Sutton, The Mercery of London: Trade, Goods and People, 1130–1578 (2019), p. 319.
6 Nathen Amin, Henry VII and the Tudor Pretenders (2021), p. 97.
7 NAH GRR (Grafelijkheidsrekenkamer [Chamber of County Accounts] of Holland), Register number access: 3.01.27.02, inv. nr 3337, domain account ‘Grafelijk Huis’, ‘Margaret of York’, Voorne, f.101r, Accounts of Jan Michielszoon, 5 January 1487–5 January 1488. This describes all income and expenses of Margaret’s Dutch domain, Voorne (hereafter, NAH GRR 3337).
8 NAH GRR 3337, f.101r.
9 Christine Weightman, Margaret of York: The Diabolical Duchess (2009) p. 50.
10 Amin (2021), p. 97.
11 ADN, Serie B 3523, nr 124846. Letter dated 10 April 1486 (1487, New Style), from Margaret of York to the artillery collector directly, requesting 60 pavois. Maximilian added at the bottom of the letter, with his hand, ‘action without excuse’.
12 West-Brabants Archief, Archief Schepenbank, Register van rentebrieven en recognitiën 1487, 12 April, Inv. Nr. 302, f.126.
13 www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator. Calculation based on livres Parisis (= English pound). If paid in livres Tournois, the value in English pounds would be 1.25 times the amount (3,125 English pounds = £2.7 million): thanks to Wim Wiss.
14 West-Brabants Archief, City Accounts Bergen op Zoom 1487, p. 72 (RH page): westbrabantsarchief.nl/collectie/archieven/scans/NL-BozWBA-boz%20-%200005/2.6.2.1.1.14/start/50/limit/50/highlight/22. ‘In April of these accounts, the city council meets on the request and desires of my lord of Bergen and his son lord of Walhain, to sell 9,315 Brabantse gulden with a rent tariff of 16 penningen, which are guaranteed by the same lords and city, and of which the sold 1,500 Livres were received and handed over to our lady dowager.’
15 West-Brabants Archief, City Accounts, ibid., p. 34 (LH page): westbrabantsarchief.nl/collectie/archieven/scans/NL-BozWBA-boz%20-%200005/2.6.2.1.1.14/start/0/limit/50/highlight/34.
16 Albert Jan de Rooij, TMPP Research Report, 5.5.2020.
17 ADN, B 3521, f.124.564. For analysis, see Chapter 12.
18 Jan Reyghersberg, Dye Cronijck van Zeelandt [The Chronicle of Zeeland] (1551) (digital) p. 123: ‘In the same year (1487) in the month of May, the fifteenth day, captain Merten de Swarte (Martin Zwarte) went from Aremuyen (Arnemuiden) with many men of war to England, where he was defeated a short while later.’ objects.library.uu.nl/reader/index.php?obj=1874-214708&lan=en#page//15/76/04/157604687259487107119283303090422682459.jpg/mode/1up.
19 West-Brabants Archief, City Accounts, ibid., p. 73 (RH page): westbrabantsarchief.nl/collectie/archieven/scans/NL-BozWBA-boz%20-%200005/2.6.2.1.1.14/start/0/limit/50/highlight/34.
20 Regarding the pikemen from the Lille Receipt sailing to England as intended, research continues – Maula, ‘The Glymes and the Yorkist Invasion of 1487’; see notes 2 and 3.
21 NAH GRR 3337, Chapter ‘Other expenses of pensions of the servants from my gracious lady …’ f.112r.
14. Richard, Duke of York: Proof of Life
1 Gelders Archief, 0510, ‘Diverse Charters en Aanwinsten’, nr 1549: Verhandelingen over de lotgevallen van Richard van York, ca 1500 [Treatises on the fates of Richard of York c. 1500]. Four written pages, with a copy from the sixteenth century. Includes photocopied correspondence between P.J. Mey and Professor D. Th. Enklaar. Nathalie Nijman-Bliekendaal, TMPP Research Report, 21.11.2020.
2 In 1951, Dr P.J. Mey was ‘Master of the Charters’ at the State Archives, Gelderland.
3 For this correspondence, see note 1.
4 Tim Thornton, ‘More on a Murder: The Deaths of the “Princes in the Tower”, and Historiographical Implications for the Regimes of Henry VII and Henry VIII’, JHA, 28 December 2021, pp. 1–22. This made headlines in several newspapers, reporting sensationally that this proved Richard III was behind the murder of the princes. For a response, see Joanna Laynesmith, ‘Miles Forest and the Princes in the Tower’, Research news and notes, Bulletin, March 2021, pp. 22–23. See note 46.
5 The only known account is a copy of the official confession of Perkin Warbeck, stating that from his arrival in the town of Cork in Ireland he was called ‘Duke of York’ by some English and Irish noblemen, who persuaded him against his will to adopt the persona of the second son of Edward IV, see note 7.
6 One of Henry’s first claims that he was the ‘son of a boatman’ is in a private paper of instruction (Sheen, 10 August 1494) to ‘Richmond, otherwise Clarenceux King of Arms’ (Roger Machado, his confidential envoy to France): ‘And it is notorious that the said garçon is of no consanguinity or kin to the late king Edward, but is a native of the town of Tournay, and son of a boatman, who is named Werbec’: Frederic Madden, ‘Documents Relating to Perkin Warbeck, With Remarks on his History’, Archaeologia, Vol. 27, 1837, pp. 12 n.y. and 13.
7 The full text of the confession can be found in GC, p. xvii. Also, f.18v-19r (f.264v-265r), pp. 284–86; C.L. Kingsford, Chronicles of London (1905), pp. 219–22/BL, Cotton Vitellius MS. A XVI f.169r-170v. The original confession has not survived.
8 Diana M. Kleyn, Richard of England (2013), p. 2.
9 Translation from Caroline Halsted, Richard III (1844), Vol. 2, pp. 180–81 n. 3, where Halsted also notes that Sir Francis Bacon recorded the same reports. Thanks to Annette Carson.
10 Buc, p. 142, also p. 138: ‘but some others … say that these young princes were embarked [in] a ship at Tower Wharf, and that they were conveyed from hence into the seas and … were set safe on shore beyond the seas.’
11 Reygersbergh, Dye Cronijck van Zeelandt [The Chronicle of Zeeland] (1551) p. 121r: ‘In the same year King Edward the fourth, with this name king of England died. And he left two sons and one daughter behind. And these rightful heirs were expelled from England’: objects.library.uu.nl/reader/index.php?obj=1874-214708&lan=en#page//91/43/30/91433052808069834501754765627324050519.jpg/mode/1up.
