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The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower, 1483 by Sir John Everett Millais, 1878, part of the Royal Holloway picture collection
The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower, 1483 by Sir John Everett Millais, 1878, part of the Royal Holloway picture collection

The Princes in the Tower, Edward V of England (November 4, 1470 – 1483?) and his brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York (17 August 1473 – 1483?), were the two sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville. Sir John Everett Millais 1st Baronet, PRA ( June 8, 1829 &ndash August 13, 1896) was an English painter Royal Holloway University of London ( RHUL) is a constituent college of the University of London. Edward V ( 4 November 1470 &ndash 1483? was the King of England from 9 April 1483 until his deposition two months later Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Richard of Shrewsbury 1st Duke of York and 1st Duke of Norfolk ( 17 August 1473 &ndash 1483? was the sixth child and second son of King Edward IV of Events 986 - A Byzantine army was destroyed in the pass of Trajan's Gate by the Bulgarians under the Comitopuli Edward IV ( 28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 2 October Elizabeth Woodville or Wydeville ( 3 February 1437 &ndash 7 June / 8 June 1492) was the Queen consort of

Both princes were declared illegitimate by an Act of Parliament of 1483 known as Titulus Regius. An Act of Parliament is a Law enacted as Primary legislation by a national or sub-national Parliament. Titulus Regius ( the royal title in Latin) is a statute of the Parliament of England, issued in 1483, by which the title of King Their uncle, Richard III of England, placed them both in the Tower of London (then a royal residence as well as a prison) in 1483. Richard III ( 2 October 1452 &ndash 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically as The Tower) is a historic monument in central London There are reports of their early presence in the courtyards etc, but there are no records of them having been seen after the summer of 1483. Their fate remains unknown, and it is presumed that they either died or were killed there. There is no record of a funeral.

In 1674, the skeletons of two children were discovered under the staircase leading to the chapel, during the course of renovations to the White Tower. The White Tower is a central tower at the Tower of London. The great central keep was started in 1078 by William the Conqueror who ordered the White At that time, these were believed to have been the remains of the two princes. On the orders of Charles II the remains were reburied in Westminster Abbey. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a large mainly Gothic church In 1933, the grave was exhumed and found to contain both human and animal bones; however precise identification of the age and sex was not then possible[1].

Contents

Suspects

If the boys were indeed murdered, there are several major suspects for the crime. The evidence is ambiguous, and has led people to various conflicting conclusions.

Richard III of England had eliminated the princes from the succession. Richard III ( 2 October 1452 &ndash 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death However, his hold on the monarchy was not secure, and the existence of the princes remained a threat as long as they were alive. They themselves were ostensibly not a threat, notwithstanding Edward's having been acclaimed King, but could have been used by Richard's enemies as a pretext for rebellion. Rumours of their death were in wide circulation by late 1483, but Richard never attempted to prove that they were alive by having them seen in public, which strongly suggests that they were dead by then (or at a minimum, not under his control--unlikely, since they would presumably still have been in the Tower). Rather, he remained completely silent on the matter. At the very least, it would have been in his political interest to order an investigation into the disappearance of the princes if they had simply vanished. As the brothers' protector (having obtained them as 'protectorate' from their mother), he appears to have failed to 'protect' them. Many modern historians, including David Starkey [1], Michael Hicks[2] and Alison Weir[3], regard him as the most likely culprit. Not to be confused with David Starkey (maritime historian. David Robert Starkey CBE (born 3 January 1945) Michael Hicks (born 1948 is an English Historian, specialising on the history of late medieval England in particular the Wars of the Roses. Alison Weir (born 1951) is a British Writer of History books mostly in the form of biographies about British royalty

James Tyrrell was an English knight who fought for the House of York on many occasions. Sir James Tyrrell (c 1450 &ndash May 6, 1502) was an English Knight, a trusted servant of King Richard III of England. The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three of whom became English kings in the late 15th century Tyrrell was arrested by Henry VII's forces in 1501 for supporting yet another Yorkist claimant to the throne. Shortly before his execution, Tyrrell admitted to having murdered the princes at the behest of Richard III. However, as his confession was extracted under torture, its veracity is dubious.

Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham was Richard's right-hand man and sought personal advantage through the new king. Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham ( 4 September 1455 &ndash 2 November 1483) played a major role in Richard III of England 's Some regard Buckingham as the likeliest suspect: his execution, after he had rebelled against Richard in October 1483, might signify that he and the king had fallen out because Buckingham had taken it on himself—for whatever reason—to dispose of Richard's rival claimants; alternatively, he could have been acting on behalf of Henry Tudor (later to become King Henry VII). Buckingham was also a descendant of Edward III through John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and may have hoped to ascend the throne himself. Edward III (13 November 1312 &ndash 21 June 1377 was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. John of Gaunt 1st Duke of Lancaster (second creation 1st Duke of Aquitaine (6 March 1340 &ndash 3 February 1399 was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third Buckingham's guilt depends on the princes having already been dead by October 1483, as Buckingham was executed the following month. While Richard the III had the opportunity he did not have the motive, while Henry Tudor had the motive he did not have the opportunity, as the men guarding the Princes were hand picked men by Henry Stafford, but Henry Stafford had the opportunity and the moive as he hand picked the men guarding the Princes and he was related to Edward III through John of Gaunt.

