232 Constitutional History. [chap.
which he concealed the several steps of his progress. Brave,
cunning, resolute, clear-sighted, bound by no ties of love or
gratitude, amenable to no instincts of mercy or kindness,
Hatred of Richard III yet owes the general condemnation, with which
hie memory. , , *, o
his life and reign have been visited, to the fact that he left
none behind him whose duty or whose care it was to attempt
his vindication. The house of Lancaster, to be revived only
in a bastard branch, loathed him as the destroyer of the sainted
king and his innocent son. The house of York had scarcely
less grievance against him as the destroyer of Clarence, the
oppressor of the queen, the murderer, as men said, of her sons.
England, taken by surprise at the usurpation, never fully
accepted the yoke. The accomplices of the crime mistrusted
Distrusted him from the moment they placed him on the throne. Yet
and sus- 4 ∙f 1
pected ɪn ɪɪis viewed beside Edward IV he seems to differ rather in fortune
lifetime.
than ɪn desert. He might have reigned well if he could have
rid himself of the entanglements under which he began to
reign, or have cleared his conscience from the stain which his
usurpation and its accompanying cruelties brought upon him.
Coronation The story is not a long one, for the shadows begin from
of Ricliard j _ ? °
in, July 6, the moment of his accession to deepen round the last king
of the great house of Anjou. He was crowned with his
wife, the surviving daughter of the King-maker, on the 6th
of July1. Archbishop Bourchier, who was to crown his suc-
cessor, placed the diadem on his head. Rotherham too had
His ad- already submitted and been released. Of his chief advisers,
promoted. Buckingham had received his reward, and was made on the
15th of July lord high constable; Howard on the 28th of
June had been made duke of Norfolk and earl marshal2, the
earldom of Nottingham being bestowed on lord Berkeley,
another of the coheirs of Mowbray ; the earl of Northumberland
had been made warden of the Scottish marches3 ; Edward the
ɪ Cont. Croyl. p. 567 ; Exo. Hist. pp. 379-383.
2 John Howard was made duke of Norfolk and earl marshal June 28,
and had a commission of array for the eastern counties July ɪð ; he was
made admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine, July 25 ; Kot. Pat.
PP- 12, 13-
3 Northumberland’s commission was issued May 20 ; Nichols, Grants,
p. 20 : it was renewed July 24, 1484 ; Rot. Pat. p. 85.
XVIII.]
Buckingham's 'Relellion.
233
king’s only son was made lieutenant of Ireland, earl of Chester,
and prince of Wales. Bishop Russell of Lincoln had been made
chancellor on the 27 th of June1. The royal party made a
grand progress during harvest, and at York on the 8th of
September the heir to the crown was knighted with great
pomp2. That event seems to have been the last glimpse of
sunshine. The next month the duke of Buckingham was in
open rebellion, and Henry of Richmond the heir of the elder
line of Beaufort was threatening an invasion.
The duke of Buckingham was but a degenerate represen- Rebellion
tative of the peace-making duke who fell at Northampton, ɪngiɪaɪɪɪ.
He had betrayed his great position and become a tool of
Richard; but his position was still too great to suffer his
ambition or Richard’s suspicions to sleep. The house of
Lancaster and its share in the house of Bohun being extin-
guished, the heir of the Staffords was sole heir of the earldom
of Hereford. This, under the crafty advice, it was said, of
bishop Morton3, he ventured to claim, and Richard did not
hesitate to refuse. Whilst the king was in the north, Buck- Extent of
ingham was planning treason; the Wydvilles and the Greys 4⅛°.
were helping ; three bishops, Wydville of Salisbury, Courtenay
of Exeter, and Morton of Ely4, were active in promoting the
rising : negotiations were opened with the earl of Richmond,
and he was promised in case of success the hand of the lady
Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the late king, and the succession
to the crown. The design was premature; Richard was not
yet unpopular, and the conspirators were not in full concert
with one another. The struggle accordingly was short : on the its failure.
18th of October the conspirators rose in Kent, Berkshire, Wilt-
shire, and Devonshire. Richard was already on the watch; a
week before this, on the ɪ ɪth, whilst at Lincoln, he had an-
nounced the traitorous proceedings of Buckingham to the
ɪ Rymer, xii. 189 : he had, according to More, p. 486, been appointed
to the same office under Edward V eaιly in the month.
2 Ross, p. 217 ; Fabric Rolls of York, p. 212 : on the story of a second
coronation see Davies, York Records, pp. 282 sip; Cont. Croyl. p. 567.
3 More, ap. Kennett, i. 502.
4 Cont. Croyl. p. 568; Rot. Pari. λi. 250.