| | Richard's support for the Harringtons, Hastings, and Margaret of York | |
| | Author | Message |
---|
phaecilia
Posts : 62 Join date : 2014-03-29
| Subject: Richard's support for the Harringtons, Hastings, and Margaret of York Tue 17 Jun 2014, 12:52 | |
| Michael K. Jones' article, [/i]1477--The Expedition that Never Was: Chivalric Expectation in Late Yorkist England[/i] Ricardian Vol. XII, issue 153 (June 2001), pp. 281-283 gave me a strong craving for more evidence from account books surviving in seldom explored places.
In this article Jones describes an entry in the Calais victualler's account which seems to refer to unauthorized military aid to Margaret of York. This entry describes artillery that Hastings, then Captain of Calais, sent to "the Castell in the wode of Nepe in Flandres." An annotation in different handwriting says the castle belonged to "my lady of Burgen." Hastings' recall from Calais in June 1477 may have resulted from sending this aid to Margaret of York. His surviving letter book preserves a copy of his promise to Louis XI that he would honor the Treaty of Picquigny in the future. Hastings returned to Calais in August 1477. It's possible that Richard encouraged Hastings to send artillery to the Burgundian castle and supported Hastings when he was recalled.
This incident reminds me of Richard's undoubted support for the Harringtons against the Stanleys at Hornby Castle. In both cases, Edward IV was failing to defend loyal Yorkists against self-serving, powerful attackers.
I believe Richard effectively balanced competing interests without losing Edward IV's favor. Richard may have felt he had to send aid to his sister, Margaret, just as he felt he had to support the Harringtons. Perhaps Richard couldn't help Margaret as publicly as he'd helped the Harringtons, but backing Hastings' covert aid was consistent with his previous balancing act in support of the Harringtons. In both cases, Edward IV refrained from punishing Richard, which suggests that Richard's balancing acts were effective.
Readers may disagree with this interpretation of the Calais victualler's account entry. A lot of documents inspire disagreements. But I'd rather consider various possibilities and agree to disagree than settle for the Tudor version. phaecilia | |
| | | Wednesday Admin
Posts : 137 Join date : 2014-03-19
| Subject: Re: Richard's support for the Harringtons, Hastings, and Margaret of York Thu 19 Jun 2014, 11:59 | |
| I've read (in Kendall? in Carson?) that Edward IV called both Hastings and Richard onto the carpet to snarl at them regarding the support they gave to Margaret. I'm sorry I can't be more specific than that. I only remember it made an impression on me at the time, that a brother wouldn't support his sister in her time of need, and that he'd lay into his other brother and best friend to berate them over doing what was right, while Edward did what was politically good for himself -- which was not endangering his French pension. | |
| | | | Richard's support for the Harringtons, Hastings, and Margaret of York | |
|
Similar topics | |
|
| Permissions in this forum: | You cannot reply to topics in this forum
| |
| |
| |