Now is the Winter of Our Discontent

[aurora01]

October 1513​

Since the...incident with Lady Cecily, Richard had been barred to his chambers and he’d had all the time in the world to sulk about it.

How was he supposed to understand that he’d done wrong when the girl had given him mixed signals? She’d laughed at his jokes and she’d spoken to him frequently. He’d simply assumed that like most girls she’d been playing her part swept up in the romance of it all.

How had he been supposed to misunderstand a clear message such as that? Women were such confusing creatures and no one understood! Not even his father and yet his father was a hypocrite given how many women he had known!

The sound of a knock at the door had Richard grumble out a “Come in!” even though he knew that he didn’t have much choice in the matter.

“Your Royal Highness,” Warwick said politely and by his side was Arthur Tudor, Earl of Pembroke and immediately Richard brightened it had been a while since he had seen his cousin and friend.

“We have had the message that your bride will be at Dover shortly and we have come to escort you to London for the happy occasion of your marriage,”

Richard immediately scowled at the mention of it which Warwick took great pains to ignore.

“If Your Highness would follow me?”

Richard was promptly hustled around and he suspected they didn’t want another incident on hand but shortly thereafter he was riding beside Arthur. Firmly fenced in at all sides as the party set off from Ludlow.

“How have you been Arthur?” Richard asked, glad for the air at last. “Have you and your Countess settled well? And your boy of course? I feel like I’ve hardly seen any letters from you,”

Arthur nodded slowly “Aye, Maggie apologises for not joining us but little Henry has run her off her feet so much that...”

“You needn’t worry my friend!” Richard said, despite the sting of longing for the old days when it had been he, Edmund and Arthur at Ludlow and now they were all three about to be married and setting up their own lives. Not to worry, he assured himself, once he was king - his friends would be firm fixtures of court.

Arthur nodded, “Yes well, perhaps our son might join a son of yours in the royal nursery before long?”

“Indeed!” Richard said brightly “I’m sure that I will have many strapping sons and it only makes sense to raise our children beside each other like we were,”

“Well we have already discussed some plans of Henry’s future,” Arthur said as they rode, “Sir Thomas Parr has a daughter just born and-“

Richard cut him off laughing, “You plan too well Arthur but I have grand plans for England too. You’ll see!”

“Your Highness, I...” Arthur’s face grew troubled but Richard ignored it, seeing a golden future before them all.

“When I am King, Arthur. Then everyone will see, all of history shall know the tale of Richard III,”

With his grand dreams in his head, Richard spurred his horse on and Arthur could only follow.

 

[aurora01]

Updated family tree for Spain, Portugal etc in this period, many thanks to Isabella for the assistance and everything should be nicely ironed out now.

Philip I of Castile (1478-1517)
m. Anne of York (1475 - 1495)
no issue.
m. Juana of Castile (1479 -1512)
- Eleanor (1498 -), married to Richard III of England and had issue.
- Charles (1500 -)
- Isabella (1501-)
- Maximilian (1503-)
- Mary (1505-)
- Anne (1507-)

Margaret of Austria-Burgundy (1480 -)
m. Philibert II, Duke of Savoy
- Charles

Manuel of Portugal (1469 -)
m. Cecily of York (1469 - 1500)
- Miguel (1500 -)
m. Maria of Aragon
- John (1502 -)
- Isabel (1503 -)
- Beatriz (1504 -)
- Luis (1506 -)
- Fernando (1507 -)
- Afonso (1509 -)
- Henry (1512 -)
- Maria (stillborn)
- Duarte (1515 -)
- Antonio (stillborn)

Juan, Prince of Asturias (1478 - 1497)
m. Catherine of York (1479 - 1527)
- Ferdinand (1497 - 1519)

 

[aurora01]

November 1513​

The court had stood with baited breath, as the petite girl had been brought in with much fanfare.

Richard, Prince of Wales was at his most charming self, bowing to kiss the hand of his wife to be. Now the pair danced together and at least they made a striking match. Even if all agreed that it was too soon to wish for a healthy son to bless the nursery. In a few more years when the bride was a woman, then it would be time for a prince to bless them all.

