In March 1483, King Edward had been at Windsor. In his Itinerary of Edward IV, John Ashdown Hill places Edward at Windsor from Tuesday 4th March, returning to Westminster just before Easter Sunday around Tuesday 25th March. Upon his return to London, he was taken so violently ill that he retired to his sickbed. What the illness was that eventually led to his death was a matter of speculation even then and remains so today. Dominic Mancini, an Italian poet who spent some time in England during early 1483 and recorded what he witnessed upon his return to his homeland later that year, believed that the king had caught a cold from a recent fishing trip. His death was also attributed by other sources at the time to an ague or fever or even a stroke. What we do know is that in the days before his death, he was in a state of consciousness and during that time he added several codicils to his Will. One of those codicils was allegedly designed to heal a rift that had grown between his stepson Dorset, and best friend, Hastings. Calling the men to his bedside he pleaded with them to put aside their differences. Then on 9th April, Edward died. He was not yet forty-one and his son, Edward Prince of Wales, was just twelve. Presumably, Edward was well aware that at such a young age his son, now King Edward V, would need his close family and friends around him and would need the support of both of these men to ensure a smooth transition of power and to guide his young son in the early months and years of his kingship.
But what was this rift that had occurred between Dorset and his father-in-law Hastings? Thomas More tells us in his description of Edward’s last few days ‘but in his last sickness when he perceived his natural strength so sore enfeebled that he despaired all recovery … he called some of them before him that were at variance, and in especial the Lord Marquis Dorset, the queen’s son by her first husband, and Richard [William] the Lord Hastings, a nobleman then lord chamberlain, again whom the queen specially grudged for the great favor the king bare him and also for that she thought him secretly familiar with the king in wanton company’. More goes on to say that the king begged them [Dorset and Hastings] to reconcile ‘for all the love that you have ever borne to me, for the love that I have ever borne to you’ and that ‘amongst much weeping they joined hands and forgave each other’.1
The common view of the enmity between Dorset and Hastings centres around the promiscuous behaviour of either one or both of these men, and in particular their love or infatuation towards a particular lady named Jane Shore. Jane Shore had been one of Edward IV’s mistresses. Famously he was known to have at least three, whom he allegedly categorised as ‘the merriest, the wiliest and the holiest’ women in the land. Jane is believed to have been the ‘merriest’. Born Elizabeth Lambert sometime around 1450, she was the daughter of a mercer, John Lambert and his wife Amy. Her marriage to another mercer, one William Shore, occurred sometime in the mid-to-late 1460s but within a few years she appealed to the court of Arches, requesting a divorce and alleging that her marriage was unconsummated. This in itself was a courageous move for her to make, as women rarely initiated separation from their husbands. The appeal was denied, but Jane demonstrating a huge amount of tenacity refused to give up. She took the matter to court more than once and was eventually granted a divorce on 1st March 1476, around about the same time she is thought to have become the king’s mistress. How she met the king is unclear. Whether he assisted her in her divorce matter also went unrecorded, but it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the two were linked.2
Although it appears that in the early days Hastings and Elizabeth Woodville were on good terms, it seems that by the time of Edward’s death the queen no longer had a high regard for her husband’s best friend as over the years he was apparently often found with Edward in pursuit of ‘wanton company’. Perhaps she turned more of a blind eye to the actions of her son, assuming he also partook in these clandestine liaisons. Mancini describes the ongoing conflict between Hastings and Dorset as a jealousy – ‘as a result of the mistresses they had abducted or attempted to entice from each other’.
