Richard III and the Murder in the Tower

by Peter A. Hancock

  11. Richardson, D. Magna Carta Ancestry. (pp 795-796). Genealogical Publishing Co.: Baltimore, MD, 2005.

  12. Ashdown-Hill, J. ‘The inquisition post mortem of Eleanor Talbot, Lady Butler, 1468.’ The Ricardian, 12 (2002), 563-573.

  13. For more on Eleanor’s husband see, Barker, J. ‘Sir Thomas Le Boteler.’ The Ricardian, 45 (1974), 6-8.

  14. See F. O’Shaughnessy, The Story of Burton Dassett Church. Undated. In the possession of the author.

  15. There is the particularly interesting story of the Kimble Charity, established around the time that Eleanor would have been lady of the manor. At the time at which Ralph Boteler (Eleanor’s father-in-law) still possessed the manor, an orphan boy appeared one day begging for food and shelter from the people of South End (Little Dassett). Receiving no relief from these villagers, he crossed the brook dividing South from North End and received succour from these latter villagers. Later, that boy became a rich farmer and in his will remembered his benefactors. The 1469 deed read: ‘settled and conveyed the messuage and two-yard lands to one Ralph Wallis and his heirs in trust, that the rent and profits thereof should be employed in the manner following: seven shillings to the use and towards the repair of the Parish Church of Burton Dassett, and two-pence a house yearly to be given in bread to every householder in Knightcote or Northend in the name of Dole, and all the rest and residue of the said rents and profits to be employed to such uses, intents and purposes as the inhabitants should direct and appoint.’ see F. O’Shaughnessy, The Story of Burton Dassett Church (p. 14). Undated. In possession of the author. It is not impossible that Eleanor might have known and influenced the people of the village in terms of their attitude to the orphan boy some twenty years before the deed was created. This, of course, like much of our present considerations must remain speculation until and unless further evidence is uncovered.

  16. There are some extant records of letters and jointure settlements in existence which relate to this arranged second marriage. The latter are to be found at: Public Records Office (PRO) Ancient Correspondence, SC1/51/147; Calendar of Ancient Deeds, iii, A4369. Further information is available in Payling, S. ‘Never “desire to be grete about princes for it is daungeros”: the rise and fall of the fifteenth-century Catesbys.’ In Bertram, J. The Catesby Family and their Brasses at Ashby St Ledgers (pp 1–17). Monumental Brass Society: Burlington House, London, 2006.

  17. There is a possibility that she actually died on the 20th, although this was potentially the date of her burial.

  18. See Bertram, J. The Catesby Family and their Brasses at Ashby St Ledgers. Monumental Brass Society: Burlington House: London, 2006.

  19. Ashdown-Hill (2006), op. cit., p. 122. And see also Ashdown-Hill (2009). op. cit., p. 37.

  20. See Bertram, J. The Catesby Family and their Brasses at Ashby St Ledgers. Monumental Brass Society: Burlington House, London, 2006.

  21. Baker, E. ‘Notes on the paintings in Burton Dassett Church.’ In: F. O’Shauhnessy, op. cit. And see also: Tristram, E. W. ‘Wall-paintings in Ashby St Ledgers Church.’ Northampton & Oakham Architectural & Archeological Society, in Associated Architectural Societies Report and Papers, 38 (1926–1927), 352-260.

  22. Although we do not know if Eleanor was the sponsor of these works, we do know that she retired to a religious life and if the quotation about Edward’s ‘pious’ mistress referred to Eleanor, it may add to our belief that she was religiously inspired and so sponsored these paintings, one at each of the churches that she knew.

  23. See Hargreaves, J. W. & Gray, J.B. The passion series of wall paintings in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Leodagarius, Ashby St. Ledgers, Northamptonshire. JR Press: Daventry, undated. And see also Tristram. E. W.Wall Painting in Ashby St Ledgers Church. 1929.

  24. See Ashdown-Hill. J. ‘Edward IV’s uncrowned queen. The Lady Eleanor Talbot. Lady Butler.’ The Ricardian, 11 (1997), (139), 166-190. (especially p. 185). And see also the new artistic rendering of Eleanor in Ashdown-Hill (2009), op. cit.

  25. Hancock, P. A. ‘No Richard rhyme nor reason: Resisting the seduction of confirmation bias.’ The Medelai Gazette, 14 (3) (2007), 16-22.

  26. From Ashdown-Hill, J. ‘Edward IV’s uncrowned queen. The Lady Eleanor Talbot. Lady Butler.’ The Ricardian, 11, (139) (1997), 166-190. (specifically, p. 185). And see also: Ashdown-Hill, J. ‘The missing molars: A genealogical conundrum.’ The Ricardian, 142 (1998), 340-344.

