| Richard of York | |
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| Predecessor | Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke |
| Successor | Edward Plantagenet, 4th Duke, later Edward IV, King of England |
| Spouse | Cecily Neville |
| Issue | |
| Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter Edward IV, King of England Edmund, Earl of Rutland Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence Richard III, King of England |
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| House | House of York |
| Father | Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge |
| Mother | Anne de Mortimer |
| Born | 21 September 1411 |
| Died | 30 December 1460 (aged 49) Wakefield, Yorkshire |
Richard Plantagenêt, 3rd Duke of York, 6th Earl of March, 4th Earl of Cambridge, and 7th Earl of Ulster, conventionally called Richard of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460) was a leading English magnate, great-grandson of King Edward III. He inherited great estates, and served in various offices of state in France at the end of the Hundred Years' War, and in England, ultimately governing the country as Lord Protector during Henry VI's madness. His conflicts with Henry's queen, Margaret of Anjou, and other members of Henry's court were a leading factor in the political upheaval of mid-fifteenth-century England, and a major cause of the Wars of the Roses. Richard eventually attempted to claim the throne but was dissuaded, although it was agreed that he would become King on Henry's death. Within a few weeks of securing this agreement, he died in battle.
Although Richard never became king, he was the father of Edward IV and Richard III.
He was the second child of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge and Anne Mortimer. Anne was the senior heiress of Lionel of Antwerp, the second surviving son of Edward III; this arguably gave her and her family a superior claim to the throne over that of the House of Lancaster. Anne died giving birth to Richard. He was a younger brother of Isabel, Countess of Essex.
His paternal grandparents were Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (the fourth son of Edward III to survive infancy) and Isabella of Castile. His maternal grandparents were Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March and Alianore Holland.
His father was executed for his part in the Southampton Plot against Henry V on 5 August 1415, and attainted. Richard therefore inherited neither lands nor title from his father. However his paternal uncle Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, who was killed at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415, was childless and Richard was his closest male relative.
After some hesitation Henry V allowed Richard to inherit the title and (at his majority) the lands of the Duchy of York. The lesser title and (in due course) greater estates of the Earldom of March also became his on the death of his maternal uncle Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, on 19 January 1425. The reason for Henry's hesitation was that Edmund Mortimer had been proclaimed several times to have a stronger claim to the throne than Henry's father, Henry IV of England, by factions rebelling against him. However, during his lifetime, Mortimer remained a faithful supporter of the House of Lancaster.
Richard of York already had the Mortimer and Cambridge claims to the English throne; once he inherited the March,[1] he also became the wealthiest and most powerful noble in England, second only to the King himself.[2]
As an orphan, the income and management of Richard's lands became the property of the crown. Even though many of the lands of his uncle of York had been granted for life only, or to him and his male heirs, the remaining lands, concentrated in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, and Wiltshire and Gloucestershire were considerable. The wardship of such an orphan was therefore a valuable gift of the crown, and in October 1417 this was granted to Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmoreland, with the young Richard under the guardianship of Sir Robert Waterton. Ralph Neville had fathered an enormous family (twenty-three children, twenty of whom survived infancy, through two wives) and had many daughters needing husbands. As was his right, in 1424 he betrothed the 13-year-old Richard to his daughter Cecily Neville, then aged 9.
In October 1425, when Ralph Neville died, he bequeathed the wardship of York to his widow, Joan Beaufort. By now the wardship was even more valuable, as Richard had inherited the Mortimer estates on the death of the Earl of March. These manors were concentrated in Wales, and in the Welsh Borders around Ludlow.
Little is recorded of Richard's early life. On 19 May 1426 he was knighted at Leicester by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the younger brother of Henry V. In October 1429 (or earlier) his marriage to Cecily Neville took place. On 6 November he was present at the formal coronation of Henry VI in Westminster Abbey. He then followed Henry to France, being present at his coronation as King of France in Notre Dame on 16 December 1431. Finally, on 12 May 1432 he came into his inheritance and was granted full control of his estates.
In May 1436, a few months after Bedford's death, York was appointed to succeed him as Lieutenant in France. Henry V's conquests in France could not be sustained forever, as the Kingdom of England either needed to conquer more territory to ensure permanent French subordination, or to concede territory to gain a negotiated settlement. During Henry VI's minority, his Council took advantage of French weakness and the alliance with Burgundy to increase England's possessions, but following the Treaty of Arras (1435), Burgundy ceased to recognise the King of England's claim to the French throne.