“She’s so young,” remarked Margaret, Marquess of Dorset. “Were we ever so young? It doesn’t feel like it,”

Elizabeth, Duchess of York smiled. “She’s fifteen, Meg. A year older than Queen Anne was when she came to these shores and she’s not a Queen yet. A few years in Ludlow as our Princess of Wales and she’ll be a grown woman before long,”

“Hopefully she’ll be good for him,” Isabel, Countess of Warwick remarked. Knowing all too well the reason why her daughter had chosen why to avoid the celebration. She caught her sister-in-law’s eye and gave Margaret a knowing look. “He at least seems to like her, perhaps he’ll take to helping her acclimate to England,”

“Well you and Edward will know her well enough soon, when you return to Ludlow,” Elizabeth said with a nod.

“Mm,” Isabel agreed, watching the couple dance. She could remember all too well her promise to Anne to look after Richard, she had failed. Hadn’t they all failed? Richard had grown wild, she didn’t like to think so ill of the King but perhaps if he had seen to the boy more often. Sent him off to Ludlow earlier. Perhaps if Anne hadn’t been so ill after Prince Edmund had been born and if she’d pressed the King more often.

Well perhaps being a husband and having a little bride would suit him well. Hopefully Eleanor would deliver a son as soon as the couple were able to consummate in two years or so. There was still time, Isabel assured herself.

The boy had been named for her own father so it wasn’t as though he had terrible role models to look up to. He had been named for a good man, one who had fought and died for the sake of England. It could be enough and if not...well Isabel had to wonder what else God had planned for England for choosing the Prince of Wales to be their future King.

On the dance floor, Richard and Eleanor continued to dance. He at least seemed intrigued by his new bride, neither of them could have guessed at the tumultuous years ahead. Nor the fact that a daughter of one of the men who had been among the first to congratulate them would later thoroughly upend their marriage like a whirlwind.

They did not know then but soon enough, for change was on the winds for England yet again.

 

[aurora01]

After the wedding of Prince Richard, there was quiet for a time. He rode with his new bride to Ludlow where for the first time it appeared as though Richard was content. Whether it was shiny new toy syndrome or not, he seemed to be fascinated by Eleanor and eventually doted on her but it was not romantic love that stirred the relationship between the two. In one letter to Edmund Fitzroy, Earl of Rutland - he remarks that 'the Princess of Wales is dearer to me by the day, more a sister than the Ladies Anne or Beatrice ever were'. It was perhaps this devotion and considering himself a brother to her, that perhaps prevented Eleanor from having such a terrible fate as the other women in Richard's life.

A few months after Eleanor's sixteenth birthday, we have note that the couple attempted to consummate the marriage. As Richard visited Eleanor's bedchambers for the first time and stayed the night, as Eleanor a keen diarist we have first hand accounts. The details of what happened have mostly been censored and left vague but as far as we can tell Richard had to use a politer term, issues getting it up. An issue that would persist throughout his lifetime if all later accounts are true.

Then came 1515, a terrible year for the Plantagenets - in January, Thomas of York died devastating both his parents, the Duke and Duchess of York and then in the summer, Edward V would pass away at the age of 45 from complications of what we now understand to be complications of a sexual infection.

Riders were sent to Ludlow and so began the reign of Richard III, the most infamous King in England's history.

The bloodshed was about to begin and the beginning of England's Succession Crisis."

- Richard III: Mind of a Tyrant

 

[aurora01]

There is little that we actually know of Frances Marchwood, perhaps a little unusual for a King's mistress who remained in his life for over a decade. Here are the facts that we know, Frances was the younger daughter of a knight and she first arrived at court to serve as a maid of honour to Queen Anne when we think she was about seventeen or eighteen. Frances appears all of a sudden in contemporary records, with the Duke of York remarking on the presence of 'Mistress Marchwood' at the King's side.

Frances appears to be the subject of a popular song circulating around London at the time, that refers to 'Frances with flowers in her hair'. A rather clumsy but endearing love letter from Edward V that we do still have calls her hair 'a muddy field', so we can at least surmise that she had dark hair. Frances was mostly liked at court as far as we can understand from contemporary records, in that she knew her role and did not rock the boat. She deferred to Queen Anne as her superior and kept her head out of politics, we do not have any diaries or letters of Frances to understand her. However what we do have is snippets of a conversation from the Duchess of York which she reported to her husband and he duly recorded in his diary where Frances apparently says she considers her role one to support the King.

