Bona won't make it easy for him, but we all know what he was like with women, so...
A Second White Rose - Edmund, Earl of Rutland Survives
- Thread starter Zestinobambino
- Start date
Hard to get huh? That Will only make Ned more determined!
And man the reactions of Louis XI, the red Prince and his mother when that happens
It'd be incredible to witness.And man the reactions of Louis XI, the red Prince and his mother when that happens
Great chapter, an affair between Edward IV and Bona of Savoy would be legendary. The entire Lancaster faction would cringe and rage from such embarrassment they'll receive, the Red Prince especially 🤣🤣🤣. It would clearly establish the dominance of the Yorks over the Lancasters as the truer Plantagenet line. Keep up the great work 👍 👍 👍 👍
I do wonder if Edward’s inability to keep it in his pants will cause hiccups for his son’s marriage. Canon law saw no difference between step-siblings and bio siblings, and Henry VIII requesting a dispensation to marry Anne Boleyn because he slept with Mary Boleyn suggests affairs count just like marriages do. I’m not sure though.
i honestly think this will bring Edmund and charlotte closer together, not only for the sake of england but for the sake of their future half-siblings (parental for edmund and maternal for charlotte)
I mean legal hiccups on the grounds of affinity. Though don’t quote me on this @Zestinobambino . Papal law is far from my strong suit.
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Don't believe there would be any. As far as I understand it was based on Henry "knowing" the sister so only applied directly to him rather than wider to relatives. In other words if two brothers want to marry two sisters ( not unknown in the Medieval ) , they can, even if the marriages due to ages are years apart. Dispensation would only be needed if say after marrying one sister the same brother wanted to marry the other sister after being widowed.
Not sure if the above rule was in place during this time, or if the step-sibling restriction (which could be bypassed if the parents’ wedding was celebrated at the same time as the children’s wedding) applied in extramarital relationships too.
Is that correct? I would've thought the third shares in question would have gone to each of Worcester's sisters/their descendants as co-heirs.
Sorry for nitpicking insufferably. Really enjoying the TL.
It would be an infamous episode of history, that’s for sure.
I hope not.
If I’m reading this right (which I might not be, since papal law on marriage isn’t my specialty either), I think we can find a way round the problem, just by not having Edward and Bona get married, or if they do eventually marry, it's after Edmund and Charlotte are married. I guess, technically speaking, there’d be no proof of any wrongdoing on Edward and Bona’s part that way, since they could just claim their affair started after their kids were married. Do you think that’s a suitable work-around? Or would they just get laughed off?
I think so? Quoting from George’s wikipedia page, “Finally, George was likely to inherit (after his mother and grandmother) a third share of the Tiptoft property held by his childless grand-uncle, John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester, whose sister and heiress Joan was George's maternal grandmother”. That sounds to me like Worcester’s other sisters have been left out of the equation.
And no worries! I’m always up for some discussion over anything I say. And I’m glad you’re enjoying it
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Chapter Eighteen: The Crichton Affair
Chapter Eighteen: The Crichton Affair
So far, relations between England and Scotland had been good under Edward IV, culminating in the marriage of Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Margaret Stewart in 1472. The couple had one child, who was named James in honour of Margaret’s brother, in 1475, when Gloucester had been acting as Protector of the Realm. In 1474 Gloucester faced a minor rebellion in 1476, led by Henry, Baron Clifford [1], in the North. Gloucester captured Clifford at Haworth on 23rd July 1476 and had him executed and attainted, and his whole family was arrested and thrown in prison. After annexing the estates of the Clifford family, Gloucester’s own power in the north had grown extensively. When Edward IV and the victorious army returned to England, Gloucester was invited to London to formally resign his powers as Protector and return the role of government to the king. However, events in Scotland were destined to change those friendly relations.
Early into Edward IV’s reign two Scottish noblemen had defected to England - James, Earl of Douglas and John, Earl of Ross. Edward IV has done little to support them, other than give them a home. On 10th March 1476, while Edward was in France, James III began the process of trying to repatriate Douglas and Ross. He sent William, Lord Crichton to meet with Richard, Duke of Gloucester in his base at Skipton Castle to negotiate for their transfer. Crichton stayed at Skipton for some time, enjoying a few months in the company of the Duke of Gloucester - but more specifically, enjoying the company of Gloucester’s wife, Margaret Stewart, whom he had seduced during his stay. Richard was not aware of this for many years, until after the war had ended and Edward IV had returned home. The negotiations failed for Crichton, as Gloucester was unwilling to surrender Douglas and Ross, and he went home empty handed in May 1476.
After the Battle of Longwy on 14th July 1478, the Red Prince had lost his sanctuary in Burgundy and Lorraine. He was rapidly running out of places that may offer him help, but there was still Scotland. The Red Prince landed in Scotland early in August 1478 and met with James III, giving James a new bargaining tool to secure the release of Douglas and Ross. Crichton once more journeyed to Skipton in March 1479 to meet with Gloucester again, and his affair with Lady Margaret picked up right where it had left off. Gloucester reported back to Edward IV that James III claimed to have custody of the Red Prince, and Edward replied to tell Gloucester to get ahold of the Red Prince no matter what. Gloucester intended to accept Crichton’s offer...
