The Southampton Plot was a
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
to depose King
Henry V of England
Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the ...
, revealed in 1415 just as the king was about to sail on campaign to France as part of the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...
. The plan was to replace him with
Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March
Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, 7th Earl of Ulster (6 November 139118 January 1425), was an English nobleman and a potential claimant to the throne of England. A great-great-grandson of King Edward III of England, he was heir presumptive to ...
.
Overview
Mortimer was the great-grandson of
Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence
Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, (; 29 November 133817 October 1368) was the third son, but the second son to survive infancy, of the English king Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. He was named after his birthplace, at Antwerp in the Duch ...
, second surviving son of King
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
, and his claim to the throne was thus superior, should one allow female intermediaries (he was the grandson of
Philippa of Clarence, daughter of Lionel), to that of Henry V and his father,
Henry IV, who derived their claim from Henry IV's father,
John of Gaunt
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...
, third surviving son of Edward III. Moreover, Edmund Mortimer's father,
Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March
Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, 6th Earl of Ulster (11 April 137420 July 1398) was an English nobleman. He was considered the heir presumptive to King Richard II, his mother's first cousin.
Roger Mortimer's father, the 3rd Earl of Marc ...
, had been widely considered
heir presumptive
An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question.
...
to King
Richard II, who had no issue, and Edmund Mortimer himself had been heir presumptive to Richard II while a young child.
The three ringleaders of the plot were Edmund Mortimer's brother-in-law,
Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge
Richard of Conisbrough, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (20 July 1385 – 5 August 1415) was the second son of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and Isabella of Castile, Duchess of York. He was beheaded for his part in the Southampton Plot, a conspiracy ...
(also grandson of Edward III through his fourth surviving son,
Edmund of Langley
Edmund of Langley, Duke of York (5 June 1341 – 1 August 1402) was the fourth surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Like many medieval English princes, Edmund gained his nickname from his birthplace: Kings Lang ...
, and thus also Mortimer's 1st cousin twice removed);
Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham
Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham KG, also known in older sources as Lord Scrope (c. 1373 – 5 August 1415) was a favourite of Henry V, who performed many diplomatic missions. He was beheaded for his involvement in the notional Southam ...
(whose uncle
Richard le Scrope Richard Scrope may refer to:
* Richard Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton (c. 1327–1403), English soldier and courtier, builder of Bolton Castle
*Richard Scrope (bishop) (c. 1350–1405), Archbishop of York
* Richard Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Bo ...
had been executed for his part in a
1405 revolt); and
Sir Thomas Grey, whose son, Thomas, had been betrothed in 1412 to Cambridge's only daughter,
Isabel
Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...
.
The nominal principal, the Earl of March, informed King Henry of the plot on 31 July, stating that he had only just become aware of it. Richard, Scrope, and Grey were promptly arrested. The trial took place in Southampton; traditionally it is claimed that trial took place on the site now occupied by the
Red Lion Inn, but there are no contemporary records of this. Grey was beheaded on 2 August and the two peers on 5 August, both in front of the
Bargate
The Bargate is a Grade I listed medieval gatehouse in the city centre of Southampton, England. Constructed in Norman times as part of the Southampton town walls, it was the main gateway to the city. The building is a scheduled monument, whic ...
.
Satisfied, Henry sailed for France on 11 August.
Scrope's involvement in the conspiracy surprised contemporaries, and continues to puzzle historians, as he was a royal favourite.
Ian Mortimer claims Scrope had merely insinuated himself into the confidence of Cambridge and Grey to betray the conspiracy, just as
Edward, Duke of York
Edward, 2nd Duke of York, ( – 25 October 1415) was an English nobleman, military commander and magnate. He was the eldest son of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and a grandson of King Edward III of England. He held significant appointment ...
had done with the
Epiphany Rising
The Epiphany Rising was a failed rebellion against King Henry IV of England in early January 1400.
Background
Richard II rewarded those who had supported him against Gloucester and the Lords Appellant with a plethora of new titles. Upon the us ...
in 1400, but was forestalled by
Edmund Mortimer's revelation of the conspiracy to the King on 31 July. Pugh, however, finds Scrope's exculpatory statements at trial unconvincing, and states that Scrope never pretended that he had intended to inform the King of the conspiracy. Pugh also contends that "there was no plot in 1415 to assassinate Henry V and his three brothers and that heinous charge, by far the most sensational in the indictment, was fabricated to ensure that Cambridge, Grey and Scrope did not escape the death penalty as a well-deserved punishment for the various other offences that they undoubtedly had committed".
[.]
Aftermath
With the death of
the Duke of York
Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was D ...
, the Earl of Cambridge's elder brother, at the
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...
later that year, Cambridge's son
Richard Plantagenet became heir to the title, which would eventually be returned to him after Henry V's death. Through
his mother
''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...
, he also inherited the Mortimer claim to the throne on the Earl of March's death; later in life Richard would use this claim to
try to dethrone King Henry VI.
Dramatisation
The Southampton Plot is dramatised in
Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
''Henry V'', in which it is portrayed as a French-financed betrayal of the king to stop Henry's invasion plans. It is also portrayed in the anonymous play,
''The History of Sir John Oldcastle'' (c.1600) and in
William Kenrick William Kenrick may refer to:
*William Kenrick (Member of Barebone's Parliament), MP for Kent (UK Parliament constituency)
*William Kenrick (writer) (1725–1779), English novelist, playwright and satirist
*William Kenrick (nurseryman) (1795&nda ...
's ''
Falstaff's Wedding
''Falstaff's Wedding'' (1760 and 1766) is a play by William Kenrick (writer), William Kenrick. It is a sequel to Shakespeare's plays ''Henry IV, Part 2'' and ''The Merry Wives of Windsor''. Most of the characters are carried over from the two Shak ...
'' (1760).
The Southampton Plot is shown in ''
The King (2019 film)
''The King'' is a 2019 epic war film directed by David Michôd, based on several plays from William Shakespeare's Henriad. The screenplay was written by Michôd and Joel Edgerton, who both produced the film with Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy ...
.''
Footnotes
References
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*
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*
*
*: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 39
Further reading
*
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{{Authority control
1415 in England
15th-century rebellions
History of Southampton
Rebellions in medieval England
Conspiracies
Henry V of England