The Plantagenet Vendetta

by John Paul Davis

  To the wider world, their fate would remain a mystery. For them, incarceration would be different.

  While clarification of their location would never be made known, even to them the choice was painfully ironic.

  It was the same place traitors to the Crown had always been kept.

  Over two hundred miles north, two large cars moved up the driveway of the ancient mansion. Under the seclusion of the trees, their arrivals did not arouse suspicion. Even if they had been seen, it was nothing out of the ordinary. The villagers had grown up on such sights. In centuries past, stories were told of large carriages coming and going in the middle of the night, leaving like ghosts, never to return.

  In front of the house, the former headmaster of the local school was standing perfectly still, anticipating their arrival. He had not been seen recently in the village, nor did he wish to change that.

  The questions, he knew, would have been numerous.

  He waited for the drivers to park before showing the new arrivals inside. Unlike most visits, the location of choice was below. After descending a winding staircase, the witness would be greeted by the sight of something from Medieval England. It was not quite a courthouse, but not dissimilar. Several chairs surrounded the strange table, all at present unoccupied. At the head of the room was the most important chair, its decoration in the manner of a throne.

  Today that would remain empty.

  Directly opposite were three vacant seats. As the newcomers entered, Father Martin nodded his head and gestured in the direction of the seats. Though he had never met two of the three, he recognised them immediately. Their faces were just like those of their fathers, perhaps even their fathers’ fathers. Lovell sat on the left, the two younger men in the middle and right.

  The seats of Catesby and Ratcliffe.

  They were the trinity. In the past songs were sung about them. The great significance of the Cat, the Rat and Lovell the Dog. Who ruled all England under a Hog.

  And so it remained…

  The Facts Behind My Fiction

  As with my previous thrillers, the story is a work of fiction. Much of what you have just read was entirely made up; however, there were times when the story was inspired by fact and history.

  For those of you who are interested, what follows is an insight into my research into The Plantagenet Vendetta. Thanks for reading.

  See you next year!

  Wootton-on-the-Moor/Ravensfield

  The main location in the novel was a village called Wootton, based in the rugged North York Moors. The village itself is made up and bears no major similarity to any real location, apart from the obvious general similarities of any English village. In the past, there was a real town named Ravenspurn located on the Yorkshire coast, but that disappeared into the sea due to coastal erosion in the 1800s. The town was relevant as at least two medieval kings of England landed there, but it had no connection to my made-up Ravensfield. Ravensfield Castle and Priory are therefore also fictitious. Nearby Titherton, Shipsey, Maplewell and Bishopton are also made up.

  The House of Winchester

  Obviously fictitious. Unlike the present House of Windsor, the Winchesters were a fictitious continuation of the House of Saxe-Coburg since around the reign of Victoria. In keeping with their names, every generation attended school at Winchester College. This is a real establishment and is one of the four top public schools in the country, dating back to the reign of Richard II. In real life, the royals have had a tendency to go to Gordonstoun, whereas the sons of the Prince of Wales went to Eton. References to Buckingham Palace’s interior are mainly fictitious, whereas the general observations are researched.

  Royal Titles

  In truth, something of a mixture. As the new monarch Stephen II has only recently come to the throne and is still to be crowned, various investitures are still to occur. The son of the king, Stephen, Duke of Cornwall, would have inherited that title, including the Duchy of Cornwall, as right of blood succession. The more famous title, Prince of Wales, is a title that requires royal investiture; therefore he is unlikely to gain the title immediately. The Duke of York is usual for the second son of the king, and usually falls upon that person instantly.

  The Duchy of Clarence

  A famous title in English history, though now more or less defunct. It is generally a junior title: the most famous example was George, third son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, middle brother of Edward, 7th Earl of March, later Edward IV and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III. The most recent title was given to Prince Albert Victor, son of Edward VII, henceforth Duke of Clarence and Avondale, who died without issue.

  George Winchester, Duke of Clarence, in this novel is, of course, fictitious, as is his son, Thomas. As son of the Duke of Clarence, Thomas would probably be heir to his father’s estates and titles. Reference to Clarence being located at Clare, Suffolk, is historically correct.

  The house, however, does not exist.

  Real-life buildings

  Many places mentioned in the book are real. Middleham Castle still exists and was once the home of Richard III and Anne Neville. Westminster Abbey is accurately described; the urn containing the bodies of two children commonly assumed to be Edward V and Richard, 1st Duke of York, is located just off the Lady chapel, close to the joint tomb of Mary I and Elizabeth I. The tombs of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York are the main feature of the magnificent Lady chapel.

  Riverton is made up, while the nearby villages are real. References to Keble, Magdalen and the Bodleian are all based on fact, though I have, of course, used them fictitiously. The earl’s reading room in the Bodley is made up, but the other references, such as the Radcliffe Camera, are fact.

  The King Edward hospital exists and is a usual port of call for the royals. The interior is largely made up. The same is true for the Royal College of Physicians, whose accurately portrayed exterior and history is merged with a fictitious interior based on my personal research.

