HUNGERFORD,
Walter,
kt. (d. 1516)
The
second son of Robert. The Hungerfords were a family of mixed loyalties,
his father supporting Lancaster, and his elder brother Thomas being
a supporter of the Earl of Warwick. Walter himself was a Yorkist supporter
until 1483. He was an Esquire of the Body to Edward IV, and served under
him in France in 1475. He was appointed sheriff of Wiltshire in 1479,
and lieutenant of Dover Castle in 1472. He does not appear to have supported Richard
III. Under Henry VII, he was knighted and served as a Privy Councillor.
He also served on many embassies for the king. He died in 1516 and is
buried in St Michael’s Chapel, Hetsbury.
One
of the household of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, John was Assayer of
the Mint, and custodian of the Exchange of Calais. For many years he
served Richard loyally as his secretary. John fought with the King at
the battle of Bosworth where he was killed.
LANGSTROTHER,
John, kt. (ex. 1471)
Sir
John was the Grand Prior of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem in England,
a post he held from 1467 to 1471. On Margaret of Anjou’s return to England
in 1471, he was in her retinue. Fought at the battle of Tewkesbury.
After the battle Sir John was one of those taken from sanctuary and
executed.
He
was buried with other prominent Lancastrians in Tewkesbury Abbey.
LOVELL,
Francis, Viscount
Lovell
Francis
Lovell was the son of John Lovell, 12th Lord Lovell. His father had
supported the Lancastrians but after the battle of Towton made his peace
with Edward IV. Francis was orphaned as a boy in 1465. He was given
as a ward to the Earl of Warwick and spent his boyhood in Warwick’s
household. It was here that he became a close friend of Richard of Gloucester.
The friendship lasted all Richard’s life. Francis fought for Edward
IV at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. During Richard’s short reign,
Francis played a large part in the government of the realm. He was created
Viscount Lovell, lord chamberlain of the royal household, Privy Councillor
and commissioner of array for Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Along with
Catesby and Ratcliffe he was the subject of the doggerel “The cat the
rat and Lovell our dog ruleth all England under the hog.”
It
is not clear if Lovell was present at the battle of Bosworth or not.
He had been sent by Richard to guard the south coast, leaving it open
to question whether he arrived in time for the battle. What is certain
is that he was attainted by the new king, Henry VII, after the battle.
He found refuge with Richard’s sister, Margaret, at her court in Burgundy
for a time. Like Margaret he remained an implacable enemy of the Tudor
king. In 1487 he returned to England as one of the leaders of the Lambert
Simnel rising. He may have died in the ensuing battle at Stoke, but
once again nothing is certain. There were reports that he was seen swimming
his horse across the Trent after the battle. For many years the rumour
that he had escaped and gone into hiding at Minster Lovell, his own
home, persisted. In the 18th century, during repairs to this property,
an underground room was discovered with the skeleton of a man sitting
at a table. Was this the answer to the mystery of what did befall Francis?
We shall never know.
LUXEMBOURG,
Jacquetta of, Duchess
of Bedford,
Countess Rivers (1416-1472)
Jacquetta
was the daughter of Peter of Luxembourg, Count of St Pol. At the age
of seventeen she was married to John, Duke of Bedford, the brother of
Henry V, and regent of France. Jacquetta was John’s second wife and
the marriage lasted only two years. After John’s death Jacquetta married,
with what was considered indecent haste, Sir Richard Woodville. This
marriage produced sixteen children, of whom Elizabeth, the eldest, was
to marry Edward IV. The Woodvilles were a poor family, much of their
wealth having been used to pay a fine for the marriage which had not
had the king’s (Henry VI) consent.
