Richard of Conisburgh

Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, was one of the chief conspirators of the Southampton Plot to eliminate Henry V and replace him with Edmund Mortimer. He had an impressive lineage. His father was Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (and son of King Edward III). His mother was Isabella of Castile, daughter of the sometime King of Castile called Pedro the Cruel.

Isabella had tried to ensure a good life for Richard, naming King Richard II as her heir and asking him to grant an annuity of 500 marks to her son. Richard II did this, but by the time her son came of age and might have been eligible to receive additional favors, Richard II was no longer king, having been deposed by Henry IV. Henry IV had no reason to grant anything to young Richard, although Richard WAS created Earl of Cambridge at the Parliament of 1414.

That title was not accompanied by any estate. No land meant no revenue flowing to the new earl. This may be part of why he conspired to assassinate Henry V in 1415. Richard was beheaded on 5 August 1415. He was only 30 years old.

He had heirs, however. Isabel of York was his eldest, betrothed at the age of three to the son of Sir Thomas Grey, another of the Southampton Plot conspirators. Richard and Isabel had a son, Richard.

Richard, the 3rd Duke of York (22 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), married Cecily Neville. They had several children:

Anne, Duchess of Exeter

Edward IV of England

Edmund, Earl of Rutland

Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk

Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy

George, Duke of Clarence

But it was their youngest who became King Richard III of England (see the stained glass window of Richard and Queen Anne). A grandson of Richard of Conisburgh finally made it to the throne. Now, it would seem natural to next talk about Richard III, but I am hesitant to get too far into the 15th century. Richard was born in 1452, and I think of 1453 as the "end" of the "Middle Ages" (see this post to understand my reasoning).

But I will use Richard II as a link to the next post. The one thing people know about Richard III is that he was a hunchback. So how about if we skew into some medical territory (it's been awhile) and talk about the attitude toward Hunchbacks in the Middle Ages? See you 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.