35

The Rise of Richard III

What peace the kingdom of England was able to enjoy for the past twelve years was now suddenly in danger with sudden, unexpected death of King Edward IV. He died relatively young, aged 40, but no doubt his lascivious lifestyle contributed to the decline in his health and his ultimate downfall.¹ Now Edward IV’s eldest son, who was only 12 years old at the time, would take the throne as Edward V. On his deathbed, the king named his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as protectorate for his son Edward’s minority reign, but the Woodvilles had other plans.² A huge power struggle ensued in which Richard got possession of young King Edward V and thus all the power at court. On 14 May 1483, Richard was named Protector of the Realm until Prince Edward’s coming of age.³

At first, Richard played the role of the dutiful uncle but soon his plans would turn sinister. Richard cancelled Prince Edward’s coronation, which had been scheduled for 22 June 1483. Next, he executed the queen’s brother Anthony Woodville and her son Richard Grey for treason.⁴ Then his final blow was having Edward IV’s and Elizabeth Woodville’s children ruled illegitimate. On behalf of Richard, Friar Ralph Shaa put forth the claim that Edward had been pre-contracted in marriage to Lady Eleanor Butler long before he met and married Elizabeth Woodville, thus making the royal marriage invalid.⁵ The next legitimate male heir to King Edward IV was conveniently Richard. On 26 June 1483, the Lords and Commons nominated Richard as their next king and he gladly accepted, processing to Westminster Hall and taking his seat on the king’s Bench. He was coronated as King Richard III on 6 July 1483.

Now that he was king of England, one of Richard’s first priorities was to secure all rivals to his throne, including the now 26-year-old Henry Tudor who was still living in exile in Brittany, France. One of the things that made Henry Tudor so dangerous was that he attracted English exiles to his side, those nobles who were unhappy about Richard’s usurpation of the throne. Even Queen Elizabeth’s own brother, Sir Edward Woodville, had stolen two ships from the English fleet and made his way to Henry Tudor’s court in Brittany.⁶

Very soon after becoming king, Richard set about establishing cordial relations with Brittany. In July 1483, Richard sent one of his clerks to Brittany to negotiate a peace treaty with Duke Francis II. In August 1483, Duke Francis sent his own envoys to England to deliver his terms to Richard. Francis asked Richard for 1,000 archers for the Breton army so it could defend itself against France.⁷ No reference to the Tudors was recorded in their negotiations but surely the subject had to have come up.

Peace negotiations with Brittany were put on pause shortly after because Richard had bigger things on his hands to deal with: uprisings were springing up all around his kingdom and he had good reason to believe that his loyal friend, Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, was the instigator. But in fact, there were two factions planning rebellions against Richard: the duke of Buckingham and the Woodvilles. First was the Woodville conspiracy but it didn’t go anywhere. They plotted the rescue of the princes in the Tower with King Edward IV’s loyal servants who set little fires around London in an effort to distract authorities so they could sneak into the Tower of London. It didn’t work.⁸

A much more serious conspiracy was being hatched by Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, a few weeks after the failed Yorkist rising London.⁹ Buckingham was one of Richard’s closest allies and had been in attendance of Richard throughout his coup and his coronation. On 2 August 1483, Buckingham departed from Richard at Gloucester to return to his estates, specifically Brecon Castle, where John Morton, the bishop of Ely, was being held prisoner for his disloyalty against Richard. It was around this time that wide belief was that the princes in the tower were killed, and this is probably a big reason why Buckingham left Richard and began plotting his own coup.

In 1483, the last Plantagenet men with claims to the throne of England were Richard III, Henry Stafford, and Henry Tudor. Of all these, Buckingham probably had the best claim.¹⁰ Knowing this as a fact fueled his ambitions as he was described by chroniclers as a very high and mighty man. His prisoner, John Morton, the bishop of Ely, fueled his thoughts and encouraged him to rebel against England. Together, the bishop and the duke laid out their plan for rebellion. They would send messages secretly to different pockets around England with the date of 18 October 1483 when everyone should rise together and win back England from Richard.¹¹

