Chronicles of the White Rose of York (Full Text)

THE CHRONICLES OF THE WHITE ROSE OF YORK. 
THE MONKISH HISTORIANS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
The following volumes are now published : 
The Historical Works of Venerable Bede, containing (Vol. I.) 
his Ecclesiastical History ; (Vol. II.) Lives of the Abbots 
of Wbremouth and Jarrow ; Life of St. Cuthbert ; Letters ; 
Description of the Holy Places, etc. etc., translated by the Rev. 
J. A. Giles, D.C.L., 2 vols. 8vo. price 1/. 1«. . 1843 
Geoffrey of Monmouth's British History, translated by A. 
Thomson, Esq., Svo. price 10«. . . 1843 
Richard of Devizes' Chronicle of the Deeds of Richard the 
First ; also : Richard of Cirencester's Description of 
Britain ; translated by H. Hatcher, Eso., 8yo. price 8«. 1842 
The Historical Works of Gildas and Nennius, the earliest 
British Historians ; translated by the Rev. J. A. Giles, D.C.L., 
8yo. price 8«. . . . . 1842 
The Chronicles of the White Rose of York. A Series of Con- 
temporary Records of the Eventful Reign of King Edward the 
Fourth, 8vo. price 12«. . . . 1843 
THE CHRONICLES OF THE WHITE ROSE OF YORK. 
HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS 
PROCLAMATIONS, LETTERS, AND OTHER CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THB REIGN OF KING EDWARD THE FOURTH. 
WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, AND A COPIOUS INDEX. 
JAMES BOHN, 12, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND. MDCCCXLV. LONDON: WILLIAM STEVENS, PRINTER, BKLL YARD, 
TEMPLE BAR. 
TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 
ALBERT EDWARD PRINCE OF WALES, 
THIS VOLUME RECORDING THE DEEDS OF HIS ILLUSTRIOUS ANCESTOR KING EDWARD THE FOURTH 
IS INSCRIBED BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS' 
OBEDIENT AND OBLIGED SERVANT, 
THE PUBLISHER. 
CONTENTS. 
PAGE 
I. Advertisement . . . . iii 
II. Historical Introduction . . . xiii 
Siege of Bamburgh Castle . . Ixxxvi 
III. Hearne's Fragment of an old Chronicle, from 1460 to 1470 . . . . .5 
IV. History of the Arrival of Edward IV. in England, and the final Recovery of his Kingdoms from 
Hemy VI. A.D. 1471 . . . .35 
v. Dr. John Warkworth's Chronicle of the first thirteen 
Years of King Edward the Fourth . . .101 
VI. The Last ten Years of the Reign of King Edward 
the Fourth, extracted from original Letters and Docu- 
ments ..... 145 
Chap. I. His Domestic Habits, courteous Demeanour, and affectionate Care of his Children . . . 145 
Chap. II. His Foreign Policy . . 155 
Chap. III. His Domestic Policy . .171 
Chap. IV. Literature and Art . . .190 
Chap. V. The Royal Brothers, Edward IV. Clarence, and Gloucester ..... 212 
Chap. VI. The same subject . .241 
Chap. VIL The Royal Brothers, Edward IV. and Richard III. 254 
VII. Manner and Guiding of the Earl of Warwick at Angers, from 15 July to 14 Augt. 1470 . . 229 
VIII. Appendix. Usurpation of Richard the Third . . 271 
IX. Index . . . . .283 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
Portrait of King Edward the Fourth, from an original Picture belonging to the Royal Society of Antiquaries, 
Frontispiece Plan of Calais, when in possession of the English in the fifteenth century, from an original sketch 
Tournament of Smithfield 
Edward the Fourth, from the Mirror for Magistrates 
Edward the Fifth, from the same 
Richard the Third, from the same 
The following Historical Documents, written in the Vernacular Language in the Reign of King Edward the Fourth, by eyewitnesses of the transactions they describe, are now first presented to the reader, freed from the repulsive and uncouth orthography of that period. 
It is acknowledged by all writers of English History, that our Kingdom has fewer authentic records of the transactions, during the reigns of Henry VI. Edward of IV. and Richard III., than of many earlier periods, and that those we have ''are confused, mutilated and 
disjointed. They, who wrote History in those times, had no talents for the task; and there was a ferocity abroad among the partizans of both the rival houses, which prevented many from even assembling the materials of History." 
The introduction of the art of printing, by the facility 
it afforded to multiply the great works of the Classic 
ages, rendered them available to all. In thus rescuing 
the Literature of Greece and Rome from the neglect 
into which it had fallen during the long period of Nor- 
man sway, our early printers and their patrons, consider- 
IV ADVERTISEMENT. 
ing the transactions of their own times as of secondary 
importance, look no pains to perpetuate any records of 
that period ; whilst the writers of Manuscripts, seeing, 
as it were, their occupation annihilated by the new art, 
sought employment in other channels. 
This is much to be lamented, and there is great pro- 
bability, that if the documents preserved in many of 
the houses of the noble families, whose ancestors took 
part in those stirring events, were carefully examined, 
much new light would be thrown upon that portion of 
our History. 
The importance of thus examining the MSS. collec- 
tions which still exist is fully borne out by the publica- 
Paston Let- tion of the Paston Family Letters, by Sir John Fenn ; 
tera, Ellis's J ^ J 
pii^toS"^ the Collection of Original Letters, by Sir Henry Ellis ; 
Correspon- 
dence, gjjj ^jjg Plumpton Correspondence, by Mr. Stapleton. 
The additional light, thus afforded, by which to estimate 
the causes of the instability of life and property in those 
days, alone enables the historian to account for trans- 
actions, which, but for such a clue, would be considered 
little better than the fictions of a romance. 
To the industry and research of those eminent anti- 
quaries Leland and Hearne we are indebted for the pre- 
servation of two of the documents contained in the 
wark- present volume : Dr. Warkworth's Chronicle and the 
worth's 
Historical Fragment, quoted by all our historians. In 
the Second volume of Leland's Collectanea, First Edi- 
tion, p. 295, are numerous extracts, amounting to nearly 
ADVERTISEMENT. V 
a transcript of the former. Mr. Hartshome in his 
" Book-rarities of the University of Cambridge/' p. 390, 
has the merit of having discovered, after the lapse of 
three centuries, the volmne extracted from by Leland. 
Mr. Hmiter, in the " Appendix to the Reports of the 
Record Ck)mmission,*' published in 1837, acting upon 
the information furnished by Mr. Hartshome, again 
pointed out this important volume, and Mr. J. O. Halli- 
well has recently given a verbatim copy of this Chro- 
nicle, preserving it's obsolete orthography, as his contri- 
bution to the Camden Society. It is to be regretted 
that for the sake of the general reader he did not adopt 
the plan of Sir John Fenn, by placing opposite to the 
original text, a transcript in more modem spelling. Dr. 
John Warkworth was Master of St. Peter's College, 
Cambridge, from A. D. 1473 to A. D. 1498. From 
the Register of Donations to the College he appears to 
have presented his Chronicle in 1483. 
Hearne's " Fragment of an old English Chronicle," Heame*! 
Fragment. 
was probably written by a member of the Howard family. 
The little information which could be obtained respecting 
it's author, is given at p. 3, in the short notice prefixed 
to the Chronicle itself. The writer was evidently a 
person of consideration, and a staunch Yorkist. The 
date of it''s compilation must have been between the 
years 1500 and 1522, as Thomas Howard, Duke of 
Norfolk, to whom he refers as Lord Treasurer, held that 
office during that period. 
VI ADVERTISEMENT. 
The History " ThE HiSTORY OF THE ArRIVAL OF EdWARD IV. IH 
of the Arrival 
o^Edward jjngla^d and the final Recovery of his Kingdoms from 
A.D. 1471. 
Henry VI. A. D. 1471," is preserved in Stowe's Trans- 
cripts (HarL MSS., No. 543.) By permission of the 
Trustees of the British Museum, Mr. John Bruce, 
F.S.A. has given an accurate transcript to the Members 
of the Camden Society. However important a docu- 
ment may be, it loses half it's utility if not accompanied 
by such a Key as will render it available to the general 
reader. In the present case the many barbarous words, 
and most uncouth spelling particularly require such 
aid. In copying out this most valuable Yorkist Memoir, 
the orthography of the present day has been adopted, 
and the interpretation of all obsolete words given within 
brackets (in italic letters), whilst the many redundant 
terms which would otherwise confuse, are inclosed within 
brackets of this description [ ]. Whatever informa- 
tion could be obtained of the Anonymous writer is pre- 
fixed to the Narrative itself. The slur he attempts to 
cast upon the dying Warwick is unworthy of a noble 
mind, and from the total absence of a personal reference 
to the important battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, it 
may reasonably be concluded that the author followed a 
more peaceable calling than that of arms. Mr. Sharon 
Turner's Tumcr, who ucvcr uses secondary evidence in his in- 
History, 
^^jJP-^®' valuable History, where Contemporary records are ob- 
tainable, has availed himself of our Narrative. Though 
transcribed by Stowe from Mr. Fleetwood's book, our 
note. 
ADVERTISEMENT. Vll 
industrious Annalist does not appear to have made use of 
it in his own chronicle. 
To Sir Henry Ellis we are indebted for " The Manner Manner and 
" Guiding of 
AND Gumma op the Earl op Warwick at Angiehs, wl^k°^ 
which is here merely put into modem spelling, in other 
respects only transcribed from his Ck)llection of Original 
Letters, vol. I. p. 182, Second Series. 
In selecting facts from Original Letters and other original ut- 
tere of the 
DOCUMENTS of the period the Editor's object was to furnish ^^^' 
the evidence of eye witnesses as to the transactions of the 
last years of the eventful reign of Edward the Fourth. 
The Narrative op the Visit op Lord Grauthuse, Lord Graut- 
huae's Visit 
Earl of Winchester, Governor of Holland, to Edward the Ed^ iv. 
Fourth in 1472, is a graphic picture of the domestic 
life of our Sovereigns in the fifteenth century. It was 
communicated by Sir Frederick Madden to the Royal 
Society of Antiquaries, and published by them in the 
26th volume of the Archseologia. 
Stowe's Transcripts, preserved in the British Mu- stowe's 
Transcripts, 
seum ; MS. L. 9 in the College of Arms, containing an ^^' 
account of the siege of Bamburgh Castle in 1464 ; and 
the Close Rolls, X. Edward IV. are the principal MSS. 
authorities quoted in the Introduction, which contains 
a cursory sketch of those events, consequent on the Mar- 
riage of Henry the Sixth with Margaret of Anjou, which 
ultimately led to the dethronement of the former, and 
the accession of Edward the Fourth to the throne. The 
subjoined list of Authorities will furnish the reader with 
Till Ajy^EKTlSEMEST . 
the means of obtaining all the infonnation he mar desire 
concerning this most eventful period of our History; 
though he must ever bear in mind the party bias of the 
writers, particularly of those whose narratives were com- 
piled after the down£dl of Richard the Third, during 
the succeeding reigns of the Tudor Dynasty. The 
Editor has endeavoured to bring into chronolo^cal order 
the scattered fragments of various authors, introducing 
letters, proclamations, and other documents of the time, 
and has thus, in a great measure, been enabled to give 
the History of the Rise and Fall of the House of York 
in the words of eye witnesses. Should this volume 
meet with encouragement from the literary public, a 
similar collection of the disjointed fragments, having 
reference to the reigns of the three Sovereigns of the 
House of Lancaster, will follow under the title of ^' The 
CHBOmCLES OF THE ReD RoSE." 
LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES, 
QUOTED IN THE ENSUING PAGES. 
1. ScRiPTORss Rerum Anolicarum, (cura Fell) folio Oxonii 1684 
This Tolume contains : HisTORiiB CROTLANDiiB Continuatio. 
2. Liber Niger Scaccarii, cura Th. Hearnii, 2 vols. 8to. OxotUi 1728 
The Second volume contains: Wilhblmi Wtrcestri Annalbs. 
3. Lelandi Collectanea, edidit Th. Hearne, 6 vols. 8to. Oxonii 1716 
The Second volume contains : Warkworth's additions to 
Caxton's Chronicle. 
4. Rossi Warwicensis Historia Rboum ANOLiiB, cura Th. Heame ; 
8vo. .... Orontt 1716 
5. Sprotti Chronica, cura Tho. Heamii, 8vo. . Oxonii 1719 
At the end of this Tolume is contained the curious Fragment given 
at p. 5. 
6. Ottbrbourne et Whethbmstbdb db Rebds Anolicis, {temp, 
Edwardi IV.) cura T. Heame ; 2 vols. 8vo. . Oronit 1732 
In the Second volume will also be found : Jo. Blackman Collecta- 
rium Mansuetudinum et Bonorum Morum Regis Henrid VI. 
7. PoLTDORi Veroilii Historia Anolica ; 2 vols, small 8vo. 
Gatufoot, «. a. 
8. Memoirbs de Philippe de Commines; 18mo. 
Amtt. (Blzevier) 1648 
9. HiSTORIE OF THE ArRIVALL OF EpWARD IV. IN ENGLAND, and 
the finall Recoverye of his Kingdomes from Henry VI. A.D. 
M,CCCC,LXXI. edited by J. Bruce, Esq. 4to. Lond. 1838 
10. Warkvitorth's Chronicle of the First thirteen Years of King Ed- 
ward the Fourth, edited by J. 0. Halliwell, Esq. 4to. ib. 1839 
11. ARCHiEOLOGiA, or MiscelUncous Tracts relating to Antiquity, vol. 
xxvi. 4to. .... Lond. 1835 
In this volume is found an account of Lord Grauthuse's visit to 
King Edward the Fourth. 
12. Ellis's Original Letters, illustrative of English History ; Second 
Series ; 4 vols. 8vo. . Lond. 1827 
The first volume contains an Account of the Manner and Guiding 
of the Earl of Warwick at Anglers. 
13. Original Letters written during the Reigns of Henry VI. 
Edward IV. and Richard III. (chiefly by members of the 
Paston Family ;) edited by Sir John Fenn ; 5 vols. 4to. 
Lond, 1787—1823 
X LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED. 
14. EXCERPTA HiSTORICA, HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THB ReIGN 
OF Edward the Fourth ; edited by W. H. Black, Esq. roy. 
8vo. ..... 1830 
15. Habinoton's Historie of King Edward the Fourth. Lond. 1640 
16. The Poems of Lewis Gltn Cothi; edited by the Rev. J. Jones, 
and the Rev. W. Davies ; 8to. . . 1838 
This volmne contains an Introductory Essay on the Wars of the 
Rival Roses, by Mr. Jones. 
17. Fabyan's Chronicle, or Concordance of Histories ; folio. Lond, 1559 
18. Hardyng's Chronicle, with Continuation ; 4to. Lond. 1543 
19. Grafton's Chronicle at large, etc. folio . Lond, 1569 
20. Hall's Union of the two noble and illustrious Families 
OF Lancaster and York; folio . Lond. 1550 
21. Holinshed's Chronicles, with Continuation; 2 vols. fol. Lond, 1586 
22. Stowe's Abridgment of the English Chronicle; 8vo. 
Lond. 1618 
23. Henry's History of Great ' Britain, 12 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1814 
24. Rapin's History of England, with Tindal's Continuation ; 21 vols. 
8vo. .... Lond. 1757—59 
25. Hume's History of England; 8 vols. 8vo. . Lond. 1783 
26. Turner's History of England, during the Middle-Ages, 3 vols. 
4to. (voL III.) . . . Lond. 1814—26 
Forming vols. 3, 4, & 5, of his History of England. 
27* Lingard's History of England ; 8 vols. 4to. (vol. III.) 
Lond. 1819—29 
28. Rotuli Parliamenti, published by the Commissioners of Public 
Records ; 6 vols, folio . . Lond. 1805 — 12 
29. Rymeri Foedera, Conventiones, Litterae et Acta Publica ; 20 vols. 
folio .... Lond. 1704—35 
30. Rafin's Acta Rsgia, an Account of the Treaties, Letters, and 
Instruments published in Rymer's Foedera; folio Lond. 1732 
31. Prynne's Exact Abridgement of the Records in the Tower 
OF London, originally compiled by Sir Robt. Cotton ; folio 
Lond. 1657 
32. England's Happiness in a Lineal Succession of the Crown, etc. 
(the Bloody Wars between the Two Houses of York and Lan- 
caster;) 12mo. . . . Lond. 1685 
33. Memoires d'Angleterre, contenant l^Histoure des deux Roses, etc. 
18mo. .... Anut. 1726 
34. DuGD ale's Baronage of England ; 2 vols, folio. Lond. 1675 — 76 
35. Bbatson's Political Index, to the Histories of Great Britain and 
Ireland ; 3 vols. 8vo. . . . Lond. 1806 
Sir Walter Scott's novel of Quentin Durward ; Miss Strickland's Lives 
of the Queens of England, vol. iii. ; Bulwer's Last of the Barons ; and 
Prevost Vie jde Marguerite d'Anjou ; embrace the same period of history. 
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION, 
CONTAINING A 
CURSORY SKETCH 
OF THE EVENTS WHICH LED TO THE 
DETHRONEMENT OF HENRY THE SIXTH 
AND THE 
(iToronation of dStHx^nxb tfie ;ffo\xxtft. 
Compiled from Original Documents, 
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INTRODUCTION. 
The Civil Wars of the Two Houses of York and Lan- a .d i444. 
caster may be said to have commenced with the Usur- 
pation of Bolingbroke A.D. 1399 and to have continued 
to the Battle of Bos worth Field in 1485. The events, 
however, which ultimately led to the expulsion of the 
Bed Rose, and the exaltation of it's paler rival must be 
traced to the marriage * of Henry the Sixth with Mar- 
garet of Anjou in 1444. The Earl of Suffolk, William TheEtriof 
de la Pole, who had been employed in negociating this B^i«tei"the 
marriage in France, was created Marquis and after- n^myVu 
wards Duke of Suffolk, and so ingratiated himself, both of a^juu. 
with the King and Queen, that he gradually sup- 
planted all his colleagues. The Cardinal Beaufort had 
already retired in disgust from the Court, and the King s 
uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, seldom attended the 
council, but to oppose the plans, or to protect himself 
from the intrigues of the royal favourite. Misunder- {jvhetham. 
standings consequently arose between the uncle and' •»*''^ • 
nephew, which increased to such a degree, that on the 
^ <* After this spousage the Kings's ' Jerasalem in the Abbey of Titch- 
fiieadf feU from him ; the lords of | field, in the county of Southampton. 
his realm feU into divisions amongst 
themselTes ; the commons rebelled 
against their natural prince ; fields 
were fought ; many thousands slain ; 
and finally the King deposed, his 
son slain, and his Queen sent home 
again, with as much misery and sor- 
row, as she was received with pomp 
and triumph." — (HalTi Chromcle^ 
p. 205.) <' A.D. 1444 and in the 
23rd year of King Henry VI. he 
B^arried the Princess, the daughter 
of the King of Naples, Sicily and 
On the 30th of May 1445 was the 
Coronation of Margaret, Queen to 
Henry the Sixth, at Westminster. 
And after the Coronation, for three 
days there were held before the 
Sanctuary at Westminster noble 
sports for Lords and People, the 
King and Queen gracing them with 
their presence. And in the same 
year the Earl of Stafford was created 
Duke of Buckingham, and the Earl 
of W^arwick, Duke of Warwick.'* — 
{W. Wyrceitter^ pp. 462, 463.) 
ISTRODUCTION. 
[KlNfi HE? 
Parliament^ liaving assombled at Biirj-St.-EdmiindB, on 
the 10th of February, 14i7, to which Gloucester had 
repaired from his castle of Devizes, he was arrested on 
a charge of high-treason, by Lord Beaumont, Constable 
of England, and seventeen days afterwards found dead in 
his bed, without any marks of violence,^ It was said 
that he died of apoplexy, though it was suspected that 
he had been privately murdered by the orders of Suffolk. 
In considering this event more fully in " the Chronicles of 
the Red Rose" we shall probably be enabled to prove, 
on the authority of his friend. Abbot Whethamatede, 
that he died, in the words of the conscientious and reli- 
gious Henry, " touched and stricken by God, as disloyal 
to his King." Within six weeks of his nephew's death, 
the Cardinal Beaufort expired at his palace of Wolvesey, 
distributing his immense wealth chiefly in charitable 
bequests, of which the Hospital of St. Cross, at Win- 
chester still attests his munificence. The highly wrought 
scene of this prelate's death-bed, is a fiction of uui- im- 
mortal poet, founded upon the improbable account given 
by Hall. An eyewitness furnishes us with these last 
particulars of his life. " Three weeks after the death of 
the Duke of Gloucester, the Cardinal ordered himself to 
' " The Knights of the shire re- 
ceived orders to come in arma ; tha 
mea of Suffolk were irrHjed: nn- 
meroas guards were pisced round 
the King's residence : and patroles 
daring the night watched all the 
roads leading to the town." — {Lin- 
gard, vol. iii. p. 450.) 
