by Penny Lawne
When Joan arrived in London she made straight for the Tower of London, where she joined Richard; presumably she had received word from him while she was on the road that this was where he would be. Within days of Joan leaving Richard at Windsor news had reached the young king of the growing rebellion and that huge numbers of armed men were descending on the capital, having wreaked havoc and destruction en route. The reports of what was happening were alarming. All the chroniclers’ accounts make it clear that Richard and his advisers had been taken completely by surprise. The immediate reaction was to make for the capital, and on 11 June Richard left Windsor and travelled by barge to the Tower.85 Joan appears to have joined him the following day. By this time the king had learned that the rebels wanted to meet with him at Blackheath; possibly this message was delivered to the Tower by Sir John Newton, the keeper of Rochester Castle, who had been captured by the rebels on their progress through Kent. It is not clear how many people were with Richard in the Tower or what kind of armed escort the king had, as the chroniclers variously estimate between 150 and 600 fighting men.86 Among those with Richard were his two half-brothers, Thomas and John Holand, his friend Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, William Montague, Earl of Salisbury, the earls of Warwick and Arundel, John of Gaunt’s son Henry Bolingbroke, the chancellor Simon Sudbury and the treasurer Robert Hales.87 One notable absentee was Simon Burley, as he had left England for Bohemia on 15 May to continue the negotiations with the Bohemian royalty for Richard’s marriage.88 Joan had remained on good terms with her erstwhile husband, William Montague, and she would have taken comfort from his presence, as he had been one of the prince’s most able and reliable commanders in the prince’s last campaigns. There were also a number of city men including the Mayor of London, William Walworth. The chroniclers do not mention the names of any women, but there were evidently a number of noblewomen and their servants in the Tower, in addition to those who had returned with Joan, which included her daughter Joan, Duchess of Brittany.
It is hard to imagine what the atmosphere must have been like within the Tower. Richard, at fourteen, was still very young and reliant on his older advisers. Conflicting intelligence probably made it difficult to assess exactly what was happening, and while the rebel numbers were not known and their intentions remained unclear it was impossible to know how far the unrest had spread or to appreciate the level of danger. Although there were soldiers in the Tower, it was evident that the rebels greatly outnumbered the royal party. The envoys sent on behalf of the king to the rebels had been told that they wanted to save the king but destroy the traitors. No one was in any doubt that the situation was serious; the dilemma was how best to deal with it. Disastrously, Richard’s advisers could not agree among themselves and were unable to suggest a course of action. It must have made sense at this stage to at least find out what the rebels wanted. However, wary of becoming trapped, the decision was taken that Richard should travel to meet the rebels by barge from the Tower, so providing him with a modicum of safety and a means of escape should he need it. On Thursday 13 June Richard left the Tower, accompanied by his chancellor Simon Sudbury and treasurer Robert Hales, William Montague, the earls of Warwick and Oxford and a few other knights, probably including Thomas and John Holand. There were too many for one barge and it seems that perhaps as many as four barges made up the royal party. As they approached the rebels near Greenwich the vastness and noise of the crowd made the royal party nervous. Froissart credits William Montague with cautioning Richard against landing while the Anonimalle Chronicle suggests that although Richard wanted to agree to the rebels’ demand for a personal meeting his chancellor and treasurer deterred him. Although the chroniclers’ accounts vary about the exact demands which were presented to Richard, it is generally agreed that the rebels wanted those they held responsible for their woes to be punished, drastically – by death. The long list of ‘traitors’ included Richard’s uncle John of Gaunt, his chancellor Simon Sudbury, his treasurer Sir Robert Hales and John Fordham, the keeper of the privy seal. There must have been consternation on the king’s barge as the nature and implications of the demands became known. How could Richard agree to kill his own servants and members of his own family?