With reference to Jane Shore in particular, according to More ‘when the king died, the Lord Chamberlain took her – which in the king’s days, albeit he was sore enamored upon her, yet he forbare her, either for reverence or for a certain friendly faithfulness’. If this is true, Hastings may not have had a sexual relationship with Jane Shore during the king’s lifetime. Perhaps even after Edward’s death he was just extremely fond of the young woman and wished to protect her. It is often alleged however, particularly during the events that followed, that Dorset did have a relationship with her. In which case their arguments may have centred around the fact that Hastings had knowledge of this relationship and was either jealous, as Mancini alleges, or perhaps he was aggrieved on behalf of his stepdaughter, Cecily. But, of course, the reverse could also be true; if Hastings had been Jane Shore’s lover, perhaps Dorset was aggrieved on Cecily’s behalf, as she, quite rightly, would have been upset on behalf of her mother, Katherine. Or perhaps it was that in the licentious court of Edward IV, both men were vying for her affection and that as Mancini alleges, they delighted in stealing or enticing her away from each other.
But for now, they had, it seemed, agreed to put their differences aside and support Edward’s young son. Edward IV’s funeral took place ten days after his death, on Friday 19th April. On Wednesday 17th April, the king’s body had been conveyed to Westminster Abbey from St Stephen’s chapel where he had lain since his passing. The coffin was draped with a pall of cloth of gold with a cross of white cloth of gold. Within forty-eight hours of the king’s death, letters were sent across the country proclaiming Edward V the new king and announcing a coronation date of 4th May. The young prince had been written to in Ludlow and summoned to return to London, but he was not expected to arrive in time for the funeral. Reportedly Hastings himself wrote to inform the king’s brother, Richard of Gloucester, who was at his home in the north, but he also did not arrive in time to see his brother laid to rest. Who took the place of chief mourner has not been identified but the first of those present in the line of precedence was the king’s eldest nephew, the Earl of Lincoln, son of Edward’s sister Elizabeth. It was presumably he who acted as chief mourner and would have walked directly behind the coffin in its procession from St Stephens to the Abbey.3 Also in the procession were Hastings and Dorset. Cecily would not have attended as a king’s funeral was primarily a male affair.
After a service in the Abbey, the coffin was loaded upon a chariot for Edward’s last journey to Windsor. Six horses were ready to pull the chariot, each in trappings of black velvet. Two chariot men sat on the front two horses, while four of the king’s henchmen, whose names went unrecorded, rode the other four. The procession then set off on its way, spending the night of the 17th at Syon Abbey where the Bishop of Durham conducted a late service, as the cortege did not arrive until after dark.
The following day, Thursday 18th April, the procession set off again, arriving at Windsor later that day. Edward’s final destination was St George’s chapel, the place he had been rebuilding since the early 1470s as his family mausoleum. It was also designed to be a chapel for his beloved Order of the Garter. By the time of his burial there, it was not yet finished but it was roofed with timber and the vault of the aisle near the king’s tomb and chantry were complete. His tomb of black touchstone was only partially built – he surely did not think he would be of need of it as soon as he did.4 Then with great ceremony the following day, Edward IV was laid to rest. His young son, and England’s new king, was on his way to London and what should have happened next was a simple transition of the crown.
But what did happen next, and the events of the next few weeks and months are amongst the most debated and intriguing in history and led to Richard Duke of Gloucester becoming one of our most notorious historical figures. Labelled a usurper and a potential child murderer, he was front and centre of one of history’s greatest unsolved mysteries – that of the Princes in the Tower.
A debate had been raging in the days after Edward’s death as to how many men should escort the new young king from Ludlow. According to the Croyland Chronicle, there was concern amongst many that the new king should not fall under the complete control of the queen’s family. He particularly mentions Hastings and that ‘The advice of the lord Hastings, the Captain of Calais, at last prevailed, who declared that he himself would fly thither with all speed, rather than await the arrival of the new king, if he did not come attended by a moderate escort. For he was afraid lest, if the supreme power should fall into the hands of the queen’s relations, they would exact a most signal vengeance for the injuries which had been formerly inflicted on them by that same lord; in consequence of which, there had long existed extreme ill-will between the said lord Hastings and the Quene’.5
The writer of the chronicle tells how the queen heeded the worry of the councillors and wrote to her son requesting he made his way to London with an escort not exceeding 2000 men. At around the same time Richard of Gloucester replied from his home in Middleham by sending ‘loving letters to Elyzabeth the Quene, comforting hir with many woords and promising his allegiance and to increase the credit of his carefulness and natural affection towards his brother’s children’.6 He also commanded all his men to swear obedience to Prince Edward. It seems at this point that all was going well and according to plan.
