Isabel's Planned Marriage

I mentioned yesterday the links between the three men who hatched the Southampton Plot to assassinate Henry V and put Edmund Mortimer on the throne. Two of the men made a close tie with each other through the arranged marriage of their children.

Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, had a daughter, Isabel. Isabel of Cambridge (1409 - 1484) was arranged to be married to Sir Thomas Grey. Her husband was the son of Sir Thomas Grey. The elder Thomas had served under Henry IV, and by 1408 was serving the Prince of Wales (the future Henry V).

Grey's son Thomas (1404 - c.1426) was betrothed to Isabel. The marriage took place on 18 February 1413. Note the year: Isabel was not quite four years old at the time, and her husband was only nine!

Richard of Conisburgh had sons. This was a chance to pawn off a daughter, but in a world where arranged marriages were made for important alliances and personal gain, what did the Earl of Cambridge get for marrying his daughter to a simple knight?

Well, a knight could aspire to be more. Richard could offer the lordship of Wark-in-Tyndale to the elder Thomas Grey. This would give the elder Thomas more land and authority. Unfortunately, the offer came with a price. The price was supposed to be a good deal, but it was more than Grey could afford. Grey took the offer anyway, but the payment to Richard was going to take years. Now Grey was in Richard's debt—serious debt.

Historians look back and think that Richard used Grey as a dupe, binding him to Richard's plans on threat of becoming destitute. In fact, during the trial of the three conspirators, Grey is recorded as saying that he was driven to take part out of "poverty and covetousness." Clearly, he was desperate to see it through on the promise of becoming better off as a kingmaker for Edmund Mortimer.

As for the child couple: they had one son, also called Thomas. Isabel married Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, in 1426, so her first husband must have been dead by the age of 21.

As for Richard, he did not live long enough to see his descendant take the throne. I'll tell you a bit more about his lineage tomorrow.

The Southampton Plot

People in England during the reign of Henry V were still trying to use Edmund Mortimer as a focal point for a rebellion.

Edmund's sister, Anne Mortimer, had married the 3rd Earl of Cambridge, Richard of Conisburgh. Richard was also a descendant of Edward III. Richard's daughter, Isabel, was betrothed to Thomas, the son of Sir Thomas Grey (Isabel was three years old, Thomas was eight, and there's more to that story, believe me). Richard and Sir Thomas were two-thirds of a plot to assassinate Henry V.

The third member of the plot was the 3rd Baron of Masham, Henry Scrope. Henry was a decade older than Henry V, but the two were close. The king entrusted Scrope with diplomatic missions. He had escorted Henry's sister Philippa on her voyage to Denmark to marry King Eric of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Scrope had married Joan Holland, whose stepson was none other than Richard of Conisburgh. (Richard's father, 1st Duke of York Edmund, had married Joan Holland in 1393 after the death of his first wife and Richard's mother.)

These three men had close ties to each other, and decided to place Edmund Mortimer on the throne in place of Henry V. They subsequently approached the 5th Earl of March and told him of their intent to make him king, assuming that Edmund (now 23 years old and ready to rule) would be in favor. This was not the case.

Edmund had seen what happened to people who threatened the king's status in Edmund's name. He wanted no part of it, and on 31 July 1415, while Henry V was at Portchester Castle (see illustration) making plans to invade France, Edmund informed him of the assassination plot.

The three co-conspirators were promptly arrested, put on trial at Southampton, and beheaded on 2 August (Grey) and 5 August (Richard and Scrope).

As for Edmund Mortimer, he was appointed to the regency council for the baby Henry VI after the death of Henry V in 1422. He was later made the King's lieutenant in Ireland, and wound up living there from 1424 until his death in January 1425, the man who refused to be king. He left no heirs.

I want to take a closer look at the men of the Southampton Plot, particularly that "marriage" of the two children. See you tomorrow.

Edmund Mortimer's Later Life

Although he was a thorn in the side of King Henry IV—because he had a greater claim to the throne and was used as a focal point for rebellion—Edmund Mortimer (1391 - 1425) was nevertheless kept alive and safe. Near the end of Henry IV's reign, Edmund and his brother Roger were kept in the Tower of London. In 1409 they were given into the custody of the Prince of Wales, Henry, who was five years older than Edmund.

Edmund had a greater claim to the throne than the Prince of Wales as well, but when Henry IV died in March 1413 and the Prince of Wales became king, the Prince had to make a decision about Edmund. He had no doubt come to know Edmund well, not only personally but through Henry's siblings (Edmund and Roger had originally been raised alongside Henry's younger brother and sister), and decided he was not a threat by himself, despite what his older relatives might have tried in the past.

Henry (illustration) gave Edmund and Roger their freedom. Not only that, on 8 April 1413 (the day before Henry's coronation as Henry V), Edmund and Roger were made Knights of the Bath.

Two months later, Henry granted to Edmund his hereditary estates (Edmund's father was the 4th Earl of March). Edmund was 21, free, and now living in style. In 1415 Edmund received a papal dispensation to marry someone whose relationship to him was a little closer than was considered proper due to the laws of consanguinity, Anne Stafford. Edmund and Anne were both descendants of Edward III, and second cousins once removed. Henry was unhappy with the marriage—he had not been consulted for approval—and fined Edmund 10,000 marks.

This was the only disagreement between the two. Edmund never tried to claim the throne and was completely loyal to Henry, taking part in the king's court as an advisor.

There were, however, others who were not pleased with Henry V, and tried to use Edmund without his knowledge. Tomorrow I'll share the story behind the Southampton Plot.