WARWICK CASTLE
AND ITS EARLS
WARWICK CASTLE
AND ITS EARLS
FROM SAXON TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY
BY
THE COUNTESS OF WARWICK
WITH TWO PHOTOGRAVURE PLATES
AND 172 ILLUSTRATIONS
VOL. I.
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON £f CO.
LONDON
HUTCHINSON & CO.
1903
Contents of Vol. I
BOOK I
THE SAXON AND NORMAN EARLS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
Early History of Warwick— Britons and Romans — John Rons, the
Antiquary — Early Legends recorded in his Roll — The Truth
that underlies them . I
CHAPTER II
Ethelfleda, Daughter of Alfred the Great— Her Life and Work— Her
Castle at Warwick — Architectural Details — The Saxon Earls of
Rous — Were they really Earls, or were they Shire-reeves? . . 10
CHAPTER III
Earl Rohand— His Daughter Phyllis— Her Love for Guy— The Legend of
Guy's Adventures and of his Retirement to the Hermitage at Guy's
Cliff — The Relics at Warwick Castle — Mr. Bloxam's Damaging
Criticisms .... . . .... 17
CHAPTER IV
Other Saxon Earls — Reynbron — Wegeatus — Ufa — Wolgeatus —
Wygotus — The Legend of Lady Godiva in Prose and Verse — Some
very Good Reasons for not believing a Word of it . . . 38
v
Contents of Vol. I *-
CHAPTER V
PACK
Thurkill, the Traitor Earl — Why he was not at Hastings — How the
Conqueror favoured him — How lie changed his Name, and was the
Ancestor of William Shakespeare ...... .48
CHAPTER VI
The Rebuilding of the Castle by William the Conqueror — Architectural
Particulars— Henry de Newburgh, the First Norman Earl — His
OHiccs — His Benefactions to Religions Houses — His Services to
Henry I. -His Death and Burial 52
CHAPTER VII
The House of Ncu burgh continued — Roger de Newburgh — William de
Ncwburgh — Waleran de Newburgh -Henry de Newburgh — Thomas
de Newburgh — Ela, Countess of Warwick — Her Second Husband — •
Her Benefaction to the University of Oxford .... •
CHAPTER VIII
Margaret de Newburgh, Countess in her own Right — Her Two
Husbands, John Marshall and John du Plessis— John Mauduit—
The Last of the Norman Earls ........ 67
BOOK II
THE HOUSE OF BEAUCHAMP
CHAPTER I
The House of Beauchamp— William de Beauchamp — His Wars in
Wales— Guy de Beauchamp— His Enmity to Piers Gaveston — The
Execution of Piers Gaveston on Blacklovv Hill ... 75
vi
Contents of Vol. I
CHAPTER II
PAGE
Thomas de Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick of Edward II I. 's French
Wars — His Exploits at Crecy, at Poictiers, and at Calais — His
Death — His Arms and Crest — His Monument in St. Mary's Church,
Warwick . 88
CHAPTER III
Thomas de Beauchamp — His Hostility to Richard II. — His Arrest and
Imprisonment — His Confession of Treachery — His Subsequent
Repudiation of it — His Death — Richard de Beauchamp — His Feats
of Chivalry— His Tailor's Bill 100
CHAPTER IV
Richard de Beauchamp in the French War — The Towns he took — His
Advice to Poet Lydgate — Guardian of Henry VI. — The Ousting
of the English from France — Richard de Beauchamp's Part in the
Resistance — His Death in Normandy . . . . . 117
BOOK III
THE HOUSE OF NEVILLE AND THE HOUSE
OF PLANTAGENET
CHAPTER I
The House of Neville — Its Wealthy Marriages — Its Alliance with the
House of Beaucliamp — Richard Neville becomes Earl of Warwick —
The Condition of England during his Minority — Jack Cade's
Rebellion— The Rebellion of the Duke of York— The First Battle
of St. Albans — The Redistribution of Offices — Warwick's Exploits
as Captain of Calais and Captain to guard the Sea . . . 139
CHAPTER II
Queen Margaret's Counter-revolution — The Rout of Ludford — Warwick
at Calais— His Raid on Sandwich — The Battle of Northampton—
The Battle of Wakefield— The Second Battle of St. Albans— The
Battle of Towton — Flight of King Henry and Queen Margaret . 155
vii
Contents of Vol. I
CHAPTER III
PAGE
lonours for the Karl of Warwick— His Subjugation of the Northern
Lancastrian Fortresses — Coolness between King and King-maker —
The Three Causes of Difference — The Indignation of Warwick
and his Surly Message to the King ...... 169
CHAPTER IV
The Vengeance of the King-maker— His Lauding in Kent — His Com-
promise with Edward IV7. — His Flight — His Accommodation with
(Jueen Margaret— His Landing at Dartmouth — The Treachery of
the Duke of Clarence— The Death of Warwick at the Battle of
Barnet — An Estimate of his Character ...... 179
CHAPTER V
The King-maker's Widow, his Daughters, and his Sons-in-law — Anne
Neville's Petition to Parliament — The Sad End of the Duke of
Clarence — The Still Sadder Fate of Edward, Earl of Warwick —
The Fate of Edward's Sister Margaret in the Reign of Henry VIII. 190
CHAPTER VI
Architectural Particulars — The Norman Castle — Giffard's Siege — The
Edwardian Castle, built by the Beauchamps— The General
Principles of Edwardian Castles — The Warwick Gatehouse — Guy's
Tower — Caesar's Tower — The Prison — The Inscriptions — The
Curtain Walls between the Towers- — The River Gate . . 203
BOOK IV
THE HOUSE OF DUDLEY
CHAPTER I
The Policy of Heniy VII.— The Assistance given him by Edmund
Dudley — The Pedigree of Edmund Dudley — His Descent from the
House of Sutton — Dudley and Empson — Bacon's Scathing Account
of their Proceedings — The Arrest of Dudley — His Conviction of
High Treason — His Book in Favour of Absolute Monarchy — His
Execution — An Estimate of his Character 219
Contents of Vol. I
CHAPTER II
PAGE
Edmund Dudley's Family — Andrew Dudley — John Dudley, Earl of
Warwick and Duke of Northumberland— The List of his Honours
and Offices under Henry VIII. and under Edward VI.— His
Military Achievements at Boulogne, at Pinkie, arid at Dussindale —
His Rivalry with Lord Protector Somerset — His Acquisition of
Dudley Castle — John Knox's Candid Opinion of him . . . 234
CHAPTER III
John Dudley's Children — The Family Conspiracy in Favour of Lady
Jane Dudley — The Deatli of King Edward and the Failure of the
Plot— The Treatment of the Conspirators— " The Saying of John,
Duke of Northumberlande, uppon the Scaffold " — His Character —
His Son, John Dudley, who succeeded him, but died soon after
his Release from the Tower ........ 245
CHAPTER IV
Ambrose Dudley — His Imprisonment and Release — His Exploits at
Saint Ouentin and Exemption from the Act of Attainder — His
Appointments — His Command against the French at Havre — His
Appointment as Commissioner for the Trial of Mary Queen of
Scots — Her Special Appeal to his Sense of Justice .... 257
CHAPTER V
The Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Warwick — Extracts from the Account
of the Ceremonies in the Borough and the Festivities at the Castle
given in " The Black Book of Warwick '' . . . . . . 267
CHAPTER VI
Ambrose Dudley and Local Affairs — His Concern for Good Govern-
ment— His Interference with Parliamentary and Municipal Elections
— Other Events of his Later Years — The Amputation of his Leg —
His Death— His Character 295
ix
Contents of Vol. I
CHAPTER VII
PAGE
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester — The Reasons why he is Interesting —
His Marriage with Amy Robsart — The Robsart Pedigree — The
Storv of Lady Amy's Death — The Suggestion that Dudley murdered
her— A Review of the Evidence — -The Grounds on which Dudley
must be acquitted of the Crime ....... 312
CHAPTER VIII
Burial of Amy Dudley at Oxford — -The Queen's Friendship for
Robert Dudley — The Grant of Kenilworth Castle — The History of
the Castle — Dudley's Restorations and Improvements— James I.'s
Survey of Kenihvorth ......... 333
CHAPTER IX
Kenihvorth Festivities — Addresses in Prose and Verse— The
Tumbler — The Morris Dance — The Mock Wedding — Tilting at
the Quintain —The Masque that was suppressed, and the Probable
Reason for its Suppression ........ 342
CHAPTER X
Leicester's Marriage to Douglas, Lady Sheffield — Did he poison her? — •
Leicester in the Low Countries — His Failure as a General — His
Relations with the Borough of Warwick — He Visits the Borough
in State — His Benefactions — His Good Advice to Mr. Thomas
Fisher— An Attempt to estimate his Character .... 354
CHAPTER XI
Robert Dudley, Son of the Earl of Leicester — The Difficult Question of
his Legitimacy — His Early Life — His Remarkable Adventures as a
Navigator— His Marriage to the Daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh —
His Elopement with Elizabeth Southwell .....
CHAPTER XII
Robert Dudley at Florence— His Various Achievements there— His Skill
as an Engineer— As an Inventor— As a Ship-bnilder— His Remark-
able Patent Medicine — His Book on Great Circle Sailing . . 389
X
-* Contents of Vol. I
CHAPTER XIII
PAGE
Dudley at Florence — His Attempts to restore Friendly Relations with
the English Court — His Memorandum to Prince Henry on the
Importance of Sea Power — His Advice to King James as to the
Bridling of his Parliament and the Augmentation of his Revenue —
Dudley's Endeavours to obtain the Restitution of his Property by
a Threat of Reprisals on English Shipping ..... 401
CHAPTER XIV
Duchess Dudley— Her Charitable Works— Her Daughters and their
Husbands — Robert Dudley's Large Italian Family — The Pro-
ceedings of Carlo the Scapegrace— The Great Marriages of the
Daughters — General Remarks about the House of Dudley and its
Prominent Representatives . . . . . . . .412
List of Illustrations in Vol. I
7 he pictures in this book tut otherwise acknowledged are from photographs by
Mr. L. C. Kelghlcy Peach, Alderminster, Stratford-on-Avon.
Warwick Castle in 1746 .......... 3
Caesar's Tower, Warwick Castle ........ 5
A Crusader's Helmet .......... 7
Ethelfleda's Tower and Keep, in the Grounds of Warwick Castle . . 9
Caesar's Tower, Warwick Castle 15
Guy of Warwick ........... 19
A Crusader's Armour .......... 25
Guy of Warwick, from a Basso Relievo formerly in Warwick Lane,
London ............ 29
Guy's Porridge-pot ........... 33
Guy's Sword and Meat-fork ......... 35
Lady Godiva 39
Battlement Steps, Warwick Castle ........ 43
Thurkill, Earl of Warwick . . 49
An Arch of the Clock Tower, Warwick Castle . . . . -55
Roger de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick ....... 59
The Seal of Thomas de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick .... 65
The Charter of Henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, granting the
Advowson of Compton Verney to St. Mary's, Warwick ... 66
John du Plessis, Earl of Warwick ........ 69
William de Mauduit, Earl of Warwick . . . . . . .71
Guy's Tower, Warwick Castle, from the Drive 73
A Deed confirming Compton Verney ....... 74
The Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick. View from the South-east . . 77
The Breastplate of Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick . . .81
The Shield of Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick .... 83
The Entrance to Piers Gaveston's Dungeon, Warwick Castle ... 85
xiii
List of Illustrations in Vol. I
PAGE
The Seal of Thomas de Beauchamp, I ith Earl of Warwick (1369 1401) 88
Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick ...... 89
A Piece of Edward the Black Prince's Armour ..... 91
Edward, the Black Prince • • • • 93
Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and his Countess. From their
Tomb at Warwick .......... 95
The Tomb of Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in the Choir of
St. Mary's Church, Warwick 99
The Obverse of the Seal of the Famous Thomas de Beauchamp, i2th
Karl of Warwick 102
The Reverse of the Seal of the Famous Thomas de Beauchamp. I2th
Karl of Warwick 103
Thomas de Beauchamp, Karl of Warwick, and his Countess, the Lady
Margaret . 107
The Birtli of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick .... 109
The Baptism of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, by the Arch-
bishop of York, in the Presence of Richard II. . . . . .ill
Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick . . . . . 113
Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick . . . . . i 1 5
The Second Seal of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick . . 118
Richard de Beauchamp, K.G., Earl of Warwick, Regent of France,
Governor of Normandy, and Captain of Calais . . . .119
Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, crossing the Channel witli his
Lady and his Son . . . . . . . . . .122
King Henry V. .......... -125
The Death of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick . . .127
The Interior of the Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick ..... 129
The Effigy of Richard de Beauchamp 131
The Monument of Richard de Beauchamp in the Beauchamp Chapel,
Warwick . . . . . . . . . . . .133
The Tomb of Isabella, Second Wife of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of
Warwick .
135
Henry Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick ....... 136
The Seal of Johanna de Beauchamp, Lady Bergevenny . . . .137
King Henry VI I38
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the King-maker 141
The Servants' Hall, Warwick Castle 147
The Signature of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the King-maker . 151
An Effigy in Armour of the King-maker riding on an Armoured Steed . 153
xiv
^ List of Illustrations in Vol. I
PAGE
Margaret of Anjou, Queen-Consort of Henry VI., who commanded her
Husband's Forces against the King-maker in many a Battle . 157
Caesar's Tower, Warwick Castle .... ... 163
Figure of the King-maker on the Tomb of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl
of Warwick, in the Beauchamp Chapel 167
Warwick Castle in 1746 171
A Letter signed by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, asking the Dean
of Warwick to obtain the Advowson of the Church, held by
Master Arundel, for his Servant . . . . . . .178
King Edward IV., whom the King-maker first placed upon the Throne
and then deposed .......... 181
The King-maker's Mace 187
A Letter with the Autographs of .Ralf, Lord Sudeley, William de
la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, and Richard, Earl of Salisbury, asking the
Dean of Warwick to send the Register of Knights' Fees to London . 189
Anne Neville, Daughter of the King-maker and Queen-Consort of
Richard III 191
George, Duke of Clarence, Son-in-law of the King-maker by Marriage
with his Elder Daughter, Isabel, and Jure uxoris Earl of Warwick . 193
King Richard III., Son-in-law of the King-maker by Marriage with his
Younger Daughter, Anne 197
The Gate Tower, Warwick Castle, 1823. From the Inner Court . . 205
Guy's Tower, Bridge, and Old Gateway, Warwick Castle . . .211
Warwick Castle, 1746 . 221
The Main Gateway and Portcullis, Warwick Castle .... 225
The River Front, Warwick Castle 229
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland and Earl of Warwick . . 237
The Water-tower, Warwick Castle ........ 241
The Lady Mary Dudley, afterwards the Wife of Sir Henry Sidney, and
the Mother of Sir Philip Sidney ....... 243
The Lady Jane Grey, who was wedded to Lord Guilford Dudley . . 247
An Inscription by John Dudley (Eldest Son of John Dudley, Duke of
Northumberland), in the Beauchamp Tower, Tower of London . 251
Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick 259
Mary Queen of Scots .......... 261
The Gate-house, Warwick Castle . . 265
Queen Elizabeth ........... 269
Anne Dudley, Countess of Warwick, the Third Wife of Ambrose
Dudley ............ 277
XV
List of Illustrations in Vol. I
Oucen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, in the Grounds of Warwick Castle . 285
Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick . ....... 297
The Chantry Chapel, adjoining the Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick . . 301
The Tomb of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, in the Lady Chapel,
Warwick ............ 309
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester 313
The Death of Amy Robsart 323
Kenilworth Castle ........... 335
The Festivities at Kenilworth in Honour of Queen Elizabeth . . . 343
Queen Elizabeths Saddle 348
Queen Elizabeth's Viol .......... 353
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester ........ 355
The Leicester Hospital, Warwick . . . . . . . .361
The Tomb of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in the Beauchamp
Chapel, Warwick .......... 369
Sir Robert Dudley, "The Noble Impe," son of Robert Dudley, Earl of
Leicester and the Lady Douglas Sheffield ..... 375
The Armour of Sir Robert Dudley, " The Noble Impe " . . . . 379
The Interior of St. Mary's Church, Warwick ...... 391
Henry, Prince of Wales ....... . . 403
The Tomb of Sir Robert Dudley, "The Noble Impe,'' in the Beauchamp
Chape], Warwick 409
Interior of the Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick ...... 419
Warwick Castle and its Karls
BOOK I
THE SAXON AND NORMAN EARLS
CHAPTER I
Early History of Warwick — Britons and Romans — John Rous, the An-
tiquary— Early Legends recorded in his Roll— The Truth that
underlies them.
THE history of Warwick Castle is almost as old
as the history of England itself. Earls of
Warwick, belonging to each of the families that have
successively held the title, have played their part in
most of the dramas of English history. We meet
them in our foreign wars : at Crecy, and Poictiers,
and Agincourt, and in Queen Elizabeth's expedition
to Havre. They have been even more conspicuous
in our civil wars : the wars of Stephen and of
Edward II., the wars of the Roses, the rising
of Lady Jane Grey, and the war of the Parlia-
ment against Charles I. They have been the hosts
of kings, and also their executioners. They have
VOL. I. I B
Warwick Castle <*-
dictated the policy of their country, and they have
perished miserably on the scaffold. They have been
generals in our armies and admirals in our navies ;
and they have distinguished themselves in other fields
of fame. There was once an Earl of Warwick who
was a pirate ; there was once a pretender to the
earldom who distinguished himself by inventing a
valuable patent medicine. This history, therefore, will
not lack variety.
Before touching upon the history of the Castle,
I must say a word, by way of preface, about the
early history of the town and county. It is neither
a very long nor a very complicated history, though
it is a little difficult to decide exactly where legend
ends and history begins.
The "prehistoric" history need not detain us.
According to Mr. Timms, the able historian of the
county, " no remains are known, except, of course, in
the case of early camps and tumuli and ancient roads
which are within the limits of written history, but of
which nothing or little is definitely known."
Presently, of course, the ancient Romans came and
found the ancient Britons there. The town of Warwick
is believed to have been the Roman Presidium ; but
even this is not quite certain. There are, at any rate,
very few traces of the Roman occupation, especially in
the heart of the county. They had two roads there, —
the Ryknield Street, which enters the county on the
south of Biclford-on-Avon, and runs nearly due north
through Birmingham ; and Watling Street, which enters
Warwick Castle *-
Warwickshire near Rugby, and thence to Atherstone
forms the county boundary. Probably the Romans
were satisfied with these roads and the camps by the
roadside, and left the Britons in comparative tranquillity
in the forests.
In due course the Roman legions were withdrawn,
and the Anglo-Saxon invaders arrived. Their policy,
whenever and wherever they came, was not to subdue
the Britons, but to exterminate them. No doubt they
exterminated the Britons of Warwickshire like the rest,
but we do not know the details. What we do know
is that Warwickshire became a part of the Saxon
kingdom of Mercia, and that there were Earls of
Warwick. Authentic history — or perhaps it will be
more correct to say comparatively authentic history —
then begins.
Before proceeding with this authentic history, how-
ever, we must glance at the legendary history preserved
in the writings of the famous Warwickshire worthy
and antiquary, John Rous.
This John Rous (1411-1491) was a scholar of the
University of Oxford, distinguished for his learning.
He spent the greater part of his life as a chantry
priest at Guy's Cliff, of which more presently. He
erected a library over the south porch of St. Mary's
Church, Warwick, and furnished it with books ; and he
also wrote many books of his own, of which the one
that here concerns us bears the quaint title " This Rol l
1 A modern edition of the Roll states that it was in 1636 in possession
of Robert Arden, of Park Hall, Warwick, Esq., and was then transcribed
The Saxon and Norman Earls
was laburd and
finished by
Master John
Rows of War-
rewyk." It is
a magnificently
illuminated
MS., now in
the library of
the College of
Arms, and is a
history of the
Earls of War-
wick, intro-
duced by a
history of the
town. The
statements con-
tained in it will
be more intel-
ligible to the
general reader
if I presume to
modernise the
spelling.
According
From a print published in 1814.
C/ESAR'S TOWER, WARWICK CASTLE.
by William Dugdale, Garter, which transcript now forms a part of a
volume of his MSS. in the Ashmolean Museum (62). Mr. Arden died
unmarried, August 22nd, 1643 (in the flower of his youth, says Dugdale),
and his estate passed among his sisters and coheirs ; but it was not till the
year 1786 that the Roll itself came into the library of the College of Arms.
5
Warwick Castle <*-
to Rous, then, Warwick was founded by a certain
King Guthelyne, "about the birth of King Alexander,
the Greek conqueror," which would be 356 B.C., when
it is possible, though it cannot be proved, that the
Britons had some sort of settlement here. There is
a picture in the Roll of King Guthelyne bearing a
model of the town, with a bear sitting in the gateway.
Other early worthies mentioned by the antiquary
are : —
(1) King Gwiclard, who "died about the same year
that our Lord died."
(2) Saint Caracloc,1 who restored the town because
"he found it destroyed by the great wars that had
been in the land," and "considering the good air and
pleasant standing of it on a rock over a river between
the woodland and the champagne made on it great
building for him and his."
(3) King Constantine,2 who reigned A.D. 433-443,
built extensively, and was grandfather to King Arthur,
" the mighty warrior."
(4) King Gwayr, cousin of King Arthur, who "on
a time met with a giant that ran on him with a tree
shred and the bark off." "He overcame the giant,
and therefor ward bore on his arms a ragged staff of
1 I would take St. Caradoc as merely representing that the British
people here, before the Romans interfered, were Christians.
- King Constantine may represent Roman influence. A Roman road is
presumed, without any evidence, to have passed through the town, and
remains have been found, though not sufficient to indicate any extensive
settlement, which would be unnecessary with Chesterton, an undoubted
camp, so near.
6
The Saxon and Norman Earls
silver on a field of sable, and so his heirs continually
after him.'
(5) Saint Dubricius,1 Archbishop of Caerleon or
Warwick. " His see pontifical was then at All Hallows
Church in the Castle, and so it continued a college
till after the Conquest threescore years." He after-
wards fled to Wales to escape the Saxons, and became
first Bishop of Llandaff.
(6) Arthgal or Arthal, a knight of King Arthur's
Round Table, Earl of Warwick : " a lord of royal
blood, and witty in all
his deeds. ... Of his
name, that is to say Arthe
or Narthe, is as much
as to say in Welsh as a
bear."
(7) Morwid, Earl of
Warwick. In the section
concerning him Rous
speaks of " wells2 that be
half of the year, as from
Christmas to Midsummer,
salt, and the other half ot
the year they ran fresh,
and there is but little
water in them."
From the Armoury in Warwick Castle.
A CRUSADER'S HELMET.
1 St. Dubricius represents merely the fact that the Saxon burh had
a church within its enceinte ; many of them had, as Castle Rising in
Norfolk.
2 The legend about the salt and fresh water curiously suggests a spa,
and Leamington occurs to the mind at once
7
\Yarwick Castle <+-
(8) Marthrud,1 Earl of Warwick, "a noble knight,
and many more Welsh earls there were, one of whom
was marvellously buried in the bottom of Avon. . . .
In his days the Britons were driven into Wales, and
the land divided into many kingdoms, and the kingdoms
parted into shires. . . . Then King Warremund 2 did
change the name of this town, then a city named
Caer-gwayr, and called it Warwyke, and inhabit it new
with Saxons that now are called English people."
Such are the early legends embodied in the Rous
Roll. The probable basis of fact underlying the fanciful
stories has been indicated in the foot-notes. We gather
from them that the town was thought to have been built
in the fourth century B.C., and this is no doubt correct.
An encampment about this date may yet be traced in
the park, not far from the present castle, and hostile
tribes long after occupied and fortified the ridges of
the valley on either side of the Avon, as witness the
long line of encampments at Loxley and the early
mounds at Welcomb. The rest is partly deliberate
invention and partly floating tradition, upon which no
certain reliance can be placed. We will not, therefore,
dwell further upon the stories, but will proceed to the
period in which a portion at least of the history is
better attested.
1 The wars of Saxons with the Britons, or rather Roman-Britons, are
suggested by the legendary Marthrud.
2 Warremund is merely a name invented to account for a name, as
Romulus to account for Rome; but it also points to the historic Saxon
settlement.
CHAPTER II
Kthclfleda, daugliter of Alfred the Great— Her Life and Work— Her Castle at
Warwick— Architectural Details— The Saxon Earls of Rons— Were they
really Earls, or were they Shire-reeves ?
SOUND, authentic history, based upon credible
contemporary documents, only begins for us at
the time when Alfred the Great rolled back the tide
of the Danish invasion. There is still a good deal of
legend existing side by side with the history ; but the
two things can with some confidence be disentangled
and kept separate.
One name shines prominently in this period — the
name of Ethelfleda, eldest daughter of Alfred, sister of
Edward the Elder, the millenary of whose coronation
at Kingston-on-Thames was celebrated in 1901, and
wife of Ethelred, Earl of Mercia. She was a great
woman- warrior — the Boadicea of Saxon times. Asser's
famous Chronicle is full of her exploits. She led her
troops in person on the field of battle, liberated Mercia,
built a chain of forts for its defence, marched as far
west as Wales and as far north as York, and went
on conquering and to conquer, until she died at
Tamworth (A.D. 918) twelve days before midsummer,
in the eighth year of her rule over Mercia ; she was
buried in the east porch of St. Peter's Church in
Gloucester.
-*> The Saxon and Norman Earls
But our concern here is with the renown of Ethel-
fleda, not as a warrior, but as a builder. Never
was there a greater builder than the Lady of the
Mercians, as they called her. She " comes upon the
scene," says Clark, in his " Mediaeval Military Archi-
tecture," " as the greatest founder of fortresses in
that century."1 She either founded or fortified
Chester, Scargate, Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford,
Eddisbury, Cherbury, Warbury, and Runcorn. Last,
but not least, she threw up the Warwick mounds 2 in
the year A.D. 914.
The Warwick Castle of Ethelfleda was a very
different place from the Warwick Castle of to-day.
It was a fort rather than a house in which it
was possible to dwell. I will try to give some
account of it ; but not being myself a military expert
1 "A.D. 912. ^Ethelred and /Ethelflaeda came to Scaergate on the eve of
the Invention of the Holy Cross, and built the fort there and that of
Bridgenorth.— A.D. 913. ^Ethelflaeda gathered her Mercians and went to
Tamworth early in summer and built the foitress there, and the same year
before Lammas that of Stafford. — A.D. 91.4. She built the fortress of
/Eadesbyrig, and afterwards in the same year late in harvest that of Warwick.
— A.D. 915. After midwinter she built the fortress at Weard-byrig, and
before midwinter that at Rumcoft. — A.D. 916. She sent her forces into
Wales, and stormed Brece-nan Mere, took the king's wife and thirty-four
prisoners.— A.D. 917. She stormed and took Derby, but at a loss of four
thanes. — A.D. 918. The fortress of Leicester surrendered peacefully to her,
and York made a covenant with her, and her army was augmented."—
" A.-S. Chron.," pp. 58, 59.
- Of these works of Ethelfleda are to be seen the great circular Bush at
the western end of the enceinte, with traces of an outer fosse and vallum
beyond it, and a good deal of the oval line of earthen ramparts which ran in a
curve from the north-east of the mound to the river, and originally doubtless
followed the precipitous bank of the latter till it rejoined the mound. The
Cotton MS. gives date of foundation of Warwick as 951.
II
Warwick Castle <*-
or an intimate student of the subject of fortifications,
I must do so by quoting, with grateful acknowledg-
ments, from Clark's work, already referred to, on
"Mediaeval Military Architecture." His general de-
scription of the fortifications of Saxon times will be
found applicable to the particular case of the fortifications
at Warwick.
" These works," says Clark, " thrown up in England
in the ninth and tenth centuries, are seldom if ever
rectangular, nor are they governed to any extent by
the character of the ground. First was cast up a
truncated cone of earth, standing at its natural slope
from twelve to even fifty or sixty feet in height. This
'mound,' ' motte,' or 'burh,' the mota of our records,
was formed from the contents of a broad and deep
circumscribing ditch."
" Connected," he continues, " with the mound is
usually a base court or enclosure, sometimes circular,
more commonly oval or horseshoe-shapecl, but if of
the age of the mound always more or less rounded.
This enclosure had also its bank and ditch on its
outward faces, its rear resting on the ditch of the
mound, and the area was often further strengthened
by a bank along the crest of the scarp of the
ditch. There are no traces of this ditch at Warwick."
As to the material used to strengthen the earth-
works, Clark says : —
" Upon a bnr/i, or upon an artificial earthwork of
any height, masonry of any kind was obviously out
of the question. Timber, and timber alone, would
<+> The Saxon and Norman Earls
have been the proper material. Timber was always
at hand, and it was a material of which, possibly
from their early maritime habits, the English were
very fond. Also the rapidity with which these
burhs were constructed shows that timber must have
been largely employed. They were thrown up, com-
pleted, attacked, burnt, and restored, all within a few
months."
Finally, he constructs the following graphic picture
of Warwick Castle, or any other castle, of the
period : —
" In viewing one of these moated mounds, we have
only to imagine a central timber house on the top of
the mound, built of half-trunks of trees set upright
between two waling pieces at the top and bottom,
like the old church at Greensted, with a close paling
around it along the edge of the table top, perhaps a
second line at its base, and a third along the outer
edge of the ditch, and others not so strong upon the
edges of the outer courts, with bridges of planks
across the ditches, and huts of ' wattle and dab ' or of
timber within the enclosures, and we shall have a
very fair idea of a fortified dwelling of a thane or
franklin in England, or of the corresponding classes
in Normandy, from the eighth or ninth centuries down
to the date of the Norman Conquest."
So much for Ethelfleda and the castle which she
built. We will now leave the Lady of the Mercians
and turn to other matters. The Saxon Earls of
.Warwick claim our attention. Rous, in that interesting
Warwick Castle <*-
but untrustworthy Roll of his, gives a list of eight such
earls. The names are : —
Rohancl.
Guy.
Rainbourn.
\Yeoreatus.
Ufa.
Wolgeatus.
Wygodus.
Alwine.
Concerning these earls there are two questions to
be faced. Were they real or only mythical personages ?
Assuming that they were — or that some of them were —
real personages, are they properly spoken of as earls,
a word of many meanings ?
Rons' earls, if they existed at all, can hardly have
failed to be earls in some sense or another. They
must at least have been "men generally," and also,
we may presume, "men of noble rank," and in all
probability "warriors" as well.
There is also, however, a strict technical meaning of
the title. Among a multitude of earls, the earl was
the nobleman who, within the confines of any given
county, was entitled to receive one-third of the proceeds
of the administration of justice. As Professor Maitland
puts it in his " Domesday Book and Beyond " : —
" In the county court, and in every hundred court
that has not passed into private hands, the king is
entitled to but two-thirds of the proceeds of justice,
and the earl gets the other third, except perhaps in
certain exceptional cases in which the king has the
whole profit of some specially royal plea. The soke
in the hundred courts belongs to the king and the earl.
14
From a photograph by H. N. King.
C/KSAR'S TOWER, WARWICK CASTLE.
\Yar\vick Castle *-
And just as the king's rights as the lord of a hundredal
court become bound up with, and are let to farm with,
some royal manor, so the earl's third penny will be
annexed to some comital manor."
In this sense Rous' earls most certainly were not
the Earls of Warwick. The third penny of the county
belonged at that time to the Earls of Mercia. They,
therefore, were de facto Earls of Warwick, though without
bearing any distinctive title to indicate the fact. Indeed
the county as a separate Earldom did not exist. Rous'
earls may have been — assuming again, for the sake of
argument, that there ever were such persons — the shire-
reeves or vicccomites. But the shrievalty, be it noted,
is an office, and the sheriff, qua sheriff, has neither
land nor goods. He is, say Pollock and Maitland,
" the governor of the shire, the captain of its forces,
the president of its court, a distinctively royal officer,
appointed by the king, dismissible at a moment's
notice, strictly accountable to the Exchequer."
We will adopt this view, therefore, for want of a
better one, of Rous' Saxon earls, leaving ourselves
free to pass on to the legends which the diligent student
of the period finds nourishing side by side with
the established facts of history. And first we will
deal with the famous legend of Guy of Warwick, of
whom there are many reputed relics preserved, and
shown to visitors, at the Castle.
16
CHAPTER III
Earl Rohand — His Daughter Phyllis — Her Love for Guy — The Legend of
Guy's Adventures and of his Retirement to the Hermitage at Guy's
Cliff — The Relics at Warwick Castle — Mr. Bloxam's Damaging Criticisms.
EARL ROHAND is merely mentioned by Rous as
the first Earl after the direct rule of the kings.
"When one king reigned over all," he says, "then
Earls had profit of the lordships." His date, therefore,
is that of the end of the Heptarchy. He appears
only to be known as the father of his daughter Felice
or Phyllis, who was, Rous says, "by true inheritance
Countess of Warwick, and wife of the most victorious
Knight, Sir Guy, to whom, in his wooing time, she
made great strangeness, and caused him for her sake
to put himself in many great distresses, dangers, and
perils." The only relic of Phyllis at Warwick is the
well called Phyllis' or Eelyce's Well, and the curious
iron slipper-stirrups named after her. The latter,
however, are of far later date.
The love of Guy for Phyllis is the subject of our
legend. There are several versions of it,1 both in
1 The oldest MS. is " Romanz de Gui de Warvvyk," at Wolfenbiittel. An
English version is quoted by Hampole in the "Mirror of Life '' (Speculum
VitcE),c. 1350, and by Chaucer in the "Rime of Sir Topas," c. 1380. In its
ballad form " A Pleasante Songe of the Valiante Actes of Guye of Warwicke,"
to the tune of " Was ever man so lost in love ?" appeared in 1591-92.
The legend no doubt appeared as an early Saxon ballad altered to suit
the times, so that the Saxon champion became a Norman knight. The French
VOL. I. 17 C
Warwick Castle
English and French, and at least four distinct trans-
lations of the French MS. into English,1 as well as
various more popular renderings. For my own part, I
prefer to follow the story as it is told in a chapbook
of the eighteenth century, entitled " The History of the
famous exploits of Guy Earl of Warwick."
Guy was the son of Earl Rohand's steward. His
birth was heralded by remarkable portents, which were
fully justified by the prowess of his earliest years : —
" His Mother dreamed soon after her Conception
that Mars in a bloody Chariot drawn by fiery Dragons
descended and told her the Child she bore in her
Womb should come to be the honour and glory of this
Nation, and a Terror to all Tyrants and Infidels, and
his amazing acts should fill the World with Wonder,
which fell out so, for no sooner was he Eight Years
old, but he was delighted with all sorts of manly
exercise, as running, wrestling, pitching the Bar, and
prose romance was turned into English, and at length took ballad form.
Ellis declared, " It is certainly one of the most ancient and popular, and no
less certainly one of the dullest and most tedious of our early romances."
The oldest preserved form is that of an Anglo-Norman romance (temp,
thirteenth century), probably founded on the folk-songs of the people
dressed by the romance writer in the fashion of his age. The Saxon is a
Norman knight, sent to the Crusade, conducted from tournament to tourna-
ment throughout Europe. The monastic feeling is so strong that it may
be the writer was a monk.
1 (i) In short couplets: Auchinleck MS., ff. 108-146 (Abbotsford Club,
1840); Caius MS., 107; Sloane MS., 1044. (2) In twelve-line stanzas;
Auchinleck MS. (3) In short couplets: Add. MS. 14408; Bodleian Douce
Frag. 20; one leaf printed by Wynkyn de Worde. Printed version, "The
Booke of the most victorious Prince Gny of Warwick,'' London, by William
Copland, D.D. (4) In short couplets: Univ. Camb. MS., ff. 2-38; Caius
MS., 107.
18
The Saxon and Norman Earls
throwing ponderous weights, which he did to that
Perfection that others more in age and stature could
not come near him in, to the admiration of all
that beheld him. In this manner he exercised himself
From the Rons Roll.
GUY OF WARWICK.
till the age of Sixteen, at which no man dare to
encounter with him ; when they did he always was
victorious, which gained him much applause, and fame
spoke loud of him."
19
Warwick Castle *-
Guy's exploits came to the ears of Earl Rohand,
who invited him to a banquet. After the feast there
were certain athletic competitions, in which Guy over-
threw all comers. But his heart was not in the sports,
for he had seen Phyllis and fallen in love with her,
but being of lowlier station feared that he must love in
vain. Me withdrew, therefore, and thus soliloquised : —
" For me to attain this Perfection of Beauty is,
I fear, altogether impossible, by reason of the great
Distance of our Fortune. O ye powers, for what
are these fair Beauties created, if not to be enjoyed ?
Or do you send down these bright Shapes from your
Heavenly Abodes, only to be gazed at by Lovesick
Man? I'll no longer torture myself thus between
Hope and Despair, but will instantly go to her, and
receive from her Fair Lips the sentence of my Life
or Death."
Suiting the action to the word, he sought Phyllis
out in an arbour, and thus pleaded his suit : —
" Most divine Creature, Fairest of your Sex, I
have brought a Heart all over love to offer a Sacrifice
to your dear Eyes. Pardon the Boldness of my rash
Presumption that I should soar so high, to court that
Bliss a King might be proud to possess. But Love,
dear Lady, has such boundless Power, that I'm com-
pelled with Humbleness to let you know I cannot
live unless you give me life, by granting me the
Blessing of your Love."
But Phyllis was not to be won so easily. " No,
noble Guy," she said, " though I esteem your valour,
-•> The Saxon and Norman Earls
yet T cannot stoop to anything so much below myself."
And she left him, and he " with many bitter sighs
lamented his misfortune in his Courtship, and said,
' O ye mighty Deity of Love, I implore your Divine
help. Wound her Heart as you have clone mine, and
make her have Compassion on a Suffering Lover.'"
Venus heard the prayer addressed to her, and
Phyllis dreamt of Guy that night. Cupid appeared to
her in her vision, and recited the following verses : —
Fair Phillis, see Renowned Guy here stands,
And I am come (by Venus' strict commands)
To tell you that for you he is designed,
Who will the Glory be of all Mankind.
Princes shall court his favour, and his Arms
His Country shall protect from threatening Harms.
Tyrants he will subdue, and all his Foes
Shall dread his Name that dare him to oppose.
Victory crowns his Arms, while his Delight
The Wronged and Oppressed is to right :
His Conquering Arms through all the World shall raise
Him Monuments of everlasting praise.
Despise him not, he's worthy of thy Love ;
Then turn thy Frowns to Smiles and kinder prove ;
Or, by my Powerful Art, this Dart I send
Shall quickly make your stubborn Heart to bend.
The vision changed the heart of Phyllis. When
Guy next threw himself at her feet, her reception of
him was more encouraging : —
" ' Most noble Youth, you ask me what is not in
my Power to grant ; the World would blame me for
21
\Yar\vick Castle
my rashness if I should consent to love my Father's
Steward's Son without the consent of my Father, to
whose disposal I wholly resign myself. Therefore
despair not, if you can do anything to meet his Good-
will.' 'I doubt not, dear lady,' replied he, 'of that.
I will go abroad, and Purchase Fame by the Power of
my Arms, and at my Return lay all the Trophies of my
Victories at your Feet.' 'Go then, most noble Guy,
you have my Love ; may Victories and Success attend
upon your Arms where'er you go, while I will remain
in a Virgin State, wishing your happy Return, loaded
with that fame as may make my Father think you
worthy of me, and I proud of such a Lover.' ' Bright
Star, by whose influences I am wholly guided, if glorious
Feats of Arms and Fame in Fields of Battle gained will
please my Love, I'll wade through Seas of Blood and
dene the greatest of clangers. My Love, farewell, I
must repair to Arms.' "
Our chapbook next relates Guy's dashing exploits.
He first went to Normandy, where he found an
opportunity of acting as the champion of beauty in
distress. There was a fair lady, condemned to be
burnt alive, on a false charge of perjury, unless she
could find some champion to engage in ordeal of
battle on her behalf. Guy arrived at the very nick
of time, and entered the lists to engage one of her
accusers. We read that, "the Trumpet sounding, they
furiously met each other, and Guy couching the Spear
against his Breast it ran quite through, so that he fell
dead from his horse. The Accusers, seeing the Fate
22
-* The Saxon and Norman Earls
of their Fellow, stood not to engage single, but all at
once clapping Spurs to their Horses, rid hastily up to
Guy, who being ready received one upon the Point
of his Spear, and unhors'd him as he had done the
first ; then pulling out his Sword he laid on upon the
other Two, cutting and mangling them desperately, and
in a little time brought one of them down dead by his
Fellows ; the other falling upon his Knees, begg'd his
Life, and confessed the innocence of the Lady and
the falseness of his accusation, which caused all the
beholders to set up a great shout, and applauded the
action of the Most Noble and Valiant Stranger that
had thus delivered the Lady, whom Guy unbound and
returned to her Friends,"
From Normandy Guy took ship and sailed to
"the confines of Germany," where he happened to
arrive just in time for a tournament, of which the
prize was to be the hand of Blanche, the Emperor's
daughter. He entered for the prize, and won it,
nearly killing several of his rivals, but did not take
it, explaining his delicate position to the Emperor,
who, " much admiring his virtue as well as his valour,
dismissed him after many favours bestowed upon
him." Then : —
" Attended by the chief Nobility to the Sea-side,
he embarked for England, where in a little time
he arrived, while Phyllis, whom Fame had loudly in-
formed of his glorious actions abroad, hearing of his
safe arrival, waited with joy to receive him. Now
Guy, coming to Warwick Castle, found a most kind
23
Warwick Castle <*-
welcome by Phillis, and Earl Rohand, who, with tears
of joy, embraced him in his arms."
This seems the natural happy ending of the story ;
but it, nevertheless, rambles on. Guy, it appears, after
" passing some time in the enjoyment of fair Phyllis'
company," conceived a desire for fresh adventures,
and " prepared (since his country afforded no occasion
for his valour) to go to Foreign Parts." Here
follows the episode of the Dun Cow of Dunsmore
Heath, which I quote from my chapbook at length.
It says :—
" The vessel he was in for his intended Voyage
being driven back by Contrary Winds, and lying in
harbour, he heard a Report about the Country of
a Monstrous Cow, which terrified the neighbouring
Places, destroying the Cattle, and hurting and killing
many that went about to destroy her ; she was beyond
the ordinary size of other Cattle, six yards in length,
and four high, with large sharp Horns and fiery Eyes,
of a Dun Colour ; her place ot abode was on a Heath
near Warwick, now called Dunsmore Heath, which
derived its name from this Monstrous Cow. The
King hearing of the dreadful havock this Beast made,
offered Knighthood to any that should overcome this
Dun Cow. Guy, who was by all thought to be far
beyond Sea, privately arming himself with a Strong
Battle Axe, and his Bow and Quiver, made his way
towards the Place where this Monster was, and ap-
proaching near the Den, he beheld upon the Heath
the sad Objects of Desolation, the Carcasses of Men
24
The Saxon and Norman Earls
and Beasts she had de-
stroyed. Guy, no whit
daunted at that, pursued on
his way, till such time she
espied Guy, staring with her
dreadful Eyes upon him,
and roaring most hideously ;
he bent his bow of steel
and let fly an arrow, which
rebounded from her hide as
if it had been shot against
a Brazen Wall ; she en-
raged, ran as swift as the
wind at Him, who seeing
his arrows of no effect, had
prepared himself with his
Battle Axe to receive her,
which he did with such a
blow upon her head as
made her recoil, but she
recovering, more enraged
at such a Treatment, ran
full tilt with her Sharp
Horns at Guy's Breast,
which only dented his
Armor and made him
stagger ; laying on many
forceable blows at last he
luckily hit her under the
Ear, which was the only Place that was penetrable,
25
A CRUSADER'S ARMOUR.
In the Armoury at Warwick Castle.
Warwick Castle <+-
where making a deep wound, the Blood gushed
out amain, and he following his Blows in the same
Place, made so many gashes that with loud roaring
she fell down, and weltering in a stream of blood,
died. Guy having done this work, soon made it
known to the Country People, who to be satisfied
of their being freed from this Monster, flocked to the
place where they beheld the monstrous Carcass lie.
The King hearing of it, sent for Guy, and with a
great deal of Joy welcomed him and conferred upon
him the honour of Knighthood, and caused one of
the Cow's Ribs to be hung up in Warwick Castle as
a lasting Monument of his Fame."
The dun cow duly disposed of, Guy put to sea
again " with three other knights who had vowed to
bear him company in his adventures." When they
reached Germany, an ambush was laid for them by
sixteen soldiers in the pay of Otto, Duke of Tus-
cany, one of the unsuccessful competitors at the
tournament. Guy acquitted himself with his usual
intrepidity : —
"'Courage, my Friends,' said Guy, 'these Villains'
Lives shall pay the reward of their Treachery.'
Then they drawing their swords, laid manfully about
them, while Guy still encountering where he found
most to do, had dispatch'd Ten of them, and looking
about to rescue his friends, he found the Rogues had
killed two of them, and only Sir Harauld left alive,
much wounded, which Guy enraged at, like Lightning
flew at the other Six, and soon made their mangled
36
-•> The Saxon and Norman Earls
bodies lifeless Trunks, as he had done the other Ten.
Guy, much troubled for the loss of his Friends,
ordered a Hermit thereby to bury them, and to take
care of his wounded Friend, Sir Harauld, while he
pursued his intended Course."
The next feat was the relief of the city of
Byzantium, which was then being besieged by the
Turks. Guy, by some means or other, had become
the commander of an army of two thousand men.
He slew the Sultan with his own hand, and left twenty
thousand Saracen soldiers dead upon the field of carnage.
Then he set out to return to England, and had another
truly remarkable adventure by the way. He landed at
some place for water, and rode up into the woods to
look for venison, and there saw the strange spectacle of
" a fiery Dragon and a fierce Lyon fighting together."
Observe what followed : —
" Guy pleased at the Sport, sat himself down to
see which would have the Better on it, resolving to
help the Weakest ; the Encounter was very fierce and
terrible, till at last the Dragon, with her irivenomed
Teeth and knotted Tail, had so foiled the princely
Lyon, that he began to look how he might fly from
him ; which Guy seeing, said, ' Dragon, have at your
Hide,' and so laying on with mighty Blows on her
rough scaly Back, which made no Impression, he found
that would not do his Business, but observing a Place
under the Wing, more easie to be entered, with a
strong Thrust pierced his Heart : The Lyon, seeing
his Enemy slain, with show of Reverence, came and
27
Warwick Castle -a
licked Guy's Feet, and fawned upon him, and followed
him by his Horse's side like a dog, all the time of his
stay in the Place."
The next feat was the slaughter of a boar, whose
head weighed " almost an hundredweight." The
foreigners were so impressed by these performances
that they withheld Guy's ': licences to depart," desiring
to keep him among them, performing noble exercises.
He told them of his love, however, and then they
let him go, with compliments. A five days' voyage
brought him to England, but not yet to Warwick.
Before he could get there the King summoned him to
York, and covered him with flattery.
" ' If there be anything,' replied Guy, ' that could
imploy my Arms in any hazardous Enterprise, to make
me worthy of your Favour, I should be happy.' 'Alas!'
says the King, ' there is at this time a dreadful Dragon
inhabiting the Rocks in Northumberland, who for some
time has devoured Men and Beasts, so that the Country
round about her Cave for many Miles is become
desolate.' Guy not at all daunted at the Relation,
desired leave of the King to encounter the Dragon,
which he granted him, with many wishes of Success,
and ordered twelve Knights to Conduct him on his
Way to the Cave."
The dragon was dealt with no less successfully
than the boar, and the King " bestowed many rich
Presents on Guy, and ordered the just Proportion of
the Dragon to be drawn, which proved to be Thirty
Foot in length, and proportionable alike, and hung up
28
From a print published in 1791.
GUY OF WARWICK, FROM A BASSO REUKVO FORMERLY IN WARWICK LANE, LONDON.
Warwick Castle *-
in Warwick-Castle, as a Monument, of lasting Fame
of the Noble Heroick Champion, Sir Guy."
And so home at last to Warwick, where Earl
Rohand received the hero cordially, and gave him the
hand of Phyllis, and made such a feast for the wedding
as " gave a great deal of Joy and Satisfaction on all
sides." He died soon afterwards, making Guy his heir,
" which was further confirmed upon him by the King
in the Title of Earl of Warwick, by which Title he
was ranked with other Lords and Peers and in Favour
with all Men."
Here once again we seem to have reached the
proper and natural end of the story, but once more
we find that it has a sequel. The sequel, indeed, is
the part of the story that has become most famous.
Guy was destined to roam abroad once more, but this
time with a very different object.
" Ruminating upon past Actions of his Life, and
the Showers of Blood he had spilt in seeking after
Honour, it made him extream pensive, insomuch that
Phyllis taking notice of it, enquired into the Cause, to
whom he said : ' For thy sake, dear Lady, have I
wandred through Seas of Blood, and with this Hand
laid many Thousands sleeping in their silent Graves,
and spent all the Days of my blooming Youth in seeking
that empty Title called Honour, therefore 'tis now my
Resolution, to take a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to
visit the Sepulchre of our blessed Saviour, who freely
parted with his Life for sinful Man's Redemption. I
will lay by my rich Armour, and cloath myself in a
3°
-* The Saxon and Norman Earls
Pilgrim's Weed. Come, my clear and gentle Phyllis,
give me thy Ring, and take thou mine, which shall
be a sure Pledge of our lasting Love, and a certain
Token of my Return when I send it thee again.' He
had no sooner ended his Discourse, but she burst out
in Tears so soon to be separated from her Lord,
begging his stay, which he refusing, with many tender
expressions of Love to each other, he departed on his
Pilgrimage."
Of course it was not a pilgrimage without adventure.
In the course of it Guy fought with one Amarant, a
cruel giant, and killed him, releasing a great many
prisoners that were kept by him. Then after "a great
deal of Hardship and Danger, he trod back those
many weary Steps he had gone before, and returned
to England, to spend the remainder of his Days, and
lay his aged Bones in their own native Soil."
Even so, however, there was another giant to be
encountered before he could return to Warwick —
Colbrand, the champion of the Danes, who were besieging
Winchester, where, as at Warwick, Guy is still honoured
as the type of a Christian hero. At first the Dane
despised the aged pilgrim. Then, finding the pilgrim
more vigorous than he expected, he " offered Guy, if
he would submit, to promote him in the Danish camp."
Guy rejected the proposal with indignation, and smote
the giant on the head " till he fell to the ground
breathless, while they on the wall set up such a shout
as echo'd to the Clouds." A sally followed, and the
siege of Winchester was raised.
Warwick Castle *-
But still Guy did not return to Phyllis. He was,
now, altogether too holy a man for the enjoyment of
connubial bliss ; and he repaired not to Warwick Castle,
but to Guy's Cliff,1 where he lived not as an earl, but
as a hermit. Let our chapbook give the details : —
" Guy secretly departing from the City, went to a
large Cave which was cut in the side of a Rock, and
lived a solitary Life some Years, unknown to Phyllis,
often going to Warwick Castle in his Pilgrim's Weeds
to receive an Alms, which he did from his own dear
Lady's Hands, who freely distributed her Charity,
enquiring of all Pilgrims if they could give her any
Intelligence of her Lord, whom she could hear nothing
of, 'till such time as Guy finding a great decay in
Nature, and that the Thread of his Life was almost
spun, being not able to go out of his Cave, seeing a
Traveller pass by, desired him to deliver the Countess
of Warwick her own Ring, which was to be the Token
of his Return, and said he should be rewarded for it
by her, to whom he was to give Directions where to
find the Cave. He going to Warwick, did accordingly
deliver the Ring into her Hand, who was surprized with
such excess of Joy, that she hardly knew what to say ;
but giving him a good Reward, cryed, ' Where is my
1 More presently about Guy's Cliff, the residence of Rons, and the site
of so much legendary lore. It is situated about a mile and a quarter
from the town of Warwick, and was described by Leland as being in his
time " an abode of pleasure, a place meet for the Muses, with its natural
cavities, its shady woods, its clear and crystal streams, its flowering
meadows, and caves overgrown with moss, whilst a gentle river murmurs
amongst the rocks, creating a solitude and quiet, most loved by the
Muses.''
32
The Saxon and Norman Earls
Lord ? ' Then he directed her to the Cave, whither
she soon went with her Attendance, to bring her Lord
home : When she came to the Cave, she embraced his
weak Body, and sent forth abundance of Tears, between
Joy and Sorrow, while Guy thus expressed himself:
GUYS PORRIDGE-POT.
Now in the Great Hall of Warwick Castle.
' My dear Lady, I am very well satisfy'd of your chast
Life and pious Doings since my Departure ; I have,
since my Return, lived some time here, and have been
myself Partaker of your Bounties.'
"'Ah! my Lord,' replyed she, 'how could you be
VOL. i. 33 D
\Yanvick Castle <*-
so unkind for to live so long by me, and not let me
enjoy the Felicity of your Company ? The want of
which hath been the greatest Trouble I could have.
"' Heaven knows,' says Guy, ' I love no earthly thing
like thyself, but the care of my immortal Soul made
me despise all earthly Felicities, but willing to see thee
once more before my Life was spent, I sent the Ring
according to my Promise, that thou mightest come and
close my dying Eyes.' So ending his Words, he laid
his fainting head on Phyllis's trembling Breast, and
dyed : When she saw his Exit, she tore her rich
Attire, and her lovely Hair, and beat her fair Breasts
like one distracted ; and being conveyed home by her
Servants, with the Body of her Lord, she refused
any thing that might sustain Life, and soon after dyed.
The Noise of Guy's Death spreading abroad, the King
and Queen came to Warwick, to see them nobly Interred,
much lamenting the Loss of so good a Subject, and
his vertuous Lady : They caused the Castle to be
hung in Mourning, and truly all England mourned for
the Loss of their Champion ; who, with his Lady,
was Buried with all the Solemnity that could be per-
formed on such an Occasion ; and a famous Monument
erected over them, by the most curious Artists and
Workmen as could be found, and the Trophies of his
Victories was ordered to be kept in Warwick Castle,
where some Remains of them are to be seen to this
Day."
Such is our legend, rambling and inchoate, ending
in a pathos which the monkish middle ages would have
34
The Saxon and Norman Earls
understood and felt, though it is
thoroughly wrong-headed and ridicu-
lous, according to our modern notions.
It is quite impossible to accept it as
a whole ; but it is difficult to believe
that it is purely fabrication, or that
Guy of Warwick was entirely a
mythical character. I should imagine
that there was a real Guy, around
whose name legends belonging to
other heroes, and even to other
countries, have clustered in the
manner familiar to all diligent students
of mythology. An effort has evidently
been made to give a Saxon hero to
certain Norman legends ; and a com-
parison of the later with the earlier
versions of the story makes it clear
that some at least of the episodes
are accretions.
The story of the Dun Cow is one
case in point. This first appears in
a printed version of the legend about
1680 ; and the earliest incidental
reference to it is in Dr. Caius's " De
rariorum animalium historia libellus," l
1 Dr. Cains says : " I met with the head of a
certain huge animal, of which the naked bone, with
GUY'S SWORD AND ti,e bones supporting the horns, were of enormous
/eight, and as much as a man could well lift. The
MEAT-FORK.
Now in the Great Hall of
Warwick Castle. curvature of the bones of the horns is of such a
35
Wanvick Castle
printed in London in 1570. It is also related in a
play entitled " The Tragical History, Admirable
Achievements, and various events of Guy, Earl of
Warwick, a Tragedy acted very frequently with great
applause, by his late Majesties servants. Written by
B. J., London. Printed for Thomas Vere and William
Gilbertson, without Newgate, 1661." The initials
" B. J." may possibly be those of Ben Jonson, but this
is doubtful. The allusion to the Cow, which is in the
first Act, runs thus : —
And now again
he combats with that huge and monstrous beast,
called the wild Cow of Dunsmore Heath. . . .
And by thy hand the wild Cow slaughtered
that kept such revels upon Dunsmore Heath. . . .
projection as to point not straight downwards, but obliquely forwards. . . .
Of this kind I saw another head at Warwick, in the Castle, A.D. 1552, in the
place where the arms of the great and strong Guy, formerly Earl of Warwick,
are kept. There is also a vertebra of the neck of the same animal, of such
great size that its circumference is not less than three Roman feet, seven
inches and-a-half. I think also that the blade bone, which is to be seen
hung up in chains from the north gate at Coventry, belongs to the same
animal ; it has, if I remember right, no portion of the back-bone attached
to it, and it is three feet one inch and-a-half broad across the lowest part
and four feet six inches in length. The circumference of the whole is not
less than eleven feet four inches and-a-half. In the chapel of the great
Guy, Earl of Warwick, which is situated not more than a mile from the
town of Warwick (at Guy's Cliff), there is hung up a rib of the same animal,
as I suppose, the girth of which, in the smallest part, is nine inches, the
length six feet and-a-half. It is dry, and, on the outer surface, curious, but
yet weighs nine pounds and-a-half. Some of the common people fancy it
to be the rib of a wild boar killed by Sir Guy, some the rib of a cow,
which haunted a ditch near Coventry, and injured many persons. The last
opinion I judge to come nearer to the truth, since it may perhaps be
the bone of Bonasus or Urus. It is probable that many animals of this
kind formerly lived in our England, being of old an island full of woods
and forests.' — Bloxam's " Mediaeval Legends of Warwickshire."
36
-* The Saxon and Norman Earls
Athelstan. Rainborne 'tis true . . .
the shield-bone of the bore of Callidon
shall be hang'd up at Coventrie's great gate.
The rib of the Dun Cow of Dunsmore Heath
in Warwick Castle for a monument.
And on his Cave where he hath left his life,
a stately Hermitage I will erect
in honour of Sir Guy of Warwick's name.
With regard to the relics attributed to Guy and
preserved at Warwick Castle, I fear these must,
however reluctantly, be given up, at any rate, so far
as the legendary Guy is concerned, though we will
retain from sentimental motives his caldron or por-
ridge pot, fork, and sword. Antiquarians have shown
that most of the "Guy relics" belong to other periods,
but, curiously enough, these eminent authorities overlook
the fact that there have been more than one Guy of
Warwick, and most of the armour so described belongs
to Guy de Beauchamp, the famous Earl of Warwick
who flourished in the reign of Edward III., and whose
story will be related later.
We now pass on to our second legend, that of
Lady Godiva of Coventry.
37
CHAPTER IV
Other Saxon Earls — Reynbron — Wegeatus — Ufa — Wolgeatus — Wygotus—
The Legend of Lady Godiva in Prose and Verse — Some very Good
Reasons for not believing a Word of it.
THE Legend of Lady Godiva belongs to a some-
what later date than that of Guy of Warwick.
It has its place here because Lady Godiva's husband,
Leofric, Earl of Chester and Coventry, was a brother-
in-law of the man Rous calls Earl of Warwick. Before
coming to it, we must trace the history, so far as we
know it, of the intervening earls. And for that
purpose, of course, we must go back to Rous.
First comes Reynbron, or Reinburn, son of Guy
and Phyllis, who had a romantic history. He was
" stolen from his master and guider, Sir Harold of
Ardern, by mariners of Russia, and sold to a heathen
king, whom Sir Harold sought wide in far lands, and
after by fighting between Sir Reynbron and Sir
Harold's son— as is plain in the Romance of the said
Sir Reynbron's life — (e.g. the Auchinleck MS., edited
by J. Zupitza, Early English Text Society) — the said
Sir Harold came to knowledge of them both, and
brought Sir Reynbron back to England, and was full
cheerfully received of King Athelstan, and received
his lands with the King's daughter to his wife,"
38
Warwick Castle <*-
Rous believed, though he was not sure, that Reynbron
died in the course of a journey to the Holy Land,
and was buried on an island near Venice.
Next comes Wegeatus, or Wayth, who endowed
the Abbey of Evesham " with 2 lordships and their
purtenance in the County of Warwick." The lord-
ships in question were those of Willysford and Little
Crafton, "that belongs now to the Hospitallers of
the Temple of Balsale." The next earl was Ufa,
commonly called Huve the Humed, and also known
as Wulfer, whose principal stronghold was at Bury
Banks, near Stone. He was a special friend to the
monks of Evesham, and in 974 gave them all Wit-
laxford (\Vixford) and Little Grafton. He was buried
in Evesham Abbey about the beginning of the reign
of Edward the Confessor.1 He was succeeded by his
son Wolgeatus, or Wollet, who was also a benefactor
to Evesham, since when the monks there were put
out in St. Edward and King Ethelred's days, the
gifts of his ancestor, Witlaxford and Grafton, came
back to him for life, and " at his decease they were
to receive them, with his stuf at that time found in
them."
"In this Lord's days," says Rous, " the cruel
Danes burned Warwick, and 2 Abbeys, one of monks
that stood above Wodlow Hill, and another of black
nuns that stood in the town at Saint Nicholas (1016
A.D.). . . . Afore that was Warwick a royal town, and
never since it might recover the hurt that was then
1 Register of Evesham Abbey, quoted by Dugdale, " War. Ant."
40
The Saxon and Norman Earls
done." So many people were murdered in various
parts of Warwickshire that there " are many murder
stones congealed of sand, gravel, and men's blood.
