Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

The Duke of Buckingham
An 18th century illustration of Henry Stafford
Spouse(s)	Catherine Woodville
Issue	Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex Henry Stafford, 3rd Earl of Wiltshire Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon Humphrey Stafford
Father	Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford
Mother	Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford

Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG (4 September 1455 – 2 November 1483) played a major role in Richard III of England's rise and fall. He is also one of the primary suspects in the disappearance (and presumed murder) of the Princes in the Tower. Buckingham was related to the royal family of England so many different ways that he was his own cousin many times over, but his connections were all through daughters of younger sons. His chances of inheriting the throne would have seemed remote, but eventually the internecine conflicts among the descendants of Edward III of England and within the Houses of Lancaster and York brought Buckingham within striking distance of the crown. Some historians claim Buckingham's deliberate plotting to seize the throne started as early as the reign of Edward IV, and if they are correct then his elaborate and lengthy plan very nearly succeeded.

Early life

His father, Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford, supported the House of Lancaster in the initial phase of the Wars of the Roses. He died in 1458 of wounds after First Battle of St Albans, and his paternal grandfather, Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, another leading Lancastrian, was killed at the Battle of Northampton (10 July 1460). After his grandfather's death, Henry was recognized as Duke of Buckingham. The new Duke eventually became a ward of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, consort of Edward IV of England. Sometime before the time of her coronation in May 1465 he was married to her sister Catherine Woodville, Duchess of Buckingham and Bedford (b.1458). Both parties were children at the time; they were carried on squires' shoulders at the coronation ceremony and were reared in the queen's household together.

According to Dominic Mancini, Buckingham resented his wife and the other Woodvilles as well because of his marriage to a woman of a lower status. When Edward IV died in 1483, and the Woodvilles struggled with Edward's brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, over the guardianship of the young Edward V, Buckingham first sided with Richard.

Accession of Richard III

Parliament subsequently declared Edward V illegitimate, offering Richard the throne, and he accepted it, becoming Richard III. Buckingham moved quickly to support Richard's claim. He was with Richard when they took possession of the young King Edward V at Stony Stratford in April 1483 and played a major role in the coup d'etat which followed.

After initially supporting Richard, Buckingham subsequently started working with John Morton, Bishop of Ely, in support of Buckingham's second-cousin Henry Tudor against the King, even though this placed him on the same side as his despised Woodville in-laws.

Rebellion of 1483

Further information: Buckingham's rebellion

In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, supporters of Edward IV. They originally planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne. When rumours arose that Edward and his brother (the Princes in the Tower) were dead, Buckingham intervened, proposing instead that Henry Tudor return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth of York. For his part, Buckingham would raise a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches.

Richard eventually put down the rebellion; Henry's ships ran into a storm and had to go back to Brittany, and Buckingham's army was greatly troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise but was turned in for the bounty Richard had put on his head, and he was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury on 2 November. A monument in nearby Britford Church has been identified as his. Following Buckingham's execution, his widow, Catherine, married Jasper Tudor.

The Bohun Estate

Buckingham's motives in these events are disputed. His antipathy to Edward IV and his children probably arose from two causes. One was his dislike for their mutual Woodville in-laws, whom Edward greatly favoured. Another was his interest in the Bohun estate. Buckingham had inherited a great deal of property from his great-great-grandmother, Eleanor de Bohun, wife of Thomas of Woodstock and daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, Essex and Northampton.

Eleanor's younger sister and co-heir Mary de Bohun married Henry Bolingbroke, who eventually became Henry IV, and her share of the de Bohun estates became incorporated into the holdings of the House of Lancaster, being eventually inherited by Henry VI. When Henry VI was deposed by Edward IV, Edward appropriated that half into the Crown property under the House of York.

Buckingham claimed those lands should have been devolved to him instead, and it is likely that Richard III promised to settle the estate on Buckingham in return for his help seizing the throne. Indeed, after Richard's coronation he did award the other half of the Bohun estate to Buckingham, but it was conditional on the approval of Parliament. Historians disagree on whether this condition was in fact a way for Richard to appear to keep his promise while actually breaking it, but this may have been a motivation for Buckingham to turn against Richard.

The Princes in the Tower

Richard III is alleged to have consolidated his power by eliminating his brother's children, who preceded him in succession to the throne. However, there is some question about Buckingham's relationship to the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower. According to a manuscript discovered in the early 1980s in the College of Arms collection, the Princes were murdered "be [by] the vise" of the Duke of Buckingham. There is some argument over whether "vise" means "advice" or "devise," and, if the former, in what sense.