Gloucester set out on the long journey down from his home in the north of England to London. Simultaneously Edward’s young son had set off from Ludlow and was being escorted to the capital by his older brother Richard Grey, and his uncle, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, both who had been with the young prince at Ludlow. The Duke of Buckingham, who was married to Katherine Woodville, the queen’s sister, met up with Gloucester along his route and on 29th April they spent the evening in Northampton, sharing a convivial meal with Rivers and Richard Grey who had ridden to meet them there. The new young king did not join them for the meal but remained behind at Stony Stratford. By all accounts all four men enjoyed each other’s company that evening. However, the next day, 30th April, they all began their journey to meet up with the new king at Stony Stratford, eighteen miles south of Northampton. But before they reached the town, Gloucester and Buckingham pulled their horses up and informed Rivers and Richard Grey that they were under arrest. The two Dukes then rode off to meet Edward to escort him to London themselves, ordering Rivers and Grey to be taken to one of Gloucester’s northern castles as prisoners.7
What instigated this action is unclear, but hearing this news, the queen back in London realised something was terribly wrong and for the second time in her life, Elizabeth once again fled into the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, with her daughters and her younger son Prince Richard. Dorset also initially took sanctuary alongside his mother. Cecily’s whereabouts at this time are unknown. Wherever she was, this news following shortly after messages delivering news of the death of the king, must have left her shocked and confused.
The new King Edward soon arrived in London, escorted by his uncle, Gloucester and the Duke of Buckingham, where preparations for the young king’s coronation had already begun. However, on their arrival, the coronation was immediately delayed. Events then moved surprisingly quickly. The council pronounced Richard Lord Protector, not a particularly surprising move due to the new king’s young age. On 10th and 11th June Gloucester wrote to the City of York and to Lord Neville (his mother’s family) asking them to bring troops ‘to aid and assist us against the queen, her bloody adherents and affinity, which have intended and daily doth intend to murder and utterly destroy us and our cousin the Duke of Buckingham and the old royal blood of the realm.’8
Edward was given rooms in the Tower of London where he would stay whilst awaiting his coronation. It was agreed by the council that Edward’s younger brother Richard should also be bought to join him there. Knowing that the queen may not release her other son willingly, Gloucester surrounded their sanctuary with troops. Afraid that if she did not surrender her younger son, Richard would take him by force, the queen reluctantly agreed to let him go and join his elder brother, trusting the word of the Archbishop of Canterbury that he would be returned to her after the coronation. Not long after Richard joined his brother, the boys were moved into apartments further within the tower. Mancini tells of how they were seen less frequently through bars and windows, and that all their servants were soon dismissed until eventually they were no longer seen at all. Mancini also alleges that Gloucester stopped wearing mourning and started wearing purple, the colour of royalty. One of the last attendants to see the boys was their physician John Argentine, who according to Mancini reported that Prince Edward daily sought remission of his sins because he believed that death was facing him. Mancini was reporting this second or third hand so we cannot be sure that the statement that Edward was aware of his impending death is fact or embellishment. Whether the new king considered himself captive or just believed he was awaiting his coronation is unknown and may have changed as time went on. It is likely that in the first instance, he trusted his uncle and did believe he would be king. How quickly that changed, would depend on what their fate actually was and how soon he became aware of it and is part of the integral mystery of their disappearance.
June 22nd, which was the newly arranged coronation day of Edward V came and went. Publicly accusations had been made that Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth was invalid as he was already pre-contracted to an Eleanor Butler, followed by even more salacious rumours that Edward IV was a bastard son, a result of his mother’s affair, a hugely controversial claim considering Cecily Neville, mother to both Edward and Richard, was still alive. Eventually a coronation did take place on 6th July, but it was not that of Edward V, instead Londoners witnessed the coronation of Richard of Gloucester and his wife, Anne Neville. The late Earl of Warwick’s wish had finally come true; he had a daughter on the throne of England. And England had a surprising new king – Richard III.
