On 25th August 1485, three days after the Battle of Bosworth, William Catesby, lawyer and close advisor to Richard III, was executed. Before he met his death - supposedly by hanging, though the Croyland Chronicle reports he was beheaded - he was allowed to draw up a will, which has since caused considerable speculation. The main cause of this is the fact that Catesby stated in it that the newly made king Henry VII is "callid a full gracious prince" and goes on to claim that he "never offended hym by my good and Free will; for god I take to be my juge I have ever lovid hym."
This, of course, may indicate that he was plotting against Richard, though this would make his execution almost immediately after Bosworth rather inexplicable. It could also mean that Catesby was simply afraid for the future of his family; a speculation very much supported by the fact that the above-quoted statements were made in direct connection to his expression of hope Henry would treat them well. William Catesby would not have been the first, nor the last, to suppress his real feelings and say what he expected the person in power wanted to hear before his death to protect his family, and a claim to have worked for Richard under duress, while not born out by what evidence we have of his actions, could not be contradicted by anyone still alive and in a position to be heard and could well have been designed to please Henry.
Whatever Catesby`s motivations were, his will shows he was thinking of those he was leaving behind in the hours before his death, as well as some worry about his immortal soul. In this context, William, Thomas and George Stanley are mentioned, in another controversial sentence which seems to accuse them of not trying to prevent his execution, as well as Francis, too. Near the end of the document, Catesby expressed his wish that "my lord Lovell come to grace than that ye shew hym that he pray for me".
Despite the fact the sentence sounds rather rushed, it is informative. For one, as stated before, it shows that Catesby was certain Francis was still alive at the moment of writing, which certainty suggests that if he was present at the battle, he survived physically unscathed. It also indicates that the relationship between the two men was at least cordial, for Catesby to wish to have his prayers. This is supported somewhat by the fact that his mention of Francis is not accompanied by a complaint like the reproach against the Stanleys they had not tried to "[pray] for my body as I trusted in you" and the somewhat passive-aggressive plea for his uncle John to "remembrer my soule as ye have done my body; and better."
It is of course possible that Catesby had no such complaints against Francis because he was not close enough to him to have ever expected any help from him, or for him to take amiss not having received it. However, the evidence from Richard`s reign, when they were both in positions of power, suggests that they often worked together and that their relationship, whether it was only a business relationship or developed into a friendship as well, was a fruitful one.
In fact, it is quite possible that they knew each other and were connected in some way before Richard became king, while he was still Duke of Gloucester, Francis not yet a viscount and Catesby primarily connected to William Hastings. Certainly, their families had a connection; Francis`s grandfather William Lovell mentioned William`s father as one of his feofees, alongside men as Thomas Bourchier, in his will. However, we do not know if William Catesby the younger and Francis continued the connection at any point before 1483.
As soon as Richard was king, though, the two are often found in accounts together. Notably, Francis included Catesby in a list of feofees of some of his estates, among men he is known to have been close to such as the brothers Franke and his brother-in-law George FitzHugh. He was also one of the men Francis entrusted, in arrangements he made for the event of his death, with transfering some of his manors and lands to his wife, Anne. The two were also granted the constableship of Rockingham together, and Francis, with conventional expressions of love, passed a manor granted to him on to Catesby. Why this was done, we have no indication.
An intriguing note is, of course, that they were thrown together in William Collyngbourne`s famous rhyme, but it is most likely that this had nothing to do with any relationship between the two men and all with their relationship to the king. While William Catesby and the equally mentioned Richard Ratcliffe were rumoured as plotting together in other sources such as the Croyland Chronicle, Collyngbourne was the only to mention Francis in a sinister connection with them. Again, as so often with Francis, contemporarily his actions seem to have been mostly considered unremarkable and above reproach.
William Catesby`s request for prayers suggests that whatever their relationship was, he found it satisfactory too and had no cause for complaint.
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