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Home , Bishop of Carlisle, Bishop of Durham, Bishop of Ely, Richard Redman (bishop), Richard Redman (speaker), Shap Abbey

: the Yorkist Years ((3. 1461—88)

Joseph A. Gribbin

The period of English history which witnessed the fortunes of the houses of Lancaster and York, and the advent of the Tudor dynasty, is conveniently, if somewhat inaccurately called ‘The Wars of the Roses’.I Recent studies do not belittle the importance of the battlefield in determining the fate of the ruling classes, but they have attempted to dispel the seemingly perennial miscon- ception of endemic warfare in this era, according proper emphasis upon the dynastic struggle which made the ‘Wars of the Roses distinctive’.2 Historians have also tried to evaluate the extent to which this ‘power game’ impinged upon the activities of English society, church and economy, proposing that disruption to the daily activities of medieval life was largely minimal.3 Richard Redman of St Asaph may not spring to mind as a major ecclesiastical figure in this era, though he is numbered among the upper clergy who were more directly affected by the events which shaped fifteenth-century . Though Redman was never appointed to the more prominent positions of authority in the realm, he played a role in serving the Yorkist monarchs, Edward IV and, more significantly, Richard III. In addition to Redman’s duties to the state and episcopal obligations, he was a member of the Premon- stratensian order, of Abbey in Westmorland and the energetic commissary-general of the abbot of .Prémontré in England. While Redman remained active into the latter years of the reign of Henry VII, this present study focuses upon surviving evidence for Redman’s career against the back- drop of the Wars of the Roses: his ‘Yorkist’ years.“ Richard Redman’s origins in have some bearing upon his subsequent career in church and state. Though we cannot ascertain his date of birth or events in his early life, Redman came from a notable northern family whose main residence was situated at Levens, near in Westmorland. Richard’s position in the Redman family tree is not entirely clear, though it seems likely that he was a son of Richard Redman of Bossall in Yorkshire and younger brother of Brian Redman (d. 1483).5 Assuming that this attribution is correct, Richard, the future bishop, was grandson of Sir Richard Redman of

350 Levens (d. 1426), who became lord of Harcwood through marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of William, Lord Aldbrough. Redman’s grandfather was one of the wealthiest Yorkshire parliamentary representatives and had a distin- guished career as a sheriff of between 1389 and 1412, (1403—4, 1415—16), MP for Yorkshire (1406, 1414, 1420, 1421) and was speaker of the House of Commons in 1415. He was a recipient of valuable grants from Richard II, accompanying the king to Ireland (1394—5 and 1399), and exhibited loyalty to the House of Lancaster during the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V.‘5Bishop Redman may well have received a university education, though evidence for this is not forthcoming.7 He became a Premonstratensian at Shap Abbey, which is about nineteen miles from Levens. His family had been among the abbey’s earliest benefactors, and also of another Premonstratensian abbey,Cockersand in Lancashire.8 It is not known precisely when Redman made his monastic profession, though he was probably elected abbot of his community before 1458. There is no evidence to show whether or not this was due to the influence of his family.9 Redman’s first commission as commissary-general of the three English Premonstratensian ‘circaries’,'° accorded him the authority of the abbot-general (i.e. the abbot of Prémontré) in England and occurred between 1454—56 and 1458, in the latter years of Henry VI’s reign. It initiated a period of nearly ten years of controversy among the English white canons, between Redman and Abbot Thomas Shorham of Bayham (6. 1439—66),who, with the Abbot of St Radegund’s, were recent commissaries.” A letter written by Abbot Shorham, dated 24 March 1459, indicates that Redman’s commission had ceased to be valid on 9 January 1459. Shorham went to great lengths to stress his position as ‘sole’ commissary and the nullity of Redman’s commission, and summoned the English Premonstratensian to a general chapter at Smithfield on 4 June in the same year.'2 However Redman had previously regained his commission on 4 March. In a letter Redman sent to the English abbots (12 April 1459), he claimed that Shorham falsely told the abbot of Prémontré that he had despoiled the abbeys of Bayham and St Radegund’s, appropriated the order’s subsidies and had committed other enormities. Shorham attached the seals of sixteen other abbots, with his own, onto a blank piece of paper and, without their prior knowledge, wrote upon it accusations against Redman. After the abbot of Prémontré was shown that Shorham’s accusations were spurious, his commis- sion — which must have been acquired after levelling accusations against Redman — and that of the abbot of St Radegund’s, were withdrawn and Redman was re-appointed commissary-general. Shorharn evidently was not commissary-general on 24 March 1459 and had effectively summoned an illegal general chapter of the English Premonstratensians. The abbot of Prémontré

351 delegated six abbots to enquire into Shorham’s conduct at another English general chapter. Redman prohibited the English abbots from obeying Abbot Shorham and forbade them from attending the general chapter at Smithfield, convening another chapter at Lincoln on 11 June.” Though the results of the enquiry into Shorham’s conduct are not recorded, the Lincoln general chapter decreed that none of the English abbots were to obtain a commission from the abbot of Prémontré or the pope, without the approval of the other abbots,or the greater part of them.” The abbot of Bayham evidently retained his abbacy after 1459 and again attempted to regain his commission by incriminating Redman. In 1466—67 a bill of complaint was sent on Shorham’s behalf to the chancellor of England, Archbishop , who had recently been promoted to the of York. Shorham sought a writ to be issued against Redman and that he be examined before the archbishop.l5 The bill indicates Shorham’s animosity towards Prémontré, for he claimed that he was the visitor for twenty-five years and more, and had continued in his post uninhibited — not strictly true — until he was usurped

‘. . . of late in the dayes of Hem" [VI] late kyng . . . by the Subtiell meanes of thabbot of Shappe’ whiche abbot purchessed of the Hedhous in Fraunce a commission to thentent [sic] to be vysitour of the same ordour . . .’ and ‘. . . also by the mayntenance of the lord Clyfford that last was . . .’.

