Wars of the Roses (73 page)

Read Wars of the Roses Online

Authors: Alison Weir

Tags: #Non Fiction

BOOK: Wars of the Roses
13.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

13   ‘The harvest of heads’: the gruesome aftermath of Jack Cade’s rebellion in 1450, a largely middle-class revolt against misgovernment by Henry VI’s favourites.
(illustration credit 13)

14   A nineteenth-century portrayal of the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses: the Dukes of Somerset and York confront each other in Temple Gardens, London. This colourful scene, enshrined in the pages of Shakespeare, is fictitious, the stuff of legend.
(illustration credit 14)

15   Ludlow Castle, Shropshire: the mightiest fortress owned by York, and his headquarters during the Wars of the Roses.
(illustration credit 15)

16   Westminster Hall, London. Here, in October 1460, York formally laid claim to the crown of England.
(illustration credit 16)

17   Edward IV. Affable, handsome, promiscuous and generally indolent, he nevertheless brought stable government to England and was consistently victorious over his enemies in battle.
(illustration credit 17)

18   Elizabeth Wydville. In his choice of wife, King Edward was ‘governed by lust’; the marriage caused not only scandal but political disruption.
(illustration credit 18)

19   Warwick the Kingmaker. Next to the King, he was the greatest man in England, and virtually controlled the government during the early years of Edward’s reign.
(illustration credit 19)

20   George, Duke of Clarence, with his wife, Isabel Neville, and their son. Clarence, who wanted to depose his brother the King and rule in his place, was Warwick’s natural ally in the late 1460s.
(illustration credit 20)

21   Edward IV sets sail from Flushing in March 1471. Although few believed he stood any chance of victory, he had no intention of retreating.
(illustration credit 21)

22   Edward IV watches the execution of the Duke of Somerset, last of the male Beaufort line, and twelve others, in May 1471. The King pardoned all the common soldiers who had fought against him.
(illustration credit 22)

23   The oratory in the Wakefield Tower in the Tower of London where tradition sets the murder of Henry VI, which took place on the night of 21 May 1471. He was the last surviving member of the House of Lancaster.
(illustration credit 23)

This book is dedicated to
a much-loved uncle,
Rankin Lorimer Weir,
in commemoration of his ninetieth birthday.

It is also dedicated
in loving memory of
his beloved wife
Dorothy Weir.

And also to
my godson
David Jonathan Marston
on the occasion of his twenty-first birthday.

These matters be kings’ games, as it were stage plays, and for the more part played upon scaffolds.

Sir Thomas More

What about the getting of the garland, keeping it, losing and winning it again, it hath cost more English blood than twice the winning of France.

William Shakespeare,
King Richard III

Acknowledgements

I am indebted, as usual, to my editor, Jill Black, for her invaluable assistance and support, and also to Pascal Cariss of Jonathan Cape for all his hard work on a difficult manuscript. Thanks are also due to Cathie Arrington for her excellent picture research, and to my literary agent, Julian Alexander, for his constant encouragement.

I would also like to acknowledge, with grateful thanks, the help given me by my brother-in-law, Dr Ronald Weir of the University of York, in estimating monetary values in the fifteenth century. Lastly, I must once again thank my husband, Rankin, my children, John and Kate, and my parents, Doreen and James Cullen, for their forbearance, help and enthusiasm over the last two years.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Adam of Usk:
Cronicon Adae de Usk
(ed. E. M. Thompson, London, 1904)

Archaeologia, or Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity
(102 vols., Society of Antiquaries, 1777–1969)

Basin, Thomas:
Histoire de Charles VII
(ed. C. Samaran, Paris, 1964–5)

Basin, Thomas:
Histoire de Louis XI
(ed. C. Samaran and M. C. Garand, Paris, 1963–6)

Basin, Thomas:
Histoires des Règnes de Charles VII et de Louis XI
(ed. J. Quicherat, Paris, 1855–9)

Benet, John:
John Benet’s Chronicle for the Years 1400 to 1462
(ed. G. L. Harriss and M. A. Harriss,
Camden Miscellany
. vol. XXIV, London, 1972)

Blacman, John:
Henry the Sixth: A Reprint of John Blacman’s Memoir
(ed. M. R. James, Cambridge, 1919)

