Was He A Usurper? King Edward IV. Part IV.

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3rd Duke of York, Anne Mortimer, Battle of Agincourt, House of Lancaster, House of York, King Henry VIII of England, Richard of Cambridge, Richard Plantagenet, Wars of the Roses

Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (September 21, 1411 – December 30, 1460), also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Plantagenet by virtue of being a direct male-line descendant of Edmund of Langley, King Edward III’s fourth surviving son.

Richard of York was born on September 22, 1411, the son of Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (1385–1415), and his wife Anne Mortimer (1388–1411). Both his parents were descended from King Edward III of England (1312–1377): his father was son of Edmund, 1st Duke of York (founder of the House of York), fourth surviving son of Edward III, whereas his mother Anne Mortimer was a great-granddaughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Edward’s second son.

After the death in 1425 of Anne’s childless brother Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, this ancestry supplied her son Richard, of the House of York, with a claim to the English throne that was arguably superior to that of the reigning House of Lancaster, descended from John of Gaunt, the third son of Edward III.

Richard, 3rd Duke of York also inherited vast estates and served in various offices of state in Ireland, France and England, a country he ultimately governed as Lord Protector during the mental illness of King Henry VI.

Richard’s mother, Anne Mortimer, died during or shortly after his birth, and his father Richard, the Earl of Cambridge was beheaded in 1415 for his part in the Southampton Plot against the Lancastrian King Henry V.

Within a few months of his father’s death, Richard’s childless uncle, Edward, 2nd Duke of York, was slain at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and so Richard inherited Edward’s title and lands, becoming 3rd duke of York. The lesser title but greater estates of the Mortimer family, along with their claim to the throne, also descended to him on the death of his maternal uncle Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, in 1425.

Once Richard, 3rd Duke of York inherited the vast Mortimer estates, he also became the wealthiest and most powerful noble in England, second only to the King Henry VI himself. An account shows that York’s net income from Welsh and marcher lands alone was £3,430 (about £350,000 today) in the year 1443–44.

In 1450, the defeats and failures of the English royal government of the previous ten years boiled over into serious political unrest. In January Adam Moleyns, Lord Privy Seal and Bishop of Chichester, was lynched. In May the chief councillor of the king, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, was murdered on his way into exile. The House of Commons demanded that the king take back many of the grants of land and money he had made to his favourites.

In June, Kent and Sussex rose in revolt. Led by Jack Cade (taking the name Mortimer), they took control of London and killed James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele, the Lord High Treasurer of England. In August, the final towns held in Normandy fell to the French and refugees flooded back to England.

On September 7, Richard, 3rd Duke of York landed at Beaumaris, Anglesey. Evading an attempt by King Henry VI to intercept him, and gathering followers as he went, the Duke of York arrived in London on September 27. After an inconclusive (and possibly violent) meeting with the king, York continued to recruit, both in East Anglia and the west. The violence in London was such that Somerset, back in England after the collapse of English Normandy, was put in the Tower of London for his own safety.

York’s public stance was that of a reformer, demanding better government and the prosecution of the “traitors” who had lost northern France. Judging by his later actions, there may also have been a more hidden motive—the destruction of Somerset, who was soon released from the Tower. York’s men made several attacks on the properties and servants of the Duke of Somerset, who was to be the focus of attack in Parliament.

January 13, 1547: Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is Sentenced to Death for Treason.

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Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Countess of Surrey, Earl of Surrey, Frances de Vere, Henry Howard, King Henry VIII of England, Tower Hill

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – January 19, 1547), KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instance of King Henry VIII. He was a first cousin of the king’s wives Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

His name is usually associated in literature with that of the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt. Owing largely to the powerful position of his father, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Surrey took a prominent part in the court life of the time, and served as a soldier both in France and Scotland.

He was a man of reckless temper, which involved him in many quarrels, and finally brought upon him the wrath of the ageing and embittered Henry VIII. He was arrested, tried for treason and beheaded on Tower Hill.

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

Origins

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey was born in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife Elizabeth Stafford, a daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. He was thus descended from King Edward I on his father’s side and from King Edward III too on his mother’s side.

Career

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey as brought up at Windsor Castle with Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII. He became a close friend, and later a brother-in-law, of Fitzroy following the marriage of his sister to him. Like his father and grandfather, he was a soldier, serving in Henry VIII’s French wars as Lieutenant General of the King on Sea and Land.

He was repeatedly imprisoned for rash behaviour: on one occasion for striking a courtier and on another for wandering through the streets of London breaking the windows of houses whose occupants were asleep. He assumed the courtesy title Earl of Surrey in 1524 when his grandfather died and his father became Duke of Norfolk.

Frances de Vere, Countess of Surrey

In 1532 he accompanied Anne Boleyn (his first cousin), King Henry VIII, and the Duke of Richmond to France, staying there for more than a year as a member of the entourage of King François I of France. 1536 was a notable year for Howard: his first son was born, namely Thomas Howard (later 4th Duke of Norfolk), Anne Boleyn was executed on charges of adultery and treason, and Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond died at the age of 17 and was buried at Thetford Abbey, one of the Howard seats.

