Princes in the Tower (10 page)

On that same day Edward IV's body was taken to Westminster Abbey for the commencement of his funeral ceremonies, the chief mourner being his sister's son, the young Earl of Lincoln. Three days later the late King's body was buried, as he had directed in his original will, in St George's Chapel, Windsor. Gloucester, at Middleham, learned of his brother's death from Hastings' messenger, who probably arrived around 16th/17th April at the latest. The news provoked in the Duke not only grief but also alarm, for he perceived at once that if he did not act urgently and decisively he would be ousted from power by the Wydvilles. His very life might even be in danger, bearing in mind the recent precedent for eliminating a royal duke, and the Wydvilles had shown themselves to be ruthless in the past; certainly Gloucester held them responsible for his brother's execution.

The Duke was also aware that his office of protector-designate would lapse with the coronation, and that the Wydvilles were arranging an early crowning with precisely this in mind. Gloucester could foresee a Wydville-dominated Council ruling through an acquiescent king who, as his mother's son, would be no friend to himself. Nor, if this happened, was it likely that the Duke would be allowed to retain his power and vast lands in the North, for the Wydvilles could only view that as a threat to themselves. Everything that Gloucester held dear was at stake. In fact he had no choice but to act to bring about the overthrow of the Wydvilles and seize the reins of government himself. More and other later writers did not believe that the Duke stood in any real danger at this time, but the weight of contemporary circumstantial evidence indicates strongly that the Wydvilles posed a very real threat to him and that he believed his political and personal survival were both in jeopardy.

Gloucester began planning his coup immediately. Hastings had warned that the key to success was gaining control of the King's person, the Wydvilles' most important political asset, and the Duke recognised the good sense in this. Careful planning was essential to ensure a successful outcome, and sound support was vital. The Duke wasted no time and sent secret messages to Buckingham, Hastings and others, warning them they would be in danger if 'our well-preserved ill-willers' were allowed to remain in control of the King and the government, and asked for their help. He also wrote to many northern lords who could be counted upon to offer loyal support, and commanded them to rendezvous with him at York around 20th April.

To outward appearances, what Gloucester was planning was the political elimination of the Wydvilles. Yet Mancini believed that from the moment he learned of Edward IV's death, Gloucester was plotting to take the throne for himself, and Croyland was of the opinion that such a plot was hatched in the North at this time. Vergil agreed with Mancini, stating he had learned that 'Richard began to be kindled with an ardent desire for sovereignty' immediately he heard that his brother was dead, while More went so far as to assert that he had had designs on the throne even before that event, which is hardly likely as no-one expected Edward IV to die so young while his heir was still a minor.

It was vital that, whatever he was really planning, Gloucester led the Queen and the Council to believe that his intentions were honourable and posed no threat to themselves. Croyland states he immediately wrote 'the most pleasant letter to console the Queen; he promised to come and offer submission, fealty and all that was due from him to his lord and king, Edward V. Mancini, corroborating this, adds that he said he was willing to take on the office of protector entrusted to him by his brother. Vergil observes wryly that the Duke's 'loving' letters to the Queen promised her 'seas and mountains'.

Gloucester next sent a formal letter to the Council, saying -- according to Mancini -- that 'he had been loyal to his brother Edward, and would be, if only permitted, loyal to his brother's son and to all his brother's issues, even female, if perchance, which God forbid, the youth should die. He would expose his life to every danger that the children might endure in their father's realm. He asked the councillors to take his desserts into consideration when disposing of the government, to which he was entitled by law and his brother's ordinance, and he reminded them that nothing contrary to law and his brother's desire could be decreed without harm.' In fact, Edward IV had had no legal right to name Gloucester as protector; a dead king's wishes held no force in law. In 1422 both Parliament and Council had rejected the late Henry V's choice of Humphrey of Gloucester as protector during Henry VI's minority, on the grounds that the King's will had been made 'without the assent of the three estates'. Only the Council and Parliament had the right to decide who should govern the realm during a royal minority.

