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"Perkin Warbeck" "Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York"
Pretender
Born	1474 Tournai, Belgium
Died	23 November 1499 Tyburn, Middlesex
Throne(s) claimed	England
Pretend from	1490
Connection with	Claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, son of Edward IV of England
Royal House	In the name of the House of York
Father	Allegedly Edward IV of England
Mother	Allegedly Elizabeth Woodville

Perkin Warbeck (circa 1474 – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne during the reign of King Henry VII of England. By claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV, one of the Princes in the Tower, Warbeck was a significant threat to the newly established Tudor Dynasty, and gained support outside England. Henry VII declared that he was an impostor and after Warbeck's capture declared that he was a Fleming born in Tournai around 1474.

Due to uncertainty as to whether Richard of Shrewsbury had died in the Tower of London, or had survived, Warbeck's claim gathered some followers, whether due to real belief in his identity or because of desire to overthrow Henry and reclaim the throne. Most historical accounts mention that Warbeck cost Henry VII over £13,000, putting a strain on Henry's weak financial state.

Early life[link]

Perkin Warbeck's personal history has been fraught with many unreliable and varying statements.^[1] He himself gave out that he was Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV. After he was captured and interrogated in 1497 under the eye of King Henry VII, another version of his life was published, based on his confession. This confession is considered by many historians to be possibly only partially true as it was procured under duress. According to the confession, Warbeck was born to a man called John Osbeck (also known as Jehan de Werbecque).^[2] Osbeck, who was married to Warbeck's mother Katherine de Faro, was Flemish and held the occupation of comptroller to the city of Tournai.^[3] These family ties are backed up by several municipal archives of Tournai which mention most of the people whom Warbeck declared he was related to.^[4] He was taken to Antwerp by his mother at around age ten to learn Dutch. From here, he was undertaken by several masters around Antwerp and Middelburg before being employed by a local English merchant named John Strewe for a few months.^[4] After his time in the Netherlands, Warbeck yearned to visit other countries and was hired by a Breton merchant.^[3] This merchant eventually brought Warbeck to Cork, Ireland in 1491 when he was about seventeen, and it was here that he learnt to speak English.^[3] Warbeck then claims that upon seeing him dressed in silk clothes, some of the citizens of Cork who were Yorkists demanded to "[do] him the honour as a member of the Royal House of York."^[4] He said they did this because they were resolved in gaining revenge on the King of England and decided that he would claim to be the younger son of King Edward IV.^[4] However, many historians believe that Warbeck lied about the story of how he came to be a pretender in order to cover his tracks and hopefully allow himself to escape the death penalty.^[5]

Claim to the English throne[link]

Warbeck first claimed the English throne at the court of Burgundy in 1490.

In 1491, he landed in Ireland in the hope of gaining support for his claim as Lambert Simnel had four years previously. However, little was found and he was forced to return to the European mainland. There his fortunes improved. He was first received by Charles VIII of France but in 1492 expelled under the terms of the Treaty of Etaples, in which Charles had agreed not to shelter rebels against the Tudors. He was officially recognised as Richard of Shrewsbury by Margaret of York, sister to Edward IV and the widow of Charles the Bold. Whether Margaret genuinely believed in Warbeck's Yorkist credentials or considered him a fraud but supported him anyway is unknown. She tutored him in the ways of the Yorkist court. Henry complained to Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy, about the harbouring of Warbeck, and, since he was ignored, imposed a trade embargo on Burgundy, cutting off important Burgundian trade-links with England. Warbeck was also welcomed by various other monarchs and was known in international diplomacy as the Duke of York. At the invitation of Duke Philip's father, King Maximilian I, he attended the funeral of Emperor Frederick III in 1493 and was recognised as King Richard IV of England.^[6] Warbeck also promised that if he died before becoming king, his claim would fall to Maximilian.

First landing in England and support in Scotland[link]

On 3 July 1495, funded by Margaret of Burgundy, Warbeck landed at Deal in Kent, hoping for a show of popular support. Warbeck's small army was routed and 150 of the pretender’s troops were killed without Warbeck even disembarking. He was forced to retreat almost immediately, this time to Ireland. There he found support from the Earl of Desmond, (most likely Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond), and laid siege to Waterford, but, meeting resistance, he fled to Scotland.