Richard
Woodville began as a Lancastrian supporter. In 1460 he was given the
task of capturing Calais from the Earl of Warwick. While gathering his
fleet he, Jacquetta and their eldest son Anthony, were taken prisoner
at Sandwich and spent some time in Calais in custody. Until Towton Jacquetta’s
family remained Lancastrians. After this battle they once again lost
much of their income and lands. This all changed when Elizabeth caught
the eye of Edward IV. It has always been alleged that Jacquetta, who
was accused by some of using witchcraft to bring it about, connived
at the marriage between the two.
As
the queen’s mother Jacquetta regained all her wealth and influence.
Her family made brilliant marriages, and rightly or wrongly she and
her family were accused of cupidity and many of the ills of the country.
Jacquetta shared her daughter’s triumphs and troubles. Some proof of
her cupidity can be found when in 1468 she demanded that Sir Thomas
Cook sell her a tapestry for much less than its value. When Cook refused
the Woodvilles had him accused of Lancastrian sympathies and seized
his goods. This behaviour did nothing to endear them to the majority
of the nobility.
In
1469 after the Earl of Warwick took King Edward prisoner, Jacquetta
was widowed when her husband was executed. She herself was arrested
by Warwick’s men on a charge of witchcraft and the black arts. Only
the intervention of the Lord Mayor of London, to whom she had stood
a friend in the time of Margaret of Anjou, saved her. In 1470 when Elizabeth
was forced to take sanctuary in Westminster, her mother joined her.
After Edward was restored to his throne Jacquetta appears to have settled
for a quieter life out of the spotlight. She died in 1472.
MANNERS, Robert,
Lord Roos
The
eldest son of Sir Robert Manners who fought for Edward IV at the battle
of Towton. Robert married Eleanor, the daughter and heiress of Thomas,
Lord Roos. Robert was, like his father, a Yorkist supporter. In 1485
he fought for Richard III at the battle of Bosworth. In the wake of
the battle he made his peace with the Tudor king. Robert’s eldest son,
George, married Anne St Leger, the daughter of Anne of Exeter, eldest
sister of Edward IV and Richard III. Their descendants through their
eldest son, Thomas, are the present day Dukes of Rutland.
MARKENFIELD, Thomas, kt.
(d. 1497)
Sir
Thomas Markenfield was married to Eleanor Conyers. He was a loyal friend
and retainer of Richard III to whom he was a Knight of the Body, a Justice
of the Peace for Somerset in 1483 and joint commissioner of array for
both Somerset and Yorkshire in 1484. In the same year Richard made him
sheriff of Yorkshire. Sir Thomas supported Richard at the time of the
Buckingham rebellion. He was present at the battle of Bosworth, which
he managed to survive. Henry VII allowed him to serve out his term of
office as sheriff, largely because he could find no Tudor supporter
to replace him. After this Sir Thomas retired from public life. He died
in 1497, and is buried in Ripon Cathedral.
Personal
retainer of the Earl of Salisbury. Sir James fought for York at the
1st battle of St Albans in 1455 and again at the battle of Blore Heath
in 1459.
METCALFE,
Miles (1428-1485)
With
his elder brother Thomas, Miles was a supporter of Richard of Gloucester.
Miles held a post under Richard as deputy steward of the Duchy of Lancaster,
and may have been one of those who shared Richard’s boyhood at Middleham
castle. He also held the post of King’s Deputy to the Duchy. In 1474
he became recorder of the city of York. This post he owed to King Edward
IV who had given him a written recommendation. Miles was one of the
principals present at the visit of Richard III and Queen Anne to York
in 1483. He was present at the battle of Bosworth and survived the battle.
Henry VII tried to have him removed as recorder of York and replaced
by his own nominee, but the council vigorously contested this, and Miles
remained recorder until his death later in 1485.
METCALFE,
Thomas (1424-1504)
Like
his younger brother Miles, Thomas was a supporter of the Yorkist cause.