This bloodshed was between New Year's Day and the
Twelth Day. King Ethelred, few years afore, by
reason of his evil courses slew Wolgeat in England."
Earl Wolgeat's son, Earl Wygotus, is said to have
married the sister of Leofric, Earl of Coventry, and
husband of the Lady Godiva, to whose story we now
come.
Every one knows the story, at least in outline. It
has been told by poets and ballad-mongers, as well as
by the writers of chapbooks, and the compilers of the
local guidebooks. It has been dramatised for use in
circuses. I shall take my version from an old account
of the Origin of the Procession at Coventry Show
Eair, which professes to be "copied from an ancient
record." This brief tract runs as follows : —
" The wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, with her
husband, founded a Monastery for an abbot and twenty-
four Benedictine monks in Coventry in 1043, which
was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St. Peter and St.
Osburg. Leofric, and his Lady, who both died about
the latter end of the reign of Edward the Confessor,
were buried in the church of the Abbey they had
founded. The former seems to have been the first
lord of Coventry and the latter its greatest bene-
factress, as will appear from the following extraordinary,
and indeed romantic tradition, which is not only firmly
believed at Coventry, but is recorded by many
41
Warwick Castle <*-
of our own historians : — The Earl had granted the
convent and city many valuable priveleges [stc], but the
inhabitants having offended him, he imposed on them
very heavy taxes, for the great lords to whom the
Towns belonged under the Anglo-Saxons had that
privelegc, which cannot be exercised at present by any
but the House of Commons. The people complained
grievously of the severity of the taxes, and applied to
Godiva, the Earl's lady, a woman of great piety and
virtue, to intercede in their favour. She willingly
complied with their request, but the Earl remained
inexorable ; he told his lady, that were she to ride
naked through the streets of the city, he would remit
the tax — meaning that no persuasion whatever should
prevail with him, and thinking to silence her by the
«trange proposal ; but she, sensibly touched by the
distress of the city, generously accepted the terms. She,
therefore, sent notice to the Magistrates of the town,
with the strictest orders that all doors and windows
should be shut, and that no person should attempt to
look out on pain of death. These precautions being
taken, the lady rode through the city, covered only
with her fine flowing locks.
"While riding in that manner through the streets,
no one dared to look at her, except a poor taylor,
who, as a punishment, it is said, for his violating the
injunction of the noble lady which had been published
with so pious and benevolent design, was struck blind.
This taylor has been ever since remembered by the
name of Peeping Tom, and in memory of the event
42
The Saxon and Norman Earls
his figure is still kept up in a window near to the
house from whence it is said he gratified his curiosity.
" The lady having thus discharged her engage-
ments, the Earl performed his promise, and granted the
city a charter, by
which they were
exempted from all
taxes. As a proof
of the truth of this
circumstance, in a
window of Trinity
Church are the
figures of the Earl
and his Lady, and
beneath the follow-
ing inscription : —
I, Leofric,1 for the love
of thee,
Do set Coventry toll
free.
"To this day
the love of Godiva
is sometimes com-
memorated on
Friday in Trinity
week, when a valiant fair one rides (not literally like
the good Countess) but in silk or fine linen, closely
fitted to her limbs. The figure of Peeping Tom is
also new dressed and painted annually on the occasion.
1 Luriche, according to Dngdale ; but no trace of figures, or insciiption, remains.
43
BATTLEMENT STEPS, WARWICK CASTLE.
Warwick Castle <*"
" Peeping Tom is a very ancient full-length oak
statue in armour, with a helmet on his head and sandals
on his feet ; to favour the posture of his leaning out of
a window, his arms have been cut off at the elbows.
There is every reason to believe it was originally
intended either for Mars, the fabulous God of War,
or some warlike Chieftain. In the reign of Charles II.
the Show at the Great Fair was instituted."
So far in sober prose. The tract then breaks
exuberantly into verse : —
O'er Godiva's great actions Fame echoes the strain ;
Long, sacred to Freedom, her name shall remain :
Her patriot zeal gained the glorious decree,
That hade Tyranny die and our City be free.
Then blame not the custom which bids us combine,
In Gratitude's offering at Virtue's fair shrine ;
But freely contribute your voice to the cause,
Which gives Worth its just praise— to true Greatness applause.
The legend, indeed, has inspired more and better
poetry than have most legends. Tennyson's idyll
on the subject is too well known to be quoted
here ; but I am tempted to consign to the appendix
an anonymous ballad on the subject, dating from
i 780, and to embellish my text with some of the very
witty stanzas written for the Etonian by Macaulay's
contemporary and friend at Cambridge, the Rev. John
Moultrie. They treat of the Peeping Tom incident : —
Godiva passed, but all had disappear'd,
Each in his dwelling's innermost recess :
One would have thought all mortal eyes had fear'd
To gaze upon her dazzling loveliness.
44
The Saxon and Norman Earls
Sudden her palfrey stopp'd, and neigh'd and rear'd,
And prick'd his ears — as if he would express
That there was something wicked in the wind ;
Godiva trembled and held fast behind.
And here I also must remark that this is
With ladies very frequently the case,
And beg to hint to all Equestrian Misses
That horses' backs are not their proper place :
A woman's forte is music — love — or kisses,
Not leaping gates, or galloping a race ;
I used sometimes to ride with them of yore,
And always found them an infernal bore.
The steed grew qujet, and a piercing cry
Burst on Godiva's ears ; — she started, and
Beheld a man, who, in a window high,
Shaded his dim eyes with his trembling hand :
He had been led by curiosity
To see her pass, and there had ta'en his stand,
And as he gazed ('tis thus the story's read)
His eyeballs sunk and shrivell'd in his head.
I know not, gentles, whether this be true ;
If so, you'll own the punishment was just.
Poor wretch ! — full dearly had he cause to rue
His prying temper, or unbridled lust.
No more could he his daily toil pursue —
He was a tinker — but his tools might rust,
He might dispose of all his stock of metal,
For ne'er thenceforward could he mend a kettle.
Alas, poor Peeping Tom ! Godiva kept
And fed him. — Reader, now my tale is told ;
I need not state how all the peasants wept,
And laughed, and bless'd their Countess, — young and old.
That night Godiva very soundly slept — •
I grieve to add she caught a trifling cold ;
Leofric's heart was so extremely full
He roasted for the populace a bull.
45
Warwick Castle <«-
There stood an ancient cross at Coventry,
Pull'd down, of late, by order of the Mayor,
Because 'twas clear its downfall must be nigh,
And 'twould be too expensive to repair ;
It bore two figures carved— and you might spy
Beneath them graved, in letters large and fair,
" Godiva, Leofric, for love of thee,
Doth make henceforth fair Coventry toll free."
The tale's believed by all the population,
And still a sham Godiva, every year,
Is carried by the Mayor and Corporation
In grand procession — and the mob get beer.
Gentles, I've spent my fit of inspiration,
Which, being over, I must leave you here j
And for Godiva — hope you'll decent think her,
Laugh at the husband, and forgive the tinker.
The story, like that of Guy, has encountered a
good deal of sceptical criticism. Of the existence of
Godiva, indeed, no doubt exists, since she appears
(as Godeva) in Domesday Book as one of the great
landowners in Warwickshire. But the legend itself
does not rest upon good authority, since none of the
chroniclers mention it before Roger de Wendover,
who wrote in the reign of King John. William
of Malmesbury and Florence of Worcester make no
mention of it ; but, on the contrary, praise Leofric in
no measured terms.
" Earl Leofric," says the latter, writing in the
early part of the twelfth century, " of blessed memory
and worthy of all praise, died in a good old age, at
his own vill of Bromley, on the 2nd of the Kalends
of September (3ist Aug.), and was buried with great
46
* The Saxon and Norman Earls
state at Coventry. Amongst his other good deeds in
this life, he and his wife, the noble Countess Gogdiva
(who was a devout worshipper of God, and one who
loved the ever-virgin Saint Mary), entirely constructed,
at their own cost, the monastery there, well endowed
it with land, and enriched it with ornaments to such
an extent that no monastery could be then found
in England possessing so much of gold, silver, jewels,
and precious stones."
As for the Peeping Tom story, that Mr. Bloxam
has demonstrated to be very improbable, if not actually
impossible. According to the Norman Survey, taken
nearly thirty years after Earl Leofric's death, there
were only sixty-nine houses in Coventry ; and " if we
take the Bayeux tapestry as our guide in delineating
the habitations of the commonalty, we shall find them
to be mere wooden hovels of a single story, with a
door, but no windows"
If there were no windows, the windows clearly
cannot have been shut, nor can any Tom have got
into trouble by peeping out of one of them. Conse-
quently, we may as well surrender the legend uncon-
ditionally, and pass on to graver matters.
47
CHAPTER V
Thurkill, the Traitor Earl — Why he was not at Hastings — How the
Conqueror favoured him — How he changed his Name, and was the
Ancestor of William Shakespeare.
W
TE have now done with the collapsing legends,
and may tread upon the solid floor of history.
Facts are at last at our disposal — trustworthy, though
not as yet superabundant. We cannot go into many
details ; but we are sure of our ground, such as it is.
The last Earl of Warwick whom we mentioned
was Wygotus, who is said to have married the sister
of the Lady Godiva's husband, Leofric, Earl of
Mercia. A Harleian MS. is our authority for the
statement that he had by her Alwine, Earl of Warwick,
slain by the Danes at Stamford Hill, in the first year
of the reign of Harold, son of Godwin, Earl of
Wessex ; and that Alwine, in his turn, had a son,
Thurkill, Earl of Warwick, who married a Countess
of Perche. About Thurkill (or Turchill, as the name
is sometimes written) we really know facts, from
Domesday Book, from Dugdale's " Baronage," and
from a few other sources.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that he was
present at the consecration of the minster of Assandune
in 1020; that he was outlawed by King Cnut, 1021,
but received into favour again, and entrusted with the
48
The Saxon and Norman Earls
government of Denmark in 1023 ; also that he marched
against the Welsh with " Elfyet and many good men"
to avenge the death of Edwin, brother of Leofric of
the Rons Roll.
THURKILL, EARL OF WARWICK.
Mercia, in 1039. His position in the county is carefully
fixed by Dugdale.
"This Turchill," says Dugdale, "resided here in
Warwick, and had great possessions in this County,
when William Duke of Normandy invaded England,
VOL. I. 49 E
Warwick Castle <*-
and vanquisht King Harold, and though he were then
a man of especial note and power yet he did give no
assistance to Harold in that Battail, as may easily be
seen from the favour he received at the hands of
the Conqueror, for by the General Survey begun
about the 14. of King William's Reign, it appears that
he then continued possest of vast lands in this Shire,
and yet whereof was neither the borough, or castle of
Warwick any part."
His possessions are enumerated in Domesday Book.
There are no fewer than seventy entries under his
name, of which the following may serve as examples :—
" Robert de Olgi holds of Turchil, in Dercelai
(probably Dosthill), 2 hides in mortgage. The arable
employs 3 ploughs. There are 7 villeins, with 2
ploughs, and 2 bondmen. A mill pays 32d., and there
are 10 acres of meadow. Wood 2 furlongs long,
and the same broad. It was worth 3cs., now 405.
Untain held it."
The reason why Thurkill refrained from opposing
the Conqueror is clear enough. His relatives, the
Earls of Mercia, Leofric, and his successors /Elfgar and
Morkere, had been constantly in arms against Harold,
whom Mercia generally had never really recognised as
King of England. Posterity, however, without taking
account of his reason, has contemptuously styled him
"the Traitor Earl," and he certainly profited by his
treachery. Though William later on took some of
his estates for the endowment of the new Earldom
of Warwick, Thurkill's son held of the new Earl,
S°
-*> The Saxon and Norman Earls
holding by sergeantry in his household, and taking the
name of de Arden ; and Thurkill himself, as a mark
of special favour, was allowed to retain his property
for life, and was even appointed cnstos of the newly
fortified town of Warwick.
That is all there is to be said about him, except
that he has a further claim on our interest through
the most illustrious of his descendants. Observe : —
" TURCHILL was twice married; by his second wife
LEVERUNIA, daughter, according to Drummond, of ALGAR,
son and successor of LEOFRIC, EARL of MERCIA, he
had a son, OSBERT DE ARDEN, whose daughter and
heir, AMICE, carried the ancient seat of the Mercian
kings, called after them Kingsbury, to her husband
PETER DE BRACEBRIDGE, of Bracebriclge, co. Lincoln,
and one of their descendants, ALICE BRACEBRIDGE,
became the wife of Sir JOHN ARDEN, Knight, elder
brother of THOMAS ARDEN, maternal great-grandfather
of WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE."
So it is written in " Shakespeareana Genealogica."
Among the literary associations of the Earldom of
Warwick — which it will be seen, as our narrative pro-
ceeds, are fairly numerous — this, the earliest and most
glorious, is also, in all probability, the least known.
Most Earls of Warwick have almost certainly lived
and died without ever discovering their connection
with England's greatest poet.
CHAPTER VI
The Rebuilding of the Castle by William the Conqueror — Architectural
Particulars — Henry de Newburgli, the first Norman Earl — His Offices —
His Benefactions to Religious Houses — His Services to Henry I. — His
Death and Burial.
CASTLES were of great importance in the early
Norman period. The Conqueror wisely con-
solidated his power by assigning them to men whom
he could trust. The barons held them, and the
estates attached to them, on condition of rendering
military service at the royal call. The tenants owed
an analogous duty to the barons. " Hear, my lord,"
they swore ; "I become liegeman of yours for life
and limb and earthly regard, and I will keep faith
and loyalty to you for life and death, God help me."
A new power in this way arose which ultimately
became a check to the absolutism of the Crown, and
even a danger to it, but tor the moment served the
purpose of the King by nipping Saxon risings in
the bud. Collectively, the new baronage was as
strong as had been the old Earldoms of Mercia,
Wessex, Northumbria, etc., now abolished ; but its
strength was more scattered and less organised.
Restrictions, too, unknown to the superseded
Saxon nobility, were introduced. The sub-tenants, in
addition to their oaths of allegiance to their lords,
52
-*> The Saxon and Norman Earls
swore direct allegiance to their King. When estates
devolved upon minors, the profit of them passed
during their minority to the King. When they
devolved upon heiresses, a curious custom, which we
shall meet with in the course of our narrative, pre-
vailed. The lady's hand was at the King's disposal,
and he could put her up to auction and sell her
to the highest bidder. Moreover, there were dues
to be paid, the assessing of which was the purpose
of the compilation of Domesday Book.
Except for the favour shown to the Traitor Earl,
it was at Warwick as elsewhere. Warwick Castle
was, in the first instance, not the Earl's Castle, but
the King's. "William," says Clark, to whom I am
indebted for so much valuable information, "made it
to be understood that the chief castles of the realm,
by whomsoever built, were royal castles ; and their
actual acquisition was always an important part of the
policy of both him and his successors so long as
castles were of consequence."
It was, in fact, by the King, and not by the
Earl, that the Castle was restored. "The same King
William," says our good friend Rous, " enlarged the
castle, and diked the town, and gated it, and for
the enlarging of the Castle there were pulled down,
among other, xxvi houses that were tenancies to
the houses of the monks of Coventry, as is writ
plainly in Domesday the Book."
Rous, however, was no expert in the history of
fortifications, and would only assume the work to
53
\Yanvick Castle <*-
have been similar to that of his own day, when stone
was the material used. The Castle was wanted in a
hurry, and the general rule of the reign was, accord-
ing to Clark, that "some temporary arrangement was
made, and the existing works strengthened until it
was convenient to replace them by others more in
accordance with the new ideas of strength and
security."
At what exact dates stone walls were built in
place of the wooden palisades we do not know. Only
parts of this, the second, Castle now remain — namely,
the basement of the curtain between Guy's Tower
and the mota, and on the riverside the basement of
the undercroft, in both of which are blocked semi-
circular doors, and in the latter, part of an early newel
stair.
We find, moreover, that, when the keep was
erected, it was a polygon like that at York/ though
the portion now standing may be a portion of the
restoration of Sir Fulke Greville. In other respects the
enceinte of the Edwardian Castle followed the lines of
the Saxon burk, consisting of a parallelogram, having
the mota on the west and in its least defensive line,
1 "Warwick was one of the greatest, and by far the most famous of the
midland castles, famous not merely for its early strength and later mag-
nificence, but for the long line of powerful earls, culminating in the King
Maker, who possessed it and bore its name. It was founded as a burh
early in the tenth century, and the keep, said to have resembled Clifford's
Tower at York, stood upon the mound : both are now removed. The
castle, as usual, formed part of the enceinte of the town, and the wall
from the west gate to the castle stood upon an early earth bank " (G. Clark,
"Med. Mil. Arch.," p. So).
54
-* The Saxon and Norman Earls
the gatehouse and barbican flanked by Caesar's Tower
on the south-east and Guy's Tower on the north-east,
both capable of raking the approach to the curtain
walls, and the former defending the bridge into the town.
AN ARCH OF THE CLOCK TOWER, WARWICK CASTLE.
Showing the Archers gallery.
The safest position, crenelated and loopholed like
the rest, was chosen as the habitable portion, and the
living-rooms were built upon a series of vaulted
undercrofts at a later date.
55
Warwick Castle
That Warwick Castle was at this date, and the
reign of James I., a royal castle, and that the Royal
Exchequer was charged with expenses connected with
it, is further demonstrated by various entries in the
Pipe Roll.1
This is enough, however, for the present, of archi-
tecture— a subject apt to be dull to those who have
not specialised in it. It is time to leave the Castle
in order to trace the fortunes of its new Earls.
Henry de Newburgh, the first Norman Earl, was
the second son of Roger, Earl of Beaumont. Like
the Traitor Earl whom he supplanted, he was absent,
for what reason is not known, from the battle called
Hastings by the vulgar, and Senlac by the learned.
Born about 1046, he stood high in the Conqueror's
favour, and held various offices, though he resided
principally in Normandy. In 1068, at the age of
twenty-two, he was made Constable of Warwick Castle,
and he became Councillor to William I. in 1079, and
Baron of the Exchequer of Normandy in 1080, and
was, apparently, created Earl of Warwick by William
the Red — the William Rufus of our school-books —
after 1085.
Our information about him is but scanty ; but what
we do know of him is entirely to his credit. He
was diligent in the founding of religious houses. As
Dugdale says : — " He founded the Priory of the Holy
Sepulchre in Warwick, and was patron of Preaulx, a
Norman abbey founded by Humfrey de Verulis, grand-
1 Vide Appendix.
56
The Saxon and Norman Earls
father of Robert, Earl of Melleux (himself a monk in
it), and completed by Roger, son of Robert. To the
abbey Henry, Earl of Warwick, gave the Manor of
Warmington, and the parent foundation sent over monks
to found a cell here ; he also confirmed to them the
adjoining Manor of Arlescote, together with tithes of
Cherlenton and toftes in Norfolk."1 He played a
useful part at a time of civil dissension. Henry I.,
it will be remembered, had trouble with the barons
on his accession, and appealed to his English subjects
against them, granting a charter and marrying a
Saxon princess. Throughout these disturbances Henry
de Newburgh was on the side of King and people,
and it was largely owing to his influence that the
discord was quieted and the King came safely to his
throne.
He married, at an uncertain date, but certainly
before noo, Margaret, elder daughter of Geoffrey,
Count of Perche, by Beatrice, daughter of Hildiun,
fourth Count of Montdidier and Roncy, and had
three sons, — Roger de Newburgh, who succeeded him ;
Rotrod, who became Bishop of Evreux and Archbishop
of Rouen ; and Robert, Lord of Newburgh, Seneschal
and Justice of Normandy. He died on June 2Oth,
1123, and was buried in the Abbey of Preaulx, near
Pont Audemer, in Normandy.
1 Dtigdale, " Antiquities of Warwickshire, " vol. i., 539.
57
CHAPTER VII
The House of Nevvburgh continued — Roger de Nevvburgh- William de
New-burgh- Waleran de Nevvburgh — Henry de Newburgh — Thomas de
Newburgh — Ela, Countess of Warwick — Her Second Husband — Her
Benefaction to the University of Oxford.
ROGER DE NEWBURGH'S tenure of the
Earldom was contemporaneous with the stormy
reign of Stephen. His name appears in the list of
witnesses to the two charters granted by the King to
his people, at London and Oxford respectively. After-
wards, when the King broke his pledges, and mis-
governed the country in various ways, creating new
barons with pensions on the Exchequer, importing
Flemish mercenaries, and debasing the coinage to
provide their pay, he joined the party of the Empress
Maud. He was present at the siege of Winchester,
and was taken prisoner, but was afterwards exchanged,
with the Earl of Gloucester, for Stephen. It is also
said that he conquered Gower Land, in Wales.
The times in which he lived were truly terrible.
Civil war had brought the country to chaos. The
central authority was set at nought, and every feudal
lord governed his dependants and harried his enemies
as he chose. The English Chronicle, quoted by
Green, draws a lurid picture of their barbarous pro-
ceedings : —
58
The Saxon and Norman Earls
" They hanged up men by their feet and smoked
them with foul smoke. Some were hanged up by
their thumbs, others by the head, and burning things
were hung on to their feet. They put knotted strings
From the Rons Roll.
ROGER DE NEWBURGH, EARL OF WARWICK.
about their head and writhed them till they went into
the brain. They put men into prisons where adders
and snakes and toads were crawling, and so they
tormented them. Some they put into a chest, short
59
Warwick Castle <*-
and narrow and not deep, and that had sharp stones
within, and forced men therein so that they broke all
their limbs. In many of the castles were hateful and
grim things called rachenteges, which two or three
men had enough to do to carry. It was thus made :
it was fastened to a beam, and had a sharp iron
to go about a man's neck and throat, so that
he might noways sit, or lie, or sleep, but he bore
all the iron. Many thousands they afflicted with
hunger."
To say that Roger de Newburgh was "better
than his age," when this is what his age was like,
is not, perhaps, to load him with excessive flattery.
For what it may be worth, however, he seems to be
entitled to the compliment. One need not lay stress
upon his benefactions to religious houses, which were
many, including the raising of St. Mary's, Warwick,
to collegiate rank ; for such benefactions, being the
fashion of the period, prove little. But a chronicle
of the period — " Gesta Regis Stephani " — speaks of
him as " a man of gentle disposition " ; and the town
of Warwick remembers him as the founder of the
Hospital of St. Michael in the Saltesford, which he
endowed with the tithes of Wedgnock (inde Appen-
dix) and other property, and of the House of the
Templars, beyond the Bridge, afterwards Temple
Manor,1 and now Temple Mount. Moreover, he took
1 Roger, Earl of Warwick, built the House of the Templars beyond the
Bridge. William, Earl of Warwick, built a new church for the Templars
there (Collins, "Peerage," vol. v., 101).
60
-+> The Saxon and Norman Earls
part in a crusade, and was apparently in the great
expedition of Conrad of Hohenstaufen, Louis VII.,
and Eleanor of Aquitaine, which wrested Lisbon from
the Moors.
He died on June I2th, 1153; and a year later
his Countess, Gundrada, daughter of William, Earl of
Warrenne and Surrey, to welcome Henry II., turned
Stephen's soldiers out of the Castle, and delivered it
to him.
His son, Earl William, is not very interesting. He
was, like Earl Roger, a benefactor to religious houses ;
an honorary brother of Pipewell Abbey ; and although
Rous records that he " was a whyle hevy to the
howis of Sepulcris of Warwick," and that the " Patriark
of Jherusalem wrote to hym a full stiryng letter,
wheche I have rod, and after he was a good lord
to hem," yet he founded the Hospital of St. John
the Baptist in Warwick, and was patron of Whitby
Abbey, and gave the monks of Combe a hide of
land in Bilney in confirmation of the grant of
Thurbert de Bilney, and ratified to the Priory of
Kenilworth the churches of Loxley, Kenilworth, and
Brailes. He also took the cross and went to the
Holy Land, where he died without issue on November
1 5th, 1184, leaving the succession to his brother,
Earl Waleran.
Earl Waleran is hardly more notable. He evidently
had no taste for soldiering, for he paid scutage
(<£>5l 3s- 4-d-) to escape military service in Wales.
His position in the country is, however, attested by
61
Warwick Castle <*-
the fact that at the coronation of King John he bore
the right-hand sword. He had his troubles — accord-
ing to Dugdale, " there starting up one who feigned
himself to be his brother, Earl William "—and he
granted the tithes of Wedgnock to St. Michael's
Hospital, gave the nuns of Pinley lands in Curdeshale
(Claverdon), and to the nuns of Wroxall a yardland
in Brailes.
He died, December I2th, 1204, leaving by his first
wife, Margaret, daughter of Humphrey, Lord Bohun,
a son and heir. He is said to have married secondly
one Maud, of whom nothing is known ; and, thirdly,
Alice de Harecurt, to whom he must have been
warmly attached, since she paid the heavy fine of
,£i,oco and ten palfreys to remain widow as long as
she pleased. This lady, in the Qth of John, had
Tanworth assigned to her as dower, with remainder
to Ela, widow of Earl Thomas.
Henry de Newburgh, his son and heir, was only
a boy of twelve when Waleran died. He was given in
wardship to one Thomas Basset, of Hedinton. During
his minority (in 1203) King John unlawfully granted
away from him his lordship of Gower Land, in Wales,
part of his ancient inheritance, giving it to W7illiam
de Braose ; but at his full age, by writ dated June
ist, 1213, directed Hugh de Chaucombe, then Sheriff
of Warwickshire, to pay him the third penny of the
county, and to deliver him seisin of the Castle of
Warwick and all his lands. This may account for the
fact that, in the quarrels that arose between John and
62
The Saxon and Norman Earls
the barons, the Earl was on the King's side, together
with the Earls of Chester, Warrenne, Pembroke, Salis-
bury, Ferrers, Arundel, Albemarle, and many others.
One would rather by far that he had helped to wrest
the great Charter from his worthless monarch at
Runnymede. He fought for John's son, Henry III.,
during his minority, in the siege of Mount Sorel Castle
and the storming of Lincoln, and also later at the
siege of Biham.
However, he was not for long a King's man. In
July, 1227, he was among the peers who sided with
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, on an occasion of discord
between him and Henry III. They assembled with
horses and armed men at Stamford, and threatened
the King if he did not forthwith repair the injury
he had done to his brother, and further demanded
the restitution of the charters of forest liberties which
by the justiciar's advice he had suddenly cancelled at
Oxford.
This is decidedly more satisfactory. No doubt, if
the Earl had lived, we should have found him figuring
in the agitations which procured the Provisions of
Oxford. He died,1 however, on October loth, 1229,
and on his death his widow, Philippa, gave 100 marks
1 To his son Waleran he left his manors of Greetham and Cotsmore,
co. Rutland, but he died before 1263 sine prole, though Rous makes him
succeed as Earl on the death of John de Plessis (Note in G. E. C, " Com-
plete Peerage "). His daughter Alice married William Mauduit of Hanslope,
and received by her father's orders the Manor of Walton Mauduit. Gundred,
his daughter, was educated by the nuns of Pinley, together with his niece
Mabel, and the said nuns were to receive 2 marks of silver out of Claverdon
for their pains.
63
Warwick Castle *-
that she might not be compelled to marry, but live a
widow as she liked or marry whom she would, so
that he were a loyal subject. In the same year she
married Richard Siward, who proved a turbulent
man, a warlike spirit from his youth, and joined,
17 Hen. III., in the rebellion against the King,
which lasted for six years ; but at last, in spite of his
evil ways, was held in favour. The lady was divorced
from Richard in 1242, and died four years later, being
buried at Bicester Priory.
Thomas de Newburgh, who succeeded Henry, is
another Earl of no particular importance. He paid
scutage to be excused attendance in the King's ridiculous
campaign in Gascony, was knighted at Gloucester in
1253, ancl bore the third sword at the coronation of
Eleanor of Provence in 1236, claiming that it was his
hereditary right to do so. He died on June 26th,
1242, some time before the outbreak of the great
baronial war, and was buried at Warwick.
His Countess was Ela Longespee, daughter of
William, first Earl of Salisbury. Her first husband
having died soon after his union with her, she married,
as his second wife, Sir Phillip Basset, widower, of
Wycombe, Bucks, the Chief Justiciar of England,
who, says Dugdale, " being an eminent man in that
time, was one of the Peers that went to Pope Inno-
cent the Fourth in An. 1245, 29 Hen. III., then
sitting in the Council of Lyons, with Letters from the
rest of the Nobility and Commons of England, repre-
senting the great oppressions under which this realm
64
The Saxon and Norman Earls
at that time suffered by the Court of Rome, and de-
siring relief. And afterwards faithfully adhering to the
said King in that great Rebellion of his Barons, was
taken prisoner with him in the Battail of Lewes."
The King, in a charter granting him certain pro-
perties, styled him, in what I believe is called dog-
Latin, amicus
nostcr speciaiis.
The benefac-
tions of this
Countess of
Warwick were
numerous and sub-
stantial. She
helped the monks
of Reading, the
canons of Oseney,
the nuns of God-
stow, and the
Grey Friars of
London ; and one
of her charities was of an exceptionally interesting
character : —
" So great a friend was she to the University of
Oxford, that she caused a common Chest to be made,
and put therein Cxx marks, out of which such as
were poor schollars, might upon security at any time,
borrow something gratis for supply of their wants.
In consideration whereof the said University were
obliged to celebrate certaine solemne Masses every
VOL. I. 65 r
THE SEAL OF THOMAS DE NEWBURGH, EARL
OF WARWICK.
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
year in S. Marie's Church, which Chest was in being
in K. Ed\v. 4 time, and called by the name of
Warwick Chest."
Her association with Oxford continued to the last,
for it was at Headington that she died on Feb-
ruary 6th, 1297, beloved by all for her wide charity
and manv virtues.
THE CHARTER OF HENRY DE NE\VBURGH, EARL OF WARWICK, GRANTING
THE ADVOWSON OF COMPTON VERXEY TO ST. MARY'S, WARWICK.
66
CHAPTER VIII
Margaret de Newburgh, Countess in her own Right — Her Two Husbands,
John Marshall and John du Plessis— John Mauduit— The Last of the
Norman Earls.
HPHOMAS DE NEWBURGH left no children.
.1- His sister Margaret, therefore, the daughter of
Henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, who was his
next of kin, may be regarded as Countess in her own
right from June 26th, 1262. The Earls of the House
of Newburgh end with her, but the dignity was
passed on, through her marriages, to other families —
one of them, however, already related in degree of
cousinship to the Norman house.
Her first husband was John Marshall, son and
heir of John Marshall, of Hingham, co. Norfolk, who
was Earl of Warwick in his right through his marriage
from June 26th, 1242, until his death four months
later : he had seisin of Warwick Castle, October 3rd,
1242, and died childless the same month. Royal
pressure then induced her to marry again, and Margaret
was united to John du Plessis, who is first mentioned
as Earl of Warwick in 1245.
There are many families named du Plessis in
France, and it is not certain to which of them John
du Plessis belonged. According to the " Dictionary
of National Biography" he was son of Hugh de
67
Warwick Castle <*-
Plessis, whose name occurs as a royal knight, 1222-
1227, and grandson of John de Plesseto, a witness to
a charter of King John, 1204. But he may also have
been youngest brother of Peter Seigneur du Plessis in
1249, and perhaps son of William, living 1201 and
1213, ancestors of the great family of du Plessis
Richelieu.
Whatever his origin, however, he was a notable
man, who might have said, with Napoleon, " Je suis
ancetre," but for the fact that he died without male
issue, leaving the succession to a cousin of his wife.
He was by no means the sort of man to pay
scutage in lieu of personal service in the wars. On
the contrary, he served in Wales in 1231, and was
with Henry III. in Gascony in 1253 and 1254; and
on the latter occasion had an unpleasant adventure.
Louis IX. had given him letters of safe conduct to
go home through Poitou, and he set off in the
company of Gilbert de Segrave and \Villiam Mauduit.
On their way the party were treacherously waylaid,
seized, and imprisoned by the citizens of the town of
Pons. Segrave died in prison, and John du Plessis
was detained until the following year. Henry III.,
says Matthew Paris, the chronicler, " was angry when
he heard of it, but not so angry as he should have
been had he had a royal heart ; he did, however,
write to the Citizens, but they paid no heed to his
letter." The same chronicler records that the French
King wrote to the citizens, "but they took no notice
of his command."
68
The Saxon and Norman Earls
ooo
00
His services to the King, however, were rewarded
in various ways. In 1227 he was one of four knights
to whom ^"60 was given for their support. His
wife, too, was, as we have seen, bestowed upon him
as a mark of royal favour. On the return from an
expedition to Poitou, in 1242, he was granted a
charger worth
,£30 ; and while
in Gascony he
was paid ^200
for his services
in conducting
n ego t iat ions
with Gaston de
Beam.
Sundry offices were also given
to him. He was Warden of Devizes
Castle and of Chippenham Forest,
Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Constable of
the Tower of London, and a Com-
missioner of Oyer and Terminer for
the counties of Somerset, Devon, and
Dorset. He also particularly pleased
the King by taking the cross in in-
teresting circumstances, related by Matthew Paris: —
" On the Monday before Hokeday the King
summoned all the Londoners to come to Westminster
to hear his will ; and ordered the Bishops of Worcester
and Chester, and the Abbot of Westminster, to make
a solemn sermon to the people on the subject of
69
From the Rons Roll.
JOHN DU PLESSIS,
EARI. OF WARWICK.
Warwick Castle <*-
taking up the cross. On account of the extortions
and deceptions practised by the court of Rome very
few took the cross, wherefore the King called the
Londoners a pack of base mercenaries. The King
himself (whose motives were suspected to have a
financial origin) swore to take the cross on St. John
the Baptist's day three years from that date. Among
the courtiers Richard de Grey and his brother John,
and John de Plexeto, took the cross, and the King
ran up to them, and kissed and embraced them,
calling them his brothers."
John du Plessis was also one of the royal repre-
sentatives of the Committee of Twenty-four appointed
under the Provisions of Oxford, one of the royal
electors of the Council of Fifteen, and a member of
that body. He was also one of the barons who, as
we read in the "Annals of Dunstable," "took the
King's brothers at Winchester, and took them to the
sea, making them swear never to return." He died
on February 25th, 1263, and was buried at Missenden
Abbey, Buckinghamshire.
Countess Margaret l had predeceased her second
husband ; and as he had no children by her, the
Earldom passed to her first cousin, William de Mauduit,
a grandson of Waleran, Earl of Warwick, and a great-
grandson, through his father, of the chamberlain of
1 " She gave to the poor of the borough of Warwick the comin ground
that into thys daye is callyd the Cleyputtis. . . . She was special good
Lady to the Hospital of Seynt Mihels of Warwick, among odre gevyng
hem fredame these Courtis to holde, aftre the form of the Comun Law"
(Rons Roll).
70
The Saxon and Norman Earls
Henry I. His name marks the beginning of that
preference of the constitution of the kingdom to the
From the Rons Roil.
WILLIAM DE MAUDUIT, EARL OF WARWICK.
prerogative of the King which has been the character-
istic of so many Earls ot Warwick after him. His
father had fought against John during the barons'
71
Warwick Castle *-
war, when his Castle of Hanslape was taken and
destroyed by Fawkes de Breaute, and was on the
same side at Lincoln on May 2Oth, 1217.
He himself, in the war which the barons waged
against King Henry III. because he would not
observe the Charter, took part at first with Simon
de Montfort. Afterwards he became a backslider,
and had to pay penalty for his backsliding, as is
recorded in the Roll of Rous. In 1264, says Rous : —
"He held ever of the King's part, wherefore Sir
Andrew Gifford by treason took the Castle of War-
wick," and beat down the wall, and " took with him
the Earl and the Countess to Kenil worth Castle, and
ransomed the Earl at xix hundred marks that was
justly paid : at which time Alice the Countess, play-
ing at Chess in Kenilworth Castle with Sir Richard
Roundville, Knight, took i pawn of his ; and at
the same season he was challenged by his armies
appointed at the Castle gate ; then rose he and took
that Knight, and brought him to the lady, and with
him redeemed or ransomed his pawn. After, by
appointment, the Castle was yielded up to the King,
that time being with his great Counsel at Warwick."
Mauduit died on January 8th, I268,1 having
1 " His heart was interred at Catesby Priory, co. Northants, and his body
in Westminster Abbey. At his death he held the Manor of Berndon, with
the advowson of the church there and that of Inchiffeham, also land at
Langedich, the Manor of Chedworth-Horley, the Manor of Warwick, with
land at Wegenok, and the advowson of the Church of the Blessed Mary
there, with its eight prebends, and that of the Church of St. James, the
Manor of Brailes and a market ; also the Manor of Walton Mauduit,
alienated by the Earl" (Chancery Inq. P. M., 52 Hen. III. 173).
72
Front a photograph by L, C. Keighley Peach.
GUY'S TOWER, WARWICK CAST1.E, FROM THE DRIVE.
\Yanvick Castle
married Alice, daughter of Gilbert de Segrave. He
left no children, and the Earldom of Warwick con-
sequently passed to his sister's son, William Beauchamp,
who was father of Guy de Beauchamp.
And so we take our leave of the Norman Earls
of Warwick. There were, as we have seen, both
great men and ordinary men among them. But I
tear I have failed to make any of them vital figures.
The material is so scanty that I have no right to
try. There is little but the stray references of old
chroniclers to build upon ; and on that foundation
nothing very definite or characteristic can be built.
The great men who stand out clearly in the period we
have passed through are men like Anselm, Lanfranc,
Thomas a Becket, and Simon de Montfort. The Earls
of Warwick of the period do not leave any definite
impress. The possibilities of picturesqueness in our
history come later on.
A DEKI) CONFIRMING COMPTON VERNEY FROM WILLIAM, EARL OF WARWICK,
TO ROGER MURDOC.
hi the Collection of Lord Willoughby de Broke.
74
BOOK II
THE HOUSE OF BEAUCHAMP
CHAPTER I
The House of Beauchamp— William de Beauchamp— His Wars in Wales —
Guy de Beauchamp— His Enmity to Piers Gaveston — The Execution
of Piers Gaveston on Blacklovv Hill.
THE Beauchamps " came over with the Con-
queror," though that is the least of their claims
to distinction.
The family took its rise from Walter de Beauchamp,
or Bellocampo, a Norman who had granted to him
the estates of Roger de Wygracestra, as also the
shrievalty of Worcester, which Urso D'Abitot had
held in the time of William I., whose daughter
Emeline Walter had married. His son William held
the office of Dispensator to the King, and his great-
grandson, William de Beauchamp, married Isabel
Maucluit, sister and heir of William Mauduit, Earl of
Warwick, as we have already seen.
From early times we find the heads of the house
figuring in the civil wars. William the first named
played an important part in the wars of Stephen,
siding with Empress Maud, who granted him the
75
Warwick Castle ^
city of Worcester, which Stephen had given to Eari
Waleran. The Empress added to this a grant of
the shrievalty of the county and its forests,
which included Malvern Chase, and also restored
to him the Castle and Honour of Tameworth, and
the Rutland estates of Bekeford, Weston, and
Luffenham, and granted him an annuity of £60 per
annum.
Mis grandson changed sides more than once under
John. Me was first in arms against the King, owing
to excessive scutage, and again after the signing of the
Great Charter of Liberties at Runnymede, but made his
peace, and was absolved by the Legate Gualo. After
the death of the King he had livery of his Castle of
Worcester, and was made Sheriff of Worcestershire,
but subsequently fell into disfavour, probably siding
with the rebel barons against Henry MI.
His son, William de Beauchamp,1 was in the wars
both in Gascony and Wales. He was, as we have
seen, the husband of Isabel, daughter of William
Mauduit, of Hanslape, and the father of the William de
Beauchamp who became Earl of Warwick.
This first Earl of the House of Beauchamp, who
succeeded to the title on January i2th, 1268, and did
1 "His will, dated morrow of the Epiphany, 1268, bequeathed his
body to be buried in the Friars Minors of Worcester, and ordered that
a horse fully armed should be led behind the coffin. He left to Joan, his
daughter, ' Surcellam Sancti Wolstani ' and a book of Lancelot ; to William,
his eldest son, the cup and horns of St. Hugh, and many small sums to
various religious foundations, the largest, x marks, being left to the nuns
of Cokehill " (Register of Bishop, f. 1 1 d).
76
\Yar\vick Castle
homage- for it on February gth of the same year, was
one of the guardians of Prince Edward (afterwards
Edward II.) during his father's absence from the
kingdom, and one of the sureties for the King that
he would renew in England the confirmation of the
charters first made on foreign soil. He was also
a formidable fighting-man, who distinguished himself
both in Scotland and in Wales. In the former country
he retook Dunbur Castle, which had been captured
by the Scots, and in the latter he performed several
notable feats of arms. At a place called Meismeidoc,
Madoc-ap- Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, " fled disgrace-
fully " before him, leaving slain " 700 of their best
men, besides those drowned and mortally wounded."
In Merionethshire he " brought Morgan, a Prince of
South Wales, in the King's peace " ; and in a battle
fought after the passage of the Conway he gained a
victory, thus picturesquely recorded in the " History
of Walsingham " : —
" The Earl of Wrarwick," we there read, " hearing
that the Welsh were assembled in great numbers in
a certain plain between two woods, took with him a
picked band of soldiers, with archers, etc., and sur-
rounded them in the night. The WTelsh fixed their
lances in the ground, and tried to protect themselves
with their shields against the onrushing horsemen.
But the Earl put one slinger (balistarius} between
each two horsemen, and thus killing most of those who
were holding the lances, rushed upon the others with
the horsemen, and made an incredible slaughter."
78
-* The House of Beauchamp
His rewards were the appointments of Constable
of Rockingham Castle, and Steward of the Royal
Trusts between Oxford and Stamford. His death,
like his life, was picturesque. The account of it is
given in the " Annales de Wigornia " : —
" Being sore sick, in the absence of all his friends,
he made his will by the advice of Brother John of
Olneye ; who persuaded him not to be buried with his
predecessors in the cathedral church of Worcester, but
among the Friars Minors ; he died 5 Ides June.1
Solemn vigils were kept in the convent of Pershore
and the church of Worcester. At length the friars,
with the body of so great a man, like victors with
their booty, on 10 Kal. July went all round the places
and streets of the city, and made a spectacle for the
citizens ; and so they buried him in a place where no one
was ever yet placed, where in winter time one would
be rather said to be drowned than buried, and where I
formerly have seen green herbs (olerd] growing."
1 His arms are given in the Grimaldi Roll as " De goules croiseleetz dor,
ove une fees dor." Chancery Inquisition (26 Edw. I. 41) informs us of the
extent of Warwick Castle and the property appertaining to it at this
period : —
"Thursday after the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, 26 Edw. 1. Extent
of the lands, etc., which Sir William de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, held
in Warwick on the day he died. A castle, worth 6s. yearly, 240 acres of
arable land, 88 acres of meadow, a several pasture, 90 free tenants (with
account of their rents); toll of the market-place; stallage there; farm of
the bailiffs ; a fishery in the Auene ; the preserve (vivarium) of Pakmor,
with a small preserve towards Loudesham ; 4 watermills ; pleas and per-
quisites of the Court and portmote. At Wegenok there are 80 acres of
arable land, a park containing 20 acres, a small preserve. AU held of
the King in chief by the services of 5 knights' fees."
79
Warwick Castle <*-
His son Guy, by his wife Maud, widow of Gerard
de Furnival, of Sheffield, arid daughter of John Fitz
Geoffrey, of Berkhampstead, who became Earl in
1298, was an even more prominent man than his
father, and may be saluted as the first Earl of
\Yarwick whose deeds, whether we account them good
or evil, have made his name familiar to every school-
boy. He was present at Edward I.'s second marriage
at Canterbury, was commissioner to treat with the
French ambassadors in 1301, Councillor to Prince
Edward in 1307, bearer of the third sword at
Edward I I.'s coronation in 1308, Chief Warden of the
Castles of Skipton-in-C raven, Appleby, Bonham, and
Pendragon, and patron of Weston Priory, in Norfolk.
But his fame rests not upon these things, but upon his
relations with the King and the King's favourites.
Edward I., it will be remembered, had assigned
his son as companion Piers Gaveston, the son of
an old Gascon servant, but, finding that Gaveston 's
influence was bad, had, towards the end of his reign,
banished him from the kingdom. The new King's
first act was to recall his friend, and make him Earl
of Cornwall.
We have been taught to look with contempt upon
Piers Gaveston. Still, he had certain personal merits.
"The favourite," says John Richard Green, "was a
fine soldier, and his lance unhorsed his opponents in
tourney after tourney." This, as he was a foreigner,
did not help to make him popular. He increased his
unpopularity by inducing the King to dismiss old
80
^ The House of Beauchamp
ministers, and to
set aside claims of
precedence or in-
heritance in the
distribution of
coronation offices.
Moreover, he had
a nimble wit, and
incurred further
dislike by bestow-
ing nicknames on
the barons. The
Earl of Lincoln was
" burst belly,"
Lancaster was "the
fiddler " or " the
play actor," Glou-
cester, his own
brother-in-law, was
" whoreson " (filz
a put eyrie], and Guy ,
Earl of Warwick,
was " the black
hound of Ardern."
The barons, just then, were in no mood to stand
nonsense from either favourite or King. Edward I.,
who was a strong man, had already found them
stubborn. When he had issued writs, in imitation of
the French King, requiring every noble to produce
his titles to his estates, Earl Warrenne had replied
VOL. I. 8 1 G
THE BREASTPLATE OF GUY DE BEAUCHAMT, EARL
OF WARWICK.
' .\ow in the A >•/>.
Warwick Castle <*-
by Hinging his sword upon the commissioners' table.
" This, sirs," he said, " is my title-deed. By the sword
my fathers won their lands when they came over with
the Conqueror, and by my sword I will hold them."
( )ther barons had refused to follow the King in a
Flemish expedition. " By God, Sir Earl," he swore to
Bohun of Hereford, "you shall either go or hang."
" By Cod, Sir King," was the reply, " I will neither go
nor hang."
The son was hardly likely to be a match for the
men who had thus stood up to his father. Gaveston
had to be banished ; and the King had to agree, in 1310,
to the appointment ot Lords Ordainers, who were to
hold office tor a year, and make ordinances for the
good of the realm agreeable to the tenor of the
coronation oath. The Earl of Warwick was one of
these Lords Ordainers.
Piers Gaveston had, in the meanwhile, been re-
called by the King; and, while some of the ordinances
dealt with such matters as the reform of taxation,
the proper administration of justice, and the regular
holding of parliaments, one of them required the
favourite's banishment, this time for life. Edward II.
first accepted this ordinance, and then annulled it.
The barons were enraged, and the Earl of Warwick
was the most wroth of all. The nickname rankled,
and he had sworn to be avenged. " Let him call me
hound," he had said : " one day the hound will bite
him." And the hour when the hound could bite was
coming.
82
-+> The House of Beauchamp
The King went north, and the barons marched
against him. Let Capgrave's "Chronicle" tell us what
happened next : —
" When the King had seen that the Lords came
THE SHIELD OF GUY DE BEAUCHAMP, EARL OK WARWICK.
In the Armoury of Warwick Castle.
with such strength, he fled unto Tynemouth, and by the
sea led Peter to the Castle of Scarborough, and there
left him, commanding the country that they stuff the
Castle with victuals and with men. Hut short to say,
the Lords took this man, and he prayed them that he
83
Warwick Castle +-
might speak with the King or he died. They would
have lodged him in a town close by Warwick, called
Dodington, but the Earl of Warwick came with
strength and led him to his Castle. And when they
were in great doubt what they should do with him,
whether they should lead him to the King or not,
a great-wilted man said thus : ' Many days have ye
hunted and tailed of your game ; now have ye caught
your prey. If he escape your hands, ye get him not
li^htl\". Soon was he led out, and his head smote off!"
lie was not executed in the Castle, however, but
a mile away, at Blacklow Hill, where the place of his
death is marked by an inscription. How this came
about is explained in detail in the Chronicle of Adam
Murimuth : —
" The King wished Peter de Gaverstone to be
conveyed to him by Lord Aclomar de Valence, Earl of
Pembroke, for safety ; and, when they were at Danyn-
tone next Bannebury, the same earl sent him away in
the night, and he went near to one place for this
reason. And on the morrow in the morning came Guy,
Earl of Warwyk, with a low-born and shouting band,
and awakened Peter and brought him to his Castle of
Warwyk ; and, after deliberation with certain elders
of the kingdom, and chiefly with Thomas, Earl of Lan-
caster, finally released him from prison to go where he
would. And when he had set out from the town
of \\ arwyk even to the place called, somewhat pro-
phetically, Gaveressich, he came there with many men,
making a clamor against him with their voices and
84
-*> The House of Beauchamp
horns, as against an enemy of the King and a lawful
outlaw of the kingdom, or an exile ; and finally be-
headed him as such xix day of the month of June."
So the favourite died. His execution, according
THE ENTRANCE TO PIERS GAVESTON's DUNGEON, WARWICK CASTLE.
to Holinshed, was " a just reward for so scornefull
and contemptuous a merchant, as in 'respect of himselfe
(bicause he was in the prince's favour), esteemed the
nobles of the land as men of such inferioritie, as that,
in comparison of him, they deserved no little jot or
mite of honour."
Warwick Castle «-
Still )bs. however, in " The Early Plantagenets,"
passes a different moral judgment. The execution
was, in his view, "a piece of vile personal revenge
tor insults which any really great man would have
scorned to avenge."
However that may be, it would appear that re-
tribution overtook the Earl. He died a mysterious
death, and the general opinion was that he was
poisoned— some said by the Despensers, others by a
mistress of Piers Gaveston. His character is variously
summed up by the chroniclers. " A most severe
soldier" is one verdict; "A discreet and cultured
man " (lionio discretus ct bcnc liicratus\ is another ; but
I do not know where any evidence of his culture is
to be found.
\Ye have a further valuation of the Warwick
property in a Chancery Inquisition, dated Tuesday
after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, in the ninth
year of King Edward II.'s reign: —
" The easements of the castle with the castle ditch
(tossato) are worth 6s. 8d. yearly ; a garden without the
castle and another garden called ' le Wynyerd ' ; three
carucates of arable land in demesne in several fields
called 'le Mort,' Me Ryfeld,' ' Berreford,' and in the
field towards ' le Lee'; there is 85 acres of Lovell's
land ; 30 acres of fallow land without the park of
Wegenoc, and lying in common ; the easements of
Lovell's houses with garden; 6| acres of meadow in
'le Castelmedewe' ; other meadow land in Mitton
meadow and ' le lemedew,' the meadow of Berreford,
86
-* The House of Beauchamp
and in Lovell's meadow which is called ' Stochullemede' ;
there is a several pasture called Pakkemor, with a little
meadow called Tappingesmede ; 2 ' Hammes ' in the
fields of Cotis ; 2 ' Lynches ' and two pieces of pasture
called ' Le Puttes,' which are ' in defense ' for two years
and in the third year because it lies in the fallow field ;
a plot of land called Conyngere ; the pasture of Coumbe-
well ; a park with game called Wegenoc, with under-
wood and two preserves (vivaria) therein, and one
preserve next Lodenam ; a fishery in the water of
Auene ; 4 watermills, which mills were destroyed
(destructe) by the flood on the Vigil of St. Luke the
Evangelist this year; toll of the marketplace with
stallage ; pleas of court ; account of rents.
" Extent of the Templars' manor of Warwick :
easements of the houses with gardens ; 160 acres of
arable land in demesne ; 24 acres of meadow ; a pasture
in demesne after the corn has been carried and when
it lies fallow ; one watermill ; pleas of court ; one fallow
croft ; 34 free tenants. The said Templars used to
find one chantry in the said manor for the ancestors
of the Earls of Warwick. The Earl entered the said
manor by the forfeiture of the Templars ; and it is held
together with the castle by the service aforesaid."
CHAPTER II
Tlu.ma, dr Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick of Edward III.'s French
War* His Exploits at Cre.-y, at Poictiers, and at Calais— His Death-
His Arms and Crcst-His Monument in St. Mary's Church, Warwick.
GUV DE HEAUCHAMP married Alice, widow
of Thomas Leyburne, daughter of Ralph de
Toni, and sister of Robert, Lord cle Toni. His son
Thomas succeeded him at
two years of age.
The public appoint-
ments of Thomas de Beau-
champ were more numerous
than those of his father.
He was by hereditary right
Pantler1 of England,
Sheriff of Worcester, Con-
stable of Worcester Castle,
and Chamberlain of the
Exchequer ; was knighted
January ist, 1330, ->nd had livery of his lands
February 2Oth, 1330; and was Guardian of the Peace,
co. Warwick and Worcester, March 23rd, 133- I
THK SKAL OF THOMAS UE BEAUCHAMP,
I ITII EARI. OF WARWICK (1369-1401).
1 "Pantler: An officer in a great family who has charge of the bread;
in general, a sen-ant who has charge of the pantry. Thomas Beauchamp,
Earl of Warwick, to bear the third sword before the King ; and also to
exercise the Office of 1> antler (Baker, Chronicles, p. 136)."— Century Dictionary,
-•» The House of Heauchamp
Captain of the Army against
the Scots, March 25th, 1337,
and the day previous Royal
Commissioner to Parliament ;
Chief Commissioner to treat
with the Scots, July 24th,
1337 ; Chief Commissioner
of Array in Gloucestershire
and Worcestershire, Febru-
ary 1 6th, 1339; Constable
of the Host in Flanders,
1339 ; Chief Governor of
Southampton, July loth, 1339;
Chief Justice of Over and
Terminer in the Royal Forests
of Salcey, Rockingham, and
Whittlewood, August loth,
1341 ; Chief Surveyor of the
East Marches and Com-
missioner to treat with Scot-
land, July 1 6th, 1367; and
Ambassador to Flanders,
October 2oth to November 5th,
1367. His position in history,
however, is determined, not
by any of these honours, but
by the fact that he was the
Karl of Warwick of the
French wars of Edward III.
Those wars were really a
89
r'/</ /; int of the window in
} 'ark Cathedral.
THOMAS DK HKAl't IIAMI',
KARI. OK WARWICK-
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
legacy from the two preceding reigns. France had
taken the part of Scotland in the wars of Edward I.,
and the French fleet had, in consequence, been
severely handled in a naval battle which the English
sailors insisted upon fighting in spite of the King's
endeavours to hold them back. Intermittent hostilities
followed ; but the real crisis did not come until
Edward III. put forward his claim to the French
crown, lie claimed through his mother, Isabella,
daughter of Philip IV., contending that the nearest
living male descendant of that king had a better
title than females who were related to him in as
near a degree. His first intention was to fight with
mercenaries and foreign allies. When these failed
him, he decided to invade with an English army,
and landed at La Hogue with thirty thousand men.
The leading events in the campaign — the stories
of the siege of Calais and of the great battles of
Crecy and Poictiers — are familiar to every schoolboy.
Our concern here is to trace the part played in the
great military drama by Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl
of Warwick.
We first hear of him at the landing. Here, says
Walsingham, " the Earl of Warwick displayed wonder-
ful valour, for he left the ship before the others, with
one esquire and six archers, riding a feeble horse taken
in the hurry of the moment, and boldly attacked 100
men, and at one onset, with his said followers, slew
sixty Normans, and enabled the whole army to land
without hindrance."
90
-* The House of Beauchamp
From La Hogue the King marched north, in-
tending to join a Flemish force, gathered at Grave-
lines. He was pursued ; his army dwindled ; he
was nearly compelled to surrender. Brought to
bay, he turned to give battle, at the little village of
Crecy, in Ponthieu. We all know what happened :
how the Genoese crossbow-men were helpless be-
cause a shower of rain had wetted their bow-
strings ; how the English arrows fell so fast that " it
seemed as if it
snowed " ; how
the King re-
fused help to
his son, the
Black Prince,
saying, " Let
the boy win
his spurs " ;
how twelve
hundred
knights and
thirty thousand
f o o t m e n — a
number equal
to the whole
English army
— f e 11; how
the cry of
''God has
A PIECE OK EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE'S ARMOUR.
fn the A rmoury of Warwick Castle. punished US
9'
Warwick Castle *
tor our sins" broke from the chronicler of Saint
I )(.-nys.
From the Chronicle of Knighton we gather that
the Karl of Warwick was in the great charge which
determined the issue of the day : —
•• In the first line of Battle was Edward Prince of
Wales, eldest son of King Edward, the Earl of North-
ampton, and the Earl of Warwyk, with their men,
who fought the van of the French, and by divine
assistance overcame it ; then without any cessation the
second rank also, in which were two kings and a
duke. vix. the Kings of Bohemia and Malogria and
Duke of Loryngia, and many others."
From another chronicler, Robert de Avesbury,
we gather that " they took of knights and squires
great number, and slew 2,000 or more and chased
them three leagues of the land."
The way was now open for the march to Calais.
The King was resolved to capture that town because
it was a great resort of pirates, It sounds incredible,
but it seems to be true, that twenty-two privateers
had sailed from its port in a single year. The siege,
as we know, lasted for a year. Supplies being intro-
duced in the course of the operations, the Earl of
\\ arwick " kept guard on the sea with 80 ships,"
to prevent a repetition of the occurrence, He also
conducted a dashing guerilla raid when the French
were mustering to relieve the town. He, "with many
others," says Knighton, « plundered the fair of Tyrwan
( I erouenne), and there came in many armed men
93
The House of Beauchamp
From a painting in St. Stephens Chapel, Westminster.
EDWARD, THE BLACK PRINCE.
was of value carried
the King at Calais."
in
deputed to
defend the
market, viz.
the Bishop
of Tyrwan
with his men
to the num-
ber of 10,000
men at arms,
whom the
E n g 1 i s h
fought and
slew very
many. The
Bishop him-
self was badly
wounded and
scarce es-
caped with
his life.
The Earl of
Warwick
with his
people
plundered the
market and
spoiled it,
and whatever
carts and on horseback to
93
Warwick Castle *-
This is not the place to repeat the story of the
fall of Calais. How six of the burgesses surrendered
unconditionally on the promise that the garrison and
people should be spared ; how the King was for
hanging them, but spared them on the intercession of
Queen Philippa, — these things may be read in any
manual of history. Thomas de Beauchamp was engaged
in one military operation in the same year. He " made
an expedition from the King's army to the vill of
St. Omer, and lost many men at arms and archers to
tin; number of 180 men"; and he was also 'captain
at sea" against the Spaniards in 1350, in the battle
in which Froissart pictures the King " sitting on deck
in his jacket ot black velvet, his head covered with a
black beaver hat which became him well, and calling
to his minstrels to play to him on the horn, and on
John Chandos to troll out the songs he had brought
from Germany," till the Spanish ships came up and
were destroyed.
A truce followed ; and then came the campaigns
in which the Black Prince won fresh glory. Thomas
de Beauchamp was with him " with 1,000 men of
arms and 2,000 archers, with a great many Welsh."
Many ot the incidents of the operations were far from
creditable to the English name. Loot was the principal
object of the expeditions up the Garonne and to the
Loire ; and loot was forthcoming in abundance. " The
Lnghsh and Gascons," we read, "found the country
full and gay, the rooms adorned with carpets and
draperies, the caskets and chests full of fair jewels.
94
The House of Beauchamp
But nothing was safe from these robbers. They, and
especially the Gascons, who are very greedy, carried
off everything . . . their horses so laden with spoil
that they could hardly move."
It was in the course of the second of these
predatory ex-
cursions that
King John of
France, with
an army of sixty
thousand men,
barred the path
of the Black
Prince and his
eight thousand
at Poictiers.
The odds were
such that the
Prince offered
to surrender all
his prisoners,
and to swear
an oath not to
fight against
France again
for seven years,
if he were al-
lowed free re-
treat. King ^^ ^ BKAUCHAMP, KARL OF WARWICK, AN..
John elected HIS COUNTESS. FROM THEIR TOMB AT >
95
Warwick Castle «-
to flight, and the result was as at Crecy, the King
being captured with two thousand men-at-arms and
many nobles, and eight thousand of his soldiers left
dead upon the field.
Knighton's narrative shows how the Earl of War-
wick played his part : —
" They were divided into three lines. The Earl of
Warwyk had the first and opposed that led by the
two Marshals of France. Xow the van of the French
began the tight with the Earl of Warwyk, but they
were rapidly trampled underfoot by the archers. And
the Marshal Clermont was slain and many others. The
Earl ot \Var\vyk followed them up flying, and slew
some and took others prisoners. Whilst thus the King
ot the French began to join battle. He was overcome.
The Earl of Warwyk returning from the flight of the
enemy with his whole army opposed himself to the
flank of the army of the King of France, and they
fought desperately, and thus by the grace of God and
not by human valour the victory was won."
A second truce of two years' duration followed the
battle of Poictiers ; and after the truce came the treaty
ot Hretigny, whereby the English King waived his
claims on the crown of France and on the Duchy of
Normandy, but retained Calais, and received recog-
nition of his right to the Duchy of Aquitaine (including
Gascony, Guienne, Poitou, and Saintonge), not as a
fief, but as an integral part of his dominions.