^ " A parlisnient held at Bury, 
where Humphrey the good Dnke of 
Gloucester died, (he friend of virtue 
and of his country ; but chiefly the 
staunch promoter of the clergy." — - 
(IT. Wsrcfsler, p. 463.) '■ His 
arrest and close cnstody thren him 
into a sickness, which destroyed him 
in a few days." — {Whelhttnaledt, 
p. 365.) " He died on 23rd of 
February, 1447."— (W. Wyrcester. 
p. 464.) " For his hononrable and 
liberal demeanour he was named the 
good Duke of Gloucester."— (Pa - 
byan, p. 444.) " Leo Aretino de- 
dicated to him his translation of 
Aristotle's Politics; Peter deMonte, 
hia book on Virtne and Vice : Cas- 
teliio hia Work on the Comparison 
of Study and a Military Life I Peter 
Candidus his translation of Plato's 
Republics. He was the patron of 
Lydgate, the Poet. andTitua Livioa, 
the Hiatorian." " He was buried at 
St, Albans."— (Sioioe, p. 174.) 
" Henry Beaufurt, Cardinal of 
England, brother to King Henry 
the Fourth, died on the 11th of 
April 1447."— I fT, WyrceHer. p. 
4S4.) " He was greatly dlstin- 
guiahed amongst all the nobility for 
his probity, wisdom, riches, and 
glory."— (/rij(.&oj(i.OMt.p.B210 
THE SIXTH.] 
INTBODUCnON. 
XY 
be carried into the great hall of his palace of Wolvesey, A.p. 1447. 
where the clergy of the city and the monks of the Ca- ^^liiH^^' 
thedral were assembled. There he was placed, whilst the "** ^^'^ 
dirge was chaunted, the funeral service performed, and 
his will read publicly.'* The next morning they assem- 
bled again: the mass of Requiem was celebrated, and 
his will was again read, with several new codicils/' His 
executor offered the King a present of <f 2000 (equal 
in value to <f 20,000 in the present day,) which the King 
refused saying : ^^ He was always a most kind uncle to {BUukman, 
me, whilst he lived : God reward him : Fulfil his inten- p. 294.} 
tions: I will not take his money.'* It was presented to 
Eton College, and King's College Cambridge, which 
Henry had just founded. 
Thus within a few weeks were removed two of the 
principal supporters of the House of Lancaster, and 
though the uncle and nephew were violently opposed to 
each other, their one bond of unity was the upholding of 
the descendant of Henry the Fourth on the throne of his 
grandfather, who had raised their House to the crown. 
Henry was doomed to experience a harder fate unpoouia. 
than had fallen to the lot of any of our Sovereigns be- Henry's mar- 
fore. Married to one of the most beautiful and accom- 
plished women in Europe, whose affection met a mutual 
return in the King's breast, he had a right to anticipate 
a happy future. But the circumstance of Anjou and 
Maine having been ceded to her father gave rise to 
serious discontent. From Dr. James's MS. extracts from 
Dr. Gascoigne's Manuscript, preserved in the ^T!\iv^^ootmMSS, 
Museum, " we glean the angered and disrespectful feel- p- 1^0 ' 
ings with which the criticising part of the nation now 
contemplated that event, and the remarks they made 
upon it." Dr. Gascoigne was Chancellor of the Univer- 
^ His wealth was immense. *' He 
appears to have lent to the crown in 
one year, ;^20,000 ; in the next 
jl^jO.OOO; aiMkin another ;^50,000. 
Afterwards £6000 ; £18,000 ; 9000 
marcs, and 7000 marcs, and to have 
given the King 13,350 marcs for 
some castles and manors/ '-^(TVir- 
ner^ vol. iii. p. 152.) 
62 
p. 20S-B.) 
xri iNTRODrcnoN. [king iirnry 
sity of Oxford at the time. " Lately," he says, " in a 
certain Kingdom, a woman was married to a certain 
King, and the person who contracted this marriage, by 
a secret and false compact, alienated a great duchy from 
this Kingdom." — " England received no advantage with 
Queen Margaret, but the loss of Anjou and Maine, 
which her husband Henry VI. gave for her under his 
great seal to the King, her father." — " The King and 
Council authorized Adam Molins, the Bishop of Chi- 
chester, to give up these Provinces, who delivered them 
to Rene her father." At first no notice was taken of 
these complaints, but they became louder and louder, and 
Suffolk's name was coupled with them. He demanded 
•■ to be confronted with his accusers in presence of the 
King and Council. He obtained the required hearing, 
and was pronounced not guilty. A Royal Proclamation 
enjoined silence on his accusers. 
Some difficulties arose as to the terms of the cession 
of Anjou. Charles determining to bring the matter to 
an issue invested it's Capital with an army. The Bishop 
of Chichester was sent over, and delivered up the entire 
Province, stipulating for a truce of two years, and that 
the English, who held grants of land should receive the 
value of a ten years purchase. Henry at the same time 
made a protest that he did not resign the sovereignty of 
Anjou, but only it's actual possession, on condition that 
the revenue should be enjoyed by Rene and Charles of 
Anjou, the father and uncle of Queen Margaret. The 
consequences of having thus ceded these important pro- 
vinces was the entire loss of Normandy. The aspiring 
Charles availed himself of the circumstance of a party of 
soldiers, who had been thrown out of employ by the ces- 
sion of Anjou, having pillaged the town of Fougeres,* in 
' " In U48, an English Knight | truce! "nd thia was the occssion 
Damed Sir FraiiciadeAragDiiiB took that after (worrfs) the Frenchmen 
■ towd of Norinsudynaaied Pogiera. gut all NarmaDdy." — {Slove, p. 
{Pangtret, in Bretagne,) against the | 174.) 
THE SIXTH.] INTBODUCnON. Xvil 
Bretagne, to demand so exhorbitant a sum as compensa- a.d. i448. 
tion, that the impossibility of it^s payment might afibrd 
him a pretext for breaking the truce. The Duke of So- 
merset applied through the Abbot of Oloucester in Par- 
liament for succours in 1448, and as this masterly com- 
position is one of the finest specimens of the English 
language of that period it is given here entire. 
" Credence by my Lord of Somerset^ Lieutenant ^/^^""^^^ 
France and Normandy^ committed to the Lord Hastings^ SeStfcJ" 
Chancellor of France^ and the Abbot of Gloucester^ ^^^^^^ 
oj)ened by the mouth of the said Abbots in the Po^rlior'^^^^^^^' 
ment by the Kings Commandment, both to the Lords and 
to the Commons.'" 
^^ It is not unknown to your great discretions, how it 
liked our sovereign Lord not long ago, to commit the 
governance of the country now being under his obeisance 
in his realm of France and Dutchy of Normandy, to the 
high and mighty Prince my Lord of Somerset. The 
which prince in his notable wisdom seeing by experience 
the great continual and daily dangers, that there be 
done by the adversaries ; — seeing also the very likelihood 
within short time of intollerable hurt thereof, unless 
then convenable and speedful remedy be prudently pur^ 
veyed here : sent hither my Lord Hastings Chancellor of 
France, and me in his company, with letters of Credence 
to our sovereign Lord ; to let his Highness have know- 
ledge of the doubtful and dangerous disposition of that 
country ; the which Credence as compendiously as I can 
I shall open to your wisdoms. 
Our Credence containeth principally three things. 
The first is to show the great puissance, and long advised i. 
ordinance furnished with all manner of habiliments of 
war of the adverse party ; the which daily fortify, repair 
and stuff all their garrisons within the frontiers of the 
King'^s obeisance, armed in great numbers against the 
tenor of the truce ; doing murders innumerable, taking * 
V. [K.NC. 
the King's subjects priaonera, as (if) it were pleyii (open) 
war, with other great and lamentable injuries, as open 
robberies, oppressions and pillages without number. Of 
the which offences they have been divers times sum- 
moned and required by my said Lord of Somerset to 
make cease, and repair them after the tenor of the 
tmce ; but neither remedy nor reasonable answer, may 
in any wise as yot be had. Wherefore it may be pre- 
supposed by their froward deeds, and contrarious dis- 
position, that their intention is not to proceed effectual 
to any good conclusion of peace. Also the King's uncle 
hath commanded and made ciy throughout all his obei- 
sance ; that all nobles prepare them to be ready horsed 
and armed, in all wise habitted as belongeth to men of 
arms, within fifteen days warning ; upon pain of forfei- 
ture, of all their livelihood the number of which men 
is great and inestimable. Also the King's uncle hath 
commanded to be cried in every ))arish of his obeisance 
under the same pain of forfeiture, that every thirty men 
furnish a man horsed and armed in briganders^ and 
legemesse with a long bow, or a cross bow ; and chai^d 
expressly that they do none other labours but exercise 
them to their said bows and harness ; the number of 
which men so habitted and arrayed, as it is said by 
credible persons, that of reason should thereof have very 
knowledge, exceedeth forty thousand men. This is the 
first part of our Credence. 
The second part of our Credence is to show, that (if 
the war should fall, as God defends,) the country of Nor- 
mandy is in no wise of itself sufficient to make resistance 
ag^nst the great puissance of the said adversary for 
many great considerations. First, for there is no place 
in the King's obeisance there ptirveyed, neither in repa- 
rations, ordinance nor inanymanner(D/') artillery; but well 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTIOl^. xix 
nigh all places be in such ruin that though they were a.d. 1448. 
stuffed with men and ordinance they be so ruinous, that f^JSfc'iltion 
they be unable to be defended and kept. The which re- mettf"*" 
paration and ordinance to be purveyed sufficiently will 
draw to inestimable costs. Also, by the last grant of 
the aid in Normandy, it was openly proposed by three 
estates there, that the general poverty of the country 
was so great, that it was impossible for them to bear 
any more hereafter such charges as they have borne 
heretofore ; wherefore they desired to have the number 
of men of war made less, or else to shew to the King s 
Highness, that there might be had goods of England to 
bear the same charges. For of necessity they said, they 
must be spared for certain years of such payments, or 
else they must be needly constrained to go their way 
and forsake their country, and suffer the land to be 
abandoned to the adversaries, the which God ever defend. 
This is the second part of our Credence. 
The third part is to remember, that the final term of iii. 
the last truce approacheth fast. For as your wisdoms 
have well in mind, it shall last now not to four months. 
And therefore it is thought high time to begin your pur- 
veyance, for the safeguard of that noble land. Wherefore 
my Lord of Somerset most humbly beseecheth the King's 
Highness, tenderly prayeth all my Lords his counsellors, 
wisheth, wiUeth all your wisdoms, to have that noble 
land in your good and special remembrance, caUing to 
mind the great, inestimable and well nigh infinite costs 
and effiisions both of goods and blood, that this land 
hath bom and suffered for that land s sake. Whereof 
the shameful loss (the which God ever defend) shall not 
only be the irreparable hurt of the common profit, but 
also an everlasting spite and perpetual derogation in the 
fame and renown of this noble realm. In eschewing 
whereof, and also least his silence in that behalf might 
in any wise be laid to his charge hereafter ; my said 
Lord of Somerset for his true acquittal, gave us in com- 
iNTRonrcTiow, [ki 
tiemN^^I 
. mandment to open his Credence on tliia behalf to the 
I King's Highness, or to such as it pleased his Grace to 
command to hear us. 
Wherefore, as by his commandment ye have benignly 
heard us, as we have in the name of my Lord of Somer- 
set in the most humble wise besought the King's High- 
ness, and hereby prayed all my Lords in this parliament 
assembled ; in like wise tenderly we desire all your wis- 
donis that now represent all the Commons of this land ; 
that it like you to weigh well all the considerations of 
this Credence in your great discretions ; and so help to 
pursue such aid, remedy, and brief exi)edition, as the 
merits of this matter requireth." 
It has been objected to Somerset, that when a short 
time after this Rouen capitulated, he had his wife and 
children with him, and in consequence it is implied, that 
such an attendance, at such a moment was, sufficient 
evidence that jifreat military vigour was not intended in 
the defence of the province. The important document 
above quoted shows that the Duke was fully aware of 
the danger that beset him, though the sudden breaking 
of the tnice by Charles the Seventh left him no alterna- 
tive, but to keep his family with him. Surrounded on 
ail sides by disaffection and treason, without assistance 
from England, he was unable to face the enemy and there- 
I fore shut himself up in Rouen. Pont de I'Arche and 
Verncuil were surprized and taken, and in less than 10 
weeks, half Normandy had submitted to Count Dunois, 
the Bastard of Orleans. Rouen at last surrendered on 
honourable terms, and the Duke of Somerset, who was 
promised a reinforcement of 3000 men, under Sir Thos. 
Kiriel, from England, fixed his head quarters at Caen. 
These troops never reached their destination, for inter- 
cepted by superior numbers under the Count de Cler- 
mont at Founnigny they were mostly slain or taken 
prisoners. On the news of this defeat the towns of 
THE SIXTH.] 
INTRODUCTION. 
xxi 
Avranches, Bayeux, and Valanges immediately opened a.d. i45o. 
their gates to the CJonqueror. The Duke of Somerset c«en sur- 
surrendered up Caen upon Capitulation, and thus of all ^^y ^•^ 
Normandy Cherburgh remained alone to the English, 
which however was taken after a short siege. In Aug. 12th. 
the space of twelve months and six days Charles had 
entirely recovered Normandy from the English, the 
loss of which with it'^s hundred fortresses and seven 
bishoprics, was severely felt at home. William Wyr- 
cester records this event with more than usual brevity, 
thus : ^^ In the same year, and in the same month all 
Normandy was lost.*" Cherburgh had no sooner sur- 
rendered, than the French King marched towards Gui- 
enne, and so supine were the English that not a battle i^ms of ooi- 
was fought to retard his progress, but fortress after 
fortress was delivered up to him without a blow, and, 
before the following August, nothing remained of the Th« Bnguih 
English possessions in France, but the town of Calais ^^^ ^ 
upon which the banner of Henry waved, in mockery of 
his title of King of France. 
The Nation was clamorous for vengeance on the heads 
of the Ministers, who were supposed ^^ to have sacrificed 
the King*s foreign castles, towns and territories for large i^j^ 
sums of gold." The Bishop of Chichester^ probably p*25) 
discerning the coming storm, resigned his seat in the Resignation 
cabinet, and was shortly afterwards murdered at Ports- unt. ' 
mouth, and the Duke of Suffolk ^ on the meeting of 
Parliament in January 1450, rose up in the House of 
7 ** About the time of the Epi- 
phany of the Lord, M. Adam Mo- 
lins, Bishop of Chichester, was bar- 
barously murdered at Portsmouth, 
whither he had gone to pay the sol- 
diers and sailors, the people crying 
out that he was a traitor to the King 
and Queen, and one of the barterers 
of Normandy/' — {Will. Wyrcester^ 
p. 467.) 
^ He is depicted as ** a man of 
singular punning, and well versed 
in the art of deceiving." . . '' He 
conferred bishoprics and benefices 
for money, and did many things in 
the Kingdom against justice, for his 
power alone.'' . . '* He introduced 
his own faction, to the exclusion of 
the King's relations, into the King's 
peculiar service, and divided with 
them the great sums raised from the 
tenths and taxes for the Royal Trea- 
sury." — {Croyl, Contin. pp. 521- 
625.) 
xxn 
INTRODUCTION. 
[king HENRY' 
A.0. 1450. Lords and requested them ^^ to adrmt his supplications 
Suffolk's de- ^^^ dcsirc, that he might make liis declaration of the 
^RohMPari. gi'^^t infamy and defamation which was said upon him, 
p?*i76.) by many people of this land." He obtained the desired 
permission, and his speech on this occasion is still pre- 
served in the Parliamentary RoUs. The Conmions, how- 
ever, were not so easily satisfied as the Lords, and on 
the 28th of January they accused him by their Speaker 
of high crimes and misdemeanours, and requested his 
Impeached Committal to the Tower. The commons then exhibited 
mons* ^**"* their bill of impeachment against him. On the 19th of 
March he was brought from the Tower to the King's 
palace at Westminster, and after a private hearing be- 
banished for forc the King and the Lords, he was sentenced to five 
A VTA V^APB 
years honourable exile by command of the King. That 
this was intended merely to satisfy the commons by a 
show of justice is evident from the account of a con- 
(Fenn^s Pas- temporary, for " it is said that the Duke of Suffolk is 
v^ i. p. 26.) pardoned, and hath his men again waiting upon him, and 
of Suffolk, is right well at ease and merry, and is in the King'^s 
good grace, and in the good conceit of all the lords as 
well as ever he was." He addressed one of the most 
beautiful Compositions in the language, a letter of moral 
advice to his son, dated April 28th 1450 and sailed from 
Ipswich in the first week in May. The following letters 
giving an account of his barbarous murder, with the 
remarks which precede them, are extracted from Sir 
John Feim's Collection of Letters, vol. i. pp. 38-52. 
(Sir John " The Murdcr of William De La Pole,^ Duke of Suf- 
ton Letter*] folt, .is, bv OUT Historiaus, variously related ; some in- 
vol.i.p.48.) ' ^ J J 
9 " On the 27th of January Wil- 
liam de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk 
was accused and examined before 
the whole Parliament, at it's sitting 
in Westminster Hall. On the 17th 
of March following he was by the 
King and all the council sentenced 
to five years banishment, and in a 
few days afterwards beheaded by 
some sailors off Dover.** — (W. 
Wprcester, p. 477.) ** And on the 
following day, being enticed on 
board a ship called fiHtOlSLi Of t^t 
CotDtf , he was taken prisoner, and 
beheaded at sea on the 2d of May 
off Dover.'* — (PT. Wyrcester^ p. 
469.) 
THE SIXTH.] 
INTRODUCTION'. 
XXUl 
Suf- 
forming us, in general terms, that it was committed by a.d. i4m. 
the contrivance of the Party then in opposition to the 
Queen ; others, that it was done by order of the Party 
then in the Duke of York's interest ; and others, that 
a Captain Nicholas, of a ship belonging to the Tower, or 
a Captain of a ship called the Nicholas, met him on the 
sea, and there took and murdered him, but whether in 
consequence of being employed for that purpose, or on 
his own authority, does not sufficiently s^pear."" 
'^ A short sketch of the Proceedings of Parliament, and 
of the Duke of Suffolk's situation previous to his leaving 
the Kingdom, is necessary to the clearly understanding 
of the following accoimt." 
" Upon the meeting of the Parliament at Westmin- The Com- 
ster, in [November 1449] {January 1450) the Commons peach the 
presented to the Lords several Articles of Impeachment folk, not. 
^ * , 1449, who is 
against the Duke of Suffolk. The Queen fearinir the ■•"* ^ **»« 
^^ , ® Tower. 
consequences of these, persuaded the King to send the 
Duke to the Tower, hoping by this step to satisfy the 
Commons." 
^^ After this, by her address, the Parliament was ad- 
journed to Leicester, to meet in April 1450, [where the 
Duke, being released from his imprisonment, appeared. He is re- 
with the King and Queen, as Prime Minister. This 
proceeding extremely offending the Commons ;]*° they 
presented a Petition to the King, praying that all, who 
had been concerned in the delivery of Normandy to the 
French, might be punished.''^ 
" The Queen's fears were now renewed^ [and she pre- 
vailed upon the King instantly to bamsh the Duke for 
five years, which he did ;] and the Duke very soon em- 
leased. 
^ The pauages placed within 
hrad^eto [ ] are probably tfaoae 
referred to in the following note : 
" It may be obaerred that there are 
many mistakes in the remarks of the 
editor on these letters." — {Lmgard, 
▼oL iii. p. 463.) The Duke had 
been banished by the King on the 
1 7th of March,— ( W. Wyree$ter, p. 
477,) preTioos to the adjournment 
of Parliament. 
iNTBODutrrros. 
[king het 
barked with an intention of going to France, where his 
Friend the Duke of Somerset was Regent." 
" From the plain state of this historical fact, delivered 
down to U8 in these letters, the following Observations 
are deduced, first premising that, in 1447, the Duke of 
Suffolk in conjunction with the Queen and her Ministry, 
had been one of the principal Agents in the murder of 
the Duke of Gloucester ; " an event which, in all human 
probability, was the immediate occasion of the Duke of 
York's thoughts of asserting his claim to the crown, a 
claim, in which he could have had little hopes of success, 
during the life of a Prince, the Uncle of the reigning 
King, and the brother, and the son of the two preceding 
Sovereigns." 
" A Prince likewise well beloved by the People, and 
endowed with abilities which would have adorned a 
throne." 
" The Duke of York at tliis time most certainly had a 
personal hatred to the Duke of Suffolk, as by him he 
had been not long before dismissed from the Regency of 
France, and was very lately sent into Ireland, to quell L 
Rebellion with a force inadequate to the purpose." ■ 
" The Duke of Suffolk's undoubted attachment to th«' 
House of Lancaster, must be, at all times, a great im- 
pediment to the taking of many necessary steps by the 
York Party, towards carrying this meditated claim into 
execution ; the having him therefore put to death, must 
be a very desirable circumstance to the Duke of York 
and his friends." 