This unexpected turn of events had personal repercussions for Cecily. Not only were her young nephews missing, presumed dead, her mother-in-law confined in sanctuary, grieving, and worried for the future of herself and her daughters but her husband, now a wanted man, was also in hiding. As if this were not enough, just a few weeks before Gloucester claimed the throne, Cecily would have received news of the murder of her stepfather, Hastings.
William Hastings, eternally loyal to Edward IV, had unsurprisingly kept his word and transferred his loyalty to his young son. This unswerving loyalty may have been what ultimately led to his death, in perhaps one of the most shocking and least understood acts that Gloucester was to commit during these few months. The events leading up to Hastings’ death took place on 13th June. Gloucester called a council meeting on that day and according to Vergil, he invited some of the nobles to a meeting at the tower, and others to a meeting at Westminster, supposedly to discuss Edward’s coronation. A seemingly unsuspecting Hastings attended the tower and the meeting began congenially. A short while into the proceedings, Gloucester allegedly requested that the Bishop of Ely who was also present, return to his garden at Holborn to pick them some of his excellent strawberries. The Bishop agreed to send for some, and Gloucester excused himself and left the room.9
Returning shortly after, his earlier amiable mood had now turned sour. Demanding of the gathered men what punishment they thought should be meted out to any who threatened his life, it is reported that Hastings replied that anyone who threatened the life of the Protector should be treated as a traitor and punished accordingly. Gloucester then declared that the traitors he spoke of were ‘the sorceress, my brother’s wife (referring to Queen Elizabeth Woodville), and Jane Shore, his mistress, with others, their associates’. Citing witchcraft, he apparently revealed his arm to the group of men, which he claimed had been withered away by sorcery. He then accused Hastings of colluding with the women and slamming his hand down upon the table, he gave a cry of treason, causing a retinue of armed men to storm into the room. Hastings was dragged from the room and out onto a patch of grass within the tower, where without judgement or trial he was beheaded.10 Three other men were also seized with him that day: Lord Stanley and the Bishops of York and Ely. The two Bishops were initially thrown into prison and Stanley was only released when his son arrived to rescue him. Later Bishop Morton, Bishop of Ely was taken to Raglan as a prisoner of the Duke of Buckingham, and the Bishop of York was put into the care of Sir James Tyrell. The very same day that this took place, Gloucester sent orders to Pontefract that the queen’s other son, Richard Grey, and her brother Anthony, should be executed.
The reason for Hastings’ murder has never been established. The best explanation is that Gloucester knew that his loyalty to Edward IV would never have allowed him to support his claim to the throne. Perhaps he did also believe (or know) that Hastings was sheltering Jane Shore and believed either one or both of them were conspiring with the queen. Gloucester and Hastings had both given tireless loyalty to Edward IV during his reign and as a result must have spent much time together. With a common cause you would expect them to be allies and even friends, but maybe a deeper rivalry had existed between them for a while, perhaps competing over the years for Edward’s attention.
After Edward’s death, Jane Shore, must have been bereft. In her role as king’s mistress, she would have wanted for nothing. With Edward’s sudden death she would have found herself alone and lonely, and in need of a protector. It is alleged that after Edward’s death Hastings took up residence in her house. From this distance of time, we can never know the facts of their relationship, but perhaps he was the honourable man that More had described him as and he purely wished to protect her. If she were Dorset’s mistress at this time, she could have been involved in transferring messages backwards and forwards to both the queen and Dorset in sanctuary. Gloucester may not have been too far from the truth about her collusion with the queen – two women who should have been natural enemies, coming together in a common cause, bound together by their love for the same men, both the late king and Dorset. The horrific news of Hastings’ murder when it reached Cecily must have been heart-breaking and Cecily would have grieved for herself and been hugely worried for her mother. Richard III has his supporters and detractors, but whatever your stance, his behaviour surrounding the death of Hastings is hard to justify.
