In April the English embassy met Charles’ negotiators at St Omer, to discuss not only the marriage but also the economic situation, and to plan a general treaty of friendship. By this time King Edward was still uncommitted to a Burgundian alliance, and Warwick, one of the chief negotiators at St Omer, was actively promoting an alternative alliance with France. Nevertheless, the conference bore some fruit and Edward and Charles signed a secret treaty of friendship. But Warwick left St Omer to negotiate with the French and to renew the Anglo-French truce.14
King Louis put forward various counter-proposals for Margaret’s hand. He could not find a candidate equal in status to Charles but he had assembled no less than four possible candidates: his brother-in-law, Philip Count of Bresse, René Count of Alençon whose sister had been suggested as a bride for Edward in 1455, Philibert of Savoy, the young Prince of Piedmont, who was Louis’ nephew and had been brought up at the French court and Galeazzo Sforza, the new Duke of Milan and, at that time, still Louis’ ally.
The King of England was in a comfortable position. Both France and Burgundy sought his alliance and were offering full treaties encompassing favourable economic and marriage settlements. Edward should have been able to benefit from the situation yet, ultimately, not only did he have to pay a high price for the Burgundian marriage, but it almost cost him his throne.
The problem was that by the end of 1466 Margaret’s marriage had become a focus for the rivalry between the Woodvilles, the family of Edward IV’s wife, and Warwick his most powerful supporter. A new English team was appointed to deal with Burgundy, and this time it was headed by Queen Elizabeth’s eldest brother Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales. In the meantime Warwick continued to deal with the French match. Throughout 1467, the rival embassies were at work. In spring a French embassy was in London and an English embassy was in Bruges. In June Warwick was sent to France at the head of a large delegation of three hundred men, to discuss Louis’ proposals and to draw up a treaty. The Anglo-French conference at La Bouille near Rouen was a very elaborate affair, Louis providing splendid entertainments and showering the English lords with gifts. Warwick received a gold cup encrusted with gems and he was presented with the keys of Honfleur, which he was to use to his advantage in 1470.
A wide-ranging treaty covering dynastic, political and economic matters was discussed and two marriage alliances were proposed: the first between Margaret and Philip of Bresse and the second between Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Edward’s youngest brother, and Jeanne, Louis’ younger daughter. With Jeanne went a secret promise that France would help Richard of Gloucester to obtain Holland, Zeeland and Brabant from the defeated and dismembered Burgundy. This proposal would have reminded the English of the war fought by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester a generation earlier.15 Louis also undertook to bear all the costs of Margaret’s wedding, even including the provision of the bride’s dowry, and he offered Edward a substantial French pension. Moreover, recognising the urgency of the economic problems which troubled the relations between England and Burgundy, Louis made attractive trading concessions for English merchants in France.
Warwick was well satisfied with these generous terms, and Louis was confident in the outcome of the conference of La Bouille. He had great faith in Warwick’s power in England, and in his influence over Edward, an influence persistently exaggerated by French commentators such as Commynes who wrote that, ‘Warwick was like a father to Edward.’16 Yet even while Warwick was negotiating in France his influence was waning in England. His brother and ally, George Neville, Archbishop of York, was abruptly dismissed from his post as Chancellor. At the same time, the Anglo-Burgundian negotiators were pressing ahead with their treaty both in England and in the Low Countries.
Early in June the Burgundian presence in England was increased on a grand scale by the arrival of Anthony, Count of La Roche. Known as the ‘Grand Bastard of Burgundy’, he was one of the many half-brothers of Count Charles. He came to London as the protagonist in a magnificent tournament which had been arranged at Smithfield. It seemed as if Warwick’s delegation to La Bouille had been engineered to ensure his absence from England, at a time of great honour for the Woodvilles.