The Brut, or the Chronicles of England
(ed. F. Brie, Early English Texts Society, 1906–8)

Calendar of Charter Rolls
, Vol. VI, 1427–1516 (HMSO, 1927)

Calendar of Close Rolls
, 1454–61, 1461–68, 1468–76 (HMSO, 1954)

Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland
, Vol. IV 1357–1509 (ed. J. Bain, London, 1888)

Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VI and Edward IV
(HMSO, London, 1949–67)

Calendar of Signet Letters, Henry IV and Henry V
(HMSO, London, 1978)

Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts existing in the Archives and
Collections of Milan
, Vol. I 1388–1618 (ed. A. B. Hinds, London, 1913)

Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating to English Affairs existing in the Archives and Collections of Venice, Vol. I 1202–1309
(ed. R. Brown, London, 1864)

Capgrave, John:
The Book of the Illustrious Henries
(ed. F. C. Hingeston, London, 1858)

The Cely Papers
(ed. Henry Elliot Maiden, Camden Society, 1900)

Chastellain, Georges:
Chronicles of the Dukes of Burgundy
(in
Oeuvres
, vols. IV and V, ed. K. de Lettenhove, Brussels, 1864)

The Chronicle of Bermondsey, 1042–1442
(in
Annales Monastici
, 5 vols., ed. H. R. Luard, Rolls Series, 1864–9)

A Chronicle of London from 1089 to 1483
(ed. H. Nicolas and E. Tyrell, London, 1827)

The Chronicle of the Rebellion in Lincolnshire, 1470
(ed. J. G. Nichols, Camden Miscellany, 1847)

Chronicles of London
(ed. C. L. Kingsford, Oxford, 1905; reprinted Alan Sutton, 1977)

Chronicles of the White Rose of York
(ed. J. A. Giles, 1845)

Chronique de la Traïson et Mort de Richard Deux, Roy Dengleterre
(ed. and trans. B. Williams, English Historical Society, 1847)

Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys, 1380–1422
(6 vols., ed. and trans. F. Bellaguet, Paris, 1839–52)

Clerq, Jacques du:
Mémoires sur le Règne de Philippe le Bon, Duc de Bourgogne
(4 vols., ed. M. le Baron de Reiffenberg, Brussels, 1836)

A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations for the Government of the Royal Household made in divers reigns from King Edward III to King William and Queen Mary
(Society of Antiquaries, 1790)

A Collection of Wills of the Kings and Queens of England from William the Conqueror to Henry VII
(ed. J. Nichols, Society of Antiquaries, 1780)

Commines, Philippe de:
Mémoires
(3 vols., ed. J. L. A. Calmette and G. Durville, Paris, 1824–5; ed. and trans. M. Jones, Penguin Classics, London, 1972)

The Cotton Manuscripts in the British Library

The Coventry Leet Book
(ed. M. D. Harris in four parts, Early English Texts Society, Original Series, 1907–13)

Creton, Jean:
Histoire du Roy d’Angleterre, Richard
(manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale Paris, ed. and trans. J. Webb in
Archaeologia
, XX, 1824)

The Croyland Chronicle Continuation, 1459–1486
(ed. N. Prona and J. Cox, Alan Sutton, 1986)

Dépêches des ambassadeurs Milanais en France sous Louis XI et François Sforza
(4 vols., ed. B. de Mandrot, Paris, 1916–19)

The Dieulacres Chronicle
(in
The Deposition of Richard II
by M. V. Clarke and V. H. Galbraith, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, XIV, 1930; reprinted in M. V. Clarke,
Fourteenth Century Studies
, Oxford, 1939)

England under the Yorkists
(ed. I. D. Thornley, 1920)

An English Chronicle of the Reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI
(ed. J. S. Davies, Camden Society, 1856)

English Historical Documents, Vol. 5 1327–1485
(ed. A. R. Myers, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1969)

English Historical Literature in the Fifteenth Century
(ed. C. L. Kingsford, Oxford, 1913: reprinted New York, 1962)

Fabyan, Robert:
The Concordance of Histories: The New Chronicles of England and France
(ed. H. Ellis, London, 1811)

Foedera, Conventiones, Litterae, etc., 1101–1654, Vols. I-XV
(20 vols., compiled by Thomas Rymer, London, 1704–35)

Fortescue, Sir John:
The Governance of England
(ed. C. Plummer, Oxford, 1885)

