Richard III rose and three years later he fell. Henry VII declared himself king by announcing that Richard III and his men had died in battle.

Announcing the Death of Richard III
[York, 25 August 1485, 1 Henry VII]

Henry, by the grace of God King of England and of France, Prince of Wales and lord of Ireland, strictly chargeth and commandeth, upon pain of death: that no manner of man rob nor spoil no manner of commons coming from the field, but suffer them to pass home to their countries and dwelling places, with their horses and harness; and moreover, that no manner of man take upon him to go to no gentleman's place, neither in the country nor within cities nor boroughs, nor pick no quarrels for old or for new matters, but keep the peace, upon pain of hanging.

And moreover, if there be any man afeared to be robbed and spoiled of his goods, let him come to Mr. Richard Borow, the King's sergeant here, and he shall have a warrant for his body and his goods, unto the time the King's pleasure be known.

And moreover, the King ascertaineth you that Richard, Duke of Gloucester, late called King Richard, was slain at a place called Sandford within the shire of Leicester, and brought dead off the field into the town of Leicester, and there laid openly, that every man might see and look upon him. And also there was slain upon the same field John, late Duke of Norfolk; John, late Earl of Lincoln; Thomas, late Earl of Surrey; Francis, Viscount Lovell; Sir Walter Deveres, Lord Ferrers; Richard Ratclyff, knight; Robert Brackenbury, knight; and many other knights, squires, and gentlemen. Of whose souls God have mercy. (Hughes and Larkin, p. 3)

Richard Ratclyff was one of the men listed. He had been one of the young men from the north attracted by Richard of Gloucester. He held the king's cloak at Richard III's coronation (Sutton and Hammond, p. 221). He was the king's 'right hand' during Richard's reign. And he died with him on the battlefield. (Sutton and Hammond p. 387)

Henry VII went quickly to work taking over the lands and duties of the king. One of his first acts was extending an offer of pardon to the men of the north who had been supporters of Richard III.

Pardoning Northern Rebels
[Westminster, 11 October 1485, 1 Henry VII]

Forasmuch as many and divers persons of the north parts of this our land, knights, squires, gentlemen, and other, have done us now of late great displeasure, being against us in the field with the adversary of us, enemies of nature, of all public weal; which, as we be informed, repenting their defaults, desire to do us such pleasure and service as might reduce them unto our grace and favor;

We, moved as well of pity as for the great dangers, perils, losses of goods and lives, that the ancestors of the inhabitants of that country have borne and suffered for the quarrel and title of the most famous prince, and of blessed memory, King Henry VI, our uncle; and also for that, that they of those parts be necessary, and according to their duty must defend this land against the Scots; of our especial grace, pardon to all and to every person or persons of the estate and degree above named or under, of what condition they be of or be, what name or names they or any of them be called or named, within our counties of Nottingham, York, Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland, our city of York and bishopric of Durham, all manner of riots, murders, treasons, felonies, insurrections, confederations, conspiracies, against their allegiances done and committed; and all other offenses and trespasses, whatsoever they be, by them or any of them done against us before the 22nd day of September in the first year of our reign.

Except Sir Richard Ratclyff, Sir James Haryngton, Sir Robert Haryngton, Sir Thomas Pylkynton, Sir Thomas Broughton, Sir Robert Myddleton, Thomas Metcalve, and Miles Metcalve.

Wherefore we will and grant that all knights, esquires, gentlemen, and other thrifty commoners of our counties, city and the bishopric aforesaid, except above except, that will sue to have our pardon under our great seal, shall have expedition thereof of our Chancellor of England for the time being, so that they make their suit before the Feast of the Purification of Our Lady next coming after the date of these presents;

And all other persons of the counties, city, and bishopric abovesaid, as be not of power to sue in like form for our said pardon, that these presents be to them sufficient discharge against us in the law, concerning and touching the premises [Hughes and Larkin, pp. 3-4].

Richard Ratclyff, again, got a special place in the proclamation. It was not the same Richard Ratclyff who died on the battlefield with Richard III; it was his son.

At this point, however, Ratclyffs must have felt themselves caught in the cross hairs of the king. They needed some way to get off the hook.