" The arrival of the Earls of Devonshire and Warwiol 
at this critical time at Leicester, with such large retini 
" The writer of these remarka 
evidetillf conEidered the Duke guilty 
uf the murder. Had he been at all 
implicated in the death of the DuLe 
of Gloucester, it woald do doubt 
hjLve beeu brought forward in the 
arliclea of Ma impeachment. As 
neither of the authorities already 
quoted, nor bis public accuse ra 
bring this charge ajfainat hiin, it 
nas probablj a report spread to hia 
prejudice by the Duke of York tnd 
his partisana. 
THE SIXTH.] 
INTRODUCTION. 
XXV 
of Men ' well byseen^* furnishes very sufficient reasons a.d. i45o. 
for thinking, that the murder of the Duke of Suffolk was 
a premeditated scheme ; and that these noblemen came, 
thus attended, to prevent any proceedings which might 
have been adopted by the Queen and her Party, on their 
knowledge of this event being accomplished ; for these 
two noblemen could not arrive at Leicester in conse- 
quence of the murder, as it was impossible for them to 
know of it, to get their men together, and to enter 
Leicester, the one on the 4th, the other on the 5th of 
May, the account of it not arriving in London till the 
4th ; they therefore most probably came in consequence 
of their previous knowledge of the plan that was laid, to 
wait the event of it, and to act as circumstances might 
require." 
" The sentence of banishment *^ seems to have been j^f® <»»»*• 
the murder 
almost instantaneous, this method therefore of taking him *>' Suffolk. 
off, must have been as instantaneously resolved upon, by 
those of the Party then near the Court ; for though the 
People in general and the Commons hated the Duke, it 
no where appears, that he was thus taken off by any 
generally concerted plan for that purpose, but by a party; 
and as these two noblemen, both at that time professed 
Friends to the Duke of York, arrived thus critically 
with such numerous attendants so well arrayed and ac- 
coutred, it gives the greatest reason to suspect that it 
was by their Party." 
'^ What Captain of a ship that had met the Duke on 
the sea, unless his ship had been sent out on purpose to 
take him, could have known what had passed at Lei- 
cester, otherwise than from the Duke*s own people in 
^ After sentence of banishment 
had been pronounced he was per- 
mitted to enjoy the quiet of his own 
home in Suffolk for five weeks. It 
was. on the eve of his departure that 
he wrote the letter to his son, given 
in the Paston Collection, and which 
could never have proceeded from the 
pen of the murderer of Gloucester. 
XXVi INTRODUCTION. [kING HENRY 
A.D. 1450. the Spinner, and from that account only would have 
dared to take and murder him !" 
" This force too, the Nicholas, with the other ships 
waiting on him, was certainly much superior to the 
Duke's two ships, and one little spinner ; otherwise, how 
can we account for his own shipmen not holding with 
him ? for however lowly fallen in the public esteem, a 
nobleman, of his consequence and possessions, must have 
still had faithful adherents enough to have defended him; 
and to have accompanied him to France ; unless they 
found that resistance in their situation to such superior 
force, (a force sent out on purpose to take him), could 
be of no service ; but would most probably have hastened 
his fate." 
" The words, ' God save the Kynge and sende us Pees,' 
seem to insinuate a suspicion of the King's personal 
safety at this time, and a fear that the disturbances 
which then overspread the land, might be productive of 
civil wars; for the Prayer for Peace being coupled with 
that for the King's safety, plainly refers to the distur- 
bances at home, and not to those in France." 
" From these, and all other circumstances, therefore, 
as stated in these two Letters, it may be justly con- 
cluded, that the York Party not only contrived, but 
perpetrated the murder of this nobleman ; who thus fell 
a terrible example, that Blood requires Blood ; and had 
it been the only, instead of the first blood spilt by the 
Yorkists, happy had it been for England, who would not 
then have had to lament those deluges of it, which soon 
after flowed in the dreadful Civil Contests between the 
two Houses of York and Lancaster.^' 
Margaret " To the Right WoTshipful John Paston, at Norwich. 
lating these Right worshipful Sir, I recommend me to you, and 
am right sorry of that I shall say, and have so washed 
this little bill with sorrowful tears^ that uneths (scarcely) 
THE SIXTH.] 
INTRODUCTION. 
XXVll 
ye shall read it. As on Monday next after May Day aj>. i45«l 
(isth May) there came tidings to London, that on Thurs- 
day before (SOth of April) the Duke of SuflFolk ^^ came 
unto the Coasts of Kent full near Dover with his two 
ships and a little spinner; the which spinner he sent 
with certain letters, by certain of his trusted men unto 
Calais ward, to know how he should be received ; and 
with him met a ship called Nicholas of the Tower with 
other ships waiting on him, and by them that were in 
the spinner, the Master of the Nicholas had knowledge 
of the Duke's coming. When he espied the Duke's 
ships, he sent forth his boat to weet what they were, 
and the Duke himself spoke to them, and said, he was 
by the King^s commandment sent to Calais ward, &c. 
and they said, he must speak with their master ; and so 
he with two or three of his men went forth with them 
in their boat to the Nicholas ; and when he came, the 
Master bade him, ^Welcome Traitor,' as men say. And 
further the Master desired to weet if the shipmen would 
hold with the Duke, and they sent word they would not 
in no wise ; and so he was in the Nicholas till Saturday 
(2nd May) next following. Some say he wrote much 
thing to be delivered to the King, but that is not verily 
known. He had his Confessor with him &c. and some 
say he was arraigned in the ship on their manner upon 
the Impeachments and found guilty, &c. Also he asked 
the name of the ship, and when he knew it, he remem- 
bered Stacy that said, if he might escape the danger of 
13 " William de la Pole, Earl of 
Suffolk held the office of High Ad. 
miral during the minority of Henry 
Hoiand, Duke of Exeter. De- 
prived of his high offices, sent into 
exile, and captured at sea, he was 
beheaded on the 2nd of May in the 
28th year of Henry VI/'— (5i*/. 
CdL MS. Faustina, c. IX.) " This 
William de la Pole was created Mar- 
quis of Suffolk, Sep. 14, AnnoXXIV. 
Henr. VI. He was after created 
Duke of Suffolk ; of whom did de- 
scend John de la Pole, Earl of Lin- 
coln, slain with Martin Swarth, at 
Stokefield in King Henry VII. time ; 
of whom there is no issue." — {Harl, 
MS8. 7371.) '' He was elected a 
Knight of the Garter, May 3rd in 
the 9th year of Henry VI. and 
placed in the stall the serenth of 
the Prince's side, after the death of 
Thomas, Duke of Clarence.*' — 
{Harl. MSS. No. 235.) 
XXVlll 
IXTRODUCTION. 
[king HENRT 
A.D. 1450. the Tower he should be safe, and then bis heart failed 
him, for he thought he was deceived. And in the sight 
of all his men he was drawn out of the great ship into 
the boat, and there was an axe and a stock, and one of 
the lewdest (meanest) of the ship bade him lay down his 
head and he should be fairly fared with, and die on a 
sword ; and took a rusty sword and smote off his head 
within half a dozen strokes, and took away his gown of 
russet, and his doublet of velvet mailed, and laid his 
body on the sands of Dover ; and some say his head was 
set on a pole by it ; and his men sit on the land by 
great circumstance {bi/ great numbers ?) and pray. And 
the Sheriff of Kent doth watch the body ^* and (hath} 
sent his Undersheriff to the Judges to weet what to do ; 
and also to the King (to know) what shall be done. 
Further I wot not, but thus far is it, if the process be 
erroneous let his counsel reverse it &c. Also for your 
other matters they sleep and the Fryar also &c. 
Sir Thomas Kyriel is taken prisoner and all the leg 
harness and about 3000 Englishmen slain. Matthew 
Gooth (Gouffhl) with 1500 fled and saved himself and 
them. And Peris Bruoy (Piers Bracy) was chief Cap- 
tain and had 10,000 Frenchmen and more, Sec. I pray 
you let my mistress your mother know these tidings, 
and God have you all in his keeping. I pray you (that) 
this bill may recommend me to my Mistresses your mo- 
ther and wife, &c. James Gresham hath written to 
John of Dam and recommendeth him, &c. Written in 
great haste at London the 5th day of May, &c. 
[By your Wife] 
William LomnerJ* 
It was the 
Count de 
Clermont 
who com- 
manded. 
^* *' His body, with the head, was I in Suffolk." — {Dugdak* 8 Baronage , 
buried in the Church of Wingfield, | vol. ii. p. 189.) 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
A.D. 14&«. 
" To my Right Worshipful Cousin^ John Paston of Jno. crmne'i 
Norwich Esquire. ■pectingsuf. 
' folk's mar<- 
Right worshipful Sir, I recommend me unto you in 
the most goodly wise that I can ; and for as much as ye 
desired of me to send you word of divers matters here^ 
which have been opened in the Parliament openly, and I 
send you of them such as I can. 
First more especial, that for very truth upon Saturday 
that last was, the Duke of Suffolk was taken in the sea, 
and there he was beheaded, and his body with the ap- 
purtenance set at land at Dover ; and all the folks that 
he had with him were set to land, and had none harm, 
&c. And also the King hath somewhat granted to have 
the resumption again, in some but not in all &c. 
Also if ye purpose to come hither to put up your bills, 
ye may come now in a good time, for now every man 
that hath any, they put them in, and so may ye if ye 
come, vrith God's grace to your pleasure. Furthermore 
upon the 4th day of this month, the Earl of Devonshire 
came hither with 300 men well beseen &c. and upon 
the morrow after my Lord of Warwick with 400 and 
more, &c. 
Also as is noised here Calais shall be besieged within 
this seven days, &c. God save the King, and send us 
peace, &c. 
Other tidings be there none here, but Almighty God 
have you in his keeping. Written at Leicester, the 6th 
day of May. 
Your Cousin 
John Crane, 
» 
The King and Queen who were plunged into the 
deepest distress by this unlooked for and tragical occur- 
rence, were roused from the indulgence of their sorrow 
by a sudden and unexpected danger. 
c 
XXX i\TROD[icrioN, [kinc. henby 
A.D, 1430. " The Cnramons of Kent, in great numbers, assemblGd 
CADE'S °" Black-Heath having to their Captain Jack Cade, 
LfotJ!— against whom the King sent a great army ; but by the 
''a^X. ^^ captain and rebels, they were discomfited, and Sir 
*"*" ''*•' Humphrey Stafford and William his brother, with many 
others slain. After this victory the rebel came to Lon- 
don, entered the city, and struck his sword upon London 
Stone, saying, " Now is Mortimer Lord of this city." 
Upon the 3rd of July, he caused the Lord Say to be 
arraigned, and at the standard in Cheap smote off his 
head ; he also beheaded Sir James Cromer at Mile End. 
After this succeeded open robbery within the city. But 
the Mayor and others sent to the Lord Scales, keeper of 
the Tower, who promised his aid with shooting of ordi- 
nance and Matthew Gough was appointed to assist the 
Mayor ; so that the Captains of the city took upon 
them in the night to keep the bridge, where between 
them and the rebels was a fierce encounter. In con- 
clusion the rebels got the draw bridge, and drowned and 
spoiled many. 
This conflict endured till 9 of the clock in the morn- 
ing, in doubtful chance ; so that both parties agreed to 
desist from fight till the next day, upon condition that 
neither Londoner should pass Southwark, nor the Ken- 
tishmen into London. Then the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury and others passed to Southwark, where they 
shewed a general pardon,'^ for all offenders; whereupon 
the multitude retired home. The Captain fled through 
!■■ Cade had acoepted Ihie pardon I division of the booty, whilst he 
with the others, but repenting again I taking horse fled away, and wan 
collected his folloners (in the 8th of killed by the aforesaid oen sheriiT 
Jnlj. " And on the same night this i of Keol in a certain garden. After 
captain and bis men fell back npon which his body was convejed to 
Rochcater, and awhile after, in the Loudon, and by an order of Cdud- 
Bame year, Alexander Iden, was in- | cil, beheaded and quartered, and liii 
ducted in the office of sheiilf. Also ' head pieced on London bridge look- 
at Rochester on the same day, the ing Kentwards.'' — (W. IVi/rcetler, 
folluwers of the Captain fell out p. 472.) 
among tbemselres respecting the I 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION, XXXl 
the weald of Sussex (Kent) and there was slain. After a.d. 1450. 
this the King rode into Kent, where many were drawn ?um^*^ 
and quartered." 
The following letter, written a few years after these 
events by a servant of Sir John Fastolf, who was taken 
by the Rebels, presents us with a curious account of the 
Commons of Kent, and shews us the violence and bar- 
barity of a body of men, collected chiefly from the dregs 
of the people, combined together for the pretended pur- 
pose of Reformation, but really for the destruction of all 
good order and legal government. These contemporary 
accounts give many minor details, which are necessary 
to elucidate the transactions of this eventful period of 
our history, and which we seek for in vain in the more 
legitunate sources of information. 
" To my Right Honourable Master^ John PastonJ" f^^^^* 
^^ Right honourable and my right entirely beloved cade's re 
Master, I recommend me unto you, with all manner of 
due reverence in the most lowly wise as me ought to do, 
evermore desiring to hear of your worshipful state, pros- 
perity and welfare ; the which I beseek (beseech) God, 
of his abundant grace, (to) increase and maintain to his 
utmost pleasance, and to your heart'^s desire. 
Pleaseth it, your good and gracious Mastership, ten- 
derly to consider the great losses and hurts, that your 
Petitioner hath, and hath had ever since the Commons 
of Kent came to Blackheath and that is at 15 years 
passed ; whereas my master Sir John Fastolf Knight, 
that is, your Testator, commanded your beseecher to 
take a man, and two of the best horses that were in his 
stable, with him to ride to the Commons of Kent, and 
get the Articles that they come for ; and so I did ; and 
also (as) soon as I came to the Blackheath, the Captain 
made the Commons to take me ; and for the salvation of 
my Master's Horses I made my fellow to ride away with 
the two horses ; and I was brought forthwith before the 
c 2 
XXXll 
IXTRODUCTIOX. 
[king HEXRY 
A.D. 1450. 
J. Payn's 
letter re- 
specting 
Cade*8 re- 
bellion. 
Captain of Kent ; and the Captain demanded (of) me, 
what was my cause of coming thither, and why that I 
made my fellow to steal away with the horses ; and I 
said, that I came thither to cheer with my wife"*s 
brethren, and others that were mine allies, and gossips 
of mine, that were present there; and. then was there 
one there, and {who) said to the Captain, that I was one 
of Sir John Fastolf 's men, and the two horses were Sir 
John Fastolf 's ; and then the Captain let cry Treason 
upon me throughout all the field, and brought me at 
four parts of the field, with a Herald of the Duke of 
Exeter before me, in the Duke's Coat of Arms making 
four Oyez at four parts of the field ; proclaiming openly 
by the said Herald, that I was sent thither for to espy 
their puissance, and their habiliments of war, from the 
greatest Traitor that was in England or in France, as 
the said Captain made proclamation at that time, from 
one Sir John Fastolf Knight, the which minished (rff- 
minished) all the Garrisons of Normandy, and Manns, 
and Mayn, the which was the cause of the losing of all the 
King's title and right of an heritance, that he had be- 
yond the sea. And moreover he said, that the said Sir 
John Fastolf had furnished his Place with the old sol- 
diers of Normandy and habiliments of war, to destroy 
the Commons of Kent, when that they came to South- 
wark, and therefore he said plainly that I should lose 
my head ; and so forthwith I was taken, and led to the 
Captain'^s Tent, and one axe and one block was brought 
forth to have smitten off mine head; and then my 
Master Poynyngs your brother, with other of my friends 
came, and letted (prevented) the Captain, and said 
plainly, that there should die an hundred or two, that in 
case be, that I died ; and so by that mean my life was 
saved at that time. And then I was sworn to the Cap- 
tain, and to the Commons, that I should go to South- 
wark and array me in the best wise that I could, and 
come again to them to help them ; and so I got the 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTIO.V. XXXlii 
Articles and brought them to my Master, and that cost a.d. i^m. 
me more amongst the Commons that day than 27s. litlan* 
Whereupon I came to my Master Fastolf and brought S3e»8*re- 
him the Articles, and informed him of all the matter, °"* 
and counselled him to put away all his habiliments of 
war, and the old Soldiers, and so he did, and went him- 
self to the Tower, and all his meyny {family) with him, 
but Betts and Matthew Brayn ; and had not I been, the 
Commons would have brenned {burnt) his Place, and all 
his Tenuries ; where though it Cost me of my own proper 
goods at that time more than six marks (<^^4) in meat 
and drink, and {yet) notwithstanding the Captain that 
same time let take me at the White Hart in Southwark, 
and there commanded Lovelace to despoil me out of 
mine array, and so he did; and there he took a fine 
Gown of Must' dewyllrs {qy. Dowlas) furred with fine 
beavers, and one pair of Brigandines covered with blue 
velvet and gilt nails, with leg-harness ; the value of the 
Gown and Brigandines £S, 
Item the captain sent certain of his men to my Cham- 
ber in your rents, and there they broke up my chest and 
took away one obligation of mine, that was due unto me 
of oP36 by a Priest of Paul's, and one other obligation 
of one Knight of -PlO and my pui'se with five rings of 
gold and 17s. and 6d. of gold and silver ; and one har- 
ness complete of the touch of Milan ; and one Gown of 
tine Perse blue furred with Martens ; and two Gowns, 
one furred with Bogey, and one other lined with frieze ; 
and there would have smitten off mine head, when that 
they had despoiled me at the White Hart ; and there 
my Master Poynyngs and my Friend saved me, and so I 
was put up, till at night that the Battle was at London 
Bridge ; and then at night the Captain put me out into 
the Battle at the Bridge, and there I was wounded, and 
hurt near hand to death ; and there I was six hours in 
the battle and might never come out thereof; and four 
times before that time I was carried about throughout 
INTRODUCTION. 
[K, 
Kent and Sussex, and there tliey woidd have smitten off 
my head ; and in Kent there as my wife dwelled they 
took away all our Goods moveable that we had ; and 
there would have hanged my wife and five of my chil- 
dren, and left her no more goods but her kiiUe and her 
smock ; and anon after that hurling {commolion) the 
Bishop of Kochester impeached me to the Queen, and so 
I was arrested by the Queen's commandment into the 
Marshalsea, and there was in right great duress, and fear 
of mine life, and was threatened to have been hanged, 
drawn, and quartered ; and so they would have made me 
have impeached my Master Fastolf of treason, and be- 
cause that I would not, they had me up to Westminster, 
and there would have sent me to the Gaol House at 
Windsor, but my wife's and one cousin of mine own, 
that were Yeomen of the Crown they went to the King, 
and got gi'ace and one Charter of Pardon. 
Per le v're, ^H 
AD. 14&1. "In the beginning of September the King heard 
York'wt^s tidings of the sudden arrival of Richard, Duke of York, 
^^"fr^^ in Wales from Ireland, whereupon the Lord Lyle and 
f"^a.) others Were despatclied to intercept his progress. About 
DTEih of the same time William Tresham, the celebrated lawyer 
, 3e"". aS' (Speaker of the House) was killed by the retainers of 
Lord Grey de Ruthyn at Multon Park near Northamp- 
ton on the 22ud of September, on his road to join the 
.fnt™ said Duke of York. And on the 30th the Duke of 
rmed York with a retinue of 4000 armed men entered the 
".'30. Palace of Westminster, and with insolence desired the 
King to call a parliament forthwitli, retiring shortly 
after the feast of St. Michael to his Manor of Fother- 
ingay." 
DiikB of " In the October following tlie Duke of Somerset re- 
mfrom tumed by way of Calais from Normandy." His arrival 
''■1 waaliailedby the King and Queen as a blessing, for since 
THE SIXTH.] 
INTRODUCTION. 
XXXV 
the death of the King's uncles he was the nearest of a.d. i45i. 
kin to Henry, and it was hoped his presence and in- 
fluence would check the ambition of the Duke of York. 
The following table shows how nearly he was allied to 
the King : 
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. 
John Beaufort 
;, Earl of 
Somerset. 
I 
Henry, Jonn, Edmund, 
Earl of Somerset, Duke of Somerset, Duke of Somerset, 
died young. died 1444. 
Bolingbroke, in usurping the throne had challenged 
the crown in right of his father and mother being both 
descendants of Henry the Third, and exhibited the fol- 
lowing table. 
King Hbnrt III. 
Pedigree of 
UieRed 
Rose. 
King Edward I. 
King Edward II. 
King Edward III. 
Edmund, Earl of 
Lancaster. 
Henry, Earl of 
Lancaster. 
Henry, Duke of 
Lancaster. 
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lan- = Blanch, Duchess of Lancaster, 
caster. 
I 
Kino Henry IV. 
But this pedigree could give him no legal claim to the 
throne, for the young Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, 
was i^rung from the Duke of Clarence, the elder brother 
<rf John of Gaunt ; and his mother s title was not tenable 
as her descent was from Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, a 
XXXVl 
INTRODUCTION. 