The role played by the tournament in the context of the Anglo-Burgundian marriage negotiations is difficult to assess, but it can certainly be seen as a Woodville enterprise.17 Their support for the tournament indicated their strong support for the marriage as well. It was reported that the whole tournament was inspired by the Queen and her ladies (who included Margaret, perhaps taking measures to hasten her marriage settlement). It seems that following a rather wet weekend at Sheen (today’s Richmond on Thames), the royal ladies had composed a chivalrous petition to Anthony, Lord Scales, beseeching him to defend their honour against an unknown knight. In a preface, which he wrote later, Anthony Woodville gave his own reasons for taking part in tournaments:
Tournaments were for the augmentacion of Knyghthode & recommendacion of nobley; also for the gloriouse scool & study of Armes & for the vailliance thereof ... and for to voide slewthfulnes of tyme loste and to obeye & please my feire lady.18
The ‘feire ladyes’ were an integral part of the tournament, which was only truly chivalrous when it was fought in their name and in their presence. There is no evidence that Margaret was at Smithfield, nor that she was particularly interested in jousts and tournaments, but it may not be entirely coincidental that the two greatest tournaments of the period, the Smithfield tournament and the Bruges tournament, were both associated with her marriage. The tournament was, officially at least, quite separate from the marriage negotiations, though the Bishop of Salisbury, one of Edward’s chief diplomats, provided his London house in Fleet Street and his country house in Chelsea, as hotels for the Count of La Roche and his retinue. Popular opinion certainly saw a connection between the marriage and the tournament. Edward Hall, writing almost a century later, claimed that the Count openly contracted with the Lady Margaret and presented her with a rich and costly jewel in the name of his half-brother Charles.19
The tournament was regarded by the court as an opportunity for display. It would impress the City of London and the nobility with the authority and splendour of the Yorkist monarchy. Edward appreciated lavish ceremonial and glorified in military prowess, although unlike Charles, he did not take part in the jousts himself. Indeed the Yorkist propaganda of 1467 was so successful that the Smithfield Tournament became a model for future English tournaments. Its procedures were carefully copied at the jousts honouring the marriage of Richard, Duke of York, Edward’s second son, to the Mowbray heiress in 1477, and also at the great Tudor tournaments in the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII.20
Both the leading protagonists of the tournament were regarded as paragons of their age. Anthony, Count of La Roche, held a great position at the Burgundian court and led the ducal armies into battle. Anthony Woodville’s father, Richard, Lord Rivers, had a lasting reputation as a jouster. He had taken part in the 1440 tournament at Smithfield, where he had conducted himself with honour against a knight from Spain. Anthony had followed in his father’s footsteps, and this was his opportunity to shine.
Both the Count of La Roche and Lord Scales were typical of the late fifteenth century aristocracy, a blend of the medieval knight and the renaissance prince. These men saw themselves in the context of a medieval chivalry, loyal to their lords, serving them in peace and war, faithful and obedient sons of the Church, zealous to set forth on crusades, and above all as the honourable knights of fair ladies, prepared to defend their honour against all-comers. But they were also men of the quattrocento, learned and well educated patrons of the arts, shrewd and aggressive politicians, maintaining large estates and followed by a powerful coterie of tenants, officials and annuitants. Equally the noblewomen were both the remote and idealised ladies of the ballads and the practical administrators and managers who ran their estates in the absence of their lords. The late medieval tournament was the perfect theatre for a demonstration of chivalry and
political power.
King Edward attended the June tournament in person, and gave a ceremonial banquet at the Mercers’ Guildhall on the second day of the joust. George Duke of Clarence was present bearing one of Anthony Woodville’s great helms in the opening processions. It was not just pomp and show however, the fighting was very fierce, with courage and honour being put to the test. The Count de la Roche’s horse was killed under him, and the fighting on foot in the mêlée was so ferocious that the King had to terminate the struggle by shouting ‘whoa’.21 Though precisely how splendid and magnificent the whole affair really was, is thrown into doubt by Edward Hall’s comment that the ‘Lord Bastard was somewhat dim of sight’.22 The English commentators judged that Lord Scales had the advantage over the Count of La Roche.