William Hastings had written a Will on 27th June 1481. In it, he had named Katherine, his wife of over twenty years, as executor, alongside his eldest son Edward, who was around seventeen years old at the time of his father’s death, and two other gentlemen – Sir William Husee and Richard Pigotte. He began, as was the norm, by bequeathing his soul into the care of Almighty God, before stating his burial wishes. The closeness of his friendship with Edward IV is never better illustrated than by the fact that Edward had offered Hastings a burial place alongside him in the chapel of St George at Windsor. In his Will Hastings requests to be buried there ‘as his Grace had willed and offred’.11 Despite the circumstances of his death, Richard III, perhaps with a semblance of remorse, honoured his wishes and Hastings was buried near to the master he had faithfully served for twenty-two years.
As also detailed in his Will, Hastings left the care of his children to Katherine, who were all still teenagers or younger at the time of his death. He remembered his immediate family, bequeathing money to his sister and his nieces for their marriages and left provision for his daughter Anne’s marriage to his ward, George Earl of Shrewsbury as well as leaving her plate to the value of fifty marks and bedding. His elder sons were left various manors, although the eldest, Edward Hastings, would inherit the bulk of them after his mother died. To all his younger sons he also left plate and bedding ‘and other stuff convenient for them’.12
To Katherine he left several manors including Stoke Daubeny, Welberston and Sutton in Northamptonshire, the manor of Edmonton in Tottenham and of course their homeland estates of Kirby, Ashby, Bagworth and Thornton and their surrounding parkland. In his Will, written during the reign of Edward IV, he makes a poignant request to his king and good friend, in the event that he died before his king that ‘in most humble wise, beseche the king’s grace to take the governannce of my son and heir and, as straitly as to me is possible, I charge myne heir on my blessing, to be faythfull and true to the king’s grace, to my Lord Prince and their heires, &c’.13 His loyalty to his king was steadfast and sadly in the end probably proved his undoing. Cecily is not mentioned in his Will, but this is no slight on their relationship; she was already by then a married woman, with her own income and therefore well provided for.
William Hastings was laid to rest in what is now known as The Hastings chapel within St George’s chapel. His body lies in a cage chantry which stands in the fourth bay of the north choir aisle of St George’s, two bays to the west of the tomb of Edward IV.14 The origins of St George’s chapel date back to around 1350 and was begun by Edward III for his Garter Knights. The construction of the new chapel at St George’s was started by Edward IV immediately after he recovered the throne in 1471. The king had selected Windsor as his last resting place rather than the family mausoleum at Fotheringhay in Northampton-shire or Westminster Abbey where previous kings were buried. St George’s was intended to be a grand and ornate space for use by Edward both during his lifetime and after his death and from the very beginning it was intended to include several distinct chantry chapels.
As the founder and patron of the chapel, the souls of Edward IV and his queen would benefit from all the masses that were celebrated there, but in addition he still founded a separate chantry within this building devoted personally to the benefit of his soul, with two chantry priests. Unfinished as it was when Edward and Hastings were laid to rest there, it was finally completed by the Tudor monarchs during the late fifteenth and early-sixteenth centuries.
Although Gloucester honoured Hastings’ wish to be buried in the chapel, it was only under the authority of Henry VII that Katherine and their eldest son Edward finally managed to achieve the full execution of his Will in respect of the chantry foundation. Hastings’ Will provided for a chantry priest who would sing masses and pray for his soul and these were not in place until 1498, when chantry priests were receiving their full £8 salary per year. A monument was also reportedly erected by Katherine and Edward, although no surviving evidence of it exists. The foundation deed was signed by his son and is dated 30th November 1499. The deed is now held in the chapel archives.15
After her husband’s death, in what must have been a hard letter to write, but knowing she needed to safeguard herself and her family, an emotionally battered and bruised Katherine wrote to the new king. Perhaps bearing some guilt, he replied, promising to be a good Lord to the family and allowing Katherine to retain the wardship of her son, Cecily’s stepbrother Edward, who was now the new Lord Hastings. The new King had initially confiscated Hastings’ estates but in July he removed the attainder and restored the estates to Katherine, except for Loughborough, which he said belonged to Queen Anne Neville.16 One of Richard’s associates, Francis Lord Lovell, also made a claim to the manors of Ashby and Bagworth but after much contention a monetary agreement was reached. Several years later, when Henry VII took the throne, he restored full possession of all the Hastings estates to Edward Hastings.
