Gairdner J. History of the Life and Reign of Richard the Third: To which is Added the Story of Perkin Warbeck from Original Documents

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2O LIFE OF RICHARD III. CH. I.

hand of Warwick's co-heiress was a prize sure to be eagerly

sought for; and, monstrous as the thing must appear, it was

sought for by the very man who, as we have seen, was con-

sidered, in the next generation at least, to have been Prince

Edward's murderer.

The mere fact that she consented to become his wife may,

perhaps, be charitably accepted as some little set-

and

Anne

off against the probability of Richard's guilt in this

particular instance. But too much weight must

not be attached to considerations of this sort in the fifteenth

century. Wives were then matters of bargain and sale, and

especially the wives of great people. It was a most unkingly

and unpopular act in Edward IV. that he married to please

himself.

We know not that the person of Prince Edward was

at all acceptable to Warwick's daughter, who was affianced to

him for purely political reasons. On the other hand, we have

some reason to believe that she did regard Richard with favour,

as we shall see presently. And finally, whatever may have

been the exact circumstances of Prince Edward's murder, it

could in no case be regarded as a mere private act of assassi-

nation. Even if Richard alone struck the fatal blow—which

is contrary to the statements of the best authorities,—he did

not do the act on his own account, and others shared the

responsibility along with him.

But the Duke of Clarence, who had married Warwick's

clarence eldest daughter, was by no means pleased that his

Shard's brother should have her sister. The King-Maker

marriage. h

behind him only two daughters to inherit

his immense possessions, and Clarence tried hard to preserve

the younger in a state of tutelage, so as to prevent any of the

wealth from slipping through his fingers. When he saw his

brother's design he caused the young lady to be concealed;

and to do so the more effectually, did not scruple to make her

assume disguise. Richard, however, contrived to find out her

hiding-place, and discovered Anne Nevill in the habit of a

A.D.

I47I-3-

ANNE NEVILL. 21

kitchen-maid. He conveyed her at once to the sanctuary of

St Martin's, which it must be presumed that she herself prefer-

red to the protection of her brother-in-law, otherwise she would

not have gone thither. Violent dissensions broke out between

the brothers in consequence; and each supported his own

claims before the king in council with such extraordinary

ability and acuteness, that even lawyers were astonished at

the wealth of arguments they brought forward

But the demands of Clarence, on whatever plausible pre-

texts they were advanced, were clearly quite unreasonable. The

king entreated him to have some consideration for his brother;

but his intercession was for a long time ineffectual. The ut-

most Clarence would concede was, that Gloucester might have

his sister-in-law if he was so minded, but they should part no

livelihood. The two brothers were observed to go with the

king and queen to confession, but it was too clear that even

then they were not in perfect charity with each other

. The

ill-will between them endured for years. In November 1473,

people feared it would actually come to blows. Those about

the court sent for their armour, to be ready for the worst that

might occur. ' The Duke of Clarence,' wrote Sir John Paston

at this date, 'maketh him big in that he can, showing as he

would but deal with the Duke of Gloucester; but the king

intendeth, in eschewing all inconvenients, to be as big as they

both and to be a styffeler atween them. And some men think

that under this there should be some other thing intended, and

some treason conspired. So what shall fall, can I not say'.

We are not told what were the ingenious reasonings by

which Clarence supported a demand seemingly at variance

with all equity. But in all probability he raised two different

sets of objections: first, to the propriety of the marriage in

itself,

and its legality after it took place; secondly, to the

division of the property by virtue of it. As to the second

point, it should be stated that the Earl of Warwick had never

Hist. Croyl. Cant., 557.

Paston Letters, iii. 38.

Ib. iii. 98.

22 LIFE OF RICHARD III. CH. I.

been attainted, and his lands naturally descended in equal

shares to his two daughters

. But this was properly the case

only with his own lands, which he had inherited from his

father, the Earl of Salisbury. The much larger possessions

which came to him, along with the earldom of Warwick, by his

marriage with the heiress of the Beauchamps remained still,

by law, the property of his widow. By law, no doubt; but,

for the weak and friendless, law sometimes exists in vain.

The Countess of Warwick, after her husband's death, appears

to have expected no justice at the hands of King Edward, and

to have seen little safety even for her person. She withdrew

into the sanctuary of Beaulieu, in Hampshire

, while the

greedy Clarence pounced upon the demesnes as if, having

married her eldest daughter, he was entitled to the whole

property of the family

. It is possible that he claimed rights

of wardship over the younger sister of his wife, by virtue of

which he could take exception to her marrying his brother.

