Itinerary
King Richard III
April 1483Rhoda Edwards
The date of Edward IV's death - 9th April - is undisputed. It is curious therefore, that the 'news' of this event arrived in the city of York on 6th April, having taken possibly five days to get there. Armstrong thought that an official messenger of the city brought the news, thus suggesting that big city councils kept messengers in London for the purpose of conveying political news. However, as the Dean of York was in fact the recipient, and passed it on to the Mayor, it seems likely to have come by chance, as a result of misinformation and premature alarm.
It is worth notmg that as this false news was given official credence in York on 6th April, it is likely that Richard, living on his 'Gloucester estates' (i.e. Middleham or some other castle such as Sheriff Hutton, Raby, etc.), would have learnt of his brother's death before it actually occurred. P. Murray Kendall states: 'It was mid-April when a messenger galloped into the courtyard of Middleham castle bearing the news that King Edward had died on April 9th. Wherever the messenger galloped to, any such later news only corrected the rumour that the King had collapsed and died on some date about 1st April (in fact he survived his original attack and only died after some days of illness.) It is highly unlikely as the Mayor of York proclaimed the King's death at a Council meeting on 7th April, that this news did not travel very quickly to the Duke ot Gloucester's ears.
Bearing in mind that King Edward's illness probably began with a sudden, alarming attack, is it not likely that Rivers, at Ludlow, would have been immediately informed, by his sister the Queen? A letter to the town of Lynn from Edward V suggests that the news of his father's death arrived at Ludlow on about 14th Apri1. This may well be so, but Rivers was probably already alerted to danger by correct information about the King's collapse, unlike the false death report carried to York by some misinformed person. This being the case, Rivers was more than ready on 16th April to set out for London with Edward V 'in all convenient haste'. That he did not do so until just after St. George's day (23rd April), suggests that he needed a few days to raise a military force, and that he was waiting to see which way Gloucester would move.
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| | April - 1483 | |
| 7/4/1483 | False news of King Edward IV's death reached York on the 6th. Requiem Mass was sung on the 7th. | York Civic Records, p 71 |
| 8/4/1483 | | |
| 9/4/1483 | King Edward died | Letters and Papers,Vol 1,p 4 |
| 10/4/1483 | | |
| 11/4/1483 | | |
| 12/4/1483 | | |
| 13/4/1483 | Sunday | |
| 14/4/1483 | | |
| 15/4/1483 | | |
| 16/4/1483 | | |
| 17/4/1483 | | |
| 18/4/1483 | | |
| 19/4/1483 | | |
| 20/4/1483 | Sunday | |
| 21/4/1483 | | |
| 22/4/1483 | | |
| 23/4/1483 | St. George 'C' Indication that Richard was either in York and about to leave, or due to pass through on his way south, or had already left. | York Civic Records, p 71 |
| 24/4/1483 | | |
25/4/1483
| St. Mark 'C' | |
| 26/4/1483 | Nottingham | Stevenson, Vol 2, p 394 |
| 27/4/1483 | Sunday | |
| 28/4/1483 | | |
| 29/4/1483 | Northampton | Croyland Chronicle, p 486 |
| 30/4/1483 | Richard met Edward V at Stony Stratford | Croyland Chronicle, p 487 |