Shakespeare's Kings (103 page)

1. The old story sounds improbable enough, but is confirmed by no less than three contemporary writers. (Except that Mancini reports that the wine was 'sweet Falernian'.) According to Philippe de Commynes, Clarence's daughter for ever afterwards wore a
little
wine-cask on her bracelet in memory of her father.

By
1482
he was probably the richest and most powerful magnate in English history, excepting only the monarchs themselves. And even this was not all; for when in June
1482,
in his military capacity as Lieutenant-General of the North, he led some
20,000
men across the border into Scotland and briefly occupied Edinburgh without firing a shot, he also became - in the eyes of most Englishmen - a national hero.

His brother the King, meanwhile, was in sad decline. War had kept him in superb condition; with peace he had grown self-indulgent. Always strongly sexed - and despite the considerable charms of his mistress, Jane Shore, whom he had first taken to his bed as early as
1470
- he had now also become a compulsive womanizer. 'Married and unmarried,' writes Mancini, 'noblewomen and
wenches, he made no distinction,
He drew the line only at rape: Edward 'made all his conquests through money and promises, and having had his way with them bade them farewell.' Had fornication been his only vice, it might have done him little enough physical harm; but he was also an equally compulsive glutton. As a result, the man who was once the handsomest prince in Europe had by the age of forty become immensely fat and prematurely aged by drink and debauch. The end came at Easter,
1483.
Already on Good Friday he had suffered an agonizing fit of indigestion brought on, we are told, by a surfeit of fruit and vegetables; a day or two later, during an afternoon's fishing expedition on the river, he caught a chill which was followed soon afterwards by what seems to have been a stroke. He died on
9
April, less than three weeks before his forty-first birthday.

Edward's eldest son by Elizabeth Woodville — the new King Edward V - was now twelve. Eight years before, during his father's absence on the French expedition, the Woodvilles had ruled England; and they had every intention, during the young King's minority, of doing so again. Their leader Lord Rivers, the Queen's brother, was already his official Governor, while her eldest son by Sir John Grey, now Marquess of Dorset, was in charge of the Royal Treasury. The Lord Chamberlain, Lord Hastings, pointed out that the late King had insisted in his will that Gloucester should be made Protector; the Woodvilles merely replied that final authority must He with the Council - on which, it need hardly be said, they enjoyed a comfortable majority.

But they had underestimated their adversary. Richard had plans of
his
own,
and
they
did
not
include
the
Woodvilles.
His
principal
ally was
to
be
Henry
Stafford,
Duke
of
Buckingham.
A
nephew
of
the
third and
fourth
Dukes
of
Somerset
who
had
been
executed
within
seven years
of
each
other,
Buckingham
was
not
only
a
Beaufort:
he
was
also handsome,
rich
and
highly
intelligent.
No
wonder
Edward
IV
had mistrusted
him.
Moreover,
having
been
forcibly
-
and
disastrously
-married
to
one
of
the
Queen's
innumerable
sisters
at
the
age
of
eleven, he
detested
the
whole
Woodville
clan
and
was
prepared
to
go
to
almost any
lengths
to
destroy
them.
He
and
Richard
now
set
about
the systematic
suborning
of
all
members
of
the
'old
nobility'
and
their adherents,
alerting
them
to
the
threat
of
a
complete
Woodville
takeover and
deliberately
spreading
rumours,
true
and
false,
of
the
family's iniquities.
Meanwhile
Richard
wrote
to
the
Council
in
the
most
cordial and
respectful
terms,
stressing
his
absolute
loyalty
to
the
new
King
but reminding
them
also
of
the
terms
of
his
brother's
will
and
of
his
own just
claim
to
a
place
in
any
future
government.
This
letter
he
took
care to
have
circulated
as
widely
as
possible
throughout
the
kingdom,
and since
he
was
at
this
time
at
the
peak
of
his
popularity
—
his
Scottish exploit
in
the
previous
year
had
not
been
forgotten
—
it
had
its
effect.

With
public
opinion
on
his
side,
action
could
no
longer
be
delayed. The
coronation
had
already
been
fixed
for
Sunday
4
May.
Once
Edward V
were
crowned,
the
Woodvilles
could
claim
that
no
Protectorate
was necessary,
since
-
as
had
happened
after
the
crowning
of
Henry
VI
-the
Protector's
powers
would
automatically
devolve
on
the
Council. The
ceremony
must
clearly
be
prevented
at
all
costs.
Fortunately
for Richard,
Edward
was
at
Ludlow,
a
good
week's
journey
from
London; and
more
fortunately
still
the
boy's
uncle,
Lord
Rivers,
who
was
to escort
him
to
the
capital,
had
decided
to
celebrate
St
George's
Day before
their
departure.
This
meant
that
they
could
not
leave
Ludlow till
24
April;
the
Duke
of
Gloucester
had
plenty
of
time
to
make
his plans.
He
wrote
to
Edward
saying
that
he
and
Buckingham
would naturally
wish
to
accompany
him
on
his
formal
entry
into
London,
and would
therefore
meet
him
at
Northampton
to
continue
the
journey together.

When
the
two
Dukes
reached
Northampton
on
the
29th,
they
found that
the
royal
party
was
already
at
Stony
Stratford,
fourteen
miles
further south;
but
Rivers
and
Lord
Richard
Grey
-
the
Queen's
younger
son
by her
first
marriage
and
thus
the
King's
half-brother
—
immediately
rode back
to
explain
that
they
had
gone
on
only
because
there
was
insufficient accommodation
in
Northampton
for
both
retinues.
That
evening
all four
men
had
a
convivial
supper
together
before
Rivers
and
Grey
retired to
bed
in
the
next-door
inn;
they
awoke
early
the
next
morning, however,
to
discover
that
all
the
outer
doors
were
locked
and
that bands
of
the
Dukes'
men
were
blocking
the
road
to
the
south.
When they
had
finally
freed
themselves
they
sought
out
Richard
and
demanded an
explanation;
he
replied
by
accusing
them
of
turning
his
nephew against
him,
and
had
them
both
put
under
arrest.
He
and
Buckingham then
hurried
to
Stony
Stratford,
took
possession
of
the
King
and
rode back
with
him
to
Northampton,
where
they
explained
to
him
that
the Woodvilles
had
deliberately
destroyed
his
father
and
were
determined to
destroy
him
in
the
same
way.
Tearfully
young
Edward
tried
to
defend his
mother
and
her
family,
but
to
no
avail.
The
noblemen
around
him were
arrested,
the
serving
men
and
women
dismissed.
Rivers
himself, with
certain
of
his
colleagues,
was
sent
to
Richard's
castle
of
Sheriff Hutton;
later
he
was
transferred
to
Pontefract,
where
he
was
executed, appare
ntly
without
trial,
on
25
June.
He
did
not
deserve
his
fate.
His support
for
his
own
family
was
natural
and
perfectly
legitimate.
A
man of
wide
culture,
he
had
travelled
extensively
in
Italy;
he
was
also
a writer
and
poet,
several
of
whose
works
were
to
be
produced
by
William Caxton
—
one
of
them,
his
translation
of
The Dictes and Sayings
of
the Philosophers
(from
Jean
de
Teonville's
French
version
of
the
Latin original)
being
the
first
book
ever
printed
in
England.
At
the
time
of his
execution
he
was
found
to
be
wearing
a
hair
shirt
next
to
the
skin.