A Second White Rose - Edmund, Earl of Rutland Survives
- Thread starter Zestinobambino
- Start date
Fair enough, thanks for the feedback. I’ll do a bit of adjusting for the next few chapters to make them more in line with what you guys have said.
Well, Anne Neville’s husband in this TL, Thomas FitzAlan, did marry Margaret Woodville OTL - so she should be available...
Also, just as an aside, I’ve altered the map in Chapter Fourteen: Preserving the Bulwark, since I realised that I could use a screenshot of the same video but a bit earlier in time to have the Bosnian borders on there too. This post is basically just an update to that chapter, basically just to say that the lands Matthias wants to take from the Ottomans include Wallachia, Bosnia and the strip of land between the two, which could be a smaller reincarnation of Serbia.
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Great! James III will learn why messing with the York brothers is NOT a good idea, if the example of louis xi wasnt enough
Chapter Nineteen: Perfidious Albany
Chapter Nineteen: Perfidious Albany
A map of the major clans of Scotland and their areas of influence.
A map of the major clans of Scotland and their areas of influence.
Edmund, Duke of Rutland’s return to England from Ireland was a muted affair. He was glad to be back in his homeland, but the situation he had been called on to help mend was far from good. He returned his family to their Devon estates, then pressed further east to meet with Edward IV in London. Here, they discussed strategy about how to face the coming crisis, and what to do against the Scots.
Baynard’s Castle, 7th August 1479
The noise radiating from Edward IV’s private chamber was immense. He and Edmund, Duke of Rutland had been in there for a while now - and while the conversation had started as two brothers regaling each other with family stories, the conversation had now turned to politics, and what to do with Scotland and Gloucester.
“There’s no need to punish him, Ned.” Edmund said.
“How can you say that?” Edward protested. “I worked hard to build a peace with Scotland, and he has sabotaged that.”
“He sabotaged your peace,” Edmund said slowly, “to defend his own honour once he discovered that his wife’s legs were not open only to him. He has done nothing wrong.”
“I know that.” Edward said brusquely. “But war is coming unless we do something.”
“It’s too late now. Whatever we do against Dickon, there will be war.” Edmund said, and Edward frowned.
“How have you come to that conclusion, Eddy?” He asked. Edmund sighed and sat down, his hands on his knees - a strange mannerism Edward had noticed on his genius of a brother every time Edmund was about to explain something that no-one else had realised, but was crystal clear to him.
“Think about it, Ned. Before you declared war on France, you gave them a chance for peace first - you demanded that Louis hand the Red Prince over, and that would be the end of it.”
“He was never going to do that, though.” Edward snorted derisively.
“I agree. But imagine he did. You had already prepared an army, raised a tax, formed a treaty with Brittany and Burgundy and planned the campaign. No matter what Louis did, there was going to be a war.”
“True.” Edward nodded. “But what’s your point?”
“My point,” Edmund said, “is that James III is doing exactly to us what you did to Louis. He is giving us a chance to avoid war by punishing Dickon, or giving him over to the Scots. But James wants war, and he will have war, regardless of what we do.”
Edward frowned. “Do you believe so?”
“I do.” Edmund nodded. “So do nothing towards Dickon; there’s no need. Instead, prepare for war. The Scots have attacked us before, and we have won well enough. Let James throw his men at us, and we will beat them back all the way to Edinburgh.”
In Scotland, James III’s new anti-English stance was met at first with excitement. For a long time there had been discontent in Scotland with James III, not least because of his policies for an alliance with England - the promotion of low-born men in court, debasing the Scottish coinage for his gain and at Scotland’s pain, and wasting time on futile quests to try and assert control over Brittany, Guelders and Saintonge on weak hereditary claims were all grievances held by various Scottish noblemen. His failed attempts to build a Scottish empire in France led to the degradation of the Scottish kingdom itself as he failed to fulfil the roles expected of a king. But James’s new policy of backing the Red Prince as the rightful king of England and pressing for an invasion of England was immediately popular in Scotland, and James enjoyed a surge in popularity. That was, until James’s brother Alexander, Duke of Albany came forward in parliament to describe what had happened between Gloucester, Crichton and Margaret Stewart. James had conveniently left this detail out of his speech to parliament, knowing that it only reflected poorly on his family - Gloucester had been within his right to defend his honour after discovering that his wife had been adulterous, after all. James III now found himself ridiculed for only wishing war with England when it suited “the honour of his whore of a sister, not the good of the nation” (as described by the Earl of Lennox). However, the truth of the matter was that no matter the cassus beli, James III wanted a war with England, and that was something the majority of the nobility could support. James publicly announced his will to support the Red Prince’s claim to the English throne, going so far as to name him King Edward V of England in Edinburgh on 12th October 1479. With this, the Scottish nobility put their support behind James III and the new Edward V, and began raising money for war with England. However, Albany’s revelations that it was not all just for Scotland led to bitterness.
