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Treasurer
of the Exchequer, 1452-1455, Constable of the Tower, 1461, and of England,
1462-1467, Steward of the Household are all offices held at one time
or another by this highly educated and cultured man. He was also at
various times an ambassador to the Pope. Tiptoft was also a very cruel
man and carried out punishments so sadistically that it was noticed
even at this pitiless period. Worcester
was taken prisoner by the Earl of Warwick in 1470 and when sentenced
to execution, he requested that his head be taken off by three strokes
of the axe in honour of the Trinity! Worcester is buried in Ely Cathedral. Son
of the James, Lord Audley who was killed at Blore Heath, John was a
Lancastrian supporter. He sailed in the expedition to Calais in 1460,
and was captured by the Earl of Warwick. Apparently, he struck up a
friendship at Calais with the young Edward, Earl of March, and was persuaded
to transfer his allegiance to the Yorkists. He served Edward as Steward
of the King’s Lands in Dorset from 1461 and fought for him
at the battles of Mortimers Cross, Barnet and Tewkesbury. He
was a Privy Councillor under Edward IV, serving in the invasion of France.
He seems to have continued to support Richard III and attended
his coronation. Later, he was Lord Treasurer and Commissioner of Array,
but possibly too old to fight at Bosworth. He died in 1490 and was buried
in Shere, Surrey. Andrew
Trollope was one of the Earl of Warwick’s captains in Calais and held
the office of Master Porter there. When Warwick sailed for England
in 1459, Trollope was one of those who sailed with him, but on
the eve of the battle of Ludford Bridge, Trollope and those under him
deserted to Henry VI. This was an enormous
blow to the Yorkists since Trollope was privy to all their plans as
well as being an experienced commander. From
this point Trollope was of invaluable help to the Lancastrian cause.
He fought for Lancaster at the battle of Wakefield in 1460, 2nd St Albans
in 1461 and at Towton where he was killed. His son, Sir David Trollope,
fought beside him at all three of these battles, and died with his father
at Towton. The
son of Katherine of Valois and Owen Tudor, he was therefore the step-brother
of Henry VI. He married Margaret Beaufort and was created Earl of Richmond
by King Henry VI in 1453. Edmund,
like Owen and brother Jasper, was a loyal supporter of
the Lancastrian cause. In 1456 he fell ill at Carmarthen in Wales
and died shortly afterwards. Margaret gave birth to his posthumous son
three months later - Henry Tudor, the
future King Henry VII. The
only child of Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort, his childhood was
eventful and unsettled. Firstly in the care of his uncle Jasper, Henry
became the ward of William Herbert after his uncle was forced into exile.
Herbert apparently became fond of the boy, even hoping to arrange a
match between Henry and his daughter Maud. Following
Herbert’s execution after the battle of Edgecote, Margaret Beaufort
managed to get her son away to join his uncle Jasper in exile in Brittany.
Here, he remained until he was threatened with expulsion to England
after Richard III came to an agreement with the Duke of Brittany for
his return. Knowing that imprisonment awaited him in England, Henry
took refuge in France. In
1485 the time was judged right to make an attempt to win the crown of
England. Henry had sworn that, if he were successful, he would marry
Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. This was an attempt
to mobilise the support of those Yorkists disaffected with Richard’s
rule. Henry landed at Milford Haven in his native Wales, hoping to gather
support. Fortune smiled on him. His mother’s husband Lord Stanley, was
inclined to throw in his hand with his step-son, and at the battle of
Bosworth this proved decisive. Stanley placed his forces between the
king and Henry Tudor, his brother William taking up a position directly
opposite him, and when Richard III led his knights straight at Henry,
William Stanley turned traitor and intervened. Following Richard III’s
unexpected death in the battle, Henry was acclaimed king on the spot. As
king, Henry swiftly set about putting his stamp on the kingdom. In this
he was assisted by John Morton, whom he made his Archbishop of Canterbury,
and his mother, Margaret Beaufort.
