Article on pages 13 - 14 of Dickon Independent issue 88

More On Von Poppelau

After reading the article about Nikolas von Poppelau in the last issue, a member sent me an email asking for members’ opinions on the following suggestion:

“The article raised the interesting prospect of Edward IV having been poisoned on the orders of King Louis, as to have done so would have been part of the latter's policy of isolating Burgundy from its sibling ally, especially when combined with a tacit support for Edward's successor's foes.”

One member commented: Interesting comment re Edward IV’s death; but wasn’t he supposed to have died after a bout of fishing and catching a cold? This wouldn’t fit with poisoning.

I replied: Yes he was, but it was so sudden and unexpected that rumours started about poisoning. I’m rereading all my Sharon Penman books and Geoffrey Count of Anjou and one of his sons both died very quickly after going swimming and getting a chill then a fever developed. So it could just have been an unfortunate accident.

Someone else said: You know me I love a conspiracy theory. I have read the account and obviously there is nothing in it to suggest that Louis poisoned Edward but in view of the situation in Burgundy you could see that Louis would have preferred a boy king in England. Add this to Richard Collins' theory that the Woodvilles poisoned Edward, anything could be possible. There may be evidence somewhere, there may not be. Richard Collins says that everyone just accepts that Edward died and then moves on to Richard and doesn't consider how Edward died.

Another member said: I was under the impression that he had been ill before and left with a condition that looked a little like poisoning and that it was this in combination with his sudden death that had raised eyebrows. There was also a theory that the queen poisoned him.

Someone else said: Regarding the death of Edward IV, it has been suggested he died (aged only 41) of the advanced stage of some sort of venereal disease. In view of his known promiscuity, this seems fairly plausible!

But one person rejected this idea: Richard Collins comes to the conclusion that it couldn't have been venereal disease because in 1483 there was no AIDS and no syphilis, which appeared from the New World after 1500. He says that "gonorrhea was probably present in the population but it is a condition that affects men mildly and is "best" seen in their female partner and their children. Neither Queen Elizabeth, Jane Shore, Elizabeth Lucy nor any of Edward's children show any signs whatsoever of being "poxed" and we know them over a long enough time to notice such a thing were it to be present in them. The conclusion must be that Edward did not have venereal disease, and that consequently he did not die of it." He also eliminated trauma, old age, coronary thrombosis, strokes and most infections. He gives evidence for those conclusions obviously and he checked things out with medical colleagues.

Another member contributed: I thought the "French Pox" or syphilis came home from France with Henry V's army after the Agincourt campaign therefore it would have been about during the reign of Edward IV. ...

While another agreed with me: I believe Edward wasn't poisoned and that it was a chill that led to his early death. We know that he was a womaniser, ate and drank more than he should therefore it is a possibility his immune system was not in a good condition. His liver was probably almost pickled which would not have helped. It would most likely be a similar outcome today for a man who led such a life. Interesting discussion...enjoy reading members’ comments.

I’ve had an email from a German member of the Richard III Society. After reading the report in the Bulletin she told me that the author had got his birthplace wrong (Dickon Independent 86: page 8). Poppelau is a little town/village near another bigger town called Legnica in south-western Poland. There are articles in the Ricardian about von Poppelau in 140: pages 239 - 248 and 145: pages 525 - 530, which covers his time with Richard III.

John Dening and R E Collins Secret History: The Truth about Richard III and The Princes.

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