If Gloucester was aware of such legal niceties, he had no time for them. He left Middleham for York around 20th April on the first stage of his journey south. With him were 300 gentlemen of the North, all wearing deepest black like the Duke. It was a sizeable but not an alarming retinue. The plan was that the Duke would intercept Lord Rivers and the King on their journey to the capital.

Gloucester arrived in York around 21st April. He came, says Croyland, 'all dressed in mourning, and held a solemn funeral ceremony for the King, full of tears. He bound by oath all the nobility of those parts in fealty to the King's son; he himself swore first of all.'

Buckingham had learned of the death of Edward IV around 14th April, when he was on his estates at Brecon on the Welsh Marches. A week later he received Gloucester's letter, in which the Duke, says Mancini, complained 'of the insult done to him by the ignoble family of the Queen. Buckingham, since he was of the highest nobility, was disposed to sympathise, because he had his own reason for detesting the Queen's kin.' It was his burning desire to see the Wydvilles crushed, and his hope that once in power Gloucester would grant him the position he had hitherto been denied and hand over the Bohun inheritance, that made Buckingham decide, more or less immediately, to ally himself with the Duke, even if it did mean pitching his fortunes in with those of the House of York.

More says that Buckingham sent his most trusted agent, a man called Humphrey Persivall, to carry the Duke's pledge of support to Gloucester and tell him that Buckingham was ready to march with 'a thousand good fellows, if need be', because he agreed with Hastings that securing the person of the King was the most effective way of executing a coup against the Wydvilles. According to More, Persivall saw Richard at York, but this cannot have been so because Buckingham could not have received Gloucester's letter until 21st April at the earliest and even if he had despatched Persivall that same day, it would have taken the man at least four days to ride from Brecon to York. York Civic Records confirm that Richard had left York for Nottingham by 23rd April. More says that Persivall went back to Brecon and then rode to Nottingham for a second interview with Gloucester, but it is clear that there could only have been one meeting between the Duke and the agent due to the speed of events and that it must have taken place at Nottingham. Buckingham, his decision made, instructed Persivall to inform Gloucester that he would rendezvous with him at Northampton. Then, after Persivall had gone, his master spent a few days gathering together an escort of 300 men and preparing for the journey before setting out from Brecon by 26th April at the latest.

In London, meanwhile, according to Mancini, 'on completion of the royal obsequies, and while many peers of the realm were collecting in the City, a Council assembled', summoned by the Queen and Dorset in the King's name. This was a lawful assembly of the magnates, summoned in accordance with the precedent of the previous minority, on the basis that there had to be some form of administration until Edward V was crowned and that the late King's councillors were best suited to assume the mantle of royal authority in the interim. Tradition decreed that this Council should meet regularly at Westminster until the coronation, when its powers would lapse and Parliament could decide on which form of government would be best. Nevertheless, many were uneasy about its convening, and were not reassured when Dorset commanded its members to gather in the Queen's presence as if she were already regent. In fact Dorset had already incurred the anger and resentment of several councillors by issuing orders himself in the name of Edward V, signing them 'Brother Uterine to the King'.

The Council met around 20th April and sat for several days. Croyland states that 'the most urgent desire of all present was that the Prince should succeed his father in all his glory'. Dorset opened proceedings by urging that the King be crowned as planned on 4th May, but some councillors raised objections, guessing the motive for such haste, and Mancini says there were those, foremost amongst them Hastings, who 'said that everything ought not thus to be hurried through; rather they should await the young King's uncle'. To this Dorset 'is said to have replied, "We are so important that even without the King's uncle we can make and enforce our decisions."' This arrogant remark provoked a heated debate over who should govern the country which lasted for several days.

