PRINCES AND PRIDE

In my fascination with history as a young boy I began reading about little known things about European royalty in my spare time. One of the most intriguing stories I found was about two princes who lived in the 1400s.

King Edward IV from the great Yorkist Plantagenet clan reigned as sovereign of England after successfully fighting against the other royal clan, the Lancastrian Tudor clan. Edward's health began to fail and he became subject to an increasing number of ailments. Edward fell fatally ill at Easter 1483. He died on 9 April 1483. It is not known what actually caused Edward's sudden death. Pneumonia and typhoid have both been conjectured, but there was also the possibility of him having been poisoned.

Between the few days of falling ill and his eventual death, he was able to change some letters in his will making his brother Richard, Duke of York as Lord Protector of the Heir Apparent, twelve-year-old son, Edward V of England. To ensure accountability, the king made his brother in law Anthony Woodville, the 2nd Earl of Rivers co-protector of crown prince Edward. When the king died, Richard had Anthony arrested and executed for allegedly attempting to assassinate the prince leaving Richard the sole protector of his nephew. In a pride-driven turn of events, Richard had his nephews 12-year old Edward and 10-year old Richard arrested and locked in the Tower of London.

On June 22, 1483, a statement on behalf of Lord Protector Richard was issued and read all over England declaring that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was illegitimate and that, in consequence, Richard, not his nephew, was the rightful king.

Determined to take the crown for himself Richard III kept the two princes locked within the grounds of the Tower of London. But as long as they were alive they remained a threat to his power. There were reports of their early presence in the courtyards etc., there are no records of them having been seen after the summer of 1483. Their fate remains unknown, and it is presumed that they either died or were killed there. There is no record of a funeral.

Nearly 200 years later in 1674, while an extensive renovation was being done to the White Tower of London, two skeletons of pre-adolescent children clad in velvet cloth buried in a pile of rocks were dug beneath the staircase of the tower. They were immediately believed to be the remains of the two princes who died because one man was too proud and greedy to keep power and the throne to himself.

The bones were taken to the Westminster Abbey to be buried among royals.

Power. Pride.

It's pretty amazing how much that five letter word could corrupt many. Power isn't bad. But when another five letter word takes over, Pride, then it's another story. CS Lewis wrote in his classic Mere Christianity, "...Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken and unchaste people. But pride always means enmity..."

Contrary to our popular notion that pride keeps our heads held high it actually makes us look down. Lewis continues, "A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something or Someone that above you."

PSALM 10:4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

Pride is the root of the election-related Ampatuan Massacre where 57 people died. Pride is the root of Tiger Woods' marital "transgression." It is the reason why there is a war going on somewhere in the world. Pride is the chief cause why Adam and Eve fell trapped in the statement, "you shall be like God." Who wouldn't want to be like God? Who doesn't want supernatural abilities? Who doesn't want power?

CS Lewis continues, In God, you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that, and therefore know yourself as nothing in comparison, then you do not know God at all.