[king henry 
A.D. 1451. 
younger brother of King Edward I. The consequences 
of this usurpation were now to be visited on the head of 
his innocent grandson with fearful vengeance. The 
Duke of York was descended as just stated from Lionel, 
Duke of Clarence, the third son of Edward the Third, 
the elder brother of John of Gaunt, and Clarence'*s great 
grandson, Roger Earl of March was the legitimate heir 
to the crown at the period of Bolingbroke s accession to 
the throne. 
Pedigree of 
the White 
Rose. 
King Edward III. 
i 
I, Di 
Lionel, Duke of 
Clarence. 
Philippa, married 
Edmund, Earl of 
March. 
Roger Mortimer, 
Earl of March. 
Anne Mortimer, married 
THE IXTHZTB ROSE 
OF YORK. 
Edmund, Earl of 
Cambridge in 
1361; and Duke 
of York in 1385. 
= Richard, Earl of Cambridge, 
younger brother to Edward, 
Duke of York. 
Richard, Earl of Rutland^ in 1402; Duke of York, 
in 1415. Father of Edward IV. 
Parliament 
lpeet8,6Nov. 
1451. 
(WiUiam 
fFyrcetter, 
p. 475.) 
Chief lup- 
?>rtert of 
ork. 
On the 6th of November 1451 Parliament met. The 
rival leaders openly opposed each other, and York pro- 
ceeded so far as to employ one of his creatures, "Thomas 
Yonge, the Member for Bristol, a law-student, to pro- 
pose that as the King was without issue, the Duke of 
York should be declared heir apparent. For which 
cause the said Thomas was afterwards committed to the 
Tower of London.*" The chief supporters of the Duke 
joi York were, John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk ; the 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. XXXvil 
Nevilles, Richard Earl of Salisbury, Richard Earl ofx.p. i45i. 
Warwick, Edward Lord Bergavenny, and William Lord 
Falcon'bridge ; Courteney Earl of Devon; the Lords 
Cromwell, Latimer and Cobham. These noblemen formed 
a very strong party, but though they threatened the life 
of Somerset, and instigated the populace to pillage his 
property, they could obtain no decided advantage. The 
partizans, however, of the Duke held frequent consulta- 
tions, the result of which was a determination to appeal 
to the sword on the first favourable opportunity. Even 
during the sitting of parliament, a short time after the 
member for Bristol had proposed to settle the succession 
on the Duke of York, " the Earl of Devon besic&ced the They besiege 
_ _ _ .„ . , ^ , ^ m 1.1 _ the Lord 
Lord Bonville m the Castle of Taunton^ which caused a Bonviue at 
• • 1 fwr j» Ti 1 1 mi TN, Taunton.— 
great commotion m the West of England. The Duke t^iuiam 
of York, the Lord de Molins, William Lord Herbert, p-^*) 
and others joined the Earl, upon which Lord Bonville 
surrendered.''^ This Lord Bonville was a staunch loy- 
alist, and had been raised to the peerage by Henry the 
Sixth. Party dissensions already caused disunion in 
private families. "In August Thomas Neville, son of <*"*"*! »>«- 
* . . tween Lords 
the Earl of Salisbury was married to the niece of Lord JJ^^'g^JJ. 
Cromwell at Tatershall in Lincolnshire. Returning "^l^f^^ s 
from the wedding a serious quarrel arose between Tho- 
mas Percy, Lord Egremont, and the Earl, which was 
the commencenient of the most grievous disturbances in 
England. John, Earl of Beauchamp's resignation of the 
office of Lord Treasurer was accepted, and John Tiptoft 
Earl of Worcester, appointed to succeed him. And 
although the Lord Cromwell was still Lord Chamberlain, 
the Country was entirely governed by the Duke of So- 
merset and his associates.**^ 
" In the following September a council was held at council at 
-^ Coventry 
Coventry to reconcile the differences of the Dukes of September. 
York and Somerset, and their quarrel was referred to 
the King and Council of the Peers/' Concerning this 
and other events connected with the period, a letter 
xxxriii introdlttion. [kino henby 
. from James Gresliam to John Pastoii funiislies these 
additional particulars : 
f "As for tidings, my Lord Chancellor is discharged, 
'at- and in his stead is ray Lord of Winchester. And my 
is Lord of Shrewsbury is Treasurer. Brown of your Inn 
is Under-Treasurer, if ye would send to hini to grant you 
the naming of the Escheatorahip of Norfolk, etc. it were 
well done, for it is told me, he would do much for yon- 
Master Laurence Booth is Privy Seal. 
It is said tliat my Lord of York hath been with the 
King, and is departed again in right good conceit with 
the King, hut not in great conceit with the Queen. 
Some men say, had my Lord of Buckingham not have 
letted {hindered) it, my Lord of York had been dis- 
tressed (seized) in his departing, 
t. On Monday last past, was a great affray at Coventry, 
between the Duke of Somerset's men, and the watch- 
men of the Town, and two or three men of the Town 
were killed there, to (the) great disturbance of all the 
lands there, for the alarum bell was rung, and the Town 
arose, and would have jeoparded to have distressed the 
Duke of Somerset, and had not the Duke of Bucking- 
ham taken a direction therein. 
It Also it ia said, the Duke of Buckingham taketh right 
strangely that both his brethren are so suddenly dis- 
charged from their Offices of Chancellery and Treasurer- 
ship ; and that among other causeth him that his opinion 
is contrary to the Queen's intent, and many other also, 
as it is talked. 
Item, some men say, the Council is dissolved, and that 
the King is forth to Chester, etc. Also some say, that 
many of the Lords shall resort liither to London against 
All-hallows-tide. And as touching the election of She- 
rilfe, men ween that my Lord of Canterbury sliall have a 
great rule, and specially in our Country. 
I can no more, but Almighty God send us, as his 
most pleasure is. 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION* XXXIX 
Written in all haste, the Saturday next after Saint a.d. 1452. 
Edward's day. 
Your servant, 
James Gresham.^ 
This letter implies that the Queen, probably mistrust- The Duke of 
ing the protestations of the Duke of York, looked upon forces in"^ 
him with an eye of suspicion. Dissatisfied with the 
position of aflairs he hastened to his castle of Ludlow, 
and raising his tenants in the Welsh Marches, sent the 
following Petition to the King : 
" Richard Duke of YorKs Petition to King Henry for petiuonsthe 
the Punishment of Traitors etc. Jt'h.— *"' 
{Fenn*9Pat» 
Please it, your Highness, tenderly to consider thev^.i.p.66.) 
great grudging and rumour that is universally in this 
your Realm, of that justice is not duly ministred to such 
as trespass and offend against your laws ; and in special 
of them that {have) been endited of Treason, and others, 
being openly noised of the same ; wherefore, for great 
inconvenience that have fallen, and great is like to fall 
hereafter, in your said Realm, which God defend, but 
{unless) by your Highness provision convenable be made 
for due reformation and punishment in this behalf; 
wherefore I, your humble subject and liegeman, Richard 
Duke of York, willing as effectually as I can, and de- 
siring surety and prosperity of your most royal person, 
and welfare of this your noble Realm, counsel and ad- 
vertise your excellence, for the conservation of good 
tranquillity and peaceable rule among all true subjects, 
for to ordain and provide, that due justice be had against 
all such that {have) been so indited or openly so noised ; 
wherein I offer, and will put me {myself) in devoir {duty) 
for to execute your commandments in these premises, of 
such offenders and redress of the said misrulers to my 
might and power. And for the hasty execution hereof, 
like it your Highness to dress {address) your letters of 
Xl INTRODUCTION. [kING HENRY 
AD. 1452. Privy Seal and Writs, to your oflScers and ministers to 
do take and arrest all such persons so noised or endited 
of what estate, degree or condition so ever they be, and 
then to conunit to your Tower of London, or to other 
your prisons there to abide without bail or mainprize 
unto the time that they be utterly tried and declared 
after the course of your law.*" 
He sent copies of this petition to all the principal 
towns, and to many private persons, and to the latter 
circumstance we are indebted for the document given 
above. In his subsequent attainder he was charged 
{Pari. Rolu, " with having by this means incited many private per- 
p.i46.) sons to rebellion.''' The Duke now at the head of a con- 
siderable army prepared to march towards London, first 
addressing the following letter to the Citizens of Shrews- 
bury. 
Duke of " Richard Duke of York to the Citizens of Shrewsbury 
York's letter t^ • */ ^ 
to the citi- A, D, 1452 ; upon his march towards London to over- 
zens of y rk 1 cy 
Shrewsbury. throw the Dukc of Somerset. 
Leuert, Right woTshipful frieuds, I recommend me unto you, 
page 11.) and I suppose it is well known unto you, as well by 
experience as by common language said and reported 
throughout all Christendom, what land, what worship 
honour, and manhood was ascribed of all Nations unto 
the people of this realm, whilst the Kingdom's Sove- 
reign Lord stood possessed of his Lordship in the realm 
of France, and Dutchy of Normandy ; and what dero- 
gation, loss of merchandize, lesion of honour, and villany, 
is said and reported generally unto the English nation, 
for loss of the same ; namely unto the Duke of Somer- 
set, when he had the commandance and charge thereof; 
the which loss hath caused and encouraged the King's 
enemies for to conquer and get Gascony and Guienne, 
and now daily they make their advance for to lay siege 
unto Calais, and to other places in the Marches there^ 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. xH 
for to apply them to their obeisance, and so for to come a.d. 1452, 
into the land with great puissance to the final destruc- voA's^iettef 
tion thereof, if they might prevail, and to put the land ^m of^*'*' 
in their subjection, which God defend. And on the ®*>'«^**"^- 
other part it is to be supposed it is not unknown to you 
how that coming out of Ireland, I as the King'*s true 
liege man, and servant, and ever shall be to my life's 
end, and for my true acquital, perceiving the inconve- 
nience before rehearsed, advised his Royal Majesty of 
certain Articles concerning the weal and safeguard, as 
well of his most royal person, as the tranquillity and 
conservation of all this his realm ; the which Advertise- 
ments, how be it that it was thought that they were 
full necessary, were laid apart, and to be of none effect, 
through the envy, malice and untruth of the said Duke 
of Somerset ; which for my truth faith, and allegiance 
that I owe unto the King, and the good will and favour 
that I have to all the Realm, laboureth continually about 
the King^s Highness for my undoing, and to corrupt my 
blood, and to disherit me and my heirs, and such persons 
as be about me, without any desert or cause done or 
attempted on my part or theirs, I make our Lord Judge. 
Wherefore, worshipful Friends, to the intent that every 
man shall know my purpose, and desire for to declare 
me such as I am, I signify unto you that with the help 
and supportation of Almighty God, and of our Lady, 
and of all the Company of Heaven, I, after long suffer- 
ance and delays, not my will or intent to displease my 
sovereign Lord, seeing that the said Duke ever pre- 
vaileth and ruleth about the King's person, that by this 
means the land is likely to be destroyed, am fully con- 
cluded to proceed, in all haste a^inst him, with the help 
of my kinsmen and friends, in such wise, that it shall 
prove to promote ease, peace, tranquillity, and safeguard 
of all this land: and more, keeping me within the 
bounds of my liegeance as it pertaineth to my duty, 
praying and exhorting you, to fortify enforce and assist 
xHi INTRODUCTION. [kING HENRY 
A.D. 1452. me, and to come to me with all diligence, wheresoever I 
^ri(?\etter ^^^ be, or draw, with as many goodly and likely men as 
Mn?of^***" y® ™*y make to execute the intent abovesaid. Written 
shrewibury. ^j^j^,. jjjy gignet at my Castle of Ludlow, the 8rd day of 
February. Furthermore I pray you, that such strait 
appointment and ordinance be made, that the people 
which shall come in your fellowship, or be sent unto me 
by your agreement be demeaned in such wise, by the 
way that they do no offence, nor robbery, nor oppression 
upon the people, in lesion of justice^ Written as 
above, &c. 
Your good Friend, 
B. York. 
To my right worshipful Friends^ the 
Bailiffs, BurgesseSy arid Commons 
of the good Town of Shrewsbury^ 
The prompt measures adopted by the King's advisers, 
however, had placed a large force at the disposal of 
Henry, who forthwith marched against him, and the 
He marches Dukc feariuff an immediate collidon would ruin his 
to London, ^ *^ 
to Darttord ^^^^ Continued his progress by bye-roads and forced 
marches to avoid the Royal army, and, finding the 
gates of the City closed against him, on his reaching 
London, he crossed over into Kent and set up his 
standard at Dartford, in the hope of alluring the Kentish 
Henry en- nicu to joiu him. Heuiy followed him, and encamping 
Bu^kheath. OH Blackhcath, sent the Bishops of Winchester and Ely 
to expostulate with him and to recall him to his duty. 
The Duke asserted that he had no intention to injure 
the King but that his sole object was to remove from 
his councils " the blood-suckers of the nobility, the 
plunderers of the clergy, and the oppressors of the 
commonality." 
York»8 sub- To pacify him the Duke of Somerset was ordered into 
custody upon which he disbanded his army, and visited 
Henry in his tent unarmed and bareheaded. Per- 
THE SIXTH,] INTBODUCTIOIi. xllil 
ceiving the Duke of Somerset still in attendance upon a.d. 14&2. 
the King the Duke of York complained of having been 
deceived and charged his rival with treason which was 
retorted from one to the other. On leaving the royal Jj^'^^^j . 
presence York was arrested, and Somerset advised his 
being brought to immediate trial and executed. Henry, 
however, could not bring his mind to shed the blood of 
his cousin, and on the latter taking an oath of fealty on 
the holy sacrament, at St. Paul*s, before all the Lords, 
and a full congregation, he was granted his liberty and 
retired to his castle of Wigmore. 
Quiet having been again restored the eyes of the Expedition 
country were turned towards the recovery of the French ge^.7^ 
provinces of the Crown. The inhabitants of Gascony, ProvincM. 
impatient under the yoke of their new master, offered 
to renew their allegiance to Henry, and solicited succours 
from England. The great Talbot, the veteran Earl of underTaibot, 
Shrewsbury, though in his 80th year was despatched si^rewsbury, 
with 4000 picked men, and soon after joined by his 
brave son, the Lord Lisle with a like number. Success 
attended his efforts at first, and before the winter, Bor- 
deaux, the whole of the Bordelais and Chatillon had 
submitted. On receipt of the news Henry summoned a a.d. i4'>3. 
parliament, which in the exultation of the moment, *^^ 
besides liberal supplies of money, voted an army of 
20,000 archers to be raised by the Counties. Amongst {ParuRou*, 
^ vol. V. 
the chief of these were Norfolk, 1012 men; Lincoln, p. 231.) 
910; York, 713; Kent, 575; and Wiltshire, 478. 
The following cities and towns, which were counties at 
the same time, were thus rated: London, 1137 men; 
York, 152; Norwich, 121; Bristol, 86; Coventry, 76; 
Newcastle, 53; Hull, 50; Southampton, 44; Lincoln, 
44 ; and Nottingham, 30. This calculation shows the 
probable proportionate wealth of each at that period, 
and not, as has been surmised the relative population. 
It was intended that Henry should accompany this 
armament in person, but the state of his health not 
xHv 
INTRODUCTION. 
[king henry 
A.D. 1453. 
Siege of 
Chatlllon. 
Death of 
Talbot, 
July 20tb. 
Death of 
Lord Lisle. 
Loaa of Aqni- 
taine.— 
(Rapin, 
vol. V. 
p. 471.) 
permitting it, the embarkation of the troops was de- 
layed, and the vigourous measures of Charles obliged 
the Earl of Shrewsbury to take the field against him 
without these reinforcements. The personal prowess of 
the ancient chivalry had been rendered less formidable 
by the introduction of artillery, and the great Talbot, 
whom no single opponent could ever subdue, was struck 
by a stone from a park of three hundred field pieces, 
placed within the French lines, during the siege of 
Chatillon, by the French Marshals Chabanes and the 
Count de Pentheviere. On receiving his wound, and 
seeing the impossibiUty of retaining his ground from the 
great superiority of the number of the enemy, who in 
the commencement of the battle were as three to one, 
when compared to the English forces, the dying veteran 
sent for his son, Sir John Talbot, Lord Lisle, and ex- 
horted him to save himself for another opportunity, 
when he might render his country better service. But 
the brave son of so brave a father chose rather to die 
by his side, than disgrace the name of Talbot by flight.^^ 
The English lost 2000 men out of their little army of 
7000, but the most fatal blow to them was the death of 
their general. The consequence of this defeat was the 
total loss of Aquitaine, which had been possessed by the 
English for nearly three centuries. " Thus of so many 
conquests made by the English in France, since Ed- 
ward III there remained only Calais and Guisnes ; poor 
remains of so many provinces, several whereof had be- 
longed to their sovereigns by hereditary right, and the 
rest acquired by so many victories, and at the expense 
of so much blood ! " 
ifi ** Is my name Talbot ? and am 
I your son ? 
And shall I fly ? Ohl if you 
love my mother. 
Dishonour not her honour- 
able name. 
To make a Bastard and a Slave 
of me: — 
The world wiU say: — ^he is not 
Talbot's blood, 
That basely fled, when noble Tal- 
bot stood." — 
{Henry VL part I.) 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. xlv 
It was during this unsuccessful campaign in France a.d. \4&3. 
that Margaret sought to ingratiate herself with the J^J^g^,""'" 
country gentry, by visiting them at their homes. Mar- 
garet Paston writes from Norwich an account of one of 
these visits^ which shows that the Queen's masculine mind 
could unbend in female society, and enjoy the relaxation 
of domestic gossip with true womanly zest. 
" To the Might Worshipful Master John Paston^ be Margaret 
this delivered in haste. Letter. 
Right Worshipful Husband, I recommend me to you, 
praying you to weet &c. (here follows some account of 
money received &c.) As for tidings, the Queen came 
into this Town on tuesday last past after noon and abode 
here till it was Thursday three (o'clock) afternoon ; and 
she sent after my Cousin Elizabeth Clere by Sharin- 
boum to come to her; and she durst not disobey 
her commandment, and came to her; and when she 
came in the Queen's presence, the Queen made right 
much of her, and desired her to have an husband, the 
which ye shall know g( hereafter ; but as for that he is 
never nearer than he was before ; the Queen was right 
well pleased with her answer, and reported of her in the 
best wise, and saith by her troth she saw no Gentle- 
woman since she came into Norfolk, that she liked better 
than she doth her. 
Blake, the Bailey of Swaffham, was here with the (F«m*«/»a*- 
King'*8 brother, and he came to me, weemng that he had ^oi. i. p. 69.) 
been at home ; and said that the King's Brother desired 
him that he should pray you in his name to come to him 
for he would right fain that he had come to him, if ye 
had been at home ; and told me, that ye wist well that 
he should send for you, when he came to London, both 
for Cossey and other things. 
I pray you that ye will do your cost on me against 
Whitsuntide^ that I may have something for my neck ; 
d 
xlvi 
INTRODUCTION. 
[king HENRt 
A.D. 1453. 
when the Queen was here I borrowed my Cousin Eliza- 
beth Clere's Device, for I durst not for shame go with 
my Beads amongst so many fresh Gentlewomen as here 
were at that time. The blessed Trinity have you in 
his keeping. 
Written at Norwich on the Friday next before Saint 
George. 
By yours 
Margaret Paston." 
The King's 
illnesst 
Oct. 1453. 
We now approach one of those events in the history 
of nations, which completely baffle all our endeavours to 
unravel the mysteries of Divine Providence. Unless for 
the wisest of purposes, the sins of the father are visited 
on the children of the third generation, the pitiable state 
into which the pious King now fell is beyond our com- 
prehension. 
In October 1453 Henry the Sixth was attacked by 
that disorder, ^^ which deprived the administration of his 
sanction, and which by causing the removal of the Duke 
of Somerset from the head of affairs within three months, 
placed the King in the hands of the ambitious Duke of 
York, who now assumed the reins of Govemment.^^ 
We are told by a contemporary vn^iter that the Royal 
itede*^^^') P^*^®^^ " ^^®^ ^^^ scuse and memory, and the use of his 
limbs. He could neither walk, stand, rise up, nor move." 
Birth of Ed- It was duriug this severe affliction, that the Queen pre- 
of Wales, sented him with a son, the unfortunate Edward, Prmce 
of Wales ; and to whose birth may be ascribed the con- 
sequent contention between the Royal Family of Lan- 
caster and the House of York. By this event the Duke 
of York'*s expected succession was set aside, and that 
17 " In this year, 1453 Henry VI. 
was attacked at Clarendon suddenly 
with so severe an infirmity in his 
head, that it seemed his senses had 
forsaken him/'— (TTjV/jViw Wyrces- 
teVf p. 477.) 
^ In the Parliament assembled at 
Reading in 1454 he addressed the 
House as the Royal Commissioner. 
— (PflW. RoUSf vol. V. p. 239.) 
THE SIXTH.] INTRO DICTION, xlvjl 
nobleman left do means untried to maintain hia position. a.d. hm. 
The Queen waa slandered, and the legitimacy of the (Fi-zv^i. 