Frances was present at the King's bedside when he died and according to romantic lore his last words were "Give me your hand Fanny and I will not be afraid!"

Like with his two illegitimate children with a commoner, Edward and Sarah, Edward V made note in his will of bequeathing a modest allowance to Frances. They did not have any children together as far as we understand nor did Frances marry while she was at court.

However upon the death of his father, Richard III came to court and by the time he had Frances Marchwood had already fled. Richard had often been jealous of Frances and considered her a 'thief of affection, so that my father had none left for me'. Upon discovering Frances' flight, Richard flew into a terrible rage and told a party to search for her and 'drag her back to London by her hair'. It was no use however, Frances was not at Sir Anthony Marchwood's residence and no one could find any trace of her, the allowance intended for her by the King remained untouched and from there Frances Marchwood disappears from the pages of history.

Frances was the subject of the Netflix documentary, 'The Search for Frances' as a team of historians attempted to uncover where Edward V's lost lady had gone. Results were scarce and efforts still continue, however relatively recently in the village of Kettlewell in Yorkshire near the site of the King's Arms an old grave has been found.

On it, in engraved words almost lost to time, we find the words.

'Fanny, beloved by the King'

- Frances Marchwood, Queen of the May by Dr Ellen Murray

 

[aurora01]

"Once he was King, Richard began to establish a new status quo and fast. He'd had years to stew and lick his own wounds, now he was King and Richard had no one to answer to except himself. After the years at Ludlow, he'd certainly not taken well to Warwick and was swift in barring the entire family from court. He made it clear that he would only welcome Edmund Fitzroy and even then he would only be welcome without his wife. It was perhaps one of Richard's more merciful actions but as it soon became clear, Richard's thoughts of retribution and anger had focused sharply elsewhere.

It was Scotland that Richard considered to have given him the most slight and it was in January of 1516 that Richard raised his banners and rode north. There he was determined to finally see Scotland answer for what he considered their crimes. He considered it a good time to strike, after all James IV was dead.

However what Richard did not factor into the equation was Catherine, the Queen Regent."

- Richard III: Mind of a Tyrant

 

[aurora01]

"For all of his faults and perhaps an entire book could be written about those and indeed...we could say many have, Richard III was ferocious and it lent itself intriguingly to the world of battle. It was north that Richard charged, burning with his own rage and determination to prove himself as King. A different King than his father ever was. He used the element of surprise to his advantage and a messenger rode all through the night to get to Edinburgh, by which time Richard's army were advancing from Gretna.

Once she had word of what had occurred, Catherine rode from Edinburgh to meet him with her own forces. While she would not lead the troops into battle herself, Catherine of Aragon would prove to be as effective as her mother Isabella at commanding.

While Catherine rode south to meet him, Richard had more sinister plans afoot. His presence was merely a distraction as evidenced in his later letters, he wanted to hit Scotland where it hurt. For while Richard stood at the command of an army, awaiting Catherine's arrival. A separate contingent led by Edmund Fitzroy, Earl of Rutland also rode. This unit was smaller and were doing their best not to draw attention to themselves.

Their orders were simple. While the Queen Regent was distracted, they would ride to the royal nursery and take the children - most importantly the young King hostage."

- Richard III: Mind of a Tyrant

 

[aurora01]

"As Catherine rode to engage Richard, the Earl of Rutland's mission continued. Stirling Castle where the Royal Nursery was stationed was as much of a fortress as it was a castle. The stronghold managed to prevent Edmund charging in and taking the children, or at least the children in residence. The children's governess, not thinking straight and perhaps thinking they were in no danger, allowed six year old Princess Catherine and two year old Prince Robert out. The young princess had just begun riding and she was very attached to her younger brother. It was only to be a short trip outside of the castle walls and the majority of the guards had been stationed with the young King James.

It was a terrible error by Lady Campbell but they had not expected an ambush especially for only an hour or so's ride.

So Edmund Fitzroy took the children hostage, panic immediately rose and there was a great fury among the Scottish.

