The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA (11 page)

As for the details which Richard published of Henry ‘Tudor''s illegitimate descent, this accords well with his recorded actions on other key occasions. In 1483, for example, faced suddenly and unexpectedly with Bishop Stillington's revelation of Edward IV's marriage to Eleanor Talbot (in consequence of which Edward's Woodville marriage was bigamous, and the children of it bastards), Richard's immediate reaction was to bring all the evidence out into the open and make it publicly accessible, so that people could see and judge for themselves. It was not, apparently, in Richard's nature to ‘hush things up'. In the same way, he now set out the facts of the very dubious royal descent of Henry ‘Tudor', no doubt in the conviction that these would speak for themselves. Obviously, Henry ‘Tudor''s false claim to be a younger son of Henry VI was well known in English court circles to be ridiculous, and could not be left unchallenged. Richard was an honest man, but perhaps politically somewhat naive. He seems not to have realised that not everyone was as concerned as he was that the sovereign's claim to the throne should be unimpeachable.

On Wednesday 22 June instructions were sent out to the commissioners of array for every county in the realm:

For asmoche as certain informacion is made unto us that oure Rebelles and traytors associate with oure auncyent ennemyes of Fraunce and other straungiers entende hastely to invade this oure Royaulme purposing the distruccion of us, the subversion of this oure Royaulme and disheriting of al oure true subgiettes We therefore wol and straitly commaunde you that in alle haste possible after the Receipt hereof ye doo put oure Commission heretofore directed unto you for the mustering and ordering of oure subgiettes in new execucion according to oure instruccions whiche we sende unto you at this tyme with thise oure lettres. And that this be doon with alle diligence. As ye tender oure suertie the wele of youre self and of alle this oure Royaulme.
¹²

The specific instructions appended to this letter were that the commissioners of array should first pass on to the king's subjects his thanks for their past services in resisting traitors and rebels, urging them to renew their efforts now. Second, they were to check that all men already mustered were properly equipped, and that their wages had been paid up to date. Third, they were to notify all knights, esquires and gentlemen to appear in person at the king's array, assigning each of them to the command of suitable captains. Fourth, all men were to be warned to be ready to serve the king at an hour's notice, and last, all lords, noblemen and captains likewise were commanded to present themselves, ready to serve the king, and setting aside any private quarrels.

Despite this last injunction, on or about Friday 24 June Richard's Chamberlain, and Constable of England, Thomas, Lord Stanley requested leave of absence from the court and from attendance upon his sovereign. In May, Lord Stanley had ridden out of London to Windsor Castle at Richard's side, and he had been in continuous attendance on the king throughout the following weeks. Nevertheless, his overall record was equivocal. At various times during the succession disputes, Stanley had supported both York and Lancaster. Although, in the immediate aftermath of Edward IV's death, he seems to have sided with Lords Howard and Hastings, supporting Richard as Lord Protector and opposing the ambitions of the Woodville family, like Lord Hastings he seems to have baulked at the notion of disinheriting Edward IV's children.
¹³
When Hastings was executed, Stanley had briefly been imprisoned. His already somewhat equivocal loyalty was unquestionably further complicated by the fact that he had married as his second wife Lady Margaret Beaufort. As a result of this marriage he had become the exiled Henry ‘Tudor''s stepfather. Despite all this, Richard III had been willing to employ him, and to entrust him with responsible posts in his household and government. Now, however, Stanley asked ‘leave to retire for a time to his estates, from which he had been long absent, in order to rest and refresh himself. Should the invasion occur during this interval, he was quick to point out, he would be the better able, at home, to rally his men to the king's cause.'
¹⁴

It is surely a measure of Richard III's character that, instead of refusing, dismissing Stanley from his posts, or imprisoning him as a suspected traitor, he simply acceded to the request. Ironically (given the popular picture which has been painted of him since the sixteenth century), one key feature of Richard's character was apparently a
lack
of ruthlessness. Time and again his behaviour proved too kind, too generous, too trusting. Thus Bishop John Morton and others survived to betray him. And now, in the penultimate week of June 1485, Richard repeated his mistake, and allowed Lord Stanley to depart. The king was in the strongly fortified castle of Nottingham, surrounded by his yeomen. ‘He had but to move his hand and, whatever course the house of Stanley might take, the enigma of Lord Stanley himself would be solved by simply holding him in custody until the invasion had been mastered. No doubt John Kendall, Ratcliffe, Catesby, when they learned of Stanley's desire, begged him [Richard] to refuse it.'
¹⁵
Yet Richard III granted Lord Stanley his leave of absence, and Stanley rode off into the west.