In 1536 Howard also served with his father in the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace, a rebellion against the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Marriage and progeny

He married Frances de Vere, a daughter of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, (by his wife Elizabeth Trussell) by whom he had two sons and three daughters:

1. Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (10 March 1536 – 2 June 1572), who married three times: (1) Mary FitzAlan (2) Margaret Audley (3) Elizabeth Leyburne.
2. Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, who died unmarried.
3. Jane Howard, who married Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland.
4. Katherine Howard, who married Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley.
5. Margaret Howard, who married Henry Scrope, 9th Baron Scrope of Bolton. She was born after her father’s execution.

The Howards had little regard for the “new men” who had risen to power at court, such as Thomas Cromwell and the Seymours. Howard was less circumspect than his father in concealing his disdain. The Howards had many enemies at court. Howard himself branded Cromwell a ‘foul churl’ and William Paget a ‘mean creature’ as well as arguing that ‘These new erected men would by their wills leave no nobleman on life!’

Henry VIII, consumed by paranoia and increasing illness, became convinced that Howard had planned to usurp the crown from his son the future King Edward VI. Howard suggested that his sister Mary FitzRoy, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset (widow of Henry’s illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy) should seduce the aged King, her father-in-law, and become his mistress, to “wield as much influence on him as Madame d’Etampes doth about the French King”. The Duchess, outraged, said she would “cut her own throat” rather than “consent to such villainy”.

She and her brother fell out, and she later laid testimony against Howard that helped lead to his trial and execution for treason. The matter came to a head when Howard quartered the attributed arms of King Edward the Confessor. John Barlow had once called Howard “the most foolish proud boy that is in England” and, although the arms of Howard’s ancestor Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, show that he was entitled to bear Edward the Confessor’s arms, doing so was an act of pride.

In consequence, the King ordered Howard’s imprisonment and that of his father, sentencing them to death on January 13, 1547. Howard was beheaded on January 19, 1547 on a charge of treason by quartering the royal arms.

His father escaped execution as the king died the day before that appointed for the beheading, but he remained imprisoned. Howard’s son Thomas Howard, became heir to the Dukedom of Norfolk in place of his father, which title he inherited on the 3rd Duke’s death in 1554.

Was He A Usurper? King Edward IV of England. Part III.

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3rd Duke of York, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, Battle of Agincourt, Duke of Alençon, King Edward IV of England, Richard of Conisburgh, Richard Plantagenet

Before I move onto Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, I would like to finish telling the story of his father, Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, husband of Anne Mortimer

Southampton Plot

In the Parliament of 1414, Richard was created Earl of Cambridge, a title formerly held by his elder brother, Edward, 2nd Duke of York, who had earlier ceased to be Earl of Cambridge either by resignation or deprivation of the title.

Richard’s creation as Earl of Cambridge in 1414, however, brought with it no accompanying grant of lands, and according to Harriss, Cambridge was ‘the poorest of the earls’ who were to set out on Henry V’s invasion of France.

As a result, he lacked the resources to equip himself properly for the expedition. Perhaps partly for this reason, Cambridge conspired with Lord Scrope and Sir Thomas Grey to depose King Henry V and place his late wife Anne’s brother, Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, on the throne.

On July 31 Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March revealed the Southampton Plot to the king. Later, he served on the commission that condemned the Earl of Cambridge to death.

Although the Earl of Cambridge pleaded with the king for clemency, he received none and was beheaded on August 5, 1415 and buried in the chapel of God’s House at Southampton (now St. Julien’s Church, Southampton). The fleet set sail for France a few days later, on August 11, 1415.

Richard’s brother, Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, himself was not implicated in the conspiracy, and he departed with the army for France. He was present at the Siege of Harfleur, where he made his will on August 17, 1415, then he commanded the van on the army’s march through northern France.

The 2nd Duke of York commanded the right wing at the Battle of Agincourt on October 25, 1415, during which he became the highest-ranking English casualty. According to some witnesses, he rushed forward to save King Henry V who had been assisting his younger brother, Humphrey of Gloucester, and had been assailed and wounded by the Jean, 2nd Duke of Alençon.

The Duke York’s intervention saved the King’s life but cost the duke his own. His death has been variously attributed to a head wound and to being ‘smouldered to death’ by ‘much heat and pressing’. York was buried in the Church of St Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay, where he had earlier established a college for a master and twelve chaplains.

Legacy

Although the Cambridge’s title was forfeited, he was not attainted, and his four-year-old son Richard was his heir. After the Earl of Cambridge’s elder brother was slain at Agincourt, the Earl of Cambridge’s four-year-old son Richard Plantagenet eventually inherited his uncle’s titles and estates as well as his father’s.

In the parliament of 1461, King Edward IV had the sentence that had been passed his grandfather, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, annulled as ‘irregular and unlawful’.

History of The Title, Duke of Northumberland. Part II.

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1st Duke of Northumberland., 1st Duke of Wharton, George FitzRoy, James Francis Edward Stuart, King George I of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, King James III-VIII, Philip Wharton, The Old Pretender

I recently posted about the life George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland on the blog so today I will offer a summary.

1683 Creation

George FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, an illegitimate son of king Charles II, was created Duke of Northumberland in the Peerage of England in 1683. He had already been created Baron of Pontefract, Viscount Falmouth and Earl of Northumberland in 1674, also in the Peerage of England. However, all the titles became extinct on his death in 1716 as he left no heirs.

