Bastard Prince (9 page)

Richmond's elevation to the peerage certainly seemed to herald great things. At this time the only other royal bastard in England was Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle.
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The illegitimate son of Edward IV and his ‘wanton wench' Elizabeth Lucy, ‘my lord the bastard' had spent his youth living at his father's court. Yet, he was completely overshadowed by a host of legitimate male relatives and only achieved prominence under the Tudors. When Henry VIII made him an esquire of the body in 1509, he was already almost fifty years old. Richmond's grandfather, John Blount, also made an esquire of the body at that time, was half his age. Not until 1523 did Arthur join the ranks of the peerage, when he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward Grey, Viscount Lisle. Despite Henry's benevolence, the titles now showered on Richmond made Lisle's fortunes seem positively dismal. In addition, Lisle's lands were valued at £800 per annum, several thousand pounds short of the income intended for Richmond.

On 12 June 1525 Orio was already reporting that Henry VIII had moved to legitimise his son.
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Although he was entirely mistaken, Orio was not deterred. He subsequently became so carried away by the prevailing rumours that he declared:

The King has created his natural son by name Henry, aged seven years, Duke of Buckingham, with an annual rental amounting to 40,000 ducats, also Earl of Richmond and viceroy, so that he takes precedence of everybody.
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Although his sources were clearly so wildly inaccurate that it is amazing that he got the right name, the statement does reflect how far Richmond was perceived to have risen from his innate status as the king's natural son.

Around this time Richmond was also granted a number of offices. From 18 June 1525 he was Captain of the Town and Castle of Berwick upon Tweed and Keeper of the City and Castle of Carlisle, ‘an office held by the heir apparent from the time of Richard the Second'. Shortly afterwards, on 22 July 1525, he became Warden General of the Scottish Marches, a post Henry VIII himself had held as a child in 1494. Not since William the Conqueror, in the eleventh century, had an actual bastard sat upon the English throne. However, here was Richmond apparently being asked to fulfil the duties of a bona fide prince. Surely it was only a small step from here to the real thing?

Orio was not the only person, then or now, to believe that Henry was grooming his son as a possible successor. Yet it is dangerous to place too much emphasis on the king's choices at this time. It must be remembered that for much of his young life Henry VIII was only the second son, not the heir apparent, and the offices he held reflected this. It was also a well-established practice for any monarch to employ family members in as many posts as possible and Henry did not have many on whom he could call. As a mere girl, Mary was ineligible for any of those public offices that a prince might have performed for his father. Not only could Richmond help to address this deficiency, but his youth was often a positive advantage. Image and honour would be satisfied by the appointment of the king's blood relative, but lesser men could do the real work at a fraction of the cost.

There were also other practical reasons to cloak Richmond in a mantle of respectability. Whatever Henry was thinking, and he was careful never to declare his hand, the events of 18 June 1525 must have been reassuring to his subjects. Even as they marvelled at the ‘gravity and good manner' that the six-year-old could display, they must have been relieved to see that the king's son was sound and healthy. If he had any defects none of the keen eyed observers at Henry VIII's court ever reported them. It must have been a comfort to know that there was a viable alternative to Mary. Also, in 1523, while Mary was still betrothed to Charles V, Henry had been negotiating with the Scots, only to find he was being courted by the French. A betrothal was the traditional means to secure any diplomatic alliance. Yet with the best will in the world, Mary could only be engaged to one person at a time. An illegitimate son was not quite as valuable in the marriage stakes as a legitimate one, but given sufficient status, Richmond could be a useful tool in matters of matrimonial diplomacy.