Henry VII of England (Henry Tudor) following his accession, proceeded to find a legal excuse to execute some of the rival claimants to the throne. He married the princes' eldest sister, Elizabeth of York, to reinforce his hold on the throne, but her right to inherit depended on both her brothers being already dead. Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 &ndash 11 February 1503 was the Queen Consort of King Henry VII of England, whom she married in 1486 Realistically, Henry's only opportunity to murder the princes would have been after his accession in 1485.

John Howard, later the first Duke of Norfolk of the current creation, was a claimant to the estate of the Mowbray Dukes of Norfolk. John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk (mid-1420s &ndash August 22 1485) was an English nobleman He was given custody of the Tower of London under less than regular circumstances the night the Princes are supposed to have disappeared from the Tower. Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically as The Tower) is a historic monument in central London He had opportunity and motive—Prince Richard, Duke of York, was also Duke of Norfolk in right of his deceased child bride Anne, the daughter of the last Mowbray Duke. Richard of Shrewsbury 1st Duke of York and 1st Duke of Norfolk ( 17 August 1473 &ndash 1483? was the sixth child and second son of King Edward IV of Anne de Mowbray 8th Countess of Norfolk, later Duchess of York and Duchess of Norfolk ( 10 December 1472 – 19 November (? 1481

Evidence behind the rumours

The Croyland Chronicle, Dominic Mancini, and Philippe de Commines all state that the rumour of the princes' death was current in England by the end of 1483. The Croyland Chronicle (or " Crowland Chronicle " is an important if not always reliable primary source for English Medieval history in particular Dominic Mancini was an Italian who visited England in 1482 left in 1483 and left behind an account of the events he witnessed Philippe de Commines (or de Commynes or "Philippe de Comines" Latin Philippus Cominaeus; 1447 - c England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland In his summary of the events of 1483, Commines says quite categorically that Richard was responsible for the murder of the princes, but of course he had been present at the meeting of the Estates-General of France in January 1484, when the statement was taken at face value. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The other two sources do not suggest who was responsible. Only Mancini's account, written in 1483, is truly contemporary, the other two having been written three and seven years later, respectively. The Great Chronicle, compiled 30 years later from the contemporary London municipal records, says the rumour of the princes' death did not start circulating in London until after Easter of 1484. Historians have speculated, on the basis of these contemporary records, that the rumour that the princes had been murdered was deliberately created to be spread in England as an excuse for the October 1483 attempt of Henry Tudor and Buckingham to seize the throne. Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham ( 4 September 1455 &ndash 2 November 1483) played a major role in Richard III of England 's If the princes were not already dead by the end of 1483, this of course removes any possibility that Buckingham, who was executed on 2 November 1483, could have murdered them. Events 1570 - A Tidal wave in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1000

No discussion of this episode would be complete without mention of Sir James Tyrrell, the loyal servant of Richard III whose "confession" to having murdered the princes has always been taken with a pinch of salt. Sir James Tyrrell (c 1450 &ndash May 6, 1502) was an English Knight, a trusted servant of King Richard III of England. It is mentioned by Tudor sources (which, naturally, must be treated with caution) as having taken place in 1502, under torture. The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was an English royal Dynasty that lasted 118 years from 1485 to 1603 a period known as the Tudor period A confession under torture would not nowadays be regarded as reliable, and Tyrrell was unable to say where the bodies of the princes were.

In 1674, some workmen remodelling the Tower of London dug up a box containing two small human skeletons. Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically as The Tower) is a historic monument in central London They threw them on a rubbish heap, but some days or weeks later someone decided they might be the bones of the two princes, so they gathered them up and put some of them in an urn, which Charles II of England ordered interred in Westminster Abbey. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a large mainly Gothic church In 1933 the bones were taken out and examined and then replaced in the urn in the vault under the Abbey. It is not possible to say the sex of the skeletons. (One skeleton was larger than the other, but many of the bones were missing, including part of the smaller jawbone and all of the teeth from the larger one. )

Arguments in the controversy

King Edward V and the Duke of York in the Tower of London by Paul Delaroche. The theme of innocent children awaiting an uncertain fate was a popular one amongst 19th-century painters.
King Edward V and the Duke of York in the Tower of London by Paul Delaroche. Hippolyte Delaroche, commonly known as Paul Delaroche ( July 17, 1797 &ndash November 4, 1856) was a French painter The theme of innocent children awaiting an uncertain fate was a popular one amongst 19th-century painters.

Part of the controversy still surrounding Parliament's ruling, known as the Titulus Regius, that Edward (and his brother Richard) could not be rightful heirs to the throne arises from confusion about why Parliament ruled that their parents' marriage was invalid. Titulus Regius ( the royal title in Latin) is a statute of the Parliament of England, issued in 1483, by which the title of King The issue was further complicated by the fact that the Titulus Regius was subsequently overturned by Henry Tudor's government after the overthrow and death of Richard III, with the specific injunction that it be destroyed without being read into the record. As the Titulus also barred Henry's already tenuous claim to the throne, destroying it provided Henry with legitimacy, but also gave him ample motive to kill the Princes, newly returned to the succession, ahead of Henry.