George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland

Jacobite Creation

Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton (December 21, 1698 – May 31, 1731) was a powerful Jacobite politician, was one of the few people in English history, and the first since the 15th century, to have been raised to a dukedom whilst still a minor and not closely related to the monarch.

Wharton was the son of “Honest Tom” Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton, the Whig partisan, and his second wife Lucy Loftus, and had a good education.

Well prepared for a life as a public speaker, the young Wharton was both eloquent and witty.

When his father died in 1715, Philip, then sixteen years old, succeeded him as 2nd Marquess of Wharton and 2nd Marquess of Malmesbury in the Peerage of Great Britain and as 2nd Marquess of Catherlough in the Peerage of Ireland. One month after inheriting these peerages, he eloped with Martha Holmes, the daughter of Major-General Richard Holmes.

Wharton did not get control of his father’s extensive estate, as it had been put in the care of his mother and his father’s Whig friends.

Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton, 1st Duke of Northumberland

Thereafter, young Wharton began to travel. He travelled to France and Switzerland with a severe Calvinist tutor whose authority he resented. He met James Francis Edward Stuart, the “Old Pretender” and son of King James II-VII sometimes known in Europe as the rightful James III-VIII, or as James, Prince of Wales.

In 1716 Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton, was created Duke of Northumberland, Marquess of Woburn, Earl of Malmesbury and Viscount Winchendon in the Jacobite Peerage, by James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender. The title had no legal validity in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Wharton then went to Ireland where, at the age of 18, he entered the Irish House of Lords as Marquess of Catherlough. When he was 19 years old, in 1718, he was created Duke of Wharton by King George I of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, part of an effort to solidify his support. In 1719, Wharton’s wife gave birth to a son named Thomas, but the child died in a smallpox epidemic the next year. From that point on, Wharton had little to do with his wife.

In 1730, he renounced James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, and the Jacobite cause. In advanced stages of alcoholism, he and his wife moved to the Royal Cistercian Abbey of Poblet, in Catalonia, where he died on June 1, 1731. His widow returned to London, with the aid of James, the Old Pretender.

When Wharton’s Will was proved in court in 1736, she was able to live comfortably in society in London. Wharton’s titles became extinct on his death, other than Baron Wharton which was inherited by his sister Jane Wharton, 7th Baroness Wharton.

Thomas à Becket?

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English Nobility, King Henry II of the English, Leonardo da Vinci, Pope Alexander III, Thomas à Becket, Thomas à Kempen, Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket (December 21, 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 29, 1170) is also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket.

He was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then notably as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry II, King of the English, over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral.

On February 21, 1173 – little more than two years after his death – he was canonised by Pope Alexander III in St Peter’s Church, Segni.

This simple blog post is about his name. When I began studying European Royalty back in the late 1970s and early 1980s any publication I read about Thomas Becket and King Henry II refered to him as Thomas à Becket. This was before the internet so these publications I speak of were books or articles in history related journals.

Today However, the name Thomas à Becket, (emphasis on the “à”) has disappeared from books and journals and even online.

I believe the reason the name Thomas à Becket is no longer in use is because the name is not historically accurate, or contemporary, as in it wasn’t in usage during the time in which he lived, meaning nor did he use it himself.

Henry II, King of the English

It wasn’t until the 1500s when the “à” was added to his name.The “à” is French and It roughly translates to the word “of”, so his name would be something like “Thomas of the Beckets”. The mark above the letter a is called a grave and in French is used to distinguish it as different than a regular “a”.

Historians speculate that this adaptation of Becket’s name and may have been based on Thomas à Kempis, which basically means “Thomas of Kempen” where Kempen identifies the place where he lived.

Incidentally, this is the same as with Leonardo da Vinci and many other historical figures known by their personal name and their birth place or home town.

In his Renaissance Florentine name, he properly referred to by his given first name, Leonardo, but the name da Vinci is an indicator of birthplace, not a family name. Leonardo da Vinci in Italian is “Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci” which in a direct English translation means, Leonardo, son of ser Piero from Vinci.

Thomas Becket was born c. 1119, or in 1120 according to later tradition, at Cheapside, London, on December 21, the feast day of St Thomas the Apostle. He was the son of Gilbert and Matilda Beket. Gilbert’s father was from Thierville in the lordship of Brionne in Normandy, and was either a small landowner or a petty knight.

The murder of Thomas Becket

Matilda was also of Norman descent – her family may have originated near Caen. Gilbert was perhaps related to Theobald of Bec, whose family was also from Thierville. Gilbert began his life as a merchant, perhaps in textiles, but by the 1120s he was living in London and was a property owner, living on the rental income from his properties. He also served as the sheriff of the city at some point. Becket’s parents were buried in Old St Paul’s Cathedral.

There is a legend that claims Thomas’s mother was a Saracen princess who met and fell in love with his English father while he was on Crusade or pilgrimage in the Holy Land, followed him home, was baptised and married him. This story has no truth to it, being a fabrication from three centuries after the saint’s martyrdom, inserted as a forgery into Edward Grim’s 12th-century Life of St Thomas. Matilda is occasionally known as Rohise.

