William Stanley
Sir William Stanley KG (c. 1435 – 16 February 1495) was an English soldier and the younger brother of Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby. Stanley fought with his troops in several battles of the Wars of the Roses. Born at Latham, Lancashire, Sir William was the younger son of Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley. He should not be confused with William Stanley the sixth Earl of Derby (1561-1642) who has been proposed as the "real" author of Shakespeare's plays (see: Shakespeare and Chester).
William Stanley married at least twice:
- In 1465 he married Joan (d. 1469), Lady Lovell daughter of John Beaumont, 1st Viscount Beaumont, and widow of John, Lord Lovel. He was already the king's carver and had enjoyed an annuity of £20 from Lord Lovell who died in January 1465. Lovell’s heir, Francis, was made ward of Richard Neville Earl of Warwick who married the boy to his niece Anne Fitzhugh, daughter of Alice Neville. Despite what is stated by some authors, William Stanley did not have control of the heir or his lands but he did acquire an interest in his wife’s jointure estate of part of the barony of Nantwich in Cheshire. William and Joan had three children: William, Joan and Catherine. One source ("The Wives and Children of Sir William Stanley of Holt": Jean M Gidman. Ricardian article March 1992) states that William's marriage gave him a good independent income while his first wife's son by her first marriage, Francis Lovell a minor, still lived. This is untrue. Several other sources give a completely different history for Francis Lovell. Such confusing reports of the history of William Stanley are common and may reflect his connection with Richard III and the sometimes badly-researched and ill-referenced statements about both of them.
- Following the execution of her second husband John Tiptoft, the Earl of Worcester, Sir William married secondly, c.1471, Elizabeth Hopton (d. 1498). Some sources state they had a daughter, but that is untrue. Elizabeth had a son, Edward, by Tiptoft. A year after Tiptoft's execution, in December 1471, joint custody of the young Earl and his estates was granted to Elizabeth Hopton and her third husband, Sir William Stanley. Stanley’s second marriage brought increase'd prestige and power through his control of the Tiptoft lands, in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Hampshire, Middlesex and Essex. Sir William Stanley made an exchange of lands with Richard Duke of Gloucester in 1475 whereby the Duke got Skipton and Stanley acquired some form of interest in the castle of Chirk.
There was previously some doubt about when Joan died (some gave the date of 1466) and which wife was the mother of which children. It is now clear that Joan Lady Lovell died on 24 August 1469. There is also a third wife listed on some websites as being his second marriage, but the general opinion of historians is that he married only twice.
He is sometimes known as Sir William Stanley of Holt, from one of the castles he was granted by Richard III. According to an inventory made after his death, William lived in considerable luxury at Holt Castle.
William is most famous for his actions at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and even reports of these were somewhat mangled by William Shakespeare.
Early Career
William Stanley fought on the winning Yorkist side at the Battle of Blore Heath in 1459, whereas his elder brother Thomas, Lord Stanley had raised troops by the commission of the Lancastrian Crown but refrained from committing his force of 2,000 on either side: something that he would become noted for. The Lancastrians failed at Blore Heath because of a simple mistake. They drew up their troops behind a hedge intending to ambush the Yorkists. Unfortunately, they failed to lower their banners so they were spotted by Yorkist scouts. The Stanley brothers had a sister Margaret Stanley who was married to Sir William Troutbeck, Knt. who died at Blore Heath on the Lancastrian side. The couple once had a tomb in St Mary on the Hill although where she is actually buried is a bit of a mystery. Margaret re-married after the tomb had been constructed and soon had another tomb waiting for her, but she does not seem to have ended-up in that either. By 1460 the new Yorkist king, Edward IV, rewarded Lord Stanley’s non-involvement at Blore Heath by endowing him with more land and power in the northwest of the country, as long as he remained loyal to him.