Warbeck was well received by James IV of Scotland who realised that his presence gave him international leverage. As Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain were negotiating an alliance with Henry VII, James IV knew that Spain would help him in his struggles with England, in order to prevent the situation escalating into war with France.^[7] Spanish ambassadors arrived in Edinburgh, and later Pedro de Ayala was established as a resident ambassador during the crisis. Warbeck was permitted to marry James's distant cousin, Lady Catherine Gordon, a daughter of George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly. The marriage was celebrated in Edinburgh with a tournament. James gave Warbeck clothes for the wedding and armour covered with purple silk.^[8] The historian Katie Stevenson suggests the clothing bought for the tournament shows Perkin fought in a team with the king and four knights.^[9] A copy of a love letter in Latin obtained by Pedro de Ayala, is thought to be Perkin's proposal to Lady Catherine.^[10]

In September 1496, James IV prepared to invade England with Warbeck. A red, gold and silver banner was made for Warbeck as the Duke of York, James's armour was gilded and painted, and the royal artillery was prepared.^[11] John Ramsay of Balmain, (who called himself Lord Bothwell), described the events for Henry VII. He saw Roderic de Lalanne, a Flemish knight arrive with two little ships and 60 German soldiers and meet James IV and talk to Warbeck. In Edinburgh Castle Ramsay saw two great French guns called 'curtalds,' 10 falconets or little serpentines, and 30 iron breech loading 'cart guns' with 16 close-carts or wagons for the munitions. He estimated the invasion force would last only 4 to 5 days in England before it ran out of provisions. He suggested, from the safety of Berwick upon Tweed, that the Scots could be vanquished by a modest English force attacking from north and south in a pincer movement.^[12]

The Scottish host assembled near Edinburgh and James IV and Warbeck offered prayers at Holyrood Abbey on the 14 September, and on the next day at St Triduana's Chapel and Our Lady Kirk of Restalrig.^[13] On 19 September the Scottish army was at Ellem and on 21 September 1496 they crossed the River Tweed at Coldstream. Miners set to work to demolish the tower of Hetoune (Castle Heaton) on 24 September, but the army quickly retreated when resources were expended,^[14] and hoped-for support for Perkin Warbeck in Northumberland failed to materialise. According to an English record, the Scots penetrated four miles into England with royal banner displayed, and destroyed 3 or 4 little towers (or Bastle houses). They left on 25 September 1496 when an English army commanded by Lord Neville approached from Newcastle.^[15] When news of this invasion reached Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, on 21 October 1496, he wrote to his ambassador in Spain, to request the Spanish monarchs make peace between England and Scotland. The peace mission was entrusted to Pedro de Ayala.^[16]

Later, wishing to be rid of Warbeck, James IV provided a ship called the Cuckoo and a hired crew under a Breton captain which returned Perkin to Waterford in shame in July 1497. James IV made peace with England by signing the Treaty of Ayton at St Dionysius's Church in Ayton in Berwickshire. Once again Perkin attempted to lay siege to Waterford, but this time his effort lasted only eleven days before he was forced to flee Ireland, chased by four English ships. According to some sources, by this time he was left with only 120 men on two ships.

Second landing in Cornwall[link]

On 7 September 1497, Warbeck landed at Whitesand Bay, near Land's End, in Cornwall hoping to capitalise on the Cornish people's resentment in the aftermath of their uprising only three months earlier. Warbeck proclaimed that he would put a stop to extortionate taxes levied to help fight a war against Scotland and was warmly welcomed. He was declared "Richard IV" on Bodmin Moor and his Cornish army some 6000 strong entered Exeter^[17] before advancing on Taunton.^[18] Henry VII sent his chief general, Giles, Lord Daubeney, to attack the Cornish and when Warbeck heard that the King's scouts were at Glastonbury he panicked and deserted his army. Warbeck was captured at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire where he surrendered. Henry VII reached Taunton on 4 October 1497, where he received the surrender of the remaining Cornish army. The ringleaders were executed and others fined. Warbeck was imprisoned, first at Taunton, then at the Tower of London, where he was "paraded through the streets on horseback amid much hooting and derision of the citizens".^[19]

Imprisonment and death[link]

Warbeck was held in the Tower alongside Edward, Earl of Warwick. Allegedly, the two tried to escape in 1499. Captured once again, on 23 November 1499, Warbeck was drawn on a hurdle from the Tower to Tyburn, London, where he read out a confession and was hanged.

Appearance[link]

Perkin reportedly resembled Edward IV in appearance, which has led to speculation that he might have been Edward's illegitimate son, or at least some genuine connection with the York family. Some authors, for example Horace Walpole, have even gone as far as to claim that Warbeck actually was Richard, Duke of York, although this is not the consensus.

Warbeck in popular culture[link]

Warbeck's story subsequently attracted writers—most notably by the dramatist John Ford, who dramatized the story in his play Perkin Warbeck, first performed in the 1630s.

• Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, best known as the author of Frankenstein, wrote a romance on the subject of Warbeck, the The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck, published in London in 1830.
• Warbeck is the central character in Philip Lindsay's historical novel They Have Their Dreams.
• Warbeck features in Robert Hume's Ruling Ambition
• Channel 4 and RDF Media produced a drama about Warbeck for British television in 2005, Princes in the Tower. Directed by Justin Hardy, it starred Mark Umbers as Warbeck.
• Warbeck was portrayed by British actor Richard Warwick in the 1972 BBC television series The Shadow of the Tower.
• The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) in Staunton, Virginia, produced a comedy entitled The Brats of Clarence, written specifically for the ASC 'Blackfriars' stage by Paul Menzer. The play tracks the progress of Perkin Warbeck from the Scottish court towards London to claim his birthright as heir to the throne.
• Warbeck and his wife are characters in the novel The Crimson Crown by Edith Layton (1990). The main character is Lucas Lovat, a spy in the Court of Henry VII, and a subplot of the novel is his indecision as to whether Warbeck is, or is not, Prince Richard.
• English comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring both make references to Warbeck, and fellow pretender Lambert Simnel in much of their work, both as Lee And Herring and individually. Simnel & Warbeck's names have appeared sporadically throughout their material over the years.
• Warbeck's story is retold through the eyes of Grace Plantagenet in The King's Grace, by Anne Easter Smith (2009). Grace, an illegitimate daughter of Edward IV, attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding the man who claims to be her half-brother Richard.
• In Philippa Gregory's 2009 novel The White Queen, the young Duke of York is sent into hiding in Tournai, Belgium by his mother, Elizabeth Woodville, while a changeling is sent to the Tower. While in hiding, the Duke takes on the assumed name Perkin, returning as an eleven year old later in the novel, ready to reclaim his birthright.
• Warbeck is mentioned by Jennifer, the heroine of Judith McNaught's 1989 novel A Kingdom of Dreams.
• Wabeck is mentioned very briefly in the video game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, alongside fellow pretender Lambert Simnel, as Templar pretenders to the throne attempting to secure England for the Templars.
• A public house in Taunton is named after Warbeck, a cafe and shop in Fife

References[link]

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Bain, Joseph, ed., Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, 1357-1509, vol. 4, HM Register House, Edinburgh (1888)
• Dunlop, David, 'The 'Masked Comedian': Perkin Warbeck's Adventures in Scotland and England from 1495 to 1497,' Scottish Historical Review, vol. 70, no. 90, (Oct. 1991), 97-128.
• Gairdner, James. "History of the life and reign of Richard the Third : to which is added the story of Perkin Warbeck. From original documents, by James Gairdner". New York: Kraus Reprint Co., 1968.
• Ford, John, ed. Ure, Peter. "The chronicle history of Perkin Warbeck: a strange truth". London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1968.
• Wroe, Ann. Perkin: A Story of Deception. Vintage: 2004 (ISBN 0-09-944996-X).
• Guy, John. "Tudor England" p52 et seq.
• Ashley, Mike (2002). British Kings & Queens. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-1104-3.  pgs 231 & 232.
• Busch, Wilhelm, "England Under the Tudors," 1892. P 440-441.

External links[link]

middle-ages.org.uk page on Perkin Warbeck

Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory at the 2011 Texas Book Festival.
Born	(1954-01-09) 9 January 1954 (age 58) Kenya
Occupation	Novelist
Genres	Fantasy, Historical novel

Philippa Gregory (Kenya, 9 January 1954) is an English writer of historical novels. Her best known work is The Other Boleyn Girl (2001).

Biography[link]

Early life and academic career[link]

Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex. She worked in BBC radio for two years before attending the University of Edinburgh, where she earned her doctorate in 18th-century literature. Gregory has taught at the University of Durham, University of Teesside, and the Open University, and was made a Fellow of Kingston University in 1994.

Writing[link]

She has written novels set in several different historical periods, though primarily the Tudor period and the 16th century. Reading a number of novels set in the 17th century led her to write the bestselling Lacey trilogy — Wideacre, which is a story about the love of land and incest, The Favoured Child and Meridon. This was followed by The Wise Woman. A Respectable Trade, a novel of slave trade in England, set in 18th-century Bristol, was adapted by Gregory for a four-part drama series for BBC television. Gregory's script was nominated for a BAFTA, won an award from the Committee for Racial Equality, and the film was shown worldwide.

Two novels about a gardening family are set during the English Civil War: Earthly Joys and Virgin Earth, while she has in addition written contemporary fiction - Perfectly Correct, Mrs Hartley And The Growth Centre, The Little House and Zelda's Cut. She has also written for children.