Prince questioned, and all her friends removed from the 
high offices which they held. The Duke of Somerset 
was sent to the Tower,'!* the Lords of the Conncil 
adopting this apparently harsh measure to ensure his 
safety from the Duke of York, The death of Cardinal rmih m 
Kemp, the Archbishop of Canterbury, hastened the Crisis K«np. 
which was already fast approaching. It was necessary 
to fill up the vacant see, to do which required the King's 
pleasure to be known. A deputation of twelve temporal c<iinniiii» 
and spiritual peers waited upon him at Windsor. They ttxt King,— 
were to express how earnestly his recovery waa desired, "^ J*""". 
and, if they found him incapable of attending to them, p- mi.io.] 
here their mission was to end. On the contrary if his 
capacity allowed they were to communicate the death of 
the Cardinal and to ascertain his Majesty's wishes re- 
specting the Archbishoprick. 
After the King had dined the Bishop of Chichester 
addressed him, but obtained no answer. It was evident 
that his senses were gone, and that he neither noticed 
their presence, nor comprehended what was said. The 
Lords withdrew for a time and having consulted toge- 
ther they again returned to the King. " They moved 
him ; they shook him ; but he heeded them not. They 
had him taken out of one room into another, and strove 
by pulling him about to rouse him from hia letliargy.** 
It was apimrent that though the King could breathe and 
eat, he could neither hear, understand, nor speak. On 
■* HvL HS. 513, qooted by I in CmucO dmted April Ctb to td- 
Sbaran Turner. " As far m; being miniiter to the RoT&l Saflerer • 
in the Tower, it km done by the | " electusriei , potioni, welert, tj- 
■drice of the Lords of the Council. | rap«,conrecti'ia>,tuatiTei.cl7ileri. 
which, u I nndentood, *u mon girglei, heul pnrtei, bathingt, To. 
for the Boretj of my peraon." ' mentalioni, emhrocmtion*, ihanng 
" In the eieTenth TOlnme of Rjr. I of head, nnctiotii, plainer*, cento, 
mer's Fcedrra ii prtiened in ords- 1 bliMen, lorifioatioDi, Mc. dc." 
d-2 
JdnH 
[king 1 
A.D. iiM. their return to parliament, with this report, the Duke of 
ThE Duke of York was named Protector and Defender of tlie realm, 
notni^Lmi till Prince Edward should arrive at years of discretion, 
^^""tan *^^^ ^^^ dignity should be conferred on him. 
iMijjToL T. In the mean time the friends of the Queen and the 
Protector continued to annoy each other. Accusa- 
tions followed on both Bides and angry passions were 
aroused, which ultimately led to the most fatal results, 
and which were at length only allayed by fields of blood. 
The young Edward had been created Prince of Wales, 
and Earl of Chester ; ^' and the King's half-brothers, by 
his mother's second marriage with Owen Tudor were 
made Earls of Richmond and Pembroke, On the 28th 
July 1454 the Duke of York was appointed Governor of 
Calais, the highest military Command in the gift of the 
Crown. 
TheKing'i As suddenly as the King's malady had seized him as 
D«."aI'iiM. suddenly did it also disappear. At Christmas he offered 
up thanks for his recovery,^^ and in the February fol- 
lowing the protectorate of his ambitious kinsman ceased. 
samenet The Duke was recalled from Calais, and Somerset after 
vorit dn" an imprisonment of fourteen months appointed his suc- 
FBb. s.'i4B6. cessor. Sullenly the disgraced nobleman retired to his 
(ritoi*™^. estates in the North, and, there brooding over the affront 
SM. »i,) put upon him by the Queen and her party, he entered 
into conferences with tlie Earls of Salisbury and War- 
c«i>p)ncy wick. He pointed out to them that their safety de- 
a.uibuii manded the most violent measures against the Duke of 
Somerset, by whose advice Henry was collecting a 
" "The Prince ibtH be created 
■t Windsor upon Pentecost Sunday 
(Jitne 9IA 1454), the Chsncellor, 
the Duke of Buckingham, and niaiiy 
other Lords of estate, present with 
the Qneen."— Poji/on Letteri. vol. 
i. p. 77.) 
s> " Blessed be God 1 the King 
is well amended, and hath beenaioct 
ChristtnaG day ; and dd St. Jahn'E 
day. commanded his Almoner tc 
ride to Canterbury with his offering, 
and commanded the Secretary tc 
THE SIXTH.] 
INTRODUCTION. 
xliz 
powerful party at Leicester, with the intention of con- a.d. \4m. 
vening a parliament in that town to which should York 
and his friends repair they were certain of destruction, 
and, should they stay away, as certain of being charged 
with contumacy and thus deprived of their dignities and 
property. 
Before entering upon the details of the deadly Crisis, 
which ensued, we may be pardoned for presenting the 
picture of the upright, meek and gentle Henry sketched 
by the hand of one who had studied his character in all 
it's various points of Ught and shade.*^ 
" He was a man of pure simplicity of mind, truthful John biiJc. 
... man*! Clu- 
almost to a fault. He never made a promise he did not racier of 
keep, never knowingly did an injury to any one. Recti- (Voi. u. 
tude and justice ruled his conduct in all public afiairs. 
Devout himself, he sought to cherish a love for religion 
in others. He would exhort his visitors, particularly the 
young to pursue virtue and eschew evil. He considered 
sports and the pleasui^es of the world as frivolous, and 
devoted his leisure to reading the Scriptures and the old 
Chronicles. Most decorous himself when attending 
public worship, he obliged his courtiers to enter the 
sacred edifice without swords or spears, and to refrain 
from interrupting the devotion of others by conversing 
within it'^s precincts. He exhorted his clergy in frequent 
letters, and charged them to consider their trust sa 
emanating from the authority of the most High.'' 
^'He delighted in female society, and blamed that 
immodest dress, which left exposed the maternal parts of 
the neck. *' Fie, fie, for shame !^ he exclaimed, "for- 
sooth ye be to blame.**^ Fond of encouraging youth in 
the path of virtue he would frequently converse fami- 
liarly with the scholars from his college of Eton, when 
® Jo. Blakman CoUectarium 
Mansnetudinum et bonoram Mo- 
ram Regis Hennc\YL{apudHeame, 
Otterboume et Wethamtede) from 
whose masterly sketch of the cha- 
racter of King Henry, these extracts 
are made. 
i INTBODLCTION. [kING HENRT 
they visited his servants at Windsor Castle. He gene- 
■' rally concluded with this address, adding a present of 
money : " Be good lads, meek and docile, and attend to 
your religion." 
" Ho was liberal to the poor, and lived among his de- 
pendants as a father among his children. He readily 
forgave those who had offended him. When one of his 
servants had been robbed, he sent him a present of 
twenty nobles, desiring him to be more careful of his 
property in future, and requesting him to forgive the 
thief. Passing one day from St. Albans to Cripplegate, 
he saw a quarter of a man impaled there for treason. 
Greatly shocked he exclaimed i " Take it away, take it 
away, I will have no man so cruelly treated on my ac- 
count." Hearing that four men of noble birth were 
about to suffer for treason to him, he sent them his 
pardon with all expedition to the place of execution." 
" In his dress he was plain, and would not wear the 
shoes, with the upturned points, then so much in fashion, 
and considered the distinguishing mark of a man of 
quality." 
" He was careful to select proper persons in the dis- 
tribution of Church preferment; and anxious to promote 
the real Happiness of his two half brothers, the Earls of 
Kichmond and Pembroke he had them carefully brought 
up under the most upright and virtuous Ecclesiastics." 
Such a King in more peaceable times would have 
been a blessing to hia country ; but in those turbulent 
days, when personal prowess was considered the first of 
virtues, it is not to be wondered, that he should have 
been looked upon almost in the light of an idiot. 
The Duke of York, the Earls of Warwick and Salis- 
bury, and the Lord Cobham marched in the May fol- 
lowing their forces towards the Metropolis, where the 
Duke's popularity was sure to gain him many partizans. 
" But Henry being advertised of his march, would not 
wait his coming to London, and being accompanied by 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. H 
the Dukes of Somerset and Buckingham, the Earls of a.d. i465. 
Pembroke, Stafford, Northumberland, Devonshire, Dor- 
set, and Wiltshire, abundance of Barons and gentlemen 
of Quality, and what other forces he could get together 
met him at St. Albans, and according to the peaceable 
instinct of his nature, sent to know his pretensions.^ 
The Duke of Buckmgham, the Royal messenger, re- 
ceived the following reply from the confederated nobles. 
^' Please it your Majesty Royal to deliver up such as we The meMage 
will accuse, and they to have like as they deserved. And Baron*.— 
this done, you to be honourably worshipped as a most rransc. 
rightful king. We will not now slack for no such pro- p.ms.) 
mise nor oath, until we have them, which have deserved 
death ; or else we, therefore, to die.'' 
On this occasion the King's reply was worthy of the 
grandson of Henry IV, and must have been as Uttle an- 
ticipated by the Yorkists, as by the Royal party itself: 
^' I, King Henry, charge and command, that no manner The King'a 
(of) person of what degree, estate or condition that ever (i^ici.7 
he be, abide not ; but that they avoid the field, and not 
be so hardy to make resistance against me in my own 
realm : for I shall know what traitor dare be so bold to 
array any people in my own land, through which I am in 
great disease and heaviness. By that faith I owe unto 
St. Edward, and unto the Crown of England, I shall de- 
stroy them, every mother's son ; and eke they to be 
hanged, drawn, and quartered, that may be taken after- 
wards of them ; to make an example for all such traitors, 
to beware for to make any rising of people within mine 
own land, and thus traitorously to abide their King and 
Govemour. And for a conclusion, rather than they 
shall have any Lord that here is with me at this time, I 
shall this day, for their sake in this quarrel, myself live 
and die." Although the royal forces amounted to no Battle of st. 
more than 2000 men and the Yorkists to 3000, so judi- 22nd!"i466f^ 
ciously did Lord Clifford defend the place, that for some Tramc. 
Marl MS 
time victory was doubtful. But the Earl of Warwick 54&.) 
lii INTRODUCTION. [kING HENRY 
A.u. 1455. seizing his opportunity, moved to the garden side of the 
to^^Ti, and attacking it at the weakest point forced the 
barriers. The King and his nobles were foremost amongst 
the defenders, and fought hand to hand with the s^ 
(EngiamVt sailants, whilst York, keeping himself aloof, "placed 
Succession, ,.,/, .. j« i i_i j 
p. 128.) hnnself upon a rising ground, from whence he observed 
all occurrences, and sent fresh soldiers to supply the 
places of such as were slain or wounded till at last from 
the inferior numbers of the Royal army, and the loss of 
The Duke of its leaders, he obtained the victory. On the King's side 
lorioul*^' were slain 2* the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Nor- 
thumberland, and the Lord Clifford. The Duke of 
Buckingham, the Earls Stafford, Dorset, and Wiltshire 
and the Lord Sudeley were wounded, and according to 
contemporary authority six score ^ persons fell on the 
King's side, of which number, says the Harleian MS. 
were 14 squires, 1 gentleman, 4 yeomen, and 25 whose 
names were unknown. Abbot Wethemstede saw him- 
(fyftetfump- self, ^'here one lying with his brains dashed out, here 
** *^' ' another without his arm; some with arrows in their 
The King throats, othcTS pierced in their chests." The King him- 
prisoner. sclf was wouudcd in the neck, and sought refuge in the 
house of a tanner,^^ where he was found by the Duke of 
York, who conducted him the next day with all seeming 
respect to London. The town was given up to plunder, 
and thus commenced that fearful Civil War, which con- 
tinued with slight intermission to devastate the country 
for thirty years. 
** ** Every man fought with as 
much fierceness as if they had taken 
up a resolution, that not a man in 
the whole field should have survived 
the Battle.'* — {EngL Suece98i(m, p. 
128.) 
* Fen9*6 Paston Letters, vol. i. 
p. 100. ** There was at most slain 
[x] vi Score ; and as for the Lords 
that were with the King, they and 
their men were plundered and spoiled 
out of all their harness and horses." , cemon, p. 129.) 
Stowe says 48 of those who feU on 
the Royed side were buried in the 
Abbey of St. Albans.— (p. 400.) 
^ *' Having found Henry in a 
poor man's house whither he had 
withdrawn himself, he carried him 
from thence with aU seeming re- 
spect, telling him that Somerset's 
death, had established his throne, 
and settled his crown the firmer 
upon his head.*' — (Englmnd's Sue- 
THE SIXTH.] 
INTRODUCTION* 
liii 
The Duke's army suffered less. He was accompanied a.d. i4». 
by the Duke of Norfolk, the Earls of Salisbury and 
Warwick, the Lords Cobham and Falconbridge, but so 
complete was his victory that he lost scarcely any person 
of note. Treason prospered for awhile, and summoning 
a parliament in the Kinir^s name at Westminster '' he Furuament 
. ^ aBiembled, 
procured all things that had been acted, from the very J^y»jj^ 
first day of Henry's reign, to that time, to be reversed ; ^«^'f^» 
himself, Salisbury and Warwick with the rest of their 
Associates, to be indemnified, from future punishment, 
for their late insurrection. And as for a foundation 
whereon he intended to raise the superstructure of his 
designed monarchy, he caused himself and his two chief 
confederates Salisbury and Warwick to be elected into 
a triumvirate; 27 whereby he left nothing remaming to 
Henry, but the bare title of King, for aU power and 
authority was vested in those three : the PoliticaL in York, smu 
himself, beini? made Constable or Govemour of the Warwick. 
® . fonnaTrl- 
Kingdom ; the Civil, in Salisbury, who was made Lord nmvinue. 
Chancellor; and the Military in Warwick, who was 
appointed to the Government of Calais.*" The following (FermuFoi' 
letters addressed to William Wyrcester, give many cir- toi. t o. 105 
cumstances connected with this first battle of St. Albans 
and the subsequent events, which have been passed over 
by historians. 
" To William Wyrcester. be this letter delivered m Letten to 
^ 1 , „ WiUlam 
haste, Wyrcester. 
Sir, 
I recommend me to you, and as for tidings ye may 
inform mine Master that for new(«), there is none but 
that he hath knowledge of. 
But that the King, the Queen and the Prince, re- The Rivai 
move to Hertford tomorrow without fault ; my Lord rate tuTthe 
27 " My Lord of York is made 
Constable of England ; my Lord of 
Warwick is made Captain of Calais ; 
my Lord Bourchier is made Trea- 
surer of England.'' — (Pasion Lei- 
ierSf Tol. i. p. 103.) 
liv INTRODUCTION. [kING HENRY 
A. D. 1456. of York to the Friars at Ware ; my Lord of Warwick 
iPwiiimeSt. to Hunsdon, the Earl of Salisbury to Rye, and there 
they shall abide to the time the Parliament begins. The 
pe Diike of Duke of Buckinffham is come in, and sworn that he 
Buckingham " • • i -i 
Md Earl of shall be rulcd, and draw the line with them ; and thereto 
Wiltshire ^ 
make their ho and his brothcrs be bound by recoimizance in notable 
peace. ^ •' " 
sums to abide the same. 
The Earl of Wiltshire sent to the Lords, from a 
place of his, called Petersfield^ a letter desiring to know 
if he should come and abide about the King's person as 
he did before, and if he should not then that they would 
license him to go into Ireland, and live there upon his 
lands &c. 
And before this done, the Lords were advised to have 
made him to do as the Duke of Buckingham hath done 
and no more ; but what that will fall now thereof, no 
man can tell as yet. 
LordgDud. The Barou of Dudley is in the Tower, what shall 
ley and , 
Doraet in comc of him God wot. 
ward. 
The Earl of Dorset is in ward with the Earl of War- 
wick. 
It was said forsooth, that Harper and two other of the 
King's Chamber, were confederated to (have) sticked 
(stabbed) the Duke of York in the King's chamber, but 
it was not so, for they have cleared them thereof. 
But London upon the same tale arisen and every man 
to harness on Corpus Christi Even (5th of June) and 
much ado there was. 
Sir William Oldhall abideth no longer in Sanctuary, 
than, (till) the chief Justice come ; for (at) that time 
he shall go at large and sue all his matters him- 
self etc. 
The Baron Dudley hath impeached many men ; but 
what they be, as yet we cannot weet. 
Sir Philip Sir Philip Wentworth was in ^the Field, and bore the 
and^others King's Standard, and cast it down and fled ; my Lord 
*° * of Norfolk saith, he shall be hanged therefor, and so is 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION, Iv 
he worthy ; he is in Suffolk now, he dares not come a.d. 145^. 
about the King. 
Edmund Standale was with Wenloek there in the 
field and fouly hurt. 
Fylongley is at home at his own place with his wife, 
and shall do right well, but we have a great loss of his 
absence this term, for it will be long ere he come this 
term, I am afraid. 
All the Lords that died at the Journey (Battle) are 
buried at Saint Alban''s. 
Other things be none here, but ye shall see by Thomas 
Scales' letter the rule of the Frenchmen etc. 
God speed us well in our matters this term, I pray to 
God, who have you in his keeping etc. 
W.B. 
London 
June 1455. 
Unto my most faithful brethren, John Booking and Henrywind- 
William Worcester^ and to either of them. 
Worshipful Sir, and my most heartily and best be- 
loved Brother. I recommend me unto you in more 
lordly wise, than I can either think or write ; and with 
sSl my service and true heart thank you of your gentle 
letters, full brotherly written unto me at many times of 
old, and in especial of late time passed. And truly 
brother I thank Almighty God of your welfare, of the 
which the Bearer of this my poor letter certified me 
of etc. 
And Sir, as touching all manner of new tidings, I 
know well ye are avarous {desirous) ; truly the day of 
making of this letter, there were none new, but such (as) 
I heard of, ye shall be served withal. 
As for the first, the King, our Sovereign Lord, and Diflrerencei 
all his true Lords stand in health of their bodies, but 
not all at heart's-ease as we amongst others tnarvel. 
hi 
ISTKODUCTION, 
[H. 
"iia" 
Two days before the writing of this letter there was 
language between my Lords of Warwick and Cromwell 
before the King ; insomuch as the Lord Cromwell would 
have excused himself of all the stirring or moving of 
the mail journey {battle) of St. Alban's ; of the which 
excuse making, my Lord Warwick had knowledge, and 
in haste was with the King and swore by his oath, that 
the Lord Cromwell said not truth, but that he was the 
Beginner of all that journey at St. Alban's ; and so be- 
tween my said two Lords of Warwick and Cromwell, 
there is at this day great grudging, insomuch so, the 
Earl of Shrewsbury hath lodged him at the Hospital of 
St. James ^'^ beside the Mews, by the Lord CromweO's 
desire, for his safe guard. 
And also all my Lord of Warwick's men, my Lord of 
York's men, and also my Lord of Salisbury's men, go 
with harness, and in harness, with strange weapons, and 
have stuffed their Lord's barges full of weapons, daily 
unto Westminster. 
And the day of making this letter there was a Pro- 
clamation made in the Chancery on the King's behalf; 
that no man should neither bear weapon nor wear harness 
defensible, &c. 
f ■ Also the day before the making of this letter, there 
' passed a Bill both by the King, Lords, and Commons, 
putting Thorp, Joseph, and my Lord of Somerset in all 
the default, by the which Bill, all manner of actions 
that should grow to any person or persons, for any of- 
t. fences at that journey done, in any manner of wise 
should be extinct and void, affirming all things done 
there, well done, and nothing done there never after this 
time to be spoken of; to the which Bill many a man 
grudged full sore now it ia passed. 
And if (that) might be recommended, unto my special 
^ Se. JameB's FiiIaBe non occupiei tUs Bite. 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. Ivil 
Master and yours, with all lowliness and true service, I a.d. 1455. 
beseech you (cu) heartily as I can. 
And also to my brethren Th. upon Lode, Wick of 
Pole, William Lynd, Calyn and John Marshall. 
No more, but our Lord have you both in his perpetual 
keeping. 
Written at London on Saint Margaret's Even in 
haste ; and after this is read and understood, I pray you 
bum or break (tear) it, for I am loath to write any 
thing of my Lord, but I must needs, there is nothing 
else to write. Amen. 
Your own 
Henry Windsor. 
In the early part of the ensuing June the King again (Rymer, 
gave symptoms of declining health, for the order bearing p^.^eSt.) 
the dat« of the 5th of that month commands the attend- 
ance of the Dean of Salisbury on the King, as physician, 
and states that '* His Majesty then laboured with sick- 
ness and infirmities.^ Parliament met in July, and York 
and his confederates took a solemn oath of allegiance to The Toricuu 
King Henry. Laying his hand on his breast, and taking oath of 
the King by the hand the Duke said : '^ I shall truly and (/jviSTv^i.t. 
£Euthfully keep the liegeance that I owe unto you, my 
most Sovereign Lord ; and to do all that may be to the 
welfare, honour and safeguard of your most noble person, 
and royal estate, pre-eminence and prerogative. And I 
shall, at no time, will or consent to that which might 
in anjrwise be to the prejudice of your person, dignity, 
crovm or estate ; and I shall, with all my power, resist 
and withstand all them that would presume to attempt 
the contrary." This oath was repeated by the Duke of 
Buckingham and the other peers kneeling, requesting at 
the same time the King to shew no more grace to the 
Duke of York, or others, whoever attempted similar 
hostilities. Upon this the parliament was prorogued 
to the 12th of November. 
hm 
[king 
Urn Leller. 