Attainted in 1459 after the brief Lancastrian readeption, William fled into exile, but returned to fight for the out-numbered Yorkists in 1461 at Towton which "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil" - again the Yorkists won. As a result, Edward IV deposed the Lancastrian Henry VI and secured the English throne. Stanley once again became influential and was also made Chamberlain of Chester, Constable of the Castle of Flint, and Sheriff of Flintshire. In 1465 William was granted the Skipton-in-Craven lands and castle of the dispossessed Lancastrian Cliffords. Following the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, it was he who captured Queen Margaret of Anjou, who led the Lancastrian faction, and he was made a Knight Banneret by the king. He was assigned the task of steward of the household to the king's eldest son and heir, the future Edward V.
Like his brother, he helped Richard III to "suppress" Buckingham’s rebellion in favour of Henry Tudor, by doing nothing other than not joining it and he was rewarded with Buckingham’s former position as chief justice of north Wales as well as the duke’s lordship of Thornbury (Glos.). The rebellion was largely organised by Lady Margaret Beaufort who was not only the widowed mother of Henry Tudor but the wife of Thomas Stanley. Following the failed revolt, Richard took all Lady Margaret's lands from her and gave them to her husband Thomas Stanley, hoping upon hope that he would keep her under control and remain loyal to his Yorkist cause.
15th Century Chester
The Stanleys had a long connection with Chester and the Palatinate. They had risen to prominence at the same time the Wirral had been disafforested under Henry III and were involved in associated feuding and violence. John Stanley was very agile in his politics. Having served Richard II as deputy to Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland (and possibly Richard's lover) and serving as the Justice of Chester in 1394, he turned his back on Richard and submitted to Henry IV, the first English king of the House of Lancaster.
Stanley's fortunes were equally good under the Lancastrians. He was granted lordships in the Welsh Marches, and served a term as Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1403 he was made Steward of the Household of Henry, Prince of Wales, (later Henry V). He was governor of the City and County of Cheshire in 1403. Unlike many of the Cheshire gentry, he took the side of the king in the Percy/Glyndwr rebellion. He was wounded in the throat at the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403). In 1405 he was, as noted, granted the tenure of the Isle of Man, which had been confiscated from the rebellious Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland. Henry IV appointed him a Knight of the Garter. His descendants were to prove equally agile, shifting sides deftly through the Wars of the Roses and after. Baron Thomas Stanley, (c.1405 – 1459) was Constable & Justice of Chester and Chamberlain of North Wales. Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, KG (1435 – 1504) was also Justice of Chester.
Richard III was hardly crowned (1483) and seated upon the throne before the Mayor and citizens of Chester approached him with a long list of their grievances. Their petition set out:
- that for sixty years past (that is from 1423) the river had been silted up, and no merchant ship could come within twelve miles of the city;
- that the Toll demanded at the City Gates had driven away the trade of the March of Wales;
- that in consequence " many citizens and other inhabitants of our said city withdraw themselves from out of the said city and are dwelling in other parts of our realm;
- that in consequence of the great and insupportable burden of their fee-farm, the greater part of the city is wasted, in a desolate and ruinous condition, and very scantily inhabited.
This moving appeal had the desired effect. The King exonerated and acquitted the citizens from the payment of "custom-rent, long-gable rent, chamberlain rent," and all other payments, except £30 a year. These Letters were witnessed by the King himself at Chester on the tenth of April, 1484.
There was nothing new in these complaints. In 1445 when Henry VI visited Chester and the annual tax was reduced from £100 to £50, on the grounds that trade had suffered from the silting of the port and that "restrictions and charges" had been imposed by the Welsh rebellion:
- "From an Inquisition taken in the 28th year of Henry VI, the City of Chester is there described as being so decayed and depopulated, by reason of the choaking its harbour, by sands, and the consequences of Glyndwr's Rebellion in Wales, that the Citizens were unable to pay their rent to the Crown." - (Hanshall).
Cestrians also claimed then that the "greater part of the city lay in ruins" and that:
- "for forty years now the great flow of water at the said port ... is taken away from the said harbour by the wreck of the sea sand so that the said harbour is wholly destroyed ... no merchant ship can approach within twelve miles of the said city".
