Brackenbury and The Princes in The Tower
As Constable of the Tower of London, Brackenbury inevitably figures into any account of the fate of Richard III's nephews, the Princes in the Tower.
For example, in Thomas More’s version of the life of Richard III, More says that after the coronation on 6 July 1483 and while on his way to Gloucester, Richard sent John Green to Brackenbury with written orders for Brackenbury to kill the princes. Brackenbury, says More, replied “that he would never put them to death, though he should die therefore”. So Richard then ordered Sir James Tyrrell to go to Brackenbury with a letter by which he was commanded to deliver to Sir James all the keys of the Tower for one night, "to the end he might there accomplish the King’s pleasure". According to St Thomas “gentle Brackenbury”, who had resisted the demands of the King, now meekly complied.
Read more about this topic: Robert Brackenbury
Famous quotes containing the words princes and/or tower:
“I am really sorry to see my countrymen trouble themselves about politics. If men were wise, the most arbitrary princes could not hurt them. If they are not wise, the freest government is compelled to be a tyranny. Princes appear to me to be fools. Houses of Commons & Houses of Lords appear to me to be fools; they seem to me to be something else besides human life.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“The tower nearest the water gets the moonlight first.”
—Chinese proverb.