One of the most shocking events in Medieval England was when the heir to the throne Edward
V and his brother Richard the Duke of York disappeared inside the Tower of London.
The pair were the sons of the King Edward IV who’d recently died rather suddenly,
and they were supposed to be awaiting the coronation of Edward V when they seemingly
disappeared from sight.
Richard III their uncle who had been appointed as the Lord Protector then launched a tirade
against the two boys and he denounced them as both illegitimate.
This was then passed through parliament, and Richard who had previously been the Duke of
Gloucester was declared the King, and King Richard III.
Many across England deemed him a usurper, and much debate and mystery emerged around
the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, especially when over 100 years later a box
of bones containing the remains of two children was found under a staircase inside the White
Tower, the oldest part of the Tower of London.
But there was one man who was heavily linked to the murder of the two boys, and who was
later executed for treason.
Join us today as we look at the brutal execution of Sir James Tyrrell, remember to support
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James Tyrrell waas born in 1445, and he was the eldest son of William Tyrrell of Suffolk
and Margaret Darcy.
His grandfather was Sir John Tyrrell who was Knight of the Shire for Essex and also the
Speaker of the House of Commons.
He was also the Treasurer of the Royal Household, and served in Henry VI’s council in France.
However James’ father was executed on the 23rd February 1462 on Tower Hill and was beheaded
by axe along with Sir Thomas Tuddenham and John Montgomery.
They had all been implicated in an alleged plot to murder and assassinate King Edward
IV during the wars of the Roses, and John De Vere the 12th Earl of Oxford along with
his heir were later implicated in this.
It’s not known if trials took place, or whether James Tyrrell’s father had actually
been involved in the plot.
He was not attainted, and because of this his eldest son became the heir to his lands,
and custody of these were granted to Cecily Neville the Duke of York who later sold them
to James’ mother.
During the Wars of the Roses, England was gripped by the brutal dynastic battle and
civil war in which the House of York and the House of Lancaster fought for the English
throne.
James Tyrrel fought for the Yorkist dynasty during the Battle of Tewkesbury on the 4th
May 1471, and after fighting valiantly he was knighted on the battlefield by Edward
IV.
Following this, he then became a close attendant and member of household of the future Richard
III, the Duke of Gloucester the brother of the King.
However as mentioned following the Princes in the Tower mystery, Richard III seized the
throne and with this Tyrrell went with him in his promotion and was then made the High
Sheriff of Cornwall in 1484.
This meant he was responsible for law and administration in Cornwall, and then in 1485
he went to France however following Henry Tudor gathering a Lancastrian uprising, Tyrol
was nowhere to be seen.
One of the biggest suspects involved in the whole disappearance of the Princes is Sir
James Tyrrell.
He was very close and loyal with Richard III, and it’s believed that Richard would not
have killed the boys himself, but he would have ordered a close friend and loyal trusted
attendant to do the deed for him.
With this, many images have emerged showing a man in armour as the one who smothered the
boys in their sleep.
Many historian’s believed that Sir James Tyrol was the man who received the order to
kill the boys, as having them alive for Richard was dangerous as many would question his legitimacy
on the throne, but with the Princes dead this would not happen.
It’s believed Tyrrell would have also had access to the Tower of London also, and he
could have been the one who killed the boys.
The remains were then probably hidden, and may have been found as mentioned and today
these remains specifically were interred inside of Westminster Abbey.
But with this, and if this was true it would make Sir James Tyrrel the man who killed the
King to be, and changed the face of English History and the line of succession forever,
and his impact can still be seen today.
Richard III went to battle with Henry Tudor on the 22nd August 1485 and during this Henry
Tudor claimed a shocking victory against Richard, and the King was slain on the battlefield
fighting in the thickest presses of his enemy.
Richard III was then taken to Leicester and his body was displayed at the Church of the
Greyfriars, but Henry Tudor was crowned on the battlefield.
But Tyrol was nowhere to be seen on the battlefield, and when he got back to England in 1486 he
was pardoned by Henry VII, on the 16th June and was then pardoned again a month later.
It’s believed this second pardon may have been for his involvement in the princes in
the tower murder, but then he was reappointed as the governor of a French town which the
English had control of.
He stayed in this position for around 15 years, but in 1501 he gave his support to Edmund
de la Pole, the 3rd Duke of Suffolk who was the leading Yorkist claimant to the English
throne, and despite him living in exile, Henry VII was fearful of him.
With this, Henry VII sent a group of men to arrest Sir James Tyrrel on account of treason,
and he and his son were both arrested.
He was brought back to England, and was charged with treason.
It was said following his execution in an account written by Sir Thomas More that during
his interrogation and examination that Sir James Tyrrell did confess to the murders of
King Edward V and his brother inside the Tower of London.
More also said that he implicated John Dighton as a perpetrator and he backed up Tyrrell’s
account of events.
But this confession has been lost to time and remains a record that is missing, if this
is the case.
More was writing a history of Richard III which was rather scathing and pleased his
Tudor masters who hated Richard III and viewed him as the enemy.
Following this Sir James Tyrol was brought to trial and was found guilty of treason on
the 2nd May 1502 at the guildhall in London.
Four days later on the 6th May he was taken from the Tower of London where he had been
held, and was taken to Tower Hill for his execution on the public beheading spot.
It was believed that when he arrived on the scaffold, he was not allowed to make a final
speech to anyone in the crowd.
With this, he was then quickly beheaded by the axeman and then his body was taken from
Tower Hill and was then buried in the Church of the Austin Friars in London.
Sir James Tyrrell if true was the man who is strongly linked to the mruders of the princes
in the Tower.
If this is true then it makes him a regicide and a king killer, and his involvement changed
English History forever.
It’s believed that he was very loyal to Richard III and the fact he received promotions
when he came onto the throne backs this up, it’s possible that he would have followed
the orders to have killed the boys.
He is considered a man who descended from a traitor, and he is viewed as one of the
most evil villains of the Medieval period.
However one thing that would redeem this is if the Princes in the Tower mystery was solved
in the future.
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