Fortescue, Sir John:
De Laudibus Legum Angliae
(trans. F. Grigor, London, 1917)

Gesta Henrici Quinti: The Deeds of Henry the Fifth
(trans. and ed. F. Taylor and J. S. Roskell, Oxford, 1975)

The Great Chronicle of London
(ed. A. H. Thomas and I. D. Thornley, Guildhall Library, London, 1938, privately printed)

‘Gregory’s Chronicle’: The Historical Collections of a Citizen of London in the Fifteenth Century
(ed. James Gairdner, Camden Society, 1876)

Hall, Edward:
The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York
(ed. H. Ellis, London, 1809; facsimile edition of the original published 1970)

Hardying, John:
Chronicle
(ed. H. Ellis, London, 1812, and ed. C. L. Kingsford in
English Historical Review
, XXVII, 1912)

The Harleian Manuscripts in the British Library

Historiae Croylandensis Continuario
(in
Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores Veterum, Vol. I
, ed W. Fulman, Oxford, 1684)

Historiae Vitae et Regni Ricardi Secundi
(ed. G. B. Snow, University of Pennsylvania, 1977)

Historie of the Arrivall of King Edward IV in England and the final Recoverye of his Kingdomes from Henry VI, A.D. 1471
(ed. J. Bruce, Camden Society, 1838)

The Household of Edward IV
(ed. A. R. Myers. 1959)

Illustrated Letters of the Paston Family
(ed. Roger Virgoe, Macmillan, 1989)

Ingulph’s Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland
(trans. and ed. H. T. Riley, Bohn’s Antiquarian Library, London, 1854)

Juvénal des Ursins, Jean:
Écrits politiques
(ed. P. S. Lewis, Paris, 1978)

Juvénal des Ursins, Jean:
Histoire de Charles VI
(ed. J. A. C. Buchon, Paris, 1836)

Knyghthode and Bataile
(ed. R. Dyboski and Z. M. Arend, Early English Texts Society, 1935)

The Legeaud Manuscripts in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

Letters and Papers illustrative of the Wars of the English in France during the Reign of Henry the Sixth, King of England
(2 vols., ed. J. Stevenson, Rolls Series, 1861–81)

Letters of Margaret of Anjou
(ed. Cecil Monroe, Camden Society, 1863)

Lettres de Louis XI, Roi de France
(11 vols., ed. J. Vaesen and others, Paris, 1883–1909)

Lettres des Rois, Reines et autres Personnages des Cours de France et d’Angleterre
(ed. J. Champollion-Figeac, Paris, 1839–47)

A London Chronicle of 1460
(ed. G. Baskerville,
English Historical Review
, XXVIII, 1913)

Mancini, Dominic:
De Occupatione Regni Anglie per Riccardum Tercium
(trans. and ed. C. A. J. Armstrong, 2nd edition, Oxford, 1969)

Marche, Olivier de la:
Mémoires d’Olivier de la Marche
(ed. H. Beaune and J. Arbaumont, Paris, 1883)

Memorials of Henry the Fifth
(ed. C. A. Cole, Rolls Series, 1858)

Molinet, Jean:
Chroniques de Jean Molinet, 1474–1506
(3 vols., ed. G. Doutrepont and O. Jodogne, Académie Royale Belgique, Brussels, 1935–7)

Monstrelet, Enguerrand de:
Chroniques d’Enguerran de Monstrelet
(ed. L. Douet d’Arcq, Paris, 1857–62)

Narratives of the Expulsion of the English from Normandy, 1449–1450
(ed. J. Stevenson, London, 1863)

Original Letters Illustrative of English History
(11 vols., ed. Sir Henry Ellis, London, 1824–46)

Pageant of the Birth, Life and Death of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, K
. G.,
1389–1439
(ed. Viscount Dillon and W. H. St John Hope, London, 1914)

The Paston Letters, 1422–1509
(3 vols., ed. J. Gairdner, Edinburgh, 1910)

Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century
(2 vols., ed. N. Davis, Oxford, 1971–6)

The Plumpton Correspondence
(ed. T. Stapleton, Camden Society, 1839)

Political Poems and Songs relating to English History, from the Accession of Edward III to that of Richard III
(2 vols., ed. T. Wright, Rolls Series, 1852)

