Thursday 7 September 2017

"The Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery and Myth" by Matthew Lewis

And now for something completely different, a book review. It only mentions Francis in some places, but it is still very much worth reading.

As the title suggests, this book is concerned with the fate of Richard III`s most famous nephews, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury. Like so many before him, author and historian Matthew Lewis tackles the subject of what happened to them after their last verified sighting in the Tower of London, shortly after Richard`s accession. It examines several possibilities, all based on thorough research, without trying to push one on the readers or trying to get them to dismiss another on nothing but personal preference, which several other books on this subject are guilty of.

The book follows a loosely chronological timeline, shortly summing up how the Princes in the Tower became the Princes in the Tower and who those boys were when stripped of this moniker, then offering several theories as to what could have happened to them during their uncle`s reign. After that, it goes into what happened after Richard`s death. Naturally, special focus is put on the two major Yorkist challenges to Henry VII`s throne - the so-called "Lambert Simnel rebellion" and the threat from "Perkin Warbeck" - since they were based on the uncertainty of what had happened to the Yorkist heirs, not just Edward V and his brother Richard, but also Edward of Warwick. These rebellions, the people involved and their actions form the centrepiece of the book, though in the end, some more unorthodox theories of what might have happened to the titular princes are given some space.

The book`s great advantage is that it is based on logic, and avoids the trap of basing theories on sweeping assumptions about the characters of those involved. While, as the title already shows, this book`s premise is to show up the possibility of the princes surviving their uncle`s reign and not, as traditionally assumed, dying in the Tower in 1483, the basis of this is not Richard`s character or any alleged nobility of nature on his or someone else`s part, but simply that the few facts available do not fit the traditional assumption. Matt shows exactly why he believes this is so, backing himself up with verifiable facts, not vague beliefs about the personalities and motives of men and women dead for over 500 years, and illustrates the holes in the story of Edward and Richard being killed in 1483.

Naturally, to do so and built convincing arguments, this book heavily relies on primary sources. The book, presumably for easier readability, does not have footnotes, but any sources which are used and any quotes which are used are scrupulously named and easy to find and check. (I`ll admit I didn`t follow up every last one. I picked a few at random and checked, and all of those were flawless.) In some cases, it is not just what the sources say, but also where they are lacking which is discussed, but the fine line between fact - "this is where the sources are missing/lacking" - and speculation - "this is what it could mean" - is always clearly marked. Most crucially, at no point is speculation passed off as fact to base a theory on it. Speculation there naturally is, as it is impossible to write about something the solution to which is at this moment in time, and perhaps will always remain, unknowable, but where there is speculation, it is clearly stated. Said speculation is easy to follow; there are no leaps of logic which leave the reader baffled as to how this conclusion was reached from what was stated before. 

Matt does not ignore the possibility that Edward and Richard were, in fact, killed in the Tower of London in 1483. He shows what of the scant evidence as to their fate could point to this conclusion, and which contemporaries believed, or affected to believe, it. While he does state some questions this theory does not answer, he does not spent much time dissecting and trying to debunk it. It is simply another theory, and stands as such next to the other theories. Arguably, this is more effective than spending much time on discussing the flaws; by simply contrasting the evidence to support it with the evidence to support other theories, just how thin the theory is on what little we currently have is becomes obvious.

As mentioned above, the main part of the book is concerned with what happened during the "Simnel rebellion" and the "Perkin Warbeck" threat. Matt postulates that it is perfectly possible that not only was "Warbeck" who he claimed to be, but that it is equally possible that the "Simnel" uprising was in fact in Edward V`s name. While the former goes over a lot of facts and claims that anyone who has done some reading about the "Warbeck" situation will be familiar with, the latter explains a theory less well known. Of course, readers are going to have to decide for themselves whether they think the conclusions reached are plausible, but it is explained with as much aplomb as the rest of the theories of the book. However, there are some minor errors regarding Francis`s involvement and some niggles I have with the theories regarding him.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the statement that his actions after Richard`s death were unusual; it is one I have made myself and which I am likely to repeat in the future. There is, though, one claim which does not quite hold up to scrutiny, concerning Francis`s decision to take sanctuary in St.John`s Abbey in Colchester. Like David Baldwin did in his own book on the subject, "The Lost Prince", which in my opinion is vastly inferior to this one, Matt assumes that Francis`s stay in the abbey was extraordinary because it lasted much longer than the typical 40 days of sanctuary. However, as John Ashdown-Hill pointed out in "The Dublin King", St. John`s Abbey had extended rights of sanctuary, like Westminster Abbey, for example, also did, which explains why Francis could stay there for so long. While of course this may not have been the (only) reason Francis chose to go there, it is something that should be considered, especially since another staunch Yorkist, John Howard, had equally done so during the Lancastrian re-adaption one and a half decades earlier.

Equally, while Francis does seem to have been offered a pardon by Henry VII, this could have been a publicity action as much as an attempt by Henry to negotiate with him. Certainly, Francis was attainted in Henry`s first Parliament, which strongly suggests that even if he did attempt so, he had given up by November 1485. Henry`s own bafflement and refusal to believe that Francis had broken sanctuary some months later could be simply because, as Professor Chrimes pointed out in his biography of him, Henry often acted with initial denial to bad news. None of this debunks the theory suggested in the book, but it does offer a different theory, which is not mentioned.

Another minor niggle I have concerning Francis is in connection with his 1486 rebellion. While his movements are not entirely known, I do not quite agree with the book that the assassination attempt on Henry may have been a smoke screen for an attempt to fetch one of the princes still in the north of the country. Again, it is possible, but it`s not entirely true that this kidnap and assassination attempt "did not get off the ground". Several people were hanged for it in York in April 1486. Naturally, they could have been hanged for something else, but it is a far easier explanation that they tried to help Francis kidnap and kill Henry than that they were involved in an attempt at freeing one of the princes.

These, however, are the only small problems I have with this book. Of course, I do not agree with every theory in it; the ones towards the end involving Thomas More and Robert Dudley, while perfectly well explained and the speculations supported by some facts, rest too much on everyone`s silence and speculation heaped on speculation for me to think entirely plausible, but that`s a personal preference.

All in all, it`s a great book. It rests on logic not personal opinions, it explains its theories well while admitting their flaws, it does not claim to have found the definite answer to a mystery more than 500 years old and, perhaps most importantly, it is thought provoking and challenges the readers to make up their own minds. I can only advise everyone to go read it, now.



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