William Stanley (Battle of Bosworth) - The Shadow of The Tower

The Shadow of The Tower

Episode 6 of the 1972 BBC drama series The Shadow of the Tower portrays the circumstances of Stanley's downfall. Interestingly, if – as stated above – he was in possession of the former Clifford estates, it shows Sir Robert Clifford, who had been acting as Henry VII's spy in the camp of Perkin Warbeck, as the one to accuse Stanley of treason. Stanley is portrayed as a vain but careful man who, while keeping his options open, had never committed to active support of the pretender. Detained in the Tower while the other conspirators are on trial, he holds his tongue – apparently convinced that the affair is a ruse by Henry to extort a large fine. He reminds Henry that it was Stanley who took Richard's crown at Bosworth and placed it on Henry's head. Henry's perception is that this was only after Stanley saw which way the battle was going. Nevertheless Henry intends to pardon him. One of the conspirators, a young squire, placed as Stanley's servant in the Tower, convinces Stanley to meet with a fellow prisoner – the garrulous Earl of Kildare. A frustrated Stanley is soon drawn out to give a treasonous tirade. The squire reports this, and is spared the death sentence handed out to his fellows. Henry, under pressure from his mother Margaret Beaufort, Stanley's sister-in-law, was about to pardon Stanley but, on hearing the news, instead has him committed to trial. Stanley is found guilty, sentenced to the forfeit of his estates and a painful death, which the King soon commutes to beheading. Stanley always expects to be pardoned and is shown losing his mind on the scaffold.