By 11 March 1461 the situation in England is becoming a little clearer in the mind of the Milanese Ambassador to France. Though he has received some inaccurate news – the location of Queen Margaret – he seems increasingly confident in his assertions as to the state of affairs within England at the time.
An ominous, and reasonably accurate, prediction
The issue is expected within a fortnight; it will involve much cruelty, and decide many things, whatever be the event.
Prospero di Camulio’s assessment of the situation is summarised bluntly. The two parties fortunes are outlined. Revised information about the battles at St. Albans and Mortimer’s Cross are combined with an outline of the level of readiness of each party. The Queen’s forces are said to number 30,000 combatants. She is incorrectly said to be ‘towards the part of the island which faces French Britanny’ ie the South West, rather than her actual location which by this time was in northern England, at York. On the part of the Yorkists, it is said that the Earl of Warwick has a ‘great multitude’ of men whom are split into three divisions numbering 120,000 in total.
Whilst there are issues with the Milanese Ambassador’s figures and geography, the point is clear: matters are being brought to a head, and it will result in a lot of bloodshed.
The Role of the Sea
On this account he has provided a fleet at sea, so that she may not escape that way
Other letters within the Milanese archive indicate that there was a believe that the Queen was potentially due to receive military aid from the continent. On 10 March Karolus di Violis had written to the Duke of Milan of the Queen’s father, Rene of Anjou, King of Naples, raising armies. So too were the French making ready. The inference is that it was expected that the Lancastrian faction was likely to receive military support from the continent. For the Yorkist cause, preventing this from happening was important. So too was the prospect of the Lancastrian leadership taking flight to Europe in the event of a major Yorkist victory in the coming weeks. So far as Camulio was aware, Richard Neville Earl of Warwick was alert to this prospect and had readied the Yorkist controlled fleets to take command of the seas, in the Milanese’s view, to prevent Margaret of Anjou escaping.
Continental Affairs
As well as commentary on the situation within England, Camulio notes matters of concern on the continent. And these are of relevance to the cause of the Lancastrian and Yorkist factions within England. That the Burgundians have other matters under consideration, and have the Dauphin of France at their Court as those matters unravel, is noteworthy. A political crisis involving the Burgundians, Dauphin of France, and ‘My lord of Croi’ resulted in the Dauphin having ‘gone away in order not to be mixed up in these troubles’ and advice to diplomats not to travel to England at the time. If the continental politics were such that senior figures had their attention on potential clashes there, they would be less able, or inclined, to intervene in English affairs: which were clearly seen as being rather unpredictable at this point.
Letter of 11 March 1461 from the Milanese Ambassador to France to the Duke of Milan.
74. Prospero di Camulio, Milanese Ambassador to France, etc., to Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan.
On the 6th inst. I wrote various things to your Excellency by a servant of the Dauphin. I will repeat the news of the country of that time, and what has happened since. I wrote in that letter of the battle which the Queen of England fought against the late Duke of York, that duke being slain with one of his sons, as well as the father of the Earl of Warwick and two sons. There also perished in that battle some 1,500 men, besides many others in various other battles, which have taken place at the same time about the island. I also wrote how the son of the Duke of Burgundy, enraged against My lord of Croi, had laid a grave complaint against him before the Duke of Burgundy, and finally has formulated certain charges against my lord of Croi, which he claims to be capital. The matter is under consideration. Accordingly the Dauphin, who was with the Duke of Burgundy, has gone away in order not to be mixed up in these troubles, and he advised me not to think of going to the Duke until this matter was settled. He gave the same advice about my going to England, because things are very ill suited at present.
Since then letters and messengers have arrived from England, and I send herewith a copy of the letters to your Most Illustrious Lordship. Among the messengers has come one of the closest familiars of the Duke of Burgundy, whom he sent several days ago to the Earl of Warwick. He brought letters from the Earl of Warwick to the Dauphin, which I have seen, and they are very respectful and friendly, etc. They are to the effect that the king is going with all the forces of England against the queen, and he has 120,000 men, of whom the Earl of Warwick is chief and leader. He is going against the queen, who is towards the part of the island which faces French Britanny. On this account he has provided a fleet at sea, so that she may not escape that way. He has arranged this great multitude in three divisions: the first of 20,000, the second of 40,000, and the third of 60,000. The queen, however, is in a strong place, and they say she has some 30,000 combatants. The issue is expected within a fortnight; it will involve much cruelty, and decide many things, whatever be the event.
On the 3rd inst. the Earl of March won a battle against two of the princes of the island, who support the queen; 8,000 men fell in that battle, including, they reckon, 200 and more knights and noble squires. By that victory he recovered the little country of Wales, which is in the part of the island farthest away, towards Ireland. It is a lordship of the Duke of York, and therefore of his son. In fine those who consider the revolutions of this island declare that since the time of Caesar who conquered it, that kingdom has not suffered so many calamities as it has since the murder of the late Duke of Gloucester until now; and it seems that a great deal more is to follow.
The Legate has left England, so a gentleman of the Dauphin told me, and has got away from the uproar of the barbarians. A secretary of the Dauphin has returned from the Count of Saint Paul, kinsman of Barlandagar, and says they will do wonders for the Dauphin, God grant that they be deeds of France. Moreover the Dauphin tells me that the ambassadors of France will be in Italy at Venice, and those of the Duke of Modena have recently gone to the King of France, and he will tell me all that they do and say. I do not doubt it, because they are going by the way of Barlandagar, and that is what I do not like. My Lord I send you the advices which are given to me. If, in this country, they speak to me craftily or no they will probably do so in everything, but as I see that the Dauphin is proceeding straightforwardly in everything else, I believe it is all right; however I submit it to the better judgment of your Excellency, to whom I have thought it proper to report how and whence it came. I will send word of what happens day by day, so far as is possible, to your Excellency, to whom I humbly commend myself.
Nivelles in Brabant, the 11th of March, 1461.
[Italian; the part in italics deciphered.]‘Milan: 1461’, in Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts in the Archives and Collections of Milan 1385-1618, ed. Allen B Hinds (London, 1912), British History Online
Related Content
This letter is part of our series on the Road to Towton as told by the Milan State Papers.
Image credit
The image is an adaptation of an artists illustration of a Cog of the period. These were used mainly for commercial purposes but also formed part of the fleets utilised for military purposes in the English Channel and North Sea at the time. This particular example is more apt for northern fleets, as used by the Hanse. Original image here.