According to Sir Thomas More, in his History of King Richard III Henry VI was murdered by Richard III. This was almost certainly Tudor propagands as Richard was not in London at the time, but it seems that the citizens of Chester got the better of both of them.
Bosworth
The Stanleys had been communicating with the exiled Henry Tudor for some time and Tudor's strategy of landing in Wales and heading east into central England depended on the acquiescence of William Stanley, as Chamberlain of Chester and north Wales. Just what William hoped to gain by this is not clear, but it has been suggested that he may have hoped to have had the Earldom of Chester re-created for him.
On hearing of the invasion, Richard ordered the two Stanleys to raise the men of the region in readiness to oppose the invader. However, once it was clear that Tudor was marching unopposed through Wales, Richard ordered Lord Stanley to join him without delay. According to the Croyland Chronicle, although Thomas Stanley excused himself on the grounds of illness, the 'sweating sickness', by now Richard had firm evidence of the Stanleys' complicity. After an unsuccessful bid to escape from court, Lord Strange confessed that he and his uncle, Sir William Stanley, had conspired with Henry Tudor. Richard proclaimed him a traitor, and let it be known that Strange's life was a hostage for his father's loyalty in the coming conflict. Indeed, Richard allegedly issued orders for Strange's execution on the battlefield, although in the event these were never carried out. Thomas Stanley's response to Richard's threat was reportedly laconic: "Sire, I have other sons".
Three armies followed each other into the midlands: Lord Thomas Stanley and his forces; then Sir William Stanley; and finally Henry Tudor and a host comprising Tudor retainers, dispossessed Lancastrian exiles and many men of Wales and Cheshire. Thomas Stanley may have secretly met with Henry on the eve of the battle, but when the Stanleyites arrived south of the village of Market Bosworth they took up a position independent of both the royal forces and the rebel army. In effect, the two brothers played similar roles to those they had played at the Battle of Blore Heath over a quarter of a century earlier - waiting to see who was likely to win.
On 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 10-12,000, the Stanley's at 6000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. Richard divided his army into three groups (or "battles"). One was assigned to the Duke of Norfolk and another to the Earl of Northumberland. Henry kept most of his force together and placed it under the command of the experienced Earl of Oxford. Richard's vanguard, commanded by Norfolk, attacked but struggled against Oxford's men, and some of Norfolk's troops fled the field. Northumberland took no action when signalled to assist his king, so Richard gambled everything on a charge across the battlefield to kill Henry, who was with the rearguard and end the fight.
Oxford had left a small reserve of pike-equipped men with Henry. They slowed the pace of Richard's mounted charge, and bought Tudor some critical time. The remainder of Henry's bodyguards surrounded their master, and succeeded in keeping him away from the Yorkist king. Meanwhile, seeing Richard embroiled with Henry's men and separated from his main force, William Stanley made his move and rode to the aid of Henry. Now outnumbered, Richard's group was surrounded and gradually pressed back. Richard's force was driven several hundred yards away from Tudor, near to the edge of a marsh, into which the king's horse toppled. Richard, now unhorsed, gathered himself and rallied his dwindling followers, supposedly refusing to retreat: "God forbid that I retreat one step. I will either win the battle as a king, or die as one."
Unfortunately for Richard he was to die as a king, struck multiple times and killed by a blow to the head. Richard's forces disintegrated as news of his death spread. Northumberland and his men fled north on seeing the king's fate, and Norfolk was killed by the knight Sir John Savage in single combat according to the Ballad of Lady Bessy. Thomas Stanley took no part in the fight. After the despatch of Richard, who had gone into battle crowned, Polydore Vergil records that the fallen coronet was retrieved and placed by Thomas Stanley on his stepson's head before his cheering troops, thereby emphasising the critical role the Stanleys had played in bringing Henry Tudor to the throne.
But why change sides?