  27. See O’Regan, M. ‘The pre-contract and its effect on the succession in 1483.’ The Ricardian, 54 (1976), 2-7; Sutton, A. ‘Richard III’s “tytylle & right”: A new discovery. The Ricardian, 57 (1977), 2-8. Also see the more recent article at: http://www.richardiii.net/r3%20cont%20precon.htm. See also Carson, A. Richard III: The maligned King (pp 67-68, 71). The History Press, Stroud, Glos, 2008. Also Ashdown-Hill (2009), op. cit., p. 103.

  28. Ashdown-Hill (2006), op. cit., p. 116. See also Ashdown-Hill (2009), op. cit. p. 62, where he establishes that Thomas Butler was certainly dead by 15 January 1460 as evidenced by a deed to his father.

  29. Ashdown-Hill, op. cit., p. 116. (and see the note on the quit claim deed accomplishing this action, which is contained in the Warwickshire County Record Office, L 1/80, and L 1/81). This latter action is eminently sensible given the respective location of the two manors, and see Figure 8. Also, this proposition makes strong commercial sense since Great Dorsett is predominately hill country with sheep farming most appropriate while Fenny Compton is solid arable land in the vale beneath. Further, it answers Ashdown-Hill’s (2009) op. cit., p 90, intrinsic question concerning this issue.

  30. As Kendall, P. M. Richard III. W.W. Norton: New York, 1955, notes: ‘The probability is that Lady Eleanor met Edward IV when she petitioned him to keep the manors of Greve (Grove) and Great Dorset in Warwickshire.’ (note 9 from Kendall, 1955, p. 553). There remains the interesting question as to why Eleanor petitioned Edward anyway. After all, if she had decided to live with her sister at Framlingham in Suffolk or at some nearby location in Norfolk, the manors would have reverted to her father-in-law. It suggests Eleanor had a particular reason in wanting to retain her lands at this time. The recognition of her religious commitment and the possible link to the remains of the Templar order might still be a possible and intriguing reason for her actions

  31. Ashdown-Hill (1997), op. cit., pp. 173-174. The exact date is also diffuclt to specify. However, it seems to be bracketed by the summer of 1460 and early in 1461 (and see Ashdown-Hill (2009), op. cit., p. 102).

  32. ‘The main surviving facts about the Lady Eleanor Butler can be found in the Inquisitions Post Mortem and the Calendar of Patent Rolls. From the Inquisitions Post Mortem (8 Edward IV, no. 39; see also Cal. Inq. Post Mortem, p. 344 and GEC, XII, p. 422) we learn that Eleanor, wife of the deceased Thomas Butler knight, and sister of Sir John Talbot, died on June 30, 1468, possessed of the manors of Grove or (Greve) and Great Dorset in Warwickshire.’ (Kendall (1955), op. cit. p. 553).

  33. Hancock, P. A. ‘On the Trail of King Richard III.’ Ricardian Register, 29 (1) (2004), 8-10.

  34. For example, Kendall, P. M. Richard III. W.W. Norton: New York, 1955, notes that: ‘He [Stillington] alone had witnessed, or transmitted, the King’s oath to the lady of his desire. Only then had she been willing to surrender to her sovereign, who, however, had sworn troth but to have his use of her.’

  35. De Commines, P. Memoires. The Reign of Loius XI, 1461-1483. Ed. M. Jones. Harmondsworth, 1972.

  36. See Hammond, P. W. ‘Stillington and the pre-contract.’ The Ricardian, 54 (1976), 31.

  37. See Campbell, J. Lives of the Lord Chancellors. Murray: London, 1868 (especially pp 333-335).

  38. Sometime later she seems to have joined her sister, the Duchess of Norfolk, perhaps at her sister’s Dower House at Kenninghall in Norfolk, see Ashdown-Hill, J. ‘The go-between.’ The Ricardian, XV (2005), 119-121. The relationship between the sisters seems to have been close, see Ashdown-Hill. J. ‘The endowments of Lady Eleanor Talbot
and Elizabeth Talbot, Duchess of Norfolk, at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.’ The Ricardian, 14 (2004), 82-94.

  39. It may be possible that when Thomas More referred to the last of King Edward’s mistresses in the following manner, ‘the thirde the holiest harlot in his realme, as one whom no man could get out of the church lightly to any place, but it wer to his bed,’ he is referring to Eleanor. If such were so, it may imply a much longer and more involved relationship than a single meeting. If it was Eleanor who was the pious one, it may have induced Edward to tread a little more carefully than usual, not wishing to offend the Church.

