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Arthur Plantagenet was the son of King Edward IV of York and his mistress Elizabeth Wayte (Waite), perhaps widow of _____ Lucy.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] "His mother's name is unknown; by some said to be the 'Lady Elizabeth LUCY', by others the notorious Jane SHORE, and by others one Elizabeth WAITE, he himself being at first known as 'Arthur Waite'. [6] The identification of Wayte as Arthur's mother is further suggested by the fact that in 1528/9 he leased a manor in Titchfield, Hampshire, from his Wayte kinsman, and that he buried his first wife Elizabeth there - presumably at his mother's home.[7]
Arthur's birthdate is likewise unclear, but according to the same sources he was born in 1461 or later, in the English outpost of Calais in France. (Cokayne says 1470.)[6] He was openly acknowledged as Edward IV's bastard, and may have spent his childhood at his father's court, until Edward's death in 1483.[8] In 1486, his half-sister Elizabeth of York married Henry Tudor, King Henry VII, thus becoming Queen Consort of England, and at some point Arthur moved to their court. There he befriended his nephew Prince Henry, who became heir to the throne at the death of his brother Prince Arthur in 1502. Elizabeth of York herself died in 1503.[9]
Because of his bastardy, Arthur Plantagenet was not regarded by the Tudors as a threat to the succession of their new and shaky dynasty, as were other surviving members of the Plantagenet houses. In addition, Arthur's character was regarded as "unambitious and inoffensive."[10] To the young Prince Henry, his uncle Arthur was an agreeable companion, and after 1509, when he became Henry VIII, he bestowed knighthood on him, (13 October 1513)[11] and other honors. Sir Arthur Plantagenet attended the king at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. [6] [12]
On 12 November 1511, Sir Arthur Plantagenet took a great step upward in rank when he married Elizabeth Grey, widow of Edmund Dudley and daughter of Edward Grey, who held both the titles Baron of Lisle and Viscount Lisle. On their marriage, Henry VIII bestowed on Sir Arthur Plantagenet several manors previously held by Edmund Dudley, Elizabeth Grey's first husband, whom he had executed in 1510. Upon the deaths of the prior heirs, Elizabeth Grey succeeded in 1519 to the barony of Lisle in her own right. On 25 April 1523, the king granted Sir Arthur Plantagenet the title 6th Viscount Lisle.[3] [6] [12]
Arthur, Viscount Lisle, received higher honours. He was invested as a Knight of the Garter on 23 April 1524, made Vice Admiral of England, 1525, and sent as Commissioner to Francis I, King of France, to invest him with the Garter on 10 November 1527.[6] [12]
Elizabeth Grey's first marriage to Edmund Dudley (about 1500 - 1510) had produced three sons: [13]
Elizabeth may also have had responsibility for Edmund Dudley's daughter from his first marriage to Anne Windsor - Elizabeth Dudley, Anne having died at her birth.
Adding to these stepchildren, Elizabeth gave her husband three daughters: [3] [12] [14] [15]
Elizabeth, Lady Lisle, died by 1529, as in that year her widower married his second wife.[16]
In 1529, Arthur Lord Lisle married secondly Honor Grenville, daughter of Sir Thomas Grenville and widow of Sir John Basset. The new Lady Lisle came with seven Bassett children, three sons and four daughters, the advancement of whom was her chief aim. These were: [17] [18] [10]
The Lisle Letters show that Lord Lisle was enthralled by his second wife, but she was apparently more widely regarded as a termagant. She notoriously decided that one of her daughters should go to court as a maid of honor to Queen Jane Seymour, and sent two of them for the Queen to choose. (She picked Anne.)[10] In the midst of this Basset tribe, the Plantagenet stepdaughters appear to have been pushed into the background, excepting Frances, who was married to the Basset heir, John. It seems that Elizabeth and Bridget may have been married through the offices of the Dudley family, their mother's first husband. John Dudley, Elizabeth's heir, expressed concern that Lord Lisle was planning to leave his whole estate to Frances, which is to say, to John Basset, excluding the youngest sister.[19] [15]
In 1533, Arthur Lord Lisle was appointed Lord Deputy of the military outpost of Calais - last remnant of what had once been the Angevin Empire. This was a post of both responsibility and prestige - the Lord Deputy being expected to keep a court worthy of a prince. For the responsibility, Lord Lisle was not quite competent. The king's secretary Thomas Cromwell had to remind him not to bother the king's court with trivial matters.[10]
Among other issues Lord Lisle had to face, Calais was a hotbed of religious controversy, with both agents of the Pope and militant European protestants gathering there as Henry VIII favored first one side, then the other. Lord Lisle, while not Catholic in the sense of allegiance to the Pope, favored the conservative position over the protestants but was trapped in the middle of the conflict when in 1540 one of his chaplains defected to Rome. He was summoned to London, where he was arrested for treason and held in the Tower, while agents of the Crown combed through his papers searching for evidence. They found none, and in 1542 Lord Lisle was informed that he would be released. He reportedly died "through too much rejoicing."[10] [20] [21]
See Also:
Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22
Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes
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Categories: House of Plantagenet | England Managed Profiles, Pre-1500 | Viscounts Lisle | Prisoners of the Tower of London | Field of the Cloth of Gold | Knights Companion of the Garter, Henry VIII creation