Getting the family off the hook was up to Agnes. Agnes was Agnes Scrope Boynton Ratclyff. Her father had been and her brother was lord of Bolton Castle. Like Richard Ratclyff, her brother had been an early supporter of Richard III. Her first husband, Christopher Boynton, was the wealthy son of a northern gentleman who had created the wealth in service to Henry VI and Robert the prince bishop of Durham. However, Christopher died a young man and Agnes remarried. Her second husband was the Richard Ratclyff of the first proclamation. He had carried her to London to help rule the realm, but that was short lived. The Richard Ratclyff of the second proclamation -- the one excepted from the pardon of the king -- was her son. He was the son of a previous marriage. Like Agnes, Richard had been married earlier; she was his second wife as he was her second husband. But Agnes became responsible for the children of the earlier marriage. Alice, also Richard Ratclyff's daughter, was married at the Boynton manor of Sedbury, for example. (Testamenta Eboracensia)

The Ratclyffs needed to get right with Henry VII. So Agnes, who was not precluded from receiving a pardon, "sued to have our pardon under the great seal." On the nineteenth of November it was issued.

For Agnes Ratclif
xxx of pardon

The king [sends] greetings to all his xxx and faithful to whom etc. May you know that from our special grace we have pardoned, remitted and released and by the present xxx pardon, remit and release entirely to Agnes Ratclif, widow, otherwise called Agnes, lately wife of Richard Ratclif, knight, or by any other name xxx, any riots, murders, treasons, felonies, insurrections, confederacies, conspiracies and all other offences whatsoever committed or perpetrated by Agnes herself before the twenty-second day of September last past against the pledge of her allegiance and also we thereupon grant to her the suit of our peace, which pertains or could pertain to us against Agnes herself by reason of the aforementioned or of any of them, and our permanent peace, Provided that she stands to right in our court if anyone wished to speak against her regarding the aforementioned or any of the aforementioned. In whose etc.

T R, at Westminster the nineteenth day of November.
by the king himself [Murphy, translation]

The original handwritten latin version is:

It is, among other things, considerably wider than the standard monitor display. And one has to have great admiration for anyone who can read it. But it did come straight from the U.K. Public Record Office where it is a sliver of sheepskin packaged away in a monumental filing scheme.

The English had been into what might be called 'form letter fealty' at least since the Magna Carta. John had agreed to the charter -- one more time -- but demanded an oath of fealty as the basis of his pardon. [A Boynton Story: Magna Carta--Father and Sons] Agnes' pardon was a comparable document. Approximately 50 were issued before the Feast of Purification, and the wording was probably very similar from pardon to pardon. What is unusual is that the pardon was issued to Agnes. She was the only woman who was pardoned by Henry VII, and she was not even going to make a contribution to the defense of the realm against the Scots, which was an important reason for the other pardons.

The pledge of allegiance must have grated even as Agnes took the pledge to recover the position of the family. She was pledging allegiance to the man who had killed her husband and who took away from her the life at court that she had come to appreciate. But she would have one last fling. Two years later she was again trying to unseat Henry VII. It was not a success.

The pardon worked. Agnes could retire to Sedbury to run the family fortune. Richard Ratclyff, the son, would eventually have his father's attainted land returned to him. He too would be forgiven -- even if only after a longer wait.

.....

Hughes, Paul L. and James F. Larkin (1964) Tudor Royal Proclamations, vol. 1 The Early Tudors (1485-1553), Yale University Press.

Lyte, H.C. Maxwell, ed. (1914) Calendar of Patent Rolls Henry VII, A.D. 1485-1494, vol. I, for his Majesty's stationery Office, p. 35.

Murphy, Virginia translation of the original document at the Public Record Office and referenced there as C66/561 mem.33. A one sentence summary is available in Lyte (1914).

Sutton, Anne F. and P. W. Hammond (1983) The Coronation of Richard III; the Extant Documents, St. martin's Press.

Testamenta Eboracensia; A Selection of Wills from the Registry at York, vol. III., Publication of the Surtees Society, no. 45, 1865, p. 348.