Richard III and the Murder in the Tower by Peter A. Hancock Page A
Authors: Peter A. Hancock
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bye disposid for my soule and Evertons and so of all other londes that the parte hathe right Iue. Item: that all my Fader dettes and bequestes be executed and paid as to the hous of Catesby and other. Item: that my lady of Bukingham have C.li. to halp herr children and that she will se my lordes dettes paid and his will executed. And In especialle in suche lond as shold be amortesid to the hous of Plasshe. Item: my Lady of Shaftisbury XL marke. Item: that John Spenser have his LX li withe the olde money that I owe. Item: that Thomas Andrews have his XX Li. And that all other bequestes in my other will be executed as my especialle trust is in you masteres Magarete And I hertly cry you mercy if I have delid uncurtesly withe you. And ever prey you leve sole and all the dayes of your liff to do for my soule. And ther as I have, be executour I besech you se the Willes executed. And pray lorde [bishop of] Wynchester [Winchester] my lord [bishop] of Worcetour [Woucester] my lord [bishop] of London’ to help you to execute this my will and they will do sume what for me. And that Richard Frebody may have his XX li. agayne and Badby X li. or the londes at Evertons and ye the X li. And I pray you in every place se cleiernese in my soule and pray fast and I shall for you and Ihu [Jesus] have mercy uponne my soule Amen.
My lordis Stanley, Strange and all that blod help and pray for my soule for ye have not for my body as I trusted in you. And if my issue reioyce [sic] my londes I pray you lete maister Johne Elton have the best benefice. And my lord lovell come to grace than that ye shew to hym that he pray for me. And uncle Johanne remembrer my soule as ye have done my body; and better. And I pray you se the Sadeler Hartlyngtone be paid in all other places.
There are numerous important points which arise from Catesby’s last words. Some of these have been raised by Richardson, 65 who, in a similar vein to many commentators, writes:
The chief interest for this historian in Catesby’s brief, last document lies first, in an apparently pointless plea to Henry Tudor … And the opening sentence of in the … final paragraph which reads ‘My Lords, Stanley, Strange … help and pray for my soul for ye have not for my body as I trusted in you.’ Why did he trust in the Stanleys? … And what possible reason could Catesby have had to expect decent treatment … from a man as mean and vengeful as Henry Tudor?
We can, potentially, address these and other issues that arise from this fascinating document. For example, one of the lines that especially stands out in discussions concerns Catesby’s ‘abject’ appeal to Henry VII, presumably to save his life. As with Richardson’s perplexity, it has often been seen to reflect the grovelling of a very desperate man. Indeed, this is certainly a reasonable interpretation for, as we now know, Catesby was in extremis . However, there is another aspect to this appeal beyond the clear grovelling. As noted earlier, the mother of William’s wife was the half-sister of Henry’s mother. Thus, in this way, they might be considered fairly close family. It is doubtful that Catesby had ever met with Tudor, although it is reported that Catesby had been sent to Brittany in September 1484, possibly to secure Tudor as a captive. Thus the appeal was unlikely to be on a personal basis. However, it is most probably through his family connections that Catesby talks of having ‘ever loved him’ and by his good and free will having ‘never offended him.’ If we take this as more than the pleadings of a condemned man, then perhaps William’s assertions are not quite as grovelling as they are often construed. In fact, they may represent indications that William Catesby was quite ready to transfer his adherence to Henry Tudor from Richard III as he had been from William, Lord Hastings to Richard in the first place. The appeal here may be more subtle than a number of commentators suspect. Perhaps this
My lordis Stanley, Strange and all that blod help and pray for my soule for ye have not for my body as I trusted in you. And if my issue reioyce [sic] my londes I pray you lete maister Johne Elton have the best benefice. And my lord lovell come to grace than that ye shew to hym that he pray for me. And uncle Johanne remembrer my soule as ye have done my body; and better. And I pray you se the Sadeler Hartlyngtone be paid in all other places.
There are numerous important points which arise from Catesby’s last words. Some of these have been raised by Richardson, 65 who, in a similar vein to many commentators, writes:
The chief interest for this historian in Catesby’s brief, last document lies first, in an apparently pointless plea to Henry Tudor … And the opening sentence of in the … final paragraph which reads ‘My Lords, Stanley, Strange … help and pray for my soul for ye have not for my body as I trusted in you.’ Why did he trust in the Stanleys? … And what possible reason could Catesby have had to expect decent treatment … from a man as mean and vengeful as Henry Tudor?
We can, potentially, address these and other issues that arise from this fascinating document. For example, one of the lines that especially stands out in discussions concerns Catesby’s ‘abject’ appeal to Henry VII, presumably to save his life. As with Richardson’s perplexity, it has often been seen to reflect the grovelling of a very desperate man. Indeed, this is certainly a reasonable interpretation for, as we now know, Catesby was in extremis . However, there is another aspect to this appeal beyond the clear grovelling. As noted earlier, the mother of William’s wife was the half-sister of Henry’s mother. Thus, in this way, they might be considered fairly close family. It is doubtful that Catesby had ever met with Tudor, although it is reported that Catesby had been sent to Brittany in September 1484, possibly to secure Tudor as a captive. Thus the appeal was unlikely to be on a personal basis. However, it is most probably through his family connections that Catesby talks of having ‘ever loved him’ and by his good and free will having ‘never offended him.’ If we take this as more than the pleadings of a condemned man, then perhaps William’s assertions are not quite as grovelling as they are often construed. In fact, they may represent indications that William Catesby was quite ready to transfer his adherence to Henry Tudor from Richard III as he had been from William, Lord Hastings to Richard in the first place. The appeal here may be more subtle than a number of commentators suspect. Perhaps this
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