Battle Royal Read online

  Fiennes, Richard (d.1483), 7th Baron Dacre by marriage to Joan, granddaughter of the 6th Baron, initiating a feud with her Lancastrian uncle Humphrey Dacre.

  Fiennes, William (d.1471), 2nd Baron Saye and Sele. Kent lord. Became Yorkist after his father was abandoned by Henry VI and murdered in 1450.

  FitzAlan, William (1417–87), 16th Earl of Arundel. Prominent lord in south-east England. Married Joan, eldest daughter of Richard Neville and Alice Montacute.

  FitzHugh, Henry (d.1472), 5th Baron. Yorkshire lord. Neville retainer. Married Alice, daughter of Richard Neville and Alice Montacute.

  FitzWarin – see Bourchier, William.

  Grey of Ruthyn, Edmund (1416–90), 4th Baron. Welsh Marcher and Bedfordshire lord. Married Katherine, daughter of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, and Eleanor Neville.

  Grey of Wilton, Reginald (d.1494), 7th Baron. Herefordshire lord. Married (1st) Tacinda, daughter of Owen Tudor and dowager Queen Catherine de Valois, and (2nd) Thomasine, illegitimate daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset.

  Greystoke, Ralph (1414–87), 5th Baron. Yorkshire lord. Neville retainer. Married Elizabeth, sister of 5th Baron FitzHugh.

  Herbert of Raglan, William (1423–69), 1st Baron. Monmouth lord. Lifelong Yorkist retainer, also key man in Glamorgan for Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. Married Anne, sister of Walter Devereux. Half- brother to the Vaughans by his mother’s first marriage.

  Montacute, Alice (1406–62), 5th Countess of Salisbury by right. Extensive estates in Warwickshire, the South West and around Bisham, Berkshire. Married Richard Neville.

  Montagu – see Neville, John.

  Mowbray, John (1444–76), 4th Duke of Norfolk. Landownings diluted further by his mother’s dower. Married Elizabeth, daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and Margaret Beauchamp.

  Neville, Edward (1407–76), 3rd Baron Bergavenny by marriage to Elizabeth Beauchamp. Youngest son of Ralph and Joan Beaufort. When his wife died he was dispossessed by his nephew Richard, Earl of Warwick, but remained a loyal Yorkist.

  Neville, George (1432–76), Bishop of Exeter. Youngest son of Richard and Alice Montacute.

  Neville, John (1431–71), 1st Baron Montagu. Second son of Richard and Alice Montacute.

  Neville, Katherine (d.1483), eldest daughter of Ralph and Joan Beaufort. Married (1st) John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, (2nd) Thomas Strangeways, (3rd) John, 1st Viscount Beaumont and (4th) John Woodville, forty-six years her junior.

  Neville, Richard (1400–60), 5th Earl of Salisbury by marriage to Alice Montacute, adding her lands to his dominant lordships in Yorkshire and Richmondshire. Eldest son of Ralph and Joan Beaufort.

  Neville, Richard (1428–71). Became 16th Earl of Warwick and dominant lord in the east Midlands and south Wales by marriage to Anne Beauchamp. Eldest son of Richard and Alice Montacute.

  Neville, Robert (1404–57), Bishop of Durham. Third son of Ralph and Joan Beaufort.

  Neville, William (d.1463), 6th Baron Fauconberg by marriage. Second son of Ralph and Joan Beaufort. The most experienced Yorkist commander.

  Norfolk – see Mowbray, John.

  Ogle, Robert (1406–69), 1st Baron. Northumberland lord. Experienced commander and lifelong Neville retainer.

  Oldhall, William (d.1460). Speaker of the Commons 1450−51. Much persecuted Yorkist retainer.

  Pole, John de la (1442–92), Earl of Suffolk (father’s dukedom forfeited in 1450). Infant betrothal to Margaret, daughter of John Beaufort, annulled. Married Elizabeth, Richard of York’s second daughter.

  Salisbury – see Montacute, Alice and Neville, Richard.

  Saye and Sele – see Fiennes, William.

  Scrope of Bolton, John (1437–98), 5th Baron. Yorkshire lord. Neville retainer. Married Joan, sister of 5th Baron FitzHugh.

  Scrope of Masham, Thomas (1429–75), 5th Baron. Yorkshire lord. Neville retainer. Married Elizabeth, daughter of 5th Baron Greystoke.

  Stafford of Hooke, Humphrey (1439–69). Captured at Calais and defected to become one of Edward of March’s closest companions.

