False, Fleeting, Perjur'd Clarence
George, Duke of Clarence 1449-1478
by
Michael Hicks

ISBN  978-1-85944-014-8     200 pages    Hardback £25

George Duke of Clarence (1449-1478) was the son of Richard, Duke of York and Duchess Cicely who was known as the Rose of Raby. He was the brother of Edward IV, Richard III and Margaret who married Charles the Bold of Burgundy. George was, therefore, a great magnate. He married Isabel, daughter of the Earl of Warwick (Warwick the Kingmaker), Richard III married the younger daughter, Anne. Clarence had two children. Edward, earl of Warwick who having a better claim to the throne was imprisoned by  Henry VII  and Margaret, Countess of Salisbury who was executed in 1536. The entire family is inextricably involved in the Wars of the Roses.

Many will remember Clarence from Shakespeare's description and in particular from the film Richard III. As Duke of Gloucester Richard was loyal to his brother Edward IV but Clarence changed sides sometimes supporting Edward and sometimes his father-in-law, Warwick the Kingmaker, hence Shakespeare's scene in the Tower of London when the imprisoned Clarence (played by Sir John Gielgud) relates his nightmares to the Keeper, Brackenbury nightmares which relate his disloyalty and voices saying -False, fleeting perjur'd Clarence. The incarcerated Clarence is said to have been murdered in the Tower being drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. Is it true? Did Richard order his murder? Read Michael Hicks.