Category: July

The Cat, The Rat and the Dog

21/7/2020

It was in the July of 1484 that William Collingbourne, a Wiltshire landowner penned the infamous rhyme 'The Catte, the Ratte and Lovell our dogge rulyth all Englande under a hogge' with the aim of insulting the newly crowned Richard III.

Collingbourne had held a number of positions in local government in his home county of Wiltshire during the reign of Edward IV and had been in the pay of Cecily Neville but had been replaced. Although the reasons for writing the poem are unclear, its probable that its roots lay in resentment and plain old jealously!

However, by making his feelings very clear in his poem he did achieve the result he hoped for, I wonder though, did he think that he'd get away with offending a king? He didn't. Collingbourne was arrested, tried and sentenced within four months. He was executed at Tower Hill by hanging, drawing and quartering by the end of the year.

William Collingbourne didn't go to the scaffold because of his poetry alone, it was the choices he made in the summer of 1483 and his support of Henry Tudor's invasion and corresponding with him when he was in exile.

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Anne Beauchamp

13/7/2020

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On this day in 1426, the birth of Anne Beauchamp, daughter of Richard Beauchamp and Isabel Despenser.

Following the death of her father in 1439, her brother Henry in 1446 and her niece in 1448, Anne became a very wealthy heiress.

In 1434, Anne was betrothed to Richard Neville, later the Earl of Warwick, their marriage would bring together the lands of his father, along with a major proportion of the Montague inheritance via his mother. The death of Richard at Barnet in 1471, Anne's parents estates, the Beauchamp and Despenser along with their fathers estates fell to their two daughters, Isabel and Anne, the wives of George, Duke of Clarence and Richard, Duke of Gloucester respectively.

For many being an heiress was not a passport to happiness, Anne was ignored in her lifetime, she watched as her daughters fought over their inheritance each making their claim in respect of their husbands. Even in old age Anne was forced to give up much of her fortune for a few scraps Henry VII threw her way.

Anne died in 1492, who for what ever reason, didn't make herself heard in life, and in death she was destined to be a woman history has all but forgotten.

Anne can be seen here, the second figure on the left.

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Battle of Edgecote

25/7/2019

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On the 26th July in 1469, the Battle of Edgecote took place on Danes Moor in Northamptonshire at a crossing of a tributary of the River Cherwell between a royal army and well-supported rebels from the north of England.

Despite his victory at Towton in 1461, Edward IV was still concerned with Lancastrian plots, however, he had not understood the gravity of his betrayal of Richard, Earl of Warwick and how much he wished to be avenged. By 1468 Edward's popularity in England was reduced and this gave Warwick his opportunity to take back control of England.

Rebellion in the north began in the spring of 1469, it gathered under the banner of a man going by the name of Robin of Holderness. Another man going by the name of Robin, whose true identity has never been identified only suspected, appeared again in the summer of 1469, he was known as Robin of Redesdale (he would later appear again, under this guise at the Battle of Luscote Field in the March of the following year.) Pulling the strings, or at least stirring the pot was Richard Neville and the sly old fox was clever enough not to be seen to be involved in any plotting of the downfall of the House of York.

Edward was at Newark in Nottinghamshire when he heard of the Redesdale rebellion and by the night of the 25th July, the forces of the king under the command of William Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke and Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon and a rebel army under the aforementioned Robin of Redesdale arrived at a moor not too far from Banbury in Oxfordshire. The battle began on the morning of the following day took place on the east side of the River Cherwell, but the exact battleground has never been identified. This battle has been written about by two chroniclers, Jean de Wavrin and John Warkworth both were living and writing at the time of these events. Both note that the royal army was in trouble from the start, an argument in the ranks took place at some point before the fighting took place, but they disagree as to the reason, whatever went on the Earl of Devon withdrew his troops.

In the first part of the battle, the royal forces were successful but with the arrival of the army of Richard Neville, the Battle of Edgecote went the way of the rebels.

This battle saw the executions of a number of high ranking members of the Yorkist party and the king himself captured and placed under arrest. Robin of Redesdale, as we have seen, (may) have lived to fight another day.

With the Earl of Warwick now in control the question should be asked could he run the country?

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Death of William Herbert.