Of course no one's fury was greater than Queen Catherine's."

- Richard III: The Mind of a Tyrant

 

[aurora01]

"When she heard the news from Stirling, Catherine's ensuing rage is perhaps legendary. She swore that she would throw Lady Campbell into the dungeons and throw away the key for her idiocy, that she would have the Earl of Rutland's head for daring to go near her children and that she would chase Richard all the way back to the border by herself if she had to.

Onto the picture stepped John Sinclair, Earl of Caithness. He was tactical, shrewd and Catherine could not be in two places at once. If she turned around to go and engage Edmund Fitzroy, Richard III would likely press on further. Lord Caithness however could sense opportunity and said that he would go in her place to rescue Princess Catherine and Prince Robert. He had a son, William who was seven - the same age as the young King and more than anything, he wanted to tie his family to the royal house tightly.

Caithness said he would go, if Catherine agreed to marry her eldest daughter to William once they were old enough. Catherine had different ideas about a marriage for her eldest daughter, intending her to marry internationally however...this was a difficult circumstance. She could send someone else but it was unlikely that anyone would be able to deal with the problem as efficiently and as quickly as Caithness and she wanted to wipe the floor with Richard III herself. For she knew that the Earl of Rutland could only be acting on his half brother's orders than his own initiative.

So Catherine told John Sinclair to retrieve her missing children and to bring her Edmund Fitzroy in chains as she wanted to deal with him personally. If he succeeded then she would consider granting his son a royal bride. If not...it would be his head.

With his instructions in mind, Sinclair rode with his own forces - ready to engage Edmund Fitzroy."

- Bonny Queen Catherine

 

[aurora01]

"It was a tumultuous turn of events that ended with Richard III's hasty retreat from Scotland, he was dealt an active blow when Lord Caithness rode through the night and liberated Princess Catherine and Prince Robert.

The Earl of Rutland in a wild error just as had led to the capture of the children in question, had unwisely or perhaps underestimating the love of a mother for a children had kept the party small and the children mostly unguarded. Perhaps indeed, he had thought that the children would not get them into much trouble but he provided ample opportunity for Caithness to swoop in.

The children were unharmed, if a little traumatised - according to local legend Princess Catherine aged six had bitten Edmund Fitzroy in the process and had been plotting escape plans of her own. Though how far exactly a six year old would have gotten with her two year old brother is hard to say and is the subject of the fiction novel, 'Princess of the Wilds' where Catherine is aged up to sixteen. A pleasant but wildly inaccurate read.

Lord Caithness immediately sent a message to the Queen Regent informing her of the success. After returning the children to Stirling Castle, Caithness rode back to the side of his Queen. This time he was escorting the Earl of Rutland, in chains - a notable scene in Shakespeare's Richard III, as well as Lady Campbell who was brought to her Queen to face punishment. His son William would in time be married to the Princess Catherine and it is of their marriage, we find their son David who would of course later become one of the 'Three Merry Lords' of England.

Lady Campbell was disgraced and imprisoned for quite sometime, the severity of her actions was not insignificant. At the time, Prince Robert was heir to his older brother James V and Catherine, as a mother was less than impressed and Lady Campbell would never work in the royal household again. The fate of Edmund Fitzroy was much bloodier."

- Bonny Queen Catherine

"At dawn, the King received the bloody and torn coat of Edmund Fitzroy, it was both a warning and a threat.

Richard wanted to press on and to punish the Scots for what he considered to be insults. Until the King got violently drunk in his anger and fell subsequently breaking his leg. It felt like a disappointment in many ways, some films or television shows have added a battle in - giving Richard in death what he wanted. A chance to meet Scotland on the battlefield and to prove himself to the woman who in some other life, would have been his bride.

Perhaps if Catherine of Aragon had we would not have had the Matter of England.

The English forces however retreated much to Richard's protests but even he understood, he swore revenge as he often did and though he often postured and even made plans...other things soon came onto his mind.

For Catherine it was a victory and her son James would later write to his daughter, saying simply "Nature wronged her in making her a woman, but for her sex - she could have surpassed all the heroes of history." Of course, we now know that daughter as Catherine, Queen of Scots."