York's appointment was one of a number of stop-gap measures after the death of Bedford to try to retain French possessions until King Henry should assume personal rule. The fall of Paris (his original destination) led to his army being redirected to Normandy. Working with Bedford's captains, York had some success, recapturing Fecamp and holding on to the Pays de Caux, while establishing good order and justice in the Duchy of Normandy. However, he was dissatisfied with the terms under which he was appointed, as he had to find much of the money to pay his troops and other expenses from his own estates.[3] His term of office was nevertheless extended beyond the original twelve months, and he returned to England in November 1439. In spite of his position as one of the leading nobles of the realm, he was not included in Henry VI's Council on his return.[4]
Henry turned to York again in 1440 after peace negotiations failed. He was reappointed Lieutenant of France on 2 July, this time with the same powers that the late Bedford had earlier been granted. As in 1437, York was able to count on the loyalty of Bedford's supporters, including Sir John Fastolf and Sir William Oldhall.
However, in 1443 Henry put the newly-created John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset in charge of an army of 8,000 men, initially intended for the relief of Gascony. This denied York much-needed men and resources at a time when he was struggling to hold the borders of Normandy. Not only that, but the terms of Somerset's appointment could have caused York to feel that his own role as effective regent over the whole of Lancastrian France was reduced to that of governor of Normandy. Somerset's army achieved nothing, and eventually returned to Normandy, where Somerset died. This may have been the start of the hatred that York felt for the Beaufort family, that would later turn into civil war.
English policy now turned back to a negotiated peace (or at least a truce) with France, so the remainder of York's time in France was spent in routine administration and domestic matters. Duchess Cecily had accompanied him to Normandy, and his children Edward, Edmund and Elizabeth were born in Rouen.
York returned to England on 20 October 1445, at the end of his five-year appointment in France. He must have had reasonable expectations of reappointment. However, he had become associated with the English in Normandy who were opposed to the policy of Henry VI's Council towards France, some of whom (for example Sir William Oldhall and Sir Andrew Ogard) had followed him to England. Eventually (in December 1446) the lieutenancy went to Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, who had succeeded his brother John. During 1446 and 1447 York attended meetings of Henry VI's Council and of Parliament, but most of his time was spent in administration of his estates on the Welsh border.
His attitude toward the Council's surrender of Maine, in return for an extension of the truce with France and a French bride for Henry, must have contributed to his appointment on 30 July as Lieutenant of Ireland. In some ways it was a logical appointment, as Richard was also Earl of Ulster and had considerable estates in Ireland, but it was also a convenient way of removing him from both England and France. His term of office was for ten years, ruling him out of consideration for any other high office during that period.
Domestic matters kept him in England until June 1449, but when he did eventually go, it was with Cecily (who was pregnant at the time) and an army of around 600 men. This suggests a stay of some time was envisaged. However, claiming lack of money to defend English possessions, York decided to return to England. His financial state may indeed have been problematic, since by the mid-1440s he was owed nearly £40,000 by the crown, and the income from his estates was declining.
In 1450, the defeats and failures of the previous ten years boiled over into serious political unrest. In January, Adam Moleyns, Lord Privy Seal and Bishop of Chichester, was lynched. In May the chief councillor of the King, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, was murdered on his way into exile. The House of Commons demanded that the King take back many of the grants of land and money he had made to his favourites.
In June, Kent and Sussex rose in revolt. Led by Jack Cade (taking the name Mortimer), they took control of London and killed John Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele, the Lord High Treasurer of England. In August, the final towns held in Normandy fell to the French, and refugees flooded back to England.
On 7 September, York landed at Beaumaris. Evading an attempt by Henry to intercept him, and gathering followers as he went, York arrived in London on 27 September. After an inconclusive (and possibly violent) meeting with the King, York continued to recruit, both in East Anglia and the west. The violence in London was such that Somerset, back in England after the collapse of English Normandy, was put in the Tower of London for his own safety. In December Parliament elected York's chamberlain, Sir William Oldhall, as speaker.
York's public stance was that of a reformer, demanding better government and the prosecution of the traitors who had lost northern France. Judging by his later actions, there may also have been a more hidden motive — the destruction of Somerset, who was soon released from the Tower. Although granted another office (Justice of the Forest south of the Trent), York still lacked any real support outside Parliament and his own retainers.
