Bastard Prince Read online

  From the outset there were indications that more might be asked of them than they could deliver. In a significant departure from previous models the authority of Richmond’s council was not confined to Yorkshire but extended right across the border counties, though it was not a complete departure from the traditional feudal form. The council was still responsible for the administration of Richmond’s lands and household. In January 1527 the surveyor and general receiver of his estates, Thomas Magnus, arranged ‘for divers great causes to meet with sundry my lord of Richmond’s officers in Lincolnshire’. He then made a substantial detour through Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire, in order ‘to survey and see my lord’s lands in those parts’. In a similar manner one of the council, William Franklyn, Archdeacon of Durham, was pressed into service to take a view of Richmond’s lands in the north. In addition, all manner of domestic concerns, from the order in the kitchen to the arrangements for Christmas, were as much part of their duties as the government and security of the north.

  It did not take long for these dual requirements to clash. Henry decided that Richmond should have a chapel at Sheriff Hutton ‘because the Lord Dacre and the Lord Latimer have chapels’. The council begged to be allowed to put this matter off until they had tackled the instructions they had already been given ‘for the good order as well of my said Lord’s household, as of the north parts of this realm, which we esteem to be matters of no small importance’. The government of the north was bound to be a difficult and time-consuming task; and the administration of the large and complex community that was a ducal household was also a significant undertaking. If one was to be preferred to the other, then the envisaged model of justice and domesticity was going to suffer.

  A second potential difficulty was the king’s and Wolsey’s evident inclination to use Richmond’s patronage as if it were their own. The cardinal’s role was by no means confined to setting up the establishment. In 1527 when the Duke of Norfolk wanted to place his servant in Richmond’s household, he was required to ask Wolsey ‘to write a letter unto my lord of Richmond’s council to admit him’ as he had been advised that they would not do so ‘without your grace’s letters to them directed for that purpose’. In his turn the cardinal, like any good lord, also assumed responsibility for promoting the welfare of Richmond’s servants. When the duke’s chamberlain, Sir William Parr, hoped to secure a grant of lands from the king, it was Wolsey who pressed his suit. While it was natural that Richmond’s officers should consult Wolsey regarding their role as the king’s Council of the North, their eagerness to defer to him over other matters was rather at odds with Richmond’s role as an independent magnate.

  The role of the king in his son’s affairs was even more complex. The creation of a separate household, financed from his own lands, did not stop Henry from regarding his son’s possessions as his to bestow. There was, of course, an element of royal prerogative in this, since even the most established magnate would be hard pressed to deny the express wish of the crown. When Henry VII had taken a liking to a manor-house at Woking, even his mother, despite her obvious reluctance, had deemed it wiser to relinquish the property.34 Richmond’s position was much less secure; Henry was his father as well as his king. Despite his extensive possessions he was still a minor and his illegitimate status meant his reliance on Henry’s favour was absolute. In March 1527, when a parsonage fell vacant in the manor of South Molton in Devon, Richmond’s council meekly sent up a blank paper, already embossed with Richmond’s seal, so that the king could chose the new incumbent. Yet if Henry truly wanted his son’s authority as a representative of the crown to be effective, then it had to be seen to be respected, even by him.

  While the child’s existence may have been generally known in court circles, no one knew how the country at large would receive him. When the young duke began his journey northwards to take up his responsibilities at Sheriff Hutton, his council meticulously recorded how he had been greeted:

  My Lord of Richmond departed from William Jekyll’s house unto my Lady Parrs, where his grace was marvelously well intreated and had good cheer . . . and from my Lady Parr’s unto Huntingdon no person of all the Country met with my Lord’s Grace saving only at Huntingdon [author’s italics], Dr Hall met his Grace without the town, and upon the bridge the bailiffs with the honest men of the town presented unto his grace, four great pikes and four tenches. And at Huntingdon the Abbot of Ramsey sent unto his Grace certain swans, cranes, and other wild fowl, in a present.35

  Everything was done to ensure that Richmond’s train would be an impressive sight as it wound its way across the country. His council, gentlemen and servants, were dressed in his livery of blue and yellow, crested with white. Each of them wore Richmond’s badge, a demi-lion rampant, bursting out of a Tudor rose, bordered with gold embroidery. The horses were elaborately trapped in cloth of gold or silver or rich satins and velvets. Richmond himself rode in a lavish horse litter that Wolsey provided for the occasion. Padded with crimson velvet and cloth of gold, this was also embroidered with his arms. No casual observer was to remain ignorant of who had just passed by.