'The problem of government during the royal minority,' observes Mancini, 'was referred to the consideration of the barons.' The Wydville party believed they had the Council in their pocket, but with the majority of its members recently arrived in London it soon became obvious that they did not after all have a sufficiently large majority to persuade the councillors to invest the regency in themselves. There is no evidence that the Queen herself wished to be regent; either Dorset or Rivers would have been an obvious choice. Yet even thus curbed, the Wydvilles were still a political force to be reckoned with. But they had many enemies opposing them, above all Hastings, who had insulted them in the council chamber by insisting that the base blood of the Queen's kindred unfitted them for the task of governing the realm. Already, not a fortnight after the King's death, there were rumours in the land that the Wydvilles were plotting to seize power, which only further inflamed the people's hatred towards them. The Council were aware of this, and Croyland states that 'The more prudent members were of the opinion that the guardianship of so youthful a person [as the King] ought to be utterly forbidden to his uncles and brothers of the mother's side.'

Further debate ensued and then, says Mancini, 'two opinions were propounded'. Hastings proposed that the Duke of Gloucester should govern 'because Edward, in his will, had so directed, and because by law [sic] the government ought to devolve upon him'. The Council considered this, discussing what powers Gloucester might enjoy as protector, a subject on which opinions were divided. Dorset envisaged Gloucester as a figurehead presiding over the Council, but other councillors argued that the King's will had conferred upon him sovereign power. If he were to be appointed protector now he would expect to have his powers extended beyond the coronation, until the King gained his majority. This might not, however, be for very long, for Edward IV had only intended the Council of the Marches to act on his son's behalf until the boy reached fourteen. Henry VI had declared himself of age at sixteen, but there were no set rules as to when a minor achieved majority, and it is probable that Edward IV confidently expected his son to attain his on his fourteenth birthday in November 1484, eighteen months hence.

The Wydvilles did not want Gloucester exercising sovereign power as protector, even for this short time, and made a second proposal. Mancini states that this 'was that the government should be carried on by many persons, among whom the Duke, far from being excluded, should be accounted the chief. By this means the Duke would be given due honour and the royal authority greater security, because it had been found that no regent ever laid down his office save reluctantly and from armed compulsion, whence civil wars had often arisen. Moreover, if the entire form were committed to one man, he might easily usurp the sovereignty. All who favoured the Queen's family voted for this proposal, as they were afraid that if Richard took unto himself the crown, or even governed alone, they, who bore the blame for Clarence's death, would suffer death or at least be ejected from their high estate.' The Wydvilles obviously feared Gloucester as much as he feared them: already it had occurred to them that he might try to usurp the throne. Contemporary writers recognised that both factions based their policies on fear of what would happen to themselves if the other party achieved power.

Whilst the Council was debating these two proposals, Gloucester's letters arrived. That to the Council was publicly circulated by his supporters, on his instructions. Mancini says, 'This letter had a great effect on the minds of the people who, as they had previously favoured the Duke in their hearts from a belief in his probity, now began to support him openly and aloud, so that it was commonly said by all that the Duke deserved the government. However, the Council voted in a majority for the alternative policy, and they fixed a day for the coronation,' 4th May. Mancini was of the opinion that by not naming Gloucester protector the Council was deliberately flouting Edward IV's wishes, but in actual fact it had acted with wisdom and moderation, curbing the ambitions of the Wydvilles whilst according Gloucester, not supreme power, but the leadership of the Council and a say in the government.

Finally, Dorset reminded the councillors that a state of war existed between England and France, and that the country should be defended from any invasion. As a result, Sir Edward Wydville was appointed Admiral of the Fleet with responsibility for assembling a navy and recruiting men, a task he began carrying out straight away, making sure that his chief officers were Wydville supporters. On 29th April he put to sea, his ostensible purpose being to move against French and Breton pirates in the English Channel.

At Ludlow, Earl Rivers had assembled the King's escort, and on 23rd April, according to Rous, 'the accustomed service of the Knights of the Garter was solemnly celebrated, concluding with a splendid banquet'. The next day, Edward V, Rivers, the King's tutor Bishop Alcock, his faithful servant Vaughan, and his relative Sir Richard Haute, set out with a 'sober company' of 2,000 men, travelling along Watling Street, the old Roman road.