Richard III of England - Rebellion of 1483

Rebellion of 1483

In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom were supporters of Edward IV. The conspiracy was led by Richard's former ally Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. They originally planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne. When rumours arose that Edward and his brother (the Princes in the Tower) were dead, Buckingham intervened, proposing instead that Henry Tudor return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth of York, older sister of the Tower Princes. For his part, Buckingham would raise a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton prime-minister Pierre Landais, who hoped that Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.

In the event, Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and had to go back to Brittany. Buckingham's army was greatly troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was turned in for the bounty Richard had put on his head. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury on 2 November. His widow, Catherine, later married Jasper Tudor, who liaised with Henry Tudor to organise another rebellion.

Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under duke Francis II of Brittany in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for a new invasion in 1485. The French Government, undoubtedly recalling Gloucester's effective disowning of the Picquingy Treaty and refusal to accept a French pension, would not have welcomed this accession of one known to be unfriendly to France.