  References to the Tower of London are largely accurate, except for the Cromwell Tower beneath the surface. As far as I’m aware, this is fictitious. Also made up is my suggestion that the Chief Yeoman Warder and the Constable of the Tower of London are the same role. They are separate.

  The Dominicans

  Used fictitiously, though the real order still exists and has done so since it was established in the early 1200s by the Spanish monk, St Dominic, on the back of his undertaking of a mission in the Languedoc, preaching against heresy. Pope Honorius III approved the order in 1217 and the first base in England was set up in 1221. Dubbed the Watchdogs of God, the blackfriars – so named due to the colour of their dress – were successful in their attempts to rid the Languedoc of the Cathars thanks largely to their hard approach. They were the official interrogators in the Inquisition, during which torture was promulgated. In England, every king from Henry III to Richard II had a Dominican as his confessor.

  Politics

  The political parties in this book are fictitious. The Democrats were loosely inspired by two of the main political parties in the UK, while the Tories are a fictitious use of the Conservative Party. The Whig Party indeed existed and was once the main opposition to the Tory Party. The Whigs ceased to exist in 1868 when they became the Liberal Party.

  Edward III and the Wars of the Roses (1377–1461)

  Describing this period of English history in detail would require a book of its own. For those of you who are satisfied with a short overview, here goes:

  Edward III, who inherited the throne from his father, Edward II, in 1327, reigned till 1377 and had fourteen children with his queen, Philippa of Hainault, including five boys who lived into adulthood. They were, Edward (The Black Prince), Lionel of Antwerp, John of Gaunt, Edmund of Langley, and Thomas of Woodstock. To placate his sons, Edward created England’s first ever dukedoms, respectively Cornwall, Clarence, Lancaster, York and Gloucester.

  With the Black Prince dead, the Crown eventually fell to his young son, hencefort
h Richard II. With Lionel of Antwerp also dead, Richard’s main adviser was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.

  The unpopular government of Richard II, notably Gaunt, coupled with England’s loss of what remained of the Angevin Empire, eventually led to the Peasants’ Revolt. Richard exiled Gaunt’s eldest son, Henry Bolingbroke, in 1398 and, following Gaunt’s death in 1399, denied him his birthright. His return and rebellion won him the throne, and Richard died, probably starved to death, in Pontefract Castle.

  Following Henry IV’s death in 1413, Henry V ruled for nine years. Following him was his infant son, Henry VI. Despite Henry V’s general popularity, he did have to contend with one plot shortly before Agincourt, by one Richard of Conisburgh, son of Edmund of Langley, Duke of York. Conisburgh’s execution left his four-year-old son, Richard, later 3rd Duke of York, fatherless.

  Henry V’s younger brothers themselves produced no heirs, apart from Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, leaving the distantly related Beauforts as the next upholders of the House of Lancaster. With this, ineffective meddlers surrounded the young king. When his uncle the Duke of Bedford died in 1435, Henry’s one remaining uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, sought to become protector. Gloucester encountered opposition from the Duke of Suffolk, who had Gloucester arrested for treason. Gloucester died awaiting trial in 1447, while Suffolk was murdered soon after being stripped of office and was replaced by the Lancastrian Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset.

  At the time, Henry VI’s lieutenant in France was Richard, 3rd Duke of York. With the war in France going badly, York sought a change in policy. In 1452 York returned to England and marched on London, demanding Somerset’s removal. Despite being jailed, York was released in 1453, and as Henry VI’s mental health deteriorated, York became Lord Protector and one of a new council of Regents. Two years later, Henry’s queen, Margaret of Anjou, forced York from court. Soon after, York resorted to hostilities. The Battle of St Albans saw the beginning of the war, and the end of Somerset. York’s victory saw him reinstated. In 1456 Henry then ousted him and, after a brief reconciliation between Yorkists and Lancastrians in 1458, plotting resumed. In 1459 battle occurred at Blore Heath in Staffordshire, and again at Ludford Bridge, forcing York to flee to Ireland. Plotting between York and the powerful Earl of Warwick (later dubbed the Kingmaker) allowed York to return in September 1460, after the Lancastrians were defeated in July at Northampton. While York’s desire to claim the throne was met with mixed response, he was installed by parliament as Henry VI’s successor.

  York and his forces left London later in 1460 to counter Margaret of Anjou having sought assistance from the Scots. Richard of York did indeed give battle in vain, and was slain at Wakefield at the end of December. As York’s eldest son was subsequently executed, Richard was succeeded by his next son, Edward, henceforth also heir to the throne. Edward was victorious over Jasper Tudor’s army (Henry Tudor’s uncle) in the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross. While the Yorkists lost the second battle of St Albans in 1461, better luck was to follow when a panic-stricken London closed its gates on the Lancastrians, fearing plunder, and later that year Edward was welcomed and unofficially crowned Edward IV. Edward and Warwick marched north with a large army and met the Lancastrians at Towton. The battle was the bloodiest ever recorded, at least 20,000 dying on a single day. Edward’s victory was consolidated by his march to York and later coronation in London.

