David Last Champion of York

Francis Lovell, Richard III's Truest Friend
1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7198-2825-6
Verlag: Robert Hale Non Fiction
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten

Between 1483 and 1485 Viscount Francis Lovell was one of the most important and influential men in the government of his childhood friend Richard III, becoming the King's Chamberlain and a Knight of the Garter. Lovell continued to support a Ricardian claim to the throne long after Richard III's death at Bosworth, and his elusive presence cast a dark shadow over the early years of Henry VII's reign. He became Henry VII's most persistent and dangerous enemy, orchestrating an assassination attempt on the new king. He was also architect of an international conspiracy that sought to replace Henry with a Ricardian pretender known as 'Lambert Simnel', which culminated in the battle of Stoke in 1487, the last true battle in the Wars of the Roses. Following Stoke, Lovell disappears from historical record and his fate is a mystery to this day. The eighteenth-century discovery at Minster Lovell of the skeletal remains of a medieval man in a sealed vault possibly reveals the final resting place of Francis Lovell - the last champion of York.An historical account of the mystery surrounding Francis Lovell, the childhood friend of Richard III.Francis Lovell was one of the most influential men in the Government of Richard III.Of great interest to all historians and students of medieval history, Middle Ages and the Wars of the Roses.Illustrated with a 4 page colour section of 10 photographs.Stephen Davis has a degree in History and an MA in Medieval History - and has lectured widely on the Wars of the Roses.

Stephen David is a senior lecturer in adult education; he has a degree in History and an MA in Medieval History. He has lectured widely on the Wars of the Roses, often focusing on those figures upon whom the spotlight of history has yet to shine. He has published articles in journals such as The Ricardian and for the Towton Battlefield Society.

Autoren/Hrsg.

David, Stephen

Leseproben

3 THE BOSOM OF YORK:
THE DE LA POLE CONNECTION

A commodity to be bargained

THE YEAR 1471 WAS a precarious one for Francis Lovell. Now sixteen, he would have been deemed old enough to take his place on the field of arms and, although still very young, he would have been viewed with some suspicion by the returning regime and his loyalty severely questioned. Francis, from Edward IV’s perspective, was doubly guilty by association: firstly, as a member of Warwick’s household, under his influence and tutelage; secondly, by virtue of his marriage to Anne Fitzhugh, whose father, Lord Fitzhugh, had acted as Warwick’s deputy in the north of England since 1464. Lord Fitzhugh had been clearly implicated in treasonous activities in 1469 and had been a dependable supporter of Warwick throughout the Readeption of Henry VI. Francis was to learn early in life the words of Lord Blount: ‘be not great about kings for it is dangerous’. Having basked in the companionship of the great of the land, Francis Lovell would soon discover that the wheel of fortune could bring one down as well as raise one up. 

It was probably the activities of Francis’ father-in-law, Henry, Lord Fitzhugh (whose need was, after all, far greater than that of the youthful Francis), that required a general pardon for his family on 10 September 1471, issued at Westminster:

General pardon … to Henry Fitzhugh, knight of Fitzhugh and his wife Alice, Francis Lovell, son and heir of John Lovell knight and Anne Lovell, his wife, Richard Nevill, son of George Nevill, knight, Richard Fitzhugh, George Fitzhugh, Edward Fitzhugh, Thomas Fitzhugh, and John Fitzhugh, sons of the same Henry, Elizabeth Fitzhugh daughter of the same Henry, Joan Lovell and Frideswide, sisters of the same Frideswide.1

It is interesting to note that even at this early age Francis is given such prominence behind his father-in-law, an already existing peer, and is accorded a higher precedence than Fitzhugh’s sons. The government of Edward IV clearly recognized Francis’ potential status at an early stage. It is also interesting that the pardon is extended to Francis’ two sisters who, like him, were orphaned and now residing with him in the north. It does not need to be said that there is no suggestion whatsoever that the Lovell sisters were in any way implicated in Warwick’s activities, but it was as well in the circumstances to look to the future and ensure no further repercussions occurred that could blight their future marriage prospects.

After the crushing of both the Nevills and the Lancastrians and weathering the storm of the previous two years, the government of Edward IV began to impose a new political settlement on the realm. This meant a redistribution of the offices, lands and prerequisites that had been held by the Nevills and a new round of rewards for the supporters of the king. This process began in the spring of 1471 in a way that had direct implications on Francis’ patrimony. On 20 April 1471, Humphrey Blount, who had not come out in rebellion with Warwick in 1470, was rewarded with the office of receiver of Lovell’s lordship of Acton Burnell in Shropshire and all other substantial Lovell lands in the county. A month later, on 23 May, John Lythyngton was appointed as a receiver for the whole of John, Lord Lovell’s estates, the grant stipulating that the estates were now ‘in the king’s hands by the minority of Francis his son and heir’. An appraisal of the value of the Lovell inheritance was undertaken by an experienced treasury official and a major redistribution of patronage now occurred. Francis Lovell was an important asset and a major element of royal patronage to be conferred as the king saw fit. We can only imagine how the young Francis felt about his treatment as a reward or a commodity to be bargained over for the second time in his young life.

