Where was Francis? (2)

On 26th June 1485, Francis received a royal order to guard the coast against Henry Tudor, who was at that point preparing to invade. This order meant that he had to go to Southampton, away from court and king, to await the invasion there. His tasks included outfitting the ships and doing all that needed to be done for them to be able to engage in battle, as well as actually taking command of the fleet, in the hopes of stopping the invasion and taking Henry Tudor prisoner.

As history records, he failed at these tasks, not least due to the fact Richard was wrongly informed (or mixed up) about where Henry intended to land. Francis and the fleet at his command could not prevent him from landing, which he did on 7th August 1485 at Milford Haven. By 11th August at the latest, Richard was aware of this, for a letter exists from him written on this day to Henry Vernon, informing him of this and ordering him to come to him.

There is no certainty, however, if he also at that time sent orders to Francis to join him as well and, if so, if he managed to arrive at Richard`s side in time to fight at Bosworth. There is no account of him either being asked to stay at Southampton or in the south of England, nor one of him taking an explicit part in the Battle of Bosworth. All that can be said with reasonable certainty is that Francis did not ride with Richard in his last charge, for even had he unlike the others involved in it survived it, he would have been surrounded by enemy fighters by the end of it and would have never managed to escape. What exactly this means as to his exact whereabouts is debatted.

The only directly contemporary source about his whereabouts during the battle is an announcement made by the new king Henry VII afterwards, which listed him among the dead. While this was of course incorrect, it could well indicate that he was in fact at the battle and simply at first assumed to be dead along many if not most others of Richard`s closest supporters. It is not impossible, however, that such a mistake could have also been made if he had not been at the battle, because of Francis`s known closeness to Richard. Another theory is that Francis was declared dead, as it is commonly assumed John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, who was definitely not at Bosworth, was, to discourage rebels. However, while declaring Lincoln, who was Richard`s heir, dead had the advantage of sowing confusion and stopping potential rebels from rising in his name, there would have been no such reason for declaring Francis dead.

Other sources do not help clear up the question of Francis`s movements. The Crowland Chronicle does not mention him at all after a short note that he was meant to guard the coast; the Great Chronicle of London, perhaps influenced by Henry`s announcement, reports wrongly he was slain during the battle. Polydore Vergil states he was at the battle but fled to sanctuary after it was lost. This might be true, but given Vergil`s many provable mistakes and deliberate changes made to known facts in his report of the battle, it is not a reliable source.

This ultimately means that it`s unlikely to ever be quite certain where Francis was and if he fought at Bosworth, though what we know of his actions and those of others before and afterwards might provide some hints. It is known, for example, as pointed out in Joe Ann Ricca`s "Time Reveals All Things", that Lord Audley, who was with Francis at Southampton, was still there on 21st August 1485. It is quite possible that Francis was still with him then. However, it is equally possible that Audley was ordered to remain in Southampton because most of his land holdings and power base was in the south, to try and use his influence to stop people from joining Henry, while Francis, whose power base lay in the north, was ordered to come to Richard`s aid in battle.

Another interesting fact which might hint at Francis`s movements is found in William Catesby`s will, made just before he was executed on 25th August 1485. It includes a wish by Catesby that "lett my lord Lovel come to grace; then that ye show him that he pray for me". It clearly shows that at that time, Catesby knew Francis was alive; but it sadly it does not indicate if this was because he was aware Francis had not been involved in the battle or because he knew he had escaped afterwards. It does indicate, however, that it was not an injury got during battle which prevented Francis from joining Richard`s last charge, as in such a case Catesby could not have been certain he still lived after escaping once the battle was lost. Equally, it indicates that Francis`s survival was not anything controversial that was supposed to stay hidden, as naturally, clearly to protect his family, Catesby wrote a will that was very positive towards the conqueror Henry VII, and would have been unlikely to include something likely to displease him. Therefore it can be surmised that Francis`s initial inclusion in the list of casualties of the battle was an honest mistake, though as above, there is no knowing how it came to happen.

Perhaps the most telling hint as to where Francis was is found in the fact that he, together with Humphrey and Thomas Stafford, was in sanctuary in Colchester for several months after Bosworth. Though it is not known when any one of them arrived in Colchester, it would maybe be too much of a conicidence dor them to have arrived there seperately and independent of each other to then stay there for several months and start a rebellion together. If they arrived together, though, it would mean Francis was at Bosworth, for the Staffords are known to have fought there for Richard.

If Francis was at Bosworth, then that poses the question of why he did not join in Richard`s last charge. If it was not an injury, then it seems that most likely, Richard ordered him to stay back during that last charge. Potentially he could have done this because he wanted him to fulfill some duties in case he himself did not survive - often, the mysterious fate of his disinherited and vanished nephews Edward and Richard, and the strange cases of Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, are brought up in this context, which however opens questions about the parts of the Staffords` - or else because he wished for Francis to live even if he did not survive.

In the end, where Francis was when the Battle of Bosworth happened, and if he fought, cannot conclusively be answered. There are more indications he was there than there are for the opposite assumption, but it rests on speculation. All we know is that one way or another, either by not asking him to join him in battle or else by asking him to stay back during his last charge, Richard made sure Francis would survive.