Richard III: His Life & Character Part 10

* Earl of Arundel, K.G.

* Lord Maltravers, K.G.

* Earl of Nottingham.

* Earl of Huntingdon.

* Earl of Wilts.h.i.+re.

* Lord Grey of Wilton.

* Lord Grey of Codnor.

* Lord Grey of Powys.

* Lord Beauchamp.

* Lord Morley.

* Lord Stourton.

* Lord Cobham.

Lord Mountjoy (at Calais).

Lord de la Warre (abroad).

Lord Dudley (very old).

_Minors_

Earl of Shrewsbury.

Lord Clifford.

Lord Hastings.

Lord Hungerford.

Peers 42 Minors 9 -- 33 --

_Traitors_

#John Vere, Earl of Oxford (under attainder).

Courtenay, Earl of Devons.h.i.+re.

Grey, Marquis of Dorset.

Woodville, Earl Rivers.

Lord Beaumont.

Lord Welles.

* Lord Lisle.

Lord Dynham.

#Jasper Tudor (late Earl of Pembroke).

#Henry Tudor (calling himself Earl of Richmond).

*#Lord Stanley (turned traitor at the end).

*#Lord Strange.

* At the coronation.

+ At Bosworth for the King.

# At Bosworth for H. Tudor.

Attendance at the court or the Parliament led to a demand for lodgings in London. Baynard's Castle was the town residence of the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of York. Crosby Place, which is still standing, was the home of the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Gloucester during the short protectorate.

Cold Harbour, in Thames Street, alternately lodged the Earl of Salisbury (1453), Anne d.u.c.h.ess of Exeter, and her brother the Duke of Clarence. There were other houses of the n.o.bility within the city, including Ely Place in Holborn, with large gardens behind them; and some of the richer citizens had handsome residences of which Crosby Place was an example. It was on the occasion of visits to the capital that opportunities were offered for those extravagant displays which were the fas.h.i.+on of that age, especially at the great tournaments.

The House of York was closely knit to the n.o.bility by ties of kindred.

Of the three Dukes, Suffolk was King Richard's brother-in-law, Buckingham and Norfolk were his cousins, as were the Earls of Northumberland, Westmoreland and Ess.e.x, and Lords Abergavenny and Greystoke. Lincoln was his nephew. Richard, moreover, had four first and several second {111} cousins among the Barons; and the Archbishop of Canterbury was also his cousin. There must have been a feeling of kins.h.i.+p as well as of loyalty when the n.o.bles gathered round the sovereign on state occasions.

[Sidenote: Magnificence of the court]

Magnificence in dress was not a sign of ostentation and vanity, but of what was felt to be due to high rank and to ceremonial functions of state; and it was undoubtedly good for trade. Long gowns with high collars were the indoor and civil dresses, and they lent themselves to displays of great splendour. Thus, in the wardrobe accounts, we find among the materials for doublets and gowns, black velvet, crimson velvet, blue velvet figured with tawny, white velvet, white damask with flowers of divers colours, chequered motley velvet, cloth of gold, silks and satins, sa.r.s.enet, as well as embroidered shoes, and ostrich feathers. We find green, scarlet and white cloth, ermines, sables, fringes, gowns of blue velvet lined with white satin, golden aiglettes, and various furs. The keeper of the King's wardrobe also had in charge feather beds and bolsters, bed clothes, cus.h.i.+ons, table cloths and napkins, and the King's carriage. Presents from the wardrobe are recorded as being given to the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Grey, Lord Stanley, Sir W. Parr, Sir J. Borough, Lord Audley and the College of Windsor. When the d.u.c.h.ess of Burgundy came to visit her brother, all her attendants were ordered to be clothed in cloth jackets of murrey and blue, while the knights appointed to attend upon her received gowns of velvet. The velvet was ten s.h.i.+llings a yard, the ostrich feathers ten s.h.i.+llings each. These wardrobe accounts of the last years of Edward IV. bear silent testimony to the lavish splendour of the court, and of court ceremonial in those days.

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Increasing wealth resulted to the merchants and traders of the City, the Guilds flourished and increased in numbers, and there were periodical fairs in the country. At the Stourbridge fair, which was the chief mart of Lombard Exchange, gla.s.s, silks and velvets were sold by the Venetian and Genoese merchants, linen of Liege and Ghent by the Flemish weavers, hardware by Spaniards, tar and pitch by Norwegians, wine by Gascons, furs and amber by the Hanse Towns. Millstones came from Paris. Our own products were hides and woolpacks, the produce of the tin mines, and iron from Suss.e.x. At Abingdon there was a cattle fair, at Winchester a wool and cloth fair. King Richard's Parliament gave much attention to the advancement of trade.

In London the wealthy merchants lived in handsome houses with gardens.