Until he caught Crichton and Margaret together.
Skipton, 19th June 1479
Margaret’s knuckles grazed against the wooden door so softly it could not count as a knock. But somehow William Crichton heard her and opened the door, wearing the grin of a hungry wolf and nothing else. “Come here,” he said in a low voice, and Margaret stepped into his quarters and pushed the door shut behind her with her foot. She collapsed into his arms, their lips locking. “I missed you,” she gasped as she broke the kiss to breathe. Crichton wrapped his arms around Margaret’s waist and lifted her off the ground, pressing his mouth onto hers, his thumbs digging into her thighs. And just as he was about to lay her down on his bed, an almighty bang exploded from the doorway. Both Margaret and William looked up to see Richard, Duke of Gloucester stood in the doorway, having kicked the door off one of its hinges, a look of murderous hatred on his face, and fear shot through Margaret.
“This is how you repay my hospitality?” Richard demanded as he charged into the room. He grabbed William by the collar and threw him to the floor before he could even fight back.
“It’s not-“ William started, but Richard kicked the man in the balls and William wheezed in agony.
“Dickon, stop it!” Margaret shouted and grabbed onto Richard’s shoulders. He just brought his right hand upwards and backhanded her in the face, his ducal signet ring striking her in the temple. Margaret staggered backwards and Richard spun round to face her.
“I’ll deal with you in a minute, you whore,” he hissed. Then he turned back around to see that William was struggling to his feet, pushing upwards with his hand. Seemingly of nowhere Richard unsheathed a dagger and brought it crashing down into William’s back.
“No!” Margaret screamed. Blood shot out from William’s wound, and he collapsed to the floor. Richard now turned back round, a few blobs of William’s blood on his cheek only making him look more menacing. He looked at Margaret, who was beginning to sob. “How could you, Margaret?” Richard demanded. “I - I thought you loved me. I thought you loved James. How could you?” He repeated.
Margaret was too upset to speak. She tried to speak, but the words just got stuck in a mess of blubbery tears.
“Answer me!” Richard screamed when she still couldn’t explain herself. He stepped towards her and slapped her again, his ducal signet ring striking her this time in her jaw. She recoiled in shock, but in her agony a plan formed. She reached out to her left and picked up a candle that William had lit, then thrust it at Richard’s neck. He howled in pain from the flame, giving Margaret just enough time to make a break for the door.
“Come back here!” Richard demanded, his heavy footsteps echoing down the castle as Margaret ran away as fast as she could. She came out into the courtyard and realised with dismay - the portcullis is shut.
No matter. She would have to find another way out... God knows what he’ll do to me if I can’t get out.
She ran up a spiral staircase leading to the castle walls. She had an idea - it was an awful one, mind, and it could very easily be the death of her, but it was an idea all the same. She knew a fletcher in Skipton whose nephew was a stable boy; she would find him and take a horse back to Scotland.
The only problem was that to get there, she would have to jump into the moat.
Margaret hurried along the castle wall, looking for the ideal spot to jump - and then heard Richard’s voice somewhere behind her. “Get back here! There’s nowhere to go!” He shouted.
Margaret closed her eyes. Dear God, please let me survive. She prayed quickly, then stretched her right leg out. Her whole body followed suit... and she tumbled into the moat with a splash.
Ludlow, 7th July 1479
King Edward IV could only stare in disbelief as his knight, Sir Richard Lovelace, told him of what had happened in Skipton, and the threat King James III had made in response. “Lady Stewart managed to escape Skipton Castle by jumping into the moat. She then managed to find a stable and bought a horse off the stable boy, then rode to Scotland. She informed her brother James III, and now...”
Lovelace paused. “In summary, Your Highness, we face invasion from the Scots, unless you hand Gloucester over to Scotland to be held accountable for his crimes.”
Edward groaned and banged his fist on the table. In eighteen years of being king, he had never seen a diplomatic fuck-up on this level... murdering an ambassador and assaulting a king’s sister! And not just that, but even just assaulting one’s own wife! He had always had a cruel and mean streak, had Dickon. Edward remembered him having a slightly violent way of playing games as a child, and of course he had heard of how viciously he had put down the Clifford rebellion, but even so...
What in God’s name had he been thinking?!
“Sir Lovelace, I need you to do two things.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” Lovelace nodded.
“First, I need you to send a man to Skipton to instruct my brother to come here so that I may punish him. I will not give my brother up to the Scots; I pray my punishment of him will suffice.”
“Consider it done. And the other thing?”
“Send another man to Dublin and recall Eddy from his post there. I have a feeling I am going to need his advice very soon.”
[1] - Henry’s father John was the OTL killer of Edmund, Earl of Rutland. John still died at Towton in this timeline, though.
Dear christ. What have you done, richard?
@Zestinobambino i see now why you said a little while ago richard was going to cause trouble. Goddamn.