This refers to John, Lord Clifford, the hereditary sheriff of Westmorland." This particular accusation appears to give Shorham’s complaints the flavour of verac- ity, as Redman’s abbey lay within Westmorland: the Clifford family were also patrons of Shap.l7 However it is noteworthy that the same Lord Clifford — a member of a prominent Lancastrian family ——had led a force against Edward IV and the Yorkists at the battle of Towton (1461), and was killed shortly after- wards. He had also been attainted by statute in the parliament of 1461." Certain events in the 1460s indicate that Redman actually had the support of the new Yorkist regime and was sympathetic to it (see below), despite his family’s previ- ous support of the Lancastrian monarchy and Clifford’s patronage of Shap. Shorham’s accusations in 1466—67 and his association of Redman with Clifford, appear to have been an attempt to smear Redman’s credentials politically, as Edward IV was on the throne. While patrons of religious houses in the later middle ages could, and did, promote the interests of their monastic beneficiaries, H.M. Colvin indicates that there was little in the way of direct interference by them in the internal government of the English Premonstratensians or in abbatial elections — though they had an interest in them — and aside from

352 Shorham’s bill of complaint, there is no explicit evidence that Lord Clifford intervened on Redman’s behalf at Prémontré.l9 It is noteworthy that the trial of Abbot John Downham of Beauchief in 1462, for misdemeanours, was conducted by Redman, the abbot of Welbeck and the prior of Easby, ‘. . . ex mandate excel- lentissimi Regis nostri . . .’ and by other ‘dominorum’. Documentation relating to the trial not only states that Redman acted as commissary-general at this time, but that his authority to do so was accepted by King Edward.20 Indeed prior to, or after Shorham had his bill sent to Archbishop Neville, Abbot Simon de la Terriére of Prémontré (1458—70) wrote to the English Premonstratensian abbots on 1 October 1466, informing them that Shorham’s commission had been cancelled, as if to remove all doubt concerning the veracity of his commission, and that Redman had taken his place, ‘. . . non obstantibus quibuscumque per prefatum abbatem de Begham in contrarium allegatis seu allegandis’. The abbot indicated that Shorham had been wholly negligent in the performance of his duties and he granted faculties to Redman as commissary- general on 7 October, for twelve years.21 Shorham’s apparent desire to damage Redman in the eyes of the House of York had backfired, as there is no record of any trial or subsequent action being taken against him: and King Edward once more acknowledged Redman by recognising his new commission from the abbot of Prémontré, and granted him a letter of protection.22 In addition, one could speculate as to whether Archbishop George Neville was ‘favourably disposed’ towards Redman when he considered the bill of complaint. The Redmans of Levens held land in Yorkshire (Harewood) and they were feed by the Neville lordship at Middleham. As a consequence the Redman family were situated within the Neville affinity, and Archbishop Neville may well have been aware of this in taking no action against Abbot Redman.23 Several years after Redman secured his position as commissary-general of the English white canons, Henry VI briefly regained the throne (1470) and King Edward fled into exile. Edward returned to England the following year and successfully recovered the English crown. On 17 August 1472 the pope provided Redman to the see of St Asaph in North Wales. Bishop Thomas Bird, Redman’s predecessor, had been deprived of the bishopric by Edward in 1463 on account of his Lancastrian sympathies." Although St Asaph and the other impoverished Welsh were not among the ‘glittering prizes’ of the episcopate and the precise circumstances surrounding'Redman’s promotion are unknown, it is unlikely that Edward IV would have sanctioned his eleva- tion to episcopal orders had he not remained faithful to the Yorkists prior to the king’s restoration, apart from Redman’s abilities as an efficient, zealous administrator of the English white canons.” Whether or not Redman deliber- ately sought an episcopal placement in the same manner as other ‘monastic

353 ”, remains uncertain; though he followed their example by retaining his abbey in commendam, in order to maintain a reasonable, if not entirely ade- quate level of income. Redman’s episcopal appointment should probably be regarded primarily as a reward for his loyalty to the Yorkist regime.” Englishmen, such as Redman, also appear to have been promoted to Welsh sees generally in preference to native Welsh—speaking clerics because of English fears of native insurrection west of the marches, decades after the Glendower (Glyn dé‘vr)rebellion.27 Prior to Redman’s episcopate the diocese of St Asaph had not only been deprived of a chief shepherd for a number of years, but —— in addition to its existing poverty — had suffered from the ravages of the Welsh Wars and Glyn dé‘vr’s revolt. The restoration of the cathedral church is the most tangible evidence for Redman’s role at St Asaph.28 Although earlier attempts at reconstruction had been undertaken, it is clear that Redman com- pleted re-roofing the nave, probably re-roofed the transepts, installed the per- pendicular east window in the chancel, erected a stone pulpitum at the east crossing (no longer extant) and the finely carved stallwork in the choir. While St Asaph’s cannot rival the great English cathedrals, its rebuilding was a remarkable feat, considering the great expense that such an enterprise entailed in a poor diocese.29 Apart from a few documents in his remarkable Premon- stratensian visitation register, there is little in the way of extant written evidence for Redman’s pastoral ministry in his diocese.” It seems likely that he was frequently absent from St Asaph on account of his duties as Pre- monstratensian commissary-general and servant of the English crown: though the loss of Redman’s episcopal register does not allow us to gauge his residency sufficiently. Nevertheless the restored cathedral church, surviving documents in Redman’s Premonstratensian register and evidence for his later ministry at Exeter, indicate the seriousness with which he attempted to fulfil his episcopal responsibilities, while undertaking concurrent duties?l He assisted in the conse- cration of Thomas Myllyng, as in the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey on 21 August 1474.32 Redman remained English Premonstratensian commissary-general after his episcopal appointment. Although St Asaph’s poverty was undoubtedly a reason for retaining Shap in commendam, with its revenue,33 it enabled Redman to maintain a foothold among the English white canons as a prelate of the order, and he genuinely cared for the welfare of his spiritual alma mater. Indeed papal grants of commendam were not intended to lead to ‘a decrease in divine worship and the usual number of monks [or canons] and ministers in the monastery”.34 Redman did not reside continuously at Shap, though he was not simply an absentee landlord. During the reign of Edward IV he is known to have visited Shap in 1479, 1482, and possibly in 1481; there may have been other visits.’s As

