Edward Stanley, Lord Monteagle

Edward Stanley, Lord Monteagle c1462-1523

This post is very much a continuation of the last, as Edward Stanley is a commander at Flodden, I feel he is deserving of a separate post.

Born c1462, the son of Thomas Stanley and Eleanor Neville, as a younger son he did not inherit the earldom, instead he built his reputation through military service. 

It is likely his first taste of combat may have come from a long running Stanley feud with the Harringtons over dominance of north Lancashire, raid, siege (of Hornby castle) and counter raid playing along during the Wars of the Roses. This would seemingly cease when Anne Harrington was betrothed to Edward, however her cousin John would reignite the feud but met an untimely end to poison around 1481, suspected by Edward’s hand.

As a footnote, the Harringtons would fight in vain for the rebels at Stoke Field in 1487 against the Stanleys as a last-ditch attempt to regain control of their lands. 

Stanley's first campaign was in his Father's household under the command of Richard of Gloucester in the 1482 invasion of Scotland where his actions in the capture of Berwick upon Tweed would earn him knighthood – interestingly also alongside Molyneaux and Assheton who would later serve under his own command at Flodden. Three years later, his presence is mentioned in The Ballad of Bosworth Field;

‘The vanward Lord Stanley took hee;

Sir William Stanley the rereward would bee,

And his sonne, Sir Edward, with a winge

The did remaine in their array’

In that same year he became High Sheriff of Lancashire and defended against Scots raids. 

The marriage procession of James IV & Margaret Tudor, Edinburgh.

In 1503 Sir Edward Stanley was part of the escort and diplomatic entourage that accompanied Princess Margaret Tudor on her way to be wed to the Scots King James IV. During the festivities at Newbattle Abbey near Edinburgh, King James 

‘began to play the clavichords before the Queen, which pleased her very much, and she had great pleasure to hear him.’ 

Stanley then joined with a ballad which the King commended and called one of his men to sing with him, afterwards Stanley and two of his household sang a ballad which the King enjoyed. 

In 1511 he served as a commissioner of array, a post which he would put into action raising men from Lancashire and Cheshire for the Flodden campaign. 

His next meeting with King James IV would be in stark contrast to the last. Stanley’s role at Flodden made his reputation and earned him a peerage. Henry VIII decreed that for his valiant acts against the Scots where he won the hill and his men (with eagle claw livery badges) vanquished all before them that he should be known as Lord Monteagle – mount & eagle.

I really like the synchronicity of this. In my last post I was keen to understand how prevalent livery was among Stanley’s ranks and found that the mentions of it made it into contemporary ballads and now here it is again in the peerage bestowed upon him.

As with the last post, we have another link to Flodden saved in stone. Sir Edward Stanley made a solemn declaration before he went to Flodden, that if he returned victorious, he would do something to the honour of God. Accordingly, on his return, he began to build the chapel of Hornby. The steeple being an octagon of hewn stone with six bells; the chancel of the like stone, with diverse figures thereon, and the roof covered with lead. It has an eagle cut in stone, with an inscription in Roman text, 

" Edwardus Stanley, Miles, Dominus Monteagle, Me fieri fecit." 

which roughly translates as Edward Stanley, Lord of Monteagle made me.

St. Margaret's Church, Hornby.

In 1514 he was present as part of a military expedition of mainly northern levies from Lancashire and Cheshire to France alongside Sir Thomas Lovell, Marquis of Dorset and Thomas Darcy. This was more a demonstrative show of force with a series of skirmishes in response to French probing attacks around Guines by Antoine de Crequy. 

In the year following Stanley, Lovell and Dorset would return to England accompanying Mary Tudor following the death of her husband Louis XII.

He was present at the field of the cloth of Gold in 1520 and at the visit of Emperor Charles V in 1522.

He remained active in border defence and was called upon to raise men for Henry VIII’s 1522 Invasion of France, he was asked to serve in 1523 but was in decline, in a letter to Lord Darcy he says he is ‘so weak he ca neither go nor stand’ he would die later that year and is buried at St. Margaret's church, Hornby.

For this base of knights I wanted to show a mix of figures in older armour in contrast to Stanley and his retainers. This representing some of the older or less well off knights from his lands who lacked funds, inclination or time to find contemporary armour. Stanley in comparison a career soldier is wearing a fine white harness with skirt.

The figures are a mix of Perry and Steelfist miniatures. The banner was drawn in template for me by Ian Robertson and I hand painted it thereafter, many thanks Ian !

As Stanley was a commander he needs a trumpeter, this was a great opportunity for a bit of freehand work depicting the Stanley eagle and child livery badge upon the banner, a nod to his forthcoming peerage title.

I wanted one of the older knights to have a heraldic surcoat and had a couple more contenders leftover from my previous post. When I was doing the reading for the action that took place from Stanley’s arrival to the battle, one knight came up a few times as serving in his division and being slain at the battle, Sir John Booth of Barton c1459-1513, so I had to represent him in Stanley’s command.

The Booths of Barton were a prominent gentry family in Lancashire with links to the Stanley family by marriage. As a landed Lancastrian gentleman and kinsman of the Stanleys he would have been expected to join Edward Stanley when the county was called out.

Sir John was killed in the battle.

The Booths of Barton used boars heads in their arms, Sir John’s was fairly simple of three boars heads couped on a white field.

Here's the whole Stanley Division.

This isn't the last foray into the Stanleys at Flodden as I also intend to represent those sent from the Bishop of Ely under James Stanley who fought on the right in Lord Dacre's command.

I hope that was an interesting read.

Bye for now

Stuart