  40. In a recent article, Sweeney (1996), op. cit., p. 19, reports that Eleanor did indeed have a son and he was the great-grandfather of William Cecil’s (Lord Burghley) own secretary, Richard Wigmore. Burghley of course served Elizabeth I almost the whole of his adult life. Elizabeth I herself was the granddaughter of Elizabeth of York, the niece of Richard III. Smith, M. ‘Reflections on Lady Eleanor.’ The Ricardian, 142 (1998), 336-339, is sure that Eleanor died childless and cites the barreness of her immediate relations as support. We must await more definitive evidence for such a child before we speculate upon the implications of such a birth. Ashdown-Hill (2009), op. cit., p. 108, states unequivocally that ‘Although Buck suggested that Edward and Eleanor may have had a son, there is absolutely no evidence to support this contention.’

  41. To quote from Ashdown-Hill (2006), p. 124, ‘His [Catesby’s] connection with Lady Eleanor is certainly intriguing.’

  42. I am now unable to conceive of Jacquetta except in terms of the pushing mother in the puppet play in the film The Sound of Music. Such a role has also been attributed to many mothers who would push their daughter in front of the king or the immediate heir to the throne even in modern times.

  43. Perhaps Eleanor had a reason for wanting simply to retain the manor of Great Dorsett. The manor most probably also contained the settlement of Temple Herdewyke which, it has been speculated, was a Templar chapel associated with some of the Templar mysteries. See: Phillips, G. The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant. Bear & Company: Rochester, VT, 2004. The latter author has also stated that Sir Walter Ralegh later bought Temple Heredewyke through his wife and engaged there in a search for Templar treasure. Could this have been associated with the reason that Eleanor did not press her claim further? Here, we are on the very attractive but especially dangerous edge of speculation. After a considerable search in resources such as Dugdale, and after having contact with the Warwickshire County Record Office (A. Williams personal communication, 7/4/08) I can find no reference that Bess (Throckmorton) Ralegh ever puchased this property. See also: Beer, A (2003) My Just Desire: The life of Bess Ralegh, wife to Sir Walter. Random House: New York. Also Rowse, A. L (1962) Sir Walter Ralegh: His Family and Private Life. Harper Brothers: New York

  Chapter 3: William Catesby, Esquire of the Body

  1. In the same way that our knowledge of Eleanor Butler has been elucidated by John Ashdown-Hill, so we must turn to Roskell and Williams for our understanding of William. However, in this chapter I also rely extensively on the work of Simon Payling (2006), which is referenced below, and the recent text by Dickson (2007) which I acquired during the latter part of the writing of this chapter.

  2. See Dickson, J. M. William Catesby: ‘Gras de Hower Gyd’ (p. 4). Richard III Foundation: Las Vegas, NV, 2007.

  3. See for example Hancock, P. A. ‘Solem a tergio reliquit: The troublesome Battle of Bosworth.’ Ricardian Register, 27 (2) (2002), 4-10. And see Jones, M. K. Bosworth 1485. Tempus: Stroud, Glos, 2002. Hutton, W. The Battle of Bosworth Field. Nichols, Son, & Bentley: London, 1813, and also Foss, P. The Field of Redemore: The Battle of Bosworth, 1485. Kairos Press: Newton Lindford, 1998.

  4. Nicholas, N. H. Testamenta Vetusta (p. 381). Nichols & Son: London, 1826.

  5. Stephen, L. & Lee, S. (eds). The Dictionary of National Biography (pp 1193-1194). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1917.

  6. This fact is also shown by his own wording of his last will and testament (see Williams, D. T. ‘The hastily drawn up will of William Catesby, Esquire, 25th August, 1485.’ Transactions of the Leicestershire Archeological and Historical Society, 51 (1975), 43-51).

  7. The epithet ‘Cat,’ of course comes from Colyngbourne’s rhyme, see Sutton, A. F. ‘Colyngbourne’s Rhyme.’ The Ricardian, 67 (1979), 145-146. And see also Kendall, P.M. Richard III (p. 301). W.W. Norton: New York, 1955.

  8. A brief survey of this part of Warwickshire shows that the Catesbys at Ladbroke would have been the direct neighbours of the Butlers at Great Dorsett. Similarly, if Bishop’s Itchington is an extended version of Bishopston, then the family of Sir William’s first wife would also have been neighbors of both families.

  9. There is also the possibility that some of the family property in Coventry was viewed as the primary family home.

  10. See Morris, M. ‘Catesby Brasses at Ashby St Ledgers.’ The Ricardian, 39 (1972), 28-32, and more recently Bertram, J. (ed.). The Catesby family and their brasses at Ashby St Ledgers. Monumental Brass Society, Headley Brothers: Ashford, Kent, 2006.

  11. More, T. The history of King Richard III. 1513 Also see www.uorgeon.edu/~rbear/r3.html. The precise quote is ‘Catesby, which was a man well learned in the laws of this land.’