26/7/2016

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Lewys Glyn Cothi a 15th-century Welsh poet wrote the following lines

The mightiest of Christendom,
And through a fault it was lost:
At Banbury the vengeance was exacted
Upon fair Wales, and the great fine.
There was heard all at once
Crying of battle between great spears.

He was referring to the deaths of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and his brother Richard who were executed following the Battle of Edgcote in 1469. Of the Herbert brothers death Guto'r Glyn, another Welsh poet wrote

"I was killed, I and my nation too."
The moment that this Earl was killed"

According to Guto'r Glyn's poem the battle took place on Monday 24th July, however 'history' claims the date as the 26th July 1469 the the Battle of Edgcote took place in Northamptonshire between the royal army of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and northern rebels under one Robin of Redesdale. History tells us that Pembroke’s army was weak due to the Earl of Devon withdrawing his troops taking the majority of the archers with him. This action culminated in a victory for the rebels.

On the day that followed the battle William Herbert was summary executed at Northampton on the order of the Earl of Warwick who was there to watch. His body was taken for burial at Tintern Abbey. In his will Herbert instructed his widow Anne, to betroth their daughter Maud to Henry Tudor, but this was not to be, Tudors mother would have other plans for him. However, William's son also William, did marry into the royal family (of sorts) his second wife was Kathrine, the illegitimate daughter of Richard III, he had been married to the sister of Elizabeth Woodville previous to that. Maud, went on to marry Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland.

With regard to the execution of Richard Herbert contemporary sources state that he was executed on the day of the battle. His body was taken to Abergavenny and interred at St Mary’s Priory.

So why did Richard Neville have Herbert executed without trial? Well, they were rivals, this was due in part to Herbert’s influence with Edward IV, his increasing power in Wales and the relationship between Herbert and the family of Elizabeth Woodville, this Warwick saw as a threat to his influence in the royal court. Therefore, the answer is quite simply revenge.

You can read more on the subject of revenge in my blog Vengeance in Mine.

meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/wars-of-the-roses-blog/vengeance-is-mine

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Marriage of Henry Tudor to Elizabeth of York

23/7/2016

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Today in 1486 confirmation of the dispensation, for the marriage of Henry Tudor to Elizabeth of York was
received six months after their marriage.

The union of Henry Tudor to Elizabeth of York was a dynastic marriage. Heading the list of issues Henry had to deal
with before the marriage took place was Titulus Regius, there was also dispensations to be gained as Henry and Elizabeth were related in the double fourth degree of consanguinity, that is they were both related to John of Gaunt.

Three dispensations would be issued in total, the first was received at the beginning of 1484 and the last in 1486. The conformation of the dispensation reads:

"In the name of God, Amen. We, James, bishop of Imola, apostolic legate to England and Scotland, having heard, etc.,
the merits and circumstances of a certain matter of a dispensation to be made between the most serene prince and lord
the lord Henry, by the grace of God king of England and France and lord of Ireland, of the one part, and the most
illustrious lady, the lady Elizabeth, eldest legitimate and natural daughter of the late Edward IV, sometime king of
England, of the other part, to contract marriage and remain therein, notwithstanding that they are related in the
fourth and fourth degrees of kindred, and the said prince and lady by their proctors sufficiently and lawfully
appearing before us, and instantly requesting such dispensation to be made by us; and having found to be true all the
contents of a certain schedule of petition set forth to us on behalf of the same prince and lady, the tenour of
which is as follows:--

It is set forth to your most reverend lordship on behalf of the most serene prince and lord the lord Henry, by the grace
of God king of England and France and lord of Ireland, of the one part, and of the most illustrious lady, the lady Elizabeth, eldest legitimate and natural daughter of the late Edward, sometime king of England and France and lord of Ireland, of the other part, that whereas the said king has by God's providence won his realm of England and is in peaceful possession thereof, and has been prayed and requested by all the lords of his realm, both spiritual and temporal, and also by the
general council of the said realm, called Parliament, to take to wife the aforesaid lady Elizabeth, he, wishing to accede
to the petitions of his subjects, desires to take the aforesaid lady to wife, but inasmuch as they are related in the fourth
and fourth degrees of kindred, he cannot fulfil such desire without obtaining canonical dispensation, wherefore petition is
made to your most reverend lordship on behalf of the said lord Henry and lady Elizabeth to grant them dispensation by
the apostolic authority which you exercise to contract marriage and remain therein, notwithstanding the said impediment,
and to decree the offspring to be born thereof legitimate, do therefore, by the apostolic authority committed to us, and
which we exercise in this behalf, grant to the said lord prince the lord Henry and lady Elizabeth, by this our sentence
or final decree, which we deliver and promulgate in these writings, dispensation to contract marriage and remain therein, notwithstanding the said impediment, and decree and declare the offspring to be born therein and thereof legitimate."