Having successfully dispatched Hastings and taken the throne, Richard III was now intent on finding Dorset and rounding up all the remaining Woodvilles. Hearing reports of what had happened to his father-in-law, Dorset realised that sanctuary may not be enough to protect him and at some point he escaped from the abbey confines. Completely unaware of his whereabouts, the king targeted Jane Shore; he at least was under the impression that she and Dorset were or had been lovers. Suspecting Jane had been harbouring him, but unable to locate Dorset with her, she received the full extent of his anger. Jane was arrested and made to do public penance. Deemed a harlot, she was forced to walk barefoot through the streets dressed only in her kirtle and carrying a candle before being thrown into prison. Allegedly, although this punishment was designed to humiliate her, as she paraded through the streets, the people of London took pity on her and were won over by her beauty and humility.
During the next few months, Dorset remained undetected, very possibly hiding out at one of his properties in the south. On 23rd October King Richard issued a proclamation offering a reward of 1000 marks in money or 100 marks a year in land for taking Thomas ‘late marquis of Dorset’ who ‘not having the fear of God, nor the salvation of his own soul, before his eyes, had damnably debauched and defiled many maids, widows, and wives, and lived in actual adultery with the wife of Shore’.17 The news of her missing husband (if indeed she had no idea where he was) must have been upsetting to Cecily, and even more so if news of the king’s proclamation had reached her ears detailing her husband’s alleged infidelity.
Cecily and Dorset’s relationship is impossible to dissect from this distance of time. Whether they loved each other or despised each other can only ever be guessed at. They did have many children together, which suggests there was an intimacy between them and many couples who were strangers when they were married developed a close bond over time, through shared experiences; some would even be lucky enough to find love. If Dorset was licentious throughout his marriage, particularly during the reign of his stepfather, he managed to be discreet enough as other than his alleged liaison with Jane Shore, he had no other known mistresses. Whether Cecily knew if he had been unfaithful is again a question that has to remain unanswerable. He certainly had plenty of opportunity, spending time at court whilst she remained in Devon raising her children. Like many women of the age, if she did know or suspect, it was likely something she knew she just had to live with as did many other women – her mother-in-law the queen being a prime example. Elizabeth Woodville would have learned to turn a blind eye to her husband’s womanising ways and in the next century a later queen, Anne Boleyn, would be reprimanded by King Henry VIII upon complaining of his infidelity that she should ‘shut her eyes as her betters had done before her’.
Christine Pisan, in her book The Treasure of the City of Ladies, written in 1405, advises women on how to deal with their husband’s adultery. Christine was the first professional female writer in Europe and was a respected source on many things, including questions of morality. She advises that every married woman should respect their husband and live in peace with him. She points out that certainly not all men are deserving of their wives’ love. Sometimes a man may behave rudely or stray into a love affair. But if the wife cannot remedy the situation, she must put up with this and dissimulate wisely, pretending she does not notice it. Because a prudent woman knows that speaking harshly to him will gain nothing. This advice is not given to take away a woman’s pride, in fact quite the opposite. By being pleasant and kind to her husband whilst he is behaving so badly, she will secure herself a moral victory. Christine councils that if the man does not change his ways, the woman should take refuge in God and be resigned to the situation. For at some point, the husband will feel remorse at how he has treated his faithful wife and eventually she will have won her cause through steadfast enduring.18 Cecily, along with countless other women, may have followed this advice, although if Richard’s proclamation reached her ears, it may still have hurt to hear of her husband’s alleged infidelity being publicly proclaimed in this way.