In 1368, however, war broke out again, and once
again 1 homas de Beauchamp was to the fore ; and it
96
-•» The House of Beauchamp
was in the campaign of the following year that he met
his death, a fighting-man to the last, though he did not
fall upon the field.
Walsingham is our reporter. The scene of the
exploit was Calais : —
" He reproached the Duke of Lancaster with sloth,
saying he himself was going on, while the English bread
still lay undigested in his men's stomachs. He then laid
waste the island of Caws, no one daring to oppose him.
But on his return to Calais he was suddenly carried off by
a pestilential disease, leaving behind him no equal in the
zeal of battle, nor in loyalty to the King and kingdom."
Evidently he was a great man in the esteem of his
contemporaries. " A spirited warrior " is Walsingham's
verdict in another place. He would seem, indeed, to
have been so taken up with fighting that he let Warwick
Castle fall into disrepair. A Chancery Inquisition1
shortly after his death reports that it is " worth nothing
beyond reprises," whereas, as we have seen, it had been
worth " six shillings yearly " in the reign of Edward I.
His arms2 are recorded in an Ashmolean MS.
1 " Monday after Corpus Christi, 2 Hen. IV. The castle and manor of
Warwick. The castle is worth nothing beyond reprises ; ditto, the site
of the manor of Warwick; there are there 300 acres of land, 40 acres
of meadow ; an old park called Weggenok with game ; a several pasture
called ' Paclemor ' ; a watermill ; a several pasture (sic) in the river
Auene ; pleas of court, with view of frankpledge. (There is no separate
extent of the Templars' manor.)"
3 Arms: " De goul a un fes dor a sis croiseletz les boutz iumelz "
(MS. Ashm., 153). Crest: out of a coronet a swan's head and neck.
Arms: " De goul a un fes dor a sis croiseletz les boutes jumelz " (MS.
Ashm., 153).
We should now blazon the coat : Gules, a fess or between six crosses-
crosslet botonee of the second.
VOL. I. 97 H
Warwick Castle *-
He is buried in the choir of St. Mary's, Warwick,
which he rebuilt.
In the centre of the chancel of St. Mary's, Warwick,
is the handsome tomb of its founder and his Countess.
Their effigies lie on a high tomb, the lady to the right
of her husband, whose hand she holds. She wears a
long, close-fitting robe, laced down the bodice, and has
a long girdle, buckled in front and ornamented with
the four-leaved flower. Above this is a loose cloak,
fastened by a brooch on either shoulder. She wears
the stiff netted head-dress of the period, and her feet
rest on a bull. Her husband is in bascinet and camail,
shirt of mail, with jupon over it, bearing the arms of
Beauchamp. His arms are protected by brassarts, his
legs with greaves, and the feet covered with pointed
sollerets. His feet rest on a bear, and on either side
of the tomb by the head-cushions are seated angels.
About the sides of the tomb are thirty-six statuettes in
cusped panels, and below these is a series of plain
shields, which from Dugdale's figure seem formerly to
have been tinctured. They represent alternately male
and female members of the families of Beauchamp and
Mortimer.
98
CHAPTER III
Thomas de Be.iucliamp— His Hostility to Richard II.— His Arrest and
Imprisonment— His Confession of Treachery— His subsequent Re-
pudiation of it— His Death— Richard de Beanchamp— His Feats of
Chivalry— His Tailor's Bill.
TI I E Thomas tie Beauchamp whose famous deeds
we have recounted married Katherine, eldest
daughter of Roger, Earl of March. His eldest son,
Guy, having predeceased him, another Thomas de
Beauchamp,1 his second son, succeeded to the title
and estates.
He was only a moderately famous Earl, and
perhaps one had better add, only a moderately satis-
factory one. His renown is over-shadowed by his
son's, no less than by his father's ; though his titles,
distinctions, and public offices and employments were
numerous enough. He was Earl of Warwick, Baron
Beauchamp of Elmley and Hanslape, Lord of Castle
Barnard and Kirtling, and by hereditary right Pantler
of England, Chamberlain of the Exchequer, Sheriff of
the County of Worcester, Constable of Worcester Castle,
and also Patron of Warwick Priory and Patron of
Llangeneth Priory ; Joint Ambassador to Scotland,
13/6 ; Honorary Brother of St. Albans Abbey,
1 His badges were: a bear (J. Govver, "Pol. Poems," i. 419); a ragged
staff (tomb); crest as his father's; supporters, two bears.
-* The House of Beauchamp
January 22nd, 1377; Bearer of the Third Sword,
Coronation of King Richard II., July i6th, 1377;
Admiral of the North, December 5th, 1377, to Novem-
ber 5th, 13/8 ; Joint Commissioner to supervise the
Administration and Revenue at Home and Abroad,
March 2nd, 1380; Tutor to King Richard II. about
February, 1380-81 ; Joint Guardian of the Truce with
Scotland, September 6th, 1380; Captain to oppose
Rebels in the County of Northants, July 3rd, 1381 ;
Captain to oppose Rebels in the Counties of Warwick
and Worcester, July 5th, 1381 ; and a member of the
Privy Council, 1386. But he does not seem to have
been a man of any striking or impressive individuality.
He was with John of Gaunt in the fruitless French
campaign of 1373, and afterwards in the descent on
Brittany ; but the interesting events of his life took
place in the reign of the unfortunate Richard II.
In 1380 he "was elected by common consent to
remain continuously with the King, receiving yearly
a certain sum of money for his pains, as was fitting,
out of the royal treasure " ; and he led the largest
contingent in the field (600 archers and 280 men-at-
arms) in the Scotch campaign of 1385. In 1387,
however, when the King tried to shake off his
guardians, saying, " I have been longer under guardian-
ship than any ward of my realm : I thank you for your
past services, my lords, but I need them no longer," he
joined the opposition, and, with the Duke of Gloucester
and the Earl of Arundel, marched on London.
The King tried to ambush his opponents on their
Warwick Castle *-
way, but failed ; and they came to Westminster, and
were given audience in Westminster Hall, while their
armed followers stood outside the door. Richard, with
cunning and ulterior motives, repaired to the Tower of
London, and invited them to enter and have a second
['HE OBVERSE OK THE SEAL OK THE FAMOUS THOMAS DE
BEAl CHAMP, I2TH EARL OF WARWICK.
audience with him there. But they saw through the
trick. The Tower was not, they replied, a safe place
for them ; but they would like a word with the King
outside. The account of the subsequent proceedings
may be taken from the " Eulogium Historiarum " :—
11 I he King sent for the mayor, and commanded
him to call the city to arms. The mayor refused,
102
The House of Beauchamp
saying the King's lieges were also friends of the
kingdom. The King then sent the Duke of Ireland
to gather forces at Chester, etc. The earls, with
increased forces, having been joined by the Earl of
Derby and the Earl of Nottingham, met the Duke
THE REVERSE OF THE SEAL OF THE FAMOUS THOMAS DE
BEAUCHAMP, I2TH EARL OF WARWICK.
coming up with the King's standard flying, near
Oxford. The Duke refused to fight, and fled with
his confessor to Sheppey, and thence to Germany ;
his troops returned disgracefully, the strings of their
bows cut, and beaten with their own arrows. And
the said five lords took and killed a number of rebels
at Rotcotbrigge."
J°3
Warwick Castle <+-
For the time being they triumphed, and Richard
was obliged to accept them as his advisers. But the
triumph was short-lived. In 1389 there was a coup
d'etat. The King dismissed his new counsellors and
•• pulled in others that pleased better his use." Thomas
de Beauchamp seems, as the vulgar say, to have
••taken it lying down." He withdrew to Warwick
Castle, and lived in retirement there, occupying
himself with the building of the nave of St. Mary's
Church.
The King awaited his opportunity for vengeance,
which came in 1397. The Earl of Warwick had
quarrelled with the Earl ot Nottingham, who, by writ
of error, had ousted him from the lands of Gower.
Nottingham then denounced him for complicity in a
conspiracy, the details of which are very obscure ;
and King Richard played him a treacherous trick,
which succeeded better than the similar trick essayed
on the occasion of the previous rising. "He made
a great feast," say the annals of his reign, " for
the Earls of Arundel and Warwick arid the Duke
ot Gloucester. Warwick was the only one who came.
The King took his hand, and promised to be his
good lord, bidding him not grieve for the lost lands
of Gower ; he would provide him with lands of the
same value. But when the banquet was ended, he
had the earl arrested."
He was committed to the Tower — where the name
ot Beauchamp's Tower preserves the memory of his
imprisonment— and brought to trial for high treason.
I O-J
-*> The House of Beauchamp
On his trial he seems to have lost his nerve, for he
pleaded guilty — confessa toute la trahison — and threw
himself on the King's mercy. His sentence was the
forfeiture of his estates, and perpetual banishment
to the Isle of Man. It is said that he was "in-
humanely treated by the servants of William Scrop,
to whom that Island belonged." One of his grievances
was that he was not given enough to eat. He was
brought back and recommitted to the Tower, whence
he was liberated on the triumph of Henry IV.
His last public appearance is not greatly to his
credit. He did not wish to go down to posterity
branded as a traitor. Wherefore " he endeavoured to
excuse his former admission of treason, in parliament,
and blushing with shame, rose and stood in public,
and asked the King that that record might be cor-
rected, swearing that he had never uttered such words
with his lips ; but that there was a certain man that
would have counselled him to confess thus, and he
had refused to follow the advice."
The peers, however, had longer memories than he
gave them credit for. Henry himself silenced the Earl,
and, " unwilling to further dissimulate the testimony of
such manifest truth, ordered that no more should be
said on the subject."
It is said that Thomas de Beauchamp urged
Henry to put Richard II. to death. That is as it
may be ; there is nothing improbable in the sugges-
tion. But he retired immediately afterwards into
private life (though he fought for Henry against
\Yar\vick Castle
the rebel lords in January, 1400), and died on April 8th,
1401, at Warwick, where he was buried.1
His wife was Margaret, daughter of William, Lord
Ferrers of Groby, by his first wife, Margaret, daughter
of Robert U fiord, Earl of Suffolk. His son Richard,
who succeeded to the Earldom at the age of twenty,
may be welcomed to our pages as the greatest of all
tin: Beauchamps. He was not only, like his grand-
father, a great soldier, but also the flower of courtesy,
and, as we shall see, a patron of art and letters. He
was Earl in the reigns of Henry IV., Henry V., and
Henry VI.
Henry IV. had succeeded to the throne with the
support of the Church and the baronage. The under-
1 His monument, figured by Dngdale as an altar-tomb with its mensa
inlaid with effigies of the Earl and Countess, beneath a double canopy
with a marginal inscription, v\as destroyed in the great Warwick fire in
1694, and only the effigies are left. These are affixed to the wall of the
south transept of St. Mary's Church, and represent the Earl in much-
enriched armour, with a pointed bascinet, edged with ragged staves, and
necklace or camail of mail, ornamented along the lower edge with short
pendants of mail. His hands are clasped in prayer, and he wears a jupon
of his arms — a less between three crosslets botonee. His feet rest on a
chained bear ; the mail shirt shows beneath the jupon, and is ornamented
as in the camail. The sword-sheath is delicately damascened. The lady
wears a frilled head-dress, and has long, curling hair ; she wears a long
under-mantle with her arms, a cross of mascles, and over it a cloak, with
those of her husband ; in the folds of her dress is a small pet dog. The
ancient inscription ran: "Hie jacent dominus Thomas de Bellocampo
quondam Comes Warwici qui obiit octavo die mensis Aprilis Anno
Domini Millesimo cccc primo et Domina Margareta uxor ejus quondam
Comitissa Warwici qua; obiit xxii mensis Januarii Anno Domini Millesimo
crcc sexto quorum animabus propicietur deus amen." Above the tomb
was a canopy with cusped arch, ornamental spandrels, and crested cornice
with coats of arms. The modern inscription is in accordance with the
bad taste of the time— that of William III.
106
THOMAS DK HKAUCHAMI', KARL OK WARWICK, AND HIS COUNTESS,
THE LADY MARC.ARKT.
From their effigies in St. Mary's CAvrJ,, H ««..«•*.
\Yar\vick Castle <+-
standing with the Church was that he would persecute
the- Lollards ; the understanding with the barons, that
he would go to war with France. Though Scrope,
Archbishop of York, had, as Bishop of Lichfield, been
one of his sponsors, Richard de Beauchamp does not
seem to have played any active part in the execution
of the former policy. At first he was kept busy fighting
the Welsh, from whom, in 1403, he captured the banner
of Owen Glendower ; but his early years were mainly
consecrated to the doughty deeds of chivalry. At the
coronation of Queen Jane he kept jousts on her part
against all comers ; and that was only the first of a long
series of remarkable exploits in this department of human
endeavour, esteemed so highly in the Middle Ages.
Richard de Beauchamp, at this period of his life,
may be pictured as the mediaeval analogue of Guy of
Warwick. Adventure was as necessary to him as food
and air ; and when his own country failed to furnish
suitable occasions of adventure, he went abroad to
seek them. His Wander-jahre were from 1408 to
1410; and he divided his time between the devotional
exercises proper to a pilgrimage and those feats of
arms that formed the fashionable recreation of the
period. Dugdale's account of his progress suggests
a tour of the Harlequins, or Will-o'-the-wisps, or other
amateur cricketers.
" Entering Lumbardy," we read, " he was met by
another Herald from Sir Pandulph Malacet or Malet,
with a challenge to perform certain feats of Arms
with him at Verona, upon a day assigned for the
108
-* The House of Beauchamp
Order of the Garter ; and in the presence of Sir
Galeot of Mantua ; whereunto he gave his assent.
And as soon as he had performed his pilgrimage at
Rome, returned to Verona, where he and his Chalenger
THE BIRTH OF RICHARD DE BEAUCHAMI', EARL OK WARWICK.
Frain Rons' s " History of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick" (Cotton MS.).
were first to joust, next to fight with Axes, afterwards
with Arming Swords, and lastly, with sharp Daggers.
At the day and place assigned for which exercises,
came great resort of people, Sir Pandulph entring
the Lists with nine Spears born before him : But the
109
Warwick Castle *
Act of Spears being ended, they fell to it with Axes ;
in which encounter Sir Panclulph received a sore wound
on the Shoulder, and had been utterly slain, but that
Sir Galeot cried Peace."
From Verona Richard de Beauchamp went to
Venice, and thence to Jerusalem, where he had an
interesting experience. While he was there, " a Noble
Person, called Baltredam, (the Soldans Lieutenant)
hearing that he was descended from the famous Sir
Guy of Warwick, whose Story they had in Books of
their own Language, invited him to his Palace ; and
royally feasting him, presented him with three Precious
Stones of great value ; besides divers Cloaths of Silk
and Gold, given to his servants." He came back by
way of " Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Prussia, Westphalia,
and some Countreys of Germany ; shewing great valor
in divers Tourneaments, whitest he was in those parts";
and on his return to England " was by Indenture,
dated 2 Octob. 12 H. 4. retained with Henry, Prince
of Wales, (afterwards King, by the name of Henry
the Fifth) to serve him as well in times of Peace as
War ; both in this Realm, upon, and beyond the Seas,
for Two hundred and fifty marks per annum, to be
paid out of the Prince's Exchequer at Caermarthen,
at Easter and Michael mass, by even portions."
His first service was at Calais, where he was made
Captain of the Town. A French attack was anticipated ;
but when the danger passed, Richard de Beauchamp
"resolved to put in practice some new point of chevalry."
So he " came into the Field with his Face covered, a
-* The House of Beauchamp
Plume of Ostrich Feathers upon his Helm, and his
Horse trapped with the Lord Toney's Arms (one of
his Ancestors,) viz. Argent a Manch Gules : Where
THK BAl'TISM OF RICHARD I)E BEAl'CH AM I1, EARI. OK
WARWICK, BY THE ARCHBISHOP OK YORK, IN THE
i'KESENCE OK RICHARD II.
Front Rmis's " History of Richard Beauchamp, Eat! of Warwick " (Cation MS.).
first encountering with the Chevalier Rouge, at the
third Course he unhorsed him, and so returned with
close Vizor, unknown, to his Pavilion ; whence he
sent to that Knight a good Courser.
in
Warwick Castle *-
" The next day he came into the Field with his
Vixor close, a Chaplet on his Helm, and a Plume of
Ostrich Feathers aloft, his Horse trapped with the
Arms of Hanslap, viz. Silver two bars Gules, where he
met with the Blank Knight, with whom he encountred,
smote; off his Vizor thrice, broke his Besagurs, and other
Harneys, and returned victoriously to his Pavilion, with
all his own Habiliments safe, and as yet not known
to any ; from whence he sent this Blank Knight, Sir
Hugh Launey, a good Courser.
" But the morrow after, viz. the last day of the
justs, he came with his Face open, and his Helmet as
the day before, save that the Chaplet was rich with
Pearl and Precious Stones ; and in his Coat of Arms,
of Guy and Beauchamp, quarterly ; having the Arms of
Toney and Hanslap on his Trappers ; and said, That
as he had in his own person performed the service
the two days before, so with God's grace he would the
third. Whereupon encountring with Sir Collard Fines,
at every stroke he bore him backward to his Horse ;
insomuch, as the Frenchmen saying, That he himself
was bound to his Saddle ; he alighted and presently
got up again. But all being ended, he returned to
his Pavilion, sent to Sir Collard Fines a fair Courser,
feasted all the people, gave to those three Knights
great rewards, and so rode to Calais with great honor."
At Constance, again, where he went as ambassador
to the Council, he " was challenged by and slew a
great Duke, whereon the Empress set his badge on
her own shoulder, which he hearing of, had one made
-+> The House of Beauchamp
RICHARD DE BEAUCHAMP,
EARI. OK WARWICK.
(He fs holding his ward, the infant King
Henry FA, on his arm.)
the Rons Roll.
of Pearls, etc., which she received. The Emperor
gave him his sword to bear, and offered him the
Heart of" St. George to bear to England, but he
persuaded the Emperor to bring it himself, what
he did, and offered it at Windsor, when he was made
K.G." The German Emperor's verdict on him was :
" That no Christian Prince hath such another Knight
for Wisdom, Nurture and Manhood, that if all courtesie
were lost, yet it might be found again in him."
So he came to be known as " the Prince of
Courtesie." An interesting memorial of his life and
times is furnished by his tailor's bill, which has been
preserved. I give it textually : —
VOL. i. 113 i
\Yarwick Castle ^
These be the parcels that William Seyburgh, Citizen
and Painter of London, hath delivered in the Moneth
of July, the Fifteenth year of the Reign of King Henry
the Sixth, to John Ray, Tailor, of the same City ; for the
use and stuff of my Lord of Warwick.
Item, Four hundred Pencils beat with the Ragged-
staff of Silver, price the peece five pence = £8 6 o
Item, for the Painting of two Pavys for my Lord,
the one with a Griffin, standing on my Lords colours,
Red, White and Russet, price of the Pavys 6s 8d
Item, For the other Pavys Painted with Black and
a RaggedstafF beat with Silver occupying all the Field,
price 3s 4d
Item, One Coat for my Lords Body, beat with fine
Gold £i 10 o
Item, Two Coats for Heralds, beat with Demmy
Gold : price the piece 20 - = £,2 o o
Item, Pour Banners for Trumpets, beat with Demmy
Gold, price the peece 13* 4d
Item, Four Spear-Shafts of Red, Price the peece
i - = 4s od
Item, One great Burdon, Painted with Red Is 2d
Item, Another Burdon, written with my Lords
colours, Red, White, and Russet 2s od
Item, For a Great Streamer of a Ship of forty yards
in length and eight yards in breadth, with a great Bear
and Griffin, holding a RaggedstafF, poudred full of
Raggedstaffs and for a great Cross of St. George, for
the Limming and Portraying .£168
Item, a Gyton for the Ship of eight yards long,
114
The House of Beauchamp
Drawn l>y S. Harding front a print in tlic British Museum, 1793.
RICHARD I)E BKAUCIIAMP, EARL OK WARWICK.
powdered full of Raggedstaffs, for the Limming and
Workmanship £\ 2 o
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
Item, For eighteen great Standards entertailed with
the Raggedstaff, price the peece 8d = i 2s od
Item, Eighteen Standards of Worsted, entertailed
with the Hear and a Chain, price the peece i/- = i8s od
Item, Sixteen other Standards of Worsted, entertailed
with the Raggedstaff price the peece i - = 5s 4d
Item, Three Penons of Satten, entertailed with
Kaggedstaffs, price the peece 2 - = 6s od
Item, for the Coat- Armor, beat for George, by the
Commandment of my Lord 6s 8d
So much for Richard de Beauchamp's feats of
chivalry. His feats ot arms ma}' be related in another
chapter.
116
CHAPTER IV
Richard de Beauchamp in the French War— The Towns he took— His
Advice to Poet Lydgate— Guardian of Henry VI. — The Ousting of
the English from France — Richard de Beauchamp's Part in the Re-
sistance— His Death in Normandy.
IT has been mentioned that Richard de Beauchamp
fought in Wales and captured the banner of
Owen Glendower. He was also instrumental in
putting down an insurrection in Shropshire. But his
chief military exploits were in the long war which
Henry V. waged against the French.
It was a thoroughly unjust and iniquitous war.
Henry's claim to the French throne differed from that
of Edward III. in that no possible quibble could
make it appear valid. If any Englishman had a good
title, the claims of the House of Mortimer were ob-
viously prior to those of the House of Lancaster. But
English King and English barons were alike "spoil-
ing for a fight," and French internal dissensions offered
a fair prospect of success. So the campaign began,
of which the best-known landmarks are the battle of
Agincourt and the Peace of Troyes.
Richard de Beauchamp does not seem to have
been present at the battle of Agincourt ; but, after
Agincourt, his name is of constant occurrence in the
chronicles. At Calais he "received with due rever-
117
Warwick Castle <*-
ence " the Emperor
Sigismund. He was
sent in 1416 — prazstctn-
tissimus vir Comes
V arvicensis he is
ca 1 1 e d — t o relieve
Harfleur. At the siege
of Caen " the Earl
of Warwick and Sir
John Gray were on
THE M-:rO.\D SEAL OF RICHARD DE the King's right
liEAL'CHAMl1, EARL OF WARWICK. i i )> TT 1
hand. He captured
Caudebec, and Mont Saint Michel, and Domfront,
and Melun. He was sent on an embassy to the
Duke of Burgundy, and treacherously ambuscaded
by the way. He marched to the relief of Cosne,
which the Dauphin was beleaguering. He was made
Captain of Beauvais ; and he was at the siege of
Rouen.
This, though it is hardly so much as mentioned
in the school-books, was one of the most memorable
sieges in history. It lasted for six months. The
garrison, in order that they might resist the longer,
turned twelve thousand of the country folk who had
taken refuge with them outside the walls to starve.
It was no part of the policy of Henry V. to feed
them. " War," he said, " has three handmaidens
ever waiting on her, Fire, Blood, and Famine, and
I have chosen the meekest maid of the three." So
he held the city in his iron grip until the hard
118
-* The House of Beauchamp
terms which he offered— which included the execution
of the commander, Alan Blanchard— were accepted.
From a print published
RICHARD DE BEAUCHAMI', K.C., EARL OF WARWICK, REGENT OK KKA\< I .
GOVERNOR OK NORMANDY, AND CAPTAIN OK CALAIS.
Then it was Richard de Beauchamp who received the
capitulation.
119
Warwick Castle <*-
We meet him once again at the time of the Peace
of Troves, whereby Henry received the hand of
Katharine, and was recognised as the French heir-
apparent. It was at his instance that Lydgate, the
poet, wrote his metrical account of the English claims
to the French throne. The fact is set forth in the
poem : —
I moved was shortly in sentement
]>y precept first and comruaundement
Of the nobly prince and manly man,
Which is so knyghtly and so moche can,
My lord of Warrewyk, so prudent and wise,
Being present that tyme at Parys,
Whanne he was then repairede agein
From seint Juliane of Mauns, out of Mayne,
Resorted home, as folks telle conne,
From the castelle that he had wonne
Thurgh his knyghthode and his hy noblesse,
And thurgh his wysdom and his hy prowesse.
Of which my lorde that I spake of byforne,
My lord of Warrewyk, ful worth! of renoun,
Of high prudence and discrecioun,
Touching the writyng of this Calot clerk,
Draw into Frenssh by his besy werk,
Oaf me precept in conclusioun
To make thereof a playne translacioun
In Englissh tong, and bade me hit translate.
So stout a soldier could hardly have failed to be
the valued and trusted friend of such a king as
Henry Y . The King, in fact, visited him at Warwick,
and went to see Guy's Cliff, " whether out of respect
to the memory of the famous Guy or to its situation "
Dugdale cannot say, and "did determine to have
-* The House of Beauchamp
formed a chantry 1 here for 2 Priests, had he not been
by death prevented." On his death-bed, moreover, he
sent for Richard de Beauchamp, and gave his young
son into his care. "It is my wish, fair cousin of
Warwick," he said, " that you be his master. Be
very gentle with him and guide him and instruct in
the condition of life to which he belongs. For I
could make no better provision for him."
So Richard de Beauchamp began the new reign
with the boy King for his ward, though the formal
title of Tutor and Governor was not conferred upon
1 This was subsequently done by Richard de Beauchamp, as is re-
corded in Dugdale's "Antiquities of Warwickshire": "After which the
before specified Ric. Beauchamp, E. of Warw. bearing a great devotion
to the place, whereupon then stood nothing but a small Chapel, and a
Cottage in which the Heremite dwelt, in i. H. 6. obtained license to do
the like, sc. for 2. Priests, which should sing Mass, in the Chapel there
daily, for the good estate of him the said Earl and his wife, during their
lives ; and afterwards for the health of their souls, and the souls of all
their parents, friends, with all the faithfull deceased. Of which Chantry
Will. Berkswell (afterwards Dean of the Collegia! Church in Warw.) and
one John Berington, were the first Priests; for whose maintenance, and
their successors, the said E. in 9. H. 6. had license to grant the mannour
of Ashorne in this County, with one mess, one carucat of land, and
Cxvii s. x d. ob. yearly rent lying in Whitnash and Wellesburne. And
because he thought not that enough, by his last WTill and Testament he
ordained, that in all hast alter his decease, the remnant of what he had
designed for his Chantry Priests there, should by his Executors be de-
livered, and made sure to them : and that the Chapel there, with the
other buildings, should be new built, as he the said Earl had devised, for
the vvholsom and convenient dwelling of those Priests. The costs of all
which, with the consecration of the two Altars therein, as appearcth by
the accounts of the said Executors, from the 28. to the 37. H. 6. amounted
unto Clxxxivl. vd. ob. Then did Earl Richard, in memory of the warlike
Guy, erect that large Statue, there yet to be seen on the south side
within that Chapel, the Figure whereof I have here exprest : and having
raised a roof over the adjacent Springs, walled them with stone."
121
Warwick Castle *-
him until the year 1428. We find him, at this period,
holding various offices both at home and abroad. He
was appointed Captain and Lieut.-General " for the
RICHARD DE BEAUCHAMP, EARL OF WARWICK, CROSSING
THE CHANNEL WITH HIS LADY AND HIS SON.
From Rous's "History of Richard Beawhamp, Earl of Warwick" (Cotton MS.).
Field " in Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and the Marches
of Bretagne, March I4th, 1426 ; Joint Guardian of
the Truce with Scotland, May 26th, 1426 ; Captain
of the Town and Marches of Meaux-en-Brie,
-* The House of Beauchamp
November ist, 1430; Ranger of Wichwood Forest,
November 2ist, 1433; Joint Commissioner to treat
with France, April ;th, 1437; Constable of Bristol,
and Warden of the Forests of Kingswood and Fil-
wood and the Forest and Park of Gillingham,
July nth, 1437; Lieut.-General and Governor of
France and Normandy, July i6th, 1437.
He bore Henry VI. to church for his coronation,
and a ballad written on that occasion shows the
esteem in which he was held • —
Six erles in their estate shewed them alle ;
And the 5 poortis beryng up the palle.
Gracious VVerwik, God hym contynue,
Beryng up his trayne in peece and vue.
But the times were evil, and Richard de Beau-
champ's later years can hardly have been happy.
Internal disorders were paving the way for the inter-
necine strife of the Wars of the Roses. Parliament
was degenerating into a bear-garden. The nominees
and retainers of the rival barons actually came to
blows there. One Parliament — that of 1426 — has
gone down to history as the Parliament of Bats or
Bludgeons, because, when the carrying of arms was
forbidden, the representatives of the people came to
legislate with cudgels in their hands. When the
cudgels were prohibited, they brought stones and
lumps of lead, concealed in the folds of their garments.
Such sights and such stories must surely have
saddened a knight so chivalrous as Richard de
123
\Yanvick Castle *-
Beauchamp. But the great sorrow of his declining
life must have been the turning of the tide in the
great Hundred Years' War with France.
Many causes combined to make the unfortunate
issue of that war inevitable. It was, as we have seen,
a most unrighteous war. The people of England
had no particular interest in it. Few of them fought
in it ; the rest paid taxes to support foreign merce-
naries. Those who did fight — the barons and their
retainers — fought, not for patriotism, but for plunder.
When they won victories, they were less anxious to
follow them up than to get their plunder safely home,
and place their captives in security, so that they might
be held to ransom. In such a war, when once the
strong personality and brilliant generalship of Henry V.
was removed, the debacle could only be a question
of time.
It did not come at once. The Duke of Bedford,
who succeeded to the command, was hardly less com-
petent a soldier, and hardly less adroit a diplomatist,
than King Henry himself. His victory at Verneuil
was scarcely less complete than that of Agincourt.
But his ranks were depleted, and he had no proper
support from England. Joan of Arc arose, like a
portent, in the obscure village of Domremy, in
Lorraine. She had seen visions and heard voices.
Michael the archangel had appeared to her, telling
her that there was " pity " in heaven for the sorrows
of the fair land of France. " The Maid prays and
requires you," she wrote to Bedford, " to work no
124
'in and engraved by George Vertue from an old picture at Kensington i'alace.
KING HENRY V.
(In whose reign Richard de Beauchamf> performed his most famous deeds, and who
appointed him " guardian " of his son, King Henry VI.)
Warwick Castle «-
more destruction in France, but to come in her
company to rescue the Holy Sepulchre from the
Turk." And when Bedford rejected this strange pro-
posal of alliance, she marched at the head of an army,
and raised the siege of Orleans, and caused Charles VII.
to be crowned at Rheims. " O gentle King," she
there said to him, " the pleasure of God is done."
Even so, however, the English cause was not yet
lost. The new English King was pompously crowned
at Paris, and held his court at Rouen for a year, and
actually founded a university at Caen. There seemed
to be a chance of retaining Normandy, though the
rest of the French possessions must be abandoned.
In defensive as in offensive war great feats of arms
were done by English soldiers. Lord Talbot's ford-
ing of the Somme, with the waters up to his chin,
to relieve Crotoy, is one great case in point. But the
end was coming, though it came slowly. There was
a day when Rouen rose in revolt against its garrison,
and even Cherbourg fell, and the fortresses of Guienne
surrendered, and a peace had to be agreed to whereby
Calais alone of the French towns remained in English
hands.
Of the Earl of Warwick the chronicles of the
time give us a good many glimpses. In 1427 we
find him besieging the town and castle of Montargis
with about three thousand men. The account of the
operations may be summarised from de Waurin.
They surrounded the town, and fortified their
camps, building bridges over the river for intercom-
126
-* The House of Beauchamp
munication. The Earl of Warwick had his quarters
in an abbey outside the town. They besieged and
battered the town with their engines for about two
THE DEATH OF RICHARD I)E BEAUCHAMP, EARL OF
WARWICK.
From Rons' s " History of Richard Beanchamp, Earl oj Wanvuk" (Cotton .IfS.).
months, vigorously opposed by the besieged ; they
sent for help to King Charles, who, after delay,
dispatched sixteen hundred men with food, etc. They
came secretly upon the English army, led by certain
127
Warwick Castle <*-
of the garrison, who had made their way out, and
attacking them on two sides, completely routed them ;
many of the English were killed and drowned, by
the people in the town stopping the water until it was
high enough to flow right over the English bridges.
One of the bridges broke under the weight of people
pressing in full retreat to the Earl of Warwick's
quarters. The Earl gathered his men together as
quickly as he could (he had already lost from ten to
twelve hundred men in killed and wounded), and drew
them up on a hill ; but the Erench, who were much
worn out, retired into the town, and during the night
the Earl marched oft, some of the English going to
the castle of Landon, some to Nemours and else-
where. The Earl rejoined the regent in Paris.
In 1428, as we gather from the same source, it
was decided that the Earl of Warwick should besiege
Pontorson, and the Earl of Suffolk should invade
Brittany. Their armies were well provided with all
necessaries. The Earl of Warwick made the attack in
the usual way, first dragging up his engines before the
guns and bombards, which brought the town to such
a state that they were forced to agree to surrender,
provided they did not receive succours by a certain
date. These did not arrive, and the fortress was de-
livered to the English, who demolished it, and then
returned into garrisons on the frontiers.
Other operations are reported in less detail. In
J433 Richard de Beauchamp was in London, where
the ambassadors of Hue de Lannoi waited on him:
128
VOL. I.
\Var\vick Castle *-
" he received them graciously, though a little more
gravely than before." In 1435 his name appears
first in a list of the retinue of the Duke of Bedford,
where he is described as "captain of the city of
Meaulx in P>rie, lieutenant of the field in the absence
of the Regent." He returned home, but sailed again
on August 29th, 1437, and there, says Stow's
Chronicle : —
" After the regaining of the towne of Ponthoise,
Richard Beauchamp, Karle of Warwike, Lieutenant
General of France, and of the Dutchy of Normandy,
dyed in the Castle of Roan in Normandy, on the
last of April, the yeere of his age 58. And on
the fourth of October next following his corpes was
honorably conveied, as well by water as by land, from
Roan in Normandy to Warwike in England, and was
laid with lull solemnities in a faire chest made of
stone in the West door of the Colledge of our Ladies
Church, by his noble ancestors, till a chappell by him
devised in his life were made, which chappell founded
on the rocke, and all the members thereof, his
executors did fully make and apparell, by the au-
thoritie of his said last will and testament : and
thereafter by the said authority they did translate
the said body into the vault above sayd, where
he is intoombed right princely and portured [? por-
trayed] with an image armed of copper and gilt, like
a chariot."
In the centre of the Lady Chapel of St. Mary's,
Warwick, stands the beautiful monument of its founder,
The House of Beauchamp
Richard Beauchamp
Earl of Warwick.
The high tomb, richly
panelled, contains
some fine statuettes
of latten gilt : namely,
at the head, Henry
Beauchamp Earl of
Warwick and the
Lady Cecilia his
Countess ; on the
south, Edmund Beau-
fort Duke of Somer-
set, Humphrey
Stafford Earl of
Buckingham, John
Talbot Earl of Shrews-
bury, Richard Neville
Earl of Warwick ; on
the east, George
Neville Lord Latimer
and Elizabeth his
Lady ; on the north,
Alice Countess of
Warwick, Eleanor
Duchess of Somerset,
Anne Duchess of
Buckingham, Margaret
Countess of Shrews-
bury, Anne Countess
From a drawing by Edward Rlort, 1825
TIIK KI-'KICY OK KICHAKI) ])K BEAUCMAM I'.
/•'rtim his toinh in the Rcatichamfi C/tafei, Warwick.
Warwick Castle *-
of Warwick. Between these are smaller statuettes of
angels holding scrolls inscribed with texts. Upon a
massive slab of marble lies the great effigy of " fine
latten," representing the Earl in complete plate-armour,
his head bare, resting upon a tilting-helmet with his
crest. Issuant from a crest coronet are a swan's head
and neck ; at his feet are a " griffon and a bear mussled,"
and about the margin two fillets of brass inlaid with this
inscription : " Preieth devoutley for thee sowel whom
God assoille of one of the moost worshipfull knightes in
his dayes of manhode and coursing, Richard Beauchamp
1-ite Earle of Warrewik, lord Despencer of Bergevenny
and of many other grete lordships." The pall which
originally covered the tomb and hung upon the brazen
hearse has long since perished.
So we take our leave of Richard de Beauchamp l
with a real regret. He is the first Earl of Warwick
whose personality it has been possible to grasp clearly ;
and we find it a dashing and altogether an attractive
personality. He was a soldier, not a politician — a
better man by far than some of those whose names
loom larger in the histories — a typical knight of the
departed age of chivalry.
He was twice married : first, to a grand-daughter
of Warrine de Lisle, who was only seven at the time
of her wedding, and died in 1422 ; secondly, by special
dispensation, to Isabella, widow of his cousin, Richard
Beauchamp, Earl of \Vorcester, and apparently suo
1 His will— a striking document, reflecting the character of the man —
together with that of his wife, is given in an appendix.
132
Warwick Castle <*-
jure Baroness Burghersh, by whom he had a son
Henry, who succeeded to the Earldom.
By comparison with his father, Henry de Beau-
champ is hut a shadowy and unsubstantial figure,
though apparently a young man of amiable and en-
gaging disposition. There are one or two references
to his appearance in the French war. He is
mentioned as a leader of an expedition to France in
1431 ; but as he was then but seven years of age, he
can only have been the leader in a titular and compli-
mentary sense. It is also recorded that he " went a
little way out of London to meet the embassy " of
Comte de Vendome in 1445, and that in the same
year the Archbishop of Rheims lodged in his house.
He was also in high favour with Henry VI., who
loaded him with honours, making him premier Earl,
and Duke, and Privy Councillor, and King of the Isle
of \Yight, and Constable of St. Briavel's Castle, and
Lord of the Forest of Dean, and Lord of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark, and High Steward of
the Duchy of Lancaster, and Warden of the Forest of
West Brere, and Ranger of Wichwood Forest, and
Lieutenant-General in the Duchy of Aquitaine, and
Captain of the Forces in the States of the Church,
and J.P. for the Counties of Warwick, Gloucester,
and Northampton.
He did not live long, however, in the enjoyment
of these distinctions, but died at the early age of
twenty-two, and was buried, at his desire, in the
middle of the choir of Tewkesbury Abbey, between
134
-* The House of Beauchamp
the stalls. We
have some
evidence of
his worth and
amiability in
the fact that
his popularity-
was so great
that the abbot
arranged for
his burial to
take place at
night, to avoid
the inconveni-
ence and pos-
sible damage
which might
arise from the
crowds of
people
gathered to
witness the
ceremony.
His bene-
factions to the
abbey were considerable, including the patronage of
the Church and Priory of St. Mary Magdalen, at Gold-
cliffe, Monmouthshire, the Church of Sherston, and the
whole of the vestments which he wore about his person.
Rous describes him as "a seemlie sort of person."
TOMB OK ISAHKI LA, SKCOXD \\IVK OK KICIIARD
DK BKAUCIIAMI'. KAkl. OK WARWICK.
Al-l-ey.
Warwick Castle *-
He married Lady Cecilia Neville, daughter of
Richard, Earl of Salisbury, who, after his death,
contracted a second marriage with John, Earl of
Worcester, known as Tiptoft, who was, as we shall
see, beheaded on October i8th, 14/0. She bore her
first husband in 1444 one child, Anne, who suc-
ceeded as Countess or
Warwick, sno jure, in
1446, but died only
three years later. The
Earldom then lapsed
to the Crown, the next
of kin being her four
aunts, daughters of her
grandfather, Earl
Richard. Oneofthese,
another Anne, born
in 1427, was created
Countess of Warwick
on July 23rd, 1449.
She had been married,
since 1439, to Richard
Neville, son of Richard,
Earl of Salisbury,
known to history as
the King-maker.
He succeeded, ac-
cording to the doctrine
of the exclusion of
136
The House of Beauchamp
the vast estates of the Earldom of Warwick, which
included the Castles of Warwick, Worcester, Elmley,
Abergavenny, Neath, etc., and the Lordships of Gower
and Barnard Castle, to which, after his father's death
in 1460, the great Neville estates of Middleham and
Sheriff Hutton in
Yorkshire were
added, a n d on
March 2nd, 1450,
the former creation
was cancelled, and
he was created
Earl and she Coun-
tess of Warwick
each for life, with
all the privileges
granted by the
preceding patent,
with remainder
after death of both
of the dignity to the heirs of the body of the said
Anne, and in case she should die without issue then
to Margaret, Countess of Shrewsbury.
Thus is the King-maker first brought upon the
scene. But the account of so illustrious a man cannot,
with propriety, be begun at the end of a chapter.
THE SEAL OF JOHANNA HE BEAUCHAMP, LADY
HKKGEVENNY.
137
From a drawing by S. Hardhig.
KING HENRY VI.,
Whom War-wick the King-maker deposed from the throne and then restored.
BOOK III
THE HOUSE OF NEVILLE AND THE
HOUSE OF PLANTAGENET
CHAPTER I
The House of Neville— Its Wealthy Marriages— Its Alliance with the House
of Beauchamp— Richard Neville becomes Earl of Warwick — The Con-
dition of England during his Minority — Jack Cade's Rebellion — The
Rebellion of the Duke of York— The First Battle of St. Albans— The
Redistribution of Offices— Warwick's Exploits as Captain of Calais and
Captain to guard the Sea.
BEFORE proceeding to the relation of the doings
of Richard Neville, known to history as Warwick
the King-maker, we shall do well to pause and trace
the rise of the great family of which he was the most
illustrious of many illustrious representatives.
The founder of the family was Robert Fitz-Maldred,
Lord of Raby, who, in the reign of John, took to wife
Isabella de Neville, heiress of Geoffrey de Neville
of Brancepeth. His son Geoffrey, together with
his mother's lands in the county of Durham, took
his mother's name, dropping that of Fitz-Maldred.
Members of the family fought against Henry III.
with Simon de Montfort, and also against the Scots.
It was to one of them that the famous battle-field of
'39
Warwick Castle <*-
Neville's Cross owed its name. They were collectively
distinguished for begetting large families and arranging
advantageous marriages for their children. Robert
Neville's marriage with Ida Mitforcl, in the reign of
Henry III., added lands in Northumberland to those
in Durham. His son Robert, by his marriage with
Mary of Middleham, acquired Middleham Castle and
the manors thereupon depending, which stretched
for twelve miles along the River Ure, in Yorkshire.
His heir, Ralph, through his wife Euphemia of
Clavering, got land in Essex, and also at Warkworth,
on the Northumbrian coast. He had a son, John,
who allied himself first with a younger daughter of
the House of Percy, and secondly with Elizabeth
Latimer, who was heiress to sundry properties in
Bedfordshire and Bucks.
The Nevilles had thus become the lords of more
than seventy manors, scattered over six counties.
Ralph Neville could raise as many as six hundred
men to serve in Brittany, and more than eighteen
hundred to serve against the Scots. His claim to
preferment was good. After the startling coup cCttat
of 1397, which, as we have seen, resulted so un-
pleasantly for Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick,
Richard II. gave him the title of the Earl of West-
moreland. Nevertheless, he was not loyal to his
sovereign. His marriage with a natural daughter of
the great John of Gaunt by Katherine Swinford
disposed him to favour the House of Lancaster. He
joined Henry of Bolingbroke when he landed at
140
* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
Ravenspur only two years later, and was further
rewarded when Henry of Bolingbroke became King
Henry IV. Not only did he bear the royal sceptre
at Henry's coronation, but he also took the office of
Earl .Marshal, vacated through the exile of the Duke
RICHARD NEVILLE, KARL OK WARWICK,
THK KING-MAKER.
of Norfolk. He rendered further services to the
usurper by assisting in the suppression of the rebellions
of the Percys in 1403, and of Scrope, Mowbray, and
Northumberland in 1405.
In the succeeding reign he was notable for his
opposition to the French war. If the King must fight,
141
Warwick Castle <*-
he said, let him fight the Scotch rather than the
French. There was more to be gained from such
a venture, and it would be easier to conduct it to a
successful issue. And he clinched his argument by
quoting the popular rhyme :—
He that wolde France win,
Must with Scotland first begin.
His advice, as we know, was rejected, and the war
took place. Students who get their history from
Shakespeare believe that he took part in it. He is
the "cousin Westmoreland" who sighs for "one ten
thousand of those men in England, Who do no work
to-day,'' and provokes the great retort, " The fewer
men, the greater share of honour." But this is one
of Shakespeare's many historical mistakes. On the
day of Agincourt, Earl Ralph of Westmoreland was at
Carlisle, with Earl Scrope and the Baron of Greystock,
acting as Warden of the Scottish Marches. His five
sons, however — John, Ralph, Richard, William, and
George — were in I7 ranee with the King ; and John,
his heir, was made Governor of Verneuil, and held
the trenches opposite the Porte de Normandie during
the famous siege of Rouen, already mentioned in our
pages. The Earl himself, after being appointed a
member of the Privy Council nominated to govern
during the minority of Henry VI., died, at the age
of sixty-two, on October 2ist, 1425.
He had been twice married — first to Margaret of
Stafford, and secondly to Joan of Beaufort — and had
142
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
a family remarkable even in the annals of that prolific
house. He had had twenty-three children in all
— nine by his first and fourteen by his second wife —
and twenty-two of them survived him.
Most of them had married well. The Earl's sons-
in-law included Richard, Duke of York; John Mowbray,
Duke of Norfolk ; Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buck-
ingham ; and Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland.
Among his sons' wives were the heiresses of Ferrers,
Salisbury, Falconbridge, and Abergavenny. His son
Robert, who entered the Church, was made Bishop
of Salisbury at twenty-four, and at thirty-four Bishop
of Durham. One of the Parliaments summoned in the
reign of Henry VI. contained five of his sons-in-law,
three of his sons, and one of his grandsons1 — a great
and powerful family group, when we remember that
the largest number of peers ever assembled in Par-
liament in that reign was thirty-five.
Let us narrow the scope of our interests, however,
and follow the fortunes of the son who most immediately
concerns us— Richard, the eldest son of the marriage
with Joan of Beaufort.
Richard Neville had served in the French wars
with his brother John, and with his father on the
Scottish Border. When he came of age in 1420, he
was knighted and associated with his father as Warden
1 The sons-in-law were the Dukes of York, Norfolk, and Buckingham,
the Earl of Northumberland, and Lord Dacre ; the sons were Richard of
Salisbury, William of Falconbridge, and George of Latimer ; the grandson
was Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland.
M3
Warwick Castle *-
of the Western Marches. He escorted the Scottish
Kino', James I., to the frontier on his release from
captivity in England and he held the honourable
office of Carver at the banquet given in honour of
the coronation of Queen Katherine — a banquet, says
a chronicler, so magnificent that " the like had never
been seen since the time of that noble Knight
Arthur. King of the English and Bretons." His
interest, for the purpose of this narrative, how-
ever, only begins with his marriage, in 1425, to
Alice, the only child of Thomas Montacute, Earl of
Salisbury.
From his father, who died in the same year, he
did not inherit a great deal — only, as we gather from
the will, " two chargers, twelve dishes, and a great
ewer and basin of silver, a bed of Arras, with red,
white, and green hangings, and tour untrained horses,
the best that should be found in the stable." Nor
did his wife's portion amount to very much. The
Montacutes had been more loyal to Richard II. than
Ralph Neville, and had lost their estates through
their loyalty, and had only had a portion of their
inheritance restored to them. It was not, therefore,
till the death of his mother and the lapse of her
jointure that his property made him a power in
the land.
His father-in-law fell in the siege of Orleans — half
of his face torn away by a stone-shot — in 1428. This
brought him the title of Earl of Salisbury, bestowed
in 1429, and property in Wiltshire and Hampshire,
144
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
including the Castles of Christchurch and Trowbridge.1
A little later he was engaged in a private war — " which
things," says a contemporary report to the Lord
Chancellor, " are greatly against the estate and weal
and peace of this Royaume of England " — with his
half-brother, Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland, who wanted
to take his mother's estates away from her. The
Countess died, and the Earl of Salisbury got the
estates in 1440.
He pursued the traditional policy of aggrandising
the family by means of matrimonial alliances. One of
his closest friends was Richard de Beauchamp, Earl
of Warwick, whose fortunes we have related in an
earlier chapter ; and the two earls resolved to set the
seal upon their friendship by a double marriage. Henry
of Warwick, therefore, was married, as we have already
seen, to Salisbury's daughter, Cecily Neville, and
Warwick's daughter, Anne Beauchamp, was married to
Salisbury's son Richard ; while, to complete the con-
nection, Edward Neville, Salisbury's younger brother,
married Warwick's step-daughter, Elizabeth, heiress of
Abergavenny.
Then death laid its cold hand prematurely on the
Beauchamps. Henry de Beauchamp, the " seemlie sort
of person," died in 1446, at the age of twenty-two.
His little daughter died in 1449, at the age of seven.
The inheritance devolved upon Henry's aunt, Anne,
the wife of Richard Neville, the future King-maker,
1 The property also included some manors in Berkshire, Dorset, and
Somerset.
VOL. I. 145 L
Warwick Castle «-
who, in the right of his wife, became " Earl of
Warwick, Nevvburgh, and Aumarle, Premier Earl of
England, Baron of Elmley and Hanslape, and Lord
of Glamorgan and Morgannoc."
There was now no greater landowner in the country.
The new Earl possessed estates in almost all parts of
the kingdom. He had the Despencer holding in South
Wales and Herefordshire, with the Castles of Cardiff
Xeath, Caerphilly, Llantrussant, Seyntweonard, Ewyas-
Lacy, Castle-Dinas, Snodhill, Whitchurch, and Maud's
Castle, and as many as fifty manors ; the Despencer
estates in Gloucestershire, including the manors of
Tewkesbury, Sodbury, Fairford, Whittington, Ched-
worth, Wichwar, and Lidney ; the manors of Upton-
on-Severn, Hanley Castle, and Bewdley, with the
Castle of Elmley and twenty-four estates of less im-
portance in Worcestershire ; nine manors, including
Tamworth, in Warwickshire ; five manors and the Forest
of Wychwood in Oxfordshire ; seven manors and the
seat of Hanslape in Buckinghamshire ; forty-eight other
manors in Kent, Hampshire, Sussex, Essex, Hertford-
shire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Somerset,
Devon, Cornwall, Northampton, Stafford, Cambridge,
Rutland, and Nottingham ; and Barnard's Castle, on the
Tees.1
A man so greatly endowed, provided that he were
a great man, was clearly cast for a great part. For
1 He was also entitled to various knights' fees, advowsons, chantries,
town tenements, etc., etc., for which the curious may be referred to the
Escheats Roll.
146
Warwick Castle *-
the times were not such that any great man's light
was likely to remain for long hidden under a bushel.
Let us turn, then, to examine the character of the
times in which Warwick the King-maker came into his
immense inheritance.
1 he years in which he was growing to manhood
were the years in which the King of England was
gradually losing his domains in France. The siege
of Orleans was in progress when he was born. Rouen
capitulated in the year in which he came of age. How
and where he spent his youth cannot be discovered,
though it may be presumed that much of it was passed
in London, at his father's house in the " tenement
called the Harbour in the Ward ot Dowgate." The
times were stormy, as we have seen. They were the
times ot the free fights, already referred to, in the House
of Parliament, and of private wars between antagonistic
barons. In the private war between the King-maker's
father and his step-brother of Westmoreland, there were
"great routs and companies upon the field," which did
" all manner of great offences as well in slaughter and
destruction of the King's lieges as otherwise."
And the stormy times were daily becoming stormier.
The disastrous conclusion of the French war brought
outbursts of popular indignation and violence in its
train. The people did not formally demand victims, but
they chose them, laid hands on them, and lynched them.
Mutinous sailors at Portsmouth murdered the Bishop of
Chichester, who had negotiated the cession of Anjou.
Suffolk was impeached, and, even though the King
148
-•> House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
pardoned him, thought it wiser to seek safety in flight.
Some London ships waylaid him in the Channel, and
he was summarily and informally tried and executed
by the captain of one of them. On the heels of these
events followed the famous insurrection of Jack Cade.
Cade and his rebels, be it noted, were not a mere
mob, as the popular histories represent, but really
responsible insurgents. The leader had fought in the
French wars ; he had esquires and gentlemen, as well
as peasants, among his followers ; and he had a definite
programme of demands. He asked for reforms, and
a change of ministry, and public economy, and freedom
of election ; and he nearly succeeded in getting what he
asked for. When he had defeated the royal forces at
Sevenoaks and executed Lord Say, who of all the
ministers was the most unpopular, the Council received
the " Complaint of the Commoner of Kent," and the
King gave all the rebels a free pardon. Cade himself,
however, was treacherously pursued and slain, after his
forces were dispersed, and the promise of reformation
was ignored. A stronger leader was needed to take
in hand the task of checking misgovernment. Such
a leader was in due course forthcoming in the person
of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York.
The name of the Duke of York had been used,
almost certainly without his authority, in Cade's pro-
clamations. He now, however, returned from Ireland
and placed himself definitely at the head of the opposi-
tion to the government of Heaufort, Duke of Somerset.
But the constitutional machinery for opposing the royal
149
Warwick Castle *
advisers was not so well developed in those days as
in ours. A leader of opposition generally had to back
his opinion with his sword, and the Duke of York
before long discovered that necessity. For a time,
when the King was mad and childless and public opinion
looked to him as the probable successor to the throne,
he got his way. He ruled as Lord Protector, locked
Somerset up in the Tower, made Salisbury Chancellor,
and Warwick a Privy Councillor.
Presently, however, the Queen became a mother,
and the King recovered his reason. He immediately
released the Duke of Somerset, dismissed the Duke
of York, and called a Council, which convoked a Parlia-
ment at Leicester " for the purpose of providing for
the safety of the King's person against his enemies."
The Duke of York not unnaturally surmised that he
was aimed at, and took time by the forelock. He called
out his men and marched south. With him were the
Karl of Salisbury and the King-maker that was to be —
the only peers, except Lord Clinton, in his host. With
the King, on the other hand, were many peers : the
Dukes of Somerset and Buckingham, the Earls of
Northumberland, Devon, Stafford, Wiltshire, and
Dorset ; and Lords Clifford, Dudley, Berners, and
Roos.
The clash of arms took place at St. Albans. The
King's men held the town, and the Duke of York's
men stormed it. The Paston Letters show that the
honours of the day fell chiefly to the Earl of Warwick
Lord Clifford " kept the barriers so strongly that the
-•> House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
Duke might not in anywise, for all the power he had,
break into the streets." But Warwick found an unex-
pected way in through gardens and the back doors of
houses. He came " between the sign of the Chequer
and the sign of the Key, blowing up his trumpets and
shouting with a great voice, A Warwick ! A Warwick!"
The Lancastrians were taken in the rear. The retainers
tied, and the knights and nobles were overborne.
Somerset was killed, as were also the Earl of North-
umberland and Lord Clifford. The Duke of Bucking-
h a in , with an
arrow in his face,
took sanctuary in
an abbey. The
King himself was
wounded ; and so
T 1 r-v 1 THE SIGN'ATURE OF RICHARD NEVILLE, EARL OK
were Lord Uucl- WARWICK, THE KING-MAKER.
ley (the ancestor
of a future Earl of Warwick) and the Earls of
Stafford and Dorset. The road to London was open
to the rebels.
They marched there, though not yet for king-
making purposes. For the time being they were
contented with a redistribution of offices to their ad-
vantage. The Duke of York became Constable ; Lord
Bourchier, Treasurer ; the Earl of Salisbury, Steward
of the Duchy of Lancaster. To Warwick, who, be it
remembered, was only five-and-twenty years of age,
fell Somerset's office— the Captaincy of Calais. It was
in this post, and that of " Captain to Guard the Sea,"
Warwick Castle «-
which he held from October, 1457, to September, 1459,
that he proved himself a born leader of men.
He was, as we shall see, the only Yorkist leader
whom the Lancastrians, when they began to lift up
their heads again, were satisfied to leave to his own
devices — whether because they liked the way he did
his work, or because they felt safer when he was on
the other side of the Channel. There is, at any rate,
no question that he did his work very well.
It was a time of wars and rumours of wars. In
June, 1456, "men said that the siege should come to
Calais, for much people had crossed the waters of
Somme, and great navies were on the sea." Another
attack was threatened in 1457: "So he had the folks
of Canterbury and Sandwich before him, and thanked
them for their good hearts in victualling of Calais, and
prayed them for continuance therein." But Warwick
raised the strength of his troops, and raided Picardy,
and took Etaples, and captured a fleet of wine-ships,
and marched against the Burgundians at Gravelines and
Saint Omer, and compelled them to agree not only to
a peace, but to a commercial treaty.
On the high seas, too, he was equally successful,
though less scrupulous in the choice of enemies. An
account of his first sea-fight is given in a letter of
the period.
" On Trinity Sunday (May 28th) in the morning,"
writes John Jernyngan, " came tidings unto my Lord
of Warwick that there were twenty-eight sail of
Spaniards on the sea, whereof sixteen were great ships
-*> House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
of forecastle ; and then my Lord went and manned
five ships of forecastle and three carvells and four
pinnaces, and on the Monday we met together before
Calais at four of the clock in the morning, and fought
AN EFFIGY IN ARMOUR OF THE KING-MAKER RIDING
ON AN ARMOURED STEED.
together till ten. And there we took six of their ships,
and they slew of our men about fourscore and hurt
two hundred of us right sore. And we slew of them
about twelvescore, and hurt five hundred of them.
It happened that at the first boarding of them we
'53
\Yur\vick Castle <*-
took a ship of three hundred tons, and I was left
therein and twenty-three men with me. And they
fought so sore that our men were fain to leave them.
«->
Then came they and boarded the ship that I was in,
and there was I taken, and was prisoner with them
six hours, and was delivered again in return for their
men that were taken at the first. As men say, there
has not been so great a battle upon the sea these forty
winters. And, to say sooth, we were well and truly
beaten. So my Lord has sent for more ships, and is
like to fight them again in haste."
Other dashing naval exploits stand to his credit.
In 1458 he attacked "three great Genoeses Carracks
and two Spaniards," and took so many prisoners that
the prisons of Calais would hardly hold them, and so
much booty that prices fell fifty per cent, in the Kent
and Calais markets. He also fell upon a fleet from
Liibeck, and captured five Hanseatic vessels. They
called him a pirate on the Continent — perhaps justifiably,
seeing that England was not at that time at war with
either Genoa or the Hanseatic League. But, however
that may be, Calais was a good school of arms for
him. It was there that he acquired not only the
military skill, but also the military force that he was
to use so signally in the coming civil war. His
army was then the only standing force, properly drilled,
equipped, and disciplined, in the kingdom.
'54
CHAPTER II
Queen Margaret's Counter-revolution — The Rout of Ludford — Warwick at
Calais— His Raid on Sandwich— The Battle of Northampton — The
Battle of Wakefield— The Second Battle of St. Albans— The Battle
of Towton — Flight of King Henry and Queen Margaret.
WHILE Warwick was guarding Calais and the
seas, a counter-revolution was gradually being
brought about at home. As early as 1456 the
victorious Yorkists were beginning to feel insecure.
A letter from John Bocking to Sir John Fastolf, printed
in the Paston Letters, indicates that a coup d'etat was
in the air. Warwick was then in England, so we read
that " . . . this day my lords York and Warwick come
to the Parliament in a good array, to the number of
300 men, all jakkid [i.e. in coats of mail] and in
brigantiens, and no lord else, whereof many men
marvelled. It was said on Saturday my lord should
have been discharged this same day. And this day
was said, but if he had come strong, he should have
been ' distrussid ' ; and no man knoweth or can say
that any proof may be had by whom, for men think
verily there is no man able to take any such enterprize."
It was a false alarm ; but Queen Margaret, whose
strong character generally got her her way with the
King, managed to weed out the Yorkists from the
Royal Council, and to replace them by such good
'55
\Ynr\vick Castle <*-
Lancastrians as Shrewsbury, Wiltshire, Beaumont,
and Exeter, and Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester.
The Yorkists did not move ; and the King, with
that amiable desire for peace which distinguished
him throughout his troubled reign, arranged the great
ceremony of reconciliation between the hostile barons,
known as the " Loveday Procession." The enemies
who had fought at the first battle of St. Albans
walked hand in hand to the Cathedral of St. Paul —
Salisbury hand in hand with the son of the slain Duke
of Somerset, and Warwick hand in hand with Exeter.
It was the delusive calm before the storm.
The Queen pursued her plans without the least
regard to the reconciliation. There was indeed a plot
immediately after it, with which she was certainly con-
cerned, to murder Warwick, who withdrew to Calais, and
threw himself upon the loyalty of his garrison. Queen
Margaret meanwhile went to Lancashire and Cheshire
" allying to her the knights and squires in those parts
for to have their benevolence." She also summoned
Salisbury, in the King's name, to London. Suspecting
danger, the Earl took up arms instead of coming,
marched with three thousand men to Ludlow to look for
the Duke of York, and sent an urgent message to his
son Warwick to come over from Calais and help him.