In the near future I will discuss in-depth the life of Thomas Becket and his conflicts with King Henry II of the English.

The History of the Title, Duke of Northumberland. Part I.

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1st Duke of Northumberland., 1st Duke of Somerset, Edward Seymour, House of Tudor, John Dudley, King Edward VI of England and Ireland, King Henry VIII of England and Ireland, Lord Protector of England

From The Emperor’s Desk: In this first entry I will go into some detail concerning the first Duke of Northumberland. However, in subsequent entries I may not cover each Duke of Northumberland with such detail. John Dudley is a fascinating subject as the first Duke, during the most interesting period in English history, namely, the Tudor period.

The title Dukedom of Northumberland, is not to be confused with the title Earl of Northumberland which deserves its own blog entry.

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Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland.

Coat of Arms of the Dukedom of Northumberland

1551 Creation

John Dudley was the eldest of three sons of Edmund Dudley, a councillor of King Henry VII, and his second wife Elizabeth Grey, daughter of Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Lisle. His father was attainted and executed for high treason in 1510, having been arrested immediately after Henry VIII’s accession because the new king needed scapegoats for his predecessor’s (Henry VII) unpopular financial policies.

In January 1537, Dudley was made Vice-Admiral and began to apply himself to naval matters. He was Master of the Horse to Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, and in 1542 returned to the House of Commons as MP for Staffordshire but was soon promoted to the House of Lords following 12 March 1542, when he became Viscount Lisle after the death of his stepfather Arthur Plantagenet and “by the right of his mother”. Being now a peer, Dudley became Lord Admiral and a Knight of the Garter in 1543; he was also admitted to the Privy Council.

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland

Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG (died March 3, 1542) was an illegitimate son of King Edward IV of England, half-brother-in-law of Henry VII, and an uncle of Henry VIII, at whose court he was a prominent figure and by whom he was appointed Lord Deputy of Calais (1533–40). The survival of a large collection of his correspondence in the Lisle Letters makes his life one of the best documented of his era.

John Dudley, popularly fêted and highly regarded by King Henry as a general, became a royal intimate who played cards with the ailing monarch. Next to Edward Seymour, Prince Edward’s maternal uncle, Dudley was one of the leaders of the Reformed party at court, and both their wives were among the friends of Anne Askew, the Protestant martyr destroyed by Bishop Stephen Gardiner in July 1546.

Upon the death of King Henry VIII in January 1547 the 16 executors of Henry VIII’s will also embodied the Regency Council that had been appointed to rule collectively during King Edward VI’s minority. The new Council agreed on making Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford Lord Protector with full powers, which in effect were those of a prince.

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (1500 – January 22, 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VIII. He was Lord Protector of England from 1547 to 1549 during the minority of his nephew King Edward VI (1547–1553). Despite his popularity with the common people, his policies often angered the gentry.

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector of England

At the same time the Council awarded themselves a round of promotions based on Henry VIII’s wishes; the Earl of Hertford became the Duke of Somerset and John Dudley was created Earl of Warwick. The new Earl had to pass on his post of Lord Admiral to Somerset’s brother, Thomas Seymour, but advanced to Lord Great Chamberlain.

The new Earl of Warwick was perceived as the most important man next the Lord Protector, he was on friendly terms with Somerset, who soon reopened the war with Scotland. Dudley accompanied him as second-in-command with a taste for personal combat.

Dudley consolidated his power through institutional manoeuvres and by January 1550 was in effect the new regent. On February 2, 1550 he became Lord President of the Council, with the capacity to debar councillors from the body and appoint new ones.

Dudley excluded the Duke of Southampton and other conservatives, but arranged Somerset’s release and his return to the Privy Council and Privy Chamber. In June 1550 Dudley’s heir John married Somerset’s daughter Anne as a mark of reconciliation.

Yet Somerset soon attracted political sympathizers and hoped to re-establish his power by removing Dudley from the scene, “contemplating”, as he later admitted, the Lord President’s arrest and execution. Relying on his popularity with the masses, he campaigned against and tried to obstruct Dudley’s policies.

Dudley’s elevation as Duke of Northumberland came on October 11, 1551 with the Duke of Somerset participating in the ceremony. Five days later Somerset was arrested, while rumours about supposed plots of his circulated. He was accused of having planned a “banquet massacre”, in which the council were to be assaulted and Dudley killed.

Somerset was acquitted of treason, but convicted of felony for raising a contingent of armed men without a licence. He was executed on January 22, 1552. While technically lawful, these events contributed much to Northumberland’s growing unpopularity.

King Edward VI of England and Ireland

Dudley himself, according to a French eyewitness, confessed before his own end that “nothing had pressed so injuriously upon his conscience as the fraudulent scheme against the Duke of Somerset”.

The 15-year-old King Edward VI fell ill in early 1553 and excluded his half-sisters, Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth, whom he regarded as illegitimate, from the succession, designating non-existent, hypothetical male heirs. As his death approached, King Edward VI changed his will so that his Protestant cousin Lady Jane Grey, Northumberland’s daughter-in-law, could inherit the Crown.

