Tiptoft in the War of the Roses
Armed with his new learning, Tiptoft returned to England in 1461, coinciding with Edward IV of York being crowned King of England. He was immediately awarded the Order of the Garter, and his new expertise in law may have influenced Edward’s decision to elect Tiptoft to Constable of the Tower of London and Lord High Constable. Scholars have long-murmured that Tiptoft’s lengthy absence from England during the early struggles of the War of the Roses was a tactical ploy to avoid the uncertainty at home, perhaps fearing that his change of allegiance in the 1450s would prove his undoing.
Indeed, as the son of a prominent Lancastrian, and a man who had changed his own allegiance to the House of York through marriage and political office, Tiptoft would have feared for his life if the regime failed, and his behaviour whilst Lord High Constable suggests that he was determined to maintain Yorkist power at all costs. In this position, Tiptoft showed no clemency to opponents of Edward IV, and summarily executed almost all of the accused brought before him. He also resorted to torture to uncover Lancastrian plots, his name becoming one of the most feared in the land.
It is worth briefly discussing the offices he held. The Constable of the Tower of London was effectively in charge of defending London, the seat of power in England and to this day the home of the royal family: only the most trusted subject could be honoured with the title. Similarly, to join the Order of the Garter, a group of 24 knights picked solely by the king, signified the sovereign’s acknowledgement of a subject’s loyalty and outstanding military service. In the case of Tiptoft, it can be surmised that his ruthlessness and great learning also helped his cause.
As time passed, Tiptoft grew more cruel. Appointed again as Deputy of Ireland, he executed the Earl of Desmond along with his two infant sons for good measure. The nadir of his cruelty came in 1469, however, when putting down a rebellion led by the Earl of Warwick: ‘[20] persones of gentylmen and yomenne were hangede, drawne, and quartered, and hedede; and after that thei hanged uppe by the leggys, and a stake made scharpe at bothe endes, whereof one ende was putt in att bottokys, and the other ende ther heddes were putt uppe one’.
The cruel spectacle backfired, however, as John Warkworth’s Chronicle continues: ‘the peple of the londe were gretely displesyd’, and in 1470 the usurped Henry VI returned to the throne. Tiptoft was immediately arrested and condemned, and his execution was postponed due to the vast crowds who wished to witness his death. John Tiptoft was beheaded at Tower Hill, London, on 18th October 1470, and begged his executioner to kill him with three strokes to signify the Holy Trinity. 31 books from Tiptoft’s personal collection survive, along with his translations of Cicero’s De amicitia (Concerning Friendship) and Buonaccorso’s Declaration of Nobleness.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester”.
Kohl, Benjamin. “Tiptoft, John, 1st earl of Worcester”. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.