O

n October 12, 1483, Richard III, making a progress through the north of England, wrote a furious letter to his chancellor in which he vowed to “resist the malice of him that had the best cause to be true, the Duke of Buckingham, the most untrue creature living.” Richard’s anger at Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, once his closest ally, was such that he did not dictate this portion of his letter to a clerk, but wrote his denunciation of Buckingham in his own hand.

Richard had good cause to be angry at Buckingham’s actions. When Edward IV’s death in April 1483 set off a chain of events that ended in Richard’s declaring Edward’s children to be bastards and seizing the throne for himself, it had been Buckingham who had been Richard’s right-hand man. For his kingmaking, Buckingham had been richly rewarded. Having been virtually powerless during Edward IV’s reign, Buckingham now became chief justice and chamberlain of north and south Wales for life and Constable of England.

With all he had gained from Richard, he was the least likely of rebels.