All this excitement was dramatically cut short when the news arrived in England that the old Duke Philip had expired at Bruges. With considerable haste all the Burgundian nobles returned home for the funeral. By now it was becoming clear that Edward had decided to marry his sister to Charles, now the Duke of Burgundy and thus an even more eligible match. The French embassy, which arrived in London at the end of June, was shown only the barest essentials of royal courtesy. After receiving them on their arrival, the King withdrew to Windsor, leaving Warwick to entertain them. He only met them again, very briefly, on their departure. The royal gifts to the ambassadors were considered paltry in comparison with those which were given by King Louis at La Bouille and, when the French embassy had departed, Warwick, feeling that his own honour had been slighted, retired to his estates.23
During the late summer of 1467 the commitment towards Burgundy became more and more obvious. Another delegation was sent to Brussels in September under the leadership of Lord Rivers, Lord Scales and the Bishop of Salisbury. The working members of the English team included the King’s private secretary, William Hatcliffe, Thomas Vaughan, Treasurer of the Chamber and three other key officials: Thomas Kent, Henry Sharp and John Russel.24 They were instructed to deal with three treaties, the marriage treaty, a trade treaty and an alliance of friendship. As a gesture of goodwill, the economic statutes of 1464 and 1465, which prohibited the import of Burgundian manufactures into England, were annulled, even though most of the Burgundian protectionist legislation against England remained in force. This situation brought protests from merchants in both London and Burgundy, and the riots in the Low Countries were exacerbated by political agitation over the accession of Duke Charles. On 1 July the new Duke had to flee from rebels in Ghent, barely escaping with his daughter and his treasure.25
These troubles distracted Charles from the English marriage, but he too assembled a powerful team to negotiate on his behalf. Now that he had become the Duke of Burgundy, his demands were more exacting and Edward found himself paying dearly for Margaret’s marriage. It is difficult to understand why he was prepared to pay such a high price and why he discarded all considerations of a French marriage. Ultimately, Edward’s preference for the Burgundian marriage seems to have been grounded in the traditional English hostility towards France. In spite of all the seductions of King Louis XI, the young King Edward still preferred the old anti-French policies. The English alliances of 1467-8, with Castile, with Brittany and earlier with Portugal, were all part of a diplomatic offensive against France. This policy had long been favoured by the Yorkists, and it was now apparently also backed by the Woodvilles.26 It found a wide degree of popular support both in London and in the country at large. Moreover as long as Louis gave any support to the exiled Lancastrian Queen Margaret and her son, no Yorkist usurper was likely to agree to an alliance with France.
In October 1467 Edward made his decision public, and Margaret appeared before the Great Council at Kingston-upon-Thames to give her formal consent to her marriage with Charles.27 Her personal appearance at the council meeting might indicate her active interest in the marriage. Following her declaration of consent, negotiations moved on to the highest level and Charles invited his mother, the Dowager Duchess Isabelle, to take responsibility for the final marriage treaty, which would be based on the treaty between Burgundy and Portugal that had been drawn up for Isabelle’s own marriage to Philip in 1429.
Yet even after this there was to be a further delay of eight months before the wedding. This was partly due to the complicated nature of the negotiations. The new Anglo-Burgundian alliance covered mutual defence, trade, currency exchange, fishing problems, the movement of pilgrims and travellers as well as the marriage itself. Questions concerning the trade in arms and the export of English cloth were left unsolved, to be dealt with at another conference due to meet at Bruges in January 1469. Problems over the exchange rates were also found to be too difficult to be settled quickly, and they too were set aside for the time being. Most of the negotiations took place in Brussels necessitating several adjournments to allow the English envoys time to consult the King. The marriage treaty and the Anglo-Burgundian alliance were finally signed and ratified in Brussels in February 1468, and in London a month later.28
Although the treaty followed the 1429 precedents closely, it was, in several respects, much more favourable to the Burgundians than the earlier treaty between Burgundy and Portugal had been. Margaret’s rights of collateral inheritance in England were preserved. The Yorkists, with their own claim to the throne based on two Mortimer heiresses, could hardly deny Margaret’s rights of inheritance. There were further advantages to Burgundy in the dowry arrangements. If Isabelle had died within a year of her marriage, her whole dowry and all her jewels would have been returned to Portugal. In Margaret’s case only the jewels would be returned, the dowry would be kept by the Burgundian Duke.