Some of her novels have won awards and have been adapted into television dramas. The most successful of her novels has been The Other Boleyn Girl, which was published in 2002 and adapted for BBC television in 2003 with Natascha McElhone, Jodhi May and Jared Harris. In the year of its publication, The Other Boleyn Girl also won the Parker Romantic Novel of the Year^[1] and it has subsequently spawned sequels — The Queen's Fool, The Virgin's Lover, The Constant Princess, The Boleyn Inheritance, and The Other Queen. Miramax bought the film rights to The Other Boleyn Girl and produced a film of the same name starring Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn and co-starring Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn, Eric Bana as Henry Tudor, Juno Temple as Jane Parker, and Kristin Scott Thomas as Elizabeth Boleyn. It was filmed in England and generally released in February 2008.

Philippa Gregory had also begun to publish a series of books about the Plantagenets the ruling houses that preceded the Tudors, and the Cousin’s War. Her first book The White Queen, published in 2009, centers on the life of Elizabeth Woodville the wife of Edward IV. The Red Queen, published in 2010, is about Margret Beaufort the mother of Henry VII and grandmother to Henry VIII. The Lady of the Rivers, published 2011, is the life of Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of Elizabeth Woodville, first married to John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, younger brother of Henry the Fifth.

Controversy[link]

Some of Gregory's writing has faced controversy due to lack of historical accuracy, particularly those set in the Tudor Age. Critical reviewers have stated that they would not have minded so much had she not claimed complete accuracy. But, in fact, she never did claim this, but only her research based on her understanding of it. In particular her highly successful novel The Other Boleyn Girl portrayed Henry VIII's second wife Anne Boleyn, viewed by Protestants as a martyr and by some feminists as a victim of sexual harassment,^[2] as a villain and contained errors.^{[citation needed]}.

Media[link]

She is a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers, with short stories, features and reviews. She is also a frequent broadcaster and a regular contestant on Round Britain Quiz for BBC Radio 4 and the Tudor expert for Channel 4's Time Team. She won the 29 December 2008 edition of Celebrity Mastermind on BBC1, taking Elizabeth Woodville as her specialist subject.

Private life[link]

Gregory wrote her first novel Wideacre while completing a PhD in 17th-century literature and living in a cottage on the Pennine Way with first husband Peter Chislett, editor of the Hartlepool Mail, and their baby daughter. They were divorced before the book was published.

Following the success of Wideacre and the publication of The Favoured Child, she moved south to near Midhurst, West Sussex, where the Wideacre trilogy was set. Here she married her second husband Paul Carter, with whom she has a son. She divorced for a second time and married Anthony Mason, who she had first met during her time in Hartlepool.

Philippa Gregory now lives on a 100-acre (0.40 km²) farm in the North York Moors national park, with her husband, children and stepchildren (six in all). Her interests include riding, walking, skiing, and gardening.

Charity work[link]

Philippa Gregory also runs a small charity building wells in school gardens in The Gambia.^[3] Gardens for The Gambia was established in 1993 when Philippa Gregory was in The Gambia, researching for her book "A Respectable Trade".

Since then the charity has dug almost 200 low technology, low budget and therefore easily maintained wells, which are on-stream and providing water to irrigate school and community gardens to provide meals for the poorest children and harvest a cash crop to buy school equipment, seeds and tools.

In addition to wells, the charity has piloted a successful bee-keeping scheme, funded feeding programmes and educational workshops in Batik and Pottery and is working with some larger donors to install mechanical boreholes in some remote areas of the country where the water table is not accessible by digging alone.

Bibliography[link]

Wideacre trilogy[link]

1. Wideacre (1987)
2. The Favoured Child (1989)
3. Meridon (1990)

Earthly Joys[link]

1. Earthly Joys (1998)
2. Virgin Earth (1999)

The Tudor series[link]

1. The Other Boleyn Girl (2001)
2. The Queen's Fool (2003)
3. The Virgin's Lover (2004)
4. The Constant Princess (2005)
5. The Boleyn Inheritance (2006)
6. The Other Queen (2008)

On her website, Philippa Gregory says she does not write her Tudor series books in order. Read chronologically:

• The Constant Princess (Katherine of Aragon)
• The Other Boleyn Girl (Mary and Anne Boleyn)
• The Wise Woman (A young girl forced out of her nunnery and into the real world during the reformation during Anne Boleyn's time of being queen)
• The Boleyn Inheritance (Jane Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard)
• The Queen's Fool (A young Jewish girl's story of her service in the court of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I)
• The Virgin’s Lover (Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley and Amy Robsart)
• The Other Queen (Mary, Queen of Scots, George Talbot and Bess of Hardwick)

The Cousins' War[link]

1. The White Queen (2009) - The story of Elizabeth Woodville, the queen consort of King Edward IV of England and mother of the Princes in the Tower.
2. The Red Queen (2010) - The story of Lady Margaret Beaufort and her quest to place her son Henry Tudor on the English throne.
3. The Lady of the Rivers (October 2011) - The story of Jacquetta of Luxembourg, the mother of Elizabeth Woodville.
4. The Kingmaker's Daughters (August 2012) - The story of Anne Neville wife to Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales and second to Richard III of England and Isabel Neville wife of George Duke of Clarence, both daughters of the Kingmaker Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
5. The White Princess (TBA) - The story of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV. Wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII of England.