He may also, perhaps, have raised a canonical objection to the

See Mr Bailey's article on "the English law of attainder and

forfeiture

in Vol. xlvii. of the

Archceologia.

Dugdale, i. 306.

The countess petitioned Parliament for restitution of her inheritance.

She drew up the petition in the sanctuary at Beaulieu, stating that ' in the

absence of clerks she hath written letters in that behalf to the King's

Highness, with her own hand, and not only making such labours suits and

means to the King's Highness, sothely also to the Queen's good grace, to

my right redoubted lady the King's mother, to my lady the King's eldest

daughter, to my lords the King's brethren, to my ladies the King's sisters,

to my lady of Bedford, mother to the Queen, and to other ladies noble of

this realm.' She laid claim to Warwick and Spenser's lands and to her

jointure out of the Earldom of Salisbury; and she complains that though

she had been perfectly loyal, the king had sent letters to the Abbot of

Beaulieu 'with right sharp commandment that such persons as his Highness

sent to the said monastery should have guard or strait keeping of her

person, which was and is to her heart's grievance, she specially fearing that

the privileges and liberties of the Church by such keeping of her person

might be interrupt and violate.' MS. Cott. Julius B. xii. 317.

A.D.

1471-4. DISPUTE WITH CLARENCE. 23

marriage, as he himself only married the elder daughter by

virtue of a papal dispensation; and now there was a still

greater affinity between the families. But whatever line of

tactics he pursued, his objects, we may be pretty well assured,

were simply property and power.

The jealousy of Clarence was probably first aroused by the

grant made by King Edward to his brother of part of the

forfeited lands which had belonged to Warwick in his own

right. This, as we have stated, was in July 1471—just three

months after the Earl of Warwick's death. The controversy

between the brothers became matter of observation in Michael-

mas term following. Two years later no settlement had yet

been agreed to, when the widowed countess left Beaulieu

sanctuary, and Sir James Tyrell acting under instructions, no

one knew very well from whom, carried her off and conveyed

her into the North

. In May following, a settlement was at

last arranged in Parliament. To satisfy the rapacity of the

royal brothers, they were allowed to anticipate the inheritance

which ought to have fallen to them on the death of their

mother-in-law; and it was enacted that they should at once

succeed to equal shares in the property, 'as if the said

countess were now naturally dead.'

A curious provision was

Paston Letters, iii. 92. The letter conveying this intelligence is

dated June 3; and if, as I am inclined to suspect, it be of the same year as

another letter I am about to quote, we must presume that Edward had at

this time some intention of doing the countess justice. William Dengayn

writes to William Calthorp from Staple Inn on June 1: ' The King has

restored the Countess of Warwick to all her inheritance, and she has

granted it unto my lord of Gloucester with whom she is; and of this divers

folks marvel greatly.' Third Report of Hist. MSS. Commission, p. 172.

The Countess

herself,

according to this informant, must have been already

out of sanctuary and living with Richard. Under any circumstances it is

clear she had much greater confidence in Richard than in her other son-in-

law, as it will be seen by Sir John Paston's words in reporting the matter,

that her conveyance northward was not expected to be agreeable to the

Duke of Clarence. See next page.

Rolls of Parl., vi. 100.

24 LIFE OF RICHARD III. CH. I.

also added—which I can only interpret as suggesting that

Richard had not obtained a sufficient dispensation for his

marriage—' that if the said Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and

Anne be hereafter divorced, and after the same be lawfully

married,' the Act should be as beneficial to them as if no such

divorce had taken place.

Soon after this adjustment, if not before it was concluded,

Richard withdrew into Yorkshire, where he resided afterwards

for the most part of Edward's reign. As Steward of the

Duchy of Lancaster he had an official residence at Pomfret;

but the place in which he chiefly delighted was Middleham,

where, probably in the course of the year 1476, his wife bore

him a son named Edward

. It seems also to have been to

some castle in the North, of which he had the command, that

the countess, his mother-in-law, was conveyed by Sir James

Tyrell. Rous, the Warwick antiquary, who lived at the time,

distinctly says she fled to Richard for refuge, and that he

imprisoned her for life

. And this agrees with many indi-

cations in the first notice we have of her removal from

Beaulieu. Sir John Paston, writing to his brother at the very

time it happened, says

' The Countess of Warwick is now out

of Beaulieu sanctuary, and Sir James Tyrell conveyeth her

northward, men say by the king's assent; whereto some men

say that the Duke of Clarence is not agreed.'

In later times,

when Richard was king, it is too well known that Sir James

Tyrell was his devoted instrument; and we may conclude that

he was so even in 1473. The only question seems to have

been whether Tyrell's act was authorised by the king. He

was not the king's recognised agent, and was probably known

to be the Duke of Gloucester's. At all events, what he did

was believed to be unacceptable to the Duke of Clarence.

