Richmond’s first invasion.
Death of Buckingham and failure of the conspiracy.
News was also brought to Richard that the young Richmond, who after Tewkesbury had fled with his uncle to Brittany, and had there become the centre of the Lancastrian party, was meditating a descent on England. Richard displayed his usual energy. He called on the men of York, on whom he could rely, to meet him at Leicester; hastily wrote to the Archbishop of York to send him the Great Seal, an unconstitutional act which Russell did not resist; put a price on the head of Buckingham; and appointed, as though sure of victory, a vice-constable to superintend any summary executions that might be necessary. Meanwhile, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Wiltshire, and Devon had risen, and Grey, Lord Dorset, had declared for Henry Tudor in Exeter. It was the intention of Buckingham, who was in Wales, to form a junction with the Southern leaders. For this purpose it was necessary to cross the Severn. But Sir Humphrey Stafford had broken the bridges, the floods were out, and the river impassable. His Welsh followers deserted, and Buckingham was obliged to fly. He sought a refuge with a dependant of his own in Shropshire, of the name of Banister, by whom he was betrayed. After vain entreaties for a personal interview with Richard, and for a legal trial, he was summarily executed. Richmond’s part of the conspiracy had been an equal failure. His fleet had been scattered by a storm. He himself reached Plymouth, but the news of the failure of Buckingham, and the appearance of the King in the South, before whose approach all the gatherings of the rebels dissolved, induced him to return to Brittany.
Parliament and great confiscation. 1484.
Again undisputed master of England, Richard summoned a Parliament to meet him in January. As was usual when one party was predominant, it proved to be devoted to the Government. Richard’s special favourite, Catesby, was chosen for speaker, and all Richard’s claims to the throne were declared to be just. Nor was this all: the oath of allegiance was demanded from all the adult population of England; and a huge bill of attainder and confiscation, mentioning more than 500 names, was passed. As the King was allowed to regrant the confiscated property, he was enabled to fill the southern counties with northern proprietors devoted to his cause; while with questionable wisdom, as it afterwards appeared, he sought to purchase the fidelity of the Stanleys, by giving to Lord Stanley, her present husband, the property of the Countess Margaret of Richmond, who was included in the bill of attainder.
Continued schemes of Richmond.
Richard’s efforts to oppose him.
Attempts to win the Queen.
Death of the Prince of Wales. Lincoln declared heir.
But though defeated in his first efforts, her son, Henry Tudor, continued his preparations abroad. It was in vain that Richard, by promising Francis of Brittany his assistance against France, and by bribing the all-powerful minister Pierre Landais, succeeded in procuring Henry’s dismissal from Brittany. He fled to the Court of Charles VIII. of France, where he was well received, and where the Lancastrian exiles gathered round him. Richard felt that all his efforts were necessary to oppose this Prince. He collected troops, demanded ships from the Cinque Ports, attempted a reconciliation with the Queen Dowager, by allowing her with her daughters to leave the sanctuary at Westminster, and contemplated a marriage between his own son Edward and her eldest daughter Elizabeth, a marriage which would have been the death blow to the Lancastrian party. He succeeded moreover in procuring a three years’ truce with Scotland, and the promise of a marriage between the Duke of Rothesay, the heir to the Scotch crown, and his niece.[101] The most important part of his plan was frustrated by the untimely death of his son, which plunged him in the deepest grief. But he strove to supply his place by nominating his nephew John de la Pole, the Earl of Lincoln, his heir.