- Bonny Queen Catherine

"Richard's threats to ride on Scotland became distracted by a domestic matter, as we find ourselves in 1525 - where King Richard and Queen Eleanor's marriage became increasingly complicated. For so many years of marriage, they did not have a single child to show for it - the English succession was not secure. Richard had two surviving siblings, one in a convent and one married to the King of France. His nearest male relative, the Duke of York had only surviving daughters and as Richard makes clear in his own letters, he wanted a son to survive him.

More than that, he needed a son and in 1525, England was a powder keg about to explode.

In 1525 it would, in no small part to the 'Red Rose of Hedingham' herself."

- Richard III: Mind of a Tyrant

 

[aurora01]

1525
​

The daughters of the Duke of York rode together giggling,as they often did. Philippa as their leader and Mary and Anne at either of her sides, they were as close as sisters could be.

"I think on a scale of someone breaking their engagement and eloping with someone else, it's cousin Richard at one end and Anne at the other," Mary couldn't help but joke.

Philippa rolled her eyes, "It's been a year Mary, what else should she do?"

"Well he eloped with someone of the same name," Mary said with an eye roll, "And she's been writing to her, we're the daughters of a prince and Anne's betrothed went off with a knight's daughter and now they're friends,"

"Should I not write to her?" Anne shrugged, "Anne Boleyn, well Percy now I suppose seems nice enough and clever too. You know I've always been more of a scholar than either of you so..." She trailed off rapidly as there was the sound of some commotion ahead.

"Oh dear," Philippa winced, her eyes roving ahead. "Looks like cousin Richard has wandered off..."

"And nothing good ever comes of that," Mary remarked.

Nothing good would come of it either as Richard had burst away into the woodland, pressing his horse onward. Leaving the majority of his party far behind. He might have pressed on however in his great desire to be alone, but then there was nothing as soon enough he found himself completely and utterly lost.

Richard made a noise of frustration and for a few moments there was utter silence until echoing through the trees was a sound of a high, feminine laugh. He whirled around trying to locate the source of the noise.

"Who's there? Your King demands to know!"

"Just the spirit that haunts these woods, Your Majesty." came the voice in some clear amusement. "Oh dear, do you happen to find yourself lost?"

"No." Richard huffed, "I am the King and I know all these lands!"

"All of them?"

"Yes and -," Richard huffed again, "Who are you shade? Show yourself and I'll have you dealt with for being impudent!"

For a moment there was silence again and then the sound of hooves but not of Richard's horse and the trees before him seemed almost to part until standing before him was the most beautiful young woman he'd ever seen. She was dressed in forest green which had rendered her difficult to see, of course had it not been for her most striking feature - her bright red hair that was coming undone from the fashionable updo she had it in and trailing down to frame her face.

In another life, the lady might have been a forest nymph - guarding a secret spring from Odysseus.

She was devastatingly lovely.

Richard stared at her for a moment, his mouth seeming to fall open before he managed. "And who are you?"

The lady tossed her hair back with a laugh that was almost sarcastic, "I'm upset you do not know me, Your Majesty. My father is your host. I am Barbara, Barbara de Vere,"

 

[aurora01]

"It feels as though for centuries we have been trying to make sense of Barbara de Vere, we know more of her than Frances Marchwood and Barbara was indeed infamous. The subject of the obsession of a King, we have often fallen into the trap of assuming things about her we can never know to be true. We have heard enough of her from other people but we rarely seem to see Barbara through her own lens. It has felt repeatedly as though we turn back to glimpse her like Orpheus hunting Eurydice and she tilts that striking red hair away from us as if to say "I am not for you."

It caused a commotion at court when Barbara arrived and how quickly and blatantly Richard favored her. It was remarked by his cousin, Philippa - that if he could have placed her above all the women in England then he would have. Even above his own wife.

Richard's relationship with Eleanor perhaps by itself deserves a book, he at least seemed to bear her love and considered her the younger sibling who filled the void left by Edmund, Duke of Brittany rather than a wife. It cannot be said however that he held the same passion for her that he did for Barbara, but it cannot be said that he held the same passion for anyone in the world.

Barbara de Vere of course, was the mother of one of Richard's three children.

