Topic 4 Yorkists Divided Flashcards
Royal patronange and the quarrel of Clarence and Gloucester
- Edward had a lot of land to distribute after defeating Henry and downfall of Warwick
- Rewarded his brothers the most - gave Gloucester the North (and council of the north) - gave Clarence Courtenay estates - however had to take Percy estates from Clarence to keep order in the North - angered Clarence so was given earldom of Richmond - was initially granted to Gloucester and was a very sought after estate
- Tension around marriage - Isabel married to Clarence - Anne (daughter of warwick- was married to lancastrian prince edward) was widow of Prince Edward
- Clarence concealed Anne to prevent marriage to Gloucester
- Anne eventually married to Gloucester
- Quarrel was embarassing for the king - settled it by giving Clarence lots of land and made him Great Chamberlain of England (originally held by Gloucester)
- 1474-75 Acts of parliament to divide the Neville sister’s inheritence between the 2 - showed Edward keen to reconciliate with Clarence
- Neville wife gave Gloucester power in the North - was popular and good warrior
Duke of Buckinghams Rebellion
- aim of placing Henry VII on throne - showed that many believed the boys to be dead - also suggests Tudors insigated the murder
- Henry had a very shaky claim to throne (related to John of Gaunt on mother’s side)
- Lady margaret Beaufort (Henry’s mother) plotted while Henry in France under Edward IV - plotted to marry him to Elizabeth of York. Would unite the two sides - potentially end the war of the roses
- October 1483 - rebellions broke out in South of England - Richard had less control than in North
- Buckingham betrayed and allied with Tudor - big blow for Richard as lost key supporter
- Henry left France to attempt invasion after being proclaimed kingly rebels - however bad weather scattered his ships= unable to land safely - also Richard posted men around the coast- forced back to Brittany with Edward IV loyalists
- Henry was forced unto exile with rebels and some relatives of Woodpiles and loyals of Edward IV
significance of Duke of Buckinghams rebellion
- showed Richard unpopular and failed to reconciliate with Edward IV supporters - gave land to his loyal retainers and took away from his opposition- caused newcomers to be resented and did not bolster royal authority in the way it had been hoped
- Also - showed there was alternative for the throne About 400 people who were loyal to Edward IV joined Henry in exile in Brittany= pledged loyalty to Tudor claim
- Henry made public intention of marrying Elizabeth of York - would strengthen his position and highlight that royals and Woodviles belived the princes in the tower to be dead
Comparison of Edward IV and Richard III personality and family relations
- Edward faced little rebellion in his second reign (apart from Clarence) - his distribution of nobles to regional councils helped keep peace - e.g. keeping Gloucester happy by giving him power in the North
- However, his connection with the Woodvilles remained unpopular at court
. - Richard as duke of Gloucester popular - seen as good warrior/fair etc.
- However, Buckingham’s rebellion showed that he had little countrol over Southern counties and relied on Northen
- Richard never far from rebellion - France and Henry conspring agaisnt him - led Richard to a truce with Scotland and improved relations with Woodvilles - promised Elizabeth and her daughters a place at court and good marriages - rumoured that he wanted to marry his niece
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* Both Edward and Richard had difficulties because of women - Edward with Elizabeth and Richard with Anne and Elizabeth’s daughter
* Edward’s reign strengthened by birth of two sons
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* Richard’s son died in 1484 - Queen Anne died in 1485 - suspected he killed her
* The accusation led to him losing power in North - had to publicly declare to government that he didn’t want to marry Elizzabeth of York
Comparison of Edward IV and Richard III
Royal finances EDWARD IV
- Edward IV had to restore finances after Henry IV’s disastrous reign - however not through tax - farmed crown lands more efficiently, claimed customs, used private lands and Lancastrian seized lands
Also used some controversial measures: - Obliged the clergy to pay a subsidy for a crusade - but went to crown
- Reissued coinage and devalued amount of gold and siilver in coins - made a profit for him Borrowed money from wealthy merchants
- Borrowed money from foriegn banks - mostly Italian
- Tighter customs, controls
- Collection of forced gifts of money (benevolences)
- measures didnt meet costs =Treaty of Picquigny - unpopular but made him solvent and did not need to appeal parliament for taxation -withdraw from france for a large sum of money 75,000 gold crowns and 50,000 gold crowns pension a year
- Lots of expenditure on Woodvilles and quite extravagant
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Comparison of Edward IV and Richard III Royal finances RICHARD III
- Richard III left with inherited relatively small funds - had to use private money- wife Elizabeth Woodville regarded as mercenary
- Didn’t want to claim taxes from parliament as a usurper
- did not make financial demands and ahd to agree to a petition from the Commons in parliament that his subjects sjould no longer be subject to benevolences- reflects how unpopular from og momney collection had been = weakness of Edward IV reign
- difficult for Richard to keep and Henrys Invasion - Richard request loans from his subjects.
