Richard III: His Life & Character Part 12

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CORONATION PROCESSION OF KING RICHARD III.

Serjeants of Arms Heralds Trumpets and Clarions The Cross Priests in grey amices Bishops, with mitres and croziers Abbots, with mitres

BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, bearing a cross

THE CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP

THE EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND, bearing the pointless sword of mercy

LORD STANLEY, DUKE OF SUFFOLK, EARL OF LINCOLN bearing the mace of bearing the sceptre bearing the orb Constable

DUKE OF NORFOLK, bearing the crown

EARL OF SURREY, bearing the sword of state in scabbard

VISCOUNT LOVELL, B C B C EARL OF KENT bearing the sword a i a i bearing the sword (civil) of justice r n r n (ecclesiastical) o q o q of justice n u n u s e s e THE KING o P o P f o f o r r BISHOP OF BATH AND t t BISHOP OF DURHAM WELLS s s

DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, bearing the King's train

Earls Barons

EARL OF HUNTINGDON, EARL OF WILTs.h.i.+RE, VISCOUNT LYLE, bearing the Queen's bearing the Queen's bearing the rod sceptre crown with dove

BISHOP OF EXETER THE QUEEN BISHOP OF NORWICH

LADY STANLEY, bearing the Queen's train

d.u.c.h.eSS OF SUFFOLK (King's sister), in state, alone

Twenty peeresses

The Duke of Buckingham put forward an important claim, soon after the coronation, and its success was an example of the lavish generosity of Richard III. {128} Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Ess.e.x, died in the year 1372, leaving his two daughters co-heiresses of his vast estates. Alianore, the eldest, married Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Edward III. Their daughter and eventual heiress Anne married Edmund Earl of Stafford, great-grandfather of the Duke of Buckingham. Mary, the second daughter, married Henry of Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, who became Earl of Hereford by right of his wife, and eventually usurped the crown as Henry IV. His male descendants ended with his grandson Henry VI. The Duke of Buckingham claimed that the moiety of the Bohun estates which Mary brought to Henry IV. and which had merged in the crown, should now revert to him as the male heir of both sisters. Legally, the claim was untenable, and it had been rejected by Edward IV. Richard, however, generously conceded all that Buckingham asked, making a formal grant of the lands in question under his own sign manual.

On his accession the generous young King was anxious to be reconciled with all his subjects with whom he had ever had differences. Among these was a certain Sir John Fogge, a low intriguer, with whom the King condescended to shake hands. This treacherous fellow soon afterwards joined in Buckingham's rebellion. Like Louis XII. of France King Richard forgot and forgave all offences against the Duke of Gloucester.

[Sidenote: The Royal Progress]

The King set out on a progress through England,[3] {129} a fortnight after the coronation, accompanied by the Duke of Buckingham and a large retinue. The young Earl of Warwick, Richard's nephew, was also with him, having been liberated from durance in the Tower, where he had been kept by the Marquis of Dorset as his ward, ever since the death of his father Clarence. Young Warwick was also at his uncle's coronation.

The King left Windsor for Reading on the 23rd, arriving at Oxford on July 24, where he was received by old Dr. Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, and the Bishops of Worcester, St. Asaph, and St. David's.

He was lodged in Magdalen College, and on his departure the aged Dr.

Waynflete caused to be entered in the College register--

VIVAT REX IN AETERNUM.

On August 1 the King was at Gloucester, and here the Duke of Buckingham took his leave and proceeded to his estates in Wales, accompanied by his intriguing prisoner Bishop Morton. Pa.s.sing on to Tewkesbury on August 4, Richard arrived at Warwick on the 8th, where he was joined by the Queen, who came direct from Windsor.[4] The court remained a week at Warwick, and comprised the young Earl of Warwick, five Bishops,[5]

the Earls of Lincoln, Surrey, and Huntingdon, Lords Stanley, Dudley, Morley, {130} Scrope, and Lovell, the Chief Justice, the Scottish Duke of Albany, and the Spanish Amba.s.sador. On the 10th the royal party was at Coventry, on the 17th at Leicester, on the 22nd at Nottingham. The King and Queen arrived at Pomfret on the 27th, where they were met by their little son Edward, who had travelled from Middleham to be with them. On the 30th they entered the city of York.