Thomas supported both the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick in turn. As
a friend of Richard of Gloucester he remained prominent after Warwick’s
death at the battle of Barnet and remained in possession of many of
his offices. These included Justice of the Peace for the North Riding
and surveyor of the castle and lordship of Middleham. He was present
at the battle of Bosworth, which he survived. After the battle Henry
VII granted him a pardon. Thomas’s service to the Crown continued until
his death in 1504.
MONTAGU,
Alice, Countess
of Salisbury (1406-1463)
The
only child of Thomas Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, and his first wife
Eleanor Holland. Alice’s stepmother, her father’s second wife, was Alice
Chaucer, who married as her third husband William de la Pole, Duke of
Suffolk. This is yet another twist of tangled connections in the period.
Alice
married in 1420 at the age of fourteen Richard Neville, eldest son of
Ralph, Earl of Westmorland and Joan Beaufort, his second wife. Alice’s
father died in 1428. Alice had already given birth to two daughters,
and in this year she gave her husband a son, Richard, who would in time
come to prominence as Earl of Warwick. Three more sons and three more
daughters would be born of the marriage.
After
her father's death Alice and her husband were granted the title Earl
and Countess of Salisbury. After Joan Beaufort’s death in 1440 the Salisburys
spent most of their time at Middleham castle in Yorkshire, one of the
castles left to Richard by his mother. Most of Alice’s time would have
been spent in running her household, no light task given the number
of retainers in a great lord's household. All this changed in September
1459, when she appears to have been involved in plotting on behalf of
her brother-in-law York. After the battle of Ludford Bridge, Alice,
like her husband, was attainted and forced to flee. She eventually arrived
in Ireland where York gave her shelter. It was the spring of 1460 before
she was able to rejoin her husband in Calais, after being escorted there
by her son Warwick.
After
her husband’s death at the battle of Wakefield, Alice was confirmed
in the Salisbury estates plus her husband’s Yorkshire lands and castles.
She died in 1463. She was buried in Bisham Abbey in Buckinghamshire,
with her husband and her second son, Thomas, both killed at Wakefield.
Their bodies were transferred from Pontefract and all three were buried
together in a magnificent ceremony.
MORTIMER,
Anne, Countess
of Cambridge (1390-1411)
Anne’s
importance to the period lies in the fact that it was through her that
Richard of York held his superior claim to the throne.
The
daughter of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, and his wife Eleanor Holland,
she was a great-great-granddaughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, second
surviving son of Edward III. Anne married in 1406 Richard of Conisbrough,
second son of Edmund Duke of York. The marriage was of a short duration,
lasting a mere five years. During that time Anne gave birth to two children,
Isabella and Richard. She died in 1411 and was buried in King’s Langley
Church, Hertfordshire.
MORTIMER,
Edmund,
Earl of March (1391-1425)
The
son of Roger, Earl of March and his wife Eleanor Holland, and brother
of Anne, Edmund married Anne Stafford, but the marriage was childless.
He was at one time named as Richard II’s heir. After the accession of
Henry IV he and his younger brother Roger were kept in custody. Henry
V evidently saw him as no threat and released him in 1413. In 1415 Edmund’s
brother-in-law, Richard of Cambridge attempted to put him on the throne,
but the plot was foiled. Cambridge lost his life, but Edmund went on
to fight with Henry in France, returning home after Henry’s death in
1422. He was given the post of Lieutenant of Ireland under the boy King
Henry VI. In 1425, shortly after his arrival in Ireland, he died of
plague. Edmund’s only brother, Roger, had died in 1410. His sister Anne’s
son, Richard, therefore became heir to the vast Mortimer inheritance,
title and claim to the throne. Edmund was buried in the Collegiate church
of Stoke Clare, Suffolk.
MORTON, John, Bishop
of Ely, Archbishop
of Canterbury (1420-1500)
John
Morton was one of the survivors of the conflict. Born in 1420, he began
his career by studying first at Cerne Abbey, and then at Balliol, Oxford.
An able lawyer, he served as chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall and
a Master of Chancery, under Henry VI. He was an ardent Lancastrian.
