The Dreams of Kings
Page 47
Margaret of Anjou had returned to live in France with Simon Langford and her grandson. They sent letters secretly to Rose, telling her of his progress. Rose would pass on the news to Anne, who was forever grateful.
King Louis still schemed and plotted his way around Europe, but now left King Edward in peace, at least for the time being, although once Burgundy was brought to heel, John mused, that might all change.
What of George, Duke of Clarence? His drinking was becoming uncontrollable. John knew there would be trouble ahead with him, one day.
Rose stirred gently beside him.
And what of me? John pondered, as he lay in the warmth of the bed. I have my love close beside me. My son of eighteen months is growing healthy and strong. The Hallet twins live and work on the estate, and are very much part of the family. They had both married silk-women from York, so had, at last, been domesticated.
My mother resides happily at Middleham Castle in her old rooms, although she visits us here to see her grandson; she is still the faithful companion to Lady Warwick, now the earl’s widow.
After the last ten years of battles, intrigues, and betrayals, life had finally settled down. Every one of the players was either dead, or in their rightful place, and King Edward was secure on his throne.
May peace reign for many a long year throughout this green and pleasant land, John thought, before turning over. Putting his arm around Rose’s waist, he gently pulled her closer…
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Richard, the Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III), was the youngest brother of Edward IV. Being the youngest was not deemed important enough to have his early life chronicled by the writers of the day. All that is known about him was, that aged ten, he was taken to Flanders by his mother, when fleeing from the advancing army of Margaret of Anjou. Margaret had just slain Richard’s father, the Duke of York, and his older brother, Edmund, the Earl of Rutland, at the battle of Wakefield.
Richard, as a young boy, appears once again in the chronicles of 1463, where it was written that he was sent to Middleham Castle as a ward of the Earl of Warwick, to be taught the rudiments of knightly conduct. Therefore, the early years of Richard’s life are sketchy.
His time at Middleham Castle coincides with the last year of the Lancastrian resistance led by Queen Margaret of Anjou.
In the book, I have him kidnapped by the Lancastrians who are clutching at any means possible to stave off their imminent defeat. This episode is complete fiction, but the reasoning behind it is that when the Earl of Warwick advanced up through the north-west, hammering the last nail into the coffin of the Lancastrian cause, he allowed the great fortresses of Alnwick and Dunstanburgh to surrender peacefully. He pardoned all the men within, as was the custom in those days – the less damage to a castle the better. In the case of Bamburgh Castle, no such pardon was forthcoming. Warwick shipped cannon all the way from London to smash the walls of this great fortress to pieces. No mercy was shown to the garrison. It was the only castle to receive such violent treatment throughout the whole of the period called the ‘War of the Roses’, and the question is: why?
My theory is that something had happened concerning the officers, or men, of the occupying garrison, and my fictitious answer is that they had kidnapped Richard, a royal prince – the youngest brother of their hated enemy, King Edward, and a ward under the personal protection of the Earl of Warwick; hence, the level of force used against them.
Margaret of Anjou: Dates, locations, and battles are historically correct, although, a few dates have been changed slightly to allow the story to flow. To solve some of the mysteries that surround her, I have introduced a fictional lover, named Simon Langford.
Margaret left Bamburgh Castle shortly before Warwick smashes down its walls. She abandons her husband, Henry VI, and flees to France. Why? For sixteen years, she had ruled and fought for his crown, and then, suddenly, she gives up her royal world.
My reason for introducing Simon Langford is that she realises the game is up. The Yorkists have won, and after sixteen hard years of ruling as a woman in a man’s world, she is exhausted.
Simon offers her a new world, a new life away from her sexless marriage to Henry. She was still a beautiful young woman at this time; she could have taken Henry with her to France, but chose not to, despite knowing that she would never return to England. She could have crossed the border into Scotland, and continued the fight from there, but again, chose not to.
Later in the book, Simon is used by Louis XI to force Margaret to return to England against her will.
