#duke stafford

[vixemi]

Y/N is in love with Stafford and he is in love with her but they’re kept apart by her father. She defies him and goes to Staffords home while he’s having a dinner party.

Stafford x f!reader.

————

The castle's grand hall was illuminated by a thousand flickering candles, casting a warm and inviting glow on the tapestries that lined the stone walls. Duke Edmund Stafford stood at the head of a long, ornate dining table, his eyes fixed on the doorway. He had not seen Y/N, the one who had captured his heart so many years ago.

As the heavy wooden doors swung open, a hushed silence fell over the room. Y/N entered, her beauty undiminished by the years that had passed. Her hair, the color of h/c, cascaded down her back, and her eyes sparkled with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. She had returned to the castle, her heart heavy with the memories of their love.

Their gazes met across the room, and it was as if the years between them had vanished in an instant. The Duke's heart quickened, and he crossed the hall in long strides. Y/N, unable to contain her emotions, rushed to meet him, and they embraced in a tight, passionate hug.

"Edmund," she whispered, her voice barely more than a sigh. "I could not stay away any longer. My heart will always belong to you, no matter what my father says.”

He looked into her eyes, filled with a mixture of longing and regret. "Y/N, I never stopped loving you. The days without you have been empty and cold."

The guests in the hall watched in silent awe as the Duke and Y/N professed their love for one another, their reunion rekindling a passion that had never truly died. The castle, once again, became a place of love and happiness, as they vowed to never let each other go again, no matter the challenges that lay ahead.

[eve-to-adam]

Book illustration - Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland with her daughters.

[musicalyeetreblr]

[forgottenarthur]

50. Writer's preference - "And what if it is not you?"

The barb stung and Arthur turned away as quickly as if she had struck him.

These walks had become something of a tradition between the Prince and former Princess over the rolling weeks. With the out of doors near unpassable, Arthur's mornings had shifted to a shorter indoor practice before dawn, followed by a brief repast and then a stroll through the Orangery with the Lady Aria. Though they still argued as often as they didn't, there was something free and flowing in these conversations -- a strange sense that no subject was off limits...And that every single one was somehow taboo. It was perhaps true that they had each been raised as royalty, but it seemed their worlds could not have been more different.

Today, the subject had fallen to that all-encompassing theme of his life, the most pressing topic in the empire, and the one least likely ever to be openly addressed: Roderick's line of succession. It was an ache in his gut, this, a hill he had run up all his childhood only to find a sheer rockface confronting him. Now, scrambling for footholds in the brutal cliffside, it was a race to the top against those he loved most -- a climb now far too high to risk the drop. It was success or the death of all meaning. But what was he to do? Throw his siblings from the sides? They too held on by meager fingertips and he could not bear to think of them dashed against the teeth of the unforgiving stone so far below.

Arthur's jaw clenched. He kept her pace, but he no longer looked at her as she spoke; heard her only as if from a great distance. What was there to say? Yet, her last words burned, searing like vinegar in his cuts, and he turned sharply towards her, a rush sounding in his head.

"What? You favor someone else?" he demanded, all effort at bluster or calm stripped away. Surprise seemed to register in his face and, pressing his eyes shut, he shook his head, realizing she meant this only as rhetoric and, with a look of defeat, he sighed; shook his head. "How should I know? It would be the end for me."

He didn't look at her, now, gaze straying upwards towards the gently nodding trees, branches heavy and sagging with fruit. He thought of the tart-sweet of them, tawny and opening with a kind of crack. Fibrous chambers of juice attended the tiny seeds at the center and this, then, was life. Even trees limned their children with sweet cushions against the harsh reality of the world around them. When he laughed, it was a bitter sound.

Sighing, Arthur shook his head. "Aria, I--" but he stopped. He'd not said her name so baldly before and he gestured, helpless, voice trapped within his throat.

Her eyes were dark: not mere chocolate, but something else as if the sea had leaked into them and tossed against stormy shores within her mind. Her face was set, but he could not read it. He searched for something written there, something designed for him to read: he wanted it. He knew the message he wished to read. A very simple message. He wanted to read it again and again, see it roiling within the storm of her eyes. But there was nothing. She was no harbor. She was, perhaps, another deathly drop.

Aria lifted her chin. "Go on."