If Richard was responsible for killing the Princes in the Tower, the murders may have caused Buckingham to change sides. On the other hand, Buckingham himself had motivation to kill the Princes, being a Lancastrian contender for the throne with a viable claim potentially equivalent to that of Henry Tudor, depending on one's view of the legitimacy of the Tudor branch of the House of Lancaster. According to this perspective, if Buckingham killed the Princes and blamed Richard, he could foment a Lancastrian rebellion, putting the throne into play with only Henry Tudor as a rival. Indeed, a Lancastrian rebellion followed, but it was Henry Tudor who succeeded in deposing Richard III.

Important relatives

Buckingham was the son of Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford and Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford. Four of Buckingham's first and second cousins became King of England, and two of his second cousins became Queen:

• Edward IV and his brother Richard III were Buckingham's first cousins once removed. Buckingham's father Humphrey, Earl Stafford, was son of Anne Neville (c. 1411–1480). Anne's sister Cecily, Duchess of York was the mother of Edward IV and Richard III. Edward's son Edward V was thus Buckingham's second cousin, as was the younger Edward's sister Elizabeth of York, later wife and Queen Consort of Henry VII of England.

• Henry Tudor, later King Henry VII was Buckingham's second cousin. Buckingham's mother was Margaret Beaufort (c. 1427–1474), daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Margaret's first cousin, also named Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509) was the mother of Henry VII, the latter Margaret being the daughter of the 1st Duke of Somerset.

• Anne Neville, in line to become Queen as the wife of Lancastrian Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, eventually did become Queen as the wife of Richard III of England. Her paternal grandfather Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury was the brother of Buckingham's paternal grandmother (also named Anne Neville) making Buckingham the Queen's second cousin.

One can see from the ancestral chart below that two of his great-grandparents were brother and sister (John Beaufort and Joan Beaufort). This made Buckingham's parents second cousins.

Ancestry

Three of Buckingham's four grandparents were descended from Edward III of England:

• Buckingham's paternal grandfather was Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, who was the grandson and senior descendant of Thomas of Woodstock, youngest son of Edward III.
• Buckingham's paternal grandmother Lady Anne Neville was a granddaughter of John of Gaunt through his daughter Lady Joan Beaufort, making her a great-granddaughter of Edward III.
• Buckingham's maternal grandfather Edmund Beaufort was a grandson of John of Gaunt, the youngest son of his son John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset.
• Buckingham's maternal grandmother Lady Eleanor Beauchamp was descended from William Marshal. She also descended from Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March through his daughter Katherine and Hugh Despenser the Younger through his daughter Elizabeth.
• Buckingham's grandparents Lady Anne Neville and Edmund Beaufort were also first cousins for their respective parents Lady Joan Beaufort and John Beaufort were sister and brother.

Family of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

16. Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford 8. Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford 17. Philippa de Beauchamp 4. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham 18. Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester 9. Anne of Gloucester 19. Eleanor de Bohun 2. Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford 20. John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby 10. Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland 21. Maud Percy 5. Anne Neville 22. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (=24) 11. Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland 23. Katherine Swynford (=25) 1. Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham 24. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (=22) 12. John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset 25. Katherine Swynford (=23) 6. Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset 26. Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent 13. Margaret Holland 27. Alice FitzAlan 3. Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford 28. Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick 14. Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick 29. Margaret Ferrers 7. Lady Eleanor Beauchamp 30. Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley 15. Elizabeth de Berkeley 31. Margaret de Lisle, Baroness Lisle

Children

Buckingham and his wife Catherine Woodville were parents to four children:

• Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (3 February 1478 - 17 May 1521). Executed by order of Henry VIII of England.
• Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex. Married Robert Radclyffe, 1st Earl of Sussex and was mother to Henry Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex and grandmother of Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex.
• Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire (c. 1479 - March, 1522/1523).
• Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon. Married George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and was mother to Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and grandmother to both Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon.

References

• Firth Green, Richard (1981). "Historical Notes of a London Citizen, 1483-1488". The English Historical Review. 96: 585–590. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• A. R. Myers, "The Household of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, 1466-7," Bulletin of the John Rylands Library (1967–68).
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, "Stafford, Henry, Second Duke of Buckingham," by C. S. L. Davies.
• Ross, Charles (1981). Richard III. Methuen. ISBN 0-413-29530-3.
• Harris, Barbara (1986). Edward Stafford: Third Duke of Buckingham, 1478-1521. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-1316-2.
• Smith, George (1975 (originally published 1935)). The Coronation of Elizabeth Wydeville. Gloucester Reprints. ISBN 0 904586 00 6. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

External links

• Listed among other members of the Stafford family, with their genealogies clarified