When she came to court, she was remarked upon as being blunt, perhaps to the point of being rude and having a sarcastic biting wit. This apparently is what was the chief attraction to Richard, aside from the fact that she was a physically striking woman. It would prove to be her downfall but initially it was what caused Richard to hold her opinion in higher countenance than all other's. That she would always tell him exactly what she thought.

A joke from the era became that, Richard ruled England but Lady Barbara ruled him."

- The Wild Rose of Hedingham: Barbara de Vere, a biography

 

[aurora01]

1526​

"Bee?" Jane de Vere called out as she stepped into the room "Are you..." She trailed off when she saw Barbara in the middle of the room, roughly trying to tie a strip of cloth around her bared arm.

"What are you doing?" She said, reaching out to touch her sister's arm as she approached, Barbara winced and Jane stepped back - seeing purple marks, that looked like...finger marks.

"Barbara?" She asked softly and her taller sister turned away, focusing on the window, her mouth set in a hard line.

"Hello Janey," Barbara said almost flatly. "Did Father send you?"

"He knew that the King called you to his bed last night for the first time and..." Jane trailed off, staring at her sister. "Did the King..." she could barely begin to ask the question, something close to horror curling up in her stomach. "I thought he called you his sweetheart and that he..."

"He loves me," Barbara's voice came hollow and almost empty, "Above all others, he would have only me if he was not married. He's never loved anyone the way he has me. This is the only way he can...bed a woman,"

"Barbara?" Jane asked quietly, noting that her sister's green gaze seemed to be elsewhere, as though she wasn't here at all. "You don't have to stay at court, you could go home. Father wouldn't..."

"Don't tell me," Barbara's voice cracked, "What Father would or would not do, I cannot say no to the King and I cannot say no to father. You know of what the King does...we've all heard the stories, he wanted to drag Mistress Marchwood back to court by her hair, he had the Scottish children kidnapped and he's heard of his sister, preparing to take back Calais and Brittany for her son. He tore apart one of his chambers when he heard that and he means to march again. He likes to tell me that he was born for war," She paled a little, "I keep thinking that by provoking him that he'll tire of me but..."

"What will he do...when he tires of you?" Jane couldn't help but ask and Barbara didn't hold her gaze.

"I don't know," Barbara answered quietly, "Truly by God, I don't know,"

 

[aurora01]

"The matter of Brittany was enough to distract Richard from taking Barbara to bed, it had of course originally been intended to be inherited by the younger son of Edward V. It was planned that as soon as Edmund was old enough he would be sent to Brittany to learn how to rule there. However the young Prince was always a frail boy, Queen Anne herself never quite recovered from his birth and he was taken by a fever before he could reach manhood. The matter of Brittany itself was left unoccupied, in the absence of Anne - a Lord Lieutenant had been chosen to oversee affairs on her behalf though the Queen while she was well was known to take a keen interest in such matters. Upon the deaths of Edmund and then again his mother the position continued as Richard III was disinterested in the land itself, as Anne's son - the title had fallen to him. He had of course made mention of his intend that the title be conferred on his second son, a son of course that never came.

Anne of England, wife to Charles Orlando of France and the sister of Richard III had other plans.

Both the daughters of Edward V were known to be strong of will, the Queens and Queen Regents of Europe were remarkable in the latter half of the century - in the so called "Time of the Ladies."

With the neglect, Richard had left Brittany ripe for the taking and after his summary defeat by Catherine of Aragon. Anne began to plot, her husband having died three years prior leaving her with the regency of her son. She sent the forces of France quickly in 1526 and owing to Richard's own neglect, managed to almost too easily seize Brittany. In a letter to her brother, she referred to herself as 'Anne of Brittany as was our own mother'.

This enraged Richard who took his own forces to engage his sister, what he didn't account for was Anne's friendship with fellow Queen Regent, Catherine of Aragon. Although the King of Scotland was practically a man and he relied on his mother more as an advisor than a regent, that spring she would simply claim the title of 'Dowager' rather than 'Regent' The pair had struck up a friendship and even in the spirit of the Auld Alliance betrothed their children, James and Madeleine together. It was perhaps with no short of irony that Catherine helped to see to Richard's defeat once again.