Warwick came, landed at Sandwich, and marched
through London to Warwickshire. His father had,
in the meantime, defeated and slain Lord Audley,
who had been sent to arrest him, at Blore Heath,
near Market Drayton. The two Earls then joined
'5*
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
the Duke of York at Lucllow ; but their followers
deserted them at the engagement known as the Rout
of Ludford, and they had to ride for their lives. York
From a drawing by S. Harding, after an old picture in the- collection o>
Horace II 'alpole at Strawberry Hill.
MARGARET OF ANJOU, QUEEN-CONSORT OK HENRY VI., WHO COMMANDED
HER HUSBAND'S FORCES AGAINST THE KING-MAKER IN MANY A BATTLE.
went by way of Wales to Ireland. Warwick and his
father travelled across country, and reached a fishing
village near Barnstaple, in Devon.
'57
Warwick Castle *-
It was then fortunate for them that Warwick was
a sailor as well as a soldier. The master of the fishing-
smack which they bought for 222 nobles confessed
that he knew only the seas in the immediate neigh-
bourhood. "Then," says the chronicler, "all that
company was much cast down : but the Earl seeing
that his father and the rest were sad, said to them that
by the favour of God and St. George he would himself
steer them to a safe port. And he stripped to his
doublet, and took the helm himself, and had the sail
hoisted, and turned the ship's bows westward."
He thus piloted them first to Guernsey, and thence
to Calais, where his uncle, \Yilliam Xeville, Lord Fal-
conbridge, commanded in his absence. "And then,"
we read, " all those lords went together in pilgrimage
to Xotre Uame de St. Pierre, and gave thanks for
their safety. And when they came into Calais, the
Mayor and the aldermen and the merchants of the
Staple came out to meet them, and made them good
cheer. And that night they were merry enough, when
they thought they might have found Calais already
in the hands of their enemies."
Their enemies, indeed, were already hard upon
their heels. Somerset's herald arrived that very night,
announcing that his master would come the next day
to take possession. But " the guard answered the
herald that they would give his news to the Earl of
Warwick, who was their sole and only captain, and
that he should have Warwick's answer in a few
minutes. The herald was much abashed, and got
158
•*> House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
him away, and went back that same night to his
master."
Sundry passages of arms for the possession of
Calais followed. The most notable episode was
Warwick's raid upon Sandwich, where his enemies
had their base. He sent Sir John Dynham, and Sir
John Wenlock, formerly Speaker of the House of
Commons, who ran up the River Stour, and kidnapped
and carried off to Calais Lord Rivers and his son,
Sir Anthony Woodville. A grotesque performance
followed their arrival : —
" So that evening Lord Rivers and his son were
taken before the three Earls, accompanied by a
hundred and sixty torches. And first the Earl of
Salisbury rated Lord Rivers, calling him a knave's
son, that he should have been so rude as to call him
and these other lords traitors, for they should be
found the King's true lieges when he should be found
a traitor indeed. And then my Lord of Warwick rated
him, and said that his father was but a squire, and
that he had made himself by his marriage, and was
but a made lord, so that it was not his part to hold
such language of lords of the King's blood. And
then my Lord of March rated him in like wise.
Lastly Sir Antony was rated for his language of all
three lords in the same manner."
This, we may take it, ends the first chapter in
the Wars of the Roses. The second chapter begins
with Warwick's invasion of Kent in June, 1460. He
had arranged his plans with York, whom he had
Warwick Castle <*-
visited in Ireland, scattering the Lancastrian fleet
by the way, at the end of the previous year ; and
as soon as he landed, the men of Kent, including
the Archbishop of Canterbury, rallied to his standard.
Their sentiments towards him and his cause may be
gathered from a fragment of an anonymous ballad
hung on the gate of Canterbury : —
Send home, most gracious Je.su most benigne.
Send home the true blood to his proper vein,
Richard Duke of York thy servant insigne,
Whom Satan not ceaseth to set at disdain,
But by thee preserved he may not be slain.
Let him " ut sedeat in principibus " as he did before,
And so to our new song, Lord, thyne ear incline,
(lloria, laus et honor tibi sit Christe redemptor !
Edward the Earl of March, whose fame the earth shall spread,
Richard Earl of Salisbury, named Prudence,
With that noble knight and flower of manhood
Richard Karl of Warwick, shield of our defence,
Also little Eaulconbridge, a knight of grete reverence.
Jesu ! restore them to the honour they had before!
London welcomed the Yorkists hardly less eagerly
than Kent. They entered in state with the Arch-
bishop and a Papal Legate. The Lancastrian Lords
who attempted resistance were driven by the mob
into the Tower, where Lords Hungerford and Scales
occupied themselves in " shooting wild-fire into the
town every hour and laying great ordnance against
it." Salisbury besieged them there ; and when they
surrendered, Lord Scales, on his way to seek sanctuary
in Westminster, was murdered by the angry populace.
1 60
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
Meanwhile, however, the battle of Northampton
had been fought. The Lancastrians had gathered there,
and might have won the day, had not Lord Grey de
Ruthyn turned traitor and gone over to the Yorkists
in the middle of the fight. Then their lines were
pierced and many of their leaders slain, including
Buckingham, Beaumont, Egremont, and Shrewsbury.
It was at this juncture that Warwick first appeared
in the role of King-maker. The Duke of York now,
for the first time, laid claim to the royal dignity. On
his march to London "he sent for trumpeteres and
clary ners from London, and gave them banners with
the royal arms of England without distinction or
diversity, and commanded his sword to be borne
upright before him, and so he rode till he came to
the gates of the Palace of Westminster."
On his arrival in London he proceeded to further
ostentation, and even to brutality, taking forcible
possession of the apartments of the unhappy King,
who had just opened Parliament, and who was much
too meek to resist : "He had the doors broken open,
and King Henry hearing the great noise gave place,
and took him another chamber that night." Then the
Duke announced his intention of being crowned, and
even began the necessary preparations. But there
was the King-maker to be reckoned with, and the
King-maker this time withstood him. He asked
the Archbishop to remonstrate with him ; and when
the Archbishop would not, "then the Earl sent for his
brother Thomas Neville, and entered into his barge,
VOL. I. l6l M
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
and rowed to the palace. It was all full of the
Duke's men-of-arms, but the Earl stayed not, and
went straight to the Duke's chamber, and found him
standing there, leaning against a side-board. And
there were hard words between them, for the Earl
told him that neither the lords nor the people would
suffer him to strip the King of his crown. And as
they wrangled, the Earl of Rutland came in and said
to his cousin, ' Fair sir, be not angry, for you know
that we have the true right to the crown, and that
my Lord and Father here must have it.' But the
Earl of March, his brother, stayed him and said,
' Brother, vex no man, for all shall be well.' But the
Karl of Warwick would stay no longer when he
understood his uncle's intent, and went off hastily to
his barge, greeting no one as he went save his cousin
of March."
The upshot was that the Duke was not crowned,
but a compromise was arranged. Henry was to be
King for his life, with the Duke of York for his
Protector and his heir — an arrangement which London
at all events approved : —
" The crowd shouted ' Long live King Henry
and the Earl of Warwick,' for the said Earl had the
good voice of the people, because he knew how to
give them fair words, showing himself easy and familiar
with them, for he was very subtle at gaining his ends,
and always spoke not of himself but of the augmenta-
tion and good governance of the kingdom, for which
he would have spent his life : and thus he had the
162
From a photograph by L. C. Kcighlty reach.
C.-ESAR'S TOWER, WARWICK CASTLE.
Warwick Castle <*-
goodwill of England, so that in all the land he was
the lord who was held in most esteem and faith and
credence."
The arrangement, however, did not remain in force
for long. Queen Margaret had, in the meantime,
been reorganising the Lancastrian forces in the
North. Leaving Warwick at his Castle, the Duke
of York marched north to meet her. He faced her
at \Vakefield, and the result was an overwhelming
disaster to his arms. He himself fell on the field,
together with Thomas Neville, William Lord Haring-
ton, and the Earl of Rutland. Salisbury was captured,
taken to Pontefract, and beheaded.
Then the Queen marched south, and Warwick,
hurrying up to London, mustered a fresh army and
tried to repair the disaster. At St. Albans, where he
had gained his first victory, he was now to endure
defeat. A Kentish squire named Lovelace played
him the same trick that Lord Grey de Ruthyn had
played the Lancastrians at Northampton. His line
was broken by this act of treachery, and his army
scattered. Two of his followers, Lord Bonville and
Sir Thomas Kyrriel, were taken and beheaded. King
Henry was recaptured by his friends "as he sat under
a great oak, smiling to see the discomfiture of his
army."
By all the rules the Yorkist game should have
been up ; but the rules were not observed on this occa-
sion. London lay at the mercy of the Lancastrians, but
for various reasons they delayed their march thither.
164
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
King Henry did not want to see the city sacked by
the fierce moss-troopers of the North ; and Queen
Margaret, for once irresolute, let him have his way,
and moved the army back to Dunstable. Time was
thus given to Warwick to circle round and join
Edward, Earl of March, fresh from a victory over the
Welsh at Mortimer's Cross, at Chipping Norton ; and
they actually marched into London with ten thousand
men, while the Lancastrians were still delaying in the
vicinity.
The hour had now come for the King-maker to make
a king. The time for half-measures and compromises
was past ; and the Earl of Warwick, with Falconbridge,
and George Neville, Bishop of Exeter, decided to
offer the crown to Edward, Earl of March, known to
history as Edward IV. The coronation was hurriedly
carried through, and then the Yorkists set out to
meet the Lancastrian army, which was falling back
before them. They forced the passage of the Aire,
in Yorkshire, and came up with them at Towton.
The odds were heavily against them. To their
thirty-five thousand the Lancastrians opposed sixty
thousand men. Nevertheless, they attacked at dawn,
on Palm Sunday, 1461, Falconbridge leading the
left wing, Warwick the centre, and Edward the reserve,
while Norfolk was charged to wheel round and make
a flank assault.
It was the bloodiest mctie in all that civil war ;
and the King-maker was ever in the thickest of the
fight. " The greatest press of the battle," says Waurin,
165
\Yar\vick Castle *-
"lay on the quarter where the Earl of Warwick
stood." He was to be seen, says Whethamsted,
" pressing on like a second Hector, and encouraging
his young soldiers." As for the details of the fight,
I must take the liberty of quoting from the mono-
graph on the King-maker by Professor Oman, whose
name my readers will recognise as that of one of the
greatest authorities on mediaeval war. I take up the
story at the moment of Norfolk's flank attack : —
" The arrival of Norfolk had been to Warwick's
men what the arrival of Bliicher was to Well-
ington's at Waterloo ; atter having fought all this day
on the defensive they had their opportunity at last, and
were eager to use it. When the Lancastrians had
once begun to retire they found themselves so hotly
pushed on that they could never form a new line
of. battle. Their gross numbers were crushed more
and more closely together as the pressure on their
left flank became more and more marked ; and if any
reserves yet remained in hand, there was no way of
bringing them to the front. Yet, as all the chroniclers
acknowledge, the Northern men gave way to no
panic ; they turned again and again, and strove to
dispute every step between Towtondale and the edge
of the plateau. It took three hours more of fighting
to roll them off the rising ground ; but when once
they were driven down their position became terrible.
The Cock when in flood is in many places unford-
able ; sometimes it spreads out so as to cover the
fields for fifty yards on each side of its wonted bed ;
166
House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
and the only
safe retreat
across it was
by the single
bridge on the
Tadcaster road.
The sole result
of the desperate
fighting of the
Lancastrians
was that this
deadly obstacle
now lay in their
immediate rear.
The whole mass
was compelled
to pass the river
as best it could.
Some escaped
by the bridge ;
many forded the
FIGURE OF THE KING MAKER OX THE TOMB OF V-OCK WHCTC
RICHARD DE BEAUCHAMP, EARL OF WARWICK, S t T 6 E IT1 T 3. n
IN THE BEAUCHAMP CHAPEL.
shallow ; many
yielded themselves as prisoners— some to get quarter,
others not, for the Yorkists were wild with the rage
of three hours' slaughter. But many thousands had
a worse fortune. Striving to ford the river where it
was out of their depth, or trodden down in the
shallower parts by their own flying comrades, they
167
Warwick Castle -*
died without being touched by the Yorkist steel. Any
knight or man-at-arms who lost his footing in the
water was doomed, for the cumbrous armour of the
later fifteenth century made it quite impossible to rise
again. Even the billman and archer in his salet and
jack would find it hard to regain his feet. Hence we
may well believe the chroniclers when they tell us
that the Cock slew its thousands that day, and that
the last Lancastrians who crossed its waters crossed
them on a bridge composed of the bodies of their
comrades."
And so it ended. King Henry, who, says a York-
shire chronicler, "was kept off the field because he was
better at praying than at fighting." had only an escort
of six horsemen to guard him in his flight from York
Minster to Durham. Thirty thousand Lancastrians
and eight thousand Yorkists had fallen. Among the
former were Lords Dacre, Mauley, Neville, and
Welles, Sir Andrew Trollope, Sir Ralph Grey, and
Sir Henry Buckingham ; while Thomas Courtenay,
Karl of Devon, was captured and beheaded, and the
Karl of Northumberland died the next clay of his
wounds.
The extermination of the old feudal baronage,
which was the most conspicuous consequence of the
\\ ars of the Roses, was proceeding fast.
168
CHAPTER III
Honours for the Earl of Warwick— His Subjugation of the Northern
Lancastrian Fortresses — Coolness between King and King-maker —
The Three Causes of Difference— The Indignation of Warwick and
his Surly Message to the King.
IN the distribution of honours and emoluments
Edward IV. did not, it would appear, succeed
in giving equal satisfaction to all his friends and
supporters. " The King," writes a correspondent of
the Fastens, "receives such men as have been his
great enemies, and great oppressors of his Commons,
while such as have assisted his Highness be not
rewarded ; which is to be considered, or else it will
hurt, as seemeth me but reason." The King-maker,
however, at all events, had nothing to complain of.
His old offices were restored to him, and new offices
were conferred upon him. On one day, May yth, 1461,
he was appointed Great Chamberlain of England,
Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque
Ports, Captain of the Town and Castle of Calais
and the Tower of Risbanck, Lieutenant of the Marches
of Picardy, Master of the Mews and Falcons, Steward
of the Manor and Lordship of Feckenham ; and
he was subsequently made Warden and Commissary-
General of the East and West Marches ; Procurator,
Envoy, and Special Deputy to treat with Scotland ;
169
Warwick Castle <*-
Chief Commissioner of Array in the Counties of
\Yorcester, Hereford, Gloucester, Wilts, Dorset,
Somerset, and Devon ; Steward of England (for
certain trials) ; Lieutenant in the North ; Chief
Special Commissioner and Justice in the County of
Northumberland, etc., etc.
A political poem of the period shows how
prominently he figured in the public eye : —
Richard the erl of Warwyk, of Knyghthode
Lodesterre, borne of a stok that evyr schal be trewe,
Havyng the name of prowes and manhoode,
Hathe ay ben redy to help and resskewe
Kyng Edward, in hys right hym to endewe ;
'I'lie commens therto have redy every houre ;
The voyx of the peuple, the voix of Jhesu,
Who kepe and preserve hym from alle langoure.
His immediate task was to finish the war in
the North by the subjugation of Lancastrian castles,
while the King held coronation feasts and revelries
in London. It was a longer business than it seemed
likely to be at first. Queen Margaret was a great
adept at intrigue. She managed to get help —
though not, it is true, very much help — from
both Scots and French ; and there were sporadic
disturbances, which, if not checked, would soon have
become formidable, in 1461, 1462, and 1463. We
need not follow the shifting fortunes of the war in
detail ; but we must take note of Warwick's more
notable achievements in it.
He conducted a winter campaign in an age in
170
Warwick Castle <*-
which armies were accustomed to spend the winter
in winter quarters, maintaining four separate forces in
the field, and keeping them all well supplied. " The
Earl of Warwick," says a Paston letter, " is at
Warkworth, and rides daily to the castles of Alnwick,
Dunstanborough, and Bamburgh, which are being
besieged, to oversee the sieges ; and if they want
victuals or any other thing, he is ready to purvey it
for them to his power."
An incident of one of the battles of the period
may be quoted for the light which it throws upon his
character : —
" At the departing of Sir Piers de Bressy and his
fellowship, there was one manly man among them,
that purposed to meet with the Earl of Warwick ; he
was a taberette (drummer), and he stood upon a little
hill with his tabor and his pipe, tabering and piping
as merrily as any man might. There he stood by
himself; till my lord Earl came unto him he would
not leave his ground." Whereupon "he became my
lord's man, and yet is with him, a full good servant
to his lord."
I he back of the opposition was at last broken
by Warwick's brother John, now Lord Montagu, at
Hedgeley Moor and at Hexham. After the latter
fight there was, as usual, a great batch of executions.
Somerset, Lord Roos, Lord Hungerford, Sir Edmond
Eitzhugh, Sir Philip Wentworth, Sir Thomas Hussey,
and many others were beheaded. The siege of
Bamborough followed. It is one of the earliest in-
172
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
stances in history of the use of siege artillery, though
field artillery to "frighten the horses" had been used
in the Hundred Years' War with France. The
contemporary account runs thus : —
" So all the King's guns that were charged began
to shoot upon the said Castle. ' Newcastle,' the
King's greatest gun, and ' London,' the second gun
of iron, so betide the place that the stones of the
walls flew into the sea. ' Dyon,' a brass gun of
the King's, smote through Sir Ralph Grey's chamber
oftentimes, and ' Edward ' and ' Richard,' the bom-
bardels, and other ordnance, were busied on the place.
Presently the wall was breached, and my lord of
Warwick, with his men-at-arms and archers, won the
castle by assault, maugre Sir Ralph Grey, and took
him alive, and brought him to the King at Doncaster.
And there the Earl of Worcester, Constable of England,
sat in judgment on him."
The war was over. Our next theme is the quarrel
that broke out between the King-maker and the King.
The coolness began over the King's marriage.
He was now twenty-three, and " men marvelled that
he abode so long without any wife, and feared that he
was not over chaste of his living." There was talk
of his marrying Isabella of Castile ; and his failure to
do so seems to have rankled for many years. Some
twenty years later, in the reign of Henry VII., we
come upon a report of a message delivered, in August,
1483, by that royal lady's ambassador to the English
Court, which runs thus : —
Warwick Castle *-
" Besides these instructions given in writing by
this orator he shewed to the Kinges grace, by mouth,
that the queen of Castile was turned in her heart
from England in tyme past for the unkindness the
which she took against the King last deceased, whom
God pardon, for his refusing of her and taking to
his wife a widow of England ; for the which cause
also was mortal war betwixt him and the Earl of
Warwick, the which took ever her part to the time
of his death."
This does not seem, however, to be quite an
accurate version of the events. Warwick, as a matter
of fact, negotiated on the King's behalf for the hand of
another lady, Princess Bona of Savoy, sister to Queen
Charlotte of France ; and it was in connection with
this proposal that the King, to put it vulgarly, made
a fool of him. Eor when everything was arranged,
and the Council had met to approve the arrangements : —
" Then the King answered that of a truth he
wished to marry, but that perchance his choice might
not be to the liking of all present. Then those of
his Council asked to know of his intent, and would
be told to what house he would go. To which the
King replied in right merry guise that he would take
to wife Dame Elisabeth Grey, the daughter of Lord
Rivers. But they answered him that she was not
his match, however good and however fair she might
be, and that he must know well that she was no wife
for such a high prince as himself; for she was not
the daughter of a duke or earl, but her mother the
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
Duchess of Bedford had married a simple knight, so
that though she was the child of a duchess and the
niece of the Count of St. Pol, still she was no wife
for him. When King Edward heard these sayings
of the lords of his blood and his Council, which it
seemed good to them to lay before him, he answered
that he should have no other wife, and that such
was his good pleasure."
It transpired, in fact, that the King had taken
the irretrievable step five months before ; and he now
wanted Warwick to explain matters to Louis XI.
This Warwick naturally declined to do ; but there was
still no open breach between him and his sovereign.
He assisted at the coronation of the new Queen,
and received further marks of the royal favour, being
commissioned to prorogue a Parliament, and made,
among other things, Steward of England (for trials) ;
Lord of the Honour of Cockermouth ; Chief Ambas-
sador, Orator, and Special Commissioner to treat with
Burgundy and Brittany ; and Joint Commissioner,
Procurator, and General and Special Envoy to treat
with Scotland.
Occasions of difference, however, between King
and King-maker multiplied. Let us take them in their
order : —
i. The King, in order to make himself independent
of the House of Neville, arranged a series of mar-
riages to consolidate the influence of the rival House
of Rivers. He married Margaret Wydville to Thomas,
Lord Maltravers, heir of the Earl of Arundel ; Anne
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
\Vydville to the heir of Bourchier, Earl of Essex ;
Mary \Vydville to the eldest son of Lord Herbert ;
Eleanor Wydville to George Grey, heir of the Earl
of Kent ; Catherine Wydville to the young Duke of
Buckingham ; and John Wydville to the Dowager-
Duchess of Norfolk, who was old enough to be his
grandmother. The cumulative effect of these alliances
displeased \Yarwick, as it was unquestionably intended to.
2. The King interfered with Warwick's own am-
bitious matrimonial plans. His nephew, George Neville,
heir to Montagu, was betrothed to Anne, heiress of
the Duke of Exeter; but "the Queen paid to
the said Duchess 4000 marks " to break off the
engagement, and marry Thomas Grey, her own son
by her first marriage, instead. He had also arranged
to marry his daughter Isabel to the King's brother,
George, Duke of Clarence, suggesting to him, accord-
ing to Waurin, though the allegation may have been
an after-thought, that he could " make him King or
governor of all England " ; but the King forbade the
marriage. To interfere with the marriage of a Neville
was to touch him in a tender spot.
3. Einally, in 1467, the King sent Warwick on a
fool's errand to France. His mission was to conclude
a permanent peace ; and he was well received at
Rouen : —
" The King gave the Earl most honourable greet-
ing ; for there came out to meet him the priests of
every parish in the town in their copes, with crosses
and banners and holy water, and so he was conducted
176
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
to Notre Dame de Rouen, where he made his offer-
ing. And he was well lodged at the Jacobins in the
said town of Rouen. Afterwards the Queen and her
daughter came to the said town that he might see
them. And the King abode with Warwick for the
space of twelve days, communing with him, after which
the Earl departed back into England."
French ambassadors came with him : the Archbishop
of Bayonne, the Bastard of Bourbon, the Bishop of
Bayeux, Master Jean de Poupencourt, and some others.
But they landed only to find that the King had
already concluded an alliance with the rival power of
Burgundy behind their backs. Warwick was pointedly
snubbed. When he waited on the King to tell him
of his cordial reception by the French, he "perceived
from the King's countenance that he was paying
no attention at all to what he was saying." The
ambassadors "were much abashed to see" the King,
" for he showed himself a Prince of a haughty bearing,"
and could get no satisfaction from him. He failed
even to appoint commissioners to treat with them ;
and the presents which he sent them on the eve of
their departure from the country were beggarly, as
though intended as an expression of contempt. More-
over, he took away the Great Seal from Warwick's
brother, George Neville, Archbishop of York.
It is no wonder that the King-maker let the
foreigners see his indignation :—
" As they rowed home in their barge the French-
men had many discourses with each other. But
177 N
Warwick Castle *-
Warwick was so wroth that he could not contain
himself", and he said to the Admiral of France, ' Have
you not seen what traitors there are about the King's
person ? ' But the Admiral answered, ' My Lord,
I pray you grow not hot ; for some clay you shall
be well avenged.' But the Earl said, ' Know that
£>
those very traitors were the men who have had my
brother displaced from the office of Chancellor, and
made the King- take the seal from him.' "
It is no wonder either that, when at Christmas
the King summoned him to Court, he stayed at
Middleham, sending the message that " never would
he come again to Council while all his mortal enemies,
who were about the King's person, namely, Lord Rivers
the Treasurer, and Lord Scales and Lord Herbert and
Sir John Wydville, remained there present."
' N. ..,. . ..((- ....* wiUua..~i> 7..-C.V N^..X-,K ,.j I-, /i -. ,„, ,,^_. <_p..,£ T.» ^ -g.^p^o 'A ~,u*n-~*.'
w — Nv I.^K r»(f.^ |-"— , t~e <«./ ..iJ»r.i« t% *-//T''T V''-S~- r^t-'^ y— er«S t,y .V»— ^V»' ^«<-y"
A LETTER SIGNED BY RICHARD NEVILLE, EARL OF WARWICK, ASKING THE
DEAN OK WARWICK TO OBTAIN THE ADVOWSON OK THE CHURCH, HELD
BY MASTER ARUNDEL, KOR HIS SERVANT.
I78
CHAPTER IV
The Vengeance of the King-maker— His Landing in Kent— His Compromise
with Edward IV.— His Flight— His Accommodation with Queen Mar-
garet— His Landing at Dartmouth — The Treachery of the Duke of
Clarence — The Death of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet— An Estimate
of his Character.
ALL England was persuaded that the King-maker
would take measures to avenge himself ; and
some of his friends and admirers even went so far
as to anticipate his plans of vengeance. One of the
Rivers' manors was sacked by a Kentish mob, and in
January, 1468, a Erench ambassador reports to his
sovereign : —
"In one county more than three hundred archers
were in arms, and had made themselves a captain
named Robin, and sent to the Earl of Warwick to
know if it was time to be busy, and to say that all
their neighbours were ready. But my Lord answered,
bidding them go home, for it was not yet time to be
stirring. If the time should come, he would let them
know."
Moreover, there were some sporadic Lancastrian
risings in Wales and the South-west, followed by the
customary brisk series of decapitations. Sir Henry
Courtenay, son of the Earl of Devon, and Thomas, son
of Lord Hungerford, and Jasper Tudor, of Pembroke,
179
Warwick Castle *-
were among those who then lost their heads. But
Warwick was no Lancastrian as yet. He bided his
time and laid his plans, making sure of the co-opera-
tion of his kinsmen before he would raise his arm
to strike. Me even sat among the judges who tried
some of the Lancastrian conspirators.
Xot until April, 1469, was he ready ; and then he
proceeded with great cunning. He went to Calais ;
and suddenly there were risings in various parts of
England, unquestionably fomented by him. though
there was no evidence to implicate him in them at
the moment. Clarence, however, joined him at Calais,
and married his daughter there, in the face of the
royal prohibition ; and on the day after the wedding
Duke and Earl had landed in Kent, the Kentish men
had rallied to them, and they were marching upon
London. The King was in the Midlands, whither
he had gone to face the northern rebels, and could
not stay their progress ; and these northern rebels
did all the fighting that was required. The royal
forces were defeated at Edgecott ; and Edward, who
had not been at that battle, was surrounded at Olney.
There George Neville, Archbishop of York, waited
upon him, and bade him rise and make haste and
dress.
" Then the King said he would not, for he had
not yet had his rest ; but the Archbishop, that false
and disloyal priest, said to him a second time, ' Sire,
you must rise and come to see my brother of Warwick,
nor do I think that you can refuse me.' So the King,
1 80
•*> House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
fearing worse might come to him, rose and rode off to
meet his cousin of Warwick."
The meeting took place at Coventry. The King
was held prisoner for a month— part of the time at
Warwick Castle — though in honourable and comfortable
From an old print.
KING EDWARD IV., WHOM THE KING-MAKER FIRST PLACED
UPON THE THRONE AND THEN DEPOSED.
condition, and with leave to go hunting under escort.
But it was no part of Warwick's plan just then to
depose King Edward in favour either of his brother
or of King Henry, who had been captured some time
before, a wandering fugitive, in the North, and lodged
for security in the Tower. He was satisfied to exact
pardons and impose terms, including a grant to himself
\Yar\vick Castle <+-
of the office of Chamberlain of South Wales and the
right to nominate the governors of sundry castles in
that region.
Edward is reported to have been satisfied with the
arrangement.
" The King himself," writes one of the Fastens
that day, "hath good language of my Lords of Clarence,
Warwick, and York, saying they be his best friends ;
but his household have other language, so that what
shall hastily fall I cannot say."
It looked, for a little while, as though matters would
now definitely settle down. But suddenly, in February,
1470, there was a fresh rising, this time in Lincolnshire,
headed by Sir Robert Welles, son of Lord Willoughby
and Welles. The King suppressed it, and then gave
out that Warwick and Clarence had been concerned
in it, and summoned them to his presence, bidding
them come unattended. In the absence of adequate
evidence of their complicity, one surmises that Edward
was inventing a pretext for putting it out of their
power to do him any further harm.
They naturally did not obey his summons, but fled
over-sea. Wenlock, who was governing Calais, was
afraid to admit them, though he sent out a friendly
message and two flagons of wine as medical comforts
for the Duchess of Clarence, who gave birth to a son,
the future Edward, Earl of Warwick, on board ship.
Then they went down the Channel, making prizes on
their way of sundry ships belonging to the Duke of
Burgundy, and found at last a friendly haven at
182
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
Harfleur. It was in the course of this sojourn on
French soil that Warwick was brought over to the
Lancastrian side.
It was Louis XI. who suggested and negotiated
the reconciliation. Though Queen Margaret had be-
headed Warwick's father, and Warwick had called
Queen Margaret an adulteress and her son a bastard,
the French King did not see why the sentiments
engendered by these untoward incidents should stand
in the way of an alliance which considerations of political
expediency dictated. He gained his end, and the bitter
enemies swore eternal friendship on a fragment of the
true cross, the Queen only drawing the line at a proposal
that Warwick's younger daughter, the Lady Anne, should
be married to the Prince of Wales. Everybody except
the Duke of Clarence was satisfied ; and the Duke, for
the time being, kept his dissatisfaction to himself.
The invasions, to which these proceedings were the
prelude, occurred in September of the same year. As
before, an insurrection was contrived in the North by
way of prelude to it ; and when Edward had gone
north to put it down, Warwick and Clarence, with
sundry Lancastrian barons, landed without opposition
at Dartmouth. The King was at Doncaster when they
got to London. He discovered treachery in his own
camp, and had to fly for his life. He got to Lynn
so destitute that he had to pay for his passage with
his fur-lined overcoat ; but he put to sea safely, and,
landing at Alkmaar, took refuge with the Dutch
governor, Louis of Gruthuye.
'83
\Yar\vick Castle <+-
Henry VI. was now fetched from the Tower, where
he was found " not worshipfully arrayed as a Prince,
and not so cleanly kept as should beseem his state."
lie was a broken man. " He sat on his throne," says
a chronicler, "as limp and helpless as a sack of wool.
. . . He was a mere shadow and pretence, and what
was done in his name was done without his will
and knowledge." There were, as usual, various new
appointments made in the King's name, and various
executions. Warwick became the King's Lieutenant,
and was restored to the offices of Admiral and Cap-
tain of Calais. Clarence was made Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland, an office he had previously held. Tiptoft,
Earl of \Yorcester, known to fame or infamy as the
Butcher ot England, was the chief of those who lost
their heads. Moreover, a treaty with France was
concluded.
King Edward, however, was not the man to stay
abroad without making an effort to come into his own
again. It took him five months to make his arrange-
ments; then, with three hundred Germans, hired for
him by the Duke of Burgundy, and fifteen hundred
refugees, including the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards
to be Richard III., and Lords Hastings, Say, and
Scales, he set out from Flushing, escorted by a
Hanseatic fleet, and, after failing to land at Cromer,
effected a landing successfully at Ravenspur, the very
landing-place of Henry IV. At first he repudiated
all pretensions to the crown, swearing upon the cross
of the high altar in York Minster "that he never
184
-*> House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
would again take upon himself to be King of England,
nor would have done before that time, but for the
exciting and stirring of the Earl of Warwick, and
thereto before all the people he cried, ' King Harry !
Ring Harry and Prince Edward!'"
But when he felt strong enough, he gained further
strength by the disclosure of his true designs.
Warwick had the greatest difficulty in getting an
army together to meet him. A letter of his, ap-
pealing for help to Henry Vernon of Derbyshire,
written by a secretary, but with a postscript in the
Earl's own handwriting, was discovered a few years
ago in a lumber-room at Belvoir Castle. It runs as
follows : —
" Right trusty and righte welbiloved I grete you
well, And desire and hertily pray you that in asmoche
as yonder man Edward, the Kinges oure soverain
lord gret ennemy, rebelle and traitour, is now late
arrived in the north parties of this land and cbm-
myng fast on southward accompanyed with Flemynges,
Esterlinges, and Danes, not exceeding the nombre of
all that he ever hath of ijml persones, nor the centre
as he commeth nothing falling to him, ye woll therfor
incontynente and furthwith aftir the sight herof
dispose you toward me to Coventre with as many
people defensibly arraied as ye can redily make, and
that ye be with me there in all haste possible as my
vray singuler trust is in you and as I mowe doo
thing to your wele or worship heraftir, And God kepe
you. Writen at Warrewik the xxvli day of Marche,
185
Warwick Castle *-
[Postscript in the Earl's own hand] " Henry I pray
you ffayle not now as ever I may do ffor yow."
Henry Vernon, however, seems to have made no
response to this urgent repeal, and Warwick soon
began to find himself in difficulties. The Duke of
Clarence, who all the time had meditated treachery,
deserted him and joined his brother, and then tried to
patch up a peace.
•' He sent to Coventry," says a Yorkist chronicler,
" offering certain good and profitable conditions to the
Earl, if he would accept them. But the Earl, whether
he despaired of any durable continuance of good
accord betwixt the King and himself, or else willing
to maintain the great oaths, pacts, and promises sworn
to Queen Margaret, or else because he thought he
should still have the upper hand of the King, or
else led by certain persons with him, as the Earl
of Oxford, who bore great malice against the King,
would not suffer any manner of appointment, were it
reasonable or unreasonable."
And he told the messengers that he "thanked God
he was himself and not that traitor Duke."
Then Edward IV. came on. This time it was his
turn to march to London while his enemy was in the
Midlands. The citizens let him in, and King Henry
was sent back to the Tower. Thus secured, he went
out to look for Warwick, who, in his turn, was looking
for him. The armies at last met at Barnet, and the
battle began with an artillery duel in the dark :—
" Both sides had guns and ordnance, but the Earl,
House of Neville and House of Planta^enet
I-'rom the original at ll'ar-
•mick Castle.
THE KINO-MAKER'S
MACE.
meaning to have greatly annoyed the
King, shot guns almost all the night.
But it fortuned that they always over-
shot the King's host, and hurt them
little or nought, for the King lay much
nearer to them than they deemed. But
the King suffered no guns to be shot
on his side, or else right few, which was
of great advantage to him, for thereby
the Earl should have found the ground
that he lay in, and levelled guns thereat."
So far as can be computed, the
numbers were about equal : on each
side there were some twenty thousand
men. At first it looked as though
Warwick was once more to win the
day. Montagu and Oxford rolled up
the left wing of the Yorkists, and
many of the troopers fled as far as
London. The advantage was thrown
away, however, by an indiscreet pur-
suit ; and in the meanwhile the King,
in the centre, "beat and bare down
all that stood in his way, and then
turned to range, first on that hand
and then on the other hand, and in
length so beat and bare them down
that nothing might stand in the sight
of him and of the well-assured fellow-
ship that attended truly upon him."
187
\Yar\vick Castle <•-
Presently the pursuers returned. But they had lost
their way in the thick fog that prevailed throughout
the battle. They turned up at a point where they
were not expected, and their friends mistook them for
the enemy and fell upon them furiously. In the con-
fusion that prevailed, Oxford, believing that there were
traitors in the camp, as had so often happened in
these wars, fled from the field with all his men ; and
the confusion became worse confounded. There were
Lancastrians who assumed that Warwick had betrayed
them, and therefore fell upon the Nevilles. Warwick
stood his ground a little longer, and then he too fled.
His heavy armour impeded him. His body and that of
his brother, Montagu, were found at the edge of Wrotham
Wood ; and the two bodies were taken to London and laid
on the pavement of St. Paul's, and exposed to the public
view for three days, " to the intent that the people should
not be abused by feigned tales, else the rumour should
have been sowed about that the Earl was yet alive."
Such was the end of the King-maker.1 Thanks to
1 His arms are thus given in a Lansdowne MS. : —
Anns: "Gules, a saltire argent, a label or."
Arms : " Quarterly. Gowlys a savvf syllver \v' a difference, and gowlys
a ffece bytweene vi crosse crosselets golld."
The arms which he bore as Earl of Salisbury were : —
" I and 4, Quarterly, Montagu and Monthermer ; 2 and 3, Neville, a label
compony argent and azure."
Crest: "(i) Out of a coronet a griffin sejant with wings extended ; (2) out
of a wreath silver and gules a bull's head argent, spotted sable, armed or."
Supporters : " Dexter, a bull tenu6 armed and unguled and tufted or ;
sinister, an eagle vert, beaked and membered gules."
liadgcs: (i) " The Bere "and (2) " Ragged Staff;" ; (3) " Ung baston noir."
Liveries: 1458, "Rede iakettys with white raggyd staves upon them."
(Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 633.)
188
House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
Lord Lytton's novel, history knows him as " the last of
the Barons " ; and he was truly the last of the barons in
the sense that he was the last of those great feudal lords
who had but to give the word for their retainers to raise,
not a battalion, but an army. But though he was a
great feudal lord, he was also something more than that.
Me was a statesman, a diplomatist — the power behind
the throne. If he was violent and cruel, he was less
so than the great majority of his contemporaries. He
could manage men as well as lead them ; and he was not
more renowned for his audacity than for his affability :
"He ever had the voice of the people, because he gave
them fair words, showing himself easy and familiar." In
this regard we may endorse the verdict of Professor
Oman — that " he should be thought of as the forerunner
of Wolsey rather than as the successor of Robert of
Belesme, or the Bohuns and Bigods."
*)
THF DEAN OF WARWICK
TO LONDON.
K REOISTBR
l89
CHAPTER V
The King-maker's Widow, his Daughters, and his Sons-in-law— Anne
Neville's Petition to Parliament — The Sad End of the Duke of
Clarence— The Still Sadder Fate of Edward, Earl of Warwick— The
Fate of Edward's Sister Margaret in the Reign of Henry VIII.
THE King-maker left a widow, Anne, Dowager-
Countess of Warwick, as well as two daughters,
Isabel, Duchess of Clarence, and Anne, who married
the Duke of Gloucester, Clarence's younger brother,
subsequently to reign as Richard III. She seems to
have had some fear of being punished for her
husband's offences. Among the British Museum
manuscripts is a petition from her " to the right
worshipful ;ind discreet Commons of this present
Parliament," setting forth her apprehensions thus : —
" Sheweth unto your wisdoms and discretions the
King's true liege woman Anne, Countess of Warwick,
which never offended his most redoubted highness,
for she immediately after the death of her lord and
husband, on whose soul God have mercy, for none
offence by her done, but dreading only trouble being
that time within this realm, entered into the sanctuary
of Beaulieu for surety of her person, to dispose for
the weal and health of the soul of her said lord and
husband as right and conscience required her so to
do, making within 5 days or near thereabouts after
190
House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
her entry into the said sanctuary her labours, suits
and means to the King's highness for her safe guard
to be had as diligently and effectually as her power
would extend, she not ceasing but after her power
continuing in such labours, suits and means, in so
much that in absence of clerks she hath written letters
in that behalf to the King's highness with her own
hand, soothly also to the queen's good grace, to my
right redoubted lady the King's mother, to my lady
the King's eldest daughter, to my lords the King's
brethren, to my
ladies the
King's sisters,
to my lady of
Bedford,
mother to the
queen, and to
other ladies
noble of this
realm, in which
labours, suits
and means she
hath continued
hitherto, and so
will continue as
she owes to do,
that it may
please the King
of his most
good and noble
Front an old print.
ANNE NEVILLE, DAUGHTER OK THE KING-MAKER
AND QUEEN-CONSORT OK RICHARD III.
191
Warwick Castle *-
grace to have consideration that during the life of
her said lord and husband she was covert baron,
which point she remits to your great wisdoms, and
that after his decease all the time of her being in
the said sanctuary she hath duly kept her fidelity
and legiance, and obeyed the King's commandments.
Howbeit, it hath passed the King's highness by
some sinister information to his said highness made,
to direct his most dread letters to the abbot of the
monastery of Beaulieu with right sharp commandment
that such persons as his highness sent to the said
monastery should have guard and straight keeping
of her person, which was and is to her great heart's
grievance, she specially fearing that the privileges
and liberties of the church, by such keeping of her
person, might be interrupt and violate, where the
privileges of the said sanctuary were never so largely
attempted unto this time, as is said ; yet the said
Anne, ye countess, under protestation by her made,
hath suffered straight keeping of her person, and yet
doth, that her fidelity and legiance to the King's
highness the better might be understood, hoping she
might the rather have had largess to make suits to
the King's highness in her own person, for her liveli-
hood and rightful inheritance." [She therefore humbly
prays relief]
Xo harm came to her, however. " Item," writes
Sir John Fasten, " that the Countess of Warwick
is now out of Beaulieu sanctuary. Sir James
Tyrell conveyed her northwards, men say by the
192
+ House of Neville and House of Planta^enet
King's assent, whereto some men say that the Duke
of Clarence is not agreed." Later, in the reign of
Henry VII., she was granted a pension of 500 marks.
drawing by S. Harding.
GEORGK, DUKE OF CLARENCE, SON-IN-LAW OF THE K1NC-MAKER
BY MARRIAGE WITH HIS ELDER DAUGHTER, ISABEL, AND
yi'Ki; UXOKIS EARL OF WARWICK.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Clarence became, jure
uxoris, Earl of Warwick.
His most memorable exploits have already been
related in our narrative. His death is more famous
than his life, because of the legend that he was
VOL. i. 193 o
\Yar\vick Castle *
drowned in a butt of malmsey,1 after being attainted
of high treason, through the influence of his brother
and successor. The best-known version of the story
is that in Shakespeare's " King Richard the Third,"
from which I quote : —
1 Muni. Take him over the costard with the hilts of thy
sword, and then throw him into the malmsey-butt in the next
room.
2 Murd. O excellent device ! and make a sop of him.
1 Murd. Hark '. he stirs.
2 Murd. Shall I strike?
i Murd. No, first let's reason with him.
Clarence (awaking). \Yhere art thou, keeper ? Give me a cup
of wine.
i Murd. You shall have wine enough, my lord, anon.
Clar. In God's name, what art thou ?
i Murd. A man, as you are.
Clar. But not, as I am, royal.
i Murd. Nor you, as we are, loyal.
Clar. Thy voice is thunder, hut thy looks are humble.
i Murd. My voice is now the King's, my looks mine own.
Clar. How darkly and how deadly dost thou speak !
Your eyes do menace me : why look you pale ?
Tell me, who are you, wherefore come you hither ?
Botli Murd. To, to, to — •
Clar. To murder me ?
Botk Murd. Ay, ay.
"Malmsey: A wine, usually sweet, strong, and of high flavour, origi-
nally and still made in Greece, but now especially in the Canary and
Madeira Islands, and also in the Azores and in Spain. The name is
somewhat loosely given to such wines, and is used in combination, as
Malmsey-Madeira" (Century Dictionary).
194
-*> Mouse of Neville and House of Plantagenet
The Duke of Clarence left four children, of
whom two died in infancy. He was buried with
his wife at Tewkesbury,1 and we read in a letter
written by Dr. Langton to the Prior of Christ
Church, Canterbury, that Edward IV. "assigned
certain lords" to accompany his body thither,
and " intends to do right worshipfully for his
soul."
By his death the dignity passed to his son, Edward,
Earl of Warwick, whose life is one of the most
pathetic in all history.
Xo harm came to him during the reigns of his
two uncles. His name appears, curiously enough, not
far removed from those of some ancestors of the
House of Greville, in the list of admissions to the
1 The vault was opened in 1828 in the presence of the vicar, curate,
and churchwardens ; it was in perfect condition, and measured 9 feet from
north to south, 8 feet from east to west, and 6 feet 4 inches high in centre.
The arched roof and walls are of large blocks of freestone, the floor paved
with tiles, in the centre being a cross formed of tiles bearing various
devices — the arms of England, De Clare, etc., and birds, fleur-de-lis,
foliage, etc. In the north-west corner were the skulls and bones of a
male and female, whicli were no doubt those of the Duke and Duchess.
Six large stones at the south end of the vault were evidently arranged
to carry two coffins side by side. In 1709, 1729, and 1753 the bodies
of Samuel Hawling, his wife, and their son were allowed to occupy
the vault, and the earlier remains were probably disturbed and re-
moved from their original position then; but in 1829 the Hawling
remains were removed and deposited in a grave in the ambulatory,
the remains of the original occupants being placed in an ancient stone
coffin, dug up near the vestry door in 1775, and believed to have
originally held the remains of a Despencer. This stone coffin was
found full of water in 1875, and was removed, the remains bring
placed in a casket on the south wall of the vault, in which position they
now remain.
195
Warwick Castle <•-
Guild of the Holy Cross, at Stratford-on-Avon.1
Some documents show grants made in his name,
during his minority, in connection with services to be
rendered at Warwick Castle. There is a grant, for
instance, to " James Kayley, ' in consideration of the
good and true service which oure trusty servaunt hath
doon unto us in our last victorious journey,' of the office
of porter of the castle of Warwick, keeper of the
garden there, keeper of the meadows of the lordship
of Warwick, and keeper of the lodge of Goderest,
co. Warwick, during the minority," etc. ; and another
to " John Swynerton of the office of porter of Warwick
Castle, and keeper of the garden there called the
Vineyard, during the minority of Edward, Earl of
Warwick, and as long as the earldom of Warwick
shall remain in the hands of the crown, with wages,
etc., out of the earldom of Warwick" ; and a third to
" Thomas Brereton, one of the gentlemen ushers of
the King's chamber, of the offices of constable of the
1 ADMISSIONS INTO THE GUILD OF THE HOLY CROSS, STRATFORD-ON-AVON.
22 H. VI. Joyce, w. of John Grevill of Sesyncote, Esq.
John, s. of Maurice, s. of said John.
Johan, \v. of Henry Tracy.
8 E. IV. Richard Grevell of Lemynton, Gent., and Elena, h. w.
17 E. IV. George Duke of Clarence and Lady Isabell.
Edward E. of Warwick, his son.
Lady Margaret, his sister.
13 H. VII. Master John Grevell and Johan, h. w.
23 H. VII. John. s. of Edvv. Grevill and Elizabeth, h. w.
24 H. VII. Edward Grevill, Esq., and Ann, h. w.
17 H. VIII. Giles Grevell, Kt.
N.B.— The arms of the Duke's predecessor, viz. Henry Duke of
Warwick, are painted in the Guild Hall, now the Grammar School.
196
--* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
castle of Warwick, steward of the lordship of Warwick,
with its members, and master of the game of Wege-
nok, co. Warwick, with wages, etc., such as John Hug-
ford, esq., had in the same office." The Earl attended
old print.
KING RICHARD III., SON-IN-LAW OK THE KING-MAKER
HY MARRIAGE WITH HIS YOUNGER
DAUGHTER, ANNE.
Richard III.'s coronation, and was recognised as his
heir-apparent. But then came the battle of Bosworth
Field, and the accession of Henry VII., whose reasons
for wishing the only surviving male representative of
the House of York out of the way were obvious
enough. So this poor boy — he was only nine years
of age — was shut up in the Tower, and kept there,
197
\Var\vick Castle (+-
for no other reason than the cowardly fear that, if he
were left at large, he might be dangerous.
He proved, in fact, as dangerous in captivity as
he could have been at liberty. Impostors personated
him, and in his name raised the standard of revolt.
Every schoolboy remembers the story of Lambert
Simnel, who, after professing to be Edward Plan-
tagenct, Karl of Warwick, was put to the office of
scullion in the royal kitchen. To expose the im-
posture, the prisoner was given a day's outing, as is
recorded in Bacon's " History of King Henry VII."
"About this time," says Bacon, "Edward Plan-
tagenet was upon a Sunday brought throughout all the
principal streets of London, to be seen of the people.
And having passed the view of the streets, was con-
ducted to Paul's Church in solemn procession, where
great store of people were assembled. And it was
provided also in good fashion, that divers of the
nobility and others of quality (especially of those that
the King most suspected, and knew the person of
Plantagenet best) had communication with the young
gentleman by the way, and entertained him with
speech and discourse."
Then followed the graver affair of Perkin War-
beck ; and, as Bacon puts it, " it was ordained that
this winding ivy of a Plantagenet should kill the tree
itself." Perkin was sent to the Tower, and " there
contrived with himself a vast and tragical plot which
was to draw into his company Edward Plantagenet,
Earl of Warwick, then prisoner in the Tower, whom
198
-* House of Neville and House of Phinta^enet
the weary life of a long imprisonment and the oft and
renewing fears of being put to death had softened
to take any impression of counsel for his liberty."
The nature of the plot was that four " varlets " should
" murder their master the Lieutenant secretly in the
night, and make their best of such money and
portable goods of his as they should find ready at
hand, and get the keys of the Tower, and presently to
let forth Perkin and the Earl." It is not in the least
likely that Edward, who is said to have been rendered
half imbecile by his long confinement, took any active
part in the plot, or had any but the vaguest idea what
it was all about. But the chance was too good for
the King to lose. Edward of Warwick 1 was be-
headed on Tower Hill on November 24th, 1499, and
subsequently had all his honours taken from him by
posthumous process of attainder. It is a tragical
story of shameless persecution.
The posthumous attainder, however, was, some years
1 The arms of Edward, Earl of Warwick, are thus given in a Harlcian
MS. :—
" I. Quarterly : France modern and England a label of 3 gobony argent
and azure.
''II. Fraunce and England a labell of 3 points argent, on cache pointe
a torteaux.
" III. Quarterly, I. France, II. England, III. Beauchamp, IV. Neubourg.
Over all in pretence, quarterly, I, Vairy or and gules an inescutcheon of
the 2nd (Fit/John); 2, Lozengy or and azure a bordure gules charged
with 8 plates (Neubourg) ; 3, Neville, a label or ; 4, Argent, a nuuinch gules
(Toeni). Over I. and II. a label compony argent and azure.
"Crest: On a chapeau of estate gules, turned up ermine, a lion statant
crowned or, gorged with a label argent charged as in I. or II. (Arms).
"Supporters: dexter, a bull sable armed unguled and tufted or;
sinister, a bear argent."
199
Warwick Castle «-
Inter, to be annulled by a statute of Henry VIII.;
and the words of the petition incorporated in the
Act show that the injustice of his treatment was fully
recognised.
''Which Edward," the document runs, "most
gracious sovereign lord, was always from his child-
hood, being of the age of eight years, until the time
of his decease, remaining and kept in ward and re-
strained from his liberty, as well within the Tower
of London as in other places, having none experience
nor knowledge of the worldly policies, nor of the laws
of this realm, so that, if any offence were by him
done ... it was rather by innocency than of any
malicious purpose."
The petitioner at whose instance this act of justice
was done was Edward's sister Margaret, who had married
Sir Richard Pole, Knight, son of Sir Geoffrey Pole,
Knight, descended from a family of ancient gentry in
Wales, who, having valiantly served King Henry VII.
in his wars, was made Chief Gentleman of the Bed-
chamber to Prince Arthur, and Knight of the Garter.
In the fifth year of King Henry VIII. she petitioned
the King that she might be allowed to inherit the
state and dignity of her brother, the late Earl of
Warwick, and be styled Countess of Salisbury. Her
petition was granted, and the same year she obtained
letters patent for all the castles, manors, and lands of
Richard, late Earl of Salisbury, her grandfather, which,
by the attainder of the said Edward, Earl of Warwick,
came to the Crown.
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
Her end, however, like her brother's, was to be
evil. " In the 3ist year of King Henry VIII.," says
Edmondson, " she was condemned in parliament for
high-treason ; certain bulls from Rome having been
found at Cowdray, her mansion-house. It was also
charged upon her, that the parson of Warblington
had conveyed letters from her to her son, Cardinal
Reginald Pole, and that she had forbid all her tenants
to have the New Testament in English, or any new
book privileged by the King."
Perhaps the King had other causes of complaint
against her. We do not know. But she appears
to have behaved with fortitude, to have refused to
confess, and to have been sentenced without being
heard. On May 27th, 1541, without arraignment or
trial, at the great age of seventy-nine, she was carried
to the place of execution on Tower Hill, and beheaded
there.
Here the House of Plantagenet, so tragic in its
destinies, passes out of our history, leaving a vacant
place to be filled, after an interval, by the House of
Dudley. It is a proper point at which to turn back
and say something about the building of Warwick
Castle — a branch of the subject which it has been
necessary to pass over, while relating, in such detail
as the authorities made possible, the history of the
Earls of Warwick.
For we have, as a matter of fact, reached a
crisis and a turning-point in the history of castles.
Hitherto we have found them more useful than
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
ornamental ; henceforward we shall find them more
ornamental than useful. The invention of gunpowder,
and the consequent invention of siege artillery, was
fatal to their military importance. Fire-arms had been
used, as we have mentioned, as early as Crecy ; but
they were only little " bombards," which " with fire
threw little iron balls to frighten the horses." Even
in the time of Henry V. the guns counted for little,
and the wars were mainly wars oi sieges. But
Edward IV. had a siege-train cast, and we have seen
the King-maker using it against Bamborough with
great effect; and Henry YII. began his reign with
the only siege train in the kingdom in his possession.
Xo baronial castle was now impregnable, and in the
course of the ensuing years many such castles were
allowed to fall into ruin and decay. Kenilworth has
gone, though Kenilworth Castle was a greater place
than Warwick Castle in its time. Warwick Castle, in
fact, is one of the very few feudal fortresses that still
stand and are still used for human habitation. It
affords unique facilities for the study of military archi-
tecture in the times of the Plantagenet kings, and
some glimpses of earlier arrangements.
CHAPTER VI
Architectural Particulars— The Norman Castle — GifTard's Siege— The
Edwardian Castle, built by the Beauchamps— The General Principles
of Edwardian Castles — The Warwick Gatehouse — Guy's Tower —
Cresar's Tower — The Prison — The Inscriptions — The Curtain Walls
between the Towers — The River Gate.
THE Normans, as we have seen, hastily patched
up the Saxon castles, postponing the recon-
struction of them to a more convenient season.
Warwick is one of fifty castles belonging to the
reign of the Conqueror that stood upon old sites.
There was nothing then unique about it. Even in
the Midlands — even in Warwickshire — there were other
more important castles. In the reign of Henry I.
Kenilworth and Beaudesert Castles appear temporarily
to have superseded it. Down to the time of Henry II.,
as has been already mentioned, the defences, as far as
can be ascertained, were chiefly of wood.
The first important event in the history of the
Castle is the siege which it sustained in 1265, when
Henry III. was King of England and William Mauduit
was Earl of Warwick. I have touched upon that
operation in the course of my narrative ; but I must
here revert to it. What happened then is best stated
in Spicer's " History of Warwick Castle," from which
I quote : —
203
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
" An old chronicle says, ' William Mauduit ever
held the King's part ; wherefore Sir Andrew GifFard
by treason took the castell of Warwyke, and for that
it should be no strength to the King, he beat with
his fellowship down the wall from towere to towere,
which, until Earl Thomas's days, afterwards was
hedged. He also took the Earl and Countess with
him to Kenilworth, and ransomed the Earl to 600
marks, that was justly payde.' The ' Thomas ' here
referred to was born in the castle. ' He walled the
castell of Warwyke, towered it, and gated it ' ; and
his son it was who built Guy's Tower, at a cost of
^395 5s* 9^-» a considerable sum at that period."
This is not, perhaps, very clear ; but the materials
available do not make it possible to be clearer. To
realise, in any way, what happened, we must picture
a castle wholly different from that of to-day, with
probably no towers save that on the keep and that
at the gateway. The walls between would be plain
and massive, with bastions at intervals, but not towers.
The living portions would even at that date be near
the river, or at any rate some strong works would be
there. If the only towers were the gatehouse and
keep, it is fairly easy to understand what Giffard did.
He had, at any rate, done enough to render re-
construction necessary. This must have commenced
early in the regime of the Beauchamps, since the Castle
was at the time of the Wolf of Arderne strong enough
and secure enough not only to hold Gaveston a prisoner,
but to take the steps preliminary to his capture.
204
Warwick Castle <*-
The Beauchamps built the long undercroft, the hall
and chapel, the curtain walls, gatehouse, and Guy
and Caesar's Towers, and made the Castle assume an
Edwardian form. Of these, Ccesar's Tower was built
about 1550; Guy's, the last, in 1394. The Despencer
who was guardian of Guy de Beauchamp is said to
have demolished much of the walling ; but on what
evidence I do not know. Other building operations
which may be noted here are those of the Duke of
Clarence, who is said to have contemplated additions
to the walls and to have begun the tower called after
his name; of Richard III., who is said to have made
extensive alterations, including the commencement of
the companion tower to that of Clarence ; and of
Henry VI 1 1., who had to under-pin the foundations,
owing to a landslip on the river-side. Some Exchequer
accounts of the last-mentioned reign bearing on the
Castle are in existence : —
19 Hen. VIII. Account of delivery of timber only for repair of the
King's tenements in the Borough of Warwick; including
20 oak trees for the repair of the castle mill ; the said
mill is in sore decay by reason of the great floods that
fell last year.
Do. 490 15.
1557. Declaration of decays, etc., in tenements and cottages
in Warwick Borough.
Do. 490 ~ 6
*558- A similar account.
206
House of Neville and House of Plantairenet
e>
For the description of the Edwardian Castle I feel
that I have no choice but to quote from the work to
which I have already expressed my deep indebtedness —
Clark's " Mediaeval Military Architecture."
First, as to the walls : —
" The walls of these Edwardian castles varied from
25 to 40 feet in height, and were from 6 to 8 feet
thick, or even more to allow of mural galleries. Upon
their top was a path called the 'allure' or rampart
walk, protected in front by an embattled parapet, and
in the rear by lower and lighter walls. Frequently
there was a loop in each merlon, and each embrasure
was fitted with a hanging shutter. The ramparts were
usually reached from the adjacent mural towers, but
sometimes, as at Warwick, by an open staircase of
stone. Occasionally, where a wall is too slight to
allow of a rampart wall, it was in time of war provided
with a platform of wood like a builder's scaffold."
Secondly, as to the drawbridge : —
"In its most simple form the drawbridge was a
platform of timber turning upon two gudgeons or
trunnions at the inner end : when up it concealed
the portal, and when down dropped upon a pier in
the ditch or upon the counterscarp. Its span varied
from 8 to 12 feet. The contrivances for working it
were various. Sometimes chains attached to its outer
end passed through holes above the portal, and were
worked within by hand or by a counterpoise. Occa-
sionally there was a frame above the bridge, also on
trunnions. In the larger castles the arrangements were
207
Warwick Castle ••*-
very elaborate. Sometimes the bridge was the only
connexion between the gateway and the opposite pier :
at others the parapets or face walls rested on a fixed
arch, and the bridge dropped between them."
Thirdly, as to the gatehouse : —
" An Edwardian gatehouse is a very imposing
structure. It was usually rectangular in plan, always
flanked in front by two drum towers, and sometimes
in the rear by two others containing well-staircases. In
its centre was the portal arch, opening into a long
straight passage traversing the building. Three loops
in each flanking tower commanded the bridge of
approach, raked the lateral curtain, and covered a point
immediately outside the gate. Above the portal was
usually a small window, and above that, at the summit,
a machicolation set out on corbels, or in its place a
sort of bridge, thrown across from tower to tower a
couple of feet in advance of the wall, so that a chase
or slot was left, down which stones or even beams
could be let fall upon those who might be assailing
the gate below."
Fourthly, as to the portcullis :—
" The portcullis was an important part of the
defence. It was a strong grating, in the smaller gate-
ways of iron, in the larger of oak, strengthened and
shod with iron spikes and suspended in grooves by
two cords or chains, which passed over two sheaves,
or sometimes through a single central block, and either
were attached to counterpoises or worked by a winch.
The grooves are generally half round with slightly
208
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
prolonged sides, 4 to 6 inches broad by from 4 to
7 inches deep. Sometimes the portcullis chamber
is a small cell in the wall. Sometimes the grate had
no lateral grooves, and must have either hung loose or
been steadied by its spikes resting on the ground below.
Sometimes grooves are cut for a spare grate, but do
not appear to have been armed."
The approach to the portcullis lay through a portal
arch " wide enough to admit a wain or three men-at-
arms abreast." Behind it was " a door of two leaves
opening inwards, and, when closed, held by one or
two stout bars of oak, which could be pushed back into
cavities in the wall. The vaulting there was pierced
with holes, about a foot across, called meurtrieres"
"These holes," says Clark, "might serve to hold
posts to check the entrance of a body of men, or for
thrusting pikes down upon them. They have also
been supposed to be intended to allow water to be
poured down, supposing the passage filled with bushes
set on fire, though it is difficult to see how any quantity
of water could be obtained, any more than melted lead
or pitch, which are spoken of. The first floor of the
larger gatehouses contained a handsome chamber with
lateral doors leading to the ramparts of the curtain
and sometimes to an oratory. The portcullises were
worked through the floor, and their tackle must have
given an air of warlike reality to the room."