The dowry settlement was the most important element in any marriage treaty. It was a question of honour both for the bride and groom. The provision of dowries had first claim on a father’s pocket and, since Margaret was his only unmarried sister, Edward was responsible for her dowry. The dower which the bridegroom settled upon his wife was dependent upon the payment of the dowry, and a dowry payable over several years created a link between the two families, which would guarantee financial and economic cooperation. Edward pledged himself to provide a large dowry of 200,000 crowns. A quarter of this was to be paid before the wedding, a quarter by the first anniversary and the rest by the second anniversary.
The bridal dower which matched this included the cities of Malines (modern Mechelen), Oudenaarde and Dendermonde. The rents and aides from the dower property were estimated to reach 16,000 crowns a year and if they should fall below that level the Duke would make up the difference. Margaret was promised an allowance of 22,000 livres a year for her normal expenses, and an extra 4,000 livres for abnormal expenses. The order for the payment for the first part of the dowry was made by the King at Greenwich on the 11 April 1468, and at about the same time a ring valued at £20 was bought and sent from Margaret to Charles.29 This might offer some substance to Hall’s story that Anthony, Count of La Roche, had presented Margaret with a ring from Charles during the tournament since it was customary for the groom to send the first ring.
Another delay was caused by the length of time it took to obtain a papal dispensation, necessary because Margaret and Charles were cousins of the fourth degree. Charles was responsible for obtaining the papal dispensation and Guillaume de Clugny, the Papal Notary in Flanders, travelled to Rome in October, but he did not succeed in obtaining the dispensation until May of the following year. King Louis was making strong diplomatic efforts to block the dispensation and de Clugny only achieved the desired result after lengthy argument and costly bribery.30 As soon as the dispensation arrived at Westminster, Edward announced in Parliament that his sister Margaret was to marry ‘oon of myghtyest Princes of the world that bereth no crown’.31 At the same time he reminded Parliament of his claims in France and declared his intention of enforcing these claims. He demanded and obtained aides from Parliament for both the marriage of his sister, and the projected invasion of France.
Char
les announced his forthcoming marriage to the Estates General of all the Provinces of the Low Countries, and to the Chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece, both of which met at Bruges in May. He had obviously noted the twenty-two children born to Margaret’s Neville grandfather, as well as the seven healthy children born to her mother, for he promoted the marriage as being in the best interests of the duchy and likely to produce more princes for the realm.32 He ignored the infertility in the York and Mortimer lines, but it was surely these genes, rather than any rumours of bad relations between Margaret and Charles, which would lead to Margaret’s subsequent childlessness.
By May 1468 preparations were well underway to supply the Princess with a suitable trousseau and entourage. Invitations went out to those fortunate enough to have been chosen to accompany the bride to Bruges. John Paston received his summons from the King as early as 18 April.33 All seemed ready for the wedding to take place but there was a final delay while Edward raised the 50,000 crowns to cover the first dowry payment and the money needed to pay for the trousseau and the travelling expenses. The wedding was postponed twice, first to the 24 June and again to the 3 July. Edward did not find it easy to raise the dowry. The Parliamentary aides were not immediately available so he had to raise loans wherever he could. Rumour had it that some of the great nobles including Warwick refused to help. The Parliamentary fifteenths and tenths were assigned to the merchants of the staple, and to prominent citizens of London who furnished a bond of £13,000. In addition the King was obliged to pledge some of the crown jewels to Hugh Brice, a London goldsmith.34
One of those who guaranteed the bond was Sir Thomas Cook, but before Margaret could leave the country, Cook was arrested putting his own financial position and the bond in jeopardy.35 In June Edward’s agents had arrested John Cornelius, the servant of a well-known Lancastrian, Sir Robert Whittingham. Cornelius was found to be carrying a packet of incriminating letters from Lancastrian exiles to their friends in England. When he was tortured, he named many Lancastrian supporters including John Hawkins, one of Lord Wenlock’s servants. Hawkins in his turn accused Sir Thomas Cook, a prominent citizen of London, who had twice served as Lord Mayor. He was well-known at court, where he was a royal supplier of tapestries and fine fabrics. He himself owned some valuable tapestries, one set depicting the ‘Last Judgement’ and the ‘Passion of Our Lord’ and another on the ‘Life of Alexander’. These were valued at nearly £1,000 and were apparently coveted by the Queen’s mother, the formidable Lady Rivers.
Margaret of York: The Diabolical Duchess Page 2