In July 1484 Tudor agent William Collingbourne - executed for treason in
1484 - tacked up a lampoon to the walls of St Paul's Cathedral: 'The
Catte, the Ratte and Lovell our dogge rulyth all Englande under a
hogge.' That cat was Sir William Catesby, one of Richard III's principal
councillors and Chancellor of the Exchequer, executed after the Battle
of Bosworth. The rat was Sir Richard Ratcliffe, who fought with Richard
during the Scottish campaigns. And the dog was Francis Lovell, not only
an ally of Richard III but his closest friend, and one of the wealthiest
barons in England. Author Michèle Schindler returns to primary sources
to reveal the man who was not only a boyhood friend of the king-to-be as
a ward of Edward IV, but also linked to him by marriage: his wife, Anne
FitzHugh, was first cousin to Richard's wife, Anne Neville. Lovell
served with the Duke of Gloucester, as Richard then was, in Scotland in
1481. At Richard's coronation, Lovell bore the third sword of state. In
June 1485 he was tasked with guarding the south coast against the
landing of Henry Tudor. His loyalty never wavered - even after Bosworth.
He organised a revolt in Yorkshire and was behind an attempt to
assassinate Henry VII. Having fled to Flanders, he played a prominent
role in the Lambert Simnel enterprise. He fought at the Battle of Stoke
Field in 1487 and was seen escaping, destination unknown. His final
demise provides an intriguing puzzle that the author teases out.