As well as offering the reward for Dorset’s capture, the king also began to confiscate his property. Thankfully for Cecily, and perhaps also a relief for Dorset himself, Cecily’s inheritance could not be touched. At some point, between June and October, Dorset arrived back in Exeter, where perhaps a fraught reunion occurred between husband and wife, although after the fate of Hastings, Cecily would almost certainly have been relieved to see her husband safe and well.
Richard III had been fully supported in his taking of the throne by the Duke of Buckingham. But during the weeks after the coronation something changed dramatically. During September 1483, Richard was on progress in the north. On 24th of that month, for reasons unknown, Buckingham defected, leaving Richard and returning to his home in Brecon. Whilst there, it is thought that he was persuaded by John Morton, Bishop of Ely, to turn coat. John Morton had been an important part of Edward IV’s court and was an executor of his Will. He had been held in custody at the Duke’s home in Brecon since the infamous council meeting that led to Hastings’ death. It is thought that John Morton put the Duke in touch with Queen Elizabeth, who had not been inactive in sanctuary, but who had been plotting with Margaret Beaufort. Margaret Beaufort was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt and his mistress and later third wife. Katherine Swynford. As a descendant of Edward III, her son, Henry Tudor, had a tenuous claim to the throne, and had been in exile in France since 1471. By 1483, he was the most senior Lancastrian alive with a claim to the throne. Henry was also the grandson of Catherine of Valois, mother of Henry VI, through her second marriage to Owen Tudor.
Through messages that were smuggled from Margaret into the sanctuary precincts, some by her physician, Lewis Caerleon, and others, perhaps, by Jane Shore, Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth Woodville had formulated a plan to marry the eldest York princess, Elizabeth, who was in sanctuary with her mother, to Margaret’s son, Henry Tudor. Elizabeth Woodville, who we can only assume at this stage either knew both her sons were dead or had no idea of what had become of them, had nothing to lose but to throw in her lot with Margaret and attempt to remove her brother-in-law from the throne.
From his home in Brecon, Buckingham wrote to the exiled Henry Tudor asking him to bring an army to assist in overthrowing Richard. He then began to do the same himself, assembling men and arms at Brecon castle. By Saturday 18th October, he was ready to move, aiming to meet up with Dorset, who had raised the standard of rebellion in Exeter. But nature was to prove a valiant enemy, and in a flood of torrential rain Buckingham reached the River Severn to discover the banks had burst and had to turn back. Many of his men, who had never been that keen to fight in the first place, turned around and returned to their homes.
Having to quickly revise his plans, the Duke decided to make his way to Weobley in Herefordshire, to the home of Lord Ferrers. From Weobley, Buckingham continued to attempt to raise an army, but the men of Herefordshire would not rise, hearing reports that the king and his army were on their way. By this time, Buckingham was a wanted man with a reward on his head. His castle in Wales had been raided and seized by members of the Vaughan family, loyal to the king, who looted the castle and took his daughters into their custody. Realising he was in trouble he disguised his eldest son, who had travelled with him, as a girl and had him smuggled away by loyal retainers. Buckingham and his wife Katherine then went into hiding in Shropshire in the house of a servant, Ralph Bannister. But Bannister sold them out and on 1st November the Duke was captured and taken to the king at Salisbury, where the following day he was beheaded in the marketplace, without trial. Katherine and her younger son were taken to London into custody.
Elizabeth Woodville’s brothers, Lionel and Richard Woodville had also aligned themselves with the rebels alongside Thomas St Leger, Anne of York’s second husband, who took up arms against his brother-in-law the king. Unaware of Buckingham’s capture and subsequent death, rebels at Bodmin declared Henry Tudor king. Henry Tudor had set sail from France as requested, but as he neared the English coast, he sensed luck was not on his side and his small fleet turned and sailed back to Brittany. Dorset, hearing the news of Buckingham’s fate and Henry Tudor’s retreat, realised he himself had little choice but to flee the country himself and he crossed the channel to join Henry and his men.