354 far as the regulation of the other twenty-nine English Premonstratensian abbeys was concerned, Redman’s visitation register exhibits his energetic efficiency as a visitor and commissary-general. Redman is known to have visited the abbeys of Beauchief and Welbeck in 1472, proposed to visit Dale in 1474, and held other visitations in 1475, 1478 and 1481/82. He held provincial or ‘general’ chapters of the canons in 1473, 1476 (at Lincoln), 1479 (Leicester), and in 1480 (Leicester). Another general chapter was held after 1471 and probably before 1475, and a provincial chapter at Stamford before 1476. Redman also planned to visit the Premonstratensian nunnery of Broadholme (Nottinghamshire) in 1478.36 Contact between the abbot of Prémontré and the English white canons was maintained during this time, albeit infrequently. Letters from Redman to Prémontré survive from c. 1475—76 and c. 1477 and communications from Prémontré to Redman exist from 1466 and 1475.” Redman served Edward IV in various appointments, like other bishops.” From 1474 he was a member of the king’s council. Edward appointed him as one of the commissioners in the counties of Flint and Chester in 1474, ‘. . . to approve all the castles, manors and other properties . . .’in those counties, and to consider ‘. . . the appointments of all ministers and officials, and to negotiate with the county community concerning a mise’.39 In 1483 Redman was appointed as trier of petitions for Gascony, and again, with other individuals in 1484.‘10It is apparent that Redman had to make allowances for the duties he performed on behalf of the crown during his Premonstratensian visitations. In 1478 he delegated his full commissarial authority to Abbot John Bromfield of Coverham (1470—88), making him his subdelegate in the northern circary, with the power to visit and reform the Premonstratensian abbeys in that region ‘usque [ad] revocationem nostram’ because he was often occupied ‘in servicio excellentissimi principis regis nostri’ and would be absent from the northern circary." Despite other evidence indicating that business external to the Premonstratensian order led to adjustments to Redman’s visitation schedule, Bromfield’s appointment as subdelegate is unique, and he also visited most of the northern houses in the same year, continuing to be active within the English circaries in the early 14805.“2 The weeks following the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, witnessed the brief, minority reign of the king’s twelve year old son Edward V, the establish- ment of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as protector of the English realm and his usurpation of the throne, culminating in his coronation as Richard III (6 July 1483). The speed in which these events occurred took England, and most of the Yorkists, by surprise, though the government of the realm appears to have functioned normally during Gloucester’s protectorate.“3 Indeed Redman pos- sibly held a provincial chapter of the English Premonstratensians on 16 May.“

355 We do not know how Redman viewed the dramatic events of 1483, including the rumours concerning the fate of Richard’s nephews in the . Yet it will be seen that with the accession of Richard III, Redman played a more active role in supporting the Yorkist monarchy, being closely aligned to Richard, as well as remaining on the king’s council. One should consider that his association with King Richard was not solely on the basis of his competence as an administrator or his existing loyalty to the House of York in Edward IV’s reign. A significant factor was the connection between the Redman family and Richard as Duke of Gloucester. Richard had gained major territorial acqui- sitions in the north, following Edward IV’s restoration to the throne in 1471. By the time Gloucester seized the throne, he had the largest noble affinity of his day, replacing the dominance of the Neville family, with its lordships centred on Middleham, Sheriff Hutton and Penrith." It had been indicated above that land held by the Redman family in Yorkshire was feed by the Nevilles at Middleham. In obtaining the Neville affinity, the Redman family came within Gloucester’s northern sphere of influence, and thus entered into Gloucester’s service. This ‘continuity of service’ benefited both the lord and his affinity and is apparent in Edward Redman’s service to Gloucester as a lawyer, and after he became king.“6 Edward inherited the family’s estates in Yorkshire and Westmorland in March 1483, and became one of the esquires of the body of Richard’s household. By January 1484 he probably fulfilled the dual roles as sheriff of Somerset and Dorset, served as MP for , and was ‘a commis- sioner of array, arrest, imprisonment and oyer and terminer’ in Wiltshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall in 1484. He had been appointed by Richard III to conduct an enquiry into the rebels of Bodmin on 13 November 1484 after Buckingham’s Rebellion.47 Edward Redman clearly benefited from the king’s patronage and profited by the dispossession of Sir Robert Willoughby, Sir Roger Tocotes, Walter Hungerford and Richard Edgecombe to the tune of over £400.“ The allegiance of the Redman family to Richard was clearly an important determining factor in Richard Redman’s zealous service to the king. His personal association with ‘Ricardians’ is also noteworthy. Redman’s con- nections with the monastic community of cathedral-priory, whose dominus specialissimus was Gloucester, is exemplified in a letter which Prior Robert Ebbchester (d. 1484) sent to Redman in the first year of Richard’s reign, in response to his request to present Master William Brown to the Vicarage of Merrington at its next vacancy. Ebbchester explained that he could not accommodate Redman on this occasion, on account of Sir Richard Ratcliffe’s interest in the matter and in consideration of ‘. . . the grett rewll that he [Ratcliffe] berith under the kynges grace in cute cuntrey’.” It is evident that Redman played a ceremonial role in Richard’s coronation