(Also, The Last Rose (TBA) - Protagonist unknown.)

Non-series works[link]

• A Respectable Trade (1992)
• The Wise Woman (1992)
• Fallen Skies (1994)
• The Little House (1998)
• Zelda's Cut (2001)
• Perfectly Correct (1992)
• Mrs. Hartley and the Growth Centre (1992) (This book was later republished with the new title "Alice Hartley's Happiness")

Short stories[link]

• Bread and Chocolate (2002)

Children's works[link]

• A Pirate Story
• Diggory and the Boa Conductor
• The Little Pet Dragon
• Princess Florizella
• Princess Florizella and the Giant
• Princess Florizella and the Wolves

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Philippa Gregory at the Internet Movie Database

The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower, 1483 by Sir John Everett Millais, 1878, part of the Royal Holloway picture collection

The Princes in the Tower is a term that refers to Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York. The two brothers were the only sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville alive at the time of their father's death. Sometime around 1483, it is assumed that they were murdered, although there is no proof of this theory other than their disappearance.

Deaths[link]

In May 1483 Edward, arriving in London for his coronation, was accommodated in the Tower of London, then a royal residence. Richard at that point was with his mother in sanctuary, but joined his brother in the Tower in June. Both princes were declared illegitimate by an Act of Parliament of 1483 known as Titulus Regius, and their uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester was crowned as Richard III. There are reports of the two princes being seen playing in the Tower grounds shortly after Richard joined his brother, but there are no recorded sightings of either of them after the summer of 1483. Their fate remains an enduring mystery, but historians and contemporary popular opinion agree that the princes were probably murdered in the Tower. There is no record of a funeral.

According to some sources^[which?], the household accounts from one of Richard III's holdings in the north suggest that the boys were moved there for safekeeping early in 1485^{[citation needed]}, and remained there until some time after the Battle of Bosworth.

In 1674, the skeletons of two children were discovered under the staircase leading to the chapel, during the course of renovations to the White Tower. At that time, these were believed to have been the remains of the two princes, although the staircase was apparently the original, and therefore built around two centuries before the boys disappeared, making it unlikely that the skeletons belonged to the princes. On the orders of Charles II the remains were reburied in Westminster Abbey. In 1933, the grave was opened to see if modern science could cast any light on the issues, and the skeletons were determined to be those of two young children, one aged around seven to eleven and the other around eleven to thirteen.^[1] However, at least one of the scientists involved stated that the younger skeleton almost certainly belonged to a child younger than nine, leaving doubts as to whether the skeletons belonged to the princes.

Suspects[link]

If the boys were indeed murdered, there are several major suspects for the crime. The evidence is ambiguous, and has led people to various conflicting conclusions.

Richard III had eliminated the princes from the succession. However, his hold on the monarchy was not secure, and the existence of the princes would remain a threat as long as they were alive. The boys themselves were ostensibly not a threat on their own, notwithstanding Edward's having been acclaimed King, but they could have been used by Richard's enemies as figureheads for rebellion. Rumours of their death were in circulation by late 1483, but Richard never attempted to prove that they were alive by having them seen in public, which strongly suggests that they were dead by then (or at a minimum, not under his control—unlikely, since they would presumably still have been in the Tower). However he did not remain silent on the matter. Raphael Holinshed, in his Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577) reports that Richard, "what with purging and declaring his innocence concerning the murder of his nephews towards the world, and what with cost to obtain the love and favour of the communaltie (which outwardlie glosed, and openly dissembled with him) ... gave prodigally so many and so great rewards, that now both he lacked, and scarce with honesty how to borrow."^[2] Even at that, at the very least, it might have been in his political interest to order an open investigation into the matter. However as the brothers' protector (having seized the elder boy at Stony Stratford and obtained the younger as 'protectorate' from his mother at Westminster), and clearly having failed to 'protect' them, he may have wished to avoid accusations of effective blame through incompetence even if the murder had been carried out by other parties. Many modern historians though, including David Starkey,^[3] and Michael Hicks,^[4] or writers such as Alison Weir,^[5] do regard Richard himself as the most likely culprit. One thing is clear: There never was a formal accusation against Richard III on the matter. The Bill of Attainder brought by Henry VII made no definitive mention of the Princes in the Tower, though author and litigator Bertram Fields noted in his book Royal Blood that it did include the accusation of "shedding of Infants blood" and has speculated as to whether or not the capitalizing of the word "Infants" refers to royal status, and thus is an accusation of the Princes' murder (especially since there are no other "infants" Richard had ever been accused of killing).