The passages cited outline the picture clearly ; but
the generalities should, of course, be supplemented by
particulars as to our Warwick Castle gatehouse.
VOL. I. 20t; P
Warwick Castle <+
The barbican was sometimes a mere walled space
attached in front of the gateway, and sometimes a
tcte dn pont posted at the end of the bridge away
from the main work. Here at Warwick the barbican
nearly resembles that at Bridgenorth, and is really
a subordinate gate. It has a central archway, guarded
with a double row of nmirtrieres, with a heavy port-
cullis, still in use, and double doors. The entrance is
flanked by drum towers, containing basement chambers
for the winch by which the portcullis is raised and
lowered, and pierced with loops for defence. The
second chamber has small lights, and it is studded on
the exterior with heavy iron hooks, on which wool-
sacks were suspended for defence during the Royalist
siege. Two short newel stairs reach the interior rooms
from the leads, but not through the drum towers, and
the whole is crenelated and flanked by the archers'
galleries of the gatehouse above and from the merlons
of the curtain wall.
The gatehouse proper is joined to the barbican
by curtain walls on north and south, both with allures.
In the south wall is a second shallow recess, defended
by a second portcullis and an arch with broad soffit
containing a double row of meurtrieres.
Behind these was a lighter gate, supported on double
hinges and with the usual double leaves ; and behind
this a vaulted roof of two bays, the ribs rising from
elegant corbels.
The porters' or warders' room is on the north, and
is of two and a half bays, with simple vaulting rising
< V
\Yar\vick Castle +-
from corbels carved with cither foliage or masks. The
window is formed by the angle of the interior turrets,
and is also vaulted.
On the opposite side is an open archway into
the court, with a small chamber in the tower base on
the rio-ht and a stair on the left, which winds round
O
a newel to the leads. This has blocked loops on the
south, which show it to be of earlier date than the
building (the dairy) now erected against it. There
also a door leads to the barbican leads, and is
matched by another on the north, while another gives
access to the allure on the south curtain. The stair,
meanwhile, ascends through several small chambers to
the gatehouse leads.
There is a second stair on the north side, rising
from the allure of the north curtain.
The leads here have corner square towers, those
on the outside altered in shape by a broad chamfer at
the north-east and south-east angles. These towers
are connected by stone bridges supported on segmental
arches, and have gargoyles with spouting to carry off
the rain-\vater. All these are loopholed to flank attacks
on the bridge gate and allures, even the inner works,
and they are all embattled.
The turrets form small chambers for archers, and
are vaulted in stone.
The tower is used for the clock, which has faces
both inside to the courtyard and outside.
The bell is old, and inscribed : THIS «jjp BELL ^» WAS $?
l-OVNDKI) 4? FOR %> WEI.GNOCK $> ANNO $ DOMINI «ft I 606.
212
-* House of Neville and House of Plaritagenet
The whole building dates from the middle of the
fourteenth century.
We may pass on to the towers.
Guy's Tower is dodecagonal in shape, rising from
the inner court to an imposing height.1 Its base-
ment, and indeed every stage, is occupied by a triple
set of rooms — a large space well lighted in the centre,
and cells on either side for defenders, separated by
a strong dividing wall with narrow doorways. In the
side rooms are small lockers in the wall, and loopholes
commanding the direct and flanking attackers. The
central room in the base is divided into three bays,
separated by complete arches and with simple cross-
ribs. The fireplace is in the eastern dividing wall.
Twenty-seven steps lead to the first stage : this has
transomed windows in the north and south, and in the
side rooms three loops commanding the various walls.
This is now the Muniment Room. Steps lead to the
second stage similar to that below, and, like it, vaulted
in stone in two bays. Twenty-seven steps lead to the
third stage, which is like the second. Twenty-seven
steps lead to the fourth stage, which has six large
square crenelles and as many heavy angled walls
between. The roof is simply vaulted in a hexagon,
the ribs meeting in the centre. Twenty-two steps lead
upward to the leads, the newels rising into fan tracery
and covered by a turret. A second stair leads down-
ward to the allure on the north curtain. In part of
this the battlement is machicolated out on corbels to
1 Ninety-three feet from courtyard to parapet,
213
Warwick Castle <*-
give the defenders power to attack. The covering roof
was probably conical. The basement of the tower is
revetted out.
The building was erected by Thomas, Earl of War-
wick, in 1394, at a cost of ,£395.
Caesar's Tower, formerly called the Poictiers Tower,
and said to have been built between 1350 and 1370,
situated at the south-east corner of the base court,
rises to a height of 106 feet from its rocky basement
in Mill Lane to its first parapet. It is one of the
strongest and most elegant towers in England. It is
an irregular polygon, the machicolations at the summit
boldly corbelled out, and the general figure on the
exterior forms three segments of a circle.
The tower was constructed to command the passage
of the river, which was here crossed by an ancient
packhorse bridge of thirteen arches, widened to twice
its original breadth in 1375. The reconstructed bridge
consisted of seven arches, of which only the second
and fifth remain ; it formed the south gate of the
town, and was itself defended by earthworks. The new
bridge, of one span, was built in 1790, and the same year
the old bridge gave way under the pressure of a flood.
The basement of the tower is, as we have said, of
solid rock. An entrance from the courtyard leads by
steps to the level of the Castle prison. This prison
is below the courtyard by some twenty-seven steps,
but not below the level of the Mill Lane. It is 17 feet
4 inches long by 13 feet 3 inches wide, and 14 feet
6 inches high. There are inscriptions on the walls.
214
-*> House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
Many miserable prisoners have scrawled the words
" Jesu Mercy" there. Among other records of their
sufferings are the following : —
R : 10/zN : SMJVTH : GVNER : TO : HIS :
MA1ESTJVE . HI£/7NES : WAS : A PiUSNER IN THIS
PlACE I AND lAjy HERE./FOM 164! TELL th
WllllAM Slrf'iaTE ROT T/US SAME
AN;/ if My PEN HAd B/» BETER foR
HIS SAKE I WOvL/ HAVE MEN^/E^/
EVERRI leTTER.
Ma/ter i 642 345
\ohn : SMJVTH GVNER to H.
MAIE/VyS : H/f/WES WAS
A PRI/NER IN ThlS PlACE
IN : T/2E -JEARE of OVR L
ord 1 642 1345
miserere
ihs mary
ihs mw.
Between the two towers run the curtain walls.
They were, necessarily, the weakest portion of the
defences ; but they are high and of great thickness.
On the eastern side they join Guy's Tower to the
gatehouse and the gatehouse to Caesar's Tower. To
the former access is gained by an exposed flight of
steps from Guy's Tower on to the allure, which is
of considerable breadth, and defended by a stone
parapet, each merlon pierced with a loophole, skewed
215
Warwick Castle *
on the interior to afford several angles to fire from, while
presenting but a small cruciform aperture to attack.
The embrasures were closed with hanging shutters, and
certain of the merlons were utilised as garde-robes for
sanitary purposes.
The allure itself was paved, and the walls on the
inside show a double series of corbels to support the
temporary hoardings used in a siege, for giving ready
access to all parts, and providing stores for ammunition.
The gr.tehouse is reached from this curtain by a flight
of steps, leading to the vice in its north-east turret.
The weakest part of the enceinte was the long
stretch of curtain from Guy's Tower to the mound. It
commenced at Guy's Tower, running almost straight to
a pair of ruined towers, or possibly unfinished towers,
now called the Bear and Clarence. It is not impossible
that it was this portion that was broken down by
Giffard and the Kenil worth men in the siege of 1265,
when the walls were demolished from tower to tower,
and the Castle and Earl captured. Just before the
easternmost of these two towers the allure descends a
long flight of steps to the lower level. These are
reached by a newel from the courtyard.
'I he wall between the towers is pierced with a
gateway, wide, depressed, and so totally indefensible
that it must be at least as late as Restoration under
the first Lord Brooke, if not yet more modern.
The heptagon tower (nearest Guy's Tower) is
now entered through a door on the exterior, leading
through a pointed arch into a basement, viz. a plain
-* House of Neville and House of Plantagenet
vaulted room, with three circular crenelles and a rect-
angular one, thus defending all the angles of approach.
There is a chimneypiece and locker in its western wall.
From this base an unfinished or ruined stair leads
to the upper portions, which I believe were ruined in
Lord Brooke's time, and restored with merlons and
embrasures to suit the rest of the work.
On leaving the second tower, which corresponds
with the former, but has a broader flight of steps to
the allure, the curtain ascends gradually to the mound
and rises in steps. In this portion a considerable
difference in the thickness of the wall arrests attention.
The original line of building is left, and an obtuse
angle formed by the union of a thin wall pierced with
a broad arch, cut probably early in the nineteenth
century to form a carriage way in connection with the
former entrance in Castle Street which is now bricked
up. As soon as the earthen rampart begins to rise,
the wall resumes its former thickness and antiquity.
The river gate occupies the south-west corner of the
courtyard, at the junction of the south-west curtain wall
and the mound. It was rebuilt almost from the founda-
tions by Sir Fulke Greville, and has had modern repairs,
but generally speaking has followed the original plan.
From the river-side the tower appears to be of four
stories, the lowermost occupied by a basement polygonal
in form. This is entered by a double pointed arch
with a false portcullis groove and no door : the original
must have had both. This entrance is flanked by
angled turrets (rectangles with their outer edges
Warwick Castle <*-
chamfered oft making rough pentagons). The southern
turret meets the main wall by forming an angle,
panelled and corbelled out at some height from the
ground, with a pentagonal bastion.
The tower between the turrets is lighted by a
pair of shouldered rectangular windows, and one of
larger size in the succeeding story, and over this
a pointed window of plate tracery, which seems to be
a modern innovation, or, if copied from earlier work,
would have been a replica of Fulke Greville's copy
of a thirteenth -century window.
The Hanking turrets are lighted by narrow loops,
and the merlons of the parapet are loopholed.
The second story of this gate is reached from the
basement by twenty-one steps, leading to a second
basement on the level of the courtyard — a groined
heptagon, the ribs meeting in the centre, where
there is a boss with a plain shield. This has a small
porch. From the courtyard the entrance, as before,
is flanked by a pair of similar towers, but only one
window, and that of thirteenth-century design, appears
in the upper portion.
A solid wall supporting a masked passage joins
this gateway to the main building.
Such were the architectural features of the Castle in
the period which has been passed under review. We
shall have to return to the subject later, in connection
with the reparations and extensions effected by Sir
Fulke Greville. But for the present this will suffice.
318
BOOK IV
THE HOUSE OF DUDLEY
CHAPTER I
The Policy of Henry VII.- — The Assistance given him by Edmund Dudley —
The Pedigree of Edmund Dudley — His Descent from the House of
Sutton — Dudley and Empson — Bacon's Scathing Account of their
Proceedings — The Arrest of Dudley— His Conviction of High Treason
— His Book in Favour of Absolute Monarchy — His Execution — An
Estimate of his Character.
IT has been shown that the accession of Henry VII.
marked an epoch in the history of castles ; hence-
forward they could always be battered down, if need
were, by the royal train of siege artillery.
The same date marks, not less clearly, an epoch in
the history of the baronage. The Wars of the Roses
had changed the face of things in more than one
respect ; and not the least of these results had been
the destruction of the baronage by internecine strife.
The feudal lords had spent a considerable term of
years in slaying one another alike on the battle-field
and on the scaffold. The wars had been their wars,
and not the people's. The merchants of the towns
had, with rare exceptions, remained neutral in the
strife ; and the towns had, in consequence, been spared,
219
Warwick Castle '•*-
Philip de Commines, observing the wars with the
impartial eye of a foreigner, notes that "there are
no buildings destroyed or demolished by war," and
that '-the mischief falls on those who make the war."
And that is to say that the mischief fell upon the
barons. On the one hand, trade had been flourishing;
and the traders, through their intimate commercial
relations with Flanders and Burgundy, had been
acquiring wealth. On the other hand, the barons had
fought together until the baronage, as a collective
force, had ceased to be. The weight of their armour,
hindering their flight, no less than their courage and
ferocity, had made them the principal sufferers in
the cases of defeat and massacre ; and nearly every
defeat had been followed by a bloody assize. Few of
them, whether Yorkists or Lancastrians, had survived
the slaughter ; fewer still survived without the dissipa-
tion of their resources, if not the confiscation of their
estates.
In this new condition of things the monarchy had
nothing to fear from them ; and it happened that a
succession of strong kings kept them in the place to
which circumstances had reduced them. Edward IV.
was a strong king. So was Henry VII.; and so, in
a still greater degree, was Henry VIII. We no
longer hear, therefore, of the barons standing up to
the kings and wresting reforms from them. The
strong rule of an absolute sovereign was naturally
preferred by the trading classes to the lawlessness
of the feudal system. The barons, therefore, were
22Q
Warwick Castle *-
dependent upon the royal favour for the position that
they enjoyed. Such insurrections as they raised,
being no longer on the old scale, furnish no real
exception to this rule. For a revolution backed by a
principle, we have to wait until the reign of Charles I. ;
and that revolution was effected, not by the barons,
but by the House of Commons.
Henry VI I. was jealous of the military house-
holds of the barons. These had been forbidden by
Edward IV. in the Statute of Liveries ; but that
statute had not been universally obeyed. Henry VII.
enforced it even against his own most valued friends.
His devoted adherent the Earl of Oxford entertained
him, and he found two lines of retainers in livery drawn
up for his ceremonious reception. " Thank you for
your good cheer, my lord," he said ; " but I must not
endure to have my laws broken in my sight. My
attorney must speak with you." And the attorney
spoke with the Earl of Oxford, and fixed his penalty
at a fine of ,£10,000.
The extortion of money from his subjects on one
pretext or another was, indeed, the one fixed principle
of Henry VII. 's policy; and it is in connection with
the carrying out of this policy that our attention is
first arrested by the name of Dudley, in the person
of the notorious Edmund Dudley. In the history of
the reign no names are more notorious than those of
Empson and Dudley. They are names associated
hardly less closely than those of Marshall & Snelgrove
or Swan & Edgar in these modern times.
-* The House of Dudley
The family history of this Edmund Dudley has
been the subject of acrimonious debate. Sampson
Erdeswicke, the sixteenth-century historian of Stafford-
shire, makes him out to be the son of a carpenter.
This is the argument quoted in Twamley's " History
of Dudley Castle " :—
" This Edmund was the son of one John Dudley,
which the duke would needs have (for so I have heard
Somerset, i.e. Robert Glover, Somerset herald) say
that he saw a descent, wherein the duke with his
own hand had put it down, that he was the second
son of John Sutton, fifth baron of Dudley, of the
Suttons' race, and brother of the first Edward ; but,
whether he was so or not, I will not take upon me
to dispute, being of myself ignorant, except by hearsay
and report ; for I heard it by one who took upon him
to be of good credit (while he lived) that the said
John, father of Edmund, was a carpenter, and, indeed,
born in the town of Dudley, but not of the name,
other than travelling for his living, and happening to
be entertained at work in the abbey of Lewes, in
Sussex, where (growing into favour with the abbot)
he was appointed carpenter to the house, and there
married, and (after the manner as the monks used)
was called John of Dudley, not because his name was
so, but because he was born in Dudley town ; and
having by his wife this Edmund, who was taken into
the house, and there brought up at school, and proving
a towardly child, and apt to learn, the abbot having
scholars' rooms in the university, this Edmund was
223
Warwick Castle <+
placed into one of them. And, after the abbot, having
suits at law, and finding this young scholar ingenious
and wise, took him from the university, and placed
him at the Inns of Court, where he maintained him,
and used him as a solicitor, to follow the suits of the
house ; which he not only did sufficiently and well,
but also so studied the laws of this land, that he became
very well learned in them, and so was brought into
favour of King Henry the Seventh, whereby he was
advanced in manner I have before spoken of."
This story, however, is of doubtful authenticity,
though it was long believed. " The discovery of
his father's will," says the writer of the Life con-
tributed to the " Dictionary of National Biography,"
" practically establishes his pretensions to descent from
the great baronial family of Sutton alias Dudley."
Accepting this view, we may, still following the
" Dictionary of National Biography," trace the Dudley
pedigree from much earlier times.
We begin with one John de Somery, Baron of
Dudley, "owner of the castle and lordship of Dudley,
Staffordshire, which had been in his family since an
ancestor married, in Henry II.'s time, Hawyse, sister
and heiress of Gervase Paganell," who " became Baron
of Dudley in virtue of a writ of summons which was
issued on the meeting of each Parliament summoned
between 1308 and 1322." His sister and co-heiress,
Margaret, married one John de Sutton I. He had
a son, John cle Sutton II., who died in 1359. There
succeeded, in lineal succession, John de Sutton III.
224
a photograph by Charles (,',-an/.
THE MAIN GATEWAY AND PORTCULLIS, WARWICK CASTLE.
\Yar\vick Castle <«-
who was dead in 1370 ; John de Sutton IV., who
died in 1396; John de Sutton Y., who died in 1406;
and John de Sutton VI.
John de Sutton II. was summoned to sit in Parlia-
ment by a writ of February 25th, 1341-42, in which
he is described as Johannes de Sutton de Duddeley ;
but the Suttons III., IV., and V. did not receive this
honour. The sixth John de Sutton did, the writ of
February i5th, 1439, entitling him Johannes Sutton
de Dudley. Hence he is generally regarded, by
Duofdale and other authorities, as the first Baron
£>
Dudley of the Sutton family. The title continued to
be borne, and the writs of summons continued to be
received, until the line failed by the death of the fifth
baron, who had survived his heir, and only left illegiti-
mate male posterity, on June 23rd, 1643.
This first Baron Dudley was a man of some
considerable distinction. He bore the royal standard
at the funeral of Henry V., and under Henry VI.
was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1428 to 1430,
and was afterwards sent as ambassador to Brittany and
Burgundy. In the Wars of the Roses we find him on
the Lancastrian side. He was taken prisoner at the
first battle of St. Albans and sent to the Tower ;
and he was wounded at the battle of Blore Heath.
Edward IV., however, accepted his apologies, granted
him a hundred marks from the revenues of the Duchy
of Cornwall and ^100 from the customs of the port
of Southampton, and sent him to France, with the
Earl of Arundel, on a diplomatic mission in 1477-78.
226
<+> The House of Dudley
He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Berkeley,
and widow of Edward Charlton, last Lord Charlton of
Powys, died in 1487, and left four sons. Of these,
Edmund died in his father's lifetime (though he left
issue to which the title passed) ; William became Arch-
deacon of Middlesex, Dean of the Chapel Royal,
Prebendary of Wells, Bishop of Durham, and Chancellor
of the University of Oxford ; Oliver was killed at the
battle of Edgcote ; and John is believed to have been
the father of the Edmund Dudley with whom we are
now occupied.
John Dudley, whose will, as we have said, establishes
Edmund Dudley's identity, was sheriff of the county
of Sussex in 1485. He lived at Atherington, in Sussex,
and married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of
Thomas or John Bramshot, of the same county. Of
Edmund Dudley we know nothing of importance, except
that he went to Oxford, until we find him studying
law at Gray's Inn, where the Dudley arms were em-
blazoned on one of the windows of the hall. Polydore
Vergil says that his legal knowledge attracted the
notice of Henry VII. on his accession, and that he
was made a Privy Councillor at the age of twenty-three.
However that may be, preferment came to him rapidly.
In 1492 he was employed in negotiating the Peace of
Boulogne ; in 1497 he was, if Stow may be trusted,
Under-Sheriff of London; in 1504 he became Speaker
of the House of Commons; in 1506 he was made
Steward of the Rape of Hastings. But his fame, or
infamy, reposes on his association with Sir Richard
227
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
Empson in carrying out Henry VI I. 's plans for extorting
money, by illegal processes, from his subjects.
The precise locus standi of these two extortioners
is difficult to define. Polydore Vergil calls them fiscales
jndiccs; and Mr. Sidney Lee says that they "probably
acted as a sub-committee of the Privy Council," and
"certainly were not judges of the Exchequer nor of
any other recognised court." As regards their pro-
ceedings, no cold-blooded summary can do justice to
these. It is better to print the strenuous indictment
of Bacon, who wrote with a full knowledge of the
intricacies of the law of the period.
" And as the Kings do more easily find instruments
for their will and humour than for their service and
honour," says Bacon, " he had gotten for his purpose,
or beyond his purpose, two instruments, Empson and
Dudley ; whom the people esteemed as his horse-leeches
and shearers : bold men and careless of fame, and that
took toll of their master's grist. Dudley was of a
good family, eloquent, and one that could put hateful
business into good language. But Empson, that was
the son of a sieve-maker, triumphed always upon the
deed done ; putting off all other respects whatsoever.
These two persons being lawyers in science and privy
councillors in authority, (as the corruption of the best
things is the worst) turned law and justice into worm-
wood and rapine. For first their manner was to cause
divers subjects to be indicted of sundry crimes ; and
so far forth to proceed in form of law ; but when the
bills were found, then presently to commit them ; and
228
Warwick Castle *-
nevertheless not to produce them in any reasonable
time to their answer ; but to suffer them to languish
long in prison, and by sundry artificial devices and
terrors to extort from them great fines and ransoms,
which they termed compositions and mitigations.
" Neither did they, towards the end, observe so
much as the half-face of justice, in proceeding by in-
dictment ; but sent forth their precepts to attach men
and conven them before themselves and some others
at their private houses, in a court of commission ; and
there used to shuffle up a summary proceeding by
examination, without trial of jury ; assuming to them-
selves there to deal both in pleas of the crown and
controversies civil.
" Then did they also use to inthral and charge the
subjects' lands with tenures in capite, by finding false
offices, and thereby to work upon them for wardships,
liveries, premier seisins, and alienations, (being the fruits
of these tenures) ; refusing (upon divers pretexts and
delays) to admit men to traverse those false offices,
according to the law.
" Xay the King's wards after they had accomplished
their full age could not be suffered to have livery of
their lands without paying excessive fines, far exceeding
all reasonable rates.
" They did also vex men with information of intru-
sion, upon scarce colourable titles.
" When men were outlawed in personal actions, they
would not permit them to purchase their charters of
pardon, except they paid great and intolerable sums ;
230
-* The House of Dudley
standing upon the strict point of law, which upon
utlawries giveth forfeiture of goods. Nay contrary to
all law and colour, they maintained the King ought
to have the half of men's lands and rents, during the
space of full two years, for a pain in case of utlawry.
They would also ruffle with jurors and inforce them to
find as they would direct, and (if they did not) conven
them, imprison them, and fine them.
" These and many other courses, fitter to be buried
than repeated, they had of preying upon the people ;
both like tame hawks for their master, and like wild
hawks for themselves ; insomuch as they grew to great
riches and substance. But their principal working was
upon penal laws, wherein they spared none great nor
small ; nor considered whether the law were possible
or impossible, in use or obsolete ; but raked over all
old and new statutes ; though many of them were
made with intention rather of terror than rigour ; ever
having a rabble of promoters, questmongers, and leading
jurors at their command ; so as they could have any
thing found, either for fact or valuation."
Naturally the performances described in this vigorous
language were not productive of popularity. The son
of the baron and the son of the sieve-maker, having
enabled their royal master to amass about four and a
half millions in coin and bullion, became the best-hated
men in the kingdom. Nor was the popular outcry
likely to be diminished by the fact that Dudley, by
the sale ot offices and extra-legal compositions, had
pulled into the Treasury about ,£120,000 a year. He
231
Warwick Castle <*-
and his associate needed all the protection that their
royal protector could afford them.
They were safe during Henry VII.'s lifetime; but
Henry VIII. did not attempt to shield them. He
yielded to the clamour and sent them to the Tower.
It transpired that, while Henry VII. was lying on his
death-bed, Dudley had asked his friends to attend him
in London in arms in the event of his decease. In
all probability he only took this step in self-defence.
He had every reason to fear that there would be
a riot, and that the rioters would endeavour to do
him grievous bodily harm. The Court, however,
chose to see in his action a plot against the life of
Henry VIII.
The King himself, probably disbelieving in the
plot, and meaning to show indulgence, postponed the
execution. Dudley, to give him a pretext for indul-
gence, spent his captivity in writing a political treatise
in favour of absolute government, entitled " The Tree
of Commonwealth." There are MS. copies in the
Chetham Library, Manchester, and in the British
Museum ; and the book was privately printed at Man-
chester by the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross in 1859,
but the copy intended for the King never reached him.
Dudley, despairing of pardon, tried to escape from the
Tower. The attempt failed, however ; and the outcry
against him continuing, he and Empson were sent
together to execution on Tower Hill, after more than
a year's incarceration, on August i8th, 1510.
The summing up of his character is not an agreeable
232
-•> The House of Dudley
task, for his character was thoroughly bad ; and though
he may have had redeeming qualities, all trace of them
has been lost. For the policy which he helped
Henry VII. to carry out, there is this to be said:
that the only way of preserving the peace of the realm
was to keep the great landowners from becoming too
powerful, and that there was no better way of doing
this than to collect feudal dues with rigour and regu-
larity. But that was only the beginning of the policy.
It proceeded to and ended in the miserly accumula-
tion of a hoard by irregular and arbitrary means. In
the pursuit of these practices Edmund Dudley was
Henry VII.'s right-hand man. And he not only did
very well for his master ; his will, of which there is
a copy in the Record Office, shows that he did very
well for himself. Posterity will hardly pardon his
offences because he bequeathed a small portion of his
ill-gotten gains for the maintenance of poor scholars
at Oxford. He will be remembered as the most sordid
servant of the most sordid of the English kings.
233
CHAPTER II
Kdmund Dudley's Family— Andrew Dudley— John Dudley, Earl of Warwick
and Duke of Northumberland— The List of his Honours and Offices
under Henry VIII. and under Edward VI.— His Military Achievements
at Boulogne, at Pinkie, and at Dussindale— His Rivalry with Lord
Protector Somerset — His Acquisition of Dudley Castle— John Knox's
Candid ( )pinion of him.
EDMUND DUDLEY was twice married. By
his first wife, Anne, sister of Andrew, Lord
\Yindsor, and widow of Roger Corbet, of Morton,
Shropshire, he had a daughter, Elizabeth, who married
William, sixth Lord Stourton, and so passes out of
this history. His second wife was Elizabeth, daughter
of Edward Grey, Viscount Lisle, and co-heiress of her
brother John. She bore him three sons, named John,
Andrew, and Jerome.
Of Jerome nothing of consequence is to be re-
corded. Andrew was more notable. He was Admiral
of the Northern Seas ; he was knighted by Somerset
in 1547; he was Keeper of the Wardrobe of Edward VI.,
and Keeper of the Palace of Westminster, and Captain
of Guisnes, where he quarrelled with Lord Willoughby,
Deputy ot Calais, as to the extent of his jurisdiction,
and a Knight of the Garter ; he was commissioned
in 1552 to make a survey of Portsmouth. We shall
meet him again when we come to treat of the attempt
to make the Lady Jane Dudley Queen of England.
234
-* The House of Dudley
For the moment we have to concentrate our attention
upon John Dudley, who became not only Earl of
Warwick, but also Duke of Northumberland, by which
latter title history knows him best.
John Dudley was probably, though not certainly,
born in 1502. His father, as we have seen, was
executed and attainted, when he was eight ; but at
the age of eleven he was restored in blood by Act
of Parliament, the attainder being repealed — a proof
that Henry VIII. did not really bear malice against the
man whose head he had cut off. He hardly could,
seeing that he derived great profit from Edmund
Dudley's evil deeds, and did not himself propose
to be scrupulously deferential to the law, when he
wanted to raise money— as witness his exaction of
benevolences and his spoliation of the religious houses.
The career of John Dudley was synchronous with
the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. — a period
to which we shall have to return in connection with
the ancestors of later Earls of Warwick of the houses
of both Rich and Greville. He was made Earl of
Warwick in 1547 and Duke of Northumberland in
1551. These titles, however, were only a few of his
distinctions. There is, perhaps, no better way of
giving a bird's-eye view of his position in the Tudor
world than to recite the long list of the honours and
offices conferred upon him.
His accumulated title at the end of his life
was Duke of Northumberland, Earl of Warwick,
Viscount Lisle, Baron de Malpas, Somery, Basset
235
Warwick Castle <*-
of Drayton, and Tyes, Lord of Dudley; Knight
of the Garter. He had been — I follow the chrono-
logical order through without peppering the page with
dates — Lieutenant of the Spears of Calais ; Joint
Constable of Warwick Castle and Town ; Keeper of
Goodcrest Manor and Wedgnock Park; Master of
the Armoury in the Tower; Sheriff of the County
of Stafford; Chief of the Henchmen to Henry VIII. ;
Deputy Governor of Calais; Master of the Horse to
Oueen Anne of Cleves ; Member of Parliament for
the County of Stafford; Lord Warden and Keeper of
the King's Marches towards Scotland; Great Admiral
of England, Ireland, and Wales, Calais, Normandy,
Gascony, and Aquitaine; Privy Councillor; Lieutenant
and Captain-General of Boulogne ; Seneschal of the
Boulonnais ; and Ambassador to Paris.
All that in the reign of Henry VIII. The list for
the reign of Edward VI. is longer. In that reign we
find John Dudley Joint Executor to King Henry VIII. ;
a Commissioner for the Trial of Henry, Earl of Suffolk ;
a Commissioner of Claims for the Coronation ; Great
Chamberlain of England; High Steward of Warwick ;
Joint Commissioner to treat with the French Ambas-
sadors; Privy Councillor; Lieutenant and Captain-General
in the Northern Parts ; President of the Council of
Wales ; Lieutenant of the Counties of Cambridge,
Bedford, Huntingdon, Northampton, and Norfolk ;
Great Admiral of England, Ireland, and Wales;
Master of the Game and Master Forester of En-
field Chase; Lord Great Master of the Household;
236
-* The House of Dudley
Lord President of the Council; High Steward of
Great Yarmouth ; Lord Warden General of the
North ; Governor of the County of Northumberland ;
After the picture by Holbein.
JOHN DUDLEY. DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND AND EARL OF WARWICK.
Warden of the East, Middle, and West Marches
towards Scotland ; King's Justice and Lieutenant for
the Counties of Warwick, Oxford, Stafford, North-
237
\Yarwick Castle <*-
umberland, and Cumberland, and the towns of New-
castle and Berwick-on-Tweed ; Constable of Beaumaris
Castle and Captain of Beaumaris ; Chancellor of the
University of Cambridge ; High Steward of Cam-
bridge, of the East Riding of the County of York,
of Holderness and Cottingham ; Keeper of Scrooby
Manor and Park ; Joint Visitor of Eton College ;
Steward of all Honours, Castles, Manors, and Lord-
ships in the Counties of Cumberland, Northumberland,
Westmorland, York, and Durham ; Steward of the
Bishopric of Durham ; and Lord Lieutenant of the
Bishopric of Durham.
It is a long list, and a list that sounds remarkably
well when read aloud. Perhaps during the former of
the two reigns John Dudley was not quite so important
as it might appear to indicate. Some of his functions
were purely ornamental, as when, at the meeting of
the King with Anne of Cleves, at Blackheath, he led
that Princess's spare horse, trapped to the ground in
rich tissue. Other names at this period stand out
more prominently than his — the names, for instance,
of Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell and Sir
I homas More — Dudley's duties being more executive
than administrative.
His feats of arms, however, were considerable,
though they were not achieved in battles of which
the names are household words. He was a child
at the time of the Battle of the Spurs, in 1513 ; but
he was with the Earl of Hertford, afterwards Duke
of Somerset, in the expedition to Scotland in which
238
-•> The House of Dudley
Edinburgh was burnt to the ground ; and Nichols, in his
" Literary Remains of Edward the Sixth," takes a retro-
spective survey of his notable doings in France in 1544.
" John Dudley, Earl of Warwick " (we there read),
" was a Man of ancient Nobility, comely in Stature
and Countenance, but of little Gravity or Abstinence
in Pleasures, yea, sometimes almost dissolute, which
was not much regarded, if in a time when Vices
began to grow into Fashion, a great Man was not
over severe. He was of a great Spirit, and highly
aspiring, not forbearing to make any Mischief the
PvTeans of attaining his ambitious Ends. Hereto his
good Wit and pleasant Speeches were altogether
serviceable, having the Art also, by empty Promises
and Threats, to draw others to his Purpose : In
Matters of Arms he was both skilful and industrious,
and as well in Foresight as Resolution present and
great. Being made Lord Lieutenant of Bulloine,
when it was first taken by the English, the Walls
sore beaten and taken, and in very Truth scarce
maintainable, he defended the Place against the
Dauphin, whose Army was accounted to consist of
52,000 men; and when the Dauphin had entered
the base Town, not without Slaughter of divers of the
English, by a brave Sally, he cast out the French
again, with the Loss of above 800 of their men,
esteemed the best Soldiers in France. The Year
next ensuing, when the French had a great Fleet at
Sea for Invasion of England, he was appointed
Admiral, and presented Battle to the French Navy ;
239
Warwick Castle «-
which they refused, and returned home with all their
Threats and Cost in vain. Hereupon he landed 5,000
Men in France, fired Treport, and divers Villages
thereabouts, and returned to his Ships with the loss
only of one Man. To say Truth, for Enterprises by
Arms, he was the Minion of that Time, so as few
Things he attempted but he achieved with Honour,
which made him more proud and ambitious when he had
done. He generally increased both in Estimation with
the King, and Authority among the Nobility, doubtful
whether by fatal Destiny to the State, or whether by
his Virtues, or at least by his Appearances of Virtues."
It was the reign of Edward VI., however, that
was the important period of John Dudley's life. In
that reign he became at once prominent and unpopular.
The victory of Pinkie, in 1547, was chiefly won by
him ; and in 1549 he put clown the agrarian rising
of Ket the Tanner, at the battle of Dussindale. A
seditious leaflet of the time, entitled " The Epistle of
Poor Pratte to Gilbert Potter," shows that men were
disposed to give him an ugly nickname : —
" I have (faythfull Gilbard) scattered abroad thre
of the bokes more, and two also have I sent into
the ragged beares campe. Ke.pe that close which
thou hast ; the world is daungerous. The great devell,
Dudley, ruleth ; (duke, I shuld have sayd) : wel, let
that passe, seing it is oute, but I truste he shall not
longe. I have proved, if I could get a M. of them
imprinted in some straunge letter, and so a nomber
of them to be disparsed abroade."
240
The House of Dudley
Dudley's only
formidable political
rival at this period
was Lord Protector
Somerset; and with
Somerset he dealt
successfully. At a
meeting of his
friends at his house
in Ely Place it was
averre,d that
Somerset was in
rebellion against
the King ; and
Somerset was duly
despatched to the
Tower. In the
Tower Somerset
continued to in-
trigue ; and this
time he was tried
for plotting against Dudley's life, and brought in due
course to the scaffold. Then Dudley had no rival
whom he could not afford to despise, and took over
the Great Seal from Lord Chancellor Rich, the ancestor,
by a curious coincidence, of our next series of Earls
of Warwick.
It was at this period that he had a genealogical
tree compiled to establish his descent from the House
of Sutton, and purchased Dudley Castle from the then
THE WATER-TOWER, WARWICK CASTLE.
VOL. I.
241
Warwick Castle *
head of the Sutton family, under circumstances which,
if Dugdale's account of the transaction can be trusted,
were very far from creditable to him. This is what
Dugdale says in his " Baronage" : —
"It is reported, by credible Tradition, of this
John Lord Dudley; that, being a weak man of under-
standing, whereby he had exposed himself to some
wants, and so became entangled in the Usurers
Bonds : John Dudley, then Viscount Lisle, and Earl
of Warwick (afterwards Duke of Northumberland)
thirsting after Dudley-Castle (the chief seat of this
Family) made those Money-Merchants his Instruments,
to work him out of it ; which by some Mortgage being
at length effected, this poor Lord became exposed to
the Charity of his Friends for a subsistence ; and
spending the remainder of his life in Visits amongst
them, was commonly called the Lord Quondam."
Another proof of Dudley's increasing unpopularity,
in some circles at all events, may be found in his quarrel
with John Knox, the great Scottish Reformer. He had
been a good friend to that truculent pulpiteer, and had
even tried to get him a bishopric. But on December
7th, 1552, we find him writing that he thinks Knox
" neither grateful nor pleasable," and we also find Knox
returning the compliment with interest. The language
is vigorous, though the sentences are involved ; and
the general tenor of the discourse is clear enough : —
" But yet ceassed not the Devell to blowe hys
wynde, but by his wicked instrumentes founde the
meanes, how, against nature, the one broder should
242
The House of Dudley
assent to the death of the other1: and fynding the
same instrumentes apt enough whose labours he had
used before, he blewe suche mortal hatred betweene
From an old print.
THE LADY MARY DUDLEY, AFTERWARDS THE WIFE OF SIR HENRY SIDNEY,
AND THE MOTHER OK SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.
two which appeared to have bene the chief pillers under
the Kinge : for that wretched (alas !) and miserable
Northumberlande could not be satisfied tyl such tyme as
symple Somerset most unjustlye was bereft of his lyfe.
1 Alluding to the sacrifice of Lord Seymour of Sudcley by the Duke
of Somerset.
243
\Yarwick Castle *-
" And who, I pray you, ruled the rooste in the
courte all this tyme by stoute corage and proudnes of
stomack but Northumberland ? But who, I pray you,
under Kynge Edwarde, ruled all by counsel and wyt ?
shall I name the man ? I wil wryte no more plainly
now then my tongue spake the last sermon that it
pleased God that I should make before that innocent
and most godly Kynge Edward the Syxte and before
his counsdl at Westminster, and even to the faces of
such as of whom I ment. Entreatynge this place of
scripture, Qui edit inccmn panein, sustulit adversus me
calcancinu sunm, that is, 'He that eateth bread with
me hath lifted up his heele against me,' I made this
affirmacion, That commonlye it was sene, that the most
godly princes hadde officers and chief counseilours most
ungodlye, conjured enemies to Goddes true religion,
and traitours to their princes. Not that their wicked-
nesse and ungodlynesse was spedely perceyved and
espied out of the said princes and godly men, but
that for a tyme those crafty colourers would so cloke
their malice against God and his trueth, and their
holowe hartes towarde their loving maisters, that, by
worldly wysedome and pollicie at length they attained
to high promotions."
Thus hedged about by enemies, John Dudley pro-
ceeded to lay the plot that was destined to undo him.
He was great and powerful, but not so great and
powerful as one of his predecessors in the Warwick
Earldom. It would appear that the laurels of the
King-maker did not suffer him to sleep.
244
CHAPTER III
John Dudley's Children — The Family Conspiracy in Favour of Lady Jane
Dudley— The Death of King Edward and the Failure of the Plot— The
Treatment of the Conspirators — "The Saying of John, Duke of
Northumberlande, uppon the Scaffold" — His Character — His Son, John
Dudley, who succeeded him, but died soon after his Release from the
Tower.
BY his wife, Jane, daughter and heiress of Sir
Edward Guilford, John Dudley had five sons
and two daughters. The sons were John, known in
his father's lifetime as Lord Lisle and Earl of Warwick ;
Ambrose, subsequently Earl of Warwick ; Robert, who
was to become very famous as Earl of Leicester; Lord
Guilford Dudley ; and Lord Henry Dudley, who fell
at the battle of Saint Quentin. The daughters were
Mary, wife of Sir Henry Sidney, and mother of Sir
Philip Sidney ; and Catherine, who married Henry
Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon. In the plot now to
be related, Northumberland had the support of all his
sons, as well as of his brother, Sir Andrew Dudley.
The excuse for the plot was loyalty to the principles
of the Reformation. But John Dudley was only a
time-serving reformer ; and his real object was obviously
the aggrandisement of his own house. According to
the will of Henry VIII., the Princess Mary stood
next to Edward VI. in order of succession to the
MS
Warwick Castle *-
throne ; but the Princess Mary was a bigoted Roman
Catholic, and England under Edward VI. was a Pro-
testant country. That might have been a good reason
for refusing to allow her claims, and passing on to the
nearest Protestant claimant ; but John Dudley decided
to pass a good deal further than that.
He induced the young King, who was entirely
under his influence, to sign letters patent for the
" limitation of the crown." The limitations provided
for were peculiar and extensive, and explicable by no
motive save a single-hearted desire to benefit the
House of Dudley. The Princess Mary was excluded,
not as a Catholic, but as a " bastard " ; the Princess
Elizabeth was excluded for the same reason. The
descendants of Henry VII.'s elder sister, Margaret,
who had married James IV. of Scotland, were excluded
because they were not mentioned in the will which it
was proposed to set aside. Next in order came
Frances, Lady Grey, daughter of Henry VII.'s
younger daughter, Mary, by her marriage with Brandon,
Duke of Suffolk. Lady Grey, however, was passed
over in favour of her eldest daughter, Jane ; and the
plot was completed by the celebration of a marriage
between Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guilford Dudley,
who brought his wife to live in the Dudleys' London
house. There was opposition to the marriage ; but
Dudley, by his truculent violence, overbore it.
The marriage took place on May 2ist, 1553.
Simultaneously — and presumably with the view of
further consolidating the Dudley influence — Lady Jane's
246
The House of Dudley
sister Catherine married Lord Herbert, son of the Earl
of Pembroke, and Lord Guilford's sister Catherine
married Lord Hastings, son of the Earl of Huntingdon.
On July 6th Edward VI. died, and then Dudley's
power was put to the test. The summary of the
events of the next few days may be borrowed from
M r . Sidney
Lee's concise
narrative in the
" Dictionary of
National Bio-
graphy " :—
" No public
announcement
was made till
8 July. On the
evening of the
9th Northum-
berland carried
Lady Jane be-
fore the Council,
and Ridley
preached in
favour of her succession at St. Paul's Cross. Lady
Jane swooned when informed by the Council that
she was Edward's successor. On 10 July she was
brought in a barge from Sion House to the Tower
of London, pausing on her way at Westminster and
Durham House. After taking part in an elaborate
procession which passed through the great hall of the
247
From an old print
THE I.ADY JANK GREY, WHO WAS WEDDED TO
LORD GUILFORD DUDLEY.
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
Tower, Lady Jane retired with her husband to apart-
ments which had been prepared for her. Later in the
clay she signed a proclamation (printed by Richard
Grafton) announcing her accession, in accordance with
the statute 35 Henry VIII. and the will of the late
King, dated 21 June. Orders were also issued to
the lords-lieutenant making a similar announcement, and
despatches were sent to foreign courts. These were
signed ' Jane the Ouene.' Public proclamation of her
accession was, however, only made at King's Lynn
and Berwick. On 9 July the Princess Mary wrote
to the Council declaring herself Edward YI.'s lawful
successor. On the iith twenty-one councillors, headed
by Northumberland, replied that Lady Jane was Queen
of England. On 12 July Lord-treasurer Winchester
surrendered the Crown jewels to the new Queen Jane
(see inventory in Harl. MS. 611), and on the same
day she signed a paper accrediting Sir Philip Hoby
as her Ambassador at the Court of Brussels. Lord
Guilford Dudley, Lady Jane's husband, claimed the
title of king ; but Lady Jane declined to admit the
claim, and insisted on referring the matter to parliament."
Meanwhile, the eastern counties had risen as one
man for the cause of the Princess Mary. John Dudley
decided to march against them with an army of ten
thousand men ; but he seems to have started in a
despondent frame of mind. "The people" (i.e. the
Londoners), he noted, " crowd to look upon us, but
not one calls ' God speed ye.' " He lost his nerve,
retired to Cambridge, and let himself be arrested.
248
-•> The House of Dudley
Suffolk, meanwhile, had also thrown up the sponge,
told his daughter to retire into private life, and pro-
claimed Queen Mary at the gates of the Tower.
Never before in English history had a serious
pretender been so rapidly disposed of; and the reason
why is not far to seek. The people in general had no
particular objection to Lady Jane Dudley, about whom
they knew very little ; but they had the strongest
objection to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland,
about whom they knew a great deal. Under his
rdgime> as under that of the Lord Protector Somerset,
there had been iniquitous misrule. Roman Catholics
had been persecuted beyond all decency and reason ;
the Oxford library, for instance, had been scattered to
the four winds of heaven on the ridiculous ground
that the books contained in it were papistical. The
Treasury had been depleted, and the coinage had been
debased ; while favourites had been enriched. John
Dudley, like Edmund Dudley, had used his tenure of
power to line his pockets. The objection to be ruled
over by a nominee of the Dudleys, with a Dudley
for royal consort, was instinctive. Consequently the
plot collapsed like a house of cards ; there was not
even anything worthy to be called a civil war.
In the matter of retributive justice the so-called
Bloody Mary behaved, on the whole, more mildly
than might have been expected. Even the innocent
usurper, after pleading guilty of high treason, would
almost certainly have been pardoned, had not her
father once again proclaimed her Queen at Leicester,
249
Warwick Castle
and the rising of Sir Thomas Wyatt, and the desertion
to him of the Duke of Norfolk's train-bands, given
the impression that she was still dangerous. Sir
Thomas, in fact, was within an ace of "rushing"
London. If Mary had only been a little less energetic
in appealing to the loyalty of the citizens at the
Guildhall, he would have crossed Southwark Bridge,
and her reign would have been over. After that, it
is not surprising that she decided on the decapitation
of Lord Guilford and Lady Jane Dudley, who died
together on February i2th, 1554. Even so she
pardoned Lord Guilford Dudley's brothers. The
only member of the family whose pardon could not
even be contemplated was the arch-plotter, John, Earl
of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland.
He, indeed, had already been hurried to the block
within a month of his arrest, and had made a very
unedifying end. His dying speech and confession was
an ignominious recantation of the Protestant opinions
which he had for years avowed, and a cowardly de-
claration that "others" had "induced" him to his
treasonable courses. Under the title of " The Saying
of John, Duke of Northumberlande, uppon the
Scaffolde," it was printed by " John Cawood, printer
to the Oueenes highness " soon after his death. I
give it here : —
" Good people, all you that be here preset to
see me dye. Though my death be odvouse and
horrible to the flesh, yet I pray you judge the beste
in goddes workes, for he doth all for the best. And
250
.„;,-•:
Reproduced from Mr. William Robertson Dick's "Inscriptions and Devices in the Beanchamp
fmi'cr, Tower of London," by the kind permission of Mr. Dick, the author and artist.
AN INSCRIPTION BY JOHN DUDLEY (ELDEST SON OK JOHN DUDLEY, DUKE OF
NORTHUMBERLAND), IN THE BEAUCHAMP TOWER, TOWER OF LONDON.
The device consists of the family crest— the lion, bear, and ragged staff— which is surrounded by
a border containing sprigs of oak, roses, geraniums, and honeysuckle, emblematical of the Christian
names of his four brothers : Ambrose, Robert, Guilford, and Henry. Beneath are the lines :—
"Yow that these beasts do wel behold and se
May deme withe ease wherfore here made they be
Withe borders eke wherin
4 brothers names who list to serche the grovnd."
The third line may be finished "there may be found"
\Yar\vick Castle <•-
as for me, I am a Wretched synner, & have deserved
to dye, and moste justly am condemyned to dye by a
law. And yet this acte Wherefore I dye, was not
altogether of me (as it is thoughte) but I was pro-
cured and induced thereunto by other. I was I saye
induced thereunto by other, howbeit, God forbyd that
I \voulde name any man unto you, I wyll name no
man unto you, (& therefore I beseche you loke not
for it).
"I for my parte forge ve all men, and praye God
also to forge ve the. And yf I have offended anye of
you here, I praye you and all the worlde to forgeve
me : and moost chiefly I desire forgevenes of the
Ouenes highnes, whome I have most grevousliye
offended. Amen sayde the people. And I pray you
all to witnes with me, that I depart in perfyt love
and charitie with all the worlde, and that you wyl
assiste me with youre prayers at the houre of death.
" And one thinge more good people I have to
saye unto you, which I am chiefly moved to do for
discharge of my conscience, & that is to warne you and
exhorte you to be ware of these seclitiouse preachers,
and teachers of newe doctryne, which pretende to
preache Gods worde, but in very deede they preache
theyr owne phansies, who were never able to explicate
the selves, they know not to day what they wold
have to morowe, there is no stay in theyr teaching
& doctryne, they open the boke, but they cannot shut
it agayne. Take hede how you enter into strange
opinions or newe doctryne, which hath done no smal
252
-* The House of Dudley
hurte in this realme, and hath justlye procured the ire
and wrath of god upon us, as well maye appeare who
so lyst to call to remembraunce the many-fold plages
that this realme hath ben touched with all synce we
dissevered oure selves from the catholyke church of
Christ, and from the doctryne whiche hath ben re-
ceaved by y holy apostles, martyrs, and all saynctes,
and used throughe all realmes christened since Christ.
"And I verely beleve, that all the plagues that
have chaunced to this realme of late yeares synce
afore the death of kynge Henrye the eyght, hath justly
fallen upon us, for that we have devyded our selfe
from the rest of Christendome whereof we be but as
a sparke in compariso. Have we not had warre,
famyne, pestylence, y death of our kinge, rebellion,
sedicion amonge our selves, conspiracies? Have we
not had sondrye erronious opinios spronge up amonge
us in this realme, synce we have forsake the unitie of
the catholyke churche ? and what other plagues be
there that we have not felt ?
" And yf this be not able to move you, then loke
upon Germanye, whiche synce it is fallen into this
scysme and division from the unitie of the catholike
church is by continuall dissention and discorde,
broughte almoost to utter ruyne & decaye. Therefore,
leste an utter ruyne come amonge you, by provokynge
to muche the juste vengeance of God, take up betymes
these contentions, & be not ashamed to returne home
agayne, and joyne youre selves to the rest of Christen
realmes, and so shall you brynge your selves againe
253
Warwick Castle <*-
to be membres of Christes bodye, for he canot be
head of a dyftbrmed or monstruous body.
" Loke upon your crede, have you not there these
wordes : I beleve in the holy ghost, the holy catholik
churche, the communio of saynctes, which is the
universall number of all faythfull people, professynge
Christe, dispersed throughe the universall vvorlde ; of
whiche number I trust to be one. I could bryng
many mo thinges for this purpose, albeit I am
unlearned, as all you knowe, but this shall suffice.
" And heare I do protest unto you good people,
moost earnestly even from the bottome of my harte,
y this which I have spoken is of my selfe, not
beyng required nor moved therunto by any man, nor
for any flattery, or hope of life,, and I take wytnes
of my lord of \Yorcestre here, myne olde frende and
gostely father, that he founde me in this mynde and
opinion when he came to me : but I have declared
this onely upon myne owne mynde and affection, for
discharge of my conscience, & for the zeale and love
that I beare to my naturall countreye. I coulde good
people reherse muche more even by experience that I
have of this evyl that is happened to this realme by
these occasions, but you knowe I have an other thyng
to do, wherunto I must prepare me, for the tyme
draweth awaye.
"And nowe I beseche the Ouenes highnes to
forgeve me myne offences agaynst her majestic, wherof
I have a singular hope, forasmuch as she hath already
extended her goodnes & clemency so farre upon me
254
-+> The House of Dudley
that where as she myghte forthwith without judgement
or any further tryall, have put me to moste vyle &
cruell death, by hanging, drawing, and quartering,
forasmuch as I was in the feild in armes agaynst her
highnesse, her majestic nevertheles of her most mercyfull
goodnes suffred me to be brought to my judgement,
and to have my tryall by the lawe, where I was most
justly & worthelye condempned. And her highnes
hath now also extended her mercye and clemencye
upon me for the manner and kynde of my death.
And therefore my hoope is, that her grace of her
goodnes wyl remyt al the rest of her indignation and
displeasure towardes me, whiche I beseche you all
moost hartely to praye for, and that it may please
God longe to preserve her majestic to reigne over
you in muche honour and felicitie. Ame, sayd the
people.
" And after he hadde thus spoken he kneeled downe,
sayinge to them that were about : I beseche you all to
beare me wytnesse that I dye in the true catholyke
fayth, and then sayde the Psalms of Miserere, and
De profundis, and his Pater nostre in Latin, and sixe
of y fyrste verses of the psalme, In te domine speraui
endynge with this verse, Into thy handes O lorde I
comend my spirite. And when he had thus finished
his prayers, the executioner asked him forgevenes, to
whom he sayde : I forgeve y with all my harte, and
doo thy parte without feare. And bowynge to warde
y block he sayd, I have deserved a thousand deaths,
and ther upon he made a crosse upon the strawe,
255
Warwick Castle <+-
and kyssed it, and layde his heade upon the blocke,
and so dyed."
Decidedly nothing in John Dudley's life became
him less than the leaving of it. But for the closing
scene he might have passed for a brave man,
if not for a good man. As it is, he forfeited the
admiration even of the Puritans, who might have
pardoned him for enriching himself by the plunder
of the Church ; and can only be classed as a sorry
simulacrum of the King-maker, who was presumably
his model. His motto — " Ung Dieu, ung Foy, ung
Roy " — was singularly ill-chosen. It is recorded in
the Grey Friars' Chronicle that " all the people reviled
and called him traitor, and would not cease for all
they were spoke unto for it " — which, indeed, was the
treatment that he merited.
His son John, who succeeded him, may be very
briefly dismissed. His only public appointment seems
to have been that of Master of the Horse. The only
other notable fact about him is that Sir Thomas Wilson
dedicated to him his " Arte of Rhetorique." He died
ten days after his pardon for complicity in Lady Jane
Dudley's usurpation. His wife, whom he married at
Sheen, the King being present at the ceremony, was
Anne, ninth daughter of the Duke of Somerset, and
eldest daughter of Somerset's second wife, Anne,
daughter of Sir Edward Stanhope. She subsequently
married Sir Edward Unton, K.B., by whom she had
seven children ; but John Dudley died without issue,
his heir-at-law being his next brother, Ambrose.
256
CHAPTER IV
Ambrose Dudley — -His Imprisonment and Release — His Exploits at Saint
Quentin and Exemption from the Act of Attainder— His Appoint-
ments— His Command against the French at Havre — His Appointment
as Commissioner for the Trial of Mary Queen of Scots— Her Special
Appeal to his Sense of Justice.
rTHHE date of the birth of Ambrose Dudley is
JL uncertain, but it seems probable that he was
born in 1528. From 1546 to 1549 we find him
styled Ambrose Dudley, Esquire. He was knighted
before December 2Oth, 1549, and created Baron Lisle
and Earl of Warwick in December, 1561.
His public services began in the reign of Edward VI.
He then was not only a prominent figure at Court
tournaments and other festivities, and on intimate terms
with the King and his younger sister, Princess Eliza-
beth, but also served with his father, the Duke of
Northumberland, in the war against the Norfolk
rebels. It was presumably for his services in that
connection that he got his knighthood. His com-
plicity in the Lady Jane Grey conspiracy has already
been mentioned. He was committed to the Tower
on July 25th, 1553, convicted of treason, with his
brothers Henry and Guilford, on November i3th in the
same year, but pardoned and set at liberty, after about
fifteen months' imprisonment, on October i8th, 1554.
VOL. I. 257 S
Warwick Castle *-
In spite of the Act of Attainder against his family,
he was not destitute, since in 1555 he became Lord of
Hale Owen by his mother's death. As a Protestant
he could hardly have expected his position at home
to be comfortable ; but Mary went to war with
France, as the ally of her husband, Philip of Spain,
and so he found his chance of foreign service.
It was one of the least glorious wars in all our
English annals. Perhaps it was not entirely a disadvan-
tageous war to us, since sorrow for the loss of Calais,
which resulted from it, is said to have brought the
Bloody Mary prematurely to her grave. But the
military honours were all with the Due de Guise,
whose insolent statues now salute the eye at every
turn in Calais town. He recovered " the brightest
jewel in the English crown," as people called it,
and then took Guisnes, which was our last possession
on French soil ; and the English people became so
disgusted with their Queen that they would not help
her to recover the lost territory, and did not care
whether the word " Calais " would be found graven
on her heart, after her death, or not. So long as she
died, the rest was a detail of no consequence.
The Dudleys, however, distinguished themselves
at the siege of Saint Ouentin. Henry Dudley lost
his life there, as we have seen. Ambrose Dudley
(who held the rank of captain) and Robert Dudley
were rewarded for their gallantry by exemption from
the Act of Attainder in which all the family had
been involved. That was on March ;th, 1557. In
258
Am brofe Dudley ISarl of Warwick
W Jf Aitl^jrafi/, ef V//-7/7V . v E . / ' .' I
From the original, formerly in the possession of John Thane.
Warwick Castle <*-
1^58 Queen Mary died without issue, and Queen
Elizabeth succeeded her. Her friendship stood
Ambrose Dudley in good stead, and opened the door
of favour and preferment. The dawn of the day of
advantages was marked by the grant of the Manor
of Kibworth Beauchamp, in Leicestershire, and the
office of Chief Pander at coronations ; and when the
fountain of honour had once begun to flow on him it
flowed freely.
Me became successively Master of the Ordnance ;
a Knight of the Garter ; an M.A. of Cambridge ; an
M.A. of Oxford; Master of the Buckhounds ; Chief
Commissioner of Musters in the County of Warwick ;
Joint Commissioner of Musters in London ; Lord
Lieutenant of the County of Warwick and the City
of Coventry ; Chief Butler of England ; Lieutenant of
the Order of the Garter ; Chief Commissioner of the
Musters in the Counties of Warwick, Stafford, North-
ampton, Oxford, Berks, and Buckingham ; Keeper of
Hatfield \Voocl or Great Park and Middle Inninge
and Lanley Parks ; High Steward of the Manor of
Grafton ; Master Forester of Whittlewood and Salcey
Forests; Keeper of Grafton Park and Chase and Hart-
well Park ; Chancellor and Chamberlain of Anglesey,
Carnarvon, and Merioneth; and High Steward of St.
Albans. All this apart from the commissions and ap-
pointments which gave him his definite place in
English history. He also played his part in the
French war and in the drama of which the central
figure was Mary Queen of Scots.
260
<••> The House of Dudley
The two stories are really two parts of one story.
Mary Queen of Scots was the Roman Catholic
claimant to the English throne, in virtue of her
descent from Henry VII.'s sister, Margaret. Her
n an old print.
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
(Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, was one of the Commissioners at her trial.)
marriage with the Dauphin, as well as her religious
opinions, acquired her the countenance and even the
active support of France. Therefore it was necessary
to fight France ; and after the French had been got
261
Warwick Castle <*-
out of Scotland by the Treaty of Edinburgh, the
Huguenot rising under Admiral Coligny suggested a
diversion on French soil. The Huguenots had got
possession of Havre, and offered to surrender that
town to Elizabeth if she would send them. help. She
sent an expedition there, with Ambrose Dudley, Earl
of Warwick, in command.
The expedition was a failure, though the blame
can hardly be laid upon the shoulders of the general.
He did well enough until the Protestants and
Catholics came to terms and requested him to
evacuate the town. This, acting on instructions, he
refused to do. Then the citizens plotted his assas-
sination, and he turned them out, with the result
that Catholics and Protestants joined forces to
besiege him. Even so it was not the French army
but the outbreak of a pestilence that beat him. His
garrison endured the plague for three months, dying
like flies, but still holding their own. At last Warwick
obtained leave to surrender, and the capitulation took
effect on July 29th, 1563. He was hit by a poisoned
bullet while in the act of discussing the terms on the
rampart, and suffered from the effects of the wound
for the remainder of his life. His army came home,
bringing the plague with them, and spreading it all
over England.
This was the end of the alliance between the
French and the Scots. The assassination of the Due
de Guise and the personal enmity between Mary
Queen of Scots and Catherine of Medicis did more
262
-*> The House of Dudley
than any feat of English arms to terminate it. But
Mary Queen of Scots had not, for that reason, ceased
to be dangerous. Her next contrivance was to appeal
to the English Catholics. It was to concentrate their
allegiance that she married Darnley, who, as the grand-
son of Margaret Tudor by her second marriage with
the Earl of Angus, stood next to her in the order of
succession. The match was a challenge to English
Protestantism, and gave the greater offence in
England because there had been talk of a marriage
between her and the Earl of Warwick. The indig-
nation was deepened by the sense of danger. The
leading Scottish Protestants were driven over the
Border, and the loyalty of the northern counties of
England was undermined. " Her friends were so
increased," an ambassador wrote to Mary, " that
many whole shires were ready to rebel, and their
captains named by election of the nobility."
The danger was real, but the conduct of Mary
Queen of Scots averted it. The murder of Darnley
began the alienation of the affections of her subjects,
though her complicity in the crime was not estab-
lished. Her marriage with Bothwell, the murderer,
completed it. Her agent in England warned her.
"If she married that man," he wrote, " she would
lose the favour of God, her own reputation, and the
hearts of all England, Ireland, and Scotland." But
she persisted, and her people rose. Her brother, the
Earl of Murray, came back to assume the Regency,
and she was taken as a prisoner to Lochleven Castle.
263
Warwick Castle *-
She escaped from Lochleven, crossed the Solway
in a small boat, and came to Carlisle. While Eliza-
beth and her advisers were considering what should
be done with her, there were Catholic risings and
intrigues, in which were implicated, among others,
the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland,
Lord Dacre of Naworth, and the Duke of Norfolk.