After telling parliament about the Crichton affair, James III’s brother Alexander, Duke of Albany feared for his life under James III. He fled Scotland and joined Edward IV. Albany was a spiteful betrayal who knew what Gloucester had done, but was so alienated from the rest of his family that he didn’t care. He offered his services to Edward IV, and promised that if Edward supported his claim to Scotland as King Alexander IV, then he would hand the Red Prince over to Edward willingly. Edward, intrigued by the possibility, sent Rutland to Durham to negotiate a treaty with Albany. After spending just over a month negotiating, Rutland and Albany signed the Treaty of Durham on 25th October 1479. This treaty agreed that:
- England would support Alexander, Duke of Albany’s claim to the Scottish throne and recognise him as King Alexander IV.
- Once Alexander was established on the throne, his daughter Egidia would be engaged to Edward’s son Richard V, Duke of Normandy [1]. Her dowry would be the transfer of Berwick, Roxburgh and Coldingham from Scotland to England.
- A truce would be enacted between England and Scotland, lasting for fifty years (starting with the beginning of Alexander’s reign).
- Alexander would hand over all Lancastrian opposition still in Scotland over to England, in particular the Red Prince.
- Once Alexander was on the throne, he would pay £2,000 in pension to England every year for ten years.
Following the Treaty of Durham, Albany was instructed to wait until the English army had been put together, but Albany got ahead of himself. He wrote to Scottish nobles proclaiming himself to be King Alexander IV, encouraging civil unrest in Scotland. The Earls of Douglas and Ross did the same and incited a rebellion in their homelands of Ross and the Hebrides, which erupted in November 1479, and the Earl of Lennox led a short-lived one in January 1480. These proved to be an effective strategy for Edward and Albany – by encouraging so many rebellions, he had tied down James III’s resources and spread his soldiers across the country, particularly in the northern highlands, about as far away from the English border as possible. That gave England an opportunity to invade with little initial resistance, and they did so on 17th March 1480 with an army drawn from Edward’s retainers, alongside soldiers drawn from his brothers George, Duke of Clarence and Richard, Duke of Gloucester and the Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland. They also received soldiers from Wales, under the leadership of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who was married to Herbert’s daughter Maud. Edward issued letters to Gerald FitzGerald, Earl of Kildare, asking him to bring a new Irish army together and launch them from Ulster to Scotland. At the same time, Rutland stayed in York, ensuring the war effort went well. All in all, the English force swelled to a mighty 36,000 soldiers. Edward would spare no expense to finally capture the Red Prince and end the Lancastrian threat.
[1] - Egidia is a gender-flipped version of Alexander’s OTL son Alexander. She is named after her mother Katherine Sinclair’s grandmother, Egidia Douglas.
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@Zestinobambino ! Amazing work! Classic scotland, one surefire way to unite them is in their hate of england... and boy will this bit them royally in the backside.
Eddy shows once more why he's the brain of the york brothers.
Edward V? What a joke! May this pretender fall.
Eddy shows once more why he's the brain of the york brothers.
Edward V? What a joke! May this pretender fall.
Great chapter, can't wait to see more of the invasion of Scotland. Keep up the good work 👍 👍 👍
Thank you! And yes, even though James is really unpopular, the Scots won't mind forgetting about how much they don't like him for a little bit.
Edward and Edmund make a great team - Ned's a fantastic military commander, and Eddy's got a tight grasp on diplomacy and politics. Ideal combo.
Unfortunately, he was always going to be crowned one way or another. Hopefully his 'reign' doesn't last long.
Thank you!
Yes, may scotland suffer and be dealt with permanently latter.
Yes.
Yep and like hell england would officially recognize him.
It would be incredibly unlikely. After all, the Yorkists have ruled for going on twenty years now. Edward IV has three sons and Edmund has four, not to mention George and Richard’s kids. International backing from Burgundy and Brittany, and the Yorks are no doubt immensely popular for regaining control in northern France. The Red Prince would have an incredibly hard time staying on the throne.
Exactly. Not to mention the rumors that his mother couldn't possibly had concieved him from such a failure of a man that was Henry VI bet that the yorkist had feed the rumors pretty good.
There'd be no need to question the Red Prince's actual legitimacy, since the Yorkist claim is based on the fact that they're descended from Edward III's second son, not the third. It can't hurt, but I suppose they could just to stoke the fire of "we're better than the Lancastrians".
Surely ned calling the red prince illegitimate would be damaging to himself as well, if ned claims the red prince is illegitimate then surely charlotte of lancaster is too, and then why would he arrange for edmund, prince of Wales to marry her? Ned needs to stick to the superior claim of York - the red prince is the legitimate child of henry vi, no doubt about it, but the york claim is stronger so he can’t have the throne.
Good chapter as well btw, hope the war goes smooth as possible!
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Would they not call him Edward IV? Since York Edward IV is a false pretender king in their eyes
Agreed. Any bastard accusations against Westminster only makes uniting York and Lancaster impossible through his daughter