And further, from what Rous says we may conclude the

Rous (p. 217), says he was seven years old and a little over when he

was created Prince of Wales in August 1483.

Id., 215.

Paston Letters, iii. 92, 3.

A.D.

H71-4' THE COUNTESS OF WARWICK. 25

Countess of Warwick

herself,

tired of her long detention in

sanctuary, was willing to confide herself to Richard's pro-

tection

;

though apparently it turned out to be, in effect, only

changing one place of confinement for another.

This unfortunate lady, indeed, experienced in her day the

extremes of good and evil fortune. Once a great

heiress and the wife of the most powerful noble-

Countess of

_,,,.. , 1

Warwick.

man m England, in whose enormous household

the carcases of six oxen were consumed at a single breakfast

she found

herself,

after her husband's death, a refugee in

sanctuary, stripped of all her patrimonial inheritance. Her

two sons-in-law deprived her of all, and the one whom she was

most disposed to trust shut her up in prison. Nor was the

injustice done to her redressed till both her daughters and

both her sons-in-law were dead. In 1487, fourteen years after

she had been carried off from Beaulieu to her northern prison,

the unjust Act of Parliament was repealed by the Parliament

of Henry VII., and the property of the countess was restored

to her. But even this, it is suspected by the Peerage Historian,

was not done with the intention that she should enjoy it

'for

it appears that the same year by a special feoffment bearing date

December 13, and a fine thereupon, she conveyed it wholly

unto the King, entailing it upon the issue male of his body,

with remainder to herself and her heirs.'

Edward IV. had been the more anxious to make some

agreement between his two brothers because he was at that

time preparing to set on foot a great enterprise for the invasion

of France

. The idea was a popular one. France was an old

enemy, and had supported the House of Lancaster; and it was

expected that Edward, if he did not emulate the great deeds

of Edward III. and Henry V., would at least follow in the

footsteps of his father, the ablest of all the more recent

commanders who had led armies to battle on French ground.

Sttnv's Chronicle, 421.

Dugdale, i. 307.

Cont. Croyl., 557.

26 LIFE OF RICHARD III. CH. I.

For this, heavy taxes had been voted by Parliament, which

pressed hard upon the poor country gentry; yet, after all, the

money was not judged sufficient, and a new device was resorted

to by the ingenuity of the King's Council. Direct application

was made to the more wealthy persons throughout the country

to give something, of their own benevolence, to further this

great national object. These contributions were accordingly

Bene- called ' benevolences'—a name which did not tend

voiences.

t0 ma

ke them popular, even on their first intro-

duction, and they formed a very evil precedent for future ages.

Edward IV. went about soliciting benevolences in person, and

curious stories are told of his success with wealthy widows

At last the invasion took place in 1475. Edward crossed

invasion

tne

Channel with a magnificent army and the

France.

flower of the English nobility. But the flames of

war were not kindled after all. The French king, Lewis XI.,

met the crisis with characteristic ability. He called privately

to council the herald sent by Edward to defy him; told him

he knew his master was urged to the war by others; that his

ally the Duke of Burgundy was not in a position to help him;.

that the season was already far spent; and that many other

considerations made it hopeless for the English to do very

much that year. Why should not peace be made on reason-

able terms? The herald expressed his willingness to urge

his master to an accommodation, and was rewarded with a

handsome present, which Lewis assured him should be largely

increased if he could bring the matter to effect

Edward was not inflexible. His enemy was willing to pay

large sums for peace, both in ready money and in an annual

pension. The money was acceptable in

itself,

and might also-

be regarded as a tribute from a subject king. Experience had

shown that the conquest of France was by no means an easy

matter, and if the French king evinced so much anxiety to

avoid hostilities, the fruits of victory might be obtained without

Hall, 308.

Commines, bk. iv. ch. v.

A.D.

1475- FRANCE BUYS A PEACE. 27

a battle. Lewis offered an immediate payment of 75,000

crowns on condition that Edward and his army would there-

upon return to England, and promised 50,000 crowns a year

besides during the joint lives of the two kings, in view of a

marriage which was then concluded between the Dauphin and

Edward's eldest daughter. On these terms the matter was

finally arranged and a seven years' truce concluded

These were in fact King Edward's own demands, and

Lewis had little difficulty in conceding them. But there were

certainly some of the King of England's councillors who did

not like the look of the thing. Never had an English army

before returned from an invasion of France without striking a

single blow. France must be outwitting them in some way.