The Duke of Norfolk, at all events, was found to
have been in treasonable correspondence with Philip
of Spain. These designs were duly checked, and the
Queen of Scots remained for some years in more or
less comfortable captivity. She was tired of it, and
was willing to sign any agreement, if only she might
be released. " Let me go," she wrote to Elizabeth, " let
me retire from this island to some solitude, where I
may prepare my soul to die. Grant this, and I will
sign away every right which either I or mine can claim."
This, however, was at the time when the pre-
parations for the Great Armada were proceeding.
Instead of being released, Mary Queen of Scots was,
as is well known, brought to trial before a Com-
mission of Peers at Fotheringay Castle. The Earl
of Warwick was one of the Commissioners. From
one of Lord Kenyon's MSS., under the title of "The
Conference or Commyssone between the Quene of
Scottes and the Lordes, concerninge the examinacion,"
I copy some passages in which his name appears :—
1586. "Upon Wednesdaie, the 12 of October,
the Lordes Commissioners for hearinge the Scottishe
Quene came to the Castle of Fotheringhey, in the
264
The House of Dudley
County of Northampton, aboute nyne of the clocke
in the morninge, at which houre, in the chappell of
the said castle, the Deane of Peterboroughe preached
before them. From the sermone, [they wente to the
Counsell, in the
Cbunsell Chamber
of the same house,
and from thence
sente Sir Walter
Myldmaye and Sir
Amias Pawlette,
Governoure of the
house , to the
Scottishe Ouene,
to knowe whether
shee woulde ap-
peare or no.
There was allso
delivered unto her
a letter from her
Majestic, to that
efFecte." [She re-
fused to appear all
HE GATE-HOUSE, WARWICK CASTLE.
that day and
Thursday, but on
Friday she appeared about nine o'clock. Below the bar
sat such gentlemen as came to see the action, and among
those on the right side was the " Earle of Warwicke."]
Then, in the account of the second day's hearing,
we read : —
265
\Yarwick Castle
" Shee said unto the Earle of Warwicke that shee
hard hee was an honourable gentleman, desiringe him
not to beleve all thinges that hee hard of her,
desiringe him to comende her to my Lord of
Leycester, sayinge that shee wished him good
successe in all his affaires."
The passage bears testimony to the mildness and
sweet reasonableness of Ambrose Dudley's character —
a character which earned him the popular designation
of the Good Lord Warwick. But it was not to be
expected that the appeal would save Mary Stuart.
She was foredoomed to death. At last, after much
hesitation, real or feigned, Elizabeth signed the death-
warrant of her beautiful and unfortunate rival, and the
tragedy of Fotheringay was played to its dramatic
close. Of Mary, like her ill-fated grandson, Charles I.,
it may be truly said, that if she did not know how to
reign, at least she knew how to die, and surely by
her death she wiped out all her failings.
But we have anticipated the chronological order
of events, and must turn back to other incidents in
Ambrose Dudley's life. The most interesting of them
is his reception of Queen Elizabeth at Warwick Castle.
266
CHAPTER V
The Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Warwick — Extracts from the Account of
the Ceremonies in the Borough and the Festivities at the Castle given
in "The Black Book of Warwick."
SPLENDOUR and pleasure," says John Richard
Green, " were with Elizabeth the very air she
breathed. Her delight was to move in perpetual pro-
gresses from castle to castle through a series of gorgeous
pageants, fanciful and extravagant as a caliph's dream."
The date of the visit to Warwick Castle was I572.1
It is the first of the royal visits about which really
detailed information is available. Before proceeding
to give our account of it, we may fitly pause and
attempt to draw some sort of a picture of the town
of Warwick as it appeared in the Elizabethan age.
This has been very well done by Mr. Thomas Kemp
in the introduction to his edition of " The Black Book
of Warwick,"2 from which I will quote: —
1 There had been a previous visit, but no particulars of this are
discoverable.
- " The Black Book of Warwick" is a MS. preserved among the archives
of the borough, containing a record, unfortunately not quite continuous and
complete, of municipal doings from the time of Queen Elizabeth to that
of James II. The more interesting portions of it were published, some
years ago, in the Warwickshire Antiquarian Magazine. A more complete
transcription, with an admirable historical introduction, was made by Mr.
Thomas Kemp, sometime mayor of the town, and published by Messrs.
Henry T. Cooke & Sons, the well-known Warwick booksellers, in 1898.
This is the transcription that I have used. My debt of gratitude to Mr.
Thomas Kemp is great.
267
\Yar\vick Castle *
" The main thoroughfares and chief features of
Warwick in the i6th century were much the same
as they are now. Although the great fire, of 1694
destroyed a large portion of the town, as well as the
nave of St. Mary's Church, there are still enough of
the old houses remaining to show us what the Warwick
of that day was like. Near to the present Court
House in Jury Street, which probably occupies the
site of the old one, there stood a cross, which
is often referred to as the High Cross or simply
the Cross. If any one will stand at this spot with
his back to the Court House he will have Church
Street and St. Mary's Church facing him ; on his
right down Jury Street he will see one of the old
gates of the town, viz. the East Gate, with St.
Peter's Chapel above it ; on his left up High Street,
called in Elizabeth's days High Pavement, he will
see another gate, the \Vest Gate, with St. James's
Chapel above it. Both these gateways, at the time
of the commencement of the Black Book, were in a
ruinous condition, and most of the town walls were
down. The North Gate, which stood in Northgate
Street, had even at that time disappeared. The Castle
stood for the South Gate. The beautiful Chancel of
St. Mary's, the Vestry and Chapter House, and the
Beauchamp Chapel were much the same as at
present. Opposite to the Chapter House a door,
now filled up by a cupboard, led into the Chancel,
and the screen dividing the lobby from the Vestry
was not then pierced for a doorway. In the south-
268
From a painting by Znccaro in the National Portrait Gallery. Photo by Walker & Cockerell,
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Painted about the time oj her visit to Warwick Castle.
Warwick Castle *-
east angle of the South Transept there was a circular
staircase leading to an organ loft at the west end of
the Beauchamp Chapel. The body of the Church,
which covered nearly the same area as the existing
one, consisted of nave, aisles and transepts, of
shallower projection than the present ones, the nave
having four bays, and being lighted by six clerestory
windows, and in the walls of each aisle were three
windows. The transept windows were large and
handsome, and somewhat similar to the Chancel
east window. At the east end of the South Aisle
stood the large altar tomb, with canopy over, of
Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who built the
nave in the latter half of the i4th century, and of
his Countess, but this was destroyed in the great fire.
The brass effigies which were on the tomb however
survived, and are now placed against the east wall of
the South Transept. St. Mary's was then, as now,
sometimes called the High Church, either from its
position on the top of the hill, or from its being the
principal Church in the town. The Tower was lower
than the present one, and over the South Porch there
was a room, which had been once occupied by John
Rous, the Warwickshire Antiquary, who died in
1491, and was buried in St. Mary's. The Tower
appears to have contained a peal of eight bells. St.
Nicholas' Church, possibly as old as St. Mary's, was
pulled down and re-built in 17/9. Our information
with regard to old St. Nicholas' is very meagre, as
there are no plans or drawings extant, except the
270
-*> The House of Dudley
distant view in Hollar's view of Warwick, in Dugdale,
and in some other old engravings. It consisted, in
Elizabeth's reign, of nave, chancel, and west-end tower
and spire, and had a north porch. In the churchyard
there was a cross. The Tower contained a clock and
bells, which were continually being repaired. A bell
was rung at 5 o'clock in the morning, and at 8 o'clock
at night. The Church roof was of shingles, i.e. thin
pieces of wood instead of tiles, which were frequently
renewed. The Chancel was also roofed with shingles.
"The Priory, on the north side of the town, now
the residence of S. S. Lloyd, Jun., Esq., was then a
modern building, occupying the site however of a very
old ecclesiastical establishment. In a westerly direction
from the North Gate ran a street called Walldyke.
In the Saltisford, in a decayed condition, stood St.
Michael's Church. The remains of this building, con-
sisting of the east and west gables, the walls, and a
portion of the roof, now form part of a blacksmith's
forge. Going westwards from St. Mary's, we pass
through the Old Square, and reach the Market Place.
In Elizabeth's time the Old Square was called Pibble
Lane, and in it were Oken's Almshouses : these were
destroyed by the great fire, and were re-built adjoin-
ing Eyffler's houses on the Castle Hill. In the
Market Place there stood a Booth Hall, in which
were shops let to tenants for terms as long as 21
years, and somewhere near to the spot which the
Market Hall and Museum now occupy there were
the remains of St. John the Baptist's Church, even
271
\Yar\vick Castle <+-
then a ruin, of which no vestige now remains. In the
Market Place, also, stood the pillory, and the stocks.
Towards the north side there was a Market Cross,
which was afterwards pulled clown by Colonel Purefoy
during the Civil War between Charles I. and the
Parliament. Close by here was Horse Chipping on
the Morse Market. Turning down Brook Street, then
called Cow Lane, at the lower end of which was the
Rother Chipping or Beast Market, we come to the
Leycester Hospital, which presents the same appearance
now as it did in Elizabeth's reign, although even at
that time it was of respectable age, having being built
in the latter half of the 1410 century. Close to this
is the West Gate. Somewhere near to West Street
stood St. Lawrence's tithe barn. From the south side
of the West Gate ran a lane called Britten Lane, in
which were several barns and gardens. From the
West Gate the street runs straight to the East Gate.
Beyond this gate is Smith Street, in which stood
another tithe barn. Turning southward from the
East Gate, and going down Castle Hill, we come to
Mill Street, which is full of ancient half-timbered
houses ; at the bottom of this street, which runs down
to the Avon, the river was spanned by a bridge of
many arches, spoken of as the great bridge, and now
a picturesque ruin. Over this bridge we come to
Bridge End, which was once a more populous suburb
of Warwick than at present, and turning to the left
the road leads to My ton ; it was over this bridge that
Queen Elizabeth rode when she entered Warwick;
272
-•> The House of Dudley
it was over this bridge also that the Bailiff and his
company passed, when they went to Myton to vindicate
the law, as described in the account of the Myton
riots. As the road over this bridge was the highway
to London, it must have been a place of some traffic,
and the noble owner of the Castle in Elizabeth's days
would see from the Castle windows the pack-horses
bringing goods to the houses of Thomas Oken and
other tradesmen in the town, and altogether gaze
upon a busier scene than that presented to the view
of the present Earl and Countess. From the bottom
of Mill Street another street, Castle Street, led up by
the Castle walls to the High Cross before mentioned.
In no part of Warwick have there been so many changes
as about the old bridge, consequent on ' the building of
the present bridge, the enlarging of the Castle grounds,
and the diversion of the road to the Asps, which took
place about 100 years ago. The Castle in Elizabeth's
days was more open to the town, and nearer to the
boundary than at the present time, as the wall enclosing
the grounds was then almost close to the moat. By
this wall ran a road which joined Castle Street near
to Guy's Tower, and at this point a gate opened into
the grounds, from which there was an approach to the
Castle gateway. Part of Castle Street, and other
land within the town, were added to the Castle
grounds, as before mentioned, by George, Earl of
Warwick, at the end of the last century. The gateway
between the Bear Tower and Clarence Tower appears
to have been opened since Elizabeth's time. The
VOL. i. 273 T
Warwick Castle *-
Castle Park then consisted of fields, which were
enclosed by George, Earl of Warwick, at the same
time that he built the present Castle Bridge, or
contributed the greater part of the cost of its erection,
and formed the lake, known as the ( New Waters,' and
diverted part of the Banbury and London Road. This
road ran across part of the present park, and crossed
ground now covered by the New Waters. Along this
road came Queen Elizabeth, when she visited Warwick
in 1572, and on the side of the New Waters,
farthest from the town, is Ford Mill Hill, where
she was met by the Bailiff, as described in the Black
Book. Turning northwards from the East Gate we
are in the Butts, where stood then Butts for the
practice of Archery."
The population of Warwick at this period is
computed by Mr. Kemp at 2,600. The borough
returned two burgesses to Parliament, one of whom
appears to have been the nominee of the Earl of
Warwick. It was governed by a bailiff and twelve
principal burgesses, with an equal number of assistants.
These assessed the amount which each citizen was to
pay to the relief of the poor ; it ranged from a half-
penny to a shilling a week. The town had a Grammar
School at the Burgh Hall, now the Leicester Hospital.1
Rents ranged from two shillings a year for a cottage
to thirty shillings a year for a good-sized house. There
were various inns : " in all probability there was a good
1 The foundation of the Earl of Warwick's brother, Robert Dudley, Earl
of Leicester.
274
-*» The House of Dudley
hostelry on or near to the site of the present Warwick
Arms in High Street," and "a Cross Tavern near to
the High Cross," and "somewhere in the town an
inn with the sign of the Unicorn." Vagrants were
much in evidence : —
" There seem to have been a good many men and
women tramping about in search of work, as people
from all parts of the county as well as from Yorkshire,
Lancashire, Lincolnshire, and other counties were
brought up before the magistrates and examined as to
their means of support. These examinates included
the scholar who made his moan to the Vicar, the
travelling doctor, the man who journeyed from place to
place with a false passport, and the common vagrant,
who was sent to the stocks for a day and a night as
a rogue. The ruffian also, the drunkard, the common
thief, the Sabbath-breaker, and the recusant, who
absolutely refused to go to the Church, were all features
in Elizabethan Warwick. There were also a consider-
able number of beggars, both men and women and
children, about the town."
And market day was, much more than at the
present time, a great and notable occasion : —
" By the Charter of Philip and Mary, Tuesday and
Saturday were appointed market days ; and so on these
days buyers and sellers came from all the villages round
about to \Varwick Market ; they came even from
villages and places some distance away, as among the
licenses to people to sell and buy wheat, rye, barley, etc.,
in the market, and to badgers, i.e. men who bought corn
275
Warwick Castle <*-
or grain to sell again for profit, licenses were given
to people from Tan worth, Coleshill, Minden, Minworth,
Northfield, and King's Norton ; and it is curious and
interesting to notice that licenses were granted to
people from Birmingham and our neighbour borough
of Leamington, then the little village of Priors
Lemington. On these market days proclamations, if
any, were made from the High Cross, and criminals
were publicly whipped about the Market Place. The
market tolls were collected, as they are at the present
day, by the Sergeant-at-Mace, who was an officer
appointed each year by the bailiff on his entering
upon his term of office. There appears to have been
a considerable fair on St. Bartholomew's Day, when
a nag could have been bought for i6s. or 175., and
an ox for £$. There was also a fair on St. Simon's
and 5t. Jude's Day."
Such was Warwick when Queen Elizabeth came to
visit it. Our account of the visit must be taken from
the above-mentioned " Black Book," though I will take
the liberty of modernising the spelling and also of
introducing some stops. The original, not being
punctuated, is confusing.
" Be it remembered," we read, " that in the year
of our Lord God one thousand five hundred seventy
and two, and in the fourteenth year of the reign of
our sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth, the twelfth day of
August, in the said year, it pleased the said sovereign
lady to visit this Borough of Warwick. Whereof the
Bailiff of the Borough and the principal Burgesses being
276
The House of Dudley
advised by the Right Honourable the Earl of Leicester,
the said Bailiff and principal Burgesses aforestated, with
some other of the commoners, after the election of
Edward Aglionby to be their Recorder, in place of
Mr. William
W i g s t o n ,
Knight, pre-
pare them-
selves, accord-
ing to their
bounden duty,
to attend her
Highness, at
the uttermost
confinesof their
Liberty, to-
wards the place
from whence
her Majesty
should come
from dinner,
Which WaS at From a picture f or,,, criy in the possession of John Thane.
I rhino-ton the ANNE DUDLEY, COUNTESS OF WARWICK, THE THIRD
O WIFE OF AMBROSE DUDLEY.
house of
Edward Fisher, being six miles from Warwick, where it
pleased her Highness to dine the said i2th of August,
being Monday. The direct way from whence leading by
Tachbrook, and so through Myton field, it therefore
was thought convenient, by the said Bailiff, Recorder,
and Burgesses, to expect her Majesty by the gate
277
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
between Tachbrook field and Myton field. Never-
theless, the weather having been very foul long time
before, and the way much stained with carriage, her
Majesty was led another way through Chesterton
pastures, and so Okely, and by that means came toward
the town by Ford Mill ; whereof the said Bailiff,
Recorder, and Burgesses having word, they left their
place afore taken and resorted to the said Ford Mill
Hill, where they were placed in order, first the Bailiff,
then the Recorder, then every one of the Burgesses
in order kneeling. And behind Mr. Bailiff kneeled
Mr. Griffyn, preacher. Her Majesty, about three of
the clock, in her coach, accompanied with her Lady
of Warwick,1 in the same coach, and many other ladies
and lords attending, — namely, the Lord Burghley,
lately made Lord Treasurer of England ; the Earl of
Sussex, lately made Lord Chamberlain to her Majesty ;
the Lord Howard of Effingham, lately made Lord Privy
Seal ; the Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain of
England ; the Earl of Rutland ; the Earl of Huntingly
[for Huntingdon], lately made President of the North;
the Earl of Leicester, Master of the Horse; and many
other bishops, lords, ladies, and great estates, — approached
and came as near as the coach could be brought."
The speech must certainly be given at length,
though with the same modifications. It breathes the
spirit of the period. Here it is : —
' The manner and custom to salute princes with
1 Ambrose Dudley's third wife, Anne, daughter of Francis Russell,
Earl of Bedford, whom he married in 1565.
278
-*> The House of Dudley
public orations hath been of long time used, most
excellent and gracious sovereign lady, — begun by the
Greek, confirmed by the Roman, and by discourse bf
time continued even to these our days. And because
the same were made in public places, and open
assemblies of Senators and Councillors, they were
called, both in Greek and Latin, panegyrics. In
these were set forth the commendations of Kings
and Emperors, in the sweet sound whereof, as the
ears of evil princes were delighted by hearing their
undeserved praises, so were good princes, by the
pleasant remembrance of their known and true virtues,
made better, being put in mind of their office and
government. To the performance of these orations
of all the three styles of Rhetorick or figure speech
the highest was required. Which thing considered,
most gracious lady, it abasheth me very much to
undertake this enterprise, being not exercised in these
studies, occupied and travelling in the common and
private affairs of the country, and your Highness'
service here. The Majesty of a Prince's countenance,
such as it is reported to have been in Alexander, in
the noble Roman Marius, in Octavius the Emperor,
and of late time in the wise and politic prince King
Henry the Seventh, your grandfather, and in your
noble and victorious father King Henry the Eighth,
whose looks appalled the stout courages of their
beholders, — the same also remaining in your Highness,
may soon put me both out of countenance and re-
membrance also. Which if it happen, I most humbly
27?
Warwick Castle <*-
beseech your Highness to lay the fault there rather
than to any other my folly or want of good regard
of my duties, who could not have been brought to
this place if the good will which I have to declare
both mine own dutiful heart towards your Highness
and theirs also who enjoined me this office had not
far surmounted the fear and disability which I felt in
myself.
" But the best remedy for this purpose is to be
short of speech. Which I intend to use in this place,
having spoken a few things touching the ancient
and present estate of this borough, and the joyful
expectation which the inhabitants of the same have
of your Grace's repair hither. For if I should enter
into the commendation of the divine gifts of your
royal person, of the rare virtues of your mind,
ingrafted in you from your tender years, of the
prosperous achievement of all your noble affairs, to
the contentation of your Highness and the wealth of
your Dominions, I should rather want time than
matter to be tedious to your Highness, when I
should, both to myself and others, have seemed so
scant in praises.
" And yet, if we should forget to call to re-
membrance the great benefits received from God by
the happy and long-desired entrance of your Majesty
into the imperial throne of this realm, after the pitiful
slaughter and exile of many of your Highness' godly
subjects, the restoration of God's true religion, the
speedy change of wars into peace, of dearth and
280
-* The House of Dudley
famine into plenty, of our huge mass of dross and
counterfeit money into fine gold and silver, to your
Highness' great honour, whose prosperous reign hath
not been touched hitherto by any troublous season
(the rude blast of one insurrection except, which, being
soon blown over and appeased by God's favour, hath
made your happy government to shine more gloriously,
even as the sun after dark clouds appeareth more clear
and beautiful) — if this, I say, were not remembered,
we might seem unthankful unto God, unnatural to
your Majesty : Of which thing I would say more
if your Majesty were not present, but I will leave,
considering rather what your modest ears may abide
than what is due to your virtues, thanking God that
he hath sent us such a prince indeed, as the noble
Senator Caius Plinius truly reported of the good
Emperor Trajanus, calling him in his presence, with-
out fear of flattery, Castum sanctum et deo simillimum
principem.
" But to return to the ancient estate of this town of
Warwick. We read in the old writings and authentic
chronicles the same to have been a city or walled
town in the time of the Britons, called then Carwar ;
and afterwards in the time of the Saxons that name
was changed into Warwick. We read also of noble
Earls of the same — namely, of one Guydo or Guy,
who, being Baron of Wallingford, became Earl of
Warwick by marriage of the Lady Phyllis, the sole
daughter and heir of that house in the time of King
Athelstan, who reigned over this land about the year
281
Warwick Castle *-
of our Lord God 933. We read also that it was
endowed with a bishop's see, and so continued a
flourishing city, until the time of King Ethelred, in
whose days it was sacked and burnt by the Danes,
and brought to utter desolation — the common evil of
all barbarous nations overflowing civil countries, as
may appear by the famous cities and monuments of
Germany, France, and Italy, defaced and destroyed by
the Goths, Vandals, Normans, and Huns.
" Since this overthrow it was never able to recover
the name of a city, — supported only of long time
by the countenance and liberality of the Earls of that
place, especially of the name of Beauchamp, of whom
your Majesty may see divers noble monuments re-
maining here until this day — whose noble services
to their Princes and country are recorded in histories
in the time of King Henry the Third, King
Edward the First, Second, and Third, and so on
until the time of King Henry the Sixth, about
whose time that house, being advanced to Duke-
dom, even in the top of his honour failed in
heirs male, and so was translated to the House of
Salisbury, which afterwards decayed also. And so
this Earldom, being extinct in the time of your High-
ness' grandfather King Henry the Seventh, remained
so all the time of your noble father, our late dread
sovereign King Henry the Eighth, who, having
compassion of the pitiful desolation of this town,
did incorporate the same by the names of Burgesses
of the town of Warwick, endowing them also with
282
-* The House of Dudley
possessions and lands to the value of £^ 35. 4d.
by year, enjoining them withal to keep a Vicar to
serve in the Church, and divers other Ministers,
with a Schoolmaster for the bringing up of youth in
learning and virtue.
" The noble Princess, Queen Mary, your Highness'
sister, following the example of her father in respect
of the ancientness of the said town, by her letters
patent augmented the corporation by creating a Bailiff
and twelve principal Burgesses, with divers other
liberties and franchises, to the advancement of the
poor town and the perpetual fame and praise of her
goodness, so long as the same shall stand. Your
Majesty hath graciously confirmed these letters patent,
adding thereunto the greatest honour that ever came
to this town since the decay of the Earls Beauchamp
aforenamed, by giving unto them an Earl, a noble and
valiant gentleman, lineally extracted out of the same
house. And further of your goodness and bountiful-
ness, your Majesty hath advanced his noble and worthy
brother to like dignity and honour, establishing him in
the confines of the same liberty, to the great good and
benefit of the inhabitants of this town. Of whose
liberality (being enabled by your Highness only) they
have bountifully tasted by enjoying from him the
erection of an hospital to the relief of the poor of
the same town for ever, besides an annual pension
of £s° by year bestowed by him upon a preacher,
without the which they should lack the heavenly food
of their souls by want of preaching, the town not
283
\Yanvick Castle «-
being able to find the same by reason that the
necessary charges and stipend of the minister and
other offices there far surmount their yearly revenues,
notwithstanding the bountiful gift of your noble father
bestowing the same to their great good and benefit.
" Such is your gracious and bountiful goodness.
Such are the persons and fruits rising up and spring-
ing out of the same. To which two noble personages
I know your Majesty's presence here to be most
comfortable, most desired, and most welcome.
"And to the inhabitants of this town the same
doth bode and prognosticate the conversion of their
old fatal decay and poverty into some better estate
and fortune, even as the coming of Carolus Magnus
to the old ruins of Agnisgraun, now called Achi, in
Brabant, being an ancient city builded by one Granus,
brother to Nero, was the occasion, by the pitiful
compassion of so noble a Prince, to re-edify the same
and to advance it to such honour as until this day it
receiveth every Emperor at his first coronation.
" Hut what cause soever hath brought your Majesty
hither — either the beautifulness of the place or your
Highness' gracious favour to these parties — surely the
incomparable joy that all this country hath received
for that it hath pleased you to bless them with your
comfortable presence cannot by me be expressed.
But as their dutiful hearts can show themselves by
external signs and testimonies, so may it to your
Majesty appear : the populous concourse of this multi-
tude, the ways and streets filled with companies of all
284
The House of Dudley
ages desirous
to have the
fruition of your
divine counte-
nance, the
houses and
habitat ions
themselves
changed from
their old naked
bareness into
a more fresh
show, and as
it were a smil-
ing liveliness,
declare suffici-
ently, though I
spake not at all,
the j o y f u 1
hearts, the
singular affec-
tions, the ready and humble wills of us your true-
hearted subjects. And for further declaration of the
same we, as the Bailiff and Burgesses of this poor
town, do present to your Majesty a simple and small
gift, coming from large and ample willing hearts,
though the same be indeed as a drop of water in the
ocean sea in comparison of that your Majesty deserveth—
and yet in their substance as much as the two mites of
the poor widow mentioned in the Scripture.
285
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S HUNTING LODGE, IN THE
GROUNDS OF WARWICK CASTLE.
Warwick Castle
" So their hope and most humble desire is that
your Highness will accept and allow the same, even
as the said two mites were allowed, or as the handful
of water was accepted by Alexander the Great, offered
unto him by a poor follower of his, measuring the gift
not by the value of it, but by the ready will of the
offerers, whom your Majesty shall find are ready and
willing to any service that you shall employ them in
as those that be greatest.
" And thus, craving pardon for my rude and large
speech, I make an end, desiring God long to continue
your Majesty's happy and prosperous reign over us,
even to Nestor's years, if it be his good pleasure.
Amen, Amen."
The speech, it seems, was listened to, and not
taken as read — rightly, since it has an historical as
well as a literary interest. Our narrative proceeds : —
" The oration ended, Robert Phillips, Bailiff rising
out of the place where he kneeled, approached now
to the coach or chariot wherein her Majesty sat, and
coming to the side thereof, kneeling down, offered
unto her Majesty a purse, very fair wrought, and in
the purse £20, all in sovereigns, which her Majesty,
putting forth her hand, received, showing withal a
very beaming and gracious countenance, and, smiling,
said to the Earl of Leicester :
' My lord, this is contrary to your promise.'
" And, turning toward the Bailiff:
" ' I thank you, and you all, with all my heart,
for your good wills. And I am very loath to take
286
^ The House of Dudley
anything at your hands now, because you, at the last
time of my being here, presented us to our great
liking and contentation. And it is not the manner to
be always presented with gifts, and I am the more
unwilling to take anything of you because I know that
a mite of their hands is as much as a thousand pounds
of some others. Nevertheless, because you shall not
think that I mislike of your good wills, I will accept
it with most hearty thanks to you all, praying God
that I may perform, as Mr. Recorder saith, such
benefit as is hoped.'
"And therewithal offered her hand to Mr. Bailiff
to kiss — who kissed it ; and then she delivered to
him again the mace, which before the oration he had
delivered to her Majesty, which she kept in her lap
all the time of the oration. And, after the mace
delivered, she called Mr. Aglionby to her, and offered
him her hand to kiss, and, withal smiling, said :
'• ' Come hither, little Recorder. It was told me
that you would be afraid to look upon me, or to
speak so boldly ; but you were not so afraid of me
as I was of you. And I now thank you for putting
me in mind of my duty, and that should be in me.'
"And so thereupon, showing a most gracious
and favourable countenance to all the Burgesses and
company, said again :
" ' I most heartily thank you all, my good people.'"
Then came " Mr. Griffyn the preacher," advancing
with a paper in his hand. Her Majesty seems to
have apprehended something tedious, for she said: "If
287
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
it be any matter to be answered, we will look upon
it, and give your answer at my Lord of Warwick's
House." But it was only a Latin acrostic — -the sort
of thing that Queen Elizabeth liked. " These verses,"
it seems, " her Majesty delivered to the Countess of
Warwick, riding with her in the coach, and my Lady
of Warwick showed them to Mr. Aglionby, and Mr.
Aglionby to this writer, who took a copy of them."
(Vide Appendix.)
And now, after the account of the visit to that
town, we come to the account of the visit to the
Castle.
" Then," our chronicler proceeds, " the Bailiff, the
Recorder, and principal Burgesses were commanded to
their houses, which they took with as good speed as
they might, and in order rode two and two together
before her Majesty from the Ford Mill till they came
to the Castle Gate. And thus were they marshalled
by the heralds or gentlemen ushers : first the Attend-
ants or Assistants to the Bailiff to the number of 30,
two and two together in coats of puce laid on
with lace ; then the 1 2 principal Burgesses in gowns
of puce lined with satin and damask upon foot-
clothes ; then two bishops ; then the Lords of the
Council ; then next before the Queen's Majesty was
placed the Bailiff in a gown of scarlet, on the right
of the Lord Compton, who then was High Sheriff of
this Shire, and therefore would have carried up her
rod into the town — which was forbidden him by the
heralds and gentlemen ushers, who, therefore, had
288
-»> The House of Dudley
placed the Bailiff on the right hand with his
mace.
" And in this manner her Highness was conveyed
to the Castle Gate, where the said principal Burgesses
and Assistants stayed, every man in his order, dividing
themselves on either side, to make a lane or room
where her Majesty should pass ; who, passing through
them, gave them thanks, saying withal, 'It is a
well-favoured and comely company.'
" What that meant let him divine that can.
" The Bailiff nevertheless, rode into the Castle,
still carrying up his mace, being so directed by the
gentlemen ushers and heralds, and so attending her
Majesty up into the hall — which done he repaired
home. On whom the principal Commoners and Bur-
gesses attended to his house, from whence every man
repaired to his own home ; and Mr. Recorder went
with John Fisher, where he was simply lodged,
because the best lodgings were taken up by Mr.
Comptroller."
So far of the Bailiff An account of the Queen's
own movements follows : —
" That Monday night her Majesty tarried at
Warwick, and so all Tuesday. On Wednesday she
decreed to go to Kenilworth, leaving her household
and train at Warwick, and so was on Wednesday
morning conveyed through the streets to the North
Gate, and from thence through Mr. Thomas Fisher's
grounds,1 and so by W'oodloes, the fairest way to
1 The Priory,
vol.. I. 289 u
\Yar\vick Castle <«-
Kenil worth, where she rested at the charge of the
Lord of Leicester from Wednesday morning till
Saturday night, having in the meantime such princely
sport made to her Majesty as could be devised. On
Saturday night, very late, her Majesty returned to
Warwick.
"And, because she would see what cheer my Lady
of Warwick made, she suddenly went unto Mr. Thomas
Fisher's house, where my Lord of Warwick kept his
house, and there finding them at supper sat down
awhile, and after a little repast rose again, leaving
the rest at supper, and went to visit the good man
of the house, Thomas Fisher, who at that time was
grievously vexed with the gout. Who, being brought
out into the gallery end, would have kneeled, or rather
fallen down, but her Majesty would not suffer it, but
with most gracious words comforted him, so that for-
getting, or rather counterfeiting, his pain, he would in
more haste than good speed be on horseback the next
time of her going abroad — which was on Monday fol-
lowing, when he rode with the Lord Treasurer, escorting
her Majesty to Kenilworth again, reporting such things
as, some for their untruths and some for other causes,
had been better untold ; but as he did it by counsel
rashly and in heat, so by appearance at leisure coldly
he repented.
" What these things mean is not for every one to
know."
Next comes the account of the rejoicings when
it pleased the Queen " to have the country people
290
-* The House of Dudley
resorting to see the dance in the Court of the Castle,
her Majesty beholding them out of her chamber-
window." The leading feature of the entertainment
was " a show of fireworks prepared for that purpose
in the Temple Fields." Our chronicler apologises for
the imperfections of his descriptive report on the
ground that he was "sick in his bed," and therefore
could not see them. Nevertheless, he informed himself
about them carefully, and says : —
" The report was that there was devised on the
Temple ditch a fort made of slender timber covered
with canvas. In this fort were appointed divers
persons to serve as soldiers ; and therefore so many
harnesses as might be gotten within the town were
had, wherewith men were armed and appointed to
show themselves. Some others were appointed to cast
out fireworks, as squibs and balls of fire.
" Against that fort was another, castle- wise pre-
pared, of like strength, whereof was governor the
Earl of Oxford, a lusty gentleman with a lusty band
of gentlemen. Between these forts, or against them,
were placed certain battering pieces to the number
of 12 or 13, brought from London, and 12 score
chambers l or mortice pieces, brought also from the
town at the charge of the Earl of Warwick. These
pieces and chambers were by trains fired, and so
made a great noise, as though it had been a sore
assault — having some intermission, in which time the
Earl of Oxford and his soldiers to the number of
1 A kind of short cannon.
291
Warwick Castle <•-
200 with qualevers and arquebuses likewise gave divers
assaults."
Unhappily this display of pyrotechnics was not
entirely harmless : —
" The fort, shooting again and casting out divers
fires, terrible to those that have not been in like
experience, valiant to such as delighted therein, and
indeed strange to them that understood it not. For
the wild fire falling into the river of Avon would for
a time lie still, and then again rise and fly abroad,
casting forth many flashes and flames, whereat the
Queen's Majesty took great pleasure till after, by
mischance, a poor man or two were much troubled.
For, at the last, when it was appointed that the
overthrowing of the fort should be, a dragon flying,
casting out huge flames and squibs, lighted upon the
fort, and so set fire thereon, to the subversion thereof.
Hut, whether by negligence or otherwise, it happed
that a ball of fire fell on a house at the end of the
bridge, wherein one Henry Covvy, otherwise called
Miller, dwelt, and set fire on the same house, the
man and wife being both in bed and asleep.
Which burned so as, before any rescue could be, the
house and all things in it utterly perished, with much
ado to save the man and woman. And besides that
house another house or two adjoining were also fired,
but rescued by the diligent and careful help as well
of the Earl of Oxford, Mr. Fulke Greville, and other
gentlemen and townsmen, which repaired thither in
greater number than could be ordered. And no
292
-* The House of Dudley
more avail it was that so little harm was done, for
the fireballs and squibs cast up did fly quite over the
Castle and into the midst of the town, falling down,
some on houses, some in courts and backsides, and
some in the streets, as far as almost of St. Mary
Church, to the great peril, or else great fear, of the
inhabitants of this borough. And so as, by what
means is not yet known, four houses in the town
and suburbs were on fire at once, whereof one had a
ball come through both sides and made a hole as
big as a man's head."
We can have no difficulty in agreeing with our
chronicler that " when this fire appeared it was time
to go to rest." Something was done the next morn-
ing for the victims of it, when " it pleased her
Majesty to have the poor old man and woman that
had their house burnt brought unto her ; whom, so
brought, her Majesty recomforted very much, and by
her great bounty and other courtiers there was given
towards their losses that had taken hurt ^"25 i 2s. 8d. or
thereabouts, which was dispensed to them accordingly."
And so the entertainment ended — the cost of
it, apart from the damage done, being a cause of
some vexation and anxiety, as we gather from our
chronicler's concluding words : —
"On Monday her Majesty, taking great pleasure
in the sport she had at Kenilworth, would thither
again, where she rested till the Saturday after, and
then from thence by Charlecote she went to the
Lord Compton's, and so forward.
293
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
"In the meantime, the Earl of Warwick keeping
house at the Priory to his great charge, the town
offered unto his lordship a small present. That was
a fat ox and 10 muttons or wethers fed, which it
seemed his lordship took very courteously. So as,
in the end, at his going away, it pleased him to
appoint 4 bucks to be given and delivered to the
Bailiff and townsmen to make merry withal, and in
money [ ]/ which both were promised by his
officers, but nothing delivered.
" And thus briefly I thought good to touch some
part of her Majesty's repair hither, though, for want
of understanding of many things omitted, and by
reason of long sickness, being not able to put the
same in writing, all things be not remembered. But
the writer thinketh it better to report somewhat than
leave all undone- -the town having been at so great
charge, as may appear by the Bailiff's account, where
the common charge is set forth particularly."
1 There is a blank here in the MS.
294
CHAPTER VI
Ambrose Dudley and Local Affairs — His Concern for Good Government —
His Interference with Parliamentary and Municipal Elections — Other
Events of his Later Years— The Amputation of his Leg — His Death—
His Character.
A FEW other incidents in the life of Ambrose
Dudley remain to be recorded. The " Black
Book," in particular, contains various illustrations of
his interest in the affairs of Warwick.
In 1575 we find him taking measures for the
expulsion of a bigamist who had come from Stratford-
on-Avon, and who, in addition to this offence against
law and morality, was " a man very contentious, proud,
and slanderous, oft busying himself with naughty matters,
and quarrelling with his honest neighbours." Ambrose
Dudley's letter on the subject, addressed to " my very
friend William Hudson at Warwick," runs as follows : —
" GOOD MR. HUDSON,
" I am given to understand by a letter of
yours, directed unto George Turville, that one Wedge-
wood is come again to be a dweller in Warwick : who
for his ill behaviour and dishonest living was afore
banished by my commandment. And therefore I am
to desire you in my name to deal with the Bailiff and
Masters of the Town that he may not remain there for
295
Warwick Castle '+-
evil example to others in the like case. And so I bid
you farewell with my hearty commendations from the
Court at Woodstock, this second of October, 1575.
" Your very friend,
" A. WARWICK."
We have similar evidence of his influence in Par-
liamentary elections. He writes to " my loving friends
the; Bailiff and the rest of the company of the Town
of Warwick " thus : —
" After my hearty commendations. I have received
letters from my lords of the Council, importing the
great desire her Majesty hath of good choice to be
made of wise, discreet, and well-disposed persons to
serve as Knights and Burgesses in this Parliament, now
summoned by her Highness' order to begin in April
next. And being thereby required on her Majesty's
behalt that I for my part (to avoid some enormities)
will take care that the Burgesses within that town to
be chosen be to all respects meet and worthy those
Rooms, I have thought good like as to signify this
much unto you, so to pray you to consider thereof
accordingly. And albeit it may be there is no want
of able men among yourselves for the supply of the
matter, yet the special opinion I have upon good
cause conceived of my friend Mr. Edward Aglionby's
sufficiency doth move me to recommend him unto you
for one of your burgesses, being a man not only well
known among you, but one I dare undertake you
shall find very forward in the advancement of anything
296
The House of Dudley
From the picture in the collection of the Marquis of Salisbury at HatfieU.
AMBROSE DUDLEY, EARL OF WARWICK.
that may tend to the common profit and commodity ot
your town. Whereof not doubting but you will have
due regard I bid you heartily farewell. At Westminster,
the i Qth of February, 1570.
"Your loving friend,
" A. WARWICK."
297
Warwick Castle <*-
Eighteen years later we find him writing similar
letters on behalf of a relative of his own. It will be
sufficient to give one of them :—
" To my very loving friends the Bailiff and
Burgesses of Warwick :
" After my hearty commendations. Whereas
you are now to make choice of the Burgesses of the
Parliament for your Town, I have thought good to
recommend unto you my kinsman, Thomas Dudley,
to be used in that place for you. He is a man
who hath heretofore served in the same place, and
of that sufficiency every way as I know not which
way you might better be sped ; and therefore I
would entreat you to make present choice of him ;
and let me understand of the same by your letters.
I would be loath he should be prevented by any
other man's suit unto you. And therefore I desire
your expedition herein, which I will take in very
good part, and thank you all in his behalf. So
I bid you heartily farewell. From London, this 2ist
of September, 1588.
" Your assured loving friend,
" A. WARWICK."
It is characteristic of the period that this letter was
sent by a special messenger, who was instructed to wait
for an answer. The tenor of the answer shows that
the relations between the Earl and the citizens were
satisfactory. It runs thus : —
298
-* The House of Dudley
" To the Right Honourable our very good Lord,
the Earl of Warwick, his good Lordship :
" Our duty in most humble manner promised to
your good Lordship. The same may please to be
advertised that upon receipt of your honourable letters
this day touching the election of Mr. Thomas Dudley
to be one of the Burgesses for the Parliament of this
Town, we are ready and most willing to satisfy your
Lordship's request so far as in us lieth. Nevertheless,
until some warrant come under her Majesty's great seal,
the election cannot be perfected. Yielding unto your
honour all dutiful gratuity as becometh us in this and all
things else. At Warwick, this 25th September, 1588.
" Your most honorable Lordship's to command,
" WILLIAM WORSTER (Bailiff), RICHARD FISHER,
RICHARD TOWNSEND, JOHN FISHER, THOMAS
Po\YELL, JOHN RlGELEV, JOHN GREEN, ROBERT
SHELDON, ROGER HURLEBUTT, JOHN HICKS,
CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT, JOHN TOWNSEND."
The Earl's benefactions to the town may account
for his popularity. He and his brother Robert, Earl
of Leicester, whom Warwick also remembers gratefully,
granted to the corporation, in 1576, the East Gate,
St. Peter's Chapel, and the Shire Hall. It is interesting
to find that Sir Fulke Greville, about whom we shall
have a good deal to say presently, was present at the
signing of the deed of gift. A translation of it will be
found among the appendices.
Irregularities in the conduct of elections and in the
299
\Yanvick Castle
expenditure of public money were other matters which
aroused the interest of the Earl of Warwick. "As
regards the election of principal burgesses," says Mr.
Kemp, " the poor Bailiff and his brethren seem to
have been unjustly and unnecessarily harassed " by the
Karl and his brother ; but it is a long and intricate
story, the rights and wrongs of which are far from
easy to determine. We read of delegations travelling
to London, and of counsel's opinion being taken, and
of suits in Chancery which almost recall the case of
Jarndyce versus Jarndyce.
It begins because a certain Brookes, having a
grievance, " becometh an open enemy and voweth the
overthrow and breaking the neck of the Corporation,"
and " informeth my Lord [of Leicester] that divers things
be misgoverned by the Bailiff and Burgesses," notably
that " they waste the yearly revenues rising of lands
and tenements given to find ministers, and that to their
private advantage," and that " they take no accounts or
recognizances how the money is bestowed," and that
" the Bailiffs are and have been unduly and not
lawfully chosen."
The quarrel dragged on for years. I will not pre-
tend to understand it sufficiently well to take a side
in it. But I will print some of Ambrose Dudley's
letters about it. They show, to some extent, what
manner of man he was — a man zealous for the proper and
orderly conduct of municipal affairs, and accustomed to
speak to the citizens in authoritative tones, as one whose
habit it was to be listened to respectfully and obeyed.
300
From a lithograph.
THE CHANTRY CHAPEL, ADJOINING THE BEAUCHAMP CHAPEL, WARWICK.
\Yar\vick Castle
The first letter is as follows : —
" To my very loving friends, the Bailiff and
Burgesses of the Town of Warwick :
" After my hearty commendations. Whereas
sundry sums of money hath been given to that town
by divers well-disposed persons and good benefactors,
to be employed and used to good purposes — which
sums was given under very strict conditions, that if it
can be proved the money not to be bestowed according
to the good meaning of those benefactors but translated
to other private purposes, that then the sums of money
so bestowed should return to the executors of the
said benefactors, and the town utterly to lose the
benefit of so great benevolence ; and whereas I am
informed the said sums of money have been well
employed until now of late, and that the consciences of
divers men being put in trust to the same well bestowed
according to the good meaning of the benefactors are
touched for that they see the money neither well
employed nor the good meaning of the benefactors
performed, because the same is now in private men's
hands, who make to themselves a peculiar gain, without
any regard had to the good intent of the benefactors :
These are therefore to will you, Mr. Bailiffj and the
rest of your brethren (having a special regard to see
such good purposes not abused, the rather to encourage
others to be beneficial hereafter and for the special love
I bear to that town and the inhabitants thereof), to
call a hall and assemble the burgesses together, and
302
-* The House of Dudley
make diligent enquiry how and in what manner those
several sums of money have been of late employed,
and in whom the fault especial resteth. For it is pity
to suffer so liberal benevolence to be turned to abuse,
and the honest and good meaning of the benefactors
no better performed without due reformation. This
hoping you will not fail but advertise me with speed
the truth of this matter, I bid you all heartily well
to fare.
" At the Court, this 2Qth of November, 1579.
"Your loving friend,
" AMB. WARWICK."
The answer was to the effect that, "albeit things
be not to the best sort ordered," there had been gross
exaggeration in the tales carried to the Earl. The
matter got, however, into the Court of Chancery,
where it is difficult, if not impossible, to keep track
of it. In the course of years the Earl of Leicester,
we are told, "grew weary of these idle accusations."
But the Earl of Warwick was determined to see the
matter through. Six years after the first letter we
come upon a much more peremptory communication : —
" To the Bailiff and Burgesses of Warwick give
these :
" Having heretofore, together with my brother,
written unto you several letters touching the orderly
employments of the town money according to the true
meaning of the givers of the same, and also concern-
ing the due election of the principal Burgesses there
303
\Yar\vick Castle ^
according to the Charter, which of long time in that
point hath been by the frowardness of some of you
much abused. And in the same other letters, to the
end your new election might take better effect, we
did let you know that we had desired Sir Thomas
Lucy, Edward Boughton, and Thomas Leigh, Esquires,
your neighbours, to be present at the same. Wherein
we now find by good advertisement that you have
done nothing, neither regarding our former letters, nor
respecting the credit of yourselves, nor the common
commodity of the Borough, but making light reckon-
ing of our earnest request, and of Mr. Boughton's
offer to be present at your election, as was required
by us. Whereby, albeit you have given us sufficient
cause to think that such men as delight in misdoing
and denying our earnest desire to do the town good
and offer us occasion to bring you to good order by
other means than by requests — which (if this may
serve) we are loth to attempt — I therefore once again
in former sort require you that you assemble your-
selves together and make a right choice of your prin-
cipal Burgesses by the general or more part of the
voices of the whole Borough as the Law doth warrant
and appoint you by your Charter to do. At which
election, once again, I desire and require you that
the said Edward Boughton may be present, by whose
means it may take the better effect, and that also he
may appoint and give notice to you of the time when
the same shall be. Whereof you will not fail if you
make account of my favour or be desirous of good
3°4
-*> The House of Dudley
government of the town. Of which I will be careful,
and bring you to reform your misordered doings if
herein you be negligent. Fare ye well. From
Northall, the loth of July, 1585.
" Your loving friend,
"A. WARWICK."
How the little difficulty was settled it is impos-
sible to say, since the above letter is the last refer-
ence to it which the " Black Book " contains. Nor
does the settlement really concern us. Our interest
in the quarrel is limited to the light shed by it upon
the character of Ambrose Dudley. The documents
show us an Earl of Warwick who is no longer a
feudal lord after the fashion of the King-maker, but
the father, and one might almost say the school-
master, of his people — a kind but severe schoolmaster,
quite sure that he knows what is best for them, and
quite resolved that they shall do what they are told.
He may stand as the type of the Lords of the Manor
in many counties for many generations.
The other references to him in the " Black Book "
are mostly trivial. The following is an example : —
" Memorandum that Mr. John Fisher, in the last
speeches which he ever delivered unto me touching
temporal affairs, uttered these words : ' The Queen is
to have £\ 6s. Sd. out of the Friars, for that the
land was given to the Lord of Warwick ; the town
to receive 35. 4d. in respect of the title yearly.'
W. SPICER."
VOL. I. 305 X
Warwick Castle <*-
In spite of his energetic character, to which our
" Black Book " bears clear testimony, Ambrose Dudley's
later years were not, and could not be, active. The
wound received in the Havre campaign was a con-
stantly recurring cause of trouble. That, no doubt, is
the reason why we do not hear of him in those wars
against the Spaniards in the Low Countries in which his
brother, the Earl of Leicester, fought. Warwick Castle
contains some interesting returns of corn in the hands
of dealers, compiled as the result of representations
made by him, with Lord Burghley, the Earl of
Bedford, Walsingham, and some others at a time
of scarcity. The MSS. of the Corporation of Rye
include an " Indenture between Ambrose, Earl of
Warwick, master of the ordnance, and the Mayor
and Jurats of Rye, witnessing the receipt by the
latter of certain ordnance and stores," which is printed
in Holloway's "History of Rye"; and the MSS. of
the Marquis of Salisbury, the Marquis de Townshend,
and other collections contain some of his letters, not
of overwhelming interest. There is a letter from
him to Lord Burghley, for instance, in 1575, asking
that " works begun for providing rooms, etc., for the
Mastership of the Tower may be allowed to go
forward, and that Mr. Martin, who challenged the
said rooms to belong to the office of the Mint, may
be written to to suffer the work to proceed."
He was one of the signatories, in the same year,
of an instruction of the Privy Council to Lord
Burghley, requiring him to " give order through his
306
-* The House of Dudley
office for stay of all vessels belonging to the town
of Flushing, and to put in safe keeping till further
orders all the ships' masters and mariners. With
postscript that the arrest is to extend to all those of
Zealand."
A little later we find him giving orders to the
Sheriff and Justices of the Peace of the County of
Norfolk as to the training of the militia in shooting.
Other letters deal with more personal matters : this,
for instance, written to Lord Burghley in 1578,
thanking his correspondent for his great courtesy in
serving him in this his necessity — "Without help
in this extremity writer's ruinous house should have
been finished he cannot tell when. My most hearty
commendations not forgotten to my good lady your
wife, as likewise to the sweet little Countess of
Oxford. My ' amys ' [Anne] hath the like to your
good lordship and to both the ladies."
And this, also to Lord Burghley, in 1582: —
" Albeit I have otherwares diversely made myself
beholding to your Lordship, yet in respect I have
not much troubled your game at Enfield I wold very
hartely request yow to bestow a Buck of this season
upon me ther. The deere thrive so badly at Hat-
field as I am not for this year able to pleasure
neither myself nor any friend I have with a Bucke
ther."
We hear of him again, in 1587, in the postscript
of a letter to Lord Burghley from Sir Robert Cecil : —
" P.S. — I waited on my Lord of Warwick and my
3°7
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
lady yesterday at dinner, where was my Lord Talbot,
Mr. Fulk Greville, and others. They came all to
London yesternight ; my Lord of Warwick being not
a little pleased that his hounds had killed a stag
of force in your lordship's woods, where my Lord
Chamberlain and so many others had missed before."
And finally, a few clays before his death, Anthony
Bagot writes to his father, Richard Bagot : —
"No news. But yesterday the Earl of Warwick
had one of his legs cut off by the knee for the
disease the Karl of Bedford had called the gangrene."
Ambrose Dudley died,1 as the result of this opera-
tion, at Bedford House, Bloomsbury, on February 2oth,
1589-90. He was buried in the Lady Chapel,- at
1 The arms of Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, were : —
Quarterly : i Button-Dudley, 2 Beaumont, 3 Grey, 4 Hastings, 5 Quincy,
6 Malpas, 7 Somery, 8 Valance, 9 Talbot, 10 Neubourgh, 11 Beauchamp.
12 Berkeley, 13 Gerard, 14 Lisle, 15 Guilford, 16 Halden, 17 West, 18 La
Warr, 19 Cantelupe, 20 Mortimer, 21 Gresley.
Crest: on a wreath or and azure a bear muzzled and leaning on a
ragged staff argent, collared and chained or.
Supporters: Dexter, a lion regardant argent, crowned or; sinister, a lion
vert, ducally gorged and chained or.
Mottoes : (i) Tempus omnia Habet ; (2) Ung Dieu, ung Roy, Sarvier je Doy.
Badge: Ragged staff of silver. (MS. Harl., 1156.)
- On a raised tomb by the south wall is an effigy in long embroidered
robe buttoned down the front, with turned-down collar and cuffs to
match ; the hair is bound with an ornamental fillet, and above the robe
a cloak is worn. On the basement is a long inscription in memory of
the " Noble Impe ': Robert, son of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and
nephew to Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, who died igth July, 26 Eliz. On
the wall-piece behind is a shield of arms, with the sixteen quarterings
of Dudley.
On a high tomb is a full-length effigy of Ambrose, Earl of Warwick,
the basement in three compartments, separated by Corinthian pilasters of
marble, that of the central pair inlaid in arabesque. In each compartment
308
Warwick Castle <*-
Warwick, the funeral being conducted by Sir William
Dethick. He was three times married : to Anne,
daughter of William Whorvvood by Cassandra, daughter
of Sir Edward Grey ; to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir
(iilbert Talboys, and heiress to George, Lord Talboys ;
and to Anne, daughter of Francis Russell, Earl of
Bedford. His only son, by his first wife, died in
childhood, and he left no legitimate posterity. His
widow survived him for some years, and there is
evidence that she enjoyed the favour of Queen
Elizabeth. Some of her letters which have been
preserved are dated from " the Court." This, for
instance, to her uncle, Roger Manners : " I have
receved your letter and perceve by your man that
you are retorned from Buxtons and not received so
muche goocle therby as hertofore, by reason of your
hasting away uppon theise newes, which are nowe
againe well ceassed and thought not like to doe any-
thing except towards the west parts, where they are
exceding well provided for them. I have remembered
you to her Majestic and presented your humble duty
and service, making knowne your readynes upon this
are shields of arms. The effigy lies on a rolled-np mat, and is repre-
sented wearing the coronet of his rank, and dressed in richly chased
armour, trunk-hose, and cloak ; the whole of the tomb is painted in
colour. The principal shield at the eastern end of the monument contains
sixteen quarterings of Dudley impaling as many of Russell, all within
the garter, and with supporters, a lion gorged and chained for Dudley
and goat crowned and armed or for Russell ; while on either side are
Dudley impaling Russell, TalLoys, and Whorwood. At the west end are
the quarterings, crest, and supporters of the Earl, the crest being the
bear and ragged staff.
-•> The House of Dudley
occasion. Her Majesty's answer was that she knew
you to be hir olde and faithful servant, and that she
doubted not of your desire and willingness to shew
your dutifull affeccion towards hir, for which she
dothe hartelye thanck you, but wold not in any wyse
have you to have left your course in stayinge at the
Bathe, wherby for hir you shold hinder your helth."
There was no Dudley admittedly legitimate left
to succeed to the title and estates. A few years later
we shall find the House of Greville enjoying the
estates and owning the Castle, while the House of
Rich is granted the Earldom. Before proceeding to
that section of our history, however, we will turn
aside and follow the fortunes of other branches of
the House of Dudley — notably those of Robert
Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and his son, the Robert
Dudley whom the Law Courts have decided to be
illegitimate, but whose claims to be the rightful heir
to the Earldoms of both Leicester and Warwick
have found many supporters, and rest upon substantial
evidence.
CHAPTER VII
RnlM-rt Dudley, Karl of Leicester— The Reasons why he is Interesting— His
Marriage with Amy Robsart— The Robsart Pedigree— The Story of Lady
Amy's Death— The Suggestion that Dudley murdered her— A Review
of the Kvidence -The Grounds on which Dudley must be acquitted of
tin1 Crime.
ROHKRT DUDLEY, Earl of Leicester, fifth
son of john Dudley, Duke of Northumberland,
and younger brother of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of
Warwick, was neither a good man nor a great man,
though he may be said to have approached greatness
by way of cleverness and goodness by the path of
charitable benefaction. On the other hand, he failed
as a general, and was suspected, though on inconclusive
evidence, of removing obstacles to his ambition by
means of poison. The most favourable thing that can
be said of him is that he was conspicuous for his
culture in a conspicuously cultured age, and was a
consistent patron of the arts. It is said, though it
cannot be proved, that he received Shakespeare at
Kenilworth ; and he was the first grantee of letters
patent for the maintenance of a troop of actor-servants,
including the famous James Burbage. It may be that
his contemporaries wronged him through jealousy of
the favour which women, from the Queen of England
312
l-'rom the picture at Warwick Castle.
ROBERT DUDLEY, EARL OF LEICESTER.
Warwick Castle '*
downwards, showed him ; but they had a strong case
against him, even if they exaggerated it. It would
be rather an exaggeration than an untruth to say of
him that he "spared neither man in his anger nor
woman in his lust."
With all this he is a profoundly interesting figure —
one of the most interesting in the great gallery of
F.li/abethan notables ; and this not merely because he
was the reputed lover of the Queen, but because of
the many mysteries of crime of which the secret is
locked in his tomb. He was one of the first of those
who have thoroughly understocjd what Mr. Charles
Whibley, in an ingenious work, has called " the
pageant of life." Outwardly, if not inwardly, he was
the type of the "magnificent man" held up to our
admiration by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics.
Thinking of him, one thinks also of the modern hero
of whom the; American humourist said that he
had never seen any single man who looked so much
like a procession. It will be worth while to devote
a few pages to the consideration of his career and
character.
1 he year of his birth is uncertain ; but it was
either 1532 or 1533. We know the day from one of
his letters to Elizabeth. " This is my birthday," he
writes to her on June 24th. He was married, as a
mere boy, to Amy Robsart, who was a mere girl.
Edward VI. was present at the wedding. There is
an interesting note of the fact in the King's journal,
which may still be read, in his own singularly clear
-* The House of Dudley
handwriting, in the Manuscript Room of the British
Museum : —
" 155°- June 4- — Sir Robert Dudley, third (sur-
viving) son to the Earl of Warwick, married Sir John
Robsart's daughter, after which marriage there were
certain gentlemen that did strive who should first take
away a goose's head, which was hanged alive on two
cross posts."
This disposes of Sir Walter Scott's allegation in
" Kenilworth " that the marriage was kept secret.
But that so-called historical novel, as we shall see,
is full not only of historical inaccuracies, but of
historical impossibilities. Before coming to them, let
us give an account of Amy Robsart's family and
descent.
She came of an old house that had distinguished
itself in English annals. The founder of the family
was John Robsart, who, together with Richard Verchin,
Lord High Seneschal of Hainault, surprised John, Duke
of Normandy, eldest son of King Philip of France, in
his quarters at Montais, on the River Selle, in the
fourteenth year of the reign of King Edward III.
His son was Robert, Baron of Cannon in Hainault,
who also distinguished himself in the foreign wars,
taking the Castle of Commercy and defeating the
Lord Gomeignes, while the King was besieging Rheims,
in 1359, and afterwards, in the reign of Richard II.,
taking various castles in Spain. His eldest son, Sir
John Robsart, distinguished himself in the wars with
the Saracens in the reign of Richard II., was with
Warwick Castle *
Henry Y. at the siege of Caen, one of the principal
commanders under Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester,
and, under Henry YI., was the English representative
who negotiated the surrender of Cherbourg to the
French. Having been born in Hainault, he was
naturalised, and died in 1450. His son, Sir Theodoric
(or Terry) Robsart, had a son, Sir John Robsart, of
whom we know little, except that Edward VI., on the
advice of Lord Protector Somerset, granted him a
pardon for "all treasons, insurrections, rebellions,
murders, felonies before the 2oth of January in the
first year of that king." He married Elizabeth,
daughter of John Scot, of Camberwell, in Surrey,
and our Ann" Robsart was his daughter. He was
several times Lord Justice and Lord Lieutenant for
the County of Norfolk.
The Scots were also of good family, though not
so well descended as the Robsarts. The Manor of
Camberwell had been granted to John Scot on the
attainder of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham,
from whom he had previously rented it. He had
been made third Baron of the Exchequer in 1529.
His daughter Elizabeth, before her marriage with
Sir John Robsart, had been the wife of Roger
Apple-yard, son and heir of Sir Nicholas Appleyard
in the County of Norfolk.
That is enough genealogy for the present We
will proceed to our story.
At first, and for some time, Dudley and his wife
on good terms. She visited him during his
were
-* The House of Dudley
imprisonment in the Tower at the beginning of Queen
Mary's reign ; hut estrangement must have declared
itself soon after Queen Elizabeth's accession. Then
Dudley was at Court making love to the Queen, and
Lady Amy was living in the country. There is no
evidence of her feelings in the two letters of hers
that have been preserved — the one ordering a new
dress, and the other giving directions for the sale
of some wool on the Siderstern l estate ; but surely
Mr. Sidney Lee is wrong in saying2 that "the language
suggests a perfect understanding between husband
and wife." Lady Amy may perfectly well have had
her feelings, even if she did not confide them to her
dressmaker.
Lady Amy's home seems at first to have been at
the house of a Mr. Hyde, at Denchworth.3 Early in
1560 she removed to the house of Anthony Forster,4
at Cumnor, near Oxford. Cumnor Place is now a
ruin.
The few facts that are certain about the tragedy
1 This manor came into the possession of the Robsart family by the
marriage of Sir Terry Robsart with the daughter and heiress oi Sir Thomas
Kerdeston, of Siderstern, in Norfolk.
