Bastard Prince (11 page)

Sheriff Hutton Castle, where Richmond would be based for the next four years, was an imposing three-storey structure that dominated the local area from its elevated position. On his tour of England in 1534 John Leland ‘saw no house in the North so like a princely lodgings'. Passing through the magnificent gatehouse emblazoned with Yorkist crests, three wards or courtyards led to the great sweeping staircase, which gave access to the duke's lodgings. However, the castle had last known greatness at the end of the previous century and had since fallen below the standard of a residence appropriate for a duke. While the chambers intended for Richmond were in reasonably good order, much of the rest of the castle had fallen into neglect and disrepair.

A survey of the castle found that the lead on the roof was thin and worn, the stonework needed attention in several places and the chimneys (which clearly needed sweeping) were ‘very noisesome when they be occupied'. Even the apparently splendid towers needed patching or rebuilding. Large parts of the walls had actually fallen down and of the two sets of iron gates, one set was rusted and the other set was missing. A well of ‘fair water' and a serviceable bakehouse and brewhouse were only small comfort to the duke's large entourage, who now had to make themselves as comfortable as possible. At once Richmond's council set about returning the castle to its former splendour, spending over £321 on repairs. As the new walls and chimneys rose above the horizon, this was as vivid a symbol as any that there was a new policy towards government in the north.

Sheriff Hutton was intended to be a visible symbol of royal authority. More like a small community than a domestic residence, 245 people, only slightly fewer than the establishment set up for the Princess Mary at Ludlow, were considered necessary to fulfil the needs of one small duke. Only two members of the prestigious new household, the schoolmaster and the nurse, were any real concession to the actual needs of a six-year-old child. All of the usual household departments were represented, including a cellar, slaughterhouse, spicery and sausagery. Although not entirely self-sufficient, most basic needs could be met within the castle walls. The castle had its own stable, laundry and even its own barber. Below stairs there were cooks, labourers and menial staff. Above stairs there were ushers, grooms, pages and footmen for the privy and strangers' chambers, and cupbearers, carvers and waiters to attend upon the duke.

Richmond's arrival caused something of a stir. His council reported how ‘all the noble men and other worshipful men of all these north counties daily resorted to his lordship in great number . . . and he [is] as highly esteemed in honour as ever was any young Prince in these parts'. The child seems to have been an object of some curiosity. His tutor expressed his concern that ‘the time of learning by your Grace appointed be not interrupted for every trifle or resort of every stranger, but only strangers of honour'. Instead, he suggested that the little duke, who seems to have been quite the tourist attraction, might be encouraged to make some exhibition of his learning for the visitors ‘as he was wont [accustomed to] and doth of his other pastimes'.

Visitors to the castle were conducted through chambers decorated with magnificent tapestries, woven into scenes of hunting and hawking or hangings of arras depicting biblical stories and popular allegorical themes, such as the Lady Pleasance accompanied by virtues and assaulted by vices. The rooms were furnished with chairs of crimson velvet, fringed with red silk, and gold, which were embroidered with Richmond's arms. Chairs of black velvet, fringed with green silk, held plump cushions of green velvet embroidered with the king's arms. Four gentlemen ushers were appointed to ensure that access to the duke's own lodgings was strictly controlled. Richmond received callers enthroned on his cloth of gold chair of estate under a matching canopy. Even in the supposed privacy of his bedchamber he slept under a crimson counterpane on a mattress of down. Anyone who had business with Richmond or his council was to be left in no doubt that power and authority resided here.

In practice, much of the real decision-making power remained in London. On the very day of their relocation to Sheriff Hutton further commissions and instructions arrived from Wolsey. Eager to be seen to be grasping the nettle, the council assured him that the king's subjects in the north would soon be free of all such crimes and injustices that ‘as hithertofore they have been molested and disturbed with many ways'. Richmond's officers immediately set about giving form to their good intentions. They arranged court sessions at Newcastle, made enquiries into the state of the county of Northumberland and took recognizances of good behaviour from all the leading gentlemen in the locality, whether they had committed any offence or not. It was in many ways a good beginning, although perhaps slightly over zealous. Several of the local gentry, many of whom were loyal subjects, did not take kindly to being required by clerics and lawyers to give a guarantee of good behaviour. It was an early indication that their task would not be an easy one.