Indeed, if these events were truly intended to signal Richmond's new position as heir to the English throne, Henry did not go about it in a very systematic or committed manner. Although Henry Tudor had been Earl of Richmond prior to his accession as Henry VII, it should be remembered that this was not an honour normally associated with the direct line of succession. Henry did not make his son Duke of Cornwall, the title traditionally bestowed on the heir apparent, nor did he create him Duke of York, the dignity usually reserved for the monarch's second son. Instead, his titles were those most intimately associated with the Tudor dynasty itself, rather than the estate of royalty. In a similar manner, Henry VII had honoured his mother as Countess of Richmond, without intending to imply that she was destined for the throne.
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Henry was clearly reluctant to use any of those lands which might be needed for his legitimate sons. The closest Richmond got to the inheritance of the legitimate heir was a collection of manors in Somerset and Dorset which had been annexed to the Duchy of Cornwall in 1421 by Henry V. These lands, formerly held by Sir Matthew Gourney and briefly granted under Edward IV to George, Duke of Clarence, were not, therefore, specifically part of the duchy. Despite this, in December 1490 they had been included in the charter drawn up by Henry VII for his son and heir, Arthur.
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The king did allow Richmond to hold the lordship of Middleham in Yorkshire, which in 1534 was described as ‘his second son's inheritance which is parcel of the Dukedom of York'. However, the impressive residence that was Middleham Castle was specifically excluded from the grant.

Rather than signalling his intention to place a crown on his head, it might be more accurate to suggest that Henry VIII wanted to provide for his illegitimate son in a manner which stressed their blood relationship, not his place in the succession. Henry VIII was obviously not yet willing to abandon hopes of one, or even two legitimate sons. Should he have a male heir, that child would automatically take precedence over the unofficial Princess of Wales. An existing Duke of Cornwall or Duke of York would be a very different matter. At the very least Henry was keeping his options open. Indeed, the decision to bestow upon the young Duke of Richmond those lands traditionally associated with the Beaufort and Tudor lines neatly sidestepped any direct consideration of the child's exact status in respect of the succession.

Although it had sometimes been claimed that Richmond was given precedence even over Mary, his patent expressly stated that he outranked all but the king's (and his successor's) legitimate issue. In 1525 Henry's ‘entirely beloved daughter' still outranked him. Although she was never formally created Princess of Wales, to all intents and purposes she held that position. When she was sent to Ludlow in the Welsh Marches, it was a tacit acknowledgement of her status as Henry's heir and she was spoken of as if she was Princess of Wales. In 1525 the Venetian ambassador wrote that ‘the Princess went to her Principality of Wales with a suitable and honourable escort'. Even Charles V, who was keen to protect his cousin Mary's interests in England, so that he might use them to his own advantage, did not become unduly concerned about Richmond's honours affecting her rights for several years to come. Certainly, in marriage negotiations at least, Henry VIII was still prepared to offer Mary as England's heir apparent, if he had no legitimate son.

The spate of honours that accompanied Richmond's elevation is also evidence that Henry was keen to use the occasion for wider political advantage, as he replenished his depleted nobility.
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Royal blood was much in evidence. The new Earl of Lincoln was Henry Brandon, the king's nephew by his younger sister Mary and her husband Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Although their elder son, who had been born with such commendable promptness in 1516, had not survived infancy, their second son was now a promising three-year-old. The new Marquess of Exeter, Henry Courtenay, was the king's cousin, the son of Henry's maternal aunt, Katherine, from her marriage to William, Earl of Devon. Sir Thomas Manners, now to be Earl of Rutland, was a great-nephew of Edward IV. Henry Clifford, the new Earl of Cumberland, would subsequently cement his ties to the Tudor dynasty through his marriage to Henry VIII's niece, Eleanor Brandon. Even Sir Thomas Boleyn, who was created Viscount Rochford, was family too in a way, being the father of the king's most recent mistress, Mary Boleyn.