One of the key players in Buckingham’s rebellion would be Margaret Beaufort. The bishop of Ely was a longtime friend of hers and he was thrilled to see Buckingham stepping up to challenge Richard’s authority. This would carve a path forward for the Lancastrians, especially Margaret’s exiled son, Henry Tudor. The bishop of Ely sent a message to Margaret Beaufort via her servant, Reginald Bray, describing Buckingham’s plan for rebellion.¹² Margaret was game and it is at this time that her mind changed from getting her son’s earldom restored to ousting Richard and placing Henry Tudor on the throne. Why would Buckingham team up with Margaret Beaufort to put Henry Tudor on the throne when Buckingham himself had a greater claim? Buckingham’s thinking may have been this: if Richard III could be ousted before Henry Tudor sailed to England, Buckingham could claim the throne himself since he was the candidate with the most royal blood.¹³

Margaret sent urgent messengers to her son in Brittany to tell him of the rebellion that was afoot. She sent him a large amount of money to raise a ships and troops so he too could participate in the rebellion.¹⁴ Even with his mother’s money, Henry needed much more to mount such a large invasion force. Henry begged his long-time benefactor, Duke Francis, for a loan to fund his venture and Francis gladly agreed. Then Henry hurriedly set about preparations with only about six weeks before Buckingham’s 18 October resurrection date. With Francis’ help, Henry managed to muster fifteen ships and 5,000 soldiers for his leg of the invasion.¹⁵

Margaret then set about securing a marriage for her son. In order for Henry to be a serious candidate for king, he would need to marry a princess with a lot of royal blood and preferably from the Yorkist family. By marrying a Yorkist, Margaret felt that it would unite the Houses of Lancaster and York, ending nearly thirty years of the civil war known as the Wars of the Roses. Through her physician, Lewis Caerleon, Margaret sent messages to Elizabeth Woodville in sanctuary inviting her into the rebellion and asking her permission for Henry and Elizabeth of York to wed. Elizabeth Woodville not only consented to the plan, she recruited her family and former servants to participate as well.¹⁶

Surprisingly, Richard was unaware of all the plotting and planning going on behind his back for the last two months. It wasn’t until late September 1483 when he started to hear rumours of a rebellion in the works, and when he called his friend Buckingham to account for his recent activity, the duke feigned illness, not once, but twice.¹⁷ Instead, Buckingham stayed on his estates in Wales and continued to assemble his army. Finally, it became clear to Richard that Buckingham was plotting against him when part of the rebels he recruited for his rebellion rose a whole week early in Kent. Richard’s suspicions were confirmed and he rapidly raised his only army to confront Buckingham.

When the planned rebellion date of 18 October rolled around, the smaller groups of rebels spread among the kingdom rose simultaneously in an effort to pull King Richard in different directions, but the king was singularly focused on capturing Buckingham. When Richard left Lincoln with his army, he headed directly for Wales to confront his old friend Buckingham. Meanwhile, Buckingham was having a terrible time raising men for his army. It seems he wasn’t exactly well-liked or respected by his tenants because many refused to answer his call to arms. As soon as he left Wales with the men he could manage to muster, his tenants went so far as to destroy some of his estates, including the vital bridges across the Severn. Add to that terrible storms and torrential rains that flooded the roads, hampering his progress, Buckingham’s venture was doomed.¹⁸

With Richard’s army getting ever closer to Wales, Buckingham decided his best course of action was to flee. He deserted his army and hid in a former servant’s home in Woebley, Herefordshire. Even his servant didn’t like him enough to save him. The servant turned in Buckingham to Richard for a modest reward.¹⁹ Buckingham was hauled before Richard at Salisbury on 31 October 1483 and executed on 2 November 1483.

On the very day of Buckingham’s execution, Henry Tudor’s belated invasion party turned up off the coast of England near Dorset. It seems the weather had prevented his sailing any earlier, but his arrival now would be a total waste of time and put him in great danger. He sailed the coast east to Plymouth and sent a small party ashore to assess the situation. Richard’s soldiers were waiting and disguised themselves as friends then went on to tell Henry that Buckingham had won and Richard III had been defeated. Henry was either suspicious of the ploy or he was informed by another party of the real state of events.²⁰ He and set sail back to Brittany.

