On 21 August 1454, Richard III and Queen Cicely joined Queen
Margaret and the Earls of Richmond and Pembroke in Westminster for a mass in
honor of Richard’s predecessor, Henry VI.
After the solemn occasion, Margaret officially ended her sanctuary in
Westminster Abbey and was given rooms at Windsor Castle by Richard. A few days afterwards, the 23-year old
Pembroke petitioned Richard for permission to marry Lady Anne Wydeville, the
15-year old daughter of Baron Rivers, Richard Wydeville. Although the marriage would not take place
for a few years, Pembroke had heard of Richard’s concern with Margaret’s future
considering the examples of Pembroke’s own mother Catherine Valois, the Queen
of Henry V, and Anne’s mother Jacquetta of Luxembourg, formerly Duchess of
Bedford and now Baroness Rivers, and did not want to surprise the King with
news of this marriage agreement. Richard
knew that Pembroke had been having contact with the Wydeville family as Baron
Rivers’ eldest daughter Elizabeth Grey had been one of Margaret’s
ladies-in-waiting and had been one of the former Queen’s on-and-off companions
in sanctuary and now along with her husband, Sir John Grey of Groby, was serving
Margaret at Windsor Castle. All involved
had taken no sides during the previous winter and Richard permitted the
marriage. But with Margaret out of
sanctuary, Richard decided it was time to prevent another scandalous marriage before
he would have to deal with the consequences.
Early in September, Essex and the committee of the Commons
and Lords presented their plan for the repayment of debts via the usage of
forfeited lands. Richard endorsed the
plan and Parliament in both the Commons and Lords, passed it without a hint of
disagreement. Richard then brought his
council together and inquired about what to do about Margaret. Buckingham suggested that since Henry IV of
Castile was looking to marry that they should attempt to present Margaret as a
suitable candidate. Salisbury, while
supporting the idea, cautioned that since Margaret was niece to Charles VII of
France that it might require that he be consulted. Richard was loath to work with the man who
had just conquered all the English possessions in France save Calais, but
accepted that it was a price to pay at the moment. The King delegated Devon and Warwick, who had
taken up his position in Calais, to go to Paris and meet with Charles about
presenting Margaret as a candidate for the hand of Henry. If successful, Devon was to proceed to
Castile and present Margaret as a candidate for marriage. Within the week, Devon had left for Calais. Soon after he left, Richard finally received
a letter from Pope Nicholas V; the Pope apologized for the delay in his
response as his concern for Christendom after the fall of Constantinople to the
Turks had preoccupied him tremendously.
Nicholas thanked Richard for the concern to Cardinal Kempe’s bodily
remains and eternal soul even though Kempe erred inserting himself in a political
situation against Richard. The Pope
affirmed Thomas Bourchier as Archbishop of Canterbury and named him Cardinal as
befitting his position. Richard welcomed
the news and sent his congratulations to Cardinal Bourchier as well as letter to
the Pope thanking him for his response and also his concern about the fall of
Constantinople.