Richmond's council was always keen to ensure Wolsey's support for their actions and not just in matters relating to the government of the north. As the year drew to a close they were anxious that the duke's first Christmas in the north should be staged in an appropriate manner. In early November they wrote earnestly seeking Wolsey's advice over the important matter of New Year gifts. William Amyas was sent to London to see to the making of a suitable gift for the king. The council also suggested six senior members of the Royal Household, the queen, the French queen (Mary Tudor, now Duchess of Suffolk), the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the Marquesses of Exeter and Dorset, as other possible recipients of gifts from the duke. If protocol required the inclusion of Katherine of Aragon, who was not best placed to appreciate an expensive present from her husband's illegitimate son, it is interesting that his half-sister Mary was omitted. In the end it seems most of the illustrious list were to be disappointed, since only £6 9
s
5
d
was paid for the gifts that year.

In the event, Christmas at Sheriff Hutton seems to have passed off in some style. Despite the mild disappointment that the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmorland did not come, the council reported that he had passed ‘a right honourable Christmas' with several members of the nobility, as well as many local people, coming to pay their respects. If Richmond's household was a true parallel to Mary's then the silver gilt ‘ship for frankincense' found among his goods was set up as the centre-piece of the celebrations. The king's gift to his son was a gilt ewer ‘with a star upon the cover, and my Lord's arms', which weighed just over 36 oz. Wolsey sent a garter of crown gold for which he paid £4 11
s
4
d
. Nor were they the only ones to pay their respects to the duke. Richmond's accounts include the significant sum of £9 6
s
8
d
paid out in reward to those who flocked to the castle to bring gifts.

Richmond's involvement with the actual business of the council was generally limited to specific episodes. However, he was the focal point of all formal occasions and expected to play a full part. As the king's representative in the north it was his duty to receive local dignitaries, like Lord William Dacre and Henry, Lord Neville, when they came to pay their respects. Perched on his chair of estate, and surrounded by his council, even this exuberant child seems to have been impressed by the gravity of the situation. When Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, first attended on Richmond at Sheriff Hutton he was suitably impressed. Having showered the child with praises he told Wolsey ‘my dulled wit cannot disclose unto your grace how highly he excelleth in every virtuous pastime'. According to William Franklyn, Archdeacon of Durham, the diminutive duke was:

While some allowance must be made for the politics of flattery, the general tone of such reports does suggest that Richmond showed every promise of being the equal of his father.

Richmond's general care was the responsibility of his nurse, Anne Partridge, who received 50
s
as her quarter's wages in 1528. The officers of the household were exclusively male and although some of them were married, Anne and the maid who accompanied her were probably the closest thing Richmond had to a maternal influence in his daily life.

The duke's education was initially entrusted to John Palsgrave. Previously employed as schoolmaster to the king's sister Mary, Palsgrave was apparently well qualified for the task. He had graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cambridge in 1504. The author of a Latin play and a new approach to learning French grammar, his scholarship appears impressive. He later boasted that he had devised a new and simpler method for Richmond to learn Latin. A former secretary to the king, he claimed Henry VIII had personally endorsed his appointment.

Keen to make a good impression, Palsgrave enlisted the help of his friend and patron Sir Thomas More to ensure the duke would acquire the moral values thought to be imparted by a classical education. Stephen Gardiner also recommended the study of both Latin and Greek. As the author of ‘
Lesclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse
' Palsgrave was well able to teach French, and William Saunders, another former servant of Wolsey, was sent up to instruct Richmond in music and singing. One of the first entries in Richmond's accounts was 40
s
for a pair of virginals, a favourite instrument of Henry VIII.