"I don't know what will happen if my father chooses someone else any more than you do. But I do know I will be a threat to whoever is chosen, simply for having been in the running, and..."

And if it were Edmund who were selected, whom Arthur regarded as the most likely alternative, he would not expect to long outlive his father -- or even his father's choice. Enemies of the House of Calainon had a way of disappearing. Arthur was not altogether certain they even lifted a finger: they were witches, after all. Likely, all they needed do was wish for a thing, and their dark magic did the rest. Edmund might not wish him gone, perhaps...but Amira would not hesitate. He could not help but think that would make for a horrible ending, all the demons of hell rising at her command. His would be a silent end, he had no doubt, yet he knew, too, that if it were by Amira's hand, he would die howling.

If Aria had said something else, Arthur had not heard it. At last, she said: "And what if the Emperor doesn't choose? What happens to us all, then?"

Arthur stopped short, and Aria beside him. "Then it'd be war."

He walked out without another word.

[mywingsareonwheels]

Important components for a really good production of Richard III:

Richard should be a) played by an actor who is themself visibly disabled[1], b) especially early on really damn charming and sexy

Buckingham should be in blatant unrequited love with Richard

Elizabeth should be FRICKING AWESOME and absolutely outwitting Richard towards the end, not giving into him

there should be at least a few moments that make able-bodied audience members really rather uncomfortable and make physically disabled audience members laugh our arses off :D

Which is why the 2021 RSC version starring Arthur Hughes, Jamie Wilkes, and Kirsty Bushell is the best, I note. :D But if you know of any other productions that tick all of those boxes I'd love to hear about them. :-)

[1] Invisible and non-physical disabilities are So Fricking Valid and I have some myself, but when it comes to R3 the visibility is important. <3

[historicconfessions]

[richmond-rex]

Margaret of Anjou had the most intimate interest in the wedding in 1456 of her kinswoman, Marie, daughter of Charles, count of Maine, to Thomas Courtenay, the son and heir of the earl of Devon. That this was a court-contracted marriage is suggested by the fact that Marie's wedding gown was supplied by the king's Great Wardrobe [...] The second notable marriage of 1457 to be arranged at court was that between the king's cousin, Margaret Beaufort, countess of Richmond, and her third husband, Henry Stafford, second son of the duke of Buckingham. This additional bond among the king's blood relatives buttressed the Lancastrian regime and the royal family at a time when the survival of the dynasty rested on the young shoulders of Prince Edward, the only son and heir of King Henry VI and Queen Margaret.

— Ralph A. Griffiths, "The King's Court during the Wars of the Roses" | King and Country: England and Wales in the Fifteenth Century

It is, indeed, a striking fact that no aristocratic marriages of comparable significance took place outside the court circle in these crucial years before the onset of civil war. Most — if not all — of those that did take place were probably discussed at court among magnates — Staffords, Courtenays, Beauforts, Talbots, Berkeleys, Butlers, Greys and Percies — who were loyal to the house of Lancaster and prominent at King Henry's court.

[ilovetextingandscones]

u cant tell me this is not what happened

[yanumii]

Richard III and Henry Stafford from Requiem of the Rose King commissioned by @cyanoscarlet 💜 Thank you so much ✨

Commissions are currently closed, but I’m accepting waitlists! I’ll probably re-open them around early December if all goes well with my schedule :D

If you want to be added to the list (I operate on a first come first serve basis), kindly answer the form here ⭐️ ynmcommissions[.]carrd[.]co ⭐️ (please remove brackets– or you can check the link on my profile)

[nenenenely]

Which movie they went to see on July 21

[fideidefenswhore]

It is not easy to compare the scale of this display and the level of hospitality in Mary's household with those of her contemporaries; records for other elite households have not survived in sufficient quantity. Certainly, her household hospitality was less lavish than that offered at the king's court. A comparison between Mary's household expenditure and that of the duke of Buckingham during these years can be offered, however. In 1519, the Duke's household expenses totaled nearly £2,500. As noted, Mary's expenses during the early 1520s averaged around £1,100. This suggests that Mary's household could not compete with the establishments of the high aristocracy. For a landless minor, Mary's household was impressive indeed [; but] [f]or the heir to the throne, it was [fairly] modest.

Jeri L. McIntosh. From Heads of Household to Heads of State: The Preaccession Households of Mary and Elizabeth Tudor, 1516–1558.