Henry was no soldier and relied upon his uncle Jasper and others
to put down the opposition from the Yorkists at the battle of Stoke
Field in 1487. He faced one more threat to his authority from the Yorkist
backed Perkin Warbeck before his reign settled into a relatively peaceful
period. Despite
what has been written since, Henry was not the saviour of
a nation set on self-destruction. His rule was not more merciful
than that of the Yorkists: in many ways it was more pitiless. He was
adept at raising funds in any way possible, however unscrupulous, and
was also ruthless in his determination to eradicate those noblemen,
especially of the house of York, who had a better claim to the crown
than he himself. Henry’s
marriage to Elizabeth of York produced four children who survived infancy.
Of these, his eldest son, Arthur, died at the age of fifteen and his
younger son became Henry VIII after his death, and continued his father’s
policy of removing any credible Yorkist claimants to the throne. Henry
VII died in 1509 and is buried with Elizabeth in a magnificent tomb
in Westminster Abbey. The
brother of Edmund, after Edmund’s early death he cared for his brother’s
young widow, Margaret Beaufort, and also made himself responsible for
her son. Jasper, a dedicated Lancastrian, was created Earl of Pembroke
by his half brother Henry VI in 1453. He was also Constable of Carmarthen,
Aberystwyth, Carkeny and Denbigh castles. For Henry he fought at both
battles of St Albans and Mortimers Cross. In
exile from 1461 to 1470, he returned to raise Wales against Edward IV
at the time of Henry’s readeption, but
after Tewkesbury was forced into exile once again.
In 1485 he was back again with his nephew Henry Tudor, and fought
at the battle of Bosworth, after which success, Henry created Jasper
Duke of Bedford. Jasper married Katherine Woodville, the widow of the
Duke of Buckingham, but remained childless. He died in 1495 and was
buried in Keynsham abbey in Somerset. The presumed father of Edmund and Jasper Tudor, his ‘marriage’ to Catherine
of Valois produced three sons. The third son, named Owen after his father,
became a monk at Westminster Abbey. Owen fought with his son, Jasper
at the battle of Mortimers Cross, and was captured by Edward of March,
taken to Hereford and beheaded there. He was buried in the church of
the Greyfriars, Hereford. Sir
James fought for the Yorkists at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury.
Later, as a retainer of Richard of Gloucester, he was Master of the
Henchmen and given the task by Richard of escorting the Countess of
Warwick, Anne’s mother, back to Middleham castle, after her release
from sanctuary. He is also the man credited with carrying out the murder
of Edward IV’s sons on Richard’s orders. Henry VII had Tyrell executed
in 1502, and then alleged after the deed that Tyrell had confessed to
the crime of murdering the boys. This was not necessarily true, but
was accepted by the playwright William Shakespeare. He
fought for the Yorkists at the battles of Mortimers Cross, Towton, Barnet
and Tewkesbury. Keeper of the Great Wardrobe under Edward IV, and Treasurer
of the Chamber, he also served in the invasion of France. Later,
Edward IV gave him the position of chamberlain to his son Edward, Prince
of Wales, when the prince had his own household established at Ludlow
Castle. Following the unexpected death of Edward IV, Thomas escorted
the young prince, who was now king, on his journey to London and was
one of those intercepted and arrested by Richard of Gloucester. He was
beheaded at Pontefract and buried in Westminster Abbey, London. He
married, as his first wife, the Earl of Warwick’s sister Margaret. Apparently
always a Lancastrian supporter at heart, Oxford was made a Knight of
the Bath by Edward IV and was joint Commissioner of Array for Essex
and Hertfordshire in 1469. In 1470 he defected to Henry VI at the time
of the Readeption and was given the office of High Constable. One of
the commanders outwitted by Edward IV at Newark in 1471, he fought at
the battle of Barnet, managing to flee the field at the end of the battle. Always
resourceful, he later captured St Michael’s Mount off the coast of Cornwall
in an attempt to start a Lancastrian uprising, but after a two-month