The lawyers lived in the Inns of Court, and there were not wanting good inns and hostelries for pa.s.sing travellers. We hear of the 'White Hart' in Southwark, the 'George' at Paul's Wharf, and several others.

The City Companies were acquiring great influence. The Skinners'

Company founded the 'Brethren of the fraternity of Corpus Christi' of which the Duke of York and his sons Edward IV. and the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester were members. Disputes between City Companies were amicably settled. There was one between the Skinners' and Merchant Taylors' with reference to precedence in City processions. In the reign of Richard III., 10 April, 1484, the two companies agreed to abide by the judgment of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen.

The award was that the Skinners should invite the Merchant Taylors to dinner every year, on the Vigil of {113} Corpus Christi, and that the Merchant Taylors should invite the Skinners on the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist. On the first year after the arbitration the Skinners were to walk in all processions before the Merchant Taylors, on the next year the Merchant Taylors before the Skinners, and so on. Thus was arbitration established in the City during Richard's reign, a course always favoured and practised by the King himself.

[Sidenote: Introduction of printing]

The great glory of the Yorkist kings was the introduction of printing into England, in which their sister of Burgundy also took a liberal and enlightened part. Caxton tells us he was born in the Weald of Kent in 1422, and was apprenticed to Robert Large, a mercer of London and Lord Mayor in 1439. His house was in the north end of the Old Jewry, and here young Caxton lived until his master died in 1441, leaving him twenty marks. Caxton went to Bruges in 1441, and in 1453 he was admitted to the livery of the Mercers' Company. The Merchant Adventurers were an a.s.sociation of merchants trading to foreign countries, chiefly mercers. They had a 'domus Angliae' at Bruges, and in 1464 Caxton was chosen 'Governor beyond seas.' In 1468 he attended the marriage of the young English Princess Margaret with Duke Charles of Burgundy, which was celebrated with great pomp. Caxton was not only a leading merchant at Bruges, he also took a great interest in literature and in the new art of printing. In 1469 he began the translation of 'Le Recueil des Histoires de Troyes,' and in the following year, when Duke Charles was invested with the Garter, Caxton made his first essay at printing, with the oration of Dr. Russell on that occasion. When, in October 1470, Edward IV. and his young brother Richard {114} took refuge in Flanders, they received active a.s.sistance from the loyal merchant and printer, and in the same year Caxton entered the service of the d.u.c.h.ess Margaret and managed her trading in English wool for her. He was surrounded hy literary influences at Bruges, where there was a printing press encouraged by the d.u.c.h.ess.

In 1476 Caxton came to England, and in November 1477 he had established a printing press in his house at Westminster, under the shadow of the Abbey. It was in the Almonry near the old chapel of St. Anne, at the gate leading into Tothill Street. Caxton's house was the sign of the _red pale_.[5] John Esteney was then Abbot of Westminster (1474-98), but it is not recorded that Caxton received help or patronage from him.

The first book printed in England was the 'Dictes and Sayings of Philosophes,' by Lord Rivers, in 1477. Then followed 'Cordyale' in 1479, and 'Chronicles of England' in 1480, 'Description of Britain'

also in 1480. In that year the d.u.c.h.ess of Burgundy came to London to visit her brothers, and no doubt she then paid a visit to the printing press of her old friend Caxton. Five books came from that active press in 1481. 'The Mirrour of the World' was translated and printed for a citizen named Hugh Brice as a present to Lord Hastings. 'Reynard the Fox' was translated by Caxton himself. The 'de senectute,' 'de amicitia,' and 'declamatio' of Cicero were translated by the ill-fated Earl of Worcester; as well as 'G.o.defroy de Boulogne.' A second edition of 'The game and play of Chess' completed the publications for 1481.

During the whole of King Richard's reign, and under his enlightened patronage, Caxton's printing press showed great activity. The publications were {115} 'Pilgrimage of the Soul' 'Liber Festivalis,'

'Quatuor Sermones,' the 'Confessio Amantis' of Gower, the 'Golden Legend,' 'Caton,' 'Knight of the Tower,' 'aesop,' 'Paris and Vienna,'

'Life of Charles the Great,' the 'Canterbury Tales' of Chaucer, 'Life of our Lady,' 'King Arthur,' by Sir T. Mallory, who finished his work in 1470, and the 'Order of Chivalry' translated by Caxton and dedicated to his redoubted Lord King Richard.

[Sidenote: Literary n.o.blemen]

Literature was beginning to receive attention from several members of the n.o.bility, and the printing press gave this tendency very great encouragement. Among the books in the Wardrobe Account of Edward IV.

which were ordered to be bound, were the 'Book of the Holy Trinity,'

the Bible, 'Government of Kings and Princes,' 'Froissart,' t.i.tus Livius, Josephus, 'Bible Historial,' 'La Forteresse de Foy'; and to this royal library his brother Richard added several books including the 'Romaunt of Tristram.'