York.p- 
polnUil L< 
The King appears to have been at Hertford in Oc- 
'" tober, " and to have been sick again," and accordingly 
in November the Duke of York opened parliament, as 
the King's lieutenajit. A farce was carried on in both 
houses,^ in the last act of which the ambitious Duke 
was appointed Protector and Defender of the Kingdom, 
with an income of 3,000 marks, which office was only to 
cease when Prince Edward reached the years of discre- 
tion, if he should then wish to assume it himself. The 
Duke played his part to admiration, excused himself 
from the task, whilst his creatures expostulated in both 
houses, the commons claiming his protection to suppress 
the illegal acts of Lord Bonville and the Earl of Devon, 
and the Lord Chancellor consulting the Lords, on the 
necessity of his appointment. On the 17th of November 
his scruples were removed, and having by hia cunning 
obtained hia desired object, he publicly accepted the 
trust, and in the middle of December prorogued parlia^ 
ment for a month. 
The Duke of York, to render his high station the 
more secure, had inserted a clause in the patent, by 
which it was enacted that he should only be removed by 
the voice of parliament. He now took steps to retain a 
majority in that Assembly. He called Sir Thomas 
Stanley and Sir Kichard Welles to the house of Peers, 
the one as Lord Stanley of Latham, and the other as 
Lord Willoughby. From authentic souices we find the 
. House of Lords then consisted of 2 Archbishops (the 
Cardinal Bourchier, and Dr. William Booth) 2 Dukes, 
' The Bune ParlUment smused 
itself with s reform in the ahui 
law procesaea far more stringent 
than anything proposed in the pre- 
sent dajr. It enacted " that as 
there were fourecore attornies or 
nore, in the counties or Norfolk, 
Suffolk, and the City of Norwich, 
moii of whom had bo niher thing to 
live upon bat their practice, aaAlYie 
major part were not of snfficlent 
knowledge ; that therefore from 
henceforth, there should be but tix 
Common attomiea in the County of 
Norfolk, the satne number in the 
County of SuSolk, and tKO in the 
City of Norwich, upon pain of for. 
feitingtwentypoonds." — ( Statute!, 
33 Henry VI. Chap. 7.) 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTXON. Hx 
11 Bishops, 6 Earls, 2 Viscounts, 18 Abbots, 2 Priors, a.d. i466. 
and 17 Barons. Lulled into security by the exercise of (Rymer, 
full regal power, he appeared willing to await his oppor- p. 370.) 
tunity for taking the final step which would place the 
crown on his head. The Kins and Queen were left at The King at 
, , , , Sheen; and 
liberty, the former mostly residing in the quiet of his ti^ Queen^at 
palace at Sheen, the latter with the young Prince in the \^^f^^^' 
strong holds of the Lancastrians, at Tutbury in Stafford- ][jjj |g^- i^s 
shire, or Chester, her motions, however, carefully watched 
by the Duke of York, from his Gastle of Sendal. ^,^37.) 
The King having again recovered from the attack The King's 
of his malady met ParUament on it's reassembUng in TeunTof 
January, and on the 25th of the ensuing month the ju" ITth!^' 
Duke of York at the request of the Queen, was dis* 
charged of his office of Lord Protector, the King having 
personally called upon the House to rescind the appoint- 
ment. With apparent willingness he descended from Resignation 
1-1 •! T-11 <• ri ft • • • of Somerset 
his high station, the Earl of Salisbury agam resigmng and saiia- 
the great seal into the hands of the Cardinal Archbishop 
in the beginning of the March following, and thus the 
principal offices in the state were filled again by the 
King's friends. 
The Duke and the two earls retired into Yorkshire, 
and '^ though apparently separated they held frequent (^/»'»> 
secret conferances together, at which several other p-^aJ.) 
lords of their party were present.'* It was currently 
reported that in an affiray between the Lords Beaumont 
and Warwick, the former was slain " and my Lord War- (Ferm*tPat. 
' ^ ^ •' ton Letters, 
wick sore hurt, 1000 men slain, and six score Knights ▼oij^ 
and Squires hurt ; and nothing true, blessed be God." 
These idle rumours kept the nation in a continual state 
of excitement, and added much to the ferocity of the 
times. 
These disputes of the great were extremely prejudicial 
to the commerce of the country, and serious disturbances 
took place between the English and Foreign merchants, 
often ending in bloodshed and murder. The Duke of 
INTBODUCTTO!*. 
[^ 
A.D. i-iifl, York ia generally supposed to have instigated the mob on 
one of these occasions, which has been recorded by most 
(Pabgm, of our aniialiats, when the populace overawed the power 
sioae.i of the crown, which the Duke had just surrendered 
again into the hands of Henry. 
serioui rioi " A young merchant which before time had been in 
{Onijim, ' divers cities, within the country of Italy, aud there pro- 
hibited by the magistrates and rulers to use or wear any 
weapons, either invasive or defensive, challenged an 
Italian in Cheapside, for wearing of a dagger confuting 
him with the laws of his own country, which like a 
choleric knave and presumptuous person, so disdainfully 
and with such taunts and checks answered the Mer- 
chant, that he not willing to suffer so open a re- 
proach, in so public a street, and that of so proud a 
villain, took by force from him his dagger, and with the 
same a little cut his crown and cracked his pate. This 
Italian in great baste complained to the Mayor of this 
oflfence, which at the nest Court, holden at the Guild- 
hall, by the consent of the whole senate, sent for the 
offender, and declaring to him his crime, commanded 
him to ward, whereof divers other light merchants 
within the City, sore abhorring the Italian nation, for 
licking the fat from their beards, and taking from them 
their accustomed living, by reason that the said strangers 
imported and transported into and out of this realm, all 
such merchandize, commodities and necessaries, as the 
Englishmen only wore accustomed to do, assembled 
together in great plumpes (masses) and by force com- 
pelled the Mayor to deliver the prisoner out of New- 
gate ; and yet this multitude, with this doing, nothing 
satiate nor appeased, like mad persons, and frantic fools, 
ran to the several houses of divers Venetians, Luccaens, 
and Florentines, and them spoiled, robbed and rifled, 
without reason or measure. The Mayor perceiving this 
great enormity, assembled a great number of substan- 
tial and grave Citizens, which not without gi-eat blood- 
THH SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. W 
shed, and maiming of sundry persons, finally appeased ^'^' ^^^i. 
their rage, and caused the people to depart to their in London! 
houses. The beginner of this commotion and sudden 
uproar, either persuaded by his friends or fearing his 
chance, which for his first fact might suddenly ensue, 
departed to Westminster, and there registered himself 
as a sanctuary man. The Queen which ruled all things, 
hearing of this great riot and unlawful misdemeanor^ 
sent the Dukes of Exeter and Buckingham accompanied 
with many other noble men to London with a commission 
of oyer and determiner, for the punishment of this out- 
rageous offence and seditious crime. When the Mayor 
of the City, the two Dukes, and the two chief justices, 
were set in Guildhall for the performance of their com- 
mission and began to call the empanels for the inquiry 
as the use and order is, divers light witted, and less 
brained persons of the city, privily armed them and by 
the ringing of Bow Bell, thought to assemble together a 
great multitude of their mind and opinion and so by 
force and might to take from the keepers all such pri- 
soners, as were before apprehended, for the late com- 
mitted robbery and riot, as they were going to their 
trial or arraignment. 
But this great tumult and sudden fury was by discreet 
and sage Citizens a little and little appeased, and finally 
quenched, but in the mean season, the Dukes and other 
commissioners, being untruely advertized, that they were 
in jeopardy of their lives, suddenly departed from the 
Guildhall, and left their inquiry for that day. The Mayor 
on the next day perceiving how the grudge rose, called a 
conmion council, whereof the number was one hundred, 
four score and odd perscHis, and by authority of the same, 
ordained that all wardens of mysteries should assemble 
their fellowship in their particular Halls, where they 
should exhort them to the observation of the King's 
peace, and keeping of good order within the City ; and 
if they ^espied any man, either prone or ready to raise a 
hii 
[■" 
The KIne' 
fcSb., 
rumour desirous of the deliverance of such as were ac- 
cused, and in captive custody, that their names should 
be secretly written, and covertly delivered to the Lord 
Mayor ; which politic doing, finally ended the outrageous 
doing of the insolent people, after which appeasing, the 
commissioners returned to the Guildhall, where many of 
the robbers were att^nted, and !iitcr(wards) condignly 
put to execution, besides divers great fines and ransoms 
paid which were set upon many merchants for winking 
at these doings or assenting to the same. 
Under pretence of change of air the Court removed 
to Coventry, that the King might enjoy the sports of 
the field. The Duke of York, the Earls of Salisbury 
and Warwick " were invited by letters under the King's 
own hand to attend at Court, where affairs of the utmost 
importance required tlieir advice." The object of the 
Queen was to break up their confederacy, and aware 
that they would be less poweiful at Coventry than in 
London she sought thus to ensnare them into her power. 
" The Duke of York had not yet done anything 
openly which shewed that he aspired to the crown. This 
was a secret between him and his principal friends. It 
is very true the Court was persuaded of it, but it was 
not possible to convict him. Hitherto he had varnished 
his actions with the good of the Publick, and for that 
very reason was formidable to the Court ;" but, how- 
ever artfully he concealed his designs from the people, 
he knew that the Queen perfectly understood the part he 
was playing, and would not scruple to employ any means 
to counteract his plana. Nevertheless the King's invi- 
' tation was accepted, but warned by private emissaries of 
the danger that awaited them, they hastily separated 
without entering the town, the Duke withdrawing to his 
stronghold of Wigmore, in Wales; Sahsbury to Mid- 
dleham, and Warwick to Calais, and although they de- 
feated by so doing the Queen's object, they were ren- 
dered less formidable than when 
actmg m concert. 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. Ixili 
Two years passed over without any occurrence of a.d. 1457. 
importance to the rival houses. Some predatory incur- f^^h pre*! 
sions of the Scots, and a buccaneering expedition from fni^ioM. 
France,^ under the command of Sir Piers de Bracy and 
the Count de Pomiers, may have recalled them to a 
sense of the danger their common country was placed in 
by their continual quarrels. Henry, almost the only im- a.d. i458. 
partial person in the country, during his quiet seclusion, (Whethemp- 
whilst reading his books alone, formed the noble resolu- 
tion of reconciling the conflicting interests of both par- Henry strives 
ties, by the sacrifice of his own feelings and the emolu- i^tTpwtiM. 
ments of the crown. He invited the chief lords of each 
to London, permitting them to appear with armed re- 
tainers sufficient to prevent any sudden treachery which 
each expected from the other. '' The Duke of York They arrive 
came to London with his own household only, to the (Fe»n'« j'm. 
number of 140 horse, as it is said, (and took up his voi.i.p.i5i.} 
abode at Baynard's Castle ;^^) the Earl of Salisbury 
with 400 horse in his company, four score knights and 
squires ; the Duke of Somerset came to London (the) (stowe, 
last day of January, with 200 horse, and lodgeth without 
Temple Bar."^^ The Earl of Northumberland, the (Rmur, 
Lords Egremont and Clifibrd had fifteen hundred re- p. 406.') 
tainers, and were quartered in the King'*s Mews at 
Charing, probably where the present noble mansion of 
the Duke of Northumberland now stands. Warwick 
received permission to bring over 24 foreigners from 
Calais, besides his English retinue, and arrived in Feb- 
^ Sir I^era de Bracj pillaged 
Sandwich, then neither peopled nor 
fortified on account of the plague 
having hroken out in the town ; and 
the 0>nnt contented himself with 
plundering the little town of Foy in 
Cornwall, exploits utterly unworthy 
served in name in Upper Thames 
Street. Stowe says the Duke had 
400 followers. 
^ The present Somerset House 
stands upon the site of the old Du« 
cal Palace. The Dukes o( Somer« 
set and Exeter, the latter residing 
of the great forces placed at their ! at his house near the Duke ot So* 
ditposal. I merset, numbered no less than 800 
^ Baynard's Castle is still pre- * armed retainers. 
e 2 
■Ui» 
[« 
niary, having been detained by adverse winds, and went 
with a large body of retainers to the Grey Friars.^ 
In the month of March the King and Queen arrived, 
and niade the Bishop's palace^* their residence. So 
great was the influx of armed men that Sir Godfrey 
Boleyn,^ the Mayor, had daily 5000 citizens well armed 
by day, and half that number by night to guard the city. 
Stowe records " a fray in Fleet Street between men of 
the Court and the inhabitants of the same street, in 
which fray the Queen's Attorney was slain. For this 
fact the King committed the Governors of Furnivall's, 
Clifford, and Barnard's Inns to prison, and William 
Taylor, alderman of the ward, and many others were 
sent to Windsor Castle." 
By the exertions of the Cardinal Archbishop, at length 
an outward reconciliation was effected, and the following 
short letter addressed to Sir John Fastolf at Caistor 
shows how difficult a task his Grace had undertaken. 
ir " Like it your Mastership to west, that as for tidings, 
the Council is, the forenoon, at the Black Friars, for 
the ease of resorting of the Lords that are within the 
Town ; and, at afternoon, at the White Friai-s in Fleet 
Street, for the Lords without the Town ; and all things 
shall come to a good conclusion with God's Grace ; for 
the King shall come hither this week, and the Queen 
also, as some men say, and my Lords Buckingham and 
Stafford with her and much people. 
My Lord of Canterbury taketh great pain upon him 
daily, and will write unto you the certamty of such 
° The Earl of Warwick's house 
wBS in Warwick Lane. Hia re- 
Winera were dressed in scarlet, em. 
broidered nitb wliite ragged staves, 
before and behind. Stove says they 
■moanted to 640 men. 
M The Bishop's PiOace was near 
St. Paul's. 
=s " This Sir Godfrey Boleya was 
Anna, wife of Henry Vlll. and hia 
daughter Queen Elizabeth."— (fla- 
pin.) 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. IXV 
tidings as fall ; and should have done ere this time, save a.d. i468. 
for that he would know an end of the matter. j^h^iiJtoif. 
Other tidings here are none, save my Lord of Exeter 
is displeased that the Earl of Warwick shall keep the 
Sea, and hath therefore received this week £1000 of the 
Hanaper. 
The messenger was on horseback when I wrote you 
this Bill, and therefore it was done in haste, and our 
Lord Jesu keep you. Written at London the Wed- 
nesday after Midlent. 
And my Lord of Canterbury told me that the French- 
men have been before you, and that ye shot many Guns, 
and so he told all the Lords. 
I have desired him to move the Council for refreshing 
of the Town of Yarmouth with stuff of Ordnance, and 
Guns and Gunpowder, and he said he would. 
Your Humble Servant, 
John Backing r 
London, 
Wednesday^ \Sth of March, 1458. 
A Public Procession was made to St. Pauls " for the aohi 5th. 
open appearance and demonstration of this £:odly con- p- f^-) * 
111 I* 1 . A , 1 . 1 Proce«»on to 
cord, on the day of the conception of our Lady, m the st. Paui«. 
month of March, {April 5th) at which solemn feast, the 
King in habit royal, having his diadem on his head, kept 
his estate in procession, before whom went hand in hand, 
the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Salisbury, the 
Duke of Exeter and the Earl of Warwick, and so one of 
the one faction and another of the sect, and behind the 
King the Duke of York led the Queen, with great fa- 
miliarity, to all men's sights.**^ But this was a mere 
pageant, and the proud spirits who now walked hand in 
hand, had been taught to imagine that the ceremonial 
absolution of the mechanical worship of their religion 
would free them from the crime of hypocrisy and deceit. 
Ixvi 
introduction; 
[king henbt 
A.D. 1458. 
iConiempo- 
rary BtUlad 
quoted by 
Turner.) 
Quarrel be- 
tween the 
royal ser- 
vants and 
Lord War- 
wick's 
retainers.— 
( Grafton, 
p. 635.) 
This event is recorded in the following ballad. 
" Wisdom and wealth, with all pleasance 
May rightful reign, and prosperity; 
For love hath underlaid wrathful yeniaunce. 
Rejoice England ! our Lords accorded be ! 
In York, in Somerset, as I understand. 
In Warwick also, is love and charity; 
In Salisbury eke, and in Northumberland, 
That every man may rejoice. Concord and Unity ! 
Egremont and CHfibrd, with other aforesaid. 
Be set in the same opinion. 
In every quarter love is thus laid ; 
Grace and Wisdom have thus the dominion ! 
Awake ! wealth ! and walk in this region. 
Round about in town and city. 
And thank them that brought it to this conclusion. 
Rejoice ! England ! to Concord and Unity ! 
At Paul's in London, with great renown. 
On our Ladyday in Lent, this peace was wrought. 
The King, the Queen, with Lords many one 
To worship that Virgin as they ought. 
Went in procession and spared right nought 
In sight of all the commonality. 
In token that love was in heart and thought. 
Rejoice! England! to Concord and Unity!" 
There are several other similar verses of this ballad 
which shows how grateful this apparent reconciliation 
ivas to the great mass of the people. 
A petty fray between two menials, within a few weeks 
of the imposing ceremony of the general reconciliation, 
undid in an instant all that had been effected by the 
anxious solicitude of the King and the Lord Cardinal. 
A servant of the King'*s household attacked a yeoman of 
the Earl of Warwick, when the latter wounded his ad- 
versary severely and fled. The King's menials seeing 
their fellow servant thus hurt and his enemy fled, way- 
laid the Earl of Warwick on his return from the Council, 
and attacked him, the yeomen with swords, the black 
THE SIXTH.] 
INTRODUCTION. 
Ixvii 
guards ^s with spits and fire forks. " After a long fight, a.d. i468. 
and many of the Earl's men maimed and wounded, by 
help of his friends, he took a wherry, and so escaped to 
London; whom the Queen incontinent commanded to 
be apprehended, and as a captive and prisoner, to be 
sent to the Tower of London, where (if he had been 
then taken) he had shortly ended his days. By this 
unhappy fray, and sudden chance of malice, there arose 
such daily and terrible war, that every mim was in 
trouble, and no person was in quiet. For after this dis- 
pleasure done to the Earl, and the Queen's good mind 
towards him by his secret friends privily revealed, he 
with aU diligence, took his journey to Warwick, and 
after into Yorkshire, where he found the Duke of York, 
and the Earl of Salisbury, declaring to them the assault 
of the King^s servants, and the pretended purpose of the 
fraudulent Queen. After which complaint made, he 
fearing lest by long absence, he might be deposed or de- 
frauded of his Captainship of Calais, with great speed 
embarked himself, and sailed thither, daily expecting and 
looking, what way the Duke of York would take, for 
atchieving his long intended purpose. After whose de- 
parture, the Duke of York, and the Earl of Salisbury, 
somewhat stirred, and moved with this double dealing, 
began to grudge and murmur ; affirming that in the 
Queen rested nothing but fraud and feminine malice, 
which ruling the King at her pleasure and will, studied 
nothing so much, as the destruction of the nobility, and 
peers of the realm. After long consultation had, it was 
agreed, that the Earl with a warlike company should 
march toward the King, and complain both to him of 
^ Black-guardg. '* In all great 
houses, bat particularly in the Royal 
Residences, there were a number of 
mean and dirty dependants, whose 
office it was to attend the wood- 
yards, sculleries, etc. Of these the 
most forlorn wretches seem to have 
been selected to carry coals to the 
kitchens, halls, &c. To this smutty 
regiment, who attended the pro- 
gresses, and rode in the carts with 
the pots and kettles, the people, in 
derision, gave the name of ' Black- 
GUARDS.» "—{Giffbrd.) 
Ixviii INTRODUCTION. [kikg hen 
A.D, iwB. the manifest injury done to his son, and also of the un- 
kind breach of the sworn amity and late agreement, in 
which suit, if he did prevail, ho then should not omit the 
occasion to him given, in revenging the displeasures to hini 
done, by the Queen and her sinister councilors, which 
evil and ungodly, ordered the subjects of the whole 
realm." 
