On 19 December 1483 Richard III issued orders relating to the Duchess of Buckingham. In 1483 the Duke of Buckingham had risen in revolt against the rule of King Richard III. The rebellion had failed, and upon his capture, the Duke had been tried for treason, found guilty and executed.
The family of the Duke had gone into hiding because of the rebellion, for fear of reprisals. What happened after the uprising’s failure is a good example of how medieval society treated noblewomen.
The Duchess and some of Buckingham’s children were found hiding in Weobley by Christopher Wellesbourne. Wellesbourne requested instruction from the King who on 19 December 1483 ordered that the Duchess and children be conveyed ‘to these parts’, meaning London.
The Duchess is thereafter not attained, nor stripped of her title. There were no reprisals against her whatsoever for her husband’s treasonable acts.
Also implicated in plotting the revolt was Margaret Beaufort. Any nobleman would be executed for such a deed. Margaret, however, was not. Her acts had to be acknowledged, but the punishment amounted to stripping her of lands. However, her husband, Lord Stanley, could collect the revenues of those lands himself. So, the penalty was a token gesture as Margaret could be maintained by the same lands, albeit now through her husband’s income rather than her own.
Both are a stark contrast with the punitive measures exacted upon any men who dared to cross a medieval monarch.