Richard of Gloucester

“ Whatever sins Richard of Gloucester may live to harbour and repent, no man shall ever say of him that he was a recreant to the honour of his country [so Lord Bacon observes of Richard, with that discrimination, even in the strongest censure, of which profound judges of mankind are alone capable, that he was “a king jealous of the honor of the English nation”] , or slow to defend the rights of his ancestors from the treason of a vassal or the sword of a foreign foe. Therefore, I say again, if thou reject my honest counsels; if thou suffer Warwick to unite with Lancaster and France ”

“ England had known Richard of Gloucester, even since his boyhood, as a strong man among strong men—a puissant knight, an unbeaten general, a wise counsellor, a brilliant administrator; in all things able, resourceful, proficient ”

“ Imagination, that tyrant which has such a strange method of treating its subjects, has had perhaps more to do than Nature in placing an enormous burden on Richard's shoulders. His features were decidedly good-looking; but on the converse of the principle that "handsome is as handsome does," the tyrant Gloucester has been regarded as one of those who "ugly was that handsome didn't."
It is a remarkable fact that Richard the Third during his short reign received no subsidy from Parliament, though we must not suppose that he ruled the kingdom gratuitously ”

“ This conduct of the Duke of Gloucester at length wore out the patience of Richard. He remembered vividly his past offences: he saw no means of dissipating his obstinate contempt and hostility. His favourites, with whom Gloucester kept no terms, urged him to severe measures; and the court of France, which he had insulted by his sullen aversion, and which beheld in him an avowed enemy to its peace and its alliance, strongly stimulated the king to provide for his own safety and that of his queen, by depriving the traitorous prince of his power to carry out his designs. ”

“ On his way S. the Protector arrested Earl Rivers and Lord Richard Grey, the uncle and step-brother of the young king, and confined them in his castles. All who were of the old nobility, and resented the rise of the Woodvilles, rallied round Richard. From this time Richard of Gloucester schemed for the crown, and by craft, boldness, and utter unscrupulousness carried his project into execution. ”

“ The king, who, unlike his people, much desired a peace with France, sailed with a noble company across the Channel, for at his express wish his famous uncle, John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, with his third duchess, the duke and duchess of York, and the duke and duchess of Gloucester, with their two daughters, sailed with him. It was with great unwillingness that Gloucester obeyed the summons of the king to attend his marriage. He hated his nephew for many reasons, and Richard was not slow to perceive and return his feelings. ”

“ As a reward for his support the king on 29 Sept. created him Earl of Gloucester, an honour to which he had a claim in virtue of his descent from Eleanor, sister and coheiress of Gilbert of Clare, earl of Gloucester, and wife of Hugh le Despenser the younger. He accompanied Richard on his expedition to Ireland in 1399, and led the rear guard of his army. ”

“ King Richard, after his coronation, taking his way to Gloucester to visit in his new honour the town of which he bore the name of his old, devised as he rode to fulfill that thing which he before had intended. And forasmuch as his mind gave him that, his nephews living, men would not reckon that he could have right to the realm, he thought therefore without delay to rid them, as though the killing of his kinsmen could amend his cause, and make him a kindly king. ”

“ By his will King Edward IV. left the care of his son's person and the government of the kingdom during the minority to his brother Richard, without any colleague. [1] Richard Duke of Gloucester was a prince who had shown valour and generalship in the field, wisdom and ability in his civil administration. As a councillor he had upheld the honour of his country. He was beloved by the people of the north, and was deservedly popular throughout the land. He proceeded to York on hearing of his brother's death and attended the solemn obsequies in the minster. ”

“ Richard, indeed, in Parliament, fully exculpated them, asserting that, though for a time deceived by the pretences of Gloucester, they had abandoned his cause like good and loyal subjects. He then created his cousins, Derby and Rutland, Dukes of Hereford and Albemarle; his two half-brothers, the Earls of Kent and Huntingdon, Dukes of Surrey and Exeter; the Earl of Nottingham, Duke of Norfolk; the Earl of Somerset, Marquis of Dorset; the Lords Despenser, Nevil, Percy, and William Scrope, Earls of Gloucester, Westmoreland, Worcester, and Wiltshire. ”

“ At this moment Gloucester, by concert, was to have passed, as if accidentally, through the audience to his place, and the preacher exclaimed, "Behold the man entitled to your allegiance! He must deliver you from the dominion of all intruders!—he alone can restore the lost glory and honour of the nation!"
Here it was expected that the people would cry out, "Long live King Richard!" but they stared at one another in amazement, and the more so that Gloucester did not appear at the right nick of time, but after the preacher's apostrophe was concluded ”

“ For some years the evil past seemed on the whole to have been exorcised. The country was relieved from the strain of the war, taxation was lighter, and parliament passed useful legislation against the abuses of the papal power and the evils of livery and maintenance. But if Richard had for the time renounced revenge, he had not forgotten. Arundel, who had sinned more deeply against him than even Gloucester, never received any further public employment. Gloucester's position and popularity would have made any such exclusion in his case too marked. ”

“ Richard's brother William died from the effects of the draught, and the earl only escaped with the loss of his nails, teeth, and skin (Matt. Paris, pp. 704, 738; Stubbs, ii. 82; Burt. Ann. p. 460) . In January 1259 Gloucester swore the king of the Romans to observe the new constitution.
From this point Gloucester's career is full of contradictions. Now in attendance on the king, now at variance with De Montfort, and now with Prince Edward, it seems impossible to find any consistency in his conduct. He was present at the London parliament of 9 Feb. ”