On Richard III's previous visit to Nottingham Castle, the year before, he had been accompanied by his wife. And although their son, Edward of Middleham, had not been with them in Nottingham, the boy had still been alive at the time of the royal couple's arrival there. By contrast, on his visit in 1485 Richard III was alone as far as his immediate family was concerned, even though he had trusted friends and supporters with him. Possibly one of his distractions at this time was music: an art in which the king had a great interest. In 1484 a foreign visitor to Richard's court had been most impressed by the quality of the music at the royal mass.
¹⁶
It is also on record that:

as king Richard issued a warrant to one of the gentlemen of his chapel ‘to seize for the king all singing men as he can find in all the palaces, cathedrals, colleges, chapels, houses of religion and all other places except Windsor royal chapel', and some of his musicians were identifiable composers.
¹⁷

Like many of the aristocracy Richard employed his own performers, and in the years before he ascended the throne we find mention of his trumpeters, his minstrels, and his shawm players.
¹⁸
The shawm was a robust and lively instrument from which the rather more genteel modern oboe and clarinet are descended. As Duke of Gloucester, Richard also had his own ‘players', and there were more than four of these in his troupe.
¹⁹
The players in question were probably actors rather than musicians, though the English word could have either meaning.
²⁰
We know that within a year of Richard's death, Henry VII was maintaining a company of four actors who were called
lusores regis
(‘the King's Players'), and there is no reason to suppose that this was an innovation at court. ‘Since these men were specialists in the presentation of stage-plays they needed both a repertoire of scripted plays and certain minimum physical conveniences for their performance.'
²¹
Although medieval plays are best known today from religious contexts, this is largely an accident due to the survival of texts of miracle and mystery plays. Secular dramas certainly existed too, though little trace of them has survived.
²²

During his stay at Nottingham Castle, Richard III also had time to remember his interest in the University of Cambridge, and specifically in Queens' College, which he and Queen Anne had already conspicuously patronised. In July 1485 the king granted to the president of the college – his friend, Master Andrew Dockett – a selection of lands in Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Berkshire, the combined value of which, in terms of yearly income, amounted to £329
3s.
8d.
²³

Yet even amongst his varied interests and activities in the summer of 1485, Richard could not completely forget the threat posed by Henry ‘Tudor', the self-styled ‘earl of Richmond', whose French-financed expedition was now poised at Harfleur for the invasion of England. On Sunday 24 July the king sent to his Chancellor in London asking for the Great Seal. It was not that Bishop Russell was being dismissed from his post, merely that the king was aware he might need rapid personal access to the seal during the coming days and weeks. It was on Friday 29 July, at the Old Temple, that Chancellor Russell surrendered this solemn object into the hands of the royal messenger. Two days later, across the Channel in Harfleur, Henry ‘Tudor' embarked his expedition and set sail. He landed at Milford Haven in Wales a week later (Sunday 7 August). His first intention was said to be to make straight for London. It took just four days for the news of his landing to be brought to the king at Nottingham. Richard III at once summoned his array. The king was seen to be publicly rejoicing at the news of ‘Tudor''s landing, since he fully expected to defeat him.
²⁴

He then did something which may now, in retrospect, seem quite extraordinary, but which nevertheless tells us a great deal about his mood at the time, and which also speaks volumes as to his opinion of the ‘Tudor' invasion force. Having summoned his array, the king left Nottingham Castle with some of his close friends. This little company then rode a few miles into nearby Sherwood Forest.
²⁵
There, at the royal hunting lodge in the deer park of Bestwood, the king planned to give himself a short holiday.
²⁶
Most previous writers have painted a dramatic picture of a Richard III obsessively preoccupied at this time by pessimistic thoughts of the coming fight for the throne. Yet, as we have seen already, contemporary sources contradict this, telling us that Richard rejoiced at Henry ‘Tudor''s coming because he was confident that he would defeat him. The medieval nobility certainly considered hunting a very suitable preparation for war, but Richard III's hunting holiday also appears to confirm that at this juncture the king felt optimistic and completely in control of the situation.

6
Bucks at Bestwood

While the queen had lain dying at the Palace of Westminster, and also in the miserable period following her death, King Richard had sought some small distraction from his grief in making plans for the traditional royal sport of hunting.
¹
As has already been indicated, on 8 March a commission was issued to John Montyguy [Montigue?], Sergeant of the Hawkes, to purchase ‘at price reasonable in any place within this Royaulme fawcons, laverettes, goshaukes, tircelles and almaner othere haukes as by him shalbe thoughte convenient for the kinges disportes'.
²
On 11 March a similar commission was given to John Gaynes, who was to travel abroad with four companions in quest of more hawks for the king.
³
On 27 March Waltier Bothnam [sic] was charged with the same commission in respect of Wales and the Marches.
⁴

Hawking was a costly sport of middle-eastern origin, restricted to the elite by the expense involved. It was certainly indulged in by the upper ranks of fifteenth-century society, and evidence of expenditure on hawking is to be found in the surviving accounts of Richard III's great friend and supporter, John Howard, Duke of Norfolk.
⁵
The birds of prey used for this purpose were of various kinds, ranging from the large peregrine falcon, used by men, to the little merlin, a lady's hawk.
⁶
Hawks were highly prized,
⁷
and their prey was very varied, including larger birds: mallard, partridge, woodcock, heron; and small song-birds such as blackbirds, starling and larks. Hare were also hunted in this way. However, one wonders whether, in the short time left to him, King Richard ever had the opportunity to enjoy riding out with any of his newly acquired birds to try out their prowess in the field. Training a hawk was a long and slow process, and even if the commissions of March 1485 did succeed in producing new stock for the royal mews, the hawks may not have been ready for the king's use before he was obliged to take the field for another purpose entirely.