  Wars of the Roses 1461–83

  Various attempts to regain the throne for Henry VI took place 1461–64. The government of England turned on its head, however, when Edward IV went against Warwick’s attempts to secure a French bride, and married the commoner, Elizabeth Woodville. As the Woodvilles gained favour at court, Warwick’s allegiance came into question. After entering an alliance with Edward’s brother, George, Duke of Clarence, Clarence married Warwick’s daughter, Isabel, and defeated Edward at Edgecote Moor. After a brief imprisonment at Warwick’s hands, Edward returned to London. Rebellions in Lincolnshire were quashed, and Warwick and Clarence banished, leading to an alliance between Warwick and Margaret of Anjou. Warwick invaded England in 1470 and restored Henry VI to the throne, forcing Edward and his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to flee to the Low Countries. Edward returned at Ravenspurn in 1471 and reconciled with Clarence. The forces of Edward and Warwick met at Barnet in thick fog, at which point Edward defeated the Kingmaker. The forces led by Margaret of Anjou were then defeated at Tewkesbury, thus leading to twelve years of peace under Edward IV.

  The Cat, The Rat, and Lovell Our Dog

  Three of the key characters in this book. While the modern-day antagonists are fictitious, their famous namesakes were anything but.

  William Catesby (the Cat), 1450?–85, was both Chancellor and Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of Richard III. Historically, the family seat was Ashby St Ledgers in Northamptonshire, not Wootton. Like many in his family, Catesby was a talented lawyer and quite possibly the person responsible for the Titulus Regius document. He fought alongside Richard at Bosworth and was executed. Among his descendents was Robert Catesby.

  Richard Ratcliffe (the Rat) was originally from the Lake District and became a key confidant of Richard III while still Duke of Gloucester. Like Catesby, Ratcliffe benefited from the bounty of many forfeited estates when Richard took power, and also served as Sheriff of Westmorland. According to some sources, Ratcliffe was responsible for Richard’s execution of Earl Rivers, brother of Elizabeth Woodville.

  Francis 1st Viscount Lovell (the Dog), 1454–88?, was another close friend of Richard III prior to Richard’s enthronement; he was also related through marriage as his wife was Anne Neville’s cousin. On Richard’s ascension, Lovell became Lord Chamberlain and also inherited large swathes of land. Unlike the Cat and the Rat, Lovell survived Bosworth. He played a dominant role in the Lambert Simnel rebellion and was also present at the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487. He fled to Scotland and was granted safe passage. At that point he disappeared from history.

  The three were among the most important of Richard’s councillors. Around 18 July 1484, a rhyme, purportedly the work of one William Collingbourne, was nailed to the doors of St Paul’s,

  The Cat, The Rat, and Lovell our Dog

  Ruleth England under a Hog.

  It is possible that the trio still have family/descendents alive today. Their descendents in this novel are, of course, products of my own imagination.

  The Paston Letters

  Mostly true. The exception to this is the biography of Richard III mentioned by Wilson, which is made up. The Paston Letters are without question among the most important historical documents to have survived the Middle Ages. The majority are held in the British Library, with some in the Bodleian, Magdalen College, Oxford, and Pembroke College, Cambridge. The suggestion in the novel that Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck were sons of Richard III is pure speculation.

  The Sons of York

  The order is fictitious, along with their political wing. It is inspired by the legacy of the House of York and my own premise that Richard, 1st Duke of York, along with the young Earl of Warwick and the real Elizabeth of York continued to live, and later sired offspring.

  Edmund of Langley did indeed exist, and references to him in the novel are accurate apart from any illegitimate family who lived in Wootton. The Duke of Monmouth was a real man and his rebellion against James II in 1685 did happen, as did the Glorious Rising in 1688 which toppled the king. Monmouth’s connection with a Yorkist revival is fictitious. Incidentally, a Barghest is a genuine part of Yorkshire folklore, its appearance usually that of a hound or large dog.

  The Princes in the Tower

  Perhaps the greatest mystery in English history. Prince Edward, later Edward V, and Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, were the only biological sons of Edward IV and his queen, Elizabeth Woodville.

  Following Edward IV’s death on 9 April 1483, the ascension of Edward V should have been a formality. The prince was proclaimed King of Engl
and in London two days later, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the only surviving brother of the late king, was, according to most sources, named in Edward’s last will as Protector of the Realm, much to the dismay of the Woodville faction. The will of 1483 does not survive, but the content is attested by many contemporary sources.

  Richard and Edward were set to meet for the first time since Edward IV’s death at Northampton on 29 April. However, during the course of the day, the new king moved on to Stony Stratford, located fourteen miles south in Buckinghamshire. Richard, accompanied by his loyal supporter the Duke of Buckingham, learned of the change of plan from the new king’s uncle, Earl Rivers, and subsequently dined with him in Northampton. The following day, Richard arrested Edward V’s Woodville-dominant retinue at Stony Stratford. The arrest and later execution of Earl Rivers, brother of Elizabeth Woodville, and Sir Richard Grey, Edward V’s half-brother from Elizabeth Woodville’s first marriage, saw Elizabeth take her children into sanctuary. Richard and Edward entered London on 4 May and announced plans for the coronation for 24 June.