  Stanley, Thomas (d.1504), 2nd Baron and titular King of Mann. Dominant lord in Lancashire. He betrayed, successively, Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VI again, Edward V and Richard III. Married Eleanor, daughter of Richard Neville and Alice Montacute.

  Stanley, William (d.1495). Younger brother of Thomas. Totally loyal to the Yorkist cause.

  Suffolk – see Pole, John de la.

  Sutton, John (1400–87), 1st Baron Dudley. Cheshire lord. A close companion of Henry VI, he changed sides after being severely wounded in battle.

  Tiptoft, John (1427–70), 1st Earl of Worcester. Welsh Marcher and Cambridgeshire lord. Married Cecily Neville, dowager Duchess of Warwick and daughter of Richard and Alice Montacute. Heartbroken when she died a year later. On pilgrimage to the Holy Land and in Italy 1457–61.

  Tuchet, John (1426–90), 6th Baron Audley. Father killed at Blore Heath. John changed sides after being captured at Calais and became one of Edward of March’s closest companions.

  Vaughan, Roger (d.1471), of Tretower Court and Crickhowell in Radnor. Half-brother of William Herbert. Lifelong Yorkist retainer. Youngest of the Vaughan brothers.

  Vaughan, Thomas, (d.1400–69), of Hergest and Kington in Herefordshire. Half-brother of William Herbert. Lifelong Yorkist retainer. Second of the Vaughan brothers.

  Vaughan, Thomas (n.d.), son of Walter. Fanatical Yorkist.

  Vaughan, Walter/Watkin (d.1456), of Bredwardine in Herefordshire. Lifelong Yorkist retainer. Eldest of the Vaughan brothers.

  Warwick – see Beauchamp, Anne and Neville, Richard.

  Wenlock, John (d.1471), 1st Baron. Speaker of the Commons. Lancastrian suborned by Warwick.

  Worcester – see Tiptoft, John.

  OTHER

  Anjou, Marie d’ (1404–63), aunt of Queen Marguerite. Married Charles VII of France.

  Anjou, René (1409–80), Duke of. Father of Queen Marguerite. Married Isabelle of Lorraine.

  Aragón, Yolande de (1384–1442), grandmother of Queen Marguerite.

  Brézé, Pierre de (d.1465). Fiercely loyal to Yolande de Aragón, her daughter Isabelle and granddaughter Marguerite. Rose to high office in France thanks to the influence of Agnès Sorel.

  Burgundy, Philippe (1396–1467), Duke of (r. 1419−67).

  Charles VII (1403–61), King of France (r. 1422–61). Married Marie d’Anjou.

  Charolais, Charles ‘the Bold’ (1433–77), Count of. Heir to Philippe III of Burgundy.

  Coppini, Francesco (d.1464). Papal Legate.

  Dauphin – designation of French heir- apparent.

  Louis XI (1423–83), King of France (r. 1461–83).

  Guelders, Mary of (1434–63). Queen to James II of Scotland, regent for her son 1460–3.

  James I (1394–1437), King of Scotland (r. 1406–37). Married Joan Beaufort, John of Gaunt’s daughter.

  James II (1430–60), King of Scotland (r. 1437–60). Married Mary of Guelders, cousin of Philippe II of Burgundy.

  James III (1451–88), King of Scotland (r. 1460–88).

  Lorraine, Isabelle (1400–53), Duchess of. Mother of Queen Marguerite.

  Luxembourg, Louis (1418–75), Count of Saint-Pol. Brother of Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

  Maine, Charles (1414–72), Count of. Uncle of Queen Marguerite. Married Isabelle of Luxembourg, sister of Jacquetta and Louis.

  Richemont, Arthur de (1393–1458). Breton prince. As Charles VII’s Constable of France he was the architect of France’s first standing army and of the campaign that expelled the English from France. Duke of Brittany for one year in 1457–8.

  Sorel, Agnès (1422–50), Charles VII’s official mistress.

  Pius II (1405–64), Pope (r. 1458–64).

  Maps

  * * *

  Preface

  * * *

  At an early stage of my research I found it necessary to create two reference lists of the English peers, by seniority (A) and alphabetically (B), and another of th
e senior clergy (C). Appendix D details the most violently divisive of all the many inheritance disputes.

  The Protagonists and Marriages list and the family trees in the appropriate chapters illustrate networks of kinship too burdensome to stress sufficiently in the text. Genealogy defined status and title to property, and also the alliances and disputes that exploded into the Wars of the Roses. It really was a ‘Cousins’ War’.