siege was forced to surrender. Oxford managed to escape the vigilance
of his pursuers to join Henry Tudor in France in 1484, where he was
made very welcome. He commanded the vanguard for Henry Tudor at the
battle of Bosworth, and went on to do the same at the battle of Stoke
Field. He died in 1512. A
friend and supporter of the Earl of Warwick and also a friend of the
Duke of Clarence, he was appealed to for his support by Warwick in 1471
before Barnet. He resisted the appeal and may even have joined the Duke
of Clarence, who had by then returned to his allegiance with his brother
Edward. Vernon was a personal retainer of Lord Hastings. He died in
1515. One of his descendants married into the Manners family, which
makes him, too, an ancestor of the Dukes of Rutland. The
son of Margaret Beaufort’s mother by her third marriage, he escaped
to Brittany and the other Lancastrian sympathisers after his involvement
in the Buckingham rebellion. The step-uncle of Henry VII, it is supposed
that he tried, along with Henry`s mother Margaret, to obtain access
to the Tower to remove the princes after Richard III’s accession. If
this story is true, one must wonder what the motive was behind their
actions. Welles fought for Henry
VII at the battle of Bosworth. He married Edward IV`s daughter Cecily
and the marriage produced two daughters who both died young. He died in 1498 and was buried in Westminster
Abbey. Son
of Eudo and Maud, the daughter of Ralph, Lord Greystoke, Lionel married,
as his first wife, Cecilia Waterton. His second wife was Margaret Beauchamp,
the widow of John, 1st Duke of Somerset, and the mother of Margaret
Beaufort. Lionel
held numerous offices under the Lancastrian regime. He served as deputy
to Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset in 1455 as Lieutenant of Calais.
In 1457 he was made a Knight of the Garter, and was Commissioner of
Array for Lincolnshire in 1457-58 and 59. Lionel has the distinction
of fighting in four battles in as many months in 1460-61, when he fought
at the battle of Wakefield, Mortimer’s Cross, 2nd St Albans and Towton.
At Towton, so close to his own manor of Methley, he was one of those
killed on the battlefield He
fought for the Lancastrians at the battles of Wakefield, 2nd St Albans
and Towton and afterwards, though he was for a time on the side of Edward
IV and fought for him at the battle of Hexham, he later became embroiled
in Warwick`s rebellion of 1470. Captured by Edward IV, he was executed before
Loosecote Field. The
son of the above Richard, he commanded the rebels at the battle of Loosecote
Field, where he was defeated and captured. Interrogated before his execution,
it was he who confirmed to Edward IV that the instigators of the rebellion
were Warwick and Clarence. He
fought for the Lancastrians at the 1st battle of St Albans, but not
long afterwards switched his support to the other side and fought for
the Yorkists at the battle of Blore Heath. In exile in Calais with Warwick
in 1459, he was one of the raiding party which raided Sandwich, before
returning to England in 1460. John took part in the battles of Mortimers
Cross, Ferrybridge and Towton, at which time he was created Lord Wenlock.
In
1469 Warwick appointed him his deputy at Calais, but when Warwick fled
England in 1470 and made for Calais, his entry into the town was reluctantly
refused by Wenlock, on the orders of King Edward. However, Wenlock changed
sides once again when Warwick allied himself with Margaret of Anjou.
He returned to England with Margaret in April 1471, but at the battle
of Tewkesbury was accused of being only half-hearted in his support
for the Lancastrians. This lack of commitment so enraged the Duke of
Somerset that he is said to have attacked Wenlock with a battle axe,
splitting his skull open on the spot. Lord Wenlock is buried in Luton,
Bedfordshire. The
eldest son of Sir Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, and
brother of Elizabeth the Queen Consort, he was a notable participant
in the fashionable tourney and a highly educated man. He was taken as
prisoner to Calais with his Lancastrian father in 1460, but was present
on the Lancastrian side at the 2nd battle of St Albans and at Towton
in 1461. In 1462 Anthony became Lord Scales by right of his wife.