To what extent the Duke influenced this scheme is uncertain. The traditional view is that it was Northumberland’s plot to maintain his power by placing his family on the throne.

Many historians see the project as genuinely Edward VI’s, enforced by Dudley after the King’s death. The Duke did not prepare well for this occasion. Having marched to East Anglia to capture Mary, he surrendered on hearing that the Privy Council had changed sides and proclaimed Lady Mary as queen.

Convicted of high treason, Northumberland returned to Catholicism and abjured the Protestant faith before his execution. Having secured the contempt of both religious camps, popularly hated, and a natural scapegoat, he became the “wicked Duke” — in contrast to his predecessor Somerset, the “good Duke”.

Over a century later, An illegitimate son of one of his younger sons, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Sir Robert Dudley, claimed the dukedom when in exile in Italy. On March 9, 1620 the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II officially recognised the title, an act which infuriated James I-VI of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Only since the 1970s has John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, has also been seen as a Tudor Crown servant: self-serving, inherently loyal to the incumbent monarch, and an able statesman in difficult times.

December 28, 1665: Birth of Lieutenant-General George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland.

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1st Duke of Northumberland., Barbara Villiers, Catherine Wheatley, Countess of Castlemaine, Duchess of Cleveland, Duke of Grafton, Henry FitzRoy, King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland, Lieutenant-General George FitzRoy, Mary Dutton, Peerage of England

Lieutenant-General George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (December 28, 1665 – June 28, 1716) was the third and youngest illegitimate son of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland (‘Charles the Black’) by Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine (also known as Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland); he was the fifth of Charles’s eight illegitimate sons.

On October 1, 1674, he was created Earl of Northumberland, Baron of Pontefract (Yorkshire) and Viscount Falmouth (Cornwall) in the Peerage of England. On April 6, 1683, he was created 1st Duke of Northumberland, also in the Peerage of England.

King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland

The title Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain.

He was described as a most worthy man and as “…a tall Black Man like his father the King.”

In 1682, he was employed on secret service in Venice. Upon his return to England in 1684, he was elected (January 10) and installed (April 8) Knight of the Garter. That summer, he served as a volunteer on the side of the French at the Siege of Luxembourg.

In March 1686, Northumberland married Catherine Wheatley, the daughter of a poulterer, Robert Wheatley of Bracknell in Berkshire. Catherine was the widow of Thomas Lucy of Charlecote Park, a captain in the Royal Horse Guards.

Soon after the marriage, which was not a happy one,
Northumberland and his brother, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton, allegedly attempted to privately convey her abroad to an English convent in Ghent, Belgium. After the death of Catherine in 1714, Northumberland remarried to Mary Dutton, the sister of Captain Mark Dutton.

Lieutenant-General George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland

In 1687, Northumberland commanded the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards. A year later, he was appointed a lord of His Majesty’s bedchamber. In 1701, he was appointed Constable of Windsor Castle, in 1710 Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, and in 1712, he became Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire as well. In 1703, he succeeded the Earl of Oxford as Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse.

Seven years later, on January 10, 1710, he became Lieutenant-General in the British Army. Lieutenant general (Lt Gen), is a senior rank in the British Army and the Royal Marines. It is the equivalent of a multinational three-star rank.

On April 7, 1713, the Duke of Northumberland was sworn into the Privy Council and as Chief Butler of England.

The Duke lived at Frogmore House at Windsor in Berkshire, but died suddenly aged 50 at Epsom on June 28, 1716. Because he had no legitimate offspring, all the titles became extinct upon his death.

Mary, Dowager Duchess of Northumberland, died at Frogmore House in 1738.

December 23, 1910: Birth of Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Countess of Barcelona

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Countess of Barcelona, Francisco Franco, House of Bourbon, House of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, Infante Juan of Spain, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Countess of Barcelona (December 23, 1910 – January 2, 2000) was a Spanish noblewoman who married Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, the claimant to the Spanish throne.

María was born in Madrid, daughter of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, a grandson of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, and his second wife, Princess Louise of Orléans, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, a pretender to the French throne.

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Countess of Barcelona

She was granted, at birth, the rank and precedence of an infanta of Spain, although not the actual use of the title itself, her own being Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Her family moved to Seville, when her father was made Captain General of that province. When the Second Spanish Republic forced them into exile, they lived in Cannes and later in Paris, where she studied art at the Louvre.

On January 14, 1935, at a party, in Rome, hosted by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy for the wedding next day of Infanta Beatriz of Spain, daughter of King Alfonso XIII, to Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi, she met the brother of the bride, her second cousin and future husband, the Infante Juan of Spain, fourth son and designated heir of Alfonso XIII and his wife Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Infante Juan became heir apparent to the defunct Spanish throne after the renunciations of his two older brothers, Infante Alfonso and infante Jaime, in 1933. To assert his claim to the throne, following his father’s death he used the title of Count of Barcelona, a sovereign title associated with the Spanish crown.

Marriage of Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona

They married in Rome on October 12, 1935. When her husband took up the title Count of Barcelona as a title of pretence on March 8, 1941, María became the Countess of Barcelona. They had four children.