1486. 10 Kal. Aug. (23 July.) St. Peter's, Rome.

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Henry V's Wound at the Battle of Shewsbury

21/7/2016

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The most famous image of Henry V is held by the National Portrait Gallery, it is a 16th century copy, in it Henry looks as if he is at prayer. His hair is cut very short around the ears and at the back which was the style of the time. It is thought that he was painted this way deliberately to hide the right side of his face on which he is said to have a nasty arrow wound received at the Battle of Shrewsbury on the 21st July 1403.

Matthew Ryan, in his text to accompany his images below states:

"The shaft of the arrow was removed but the bodkin remained, left embedded into his skull to a depth of around six inches. This was later removed at Kenilworth Castle by some ingenious work of the surgeon John Bradmore
who later went on to write a detailed account of the procedure."

You can see Matthew's album on this on his Facebook page here

www.facebook.com/matthewryanhistoricalillustrator/media_set?set=a.842095342540698.1073741879.100002207204372&type=3

and more of his great art work on his website
matthewryanhistoricalillustrator.com/

You can read more about Henry here

meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/wars-of-the-roses-blog/king-henry-v

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Richard III and Scarborough, Yorkshire.

6/7/2016

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While still the Duke of Gloucester, Richard III was given Scarborough Castle, its lordship, its rents due to the Crown, and Scarborough port. He improved the towns harbour defenses and used the port as a military supply base.

The Richard III House, a building of medieval origin, has traditionally been associated with Richard.

After his coronation on the 6th July 1483, the king made a northern tour. He was at Scarborough on May 22nd 1484
and again from 30th June to 11th July. An order dated the 28th May was for the payment of £40 due to Scarborough
merchant named Thomas Sage.

Thomas Sage, it has been suggested, owned this house as he is known to have had property in the area, maybe
the king was entertained there, but it is unlikely that the king would stay.

The building was expanded in the 16th century, and eventually came to comprise a three storey building with
projecting bays, gables, and mullioned casement windows.

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Plotting the death of a King

29/6/2016

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‪It was on the 4th July 1459 that Thomas Vaughan, Alice, wife of Richard of Salisbury and William Oldhall, according the the November Parliament heard in Coventry, imagined and compassed the death of Henry VI.

"And forasmoch as Aleyse the wyf of the seid Richard erle of Salesbury, the first day of August, the yere of youre moost
noble reigne .xxxvij. th , at Middelham in youre shire of York, and William Oldhall knyght, and Thomas Vaghan late of
London squier, at London, in the parissh of Seint Jame at Garlikhithe, in the warde of Quenehithe, the fourth day of Jule, the same yere, falsely and traiterously ymagyned and compassed the deth and fynall destruccion of you, soverayne lord;
and in accomplisshment and executyng therof, the seid Aleise, at Middelham aforeseid the seid first day of August,
and the seid William Oldhall and Thomas Vaghan, at London, in the seid parissh and warde, the seid fourth day of
Jule,[col. b] traiterously labored, abetted, procured, stered and provoked the seid duc of York, and the seid erles of
Warrewyk and Salesbury, to doo the seid tresons, rebellions, gaderynges, ridynges and reryng of werre ayenst youre
moost roiall persone, at the seid toune of Blore and Ludeford: to ordeyne and establissh, by the seid auctorite, that the
same Aleise, William Oldhall and Thomas Vaghan for the same be reputed, taken, demed, adjugged and
atteinted of high treson."

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The Cat, The Rat and the Dog

Anne Beauchamp

Battle of Edgecote

Death of William Herbert.

Marriage of Henry Tudor to Elizabeth of York

Henry V's Wound at the Battle of Shewsbury

Richard III and Scarborough, Yorkshire.

Plotting the death of a King

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