As a matter of law, the marriage was, indeed, invalid if the story of the pre-contract between their father and Lady Eleanor Butler (née Talbot) was true. Lady Eleanor Talbot (died 30 June, 1468) was a daughter of John Talbot 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. Under both canon law and civil law, a "pre-contract of marriage" was a promise to marry, and it was enforceable in court as if the promised marriage had, in fact, taken place (the concept of a "pre-contract" still exists in law, but it usually arises today in the context of pre-contracting to make a contract for a business deal, like a sale of property or a corporate merger). Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Anglican Communion of churches Civil law, as opposed to Criminal law, refers to that branch of Law dealing with disputes between Individuals and/or Organizations, in which A pre-contract with Eleanor Butler would have invalidated the king's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. Elizabeth Woodville or Wydeville ( 3 February 1437 &ndash 7 June / 8 June 1492) was the Queen consort of This was the law in England, and many other contemporary examples can be pointed to. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The purpose of publishing the "banns of marriage", and then asking in the wedding ceremony if anyone knows of just cause why the marriage should not take place, was to prevent marriages that were invalid, because of a pre-contract or for any other reason. The banns of marriage, commonly known simply as "the banns " (from an Old English word meaning "to summon" are the public announcement in Marrying in "secret" (or "private", which usually meant "not in a church") without the calling of the banns, as Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville did, was considered a virtual admission that there was a legal impediment. If Parliament was presented with evidence of Edward's marriage to Eleanor Butler or his pre-contract to marry her, it was bound to rule that his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was bigamous, and therefore any children born to them would be considered bastards.

The fact that the princes were technically bastards (following his deposition from the throne, Edward V was referred to by his uncle's followers as the "Lord Bastard") did not necessarily mean they could never inherit—William the Conqueror was neither the first nor the last bastard to inherit lands and titles. In Common law, legitimacy is the status of a Child that is born to parents who are legally married to one another or that is born shortly after the William I of England ( 1027 His reign which brought Norman culture to England had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages "Bastardy," the legal term for illegitimacy, was a legal status that could be changed by fiat, ecclesiastical or civil, as shown by the number of times King Henry VIII changed the status of his children. Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Anglican Communion of churches Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of Henry VII's own claim to royal status was based on the legitimisation of John of Gaunt's illegitimate Beaufort children. John of Gaunt 1st Duke of Lancaster (second creation 1st Duke of Aquitaine (6 March 1340 &ndash 3 February 1399 was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third Parliament could have legitimized the princes and allowed Edward V to remain king, but it used that excuse for what it wanted to do for practical reasons. Boy kings (Henry III, Richard II, Henry VI) had always been disasters for England—and the Wars of the Roses had been halted by the accession of Edward IV as a capable adult. Henry III (1 October 1207 &ndash 16 November 1272 was the son and successor of John "Lackland" as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 Richard II (6 January 1367 &ndash ca 14 February 1400 was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399 Henry VI (6 December 1421 &ndash 21 May 1471 was King of England 1422–1461 (though with a Regent until 1437 and then 1470–1471 and a claimant to the kingdom The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485 were a series of dynastic Civil wars fought in England between supporters of the Houses of Lancaster and York The Yorkists were in power, and Edward V's numerous Woodville relatives had always been Lancastrians at heart and had already made many enemies. Richard III, on the other hand, was considered the Yorkists' best all-round candidate for the job of king at the time.

There were subsequently a number of apparent Pretenders claiming to be Prince Richard, although curiously there seem to have been none claiming to be Edward V. The best-known Pretender was Perkin Warbeck. Perkin Warbeck (1474 &ndash 23 November 1499) was a Pretender to the English throne during the reign of King Henry VII of England The fact that Henry VII did not provide an official public version of the fate of the Princes, despite Warbeck's activities, until the Tyrell "confession" suggests that he either was unaware of the true story or that he was only too aware and that publishing it would have not been in his interests.

Horace Walpole, Josephine Tey, Valerie Anand, and other writers have defended King Richard III against the accusation that he murdered his nephews. Horace Walpole 4th Earl of Orford ( 24 September, 1717 &ndash 2 March, 1797) more commonly known as Horace Walpole, was a politician Josephine Tey was one of many Pseudonyms used by Elizabeth Mackintosh ( July 25 1896 &ndash February 13 1952) a Scottish Valerie Anand (1937-) is a British author of historical fiction Among the arguments: Henry VII's Bill of Attainder against Richard III makes no mention at all of the Princes. A bill of attainder (also known as an act or writ of Attainder) is an act of Legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of

Literature

Popular culture

References

  1. ^ Richard III Society: Examination on the alleged murder of the Princes
  2. ^ Richard III by Michael Hicks (2003) ISBN 9780752425894
  3. ^ The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir (1992) ISBN 978-0345391780

External links

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