rebellion of buckingham, part 1

[ke...@dimension.sh]

the duke of buckingham conspired with margaret beaufort for the cause of her
son, henry, to claim the throne. the duke considered treason against his king
for being deeply mortified at the murder of the innocent princes. lady stanley
and morton were working assidiously to enlist buckingham to their cause. lady
stanley appointed a steward whose chief objective was to overcome any scruples
buckingham may have had in breaking his oath of allegiance to richard and
convince buckingham to support henry tudor. buckingham deliberated until he was
sure of the death of the princes. what prompted his decision may have been a
discreetly worded letter to him by richard informing that the deed had been
finally done. the duke sent the steward appointed by the lady stanley to inform
the rebels of his decision to join them and the news of the murder of the
princes to the lady stanley. their ultimate objective was the overthrow of the
tyrant and establish henry tudor on the throne, which was hardly of any benefit
to buckingham, which lends weight to the argument that his disaffection with the
king was prompted by revulsion at the murder of the princes. but, both the lady
and bishop morton would greatly benefit by henry's establishment on the throne,
for henry would be anxious to reward those who helped him gain a throne.

margaret beaufort realised that the long standing divisions between the two
houses would be resolved if her son married the wydville's daughter, elizabeth
of york. perhaps, she was the first to realise the advantages of this marriage.
it would prove beyond doubt, if it chanced the blood of edward the fourth and
henry the sixth were mingled by affinity, that the marriage would benefit the
realm. but, the countess had to inform elizabeth of the death of her children
before moving ahead.

contemporaries have very well left accounts of elizabeth's reaction to the
murder. she fell into a swoon, lay lifeless a good while; after coming to her
senses, she wept uncontrollably, cried aloud, shrieked lamentably for the house
to ring with her cries. she struck her breast, tore her hair, and called herself
a madwoman for delivering her young son out of the sanctuary to be murdered by
her enemies. later, dr lewis, whose service margaret had used to inform
elizabeth inside the sanctuary, gently broached the subject of a marriage
between her daughter and henry tudor, saying that although her sons were dead,
she still could be a mother of kings if she agreed to the marriage and have her
vengeance. henry had a rightful claim to the throne as he was the descendent of
the house of lancaster. in the queen's mind was the burning desire to have her
revenge on her sons' murderer, and she agreed to the proposal with alacrity.