  The French participle ‘de’ was still commonly used by the English nobility well into the fifteenth century, but for simplicity’s sake I have omitted it while retaining the more distinctive ‘de la’. I have anglicised most non-English titles, while retaining the participle for French names only when stated in full (thus Pierre de Brézé).

  The pound sterling (£), the mark, and the livre tournois were not coins, but units of account. The mark was two-thirds of a pound sterling. The livre tournois to pound sterling exchange rate fluctuated from 6.6 = £1 in the 1420s to 11.3 = £1 in 1436–7, and then back down again. The continental gold crown was a coin worth one-fifth of a pound sterling.

  To provide the 2012 standard of living equivalence given in [square brackets] after the sums in contemporary units, I averaged the figures from MeasuringWorth.com at ten-yearly intervals to arrive at a rough and ready rate of £1 = £636 for the period 1430–85. Had I used the ‘economic status’ equivalence instead, it would have been £1 = £18,166.

  None of the contemporary or near-contemporary accounts are entirely dependable, and some are deliberately misleading. When even an accurate factual narrative is elusive, character and motive is almost entirely speculative. Modern facial reconstruction techniques can put flesh on skulls, but only imagination and empathy can suggest what went on inside them.

  Prologue

  * * *

  Passionate Princesses

  The ultimate winners of the Wars of the Roses were the grandchildren of two enchanting women. The quality was so strong in one of them that she was accused of witchcraft in 1469 and again, post mortem, in 1484. The first, potentially lethal accusation was made at the instigation of Richard ‘the Kingmaker’ Neville, Earl of Warwick, following a coup d’état during which he murdered her husband and one of her sons.

  The woman thus accused was Jacquetta (christened Jacqueline) de Luxembourg, widow of John, Duke of Bedford, the eldest surviving uncle of King Henry VI of England and at the time of their marriage the next in line for the throne. He was so taken with 17-year-old Jacquetta that in 1433 he married her with indecent haste five months after the death of his first wife Anne, the sister of the Duke Philippe of Burgundy, thereby deeply offending a crucial English ally in the endgame of the Hundred Years War.

  After Bedford died two years later, childless Jacquetta was granted permission to enjoy her generous dower lands on condition she not remarry without a royal licence. This she omitted to obtain in 1437, when she secretly married the famously handsome 32-year-old Sir Richard Woodville, by whom she was pregnant. While she risked losing her dower, technically he committed treason by changing the legal status of a member of the royal family without the king’s permission.

  The couple were fortunate that 15-year-old King Henry VI was mourning the recent death of his mother Catherine, who had blazed a wide trail by cohabiting with her Welsh major-domo Owen Tudor without benefit of clergy. Catherine de Valois was the youngest daughter of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. When Charles first lapsed into paranoid schizophrenia, Isabeau was forced to play a leading role in the uniformly disastrous subsequent events of her husband’s reign.

  Between 1407 and 1435 the Valois endured a ‘Cousins’ War’ among the many branches of the French royal family that was far more threatening to the survival of the kingdom than the divisions among the English Plantagenets. Isabeau steered a pragmatically shifting course among the factions and was accused by her enemies of every vice imaginable, sometimes without cause.

  Anarchy in France encouraged Henry V to assert his claim to the French throne after he became king of England in 1413. After his crushing victory at Agincourt two years later, he conquered Normandy, lost to the English crown over 200 years earlier. Rouen, the Norman capital, fell to the English in January 1419, and in September, after the Dauphin Charles had his cousin Duke Jean II of Burgundy treacherously assassinated, Jean’s heir Philippe joined the assault on his Valois cousins’ territories. The Anglo-Burgundian alliance became formal in May 1420, when Charles VI signed the Treaty of Troyes, a near total capitulation to Henry’s demands.

  The lynchpin of the treaty was Henry’s marriage in June to Catherine, but Charles VI also disinherited his 17-year-old namesake son (whom Isabeau said was not his at all) in favour of Henry. Disaffected French nobles rallied around the disowned dauphin and invoked alliances with Castille and with Scotland, whose uncrowned King James I, a captive in England since 1406, served with the English army in 1420−21. Spanish ships transported a Scots army led by the Earl of Buchan, son of the regent Duke of Albany, to the dauphin’s capital at Bourges.