Whatever Richard’s instincts may have been, it is hardly surprising in the circumstances that at this stage the safest course appeared to be to stall for time. Richard and the rest of his party returned to the Tower. Not satisfied by their meeting with the king, the rebels proceeded towards London. Access into London was denied to them at this point as the gates were closed. However, it is evident that no one among the king’s party or among the City of London had thought to protect the capital, and gaining access to the capital proved alarmingly easy for the rebels, as the gates were opened for them, although it is not clear who took the decision to do so or why. At this point it seems that the orgy of violence and destruction really began. As they streamed through the streets their anger found expression in destroying many of the buildings owned by hated prominent figures, including the Archbishop of Canterbury’s palace at Lambeth, the Temple, the house of the treasurer Sir Robert Hales, several in Fleet Street, opening the gates of the Marshalsea, Fleet and Newgate prisons, attacking Clerkenwell Palace, church and hospital. One of the more horrific acts was the murder of around 150 Flemings in the city area.89 The most famous act of destruction was of Gaunt’s Savoy Palace. The duke’s possessions – his gold and silver ware, jewellery, clothes, furniture and tapestries – were hauled out, smashed, broken, burnt, thrown in the river, the lot worth probably in the region of £10,000, while all his papers and then the building itself was set on fire.90 Anyone who was identified as being one of the rebels’ targets, or any of servant of theirs unfortunate enough to be found, was killed.
That night Joan would have been able to see that many of London’s buildings were burning, and would have been able to hear the cries of the crowds and their victims. The burning Savoy must have been an unbearably poignant and frightening sight, illustrating so vividly the depth of hatred felt towards Gaunt and the powerlessness of the Crown to protect even the king’s uncle. The Tower, a formidable fortress which should have been a safe refuge, was quickly becoming a prison as the prospect of leaving was rapidly becoming unthinkable. It must have been absolutely terrifying. Having reached Richard after her own roadside experience, Joan’s instinct had been to meet and talk to the rebels, never dreaming that they meant any harm to the king. These were humble peasants and labourers, who regarded the king with awe and respect. But her confidence in a peaceable approach must have been shaken to the core by the demands presented at Blackheath, and by the subsequent eruption of such unprecedented violence. It quickly became obvious that no one really knew what to do, and it was apparent that there were very few in the Tower who had the ability or confidence to deal with the situation. Joan could never have missed the prince and his supreme confidence and leadership skills more than at this moment of greatest danger for their son. The absence of her brother-in-law was a mixed blessing. Joan’s close friendship with Gaunt may have blinded her to the extent of his unpopularity and the vitriolic hatred expressed by the rebels towards him may have taken her completely by surprise. If initially she regretted his absence, she would swiftly have appreciated that his presence would only have exacerbated the situation.
It was time for a decision to be made. Some way had to be found of dealing with the crisis. Naturally Richard relied on the advice of those with him. The Anonimalle Chronicle starkly recorded that he ‘called all of the lords into a chamber of the Tower and demanded their counsel as to what he should do in this emergency; and none of them was able or willing to give his counsel’.91 It had already been apparent earlier that there was no one individual who was sufficiently forceful to take the lead – not even Richard’s uncle, Thomas of Woodstock, who was now with him (according to the Anonimalle Chronicle) – and Froissart indicates that there was a clear divergence of opinion between those like William Walworth, who advocated a to
ugh response, mobilising the armed forces at the king’s command to disperse the rebels, and those like William Montague, acutely aware of the royal party’s weak military position, who preferred a cautious and conciliatory approach. While Joan is not mentioned as participating in these discussions, faced with the biggest crisis of his young life Richard would undoubtedly have been conscious of his mother’s views. Joan’s own instincts were conciliatory, and despite the escalating violence her own experience with the rebels may have led her to encourage her son to speak to them, confident that by doing so he may be able to dispel some of the anger and violence, reminding him of the respect and awe with which his father had been regarded. Guided and persuaded by those around him, including Joan, the decision was made by Richard, or for him, that he would meet the rebels