Richard returned to England, shamed and cementing his reputation as one of the unluckiest of Kings. It did not much help matters that in their retreat, the English lost Calais again. Upon the Scottish ships on their return was the fourteen year old Madeleine of France, taken to Scotland where she would be introduced to her seventeen year old groom. The pair were luckily immediately smitten.

Brittany would remain in French hands for the next few decades though the English would continually contest them for it, it was by some small miracle and perhaps a testament (of which there are many) to Richard III's successor who smoothed things over enough. By a very complicated series of agreements and many negotiations, Charlotte of France would be dowered with Brittany when she married Richard's grandson, Edward. The second son of his successor. Their descendants still hold Brittany to this very day.

Wounded, Richard sent a letter to his favourite Barbara de Vere. It was a fierce and angry letter filled with bile, in it he stated he needed her now more than ever. Though when he returned to court, the Wild Rose of Hedingham had fled into the night.

Of course, she could not escape."

- Richard III: Mind of a Tyrant

 

[aurora01]

1526

Syon Abbey, Middlesex
​

"When did she arrive?"

"Half an hour ago, she rode all the way in the rain,"

Sister Beatrice of the Bridgettine Nuns, daughter of Edward V and sister to the current King, took in the bedraggled state of their visitor before she glanced back to Sister Margery. She couldn't have been much older than twenty or so if Beatrice had to guess, even with her red hair a mess from the way that she'd ridden and her skin pale and gaunt in the candle light, Barbara de Vere was unquestionably lovely. It wasn't hard to see why Richard was so taken with her, perhaps even Beatrice might have been though she didn't think Barbara held a candle to her Margery.

"No prizes for guessing what she's running from," Beatrice sighed, reaching over to squeeze Margery's arm. They had been committed to each other for so long and Beatrice considered Margery her wife in every sense except the law. It was what they referred to each other as in their private correspondence and they were loving and faithful to each other, just as Beatrice thought that God would intend out of any happy marriage.

"She has my sympathy," Margery murmured, carefully considering the girl wrapped in her cloak who looked so bereft. "Has she said what she wants,"

"For the Mother Abbess to take her into the service of Our Lord," Beatrice said, folding her arms.

"And what has she said?"

Beatrice pressed her lips into a thin line, she liked Agnes Jordan as well as most of her sisters in the order. As long as the both of them did their duties then no questions were asked, like no one had asked any questions the spring she'd turned eighteen and her menses had come on for the first time. A late bloomer but a bloomer all the same, Beatrice herself had suspected as much as she'd turned tricks with the truth in order to make sure that she and Margery wouldn't be parted. However she knew the Mother Superior and she knew that Barbara had no chance in hell.

"I doubt she'll take her, she'll not want to offend the King and she won't let her take her vows without knowing that her family approves first. She's told Lady Barbara that she needs to pray on it first but I suspect she stalls for time. At least until her family comes here to collect her or -,"

"Or?"

"Or my brother," Beatrice said quietly, "And I know that if he comes then he will not be happy and -,"

Margery glanced over her shoulder making sure that no one was looking before she rested her hand on her beloved's cheek. "Whatever he does...I don't think that any of us can stop it,"

Beatrice sighed, "God help the poor girl, I think we shall have to pray for her,"

 

[aurora01]

“It was Agnes Jordan who wrote to Barbara’s father and informed him of her whereabouts, in her letter which still survives she informed him that “The young lady is quite frightened” and requests that he be understanding of a girl who assumed that she had a higher calling to be a Bride of Christ.

The Earl of Oxford’s reaction does not survive but we know the facts, that he collected Barbara from Syon Abbey and promptly returned her to court and all but threw her back in Richard’s bed.

We know of Richard’s reaction that he raged at Barbara and then began to settle down. It is said that Richard decided that his sweetheart was simply overwhelmed by her feelings and it was only natural that such passion would frighten her. After all she was only a woman and they were such fragile creatures.

In Barbara’s first recorded appearance at court after the incident, it is noted that she had a broken arm. A fact that Barbara herself put down to a hunting accident, something historians now suspect perhaps had a more sinister explanation.

She would remain at Richard’s side from then on, she would never try to leave him again.

In the end, even submitting to the King’s will would not save her because in less than four years, Barbara de Vere would be dead.”