Although his brother Thomas had a long record of not quite turning-up for battles and supporting the winning side. William Stanley seems to have been a consistent supporter of the Yorkists. So why did he choose to change sides at Bosworth? Several clusters of theories have been put forward, which include:
- He didn't change sides. One theory holds that William was actually trying to rescue Richard III but that Richard's mounted troops mistook this for an attack on them and in the confusion which followed one of William's Welsh troops killed Richard. Henry Tudor's father was a member of the Tudors of Penmynydd (Welsh: Tuduriaid Penmynydd) who were a noble and aristocratic family, connected with the village of Penmynydd in Anglesey, North Wales. Henry made much of his Welshness, "landing" in Wales in both his present and a previous attempt at the throne, although in the previous attempt he never set foot on shore. He also marched towards Bosworth under the Welsh flag. After the death of Richard, Thomas Stanley rapidly made it appear that this was their intention all along.
- He believed Richard was responsible for the death of deposed king Edward V, one of the "Princes in the Tower". William Stanley had been steward of the household of the future Edward V, at Ludlow, when he was prince of Wales. He may have grown quite fond of the young Edward. On the sudden death of Edward VI arrangements were made for Edward to journey to London with Anthony Woodville, Edward's uncle, and Richard Grey, Edward’s older half brother. Richard (then still Duke of Gloucester) had Woodville and Grey arrested (and later executed). Richard then had the rest of the travelling party dismissed and accompanied the young king to London on his own. Richard installed Edward in the Tower of London, which, as well as being a prison, was for a time, a royal residence. Many royals spent time there while awaiting their coronation, so it wasn’t unusual for a new monarch to set up home at the royal apartments. After securing the young King, Richard took custody of his other nephew, prince Richard, who was the new Duke of York and the Heir Apparent. The prince joined his brother at the Tower, with Richard claiming that he was simply ensuring the boy’s attendance at the coronation and later claiming that he was keeping the boys under heavy guard there for their own protection. Eventually they "disappeared". This begs the questions of what William Stanley was doing at the time that Edward V was effectively captured by Richard.
- He thought he (and the rest of the Stanleys) would benefit more if Henry Tudor (the son of the wife of his brother) won. This cluster of theories also hold that Richard III was becoming increasingly "deranged" and dangerous to anyone around him who could pose a possible threat. It might only be a matter of time before Richard felt strong enough to turn against the Stanleys. Henry Tudor had already indicated his intention to marry Elizabeth of York the daughter of King Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville, and thus unify the houses of York and Lancaster. William Stanley had land and titles in Wales, where Tudor influence was strong. On top of this, William had already been declared a traitor by Richard following Lord Strange's confession to Richard that William had plotted with Henry Tudor.
And what if William had not changed sides? Richard III would almost certainly have either killed or captured and executed Henry Tudor and he would not have become Henry VII. A wild speculation is then that when Bartholemew Columbus came to England looking for funding for his brother's voyage to the west, Richard might have funded him.
In Shakespeare
The "Tragedy of Richard the Third" was probably written c. 1592–1594. Shakespeare changes the historical facts so that it is Thomas Stanley, not William Stanley, who leads the rescue of Henry Tudor. He also adds a personal swordfight between Richard and Henry. After the battle, Richard's coronet was found and brought to Henry, who was crowned king at the top of Crown Hill, near the village of Stoke Golding. According to Polydore Vergil, Henry's official historian, Thomas Stanley found the coronet in a bush and, according to Shakespeare crowned Henry Tudor king. The same occurs in Shakespeare's Richard III (where the Earl of Derby, Thomas Stanley says to the Earl of Richmond, Henry Tudor):
- "Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee / Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty / From the dead temples of this bloody wretch / Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy brows withal / Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it."
In fact Thomas Stanley took no part in the battle, but just stood about with his arms waiting to see who was going to win. Shakespeare also changes who does the crowning. In Bacon's history of King Henry VII it is William who:
- "..after some acclamation of the soldiers in the field, had put a crown of ornament, which Richard wore in the battle and was found amongst the spoils, upon King Henry's head.."