In April 1451, Somerset was released from the Tower and appointed Captain of Calais. When one of York's councillors, Thomas Young, the MP for Bristol,proposed that York be recognised as heir to the throne, he was sent to the Tower and Parliament was dissolved. Henry VI was prompted into belated reforms, which went some way to restore public order and improve the royal finances. Frustrated by his lack of political power, York retired to Ludlow.
In 1452, York made another bid for power, but not to become king himself. Protesting his loyalty, he aimed to be recognised as Henry VI's heir apparent (Henry was childless after seven years of marriage), while also trying to destroy the Earl of Somerset, who Henry may have preferred to succeed him over York, as a Beaufort descendant. Gathering men on the march from Ludlow, York headed for London, to find the city gates barred against him on Henry's orders. At Dartford in Kent, with his army outnumbered, and the support of only two of the nobility, York was forced to come to an agreement with Henry. He was allowed to present his complaints against Somerset to the king, but was then taken to London and after two weeks of virtual house arrest, was forced to swear an oath of allegiance at St Paul's Cathedral.
By the summer of 1453, York seemed to have lost his power struggle. Henry embarked on a series of judicial tours, punishing York's tenants who had been involved in the debacle at Dartford. His Queen consort, Margaret of Anjou, was pregnant, and even if she should miscarry, the marriage of the newly ennobled Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond to Margaret Beaufort provided for an alternative line of succession. By July, York had lost both his Offices: Lieutenant of Ireland and Justice of the Forest south of the Trent.
Then, in August, Henry VI suffered a catastrophic mental breakdown. Perhaps brought on by the news of the defeat at the Battle of Castillon in Gascony, which finally drove English forces from France, he became completely unresponsive, unable to speak and having to be led from room to room. The council tried to carry on as though the King's disability would be brief. However, eventually they had to admit that something had to be done. In October, invitations for a Great Council were issued, and although Somerset tried to have him excluded, York (the premier Duke of the realm) was included. Somerset's fears were to prove well-grounded, for in November he was committed to the Tower. Despite the opposition of Margaret of Anjou, on 27 March, York was appointed Protector of the Realm and Chief Councillor.
York's appointment of his brother-in-law, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, as Chancellor was significant. Henry's burst of activity in 1453 had seen him try to stem the violence caused by various disputes between noble families. These disputes gradually polarised around the long-standing Percy-Neville feud. Unfortunately for Henry, Somerset (and therefore the king) became identified with the Percy cause. This drove the Nevilles into the arms of York, who now for the first time had support among a section of the nobility.
According to the historian Robin Storey, "If Henry's insanity was a tragedy, his recovery was a national disaster".[5] When he recovered his reason in January 1455, Henry lost little time in reversing York's actions. Somerset was released and restored to favour. York was deprived of the Captaincy of Calais (which was granted to Somerset once again) and of the office of Protector. Salisbury resigned as Chancellor. York, Salisbury and Salisbury's eldest son, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, were threatened when a Great Council was called to meet on 21 May in Leicester (away from Somerset's enemies in London). York and his Neville relations recruited in the north and probably along the Welsh border. By the time Somerset realised what was happening, there was no time to raise a large force to support the king.
Once York took his army south of Leicester, thus barring the route to the Great Council, the dispute between him and the king regarding Somerset would have to be settled by force. On 22 May, the king and Somerset arrived at St Albans, with a hastily-assembled and poorly-equipped army of around 2,000. York, Warwick and Salisbury were already there, with a larger and better-equipped army. More importantly, at least some of their soldiers would have had experience in the frequent border skirmishes with the Kingdom of Scotland and the occasionally rebellious people of Wales.
The First Battle of St Albans which immediately followed hardly deserves the term battle. Possibly as few as 50 men were killed, but among them were Somerset and the two Percy lords, Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland and Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford. York and the Nevilles had therefore succeeded in killing their enemies, while York's capture of the king gave him the chance to resume the power he had lost in 1453. It was vital to keep Henry alive, as his death would have led, not to York becoming king himself, but to the minority rule of his two-year-old son Edward of Westminster. Since York's support among the nobility was small, he would be unable to dominate a minority council led by Margaret of Anjou.
