Richard Tunstall

Coat of arms of Sir Richard Tunstall, KG

Sir Richard Tunstall of Bentham and Thurland , KG , (* around 1427 † 1491 ), was an English knight .

Life

Sir Richard Tunstall was a son of Thomas Tunstall and Eleanor FitzHugh.

Richard Tunstall was knighted in 1451 and was loyal to King Henry VI. and the House of Lancaster . He held various offices at the royal court and was from 1452 to 1455 Esquire to the Kings Body , from 1450 to 1460 Kings Carver and 1459-1460 Chamberlain with Henry VI.

For his loyal service, Sir Richard also received the titles and offices of Baron of the Lancaster Exchequer and Receiver of Palatine (1459), Master of the Mint (1459–1461), Chamberlain of Chester (1457–1460), and Chamberlain of the Exchequer (1459-1461).

During the Wars of the Roses , Sir Richard fought for Lancaster in 1459 at the Battle of Blore Heath , Wakefield (1460), St Albans and Towton (1461), Hedgeley Moor and Hexham (1464).

After the defeat at Towton and the coronation of Edward IV. Fled Sir Richard with Margaret of Anjou and other loyal Lancastrians, as Sir Edmund Hampden and Sir Robert Whittingham after Scotland into exile. The new parliament gave Sir Richard a Bill of Attainder and he lost all his rights and possessions in England. Shortly thereafter, Sir Richard returned with Margaret of Anjou and her army and besieged Carlisle Castle , with parts of the city being burned to the ground. After the defeat of Hexham, Sir Richard escorted Henry VI. personally to Lancashire in a safe hiding place. In the years 1461–1468 Sir Richard lived permanently on the run and moved from one castle still held by Lancaster troops to another. He supported the local troops against the sieges and managed to escape again and again after the fall of a fortress. So he fought in the sieges of Naworth Castle , Bamburgh Castle , Alnwick Castle and Dunstanburgh Castle .

In July 1462 he was captured, but was able to escape and again sought protection in one of the fortresses. Sir Richard was also responsible for various riots and skirmishes in Northumberland at the time. He was one of the defenders of Harlech Castle in the summer of 1468 , was captured when the fortress fell in August and was imprisoned in the Tower of London . Two years later, when in the autumn of 1470 Henry VI. was reinstated as king, Sir Richard was released. In this reign, which lasted only a few months, Richard Tunstall regained his offices as Chamberlain ( chamberlain ) with Henry VI. and Master of the Mint

After the defeat at the Battle of Tewkesbury in May 1471, where Edward of Westminster , son of Henry VI. and heir to the throne of the House of Lancaster, fell, and Margaret of Anjou was captured, the battle for the House of Lancaster seemed lost and the Wars of the Roses initially ended. It was probably this situation that caused Sir Richard to give up the fight and come to terms with the ruling House of York .

After a certain time, Tunstall returned to the service of the crown and accompanied Eduard IV. In 1475 on his French campaign and was entrusted with various tasks. In 1477 he was one of the negotiators under the leadership of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk , who several times with Louis XI. , King of France, negotiated. The following year, Sir Richard traveled to France again as a negotiator to explore the possibilities of a marriage between Elizabeth of York , Edward IV's eldest daughter, and the French heir to the throne, later King Charles VIII (France) .

After the accession to the throne by Richard III. In 1483 Sir Richard Tunstall was appointed Knight of the Order of the Garter . In 1484 Sir Richard was sent to the Guînes garrison under the command of John Blount, 3rd Baron Mountjoy, to defend the fortress from French attacks.

The following year Sir Richard took the side of Henry Tudor and fought on August 22, 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth for the victor and new King Henry VII. In the same year Sir Richard was appointed to the King's Privy Council .

Sir Richard Tunstall died in 1491.

Marriage and offspring

Sir Richard Tunstall was married to Elizabeth Franke. The couple had two children, William and Eleanor.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Terry Breverton: Jasper. Amberley Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4456-3402-9 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} John S. Roskell: Parliament and Politics in Late Medieval England. Volume 2, A&C Black, 1981, ISBN 0-9506882-9-0 , p. 282.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Norman Davis: The Paston Letters: A Selection in Modern Spelling. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-283640-4 , p. 98.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Towton Battlefield Society
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Ralph Alan Griffiths: The Reign of Kind Herny VI: The Excercise of Royal Authority 1422-1461. University of California Press, 1981, ISBN 0-520-04372-3 , p. 4, p. 783.
6. ^ ^{A b} Martin Allen: Mints and Money in Medieval England. Cambridge University Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1-107-01494-7 , pp. 90, p. 230.
7. ^ Peter A. Hancock: Richard III. and the Murder in the Tower. The History Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-7524-6917-1 , p. 76.
8. ^ Dorothy J. Clayton: The Administration of the County of Palatine of Chester 1442-1485. Manchester University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-7190-1343-7 , pp. 93, pp. 171.
9. ^ HM Stationary Office: Reports from the Commissioners. Vol. XXXI, George E. Eyre, London 1860, Appendix p. 29, p. 33.
10. ^ ^{A b c} Richard Brooke: Visit to Fields of Battle in England. John R. Smith, London 1857, pp. 60, p. 108.
11. ↑ ^{a b c} Richard III. Foundation ( Memento of the original from January 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Malcolm Mercer: The Medieval Gentry: Power, Leadership and Choice during the Wars of the Roses. A&C Black, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4411-9064-2 , p. 28, p. 80.
13. ^ MA Richardson: The Local Historian's Table Book. Vol. I, Newcastle-upon-Lyne 1841, p. 97.
14. ^ ^{A b c} Mary Ann Hookham: The Life and Times of Margaret of Anjou. Vol. II, Tinsley Brothers, London 1872, pp. 133, 153, 154, 166, 232.
15. ↑ Terry Breverston: Richard III. The King in the Car Park. Amberley Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4456-2111-1 .
16. ^ Alec R. Myers: The Household of Edward IV :. Manchester University Press, 1959, p. 287.
17. ^ John A. Wagner: Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses. ABC-Clio, 2001, ISBN 1-85109-358-3 , pp. 277, 278.
18. ^ ^{A b} Thomas D. Hardy: Syllabus of the Documents related to England and other Kingdoms. Vol. II, Longman & Co., London 1873, p. 703, p. 709.
19. ↑ ^{a b c} M. Rapin de Thoyras: The History of England. Vol. V, London 1757, p. 217, p. 710, p. 717.
20. ^ Nicholas Harris Nicolas: The History of the Order of the Knighthood of the British Empire. Vol. II, John Hunter, London 1842, p. Lix.
    Society of Antiquaries: Archaelogia of Miscellaneaous Tracs related to Antiquity. Vol. XXXI, JB Nichols & Son, London 1845, p. 167, p. 556
    George F. Beltz: Memorials of the Order of the Garter. William Pickering, London 1841, p. Clxvii.
    William A. Shaw: The Knights of England. Genealogical Publishing, 1971, ISBN 0-8063-0443-X , p. 17.
21. ^ A History of the County of Lancaster. Vol. VIII, pp. 232-237 read online on June 22, 2016 at www.british-history.ac.uk