The Wars of the Roses by John Ashdown-Hill

Author:John Ashdown-Hill [Ashdown-Hill, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Published: 2015-10-06T21:00:00+00:00

9

NEW SUCCESSION PROBLEMS

With Henry VI and Edward of Westminster both dead, and with the house of Beaufort now extinct in the legitimate male line, in terms of lineal descent from John of Gaunt, or from Edmund Crouchback, no obvious Lancastrian claimant to the throne remained alive in England. The only possible contender would have been Edward IV’s brother-in-law, Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter. Henry Holland was a grandson of Henry IV’s sister, Elizabeth of Lancaster. However, he had never been taken seriously as a potential Lancastrian claimant to the throne because of his unpopularity and his unpredictable temper. The Duke of Exeter survived until 1475. He is then thought to have been put to death by drowning, on the orders of King Edward IV. However, in the aftermath of the battle of Barnet (at which he had commanded the Lancastrian left flank) he had, in any case, been imprisoned by Edward.

In this situation, and given the fact that Richard, Duke of York, had previously claimed to be the potential Lancastrian heir to the throne if and when the legitimate line of John of Gaunt died out, one possible point of view in 1471 was that the Duke of York’s eldest son – King Edward IV himself – was now not only the senior Yorkist claimant, but also the senior Lancastrian claimant.

But another possible viewpoint, based on the enactment of Henry VI in 1470 (see above, chapter 8) was that the Duke of York’s second surviving son, George, Duke of Clarence, was the legitimate Lancastrian heir.

The said Duke [of Clarence] continuyng ín his false purpose, opteyned and gate an exemplificacion undre the Grete Seall of Herry the Sexte, late in dede and not in right Kyng of this Lande, wherin were conteyned alle suche appoyntements as late was made betwene the said Duke and Margaret, callyng herself Quene of this Lande, and other; amonges whiche it was conteyned, that if the said Herry, and Edward, his first begoton Son, died withoute Issue Male of theire Bodye, that the seid Duke and his Heires shulde be Kyng of this Lande; which exemplificacion the said Duke hath kepyd with hymself secrete, not doyng the Kyng to have eny knowlegge therof.1

The existence of this Clarence claim undoubtedly raised important issues later.

As for the Yorkist position in 1471, on the surface the future of the house of York as the English royal family now appeared assured and certain. After all, during the Lancastrian Readeption, Elizabeth Woodville had finally given birth to a living son by Edward IV. As a result, England once again had a Prince of Wales, bearing the name of Edward. But although, superficially, the future of the house of York seemed secure, in fact there were significant flaws beneath the surface. The irregularity of Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, and the unpopularity of Elizabeth and her family, had not gone away. Also, while Edward IV’s middle brother, George, Duke of Clarence, had apparently returned to the Yorkist fold, he had only recently been openly opposing the king and his politics.

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