Bastard Prince Read online

  When it was first decided that Richmond should go to the north as the king’s lieutenant little can have been known about his capabilities. In a sense it did not matter. His blood relationship to the king, his titles and his physical presence all served the required purpose. However, he gradually began to attract notice from abroad. In April 1526 when James V, King of Scotland, sent some papers to Wolsey he desired to be recommended to his cousin. The following month Richmond was included in a list of nobility drawn up by the members of the Cognac League to whom they offered pensions out of any lands conquered in Italy, as part of their plan to persuade Henry VIII to take up arms against Charles V. Richmond was to receive 30,000 ducats per annum. His inclusion was more than an obvious piece of flattery, it reflected Richmond’s role as the premier magnate in England. Wolsey was only promised 10,000 ducats, although, in this case, their generosity may also have been prompted by Richmond’s presence at court.

  The duke’s own movements are often poorly documented. Reliance on the correspondence of his council has perpetuated the view that he was continually resident in the north. However, Richmond’s person was not required for the day to day running of his council, which frequently decamped to Newcastle or Carlisle without him. Even the various removals of his household are only a general guide to the actual location of the duke. Such speculation is not helped by the fact that Richmond’s own correspondence is seldom dated to any particular year. However, just as Mary did not spend all her time in the Welsh Marches during this period, so Muriel St Clare Byrne offers reasonable grounds to suggest that Richmond was back at Collyweston in Northamptonshire by February 1526.5 Furthermore, his name on a charter drawn up at Westminster raises the possibility that he was at court in May 1526. He seems to have been back at Sheriff Hutton by September 1526 when Thomas Magnus included his request for the Cardinal’s blessing in his letter. Yet, it is entirely possible that the king’s Lieutenant-General north of the Trent spent at least some of 1526 in the south.

  In common with any large household of the sixteenth century, the needs of health and hygiene required that Richmond and his entourage should move at regular intervals to allow Sheriff Hutton to be thoroughly cleaned. However, since he lacked any other suitable manor in the vicinity, another lodging had to be found. From 1526, he habitually spent the winter months at Pontefract Castle. Rather like Sheriff Hutton this also required extensive repairs, which cost in excess of £198. It was here that Richmond spent Christmas in 1526, sending to his father for his New Year’s gift two little gilt pots, engraved with branches. In contrast to their anxiety the previous year, the council’s obligatory letter to Wolsey reflected a certain satisfaction:

  his said Grace hath kept a right honourable Christmas and to visit see and attend upon his said Grace here hath been good number of honourable and worshipful personages both spiritual and temporal and many honest folk of the commonalty.6

  This year Richmond was also persuaded to write to his father in thanks for his present, a large gilt bowl with a cover, ‘pounced with great drops’, which weighed 48 ounces.

  His letter is as brief as any modern parent might expect from a young child struggling to express his gratitude for a heavy, expensive gift that had far more to do with status and prestige than the interests of a seven-year-old boy. In a very elegant hand he politely asked his father’s blessing, delivered up his thanks for the ‘honourable and goodly’ gift before closing ‘humbly beseeching your grace to accept and take this my letter penned with mine own hand for a poor token at this time’.

  This period also marked Richmond’s initial foray into the myriad waters of diplomacy. Sir Thomas Magnus received letters from James V and his mother, Margaret Tudor, asking for a selection of hunting dogs. Suspecting that this was simply a ruse for the King of Scotland’s messenger to inspect Richmond and investigate the ‘manner, form and fashion’ of his household, Magnus decided to turn the situation to Richmond’s advantage and foster good relations between the young Warden-General of the northern borders and his cousin, ‘trusting no thing but much goodness, perfect love, and favour, by this means shall increase’. He showed the letters to Richmond. The duke reacted with enthusiasm and on 11 February 1527 ‘ten couple of hounds of the best that I have’ were dispatched to Scotland along with Nicholas Eton, his yeoman of the hunt and a groom to show the correct method of using the dogs.

  The Scots warmly received the overture. James V thanked Richmond for his present and reciprocated with a gift of two brace of hounds and a promise of red hawks. As Magnus advised Wolsey, James had formally expressed his gratitude ‘for inducing acquaintance between him and my lord of Richmond’s grace’, although the king was perhaps most keen to obtain the bloodhounds Richmond had mentioned. Nevertheless, Magnus considered the matter important enough to send copies of all the letters to Wolsey. He was particularly pleased that Richmond’s servants had been lavishly entertained and well rewarded while in Scotland, since their treatment reflected the respect and esteem in which the duke was held across the border.

  Before the month was out this blossoming relationship underwent its first political test. On 26 March 1527 Richmond wrote, in his official capacity as Warden-General of the north, to the King of Scotland about the refusal of the inhabitants of Liddesdale in the border country to comply with an order for redress in respect of several robberies that had been committed by the Scots. James V’s reply was co-operative, promising to send the Earl of Angus to see to the matter and Magnus had every reason to hope that the initiative had been beneficial.

