Doge's condolences to Richard after Anne's Death

Sally Henshaw has just published a list of "little known facts about Richard III" on http://kingrichardinleicester.com/little-known-facts/

Among them is a very touching letter of condolences from the Doge of Venice. Here is the text as, I suspect, translated:

A few days ago we received the sad news that Queen Anne, your beloved consort, had deceased. We, together with our Senate, mourned greatly, for we bear your Majesty so much love and goodwill that, as we rejoice at any prosperous event that befalls you, so are we partakers of your sorrows. We exhort your Majesty, endowed with consummate equanimity and marvellous virtues, of your wisdom and grandeur of mind to bear the disaster calmly and resign yourself to the divine will: and be it your Majesty's consolation that your consort led so religious and catholic a life, and was so adorned with goodness, prudence and excellent morality, as to leave a name immortal.

I understand the the Doge's letter of condolences to Richard was always included in the Richard III Society's annual short service of remembrance for Anne at Westminster Abbey on or near 16th March. Does anyone have the original text to share? Was it in Latin, Italian or English? Thank you for your help. Mac

Hi Eileen,

I've looked at the published Garter records before, and they are very patchy for Richard's reign - unusually we don't seem to have proper records of chapters or what happened on St George's Day (something else that seems to have been thrown out!). But the letter from Richard appointing Maltravers to hold the annual St George's Day festivities in his stead is extant and is in Harley 433. The normal reasons for the King appointing a deputy would be that he was ill or held up in another part of the country, and usually he didn't see fit to explain himself so the reasons tend to be the historian's surmise.

What we do have is Richard's letter to Maltravers asking him to deputise for him, because that is in Harley 433. It is dated 22nd April and so was clearly a very last-minute decision. It doesn't give his reasons. Rhoda Edwards' 'Itinerary of Richard III' shows that he had travelled from London to Windsor on 17th or 18th April, presumably intending to preside over the Garter Feast. On 22nd he used the Great Seal of the Garter to issue that letter deputising Maltravers, then later in the day he wrote a warrant to the Chancellor from the city of London. He remained in the city itself until the 26th, when he moved across to Westminster.

Maybe he couldn't deal with the Garter ceremony because of grief but felt he had to find another excuse (couldn't be seen to be falling apart) so invented a reason to have to go back to London. Or maybe something urgent really did crop up.

It would have been an unusual case, because normally when a deputy did the honours the rest of the Garter knights didn't attend, other than one token knight to keep the deputy company. But on 22nd they would all have been either in Windsor or well on their way.

Does anyone else know what might have brought Richard back to London?

Marie

Hi Eileen,

I've looked at the published Garter records before, and they are very patchy for Richard's reign - unusually we don't seem to have proper records of chapters or what happened on St George's Day (something else that seems to have been thrown out!). But the letter from Richard appointing Maltravers to hold the annual St George's Day festivities in his stead is extant and is in Harley 433. The normal reasons for the King appointing a deputy would be that he was ill or held up in another part of the country, and usually he didn't see fit to explain himself so the reasons tend to be the historian's surmise.

What we do have is Richard's letter to Maltravers asking him to deputise for him, because that is in Harley 433. It is dated 22nd April and so was clearly a very last-minute decision. It doesn't give his reasons. Rhoda Edwards' 'Itinerary of Richard III' shows that he had travelled from London to Windsor on 17th or 18th April, presumably intending to preside over the Garter Feast. On 22nd he used the Great Seal of the Garter to issue that letter deputising Maltravers, then later in the day he wrote a warrant to the Chancellor from the city of London. He remained in the city itself until the 26th, when he moved across to Westminster.

Maybe he couldn't deal with the Garter ceremony because of grief but felt he had to find another excuse (couldn't be seen to be falling apart) so invented a reason to have to go back to London. Or maybe something urgent really did crop up.

It would have been an unusual case, because normally when a deputy did the honours the rest of the Garter knights didn't attend, other than one token knight to keep the deputy company. But on 22nd they would all have been either in Windsor or well on their way.

Does anyone else know what might have brought Richard back to London?

Marie

In The Last Days of Richard III, JA-H suggests that Richard's absence in London may have had something to do with the execution of Sir Roger Clifford on 2nd May. Sandra =^..^= From: mariewalsh2003 Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2014 4:57 PM To: Subject: Re: Richard and the 1485 Garter Chapter ( was Doge's condolences to Richard)

Hi Eileen,

I've looked at the published Garter records before, and they are very patchy for Richard's reign - unusually we don't seem to have proper records of chapters or what happened on St George's Day (something else that seems to have been thrown out!). But the letter from Richard appointing Maltravers to hold the annual St George's Day festivities in his stead is extant and is in Harley 433. The normal reasons for the King appointing a deputy would be that he was ill or held up in another part of the country, and usually he didn't see fit to explain himself so the reasons tend to be the historian's surmise.

What we do have is Richard's letter to Maltravers asking him to deputise for him, because that is in Harley 433. It is dated 22nd April and so was clearly a very last-minute decision. It doesn't give his reasons. Rhoda Edwards' 'Itinerary of Richard III' shows that he had travelled from London to Windsor on 17th or 18th April, presumably intending to preside over the Garter Feast. On 22nd he used the Great Seal of the Garter to issue that letter deputising Maltravers, then later in the day he wrote a warrant to the Chancellor from the city of London. He remained in the city itself until the 26th, when he moved across to Westminster.

Maybe he couldn't deal with the Garter ceremony because of grief but felt he had to find another excuse (couldn't be seen to be falling apart) so invented a reason to have to go back to London. Or maybe something urgent really did crop up.

It would have been an unusual case, because normally when a deputy did the honours the rest of the Garter knights didn't attend, other than one token knight to keep the deputy company. But on 22nd they would all have been either in Windsor or well on their way.