356 in July 1483, for which he was given livery. In the procession to Westminster Abbey, Redman bore the paten. At the pulpit in the abbey, prior to the corona- tion, he may have announced Richard’s appearance as the lawful king, though this is uncertain. After the ceremony Redman, with the bishop-elect of St David’s, Thomas Langton — a fervent supporter of King Richard — ensured that the eagle ampulla of holy oil used at the coronation was taken to West- minster Abbey for safe keeping. Both bishops may well have conveyed the oil from Westminster Palace to the abbey on eve of the coronation.” On 24 July, in the same year, Redman accompanied those who met the king at Oxford and at Warwick in August, where Richard held discussions on the proposed marriage between his son Edward and the daughter of the Spanish king. In the same month Redman was with the king at York, accompanying him as he rode triumphantly through Micklegate Bar with four other bishops, including of Carlisle,’I and was present at the investiture of the prince of Wales in September. He was with King Richard at Lincoln in October, when news of Buckingham’s rebellion broke; at Grantham, where the king received the great seal (19 October) and at Westminster on 26 November, when the great seal was returned to the chancellor. In 1484 Redman was at York on 25 June when the treaty between Richard and John of Portugal was ratified and at Westminister with members of the privy council on 12 August.52 Redman’s diplomatic activities are apparent in the truce that was forged between England and Scotland in 1484. On King Richard’s instructions the Scots were met by Redman, the earl of Nottingham, with other noblemen and clerics, who were to escort them to their lodgings on 11 September. Redman also joined the English delegation the next day, which included Archbishop Thomas Rotherham of York and Bishop of Lincoln, for a more formal first meeting between both parties at Nottingham Castle and was appointed as a commis- sioner when negotiations began on 14 September. After six days a three year truce was agreed upon, with a treaty on 20 September.‘3 Redman’s visible presence with Richard on his itinerary through England is not only indicative of his support for him, but clearly demonstrates the esteem in which the king held Redman as an advisor in matters of state, despite the sparsity of records detailing the activities of the king’s council.54 This is also apparent in the patronage which Richard bestowed upon the bishop. The king’s registers (British Library Harley MS 433) record that Redman was granted an annuity of £10, ‘. . . whiche thabbot and Convent of Welbek for the ferme of mylnes of Ratford in the Countie of Notingham’ paid.” It is also recorded that Redman ‘. . . baths a prive scale to John Hayes Receyvor in the west parties to content unto him during the kinges pleasire vc markes yerely of thissues of his Receipt before a1 other de primis demm'is’.‘6 Richard also

357 obtained a papal dispensation for Redman on 10 June 1485 ‘. . . to receive and retain in commendam . . . the said church of St Asaph . . . the said monastery [Shap] . . . the yearly value of both not exceeding 1300 gold florins of the Camera, [and] any benefice with or without cure [etc.] . . 3.57These annuities and papal dispensation reveal that Richard endeavoured to augment Redman’s income — possibly at Redman’s request — given the poverty of his diocese. Though it has been argued that Richard III’s patronage of various individuals was ‘overgenerous to a fault’, it can also be shown that there was a growing tendency for Richard after 1484, a period in which he was losing support, to place his trust in, and to reward, only a closely defined group of persons who were committed to his regime, especially northerners.” How were Redman’s obligations towards the Premonstratensian order affected by his service to Richard III ? It has been suggested that it was because of his political affinity and duties that ‘Redman made no general visitations during these years [i.e. between 1483 and 1484], only resuming them in 1488’.59 While Redman was greatly preoccupied with serving the crown, no triennial visitations were due in that period. He may have intended to conduct them in 1485, but failed to do so, possibly because of royal duties. Yet Redman appears to have continued managing the internal affairs of the order during Richard III’s reign. In 1484 he sent a letter from Westminster ‘. . . sub sigillo nostro visitatorio’ to the abbots of Croxton and Cockersand, ordering that the prior of Hornby — a dependancy of Croxton — was to appear before him at his residence in Westminster within fifteen days of the citation, for judgment concerning ‘certis articulis sibi objiciendis responsurus’.6° In the following year (13 April) the king gave permission for one John Rede,

‘to goo and passe at this tyme into the parties of Fraunce, to the Reuerend fadre in god Thabbot of Premonstre, and to the general chapitour of thordre of Premonstre, by the special desire and com- maundemente of the visitour of the same ordre within this our Royaume [i.e. Redman], for certain matters and causes concemyng greatly the wele of that religion’."

Apart from knowing Redman, Richard III was already acquainted with the Premonstratensians, for as duke of Gloucester, he was a generous patron to Coverham Abbey. In 1472 and 1473 he donated £40 towards repairing the abbey church and in 1476 purchased (for 100 marks) and gave the abbey the advowson of Seaham parish church in , worth £15 per annum. Richard gave Coverham a further £20 in 1483.62 Redman’s fortunes changed with the death of Richard III at the battle of Bosworth Field and the accession of Henry VII in 1485. In the same year the

358 new king issued writs summoning parliament to meet at Westminster on 7 November, and it is not surprising that Redman’s name was omitted from the surviving list detailing those present at this parliamentary session, given his association with King Richard. Redman’s absence may also indicate that he feared reprisal on this account." However Henry tried to be conciliatory towards his former opponents — though with exceptions — which was largely due to his desire to maintain continuity with the former government of the realm, as Richard III had done, and in an effort to place his rule on a stable footing: Redman was granted royal protection and a general pardon on 22 February 1486.“ After this time Redman was active in the affairs of the English white canons. On 12 May 1486 a general chapter was held at Lincoln and visitations are known to have taken place at Blanchland in Newcastle, by proxy (26 May ?), at Easby (28 May) and, on the same day, of Coverham, again by proxy, at Easby. A provincial chapter was held the following year at Leicester on 14 August.65 It should not be supposed that the transition of government was speedily achieved and that Yorkist sentiments had evaporated. Henry VII faced a serious dynastic challange in the rebellion of Lambert Simnel in 1487, who pretended to be Edward, the young earl of Warwick.“ A rival claimant to the throne proved attractive to Yorkist sympathisers and Bishop Redman appears to have been implicated in the plot, according to a papal bull of Pope Innocent VIII (5 January 1488), which was sent to Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishops of Winchester, of Ely and Richard Fox of Exeter. After extolling the duties of bishops in regard to showing good example by obedience to their kings (‘principibus’), the bull relates that ‘Richard, bishop of [St] Asaph’, aware of the admonitions and the penalties of the apostolic see prohibiting rebellion in the , and against King Henry, had shown counsel and favour to the king’s enemies, committing perjury and lese maiestatt's (i.e. high treason ,‘7 and incurred ecclesiastical cen- sure ‘to the peril of his soul, affronting the dignity of bishops, and a pernicious example and scandal to many’. In order to ascertain the truth of the allegations, all or at least two of the bishops who were sent the bull, were to investigate the matter according to ecclesiastical law.“ The legal language of the bull vividly underlines the serious, treasonable nature of the allegations which Redman faced. It is likely that the allegations were forwarded to Rome by agents of the crown.69 Yet whatever their veracity, and the suggestion that the Cumbrian rebel recruits first assembled at Shap — Redman’s abbey7°— surviving sources fail to indicate the findings of the enquiry, if it was held. There is no indication that Redman faced ecclesiastical sanctions, for after the rebellion he continued to retain his bishopric and functioned as commissary-gcneral of the English

359 Premonstratensians.’l In the same year that the papal bull was issued, Archbishop Morton of Canterbury sent Redman, the dean and two members of the St Asaph chapter, a commission (24 April) to implement another papal bull, apostolice sedis (6 August 1487), issued at the request of King Henry, partly as a conciliatory measure to those who had incurred excommunication during the rebellion. It enabled the recipients to absolve sub conditione

‘omnes et singulos viros religiosos Ordinis Premonstratensis aliosque quoscunque per civitatem et diocesim Assavenses . . . secundum for- mam et effectum literarum Apostolicarum’.

The contents may indicate that the commission was issued at Redman’s request.72 He was at convocation in 1489 and Archbishop Morton felt confi- dent enough to appoint Redman as one of the commissioners to preside over it in his absence.73 Furthermore, it is noteworthy that despite the charge of lese maiestatis, Redman was also appointed a commissioner in the negotiations with the Scots in 1488, and was made trier of petitions for England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland in 1489.74 I Richard Redman’s alleged involvement in the Lambert Simnel rebellion brought to an end his association with the House of York. His appointments in 1488 and 1489 could have been among the conciliatory measures granted to recent opponents of the Tudor regime. In any case it is clear that Redman, by then, had faced up to newer political realities, along with other clergy who shared his Yorkist leanings. Redman’s service to the crown was to continue under Henry VII, and he was rewarded with the bishopric of Exeter in 1495, and finally Ely in 1501.75 Yet memories of earlier days may well have lingered on. As , Redman presented to Queens’ College, Cambridge — which was associated with King Richard — six napkins and a tablecloth marked with an ‘R’.75 Redman could merely have expressed a desire to have his benefactions to the college visibly commemorated with the initial of his Christian name and upon a tablecloth: yet it may well have been done in memory of Richard III, whom Redman served devotedly.

NOTES AND REFERENCES The author wishes to express his gratitude to the Richard III and Yorkist History Trust for a grant given during the course of his doctoral studies at Cambridge. 1. A.J. Pollard, ‘Introduction: Society, Politics and the Wars of the Roses’, A.J. Pollard, ed., The War: of the Roses, Basingstoke 1995, pp. 1—2. 2. Pollard, ‘Introduction’, p. 2. For the military aspects of the Wars of the Roses see J. Gillingham, The Wars of the Roses: Peace and Conflict in Fifteenth Century England, London 1981.

