Lovell our Dogge: The Life of Viscount Lovell, Closest Friend of Richard III by Michele Schindler
In July 1484 Tudor agent William Collingbourne 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 William Ratcliffe, knighted by 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 Lord Protector 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, headed for Scotland. His final demise provides an intriguing puzzle that the author teases out.It is remarkable that no biography of such a central figure in the Wars of the Roses predates this one.
A meticulously researched yet highly readable book about the man whose main claim to fame was that of being Richard III’s closest friend. But when did that friendship begin? Schindler doesn’t make assumptions. The times when it could have happened are covered, but none can be verified. Personally, I have to think that it was fairly early in their lives, for their friendship to be so true.
There is little written about Lovell outside of certain points in his life, most of them dealing with the tasks given him by Richard III. He doesn’t seem to have been an ambitious man, keeping mostly to the shadows, but doing whatever his friend asked of him.
Even after Richard’s death, Lovell would continue to try to bring down Henry VII. It was never clear who Lovell wished to replace Tudor with; he may not of cared, his primary goal to kill the man responsible for his friend’s death.
His final fate is still a mystery, though Schindler does tear apart the ridiculous story of Lovell being locked into a hidden room at Minster Lovell Hall, but with no way out. Who builds a hiding place that only opens from the outside? And, as the author notes, the Hall had already been given to Henry VII’s uncle, Jasper Tudor, so it isn’t as if it would have been empty. Lastly, bones don’t disintegrate into dust when touched.
I’d like to think that Francis made it out of the country, and lived the remaining of life in obscurity. I think he would have liked that, too.
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Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.
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SEPTEMBER - Title Play. Read a book with a clever title that uses a play on words, a pun, a joke, or titles that have double meanings.
Lovell our Dogge: The Life of Viscount Lovell, Closest Friend of Richard III and Failed Regicide by Michele Schindler
"The Catte, the Ratte, and Lovell our dogge, Rule all England Under the Hogge."