april 30th 1450
The Duke of Suffolk’s last day in England
The passage to mainland Europe by ship had already been organised and commissioned (possibly Ipswich) on Apr 6th. The Duke of Suffolk, whilst readying himself for the voyage sat down a wrote a letter to his son, aged 7, passing on some worldly advice. The letter is replicated below :-
My dear and only well-beloved son, I beseech our Lord in heaven, The Maker of all the world, to bless you, and to send you ever grace to love Him, and to dread Him ; to the which , as far as a father may charge his child, I both charge you, and pray you to set all your spirits and wits to do, and to know His holy laws and commandments, by the which ye shall, with His great mercy, pass all the great tempests and troubles of this wretched world.
And that also, weetingly, ye do nothing for love nor dread of any earthly creature, that should displease Him. And there as any frailty maketh you to fall, beseech His mercy soon to call you to Him again with repentance, satisfaction, and contrition of your heart, never more in will to offend Him.
Secondly, next Him above all earthly things, to be true liegeman in heart, in will, in thought, in deed, unto the king our alder most high and dread sovereign lord, to whom both ye and I be so much bound to: charging you, as father can and may, rather to die than to be the contrary, or to know any thing that were against the welfare or prosperity of his most royal person, but that as far as your body and life may stretch, ye live and die to defend it, and to let his Highness have knowledge thereof, in all the haste ye can.
Thirdly, in the same wise, I charge you, my dear son, alway as ye be bounden by the commandment of God to do, to love, to worship your lady and mother: and also that ye obey alway her commandments, and to believe her counsels and advices in all your works, the which dread not, but shall be best and truest to you.
And if any other body would steer you to the contrary, to flee the counsel in any wise, for ye shall find it naught, and evil.
Furthermore, as far as father may, and can, I charge you in any wise to flee the company and counsel of proud men, of covetous men, and of flattering men, the more especially, and mightily to withstand them, and not to draw, nor to meddle with them, with all your might and power: and to draw to you, and to your company, good and virtuous men, and such as be of good conversation, and of truth, and by them shall ye never be deceived, nor repent you of.
Moreover, never follow your own wit in no wise, but in all your works, of such folks as I write of above, ask your advice and counsel, and doing thus, with the mercy of God, ye shall do right well, and live in right much worship, and great heart’s rest and ease.
And I will be to you as good lord and father as my heart can think.
And last of all, as heartily and as lovingly as ever father blessed his child in earth, I give you the blessing of Our Lord and of me, which of His infinite mercy increase you in all virtue and good living: and that your blood may by His grace from kindred to kindred multiply in this earth to His service, in such wise as after the departing from this wretched world here, ye and they may glorify Him eternally amongst his angels in heaven.
Written of mine hand,
The day of my departing fro this land.
Your true and loving father
It would seem to me that this letter was written by a father, who loved his son, who was not going to see him again. Whether he expected trouble during his banishment or perhaps he would die of old age cannot be known.
The average life expectancy in the period was about 32-48, but the aristocracy’s life expectancy was around 63. As there was nothing to stop the Duke of Suffolk writing from exile (as you would expect him to do) whether openly or discreetly. I can only see this as a “last letter”, and that he expected some sort of retribution and soon. Probably not as soon as he thought…..
The Duke and some of his retinue, left for Calais.