James Tyrrell was an English knight who fought for the House of York on many occasions. Some, notably William Shakespeare, regard him as the most likely culprit. Tyrrell was arrested by Henry VII's forces in 1501 for supporting another Yorkist claimant to the throne. Shortly before his execution, it is said that Tyrrell admitted, under torture, to having murdered the princes at the behest of Richard III; however, no written record of such an important confession has ever been found or referred to.

Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham was Richard's right-hand man and sought personal advantage through the new king. Some, notably Paul Murray Kendall, regard Buckingham as the likeliest suspect: his execution, after he had rebelled against Richard in October 1483, might signify that he and the king had fallen out because Buckingham had taken it on himself for whatever reason to dispose of Richard's rival claimants; alternatively, he could have been acting on behalf of Henry Tudor (later to become King Henry VII). On the other hand, if Buckingham were guilty he could equally well have been acting on Richard's orders, with his rebellion coming after he became dissatisfied with Richard's treatment of him. As a descendant of Edward III, through John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, Buckingham may have hoped to accede to the throne himself in due course. Buckingham's guilt depends on the princes having already been dead by October 1483, since he was executed the following month. In the 1980s, within the archives of the College of Arms in London, further documentation was discovered which states that the murder was conducted "be (by) the vise of the Duke of Buckingham".^[6] Another reference, surfacing this time in the Portuguese archives, states that "...and after the passing away of king Edward in the year of 83, another one of his brothers, the Duke of Gloucester, had in his power the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, the young sons of the said king his brother, and turned them to the Duke of Buckingham, under whose custody the said Princes were starved to death." ^[7] However neither document states whether Buckingham acted for himself, on Richard's orders, or in collusion with the Tudor party.

Henry VII (Henry Tudor) following his accession, proceeded to find a legal excuse to execute some of the rival claimants to the throne.^[8] He married the princes' eldest sister, Elizabeth of York, to reinforce his hold on the throne, but her right to inherit depended on both her brothers being already dead. Realistically, Henry's only opportunity to murder the princes would have been after his accession in 1485. This theory leaves open the question of why the princes were not seen after 1483 and why Richard did not produce them when he was suspected of their murder.

There were subsequently a number of apparent pretenders claiming to be Prince Richard, Duke of York,^[9] although there seem to have been none claiming to be Edward V. It has been suggested that this is because Edward V was well known and would have been difficult to impersonate; this would be less true of his younger brother. The best-known Pretender was Perkin Warbeck. The fact that Henry VII did not provide an official public version of the fate of the Princes, despite Warbeck's activities, until the Tyrell confession, has been interpreted as meaning either that he was unaware of the true story or that publishing it would have not been in his interests.

Evidence behind the rumours[link]

King Edward V and the Duke of York in the Tower of London by Paul Delaroche. The theme of innocent children awaiting an uncertain fate was a popular one amongst 19th-century painters.

The Croyland Chronicle, Dominic Mancini, and Philippe de Commines all state that the rumour of the princes' death was current in England by the end of 1483. In his summary of the events of 1483, Commines says quite categorically that Richard was responsible for the murder of the princes, but of course Commines had been present at the meeting of the Estates-General of France in January 1484, when the statement was taken at face value. The other two sources do not suggest who was responsible. Only Mancini's account, written in 1483, is truly contemporary, the other two having been written three and seven years later, respectively. The Great Chronicle, compiled 30 years later from the contemporary London municipal records, says the rumour of the princes' death did not start circulating in London until after Easter of 1484. Historians have speculated, on the basis of these contemporary records, that the rumour that the princes had been murdered was deliberately created to be spread in England as an excuse for the October 1483 attempt of Henry Tudor and Buckingham to seize the throne, making Henry and Buckingham other likely suspects.^{[citation needed]} However, if the princes were not already dead by the end of 1483, this of course removes any possibility that Buckingham, who was executed on 2 November 1483, could have murdered them.

The possibility of Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) being the culprit is debatable; it is said^[who?] that after he became king he started the rumours that the missing princes were murdered by Richard. This may have been^{[original research?]} a plot to make Richard's loyal subjects think badly of Richard. This hints that Henry was the murderer;^{[original research?]} however, Henry became king in 1485, whereas the Princes went missing in 1483, and the only reason Henry would have had to kill them is the same reason that Richard III would have had: if they were a grave danger to the throne.