  12. Many of my observations here come from the detailed and scholarly article by Payling, S. ‘Never “‘desire to be grete about princes, for it is dangeros”: the rise and fall of the fifteenth-century Catesbys’ (pp 1-17). In Bertram, J. (ed.). The Catesby family and their brasses at Ashby St Ledgers. Monumental Brass Society, Headley Brothers: Ashford, Kent, 2006.

  13. Of course, it is always a reasonable possibility that Phillipa Bishopston, Sir William’s first wife, died in childbirth. If so, her daughter of that birth, Elizabeth, survived that possible trauma and went on to lead a full life (see Bertram op. cit., p. 66).

  14. See Payling (2006), op. cit., p. 5.

  15. PRO, Ministers’ and Receivers’ Accounts SC6/949/16; Lincoln Diocese Documents. Ed. A. Clark Early English Text Society, 149, 1914, p. 81. PRO, Early Chancery Proceedings, C1/53/247.

  16. Hancock, P. A. ‘No Richard rhyme nor reason: Resisting the seduction of confirmation bias.’ The Medelai Gazette, 14 (3) (2007), 16-22.

  17. PRO Issue Rolls, E403/786, m. 1; Lambeth Palace Library, Register of Stafford and Kemp, f. 312v.

  18. The letter is at The National Archives, under entry PRO SC1/51/147. The letter itself is reproduced in the separate Appendix IV: The Letter of Sir William Catesby of 15 September 1452. Sir William was true to his word and we find even just a year before his death he was still including his wife in the business of the disbursement of the presentation of the chaplaincy of the church of Chesilburgh (Cheselbourne, Dorset?). I take the the evidence for this from Maxwell-Lyte, H.C. The registers of Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells 1466-1491 and Richard Fox, Bishop of Bath and Wells 1492-1494. Somerset Record Society, 52 (1937), 1-235. I believe that the citation ‘on the presentation of John Barre and William Catesby, knights’ (pp 76-77), to be a misrepresentation of Joan Barre and William Catesby, husband and wife.

  19. See Leonard, W. The Oxford of Inspector Morse (pp 186-187). BFS Entertainment: Canada, 2004.

  20. See Payling, op. cit. (p. 8). This is also evident in the observation of Ashdown-Hill (2009), op. cit. (p. 140), who notes that Sir William witnessed the 4 June 1468 deed of gift of Eleanor to her sister.

  21. Ashdown-Hill, J. ‘Edward IV’s uncrowned queen. The Lady Eleanor Talbot. Lady Butler.’ The Ricardian, 11, (139) (1997), 166-190.

  22. Much of our knowledge of William Catesby’s life and career is founded on the important and detailed work of Roskell (see Roskell, J.S. ‘William Catesby, Counsellor to Richard III.’ Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 44 (1959), 145-174). As will be evident to readers of this latter work, I have relied extensively upon it as a source for this present text.

  23. The translation reads: ‘Once one of the trench
ers of King Henry VI.’ See Bertram (ed.) (2006), p. xvii.

  24. The written plaque on the left side reads: ‘Here lies lady Joan, second wife of William Catesby, knight, formerly wife of Richard de la Bere, and daughter of Thomas Barre, knight, and his wife Alice, sister of John Lord Talbot, who was created Earl of Shrewsbury. She died 2 August 1471; on whose soul may God have mercy Amen.’ It is my suggestion that the attribution ‘Richard’ is incorrect and is a mis-interpretation of Kynard, or possibly Reynard, which may denote the manner of address for her first husband. The brass of her son, Richard de la Bere, can be seen in Hereford Cathedral, and see Figure 9. 25. Thorne, S. E. (ed.). Readings and Moots at the Inns of Court in the Fifteenth Century (p. lvii). Selden Society, Bernard Quaritch: London, 1954.

  26. Ives, E. W. The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England. Cambridge, 1983. and see Payling (2006), op. cit. (p. 10).

  27. See Roskell (1959), op. cit. (p. 146).

  28. Roskell (1959), op. cit. (p. 153).

  29. Interestingly, it seems that it was Ralph, Lord Sudeley who in 1442 had built the famous Sudeley castle which still stands today within the confines of the Cotswold town of Winchcombe, and was then forced, in 1469, to sell it to Edward IV, shortly after the death of his daughter-in-law, Eleanor Butler (née Talbot).

  30. There remains, of course, the intriguing rumour that Eleanor actually had a child. Whether this child was her husband’s or Edward IV’s is a further step of speculation and perhaps, in our present state of knowledge, a step too far (and see Hancock, P. A. ‘No Richard rhyme nor reason: Resisting the seduction of confirmation bias.’ The Medelai Gazette, 14 (3) (2007), 16-22).