As it was now evident to the leaders of both parties, 
that neither could trust the other, and accordingly that 
the only resource left was an appeal to arms, prepara- 
tions were made to meet the coming crisis, publicly on 
the part of the King, and secretly on the part of the 
The RiDn'i confederated Lords. The King despatched letters under 
scmbLfdm his privy seal in April 1459 summoning the attendance 
HaYifl.i«B- of the nobility and gentry " to be with him at Leicester 
PaiionLei. on (he 10th day of May, with as many persons defensibly 
p' I'S-) arrayed, as they might according to their degree, and that 
they should bring with them for their expenses for two 
months," The Yorkists had arranged to unite at Ke- 
nilworth, hut the King being apprized of their move- 
ments hastened to intercept the Earl of Salisbury, who 
finding himself anticipated by the rapid march of the 
Royal Army, was driven to make a larger circuit than 
he had contemplated. Unexpectedly he came upon a 
troop of Royalists under the Command of Lord Audley 
Biiii.of at Blorebeath in Staffordshire, amounting to 5000 men, 
Sa^"*!). whom ho defeated by a stratagem, and Lord Audley 
was slain.^^ This enabled him to join the Duke of 
York at Ludeford, near Ludlow, where the Earl of War- 
wick also met them with a large force of veterans from 
Calais. 
wirwick Warwick justified the steps taken by the confederates 
coBiiqq.— in the following Articles, which he dispersed on hia 
Mss.i4&, March. "I. That the Commonweal and good politic 
>= Besides Lord Aodiey the Roy- 1 Sir Richard MolineBU, Sir John 
sliiiTB lost Sir Hugh Venablea, Sir Heigh, etc. etc, 
Thomas Dutton, Sir Joho Dunne, 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. IxiX, 
laws had been piteously overturned. 11. That the a.d. 1459. 
crown property had been outrageously spoiled and 
robbed. III. That sufficient was scarcely left for the 
sustentation of the royal household. IV. That the 
merchants and people had, by illegal novelties, suffered 
great extortions, without payment, from the Ministers of 
the King's household. V. That the Government per- 
mitted great and abominable murders, robberies, per- 
juries and extortions ; and favoured and cherished instead 
of punishing them. VI. That the King from his own 
blessed conversation, and noble disposition, graciously 
applied himself to the commonweal ; but that certain 
persons, from their covetousness, and (in order) that 
they might rule, had hidden all these evils from him." 
The intention of the great lords, he added, was to be- 
seech the King, as true subjects, by the advice of those 
of his own blood to redress all these evils, thus explain- 
ing their desire to change the administration, without 
altering the dynasty. 
The royal army continued to increase, and rapidly 
moved towards Ludlow, offering crace to all that would Henry offen 
° ° terms to the 
depart from the rebels, and pardon to York and War- rebels. 
wick, if within six days they should request it. These 
offers were not accepted, and the following reasons as- 
signed for declining them. '' I. Other pardons have Theirreasons 
been granted, but they availed nothing. II. The King them.— 
degraded both the Duke and the Earl to the nobles «<«<^. 
and commons ; and had neither summoned them to his 
council, nor parliament. III. The King's relatives, 
with pride and obstinacy, did as they pleased. IV. The 
Nobles ought to have been called to parliament, and 
have perfect liberty to go, stay or depart ; yet the Earl 
of Warwick had been wilfully so surrounded and pressed 
at Westminster, that but for the unexpected aid which 
rescued him, he would certainly have been destroyed.*" 
The confederates sent a letter to the King from Ludlow 
on the 10th of October, couched in firm but respectful 
btx' iNTKonL'CTioN. [king hksbt 
language : "We beseech your good Grace to receive our 
c said truth and intent ; and not apply your said blessed- 
■. nes3, nor the great righteousness and equity, wherewith 
God hath ever endued your high nobility, to the impor- 
tunity, impatience, and violence of such persons as 
intend of extreme malice to proceed, under shadow of 
your high "might and presence, to our destruction, for 
such inordinate eovetousnesa as they have to our Lands, 
Offices, and Goods." They added that " they would not 
use their defence until the time that they should be pro- 
voked of necessity." 
of The terms of reconciliation having failed to bring about 
so desirable an object both armies prepared for battle 
on the 13th of October. Tlie Duke of York to inspire 
greater courage in his men resorted to a gross falsehood, 
y which ultimately proved his own ruin. In the front of 
his army he caused masses to be said for the soul of the 
King, having brought forward persons to swear that he 
had expired suddenly the day before. This roused up 
the blood of the Plantageneta in the breast of Henry. 
ii, " He addressed his troops so knightlily, so manly, and 
so comfortwise ; with so princely a port and assured 
manner, that the lords and people took great joy, and 
only desired to fulfil his courageous desire." On York's 
followers learning the deceit that liad been practiced 
' upon them they became disheartened, and Sir Andrew 
TroUope deserting during the darkness of the night to 
the Royal troops completed their dismay. York saw the 
necessity of sounding a retreat, and at midnight a general 
of dispersion took place. The Duke hastened with his son, 
Bi- the young Duke of Rutland, to Ireland passing through 
his Welsh property ; the Earl of March, now eighteen 
years of age, accompanied by the Earls of Salisbury and 
Warwick retreated to Devonshire ; whilst the Bishop of 
Exeter, brother to the Earl of Warwick, the Lord Grey 
and several others submitted to the King. After the 
Duke's departure " Henry rode into Ludlow, and spoiled 
THE SIXTH.] UTTRODUCTION. Ixxi 
the town and castle, whereat he found the Duchess of a.d. u^9. 
York with her two young sons, then children, the which ^^JJJ^iJ, 
Duchess King Henry sent to her sister, Anne Duchess ^' *-^ 
of Buckingham.^ Immediately after this a parliament spoilt Lad. 
was summoned to meet at Coventry on the 20th of 
November following, and on it's assembling the following 
persons were attainted and their estates confiscated. 
" The Duke of York, the Earl of March, the Duke The Bebei 
of Rutland, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Salisbmr, tainted at 
, •' Coventry, 
the Lord Powis, the Lord Clinton, the Countess ofNov.aoth. 
Salisbury, Sir Thomas Neville, Sir John Neville, Sir-^««-*. 
Thos. Harrington, Sir Thos. Parr, Sir John Conyers, p- is^o 
Sir John Wenlock, Sir William Oldhall, Edward Bour- 
chier, Sq. and his brother, Thos. Vaughan, Thos. Colt, 
Thos. Clay, John Dinham, Thos. Moring, John Otter, 
Master Richard Fisher, Hastings and others. ' As for 
the Lord Powis he came in, and had grace for his life, 
but as for his goods, the forfeiture passed.*' 
Thus the party of York seemed destroyed, and the 
House of Lancaster thought itself now securely seated 
on the throne. The Earl of Northumberland and Lord 
Clifibrd had the command of the North, and the Duke Duke of 
of Somerset was to supersede the Earl of Warwick in appointed to 
1 • Ihecomnnand 
the Command of Calais. But Edward, the future of caiais. 
sovereign of Enficland, and the Earls of Warwick and Edward, 
o o ' Warwick 
Salisbury by the assistance of John Dinham, included in and Baiisl 
, bury» flee to 
the act of attainder, procured a ship at Exeter, which caiaia. 
conveyed them to Guernsey. Here they secreted them- 
selves till the 2nd of November and then sailed privately 
to Calais, where they were admitted by the Lord Fal- 
conbridge through a postern gate, and enthusiastically 
received by the troops. The Duke of Somerset vainly somerwfa 
t 111 "I !• 1 unancceaaftil 
attempted to take the place, and to his succour the f^°lP^^ 
Lords Rivers and Scales were sent with a fleet from 
Sandwich. The illsuccess of this expedition is ironically 
mentioned in a letter of William Wyrcester, and Wil- (Patton 
liam Paston in the letter quoted below gives a curious ro\. \. ' 
Ixxii L\TKODUCTiON. [king henrt 
A.i). i4fls. scene wliich took place on the captured admiral and hi» 
son being brought into the presence of the Yorkist 
nobles. 
Sir John Warwick formed the hold design of seizing the whole 
lurM thf fleet before it left the channel, and entrusted this im- 
iuidtinE.ri portant service to Sir John Dinhani, who afterwards be- 
(»'.(ii™ came Lord High Treasurer to King Henry the Seventh, 
p. 178,) ' So ably was this plan executed that Lord Rivers and his 
A.D, 1460. son were surprized whilst in bed, and carried with all 
!Faiim Lit- the shipping to Calais. After stating that the Lord 
p. 187.)' ' Chancellor was gone to the King on account of Lord 
Rivers' capture at Sandwich, William Paston informs 
us that the latter " was brought to Calais, and before 
the Lords, with eight score torches, and there my Lord 
Salisbury rated him, calling him ' Knave's son, that he 
should be so rude to call him, and these other Lords 
traitors ; for they should be found the King's tnie liege 
men, when he would be found a traitor.' And my Lord 
Warwick rated him, and said, ' that his father was but 
a squire, and brought up with King Henry the Fifth, 
and since made himself by marriage, and also made a 
Lord ; and that it was not his part to hold such lan- 
guage of Lords, being of the King's blood." And my 
Lord March rated him likewise. And Sir Anthony was 
rated for his language of all the three Lords in likewise." 
cauKof the To this circumstance must be traced much of the ill 
moHtybe- blood which rankled in the basonis of the father and 
fmniuieiof brotlier of the future Queen of England, and which upon 
Woodriue. the Earl of March, afterwards becoming King, and 
confiding almost unlimited power to the Woodvilles 
caused the destruction of the house of Neville. 
Dukepf Nor was the Duke of York's reception in Ireland less 
i^^-- enthusiastic, where " he was hailed as another Messiah," 
•'^^■«*. and "strengthened with his earls and homagers." The 
voi.i.p.iBs.) Royalists were already convinced that their temporary 
success at Ludlow was of no avail, and "as the King 
came towards London he raised the people, and sent 
THE SIXYH.] INTRODtFCTIOX. Ixxiii 
commissions into divers shires, that every man be ready a.d. ueo. 
in his best array, to come when he should send for him." ^^J^uom tor 
Another naval force was stationed at Sandwich to assist "^jliZies,) 
Somerset in his attempt on Calais, but was attended 
with the like ill success ; heins driven into Calais and i^«i Audiey 
141 taken pri- 
secured, and the Lord Audiey taken prisoner. wJJLi k. 
*' Shortly after this the Earl of Warwick passed with (^miam 
many ships filled with armed men, by the coasts of Eng- p. S^) ^* 
land into Ireland. The Duke of Exeter, the Lord High proceed to 
Admiral with a large fleet, was ordered to capture the 
Earl. Nevertheless the Earl of Warwick having con- 
sulted the Duke of York in Ireland as to his future 
plans, returned with his mother the Countess of Salis- 
bury, with his fleet. And towards the Feast of the 
Pentecost, he met the ships of the Duke of Exeter, off 
the coast of Cornwall^ and notwithstanding their supe- 
rior number, through the supineness and deception of ^J^!? 
the sailors and others, he was allowed to pass to Calais ^^^ <>° ^* 
' * retiurn. 
without fightmg." 
" Not long after Osbert Mountford was ordered with capture of 
five hundred armed men to Guisnes to the assistance of 
the Duke of Somerset. And in the Town of Sandwich 
he was captured by John Dinham, John Wenlock and 
others from Calais, to which place he was conveyed, and 
beheaded on the 25th of June ; and in this skirmish in 
Sandwich the said John Dinham was badly wounded in 
the leg by a bombard." 
The result of the conference at Dublin was soon ap- 
parent. The Yorkists every where were called upon by The Yorkuta 
... - M. *i prepare tor 
their leaders to prepare for action, whilst a report was action. 
spread that Henry disavowed the act of attainder and 
was little more than a prisoner in the hands of a faction. 
The victories at Sandwich gave the command of that 
part of the coast to the confederated nobles, who soon 
ascertained that the feelings of the multitude were with 
them provided they attempted nothing against the person 
of the King. On the 5th of June the Earls of Salisbury June sth. 
XXIV 
IiVTRODDCTION. 
[kin<; henry 
A.D. i4«o. and Warwick landed at Sandwich with 2000 men, from 
s^ISh ** whence they marched by way of Canterbury direct to 
foto^by London, their numbers increasing on their way to forty 
the^Kentish thQugaii(j men,*<^ and being accompanied by the Pope's 
legate throughout the journey. 
(fFhethen^ A memorial of the time issued by the Kentish men 
stedej^. 479, n i .1 n 1 • mi 
and ^/^yr- accouuts for the rapid success of this movement. There 
cesier, * 
p. 480.) was no disloyalty to the King, nor personal attachment 
to the House of York ; the latter was considered the 
leader of the Uberal party in the state, the advocate for 
freedom of opinion in religious matters, and the redressor 
of public grievances, whilst the advisers of the former 
were supposed to support pubUc abuses, and to resist the 
desired improvements. 
The Kentish " These be the Points and Causes of the gathering and 
Memorial.— tt- , . 
(H^ieian assembling of tts^ the King s true liegemen of 
Kent, the which we trust to remedy , with 
help of him, the King, our Sovereign 
Lord, and all the Commons 
of England.^^ 
1 . The King, by the insatiable covetousness, malicious 
purpose, and false-brought-of-nought persons, daily and 
nightly about his Highness, is daily informed that good is 
evil and evil is good. 
2. They say, that our Sovereign Lord is above law, 
and that the law was made but to his pleasure ; and that 
he may make and break it as often as him list, without 
any distinction. The contrary is true. And also, that he 
should not have been sworn, in his coronation to keep it, 
which we conceive for the highest point of treason that 
^ On the authority of Whet- 
hempstede the number is stated at 
40,000. William Wyrcester says 
** that when they reached Black - 
heath they had twenty thousand 
men.'' — (p. 480.) A clerical error 
substituting L for X wiU reconcile 
this discrepancy. 
^ These " Points and Causes " 
will be found in Turner's History of 
the Middle Ages, toI. iii. p. 279. 
THE 8IXTH.J INTRODUCTION. IxXV 
any subject may do against his prince, to make him a.d. im. 
reign in perjury. 'S'L^SS^'' 
3. They say, how that the King should live upon his 
conmions, so that all their bodies and goods be[en] his. 
The c<»itrary is true ; for then he need never to set 
parliament to assess any goods of them. 
4. Item, they inform the King, how that the commons 
would first destroy the King's friends, and after himself 
and then bring in the duke of York to be their King ; 
so that by these false mens' leasings,* they made him to 
hate and to destroy his very friends, and love his false 
traitors, that call themselves his friends. 
5. They say, it is a great reproach to the King to re- 
assume what he has given away for livelihood. 
6. The false traitors will suffer no man to come into 
the King^s presence, for no cause without he will give a 
bribe. 
7. That the good Duke of Gloucester was impeached 
of treason by one false traitor alone. How soon was he 
murdered ! and never might come to his answer. And 
that false traitor PoUj impeached by all the commona- 
lity of England, (the which number passed a quest of 
24,000) might not be suffered to die as the law would, 
but rather these said traitors, at the said Pole*s assent, 
that was as false as Farther would that the King should 
hold battle in his own realm, in the destruction of all 
his people, and of himself both. 
8. They, whom the King will, shall be traitors, and 
whom he will not, shall be none. 
9. The law seemeth only to do wrong. 
10. That our Sovereign Lord may well understand that 
he hath had false counsel ; for his law is lost, his mer- 
chandize is lost; his commerce (hath) been destroyed; the 
sea is lost ; France is lost ; himself is made so poor, so -^ 
that he may not pay for his meat nor drink ; he oweth 
morey and is greater in debt^ than ever was King in Eng- 
♦ " Leating: a lying rnmoar, a false report." — (RichardnmJ) 
haui i.vTRODutTioN. [ki\g henhv 
land. This notwithstanding, yet daily these said traitors 
''" that (Jtave) been about hiui, awaiting wlien any thing 
should fall, and come to him, and profit by his law, they 
(have) been ready enough to ask it from him. 
11. They ask gentleman's lands and goods in Kent, 
and call us risers and traitors, and tho King's enemies ; 
but we shall be found his true liegemen. 
12. We will that all men know, that we neither rob 
nor steal ; but the defaults, amended, we will go home. 
Wherefore we exhort all the King's true liegera to help 
and support us. 
13. We blame not alt the lords about the King's 
person, nor all gentlemen, nor all men of law, nor ail 
bishops, nor all priests ; but only such as may be fouud 
guilty, by a just and a true inquiry by the law." 
The papers end with these words : 
God be our guide. 
And then we shall speed. 
Whoever says, nay ! 
Thus the chief motive of the confederate Lords, the 
displacing of the House of Lancaster by the rival line 
of York, was carefully concealed by the leaders of the 
movement, though the immediate friends of the King 
were not deceived as to the real intentions of York and 
t. his followers, " The Lords Hungerford and Scales, with 
the sheriff of Kent, John Delamere of Berkshire, and 
many other armed men took possession of the Tower to 
„ prevent their entry into London, But on their reaching 
It Southwark William Gray, Bishop of Ely, and George 
Neville, Bishop of Exeter met the Earls of March, War- 
wick, and Salisbury, and led them mto the City over the 
Bridge ; and on the following morning they proceeded 
to St. Paula church, and in the presence of Thomas 
Bouchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the above- 
named Bishops they swore upon the Cross of St. Tho- 
mas of Canterburj-, that they militated nothing against 
the allegiance they owed to King Henry." 
1 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. IxXVlI 
" Having sent the Earl of Salisbury and Sir John a.p. i46o. 
Wenlock to besiege the Tower of London, the Earls 
of Warwick and March, with the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, and the Bishop of Exeter, proceeded with a 
large army toward Northampton, without the walls of 
which Kins: Henry had jBxed his camp. On the tenth Batue of 
of July a battle w^as fought there, and owing to the ton. juiy lo, 
treachery and assistance {affofded to the enemy) by 
Lord Grey de Ruthin, the King lost the field. There 
perished Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, (ff^. Wyr. 
John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, John Earl of Beau- lompire aiM 
mont, Thomas Lord Egremont, and others to the »t«^ie, p. 4«o. 
number of three hundred men ; whilst many were 
drowned in crossing the river in their flight. Towards 
the close of the battle the retainers of Jolm Stafford 
killed Sir William Lucy, whose widow shortly after was 
wedded to their master." 
" Upon this Queen Margaret with the Prince fled The Queen 
*^ fleet with 
from Eccleshall towards Chester, and was nearly taken the PHnce to 
prisoner by John Cleyer, a retamer of Lord Stanley, and g«nce to 
was robbed of all her goods and jewels by her own ser- 
vants ; nevertheless she got safely with the young prince 
to her castle {Harlech) in Wales." 
From thence Marffaret fled into Scotland, whilst Henry con- 
° ducted by 
Henry who had fallen into the hands of the rebels, was »»»•? vorkiit. 
to London* 
conducted with all outward forms of state and ceremony JjjJy ijih.— 
to London, which he reached on the 16th of July, and'^^^L', v 
where he was affectionately received by all classes, the 
confederates being thereby constrained to treat him with ("'• '^yr- 
becoming decorum and reverence. p. 4hi.) 
" The Lords Hungerford, and Scales and others who The Toner 
were in the Tower, delivered it up to the besiegers by fhem.~ '" 
capitulation, by which the besieged were to abide by the ' ^ 
law, but the Lords Hungerford and Scales to go froe.^ 
"But on the following sabbath as Lord Scales, the Murder «r 
godfather of the Eari of March, was crossing the '*"' **'"""' 
Thames, he was murdered in a skirmish or (luarrel by 
/ 
txxviii 
[K» 
CO. some seamen belonging to the Eavls of Warwick and 
March, under the garden wall of the Bishop of Win- 
cheater's Palace on the Banks of the Thames, intending 
to have sought (the sanctuary of) Westminster. I saw 
him myself lying naked," adds Wyrcester, " in the 
cemetery of the Church of St. Mary Overy in South- 
wark, He had lain naked, being stripped of his clothes, 
for several hours on the ground, but afterwards on the 
same day he was honourably interred by the Earls of 
yij- March, Warwick and others." In the same month of 
— July " those who had been convicted by a Jury, before 
the Earl of Warwick and the other Justiciaries of the 
King, of illegally holding the Tower, namely Sir Thos. 
Blount, of Kent, with five others of the household of 
the Duke of Exeter, were drawn to Tyburn and be- 
headed, and shortly afterwards, John Archer, who was 
in the councils of the Duke of Exeter, shared the same 
fate." The Bishop of Exeter was made Chancellor of 
England, and (Henry) Lord Bourchier, Lord Treasurer, 
r The Duke of York came over fi-om Ireland, and ap- 
(iBnd! pears to have been employed in visiting various towns to 
punish loyalty to the King as a crime against the people. 
This we gather from the following interesting letter. 
<Fai."To the right woTsJtipful Sir and Master, John Pas- 
■ JBB.) tan Esquire, at Norwich, be this Letter delivered 
in haste. 
Right worshipful Sir and Master, I recommend me 
unto you ; please you to weet, the Monday after Our 
Lady day there came hither to my Master's place, my 
Master Bowser, Sir Harry Rutford, John Clay, and the 
Harbingers of my Lord of March, desiring that my 
Lady of York, and her two sons, my Lord George, and 
■ my Lord Richard, and my Lady Margaret her daughter, 
{which I granted them in your name) to lie here until 
Michel mas. 
And she had not lain here two days but (before) she 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. Ixxix 
had tidings of the landing of my Lord at Chester, a.d. iam. 
The Tuesday next after, my Lord sent for her that she 
should come to him to Harford (Hereford) and thither 
she is gone ; and she hath left here both the sons, and 
the daughter, and the Lord of March cometh every day 
to see them. 
Item, my Lord of York hath divers strange Commis- Dukeof 
sions from the King, for to sit in divers towns coming gjess ^^^ 
homeward ; that is for to say, in Ludlow, Shrewsbury, country. 