- In the " Dictionary of National Biography."
3 The Hydes believed themselves to have possessed the Manor
of Denchworth since the time of King Canute. As a matter of fact
it belonged, in 1417, to Sir Roger Corbet, whose daughter and sole
heiress, Sibylla, married Sir John Greville, who will presently reappear
in our narrative.
4 Subsequently M.P. for Abingdon. He had purchased the property
from William Owen, son of George Owen, physician to Henry VIII., to
whom it had been granted by letters patent at the time of the dissolution
of the monasteries.
3*7
Warwick Castle *-
that followed are thus summed up by Mr. Sidney
Lee :-
•• Besides Forster and his wife, Lady Amy found
living at Cumnor Mrs. Odingsells, a widow and a
sister of Mr. Hyde of Denchworth, and Mrs. Owen,
William Owen's wife. On Sunday, 8 September,
i >6o, Lady Amy is said to have directed the whole
household to visit Abingdon fair. The three ladies
declined to go, but only Mrs. Owen dined with
Lady Amy. Late in the day the servants returned
from Abingdon, and found Dudley's wife lying dead
at the foot of the staircase in the hall. She had been
playing at table with the other ladies, it was stated,
had suddenly left the room, had fallen downstairs and
broken her neck."
Was it accident ? Was it suicide ? Was it murder ?
These questions have been violently agitated, and the
proper discussion of them would take up a good deal
more space than I have at my disposal. All that I
can attempt is to give a brief review of the arguments
that others have put forward.
Ugly rumours were afloat from the very first.
Dr. 1 homas Lever, Prebendary of Durham, and
Master of Sherborne Hospital, hearing them, took it
upon himself to write to Sir Francis Knollys and
Sir \\ illiam Cecil, drawing attention to the scandal,
and protesting that it must not be hushed up.
" I am moved and boldened," he wrote, " by
writing to signify unto you, that here in these parts
seemeth unto me to be a grievous and dangerous
318
-•> The House of Dudley
suspicion and muttering of the death of her which
was the wife of my Lord Robert Dudley. And now
my desire and trust is that the rather by your goodly
discreet device and diligence, through the Queen's
Majesty's authority, earnest searching and trying out
of the truth with due punishment, if any be found
guilty in this matter, may be openly known. For
if no search nor inquiry be made and known, the
displeasure of God, the dishonour of the Queen, and
the danger of the whole realm is to be feared. And
by due inquiry and justice openly known, surely
God shall be well pleased and served, the Queen's
Majesty worthily commended, and her loving subjects
comfortably quieted."
The enquiry asked for was duly held, however,
and there is nothing to indicate that Dr. Lever was
dissatisfied with the jury's verdict of accidental death.
Dudley, in fact, had himself demanded the inquest
before the letter of the divine was written.
Notwithstanding the result of the inquest the whole
Continent, at the time, believed Dudley to have
contrived the murder. Throgmorton, the English
Ambassador at Paris, reported to this effect on
several occasions ; and the Spanish Ambassador at
London, De Quadra, circulated damaging gossip
to the same effect. " They [i.e. the Queen and
Dudley]," he wrote, " were thinking of destroying
Lord Robert's wife. . . . They had given out that
she was ill, but she was not ill at all ; she was very
well, and taking care not to be poisoned. . . . The
319
Warwick Castle *-
Queen, on her return from hunting (on 4 Sept.) told
me that Lord Robert's wife was dead, or nearly so,
and begged me to say nothing about it."
Throgmorton, however, had a motive for making
the most of the scandal— he always gave it as
a reason why the Queen should not marry her
favourite ; and the Queen herself protested against
his reports. " She thereupon told me," he writes,
" that the matter had been tried in the country,
and found to be contrary to that which was reported,
saying that he was then in the Court, and none of
his at the attempt at his wife's house, and that it
fell out as should neither touch his honesty nor her
honour."
Xor does Burghley appear to have believed the
reports made to him, though he cited them as a
ground of objection to the Queen's marriage with a
subject who was " infamed by his wife's death."
The murder story was revived, 1567, by the Lady
Amy's half-brother, John Appleyard, who declared
that Leicester had bribed the coroner's jury. But
when John Appleyard came to be examined by the
Privy Council, he retracted and apologised, saying
that he had deliberately slandered Dudley because he
had expected from him benefits which he had not
received. Possibly the retractation was made under
pressure ; but it is, in any case, impossible to attach
value to John Appleyard's evidence.
Finally, we have a black indictment of Dudley in
a pamphlet generally known as " Leicester's Common-
320
-* The House of Dudley
wealth " — but first printed, probably at Antwerp, in
1584 — as "The copy of a Letter wryten by a Master
of Arte of Cambridge to his Friend in London
concerning some talke past of late between two
worshipfull and grave men about the present state
and some proceedyngs of the Erie of Leycester and
his friendes in England."
The gist of the accusation is contained in the
following passages : —
" As for example, when his Lordship was in full
hope to marry her Majesty, and his own wife stood
in his light, as he supposed, he did but send her
aside to the house of his servant, Forster of Cumnor,
by Oxford, where shortly after she had the chance
to fall from a pair of stairs, and so to break her
neck, but yet without hurting of her hood that stood
upon her head. But Sir Richard Varney, who by
commandment remained with her that day alone,
with one man only, and had sent away perforce all
her servants from her, to a market two miles off,
he (I say) with this man can tell how she died,
which man being taken afterward for a felony
in the Marches of Wales, and offering to publish
the manner of the said murder, was made away
privily in the prison ; and Sir Richard himself dying
about the same time in London, cried piteously
and blasphemed God, and said to a gentleman of
worship of mine acquaintance, not long before his
death, that all the devils in hell did tear him in
pieces. The wife also of Bald Butler, kinsman to
VOL. i. 321 y
\Yar\vick Castle *-
my Lord, gave out the whole fact a little before
her death.
" Secondly, it is not also unlike that he prescribed
unto Sir Richard Varney, at his going thither, that
he should first attempt to kill her by poison, and
if that took not place, then by any other way to
dispatch her howsoever. This I prove by the report
of old Doctor Bayly, who then lived in Oxford
(another manner of man than he who now liveth
about my Lord of the same name), and was Professor
of the Physic Lecture in the same University. This
learned, grave man reported for most certain that there
was a practice in Cumnor among the conspirators to
have poisoned the poor lady a little before she was
killed, which was attempted in this order :
" They, seeing the good lady sad and heavy (as
one that well knew by her other handling that her
death was not far off), began to persuade her that
her disease was abundance of melancholy and other
humours, and therefore would needs counsel her to
take some potion, which she absolutely refusing to do,
as still suspecting the worst, they sent one day
(unawares to her) for Doctor Bayly, and desired
him to persuade her to take some little potion at
his hands, and they would send to fetch the same
at Oxford upon his prescription, meaning to have
added also somewhat of their own for her comfort,
as the Doctor upon just causes suspected, seeing their
great importunity, and the small need the good lady
had of physic; and therefore he flatly denied their
322
From the picture by W. F. Yeames, R.A., by permission ofttie artist. Photo by H. Dixon &° Son.
THE DEATH OF AMY ROBSART.
\Var\vick Castle *-
request, misdoubting (as he after reported) lest, if they
had poisoned her under the name of his potion, he
might after have been hanged for a colour of their
sin. Marry, the said Doctor remained well assured
that this way taking no place, she should not long
escape violence, as after ensued. And the thing was
so beaten into the heads of the principal men of the
t'niversity of Oxford by these and other means; as
for that she was found murdered (as all men said)
by the Crowner's inquest, and for that she being
hastily and obscurely buried at Cumnor (which was
condemned above, as not advisedly done), my good
Lord, to make plain to the world the great love he
bore to her in her life, and what a grief the loss of
so virtuous a lady was to his tender heart, would
needs have her taken up again and reburied in the
University Church at Oxford, with great pomp and
solemnity ; that Dr. Babington, my Lord's chaplain,
making the public funeral sermon at her second burial,
tript once or twice in his speech by recommending
to their memories that virtuous lady so pitifully
murdered, instead of so pitifully slain."
This is the story which, at least in its main
outlines, is followed in " Kenilworth." Consequently
it is the story believed by the community at large.
But it will not stand examination, and has, in fact,
been riddled with criticism over and over again. It
did not appear until twenty-four years after the events
which it purports to relate ; and it contains several
statements which are at variance with known facts.
324
•* The House of Dudley
In particular Sir Richard Varney,1 who figures so
prominently in Scott's romance, cannot be, even
remotely, connected with the tragedy by any authen-
ticated document.
The pamphlet was, indeed, at the time of its
appearance, regarded by all responsible persons as
a malicious libel. The authorship was attributed
to Father Parsons, or Persons,2 the notorious Jesuit
1 Sir Richard Varney was Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1562. His
grandson, Richard Varney, of Compton, married Margaret, sister and sole
heir of Fulke Greville, first Lord Brooke. His great-grandson, Greville
Varney, married Catherine Southwell, sister of the Elizabeth Southwell
who, as we shall presently see, eloped with Leicester's son, Robert Dudley,
in the disguise of a page. This double connection with the Houses of
Dudley and Greville makes it worth while to give the pedigree in an appendix.
2 Camden, in his '' Annals of Queen Elizabeth," gives the following
account of this amazing man: "Robert Persons and Edmund Campian,
English Jesuits, came into England at this time ' to set Romish affairs
forward.' This Robert Persons was a Somersetshire man, of a vehement
and savage nature, of most uncivil manners and ill behaviour. Edward
Campian was a Londoner, of a contrary carriage; both were Oxford men,
and I knew them while I was in the same University. Campian, being
out of St. John's College, professed the place of Attorney in the said
University in the year 1568, and, being established Archdeacon, made a
show to affect the Protestant faith until that day he left England. Persons
being out of Balliol College, in which he openly made profession of the
Protestant religion, until his wicked life and base conversation purchasing
him a shameful exile from thence, he retired himself to the Papists' side.
Since both of them returning into England, were disguised, sometimes in the
habits of soldiers, sometimes like gentlemen, and sometimes much like unto
our ministers, they secretly travelled through England, from house to house,
and places of popish nobility and gentry, valiantly executing by words and
writings their commission. Persons, who was established chief and superior,
being of a seditious nature and turbulent spirit, armed with audacity,
spoke so boldly to the Papists to deprive Oueen Elizabeth of her sceptre,
that some of them at once determined to accuse and put him into the
hands of justice. Campian, though something more modest, presumed to
challenge, by a writing, the ministers of the Church of England to dispute
with him," etc., etc.
325
\Yar\vick Castle *-
intriguer, though Mr. Sidney Lee holds that " it was
the work of a courtier, who endeavoured to foist
responsibility on Parsons." In any case it is a docu-
ment devoid of historical value. A State document
signed, among others, by Burghley, Walsingham,
and Sir Henry Sidney denounces it to the Lord
Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen of London.
"Upon intelligence," we there read, "given to
her Majesty in October last past of certain seditious
and traitorous books and libels couvertly spread and
scattered abroad in sundry parts of her realms and
dominions, it pleased her Majesty to publish pro-
clamations throughout the realm for the suppressing
of the same, and due punishment of the authors,
spreadors abroad, and detainers of them, in such sort
and form as in the said proclamation is more at
large contained. Sithence which time, notwithstanding
her Highness hath certainly known, that the very
same and divers other suchlike most slanderous,
shameful, and devilish books and libels have been
continually spread abroad and kept by disobedient
persons, to the manifest contempt of her Majestie's
regal and sovereign authority; and namely, among the
rest, one most infamous, containing slanderous and
hateful matter against our very good Lord the Earl
of Leycester, one of her principal noblemen and
Chief Counsellor of State, of which most malicious
and wicked imputations her Majesty in her own clear
knowledge doth declare and testify his innocence to
all the world, and to that effect hath written her
326
-* The House of Dudley
gracious letters, signed with her own hand, to the
Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen of London,
where it was likely these books would chiefly be cast
abroad. We therefore, to follow the course taken by
her Majesty, and knowing manifestly the wickedness
and falsehood of these slanderous devices against the
said Earl, have thought good to notify her further
pleasure and our own consciences to you in this case."
And so forth.
Another reply to the libel was written, at the
time, by Sir Philip Sidney, though, probably owing
to his death, it was not published until several years
afterwards. His indignation is, perhaps, discounted by
the fact that, as a grandson of John Dudley, Duke
of Northumberland, he was Leicester's second cousin,
and that his wrath at the aspersions cast upon Leicester
is exceeded by his anger that doubt was thrown in
the tract upon the gentle descent of the Dudleys ;
but it is a burning indignation none the less.
"Hard it were," Sir Philip writes, "if every
goose-quill could any way blot the honour of an Earl
of Leicester, written in the hearts of so many men
throughout Europe. Neither for me shall ever so
worthy a man's name be brought to be made a
question, where there is only such a nameless and
shameless opposer. But because that, though the
writer hereof doth most falsly lay want of gentry to
my dead ancestors, I have to the world thought good
to say a little, which, I will assure any that list to
seek, shall find confirmed with much more. But
327
Warwick Castle <*-
to thee I say, thou therein liest in thy throat, which
I will be ready to justify upon thee, in any place
of Kurope, where thou will assign me a free place of
coming, as within three months after the publishing
hereof I may understand thy mind. And as till thou
hast proved this, in all construction of virtue and
honour, all the shame thou hast spoken is thine own,
the right reward of an evil-tongued Schelm, as the
(iermans especially call such people. So again, in
any place whereto thou wilt call me, provided that
the place be such as a servant of the Queen's
Majesty have free access unto ; if I do not, having
my life and liberty, prove this upon thee, I am
content that this lie I have given thee return to my
perpetual infamy. And this which I write I would
send to thine own hands, if I knew thee ; but I trust
it cannot be intended that he should be ignorant of
this printed in London, which knows the very whisper-
ings of the Privy Chamber. I will make dainty of
no baseness in thee, that art, indeed, the writer
of this book. And, from the date of this writing,
imprinted and published, I will three months expect
thine answer."
Clearly in all this there is nothing worthy to be
called evidence, whether on the one side or the other.
It remains to be seen whether we can draw any
convincing influence from Robert Dudley's behaviour
when the news of his wife's death reached him.
He certainly did not behave well. The tidings
came to him when he was in attendance on the
328
-*> The House of Dudley
Queen at Windsor. One would have expected him
to start at once for Cumnor ; but he did nothing of
the kind. He sent "Cousin Blount " l instead, bidding
him "send me your true conceit or opinion of the
matter, whether it happened by evil chance or by
villany." Blount's behaviour was singular, and cal-
culated to excite suspicion. Instead of hurrying
to Cumnor, which would obviously have been the
natural thing to do, he delayed at Abingdon, where
"at my supper I called for mine host, and asked
him what news was thereabout, taking upon me I
was going into Gloucestershire." He wrote a letter
reporting that " the tales I do hear of her maketh
me to think she had a strange mind in her," and
criticising the coroner's jury in a manner which
suggests some nervousness as to the verdict.
To this letter Dudley replied as follows : —
" COUSIN BLOUNT, —
" Until I hear from you again how the matter
falleth out in very troth, I cannot be in quiet ; and yet
you do well to satisfy me with the discreet jury you
say are chosen already : unto whom I pray you say
from me, that I require them, as even I shall think
1 Dudley's brother, Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, married for his second
wife Elizabeth, daughter of Gilbert, Lord Talboys (and widow of Thomas
Wimbishe) ; she was great-grand-daughter of Sir John Blount, of Kynlette,
co. Salop. I presume Thomas Blount to be of this family. The father
of Sir John Blount married Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Croftes.
A descendant of the latter (I presume), Sir James Croftes, who was
Comptroller of the Household to Queen Elizabeth, Leicester called " Cousin
Croftes."
329
Warwick Castle «-
good of them, that they will, according to their duties,
earnestly, carefully, and truly deal in this matter, and
find it as they shall see it fall out ; and, if it fall out
a chance or misfortune, then so to say ; and, if it appear
a villany (as God forbid so mischievous or wicked a
body should live), then to find it so. And, God willing,
I have never fear fof] the due prosecution accordingly,
what person soever it may appear my way to touch ; as
well tor the just punishment of the act as for mine own
true justification ; for, as I would be sorry in my heart
any such evil should be committed, so shall it well
appear to the world my innocency by my dealing in
the matter, if it shall so fall out. And therefore,
Cousin Blount, I seek chiefly troth in this case, which
I pray you still to have regard unto, without any favour
to be showed either one way or other. When you
have done my message to them, I require you not to
stay to search thoroughly yourself all ways that I may
be satisfied. And that with such convenient speed as
you may. Thus fare you well, in haste ; at Kew, this
Xllth day of September.
"Yours assured, R. D."
'I he protestations here certainly seem excessive for
an innocent man not yet formally accused of anything ;
and it also seems suspicious, after reading it, to
find first Hlount and then Dudley himself in com-
munication with the jury. " They be very secret,"
writes Blount, " and yet do I hear a whispering that
they can find no presumptions of evil." " I have
33°
-•» The House of Dudley
received a letter," Dudley replies, "from one Smith,
one that seemeth to be the foreman of the jury. I
perceive by his letter that he and the rest have and
do travail very diligently and circumspectly for the
trial of the matter which they have charge of, and for
anything that he or they by any search or examination
can make in the world hitherto, it doth plainly appear,
he saith, a very misfortune ; which, for mine own
part, Cousin Blount, doth much satisfy and quiet me.
Nevertheless, because of my thorough quietness and
all others' hereafter, my desire is that they may continue
in their inquiry and examination to the uttermost, as
long as they lawfully may ; yea, and when these have
given their verdict, though it be never so plainly
found, assuredly I do wish that another substantial
company of honest men might try again for the more
knowledge of troth."
Here, unfortunately, our correspondence ends.
There is plenty in it to suggest, and very little to
contradict, the idea that Blount and Dudley bribed
the jury to defeat the ends of justice — or at least that
Dudley, only giving Blount half his confidence, bribed
the foreman behind his back, while hypocritically
parading a desire to get at the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth. A modern judge, discover-
ing such a correspondence in the course of such a case,
would hardly fail to suspect something of the sort.
But there is only a presumption ; and it is quite
impossible for us to pass the barrier that separates
presumption from proof. Dudley's equivocal behaviour
Warwick Castle *-
may have been — and probably was — due to fear that
his enemies, who were numerous and powerful, would
twist facts against him. This would have been moral
cowardice ; but nothing that we know of Robert
Dudley warrants us in crediting him with moral
courage.
Moreover, it must be remembered that the inquest,
though no further documents relating to it are extant,
was no hole-and-corner affair. Amy Dudley's half-
brother, John Appleyard, and her illegitimate brother,
Arthur Robsart, were present at it. In view of the
moral depravity of the age, it is just conceivable that
they were bribed, but it is in the highest degree
unlikely ; and if they were not bribed, and if they
seriously suspected Dudley, then they would hardly
have failed to give Dudley's enemies the handle
against him which they would unquestionably have
been glad to have.
On the whole, therefore, the fact that Dudley's
enemies could not convict him, and did not even try
to convict him, is the historian's best reason for
acquitting him. He neglected his wife shamefully—
that is not disputed. Her death was no doubt a relief
to him as well as an advantage. But there is no
good reason for believing that he murdered her, and
there is fairly good reason for believing that he
did not.
332
CHAPTER VIII
The Burial of Amy Dudley at Oxford — The Queen's Friendship for Robert
Dudley— The Grant of Kenihvorth Castle— The History of the Castle —
Dudley's Restorations and Improvements — James I.'s Survey of
Kenihvorth.
AMY DUDLEY'S body was taken from Cuinnor
Place to Gloucester Hall, now Worcester College,
Oxford, and buried with great ceremony 1 in St. Mary's
Church. The Mayor and Corporation and the Heads
of Colleges and Halls officially attended the funeral,
and Dr. Babington preached a funeral sermon on the
text, " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."
The path of ambition now seemed clear for Dudley,
and Elizabeth heaped favours upon her favourite.
There can be little doubt that, if she had followed
her inclinations, she would have married him. One
does not feel the less sure of this because she some-
times snubbed him openly, telling him, on one occasion,
that "she would never marry him nor none so mean
as he," and saying to him publicly at another time,
" I have wished you well, but my favour is not so
locked up for you that others shall not partake thereof " ;
or because she told a gentleman of her bed-chamber
1 Dudley himself does not appear to have been present. A long description
of the funeral is given in a Dugdale MS. in the Ashmolean Collection,
printed by Mr. George Adlard.
333
Warwick Castle *-
that it would be "unlike herself and unmindful of her
royal majesty to prefer her servant whom she herself
had raised before the greatest Princes of Christendom."
These remarks were invited by Dudley's own pre-
sumption ; and the sunshine of her smiles was never
long eclipsed for him. The marriage was canvassed
in State papers and in the correspondence of ambas-
sadors, and only considerations of political expediency
appear to have prevented it.
Popular opinion, indeed, long regarded Dudley
as the Queen's paramour. A youth, calling himself
Arthur Dudley, and claiming to be her son by him,
was pensioned in 1588 by Philip II. of Spain, though
he was almost certainly an impostor who lied for the
sake of a pension. In England several offenders went
to prison for alleging that the Queen and Dudley
were unduly intimate : Anne Dowe, of Brentford ;
Marsham, of Norwich ; Robert Brooke, of Devizes ;
and some others. It would be equally rash to affirm
that these stories were altogether true or that they
were altogether false. The benefits bestowed upon
Dudley, being quite out of proportion to his public
services, give them a certain colour of plausibility.
He had been at Saint Ouentin in the character
of Master of the Ordnance ; but that was almost his
only title to distinction. Nevertheless, immediately
on Elizabeth's accession, he was made Master of the
Horse and sworn of the Privy Council, and in 1564
was created Baron Denbigh and Earl of Leicester.
Other appointments given to him, quite early in the
334
Warwick Castle *
reign, were those of Chancellor of the County Palatine of
Chester, High Steward of the University of Cambridge,
and Chancellor of the University of Oxford. More
substantial benefits were the grant of the Manor, Lord-
ship, and Castle of Kenil worth ; the Lordship and
Castle of Denbigh ; lands in Lancashire, Surrey, Rutland,
Denbigh, Carmarthen, York, Cardigan, and Brecknock ;
the Manors of Caldecote and Pelynge in Bedfordshire ;
and sixteen other estates in different parts of England
and Wales. Last, but not least, he was accorded four
licences to export wool. These various advantages
raised him from comparative poverty to be one of the
richest men in the kingdom. He was able to spend
,£60,000 — a sum equal to more than half a million of
our money— in the extension and improvement of
Kenilworth Castle.
At Kenilworth, on several occasions, but notably
in 1575, he entertained the Queen. This last-named
entertainment was the greatest and most gorgeous of
the reign. The entertainment at Warwick Castle,
which we have described, was far eclipsed by it. Before
giving our account of the " princely pleasures " enjoyed
there, let us pause to say something about the scene
of the diversions.
Kenilworth Castle, like Warwick Castle, claims an
Anglo-Saxon origin ; but it differs from Warwick Castle
in that the claim is not allowed by the antiquaries.
" More to the north-east," says Camden,1 " where a
number of small streams, uniting among parks, form
1 Camdens "Britannia," 1789, vol. ii., p. 239.
336
-* The House of Dudley
a lake, which, soon after being confined in banks, makes
a canal, stands Kenilworth, anciently called Kenelworda,
though now corruptly called Killingworth, which gives
name to a large, beautiful, and strong castle, surrounded
by parks, not built by Kenulphus, Kenelmus, or
Kinegilsus, as some dream, but as can be made to
appear from records by Galfridus Clinton, Chamberlain
to King Henry I."
We can begin, therefore, no further back than these
Norman times ; and we have to come to early Plan-
tagenet times before we find any facts worth recording.
In 1172, it seems, Henry II. garrisoned the Castle
to resist his son Henry's insurrection. A little later
we find the Castle lapsing from the Clintons to the
Crown, and held for the Crown by the successive
sheriffs of the counties of Warwick and Leicester.
Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, was appointed
governor in 1243, and tenant for life, with remainder
to his wife Eleanor,1 in 1253. After the battle of Eve-
sham it stood a six months' siege, only surrendering on
December 2ist, 1265. The Crown then took it again,
but only to confer it, in 1267, upon the King's second
son, Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster. His son
Thomas forfeited it in the civil wars of Edward II.
John de Somery, Baron of Dudley, next became
one of its custodians, to hold it for the King's use.
It was next given to Henry of Lancaster, from whom
it descended to John of Gaunt, and Henry of Boling-
broke, afterwards Henry IV7. It then remained, for
1 Sister of Henry III.
VOL. i. 337 Z
Warwick Castle <•-
some generations, a royal property, Henry VII. unit-
ing it to the Dukedom of Cornwall. Mr. Adlard,
in his " Amye Robsart and the Earl of Leycester,"
prints documents demonstrating that it came into the
hands of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.
\Ye first see Dudley writing to Lord Keeper
Cromwell to ask for it. "If," he writes, "it might
please your good Lordship to be so good Lord unto
me to be a means for me to the King's Highness for
the office of Kenilworth, I were much bound to your
Lordship ; if not, your Lordship may do your pleasure
for any other that you shall think meeter for it, for no
man hath knowledge hereof by me but your Lordship."
\Ye know that he got what he wanted from this
extract from the Privy Council Register, dated
October 8th, 1553 :—
"At Westminster, the 8th Oct., 1553. A letter
to the Lord Rich and other the Commissioners
for the attainted goods, to deliver unto the Duchess
of Somerset, or to such as she shall send to receive
the same, by bill indented, all such household stuff
as remaineth in Kenilworth, lately belonging to the
late Duke of Northumberland, and to send hither
the said bill of the parcels that shall be delivered,
to the end it may be considered whether the same
be sufficient, or too much, for her furniture."
By Dudley's attainder the Castle reverted to Queen
Mary, from whom it passed to Queen Elizabeth, who
granted it to Robert Dudley, as we have seen.
Dudley, as has already been mentioned, spent
338
-* The House of Dudley
^"60,000 on restorations and improvements, doing for
it pretty much what Sir Fulke Greville was afterwards
to do for Warwick Castle, though with less durable
results. " He spared for no cost," says Dugdale, " in
enlarging, adorning, and beautifying thereof; witness
that magnificent gate-house towards the north, where
formerly having been the back of the Castle, he made
the front, filling up a great proportion of the wide
and deep double ditch wherein the water of the pool
came. And, besides that stately piece on the south-
east part, still bearing the name of Leicester's Buildings,
did he raise from the ground two goodly towers at the
head of the pool, viz., the Floodgate or Gallery tower,
standing at one end of the tilt-yard, in which was a
spacious and noble room for ladies to see the exercises
of tilting and barriers."
What was the result of these embellishments we
know from a survey of the reign of James I. I have
no space to give it all, but I must make a substantial
extract : —
" THE CASTLE OF KENILWORTH, SITUATE UPON A ROCK.
" i. The circuit thereof within the walls containeth
seven acres, upon which the walks are so spacious
and fair, that two or three persons together may walk
upon most places thereof.
" 2. The Castle, with the four gate-houses, all
built of freestone, hewen and cut ; the walls, in many
places, fifteen and ten foot thickness, some more, and
some less ; the least four foot in thickness square.
339
\Var\vick Castle *
" 3. The Castle and four gate-houses, all covered
with lead, whereby it is subject to no other decay
than the glass, through the extremity of the weather.
" 4. The rooms of great state with the same ;
and such as are able to receive his Majesty, the
pueen, and Prince at one time, built with as much
uniformity and conveniency as any houses of later
time ; and with such stately cellars ; all carried upon
pillars, and architecture of freestone, carved and
wrought as the like are not within this kingdom ;
and also all other houses for officers answerable.
" 5. There lieth about the same in chases and
parks ,£1,200 per annum, ,£900 whereof are grounds
for pleasure ; the rest in meadow and pasture thereto
adjoining, tenants and freeholders.
" 6. There joineth upon this ground a park-like
ground, called the King's Wood, with fifteen several
coppices lying all together, containing 789 acres,
within the same ; which, in the Earl of Leicester's
time, were stored with red deer. Since which the
deer strayed, but the ground in no sort blemished,
having great store of timber, and other trees of much
value upon the same.
" 7. There runneth through the said grounds, by
the walls of the Castle, a fair pool, containing 1 1 1 acres,
well stored with fish and fowl ; which at pleasure is to
be let round about the Castle.
1 8. In timber and woods upon this ground, to
the value (as hath been offered) of ,£20,000 (having
a convenient time to remove them), which to his
340
-* The House of Dudley
Majesty in the survey are to be valued at ,£11,722,
which proportion, in a like measure, is held in all the
rest upon the other values to his Majesty.
" 9. The circuit of the Castle, manors, parks, and
chase lying round together, contain at least nineteen
or twenty miles, in a pleasant country ; the like, both
for strength, state, and pleasure, not being within the
realm of England."
Such was the Kenilworth to which Queen Elizabeth
came to be diverted by her favourite, Robert Dudley,
Earl of Leicester, in 1575. Two contemporary ac-
counts of the diversions are extant. One is by
Robert Laneham,1 and entitled " A Letter wherein
Part of the Entertainment unto the Queen's Majesty
at Killingworth2 Castle, in Warwickshire, in this
Summer's Progress [1575] is signified: from a friend
officer attendant unto the Court unto his friend, a
citizen and merchant of London." The other is
George Gascoigne's3 " The Princely Pleasures at
Kenilworth Castle, etc."
1 Robert Laneham was educated at St. Paul's School, and had a
patent for supplying the Royal Mews with beans. He was presently
appointed to the office of Clerk of the Council Chamber door, his function
being to prevent the inquisitive from listening at the key-hole.
2 Kenilworth is often so written in Elizabethan documents.
3 George Gascoigne was the son and heir of Sir John Gascoigne, a Cam-
bridge man, and a student at Gray's Inn. Having squandered his substance
in riotous living, he went to Holland and served under William the Silent,
distinguishing himself at the siege of Middleburg. After his return he lived
in chambers in Gray's Inn and wrote books. Leicester employed him to assist
in the preparation of the masques and pageants. He died young, in 1577.
Of the first edition of his " Princely Pleasures," according to Mr. Adlard,
only one copy is known; but there was another edition printed in 1587.
CHAPTER IX
The Keuihvorth Festivities— Addresses in Prose and Verse — The Tumbler—
The Morris Dance— The Mock Wedding— Tilting at the Quintain —
The Masque that was suppressed, and the Probable Reason for its
Suppression.
NOTHING quite like the Kenil worth festivities
had ever happened in the land before. If the
Karl of Leicester was not a great man, he was at least
a great Master of the Ceremonies. Elegance and
pomp and pageantry were things that he understood.
His organisation and direction of them amounted very
nearly to genius. The theatres of his period could
have taught him little, and could have learnt much
from him. He knew how to use all the arts simul-
taneously for the purpose of spectacular display. Let
us try to reconstruct the spectacle from the records of
those who witnessed it.
It began when her Majesty drove up in state at
eight of the clock on a July evening from Long
Itchington, where she had dined. " In the Park,"
says Laneham, " about a flight-shoot from the brays
and first gate of the Castle, one of the ten Sibyls, that
we read were all Fatidical and Theobulee, as parties
and privy to the Gods' gracious good wills, comely
clad in a pall of white silk, pronounced a proper poesy
in English rhyme and metre." It was an ode of
342
Warwick Castle *-
welcome, written by M. Hunnis, Master of her
Majesty's Chapel.
The Queen accepted the address " benignly," and
passed on. As she approached the great gate, there
was a loud blast of trumpets, and then the porter
appeared. He made a gesture as though he would
bar the entrance, and then at last, "being overcome
bv view of the rare beauty and princely countenance
of her Majesty, yielded himself and his charge,
presenting the keys unto her Highness with these
words : — •
'•What stir, what coil is here? Come back, hold, whither now?
Not one so stout to stir. What harrying have we here?
My friends, a porter I, no poper here am plac'd :
By leave perhaps, else not while club and limbs do last.
A garboil this indeed. What, yea, fair Dames? what, yea,.
What dainty darling's here? O God, a peerless pearl;
No worldly wight no doubt, some sovereign Goddess sure :
Even face, even hand, even eye, even other features all,
Yea beauty, grace, and cheer, yea port and majesty,
Shew all some heavenly Peer, with virtues all beset.
Come, come, most perfect paragon, pass on with joy and bliss,
Most worthy welcome, Goddess guest, whose presence gladdeth all.
Have here, have here, both club and keys, myself, my wand, I yield,
E'en gates and all, yea Lord himself, submit and seek your shield."
These verses were composed and recited by no
less a personage than Master Badger of Oxford,
Master of Arts and Bedel. As he delivered them, he
handed to the Queen his club and keys, with humble
apologies for his error ; and as her Majesty entered
the inner court, a third surprise awaited her. In the
344
<+> The House of Dudley
midst of the pool there appeared a nymph, who,
"upon a movable island, bright blazing with torches,
floated to land, and met her Majesty with a well-
penned metre " — the composition of Mr. Ferrers,1 some-
time Lord of Misrule in the Court — relating the
history of the Castle from the earliest times.
And then a fourth surprise ! As the Queen passed
over the bridge, she observed set out on the posts of
it " sundry presents and gifts of provision : as wine, corn,
fruits, fishes, fowls, instruments of music, and weapons
for martial defence. All which were expounded by an
actor clad like a Poet," who read Latin verses from
an illuminated scroll. He was a grave and reverend
senior, one William Muncaster, at that time head-
master of the Merchant Taylors' School, and subse-
quently head-master of St. Paul's. He appeared, not
in sober academical attire, but in "a long ceruleous
garment with wide sleeves," and he had " a bay
garland " on his head. When he had finished his
recitation, the Queen went to bed.
So Saturday ended, and Sunday was a com-
paratively quiet day. In the morning there was
divine service ; in the afternoon " excellent music of
sundry sweet instruments and dancing of Lords and
Ladies"; in the evening fireworks, — "which were both
strange and well executed ; as sometimes passing under
the water a long space, when all men had thought
they had been quenched, they would rise and mount
1 A barrister who had translated Magna Charta into English, and sat in
Parliament for Plymouth in the reign of Henry VIII.
345
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
out of the water again, and burn very furiously until
they were utterly consumed."
On Monday there was a return to flattering
allegory. The Queen went hunting in the afternoon ;
and as she rode home by torchlight, "out of the woods
there came roughly forth Honibre Salvagio (i.e. a
Savage Man) with an oaken plant plucked up by the
roots in his hand, himself fore-grown all in moss and
ivy." It was Master Gascoigne in disguise, desiring to
recite a poem of his own composition. He professed
to be dazzled by the sudden splendour that he saw.
" Vouchsafe," he cried —
" Vouchsafe yet, greatest God,
that I the cause may know,
Why all these worthy Lords and Peers
are here assembled so ?
Thou knowest (O mighty God)
no man can be so base,
But needs must mount, if once it see
a spark of perfect grace."
I hen the Savage Man burst out into a whirlwind
of compliment : —
'•O Queen (without compare),
you must not think it strange,
That here amid this wilderness
your glory so doth range.
The winds resound your worth,
the rocks record your name :
These hills, these dales, these woods, these waves,
these fields pronounce your fame."
And so on for many stanzas. At last he threw his
346
-* The House of Dudley
staff away, and Master Laneham tells us (though
Master Gascoigne does not) that it very nearly hit
her Majesty's horse on the head, to the consternation
of all present. But no harm was done. " ' No hurt,
no hurt,' quoth her Highness. Which words, I promise
you, we were all glad to hear, and took them to be
the best part of the play."
Tuesday and Wednesday again were quiet days.
Thursday was distinguished by bear-baiting and the
acrobatics of an Italian tumbler: "feats of agility
in goings, turnings, tumblings, castings, hops, jumps,
leaps, skips, springs, gambols, summersets, caperings,
and flights, forward, backward, sideways, downward,
and upward, with sundry windings, gyrings, and
circumflexions." Laneham compares the performer
to " a lamprey that has no bone but a line like a lute
string." Of Friday and Saturday his narrative records
little, except that the weather was bad. On Sunday
there was abundant merriment. There was, to begin
with, divine service and "a fruitful sermon" — fruitful
of what we are not told — and then "a solemn bridal of
a proper couple was appointed," a mock wedding to
illustrate the rural sports and pastimes : —
"And thus were they marshalled. First, all the
lusty lads and bold bachelors of the parish, suitably
habited every wight, with his blue buckram bride-lace
upon a branch of green broom (because rosemary is
scant there) tied on his left arm, for on that side lies
the heart ; and his alder pole for a spear in his right
hand, in martial order ranged on afore, two and two
347
\Yar\vick Castle *-
in a rank : Some with a hat, some in a cap, some a
coat, some a jerkin, some for lightness in doublet and
hose, clean bruss'd with points afore ; some boots and
no spurs, this spurs and no boots, and he again
neither one nor other : One had a saddle, another a
pad or a pannel fastened with a cord, for girths were
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SADDLE.
Now at H'at-wick Castle.
geason : And these to the number of sixteen wights,
riding men and well beseen : But the bridegroom
foremost in his father's tawny worsted jacket, (for his
friends were fain that he should be a bridegroom
before the Queen,) a fair straw hat with a capital
crown, steeple-wise on his head ; a pair of harvest
gloves on his hands, as a sign of good husbandry ;
a pen and ink-horn at his back, for he would be
348
-»> The House of Dudley
known to be bookish ; lame of a leg that in his youth
was broken at football ; well beloved of his mother,
who lent him a new muffler for a napkin, that was
tied to his girdle for losing it. It was no small sport
to mark this minion in his full appointment, that,
through good tuition, became as formal in his action
as had he been a bridegroom indeed ; with this
special grace by the way, that even as he would have
framed to himself the better countenance, with the
worst face he looked."
The sports that followed the mock ceremony were
a morris dance and tilting at the quintain — a bag of
sand that swung round upon the slightest blow.
" By my troth," says Laneham, " 'twas a lively
pastime ; I believe it would have moved a man to a
right merry mood, though it had been told him that
his wife lay dying." It was followed by a performance
given by "certain good-hearted men of Coventry,"
under the direction of " Captain Cox, an odd man, by
profession a mason," illustrating an ancient episode in
the history of the town, when the English fought
against the Danes, and " twice the Danes had the
better, but, at the last conflict, beaten down, overcome,
and many led captive for triumph by our English
women."
Nor was that all. After supper there was "a play
of a very good theme presented ... so set forth
by the actors that pleasure and mirth made it seem
very short, tho' it lasted two good hours and more."
And after the play there was a second supper — " an
349
Warwick Castle <*-
ambrosial banquet " — of three hundred dishes, of which
it is not surprising to read that "her Majesty ate
smally or nothing." After the feast, again, there was
to have been a masque — "for riches of array of an
incredible cost" — but the hour was so late that it was
countermanded, to the chagrin of Master Gascoigne,
who had composed it. He prints it in full, however ;
and the closing lines suggest that there may have
been other reasons besides the lateness of the hour
tor its suppression. The hint of an impending royal
wedding may well have been deemed too broad, for
we find Iris thus declaiming: —
" How necessary were
for worthy Queens to wed,
That know you well, whose life always
in learning hath been led.
The country craves consent,
your virtues vaunt each self,
And Jove in heaven would smile to see
Diana set on shelf.
His Queen hath sworn (but you)
there shall no more be such :
You know she lies with Jove a-nights,
and night-ravens may do much.
Then give consent, O Queen,
to Juno's just desire,
Who for your wealth would have you wed,
and, for your farther hire,
Some Empress will you make,
she bade me tell you thus:
Forgive me (Queen), the words are hers,
I come not to discuss :
I am but messenger,
but sure she bade me say,
35°
-* The House of Dudley
That where you now in princely port
have past one pleasant day,
A world of wealth at will
you henceforth shall enjoy
In wedded state, and therewithal
hold up from great annoy
The staff of your estate :
O Queen, O worthy Queen,
Yet never wight felt perfect bliss,
but such as wedded been."
On the Monday, however, there were further
poetical recitations. Her Majesty, returning from the
chase, " came there upon a swimming mermaid (that
from top to tail was eighteen feet long), Triton,
Neptune's blaster : who, with her trumpet formed of
a wrinkled welk, as her Majesty was in sight, gave
sound very shrill and sonorous, in sign he had an
embassy to pronounce." He pronounced it; and then
came the Lady of the Lake, floating upon bulrushes,
with two attendant nymphs, and a story taken from
Sir Thomas Malory's " La Morte d'Arthur," and happily
made topical.
And then came Proteus, also with verses to
declaim ; and then her Majesty showed her good
pleasure by conferring the honour of knighthood upon
five gentlemen — Sir Thomas Cecil, Sir Henry Cobham,
Sir Thomas Stanhope, Sir Arthur Basset, and Sir
Thomas Treshanr — and also by curing ten sufferers
from the king's evil by the royal touch.
This was the culminating ceremonial. The other
princely pleasures were of a more ordinary character
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
until the day came when her Majesty took her
departure. It seems that she decided to go somewhat
sooner than she had intended. Whereupon " the Earl
commanded Master Gascoigne to devise some farewell
worth the presenting ; whereupon he himself, clad like
unto Syfaanus, god of the woods, and meeting her as
she went on hunting, spoke (ex tempore] as followeth."
Hut it was a long speech — much too long to be
transcribed ; and an empty speech — much too empty
to be analysed. It led up to a recitation and a song
by one Deep-desire, that stepped out of a holly-bush.
The recitation was a plea that the Queen would stay
and give further pleasure to the woods and the waves
and the fowls and the fishes and the deer, as well as
to the Earl of Leicester and the woodland deities ;
and the song lamented her going.
The song ended, Silvanus spoke a few final
words : —
" Most gracious Queen, your loyal lieges know that
your Majesty is so highly favoured of the gods, that
they will not deny you any reasonable request. There-
fore I do humbly crave on Deep-desire's behalf, that
you would either be a suitor for him unto the heavenly
powers, or else but only to give your gracious consent
that he may be assured that heaven will smile, the
earth will quake, men will clap their hands, and I will
always continue an humble beseecher for the flourishing
estate of your Royal Person. Wh'om God now and
ever preserve, to his good pleasure and our great
comfort. Amen."
352
The House of Dudley
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S VIOL.
NOJU at Warwick Castle.
And so the princely
pleasures end. One cannot
leave them without noting
the contrast between the
tone of the farewell verses
and speeches, and that of
the masque prepared by
Master Gascoigne, and at
the last moment counter-
manded. Coupled with
Master Gascoigne's note
about the Queen "hasten-
ing her departure from
thence," it suggests an
interesting inference which
seems to have escaped the
historians. Leicester, I
should imagine, had once
more sued for the Queen's
hand in the course of the
festivities, had had Gas-
coigne's masque prepared
in confident anticipation that
his suit would be accepted,
had hurriedly withdrawn it
when disconcerted by re-
jection, and was now
splendidly covering his
retreat.
VOL. I.
353
CHAPTER X
Leicester's Marriage to Douglas, Lady Sheffield — Did he poison her? —
Leicester in the Low Countries — His Failure as a General — His
Relations with the Borough of Warwick — He Visits the Borough in
State— His Benefactions— His Good Advice to Mr. Thomas Fisher— An
Attempt to estimate his Character.
\\ 7 H ETHER Leicester aspired to marry Queen
V V Elizabeth or not, his regard for her did not
prevent him from marrying other women. We have
spoken at length of his marriage to Amy Robsart.
There are now two other marriages to be spoken of.
In 1571 Leicester contracted himself to, and in
1573 he married, Douglas, Lady Sheffield, daughter of
William Howard, first Lord Howard of Effingham,
grand-daughter of Thomas, second Duke of Norfolk,
and widow of John, second Baron Sheffield, who had
died in 1568. According to Dugdale, they were
privately married in a house in Cannon Row, and
two years afterwards the ceremony was again more
solemnly performed "in her chamber at Asher (or
Esher), in Surrey, by a lawful minister, according to the
form of matrimony by law established in the Church
of England, in the presence of Sir Edward Horsey,
Knight, that gave her in marriage, as also of Robert
Sheffield, Esq., and his wife, Dr. Julio, Henry Frod-
354
The House of Dudley
From a painting by George Perfect Harding.
ROBERT DUDLEY, EARL OF LEICESTER.
sham, gentleman, and five other persons whose names
are not specified."
Two days after the former, or secret, marriage the
new Countess of Leicester gave birth to a son. Upon
355
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
the validity of that marriage, therefore, that son's
legitimacy depends. It is a question upon which there
has been litigation ; and we shall have to return to it
presently. Here it is enough to note that Leicester
was not long in tiring of his Countess. He offered
her ^700 a year to ignore the marriage, and when
that offer was indignantly rejected he was reputed to
have tried to poison her (as he was already reputed
to have poisoned her husband), and to have so far
succeeded as to have caused the loss of her hair
and nails.
It is a ghastly charge. But such charges were
bandied freely in the Elizabethan age, poison having
been brought over from Italy, together with culture,
during the Renaissance. Men called each other
poisoners as lightly as a little earlier they had called
each other traitors. The accusations were certainly
more often false than true, and in the absence of
strict proof it is safer to disbelieve them. In
Leicester's case responsible opinion seems to have
treated the story as idle rumour, for it was about
this time that the citizens of Tewkesbury presented
him with "a cup of silver and gilt" and "an ox of
unusual size."
Presently, however, the Countess consented to
ignore the marriage, and gave practical demonstration
of her consent by marrying Sir Edward Stafford, of
Grafton, in 1578. Leicester made instant use of his
freedom by marrying, in the course of the same year,
Lettice Knollys, the widow of Walter Devereux, first
356
-•> The House of Dudley
Earl of Essex, another alleged victim of his alleged
poisoning proclivities. About this marriage there was
neither doubt nor obscurity. The ceremony was
performed twice over — first at Kenilworth, and then
at Wanstead, in the presence of Ambrose, Earl of
Warwick, Lord North, Sir Francis Knollys, the lady's
father, and others. His third wife survived him, and
married Christopher Blount.
Of Leicester's public career during this, the latter,
portion of his life, it is hardly necessary to speak at
very great length. His third marriage brought about
a temporary breach of friendship with his sovereign.
Though she had declined to marry him, and even,
as we have observed, decorated her refusal with ex-
pressions of disdain, she suffered from what Virgil
calls Spretcs injitria forma, and even wanted to
send Leicester to the Tower. She was advised,
however, to do nothing of the sort, and the advice
was good. There could have been no surer way of
making people talk, and they were already talking
quite enough. Ultimately she took him into favour
again, and in 1585 sent him with an army to invade
the Low Countries.
In so far as the war was a pageant, Leicester
was an admirable general. At Utrecht he received
extravagantly laudatory addresses with a perfect grace.
At Leyden he inaugurated a series of festivities which
Leyden still remembers. An imitation of them was
given as recently as 1870, in the cortege arranged to
celebrate the two hundred and ninety-fifth anniversary
357
Warwick Castle *-
of the foundation of the Leyden High School. At
the Hague he had himself proclaimed as Governor,
and surrounded himself with a Court.
All this was very well as far as it went, but it did
not go quite far enough. There were also some
military operations to be conducted, and in these
Leicester did not excel. He could not get on with
his Dutch colleagues, whom he called "churls and
tinkers," and he was out-manoeuvred by the Duke of
Parma. Such glory as was won in the war fell to
Prince Maurice and Sir Philip Sidney. Its most
glorious episode was the battle of Zutphen, in which
Sir Philip Sidney fell. " Thy necessity is greater than
mine," he said, it will be remembered, and passed on
to one of his men the glass of water that had been
brought to him. But the campaign as a whole was
most inglorious. Leicester lost Nuys, and Grave, and
Deventer, and Sluys, while his army wasted away.
At last he was recalled, and then a happy thought
struck him. To celebrate his departure he had a
medal struck bearing the motto " Invitus desero non
Gregem sed ingratos." It was a splendid piece of
bravado, thoroughly characteristic of the man. In war,
as in love, Leicester was an adept at covering his
retreat. His behaviour always presented the illusion
of genius when that was the task in hand. He had
at least mastered the great art of always appearing to
be greater than he was.
In the eyes of the citizens of Warwick, of course,
he always appeared to be great. He appears again
358
-* The House of Dudley
and again in the "Black Book" as their benefactor,
taking an intelligent interest in their affairs. We have
already seen him side by side with his brother, the
Earl ot Warwick, remonstrating against the misuse of
endowments and irregularities in the conduct of
elections. He was probably more popular when he
"appeared in suing to her Majesty and obtaining of
her and the whole Parliament license and grant to
erect and build in Warwick or Kenilworth one
hospital,1 and to endow the same with lands and
tenements to the yearly value of two hundred pounds."
In view of this public service a public reception
was naturally arranged for him when he came to visit
the town. We have the report of the discussion :
" Upon information given to the House that the said
Earl of Leicester was well provided of muttons, it was
agreed that a yoke of good oxen should be prepared
and bestowed on the said Lord." As to the question
of going out to meet him and the Earl of Warwick,
" it was agreed that the said Lords being but sub-
jects must not have such Duty as the Prince," and
therefore " it was not thought meet to go out of
the town, but, being ready in the town, to offer
welcoming to the said Lords with their present."
1 The Leicester Hospital. "Originally belonging," says Mr. Kemp,
" to the Guilds of the Holy Trinity and St. George, it passed from them
to the Corporation, by whom it was granted to Robert Dudley, Earl of
Leicester, for the purposes of a Hospital. Through a gateway you enter
the Courtyard, which is surrounded on three sides by buildings; on the
right is a covered staircase leading to a gallery, open to the Courtyard.
At the head of the staircase is a hall, now divided into rooms for the
Brethren." I give, in an appendix, a translation of the Deed of Gift.
359
Warwick Castle *-
The question further arose "whether it was neces-
sary to yield thanks to the said Earl of Leicester
for his honorable good mind toward this country
and borough"; whereupon "it was answered and
resolved not to give any thanks or to take knowledge
of his disposition that way unless it might like him,
cither by himself or some about him, to give occasion
thereof."
Thus did the burgesses stand upon their dignity,
with the result that they presently discovered that
platform to be insecure. The Earl of Leicester had
his own views as to what was a suitable reception for
him, as the burgesses soon discovered : —
" Divers of the said Earl's servants imputed the
great offence of the Bailiff and his company loudly
and openly to some of their faces : in that their Lord
coming down into this country where both he and
his brother were great possessioners, and where they
meant to do so great good, and in especially coming
through the Earl of Warwick's town, they would not
do so much as bid the Earl of Leicester welcome, but
hid themselves. Adding further that if the said Earl,
being in such place as he is, and in such credit with
the Prince as he is known to be, had come to Bristol,
Norwich, or any other city or good town of this land
where he hath less to do than he hath here, he should
have been received by the Mayor and officers in most
seemly manner ; but this town was so stout that they
regarded not of his Lordship."
A pointed slight from my lord himself followed.
360
\Yar\vick Castle *-
The oxen were ready, and the bailiff and his wor-
shipful company were ready to present them ; but
we read : —
••Howsoever it happened, when the said Earls
came by where the said Bailiff and his company
stood, which then put the Bailiff and the rest doing
their duties unto them, the said Earl of Leicester
passed by them hastily, saying he would not charge
the town so much, and would not look towards the
said Bailiff and his company, but rode still unto the
house, and so the said Bailiff and his company, both
disappointed of their interview and half amazed, knew
not what to do."
They conferred upon the situation, however, and
decided to apologise, "laying the fault only to John
Butler." Their excuses were duly conveyed by " Mr.
Hubend and Mr. Dudley," who presently returned
with the intimation that " my Lord had great marvel
that they would no better serve themselves to him
coming to his brother's town, but at their instance had
remitted that their offence upon condition that from
thenceforth they would serve themselves more dutifully
unto his Lordship." So the peace was made, and it was
arranged that, the next day being Sunday, the officers
of the town should attend his lordship to church.
Let us note the order of the great procession : —
" The said Bailiff and Burgesses and Assistants
came to the Priory, where they were placed and
appointed to wait upon the said Lord in this manner:
First the commoners, in gowns, should go foremost,
362
-* The House of Dudley
two and two together. Then, next after the con-
stables, 4 constables to go on a rank with little white
sticks in their hands ; then next after them should
follow the 12 Principal Burgesses, two and two, in
order, the youngest going foremost. Then, after the
Principal Burgesses, followed such of my Lord's gentle-
men and gentlemen of the shire as that day waited
upon him ; then after the gentlemen came the Serjeant
bearing his Mace ; then next after the Serjeant fol-
lowed the Bailiff alone in a gown. After him came
Mr. William Gorge, that day Steward to my Lord,
Mr. Robert Christmas, Treasurer to my Lord, and Mr.
Thomas Dudley, Comptroller to my Lord, all with
white staves as officers all in one rank. Then, next
them, followed Dragon Pursuivant at Arms, and
Clarenceux King at Arms, both in Court armour.
And then came my said Lord the Earl of Leicester
by himself."
Observe the impression which the Earl of Leicester
made. We must repeat : —
" And then came my said Lord the Earl of
Leicester by himself, apparelled all in white, his shoes
of velvet, his stocks of hose knit silk, his upper
stocks of white velvet lined with cloth of silver, his
doublet of silver, his jerkin white velvet drawn with
silver, beautified with gold and precious stones, his
girdle and scabbard white velvet, his robe white satin
embroidered with gold a foot broad, very curiously,
his cap black velvet with a white feather, his collar
of gold beset with precious stones, and his garter
363
\Yar\vick Castle <+-
about his leg of St. George's order, a sight worthy
the beholding.
"And yet surely all this costly and curious apparel
was not more to be praised than the comely gesture
of the said Earl, whose stature, being reasonable, was
furnished with all proportion and lineaments of his
body and parts, answerable in all things, so as in the
eyes of this writer he seemed the only goodliest
personage made in England, which peradventure it
might be asserted. But surely to all beholders it was
a sight most commendable."
It is truly a vivid picture of the Earl in his most
characteristic posture as the central figure of a pageant,
and worth looking at a little longer. Let us observe
the splendour of the ceremony in church : —
" Over the place where my Lord sat was fastened
my Lord's own arms, environed with the garter, and
without the garter a wreath of gold after the French
order, in manner of knots, being scallop shells. So
far of the choir as have seats was hanged on both
sides with rich cloth or leather of gold, very fair.
All the rest of the chancel was hanged with arras
and tapestry, and round about were forms set for the
nobles, gentlemen, and others to sit upon to hear the
sermon. On the stall before my Lord lay a rich
cloth with a fair and costly cushion. On the Com-
munion Table was laid another fair cloth of Arras.
Before the table was laid a Turkey carpet whereon
my Lord kneeled when he offered. Which carpet
was spread by two gentlemen, whereof the one was
364
-•> The House of Dudley
his gentleman usher, ... At the coming into the
choir my Lord made low curtsey to the French
King's arms, being under the cloth of state, and so
was brought by the heralds to his own place where
he sat and heard the sermon.
" After the sermon ended a minister went to the
Communion Table, and standing at the North side
thereof he read the service of the Communion until
he came to the exhortations of alms and relief of the
poor. Then the said minister went to the midst of
the table, and taking in hand a bason of silver there
ready, the children and others of the Church sang a
psalm, whilst the herald Clarenceux went to my Lord,
and making curtsey to him my Lord arose and fol-
lowed the herald till he came before the place where
the French King's arms stood, and there the said
Earl made a very low curtsey from thence, and, both
the heralds going before, my Lord came up to the
Communion Table where the minister stood with his
bason, and there the said Earl kneeling down upon
a cushion of white tissue, he kissed the bason and
offered one piece of gold, and then rising he went
down again, right against the place where he before
had sat, and there both he and the herald made
another low curtsey before his own arms, and then
was brought up again on the other side of the choir
by the said heralds to the said Communion Table,
and there offered into the bason another piece of
gold. Which done, the said heralds brought him
again into his own place, where, sitting down and
365
Warwick Castle *-
kneeling, he heard the rest of the prayers until the
end. And so, in the same order as he came to the
Church, he with all the rest returned to the Priory,
where, very solemnly, he kept the feast with liberal
bounty and great cheer, himself sitting in a parlour
by himself, without any company, kept the state and
was served with many dishes, all covered and upon
the knee with arraye."
Rarely, even in Elizabethan literature, do we find
such a diorama of pomp and pride. It is good to be
able to get the picture from a spectator whose eyes
were dazzled by it. It is almost an anticlimax to read
that the Earl, afterwards, not only thanked the bailiff
and his company, but "took them all by the hands
to their great rejoicing." But his haughty demeanour
was not incompatible with a genuine interest in the
town's affairs. The fact comes out in the long report
in our "Black Book" of an interview which Mr.
Thomas Eisher had with him at Greenwich concerning
his contemplated benefaction to the borough.
Mr. Hsher wanted, among other things, money to
augment the incomes of sundry important officials.
His representations throw an interesting light upon
the value of money at the period. He was par-
ticularly concerned about the revenues of the various
vicars and the schoolmaster. These, when granted,
were " thought somewhat reasonable for men to live
poorly upon " ; but they no longer fulfilled that modest
purpose, "the prices of all things being since that
time risen, and every man's charge also increasing by
366
-* The House of Dudley
reason of wives and children," so that the money was
not " sufficient for the sustaining of learned men with
their families increased." Mr. Fisher asked, there-
fore, that it might " like his honour to have some
consideration thereof, and be means unto the Queen's
Majesty to bestow on the town some such tithes as
yet remain in her Majesty's disposition towards the
increasing of the said ministers' livings." The stipend
of the Vicar of St. Mary's, he suggested, should be
raised from £20 to ,£30 or ,£40 a year ; that of the
Vicar of St. Nicholas' from ,£13 6s. 8d. to £20; and
that of the Vicar of Budbrook from £6 35. 4d. to
£10; and that of the head-master of the Grammar
School from £\o to £20. " And so," he urged, " those
places might be furnished with learned and meet men,
God's word sincerely taught, and the people of the
same town, besides the people about, with their
children, better instructed."
Whereupon the Earl of Leicester proceeded to
ask questions and to give advice. He was glad
to hear that the citizens had "such gocd minds to
the ministry," and desired to know " what good trade
there was in the town whereby men gained." He
was told that the mercers and drapers prospered, and
that some " used to buy barley and to make it in malt,
and so to sell it again." He quite approved, for, he
said, " I know a town in Essex wherein are 4 or 5
worth ,£1,000 or ,£2,000 apiece that have no other
trade but malting." But he had a further suggestion
to make. " I marvel," he said, " that you do not
367
Warwick Castle *-
devise somevvays amongst you some special trade to
keep your poor on work," adding:—
" In mine opinion nothing would be more necessary
than clothing or capping, to both which occupations
is required many workmen and women ; and such may
therein be employed as in no faculty else. For, though
they be children, they may spin and card ; though they
be lame they may pike and free wool, and do such
things as shall keep them from idleness, and whereof
some commodity may grow. . . . And because I am
of that country and mind to plant myself there I
would be glad to further any good device with all
my heart."
Mr. Fisher explained the difficulties: —
" Many causes there were that hindered the same,
especially two or three : that is chiefly the want of a
stock, without which clothing in no wise could go
forward (which he spake of his experience), having
known divers of the town take upon them to make
cloth, and because they were not able to bear the
charge thereof were driven to give it over. . . . Besides
that skilful men are wanting, without which also if
they had a good stock it would little prevail, and
also the trade of clothing is not greatly enjoyed
because of the damp and stop of intercourse and
many other causes."
To which arguments the Earl of Leicester replied
like a practical man. As for skilful men, these might
"be provided either from Coventry or from some
other place if men have desire and care so to do."
368
a photograph by L. C. Keighley Pt-ac/t.
THE TOMB OF ROBERT DUDLEY, EARL OF LEICESTER, IN THE BEAUCHAMP
CHAPEL, WARWICK.
369
Warwick Castle *
As tor the stock, he would himself supply it. But
it", after he had taken the trouble to supply it, the
town should refuse it (as had happened at Beverley),
then he "could not like of it." And Mr. Fisher
humbly answered that " albeit he had no commission
of them that sent him touching these matters, yet he
doubted not but that offer, whensoever made unto
the town, would be not only not refused but most
thankfully accepted with such dutiful regard to his
Lordship for so honorable consideration of their pros-
perous well-doings."
Decidedly it is in his relations with the borough of
Warwick that Leicester appears at his best. He was
dictatorial, and he stood upon his dignity ; he exacted a
homage that to our modern notions seems exaggerated ;
he was a little too prone to comport himself like a
Lord Mayor's Show. But the people liked shows,
and took no umbrage at that. If they were not quite
so proud ot him as he was of himself, still they were
proud ot him. If he sometimes bullied and badgered
them, they rather liked the idea of being bullied and
badgered by so magnificent a man. It was the price
they paid — if not cheerfully, at least with resignation —
for basking in the glory reflected from his stately
presence.
On the whole, too, as we have seen, he bullied
and badgered them for their good. Though he be-
haved badly elsewhere, he behaved well at Warwick ;
though he failed elsewhere, at Warwick he succeeded.