Besides, they were actually making a separate peace without

consulting their ally the Duke of Burgundy. The Duke of

Gloucester, especially, was dissatisfied, and absented himself

from the interview between the two kings at Picquigny. The

way, however, had been smoothed beforehand by a liberal

distribution of pensions among Edward's principal advisers.

The Lord Chancellor of England himself received 2,000

crowns a year, and the Lord Hastings the same amount;

while Morton, Master of the Rolls (afterwards the celebrated

cardinal), Lord Howard, Sir Thomas Montgomery, Sir John

Cheney, Master of the Horse, Sir Thomas St. Leger, and even

the Marquis of Dorset, the queen's son, tasted the bounty of

Lewis in the same form. The whole charge of these pensions

to Lewis was 16,000 crowns a-year, and the money was

pocketed by the English without scruple. Hastings so far

stood upon his honour as to decline to give a receipt for it.

He maintained that it was a free gift, which came only of the

French king's goodwill, and involved no obligation on his part.

The fact is, he had before received a pension of the Duke of

Burgundy, and was not easily won over to the French interest

at all; but he told the messenger of Lewis that if he meant

Rym. xii.

14, 15, 17, 19, 20.

28 LIFE OF RICHARD III. CH. I.

him to have it he might put the money in his sleeve'. This

was the utmost height, it seems, to which the virtue of Edward's

ordinary councillors could attain.

Richard's conduct, on this occasion, was more creditable.

He objected to the peace altogether, and would

Richard ' , . , ... ... ...

opposes have nothing to do with the proceedings by which

the peace. . , i 1 ..

it was brought about. He was one of those, we

may be sure, who sympathised with the Duke of Burgundy,

and who, as mentioned by Commines, applauded the indignant

words in which that prince denounced the bad faith of his ally

But when the whole matter had been definitely settled, and

further remonstrance would have been unavailing, Gloucester

was not wanting in those duties which civility required towards

a recent enemy. He paid his respects to the French king at

Amiens, and received from him, as a courtesy when it could

not be taken as a bribe, a present of plate and fine horses

suitable to his rank and station

There can be little doubt that Richard's conduct on this

occasion contributed much to his popularity at home; for the

peace with France was bitterly impugned, and not without

reason, by Edward's own subjects. They had been taxed, and

taxed again, and forced to contribute ' benevolences,' and had

sent the flower of their youth abroad to an inglorious campaign,

only that the king and some of his council should draw further

treasure to themselves from another quarter. Some ventured

to express their feelings and to speak against the peace in a

way that was punished as seditious; and to aggravate the

popular discontent, many of the discharged soldiers, who had

returned for want of anything better to do, turned highway

robbers, so that neither merchants nor pilgrims could traverse

the roads in safety

Yet, with all the treasure he had drawn from his own

Commines, bk. vi. ch. ii.

1b. bk. iv. ch. viii.

Ib. bk. iv. ch. x.

Cont. Croyl. 559.

A.D.

1475. EDWARD'S WANT OF MONEY. 29

people and from France, the king was in want of money; and

his distress was the greater, because, after all the heavy

demands he had already made, he durst not ask for a subsidy.

Indeed, the best excuse he had for making peace in the way

he did, was that ' the sinews of war' were really very deficient.

A country that had suffered so much internally as England had

done in those days—depopulated by civil strife, with trade dis-

turbed and agriculture languishing—could not supply the

necessary means for such a great enterprise as was attempted;

and heavy taxation in a great measure defeated its own

purpose. A property tax of no less than two shillings in the

pound, levied for one year over the greater part of England,

had produced little more than thirty thousand pounds. A

whole fifteenth and tenth on movable goods and chattels had

been afterwards imposed

; and when to all this was added the

amount of the ' benevolences,' a mass of money was collected,

' the like of which,' says the Croyland writer in his simplicity,

' was never before seen at one time, and probably never will be

seen in future.' Yet the same writer admits that it was for

want of money that the French expedition so soon came to an

end. The men had consumed all their wages. The want of

means for carrying on the enterprise created grave anxiety

and the terms arranged by the English commissioners met with

the approbation of the council, for reasons, we should hope,

quite independent of the rewards offered to them personally

by the French king

I find I have misstated the effect of these different grants in my intro-

duction to the third volume of the Paston Letters (p. xxix.), supposing

both of them to have been levied on income; whereas it is clear from the

words of the Act that the first was not upon goods and chattels but only

on the annual profits of lands. Rolls of Parl. vi. in.

The following reasons were given in the Council of War of August 14,

1475,

for ending the, campaign if the French made satisfactory offers:

'considering the poverty of his (the king's) army, the nigh approaching of

winter and small assistance of allies.'

Cont. Croyl. 558, 9.