  On a personal level, James V was probably very pleased with his new hunting dogs and Margaret was almost gushing in her professed affection for her nephew. After all the effort which had gone into creating an aura of power and dignity around the duke, it must have been gratifying to see Richmond being treated with such respect by the ruler of another country. However, if the relationship was to bear real fruit, this in itself was not enough. Unfortunately, tangible rewards were more elusive. A case in point was the fugitive Sir William Lisle and his supporters. In the autumn of 1527 Lisle, who had long been a thorn in the side of Richmond’s council, escaped from Newcastle jail. It was believed he had fled into Scotland. Richmond’s council wrote time and again to the Scots to secure his arrest, but to no avail.

  Fuelled by the belief that the Lisles were being aided by the Armstrongs, some of whom were the Earl of Angus’s own servants, the council persevered. After more than a year they advised Wolsey rather wearily:

  My Lord of Richmond’s grace hath often and many times written . . . for the apprehending taking and delivering of the said Sir William Lisle . . . and at all times we have had right pleasant answers but as yet nothing is done by them to any good effect or purpose.7

  The personal relationship between the two young princes, rooted in a mutual love of sport and hunting, gave an added lustre to Richmond’s position, but it was not strong enough to achieve any real progress in Anglo-Scottish relations. For all their fine words the Scots continued to follow their own agenda and Richmond’s tenure in the north was not of sufficient duration to effect any long term gains.

  About this time Richmond also made his first foray into the world of matrimonial diplomacy. This in itself was not surprising. Henry was not overendowed with marriageable issue and Richmond was older than most royal infants when launched into the marriage market. However, in this case the circumstances were a little unorthodox. In February 1527 a letter from the English ambassadors in Spain, Sir Gregory Casale and John Russell, advised Wolsey of the competition for the hand of Catherine de Medici, known as the Pope’s niece.8 With Scottish and French interest so strong, the ambassadors, who stressed they had acted ‘upon our own mind’ rather than by commission from the king, had made some discreet enquiries. Presenting Richmond as ‘a Duke in England’ who might spend twice as much as any of the present candidates, they said it had been known at once who they meant and it was thought the Pope would be happy to have such an alliance.r />
  Such a bold step would not have been taken unless they were sure that it would be well received by Henry. If Richmond’s usefulness as a tool in the marriage market was indeed a factor in his elevation, it is perhaps surprising that negotiations had not already been put in hand. However, this was rather a delicate situation. Catherine de Medici was a valuable prize. Those interested in the bride who was eventually won by Henri, duc d’Orléans, the second son of Francis I, included James V of Scotland. While English diplomats might claim that Richmond was a comparable match, there was no guarantee that the Medicis would feel the same way. While royal bastards had their place in the marriage market, their illegitimate status was expected to be taken into consideration. Henry VIII’s recent gift of 30,000 crowns had no doubt encouraged the Pope to look favourably on England, but this gift was intended to secure his support for a marriage between Mary and Francis I and was unlikely to stretch to cover this alliance as well. Better perhaps for the ambassadors to make enquiries, rather than for the king to make an official overture, only to have it ignobly and embarrassingly rebuffed.

  In the event, this match was not pursued, perhaps because by March 1527 Wolsey was lobbying for a marriage between Richmond and Charles V’s niece, the Infanta Mary of Portugal, born in 1522. Wolsey claimed his chief interest was that the children were of a similar age. Yet, as Wolsey was very well aware, the infanta in question was already betrothed to the Dauphin of France. Under the terms of the Treaty of Madrid, Francis I was due to wed the emperor’s sister, Queen Eleanor of Portugal, and her daughter Mary was to marry Francis’ heir. From the English point of view such a close alliance between France and Spain could only be detrimental, if not outright dangerous. There was a firm possibility that England would be isolated from European affairs. Wolsey and the king had already taken steps to counter this arrangement. Their initial proposal that Mary might marry the duc d’Orléans had become a suggestion that she might marry Francis I himself. Henry’s terms were tempting9 and in February 1527 a marriage between Mary and Francis had begun to seem a very real possibility.

  However, by the time the negotiations for Richmond’s marriage were broached, Mary’s match was looking increasingly fragile. The sticking point was the Treaty of Madrid. If Francis decided to honour his commitment and marry Eleanor, then the English needed to find another way to ensure their participation at the centre of European affairs. If Richmond married Mary of Portugal, not only would it keep England in the game, but also it would break her engagement to the dauphin, which would free him to marry Mary Tudor. At a stroke England would secure both a French and an Imperial alliance, which would do much to realise Wolsey’s dreams of becoming the arbiter of Europe. The danger was that England was not the only player in these games of dynastic diplomacy and when the stakes were so high an illegitimate son was not exactly a trump card.

  Anxious not to cause offence, the English ambassadors assured Charles V that if there had been a suitable Hapsburg prince for Mary to marry, they would have offered him the princess. Nevertheless, Richmond was a close blood relative of the king, full of excellent qualities and with the wealth and status of a great prince. Significantly, Mendoza, the Imperial ambassador in England, was satisfied that Henry’s affection for his illegitimate son was so strong that Richmond’s marriage would be treated with the same ‘honour and regard’ as any match of his daughter’s, the princess. The English ambassadors’ further claim that Richmond ‘may be easily by the King’s means exalted to higher things’ has sometimes been taken as an indication that he would be made Henry’s heir. Neither Henry nor Wolsey was above attempting to encourage Charles V to believe that the English throne was a prospect in the negotiations. However, in the climate of 1527, it seems far more likely they had something else in mind.

