The return of the court to London on 6 December was greeted
with cheers from the populous especially as Prince Edward and Lady Joan rode
together in the procession before it broke apart to several locations within
the city. The majority of the procession
accompanied Richard III to Westminster Palace as preparations for Christmastide
had to be taken care of as well as several decisions when it came to governing
the kingdom. Bishop Kempe along with
some retainers was the first to separate from the procession, proceeding to his
residence and return to the business of governing his diocese. Worcester was the next to leave the
procession, riding to the Tower of London to take up his position as Constable,
a message from Richard having arrived a few days before notifying the officer
in charge of the appointment of Worcester.
The rest of the procession not going with the King was headed for
Baynard’s Castle as Prince Edward escorted Queen Cicely and Joan there along
with the many ladies-in-waiting accompanying them. Upon their arrival at Baynard’s Castle, the
Princes George and Richard greeted their mother and were introduced to Joan. After ensuring everything was in order,
Edward and his knight escort rode for Westminster Palace.
The weeks leading up to Christmas were not without events occurring;
one of the most important things on Richard’s mind was the restoration of
Ludlow Castle, which had been sacked the previous year. Although some repairs had been done since his
coronation, Richard knew Ludlow still needed a lot of work especially if he
wanted to serve the purpose he planned for it.
Ludlow had been the seat of the Earls of March, the most powerful lords
in Wales before it became a part of Richard’s inheritance including his right
to the crown. Now it would be the seat
of the Prince of Wales and as the residence of the heir apparent like
Westminster Palace had become, but for that to happen Richard need to ensure it
looked the part. Already money had been
set aside from lands confiscated that spring and Richard was getting the work
organized as he wanted Ludlow finished by the time Edward and Joan were
officially married when they were could officially begin their duties as future
King and Consort.
As Richard set about restoring Ludlow, he also set about to
fully secure the support of Buckingham by literally buying him off. The Buckingham was the senior descendant of
Thomas of Woodstock, the fifth son of Edward III, through Thomas’ daughter Anne
of Gloucester. Buckingham was also the
senior heir of the Bohun inheritance through Thomas’ wife Eleanor de Bohn the
eldest daughter of the last Earl of Hereford.
However when the last Earl of Hereford died without a son, his estate
was divided between his daughters, the aforementioned Eleanor and her younger
sister Mary. Mary de Bohun had married
John of Gaunt and was the mother of Henry of Bolingbroke later Henry IV, thus
incorporating Mary’s portion of the Bohun inheritance into the lands of the
House of Lancaster that later passed into Richard’s hands as part of the Crown while
the title of the Earl of Hereford fell into abeyance. It was with this portion of the Bohun
inheritance and the Earldom of Hereford that Richard meant to give Buckingham
with the consent of Parliament.
Buckingham was surprised when he received Richard’s writ of issue and
heard the bill presented on the King’s behalf in Parliament. The resulting outcome would be what Richard hoped,
Buckingham would be truly loyal.
Beyond the material and political events Richard was
concentrating on was entertaining the Portuguese party lead by the Marquis of
Valenca. The King did not have to worry
about many of the Portuguese knights as various English knights or prominent
families set about to entertain them as well as potentially wed a daughter to
one of them. This allowed Richard along
with Salisbury, Buckingham, and others time to talk with the Marquis. Afonso, the eldest son of the Duke of
Braganza who was the natural son of King John of Portugal, informed them of the
political goings on throughout various Iberian kingdoms as well their relations
with France in particular. The Marquis
was forthcoming that Afonso V had instructed him to visit the French court
before returning to Portugal as the potential marriage between Henry IV of
Castile to Margaret could result in an alliance against either Aragon, Navarre,
or both as they were under a personal union under the worst circumstances that
Portugal might have to involve itself in.
Richard appreciated Afonso’s candor and the Marquis also understood
Richard’s wish to prevent another scandalous marriage in regards to Margaret. The issue of Margaret was a worry for Richard
as the former Queen had sent her reply to the preliminary agreement she had
been sent, the King did not know anything about either in detail as Devon and
Warwick in Valladolid only gave summaries as the French led the negotiations
with the Castilians.
Early in January 1455 after celebrating Epiphany, the Marquis
and the Portuguese knight took their leave of Richard. The King insisted that they take the short
trip to Calais to ensure the quickest and safest across the Channel, which the
Marquis graciously accepted. After a
visit to Joan and the Portuguese ladies-in-waiting, the Marquis and his party
were escorted to Dover by the Buckingham and Essex where they boarded a ship
and shortly arrived in Calais. Richard
then started planning for his first progress through the Midlands where the
Beaufort cause had been the strongest and where most of his soldiers had come
from. The plan was to travel north
through Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and Rutland
before stopping for a long stay at Fotheringhay Castle in northern
Northamptonshire. Fotheringhay was one
of Richard’s favorite residences and it had survived the succession crisis
unscathed, both Richard and Cicely had not been to the castle in years and both
wanted to return for a long extended stay.
The return journey to London would go south through Northamptonshire,
Bedfordshire, and Buckinghamshire.