In the custody of York, the king was returned to London with York and Salisbury riding alongside, and with Warwick bearing the royal sword in front. On 25 May, Henry received the crown from York, in a clearly symbolic display of power. York made himself Constable of England, and appointed Warwick Captain of Calais. York's position was enhanced when some of the nobility agreed to join his government, including Lord Fauconberg, who had served under him in France.
For the rest of the summer York held the king prisoner, either in Hertford castle or (in order to be enthroned in Parliament in July) in London. When Parliament met again in November the throne was empty, and it was reported that the king was ill again. York resumed the office of Protector; although he surrendered it when the king recovered in February 1456, it seemed that this time Henry was willing to accept that York and his supporters would play a major part in the government of the realm.
Salisbury and Warwick continued to serve as councillors, and Warwick was confirmed as Captain of Calais. In June, York himself was sent north to defend the border against a threatened invasion by James II of Scotland. However, the king once again came under the control of a dominant figure, this time one harder to replace than Suffolk or Somerset: for the rest of his reign, it would be the queen, Margaret of Anjou, who would control the king.
Although Margaret of Anjou had now taken the place formerly held by Suffolk or Somerset, her position, at least at first, was not as dominant. York had his Lieutenancy of Ireland renewed, and he continued to attend meetings of the Council. However, in August 1456 the court moved to Coventry, in the heart of the Queen's lands. How York was treated now depended on how powerful the Queen's views were. York was regarded with suspicion on three fronts: he threatened the succession of the young Prince of Wales; he was apparently negotiating for the marriage of his eldest son Edward into the Burgundian ruling family; and as a supporter of the Nevilles, he was contributing to the major cause of disturbance in the kingdom – the Percy/Neville feud.
Here, the Nevilles lost ground. Salisbury gradually ceased to attend meetings of the council. When his brother Robert Neville, Bishop of Durham died in 1457, the new appointment was Laurence Booth. Booth was a member of the Queen's inner circle. The Percys were shown greater favour both at court and in the struggle for power on the Scottish Border.
Henry's attempts at reconciliation between the factions divided by the killings at St Albans reached their climax with the Loveday on 24 March 1458. However, the lords concerned had earlier turned London into an armed camp, and the public expressions of amity seemed not to have lasted beyond the ceremony.
In June 1459 a great council was summoned to meet at Coventry. York, the Nevilles and some other lords refused to appear, fearing that the armed forces that had been commanded to assemble the previous month had been summoned to arrest them. Instead, York and Salisbury recruited in their strongholds and met Warwick, who had brought with him his troops from Calais, at Worcester. Parliament was summoned to meet at Coventry in November, but without York and the Nevilles. This could only mean that they were to be accused of treason.
On 11 October, York tried to move south, but was forced to head for Ludlow. On 12 October, at the Battle of Ludford Bridge, York once again faced Henry just as he had at Dartford seven years earlier. Warwick's troops from Calais refused to fight, and the rebels fled – York to Ireland, Warwick, Salisbury and York's son Edward to Calais.[6] York's wife Cecily and their two younger sons (George and Richard) were captured in Ludlow Castle and imprisoned at Coventry.
York's flight worked to his advantage. He was still Lieutenant of Ireland, and attempts to replace him failed. The Parliament of Ireland backed him, providing offers of both military and financial support. Warwick's (possibly inadvertent) return to Calais also proved fortunate. His control of the English Channel meant that pro-Yorkist propaganda, emphasising loyalty to the king while decrying his wicked councillors, could be spread around Southern England. Such was the Yorkists' naval dominance that Warwick was able to sail to Ireland in March 1460, meet York and return to Calais in May. Warwick's control of Calais was to prove to be influential with the wool-merchants in London.
In December 1459 York, Warwick and Salisbury had suffered attainder. Their lives were forfeit, and their lands reverted to the king; their heirs would not inherit. This was the most extreme punishment a member of the nobility could suffer, and York was now in the same situation as Henry of Bolingbroke in 1398. Only a successful invasion of England would restore his fortune. Assuming the invasion was successful, York had three options — become Protector again, disinherit the king so that York's son would succeed, or claim the throne for himself.
On 26 June, Warwick and Salisbury landed at Sandwich. The men of Kent, always ready to revolt, rose to join them. London opened its gates to the Nevilles on 2 July. They marched north into the Midlands, and on 10 July, they defeated the royal army at the Battle of Northampton (through treachery among the King's troops), and captured Henry, who they brought back to London.