360 hm

. See the excellent collection of essays in Pollard, ed., The Wars of the Roses. , . For Redman’s life generally (c. 1458-1505) see J .A. Gribbin, The Premonslratensian Order in Late Medieval England, Woodbridge 2001, passim, esp. ch. six. Note my comments on evaluating the lives of medieval bishops from surviving sources,ibid, pp. 174—75. 5. The fullest account of the Redman family remains W. Greenwood, The Redmans of Levens and Harewood, Kendal 1905, esp. pp. 117—20; cf. A.J. Pollard, North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Oxford 1990, p. 103, where Redman’s grandfather is said to be his father. 6. J .S. Roskell, The Commons and their Speakers in English Parliaments 1376—1523, Manchester 1965, pp. 162—64;J .H. Tillotson, ed., Monastery and Society in the Late Middle Ages: Selected Account Rolls from Selby Abbey, Yorkshire, 1398—153 7, Woodbridge 1988, p. 83 and n. 194; P. Routh and R. Knowles, The Medieval Monuments of Harewoad, Wakefield 1983, pp. l7, 18, 19—21.' . Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, p. 175. ' . W. Fan-er, ed.- The Chartulary of Cockersand Abbey, Chetham Society(new series), vols 38—40,43, 56—57,64 (1898—1909),vol. 64, p. 1314. The original site of Shap— —Preston 1n Kendale — is about five miles from Levens; cf. A. Jessopp, ‘Redman, Richard (d. 1505)’, L. Stephen and S. Lee, eds., Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 16, Oxford 1921—22, p. 826; Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, p. 175. 9. Abbot Redman’s first commission as commissary-general of the English white canons was between 1454/56—1458. A document addressed to Bishop Marmaduke of Carlisle ‘or other bishop executing the will of the apostolic see’,dated at Shap on 10 October 1444, indicates that ‘Richard abbot of the monastery of Blessed Mary Magdalene of Hepp’ [i.e. Shap] . . .’ presented Thomas Sakleman, cleric of the , for ordination ‘ad omnes sacros ordines’ on the title of the monastery. Colvin indicates that three of Shap’s abbots bore the_ name of Richard, including Redman. The ‘Abbot Richard’ mentioned in the 1444 - document is not indicated by Calvin. He could well be Richard Redman, though this is uncertain. Apart from no information relating the year of Redman’s birth, Colvin indi- cates that an Abbot Robert — the first predecessor he indicates before Redman’s abbacy — occurs solely in 1412. This leaves an unaccountable gap of possibly forty years between Abbot Robert and Redman, which may be partly accounted for with the addition of another Abbot Richard. See Record Office (Carlisle), D. & C. Machell of Crackenthorpe MS 2/7; H.M. Colvin, The White Canon: in England, Oxford 1951, p. 414; Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, pp. 175—76. I am most grateful to Harry Hawkins for drawing my attention to the Carlisle document. - 10. The circaries were the regions through which the Premonstratensians controlled and organised their abbeys. England’s thirty Premonstratensian abbeys were grouped as follows: Northern Circary: Alnwick and Blanchland (), Cockersand (Lancashire), Coverham, Easby, Egglestone (Yorkshire), and Shap (Westmorland); Middle Circary: Beauchief and Dale (Derbyshirc), Barlings, Hagnaby, Newbo, Newhouse _ and Tupholme (Lincolnshire), Croxton (Leicestershire), Halesowen (Worcestershire), Lavendon (Buckinghamshire), Sulby (Northamptonshire) and Welbeck (Nottingham- shire); Southern Circary: Bayham and Durford (Sussex), Beeleigh (Essex), Langdon and St Radegund’s (Kent), Langley, Wendling and West (Norfolk), Leiston (Suffolk), Titchfield (Hampshire) and Torre (Devon). ll. The following account of the controversy and the devolution of authority among the English Premonstratensians, is discussed in greater detail in Gribbin, The Premon- stratensian Order, pp. 11— 19,1.76—82 12. British Library Add. MS 4934, ff. 89—90v; F. A Gasquet, ed., Collectanea Anglo- Premonstratensia, 3 vols, Camden Society (third series), vols 6,10,12 (1904-06) (hereafter CAP), vol 1,11. 78. . 13. BL Add. MS. 4934, ff. 86—88v,92—92v; CAP, vol. 1, nn. 38, 144. 14. BL Add. MS. 4934, f. 93; CAP, vol. 1, n. 80. 15. Public Record Office, Cl/31/468. '

361 16. Ibid. Other accusations in the bill are related in Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, pp. 179—82. 17. Colvin, White Canons, p. 170, n. 3. 18. C. Ross, Edward I V, New Haven and London 1997, pp. 36—37, 66, n. 6. 19. Colvin, White Canons, pp. 225—26, 293—96. 20. BL Add. MS. 4934, ff. lll—l 1v; CAP, vol. 2, n. 222. 21. Bodleian Library Oxford, MS. Ashmole 1519, ff. 8—8v;CAP, vol. 1, nn. 39-40. 22. Bodl. MS. Ashmole 1519, f. 8v; CAP, vol. 1, n. 97. In 1468 the was sent a mandate by Rome to bestow papal confirmation upon Redman, if his appointment as commissary-general was found to be valid: CPL 1458—71 , p. 329. 23. Pollard, North-Eastern England, pp. 130—31, 254, 301—2. 24. J. Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300—1541: The Welsh Dioceses, vol. 11, London 1965, p. 39; R.G. Davis, ‘The Church and the Wars of the Roses’, Pollard, ed., The Wars of the Roses, p. 141. 25. Calvin, White Canons, p. 364. Contrast this with the case of Sir Richard Redman of Levens and Harewood (d. 1476). He may have aligned himself with George, Duke of Clarence against Edward IV, and was pardoned on 14 June, 1472: J. C. Wedgwood, History of Parliament: Biographies of the Members of the Commons House, 1439—1509, London 1936, pp. 709-10 26. For an informative analysis of monastic bishops and the practice of cammendam by papal licence, see B. Dobson, ‘English and Welsh Monastic Bishops. the Final Century, 1433-1533’, B. Thompson, ed., Monasteries and Society m Medieval Britain. Proceedings of the 1994 Harlaxlon Symposium, Stamford 1999, pp. 348—65. Redman’ s abbacy at Shap in commendam IS discussed 1n the following paragraph. 27. Dobson, ‘English and Welsh Monastic Bishops’, pp. 352—53. 28. G. Williams, Renewal and Reformation: Wales, c. 1415—1642, Oxford 1993, pp. 3—30, 118. The extent to which the cathedral church of St Asaph was damaged during Glyn dwr’s rebellion has recently been questioned. T. W. Pritchard, St Asaph Cathedral, Much Wenlock 1997, p. 7. 29. E. Hubbard, The Buildings of Wales: Clwyd, Harmondsworth 1986, pp. 435—39, pl. 35. 30. Bodl. MS. Ashmole 1519, ff. 108V, 109,110V, 111v; CAP, vol. 1, nn. 112,113, 123, 125,126. 31. Dobson, ‘English and Welsh Monastic Bishops’, p. 363. Gribbin, The Premanslratensian Order, pp. 184-85, 193—202. 32. A.T. Bannister, ed., Regislrum Thome Myllyng Episcopi Herefordensis, The Canterbury and York Society, vol. 26 (1920), p. l. 33. CPL 1471—84, p. 316; Calvin, White Canons, p. 364; see n. 26 above. 34. Dobson, ‘English and Welsh Monastic Bishops’, p. 356, n. 26. 35. Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, pp. 190—92. 36. Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, pp. 8, 235—38. Redman’s visitations and role as commissary-general are analysed in greater detail in Gribbin’s book. 37. Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, pp. 16, 18-19, 176—84. Another letter Redman wrote to the abbot of Prémontré (c.1470—89) cannot be dated with greater accuracy. 38. R.N. Swanson, Church and Society in Late Medieval England, Oxford 1989, pp. 103—9. 39. D.J. Clayton, The Administration of the County Palatine of Chester: 1442—1485, Chetham Society (3rd series) vol. 35 (1990), p. 55; J .R. Lander, ‘Council, Administration and Councillors, 1461 to 1485’, Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, vol. 32 (1959), p. 170. Concerning the term ‘mise’, see P.H.W. Booth, The Financial Administration of the Lordship and County of Chester 1272—1377, Chetham Society (3rd series) vol. 28 (1981), p. 124. 40 J. Strachley et al., eds., Rotuli Parliamentorum, 6 vols, (London, 1767—77), vol. 6, pp. 196, 238. On the role of the ‘trier of petitions’ see G. Dodd, ‘The Hidden Presence: Parliament and the Private Petition in the Fourteenth Century’, A. Musson, ed., Expectations of the Law in the Middle Ages (forthcoming). 41. Bodl. MS. Ashmole 1519, f. 15v; CAP, vol. 2, n. 312.

