Desmond and Tiptoft

*Desmond and Tiptoft

*

Note: The reason Tiptoft's name came up in JSTOR is that I was
looking for information on Thomas FitzJames FitzGerald, 8th Earl of
Desmond (Thomas of Drogheda), who is known to us through his
comments about Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. He, too,
possessed a goodly amount of the 'new learning'.

After some study, I've come to think that the real reason for his
downfall is that he likely saw himself as equal to and
longer-lineaged than either Yorkists or Lancastrians. Perhaps, for
this reason, he felt he could say what he wanted to Edward. Further,
his family had, for long, been more Irish than English, in spite of
legislation designed to destroy the influence of Irish culture, and
he possessed almost regal powers in Ireland. He was popular to boot.

Following is a segment from a book I found on the web about six
weeks ago. It is from the same time period as the article I posted
yesterday.

I'll look for some the other stuff I amassed concerning Desmond (and
Ormonde)

From: _Annals, Anecdotes, Traits and Traditions of the Irish
Parliaments, 1171 to 1800_. By J. Roderick O'Flanagan, B.L. Dublin: M.
H. Gill and Son. 1895. Chapter II

In 1449 Richard, Duke of York, was appointed viceroy. He was accompanied
by the duchess and his children, and he soon showed a desire to treat
the Irish with kindness. This had the natural effect. The heart of man
leaps kindly back to kindness, and the Irish chiefs entered into
friendly relations with the princely viceroy. Maginnis of Iveagh,
MacMahon of Farney, MacArtan, O'Reilly, O'Flanagan of Turah, and other
Irish chiefs were glad to treat with him on friendly terms. The O'Byrnes
of Wicklow engaged to have the laws of England observed in their
territory, and the chief promised his wife should wear the English dress
and learn the English language. The viceroy was so popular it was
declared that in 12 months the wildest Irishman would be sworn an
English-man; and when the duke's son, George of York, Duke of Clarence,
was born in Dublin Castle, on 12th October 1449, aware of the Irish
regard for the affinity of gossipred, despite the statute of Kilkenny,
he procured the chief of the great rival houses - the Earls of Desmond
and Ormond, FitzGerald and Butler, the Irish Guelphs and Ghibelline - to
be sponsors of the infant prince.

We learn from Mr. Gilbert's able work, _The Viceroys of Ireland_, that,
stimulated by the presence and position of the duke, the Parliament
publicly enunciated the independence of the legislature in Ireland, and
asserted rights which had hitherto been suffered to lie in abeyance,
owing to the relations of the colonists with England. Having asserted
the right to their own coinage in Ireland, distinct from that of
England, the Parliament formally declared that, as Normandy and Guienne
when under the obedience of England were separate from its laws and
statutes, so also in Ireland, though under the obedience of the same
realm, was nevertheless separate from its laws and statutes, except such
as were, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons of Ireland,
freely admitted and accepted in their Parliaments and great councils.

The Parliament further declared that, according to ancient prescription,
the king's subjects in Ireland were not bound to answer writs, except
those under the Great Seal of Ireland; and that any officer attempting
to put decrees from England into force in Ireland should incur
forfeiture of all his Irish property, and be fined 1,000 marks. Appeals
of treason were confined to the constable and marshal of Ireland, and
while the Duke of York resided as viceroy in Ireland [_Lives of the Lord
Chancellors_, vol. i. P. 108.], he was to be respected as king. When the
alternate fortunes of the Wars of the Roses brought the house of York
again in the ascendant, Edward, son of the popular viceroy, was King
Edward IV.

The Earl of Desmond was no exception to the high character of the other
members of this distinguished family. He was brave in the fight, and
wise in the senate. He had fought in many a well-contested field, and at
tilt and tourney was distinguished for his knightly accomplishments.
During a visit to England, while staying in London, he felt it his duty
to pay his respects to the sovereign.

He was related by marriage to King Edward IV., by whom he was much
beloved for his gallantry in the field and wisdom in the council. This
king was of an amorous disposition, and fell in love with the beautiful
Elizabeth Woodville, widow of Sir John Grey of Groby. Finding the lady
too pure to yield to his illicit proposals, King Edward married her,
and, finding the alliance was regarded as worthy of his position as
England's king, and that his subjects looked coldly on the lovely queen,
the king asked his friend Desmond's advice on the matter.

Desmond strongly advised the king to strengthen his position by alliance
with a foreign princess, and hinted at a divorce from his newly-made
queen. The king, however, as a Catholic, remained true his marriage
vows, and the Earl of Desmond was destined to suffer for his worldly
advice. On some provocation from the queen, the king unguardedly said -

"Your pride, madam, would be humbled had I followed the advice of my
cousin of Desmond."