In the history books, there is always a question mark as to why Margaret allowed her son, the Prince Edward, to marry the daughter of her most hated enemy – the Earl of Warwick. Margaret loathed Warwick with a vengeance. He had destroyed all that she held dear, and had taken the crown of England from her head, so why did she agree to the marriage? I surmise that Louis XI held something over her – something he could blackmail or threaten her with. We may never know the true answer, but holding her lover’s life to ransom, I believe, would have been a good reason to force her to agree to all that King Louis asked of her.
Edward IV: Much is known about Edward. His life was well documented. Handsome and clever, every inch a king, it was his marriage to the widow, Elizabeth Grey, who was reported to be six years older than he was, and already with two young sons, that still mystifies historians today.
He should have married Isabella of Castile, uniting England with Spain, or the Bona of Savoy – the younger sister of the Queen of France – uniting England with France, or even Mary of Guelders, the widowed Queen of Scotland; thus bringing peace between the two countries. Instead, he secretly marries the widow of Sir John Grey, a Lancastrian knight, who had been killed fighting against the Yorkists at the battle of St Albans.
Edward then allows the Earl of Warwick to go to the court of King Louis XI to negotiate a marriage for him that will unite the French and English courts, even though he is secretly married to Elizabeth Grey. Maybe, he thought he could annul the marriage once he had grown tired of her, or have her secretly disappear. We will never know.
We do know that at a great meeting of the nobles at Reading, just as Warwick is to announce the name of Edward’s French bride, Edward blurts out that he is already married, sending Warwick and himself on a path to civil war. Why did he do it?
It is well documented that, Elizabeth Grey’s mother, Jacquetta – the Duchess of Bedford – dabbled in witchcraft throughout her life. She was even attainted to appear before Parliament to answer charges of sorcery. On her death, in 1472, small leaden figures were supposedly found amongst her possessions. All this may be hearsay and rumour, but I have used these connections to the black arts to explain why Edward acted as he did – he was bewitched into doing so.
The Earl of Warwick: All dates and battles within the book are correct. The only fictional account is the attempt on his life at Rouen. This is pure fiction. Although, a man as powerful and ruthless as he, I feel sure, would have attracted many plots against him.
The date of his death at the Battle of Barnet is correct, but how he died is open to question. There are many differing accounts as to the manner of his demise, whether it was on horseback or foot. All agree that he was fleeing the field. I have him on foot; if he had mounted a horse, I am sure he would have escaped.
Lady Anne Neville, Warwick’s younger daughter: All dates are correct. Not many facts are known about Anne’s life. Was she strong or weak? Nothing about her physical appearance survives, but the great historical mystery that surrounds Anne is the question: where was she for the ten months after the Battle of Tewkesbury?
Her husband of six months, and Margaret of Anjou’s son: Prince Edward, was dead, slain by Richard of Gloucester at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Her father, the Earl of Warwick, was now dead, so she had become an extremely rich widow having inherited half of his estates.
The accepted story seems to be that Richards’s brother, George – the Duke o
f Clarence – kept her as a ward or prisoner to stop Richard marrying her and taking control of her lands. George wanted them for himself, and the story goes that he kept her hidden, working as a kitchen maid for ten months, before she was discovered and rescued by Richard – sounds like Cinderella! She was the daughter of the greatest noble in the land; she would have been used to complete luxury, servants, and fine foods. The thought of her slaving away in a hot kitchen does tend to stretch the imagination.
Being a very rich widow, under English law at the time, she had to answer to no one. She was independent. I surmise that she was pregnant. She was young, healthy, and married for six months to a young and healthy husband. Her disappearance for ten months, in 1471, to have the baby, makes perfect sense. She had to keep the birth secret, because, if a boy, he would be the heir to the Lancastrian throne, and a major threat to King Edward and his brothers.
I will state that I can find no documentation to prove she was pregnant, or had a child, so my account of this is purely fictional.
David Saunders
Website: http://www.thedreamsofkings.com
Email: thedreamsofkings@gmail.com