Issue

1. Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz (July 30, 1936 – January 8, 2020)

2. King Juan Carlos I of Spain (born January 5, 1938)

3. Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (born March 6, 1939)

4. Infante Alfonso of Spain (October 3, 1941 – March 29, 1956)

They lived in Cannes and Rome, and, with the outbreak of World War II, they moved to Lausanne to live with Infante Juan’s mother Queen Victoria Eugenie. Afterwards, they resided at Estoril, on the Portuguese Riviera.

Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona

When General Francisco Franco declared Spain a monarchy in 1947, he characterized it as a “restoration”. However, Franco was afraid that Juan would roll back the Spanish State because he favoured a constitutional monarchy, which would restore parliamentary democracy. As a result, in 1969, Franco passed over Juan in favour of Juan’s son, Juan Carlos, who Franco believed would be more likely to continue his dictatorship after his death.

In 1953, the Countess represented the Spanish Royal Family at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

In 1976, one year after the monarchy was restored in Spain in the person of her son, Juan Carlos, they returned to Spain. She mediated between her son and her husband, estranged since Juan Carlos had been designated heir by Franco.

In 1977 Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, formally renounced his rights to the Spanish throne eight years after being displaced as recognised heir to the throne by Franco. In return, his son officially granted him the title of Count of Barcelona, which he had claimed for so long.

After his death in 1993, he was buried with honours due a king, under the name Juan III (his title if he had become king) in the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, near Madrid.

The Countess of Barcelona broke her hip in 1982 and the left femur in 1985, which forced her to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She became a widow in 1993 with the death of her husband the Count of Barcelona.

The Countess of Barcelona was a fervid fan of bull fighting and of the Andalusian culture. In 1995, her granddaughter Infanta Elena married in Seville in part because the Countess’ love for the city.

The Countess of Barcelona died of a heart attack in the Royal Residence of La Mareta, in Lanzarote, where the royal family had gathered to celebrate the New Year. She was buried with the honors of a queen at the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid.

December 1, 1241: Death of Isabella of England, Holy Roman Empress

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Emperor Friedrich II, Gloucester Castle, Holy Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empress, Isabella of Angouleme, Isabella of England, King Alexander II of Scotland, King Henry III of England, King John of England, Pierre II of Courtenay

Isabella of England (1214 – December 1, 1241) was an English princess of the House of Plantagenet. She became Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Sicily, Italy and Germany from 1235 until her death as the third wife of Emperor Friedrich II.

Birth and early years

Isabella was born around 1214 as the fourth child and second daughter of John, King of England and his second wife Isabella of Angoulême. Isabella of Angoulême was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulême, by Alice of Courtenay, who was a sister of Pierre II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople.

Alice and Pierre II were grandchildren of King Louis VI of France through their father Pierre I of Courtenay.

Isabella’s exact date of birth is unknown, and the year is calculated based on the fact that Matthew Paris reported that the princess got married at the age of 21. By the time Isabella was born, her parents’ marriage had already started to unravel, and the princess spent most of the time with her mother.

After the death of King John in 1216, Isabella remained in the full care of her mother and was with her until 1220, when Isabella of Angouleme remarried Count Hugh X of Lusignan and left the English court.

The princess was raised from an early age by the “nurse and governess” Margaret Biset, who received for her services from 1219, by order of her brother King Henry III, one penny a day “from the hands of the Viscount Hereford”; she remained within Isabella’s household and accompanied her to Germany sixteen years later, when the princess married.

The services of the rest of the princess’s servants (cook, stableman and others) were also paid by her brother, and by his order, when some of Isabella’s servants retired from her service, they were assigned a generous pension.

The first years of Isabella’s life were spent in Gloucester Castle. Later, when the problems that accompanied the early years of the her brother’s reign ended, she was transported to the court, at first located in Woodstock and then in Westminster. From time to time, the princess with her family visited other royal residences: Winchester, Marlborough, Northampton, York and others.

Youth

In June 1220 or 1221 Isabella’s older sister, Joan, was betrothed to King Alexander II of Scotland, and according to the marriage contract, if Joan did not have time to return to England by Michael’s Day (September 29), within two weeks after that, the Scottish King was to marry Isabella.

Twice over the next ten years, King Henry III tried to marry off his sister (probably Isabella): first, in 1225, were negotiations for a marriage with King Heinrich (VII) of Germany (who ten years later became Isabella’s stepson) and then to King Louis IX of France.

Once the princess got older, the more she loved privacy. In November 1229, with the permission of her brother, she departed for Marlborough Castle, which became her residence; at this time, reconstruction was being completed in the castle, and King Henry III ordered the constable of the castle to allow his sister to choose any quarters she wanted.

The relationship between brother and sister was very warm, and the King visited Isabella several times: he visited Marlborough during the celebration of the wedding of “the maiden Catherine” who served Isabella, and also visited his sister in 1231 and 1232 at Gloucester Castle.

On November 13, 1232, King Henry III sent his personal tailor to his sister to make her a new full wardrobe. The King also celebrated Christmas with Isabella that year; he sent her three of the best dishes from his table and presented many gifts, and then for several months he sent her the items needed to equip the princess’s own chapel.

Provisions for Isabella and her guests were provided by “two or three worthy men” from Gloucester, while wine and venison were regularly sent to his sister by the King, who also provided one of his fish suppliers for use by Isabella. The royal chaplain, Warin, who served Isabella, was also granted to his sister by the King. In the summer of 1232, Isabella returned to Marlborough Castle.

