What problems did Richard III face by Summer 1485? Flashcards
External Threat
Henry Tudor was able to flee Brittany in 1484 and find new backing due to the support of the court of Charles VIII, the new king of France.
External Threat (cont.)
In Spring 1485 the French government authorised the equipping of a small fleet plus mercenary troops (c. 1500) to be put at the disposal of Henry Tudor for an invasion of England.
External Threat (cont.)
Opponents of the regime had fled to join Tudor in exile at the French court e.g. Oxford, Thomas Grey, John Morton etc.
Limitations to external threat
Henry VII’s foreign forces were relatively small and almost certainly would not have been enough without Welsh and English reinforcements.
Internal divisions
Richard’s principal councillors, especially Viscount Lovell, William Catesby and Sir Richard Ratcliffe were unpopular and their influence resented:
‘The Cat, the Rat and Lovel our dog, rule all England under a Hog.’
Internal divisions (cont.)
Richard’s promotion of so-called ‘northerners’ into positions of power in the south (‘plantations’) alienated a large number of southern gentry that had been the bedrock of Edward IV’s Yorkist regime.
Internal divisions (cont.)
The loyalty of the Stanleys was questionable at best:
Lord Stanley’s marriage to Margaret Beaufort, the mother of the exiled Henry Tudor, made them potentially highly dangerous.
Internal divisions (cont.)
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was angry that he had been overlooked in the North in favour of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (Richard III’s nephew).
Financial problems
According to the Great Chronicle of London, Richard was having severe cash-flow problems by 1484. He had been forced to pawn a variety of crown jewels in order to obtain loans from prominent London citizens, to help suppress the rebellion of 1483. These loans were obtained by personal pressure from the king.
Financial problems (cont.)
By early 1485 Richard III was clearly in financial difficulties. The king had to make recourse to allegedly ‘forced’ loans, although these were not the benevolences that Richard had condemned in Parliament:
The archbishop of York was pressured to lend £200, the bishop of Worcester £50, the abbot of Westminster 200 marks and the abbot of Cirencester £1000. In the shires of Norfolk and Suffolk, Jon Wingfield, esquire, and Sir Edmund Bedingfield were expected to provide £100.
Even if the loans were obtained by a mixture of placation and pressure, rather than outright threat, they could scarcely have been popular even with those committed to the regime.
Financial problems (cont.)
The continuation of the war with Scotland in the summer of 1484 (especially since it involved naval operations) was arguably an expensive error in view of Richard’s weakening financial position.
Dynastic problems
Richard III’s only son, heir and only legitimate child, Edward of Middleham, died in April 1484. The Yorkist succession was therefore in doubt.
Dynastic problems (cont.)
In March 1485 Queen Anne Neville died. Rumours circulated that he intended to marry his own niece, Elizabeth of York, and these damaged his reputation among his supporters:
Marrying Elizabeth would have required legitimising her (undermining his own title) and would have restored the hated Woodvilles to power.
Dynastic problems (cont.)
All of the Edward IV’s children had been declared bastards, the princes in the Tower were believed to be dead. Clarence’s son had been declared unsuitable due to his father’s attainder (reversing it would have undermined Richard’s own title).
It was not clear what the future of the House of York was. This would discourage people from following Richard III.
It seems that John de la Pole (Richard’s nephew) was the ‘effective’ heir – but this remained unresolved.
