William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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Effigy of John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, and his Duchess Elizabeth is in Monumental Effigies of Great Britain.
JOHN was the son and heir of that unpopular minister, William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, who being banished for his political delinquencies, was put to death on the 2d May, 1450, at sea, off Dover, by the master of a Bristol shipa. His mother was Alice, daughter of Sir Thomas Chaucer, son of the poet of that name, the force of whose extraordinary genius has secured immortality for his works in spite of their obsolete language. He married Elizabeth, second daughter of Richard Duke of York, by whom he had five sons and four daughters; on account of which alliance his brother-in-law King Edward, in 1469, restored to him the dignity forfeited by his father's attainder. He was made Constable of Wallingford Castle, in the first year of the reign of Henry the Seventh, died in 1491, and was interred with his ancestors in the collegiate church at Wingfield [Map], in Suffolk. Elizabeth, his Duchess, was buried at the same place, and both are commemorated by the splendid effigies before us.
Details. Plate. I. Profile view of the head of the Duchess.
Plate II. 1. Portion of the Duke's coronet. 2. One of the metallic loops attaching the cordon of the mantle of the Garter to either shoulder. 3. Skirts of the corslet, hilt and guard of the sword, mountings of the scabbard, &c. 4. Portion of the Garter on the left knee, enlarged. 5. One of the straps attaching the tassets, 6. Hilt of the dagger, or misericorde, with lace attaching it to the hip. 7. The sword-belt. 8. Portion of the Duchess's coronet, enlarged. 9. Part of the metallic loop of the cordon of her mantle. 10. Pattern on the Ranches of her habit.
Plate III. 1. Profile view of the left genouiliiere, with the Garter. 2. Portion of the soles of the solerette, resting on the lion's mane.
Note a. Whatever the Duke's political offences, there is extant an admirable letter of advice from him to his son, John, written just before the Duke's departure on this fatal voyage. See the Paston Letters, vol. 1. p. 32; where also will be found, page 39, another curious letter, giving a circumstantial account of his death.