York remained in Ireland. He did not set foot in England until 9 September, and when he did, he acted as a king. Marching under the arms of his maternal great-great-grandfather Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, as he approached London he displayed a banner of the Coat of Arms of England.
A Parliament which was called to meet on 7 October repealed all the legislation of the Coventry parliament the previous year. On 10 October, York arrived in London and took residence in the royal palace. Entering Parliament with his sword borne upright before him, he made for the empty throne and placed his hand upon it, as if to occupy it. He may have expected the assembled peers to acclaim him as King, as they had acclaimed Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. Instead, there was silence. Tmhomas Bouchier, the Archbishop of Canterbury, asked whether he wished to see the King. York replied, "I know of no person in this realm the which oweth not to wait on me, rather than I of him." This high-handed reply did not impress the Lords.[7]
The next day, Richard advanced his claim to the crown by hereditary right, in proper form. However, his narrow support among his peers led to failure once again. After weeks of negotiation, the best that could be achieved was the Act of Accord, by which York and his heirs were recognised as Henry's successor. However, Parliament did grant York extraordinary executive powers to protect the realm, and with the king effectively in custody, York and Warwick were the de facto rulers of the country.
While this was happening, the Lancastrian loyalists were rallying and arming in the north of England. Faced with the threat of attack from the Percys, and with Margaret of Anjou trying to gain the support of new king James III of Scotland, York, Salisbury and York's second son Edmund, Earl of Rutland headed north on 2 December. They arrived at York's stronghold of Sandal Castle on 21 December to find the situation bad and getting worse. Forces loyal to Henry controlled the city of York, and nearby Pontefract Castle was also in hostile hands.
On 30 December, York and his forces sortied from Sandal Castle. Their reasons for doing so are not clear; they were variously claimed to be a result of deception by the Lancastrian forces, or treachery, or simple rashness on York's part.[8] The larger Lancastrian force destroyed York's army in the resulting Battle of Wakefield. York was killed in the battle. Edmund of Rutland was intercepted as he tried to flee and was executed, possibly by John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford in revenge for the death of his own father at the First Battle of St Albans. Salisbury escaped but was captured and executed the following night.
York was buried at Pontefract, but his head was put on a pike by the victorious Lancastrian armies and displayed over Micklegate Bar at York, wearing a paper crown. His remains were later moved to Church of St Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay.[9]
None of his affinity (or his enemies) left a memoir of him. All that remains is the record of his actions, and the propaganda issued by both sides. Faced with the lack of evidence, his intentions can only be inferred from his actions. Few men have come so close to the throne as York, who died not knowing that in only a few months his son Edward would become king. Even at the time, opinion was divided as to his true motives. Did he always want the throne, or did Henry VI's poor government and the hostility of Henry's favourites leave him no choice? Was the alliance with Warwick the deciding factor, or did he just respond to events?
Within a few weeks of Richard of York's death, his eldest surviving son was acclaimed King Edward IV, and finally established the House of York on the throne following a decisive victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. After an occasionally tumultuous reign, he died in 1483 and was succeeded by his son as Edward V, and York's youngest son succeeded him as Richard III.
Richard of York's grandchildren included Edward V and Elizabeth of York. Elizabeth married Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty, and became the mother of Henry VIII, Margaret Tudor and Mary Tudor. All subsequent English monarchs have been descendants of Elizabeth of York.
With the dukedom of York, Richard inherited the associated arms of his ancestor, Edmund of Langley. These arms were those of the kingdom, differentiated by a label argent of three points, each bearing three torteaux gules.[10]
Richard was descended from English and Castilian royalty, as well as several major English aristocratic families.
His children with Cecily Neville include:
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A Compendium of Irish Biography article Richard, Duke of York |
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Duke of Gloucester |
Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1447–1453 |
Succeeded by The Duke of Somerset |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by Edward of Norwich (forfeit in 1415) |
Duke of York (restored) 1425–1460 |
Succeeded by Edward Plantagenet |
| Preceded by Edmund Mortimer |
Earl of March 1425–1460 |
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| Preceded by Richard of Conisburgh (forfeit in 1415) |
Earl of Cambridge (restored) 1426–1460 |
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| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by Edmund Mortimer |
Earl of Ulster 1425–1460 |
Succeeded by Edward Plantagenet |
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