According to tradition it was the finding of the coronet in a hawthorn bush which led Henry Tudor to use a hawthorn bush and crown as one of his badges. Even if the coronet was plain and so not taken as loot it is unlikely that Thomas Stanley would have been poking around in the bushes.
Shakespeare's reason for making Thomas Stanley the more prominent at Bosworth are at least twofold. First, the playwright was probably influenced by the Tudor version of history which portrayed Richard III in a very poor light. Second Shakespeare was already associated with the Stanleys via Ferdinando Stanley a descendant of Thomas Stanley rather than William. Sir William Stanley appears in only a single scene in Henry VI, part 3 where he is seen, along with Gloucester and Hastings, taking part in the rescue of Edward IV from captivity. He has no speaking lines. In Richard III he does not even have a walk-on part: he is mentioned (Act 4, Scene V) as already having gone over to Henry Tudor, but is not a character present even in a mute role.
In Henry VI part 3 William Stanley is, despite never speaking a single word, portrayed as a cunning and opportunistic character, always looking for ways to advance his own interests. He starts the play as a supporter of the Lancastrian faction, led by King Henry VI, but later switches sides to support the Yorkist cause, led by Edward IV. One of the most memorable moments involving Sir William Stanley occurs during the Battle of Tewkesbury, a pivotal battle in the play. At this point, Stanley is still loyal to King Henry VI, but he sees an opportunity to benefit from the changing tides of the war. Sensing that the Lancastrians are on the brink of defeat, he secretly sends a message to Edward IV, offering to switch sides in exchange for a title and land. This decision proves to be a turning point for Stanley and ultimately alters the course of the war. Edward IV accepts Stanley's offer and grants him the title of Earl of Derby, making him one of the most powerful nobles in England. With Stanley's betrayal, the Lancastrians suffer a devastating defeat at Tewkesbury, leading to the downfall of King Henry VI and the ascension of Edward IV to the throne.
Of course Shakespeare is messing about with history again here. William Stanley was and always remained a Yorkist, did not change sides in the middle of the Battle of Tewkesbury (in 1471) and it was his brother Thomas Stanley who was made the 1st Earl of Derby (in 1485). Edward IV was "captured" (somewhat willingly) and although technically a prisoner was treated very well. The king was held from July until Septamber 1469, but there is no evidence that William Stanley had anything to do with his release.
After Bosworth
Henry secured his crown principally by dividing and undermining the power of the nobility, especially through the aggressive use of bonds and recognisances to secure loyalty. He also executed some of Richard III's adherents. Including William Catesby. The suggestion that he might have made a deal with the Stanleys before the battle comes from his will in which he wrote:
- “My Lord Stanley, Strange, and all that blood! help! and pray for my soul, for ye have not for my body, as I trusted in you“
Henry was deeply suspicious of everyone. He also enacted laws against livery and maintenance, the great lords' practice of having large numbers of "retainers" who wore their lord's badge or uniform and formed a potential private army.
In gratitude for his timely intervention at Bosworth, the new king bestowed many favours on Sir William Stanley, including the post of Lord Chamberlain and Chamberlain of the Exchequer. The first rebellion Henry faced was the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers, abetted by Viscount Lovell (the former Lord Chamberlain), which collapsed without fighting.
William served the new king loyally, taking part in the quenching of the Lambert Simnel rebellion (1487) and supplying troops to put down a Yorkshire rebellion (1489). He was also considered the richest man in England, outside of the nobility, by this point.
Traitor
In 1495, it was discovered that William Stanley had spoken with one Robert Clifford (who was now exposing him) two years earlier about a second Yorkist pretender (Simnel had been the first) named Perkin Warbeck. Warbeck had support from as far as the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian, Edward IV’s sister, Margaret of Burgundy, Sir Simon Mountford, Sir Humphrey Savage and (aparently) Sir Robert Clifford.