The rebellion had failed. Richard III would remain on the throne of England for the next two years whilst the Tudor camp regrouped on French shores, planning their next move. During this time, it is highly likely that Cecily lived quietly in Devon raising her family. She may also have travelled to spend some time with her mother and comfort her in her grief. Her relationship with her mother-in-law is unknown, but perhaps she also communicated with her during these months, perhaps discreetly sharing news with each other of Dorset in France.
On 1st March 1484, a few months after Dorset had fled the country, Elizabeth Woodville and her daughters left the sanctuary confines after she struck an agreement with Richard III that her girls would come to no harm. Initially the girls were released into the care of the king and queen, probably entering the household of Queen Anne Neville at Westminster, the only place suitable for young unmarried girls at court. When Elizabeth Woodville left the abbey precincts a short time later, she was entrusted into the keeping of Sir John Nesfield, and housed at one of his properties, most likely at Hertford Castle or Heytesbury manor. Her daughters most likely joined her there when not at court. The fate of her sons, the two princes, has never been established nor is it known whether Elizabeth Woodville knew or ever found out what happened to her two boys.
Although the initial struggles had been fought and Richard had seemingly emerged the victor, the plans for Henry Tudor to come to England were merely delayed. But in an unexplained turn of events, in 1485 Elizabeth Woodville wrote to her son, Dorset, urging him to leave Henry Tudor and return home where he would be well received by the king. Richard Woodville, another of the rebels, had been pardoned by Richard III on 30th March of that year. Why this letter was sent is a puzzle. Dorset, seemingly decided to take his mother’s advice, and slipped away from Henry Tudor’s camp under the cover of darkness. Concerned that he knew too many of their secrets, Henry dispatched a gentleman named Humphrey Cheyne to chase after him and bring him back. Dorset was found quite easily and Melita Thomas, the author of The House of Grey suggests that perhaps that was the intention – to give the impression to the king that he was returning but never actually intending to succeed in his desertion. So whichever way the tide turned, Dorset could claim that he was on that side. Dorset returned to camp and remained with the rebels until finally, after many months of planning, Henry Tudor once again set sail for England, landing in Milford Haven on 7th August 1485. Not being able to raise enough money to equip his army, Tudor borrowed heavily from the Captain of the Bastille, Philippe Luillier. In return for the loan, he was obliged to pledge all his personal belongings and as Edward IV did during his French campaign, he was also required to leave behind two men as a pledge that he would keep his word and repay his debts. The two men left behind on French shores were Sir John Bourchier and the Marquis of Dorset. Henry Tudor also had to agree to pay for their upkeep at the Bastille during their time there. Both men, as Knights of the Garter, also provided their own letters of assurances.
Richard III, aware that Henry Tudor was now in England and ready to challenge him for the throne, gathered his army and made his way to meet him. The two armies finally met on Bosworth field on 22nd August 1485. Ever a good soldier, even Richard’s detractors agree that he fought bravely, but it was not enough. The king was defeated, and his body was thrown naked upon a horse and taken to buried at the Grey Friars in Leicester, a Franciscan priory, where his remains were discovered nearly three hundred years later in 2012 in the fascinating archaeological dig that found the remains of ‘the king in the car park’.
Heading straight to London after his victory, Henry Tudor was crowned king of England on 30th October 1485. Dorset and Bourchier who had been left behind in France returned to England’s shores, arriving back sometime before Christmas, although not in time for the king’s coronation. England could once again hope for a period of stability. Richard, Duke of Gloucester and then King Richard III, had played a huge part in the lives of many, first as a loyal brother to King Edward, then as a usurper of the throne. His defeat, celebrated as it was by many, must have been bittersweet to others, reflecting on the surprising events of the last few years. But for Cecily and her family, they could now get on and look forward to the rest of their lives. Cecily had her husband back safe and sound and the Tudor era had begun.