The people of York vied with each other in the loyalty and cordiality of their welcome. Richard III. was a most popular sovereign, and with good reason. Bishop Langton,[6] who accompanied him on this progress, thus wrote: 'He contents the people where he goes best that ever did Prince, for many a poor man that hath suffered wrong many days has been relieved and helped by him and his commands in his progress. And in many great cities and towns were great sums of money given him which he hath refused.[7] On my truth I never liked the conditions of any Prince so well as his. G.o.d hath sent him to us for the weal of us all.'[8] On September 8 King Richard and Queen Anne walked in solemn procession with the crowns on their heads, on the occasion of the creation of their son Edward as Prince of Wales.[9] The young Prince, his cousin the Earl of Warwick, and Galfridus de Sasiola, the Spanish Amba.s.sador, were knighted. The royal party left York on the 20th, and proceeded by Gainsborough towards Lincoln, which city was entered on October 12.

Suddenly the news reached the King that the Duke of Buckingham had broken out in rebellion. Never {131} was there an act so unprovoked and treacherous. The Duke seems to have been a weak unprincipled man, full of vanity and self-importance, and his worst qualities were worked upon by the insidious old intriguer Morton, who had been entrusted to his custody. Buckingham's ambition was to seize the crown. In accordance with the 't.i.tulus Regius,' only two persons stood in his way. These were King Richard III. and his delicate little son. The traitor's scheme was to strike them down and seize the coveted prize.

The rebellion was carefully planned. All the Lancastrian and Woodville malcontents were invited to join, and there were to have been several simultaneous risings in the south of England, on October 18. On that day Buckingham unfurled his standard at Brecknock, while Dorset and Sir Thomas St. Leger rose in the west; and even the cautious Henry Tudor sailed across from Brittany, but feared to land. His mother, the wife of Stanley, intrigued actively with the Queen Dowager and the Woodville faction.

The energy and decision with which the King met the danger baffled the policy of the rebels. As Buckingham was Constable of England, it became necessary to appoint a Vice-Constable to try rebels in conjunction with the Earl Marshal, and Sir Ralph Ashton was selected for the post.[10] Owing to a great flood in the Severn the forces of Buckingham were unable to cross the river, their provisions failed, and they disbanded. The wretched traitor put on a disguise and fled; but he was betrayed and apprehended by the Sheriff of Shrops.h.i.+re.

Meanwhile, the King had organised a sufficient force, and advanced rapidly to Salisbury, whither Buckingham was brought a prisoner. The {132} traitor sought an interview with his injured sovereign, with the intention of a.s.sa.s.sinating him.[11] Fortunately the request was refused. He had been caught red-handed, and the Earl Marshal's court condemned him to death.[12] He was beheaded at Salisbury on November 2. Richard treated the Duke's widow, who was a Woodville, with his habitual generosity; granting her a pension out of the lords.h.i.+p of Tunbridge.

The other rebels fled. Dorset and old Morton escaped abroad. Sir Thomas St. Leger was caught and beheaded at Exeter, with Thomas Ramme and one other delinquent. Seven rebels suffered in London. There are a hundred names in the bill of attainder against the rebels; but most of them were subsequently pardoned, including Stanley's intriguing wife, who was merely given into the custody of her perfidious husband, an act of unwise leniency which amounted to recklessness.[13]

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Richard had destroyed all opposition, and he now entered upon the serious business of government. Although his administration was profusely liberal, he checked corruption, reformed the public offices, and {134} promoted economy in the service of the state. Parliament met on January 23, 1484, and Master William Catesby was chosen Speaker.

Its first business was to give full validity to the 't.i.tulus Regius' by embodying it in an Act of Parliament. The public acts of Richard's parliament are noted for their wisdom and beneficial effects. One of them gave security to purchasers of land against secret feoffments, another conferred power on magistrates to accept bail from persons accused of felony, another was intended to prevent the intimidation of juries. The abolition of benevolences was a most beneficent measure, designed to put an end to an oppressive system of extorting money. An elaborate statute was also pa.s.sed to check malpractices in the manufacture of woollen goods. The statutes of Richard III. were the first that were published in English. The distinction between public and private acts was also first made in this parliament. The latter included the reversal of the attainder of the Percys, several other rest.i.tutions, and grants for endowments, including a grant for the endowment of Bishop Stillington's college at Acaster.

Lord Bacon, no friendly critic, said of Richard III. that he was 'a prince in military virtue approved, jealous of the honour of the English nation, and likewise a good law maker for the ease and solace of the common people.'[14] In speaking of the parliament of Richard III. Lord Campbell says: 'We have no difficulty in p.r.o.nouncing Richard's parliament the most meritorious national a.s.sembly for protecting the liberty of the subject, and putting down abuses in the administration of justice that had sat in England since the reign of Henry III.'[15]

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[Sidenote: The revenue]

King Richard III. introduced reforms in the revenue departments, which were prepared under his own eye. He ordered the Auditor of the Exchequer to submit an annual return of all revenues, issues, and profits; while the Lord Treasurer was to make a return of all money received and disbursed in his office. Formerly the Pell Issue and Receipt Rolls only showed net sums paid into the Exchequer, 'reprises'

and direct payments being ignored.