Warbeck had claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the two sons of Edward IV who had supposedly been murdered by their uncle, Richard III. Stanley, being a loyal supporter of Edward IV, and once the steward of the household of Edward V the elder of the two sons of Edward IV claimed that, if Warbeck actually was who he said he was, he would raise no arms against him. His conversation with Clifford was private and there is no evidence that he would actually actively support Warbeck.
Clifford's statement was all the evidence that Henry VII needed to arrest Stanley. Stanley did not think the charges were as bad as they were, and it is possible they may have been trumped up. He even confessed to making his comment. However, after facing two challenges from Yorkist pretenders, the king was not in a position to be taking any chances with a man who had once been so loyal a supporter to the house of York. Therefore, William Stanley was charged with high treason. His brother Thomas presided over his trial. On February 6, 1495 he was “found guilty of treason by a quest of divers knights and worshipful gentlemen”. Clifford received a pardon (some say he was working for the King all along). William was sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered, but the sentence was commuted to mere beheading. William was buried at Syon Abbey, Middlesex.
Days before William Stanley's execution Henry VII apparently appointed a commission, on 8 February 1495, under Arthur, Prince of Wales (then aged 9):
- "to enquire of the lands and possessions in North Wales and the marches thereof, and the counties of Chester, Flint and Salop of William Stanley, knight and to take charge of the same and these were kept in the king’s hands."
Given the age of the Prince there is either an error here or the whole trial was a sham. If this account is accurate although the glory days were over and this branch of the Stanley family seemingly destined to wither and die. However things seem rather more complex. William jnr (also known as William Stanley of Tatton) married Joan Massey, heiress of Worsley & Hulton. She would eventually marry three times with her second husband being Sir Edward Pickering and her third Sir John Brereton. This form of marriage and re-marriage within a relatively small group of families mostly from Cheshire and the surrounding counties leads to very complicated family trees and later antiquaries made many mistakes in reporting these. Much of what is available online on these relationships needs to be treated with extreme caution especially where no validatable sources are given.
The detailed inventory made of the contents of Holt Castle after William Stanley's death was a useful source of information in the virtual reconstruction of the castle. Curiously, Holt Castle seems to have been an unlucky place to occupy. Richard, the 4th Earl of Arundel held it and was beheaded, when it passed to Richard II, who was deposed (see: Royal Treasure). Henry Stafford, second duke of Buckingham (1455-83) was executed for treason. William Stanley was the next "unlucky" occupant. Finally, William Brereton (c.1487×90-1536) who was appointed steward of the castle where he held "great porte and solemnities", before he was convicted of adultery with Anne Boleyn and beheaded.
Consequences for Chester
After Richard III's death Cestrians were minded to make yet another claim that the silting of the River Dee meant that they needed another reduction in tax. They wrote again that managed to get a reduction on the basis that the river was choked with sand, the markets were void and entire desolation was imminent. Upon this the King remitted the whole of their burdens, except the payment of £20 annually. This document was witnessed by the King (Henry VII.) himself, at Chester, on the twenty-first day of March, 1486. William Stanley was still alive at the time, but historians have not opined on whether he was involved in obtaining the reduction.
However, the citizens soon had a new benefit in the form of an Earl. Arthur Tudor (1486-1502) came closest of all among the Earls of Chester of his time to reaching his majority - there were no adult Earls between the accession of Henry V (1413) and Henry Stuart's elevation to the Earldom in 1610 (Henry then promptly died of typhoid in 1612). Arthur's brother Henry VIII was created Earl of Chester in 1504, but was never invested and none of Henry VIII's children became Earl. Notably, there was hardly ever an of-age Earl of Chester between the Black Prince and Georgian times. An Earl for Chester was important because it gave access to the head of the Palatinate, which provided the citizens of Cheshire with some forms of autonomy in terms of law and taxation. The Prince/Earl would visit Chester in 1498.