He was present at the battle of Towton, but under what guise is unknown.
After the battle he was a proscribed traitor and shared the exile of
Margaret of Anjou. He returned with Margaret in 1471 after Barnet. He
is credited as being, with Somerset and Devon, one of those who persuaded
Margaret against an immediate return to France.
The
defeat of the Lancastrians at the battle of Tewkesbury and the end of
the Lancastrian hopes for the time being saw Morton make his peace with
Edward IV, who made him Master of the Rolls. Shortly afterwards he was
consecrated Bishop of Ely. In 1475 he was present in Edward’s retinue
during the invasion of France.
After
Edward’s death he was implicated in the plot which led to Lord Hastings'
execution. Morton was placed in the custody of the Duke of Buckingham
at Brecon castle. During his term as Buckingham’s prisoner there is
every indication that he persuaded the duke to turn against King Richard.
When the rebellion failed, he left Buckingham to his fate, and fled
abroad to join Henry Tudor, whom he had previously warned of a treaty
between Richard and the Duke of Brittany, the ruler of Tudor’s chosen
refuge.
After
the battle of Bosworth Morton’s friendship with the new king Henry VII
and his mother Margaret Beaufort brought him rich rewards. He became
Archbishop of Canterbury in 1486, and Lord Chancellor in 1487. He is
infamous for devising the system known as Morton’s Fork. This assumed
that if a person appeared wealthy he was taxed for the king. If he appeared
poor it was a sign of hidden wealth and he was taxed accordingly. No
one escaped this, one of the most ingenious and cynical ways of raising
taxes ever devised.
In
the matter of the unproved disappearance of Edward IV’s sons, there
is a school of thought that is of the opinion that Morton knew quite
a lot about the matter. Thomas More, who later wrote an account of the
time blaming Richard III, and providing the basis of the later work
by Shakespeare, was trained in Morton’s household, and came greatly
under his influence. It must be said that one wonders how much of the
tale came from this source. Suffice it to say John Morton was among
Richard III’s most implacable enemies.
John
Morton died in 1500 and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. By the 1600’s
his tomb had been broken open and over a period of time his bones were
MOWBRAY,
John, 3rd
Duke of Norfolk (1415-1461) 
The
only child of John 2nd Duke of Norfolk and his wife Katherine Neville,
sister of Cecily, Duchess of York. Served King Henry VI in various positions.
Keeper of the East March and Berwick in 1436/37 and ambassador to France
in 1439. John spent the first few years of the conflict as an observer.
He arrived a day late for the 1st battle of St Albans, whether by design
(not wishing to fight against his brother-in-law York) or by chance
is not known In the late 1450’s he and his wife were still attending
the court of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. After the battle of Wakefield,
Norfolk was one of those present when Edward IV was offered the throne
in March 1461 at his mother's home Baynard's Castle. Before the battle
of Towton, Norfolk was given the task of raising men from Anglia. Already
a sick man, his progress north was slow, but he kept his word in a decisive
manner. His arrival on the Lancastrians' left flank late in the battle
secured victory for the Yorkist army.
John
acted as Earl Marshal at the coronation of Edward IV. It was his last
public service to his cousin. He died in November 1461 and was buried
at Thetford.
MOWBRAY,
John, 4th
Duke of Norfolk (1444-1476)
The
son of John the 3rd Duke. Married to Lady Elizabeth Talbot, the sister
of Eleanor Butler. Like his father John supported his kinsmen of York.
He was present at the battle of Tewkesbury, after which battle he sat
in judgement on the Lancastrian commanders as Earl Marshal with Richard
of Gloucester who held the office of Constable. John was present as
one of Edward IV’s commanders in France in 1475. The following January
he died at the early age of 32. He was buried at Thetford.
John
left only one child, a daughter, Anne, who married Richard, Duke of
York, the younger son of Edward IV. Her death in 1481 at the age of
nine ended the Mowbray connection with the title.