It is difficult to ascertain Francis Lovell’s whereabouts between September 1470 and July 1471. We can assume that he was resident with his wife’s family at Ravensworth, in North Yorkshire, since Francis and all of the Fitzhughs applied jointly for a pardon at this time. If this was the case, then he would have been a long way from Westminster where the decisions about his fate as a minor and a tenant-in-chief were being made. In fact, a decision was quickly made after the battle of Tewkesbury. On 11 July 1471 at Westminster, it was determined that a:

grant to the king’s brother in law John Duke of Suffolk and the king’s sister Elizabeth, his wife of the custody of all lordships, manors, lands and possessions late of John Lovell knight, Lord of Lovell, deceased tenant in chief by knight service during the minority of Francis Lovell his son and Heir 2

The grant was a reward for the loyalty of the king’s brother-in-law, John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, and the king’s sister Elizabeth, who had stood by Edward throughout. The grant was to be typical of the policies Edward IV came to adopt during his second reign. Gone was the open-handed largesse of the period 1461–5: during his second reign (1471–83), Edward would acquire a reputation as miser, loth to part with estates or cash; also, he would ensure that those who benefited most from royal patronage were his closest family members. The grant of Francis Lovell’s wardship exemplifies both. Firstly, at a time when it was rare for women to be jointly allocated rewards or property, this was a joint grant, made to John, Duke of Suffolk, and the king’s sister, thus satisfying the need to reward the family. Secondly, the grant emphasizes the land and estates; this is Edward bestowing a reward on a massive scale, the Lovell inheritance being worth between £1,400 and £1,700, with the two manors in Oxfordshire alone having a combined worth of £156 9s 71/2d. Lovell is mentioned only after the legality of the land grant has been determined. Since he was already married, Lovell was unable to marry into his guardian’s family and so his person was now worth far less than it had been in 1464; such were the realities of fifteenth-century wardship. The grant was a cheap way of Edward conferring a reward that cost him very little whilst serving a political purpose in placing a large inheritance into what amounted to a safe pair of hands. Also, it greatly enhanced the position of the Duke of Suffolk in the Thames Valley as the Lovell estates in Oxford and Buckinghamshire abutted the de la Pole estates centred on their fine manor of Ewelme.

The de la Pole family

Despite their Norman-sounding name, the de la Poles had not come over with the Conqueror. Their origins were, in fact, much more humble – the name being a gentrification of ‘of the pool’ (the pool in question being that of Hull). The first member of the family to rise to prominence was Michael de la Pole, who began life as a wool merchant in Hull. He became so successful that he was appointed as one of the chief financiers of Edward III’s campaigns in France in the 1340s and 1350s. His controversial financial manipulation of the wool trade, England’s principal export, earned him the distrust and censure of parliament, but he died peacefully in his bed in June 1366. Before he died, however, he had established his family amongst the land-holding upper classes. In lieu of repaying most of the enormous loans Michael had made to the Crown, Edward III had granted him the Ufford estates in East Anglia (principally in Suffolk) when the Earl of Suffolk had died childless. As a wealthy landowner, Michael’s son, also called Michael, was able to pursue a military career as a companion to Edward, Prince of Wales, the ‘Black Prince’, and rose to become an advisor to his son, King Richard II, who made him Earl of Suffolk in 1385. This represented a tremendous leap in status for someone whose father had been born a commoner. Unfortunately, the instability of Richard II’s minority proved to be positively poisonous for the younger Michael. In 1388, he and other members of Richard’s government and household were impeached and hauled before parliament, accused of treason and corruption. To avoid the charges, Michael de la Pole fled to Paris, where he died in 1389. 

He was succeeded by his son, another Michael, who was restored to the earldom in 1398. This Michael focused on expanding his estates in East Anglia, which he did by marrying the Wingfield heiress and generally keeping out of national politics. He did campaign in France with Henry V. However, rather than finding a glorious military career, Michael died, along with many other soldiers, from dysentery at the siege of Harfleur, whereupon the earldom descended to his eldest son, imaginatively called Michael, in September 1415. On 25 October 1415, the new earl formed part of Henry V’s ‘happy few’ at the battle of Agincourt. Unfortunately, this Michael de la Pole and Edward, Duke of York, were the only notable casualties on the English side that day and Michael’s younger brother, William, then became Earl of Suffolk, aged just eighteen. In 1417, William returned to France, where he served continuously until 1429, when, at Jargeau, in the Loire Valley, he was captured by Joan of Arc in a battle in which his younger brother was killed. As a high-status prisoner, he was ransomed for the astronomical amount of £20,000 – more than twenty years’ income from the family estates. William was released to raise his own ransom, leaving his younger brother Thomas to remain as hostage, only for Thomas to die in captivity in...