362 42. Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, pp. 37—38. 43. R. Edwards, The Itinerary of King Richard [II 1483—1485, London 1983, pp. 1-4; R. Horrox, Richard III: A Study in Service, Cambridge 1991, pp. 120—37. . Colvin, White Canons, p. 235. 45. Horrox, Richard II], pp. 27, 39, 48; M. A. Hicks, Richard II! as Duke of Gloucester: A Study in Character, Borthwick Papers n. 70 (1986), p. 11; Pollard, North-Eastern England, pp. 285—341. 46. Horrox, Richard III, pp. 1—26. Edward Redman’s involvement in an attack upon Sir William Gascoigne at Harewood in 1479, ‘clearly did not stand against him’ in the eyes of Gloucester: R.C.E. Hayes, ‘ “ Ancient Indictments” for the North of England, 1461—1509’, A. J. Pollard, ed., The North of England in the Age of Richard III, Stroud and New York 1996, pp. 32—33. Note that Gloucester was granted the Cumberland palatinate in 1483: Hicks, Richard III as Duke of Gloucester, pp. 22—23, 25. 47. Greenwood, The Redmans, pp. 98—106; L. Gill, Richard III and Buckingham's Rebellion, Stroud 1999, pp. 96, 104, 108. Note that the family’s estate at Levens was not sold during the reign of Henry VII (temp. Edward Redman): Greenwood, The Redmans, p. 113; cf. J. Nicolson and R. Burn, The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, 2 vols, London, 1777 (repr. 1976), vol. 1, p. 204; Gribbin, The Premonstratensitm Order, p. 35, n. 72. 48. Gill, Richard III and Buckingham 's Rebellion, p. 108. 49. ‘Littera missa Domino Episcopo Assenense: Right reverent fader in God I [i.e. Ebb- chester] recommend me to youre goode lordship praing youre goode lordshipe that ye wull stand als goode and tendre lord to my bretheren and me as ye have doan aforetyme [my emphasis] ’: Durham Dean and Chapter Muniments Reg. parv. III, f. 188v; A.J. Pollard, ‘St and the Hogg: Richard III and the County Palatine of Durham, 1471—85’, R. A. Griffiths and J. Sherborne, eds., Kings and Noble: in the Later Middle Ages: A Tribute to Charles Ross, Gloucester and New York 1986, p. 109; A. J. Pollard, Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, Stroud 1997, pp. 232—33, 238. Redman appears to have been on good terms with Ebbchester’s predecessor, Richard Bell, , who was also asso- ciated with King Richard: ibid; R. B. Dobson, ‘Richard Bell, Prior of Durham (1464—78) and Bishop of Carlisle (1478—95)’, R.B. Dobson, Church and Society in the Medieval North of England, London and Rio Grande 1996. p. 159. 50. A.F. Sutton and P.W. Hammond, eds., The Coronation of Richard III, Gloucester and New York 1983, pp. 10, 37, 39 n. 169, 46, 165, 217 nn. 45, 47, 218 n. 67, 219 n. 74, 249. Langton — who had family connections in Westmorland — also appears to have been closely acquainted with Redman: R. J. Knecht, ‘The Episcopate and the Wars of the Roses’, University of Birmingham Historical Journal, vol. 6, n. 2 (1958), pp. 124, 125; Gribbin, The Premonslralensian Order, p. 198. 51. Dobson ‘Richard Bell’, pp. 157—58; The Fabric Rolls of , , vol. 35 (1858), pp. 210—11. 52. Edwards, The Itinerary of Richard III, p. ix, n. 23; CR. Markham, Richard 111: His Life and Character, London 1906, p. 129; PRO C 81/1530/45; PRO C 81/1530/49; CCR 1476—85, p. 346-47; Gill, Richard III and Buckingham ’s Rebellion, p. 72. Redman was also involved in the collection of the tenth in 1484 and 1485: CFR 1471—85, pp. 281, 310. 53. L]. Macfarlane, William Elphinstone and the Kingdom afScotland, 1431—1514,Aberdeen 1985, pp. 131-35; J. Gairdner, ed., Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Reigns of Richard III and Henry VI], 2 vols, Rolls Series, London, 1861—63, vol. 1, pp. 63, 64, 66. 54. Lander, ‘Council, Administration and Councillors’, p. 138. On central government in Richard III’s reign, E. J. Bolden, ‘Richard III: Central Government and Administration’, The Ricardian, vol. 12 (2000), pp. 71—81. 55. R.E. Horrox and P.W. Hammond, eds., British Library, Harleian MS. 433, 4 vols, London, 1979—83, vol. 1, p. 185; CPR 1476—85, p. 480. 56. British Library, Harleian MS. 433, vol. 1, p. 268; vol. 2, p. 205. 57. CPL 1484—92, p. 13. For an earlier grant in 1483 see CPR 1476-85, p. 412.

