Henry Stafford, second duke of Buckingham, was executed in Salisbury on Sunday, 2 Nov. 1483.  Initially, he had been Richard of Gloucester most trusted ally in the summer of 1483.  It was probably Bishop John Morton, who was Buckingham’s prisoner at Brecon who persuaded him to become involved in the uprising against Richard III.  His part in the rebellion was spectacularly unsuccessful due to atrocious rain, the flooding of the rivers and large-scale desertion of his followers.  He was betrayed and executed without trial.  In a letter of 12 Oct. 1483, which Richard III dictated to his chancellor, Bishop John Russell, he refers to Buckingham as “the most untrue creature living”

Read more:  http://www.r3.org/on-line-library-text-essays/back-to-basics-for-newcomers/henry-stafford-second-duke-of-buckingham/

Tags: Buckingham, Richard III

Edward IV flees to Burgundy, after the rebels under Earl of Warwick, who had by then sided with his former enemy Margaret of Anjou, invaded England with the help of French troops to restore Henry VI.  Edward was accompanied by his brother-in-law Anthony, Earl Rivers, and William Lord Hastings.  It seems his brother Richard (later Richard III) followed later after trying to gather to support for Edward in England.

Tags: Edward IV, Nevilles, Richard III

Death of William Hobbes, royal physician to Richard III.   Hobbes had a long career in the service of the House of York, first to Richard, duke of York, then to his sons Edward IV and Richard III.

He obviously remained proud of this service, even after Henry Tudor claimed the throne, as he asked for the following inscription on his tombstone:

Here lies William Hobbys, formerly physician and surgeon of the most illustrious duke of York, and his sons the most illustrious kings Edward IV and Richard III, whose souls may God protect, amen.

He was buried in Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate, London.

Reference:

ODNB on  ‘Hobbes, William (d. 1488)’

His will can be found in:  Calendar of Wills Proved and Enrolled in the Court of Hustings, London, A.D. 1258-A.D. 1688, Volume 2, ed.by Reginald R Sharpe,  London, 1890, pp.590-591

Tags: Contemporaries, Richard III

Enthronement of George Neville (brother of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, ‘The Kingmaker’) to the Archbishopric of York.  Around that time  Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III), began his time as page with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (‘The Kingmaker), at Middleham.  It is assumed that he stayed with Richard Neville until January 1469.

Tags: Nevilles, Richard III

York Minster (D. Preis)

Investiture of Richard III’s son Edward as prince of Wales.  After a solemn mass in York Minster, conducted by the Bishop of Durham, William Dudley, the royal family processed through the streets of York to the archbishop’s palace, where Edward was invested.

Reference:

A. J. Pollard, ‘Edward , prince of Wales (1474×6–1484)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.  [accessed online 20 Jan. 2011]

Tags: Anne Neville, Richard III

Treaty of Picquigny between Louis XI of France and Edward IV, Edward IV and many of his nobles were paid a ‘pension’ to return to England and not to take up arms against France again in his claim to the French throne.  Richard Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) is said to have opposed the treaty and refused the pension.

Tags: Edward IV, France, Richard III

Richard III was buried in the choir of the church of the Grey Friars in Leicester. Polydore Vergil states that the burial was “without any pompe or solemn funeral”. This is often – mistakenly – seen to indicate that there were no religious rites. However, as John Ashdown-Hill explains, “solemnity” in the religious context refers to certain aspects of a service, which were not essential. It basically means that the service was a private ceremony by the friars, especially as a choir of their church would not have been open to the public.

To the day 527 years later, on 25 August 2012, on the first day of the archaeological dig in Leicester to find out where the church of the Grey Friars actually had been and hopefully to find Richard’s remains, parts of a human leg bone were unearthed. These were later identified as being part of the remains of Richard III.

Sources:

John Ashdown Hill, The Last Days of Richard III. The History Press, 2010, pp.91-96

Mathew Morris & Richard Buckley, Richard III:  The King under the Car Park.  University of Leicester Archaeological Services, 2013, pp.22 + 36-45

Mike Pitts, Digging for Richard: How Archaeology Found the King. Thames & Hudson, 2014, pp.99-105

Dorothea Preis

Tags: Church, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Richard III

Richard III’s son Edward is created prince of Wales.

Source: ODNB on Edward, prince of Wales

Tags: Richard III

Remember before God

Richard III

King of England

and those who fell at Bosworth Field

having kept faith.

22 August 1485

Loyaulte me lie.

(Text:  Richard III memorial plaque in the Church of St James, Sutton Cheney

Illustration on the left:  King Richard III,  © Andrew Jamieson, http://www.jamiesongallery.com/ (used with permission)

On the right:  The Church of St James, Sutton Cheney, where the Richard III Society commemorates King Richard III in its annual memorial service in August. It is said that Richard III heard his last Mass at this church.)

Tags: Battles, Bosworth, Henry Tudor, Richard III