  Catherine’s eldest sister Isabelle, then 7 years old, had been married to Richard II of England in 1396. After Richard was overthrown and murdered by his cousin Henry IV (Bolingbroke) three years later, Isabelle bravely refused to marry Henry’s namesake heir. Almost from the moment Catherine was born the two Henrys had seen her as a suitable dynastic alternative. When Henry V finally met the 17-year-old in the summer of 1419 he was so captivated by her that he abandoned his demand for a huge dowry in addition to the territorial concessions he and Duke Philippe won at Troyes.

  After their marriage at Troyes Cathedral in June 1420 and a honeymoon spent on campaign, Henry and his bride crossed to England, where Catherine was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey in February 1421. The couple embarked on a royal progress through the kingdom, but a month later, at about the time Catherine became pregnant, shocking news from France interrupted their journey.

  Henry’s brother Thomas, Duke of Clarence, lieutenant in France during the king’s absence, had been killed at Baugé in Anjou, leading a hot-headed charge by men-at-arms unsupported by archers against the elite Scots component of a larger Franco-Scots army.*1 Henry returned to France in June to retrieve the situation and never saw his namesake son, who was born on 6 December.

  The king regained the initiative with two successful sieges, of Dreux in the late summer of 1421 and Meaux from October until May 1422, when Catherine joined him. It was not to be a happy reunion. Henry had contracted cholera and died at Vincennes, just outside Paris, on 31 August 1422, sixteen days short of his thirty-sixth birthday.

  Four miles away and less than two months later his father-in-law Charles VI also died. In 1435, to justify breaking his alliance with England, Duke Philippe of Burgundy was to argue that the line of succession agreed at Troyes became void when Henry predeceased Charles.

  Both 9-month-old Henry VI and 19-year-old Charles VII were proclaimed kings of France. Neither was crowned until the visionary teenager Jeanne d’Arc shamed Charles out of his defeatist lethargy. In July 1429, following Jeanne’s tide-turning victory over the English at Orléans in May, he was crowned at newly recovered Reims Cathedral, France’s Westminster Abbey.

  Henry was not even crowned king of England until four months later. Two years later he was crowned king of France at Nôtre-Dame Cathedral in Paris by his uncle Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester. The royal party had spent the previous eighteen months at Rouen, the capital of occupied Normandy. Also at Rouen was Jeanne d’Arc, captured in May 1430 and sold to the English by Jacquetta’s uncle Jean, Count of Ligny. Despite having evaded the theological traps set for her, to the lasting shame of the House of Lancaster she was condemned for heresy by a French ecclesiastical court suborned by Bedford, with Cardinal Beaufort presiding. She was burned at the stake in Rouen marketplace on 30 May 1431.

  When Henry V died there was no chance that his widow, a 21-year-old woman and sister to the rival claimant to the French throne, would be permitt
ed to play any political role; nor was there any indication she wished to do so. Catherine was a devoted mother and gave no cause for concern until 1427, when she fell in love with the dashing Edmund Beaufort, six years her junior, who had been setting hearts aflutter ever since arriving at court.

  Like the ruling House of Lancaster, the Beauforts were descendants of John of Gaunt, Edward III’s third son. However, while the royal family were descended from his marriage to Blanche of Lancaster, the Beauforts were the product of his subsequent love affair with Katherine Swynford. Although the Beaufort children were legitimated by papal decree and royal charter after John and Katherine married in 1396, in 1407 Henry IV added the proviso excepta regali dignitate, barring his half-siblings and their descendants from inheriting the throne. Whether or not he had the right to alter what was supposed to be a fair copy of the original charter was a moot issue as long as the legitimate Lancastrian succession was assured.

  The second generation of Beauforts were an attractive brood. The hostage King James I of Scotland fell in love with Edmund’s sister Joan. Dowager Queen Catherine was dame of honour at the wedding. At his long-delayed coronation in 1424 James obliged the surly Scots nobles to swear allegiance to Joan as well as himself.

  So, even before falling for Edmund, Catherine de Valois was well acquainted with the Beauforts and would have known that Edmund’s older brother John, Earl of Somerset, had been taken prisoner after following his stepfather the Duke of Clarence to defeat at Baugé. Irrespective of Catherine’s charms, Edmund must have regarded dalliance with the richest woman in England, who might influence the court to help ransom his brother, as practically a fraternal obligation, while the prospect of marriage was mouth-watering.

  The possibility was far from appealing to Henry VI’s uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Henry IV and the senior member of the Council that governed England during the king’s minority. Bedford, Gloucester’s one-year-older brother, was regent in France. None of Henry V’s brothers had legitimate issue and the survival of their dynasty was vested in the boy Henry VI. The prospect of a royal stepfather from the bastard Beaufort line was intolerable.