No discussion of this episode would be complete without mention of Sir James Tyrrell, the loyal servant of Richard III who is said to have confessed to the murder of the princes in 1502. Thomas More, a Tudor loyalist (and later Chancellor under Henry VIII), composed his History of King Richard III around the year 1513. He identified Tyrrell as the murderer, acting on Richard's orders, and told the story of Tyrrell's confession, which took place after he had been arrested for treason against Henry VII. The Great Chronicle of London, written around the year 1512, also identified Tyrrell.^[10] Polydore Vergil, in his Anglica Historia (circa 1513), specifies that Tyrrell was the murderer, stating that he "rode sorrowfully to London" and committed the deed with reluctance, upon Richard III's orders, and that Richard himself spread the rumours of the princes' death in the belief that it would discourage rebellion.^[11]

In his history of King Richard, More said that the princes were smothered to death in their beds by two agents of Tyrell—Miles Forrest and John Dighton—and were then buried "at the stayre foote, metely depe in the grounde vnder a great heape of stones", but were later disinterred and buried in a secret place.^[12] Curiously, under Henry VIII, a documented Miles Forrest was granted King's favours as found in English historical documents: After the Dissolution, the manor of Morborne, with the house and grange of Ogerston in the same parish, lately the property of the Abbey of Crowland, was granted in 1540, with all appurtenances, to Miles Forrest, bailiff of the Abbot of Peterborough at Warmington in 1535.^[13] However this was 50 years after the Battle of Bosworth Field, and 52 years after the deed was allegedly done, leading to suspicion that this Miles Forrest was not the one referred to by More, as he would by then have been into his seventies or even eighties and well past retirement. In 1513, Thomas More names his Miles Forrest as a murderer. In 1534, More fell out of favour with Henry VIII when More denied that the king was the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Henry had More beheaded in 1535. In the same year or 1540 (the above history references both dates), Henry awarded the manor to Miles Forrest, the documented bailiff of the Abbot of Peterborough.

In 1674, some workmen remodelling the Tower of London were assumed to have dug up a wooden box containing two small human skeletons. Since the bones were reportedly found in a pile of rubble with some pieces of wood near by, it was theorized^{[by whom?]} that they had been in a wooden box. The bones were reported (presumably by the workmen) as having been recovered from a highly unusual ten feet deep in the ground close to the White Tower, but not inside it, not quite consistent with More's description of the original burial place of the princes, and not consistent with More's later claim that the bodies had been subsequently removed and buried elsewhere. Graves, then dug by simple hand tools, were rarely more than three feet deep. One anonymous report was that they were found with "pieces of rag and velvet about them", the velvet indicating that the bodies were those of aristocrats.^[14] Eventually the bones were gathered up and placed in an urn, which Charles II of England ordered interred in Westminster Abbey in the wall of the Henry VII Lady Chapel. The rags and velvet were not mentioned again and, presumably, for reasons unknown, were not included in the reinterrment. In 1933 the bones were taken out and examined, and then replaced in the urn. They were found to have been interred carelessly along with chicken and other animal bones. There were also three very rusty nails. One skeleton was larger than the other, but many of the bones were missing, including part of the smaller jawbone and all of the teeth from the larger one. Many of the bones had been broken, possibly by the original workmen. Examination of photographs from this exhumation indicated that the elder child was 11–13 years old and the younger was 7–11 years old.^[15] It was not possible at that time to determine the sex of children's skeletons. One scientist^[who?] stated that the bones of the younger child were certainly those of a child younger than nine, making identification with the younger prince hardly possible. No further scientific examination has since been conducted on the bones, which remain in Westminster Abbey, and DNA analysis, which would now determine the sex, has not so far been attempted.

In 1789, workmen carrying out repairs in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, rediscovered and accidentally broke into the vault of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth Woodville, discovering in the process what appeared to be a small adjoining vault. This vault was found to contain the coffins of two mysterious, unidentified children. However, no inspection or examination was carried out and the tomb was resealed and the tomb was inscribed with the names of two of Edward IV's children George, 1st Duke of Bedford died at the age of 2 & Mary of York died age 14 that had predeceased the King. ^[16] During the excavation for the royal tomb house for King George III under the Wolsey tomb-house in 1810-1813 two lead coffins clearly labelled as George Plantagenet & Mary Plantagenet were discovered and moved into the adjoining vault of Edward IV's but at the time no effort was made to identify the two lead coffins already in the vault. ^[17]

In the late 1990s, work was being carried out near and around Edward IV's tomb in St George's Chapel, the floor area was excavated to replace an old boiler and also to add a new repository for the remains of future Deans and Canons of Windsor. A request was forwarded to the Dean and Canons of Windsor to consider a possible examination of the two vaults either by fibre-optic camera or, if possible, a reexamination of the two unidentified lead coffins in the tomb also housing the lead coffins of two of Edward IV's children that were discovered during the building of the Royal Tomb for King George III (1810-1813) and placed in the adjoining vault at that time. With modern scientific testing methods it might be possible to determine who else is buried next to Edward IV's tomb. Royal consent would be necessary to open any royal tomb, so it was felt best to leave the medieval mystery unsolved for at least the next few generations ^[18]