Does anyone else know what might have brought Richard back to London?

Marie

Ah..thanks Marie and Sandra..yes..looked up in Harley..now..St George Day is April 23. Richard travels to Windsor 17th/18th April..in good time...then the day before the ceremony..the 22nd he issues the letter deputising Maltravers. BUT he then remains at Windsor until the 26th..so Richard is at the right place at the right time yet passes the job to someone else..right at the very last minute. Hmmmm..who knows but this certainly..to me..would tie in with Bill Hampton's surmisation (spelling ugh!) that Richard was still in grief for Anne or at least unwell. The facts as I see them up till now...and I havent checked on JAH yet..dont seem to link with the execution on the 2 May... What a shame the letter gives no hint..but as Marie says Richard could not be seen to be falling to pieces or maybe even unwell.... "To oure Righte trusty and Righte welbeloved Cousin the Lord Matraves greting Forsomoche as we in our owne persone at this tyme may not convenyently kepe the solempne fest of the glorious martir and patrone of England Saint George at oure Castelle of Windesore We considering youre noblesse prowes and circumspeccion have therefore appointed and assigned you and by thise presentes commytte unto you ful powaire and auctoritie as our lieutenant to kepe the said fest and doo and execute every thing concernyng the same in as amplewise as any othre in oure absence hathe heretofore don...." Eileen

Hi Eileen,

I don't think we can write off Clifford as not being the cause. It may be that a plot had just been uncovered and that Clifford's execution on 2nd May was the end result. Personally I find the timeframe convincing. I personally don't think Richard would have been so unprofessional as to have run away from the Garter ceremonies only hours before they were due to start (it all kicked off with evensong on 22nd) no matter how bad he was feeling. But I don't have time to look into it right now.

Marie

"Sally Henshaw has just published a list of "little known facts about Richard III" on http://kingrichardinleicester.com/little-known-facts/

"Among them is a very touching letter of condolences from the Doge of Venice. [snip quotation]

"I understand the the Doge's letter of condolences to Richard was always included in the Richard III Society's annual short service of remembrance for Anne at Westminster Abbey on or near 16th March. Does anyone have the original text to share? Was it in Latin, Italian or English? Thank you for your help."

Carol responds:

I can't help you with the original text (which I suspect was in Latin), but I looked up the doges of Venice to see which one it was. It had to be either Giovanni Mocenigo, doge from 1478 to 1485 (the Wiki article notes that he may have been poisoned) or Marco Barbarigo, doge from 1485 to 1486 (he died the year after becoming doge). I'm guessing that it was the first since he seems to know something about both Richard and Anne and to view them favorably. Either way, yet another Richard III friend and supporter died at almost the same time he did. It's like a conspiracy that extends all the way to Italy! (Pope Sixtus IV, who may have held a similar view of Richard given Edward IV's praise of his brother, had died in 1484.)

What I wonder is how the doge of Venice, who presumably would have led a restricted life, could know anything about Richard. Who was Richard's ambassador to Venice, does anyone know?

Also, very little correspondence addressed to Richard (as opposed to letters he wrote to others) has been preserved. This one must have been found among the Venetian State Papers. If so, it was almost certainly written in Latin.

Thank you for calling this website and especially this letter to our attention. Sorry I can't be more help, but I'm as curious as you are and would appreciate any information about this letter.

Carol

Carol earlier:


"I can't help you with the original text (which I suspect was in Latin), but I looked up the doges of Venice to see which one it was. It had to be either Giovanni Mocenigo, doge from 1478 to 1485 (the Wiki article notes that he may have been poisoned) or Marco Barbarigo, doge from 1485 to 1486 (he died the year after becoming doge)."

Carol again:

Just found a tidbit about this letter in the Google Books version of Amy License's biography of Anne. She identifies the writer as Agostino Barbarigo (Marco's brother), who was then the *future* doge of Venice and lived until 1501. How he knew about Richard and his wife I can't guess unless he had somehow met Thomas Langton, Richard's ambassador to Rome.

If anyone has access to Amy License's book, it should be easy enough to find her source (the reference is note 3 on an unidentified page--unfortunately, I can't access the note itself, just the superscript). Just look up Agostino Barbarigo in the index, find the passage partially quoting the letter, and then find the source she cites. Of course, if it's a secondary source, we're out of luck.

Carol

Carol earlier:


"I can't help you with the original text (which I suspect was in Latin), but I looked up the doges of Venice to see which one it was. It had to be either Giovanni Mocenigo, doge from 1478 to 1485 (the Wiki article notes that he may have been poisoned) or Marco Barbarigo, doge from 1485 to 1486 (he died the year after becoming doge)."

Carol again:

Just found a tidbit about this letter in the Google Books version of Amy License's biography of Anne. She identifies the writer as Agostino Barbarigo (Marco's brother), who was then the *future* doge of Venice and lived until 1501. How he knew about Richard and his wife I can't guess unless he had somehow met Thomas Langton, Richard's ambassador to Rome.

If anyone has access to Amy License's book, it should be easy enough to find her source (the reference is note 3 on an unidentified page--unfortunately, I can't access the note itself, just the superscript). Just look up Agostino Barbarigo in the index, find the passage partially quoting the letter, and then find the source she cites. Of course, if it's a secondary source, we're out of luck.

Carol

The letter fro the "Doges" (future Doge) is in the Calendar of Venetian State Papers, which is freely available on British History Online:-

Venice - 1481-1485 | Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 1 (pp. 141-159)

Just scroll down.

Carol responds:

//snip//

What I wonder is how the doge of Venice, who presumably would have led a restricted life, could know anything about Richard. Who was Richard's ambassador to Venice, does anyone know?