If this seems a fairly ambitious programme for a six-year-old, it was no more than was expected of many noble children. The little duke was not expected to be an instant scholar. The antiquary Thomas Leland presented Richmond with a book to help him to learn his alphabet. Following the practice laid down by Sir Thomas Elyot for the education of an infant prince, Palsgrave asked for a painter to illustrate his lessons. He made every effort to make Richmond's studies as pleasant as possible ‘in so much that many times his officers wot [know] not whether I learn him or play with him', keeping the lessons short to accommodate the attention span of such a young child. Nor was his education confined to what could be learnt in the schoolroom. Richmond was to be a true renaissance prince. He was taught archery and the basic skills which might, one day, make him a fine jouster. He also developed a love of hunting, keeping hawks, greyhounds and bloodhounds in order to do so. As part of this well-rounded education he was also taught to dance.

Palsgrave's initial reports of the child's progress were promising. Writing to the king he praised Richmond as the best student he had ever had. They had studied Latin and Greek grammar and moved on to Virgil and other classical works. Despite some minor concerns over his lisp, which Palsgrave hoped would disappear as soon as Richmond lost his milk teeth, the child was doing well. Writing to Sir Thomas More, with whom Palsgrave might have felt at liberty to be more candid, he still claimed that he had never had a pupil to equal the duke, ‘no man, rich or poor, had ever better wit'. Although there is no evidence that Mary had any companions in her schoolroom at Ludlow, Richmond was not taught in isolation. The boys who shared his studies included William Parr, the nephew of his chamberlain and his maternal uncles, twelve-year-old George Blount and his younger brother Henry. In both age and station the children were a rather mixed bunch, but no one could claim that Richmond lacked the company of other children.

In addition to his duties in the schoolroom, Palsgrave was also appointed as a member of Richmond's council, though exactly what other duties this entailed is not clear. While Palsgrave was a signatory to a number of letters concerning council business, it may simply have been a matter of prestige. In any case his tenure at Sheriff Hutton was destined to be rather short lived. P.L. Carver's claim that he remained a member of Richmond's council until December 1526 is based on the misdating of a letter, which properly belongs to 25 December 1525, the only Christmas that Richmond passed at Sheriff Hutton. By February 1526, merely six months after his arrival, Palsgrave had already been replaced as schoolmaster by Dr Richard Croke.
²

Palsgrave's departure may have been hastened by the death of Sir Richard Wingfield on 22 July 1525. Deprived of his patron he soon found himself in financial difficulties. Even as he was seeking the assistance of his former pupil Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk, to secure the benefice of Cawston in Norfolk, he instructed William Stevinson to ask her husband for a loan. As tutor he was entitled to a stipend of £13 6
s
8
d
per annum and thanks to Sir Thomas More he also had a number of church livings to supplement his income. Yet now he pleaded with More ‘for your accustomed goodness to continue until such time that I may once tread underfoot this horrible monster, poverty'. To make his point he also addressed similar pleas to the king and Richmond's mother Elizabeth Blount.

Palsgrave may well have had real problems. But it is difficult to separate his genuine difficulties from the general sort of complaints that were the common lot of most sixteenth-century tutors. He presented the fact that Richmond was surrounded by those who thought a young nobleman should spend his time hunting, hawking, riding or in ‘many other devices found within the house when he cannot go abroad' as a personal slight. Yet his experience would have struck a chord with many tutors during this period. Although men were beginning to realise that a child needed more than a strong sword arm and a firm seat on a horse to succeed in this new age, the old feudal prejudices still lingered. Many preferred to see the king's son in the saddle rather than poring over books; that should be left to clerics. Palsgrave's claims that he was insulted and belittled, with even Richmond's mind being poisoned against him, until the child would soon not believe a word he said, was perhaps little more than the thinly veiled contempt endured by many clerics.