Molinet

Chronicle of Jean Molinet

A rough translation of Molinet's account of the murder of the Princes in the Tower by Richard III, from Georges Doutrepont and Omer Jodogne, eds., Chroniques de Jean Molinet, vol. I (Brussels: Palais des Académies, 1937), 430-433.

Chapter 99

The death of the two sons of King Edward of England and the coronation of King Richard

King Edward of England, the fourth of that name, before his demise, handed over his two sons, Edward and George, to his brother Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, so that Edward, Prince of Wales, his eldest son, about 14 years of age, should succeed to the crown as his true heir. His thus named brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, promised to do his duty and remained regent of the kingdom, and took charge of these two children, his nephews. This man, desiring to make war and invade France, gathered together a great sum of money and a sufficient army to do this and came to London, on the night of St. John the Baptist, and began from that point to increase in pride, becoming more and more like a tyrant. The queen of England, knowing the obstinacy of his courage, took herself and her children into a place of sanctuary called Westminster, so that the aforesaid Gloucester could not lay any hand on them. Nevertheless, those from Wales, the princes of the blood and family of King Edward put themselves to the trouble of crowning their prince of Wales and took him to London to do this; and that Duke of Gloucester made himself appear happy for that coronation one day and expressed words to the contrary the next day; and put such obstacles in the way that the project failed. He found a legal way to rid himself of both the Prince of Wales, the young nephew of this man, and Lord Rivers, along with Thomas Vaughn, then drove this prince, his nephew, into the Tower of London. And as it seemed to him that he could not do anything profitable if he did not have the second son, his nephew, who was 12 years old, so in order to end the quarrel, he ordered, by means of the archbishop of Canterbury, uncle of these children, who spoke to their mother, the wife of King Edward, that her son George should come immediately to the coronation of his brother so as to receive the honors which would be done to him there. The queen, all too aware of her brother-in-law’s deceptions, was quite wary of him; nevertheless, she trusted in the archbishop.

The second son of king Edward, named George, as it is said, was sequestered and bound in the Tower of London with his elder brother; Duke Richard put them in such a state that they soon grew weak. The elder son was reserved and very melancholy, knowing nothing of the malevolence of his uncle, and the second son was quite happy and spiritual, appearing eager both for dancing and for frolicking, and spoke to his brother, wearing the Order of the Garter: “Sir my brother, learn to dance.” And his brother responded to him: “It would be much better that you and I learn to die, because I can see that in a short time we will not be in this world.” They were prisoners for about five weeks and, by the captain of the Tower, Duke Richard had them secretly put to death and slain. Some say that he had them bound in a large chest and enclosed within without air, without water, and without food. Others say that they were slain between two cushions, lying in the same room. And, when he the time for the execution came, the elder son was sleeping and the younger was awake, and so he perceived the threat, for he began to say, “My brother, wake up! They’re coming to kill us!” Then he said to the intruders, “Why do you kill my brother? Kill me and let him live!” In this way one then the other was executed and slain, and the bodies were buried in some secret place; later they were dug back up and, after the death of King Richard, they received royal burials.

On this same day, the Duke of Buckingham came to the Tower of London, who was thought to have slain and killed those children, because he claimed to have a right to the crown; and Lord Hastings, the High Chamberlain of England, Captain of Calais, and guardian of those children, had his head cut off by a knife on a block, because he was suspected of wanting to reveal the king in the aforesaid Tower. That king inhumanely put to death the lord of Sainte-Bourne: he had his genitals cut off, and his heart and guts torn from his body and burned in a butt of wine full of fire right in front of him; and then the king asked him if he wished to drink, and he answered, “If I drink, what will receive it?”

He had the eldest daughter of his brother King Edward come to court, a young girl, beautiful beyond measure, of whom it was expected that she would marry the dauphin of France. He promised her that she should soon be second in the kingdom, his wife; he got her pregnant and had a child by her. He was accused and it was proclaimed on the doors of the churches that he had caused the queen, his wife, to die, so that she would not know that he had deflowered the aforesaid girl, his niece.

And, in order to disguise the murder of his nephews and cover up his fault, he had his mother come before the council of England to make it known publically that of the three male children that she had born, only King Richard was the true legitimate son of the Duke of York, and the others were the children of humble friars.

Because of the murder of his two nephews and for other great and terrible reasons, the princes and nobles of England, especially those of the church, raised themselves up against him and deployed the banner of St. Gilbert, bishop, and several barons and knights who were gathered to depart to France set themselves with some trouble to find the bodies of the murdered children, who were the offspring of royal blood. And, after they were found, they were honorably buried in the church of the Preachers of London; and this done, they entered the palace of the king and took him prisoner; but he spoke so sweetly and promised such fine gifts that he escaped from the hand of his enemies. And, more by force than by love, he was crowned king of England by the princes of his band, on the feast day of St. Michael in the year 1483. He reigned in great cruelty, despoiling the churches.