Lord Rivers was an accomplished n.o.bleman whose translations and original compositions are well known. But John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, was the most studious and learned, as well as the most accomplished, author and statesman of Yorkist times. Born at Everton, Cambridges.h.i.+re, Tiptoft was at Balliol College, and completed his education by a residence of three years in Italy. He was twice Lord High Treasurer, was Lord Deputy of Ireland, and was created Earl of Worcester. But he fell a victim to Lancastrian rancour during Warwick's brief usurpation. He was beheaded in 1470, and Caxton eloquently mourned his untimely death.

'This book,' Caxton wrote, 'was translated by the virtuous and n.o.ble Earl of Worcester into our English {116} tongue, son and heir to the Lord Tiptoft, which in his time flowered in virtue and cunning, to whom I know none like among the lords of the temporality in science and moral virtue. I beseech Almighty G.o.d to have mercy on his soul, and pray all them that shall read this little treatise, likewise of your charity to remember his soul among your prayers. The right virtuous and n.o.ble Earl of Worcester, which late piteously lost his life, whose soul I recommend to your special prayers, also in his time made many other virtuous works which I have heard of. O G.o.d, blessed Lord, what great loss was it of that n.o.ble, virtuous and well disposed lord, when I remember and advertise his life, his science and his virtue.

Methinketh G.o.d displeased over so great a loss of such a man, considering his estate and cunning, and also the exercise of the same with the great labours in going on pilgrimage unto Jerusalem, visiting there the holy places, and what wors.h.i.+p had he in Rome in the presence of our holy father the Pope, and so in all other places until his death, at which death every man that was there might learn to die, and take his death patiently.'

[Sidenote: Education]

Rivers and Worcester were not the only men of their day with literary tastes. The colleges at Oxford and Cambridge numbered among their _alumni_ laymen as well as churchmen. The three great public schools of England already existed. The grammar school of Westminster, afterwards to become St. Peter's College under Queen Elizabeth, had a continuous existence from the time of Edward I. Winchester College had been founded by William of Wykeham. Eton College was a foundation due to Henry of Windsor. All three were flouris.h.i.+ng. Boys went very young to the universities, and parents showed anxiety for their {117} advancement in learning as well as for their due supply of clothing.

Mrs. Paston desired a tutor named Grenefeld to send her word how her son Clement is doing his duty as regards his lessons. If he does not do well, and will not amend, Grenefeld is to lash him until he does amend, as his former tutor did, who was the best that ever he had at Cambridge. She is no less particular about his clothes, which were to be looked to. Clement had a short green gown, a short musterdevelers (gown of grey woollen cloth), a short blue gown, and a russet gown furred with beaver: a pretty good supply.

Later there was a Paston boy at Eton, one of whose letters has come down to us (1478). He desires hose clothes to be sent to him, one pair of some colour for holidays, and one for working days. It does not matter how coa.r.s.e the one for common use is. He also asks for a stomacher, two s.h.i.+rts, and a pair of slippers. 'But,' adds the Eton boy, 'if it lyke you that I may come by water, and sport me with you in London a day or two this term time, then you may let all this be till the time that I come; and then I shall tell you when I shall be ready to come from Eton.' He wanted a holiday in the middle of term time, and he wanted the fun of boating down the river. So it was with many hundreds of other boys then as it is now; liking play better than work, but still learning, with or without the lash which Mrs. Agnes Paston believed to be so efficacious. The Etonian was about ten years younger than King Richard.

The Church, in the Yorkist days, had deteriorated. The devil's compact between Archbishop Arundel and Henry of Bolingbroke, by which Bishops were to be allowed to burn heretics on condition that the {118} usurpation was upheld by the Church, had alienated the people. The Act _De heretico comburendo_ was not a dead letter. There were many innocent sufferers. Henry of Monmouth was a fanatic. He argued with heretics and would gladly pardon on recantation, but if his victim did not recant he was actually present at executions and witnessed the cruel tortures. Caxton, some years after Henry's death (1439), saw with horror the burning on Tower Hill of the good Vicar of Deptford, whose love and charity had endeared him to the poor. Such scenes would not endear the Bishops to the people. The prelates were self-seeking politicians for the most part, and occasionally the people made short work of them. When Bishop de Moleyns, then Lord Privy Seal, came down to Portsmouth to pay the sailors and kept back some of their dues, he was seized by the mob and hanged in front of G.o.d's House. Bishop Ayscough of Salisbury met a similar fate. Mr. Thorold Rogers formed a very bad opinion of the clergy of the fifteenth century. He says 'the Bishops were on the whole bad men, parochial clergy not much better, monks worst of all. People deserted them for the secret but stirring exhortations of the Bible men.' But there were exceptions. Dr.