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

Ludford Bridge (© Mr M Evison and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence)

Battle of Ludford Bridge/Ludlow, Shropshire, won by the Lancastrians.

Warwick’s re-inforcements from the garrison of Calais under Andrew Trollope defected to the Lancastrians.  The Yorkist leaders fled, York and Rutland to Ireland, and Edward, Earl of March (York’s eldest son), Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, and his son Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, to Calais.  After the battle Cecily, Duchess of York, and her three youngest children George, Margaret and Richard, were taken prisoner by the Lancastrians and placed into the care of Cecily’s older sister Anne, Duchess of Buckingham.

A short description of the various battles of the Wars of the Roses can be found on the website of the Richard III Society.

Tags: Battles, Edward IV, Family, Henry VI, Richard III

Richard III hears of an uprising in Kent, followed the next day with the news that Henry Stafford, second duke of Buckingham, had turned against him.  Buckingham’s rebellion mainly failed due to lack of support for him and bad weather.

Reference:

4. S. L. Davies, ‘Stafford, Henry, second duke of Buckingham (1455–1483)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. [accessed online 3 Feb. 2011]

Tags: Buckingham, Richard III

Happy Birthday, Richard!

Fotheringhay Castle (photo by Smb1001, via Wikimedia Commons)

Richard, the youngest surviving child of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, was born at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire, on 2 October 1452.  He would ascend the throne in 1483 as Richard III.

Tags: 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