Prince Arthur
After the treaty of Medina del Campo opened up trade with the Iberian peninsula in 1489 by reducing mutual tariffs, Spanish iron, and wine from Portugal, Spain, and Gascony became the basis for a dramatic expansion in Chester's overseas trade (see: Merchant Adventurers), which allowed other Mediterranean commodities to reach the city, and provided new markets for hides and cloth. Given the Spanish trade and the betrothal of Prince Arthur to a Spanish match, it is perhaps understandable that then mayor Goodman would wish to impress Arthur and this may also explain why he married off his own daughter to a certain Thomas Cowper.
Thomas Cowper was Page of Honour to Prince Arthur (19/20 September 1486 – 2 April 1502), Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. Perhaps of more local importance he was also Earl of Chester. As the eldest son and heir apparent of Henry VII of England, Arthur was viewed by contemporaries as the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor. His mother, Elizabeth of York, was the daughter of Edward IV, and his birth cemented the union between the House of Tudor and the House of York. Plans for Arthur's marriage began before his third birthday; he was installed as Prince of Wales two years later. At the age of eleven, he was formally betrothed to Catherine of Aragon (see: Leche House), a daughter of the powerful Catholic Monarchs in Spain, in an effort to forge an Anglo-Spanish alliance against France.
While a page is a comparatively low-ranking servant, a Page of Honour is nowadays a mostly ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. It is usually a distinction granted to teenage sons of members of the nobility and gentry. Cowper attended the Prince to Chester in 1498 (the prince would have been aged about 12). The Midsummer Watch Parade was first held during the mayoralty of Richard Goodman (in 1498) - organised by the City Guilds. There is an obvious difficulty in reconciling the dates of the visit of Prince Arthur to Chester (4 August 1498 - 19 Sept 1498) with the midsummer festivities during Goodman's mayorality, but it does indicate the nexus of significant events in which the origins of the watch parade is nested: the completion of a part of the Pentice, good progress on building the Abbey, an up-swing of trade with Spain, and of course the visit of the Prince.
The Great Charter
Henry VII remained concerned that he might be overthrown and undoubtedly wished to avoid the remaining Stanleys and other families becoming any stronger. It is possible that the Great Charter of 1506, which made the city a separate county was intended to do this. The Great Charter of Henry VII proceeds:
- "know Ye that we, for the great affection which we have and bear to our City of Chester, the Citizens and Commonalty of the same City, and in consideration of the good behaviour and great expenses of the inhabitants of the same City, as also of the voluntary service many ways rendered by them against our adversaries and rebels, willing the better estate of the same City, and especially to provide for the convenience and quiet of the said Citizens, their heirs and successors, of our especial grace and certain knowledge, and mere motion, have given and granted, and do give and grant, and by these presents have confirmed for us and our heirs to the aforesaid Citizens and commonalty, their heirs and successors for ever, that the said City, and all the ground within the said City, with the suburbs and hamlets within the precinct and compass of the same, and all the ground within the precinct and compass of the said City of Chester and the aforesaid suburbs and hamlets, (wholly excepting our castle within the walls of the said City), be exempted and separated, as well by land as by water, from our shire of Chester; and that the said City, and the suburbs and hamlets of the same, and all the ground within the precinct and compass of them, (except as before excepted), be henceforth a County by and in itself distinct and separate from our County of Chester, and that from henceforth it shall be called and named the 'County of the City of Chester.'"
The charter next provided for the election of a Mayor, two Sheriffs, twenty-four Aldermen, and forty Common-Councilmen, and one Alderman was to be appointed Recorder of the City. The Charter laid out the process for electing the Mayor. Every year the freemen were to vote for aldermen and councilmen, who made up the Assembly, the ancestor of the later City Council. The aldermen then voted for the Mayor. In practice, from a very early period after 1506, the Assembly itself elected men to fill any vacancies. In 1518 a bylaw provided that aldermen who died during their term could be replaced without election, and shortly afterwards it became customary for the Assembly to make such appointments for life. By 1533 the annual election of councilmen had also been subverted, some even being appointed purely on the nomination of the mayor. Such infringements of the charter were further compounded from the 1520s by the emergence in the Assembly of a group known as the sheriff-peers, consisting of former sheriffs and holding office for life. There was a brief period of semi-democracy from 1693 to 1698, after which the city returned to the old, "closed" system. It was not until 1761 that the freemen got to vote again (with significant electoral fraud), and the popular vote (for men) had to wait until 1835.