The numerous Woodville family became Yorkist after the marriage
of Anthony’s eldest sister Elizabeth
to Edward IV. Afterwards, as a privileged courtier, he was the challenger
at the famous joust against the Bastard of Burgundy in 1468, and on
his father`s execution by the Earl of Warwick in 1469, Anthony succeeded
his father to the earldom. He was one of those who accompanied Edward
into exile and fought with him on their return at the battle of Barnet
in 1471. Anthony was not present at the battle of Tewkesbury. Edward
had left him in London to defend the city as it came under attack from
the Bastard of Fauconberg, and this he did well. In 1475 he was one
of the lords in Edward’s army in France. Edward
gave him the important position of
Governor to the Prince of Wales, his sister Elizabeth’s son,
when the young Prince’s household was established at Ludlow and Anthony
spent the next few years here with his young nephew. After Edward’s
death in 1483, Elizabeth instructed her brother to bring the boy to
London with all speed. On the way to London the party were met by Richard
of Gloucester, who took the young king into his own care, arresting
Anthony, Richard Grey and Sir Thomas Vaughan. After the Hastings plot
all three were executed in the north. The
eldest child of Sir Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Elizabeth
was apparently a great beauty. She married Sir John Grey at the age
of fifteen and the marriage produced two sons, Thomas and Richard.
Sir John was killed at the 2nd battle of St Albans, one of the
few Lancastrian fatalities, leaving Elizabeth a widow. How
and where Elizabeth met Edward IV is open to question, but the pair
were married in secret on May 1st, 1464 and Edward then acknowledged
her as his Queen at Reading in the same year. Elizabeth was crowned
on 26 May, 1465. When Edward was forced into exile in 1470, Elizabeth
took sanctuary in Westminster Abbey, where she gave birth to the couple’s
first son. The marriage eventually produced ten children, of whom five
daughters and two sons were alive at the time of Edward’s death. Elizabeth
tried desperately to take over the government of England after Edward’s
death on behalf of her young son, but had no success and caused much
discord. However, after Richard III`s death at the battle of Bosworth,
Elizabeth’s eldest daughter became Henry VII’s queen. Elizabeth seemed
to have regained all her former glory, but it was to prove short-lived.
She was abruptly stripped of her possessions by Henry Tudor in 1490
and banished to St Saviours Abbey, Bermondsey, where she died in 1492.
Elizabeth is buried with Edward IV in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. One
of the sisters of Elizabeth Woodville, Katherine was married to Henry
Stafford, Duke of Buckingham - a marriage that the young man greatly
resented as demeaning, even though the couple eventually parented five
children, After Buckingham’s rebellion and subsequent execution, Richard
III allowed Katherine`s eldest son to assume the title of third Duke
and retain his father’s estates. Katherine
made a second marriage after Bosworth, her new husband being Jasper
Tudor, now Duke of Bedford, and of course the uncle of the recently
victorious King Henry VII. So
in a twist of fate, Katherine now carried the title her mother had once
held. She died in 1513, fortunately not living quite long enough to
witness the execution of her son, one of Henry VIII’s many victims. He
married Jacquetta of Luxembourg, who was the widow of Henry V’s brother
John, Duke of Bedford, and the couple went on to produce a large family.
Richard was Captain in
charge of the navy at Sandwich in 1459, when he, his wife and son were
captured by the Earl of Warwick. He fought for the Lancastrians at the
battle of Towton, but became a Yorkist supporter soon afterwards, when
Edward IV married his daughter Elizabeth.. He was then created Earl
Rivers and given many great offices of state, chiefly Treasurer of the
Exchequer, Privy Councillor and Constable of England. He was resented
as an upstart by many, but particularly by the Earl of Warwick, so it
was unlucky that he should fall into Warwick`s hands during the upheavals
of 1469. He was executed without further ceremony.
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