The fallout from Buckingham’s failed rebellion was monumental and hugely consequential for both sides. Richard’s paranoia grew at the realisation of all the traitors he had against him, many of those rebels now fleeing his kingdom for Henry Tudor’s court in Brittany. Even the powerful Woodvilles were fighting for Henry Tudor’s cause, which shouldn’t have been much of a surprise since he murdered the two princes and stole the throne. Margaret Beaufort was lucky to escape Buckingham’s rebellion with her life, for if she were a man, she probably would have been attainted and given a traitor’s death. Instead, her entire estates and properties were given to her husband and she was placed on virtual house arrest.²¹ This is the one time in her life that her gender would actually work in her favour, not against her.

The result of Buckingham’s rebellion was very favourable to Henry Tudor as English exiles flocked to him in Brittany throughout the fall and winter of 1483.²² He didn’t receive any backlash for his failed invasion attempt, in fact, he became even more popular. Now that Henry was the last male Lancastrian heir in line to the throne and King Richard was so hated by his nobles and the people of England, Henry became the natural choice for the dissidents. He was sort of in the right place at the right time. Plus, he was a magnetic character and was able to charm his new friends easily. He was said to have a very pleasant personality and a positive, cheerful attitude.²³ Apparently, it was not difficult to be drawn into a friendship with this young, jovial man.

Because of the mass defection of English exiles, Henry’s following grew to about 300 people, all of whom were living at Duke Francis’ expense in Vannes.²⁴ The exiles had left England with only the possessions they could carry on their backs. Shortly after Buckingham’s rebellion, King Richard attainted them and confiscated their estates, so they were virtually penniless. Henry felt a profound sense of obligation to these people who risked all they had to join him and fight for his cause. This is when there became a shift in Henry’s manner where he started taking more personal responsibility for his little Breton court and even started presenting himself in a more kingly manner. For example, Henry would lead Mass at Vannes Cathedral, closely accompanied by the leading exiled nobles, most notably Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s son Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset.²⁵

In order to keep all the positive momentum going in Brittany, Henry hosted magnificent Christmastide celebrations at Rennes for his followers. It wasn’t all celebrations though as Henry also took the opportunity to meet with his nobles to work up their masterplan to conquer England. Then on Christmas Day 1483, Henry solemnly swore an oath to marry King Edward IV’s eldest daughter and Dorset’s half-sister, Elizabeth of York, if he were to become king of England.²⁶

When news reached King Richard III of Henry Tudor’s pledge to marry the York princess, he was deeply troubled, so he formulated a plan. If Richard could gain possession of Elizabeth of York and all the York princesses, Henry Tudor would not be able to marry her which would ruin his plan to unite the Houses of York and Lancaster. There was only one problem with Richard’s plan: the dowager queen Elizabeth Woodville and her children were still hiding in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. They’d been there ever since Richard’s coup in the summer of 1483 and clearly they were too terrified of Richard to come out on their own. So, in March 1484, Richard flexed his muscle to convince them it was in their best interests to leave sanctuary and enter unto his protection. With little other choice, Elizabeth Woodville finally gave in to Richard’s demands.²⁷

Now that he had possession of Elizabeth of York, things looked up for Richard. He would be able to deny Henry Tudor the one thing he needed to legitimise his seizure of the crown with the joining of Lancaster and York. Things were really coming together for Richard but then suddenly they fell apart again when on 9 April 1484, his only legitimate son, Prince Edward of Middleham, died after a short illness.²⁸ Now Richard was without an heir which gave even more credence to Henry Tudor’s claim. It was at this point when Richard stepped up his attempts to get possession of Henry and he very nearly succeeded.

In the summer of 1484, Richard sent a series of envoys to Brittany to negotiate peace between the two nations and secure the handover of Henry Tudor. The Tudor’s biggest ally, Duke Francis, was very ill at the time and so his treasurer, Pierre Landois, conducted the negotiations. Unbeknownst to Francis, Pierre signed an agreement with Richard and secretly agreed to turn over possession of Henry Tudor to the king. Luckily for Henry, his friend Bishop Morton heard about the secret agreement through the grapevine and sent an urgent messenger to Henry begging him to flee Brittany. In early September 1484, Henry and a small retinue rode leisurely out of Vannes with the purpose of visiting friends at a nearby manor, but it was a ploy. Once Henry was a few kilometres out of the city, he ducked into the woods, changed into servant’s clothing, and rode as fast as he could to Anjou where Francis was residing. He made it to the French border in the nick of time as Landois’ guards were only an hour or two behind him.²⁹