and talk to them. On the following day, Friday 14 June, Richard left the Tower to meet the rebels again, this time at Mile End. A careful choice was made as to who would accompany him. As the young king’s purpose in meeting the rebels was to talk to them, it was important that no one was present who might exacerbate the situation. This naturally precluded those who were top of their wanted list, so the chancellor and the treasurer were left behind, and it would have been equally unwise for John of Gaunt’s son Henry of Bolingbroke to join the party. Richard was accompanied again by William Montague, and by both his half-brothers, Thomas and John Holand, his friend Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, his uncle Thomas of Woodstock, the Earl of Warwick, and, according to the Anonimalle Chronicle, by his mother, probably with a few of her ladies.92 Although no other chronicler corroborates this, it does seem quite possible that Joan chose to accompany her son, at least initially. It is likely that she had been privy to the previous night’s discussions and the decision to go with him was one which only she could have made, almost certainly hoping that her presence would have a calming effect, and so provide her son with additional protection. However, at some point on the way to Mile End Joan left Richard and returned to the Tower. As her return does not seem to have been prompted by any incident en route, it is likely that Joan’s intention had been to accompany Richard for only part of the way, to ensure a safe start. According to Froissart Richard feared that the rebels might attack his half-brothers and so he made Thomas and John Holand also leave; they too returned to the Tower.93 It is evident that no one dreamed the Tower would be attacked. Richard continued towards Mile End, probably nervously and in some trepidation, but confident that he left his mother and the others in the Tower in safety.
The timing of the attack on the Tower in relation to the meeting at Mile End is unclear, but it appears that as soon as the royal party had left the Tower and was safely en route a large crowd of rebels (Froissart estimates at least 400 in number) led by the main rebel leaders, Wat Tyler, Jack Straw and the radical preacher John Ball, broke into the Tower.94 The chroniclers are clear that the rebels had deliberately waited for the king to depart and that they specifically and knowingly targeted the Tower, intent on gaining access and wreaking their version of justice on those they held responsible for their woes and whom they knew remained in the fortress. They were after the chancellor and the treasurer. This was an obvious oversight on the part of the royal advisers, and it seems extraordinary that the Tower guards were not better prepared, with Walsingham incredulous that no knight or squire challenged them as they streamed into the Tower. Once inside the rebels dragged Sudbury and Hales outside, taking them to Tower Hill where they were summarily beheaded. Both knew the fate that awaited them; the archbishop had earlier celebrated Mass for Richard and was in the Tower chapel when he was taken. Two others were also beheaded: Friar William Appleton, physician to John of Gaunt, and John Legge, a serjeant-at-arms. The grisly trophy heads were stuck on poles and placed on display on Tower Bridge. Henry of Bolingbroke only escaped because he was hidden by a servant, John Ferrour.
Joan had a dramatic confrontation with the rebels. Walsingham recounts that they entered her bedchamber and invited her to kiss them, while according to Froissart ‘also these gluttons entered into the princess’ chamber and brake her bed, whereby she was so sore afraid that she swooned, and there she was taken up and borne to the waterside and put in a barge and covered, and so conveyed to a place called the Queens Wardrobe. And there she was all that day and night, like a woman half dead, till she was comforted with the king her son.’95 The Queen’s Wardrobe, the main financial office of the royal household, was a mile upstream on the City side of the Thames at Blackfriars. The shock of the attack on the Tower and the merciless executions of the archbishop and the others must have induced a state of extreme terror among those left in the royal party. They were in the hands of the rebels and could only fear the worst. Before Richard’s departure the belief had been that the king and his party were the ones at risk and no one had envisaged that the Tower would fail to protect those left behind. Joan, face to face with the terrifying evidence of the rebels’ capacity for extreme violence, would have been horrified and distraught at the thought of what might be happening to Richard. There was nothing she could do. It is hardly surprising if she collapsed, paralysed. As she waited, perhaps she was comforted by the thought that, once again, the rebels had neither threatened nor hurt her, or any of her ladies, and that their anger was directed at her son’s ministers rather than at her son.
