04 December 2024
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Millais' portrait of the Princes in the Tower. Image copyright GL Archive, Alamy Stock Photo
Thomas More held the opinion that Sir James Tyrell was involved in the murder of the Princes in the Tower. This was long dismissed as Tudor propaganda. However, recently evidence has come to light at The National Archives, Kew, which lends credence to More's view.
“I bequeath to my sonne Sir Giles his fadres Cheyne which was Yonge kynge Edward the Vth.”
These are the words discovered by historian Professor Tim Thornton, which give credence to the view that James Tyrell was the man responsible for the disappearance and deaths of the Princes in the Tower.
The National Archives explains:
"Prof Tim Thornton from the University of Huddersfield has found a reference to a chain belonging to the elder prince, Edward V, being bequeathed in a 1516 will.
"The will was written 33 years after the Princes disappeared in the Tower by a member of Sir James Tyrell’s family.
"The reference to Edward’s chain is in a registry copy of the will of Dame Margaret Capell, Sir James Tyrell’s sister-in-law (document ref PROB 11/19).
"Thomas More claimed Tyrell organised the murder of the Princes for Richard III when he wrote his unpublished The History of Richard the Third. No record of the confession exists and modern historians have dismissed this as inaccurate Tudor propaganda."
As ever in history, one discovery leads to yet more questions. This discovery, in particular, raises the questions:
- How did such a personal possession of 12-year-old Edward V end up in Margaret Capell’s possession?
- Did it come to her by fair means or foul?
How did Professor Thornton find this evidence relating to the Princes in the Tower?
“Their clothes, their belongings just seemed to disappear, no one ever seems to refer to them,” said Prof Thornton, who had set out on a mission specifically to try to find clues as to the possessions of the Princes in the Tower. His search paid dividends.
“The debate over Richard III’s responsibility for the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower will no doubt run and run, but we now have a unique reference to the survival of an object that was very personal to Edward V to add into the mix.”
“It’s exciting to be able to shed further light on one of the most controversial and mysterious episodes in British history.”
Who are these characters from history?
Sir James was a loyal servant of King Richard III (the King famously found in the council car park in Leicester, whose body was identified by DNA).
Lady Margaret Capell was the half-sister of Sir James Tyrell’s wife, Anne.
The Princes in the Tower were Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York. Their parents were King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Edward V was born in 1470 and succeeded his father to the throne in 1483 on his father's death. Put into the care of his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Edward IV's younger brother), Edward V ruled for just 78 days, before being deposed by his uncle, who appointed himself king - Richard III. Edward V and his brother disappeared and were never seen again.
What was happening around the time of the princes' disappearance?
The Wars of the Roses were being waged, having started in 1455, and continuing until 1487. The princes' father was the Yorkist King Edward IV, and the Wars of the Roses were waged between the Yorkists and Lancastrians (cadet branches of the Plantaganents). These were tumultuous decades.
As mentioned King Richard III deposed Edward V and ruled until 1485, when he was killed by Henry Tudor's forces at the Battle of Bosworth.
The Wars of the Roses came to an end in 1487 when Henry Tudor, now King Henry VII, married Edward IV's eldest daughter Elizabeth of York.
An excerpt from the will that mentions the "yonge kyng". Image published courtesy The National Archives