  The sheer number of carts required to carry those things necessary to the state of a duke, including 120 sheaves of arrows, 20 gilt javelins in leather cases and 47 other javelins, must have added to the visual impact. The bill for carriage by land and water was over £90. Richmond’s wardrobe alone consisted of numerous doublets, short coats, long coats, cloaks, shirts, hose, bonnets and eight pairs of shoes. For the household there were vestments and altar cloths for his clergy; pewter, board cloths and napkins for his table and for the kitchen more than forty types of pots and pans, which all cost £1,193.36 Since they were so encumbered with bags and baggage, expedience alone must have demanded a leisurely pace, which also provided a perfect opportunity to show the duke off to the country in an appropriately stately manner.

  Following his investiture into the Order of the Garter, Richmond spent some time with his father at Hampton Court. Members of his household, including his tutor, John Palsgrave, and his Master of the Horse, Sir Edward Seymour, as well as a number of his councillors, had already begun to assemble. The child finally left from Sir William Jekyll’s house at Stoke Newington in Middlesex on 26 July 1525. From there he went to Northampton, where Lady Maud Parr (the mother of Henry VIII’s last wife, Katherine Parr), gave the young Duke ‘a grey ambling nag’. At this point the Duke of Norfolk and others, who were providing an honourable escort out of London, took their leave of Richmond, carrying messages from the duke and his company back to the king.

  Leaving Northampton the following morning, Richmond travelled north in daily stages, passing through Buntingford, Shengay and Huntingdon, where there was a day’s rest on the Sunday, until he reached Collyweston on 1 August. Once the favourite residence of Henry VIII’s grandmother, Margaret Beaufort, this was one of the properties granted to Richmond at his elevation. In a letter of 2 August, his council assured Wolsey that the duke was not finding the journey at all arduous, being ‘in better case [condition] and more lusty of his body, than his grace was at the first taking of his journey’.

  However, Wolsey’s expensive new horse litter, no doubt also intended as a concession for a small child over such a long distance, was not a success with the six-year-old duke. As his council apologetically reported:

  In all which journey my lord’s grace rode not in his horse litter, but only from William Jekyll’s house 3 or 4 miles, which riding in his said horse-litter his grace liked nothing; but ever since his grace hath ridden upon his hobby [pony], and hath been very well at ease.37

  If the pony was the ‘little bay ambling’ which Richmond was given by the Marquess of Dorset, then perhaps the excitement of the gift fuelled his determination to ride like the grown-ups. From the beginning Richmond showed every sign of being a lively and somewhat demanding charge, one not above exploiting his status in order to get his own way. It is perhaps as well to remember that while it was not unusual for royal chil
dren to be expected to perform in an adult manner this did not make them grown-up. Almost as if this was a minority government, the tension between the power and authority vested in the duke and the freedom of action actually allowed to the child would be an ongoing source of problems and dilemmas.

  The party broke their journey at Collyweston for a week. Not for the last time Richmond benefited from the extensive programme of improvements that Margaret Beaufort had made to her possessions. Collyweston boasted the particular comforts of a gallery, library and chapel. The gardens had been laid out with planted ponds and summer-houses, with an adjacent park for hunting and other sports. Richmond also seems to have reaped the rewards of another of his great-grandmother’s legacies. Margaret Beaufort had always been a popular local patron. Now, in his turn, local dignitaries warmly received Richmond when the Abbots of Peterborough and Crowland sent him ‘certain goodly presents of swans, crane and other wild fowl’.