Meanwhile Richard had reached Mile End. Froissart records that the young king spoke to the assembled crowd of nearly 60,000, asking them what they wanted, and that when they replied that they wanted their freedom, Richard agreed to their demands and on the same day thirty royal clerks were ordered to draw up charters which gave the rebels their freedom from serfdom and pardoned them for any wrongdoing. The chroniclers generally concur that as soon as the charters were issued the rebels dispersed, returning to their homes. Conciliation had worked, but only to a limited extent. The crowd that Richard met at Mile End were only a part of the rebel forces, and he had still to deal with the ringleaders, Wat Tyler, Jack Straw and John Ball. Presumably word reached Richard of the attack on the Tower and of the fate of his ministers, and of Joan’s relocation, for on leaving Mile End Richard and those in his party went directly to the Queen’s Wardrobe. That night once again he and his now depleted advisers had to decide what to do. Although the policy of appeasement had worked at Mile End, would it work again in the light of the terrible events in the Tower? In the end there was little choice. It would be impossible to overcome the rebellion by the use of force in view of the numerical superiority of the rebels, their use of violence and the lack of royal troops. The only successful strategy so far had been to meet with the rebels and agree to their demands.
The following day, Saturday 15 June, after praying at the shrine of Saint Edward in Westminster Abbey, Richard set out once again to meet the rebels, this time at the site of a weekly horse market at Smithfield, with a retinue of about 200 knights including William Montague and the Mayor of London, William Walworth. The numbers of rebels had decreased (Froissart estimates 20,000), but the principal leaders were there and they were emboldened by their success. Wat Tyler was their spokesman, and he approached Richard, presenting a more extreme version of the demands which had been made to the king the day before. What happened next is disputed, but there appears to have been a scuffle between Wat Tyler and one of Richard’s squires which was interrupted by William Walworth, who struck Wat Tyler down with his sword. As soon as the rebels realised that Tyler had been killed, their mood became ugly, and it was at this point that Richard bravely rode towards them, on his own, and addressed them directly to follow him. All the accounts concur that this was a spur-of-the-moment decision, taken by Richard on his own. It was a huge gamble, but it was spectacularly successful. As Joan had earlier thought, whatever the people’s quarrel with the Crown and its government, they held their young king in respect and awe, they meant him no harm and they were ready to listen to him and to follow him to Clerkenwell fields away from the city, where Richard ordered them to go home, promising them t
hat their demand for freedom from serfdom would be met.
It took time to persuade the huge crowds to disperse, and some were more receptive than others to following the king’s command. However, this time the royal party had done its own planning, and swiftly on hand to envelope the rebels as they congregated at Clerkenwell were a number of armed forces, including one commanded by the experienced soldier Robert Knolles. Froissart credits Richard with the decision not to employ armed force to chase them out of the capital or to execute the leaders on the spot. Froissart also emphasises that Richard’s first subsequent journey was to rejoin his mother, where she ‘greatly rejoiced and said, “Ah! Fair son, what pain and great sorrow that I have suffered for you this day.” Then the king answered and said, “Certainly, madam, I know it well; but now rejoice yourself and thank God for now it is time. I have this day recovered mine heritage and the realm of England, the which I had near lost.”’96 It was indeed the end of the uprising, and order was slowly restored. That same day Richard knighted several Londoners, including the mayor William Walworth, who had stood at his side during the confrontation with Tyler, and within hours Richard was countermanding the charters of liberties he had issued. On 18 June letters were sent to the sheriffs in each county requiring them to enforce the peace and take measures to restrain the rebels, while commissions granting military and judicial powers were issued to leading members of the nobility, including the Earl of Buckingham and Thomas Holand. The rebel leaders, including Jack Straw and John Ball, were caught, tried and executed. The heads of the archbishop and the chancellor and the others were taken down from Tower Bridge, and with a certain grim irony they were replaced by those of the rebels.