[blackboar]

What do you think is the reason why the Duke of Buckingham betrayed Richard III? Does he want to be king?

I think he wanted to be king, not because I 100% believe it is but because other explanations are too flawed.

We can immediately dismiss the theory about Buckingham backstabbing Richard III because he refused to give him back his ancestral Bohun lands. Sources indicate that he was prepared to grant him the lands and while I've seen people arguing that Richard III was doing it too slowly, I think he would have eventually done it. Richard III was notoriously generous with his allies, and considering John Howard recieved a dukedom and +75 manors, I think Buckingham would have recieved whatever he saw fit (and he already recieved many valuable offices).

We can also dismiss the view of a 'moral revolt' against Richard III because he killed his nephews. The dissapearence of his nephews was so utterly predictable I cannot believe Buckingham didn't foresaw it. I don't think he cared that much about it.

The last theory is that he joined the rebellion to save his neck (Ross argue that) : after the death of his nephews, Buckingham saw Richard III as doomed and jumped ships to survive the forecoming regime change that the rebellion would ensure. It's not an impossible theory considering that the rebellion was very scary for Richard III. The basis of the Yorkist regime in the south essentially rebelled against him. Still, we do have debates about if Buckingham was even aware of those co-rebels considering his unreliability and Richard III's cause wasn't doomed considering he survived and could have survived Bosworth too. IMO that doesn't work but it's not implausible if he had a rush of panic.

I think he wanted to be king. He saw Richard III's usurpation as a first step in destabilizing the Yorkist regime. He saw Henry Tudor as a useful step for further destabilizing England and pushing forward the Beaufort claim he had. I don't think Richard III did any wrongdoing in his relationship with Buckingham. The only mistake Richard III made was trusting a bit too much, someone who had 0 issues throwing them over the bus, which is super weird.

I have mixed feelings about whether Henry Stafford's ambition was realistic. On paper, they're not: he's one of the mightiest peers of England, he does have royal blood (Beaufort plus Woodstock), and the royal succession was muddied enough in 1483 to allow his ascension. He attracted 0 regional support besides his retainers, showing his complete isolation. He was beaten by the dumbest, smallest warfare by the Vaughan. His retainers forsook him at the first hiccup.

River Severn 1, Henry Stafford 0.

His rebellion showed that he was a paper tiger like none other. Richard III could execute him without hesitation, considering nobody seemed to defend or regret him. This shows that more than his vast estates or blood legitimacy, Henri was personally unfit to accomplish his ambitions. He had all the aspects of an overmighty subject with none of its reality, which I find so fascinating.

[eve-to-adam]

Book illustration - Anne & Cecily Neville.

There's not much difference between a woman and a caged bear cub. We are prisoners in our own marriage, Cecily.

[musicalyeetreblr]

This might be insensitive but

Every time I see these panels

I’m always like sooo close 🤏 it’s actually treason

[une-sanz-pluis]

The same was found in later reigns; the Crown had inbuilt advantages which an energetic king could exploit when it came to securing land. Anne, countess of Stafford had little option but to accept the new division of the Bohun estates as laid down by Henry V. Joan, dowager countess of Hereford, who had held dower in the Bohun lands since the last earl's death in 1373, died in 1419. Henry V then brought a case for the redivision of the inheritance on the grounds that the profits of his share, inherited from his mother Mary de Bohun, were 100 marks less than those derived from the pourparty of Anne's mother Eleanor. Anne's arguments for accepting the original division were overruled and a new partition drawn up. Although this ostensibly still gave Anne greater profits than Henry, her responsibility for arrears due to the king from Brecon, which was allotted to her, and the growing problems of securing revenues from Welsh lordships, meant that she probably lost on the deal. Anne was also anxious to secure lands held by her father Thomas of Woodstock, and here persistence and determination paid off in the end and she secured the lordships of Oakham and Holderness. It is significant that when her father's attainder was reversed by Henry IV he 'forgot' Anne's claim and granted Holderness to his son Thomas, whose widow refused to surrender the lordship after his death in 1421. It appears that Anne did not secure the lordship until the year before she died.

Jennifer Ward, English Noblewomen in the Later Middle Ages

[pridewhatpride]

Buckrich Week Day 4: Actors AU

It isn't a real Actors AU if they aren't joking or laughing about the most tragic scene their characters share <3