  If Richmond felt in any way overawed by recent events there is no sign of it. During his stay Davy Cecil, the Keeper of Cliff Park and Steward of Collyweston took him hunting. It was afterwards proudly recorded that the six-year-old had ‘killed a buck himself’. Still mindful of exactly how Richmond was being treated the council also happily reported that Cecil, at his own expense, had ‘made his Grace and all his folks right good cheer’. Given the size of the child’s entourage this must have been quite a costly privilege for the steward.

  On 7 August the party finally left Collyweston on their next leg towards York. Now, news of Richmond’s impending arrival had begun to travel before him. Sir John Husse was eager to pay his respects and despite an affliction which left him barely able to ride, he expressed his intention of attending upon the duke when he passed through Grantham in Lincolnshire. The party continued on via Marton Abbey, near Stillington, until on 17 August the duke and his company at last arrived in York. They remained there until 28 August when Richmond was escorted from the city by his officers and members of the local gentry, who ‘attended on his grace and brought him on his way towards Sheriff Hutton’ to officially take up his new duties as the head of the king’s Council of the North.

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  Sheriff Hutton

  Sheriff Hutton Castle, where Richmond would be based for the next four years, was an imposing three-storey structure that dominated the local area from its elevated position. On his tour of England in 1534 John Leland ‘saw no house in the North so like a princely lodgings’. Passing through the magnificent gatehouse emblazoned with Yorkist crests, three wards or courtyards led to the great sweeping staircase, which gave access to the duke’s lodgings. However, the castle had last known greatness at the end of the previous century and had since fallen below the standard of a residence appropriate for a duke. While the chambers intended for Richmond were in reasonably good order, much of the rest of the castle had fallen into neglect and disrepair.

  A survey of the castle found that the lead on the roof was thin and worn, the stonework needed attention in several places and the chimneys (which clearly needed sweeping) were ‘very noisesome when they be occupied’. Even the apparently splendid towers needed patching or rebuilding. Large parts of the walls had actually fallen down and of the two sets of iron gates, one set was rusted and the other set was missing. A well of ‘fair water’ and a serviceable bakehouse and brewhouse were only small comfort to the duke’s large entourage, who now had to make themselves as comfortable as possible. At once Richmond’s council set about returning the castle to its former splendour, spending over £321 on repairs. As the new walls and chimneys rose above the horizon, this was as vivid a symbol as any that there was a new policy towards government in the north.

  Sheriff Hutton was intended to be a visible symbol of royal authority. More like a small community than a domestic residence, 245 people, only slightly fewer than the establishment set up for the Princess Mary at Ludlow, were considered necessary to fulfil the needs of one small duke. Only two members of the prestigious new household, the schoolmaster and the nurse, were any real concession to the actual needs of a six-year-old child. All of the usual household departments were represented, including a cellar, slaughterhouse, spicery and sausagery. Although not entirely self-sufficient, most basic needs could be met within the castle walls. The castle had its own stable, laundry and even its own barber. Below stairs there were cooks, labourers and menial staff. Above stairs there were ushers, grooms, pages and footmen for the privy and strangers’ chambers, and cupbearers, carvers and waiters to attend upon the duke.

  Richmond’s arrival caused something of a stir. His council reported how ‘all the noble men and other worshipful men of all these north counties daily resorted to his lordship in great number . . . and he [is] as highly esteemed in honour as ever was any young Prince in these parts’. The child seems to have been an object of some curiosity. His tutor expressed his concern that ‘the time of learning by your Grace appointed be not interrupted for every trifle or resort of every stranger, but only strangers of honour’. Instead, he suggested that the little duke, who seems to have been quite the tourist attraction, might be encouraged to make some exhibition of his learning for the visitors ‘as he was wont [accustomed to] and doth of his other pastimes’.