NEVILLE, Anne,
Duchess of Buckingham
(d.1480)
Anne
Neville was the daughter of Ralph, Earl of Westmorland and his 2nd wife
Joan Beaufort. She married Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham,
as her first husband. Like her husband, Anne was a supporter of Lancaster.
Her son Humphrey was mortally wounded at the 1st battle of St Albans
in 1455. After the Lancastrian victory of Ludford
Bridge, Anne was given custody of her sister Cecily, Duchess
of York, until Richard of York returned to England in 1460. Anne was
widowed in 1460 when her husband lost his life at the battle of Northampton.
She married as her second husband Walter Blount, Lord Mountjoy. Anne
died in 1480 and is buried with her first husband in Pleshy, Essex.
NEVILLE,
Anne, Princess
of Wales, Queen
Consort (1456-1485)
The
younger daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, Anne was forced
into exile with the rest of her family in 1470. Her father’s change
in allegiance to the Lancastrians caused him to arrange her marriage
to Edward of Lancaster, Prince
of Wales. This marriage took place on 13 December at the chateau of
Amboise in France. Anne’s feelings towards this marriage to a man her
father had so often reviled in the past are not recorded. She returned
to England with her husband and his mother, Margaret of Anjou, in 1471.
Her father was killed on Easter day at the battle of Barnet, the very
day his daughter arrived from France. Anne’s husband was killed at the
battle of Tewkesbury just three weeks later.
As
the widow and daughter of attainted traitors Anne’s position was precarious.
Edward IV could have chosen to take away her rights of inheritance and
put her out of the way in some cell or nunnery, but he chose to do none of these things for a very good
reason. Richard of Gloucester,
Edward’s youngest brother, had lived in Anne’s father’s household as
a boy and he and Anne had grown up together. Richard had asked the King’s
permission to take Anne’s hand in marriage and though Edward was willing
to grant his younger brother’s request, his other brother George of
Clarence was opposed to the match. George, married to Anne’s sister
Isabel, was aware that Anne`s marriage to Richard would mean she was
entitled to half the Warwick
and Salisbury inheritance. George put forward every objection he could
find to prevent the match. At this point Anne apparently disappeared,
and it is not clear whether George was responsible for her disappearance
or whether Anne, feeling threatened by George’s opposition, had fled
into hiding. It is said that
Richard of Gloucester combed London to find her and she was eventually
discovered in a cookshop dressed as a servant. Richard immediately conveyed
her to sanctuary in St Martin le Grand where she remained in safety
until the matter was finally resolved.
It
has been alleged that Richard wished to marry Anne only for her substantial
inheritance. If this is so he certainly went to a lot of trouble when
he might have married someone richer and perhaps more highly born without
difficulty. As the King’s only unmarried brother he could have had his
pick of the courts of Europe. His choice of Anne may well have been
based on affection, as is often alleged, but whatever the case they
were married in 1472. After the marriage they spent most of their time
in the north at Middleham castle where a son Edward was born in 1473.
The couple became well loved in the north.
Anne
travelled south to join her husband after Edward IV’s death and when
Richard assumed the throne she became queen. She was crowned at his
side on 6 July 1483. In 1484 Anne and Richard’s only child died. They
were both inconsolable at the loss. One year later Anne died of consumption,
reportedly during a full eclipse of the sun. At her funeral in Westminster
Abbey where she was laid to rest, Richard wept. In later years Richard was said to have poisoned
Anne to make way for a marriage to his niece Elizabeth of York. These
accusations can almost certainly be dismissed. At the time of the marriage
between Anne and Richard no dispensation had been obtained from the
Pope, although the two were so closely related that strictly one was
required on grounds of consanguinity, so had Richard wished to put Anne
aside for someone else, this lack of
a papal dispensation would
have been an adequate excuse for annulment. Poison would have been unnecessary.