The Priory of Hexham, Vol. I
(Surtees Society, 1864)

Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England, Vol. VI
(ed. Sir H. Nicolas, London, 1837)

Records of the Borough of Nottingham, Vols. II and III
(London, 1883–5)

A Relation of the Island of England
(ed. C. A. Sneyd, Camden Society, 1847)

Rotuli Parliamentorum
(The Rolls of Parliament) (7 vols., ed. J. Strachey and others, Record Commissioners, 1767–83)

Rous, John:
Historiae Regum Angliae
(ed. T. Hearne, Oxford, 1716)

Rous, John:
The Rous Roll
(ed. C. Ross and W. Courthope, Alan Sutton, 1980)

Roye, Jean de:
Journal de Jean de Roye connu sous le nom de Chronique Scandaleuse, 1460–1483
(2 vols., ed. B. de Mandrot, Paris, 1894–6)

Shillingford, John:
Letters and Papers of John Shillingford
(ed. S. A. Moore, Camden Society, 1871)

Six Town Chronicles of England
(ed. R. Flenley, Oxford, 1911)

Stone, John:
Chronicle
(ed. W. G. Searle, Cambridge Antiquarian Society, 1902)

The Stonor Letters and Papers
(2 vols., ed. C. L. Kingsford, Camden Society, 1919)

Stow, John:
A Survey of London
(2 vols., ed. C. L. Kingsford, Oxford, 1908, and H. B. Wheatley, Dent, 1987)

Strecche, John:
The Chronicle of John Strecche for the Reign of Henry V, 1414–22
(ed. F. Taylor, Manchester, 1932)

Thomas of Elmham (Pseudo-Elmham):
Vita et Gesta Henrici Quinti
(ed. T. Hearne, Oxford, 1727)

Three Chronicles of the Reign of Edward IV
(ed. Keith Dockray, Alan Sutton, 1988)

Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles
(ed. J. Gairdner, Camden Society, 1880)

Titus Livius:
The First English Life of King Henry the Fifth
(ed. C. L. Kingsford, Oxford, 1911)

Titus Livius:
Vita Henrici Quinti
(ed. T. Hearne, Oxford, 1716)

Vergil, Polydore:
The Anglica Historia of Polydore Vergil, AD 1485–1573
(trans. and ed. D. Hay, Camden Series, 1950)

Vergil, Polydore:
Three Books of Polydore Vergil’s English History
(ed. H. Ellis, Camden Society, 1844)

Vita et Gesta Henrici Quinti
(ed. T. Hearne, London, 1727)

Walsingham, Thomas:
Thomas Walsingham, quondam monachi S.
Albani, Historia Anglicana
(2 vols., ed. H. T. Riley, Rolls Series, 1863–4)

The Wardrobe Book of Margaret of Anjou

Warkworth, John:
A Chronicle of the First Thirteen Years of the Reign of King Edward the Fourth
(ed. J. O. Halliwell, Camden Society, 1839)

Waurin, Jean de:
Receuil des Chroniques et Anchiennes Istories de la Grant Brétagne, à present nommé Engleterre
(5 vols., ed. Sir William Hardy and E. L. C. P. Hardy, Rolls Series, 1864–91)

Weever, John:
Ancient Funeral Monuments
(London, 1631)

Whethamstead, John:
Registrum
(in
Registra quorundam Abbatum Monasterii S. Albani
, 2 vols., ed. H. T. Riley, Rolls Series, 1872–3)

Worcester, William:
The Boke of Noblesse
(ed. J. G. Nichols, Roxburgh Club, London, 1860; reprinted New York, 1972)

Worcester, William:
Itineraries
(ed. J. H. Harvey, Oxford Mediaeval Texts, Oxford, 1969)

York Civic Records, Vols. I and II
(ed. Angelo Raine, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series, 1939–41)

York Records: Extracts from the Municipal Records of the City of York during the Reigns of Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III
(ed. R. Davies, London, 1843)

Other books

Dissonance by Erica O'Rourke
A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
The Girl From Yesterday by Shane Dunphy
Dark Matter by Paver, Michelle
10 Tahoe Trap by Todd Borg
Everlastin' Book 1 by Mickee Madden
Longest Whale Song by Wilson, Jacqueline
The Silent Sounds of Chaos by Kristina Circelli