  For all of their efforts in singing Richmond’s praises the English ambassadors had been unable to extract more than a vague promise from Charles V that he would try and think of some female relation for Richmond to marry. Then a rumour emerged that Henry and Wolsey were hatching a plan to make Richmond King of Ireland. Whether or not this move was ever seriously entertained, the speculation certainly seems timed to enhance Richmond’s desirability in the marriage stakes. According to the rumour, prior to her marriage to Francis I, Mary and Henry would both renounce all their rights in Ireland, in favour of the duke. It was obviously supposed to be an attractive idea. With Mary allied to the French, the emperor might see some advantage in having a political interest right on England’s shores.

  If this was the case, the ploy was not entirely successful. It was immediately assumed that ‘it would be tantamount to having a second King of Scotland’, making Ireland as great a threat to England as Scotland already proved to be. Since the Archbishop of York, Dr Edward Lee, was quick to reassure that the king and Wolsey could take steps so this would not happen, it does seem the plan was being seriously considered. Even so, it was full of pitfalls.

  The Imperial ambassador’s claim that it was ‘most unwelcome’ among the English people was part of his ploy to represent the country as ripe for rebellion, as he was also hinting broadly (and unsuccessfully) that Charles V should launch an invasion of England in order to protect the interests of his aunt and cousin. However, Katherine was predictably annoyed at this apparent diminishment of her daughter’s prospects and, more seriously, Mary was presently being offered to the French as Henry’s heir apparent. Francis I was not likely to take kindly to the alienation of any part of her inheritance. Finally, Cardinal Grenvelle, who often directed Imperial policy when bouts of illness or depression left Charles V indisposed, had no trouble seeing through the whole plan as a ‘wicked scheme’ to fracture the Treaty of Madrid.

  Grenvelle suggested that Charles should wait until Henry was as good as his word. If he went through with this outrageous idea, they could easily find some other Hapsburg princess for Richmond to marry, one rather more suited to his age and bastard status. Unfortunately for Henry and Wolsey, the Imperial court was only prepared to accept Richmond in a possible marriage alliance when it was to its advantage. In the present circumstances the Infanta of Portugal was too valuable a prize to be sacrificed in such a way. Grenvelle was scornful of the very idea:

  The cardinal’s overtures to Don Inigo respecting the king’s illegitimate son, and the intention of conferring upon him the title of king, together with the proposal for his marriage, might be considered in the light of a joke, were it not that the cardinal’s presumption and folly are well known.10

  However, Grenvelle was reluctant to reject the proposal out of hand and suggested to Charles that he should make all the right noises. He could easily take refuge in the fact that he was bound by the Treaty of Madrid and the not unreasonable point that Mary of Portugal was not his daughter to bestow. Her father should decide whom she married. The idea of an alternative marriage for Richmond could be couched in vague enough terms to hold English interest, without needing to mention any names. Grenvelle himself confided that he thought one of Charles V’s other nieces, the daughters of Isabella, Queen of Denmark, or one of the emperor’s illegitimate daughters might make a suitable match.

  This, of course, was not what the English wanted at all. The suggestion of one of Isabella’s daughters was rapidly brushed aside. The ambassadors countered once again with Mary of Portugal, only to be met with the old protest that she was already betrothed to the dauphin. The English ambassadors stood firm, audaciously suggesting that if Francis I did not marry Eleanor, then Charles V would be looking for another dauphin to marry her daughter. This attempt to equate Richmond with the heir to the French throne was not well received and the Imperials did not scruple to point out that the English ‘dauphin’ was illegitimate and not quite the prize he was painted as. The ambassador’s protestations that the prospective bride and groom were of similar age was not well received either. It was bluntly suggested that Mary’s dowry of 300,000 doubloons was the real attraction. In fairness, the English ambassadors’ persistence
probably owed more to alarm over the increasing likelihood that Francis I intended to honour the treaty and marry Eleanor after all.

  By the middle of April 1527 it seemed all too possible that England would lose all prospect of either a French or an Imperial alliance. Wolsey’s stipulation that Mary, who everyone agreed was rather small for eleven, could not go to France for another ten months, gave the French an excuse to stall. The emperor’s unwillingness to match Richmond with Mary of Portugal and the English unwillingness to consider anyone else brought the Imperial talks to a standstill. The fleeting suggestion that Richmond should marry a French princess was clearly a fallback position. The French ambassador had already suggested to Francis I that a match with the Duke of Richmond might be a means to salvage negotiations with England. Yet, given that all the unmarried Hapsburgs were female and the French king had three sons, Richmond would have been wasted on a French match. When the English and French finally came to an agreement on 30 April, Mary looked destined for the lesser prize of the duc d’Orléans. Richmond did not feature in the arrangements.