The princ.i.p.al source of revenue was from the customs. The 'antiqua costuma' consisted of 6_s._ 8_d._ on the sack of wool, and 13_s._ 4_d._ on the last of leather. The 'parva costuma' included 3_s._ 4_d._ on a sack of wool, a small tax on cloth and other imports and exports, and an _ad valorem_ duty of 2_d._ in the pound, and 3_d._ from foreigners, on general merchandise. Tonnage and poundage was 1_s._ in the pound on the value of most goods, except wool and leather, and 3_d._ on each tun of wine. The 'antiqua costuma' and 'parva costuma' were hereditary, but tonnage and poundage had to be voted by parliament at the beginning of each reign. Customs duties brought in 18,629_l._ in the first, and 20,743_l._ in the second year of King Richard's reign. The old crown revenues yielded 17,900_l._, Hanaper 2,930_l._, and other receipts 5,297_l_. The total annual revenue was 50,356_l._ in the first, and 57,122_l._ in the second year.

[Sidenote: The navy]

The navy in those days was small, indeed it had ceased to exist during the wretched misrule of Henry VI. Richard had, as Lord Admiral during his brother's reign, been gradually restoring the navy to efficiency, and in 1480 his brother appointed a 'Keeper of the s.h.i.+ps,' the officer who had control of naval organisation. Thomas Rogers, a merchant and fishmonger of {136} London, was continued as 'Keeper of the s.h.i.+ps'

during King Richard's reign, the navy consisting of seven s.h.i.+ps, the 'Nicholas,' 'Governor,' 'Grace Dieu,' 'Mary of the Tower,' 'Martin Garcia,' 'Falcon,' and 'Trinity.'

While parliament was sitting the Convocation also a.s.sembled. The bishops and clergy presented an adulatory address to the King, praying that he would redress their grievances, 'seeing your most n.o.ble and blessed disposition in all things.' In reply Richard granted a charter to the clergy, confirming their liberties and immunities; and he took the opportunity of enjoining a closer attention to their spiritual duties. With this object he issued a Royal Letter calling upon Churchmen to enforce discipline and promote morality among the people.

The Convocation voted the King three-tenths, which yielded 5,600_l_.

Before the prorogation the King took measures to induce the Queen Dowager to come out of sanctuary with her daughters. He promised that, if they would be guided and ruled by him, he would treat them kindly and honourably as his kinswomen, marry them to gentlemen born, and give them suitable allowances. Elizabeth agreed to these terms, which were faithfully observed; and the King also undertook to grant a pension of 700 marks a year for her own maintenance. She not only came out of sanctuary with her daughters, but showed so much confidence in Richard's good faith that she sent to her son, the Marquis of Dorset, to return to England and submit himself to the King.

[Sidenote: Death of the Prince of Wales]

In March, 1484, the King and Queen left London, and proceeded northwards by way of Cambridge, reaching Nottingham on April 20. Here they received intelligence of the death of the young Prince of Wales, which took place at Middleham on the 9th of the same {137} month. The unhappy parents were distracted with the most violent grief. 'You might have seen his father and mother in a state almost bordering on madness by reason of their sudden grief.'[16] The child was interred in the chapel built by Richard himself, on the north side of Sheriff Hutton church. The King had placed 'the sun in splendour,' the favourite device of his brother Edward, in one of the windows. An alabaster effigy of the young Prince of Wales, habited in a loose gown with a coronet on his head, was fixed on an altar tomb. The south side of the tomb is divided into compartments. In the centre one the heart-broken father is represented in armour, offering up prayer to the Almighty, who is supporting a crucifix. On each side, in other compartments, there are s.h.i.+elds now quite plain, probably once painted, supported by angels; and on the window jamb there is a s.h.i.+eld charged with a cross of St. George in bold relief, the badge of the garter.

The charges on the other s.h.i.+elds have probably been wilfully defaced, as well as any crowns or ensigns of royalty, to conceal the ident.i.ty of the monument. This was perhaps done to avoid complete desecration at Tudor hands. Some months after the child's death, when Richard had to sign a warrant for the last expenses connected with the funeral of his 'most dear son,' he touchingly added, in his own handwriting, 'whom G.o.d pardon.'[17] This prayer may have suggested the subject of the sculptured panel on the tomb, where the pet.i.tion is made to pa.s.s, in form of a scroll, from the suppliant's lips to the ear of G.o.d.

King Richard, after the death of his own son, {138} declared his nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick, son of his brother Clarence, to be heir to the throne. It was no doubt intended to reverse the attainder in due time.

Meanwhile young Warwick was given precedence before all other peers.