- Richard III: The Mind of a Tyrant

 

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"1527 was a false spring, in the first half of the month - it was thought that Queen Eleanor was pregnant and there was much celebration by the court. The couple had been married long enough and England was still in a precarious position, Richard had no children and it was a blow to his pride that he did not have an heir. However as time went on, an unease fell about the court and it was later confirmed by the court physicians that 'Our Queen wished so much for a child in her own imaginings, her body tried to make it so'. It was of course what we now understand to be a phantom pregnancy.

As the months turned into a new year, 1528 would mark the last eighteen months of Barbara de Vere's life. In January however, we can say with some certainty that the end began for her...as Richard's next mistress arrived at court."

- Richard III: The Mind of a Tyrant

 

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1528​

Queen Eleanor of England had spent much of that morning in prayer, in silent contemplation for what she had been sure was at last God blessing their marriage.

Yet...nothing.

It had been many months and now her belly was at flat again, Richard had kept much of his rage from her and then he had clumsily patted her head and said "Soon we shall have sons! Many bonny sons!" Eleanor had privately thought that if only to spare herself from the way that Barbara de Vere seemed to wander around court like a ghost, that perhaps she would sacrifice the many sons.

Most of her ladies were as quiet as she was, engrossed in their own pursuits. It was the expression of a woman opposite her that caught her attention, she glanced up from her contemplations.

"Is there something troubling you, Lady Anne?"

Anne Percy, now Countess of Northumberland following her father in law's demise glanced up from where she was reading a letter. "Just bad tidings from my sister, Your Majesty."

"So soon after you have returned to court?" Eleanor asked, knowing that the younger woman had only recently returned following the birth of her second child and first daughter.

"Yes, her husband went to be with Our Lord last year and she has found herself in great debt,"

"Has his family not done anything for her? I remember you saying that you have a niece and a nephew?"

"No, Your Majesty," Anne shook her head, "They are having...issues,"

Eleanor found her heart rising in pity, "I do not know if it is something that your sister would wish, but perhaps I could find a place for her here. If your father does not already have plans for her?"

Anne seemed to be almost considering her next words, "I think that he would quite like her to come to court Your Majesty,"

Eleanor thought that she understood the unspoken words there, that her father would quite like Mary Carey to come to court and to hopefully find a new match. It seemed pragmatic enough, though she noted wryly with some of the things that Anne had said before - perhaps it was to avoid paying off the debts himself.

"I know you said your sister was not terribly keen on court life," Eleanor said carefully, "Which is why you came here first, but if you think it is something that she would like then I will write to her myself,"

There was something like relief on Anne's face as she nodded, "That is most kind of you, Your Majesty,"

"Well all being well, perhaps she can return with your sister in law," Eleanor said, mindful of the fact that Jane Parker was currently at Hever in confinement. "I'm sure it would be nice for you, the three of you all at court together,"

If only she'd known.

 

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The Boleyn Family circa 1528
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Thomas Boleyn
m. Elizabeth Howard

Mary Boleyn, b. 1499
m. William Carey (1500 - 1527)
- Catherine Carey, b. 1524
- Henry Carey, b. 1526

Anne Boleyn, b. 1501
m. Henry Percy, b. 1502
- Thomas Percy, b. 1525
- Eleanor Percy, b. 1528

George Boleyn, b. 1505
m. Jane Parker, b. 1505
- Jane Boleyn, b. 1525
- Arthur Boleyn, b. 1526
- Henry Boleyn, b. 1528

 

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“The arrival of Mary Carey at court of course marked the year where the three main women of Richard III’s life would be at court. It was the only time when the mothers of his children would be there together, by the end of it all - Eleanor of Austria would be the last woman standing.

Barbara de Vere of course would have a remarkably disturbing end, Mary Carey would have gone the same way - had she not had the mercy of dying in childbirth. It is odd indeed that we would call it mercy, but considering that Richard reportedly had something worse in mind for her than Barbara’s end...

We of course know the women better by the children they gave Richard: Constance, Elizabeth and Richard. However this documentary seeks to understand those months, how everything indeed went wrong and how England would be forever changed by those months at court.”

- Richard’s Women: Re-Examined