Sir William Stanley ~ Knight of The Garter
William Stanley is best known for actions in the Battle of Bosworth Field, where he changed sides securing Henry VII’s victory and crown.
For his intervention, the new king bestowed many favours on him.
However, in 1495 Stanley was convicted of treason and exEcuted for his support of the pretender Perkin Warbeck…..
William Stanley was a Yorkist, fighting only for York.
Why would a man who for 26 years had been loyal to the House of York, through good times and bad, thick and thin, switch to the Lancastrian side?….
To understand why Stanley may have switched his allegiance, we need to go back to the death of King Edward IV.
In 1483, King Edward IV’s sons, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury the Duke of York, were holed up in the Tower of London under their Uncle Richard’s ‘protection’.
They eventually disappeared from public view.
Rumours of their death arose.
The suspicions that they had been murdered spread.
These accusations were not contradicted, or disproved….
By 1485, Stanley and others must have thought Edward’s sons were dead.
They had been in the custody of Richard III’s servants and supporters when they were last seen ~ and presumably could not have been reached by others.
The Tower of London was, after all, one of the most guarded fortresses in the country.
The conclusion seemed inescapable that Richard III was guilty in the fate of the princes.
Richard’s lack of contradicting the rumours or any attempts to find them, only fuelled the conspiracies.
William Stanley must have looked on Richard III as a murderer.
Believing that Edward and Elizabeth Woodville’s children were legitimate, and that the princes were dead – William Stanley looked to Elizabeth of York, the oldest daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Woodville, as the lawful holder of the throne of England.
In December 1483, Henry Tudor promised to marry Elizabeth of York.
A marriage between the surviving female claimant of the House of York, and the sole male claimant of the House of Lancaster, was an obvious way of reconciling conflicting claims and uniting rivals.
So, well before Henry Tudor’s return to England, William Stanley had probably decided to fight against Richard III.
When the Battle of Bosworth was fought, we can be almost certain that William Stanley did not intervene until Richard himself moved to attack Henry Tudor.
William Stanley intervened, Henry won, Richard lost.
According to the Great Chronicle of London, the coronet that Richard wore on his helmet, was found under a hawthorn bush.
It was Sir William Stanley who used it to crown Henry Tudor on the battlefield.
Henry did go on to marry Elizabeth of York, and William Stanley could consider himself to have placed Edward IV’s daughter and rightful heir, on the throne.
William Stanley did quite well after Henry Tudor’s rise.
He was made Lord Chamberlain and Knight of the Garter, and he seems to have prospered.
He served Henry VII well at first.
But after 1491 when, the Perkin Warbeck conspiracy became active, William Stanley joined it.
Why would he endanger and throw away, all he had gained?
Why plot to overthrow an occupant of the throne, that he had been instrumental in placing there?
Simple answer….
William Stanley had always been a Yorkist.
Even though Elizabeth of York was queen, a Tudor was sitting on the throne of England.
Even with Henry Tudor’s marriage to Elizabeth, the Tudor dynasty could not have William Stanley’s loyalty if a son of King Edward IV still lived.
Even the fact that Henry Tudor was the step~son of his brother Thomas Stanley, wasn’t enough.
In 1491, a young man appeared in foreign courts, claiming to be the second of Edward IV’s sons, Richard, Duke of York.
His appearance reminded men of Edward IV, and he was apparently of the right age…..
It was not long before some in England accepted his claim, and conspired to overthrow Henry Tudor.
William Stanley either joined them, or indicated that he might join them.
William Stanley said ~
“If he were sure that the man was Edward’s son he
would never take up arms against him”
Those few catastrophic words, spoken by a man whose brother was the step-father of Henry Tudor, was William Stanley’s downfall.
This was all the evidence that Henry VII needed to arrest William Stanley and charge him with treason.
After facing two challenges from Yorkist pretenders, King Henry VII was not in a position to be taking any chances with a man who had once been so loyal a supporter to the house of York.
Therefore, William Stanley was convicted of high treason and exEcuted on 16th February 1495, on Tower Hill.
William Stanley had certainly proven that he could be a loyal supporter ~ he simply chose to be loyal to the wrong side.
Stanley could not retract his loyalties in time to save his life…..
🖤 Sir William Stanley crowns Henry Tudor at The Battle of Bosworth.