In 1234, Isabella left seclusion and settled in the Tower of London. In November, the twice-widowed Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor at a friendly meeting at Rieti, received the advice of Pope Gregory IX to ask Isabella’s hand, and in February 1235 he sent an embassy to King Henry III headed by his chancellor Pietro della Vigna.

The marriage of Isabella and Emperor Friedrich II was designed to strengthen the political alliance of England and the Holy Roman Empire against France. After three days of discussion, King Henry III agreed to the marriage; Isabella was brought from her quarters in the Tower to the Palace of Westminster, where she met with the ambassadors, who “declared her the most worthy of the imperial brides”, put a wedding ring on her finger and greeted her as their Empress.

On February 23, 1235, an agreement was signed, according to which King Henry III provided his sister with a dowry of 30,000 marks (an amount sought by the Emperor in order to fund his wars in northern Italy), which was to be paid within two years, and as a wedding gift he gave her all the necessary utensils, jewelry, horses and rich clothes, all made according to the latest German fashion; also, the princess received patent letters from the Emperor, giving Isabella, as Queen of Sicily and Holy Roman Empress the possession of the lands due to her.

On 27 February both parties signed the marriage contract: the marriage of the English princess with the Holy Roman Emperor was greeted with enthusiasm by both King Henry III and by the common people, although the latter was greatly disappointed by the enormous “help” required of him on this occasion: the King had to levy an unpopular tax of two marks of silver per hide in order to afford Isabella’s dowry.

In early May 1235, Archbishop Heinrich I of Cologne and Duke Heinrch I of Brabant arrived in England to fetch the bride to her new homeland; Isabella departed from London on May 7 under the care and tutelage of the Bishop of Exeter, William Briwere.

The princess’s brothers accompanied her from Canterbury to Sandwich, from where Isabella sailed on May 11; four days later they landed at Antwerp. Before Isabella’s departure from England, the Emperor’s ambassadors swore to King Henry III that if the Emperor died before marriage to the princess could be completed, she would return home without hindrance and in complete safety.

It was rumored that on the way, the Emperor’s enemies, allied with the French king, tried to kidnap Isabella, but the escort provided by Emperor Friedrich II was able to protect the princess. On May 22 or 24, Isabella arrived in Cologne and stayed at the house of provost of St. Gereon, where the princess had to spend six weeks, while the Emperor was at war with his own son.

Empress

After a six-week wait, Emperor Friedrich II summoned his bride to Worms, where their official wedding took place and Isabella was crowned at Worms Cathedral by Archbishop Siegfried III of Mainz. Researchers disagree on the date of this double event: Alison Weir and Mary Anne Everett Green date it July 20, 1235; Kate Norgate, author of the article on Isabella in the Dictionary of National Biography, writes about Sunday 15 July, while James Panton lists both dates as possible.

Wedding celebrations lasted for four days, and, as they say, they attended “four kings, eleven dukes, counts and margraves, thirty or fewer prelates and minor nobles”. On 14 August, Emperor Friedrich II called an assembly to which representatives from all over the Empire were invited; they met the new empress and brought her their congratulations.

Isabella (or Elizabeth, as some of her husband’s subjects called her) seems to have been a very dignified and beautiful woman. Emperor Friedrich II was delighted with his new wife, but immediately after the wedding he got rid of the Isabella’s English entourage “of both sexes”, leaving only her nurse Margaret Biset and one maid with her, and transferred her to seclusion in Hagenau, where the couple spent most of the winter.

Earlier, the English embassy, which arrived with Isabella, left for their homeland; they brought gifts to their king from the emperor, among whom were three living leopards —animals depicted on the coat of arms of the English king.

Soon after the wedding, Emperor Friedrich II was forced to leave and leave his wife in the care of his son Conrad. In early 1236, Isabella and her husband visited Ravenna; part of the year the imperial couple spent in Italy, after which they returned to Germany.

Already being married, Isabella continued to maintain a relationship with her brother King Henry III: they maintained a regular correspondence, in which they communicated as warmly as strict etiquette allowed. Warm correspondence with the English king was conducted by the Emperor himself, but the name of his wife was mentioned in these letters occasionally and only regarding political issues.

In July, Emperor Friedrich II was preparing for a military campaign and was forced to leave his wife in Germany for almost a year.

By Michael’s Day, Emperor Friedrich II returned to Lombardy, where he summoned his wife and where he spent the winter with her. In September 1238, the emperor sent his wife to Andria, where Isabella remained until December, when the archbishop of Palermo escorted her back to Lombardy.

In early 1239, Isabella spent some time in Noventa Padovana while her husband was in Padua; in February 1240 she returned to southern Italy, where the emperor soon arrived. Emperor Friedrich II, it seems, respected and loved his wife, but in a quite strange manner: taking care of her safety and surrounding her with luxury and splendor, but keeping at a distance from himself and in company of his “harem”, which included women from Arabia; in addition, James Panton writes that the empress was forbidden to communicate with all men, except for the black eunuchs around her.