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Comparison of Edward IV and Richard III
military success
Edward IV
* fortunate in battle of of Tewkesbury that Lancastrian prince edward was killed - ended Lancastruan opposition to rule (death was honourbale so did not arouse non of emotive response of disapperence of yoinger princes in the toward = did not undermine Edward IV
Richard III
* antaognise french in 1484 through naval attacks was unwise = lent tudor international support at a crucial stage in his preparation for invasion
* (constrated with Edwards earlier less war like stance against french - had to deal with domestic threats until 1468 - slower approach was less antagonising to foreign powers at time he was seeking to establish authority and support networks at home
Impact of Edwards early death 1483
- Edward died suddenly of illness - didn’t specify if his son should rule or a protectorate should be put in place
- Led to political turmoil - nobles afraid of a child king (only 12 years and who was influenced by Woodvilles) so royal council happy to accept Gloucester as protector (was sensible choice)
- Richard’s behaviour controversial - was always loyal to Edward - either personal ambition or mistrusted Woodvilles
- Edward V travellled to London for coronation - intercepted by Richard - he arrested Woodlville family members - Elizabeth sought sanctuary at Westminster with her younger son
- Richard named protector - no wide spread opposition as as woodviles unpopular - however not total support shown by inability to execute Woodvilles - due to treason
- = people scared to swear alligence to richard too early against the queen
- Edward V housed in Tower of London - not alarming as it was normal
- Richard delayed Edward’s coronation
- Tensions grew - Richard arrested Edward IV supporters on council - were most likely to oppose Richard’s usurpation
- William, Lord Hastings executed which was controversial
- Elizabeth sent youngest son to Richard (surprising) - both children now housed in the tower Richard’s supporters claimed the boys were born out of wedlock - Edward has already agreed to marry someone else before Elizabeth
- June 1483 - Key Edward IV and Woodvilles executed
- Richard crowned Richard III and formally claimed the boys illegitimate in parliament
Reasons for attainder and murder of duke of Clarence 1478
- Clarence’s wife died - led to mental instability
- Attempted to remarry to Mary of Burgundy - denied by Edward to stop him getting too much power
- Clarence angry - spread rumours that the king was illegitamate - Edward blocked marriage to Scottish sister
- Clarence reluctant to attend court - refused food and drink for fear of poison - reflected badly on king and queen
- Clarence accused Isabel’s handmaiden of killing her - abused his power to convict her and she was hanged - miscarriage of justice
- Oxford astronomer Dr John Stacey accused of sorcery and plotting to kill Edward - was a member of Clarence’s household
Clarence furious and interupted council meeting to try to save him - Edward arrested Clarence - accused of violating the laws of the realm and interfering with the judicial system - later tried for treason
- Edward’s behaviour reflected his losing trust for him - suggestions that Woodville and Gloucester helped with Clarence’s downfall but not certain
- Edward found it diffcult to pass death sentence - eventually Buckingham passed the sentence - however death was suspicios and not beheading - maybe drowned in vat of wine Controversial - seen as immoral and questioned fairness of the trial
- Increased his control - people scared to threaten his power - however a bit of a tyrant
- Set up regional councils filled with Yorkists in order to maintain order in the country - showed he relied heavily on loyal Yorkists
significance of of Richards seizure to the throne 1483
- His seizure had bad effects on his reputation - hard for a usurper to stay in power if unpopular - led to being usurped by Henry VII
- Shakespeare presented Richard very badly - evil, cruel, calculating - accused of the murders of the princes, Clarence and Anne Neville - Shakespeare had to write with Tudor bias
- Modern historians acknoledge there is little evidence - trying to restore his image
disapperances of princes in the tower
- The story of the princes in the Tower is controversial - exploited by Lancastrians and Shakespeare
- Richard on royal progress - heard of a plot to free the boys - may have motivated him to kill them (to stop any rebellions)
- No real sources from the time discussing what happened to the boys
There are some** Tudor accounts:**
* ‘Crownland Chronicle’ - written by more than one author - was well informed
* London Chronicles say Buckingham insigated the murder - was the view in French court - he was excluded from court by Edward IV - became strong Richard supporter - helped capture both princes
* ‘History of England’ by Italian priest - argued Richard intially ordered lieutenant of the Tower to kill the boys - he bottled it - so Richard turned to James Tyrell
* History of King Richard III’ - based on information from Archbishop of Canterbury (who hated Richard) - Argued that Richard ordered Tyrell to kill them shortly after his coronation
* Many argue that the boys were smothered by pillows and hidden in the stairs (where two skeletons were found)
* However, there was Tudor motivations to kill the boys - removed alternate claimants to throne and tarnished Richard’s reputation
**Kings Coronations **
Crowned on 6th July - no objections - kept continual government rather than removing opponents - went on royal progress
Henry Tudours reasons for success at the battle of bosworth
- 1484 - Richard tried to negotiate with Pierre Landais, treasurer to duke of Brittany for handover of exiles - however French king easily influenced and French government were keen to help Henry
- French provided Henry with money, ships and supplies
Henry landed in Wales in Summer 1485 - army was exiles, Scottish and French - including seasoned military commanders - Was a smaller army than Richard’s - 5,000 to 12,000 - gave Richard confidence
- French supported Henry because: Richard had ordered naval attacks, concerened he would invade France, wanted to destablisise his claim
- Richard agreed truce with Scotland to prevent an alliance
Sought to establish relations in French court - hiwever in December 1484 he declared his throne to the French throne - turned France firmly against him - Richard less prepared - had wrong information about where Henry was landing (ill informed spies)- meant he had to move quickly to Leicester
- Percy came to battle with Richard but failed to engage troops - knew that Henry Tudor would grant him more power in North (he was intially arrested by Henry but later released)
Henry Tudours reasons for success at the battle of bosworth
role of the Stannelys
- Lord Stanley commanded a third of Richard’s army - he was Henry Tudor’s stepfather - however was staunch supporter of Richard - was in charge of keeping his wife under control
- Richard III summoned Stanley but he claimed he was ill
- He floated between the two sides at the battle and failed to engage - his borther gave support to Henry Tudor - possible it had been conspired previously as they were rewarded lavishly
- Battle was short and bloody - Richard fought bravely to the very end