363 58. Horrox, Richard 111,pp. 26, 316—17. 59. Edwards, The Itinerary of Richard III, p. ix. Note that there were some visitations in 1486: see n. 65. 60. Bodl. MS. Ashmole 1519, ff. 30—30v;CAP, vol. 2 , n. 339. 61. Bodl. MS. Ashmole 1519, f. 47v; CAP, vol. 1, 11.44. 62. Pollard, North-Eastern England, p. 181, where Pollard cements that ‘It is perhaps not surprising that after 1485 Gloucester’s generosity should be forgotten, even by his one-time close associate Bishop Richard Redman, who, as visitor of the Premonstratensians in England, praised Abbot John Askew [c. 1488—1509] for his building repairs, and even likened him to a new founder [in 1491]. One suspects that the credit for reviving this som- nolent house lay rather with Gloucester: in the 14905, however, such things were better not mentioned’: Bodl. MS. Ashmole 1519, f. 93; CAP, vol. 2, n. 322. Gloucester’s patronage should certainly be acknowledged. However the continued management and conservation of Coverham by its abbots ‘in spiritualia et temporalia’ was surely of more immediate con- cern for Redman during his visitations ? 63. J. and K. Wallis, The in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540, London 1968, p. 528. 64. CPR 1485—94, p. 57; J. Guy, Tudor England, Oxford 1988, pp. 55—6; see n. 54. 65. Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, pp. 238—39. 66. M. Bennett, Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke, Stroud 1987, pp. 29, 35, 41—8; cf. Guy, Tudor England, p. 58. 67. For the term lese maiestatis (‘lesse-majesty’), see J. G. Bellamy, The Law of Treason in England in the Later Middle Ages, Cambridge 1970, pp. 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11—13, 20, 225—26. 68. For the original document — which I have briefly summarised —— complete with its lead bull seal, see PRO SC 7/23/2. Concerning Henry VII’s relations with the papacy see Bennett, Lambert Simnel , pp. 39, 119. 69. Cf. Bennett, Lambert Simnel, pp. 122—23, for a letter sent by Henry VII to Pope Innocent VIII (5 July 1487), relating that several Irish bishops ‘lent assistance to the rebels’. 70. Bennett, Lambert Simnel , p. 74. 71. Bodl. MS. Ashmole 1519 and CAP, vols 1—3, passim. 72. Bodl. MS. Ashmole 1519, ff. 66v—67; CAP, vol. 1, n. 49; T. Rymer, ed., Foedera, London 1704-35, vol. 12, pp. 324—25. 73. C. Harper-Bill, ed., The Register of John Morton 1486—1500, The Canterbury and York Society vol. 75 (1987), vol. 1, pp. 29, 30, 31. 74. Rotuli Parliamentorum, vol. 6, p. 410; D. Macpherson, cd., RotuIi Scotiae in Turri Lon- dinensi et in Doma Capilulari Westmonasteriensi, 2 vols, London 1814—18, vol. 2, p. 487. 75. Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, pp. 189—90, 193—203. 76. A.B. Emden, A Register of the to 1500, Cambridge 1963, p. 476; W.G. Searle, History of Queens' College Cambridge, 2 vols, Cambridge 1867—71, vol. 1, pp. 87—113passim. It should be noted that Andrew Doket (Duckett etc.), the first president of Queens’ College Cambridge, is believed to have been a younger son of Richard Duckett (d. 1448) of Grayrigg, Westmorland, whose second wife was a daughter of Sir Richard Redman (d. 1426), by his second wife Elizabeth: a possible second cousin of Bishop Redman. The latter’s benefactions to Queens’ could therefore have also been due to family ties with the Dokets, and one John Doket — possibly Andrew Doket’s brother — had associations with Edward IV and Richard III. The Doket connection with the Redman family ——which some have doubted — appears to be strengthened by the fact that a Henry Dokett is noted specifically as a relative of Redman in the latter’s will and acted with the bishop in the matter of paying a bond in 1505. Two other individuals bearing the Doket surname also had connections with Quecns’: Gribbin, The Premonstratensian Order, p. 202; J .S. Roskell, L. Clark and C. Rawcliffe, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1386—1421, Stroud 1992, p. 804—6;J. Twigg, A History of Queen ’s College, Cambridge [448—1986, Woodbridge, 1987, pp. 5-6.

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