Richard III - 1483-1485
As usual, my knowledge of English history is woefully lacking. I thought that I had an understanding of
what was
going on in the War of the Roses and the Kings and Queens of England.
Wikipedia says:
"
Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from
26 June 1483 until his
death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at
the Battle of Bosworth Field,
the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England.
"
The short reign of Edward V and the swapping around of Edward IV and Henry VI were explained/described in the Tudors
by Leanda de Lisle - Tudor: The Family Story - Leanda de Lisle.
Apart from seeing a few productions of Shakespeare's Richard III my interest was also sparked by Steve Coogan and
the "row" with the University of Leicester.
Top
Princes in the tower
My understanding was that there was a plot to "make the boys go away" and that was related to Richard's claim to the
throne of England.
Thomas More's - History of King Richard III
The involvement of Sir James Tyrell and the Tyrell family of Heron (West Hornden) and Gipping, Suffolk is of interest
to this website due to the marriage of a Tyrell and a Wentworth.
Whether or not Tyrell was instrumental in the dissappearance of the Princes in the Tower is not the main interest of this
website but the fortunes of the Wentworth family of Gosfield and the ownership of Belchamp Manor is.
"
The portrayal of Richard III
Richard III’s Tudor successors from Henry VII onwards had a vested interest in portraying him as a bad, and indeed unlawful,
king to increase their own legitimacy as the line who deposed him.
More’s account, written under Henry VIII, follows the Tudor propagandist line and paints Richard as a usurper,
accusing him of killing the princes in the tower (it is likely but not proven that Richard arranged their deaths).
Half way down the first column on page 37 is More’s now famous description of Richard: ‘little of stature, ill featured
of limes, croke backed, his left shoulder much higher than his right, hard favoured of visage … he was malicious,
wrathfull, envious, and from afore his birth, ever frowarde.’ He also describes Richard’s difficult birth,
used to portray him as monstrous and unnatural, reporting that it was said he was born feet first and ‘not untothed’
(i.e. born with teeth).
More considers the possibility that these reports go beyond truth out of hatred for Richard,
but also ‘that nature chaunged her course in hys beginning, whiche in the course of his lyfe many thinges unnaturallye
committed.’ In the second column, More also describes Richard as ‘close and secrete, a deepe dissimuler’ and
‘not letting to kisse whome hee thought to kyll’, a line that seems to anticipate Shakespeare in Richard’s line
‘why, I can smile, and murther whiles I smile’ (3 Henry VI, 3.2.182).
"
Wikipedia goes on to say about the marriage to Anne Neville:
"
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472,
he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's
reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named
Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V.
Arrangements were
made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents
was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from
inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect,
and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483.
Edward and his younger brother
Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August,
and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders,
after the Tudor dynasty established their rule a few years later.
"
Both More and Shakespeare claim that the two Princes were killed by James Tyrrell who was instructed by Richard to
arrange the murders. Some historians dispute this as un-proven and as William Shakespeare was writing for the Tudors
it was likely that Richard was not portrayed in the best light and More's history was also used a William Shakespere's
source for his play.
In the reign of Edward IV Richard ..... (from the Wikipedia page for Richard III)
"
..... gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford,
in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester
and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England,
Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England.
"
The acquisition of the "lands of John de Vere" was 19 years before he became King.
Tyrell and de Vere (13th Earl of Oxford) were deheaded in the Tower 1462.
This may well explain how the manor Belchamp Walter "came"
Sir Roger Wentworth in 1539.
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
The current (2024) Duke of Gloucester.
The fifth and most recent creation was for Prince Henry, third son of King George V, styled as His Royal
Highness The Duke of Gloucester. Upon Prince Henry's death, the dukedom was inherited by his
only surviving son Prince Richard, who still holds the title.
The Wikipedia page on Prince Richard says:
Father: Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester, third eldest son of George V and Mary of Teck
Mother: Princess Alice of Gloucester (née Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott), daughter of 7th Duke of
Buccleuch
Born: August 26, 1944 at Hadley Common, Hertfordshire
The Duke is a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, and 2nd son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester,
who was the third eldest son of George V, and Princess Alice.
At the time of his birth he was 5th in line to the throne.
The Title - Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred
on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England
and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the current creation carries with it the subsidiary
titles of Earl of Ulster and Baron Culloden.
The title was first conferred on Thomas of Woodstock, the thirteenth child of King Edward III.
The title became extinct at his death, as it did upon the death of the duke of the second creation,
Humphrey of Lancaster, fourth son of King Henry IV.
The title was next conferred on Richard, brother to King Edward IV. When Richard himself became king,
the dukedom merged into the crown. After Richard's death, the title was considered ominous, since the
first three such dukes had all died without issue to inherit their titles. The title was not awarded
for over 150 years: the next to receive the dukedom was the son of King Charles I,
Henry Stuart, upon whose death the title again became extinct.
Scott-Buccleuch
Sue Scott-Buccleuch of the Richard III Society contacted the co-ordinator for St. Mary's Belchamp
Walter relating to a will that mentioned a bequest of funds for the construction
of a spire in the
15th century. While not directly related to the unfolding story of Belchamp Walter the inclusion of
a coat of arms of James Tyrell in one of the stained glass windows
raises the question of why is it there?
On further observation it would appear that Sue could be a direct descendant of Richard III. This would
explain her involvement with the Richard III Society. The question of the Tyrell crest is just an
additional twist coupled by the lack of mention of the missing spire.