Isabella’s brother King Henry III complained that his sister was never allowed to “wear her crown” publicly or appear as empress at public meetings. In 1241, when her second brother, Richard of Cornwall, went to visit Friedrich on his way back from the Holy Land, only “after a few days” he was able “with the permission of the emperor and of his own free will” to visit his sister’s chambers. Friedrich did not allow Isabella to meet her brother at court.

Isabella died in childbirth at Foggia near Naples in 1241. Alison Weir dated Isabella’s death between December 1–6. While Kate Norgate and Mary Anne Everett Green believe that she died on December 1.

Friedrich II at the time of his wife’s death was in Faenza, and Isabella’s dying words were a request to her husband to continue to maintain friendly relations with her brother King Henry III. Isabella was buried with full honors at Andria Cathedral near Bari beside Friedrich II’s previous wife, Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem.

King Henry III was deeply saddened and shocked by his sister’s death. He ordered his almoner to distribute, “for the soul of the empress, our late sister,” over £200 in alms at Oxford and Ospringe; the same amount was distributed in London and Windsor. Matthew Paris lamented the death of Isabella, calling her “the glory and hope of England”.

November 28, 1499: Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick is Beheaded

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17th Earl of Warwick, Duke of Clarence, Edward Plantagenet, George Plantagenet, King Edward IV of England, King Henry VII of England, King Richard III of England, Lady Isabel Neville, Richard Neville

Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick (February 25, 1475 – November 28, 1499) was the son of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville and a potential claimant to the English throne during the reigns of both his uncle, Richard III (1483–1485), and Richard’s successor, Henry VII (1485–1509). He was also a younger brother of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury. Edward was tried and executed for treason in 1499.

Life

Edward Plantagenet was the son of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville.

George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (1449 – 1478), was the 6th son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III.

His mother was Lady Isabel Neville (1451 – 1476) was the elder daughter and co-heiress of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (the Kingmaker of the Wars of the Roses), and Anne de Beauchamp, suo jure 16th Countess of Warwick.

She was also the elder sister of Anne Neville, who was Princess of Wales as the wife of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, the only son and heir apparent of King Henry VI. Through her second marriage she was Queen of England as the wife of King Richard III.

Edward was born on February 25, 1475 at Warwick, the family home of his mother. At his christening, his uncle King Edward IV stood as godfather. He was styled as Earl of Warwick from birth, but was not officially granted the title until after his father’s death in 1478.

Edward’s potential claim to the throne following the deposition of his cousin Edward V in 1483 was overlooked because of the argument that the attainder of his father barred Warwick from the succession (although that could have been reversed by an Act of Parliament). Despite this, he was knighted at York by Richard III in September 1483.

In 1480, Edward was made a ward of King Edward IV’s stepson, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, who as his guardian had the power to decide whom he would marry. Clements Markham, writing in 1906, claimed that Richard III had “liberated” Edward from the Tower of London, where Dorset had placed him; however, there are no contemporary sources for this claim, although Dorset was Constable of the Tower.

Dominic Mancini wrote that Richard, on becoming king, “gave orders that the son of the duke of Clarence, his other brother, then a boy of ten years old, should come to the city: and commanded that the lad should be kept in confinement in the household of his wife”.

John Rous (died 1492) wrote that after the death of Richard III’s only legitimate son, Edward of Middleham, Richard III named Edward Earl of Warwick as heir to the throne; however, there is no other evidence for this, and historians have pointed out that it would be illogical for Richard to claim that Clarence’s attainder barred Warwick from the throne while at the same time naming him as his heir.

However, in 1485, upon the death of Richard’s queen, Anne, Edward was created Earl of Salisbury by right of his mother, who was a co-heiress with Anne to the earldom.

Imprisonment and execution

After King Richard III’s death in 1485, Edward, Earl of Warwick, only ten years old, was kept as prisoner in the Tower of London by Henry VII. His claim to the English throne, albeit tarnished, remained a potential threat to Henry VII, particularly after the appearance of the pretender Lambert Simnel in 1487.

In 1490, he was confirmed in his title of Earl of Warwick despite his father’s attainder (his claim to the earldom of Warwick being through his mother). But he remained a prisoner until 1499, when he became involved (willingly or unwillingly) in a plot to escape with Perkin Warbeck.

On November 21, 1499, Edward, Earl of Warwick appeared at Westminster for a trial before his peers, presided over by John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. A week later, Edward, Earl of Warwick was beheaded for treason on Tower Hill.

Henry VII paid for his body and head to be taken to Bisham Abbey in Berkshire for burial. It was thought at the time that the Earl of Warwick was executed in response to pressure from Fernando II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, whose daughter, Catherine of Aragon, was to marry Henry VII’s heir, Arthur. Catherine was said to feel very guilty about Warwick’s death, and believed that her trials in later life were punishment for it.

A number of historians have claimed that Warwick had a mental disability. This conclusion appears entirely based on the chronicler Edward Hall’s contention that Warwick’s lengthy imprisonment from a young age had left him “out of all company of men, and sight of beasts, in so much that he could not discern a goose from a capon.”

Upon Warwick’s death, the House of Plantagenet became extinct in the legitimate male line. However, the surviving sons of his aunt Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk, continued to claim the throne for the Yorkist line.