In early 1461, a seventeen-year-old boy won a battle on a freezing morning in the Welsh marches, and claimed the crown of England as Edward IV, first king of the usurping house of York. It was a time when old certainties had been shredded: by popular insurgency, economic crisis, feuding and a corrupt, bankrupt government presided over by the imbecilic, Lancastrian King Henry VI. The country was in need of a new hero. Magnetic, narcissistic, Edward found himself on the throne, and alongside him his two younger brothers: the unstable, petulant George, Duke of Clarence, and the boy who would emerge from his shadow, Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Charismatic, able and ambitious, the brothers would become the figureheads of a spectacular ruling dynasty, one that laid the foundations for a renewal of English royal power. Yet a web of grudges and resentments grew between them, generating a destructive sequence of conspiracy, rebellion, deposition, fratricide, usurpation and regicide. The house of York's brutal end came on 22August 1485 at Bosworth Field, with the death of the youngest brother, now Richard III, at the hands of a new usurper, Henry Tudor.

Brothers York is the story of three remarkable brothers, two of whom were crowned kings of England and the other an heir presumptive, whose antagonism was fueled by the mistrust and vendettas of the age that brought their family to power. The house of York should have been the dynasty that the Tudors became. Its tragedy was that it devoured itself.

There’s a lot of information to digest in this book. Some I’d read about before, some not. I only wish I could be more sure of the new information, except there are three problems. One, a lot of what Penn claims has no footnotes, and many that do aren’t from original sources but from previous books written on the subject.

Two, the author’s bias is blatant.

Richard of York “believes his own rhetoric, convincing himself” of his destiny as a reforming hero. And how does the author know what Richard of York does or does not think? Yet he treats these unknowable thoughts as fact.

Penn condemns Richard III for purchasing an “inexhaustible supply of alcohol.” But Richard wouldn’t have been the only one drinking it.

People, such as Charles of Burgundy, who fights on the Lancastian side, do so, not out of any gain, but out of a “deep sense of affinity of shared Lancastrian blood.” Or, like Somerset, who had “rediscovered his Lancastrian loyalties.” If for Lancaster, it’s for a noble cause, if for York, it’s always for money and power.

Elizabeth Woodville wasn’t being a spendthrift, she was maintaining “the magnificence that her royal rank demanded.”

Richard “concealed his physical condition, except when it suited him.” Suited him? When would it suit him? Physical deformity was seen as a manifestation of an inner evil.

Richard presents his “shriveled” arm as proof of Elizabeth of Woodville’s witchcraft. But Penn changes the story so that is Richard holding both arms straight in front of him, one being shorter than the other because of his scoliosis. But the study of Richard’s remains show proof positive that there was nothing wrong with either arm. They were the same length.

The third problem is that he was dead wrong on some things.

“Loyalte Me Lie” wasn’t Richard’s “new royal motto.” He took it while still Duke of Gloucester.

We don’t know if Richard’s son was “in delicate health.” It’s often been supposed, but there’s no proof either way.

Henry Tudor wasn’t a descendant of Henry VI.

We don’t know what happened to Francis Lovell. He may have “spent the rest of his days in the obscurity of a Scottish exile.” But that’s just conjecture.

George, Duke of Clarence’s son, Edward, was not a “harmless, backward child” when Tudor “did what he had to do.” (!) He was twenty-four. And there is no proof that he was backward.

There’s probably more but I think I’ve made my case. All in all, the book is an interesting, though flawed narrative.




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BOOK BINGO 2020 - 48. Read a book at or near the bottom of your TBR list





2020 MONTHLY MOTIF - SEPTEMBER - "When Text just isn't enough"

A book that includes more than just text. A map, a family tree, illustrations, letters, etc.