When Duke Francis’ health recovered, he found out what had happened and was outraged at the treatment of Henry and the English exiles. Francis was very apologetic to Henry and agreed to pay for the entirety of Henry’s court to move to Anjou. Shortly thereafter, Duke Francis paid to move Henry’s court again, this time to Paris, where Henry would cultivate support from the new king of France, Charles VIII. Charles agreed to lodge Henry’s 400 followers at Sens, just south of Paris, and would later help fund Henry Tudor’s invasion force in the fall of 1485.³⁰

King Richard was enraged when he heard Henry Tudor had been received honourably in Charles VIII’s court in Paris. On 7 December 1484, Richard issued his first proclamation against Henry Tudor and his rebel exiles in France. In it, he ordered his English subjects to take up arms against the treacherous rebels who would come to England and commit ‘the most cruel murders, slaughters, robberies and disinheritances that were ever seen in any Christian Realm’.³¹

Richard was further troubled in the winter of 1484/1485 at the escape of loyal Lancastrian John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who had been locked up in Hammes Castle in Calais by Edward IV in 1475. Oxford, as well as the two English officers who were supposed to be looking after him, escaped from the castle and fled to France to join Henry Tudor. Richard sent his men to secure Hammes Castle from the newfound rebels, but the castle contingent held out until Oxford and some of Henry’s followers made a daring rescue attempt and helped the rebels hold the castle against Richard’s men.³² Due to the defection of Oxford to Henry’s court and the show of Richard’s weakness in Calais, even more English exiles flocked to Henry in the spring of 1485.

Everything was going Henry’s way. Things were not going so well for Richard though. Not only did he have the embarrassment of Calais and the Tudor rebel who he could not seem to rid himself of, his wife Anne died on 16 March 1485 after a long illness. The rumours that Richard intended to marry his niece, Elizabeth of York – a step too far for nearly everyone – immediately spread. In another humiliating defeat, Richard had to make a public proclamation denying his intention to marry Elizabeth of York.³³ Is it possible that Richard really did plan to marry his niece? There is no way of knowing but perhaps even he understood that they were too closely related to get a dispensation for their marriage. Either way, the damage was done, and it was yet another unsavory aspect of Richard’s character that he would marry his own niece, who he himself had declared a bastard when he declared her parents’ marriage invalid.

Henry was greatly disturbed by the rumours of Richard’s intention to marry his own betrothed wife, Elizabeth of York, saying it ‘pinched him by the very stomach’.³⁴ Henry feared if Richard married Princess Elizabeth, his Yorkists followers would desert him, so he set out in earnest in the spring of 1485 to ready himself for a military confrontation with King Richard III.³⁵ Henry spent much of the spring raising money to fund his operation. Most of his financial support came from Charles VIII who gave Henry the huge some 40,000 livres, which equates to millions of pounds today. Henry began mustering his forces in the summer of 1485 at Harfleur, just west of Rouen in Normandy.³⁶

The news of Henry’s muster reached England in mid-June 1485. Richard responded by issuing commissions of array to raise men for his army and to set up beacons along the southern coast to watch for Henry’s fleet around the clock. Richard then issued his second proclamation against Henry Tudor and the rebels.³⁷ Richard was especially brutal in this proclamation, claiming both Henry and Jasper were from bastard blood and that they would overturn all the laws in the kingdom and seize everyone’s property if they were to gain a foothold in England. Those who say the Tudors invented propaganda were wrong. Richard III invented propaganda. The Tudors would later use it to blacken Richard’s reputation and legacy.

By late July 1485, Henry had completed his muster at Harfleur and felt sufficiently prepared to put the whole operation in motion. All in all, Henry had amassed 4,000 soldiers, mostly French mercenaries and Scottish soldiers. He was also accompanied by approximately 400 English exiles from his Breton court.³⁸ He moved his large party down to the port of Harfleur where they set sail on 1 August 1485. The time for the life or death showdown had finally come. It was time for Henry Tudor to face his destiny and return to the homeland where he had fled for his life fourteen years prior.