At Cumnor one is reminded that he was an unfaithful
37°
<+- The House of Dudley
husband ; in Holland one thinks of him as an incapable
commander ; the ruins of Kenilworth seem to sym-
bolise the ruin of his reputation. At Warwick we
may be permitted to think of him only as a splendid
figurehead and a notable public benefactor.
And there, in the only possible halo of glory that
can be contrived for him, he may be left. His doings,
after his return from the Low Countries, are neither
interesting nor important. His failure there, though
glaring, did not cause him to lose his Sovereign's
favour. He was constantly with her at the time of
the preparations to withstand the Great Armada. She
rode down the lines with him when the troops were
mustered at Tilbury Fort, and had a patent drawn
up, though Burghley's protests prevented her from
signing it, appointing him Lieutenant-General of
England and Ireland.
He did not live to enjoy any further proofs of
Elizabeth's affection. He fell ill on a journey from
London to Kenilworth of a mysterious malady de-
scribed as " a continual fever," attributed by some to
a dose of poison,1 and died at his house at Cornbury,
1 The popular account of his death, resting not on evidence but on
tradition, is thus given in one of Dr. Bliss's notes to Wood's " Athenae
Oxonicnses": "The Countess Lettice fell in love with Christopher Blunt,
of the Earl's horse, and they had many secret meetings, and much wanton
familiarity, the which being discovered by the Earl, to prevent the pursuit
thereof, when General of the Low Countries, he took Blunt with him, and
there purposed to have him made away, and for this plot there was a ruffian
of Burgundy suborned, who, watching him one night going to his lodging
at the Hague, followed him, and struck at his head with a halbert or
Warwick Castle
in
was
Oxfordshire, on September 4th, 1588. He
buried in the Lady Chapel at Warwick ; and his
funeral, like his life, was a pageant, costing the
equivalent in our money of about ,£40,000.
battle-axe, intending to cleave his head. But the axe glanced, and withal
pared off a great piece of Blnnt's skull ; which wound was very dangerous
and long in healing, but he recovered, and afterwards married the Countess,
who took this so ill, as that she, with Blunt, deliberated and resolved to
dispatch the Earl. The Earl, not patient of the great wrong of his wife,
purposed to carry her to Kenilworth, and to leave her there until her death
by natural or by violent means, but rather by the last. The Countess,
also, having suspicion or some secret intelligence of this treachery against
her, provided artificial means to prevent the Earl, which was by a cordial,
the which she had no fit opportunity to offer him till he came to Cornbury
Hall, in Oxfordshire, where the Earl, after his gluttonous manner, surfeiting
with excessive eating and drinking, fell so ill that he was forced to stay
there. Then the deadly cordial was propounded unto him by the Countess.
As Mr. William Haynes, sometime the Earl's page, and then a gentleman
of his chamber, told me, who protested he saw her give that fatal cup to
the Earl, which was his last draught, and an end of his plot against the
Countess, and of his journey, and of himself; and so ' Frandis frande sua
t>rcnditnr artife.r.' Which may be thus Englished: 'The cunning deviser
of deceit contracted for is taken in his own snare.'"
372
CHAPTER XI
Robert Dudley, Son of the Earl of Leicester — The Difficult Question of
his Legitimacy— His Early Life — His Remarkable Adventures as a
Navigator — His Marriage to the Daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh — His
Elopement with Elizabeth Southwell.
MOST of the Dudleys were remarkable, and some
of them were romantic ; but the most romantic
and remarkable of them all was Sir Robert Dudley,
Knight, son of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester,
declared to be illegitimate by the Courts, but laying
claim — not, as it would appear, unreasonably — to his
father's Earldom of Leicester and his uncle's Earldom
of Warwick.
His mother, as we have said, was Douglas, Lady
Sheffield. We have also seen that the marriage was
secretly performed and subsequently repudiated, both
husband and wife contracting other marriages without
the formality of divorce. Consequently Leicester, in
his will, described Dudley as his "base son," and his
subsequent attempt to demonstrate his legitimacy in
the Archbishop of Canterbury's Court of Audience
was unsuccessful. We possess the evidence which he
filed, however, and it seems almost conclusive in his
favour. In Dr. Jebb's Life of the Earl of Leicester,
published in 1727, it is thus summarised: —
" That she was his wife, seems evident from the
373
Warwick Castle *-
depositions made in the Star Chamber, in the beginning
of King James's Reign, in favour of the legitimacy of
Sir Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester's son by the.
said Lady Douglas Sheffield. For it was there deposed
upon oath, by the Lady Sheffield and several other
persons who were present at her marriage, that after
beino- contracted to the Earl of Leicester about two
£}
years before, she was solemnly married to him in
her chamber, at Esher in Surrey, by a lawful Minister,
according to form of Matrimony established by law
in the Church of England, in presence of Sir Edward
Horsey, who gave her in marriage, Robert Sheffield,
Esq., and his Lady, Dr. Julio, Mr. Henry Frodsham,
and five other persons, whose names are there set
down ; that the ring, with which they were married,
was set with five pointed diamonds, and a table
diamond, and had been given to the Earl of Leicester
by the grandfather to the then Earl of Pembroke,
upon condition, that he should give it only to the
Lady whom he made his wife ; that the Duke
of Norfolk was the principal instrument in making
the match ; and that the Earl of Leicester, out of a
pretence of the Queen's displeasure in case it were
known, had engaged her to a vow of secresy [sic], till
he should give her leave to reveal it. It was farther
deposed, that within two days after Sir Robert Dudley
was born of [sic] Shene, the Lady Douglas received
a letter from his Lordship, which was read by Mrs.
Erisa, but then Lady Parker, wherein he thanked
God for the birth of his said son, who might be
374
SIR ROBERT DUDLEY, "THE NOBLE IMPE," SON OF ROBERT DUDLEY
EARL OF LEICESTER AND THE LADY DOUGLAS SHEFFIELD.
Warwick Castle *-
their comfort and staff of their old age, and was
subscribed, Your loving husband, Rob. Leicester ;
and that the said Lady was after this served in her
chamber as a Countess, till he forbad it, for fear the
marriage should be thereby disclosed. And besides
these, there were many other depositions made, from
whence it appeared, that the Earl of Leicester had
owned Sir Robert Dudley as his lawful son, and that
his brother, the Earl of Warwick, had in like sort
asserted his legitimacy."
This testimony, however, was at the time sup-
pressed, all the documents being impounded by the
arbitrary action of the Star Chamber. A calm review
of the facts leads almost inevitably to the conclusion
that a great injustice was perpetrated in the interest
of influential persons, and notably of Lettice Knollys,
who was concerned for the validity of her own marriage.
That, as we shall presently have to note, was the
view taken, many years afterwards, by Charles I.,
when he bestowed the title of Duchess upon Dudley's
widow, expressing " deep sense of the great injuries
done to the said Sir Robert Dudley and Lady Alice
Dudley . . . and holding ourselves in honour and
conscience obliged to make them reparation now, so
far as our present ability will enable us."
Having expressed our opinion, however, on the
vexed question, we may leave it, and record the events
of Robert Dudley's remarkable career.
In early childhood he lived with his mother; but
in 1578 his father took charge of him, and sent him
376
-* The House of Dudley
to school at Offington, near Worthing, where the
Earl of Warwick had a seat. The story goes that
he said to the head-master, Owen Jones : " Owen,
thou knowest that Robin, my boy, is my lawful son ;
and as I do and have charged thee to keep it secret,
so I charge thee not to forget it ; and therefore see thou
be careful of him." But this is hearsay evidence of
doubtful value. In 1587 he was entered on the books
of Christ Church, Oxford, as Comitis filius (son of an
Earl), and in 1588 we find him serving in his father's
army at Tilbury. In the same year his father died,
leaving him, after the death of his uncle Ambrose, the
bulk of his estate, including Kenilworth. In 1589 the
Earl of Warwick died, and he came into his inheritance.
There was some trouble, not mentioned in the
" Dictionary of National Biography," with the step-mother
about the property. The exact rights of the dispute
are not very easy to make out. It would appear,
however, that there was "a forcible entry made by
certain the servants of Sir Christopher Blount, Knight,
and others in the behalf of the Countess of Leicester,
his lady, upon the Castle of Kenilworth, being then in
the sole and quiet possession of Mr. Robert Dudley."
Here Sir Fulke Greville, who will presently figure
very prominently in our narrative, comes upon the
scene. He, Sir Thomas Lucy, Sir John Harrington,
Sir Henry Goodyer, and Thomas Leigh, Esq., as
Justices of the Peace, informed the Lord Chancellor
of what had happened, and received the following
instructions, dated April i6th, 1590: —
377
Warwick Castle <*-
" We, being thus informed of these disorders, and
moved on behalf of the said Mr. Dudley, for the
redressing of this violent and unlawful course taken
against him, as well to prevent the inconveniences
which may therefore ensue, as also for the lawful
preservation of his right, have thought good to address
these our letters unto you in that behalf, praying and
requiring you by authority hereof, as Justices of the
Peace, not only to see that present force (if any be
there still maintained), with the assistance of the Sheriff
of that County, forthwith removed, and any like forcible
and unlawful attempts that shall be hereafter moved
against the gentleman, in like sort repressed according
to law ; but also that the gentleman's possession may
be peaceably maintained by those which are or shall
be authorised there for him, and the rents reserved,
the Courts respited, and the game preserved, and all
duly accomplished according to those former letters
unto you (Sir John Harrington) directed ; for which
purpose you shall, in our names, also reiterate the
warning given by the said letters, as well unto the
tenants, as also to the Ranger and Keepers, so much
as doth particularly concern them."
More particular instructions follow exactly a fort-
night later : —
" We have received your letter written at Kenil-
worth, the 2ist of this present, whereby you advertise
us of your travail taken in removing of the forces
assembled there together in the Castle, of which
your proceedings as we deem well, so would we
378
-* The House of Dudley
better have allowed the same, if you had communi-
cated our last letter unto Sir John Harrington, unto
whose further
advice we re-
ferred you, have
before directed
our letters unto
him, the cause
whereof accord-
ing to our ap-
pointment you
should have fol-
lowed. Since
which time the
parties, whom
the possession
of the said
Castle concern-
eth, have agreed
amongst them-
selves, that you,
Sir Fulke Gre-
ville, shall, for
DO til
THE ARMOUR OF SIR ROBERT DUDLEY,
"THE NOBLE iMPE." sequester the
In the Armoury at Warwick Castle. r r .
profits or the
said Castle, reserve the rents, respite the Courts,
and preserve the game, without any joint posses-
sion of the parties, until the matter in controversy
be fully decided, and to require you to set the
379
\Yanvick Castle *-
persons committed to the Gaol at Gloucester [at
liberty], taking bonds to her Majesty's use, to
answer the disorders by them committed, if hereafter
it be called into question."
As we have said, the story cannot very easily be
pieced together from the. correspondence ; but it is
clearly the beginning of the long story of injustice.
Doubtless the persecution and annoyance stimulated
his desire to seek adventure on the high seas. Talk
with his uncle of Warwick, who had been one of the
patrons of the navigator Frobisher, may also have
contributed to turn his thoughts in that direction, and
another contributory influence must have been that of
Thomas Cavendish, whose sister he afterwards married.
An official document1 marks the beginning of his
maritime career. The Corporation of Portsmouth was
ordered to hand over to him two ships, the property
of Cavendish, who had died at sea. He was adjudged
too young, however, to take command of them ; and
he presently fitted out a small squadron on his own
account, and weighed anchor from Southampton Roads
on November 6th, 1594: himself in the Bear, of 200
1 [1592-3.] "At St. James's, 18 March, 1592. A letter to the Mayor
and Officers of the Port of Portsmouth. Whereas Robert Dudley,
Esq., hath taken a letter of Administration of the goods of Thomas
Cavendish, Esq., lately deceased at the seas. These shall be, notwith-
standing any former letter written from the Galleon Leicester and the
Roebuck, two ships that did appertain to the said Mr. Cavendish, to
require you to cause the said ships, with their lading, to be delivered to
Mr. Dudley, or such as he shall appoint to receive the same. Wherein
we require you to give the gentleman your best help and assistance,"
etc., etc.
380
-•> The House of Dudley
tons ; Captain Monk in the Bears Whelp, as vice-
admiral ; two small pinnaces, the Frisking and Earwig,
in attendance. He was only twenty-one, if so old;
and on his return he wrote an account of the voyage
for Hakluyt's collection, whence I extract the most
interesting passages : —
" Having parted company with my Vice-Admirall,
I went alone wandering on my voyage, sailing along
the coast of Spaine, within view of Cape Finister
and Cape S. Vincent, the north and south Capes of
Spaine. In which space, having many chases, 1 could
meet with none but my countreymen, or countrey's
friends. Leaving these Spanish shores, I directed my
course, the 14 of December, towards the Isles of the
Canaries. Here I lingered 12 dayes for two reasons:
the one, in hope to meete my Vice-Admirall ; the other,
to get some vessel to remove my pestered men into,
who being 140 almost in a ship of 200 tunnes, there
grew many sicke. I tooke two very fine caravels
under the calmes of Tenerif and Palma, which both
refreshed and amended my company, and made me
a Fleete of 3 sailes. In the one caravel, called the
Intent, I made Benjamin Wood captaine ; in the other,
one Captaine Wentworth. Thus cheared as a desolate
traveller, with the company of my small and newe
erected Fleete, I continued my purpose for the West
Indies. . . .
" Riding under this White Cape two daies, and
walking on shore to view the countrey, I found it a
waste, desolate, barren, and sandie place, the sand
Warwick Castle *-
running in drifts like snow, and very stony ; for so is
all the countrey sand upon stone, (like Arabia Deserta,
and Petrea.) and full of blacke venemous lizards, with
some \vilde beasts and people which be tawny Moores,
so \vildc, as they would but call to my caravels from
the shore, who road very neere it. I now caused
my Master Abraham Kendall to shape his course
directly for the isle of Trinidad in the West Indies ;
which after 22 dayes we descried, and the first of
Februari came to an anker under a point thereof,
called Curiapan, in a bay which was very full of
pelicans, and I called it Pelican's bay. About 3
leagues to the eastwards of this place we found a
mine of Marcaziles, which glister like golde, (but all is
not gold that glistereth,) for so we found the same
nothing worth, though the Indians did assure us it
was Calvori, which signifieth gold with them. These
Indians are a fine shaped and a gentle people, al
naked and painted red, their commanders wearing
crowns of feathers. These people did often resort
unto my ship, and brought us hennes, hogs, plantans,
potatos, pinos, tobacco, and many other pretie com-
modities, which they exchanged with us for hatchets,
knives, hookes, belles, and glassebuttons.
" The country is fertile, and ful of fruits, strange
beasts, and foules, whereof munkies, babions, and
parats were in great abundance.
" Right against the northernmost part of Trinidad,
the maine was called the high land of Paria, the rest
a very lowe land. Morucca I . learned to be full of
382
-* The House of Dudley
a greene stone called Tacarao, which is good for
the stone.
" The Caribes I learned to be man-eaters or cani-
bals, and great enemies to the Islanders of Trinidad.
"In the high land of Paria I was informed by
divers of these Indians, that there was some Perota,
which with them is silver, and great store of most
excellent cane-tobacco.
" This discovery of the mine I mentioned to my
company, who altogether mutinied against my going
in search of it, because they something feared the
villany of Abraham Kendall, who would by.no means go.
" I gave them their directions to follow, written
under mine owne hand. But they went from me, and
entred into one of the mouthes of the great River
Orenoque.
" I was told of a rich nation, that sprinkled their
bodies with the powder of golde, and seemed to be
guilt, and that farre beyond them there was a great
towne called El Dorado, with many other things.
"In my boate's absence, there came to me a
pinnesse of Plimmouth, of which Captain Popham was
chiefe, who gave us great comfort.
"I stayed some sixe or eight dayes longer , for
Sir Walter Ralegh, (who, as wee surmised, had some
purpose for this discovery,) to the ende that, l?y our
intelligence and his boates, we might have done some
good : but it seemed he came not in sixe or eight
weeks after.
" And after carefully doubling the shoulder of
383
Warwick Castle *-
Abreogos, I now caused the Master (hearing by a
pilote that the Spanish Fleete ment now to put out
of Havana) to beare for the Meridian of the yle of
Bermuda, hoping there to finde the Fleete. The
Fleete I found not, but foule weather enough to
scatter many Fleetes ; which companions left mee not,
till I came to the yles of Flores and Cuervo : whither
I made the more haste, hoping to meete some great
Fleete of Her Majestic my Sovereigne, as I had
intelligence, and to give them advise of this rich
Spanish Fleete ; but findinge none, and my victuals
almost spent, I directed my course for England.
" Returning alone, and worse manned by half then
I went foorth, my fortune was to meete a great
Armada of this Fleete of some 600 tunnes well
appointed, with whom I fought board and board for
two dayes, being no way able in all possibilitie with
fifty men to board a man of warre of sixe hundreth
tunnes. And having spent all my powder, I was con-
strained to leave her, yet in such distresse without
sailes and mastes, and hull so often shot through
with my great ordinance betweene winde and water,
that being three hundred leagues from land, I dare
say, it was impossible for her to escape sinking.
Thus leaving her by necessitie in this miserable
estate, I made for England, where I arrived at
S. Ives in Cornwall, about the latter end of May,
!595> scaping most dangerously in a great fogge the
rocks of Silly.
" 1 hus, by the providence of God, landing safely,
384
-•> The House of Dudley
I was kindely intertained by all my friends, and after
a short time learned more certaintie of the sinking
of that great shippe, being also reputed rich by divers
intelligences out of Spain.
" In this voyage, I and my Fleete tooke, sunke,
and burnt nine Spanish ships ; which was losse to
them, though I got nothing."
It was truly a remarkable achievement for one so
young ; but Robert Dudley, as has been said, was a
very remarkable man. " He was at this time," says
Craik in his "Romance of the Peerage," " looked
upon as one of the finest gentlemen in England ; in
his person tall and well-shaped, having a fresh and
fine complexion but red-haired ; learned beyond his
age, more especially in the mathematics ; and of parts
equal if not superior to any of his family." After
his return from the West Indies, he sent two ships
and two pinnaces to the South Seas at his own
expense, and was with the Earl of Essex and the
Lord High Admiral in their expedition to Cadiz,
where his gallant conduct earned him the honour of
knighthood.
This was in 1596. The next few years were
comparatively uneventful. In view of Dudley's wide
knowledge and multifarious accomplishments, we may
suppose that they were partly devoted to study. The
one fact to be noted, however, is his second marriage.
His first wife died without issue in 1596, and in the
same year he married Alice, second daughter of Sir
Thomas Leigh, Knight and Baronet, of Stoneleigh,
VOL. i. 385 c c
Warwick Castle <*-
Warwickshire, who bore him seven daughters, of whom
four only call for mention : Alicia Douglassia, who died
unmarried ; Frances, who married Sir Gilbert Kniveton,
of Bradley, Derbyshire ; Anne, who married Sir Robert
Holbourne, Charles I.'s Solicitor-General ; and Catherine,
who married Sir Richard Leveson, K.B., of Trentham
Mall, Staffordshire, the ancestor of the present Duke
of Sutherland.
To these years also belong Dudley's efforts to
establish his legitimacy. We have a letter written
by him to Arthur Atye, Leicester's secretary, with
reference to " an instrument my father made," which
might be produced in Court to his detriment, and
praying him to " acquaint this bearer, Mr. Ward, my
proctor, with your directions therein of the substance
of the deed." But his endeavours were checkmated
in a shameful manner.
" Xo sooner," we read, " had Lettice, Countess
of Leicester, notice of these proceedings, than she
procured an information to be filed by Sir Edward
Coke, the King's Attorney-General, in the Star
Chamber, against Sir Robert Dudley, Sir Thomas
Leigh, Dr. Babington, and others, for a conspiracy ;
and upon the petition of Lord Sydney, an order,
issued out of that Court, for bringing in all the
depositions that had been taken by virtue of the
Archbishop's Commission, sealing them up, and de-
positing them in the Council chest. In order, however,
to keep up some appearance of impartiality, Sir Robert
Dudley was allowed to examine witnesses as to the
386
-* The House of Dudley
proofs of his legitimacy, in that Court ; which, when
he had done, in as full a manner as in such a case
could be expected, a sudden order was issued for
stopping all proceedings, and locking up the examina-
tions, of which no copies were to be taken but by
the King's licence."
It is not surprising that Dudley, disgusted at this
treatment, desired to go abroad, or that in the Privy
Council Register for June 25th, 1605, we find a note
of: "A license for Sir Robert Dudley, Knight, to
travel beyond the seas for three years next after his
departure, with three servants, four geldings or nags,
and ^80 in money, with usual provision."
Nor did he go alone. With him went, not his
lawful wife, but Elizabeth Southwell, eldest daughter
of Sir Robert Southwell, of Woodrising, Norfolk, and
grand-daughter of Charles, second Lord Howard of
Effingham, Lord High Admiral, disguised as a page
in his suite.
Two interesting notes on this elopement have
been transcribed by Mr. John Temple Leader from
the letters of the Italian minister Lotti in the
Medicean archives, and are printed in his useful mono-
graph " Sir Robert Dudley, Duke of Northumberland."
The first, dated July i3th, 1605, runs thus: —
" The Queen [Anne of Denmark] is much put out
because a married cavalier, Sir Robert Dudley, who
they say is a natural son of the Earl of Leicester,
has last night carried off a maid of honor of whom
he was enamoured. Strict orders were promptly given
387
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
out, but at present we have heard no news. This
gentleman is about 35 years of age, of exquisite
stature, with a fair beard, and noble appearance.
The fact has created great scandal."
The second, dated exactly a week later, is as
follows : —
" That Court Lady, niece of the Lord High Admiral,
who they say ran off with Sir Robert Dudley, himself
nephew of an Admiral, has been stopped at Cales
[Calais] by the Governor of that city ; the expedition
from here arriving almost at the same time as the
fugitives. But as he found that she had taken this
step, not for love, but with the object of entering a
monastery and serving God in the true religion, I do
not know whether the French will let her be brought
back by force ; on the contrary it is believed they
will allow her to follow out her holy inspiration."
But Elizabeth Southwell had no intention whatever
of entering a convent. A letter of a somewhat later
date informs us that Dudley's "young relative is con-
stantly seen with him in public as a kind of protest
that there is no guilty concealment between them."
388
CHAPTER XII
Robert Dudley at Florence — His Various Achievements there— His Skill
as an Engineer — As an Inventor — As a Ship-builder — His Remarkable
Patent Medicine— His Book on Great Circle Sailing.
ROBERT DUDLEY went to Lyons, but did not
stay long there. His principal actions there
were to join the Roman Catholic Church and marry
Elizabeth Southwell. As she was his cousin he had
to seek a dispensation from the Pope for the purpose.
He did not mention, in applying for it, that he was
already a married man with a family, and his Holiness
was not acquainted with the fact. Consequently the
dispensation was duly granted, and the ceremony
was duly performed by a Roman Catholic priest of
the town.
From Lyons Robert Dudley repaired to Florence,
where he sought the protection of the Grand Duke
Ferdinand I., and became a tenant of Cavalier Annibale
Orlandini in the Via dell' Amore. He had not been
there long when the following legal instrument was
served upon him : —
" 2nd February, 1606-7.
[1607.] "A FORM OF REVOCATION OF A PASS, SIR
ROBERT DUDLEY FROM FOREIGN PARTS.
" James, by the grace of God, King of F^ngland,
389
Warwick Castle «-
Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith,
etc. To our subject Robert Dudley, Knight, greeting.
Whereas, we, out of our special favour, did grant you
license to travel out of our realm of England into
foreign parts, in hope that you might thereby prove
the better enable to the service of us and our State,
as you pretended, we do now certainly understand
that contrary wise in those parts you do bear and
behave yourself inordinately, and have intended and
attempted many things prejudicial to us and our
crown, which we cannot suffer or endure. We do,
therefore, by these presents, will and straightly charge
and command you, upon your faith and allegiance,
and upon the pain of all that you may forfeit unto
us, that forthwith upon the receipt and understanding
thereof, you do, all excuses and pretences set apart,
make your personal repair and return into this our
realm of England with all speed, and that presently
upon your arrival here, you do yield and render your
body to some of our Privy Council, to the intent we
may be truly advertised of the day and time of your
return, and hereof fail you not, as you will answer
the contrary at your uttermost peril. Given under
our Privy Seal at our Palace of Westminster, the
second day of February, in the fourth year of our
reign of England, France, and Ireland, and of
Scotland the fortieth.
(Signed) " THOMAS CLARKE.
"To our subject Kobt. Dudley, Kt."
39°
Warwick Castle *-
He refused to obey the summons, and his English
estates were confiscated. Henry, Prince of Wales, to
whom Kenilworth was granted, not wishing to take
an unfair advantage of his circumstances, agreed to
buy it from him for ,£14,500 (which was about a
third of its value). The purchase, however, was never
actually completed, and even the instalment of ,£3,000
that was paid was lost to Dudley, owing to the bank-
ruptcy of the merchant through whom it was to have
been transmitted.
In the meantime the Grand Duke had been making
certain enquiries about him. The report of his London
minister was not very encouraging, being coloured by
the views of the Court party. " The King," Lotti
wrote in cipher, "of his own accord spoke of Sir
Robert Dudley, and said : 'If he had been a traitor
to my own person and state, I should expect from
his Highness the Grand-Duke some real sign of
friendship ; but as he has only erred in lightness and
dishonour, I should not wish to drive him out of his
Serene Highness's state; yet that he should receive
Dudley in his house, and honour him as he does,
seems very strange to me. He [Dudley] has a wife
and children here, the Pope has annulled his marriage
to the woman he has with him, and I, for my part,
hold him incapable of any honorable action.' "
But the Grand Duke had already, to some ex-
tent, committed himself. " The Earl of Warwick," he
had written to the Earl of Northampton, '.' as your
Lordship is aware, has come to reside in these my
392
--*> The House of Dudley
dominions that he may be able to live a quiet life,
according to the religion which till now he has always
observed. Besides the information I have received of
his merits and valour, I have the more willingly
received him, on account of his relationship with your
illustrious Lordship, and knowing from him the love
you bear towards him."
Moreover, he had discovered that Robert Dudley
could be useful to him. So, in spite of warnings
and remonstrances, he took him into his service ; and
neither he nor his son, the Grand Duke Cosimo II.,
ever had any reason to regret the step.
For the rest of his life, therefore, Robert Dudley
lived at Florence ; and we have occasional glimpses
of his life there in the writings of various English
travellers. James Wads worth, the author of " The
English and Spanish Pilgrims/' wrote in 1623 that
" this Dudley now enjoyeth his second wife by dis-
pensation from his Holiness, and is in great esteem
with the Archduke of Florence, in regard of his art
in contriving and fabricating ships and galleys ; and
hath obtained of the Emperor of Germany to be
declared Duke of Northumberland, who hath given him
the title already, and the land when he can catch it."
Lord Herbert of Cherbury in 1614 reported: —
" I went from Rome to Florence, where I saw
Sir Robert Dudley, who had the title of Earl and
Duke of Northumberland given him by the Emperor,
and the handsome Mrs. Sudel [Southwell], whom he
carried away with him out of England, and was there
393
Warwick Castle <+-
taken for his wife. I was invited by them to a great
feast the night before I went out of town.
" Taking my leave of them both, I prepared for my
journey. When I was ready to depart, a messenger
came to me and told me, if I would accept the same
pension that Sir Robert Dudley had himself, being
2000 ducats per annum, the Duke would entertain
me for his service in the war against the Turks.
This offer, whether procured by the means of Sir
Robert Dudley, Mrs. Sudel, or Signor Loty, my
ancient friend, I know not. Being thankfully acknow-
ledged by me as a great honour, it was yet refused,
my intention being to serve his Excellency in the
Low Country war."
This is complete evidence of the importance of
Dudley's new station in life. Happily, however, the
material exists for giving a much fuller account of his
various achievements. There was hardly any department
of human endeavour in which he did not attain notable
distinction. Let us number his useful accomplishments.
i. He was a great civil engineer. He became
famous, says the ''Biographia Britannica," "on account
of that great project which he formed, of draining a
large morass between Pisa and the sea, and raising
Livorno, or Leghorn, which was then, though an
ancient, yet a mean and pitiful place, into a large
and beautiful town, improving the haven by a mole,
which rendered it both safe and commodious ; and
having engaged His Serene Highness to declare it
scala franca, (or a free port) he, by his influence
394
-* The House of Dudley
and correspondence, drew many English merchants
to settle and set up houses there, which was a thing
of great importance to our Italian trade, and, con-
sidered in that light, was of very great service to his
native country."
2. He was a great free-trader. " I have heard
from some living," says Anthony Wood, " that Sir
R. Dudley was the chief instrument that caused the
great Duke to make it (Leghorn) a scala franca, a
free port."
3. He was a great inventor. The Florentine
archives contain a patent granted to him for "a
new invention to improve silk " ; and the Gabinetto
Fisico, in the Natural History Museum of Florence,
contains several nautical instruments invented by him,
including a brass instrument to find the ebb and flow
of the tide in divers places.
4. He was a great physician. Anthony Wood tells
us that " he had published a medical work called
' Catholicon,' " which he had never been able to get
a sight of, though it was " in good esteem among
physicians " ; and he was the inventor of the famous
Warwick Powder, which long held its place in both
British and foreign pharmacopoeias. I give a pre-
scription for the preparation in case any of my readers
should care to try it for their ailments : —
Antimonial tartar vitriolated . . . . . 5J.
Rosin of scammony reduced to powder with sweet
almonds . . . . . . . -52-
Cremor tartari . . . . . . • 5VJ-
395
Wanvick Castle *-
As regards the uses and efficacy of the mixture, I
am tempted to quote at length from the account
of it given by the eminent Italian physician Dr.
Cornachini, whose name it bears in some of the
foreign pharmacopoeias, though Zwelfer correctly calls
it Pitlvis comitis dc Warwick. Dr. Cornachini writes
as follows : —
"It is now many years ago since Robert, Earl of
Warwick, possessed of all virtues and worthy of every
praise, entertained the design of rescuing our sea from
barbarous pirates and atrocious plunderers, the bitter
enemies of the Christian name ; neither has he en-
deavoured with less zeal to deliver the human body
from the painful ailments and perilous diseases which
assail and overwhelm it. And when he saw that men
and women of all classes and conditions of life, of
all ages and habits, and differences of residence, at
every season of the year were liable to fall into
sickness, and sometimes to lose their lives, particu-
larly by those attacks which derive their origin from
peccant humours, either by reason of their quantity or
quality. Tor the driving away of such humours, 'ad
quos depellendos! the physician is sent for, and blood-
letting resorted to, not only once or twice, but many
times. Upon other occasions they resort to medicines
called sub-tinctures, which more and more affect the
mouth, palate, and taste, and by reason of their
nauseousness, overturn the stomach, produce griping,
constrict the bowels ; neither can such medicines
continue to be exhibited, however greatly the occasion
396
-•> The House of Dudley
which may require them. Other symptoms also are
superinduced by them; but the illustrious Earl devoted
his days and nights to this subject, with a view to
effect a cure of such ailment, and that too by treat-
ment at once safe, speedy, and pleasant, (tuto cito
jucunde^] at any time of the year, and without
bleeding, which patients very often cannot bear, either
by reason of their age, or the season of the year,
or for other contra-indicatory symptoms, ' propter alias
contra-indicatioms? ... At length this excellent man,
after a long contemplation of the subject, came to the
conclusion, that if he could discover some Powder,
without taste or smell, small in quantity, but very
powerful in effect, (st pulvis ahquis insipidus, inodorus,
mole quidem parvus scd virtute maximus adinveniretur^
a Powder which could conveniently bring about all that
was required, we ought to embrace it with our whole
heart, and always have it ready for use. At last
the Almighty was pleased to fulfil the Earl of
Warwick's vows and wishes, and guide his thoughts
and studies to the discovery of this Powder . . .
which mildly, gently, composedly, (blande, placide,
sedate^ relieves the patient per alimm. When the
noble Earl communicated his discovery to me about
four years ago, telling me, that he would declare
upon oath that he had cured six hundred persons by
his Powder, who were all at that time alive, I boldly,
freely, and openly answered, audacter, liber e, et aperte
respondebam, that his statement was neither more nor
less than pure fiction ; that it overthrew all the maxims
397
Warwick Castle <*-
of the ancient physicians ; and that a more pestilent
practice could not be introduced into medicine. . . .
And, finally, I exhorted him to give up his opinion
upon the Powder, and its use. But all I said was
in vain. He listened with no unkind feeling, but
obstinately rejected all I could say. Qua quidem ipse
omnia non ingrato animo sed obstinatione quddam
scntcnticc rcpudiabat"
5. He was a great sportsman— " noted," according
to Wood, " for riding the great horse, for tilting, and
for his being the first of all that taught a dog to sit
in order to catch partridges."
6. Finally, Robert Dudley was a great ship-builder,
and a great writer on the kindred subjects of naviga-
tion and naval architecture. He began building ships
for the Grand Duke almost as soon as he arrived
in Tuscany. "In the Court Diary kept by Cesare
Tinghi," says Targioni, " I find that in 1607 a
vessel with a square sail and also oars was built
from the designs of the Earl of Warwick, and that
a galleon also designed by him was launched at
Leghorn on March 20, 1608." Dudley has himself
recorded some of this vessel's achievements : —
" She carried 64 pezzi grossi (great guns), was a
rare and strong sailer, of great repute, and the terror
of the Turks in these seas. Alone and unassisted she
captured the Captain galleon of the Great Lord (Gran
Signore), twice her own size, and valuing a million.
She also, without assistance from the others, fought
the Grand Turk's fleet of 48 Galleys and 2 ' Galliazze,'
398
-* The House of Dudley
and made the Generalissimo Bassia (Bashaw) of the sea
in person to fly, as she very nearly captured his Galley."
A confidential communication, in cipher, from Signor
Lotti shows that he tried to bring over his old
instructor in ship-building, Matthew Baker, of the
Deptford Docks. "In my last letter of the i6th
inst.," writes Lotti, " I told your Highness that I had
been at Deptford, and under pretence of knowing some-
thing about ship-building induced Mathew Caccher to
come and spend a morning with me in London. I
then thought he would accept the offer of going over
to Italy in the service of your Highness. But not-
withstanding that he is ill satisfied here, and being
nowr old no longer suits the heads of the profession,
and that he has so little employment, that for twro
years he has not drawn a penny of salary — knowing
also that with you he would have good pay, yet he
decidedly, though much to his regret, excuses himself
from coming, solely on account of his great age, he
being 77 years old, and looking even more. He tells
me if I wrill go to Deptford again, he will give me the
models of some of his ships, hoping thus to be useful to
your Highness even here. Asking me about his pupil
Sir Robert Dudley, he expressed how willingly he would
have taught his profession in Italy to oblige him. Then
he told me there was a young man whom he had in-
structed,— but as yet he was unknown, or he would not
be allowed to leave the kingdom, — and he would see if
this youth would accept service under your Highness."
Dudley went on building ships, however, without
399
\Yanvick Castle *-
Matthew Baker's help, introducing various improve-
ments, which were accepted and turned out satisfactorily
in spite of the jealous opposition of Florentine rivals;
and he also wrote a famous nautical work, entitled
" Dell' Arcanodel Mare" (" The Secret of the Sea").
This book expounds, among other things, the
principle of Great Circle Sailing, deduced from the
science of Spherical Trigonometry Each of the t\vo
volumes weighs about 16 Ibs., and would require to
be placed upon a lectern in order to be read. A
second edition was published after the author's death.
The editor, one Lucini, contributes a grandiloquent
introduction, saying, after an impressive dissertation
upon the power of man over the ocean, and the
advantage of his circumnavigating the globe : —
" In this worthy emprise, O my Serene Lords, if
one man is more signally eminent than others, it is
the Duke of Northumberland, who, to make himself
master of marine science, tore himself away from a
great house, in which he had princely birth ; and
sacrificed full forty years of his life in unveiling, for
the good of humanity at large, the mighty secrets
of the sea; while I," naively adds Lucini, "for
twelve years sequestered from all the world in a
little Tuscan village, have consumed no less than
5000 Ibs. of copper in engravings to illustrate it."
Such were Robert Dudley's public services in
Florence. The detailed enumeration of them clears
the ground and leaves us free to try to depict the
life of the exile in that Italian city.
400
CHAPTER XIII
Dudley at Florence — His Attempts to restore Friendly Relations with the
English Court — His Memorandum to Prince Henry on the Importance
of Sea Power — His Advice to King James as to the Bridling of his
Parliament and the Augmentation of his Revenue — Dudley's Endeavours
to obtain the Restitution of his Property by a Threat of Reprisals on
English Shipping.
A "X 7"E have plenty of evidence of the high esteem
V V in which Robert Dudley was held by the
Grand Duke Ferdinand. His letters to Ambassador
Lotti show it. " Here," says one letter, "he is known
as a worthy knight, and of the utmost goodwill, and
that he could not possibly entertain any idea of dis-
loyalty or ill faith towards King James or his state."
" It seems to us," says another letter, "that this knight
shows himself every day more worthy of our protection,
and especially of our efforts to prove in Rome the
validity of his last marriage."
It was the same, or nearly the same, in the reign
of Ferdinand's successor, Cosimo II. His wife, Maria
Maddalena, daughter of the Archduke Charles of
Austria, made Robert Dudley her Grand Chamberlain,
and corresponded about him with Amerigo Salvetti,
who had succeeded Lotti as minister at the Court of
St. James. His prosperity at this period enabled him
to buy land and build himself a palace, now the
VOL. i. 401 D p
\Yar\vick Castle «-
property of the Bordoni family, in the parish of San
Pancrazio — a palace of four stones (though the ground
floor was let out for shops), of which he is believed
to have been himself the architect. When injury was
done him by the granting of the Earldoms of Leicester
and \Yar\vick to the houses of Lisle and Rich re-
spectively— injury which he resented by composing
anagrams on his name l — she used her influence with
her brother, the Emperor, to procure him the title
of Duke of Northumberland. The patent speaks of
his " singular integrity of life and morals, experience,
and rare and ingenious inventions," orders him to be
"called, honoured, named, and reputed" by the title,
and to employ it "in spiritual and temporal, eccle-
siastical and secular matters, as well as in all business
affairs and transactions," and instructs all officials
throughout the Holy Roman Empire to "prevent by
force " the assumption of the style by any other
claimant.
Much of Robert Dudley's time at this period was
taken up with attempts to restore friendly relations with
the English Court, and to recover his confiscated
property. Elizabeth Southwell's sister, Lady Rodney,
wife of Sir Edward Rodney, possibly assisted him with
her influence and advice ; and one conjectures that, if
Henry, Prince of Wales, had lived, he would have
gained his ends. We have seen that Prince Henry
behaved better than he was obliged to, and better than
1 (i) "Robertas Dudleus. Trude sed sublevor." (2) " De trude sub-
levor." (3) " Re delusus deturbo."
402
The House of Dudley
Ajter the pictnie by Daniel My tens.
HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES.
he might have been expected to, in the matter of the
Kenilworth estate. We also find that Dudley, assisted
by Sir Thomas Challoner, who had been Prince
Henry's tutor, tried to negotiate a marriage between
him and a Tuscan Princess. A letter from Dudley
403
Warwick Castle <+-
to the Grand Duchess on that subject is printed by
Mr. Temple Leader; and he furthermore addressed to
Prince Henry a really remarkable memorandum, antici-
pating some of Admiral Mahan's most characteristic
opinions on the importance of sea power.
"It is held," he wrote, "for the surest reason of
state amongst some of good understanding, that what
king soever is most powerful by sea hath the best
means to secure his own greatness ; and if his
ambition pass further, hath the like occasion to hazard
others.
"The consequence of this proposition is to be
confirmed by many examples, observed in the revolu-
tion of such like affairs, especially by the success of the
late Queen of England, that so infinitely affronted
the King of Spain ; as also those States of the Low
Country, defending very easily their long war, to his
great expense and loss."
He illustrated his propositions by reference to the
histories of England, France, and Holland, Spain,
Portugal, Italy, Venice, and Turkey, drawing the con-
clusion that "whosoever is patron of the sea com-
mandeth the land," and drawing attention to certain
inventions of his own which would secure the command
of the sea to England. There were three conditions
of assuring such supremacy which he claimed to have
fulfilled :—
i. " Hrst, to invent such a sort of vessel, as by
the condition and quality thereof, may be better fitted
for all uses required, than those already made."
404
-* The House of Dudley
2. " That the same invention may be maintained
at much less charge," etc.
3. "That their employment may be by fewer men,
and easier expense and readiness."
And he concluded with the following personal
appeal : —
" Further, I must profess, that whereas I have
found no friendship nor favor in England, but from
your Highness, my gracious Master, so do I renounce
all other obligation (his Majesty only excepted) but
yourself, and therefore do resolve confidently not to do
any of these services spoken of, upon any contentment
whatsoever, unless your Highness be pleased to take
the Admiralty wholly into your hands, for in these
courses belonging to it, or any other of mine, I will
depend upon none but his Majesty, your gracious
father, and yourself. And when it shall please God I
may, with my honour, return to serve you (which point I
am above all things to respect, or else were unworthy
to be your servant,) I can then promise divers other
services, not inferior to this, as well for your profit as
force, being the two chief ends I study and endeavour
for you. So praying God for your Highness's long
happiness, I humbly take my leave. From Florence,
the 22nd of November, 1612."
Such hopes, however, as Dudley may have enter-
tained from the friendly intervention of Prince Henry
were brought to disappointment by the Prince's death,
and an attempt which he made to conciliate King
James I. was not successful.
405
Warwick Castle <*-
He addressed to King James a memorandum en-
titled "A Discourse to correct the Exorbitances of
Parliaments and to enlarge the King's Revenue " :
a very remarkable document. "Your Parliament,"
Dudley urged, "must be forced to alter their style
and be conformable to your will and pleasure " ; and
to this end he made many suggestions, too long to be
quoted here.
The forwarding of these propositions, however, did
Dudley no good, though it got certain other people
into trouble.
Nothing came of it till 1629. In that year there
was handed about in MS. a tract entitled " How a
Prince may make himself an absolute Tyrant." Par-
liament was at that period very jealous of its rights
and privileges. Consequently an enquiry was instituted.
The MS., it transpired, had come from the collection
of Sir Robert Cotton, the eminent antiquary. A
clerk, whom Sir Robert Cotton had set to transcribe
it, had made several transcriptions and sold them.
One copy came into the hands of Sir Thomas Went-
worth, afterwards Earl of Strafford, and then Lord
Deputy of Ireland. Strafford laid the pamphlet before
the Privy Council, and the Council cited Sir Robert
Cotton, together with the Earls of Clare, Somerset,
and Bedford, to appear before it at the Star Chamber.
"The means propounded in this discourse," we
read in the official paper, "are such as are fitter to
be practised in a Turkish state than amongst Chris-
tians, being contrary to the justice and mildness of his
406
-* The House of Dudley
Majesty's Government, and the sincerity of his in-
tentions." The accused, therefore, who had " not
only read and concealed the same from his Majesty
and his Council but also communicated and divulged
it to others," were bidden to go home and prepare
their defences ; while Sir Robert Cotton " was further
told, that although it were his Majesty's pleasure
that his studies should as yet remain shut up, yet
he might enter into them, and take such writings,
whereof he should have use, provided, that he did it
in the presence of a Clerk of the Council, and that
whereas the Clerk attending hath the keys of two
of the studies, he might put a second lock on either
of them, so that neither doors might be opened but
by him and the said Clerk, both together."
Ultimately, in the midst of the proceedings, the
King sent word to the Lord Keeper that " in respect
of the great joy upon the birth of his son he should
immediately order the proceedings to be stopped and
the defendants to be discharged." But Sir Robert
Cotton died soon afterwards, heart-broken at what
had happened to him.
Such was the end of that story, though it was by
no means the end of Dudley's endeavours to obtain
his rights. In spite of the favour of the great, he
was sometimes in sore need of money. We have a
letter of complaint upon this subject.
"My income," he writes to Cioli, "thanks to the
grace of His Serene Highness, is about 157 scudi a
month. From this I pay more than 50 scudi every
407
Warwick Castle <*-
month for my son Don Carlo, and give Don Ambrogio
40 scudi a month, besides 17 to his tutor; think then
what remains to keep a Duke of Northumberland with
three boys besides, and moreover a daughter who
wants to take the veil. Then there is the expense
of dressing Don Ambrogio for Court ; and you know
it costs a hundred scudi to buy a new suit of a style
worthy the high service of so eminent a prince. Then
there is the great expense of a tutor to look after
him, otherwise such an inexperienced youth would
spend his month's allowance in a day. Were the case
different, I should be ashamed to ask anything of you,
but I have no land or private income, and scarcely means
enough to put my daughter into a convent, and this I
can assure the Rev. Cardinal and your Excellency."
Hence his active agitation. Salvetti acted for him
in London, but reported that his assumption of the
title of Duke of Northumberland operated against his
chances. " 1 have not heard whether his Majesty has
yet been informed of this," he wrote, " but anyway I
seem to see him hurling his thunderbolts."
So Dudley took other measures, applying to the
Curia Ecclesiastica of Florence for a decree to enable
him to make reprisals against the English who used
the port of Leghorn. By this means he proposed to
make English merchants pay him the debt which he
considered that the King of England owed him. The
Grand Duke disapproved, but he persisted. The fol-
lowing decree was actually posted on the doors of
the Cathedral at Florence : —
408
From a photograph by L. C. Keighley Peach.
THE TOMB OF SIR ROBERT DUDLEY, "THE NOBLE IMPE," IN THE BEAUCHAMP
CHAPEL, WARWICK.
Warwick Castle *-
" This letter of Gregorius Navo, Auditor-general
of the Camera Apostolica, commands by the same the
Grand-Duke Ferdinand and all the other Ministers
of Justice under pain of 1000 gold ducats, that they
shall confiscate, and sell all or any of the goods of
English Parliamentarians and the English residents,
/// solidiiw, excepting only professed Catholics ; to the
end that they may give and re-pay to Robert Dudley,
Duke of Northumberland, son of another Robert
Dudlev ; to Cosimo Dudley, Earl of Warwick, his
son ; and to Elisabeth Sathuella (Elizabeth Southwell),
wife of the above-said Robert, and to all other
children which are, or shall be born to the above
coningi, eight millions of Pounds sterling ; with other
two hundred thousand pounds as interest for the same,
by reason of the unfair occupation and confiscation
made of the above-named Dukedom ; and this accord-
ing to the sentence promulgated by Pietro Niccolini,
Vicar-general of the Archbishop of Florence, and
confirmed by the before-mentioned Gregorius Navo."
The decree, though posted, was not carried into
effect ; and Dudley once more tried to obtain justice
through the diplomacy of Salvetti, to whom his wife
sent in an official claim for the money owing for the
sale of Kenilworth to Prince Henry. Salvetti at first
regarded the task as hopeless.
'• With the enclosed," he wrote on November 22nd,
1630, " I give the Duchess of Northumberland an
account of her negozio, which I fear will be little to
her taste, as it becomes every day more difficult.
410
-* The House of Dudley
Treating as it does of extorting from the Royal
Exchequer the sum of 12,000 scudi which her Grace
claims, I confess I have not the courage to demand
it, knowing the straitness of means in these parts.
Besides, the debt is no longer legal, as the Duke is
in a continued state of contumacy, and now has no
friend at Court ; like the Maggiordomo I have but the
faintest hopes of coming out of it with honour, never-
theless I will not abandon the negotiation as far as
my faithful service can go," etc.
Ultimately, however, he succeeded, and was able
to send Dudley various official papers to sign and
return, saying : —
" Sig. Guadagni will pay the Duke of Northumber-
land 8000 scudi, for which I have this day sent him
the order. I beg that I may have a receipt in full,
and I am very happy to have succeeded well in these
intricate negotiations and to have done something to
serve your Excellency."
So he got his rights — or a portion of them — at
last, and lived to enjoy them until 1649, when he
died at Carbello, two miles from Florence, at the
great age of seventy-six.
It remains to say something about the fortunes of
the two families his two wives bore him1
4ti
CHAPTER XIV
Duchess Dudley— Her Charitable Works— Her Daughters and their Hus-
bands— Robert Dudley's Large Italian Family — The Proceedings of
Carlo the Scapegrace— The Great Marriages of the Daughters— General
Remarks about the House of Dudley and its Prominent Representatives.
IT has already been mentioned that Robert Dudley's
deserted wife, Alice Dudley, was created Duchess
Dudley by letters patent issued at Oxford in the middle
of the Civil War. The patent recites the history of
the litigation which prevented her husband from prov-
ing his legitimacy, and the wrongs done to him by
the confiscation of his property, and describes him as
"a person not only eminent for his great learning and
blood, but for sundry rare endowments." It records
that "our dear father, not knowing the truth of the
lawful birth of the said Sir Robert (as we piously
believe), granted away the titles of the said Earldoms
to others," repudiates any intention to "call in question
nor ravel into our deceased father's actions " or to
annul honours bestowed by him, but expresses " a
very deep sense of the great injuries to the said Sir
Robert Dudley and the Lady Alice Dudley and their
children," and in view of the fact that " in justice and
equity these possessions so taken from them do rightly
belong unto them, or full satisfaction for the same,"
proceeds to make amends.
412
-* The House of Dudley
" We have conceived ourselves bound," runs the
essential clause, " in honour and conscience, to give
the said Lady Alice and her children such honour and
precedencies, as is or are due to them in marriage or
blood. And therefore we do not only give and grant,
unto the said Lady Alice Dudley, the title of Duchess
Dudley for her life, in England and other our realms
and dominions, with such precedencies as she might
have had, if she had lived in the dominions of the
sacred empire ; (as a mark of our favour unto her, and
out of our Prerogative Royal, which we will not have
drawn into dispute ;) but we do also further grant
unto the said Lady Katherine, and Lady Anne, her
daughters, the places, titles, and precedencies of the
said Duke's daughters, as from that time of their
said father's creation, during their respective lives, not
only in England, but in all other our kingdoms and
dominions, as a testimony of our princely favour and
grace unto them ; conceiving ourselves oblig'd to do
much more for them, if it were in our power, in these
unhappy times of distraction."
This instrument was duly confirmed by Charles II,
at the Restoration ; and Duchess Dudley lived in
the peaceable enjoyment of her honours till the great
age of eighty-nine. Most of our information regarding
her is contained in the funeral sermon preached by
the Rev. Dr. Boreman — a singular name for a divine,
and reminiscent of the nomenclature of the " Pilgrim's
Progress " — which first appeared about this time.
From this discourse we gather that she was
413
\Yar\vick Castle *-
eminent for charitable works : " Her charity began at
the House of God, which was first in her thoughts, as
it is usually the last, or not at all, in others." She
restored the Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, be-
stowing upon it altar-cloths, altar-rails, marble steps,
organs, service-books, communion plate, and a big bell,
besides a house for the incumbent, and "a yearly
stipend to the Sexton of that Church to toll the great
bell when the prisoners condemned to die were passing
by, and to ring out after they were executed." She
gave to "the Church of Stoneley, in Warwickshire, (where
her sacred body lies now entombed,) as also to the
Churches of Mancetter, Leke Wotton, Ashow, Kenil-
worth, and Monks Kirby, £20 and upwards per annum
apiece for a perpetual augmentation to the poor
Vicarages of those respective Churches for ever." And
she bestowed " on the same Churches, and likewise
upon the Churches of Bidford in the foresaid county of
Warwick, Acton in Middlesex, S. Albans in Hertford-
shire, Patshill in Northampton, divers pieces of fair
and costly plate, to be used at the celebration of the
Holy Communion in each of them."
Her will contained sundry interesting bequests to
the poor : " to four score and ten widows (according to
the number of the years she lived), to each one a gown
and fair white kerchief, to attend the hearse wherein
her body was carried, and one shilling apiece for their
dinner"; "five pounds to be given to every place or
town where her corpse should rest in its passage from
London unto Stoneley"; "sixpence to be given to
414
-•> The House of Dudley
every poor body that should meet her corpse on the
road"; "for the redemption of Christian captives from
the hands of the infidels one hundred pounds per
annum for ever"; "for the placing out for ever of
poor parish children of St. Giles' as apprentices, two
hundred pounds to purchase a piece of land at ten
pounds per annum, and two to be put out every year."
Such good deeds naturally inspired the preacher to
eloquent panegyric.
"As," he preached, "St. Austin referred those who
desired to profit in virtiie to the life and conversation of
Paulinus, saying, Vade in Campaniam et disce Paulinum,
(Go to Campania, and study Paulinus,} so would I say
to any person that should desire to attain to some degree
of perfection in grace, goodness, and piety, Vade ad
Sancti /Egidii oppidum et disce Ducissam Dudleyam,
(Go to St. Giles s, and enquire after the life and
manners of Duchess Dudley ',) and conform your life to
her religious conversation."
The parish allowed the Duchess a private entrance
into the church and kept it in repair. It also paid
£$ 2s. for lining her pew with green baize and
flooring it with matting.
As stated before, the Duchess Dudley had seven
dacMMfctf. The eldest, Alicia Douglassia, died at
the a^e^W twenty-four. Her effigy, underneath that
of her mother, in Stoneleigh Church, bears this
inscription : —
" Here lyeth Alicia, who, dying before marriage on
the 22nd of May, 1621, left to her mother afore-said,
415
Wanvick Castle <*-
or to the cause of charity, a handsome patrimony, to
he at the disposal of her mother, and to be laid out
in works of piety."
This gift (amounting to ,£3,000) was made by will
nuncupatory, i.e. by word of mouth in the presence
of witnesses. Where Alicia Douglassia got the money
from no antiquary seems to have been able to dis-
cover ; but, from whatever source it may have been
derived, it was laid out in the augmentation of Church
livings.
The second daughter, Frances, lies in effigy in
her winding-sheet in the parish church of St. Giles-
in-the- Fields. Originally of the ancient bedstead form,
the monument was altered to its present form by the
Hon. Charles Leigh in 1738. John Parton, in his
history of the parish of St. Giles, speaks of it as
"an extraordinary spacious monument mostly marble,
adorned with cartouches, cornish, pediment, mantling,
festoons, etc. Arms : ruby a chevron verry, on a
canton pearl, a sinister hand of the first impaled
with topas, a lion rampant diamond, three crescent
topas, in chief, two birds rising cliam." She married
Sir Gilbert Kniveton, and died in 1663. History
records nothing more about her.
The third daughter, Anne, married Sir Robert
Holbourne, Charles I.'s Solicitor-General, who probably
drew up the patent making his mother-in-law a Duchess.
Dugdale invited her to compose a dedication for one
of the engravings in his "Antiquities of Warwickshire,"
and she dedicated it as follows : —
416
•-* The House of Dudley
" To her ancestors, very honourable by descent,
but by far more so by their virtues, but most of
all by the union of both, but specially to Richard
Beauchamp, the excellent Earl of Warwick, at once
an example of true nobility, family greatness, and his
country's glory, the distinguished ornament of his age,
for what he famously did at home and abroad, in
peace and in war ; to such a man, who to the very
close of his life was a pattern of piety, fortitude, and
magnanimity, and to his worth and memory, Anne
Dudley, one of the co-heiresses of his noble family,
dedicates this engraving of his tomb."
She died in 1663.
Catherine, the youngest daughter, alone survived
her mother, and rivalled her mother in deeds of piety.
She increased the benefices of the clergy ; she endowed
a school ; she built almshouses for twenty poor widows —
" each of them for their maintenance therein to have
eight pounds per annum, and a gown of grey cloth,
with these two letters, K and L, in blue cloth, fixed
thereon." Whatever else in her history interests us is
recorded on a tablet against the north wall of the Beau-
champ Chapel in St. Mary's Church, which I transcribe : —
" To the memory of the Lady Katherine, (late wife
of Sir Richard Levison, of Trentham, in the county of
Stafford, Knight of the Bath,) one of the daughters
and co-heirs of Sir Robert Dudley, Knt. (son to
Robert, late Earl of Leicester,) by Alicia his wife,
daughter to Sir Thomas Leigh, of Stonley, Knt. and
Bart., created Duchess Dudley by King Charles L
VOL. I. 417 E E
Warwick Castle <*-
in regard that her said husband, leaving this real me,
had the title of Duke conferred upon him by
Ferdinand II., Emperor of Germany, which Hon.
Lady, taking notice of these tombes of her noble
ancestors being much blemished by consuming time,
but more by the rude hands of impious people, were
in danger of utter ruin by the decay of this chapel,
it not timely prevented, did in her lifetime give fifty
pounds for its speedy repair ; and by her last Will
and Testament, bearing date XVIII0 Dec. 1673,
bequeath forty pounds per annum, issuing out of her
manor of Foxley in the county of Northampton, for
the perpetual support and preservation of these monu-
ments in their proper state ; the surplusage to be for
the poor brethren ot her grandfather's Hospitall in
this borough ; appointing William Dugdale, of Blythe
Hall, in this county, Esq. (who represented to her
the necessity of this good worke,) and his heirs,
together with the Mayor of Warwick for the time
being, to be her trustees therein."
Dudley's Italian family was much more extensive.
Elizabeth Southwell bore him seven sons — Cosimo,
Carlo, Ambrogio, Giovanni, Antonio, Ferdinando, and
Enrico; and five daughters — Maria, Anna, Madalena,
I eresa, and Maria Christina.
Cosimo was a young man of great promise, cut
off in his prime. He was hardly more than a boy
when the Grand Duke made him Colonel of the
Guard. He died at Piombino, of malaria, at the age
of twenty -one.
418
Warwick Castle *
Carlo was a scapegrace. One of his scandalous
exploits is set forth in the following letter from his
father to Cioli : —
" I write to-day to beg your Excellency to inform
His Serene Highness that Don Carlo with several
men armed with guns entered my house, while I was
at Mass, and carried away all the silver which was not
locked up, to the value of 300 ducats. His Highness
knows that 1 was aware of these evil designs and of
others even worse. I hope some serious mark of dis-
pleasure from the Court will be shown for so grave
a crime against his father, and defiance to the laws
of his Prince. . . . He came, as far as I can gather,
from Lucca, and has probably returned there with
his booty. I place myself entirely in the hands of
His Serene Highness," etc., etc.
A warrant was issued for his arrest, and he
entrenched himself in a church in the middle of
Horence. Ultimately he was caught and locked up
until he promised to mend his behaviour — treatment
which certainly did not err on the side of severity.
Notwithstanding his misconduct, however, he made a
grand marriage — with Marie Madeleine Gouffier, of
the ancient house of Gouffier of Poitou ; but he
remained a matrcais sujct all the same. When he was
seventy years of age, he made such a disturbance at
a Court reception that it once more became necessary
to lock him up, and it seems probable that he died
in prison. He had several children. One Robert,
Canon to the Cathedral of the Vatican, succeeded to
420
-* The House of Dudley
the title. One of his daughters, Christine, married the
Marchese Paleotti, and had two children : a son, who
was hanged at Tyburn for the murder of his valet ;
and a daughter, who married Charles Talbot> Duke of
Shrewsbury, and was one of the beauties at the Court
of George I .
Ambrogio became page to the Grand Duchess.
There was some talk of marrying him to "a daughter
of the Rucellai close by " ; but he died young, un-
married. The next brother, Giovanni, also died
young; Antonio only just lived to reach man's estate;
Ferdinando became a monk. Of Enrico we know very
little, except that in 1652, all his brothers except
Carlo, Duke of Northumberland, being dead, he took
the title of Earl of Warwick.
We turn to the daughters.
Maria, in 1630, married Orazio Appiano, Prince of
Piombino. Anna died unmarried in 1629, and was
buried in San Pancrazio. Madalena married first
Spinetta Malespina, and then Giambattista, son of
Gianantonio Fieschi of the Counts of Lavagna — with
which house the English family of Heneage is con-
nected. Christina, Queen of Sweden, was present at
her first marriage. Teresa first thought of taking the
veil, but afterwards changed her mind and accepted an
offer of marriage from the Duca della Cornia. Her
husband died soon afterwards, and she then married
Count Mario Carpegna, first Gentleman of the Chamber
to the Cardinal Carlo di Medici, subsequently High
Steward and Vice-Legate to Avignon. She died in
421
\Yar\vick Castle <*-
Rome on August 2ist, 1698. Of the youngest sister,
Maria Christina, there is no information.
And so we close our chronicle of the fortunes of
the House of Dudley. It rose quickly from obscurity
to splendour by methods that were considered repre-
hensible even in an age more tolerant than ours.
The most conspicuous representatives of the house
are rather to be called notorious than famous. Their
ambition was overweening, and outran their talents.
They had great talents for display, but only moderate
talents for the conduct of affairs. They excelled as
courtiers rather than as soldiers or as statesmen. In
their private lives, too, they were unscrupulous — more
particularly in their treatment of women. But they
figured impressively on the stage, and realised the
pageant of life better than any of their contemporaries.
END OF VOL. I.
PrinUd by Hazel!, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury, England.
422
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