“ But, like that of many another thoughtless king, Richard's grandeur was hollow and delusive. It had no basis in the affections of any class of the community. The friends of Gloucester and Hereford, and the other nobles who were banished, were full of violent discontent, and secretly diffused it on every side. The people saw with indignation their hard-earned money wasted on the worst of creatures. Richard had made them his enemies at the very commencement of his reign by his perfidious conduct to them in the Wat Tyler insurrection, and by the cruelty with which he pursued them afterwards. ”

“ He was accused of labouring to prevent a reconciliation between Richard and Gloucester when Bishop William Courtenay [q. v.] of London went to promote peace between them. ‘Hold thy peace, Michael,’ said the bishop to Suffolk, who was denouncing Gloucester to the king; ‘it becometh thee right evil to say such words, thou that art damned for thy falsehood both by the lords and by the parliament.’ Richard dismissed the bishop in anger (Chron. Angl. 1378–88, p. 383; Capgrave's Chron. of England, p. 248) , but was unprepared to push things to extremities. ”

“ What consorts with his honour and my safety, I can trust to him to tell me as true friend and liegeman!” and the confiding smile with which he looked at Richard was like a sunbeam in a dark cloud.
“My Lord Prince,” objected Gloucester, “we cannot think that this is for your safety.”
“See here, Gloucester,” said Edward. “Till my arm can keep my head again, double the guards, and search all envoys, under whatever pretext they may enter; but never for the rest of thy life brand a man with imprisonment till you have reasonable proof against him. ”

“ The house of York was represented by Edward, whose title, as king, was Edward the Fourth, and his two brothers, George and Richard, or, as they were now generally called, Clarence and Gloucester. In case Edward should be married and have a son, his son would succeed him, and George and Richard would be excluded; if, however, he should die without issue, then George would become king; and if George should die without issue, and Richard should survive him, then Richard would succeed. ”

“ The two characteristics of King Richard which his uncle Gloucester specially detested and despised were his religious opinions, and his dislike to war and tumult. It might truly be said, paradox though it be, that Gloucester was never at peace except when he was at war.
During the twelve months following his return to London, Roger kept himself exceedingly quiet. It was the only safe thing he could do. It is said that an eminent man was asked how, being a resident in Paris, he contrived to live through the Reign of Terror. ”

“ His mother and her family had made themselves many enemies and few friends by their undisguised ambition and cupidity. The Greys and Woodvilles had been lifted above the heads of the greatest members of the aristocracy, enriched with the estates, and clothed with the honours of ancient houses. They had been posted round the throne as if to keep aloof all other candidates for favour and promotion. At the time of the death of Edward IV., Richard of Gloucester was in the North, attending to his duties as commander against the army in the Scottish marches. ”

“ Well he knew that his uncle was an ambitious man, who would fain have seen his daughter queen of England; and, besides, the duke longed to go to war with France, and lost no chance of exciting the passions of the English people and making the French alliance more unpopular than it was already. Perhaps Gloucester had cherished secret hopes of being left behind to rule the kingdom while Richard was away; but if so he was disappointed, for the king's cousin, Henry earl of Derby (afterwards Henry IV.) , was declared regent. ”

“ The Duchess of York, upon hearing of the deaths of her husband the Duke of York, and of her son the Earl of Rutland, at Wakefield, in 1460, sent her younger sons, George, afterwards Duke of Clarence, and Richard, afterwards Duke of Gloucester, abroad to Utrecht, where they remained under the protection of Philip Duke of Burgundy, until the accession of Edward IV. to the throne of England, enabled them to return with safety. Richard was created Duke of Gloucester and Lord Admiral of England, in 1461. He distinguished himself by his valour at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. ”

“ I assented.
"Do then but cast thine eye over the congregation of eager applicants for this seat of power, and thou shalt behold one whose advantage over the others doth raise him to a vast height above their heads, and consequently his chances of success in this great competition are assured; that one can be no other than Richard, Duke of Gloucester."
"Ay, truly, there is no other with sufficient power to rule England, in case the King should die."
"Now if Gloucester doth come thus into power will he not desire to have his revenge upon those which have ever been his enemies?" ”

“ It is impossible that a man in his position could have had a stronger motive. He had denied the illegitimacy, and had thus made his wife's brothers his most formidable rivals. He could not, he dared not let them live, unless he relinquished all he had gained. The second test we applied to Richard was his treatment of those persons who were in his power, and who were, as regards relationship, in the same position as the sons of Edward IV. Let us apply the same test to Henry. John of Gloucester, the illegitimate son of Richard III., fell into the hands of Henry. ”

“ The space between his tent and the royal pavilion was short, but in those few steps Richard had time to glance over the dangers of his position, and take up his resolution though with a certain stunned sense that nothing could be before the member of a proscribed family, but failure, suspicion, and ruin.
The two brothers, Edward and Edmund, with the Earl of Gloucester, and their other chief councillors, were assembled; and there were looks of deep concern on the faces of all, making Edward’s more than ever like a rigid marble statue ”

“ He arrived at the town of Northampton on the same day that the prince, with the Earl of Rivers and his escort, reached the town of Stony Stratford, which was only a few miles from it. When the earl heard that Gloucester was so near, he took with him another nobleman, named Lord Gray, and a small body of attendants, and rode back to Northampton to pay his respects to Gloucester on the part of the young king; for they considered that Edward became at once, by the death of his father, King of England, under the style and title of Edward the Fifth. ”

“ Hastings is even said to have warned the citizens that matters were likely to come to a field (to a battle) from the opposition of the adverse party, though as yet no symptom had appeared of designs against the king, whom the two dukes were bringing to his coronation. Nay, it is not probable that Gloucester had as yet meditated more than securing the regency; for had he had designs on the crown, would he have weakened his own claim by assuming the protectorate, which he could not accept but by acknowledging the title of his nephew? ”