The charter required that Sheriffs had to hold their courts upon every Monday from month to month, in the same way as Sheriffs of other counties. And they had to hold a court for the City on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The Mayor and Sheriffs were invested with authority to hold Courts in the Common Hall of the City for the trial of offences and claims of all kinds arising within the City, its suburbs, and hamlets. The Northgate was to be continued as a gaol, and Port-mote and Crown-mote courts were to be held before the Mayor. The forfeited goods of felons were to be the property of the citizens, who were also freed from the payment of all customs except those on wine and iron. That the dignity of the Chief Magistrate might be apparent, the charter runs:
- " Moreover, we have granted . . . that the Mayor of the said City of Chester, and his successors for the time being, have their sword, which we gave them, or any other as may please them, (in the absence of us or our heirs), carried before them with the point upright, as well in the presence of other the nobles and lords of our realm of England, who are related to us and any others, as in any other way."
The sword is further discussed under Arms of Chester and was an important symbol of the Palatinate. Its symbolism of the power-shift to the mayor would be far-reaching and even lead to a dispute with the Cathedral in 1607.
By the time the Great Charter of 1506 was granted, William's surviving brother Thomas was dead and was succeeded as Earl by his grandson, another Thomas Stanley. Arthur Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester was also dead. The new Earl of Chester was the future Henry VIII and was fifteen in 1506: he took little interest in Cheshire.
Conclusions
William Stanley (c.1435 – 16 February 1495) is not treated at all well by Shakespeare. His crucial role at Bosworth Field is given to his brother Thomas and he does not even get a walk-on part in "Richard III" (although he is mentioned). The only Shakespeare play he does appear "on stage" in (Henry VI, part III) gives him no lines and has him change sides in the middle of a battle, thus changing the entire tide of the war. A later William Stanley (a sometime Chester resident descended from brother Thomas) has been proposed by some as being the actual author of "Shakespeare" (see: Shakespeare and Chester), if this unlikely tale is true the later William serves his namesake poorly. Many modern authors give at best conflicting and at worst wrong information on William Stanley. Even the portrait of him, of which a copy hangs at Stanley Palace (built long after his death), is utterly inaccurate as regards his armour and weapon: he is portrayed with a gun from a much later period and "Greenwich" armour from the time of Henry VIII.
Despite his role at Bosworth which saved the life of Henry Tudor and made him king as Henry VII, William would later be tried for high treason and executed. According to some accounts his trial was presided over by his own brother Thomas (whose portrait hangs on the same wall at Stanley Palace). After his death an inventory of his home at Holt Castle showed how he lived there in considerable luxury. He was for a time chamberlain of Chester. Information on his descendants and their marriages and re-marriages is also totally confusing and conflicting. Antiquaries, including Ormerod made errors with the Stanley "family tree" and this is reflected in many modern writings.
He did change the tide of a war by joining the fight between Richard III and the future Henry VII at Bosworth, but his reasons for doing so are unclear. Some modern writers state (with no evidence) that he was actually trying to rescue Richard, others state (with no evidence) that it was William Stanley, in person, who slew Richard III. The last is most unlikely: William was around 50 at the time of Bosworth (1485) and Richard (then aged 32), despite issues with his spine, was a far better fighter.
Sources and Links
Related Pages
Online
- SIR WILLIAM STANLEY – TURNCOAT OR LOYALIST?: uses an innaccurate source;
- The wives of Sir'William Stanley: Joan Beaumont and Elizabeth Hopton: corrects some errors in the innaccurate source used by the previous reference;
- William Stanley - A Convenient Villain;
- William Stanley: on Wikitree;
- Edward V: The Prince in the Tower;
- Henry VII, Pretenders and Rebellions;
- The Ballad of Lady Bessy;