NEVILLE,
Cecily, Duchess
of York. (1415-1495)
The
youngest child of Ralph of Westmorland and Joan Beaufort, Cecily was
born in 1415. She married her father’s ward Richard, Duke of York in
1424. Cecily Neville was a great beauty, so much so that she was given
the pseudonym of the “Rose of Raby”. The marriage to York appears to
have been close and affectionate. Certainly the couple were seldom apart,
Cecily travelling with her husband to his various appointments when
ever possible. Of the twelve children born to the couple seven lived
to maturity - Anne, Edward, Edmund, Elizabeth, Margaret, George and
Richard.
Cecily
accompanied her husband to France during his term as the King’s Lieutenant
General and here three of her children were born. In 1449 she followed
Richard to Ireland where he served, again as the King’s Lieutenant.
Autumn 1459 saw Cecily with her family at Ludlow, but when her husband
was forced to flee from there after the debacle of the battle of Ludford
Bridge, Cecily remained to plead for leniency for the town. This proved
to be in vain : the town was given over to be sacked by the victorious
Lancastrians, and Cecily and her younger children were taken into custody
and sent to Cecily’s sister, Anne of Buckingham.
When
Richard of York returned to England in September 1460 Cecily met him
at Hereford and the family were reunited at their London residence of
Baynard’s castle until York`s departure for the north in December 1460.
It was here that Cecily received news of the death of her husband, her
son Edmund, her brother Salisbury, and her nephew Thomas at Wakefield
early in January 1461. Such dire news might have crushed a lesser woman,
but Cecily still had two young sons, George and Richard, in her care
and assuring their safety was now her priority. Swift passage and asylum
was arranged for them in Burgundy.
It
was also at Baynard’s castle that Cecily received news of her eldest
son Edward’s victory at Mortimers Cross. And even after Warwick’s defeat
at the 2nd battle of St Albans, she stayed at Baynard’s, showing by
example that she had every faith in her son and also helping to steady
the nerves of London’s citizens at a time when Margaret of Anjou seemed
sure of forcing an entry into their defenceless city. When Edward arrived
in the city to wild rejoicing on 27 February his mother was waiting
to greet him, and it was at her home at Baynard’s that he stayed throughout
the time he was being offered the crown.
After
Edward’s coronation until his marriage mother and son were close. Cecily
greatly disapproved of Edward’s marriage. She is even said to have declared
he was not the true son of York, a remark which has sometimes been construed
as meaning that Edward was not the son of Richard of York. A simpler
explanation could be that she meant that Edward was not acting in the
best interests of his house as his father would have done. Despite this,
Cecily never failed to support Edward. When George of Clarence was set
on defying his brother’s wishes in respect of his own marriage to Isobel
Neville, Cecily travelled to Canterbury to try and change his mind.
This she failed to do. Of all her children George would appear to be
the one with whom she had least influence. In 1471 after Edward returned
from his exile in Burgundy, it was Cecily and her daughters who constantly
urged George to return to his brother’s side and this time with success.
In 1478 when George was under sentence of death, Cecily begged Edward
to spare him, but she failed to sway her son who was now firmly under
the influence of his wife`s family.
On
Edward’s death in 1483, Cecily gave her support to her youngest son
Richard when he was offered the throne, and it was from her home that
he accepted the offer. Richard III’s death at the battle of Bosworth
meant that Cecily had outlived all her sons. Her relations with Henry
Tudor, who was, of course, married to her granddaughter, were necessarily
business-like. The last years of Cecily’s life were spent at Berkhampstead
castle, her home in Berkshire, where she lived in seclusion as a Benedictine
nun.
Cecily
died on 31 May, 1495 when she was eighty years old. Her body was taken
to Fotheringhay where she was buried with her husband and her son Edmund.
Their present tomb was erected on the orders of her great-great-granddaughter,
Elizabeth I.