Richard III : The Self-made King (9780300253047) by Hicks Michael

Author:Hicks, Michael
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780300214291
Publisher: Yale Univ Pr

IV

King Edward was exultant at the success of the campaign, and maximised the publicity value of the capture of Berwick. Gloucester’s triumph was so great, he told Pope Sixtus IV, that the duke ‘alone would suffice to chastise the whole kingdom of Scotland’.93 It was a national victory to be celebrated by a beleaguered government that otherwise had only bad news to report. From an English angle it appears almost bloodless, with no significant casualties. The one possible exception was the duke’s councillor Sir William Redmayn, who died at Heversham in Westmorland, probably specifically Levens, on 11–12 September 1482.94 A funeral lament for Edward IV singled out the defeat of the Scots and the recovery of Berwick as notable achievements. On 18 February 1483 Parliament commended ‘the prepotent prince’ Richard Duke of Gloucester, also the earl of Northumberland, Lord Stanley, ‘and certain other barons and knights for their noble deeds and acts and for their services done and to be done for the aforesaid lord king in defence of the realm in the war recently fought with Scotland’.95 Gloucester made the most of his success. Mancini in 1483 took his martial prowess for granted. ‘Such was his renown in warfare that whenever a difficult and dangerous policy had to be undertaken, it would be entrusted to his discretion and generalship.’ In 1484 the Scottish envoy Archibald Whitelaw called him ‘the embodiment of military skill [and] prowess’. Gloucester, he declared, possessed such other military qualities ‘to be sought in the best military leader [as] hard work in administration, bravery in the face of danger, application in developing a position, speed in execution, and care in forward planning’. The Scottish campaign marked him out as general, on the biggest available stage. ‘Sundrye victories hadde hee, and sommetime ouerthrowes’, wrote More, ‘but neuer in default of his own person, either of hardinesse [courage] or polytyke order [generalship]’.96 Circumstances, Scottish weakness, a lack of scrutiny, and the dynastic crisis that overshadowed the 1482 campaign somewhat exaggerated what had been achieved, but left Richard nevertheless with a substantial military reputation in England.

Certainly the duke had done well. It was no small achievement to recover the fortress of Berwick that had been 20 years in Scottish hands and that the Scots had striven not to lose. England’s principal war aim had been achieved. The duke had secured repayment of Cecily’s dowry. Alexander Duke of Albany had been restored to his lands and offices. Moreover, Gloucester had extricated his army safely from a perilous situation. Although at a loss for what to do when there was nobody to negotiate with, Gloucester seems to have handled the diplomatic exchanges skilfully and decisively, and to have set out clearly what he was prepared to accept. If he did not seek a full-scale battle – as happened repeatedly in the Wars of the Roses in England – he was prepared for one if necessary. Of course it helped that his army was so much stronger than its counterpart.

But the results were not permanent.

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