Richard III: His Life & Character, Reviewed in the Light of Recent ResearchMarkham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir
History
Richard III: His Life & Character, Reviewed in the Light of Recent Research
Markham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir
Great Britain -- Kings and rulers -- Biography; Richard III, King of England, 1452-1485
The young princes, George and Richard, were in Holland for about six
months, under the protection of the Duke of Burgundy. They resided at
Utrecht. Then the news came of Edward's accession, and the crowning
victory of Towton. The two boys were brought home again, and were soon
under their mother's immediate care, with their sister Margaret.
Immediately after the coronation, George was created Duke of Clarence;
and Richard Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Carlisle, and Earl of
Richmond,[1] a title which had merged in the crown after the attainder
of Edmund Tudor. Richard was created a Knight of the Garter in 1465.
In February 1466 his sword and helmet were placed in St. George's
Chapel, and he took possession of his stall in the following April.
His stall plate is now in the ninth stall on the south side of the
choir, in St. George's Chapel at Windsor. The arms are France and
England quarterly, with a silver label of three points, each ermine
with a canton gules. The crest is a crowned leopard gold, on a cap of
estate, with a label as in the arms, round his neck. The helm is
barred as used in the _mêlée_, the only one on the early plates, the
rest all being tilting helms.
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The first public appearance of young Richard was on the occasion of his
father's solemn obsequies. The Duke of York's body, and that of his
son Edmund Earl of Rutland, had to be conveyed from Pomfret to
Fotheringhay, and the Duke of Gloucester, then in his fourteenth year,
was appointed by the King to be chief mourner. On July 22, 1466, the
bodies of Richard Duke of York, and of his son, Edmund Earl of Rutland,
were taken from their temporary resting place at Pomfret, and placed in
a chariot covered with black velvet, richly embroidered with cloth of
gold. At the feet of the Duke stood the figure of an angel clothed in
white, bearing a crown of gold, to signify that of right he was a king.
The chariot was drawn by four horses trapped to the ground. Every
horse carried a man, and upon the foremost rode Sir John Skipwith, who
bore the Duke's banner displayed. Bishops and abbots, in their robes,
went two or three miles in front, to prepare the churches for the
reception of the bodies.'[2] The boy Duke of Gloucester followed next
after the chariot, accompanied by noblemen and heralds. In this order
they left Pomfret and rested that night at Doncaster. Thence they
proceeded by easy stages to Blythe, Tuxford, Newark, Grantham, and
Stamford. On Monday, July 27, the procession arrived at Fotheringhay.
The bodies were carried into the church by servants of the deceased,
and received by the King and his Court in deep mourning.
Edward IV. built a magnificent shrine in the choir, over the tombs of
his father and brother, and completed the works of the college,
including the cloister.[3]
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Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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