Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle
Arthur Plantagenet | |
---|---|
Viscount Lisle | |
![]() Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG, (d. 1542) at a Garter Ceremony c. 1534. From The Black Book of the Garter, 1534, Royal Collection, Windsor Castle. | |
Born | Between 1461-1475 Calais |
Died | 3rd March 1542 |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Grey Honor Grenville |
Issue Detail | Frances Plantaganet Elizabeth Plantagenet Bridget Plantagenet |
Father | Edward IV of England |
Mother | Elizabeth Wayte |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/GarterPlateArthurPlantagenet1stViscountLisle1524.png/200px-GarterPlateArthurPlantagenet1stViscountLisle1524.png)
Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG (died 3 March 1542) was an illegitimate son of King Edward IV, half-brother of Queen Elizabeth of York, and thus an uncle of King Henry VIII, at whose court he was a prominent figure and by whom he was appointed Lord Deputy of Calais (1533-40).[6] The survival of a large collection of his correspondence in the Lisle Letters makes his life one of the best-documented of his era.
Biography
Arthur Plantagenet was born in Calais, then an English possession in France, between 1461 and 1475, and died at the Tower of London, where he is buried. The identity of his mother is uncertain; the most likely candidate appears to be the "wanton wench" Elizabeth Wayte, although the historical record is spotty on this issue, and it is not entirely clear that Wayte is distinct from another of Edward's mistresses, Dame Elizabeth Lucy. Another possible candidate is Jane Shore.[7] His godfather was William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel.
Arthur spent his childhood at the court of his father Edward IV. How he passed his youth after his father's death in 1483 is not known. In 1501 he joined the household of his half-sister, the queen consort Elizabeth of York, and moved to the household of Henry VII after her death in 1503. After the accession of his nephew Henry VIII (1509) he was formally designated an Esquire of the King's Bodyguard, and was a close companion of Henry's (despite the age difference).
In 1514 Arthur was appointed High Sheriff of Hampshire and made captain of the Vice-Admiral's ship Trinity Sovereign, rising to become Vice-Admiral of England. In 1519 he and his wife, Elizabeth Grey Baroness Lisle, took possession of the lands that had belonged to her father (her brother and niece having both died). In 1520, he attended his nephew, King Henry VIII, at the Field of Cloth of Gold.
On 25 April 1523, Arthur was created Viscount Lisle. He was also to be selected Privy Councilor, Governor of Calais, and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and named as deputy of Calais after the death of John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, on 16 March 1533.
Constable of Calais
The Lisle Letters suggest that as Constable he was honest and conscientious but not especially competent. Among the letters is one from Thomas Cromwell rebuking him for referring trivial matters back to the King and Council, criticising him for his inability to refuse a favour to anyone who asks for one, and hinting that Lady Lisle's dominance of him has made him something of a laughing stock. Yet the Crown did not hesitate to employ him on routine errands: in 1537 Queen Jane Seymour during her pregnancy developed a passion for quail, and since quail were abundant in the marshes around Calais, Lisle devoted much time to supplying them to the Queen.
Imprisonment and death
In 1540 several members of the Plantagenet household in Calais were arrested on suspicion of treason, on the charge of plotting to betray the town to the French. Suspicion unavoidably fell upon Arthur as well, and he was recalled to England and eventually arrested on 19 May 1540.
The actual conspirators were executed, but there was no evidence connecting Arthur with the plot. Nevertheless he languished in the Tower of London for two years until the king decided to release him. However, upon receiving news that he was to be released Arthur suffered a heart attack and died two days later. The 18th-century historian Francis Sanford commented "Henry VIII's Mercy was as fatal as his Judgments".[8]
Lisle Letters
During his time at Calais, Arthur and his wife had to manage much of their affairs outside Calais by correspondence. Copies of 3,000 of these letters were seized as evidence after Arthur was arrested. They survive to the present day in the Public Record Office, were published in abridged form as the Lisle Letters, and have become a valuable historical resource for a critical period in English history.
Marriages and progeny
Arthur Plantagenet married twice, producing progeny by his first wife only:
- Firstly, on 12 November 1511, to Elizabeth Grey (d. 1529), daughter of Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Lisle (d. 1492). She was the widow of Edmund Dudley, treasurer to King Henry VII, who had been executed in 1510 by Henry VIII.[9] The next day the king granted Arthur some of the Dudley estates which had come to the crown due to Dudley's attainder.[citation needed] By Elizabeth he had three daughters:[9]
- Frances Plantagenet, who married twice: firstly to her step-brother John Basset (1520-1541)[10] of Umberleigh, Devon, the son of Arthur's second wife by her first marriage, Honor Grenville (d. 1566); secondly Frances married Thomas Monke (c. 1515-c. 1583)[11] of Potheridge, Devon, of an ancient Devonshire family. Her great-grandson by this marriage was George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670).[12]
- Elizabeth Plantagenet, who married Sir Francis Jobson, Member of Parliament for Colchester [13]
- Bridget Plantagenet married William Camden
- Secondly, in 1529 as her second husband, to Honor Grenville (1493–1566) the daughter of Sir Thomas Grenville (d.1513) of Stowe in the parish of Kilkhampton, Cornwall, by his wife Isabella Gilbert. She was the widow of Sir John Bassett (d. 1528) of Umberleigh, Devon. Arthur had no children by Honor, but he helped to bring up her children, including John Basset, who became the husband of his daughter Frances from his first marriage; Anne Bassett, an alleged mistress of Henry VIII, and Elizabeth Bassett, a royal maid-of-honour also known as Mary Bassett.
Notes
- ^ Byrne, p.178, blazons given
- ^ Byrne, vol.1, appendix 9: Roger de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Ruthyn married Elizabeth Hastings, daughter of John Lord Hastings by his wife Isabel de Valence, daughter of William de Valence
- ^ Byrne, p.178
- ^ Byrne, vol.1, p.177, blazon of crest
- ^ Blazon of crest also by: Bentley, Samuel (ed.), Excerpta Historica [1]
- ^ Byrne, vol.6, index, p.403
- ^ "tudors: Note number 2". Archived from the original on 16 June 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2006.
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- ^ a b Commire & Klezmer 1999, p. 529.
- ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.47, pedigree of Basset
- ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.569, pedigree of Monk
- ^ Vivian, p.569, pedigree of Monk
- ^ http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/jobson-sir-francis-1509-73
References
- Commire, Anne; Klezmer, Deborah (1999). Women in world history: a biographical encyclopedia. Vol. 6 (illustrated ed.). Yorkin Publications. ISBN 978-0-7876-3736-1.
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(help) - St. Clare Byrne, Muriel, ed. (1983). The Lisle Letters: An Abridgement. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-08800-6.
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(help) - "Arthur Plantagenet (1 V. Lisle)". Retrieved 27 May 2006.
Further reading
- St. Clare Byrne, Muriel, ed. (1981). The Lisle Letters. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-08801-4.
- Trevor-Roper, Hugh (1989). "The Lisle Letters". Renaissance Essays. University of Chicago Press. pp. 76–95. ISBN 0-226-81227-8. (This is a reprint of the forward to Byrne's collection of the letters)
- Given-Wilson, Chris (1984). The Royal Bastards of Medieval England. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
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- Use dmy dates from January 2012
- 15th-century births
- 1542 deaths
- Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports
- House of York
- Viscounts in the Peerage of England
- Knights of the Garter
- People of the Tudor period
- Illegitimate children of English monarchs
- 16th-century English people
- 15th-century English people
- High Sheriffs of Hampshire
- Edward IV of England