The Wife of Shore : A Search
by Arthur R. G. Solmssen
Category: Fiction

Still another story about Richard III? Yes, but from a fresh point of view. The wife of Shore, as she was called by all the writers of her time, was the mistress of Richard's older brother, King Edward IV. This king has been forgotten, perhaps because Shakespeare found his brother more interesting. He was in fact a popular king, a tall and handsome warlord, a brilliant general who defeated the armies of Lancaster and seized the throne when he was only nineteen. For a medieval ruler, Edward IV showed an extraordinary interest in trade and commerce. His father, duke of York and largest landholder in England, never quite captured the crown, because he never had enough cash to hire enough soldiers. Edward IV learned as a boy that political power requires lots of money, and that money is made in the marketplace, so he cultivated the merchants of the City of London. He put through laws that helped their trade, he insisted on being included in their deals--and he mingled with them socially, which is how he met the subject of this story, daughter of one rich merchant and wife of another. Josephine Tey's brilliant novel The Daughter of Time has provided us with most of what we know about how badly Richard III has been treated by both history and William Shakespeare. Richard was not the monster Shakespeare put on the stage. While Edward IV was alive, Richard duke of Gloucester was his loyal younger brother. He killed many people, but so did Edward. It was his later battles with Edward's widow and her many ambitious relatives that drove Richard to do the deeds that have made him so infamous, and so fascinating. The novelist steps in to supply the details, but historians confirm that soon after Edward IV got a look at her, the wife of Shore was moved to Windsor--not reluctantly--while her husband transferred himself and his business to Flanders. Not long after that, she petitioned the Pope for a divorce, alleging that she wanted children but her husband was impotent. But that's all background. This story begins on April 8, 1483, when Edward IV -- only forty years old -- suddenly collapses.