Literature[link]

Fiction[link]

• Valerie Anand - Crown of Roses
• Vanora Bennett - "Portrait of an Unknown Woman (2006)
• Elizabeth George - "I, Richard" (short story) (2002)
• Philippa Gregory
  • The White Queen (2009)
  • The Red Queen (2010)
• Margaret Peterson Haddix - Sent (2009)
• Robin Maxwell - To The Tower Born (2005)
• Sharon Kay Penman The Sunne in Splendour (1982)
• Elizabeth Peters - The Murders of Richard III (1974)
• Anne Easter Smith
  • A Rose for the Crown (2008)
  • The Daughter of York (2008)
  • The King's Grace (2009)
• William Shakespeare - Richard III (circa 1595)
• Josephine Tey - The Daughter of Time (1951)
• Elaine M. Alphin - Tournament of Time (1994)
• Guy M Townsend - To Prove a Villain (1985)
• Terence Morgan - The Master of Bruges (2010)
• Margaret Peterson Haddix - Found (2008)

Non-fiction[link]

• Peter A. Hancock - Richard III and the Murder in the Tower (2009)
• A J Pollard - Richard III and the Princes in the Tower (1991)
• Horace Walpole - Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of Richard III (1768)
• Alison Weir - The Princes in the Tower (1992)
• Audrey Williamson - The Mystery of the Princes (1978)

Popular culture[link]

• The first series of the British sitcom Blackadder is set in a comic alternative history where the Princes in the Tower survived and grew to adulthood, Prince Richard assuming the throne as Richard IV upon Richard III's death at Bosworth Field. Edward V is ignored by the storyline, and is never mentioned in script.
• The secret was discovered in The Kingmaker, an audio drama based on Doctor Who, in which the princes were discovered to be princesses.
• An episode of the Canadian children's documentary series Mystery Hunters is dedicated to the unsolved case of the missing princes.
• In 1984, Channel 4 broadcast a four-hour "trial" ^[19] of Richard III on the charge of murdering the princes. The presiding judge was Lord Elwyn-Jones and the barristers were recruited from the Queen's Counsel, but had to remain anonymous. Expert witnesses included David Starkey. The jury was composed of ordinary citizens. The burden of proof was left to the prosecution. The jury found in favour of the defendant.
• The Japanese anime series Kuroshitsuji details a possible scenario of what happened to the Princes in the Tower in Episode 16 ("His Butler: The Lone Castle"). Under orders from 'relatives', King Edward V and Richard were executed in the Tower of London, and had their bodies disposed of in the River Teme. This revelation allows their ghostly forms to ascend to heaven after 400 years of haunting Ludlow Castle.
• The Rich Kids had a hit song with, and an album named, "Ghosts of Princes in Towers" which made reference to the Princes and drew on rumours of their haunting the Tower of London.
• Kate Beaton, cartoonist of webcomic Hark! A Vagrant, devoted one of her comic strips to the story of the Princes.^[20]

References[link]

Sandra Worth (born 1954) is a Canadian-American author of fiction.

For her bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, she took a double major in Political Science and Economics.

Her debut novel The Rose of York: Love and War was published in 2003.

Worth researched the 15th century for ten years when writing her trilogy on the Wars of the Roses. She obtained privileges at the British Museum and visited university libraries across Canada and the United States. She also interviewed several notable Ricardian scholars, including Peter W. Hammond and Bertram Fields, and made more than ten trips to England and Bruges to examine Ricardian sites.

In 2007, Worth signed a two book deal with Penguin Group (USA), to produce two more books taking place during the War of the Roses, both published in 2008 as Lady of the Roses and The King’s Daughter, a novel on the life of Elizabeth of York, mother of Henry VIII. In 2009, each of these novels garnered several Reviewers' Choice awards, including the Romantic Times Magazine's Award for Best Historical Biography of the Year ( Philippa Gregory was one of the four nominees). Also in 2009, Worth entered into another book deal with the Penguin Group for Pale Rose of England, a novel on the life of Perkin Warbeck, the Pretender to the throne of England and his wife, Princess Catherine Gordon of Scotland.

Bibliography[link]

• The Rose of York: Love and War. End Table, 2003 ^[1]
• The Rose of York: Crown of Destiny. End Table, 2006 ^[2]
• The Rose of York: Fall From Grace. End Table, 2007 ^[3]
• Lady of the Roses: A Novel of the Wars of the Roses. New York: Berkley, January 2, 2008^[4]
• The King's Daughter: A Novel of the First Tudor Queen. New York: Berkley, December 8, 2008 ^[5]
• Pale Rose of York. New York: Berkley, February 1, 2011^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sandra Worth website
• Berkley's author profile of Worth