Read Online GREAT UNSOLVED CRIMES (True Crime) by Rodney Castleden - Free Book Online
Authors: Rodney Castleden
Ads: Link
fore-building that then stood in front of the south-west corner of the White Tower, not far from the two skeletons that were to be found in 1674. Obviously all four skeletons could not be authentic, and maybe none of them were.
Given the absence of bodies and the absence of any credible evidence of murder, it remains a possibility that the two princes were not murdered on Richard III’s orders. It is at least equally likely that Richard III did not kill his nephews but instead sent them abroad. He himself had needed to withdraw to Flanders as a boy, his flight arranged by his mother, and with that experience behind him he may well have sent the boys overseas to the care of his sister, the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, who held her own independent court at Malines. It is likely that for a time the boys lived quietly with their mother at Gipping Hall near Stowmarket, which was also the home of the Tyrell family. Tyrell is named by Shakespeare as one of the princes’ murderers, but he was in fact Richard’s ‘knight of the body’, his secret agent.
Tyrell might well have been entrusted with looking after the princes for a time, while arrangements for shipping them across to the continent were made. That is the tradition in Sir James Tyrell’s family. The princes lived at Gipping Hall ‘by permission of their uncle’, Richard III. There were, moreover, widespread rumours circulating in 1486, following Richard III’s death at the Battle of Bosworth, that the princes had not been murdered, but were still alive. There are even documents dated 1484 among the Harleian Manuscripts which may tell us of the arrangements that were made for the secret transfer of the boys overseas. There is a tantalizing entry late in 1484 which refers to a journey made by Sir James Tyrell ‘over the Sea into Flanders for divers matters greatly concerning our well-being.’
Although it is generally assumed that Perkin Warbeck (a pretender to the English throne) was an impostor, it is just possible that he really was, as he claimed, Richard, Duke of York. He may have been lodged with the Werbecque family of Tournai. What happened to the elder brother is less clear, and although chroniclers are able to say where Richard/Perkin went they seem to be unable to follow Edward. One chronicler actually says, ‘I find no mention of the elder brother being in Flanders, but very frequent mention of his younger brother being there.’
There was a great deal of confusion over the identity of Lambert Simnel, the pretender who appeared in 1486. Four of the early chroniclers gave conflicting accounts of his claim. One said he was the genuine Earl of Warwick, son of George, Duke of Clarence; another said he claimed to be Edward V but was an impostor; another said he was an impostor claiming to be the Earl of Warwick; another said he first claimed to be the Duke of York and then changed his claim to Warwick. It has even been suggested that the original claimant (whoever he was and whatever he claimed to be) was killed in the Battle of Stoke in June 1487, when his army of supporters was annihilated, and that the Lambert Simnel who was afterwards treated as the claimant was a substitute. He must rank as one of the strangest figures in history: someone pretending to be another person who was pretending to be someone else.
The identity of Perkin Warbeck is a shade clearer though still uncertain. He looked strikingly similar to Edward IV, Edward V’s father, spoke flawless English, carried himself in a princely manner. It was at the time, and still is, very hard to believe that he was the son of a Tournai boatman. After close questioning he was acknowledged by Margaret of Burgundy as her nephew and was acknowledged as the Duke of York by many other people too. It was only after he fell into the clutches of Henry VII that his fate was sealed. Henry VII eventually had him executed.
If the two pretenders were not Edward V and his brother Prince Richard, it is
Given the absence of bodies and the absence of any credible evidence of murder, it remains a possibility that the two princes were not murdered on Richard III’s orders. It is at least equally likely that Richard III did not kill his nephews but instead sent them abroad. He himself had needed to withdraw to Flanders as a boy, his flight arranged by his mother, and with that experience behind him he may well have sent the boys overseas to the care of his sister, the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, who held her own independent court at Malines. It is likely that for a time the boys lived quietly with their mother at Gipping Hall near Stowmarket, which was also the home of the Tyrell family. Tyrell is named by Shakespeare as one of the princes’ murderers, but he was in fact Richard’s ‘knight of the body’, his secret agent.
Tyrell might well have been entrusted with looking after the princes for a time, while arrangements for shipping them across to the continent were made. That is the tradition in Sir James Tyrell’s family. The princes lived at Gipping Hall ‘by permission of their uncle’, Richard III. There were, moreover, widespread rumours circulating in 1486, following Richard III’s death at the Battle of Bosworth, that the princes had not been murdered, but were still alive. There are even documents dated 1484 among the Harleian Manuscripts which may tell us of the arrangements that were made for the secret transfer of the boys overseas. There is a tantalizing entry late in 1484 which refers to a journey made by Sir James Tyrell ‘over the Sea into Flanders for divers matters greatly concerning our well-being.’
Although it is generally assumed that Perkin Warbeck (a pretender to the English throne) was an impostor, it is just possible that he really was, as he claimed, Richard, Duke of York. He may have been lodged with the Werbecque family of Tournai. What happened to the elder brother is less clear, and although chroniclers are able to say where Richard/Perkin went they seem to be unable to follow Edward. One chronicler actually says, ‘I find no mention of the elder brother being in Flanders, but very frequent mention of his younger brother being there.’
There was a great deal of confusion over the identity of Lambert Simnel, the pretender who appeared in 1486. Four of the early chroniclers gave conflicting accounts of his claim. One said he was the genuine Earl of Warwick, son of George, Duke of Clarence; another said he claimed to be Edward V but was an impostor; another said he was an impostor claiming to be the Earl of Warwick; another said he first claimed to be the Duke of York and then changed his claim to Warwick. It has even been suggested that the original claimant (whoever he was and whatever he claimed to be) was killed in the Battle of Stoke in June 1487, when his army of supporters was annihilated, and that the Lambert Simnel who was afterwards treated as the claimant was a substitute. He must rank as one of the strangest figures in history: someone pretending to be another person who was pretending to be someone else.
The identity of Perkin Warbeck is a shade clearer though still uncertain. He looked strikingly similar to Edward IV, Edward V’s father, spoke flawless English, carried himself in a princely manner. It was at the time, and still is, very hard to believe that he was the son of a Tournai boatman. After close questioning he was acknowledged by Margaret of Burgundy as her nephew and was acknowledged as the Duke of York by many other people too. It was only after he fell into the clutches of Henry VII that his fate was sealed. Henry VII eventually had him executed.
If the two pretenders were not Edward V and his brother Prince Richard, it is
Similar Books