While Richmond's elevation was by far the most spectacular, these other creations were intended to do more than simply reflect his glory. After the death of Richard de la Pole, the last militant sprig of the Yorkist line, Henry Brandon's creation as Earl of Lincoln was particularly significant in signalling the eradication of their claim to the English throne and the ascendancy of the Tudors. At a stroke Henry demonstrated good lordship by rewarding his loyal nobility and created a network of kinship and alliances to help secure his dynasty. At best, these nobles would provide loyal support to his legitimate heir, although there was also the unspoken thought that one of these near relations might be a suitable candidate to follow him on the throne.
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From this point, despite being only six years old, Richmond also became an independent magnate in his own right. Like any other noble in the realm, he was now expected to support himself from his own estates and revenues. Although Henry covered a good deal of the costs, many of the expenses relating to Richmond's elevation, including £13 6
s
8
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‘for sealing and writing the patents of creation of the earldom of Nottingham and Dukedom of Richmond and Somerset' came out of Richmond's coffers. A large number of the ‘necessaries for the household' now being assembled, including more than £63 on ‘hangings for chambers and other stuff', were paid for by Richmond himself.

In contrast, Mary continued to be supported by their father, even after her legitimacy was called into question. The king may well have considered that his son could easily afford the bills. The £20 annuity that he received as Earl of Nottingham was just the tip of the iceberg. In the first year his income of £4,845 exceeded all expectations.
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Yet, if Henry's goal was to gain acceptance of his son as heir apparent, it is curious that he chose to ennoble him in a manner which stressed his independence, rather than bring him closer into the Royal Household.

On 16 July 1525, Richmond's immediate prospects were made no clearer by his appointment as Lord High Admiral of England. This decision was not a case of needs must. The present admiral was the very capable Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. Nor is it something that Henry can have done on a whim. Only eleven years previously Norfolk had been granted the office for life. Now Henry was required to mollify the disgruntled duke with a generous exchange of lands. Even then Norfolk was not exactly happy. He took his time in surrendering his patent, claiming, with rather bad grace a month later, that it had been among other papers. Because Richmond was so young, Arthur, Viscount Lisle took on the day-to-day responsibilities of the post as vice-admiral. While this may have been a cheaper option, not even Henry would have chosen to deeply offend one of his senior nobles purely in the interests of economy. A more plausible explanation is that the king wanted to make the new Duke of Richmond a more public figure. Most Tudor government was organised on a county-to-county basis and a national office like Lord Admiral was a rare commodity. Now, by his proclamations if not actually in person, the whole country would be familiar with the king's natural son.

Then, before the summer was over, it also became apparent that there was a more concrete and immediate reason for Richmond's lavish new status than a vague or future policy over the succession. As well as his appointment as Warden General of the Marches towards Scotland (another office recently relinquished by the Duke of Norfolk), Richmond was also granted several other posts which effectively placed the government of the north of England in the hands of the king's son.
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The policy of employing wardens for the East, Middle and West Marches were to be brought under the auspices of a newly resurrected Council of the North, a council that Richmond would preside over in the name of the king.

This was obviously a significant aspect of Henry's immediate intentions. Several parts of Richmond's honours were clearly designed with this appointment in mind. The inclusion of manors in Westmoreland and Yorkshire gave him a personal interest in local affairs. To further support this process, Wolsey made him High Steward of the Bishopric of Durham and High Steward of the Liberties of the Archbishop of York. Finally Sheriff Hutton Castle, where his new household would be established, was a proven base for government of the north.

At the same time Mary was to go to Ludlow as the figurehead of a similar body for the Marches of Wales. Both the Council of the North and the Council of the Marches had evolved from traditional manorial courts. When Richard, Duke of York had established a court at Sheriff Hutton, he had been ensuring the peace and security of his own estates. It had only been brought under royal control when he seized the throne as Richard III.
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The sparsely populated north of England, with its deep-rooted feudal loyalties and distance from the seat of government, presented particular problems for control.
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Henry VII had made use of the authority of Margaret Beaufort's council as Countess of Richmond, but after her death in 1509 Henry VIII had made do with the appointment of local gentry to police the Marches as lord wardens. Unfortunately, their commission from the king was not always sufficient to ensure order. In February 1522, the Bishop of Carlisle, sent north to see to preparations for the anticipated war with Scotland, complained of so much theft and extortion that ‘all the country goeth, and shall more, to waste'.