"What advice was that, prithee?" quoth the queen.

"Nay, that must not be told," said the king. But, alas! the words sank
deep into the mind of the queen, and when, later on, she moulded the
king to her humour, she gradually found out the secret advice of the
unfortunate Desmond. It rankled in her breast, and aroused an inordinate
desire for vengeance. The graces of Desmond's person - he was one of the
handsomest men of his time, and the gifts of his mind, for he was very
accomplished - availed nothing to allay her thirst for vengeance. The
opportunity soon presented itself.

John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, a man of illustrious birth and large
fortune, possessed a cruel and relentless heart. The queen was not slow
to impress upon him ideas of hostility towards Desmond. Worcester, too,
was related to the king, and the crafty queen represented him as sure of
Edward's chief favour if Desmond was out of the way. To further her
intentions, she procured the removal of Desmond from the office of
viceroy in Ireland, and caused the Earl of Worcester to be appointed in
his stead. This gave him the requisite power to accomplish her aim
against Desmond. The new chief governor caused a Parliament to be
assembled at Drogheda, one of the chief towns of the Pale, remote from
the south of Ireland, the territory where the Earl of Desmond's power
lay. This servile Parliament, under the viceroy's control, speedily
entertained articles of impeachment of treason against the earl for
violation of the statute of Kilkenny, by fosterages and alliances with
the king's Irish enemies. The earl was at once attainted as a traitor,
and condemned to death. He was quickly beheaded by the commands of
Worcester at Drogheda, on the 14th February 1467.

Retribution was promptly at hand. The treasurer of Ireland, FitzEustace,
Lord Portlester, was allied to the Geraldines by the marriage of his
daughter with the Earl of Kildare, and he was accused before Worcester
with having incited the late Earl of Desmond to assume the title of King
of Ireland. This charge was boldly denied by the treasurer, and fell to
the ground. The Earl of Worcester was recalled into England, and
employed in trying a number of the adherents of the house of Lancaster.
He did so with such barbarity that he obtained the soubriquet of "The
Butcher of England."

When Henry VI. once more occupied the throne in 1470, "the Butcher"
sought to conceal himself. His character was so odious, both in England
and Ireland, that he knew there was no chance of his life being spared
if he was discovered. He avoided the city, he shunned the town, he
sought shelter in the forest, and supported life as best he could. Even
these precautions did not tend to prolong his miserable existence. He
was discovered crouching like some bird of night, among the branches of
a lofty tree in the forest of Havering. With shouts of execration he was
hurried to London, and stowed away in one of the deepest dungeons in Tower.

Worcester was speedily brought to trial. How strange are the revolutions
of Fortune's wheel! In the chamber wherein he was tried for his life he
presided, only four years previously, at the trial of de Vere, Earl of
Oxford. The earl was then found guilty, and by him condemned to death;
and lo! the son and successor of this earl was presiding as judge now.
Well might he exclaim, Tempora mutantur! His trial was short - his
sentence sure; he was beheaded on Tower Hill.

So few were able to say a good word for "the Butcher," that I cannot
forbear extracting the account William Caxton, the printer, gives of how
the earl passed his last hours on earth. Had we not known so much of his
antecedents, we might imagine the worthy printer referred to some
totally different peer, for he describes the Earl of Worcester as one
who "flowered in virtue, so that none was like unto him among the lords
of the temporality in science and moral virtue. What great loss was it
of that noble and virtuous and well-disposed lord, and what worship had
he in Rome, in the presence of our Holy Father the Pope, and so in all
places unto his death, every man there might learn to die and take his
death patiently, wherein I hope and doubt not but that God received his
soul into His ever lasting bliss, for, as I am informed, he right
advisedly ordained all his things, as well for his last will of worldly
goods as to his soul's health, and patiently and holily without grudging
in charity, before that he departed out of this world. I beseech
Almighty God to have mercy on his soul, and pray all them that shall
hear or read this little treatise, much virtuous of friendship, in
likewise of your charity to remember his soul among your prayers."
[_Tullius His Book of Friendship_, printed by Caxton, 1481.]

I am afraid few adherents of the house of Desmond would respond "Amen"
to that prayer. They believed the terrible fate of "the Butcher" was the
just judgment of Heaven upon the cruel murderer of the beloved Earl of
Desmond. The Irish Parliament also sought to atone for the injustice, by
enacting that all the possessions of the Earl of Worcester in Ireland
should be given to the Earl of Kildare, in compensation for the
injustice he sustained at the hands of the earl; and Lambay Island,
which had been given to him, was restored to the Archbishop of Dublin.
http://www.eiretek.org/chapters/books/IrishParl/parliament2.htm
http://eireteck.net/chapters/