  Visitors to the castle were conducted through chambers decorated with magnificent tapestries, woven into scenes of hunting and hawking or hangings of arras depicting biblical stories and popular allegorical themes, such as the Lady Pleasance accompanied by virtues and assaulted by vices. The rooms were furnished with chairs of crimson velvet, fringed with red silk, and gold, which were embroidered with Richmond’s arms. Chairs of black velvet, fringed with green silk, held plump cushions of green velvet embroidered with the king’s arms. Four gentlemen ushers were appointed to ensure that access to the duke’s own lodgings was strictly controlled. Richmond received callers enthroned on his cloth of gold chair of estate under a matching canopy. Even in the supposed privacy of his bedchamber he slept under a crimson counterpane on a mattress of down. Anyone who had business with Richmond or his council was to be left in no doubt that power and authority resided here.

  In practice, much of the real decision-making power remained in London. On the very day of their relocation to Sheriff Hutton further commissions and instructions arrived from Wolsey. Eager to be seen to be grasping the nettle, the council assured him that the king’s subjects in the north would soon be free of all such crimes and injustices that ‘as hithertofore they have been molested and disturbed with many ways’. Richmond’s officers immediately set about giving form to their good intentions. They arranged court sessions at Newcastle, made enquiries into the state of the county of Northumberland and took recognizances of good behaviour from all the leading gentlemen in the locality, whether they had committed any offence or not. It was in many ways a good beginning, although perhaps slightly over zealous. Several of the local gentry, many of whom were loyal subjects, did not take kindly to being required by clerics and lawyers to give a guarantee of good behaviour. It was an early indication that their task would not be an easy one.

  Richmond’s council was always keen to ensure Wolsey’s support for their actions and not just in matters relating to the government of the north. As the year drew to a close they were anxious that the duke’s first Christmas in the north should be staged in an appropriate manner. In early November they wrote earnestly seeking Wolsey’s advice over the important matter of New Year gifts. William Amyas was sent to London to see to the making of a suitable gift for the king. The council also suggested six senior members of the Royal Household, the queen, the French queen (Mary Tudor, now Duchess of Suffolk), the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the Marquesses of Exeter and Dorset, as other possible recipients of gifts from the duke. If protocol required the inclusion of Katherine of Aragon, who was not best placed to appreciate an expensive present from her husband’s illegitimate son, it is interesting that his half-sister Mary was omitted. In the end it seems most of the illustrio
us list were to be disappointed, since only £6 9s 5d was paid for the gifts that year.

  In the event, Christmas at Sheriff Hutton seems to have passed off in some style. Despite the mild disappointment that the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmorland did not come, the council reported that he had passed ‘a right honourable Christmas’ with several members of the nobility, as well as many local people, coming to pay their respects. If Richmond’s household was a true parallel to Mary’s then the silver gilt ‘ship for frankincense’ found among his goods was set up as the centre-piece of the celebrations. The king’s gift to his son was a gilt ewer ‘with a star upon the cover, and my Lord’s arms’, which weighed just over 36 oz. Wolsey sent a garter of crown gold for which he paid £4 11s 4d. Nor were they the only ones to pay their respects to the duke. Richmond’s accounts include the significant sum of £9 6s 8d paid out in reward to those who flocked to the castle to bring gifts.

  Richmond’s involvement with the actual business of the council was generally limited to specific episodes. However, he was the focal point of all formal occasions and expected to play a full part. As the king’s representative in the north it was his duty to receive local dignitaries, like Lord William Dacre and Henry, Lord Neville, when they came to pay their respects. Perched on his chair of estate, and surrounded by his council, even this exuberant child seems to have been impressed by the gravity of the situation. When Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, first attended on Richmond at Sheriff Hutton he was suitably impressed. Having showered the child with praises he told Wolsey ‘my dulled wit cannot disclose unto your grace how highly he excelleth in every virtuous pastime’. According to William Franklyn, Archdeacon of Durham, the diminutive duke was: