The Third Plantagenet: George, Duke of Clarence, Richard III's Brother

by John Ashdown-Hill

  Eight months after Elizabeth Woodville’s acknowledgement as queen, on 26 May 1465, George, now aged 15, once again held the title of Steward of England for her coronation. On this occasion, however, he fulfilled the role in person. The queen’s coronation was announced by Edward IV in a letter to the ‘Maire of oure Citie of London’ dated 14 April 1465.25 It began with a procession, during which Elizabeth was greeted on London Bridge by persons representing St Elizabeth and St Paul in honour of her given name and the title of her mother’s family (St Pol). Thirty-eight noblemen had been created Knights of the Bath prior to the coronation, and they led the queen’s procession. It is not certain whether Edward IV attended the ceremonies. No mention of his presence survives, but is it possible that, like Henry VII at the coronation of Elizabeth of York, Edward witnessed the actual coronation from a space in Westminster Abbey enclosed by tapestry for the occasion, to make it private and concealed.

  Led by George, Duke of Clarence, the coronation procession assembled in Westminster Hall:

  the Duq of Clarance Stywarde of Englond ryding in the hall on horsebak his coursor rychely trapped hede & body to the grounde wt Crapsiur rychely embroiderd & garnyst wt spangyls of golde.26

  Elizabeth Woodville processed into Westminster Abbey via the north door (the entrance closest to the Palace of Westminster), escorted by the bishops of Durham and Salisbury – the see of Bath and Wells being vacant at the time.27

  At a modern coronation of a queen consort of England, she is traditionally anointed with holy oil while kneeling. Then, seated on her throne, she receives a ring, her crown, a gold sceptre in her right hand, and an ivory rod surmounted by a dove in her left hand.28 A similar procedure was observed at Elizabeth Woodville’s coronation, followed by the celebration of the mass. As usual at coronations, the church ceremonies ended with the abbey choir singing Te Deum laudamus.29

  In one surviving manuscript illustration, Elizabeth Woodville is depicted in coronation robes wearing a closed (arched) crown, possibly made especially for her, and holding a sceptre and orb.30 But the presence of the orb is, in this case, almost certainly incorrect for, unlike a king or a queen regnant, a queen consort receives no orb at her coronation. In the surviving documentary evidence, Elizabeth is specifically reported to have received the sceptre of St Edward in her right hand, and another royal sceptre in her left hand. This second sceptre was ‘a rode septre of ivory w[ith] a dove of gilte’ (see above) which had been borne to the abbey in the pre-coronation procession by the Duke of Suffolk.31

  The coronation itself was followed by a banquet. Elizabeth Woodville had meanwhile changed into ‘a surcote of purpull’, and before eating she washed her hands while the Duke of Suffolk and the Earl of Essex held her sceptres, standing one on either side of her. The Duke of Clarence held the washbasin, while the Earl of Oxford poured water over the queen’s hands.32 When the food was served, the courses were led into the hall by the Duke of Clarence, the Earl of Arundel, the Duke of Norfolk and their attendants, on horseback. There were three courses, comprising respectively seventeen, nineteen and fifteen dishes.33 The ceremonies ended with a tournament the following day. In Elizabeth’s case, this tournament probably lasted only one day (shorter than the usual three-day tournament for a medieval English queen’s coronation).

  Earlier we looked briefly at evidence of John Howard’s relationship with Elizabeth Woodville, based on the evidence from his surviving household accounts. It is also interesting to explore what these accounts reveal about Howard’s relationship with the Duke of Clarence in the 1460s. Howard was a loyal supporter of Edward IV and also had a close relationship with the king’s youngest brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, both in the 1460s and subsequently. Although Richard was not a major East Anglian landowner, he figures quite frequently in the Howard accounts. Curiously, however, George, Duke of Clarence appears in the surviving accounts very rarely. It would be reasonable to deduce from this that John Howard was probably not especially close to Clarence. Possibly this fact was linked to Howard’s loyalty to Edward IV – and also to his friendship with the future Richard III.

  In the year which witnessed Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s coronation, we have already found some interesting evidence in John Howard’s list of ‘New Year’s Day’ gifts. The list also includes an indirect mention of the Duke of Clarence:

  Item, the same day my master gaff to my lord Clarence man, viijs. iiijd.

  [= 100d.]34

  However, it does not sound as though Howard sent a gift to George himself. Later in the same year we also find an undated reference in the Howard accounts to the fact that George owed a little money to John Howard:

  Item, my lord off Clarence owyth hym xxs.35

  The only other reference to the Duke of Clarence in 1465 probably dates from about 11 November:

  Item, to remember the vere of the Kenge and the xj day of November, Brame delyverde my gowene of my lord of Klarenses to my taylor in Fletestrete to kepe.36

  Obviously this means that Howard had at some point received the green (?) livery of the Duke of Clarence.37 This may have been earlier in the year, in connection with the queen’s coronation. However, it would seem that Howard was no longer wearing George’s livery, since he now deposited the garments in the keeping of his tailor.

  Where was George socially and psychologically at the end of 1465? On the one hand, he had once again been given a prestigious public role to perform in connection with the new queen’s coronation – and this time he had carried out the office himself. On the other, he was on the verge of being displaced as heir to the throne. The new queen may already have been pregnant by Edward IV once, as we have seen. And although in that case, she must have lost her first royal child, by the summer of 1465 another baby was already on its way.38 At the same time, George had found himself to some extent pushed into the camp of his much older cousin, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick – who in turn was now slowly distancing himself from Edward IV. This was to have important repercussions for George’s future.

  Not surprisingly, recent psychological research focused upon employment has shown that ‘job insecurity [is] associated with decreased personal well-being and deterioration of work behavior and attitudes.’39 Knowing that his elder brother’s wife was expecting a child must have placed George in just such a position of ‘job insecurity’ towards the end of 1465. In theory he had known, of course, that as heir presumptive to the throne he risked being replaced at any time by the birth of an heir apparent, but when he was confronted with the actual situation his nose was probably put seriously out of joint. In the modern world, where a threatened demotion becomes a fact of life, this appears to lead more or less inevitably to a bruised ego on the part of the person who has been demoted. George’s ego suffered such a bruising on 11 February 1465/6, when his niece, Elizabeth of York, was born. Nowadays such a bruised ego often expresses itself in angry words which tend to burn bridges, making it difficult for the downgraded employee ever to regain a sense of security, or to rebuild his or her relationship with colleagues in the same workplace. Modern industrial employees who experience demotion are therefore warned particularly to ‘be careful of how you verbally respond to the news … [because] if you sound bitter or angry, it could make the situation worse’.40 Unfortunately, there was probably no one on hand in February 1465/6 to give such advice and warnings to George, Duke of Clarence.

  NOTES

  1. J. Ashdown-Hill, ‘The Elusive Mistress: Elizabeth Lucy and her Family’, Ric. 11 (June 1999), p.498. This article also gives details of the chronology of the relationship. Later, ‘Tudor’ rumours that Edward may have been married to Elizabeth Wayte – probably politically motivated – appear to confirm that the couple’s relationship must date from the early period of Edward’s reign, and certainly prior to 1464.

  2. Cecily Neville strongly opposed Edward’s later relationship with Elizabeth Woodville and may also have disapproved of his relationship with Elizabeth Wayte. For Cecily’s disapproval
of Elizabeth Woodville see ODNB, M. Jones, ‘Elizabeth (née Woodville)’ (consulted March 2012). However, the story of her disapproval of the relationship with Elizabeth Lucy is later, and could be a ‘Tudor’ invention.

  3. For example, in 1471, on Edward IV’s return from exile, it was said that ‘the lies that he told were mere “noysynge”, necessary to fulfil his true intention, which was in itself validated … by his true claim to the throne.’ See P. Maddern, ‘Honour among the Pastons: Gender and Integrity in Fifteenth-Century English Provincial Society’, Journal of Medieval History, 14 (1988), p.359.

  4. Her sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk, also appears to have experienced some difficulty in conceiving, and made several pilgrimages to Walsingham to this end. See J. Ashdown-Hill, ‘Norfolk Requiem: The Passing of the House of Mowbray’, Ric. 12 (March 2001), pp.198–217.

  5. Kendall, Richard the Third, p.52.

  6. Gregory’s Chronicle, pp.226–8, cited in K. Dockray, Edward IV: A Source Book (Stroud, 1999), p.44.

  7. See chapter 8. In 1468 Warwick was forced by Edward IV to publicly escort Margaret of York on the first stage of her wedding journey to the Low Countries, despite (or because of) Warwick’s known opposition to this alliance.

  8. Dockray, Edward IV: A Source Book, p.48, citing Annales Rerum Anglicarum.

  9. Evidence of the date of Edward’s marriage to Eleanor has been offered in the previous chapter.

  10. R. H. Helmholz, ‘The Sons of Edward IV: A Canonical Assessment of the Claim that they were Illegitimate’, in P. W. Hammond, ed., Richard III: Loyalty Lordship and Law (London, 1986), pp.91–103. Also C. N. L. Brooke, The Medieval Idea of Marriage (Oxford, 1989), p.169.

  11. B. J. Harris points out that noblewomen ‘were at a particular disadvantage when they disagreed or quarrelled with their husbands’ (English Aristocratic Women 1450–1550, p.15). If the man in question was the king, the disadvantage would have been greater.

  12. The college has three later copies of the portrait – some of which show different hair colour – a sign perhaps of later influence. See http://www.quns.cam.ac.uk/Queens/Misc/Elizabeth.html

  13. In about 1456, at the age of 20 or 21, she had married Sir John Grey (c. 1432–61), the eldest son and heir of Lord Ferrers of Groby. During the four or five years of their marriage, the fertile Elizabeth bore Sir John two sons, Thomas Grey (later Marquess of Dorset), and Richard Grey. When she met Edward IV she was the dowager Lady Grey. Indeed, she was later to become known to those who disliked her as ‘the Grey Mare’.

  14. ODNB, M. Hicks, ‘Elizabeth, née Woodville’ (consulted March 2012).

  15. Ibid. Eborall himself seems to have claimed, in the reign of Henry VII, to have been the priestly celebrant of the wedding.

  16. Ibid.

  17. Ibid. Hicks states specifically that while the details of the story of Edward IV’s Woodville marriage may be believable, they cannot actually be confirmed, and some may be fictional.

  18. Edward had no apparent difficulty in simply turning down Warwick’s proposed French alliance for his sister, Margaret of York.

  19. It has been claimed that the delay was ‘almost certainly due to the king’s wish to ensure that her uncle, St Pol, attended’ (A. Crawford, The Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty (London and New York: Hambledon, 2007), p.69). However, it was only in January 1464/5 (four months before the coronation) that Edward IV requested the Duke of Burgundy to arrange for Elizabeth’s uncles to attend (J. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445–1503 (Oxford, 2004), p.88).

  20. Mancini writes: Fratres vero Eduardi, qui duo tunc vivebant, etsi graviter uterque eandem rem tulerunt; alter tamen, qui ab Eduardo secundo genitus erat et dux Clarentinorum, manifestius suum stomachum aperuit; dum in obscurumn Helisabette genus acriter et palam inveheretur; dumque contra morem maiorem [sic] viduam a rege ductam predicaret, quem virginem uxorem ducere opportuisset. Alter vero frater, Riccardus qui nunc regnat tunc Closestriorum dux, tum quia ad dissimulandum aptior erat, tum quia minor natu, minus auctoritatis habebat nihil egit aut dixit quo argui posset (Mancini, The Usurpation of Richard III ed. C. A. J. Armstrong (Gloucester, 1989), p.62).

  21. Mancini, p.61. See also chapter 9, below.

  22. Crawford, The Yorkists, pp. 63–4.

  23. Clive, This Sun of York, p.106, quoting Manners and Household Expenses of England in the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Centuries (London, 1841), p.197.

  24. J. Ashdown-Hill, Richard III’s ‘Beloved Cousyn’, p.75ff. Although 1 January was called ‘New Year’s Day’, and gifts were exchanged on that occasion, the medieval English New Year actually began on 25 March.

  25. G. Smith, ed., The Coronation of Elizabeth Wydeville, Queen Consort of Edward IV, on May 26th 1465. A Contemporary account now First Set Forth from a XV Century Manuscript (London, 1935; reprinted Cliftonville, 1975, p.7.

  26. Smith, The Coronation of Elizabeth Wydeville, p.14.

  27. Traditionally, the bishops of Durham and of Bath and Wells escorted English sovereigns to their coronations, but Edward IV was in the course of appointing Canon Robert Stillington to Bath and Wells, possibly as an encouragement to Stillington to keep his mouth shut in respect of Edward’s earlier Talbot marriage. See Eleanor, pp.113–14.

  28. The Coronation of Their Majesties King George VI & Queen Elizabeth, Official Souvenir Programme (London, 1937), pp.29–30.

  29. Smith, The Coronation of Elizabeth Wydeville, p.17.

  30. The Skinners’ Company, Guild Book of the London Skinners’ Fraternity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, c. 1472.

  31. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens, p.105, citing BL, MS, Cotton Julius B XII fos 30–31.

  32. Smith, The Coronation of Elizabeth Wydeville, p.18.

  33. Ibid, pp.20–22.

  34. HHB 1, p.482 – early evidence of decimalisation?

  35. Ibid, p.180.

  36. Ibid, p.175.

  37. For the livery colour, see above.

  38. Elizabeth Woodville conceived Elizabeth of York in about May 1465.

  39. E. Roskies and C. Louis-Guerin, ‘Job Insecurity in Managers: Antecedents and Consequences’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 11, no. 5 (September 1990), pp.345–59, published online 20 November 2006: doi:10.1002/job.4030110503 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/job.4030110503/abstract (consulted February 2013).

  40. http://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-handle-an-ego-bruising-demotion/5054533 (consulted February 2013).

  MATRIMONIAL PROBLEMS,

  PART 2

  On 22 March 1466 Edward IV issued letters of instruction to his ambassadors to Burgundy. These included a project for ‘our dearest brother George Duke of Clarence’ to marry Marie of Burgundy, the infant daughter and heiress of Charles, Count of Charolais, who in turn was heir to the dukedom of Burgundy. Marie was just 9 years old at the time, while George was fourteen and a half. French and Aragonese princes had already made bids for Marie’s hand, despite her youth. Had Edward’s project succeeded, George would ultimately have become iure uxoris second-in-line for the Burgundian dukedom – or at least for those territories and titles of the honour of Burgundy that were exempt from the salic law.1 Presumably, such a marriage would have removed George from England, taking him back to the Low Countries and basing him at the court of Philip the Good or at that of the Count of Charolais – or perhaps at a Low Countries court of his own. It was somewhat unusual for English kings to arrange marriages for close male relatives which would take a prince abroad in this way. However, as we have already seen, Edward IV’s ideas about royal marriage policy were very individual and owed little to precedent.

  Of course, there is no surviving contemporary evidence of how George had reacted at this stage to his brother’s recognition of the Woodville marriage, nor of how he took the birth of his niece, Elizabeth of York, and his own resulting removal from pre-eminence as heir to the throne. But, doubtless, Edward IV knew more of George’s reactions at the time than we do today. Perhaps, as Man
cini later indicated, he had perceived that George was jealous and angry. In the event, however, the Burgundian court proved much more interested in a possible marriage between Edward’s sister, Margaret, and the Count of Charolais. Thus the idea of a marriage between George and Marie was quietly dropped at this stage – although it resurfaced later, as we shall see in due course.

  Significantly, however, the possibility of George acquiring territory in the Low Countries was raised again the following year – albeit in a different context, and by completely different means. This suggests that, even as early as 1466, George aspired to completely independent status, either through an advantageous marriage or by acquiring territory in his own right. It is important to note, however, that his aspirations were apparently not, at this point, focused upon the crown of England, but rather on creating a principality for himself on the mainland of Europe. In some ways, George’s outlook seems to have been more international than those of his surviving brothers – possibly as a result of his close relationship with his sister, Margaret, whose future probably lay somewhere on the European mainland.

  In July 1466, although he was not yet 17 years of age, George officially came of age. On Thursday 10 July 1466 he did homage to his brother, the king, for the lands he held, after which he formally embarked upon his career as an adult and independent member of the royal family. It is probable that George’s early coming of age was not unconnected with the change in his official status, following the birth, five months earlier, of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville’s first living child.