On 10 March 1461 a letter from Karolus di Violis to the Duke of Milan suggests that the Lancastrian cause is expected to receive considerable aid from the continent. Based on word from a courier, Karolus di Violis reports that armies were being readied by the Queen’s father. Additionally ‘the English’ were likely to gain support from the Duke of Burgundy. Further to this, the King of France is making haste in his preparations for the future, though the nature of this is not specified.
That there would be suggestions of aid for Queen Margaret being readied on the continent is not to be unexpected. Margaret had close links to several Courts in Europe. The King Rene noted in the letter below is her father. Rene was Duke of Anjou but also held the title King of Naples [though he had in reality lost this Kingdom in the 1440’s]. So too did the Queen have ties with the French Court as Marie of Anjou, Queen of France, was her aunt.
73. Karolus di Violis to Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan.
By a courier coming from Nice and Provence and going to Rome I have heard that King Rene is preparing a large force to go to help the Queen of England, and from what the courier says it seems that the English are much strengthened by means of the Duke of Burgundy (pare che li Anglesi sonno molti fortificati per lha via del ducha di Borgogna). The King of France is said to be making great preparations for the future.
Annene, the 10th March, 1461.
[Italian.]‘Milan: 1461’, in Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts in the Archives and Collections of Milan 1385-1618, ed. Allen B Hinds (London, 1912), British History Online
The suggested aid was not entirely forthcoming. Rene of Anjou did not send a large force in support of Margaret and King Henry VI. The Duke of Burgundy did not intervene with armies for either side in the English civil wars in 1461, and whilst Burgundy was courted by elements of the Yorkist Court following the establishment of Edward IV‘s government, it was not until 1471 that these overtures resulted in military assistance. The King of France did go on to provide military assistance for the Lancastrians, though not until after their defeat at Towton.
This letter is part of our series on the Road to Towton as told by the Milan State Papers.
Image Credit
This image of Margaret at prayer and of her Coat of Arms is a detail from a prayer-roll made for Margaret ca 1445–55, now in the archives of Jesus College Oxford as MS 124. Her Arms are shown quartered with those of England. Queen’s College, University of Cambridge.