Heref((»rd, Leicester, Coventry, and in other divers 
Towns, to punish them by the faults to the King's 
Laws. 
As for tidings here, the King is away at Eltham and 
at Greenwich to hunt, and to sport him there biding 
(during) the Parliament, and the Queen and the Prince 
abideth in Wales always, and (there) is with her the 
Duke of Exeter, and others with a few men as it is 
said here. 
And the Duke of Somerset he is in Dieppe, and with 
him Master John Ormond, Whittingham, Andrew Trol- 
lope and other divers of the Garrison of Guisnes, under 
the King of France's safe conduct, and they say here, 
he purposes him to go to Wales to the Queen. And the 
Earl of Wiltshire is still in peace at Otryght (Ottery) 
at the Friars, which is Sanctuary .... 
Written at London, the 12M day of October. 
Your own Servant, 
Christopher Hansson^ oct. 12, 
1460. 
This complete success of the rebels emboldened the York claims 
Duke of York on his arrival in London, to advance his 
claim to the throne. This was the only safety of his party, 
for though so long as Margaret and the Lancastrian Lords 
could be kept from the King, they would have nothing 
to fear ; once allow the Queen to return, and regain the 
ascendancy in the King's councils, and it was evident to 
/2 
Ixxx 
INTBODCCriON. 
[" 
A.D. I4CU, them that their treason would receive it's merited re- 
waj^. Honce the necessity of prompt nicasm-es during 
her absence, and acting under the advice of the Earla of 
Salishury and Warwick, the Duke of York, whose at- 
tainder had been removed by the repeal of all the acts of 
Oct. isih. the parliament of Coventry, entered London on the 16tli 
o^iiuam of October, and proceeded " with 500 horsemen to the 
p. 4H3.) Palace of Westminster on the 3rd day of the sitting 
of parliament, proclaiming himself by his own mouth 
heir to the Crown of England." Standing with his 
hand resting upon the throne he appeared to wait an 
invitation to place himself upon it ; and then removing 
his hand again, he turned to the peers, who applauded 
his thus withdrawing from his treasonable pm-pose, even 
whilst he stood on the dais. Chafed by their previous 
silence and present applause, he replied haughtily to 
the request of the Cardinal Archbishop that he would 
{Jt-htihemp. visit the King, who was then in the Queen's palace : 
p. 4114.) "I know no one in this Kingdom, who ought not 
rather to come to me;" abruptly quitted the house, 
and appropriated that portion of the palace to himself, 
Hu haughiy which had hitherto been reserved for the King's own 
™BM^ Die' use. " But few of the Lords countenanced him," says 
""""■ William Wyrcester, whilst Whetliempstede adds em- 
phatically : " Every state and grade, of whatever age 
or sex, order or condition, began to murmur against 
him." Henry was beloved for himself. He was the son 
of one King and the grandson of another. He had filled 
the throne for thirty-nine years, and his enemies had 
sworn fealty to him, York himself upon the sacrament, 
more than once. On the ninth day of the same ses- 
sion the latter gave a written statement of his claim to 
the Chancellor, requiring at the same time a speedy an- 
swer. The Lords decided that every man had a right 
to be heard, and that the Duke's petition should be read; 
but that in a case of so peculiar a nature they must 
first receive the King^s commands. Henry was made 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. Ixxxi 
acquainted with the Duke's demand the same day, to a.d. ugo. 
which he replied : " My father was King ; his father Henry*, titie 
was also King; I have worn the crown forty years from crowrn.— 
my cradle; you all have sworn fealty to me as yourp*^^) 
sovereign, and your fathers have done the like to my 
fathers. How then can my right be disputed!" He 
then commended himself to their loyalty, and bid them 
'' seek and find, as much as in them was, all such things 
as might be objected and laid against the claim and title 
of the said Duke." The judges declined to be advocates oct. inth. 
for either party, and said the present question being 
above the law must be referred to the Lords of the 
King's blood, and to the wisdom of parliament. 
The result of the parliamentary enquiry** contains the objections to 
foUovnng objections to the Duke's claim. *'l. That *'"«• 
both he and the lords had sworn fealty to Henry, and of 
course he by his oath was prevented from urging, they 
by theirs from admitting, his claim : 2nJ. That many 
acts passed in divers parliaments of the King'^s proge- 
nitors, might be opposed to the pretensions of the house 
of Clarence, which acts, 'been of authority to defeat 
any manner of title.' 3rd. That several entails had 
been made of the crown to the heirs male, whereas he 
claimed by descent from females : 4th. That he did not 
bear the arms of Lionel the third, but of Edmund the 
fifth son of Edward III. : and 5^ That Henry IV. had 
declared that he entered on the throne as the true heir 
of Henry III.*" To the three first objections the Duke's ^^»'p*y »" ^^e 
1 !• J 1 • • i» objections. 
counsel rephed; that as priority of descent was evi- 
dently in his favour, it followed that the right to the 
crown was his ; which right could not be defeated by 
oaths or acts of parliament, or entails. Indeed the only 
entail made to the exclusion of females was that of the 
seventh year of Henry IV., and would never have been 
thought of, had that prince claimed under the customary 
^ See Lingard's History of England, vol. iii. p. 491 and 492. 
IXXxii INTRODUCTIOX. [king HEMIY 
law of descents : that the reason why lie had not hitherto 
taken the anna of Lionel was the same as had prevented 
him from claiming the crown, the danger to which such 
a proceeding would have exposed him ; and lastly that if 
Henry IV. pronounced himself the rightful heir of 
Henry III., he asserted what he knew to be untrue. 
As, however, the principal reliance of his adversaries 
waa on the oaths which he had taken, and which it was 
contended were to be considered as a surrender of his 
right by his own act, he contended that no oath contrary 
to truth and justice is binding ; that the virtue of an 
oath is to confirm truth and not to impugn it ; and that 
as the obligation of oaths ia a subject for the determina- 
tion of the spiritual tribunals, he was willing to answer 
in any such court all manner of men, who had any thing 
to propose against him." 
On the ninth of the following November the Duke of 
York was solemnly proclaimed heir apparent, and Lord 
Protector during the King's life, and an income of 
dP10,000 a year was assigned to him. The pride of 
York disgusted even his followers. Till the compromise 
had been effected he declined to visit the King, declaring 
that " he was subject to no man, and that God himself 
was his only superior." 
By his advice the King sent for the Queen and his 
son, but Margaret with the caution of a mother, de- 
clined to trust the Prince into the hands of those, wlio 
had robbed him of his patrimony, but hastened to her 
friends in the North, who had raised another army in 
the King's name, at York under the Duke of Somereet, 
the Earls of Northumberland and Devon and the Lords 
Clifford, Dacre, and Neville, who had drawn their fol- 
lower together froui various parts of the Kingdom, 
" and haJii destroyed the retainers and tenants of the 
Duke of York and Earl of Salisbury." 
" Parliament being prorogued in December, the Duke 
and Earl hastened from London with a large armed 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. Ixxxill 
force towards York, but coining unexpectedly u])on the a.i). i4«'<o. 
troops of the Duke of Somerset at Worksop, their ?iJi7fi;J,** 
vanguard was destroyed. On the 21st of Deccmbor, 
however, they reached Sandal Castle, with 6000 men, 
and kept their Christmas there, notwithstanding tliat 
the enemy under the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of 
Northumberland, were close by at Pontefract.'" 
' ** The followers of the Duke of York, having cone B«itie or 
o c? Wakefield, 
out to forage for provisions on the 29th of December, a uec.wM^iio. 
dreadful battle was fought at Wakefield between the 
Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland and 
Lord Neville, and the adverse party, when the Duke of i>e«tii ui 
York, Thomas Neville, son of the Earl of Salisbury, (//"/' 
Thomas Harrington, Thomas Parr, Edward Itourchier, 
James Pykering, and Henry Rathforde, with many other 
Knights and Squires, and soldiers to the amount of two 
thousand, were slain in the field. After the battle. 
Lord Clifibrd slew the young Earl of Rutland, the son and or the 
of the Duke of York, as he was fleeing across the uutiuid. 
Bridge at Wakefield ; and in the same night the Earl 
of Salisbury was captured by a follower of Sir And. 
Trolloppe, and on the morrow beheaded by the Bastard Kxetution ot 
of Exeter at Pontefract, where at the same time the Salisbury. 
dead bodies of York, Rutland, and others of note who 
fell in the battle, were decapitated, and their heads 
affixed in various parts of York, whilst a paper crown 
was placed in derision on the head of the Duke of 
York." 
Our old gossiping Chroniclers, Grafton and Hall, a.i). i4(;i. 
have thrown a great deal of romance into their accounts 
of this Battle, but the usual shrewd conduct of York 
on other occasions must lead one to doubt his having 
challenged Somerset to fight, as the latter is said to 
have had 18,000 men under his command, whilst the 
entire forces of the Duke were not more than 6000. 
We shall probably be nearer the truth in following the 
account furnished by Wyrcester, from which it would 
Isxxiv INTRODUCTION. [fvl 
appear that the Yorkists had gone out to forage anflj 
plunder, and Somerset taking advantage of this ci 
cumstance surprised and defeated the Duke, at a 
when he was unprepared for the attack. 
Edward, who now succeeded to the title of Duke 
York, and was at Gloucester, wlien the news of tl 
death of hia father and brother reached him, had coi 
pleted his levies, and hastened with a large army 
throw himself between the metropolis and the success 
royalists. Jasper, Earl of Pembroke, the half brotl 
of Henry, followed in his rear witli inferior forces, 
fearful of being surrounded Edward saw the neeet 
of defeating this email army. Facing suddenly aboi 
" on the eve of the feast of the Purification 
Vii^n, lie fought the Battle of Mortimer's Cross, near 
Wigmore with 51,000 ■'^ men, against the Earl of Pem- 
'■ broke with only 8000 men, who, with the Earl of Wilt- 
shire was forced to seek refuge in flight. Owen Tudor, 
however, the father of the Earl of Pembroke, Sir John 
Throckmorton, and eight other of the royalist leaders 
were taken and beheaded at Hereford. 
"After tlie Battle of Wakefield Queen Margari 
came out of Scotland to York, where it was determined' 
) by the Council of the Lords to proceed to London and 
to liberate King Henry out of the hands of his enemies 
by force of ai-ms. Shortly after the feast of the Puri- 
fication, the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Dukes of 
Exeter and Somerset, the Earls of Northumberland, 
Devonshire and Shrewsbury, the Lords Roos, Grey of 
Codnor, Fitzhugh, Graystock, Welles and Willoughby 
and many others, amounting in ail to 24,000 men ad- 
vanced upon St. Albans, and at Dunstable destroyed Str^ 
Edward Poyning, and 200 foot." 
ITS 
^ Tills again is evidently a cteri- I Arabic 11 (eleven) into LI 
Kfll error. The text gives tbe num- nnmber of foUowera of the Earl 
bers in Roman numeraU LI. Ttie of Pembroke is written in foil 
tranacriber probably copied the | '■ oclo." 
THE SIXTH.] INTRODUCTION. IxXXV 
" On the Fasiday, February 17th, the Battle of St. Batueofst. 
Albans was fought, from which the Duke of Norfolk, Feb.i7j46i. 
and the Elarls of Warwick and Arundell were forced to 486, 487.) 
seek safety in flight. And there the King was recovered The King 
from his enemies and the Earl of Montacute, his Cham- his famuy. 
berlain taken prisoner. The Prince of Wales came to 
his &ther, the King in his tent, and was knighted by 
him, after which the Prince knighted the Earl of 
Shrewsbury, the Lord Roos and many others. In this 
field fell no less than 2000 men, though not in one 
battle, but in diverse skirmishes, for the country there- 
about is covered with wood. On the Queen's side fell 
James Lutterell and Arnold Hungerford." The most 
distinguished person, however, who suffered was Sir 
John Grey, whose widow became Queen of England, 
upon her marriage with Edward the Fourth. 
The Abbot of St. Alban's furnishes us with full par- DcMripUon 
ticulars of this battle. The attack commenced at the— (^**<- 
Cross, but the Queetfs troops were speedily repulsed by p. 497. &c.) 
the archers of the Earl of Warwick. They, however, 
soon rallied and penetrated into St. Peter's Street, 
driving the Yorkists to the heath, at the North end of 
the town. Here began the deadly struggle, and ulti- 
mately the rebel army dispersed in all directions, and 
notwithstanding the entreaties of the Abbot the King 
was unable to save the town from pillage, for the North- The Royai- 
men, who formed the Queen's army, claimed the privi- the town, 
lege of plundering all places south of the Trent. It 
was this licence which ruined the King^s cause, and 
rendered this important victory but a barren laurel to 
the Queen. The Battle of St. Albans, though gained 
by the Royalists, lost Henry the throne, for the citizens 
of London, who dreaded the evils they saw accompany 
the Queen^s success, gladly opened their gates within Edward en. 
eight days after that event to the young Duke of York, nSch 4th*!"' 
whom they proclaimed King on the 4th of March, as Sim^"*' 
Edward the Fourth. . °^' 
INTRODUCTION. 
[alEGK I 
The most important events which followed will bo 
found in the ensuing pages. The action at Ferrybridge, 
the Battles of Towton, Hegeley Moor and Hexliani, 
together with the Siege of Hamburgh Castle all tended 
to place the crown more secnrely on the head of Edward. 
The following curious document respecting the latter is 
r< preserved in the College of Arms, and is a valuable 
record of the art of war at that period. 
ACCOUNT OF THE SIECE OF 
BAMBURGII CASTLE, 
May 27th Annd Doi 
The King lay in the Palace of York and kept his estate 
solemnly, and there created he Sir John Neville Lord 
Montague, Earl of Northumberland. And then my 
Lord of Warwick took upon himself the journey by the 
King's commandment and authority to resist the rebel- 
lious of the North, aecompajiied with him my said Lord 
of Northumberland, his brother. 
Item, the twenty-third day of June my said Lord of 
Warwick with the puissance came before the castle of 
Alnwick, and had it delivered by appointment. And 
also the castle of Dunstanborough, whereat our said 
Lord kept the feast of Saint John ((Ae) Baptist. 
Item, my said Lord of Warwick and his brother (the) 
Earl of Northumberland, the twentyfifth day of June, laid 
siege unto the Castle of Bamburgh, there within being 
Sir Ralph Grey with such power as attended for to keep 
the said castle against the power of the King's and ray 
BAMBURGH.] INTRODUCTION. IxXXVii 
said Lord, as it appeareth by the herald's report, by the a. d. 1464. 
which my Lord sent to charge them to deUver it mider g^bjjgh 
this form as ensueth : Chester, the King's herald, and ^"^*- 
Warwick, the herald, had this commandment as followeth 
to say mito Sir Ralph Grey, and to others that kept his 
rebellious opinion, that they should deliver that place 
continent after that summation (summons)^ and every 
man for the time^ being disposed to receive the King's 
grace, my said Lord of Warwick the King^s lieutenant, 
and my Lord of Northumberland Warden of the marches, 
granteth the KingC^) grace and pardon, body, liveli- 
hoods, reserving two persons (it) is understood, Sir 
Humphrey Neville and Sir Ralph Grey, those twain to 
be out of the King's grace, without any redemption. 
Then the answer of Sir Ralph Grey followeth unto the 
said heralds, he clearly determining within himself to 
live or to die within the said place, the heralds accord- 
ing to my Lord's commandment charged him with all 
inconveniences, that by possible might fall in offence 
against Almighty God, and shedding of blood, the herald 
saying in this wise: ^^My Lords ensureth you upon 
their honour to sustain siege, before you these seven 
years or else to win you." 
Item, my said Lord Lieutenant and my Lord Warden 
have given* us further commandment to say unto you, if 
ye deliver not this Jewel, the which the King our most 
dread Sovereign Lord, hath so greatly in favour, seeing it 
marcheth so nigh his ancient enemies of Scotland, he 
specially desireth to have it whole unbroken with ordi- 
nance, if ye suffer any great gun (to be) laid unto the 
wall and be shot, and prejudice the wall, it shall cost you 
the chieftains head, and so proceeding for every gun shot 
to the least head of any person within the said place. 
Then the said Sir Ralph Grey departed from the said 
herald, and put him in endeavour to make defence. 
And then my Lord Lieutenant had ordained all the 
IxXXviii INTRODUCTlOfJ. [flIEGE OP 
King's great-guna, that were charged, at once to slioot 
unto the said castle ; New-castle, the King's greatrgun, 
and London, the second gun of iron, the which betide the 
pla«e, that stones of the walls flew into the sea ; Dison, a 
bi-azcn gun of the King's, smote throughout Sir Ralph 
Grey's chamber oftentimes, Edward, and liicbard Bom- 
bartel, and other of the King's ordinance, so occupied by 
the ordinance of my said Lord with men of arms and 
archers, won the castle of Bamburgli with assault, maugre 
Sir Ralph Grey, and took him and brought hira to the 
King to Doncaster, and there was he executed in this 
form as followeth. My Lord Earl of Worcester Con- 
stable of England, sitting in judgement told him judge- 
ment, and remembered him saying unto him : Sir Ralph 
Grey thou hast taken the order of Knighthood of the 
Bath, and any so taking that order ought to keep his 
faith, the which he makes, therefore remember thee, the 
law wilt thou shall proceed to judgement ; these matters 
shew 80 evidently against thee, that they need not to 
examine thee of them by certain persons of the King's 
true subjects, the which thou hast wounded, and shewcth 
here that thou canst not deny this, thou hast drawn thee 
with force of arms unto the King our most natural' 
Sovereign Lord, the which thou weetest well gave unto 
thee sueh trust, and in such wise ministered- his gi'acai 
unto thee, tliat thou hadst his castles in the North part 
to keep ; thou hast betrayed Sir John Astley, Knight 
and brother of the garter, the which remaineth in the 
hands of the King's, our sovereign Lord's, enemies in. 
France. 
Item, thou liast withstood and made fences aga! 
the King's Majesty, and his lieutenant, the worthy 
my brother of Warwick, it appeareth by the strikes 
the great guns in the King's walls of his castle of 
burgh. For the(se) causes dispose {Ihj/self) to si 
thy penance after the law. The King had ordained that- 
I 
BAMBURGH.] INTRODUCTION'. Ixxxix 
thou shoiildest have had thy spurs striken off by the a.d. i464. 
hard heels, with the hand of the master cook, that which l^eBe of 
' ^ Bamburgli 
is here ready to do as was promised at the time that he ^""*- 
took off thy spurs, he said to you as is accustomed that : 
" And thou be not true to thy Sovereign Lord I shall 
smite off thy ispurs with this knife hard by the heels," 
and so shewed him the master cook ready to do his 
office with apron and his knife. 
Item, Sir Ralph Grey,* the King had ordained here 
thou mayst see the King of arms and heralds and thine 
own proper coat of arms, that which they should tear off 
thy body, and so thou shouldst as well be degraded of thy 
worship noblesse and arms, as of the order of knighthood, 
and also here is another coat of thine arms reversed, 
the which thou shouldst have worn of thy body, going 
to that death ward, for that belongeth after the law. 
Notwithstanding of the degrading of knighthood and 
of thine arms and noblesse, the King pardons that for 
thy noble grandfather the which suffered trouble for the 
King'^s most noble predecessors. 
Then Sir Ralph Grey this shall be thy penance — 
thou shalt go on thy feet unto the townsend, and there 
thou shalt be laid down and drawn to a scaffold, made 
for thee, and that thou shalt have thine head smitten off 
thy body, to be buried in the friars, thy head where it 
pleased the King.-f* 
* See p. 14 of Heame's Frag- 
ment ; and p. 104 of Warkworth*s 
Chronicle. Sir Ralph Grey, of Wark, 
Heton, and Chillingham, lineal an- 
cestor of the Earls of Tankerrille, 
as well as of the present Earl Grey, 
was grandson of Sir Thomas Grey, 
beheaded at Southampton with the 
Earl of Cambridge, Aug. 5, 1415. 
See the whole sheet pedigree of 
Grey, in Raine's North Durham. 
— {Nicholls,) I siege 
f7 
t This curious document pre- 
serves the names of the separate 
pieces of Ordnance belonging to the 
King. Newcastle, and London, 
seem to have been made of iron ; 
Dison was a brazen gun, (which 
metal Edward had only recently in- 
troduced in the casting of his guns,) 
and, with these Edward and Richard 
Bombartel, seem to have been the 
only five pieces employed in the 
XC INTRODUCTION. [hENRY VI. 
Hen^ VI. The particulars of the death of King Henry the 
IV. buried Sixth Will he found at pages 93 and 94. Immediately 
vault. after his accession^ Henry the Seventh had his body 
exhumed^ and reburied with great pomp in the royal 
vault of St. George's Chapel at Windsor, . The remains 
of the rival kings^ Henry . the Sixth and Edward the 
Fourth^ rest within the same Chamber^ and their proxi- 
mity in death suggested the following beautiful lines to 
Pope : 
** Here, o'er the Martyr- King the marble weeps. 
And fast beside him, once fear'd Edward sleeps ; 
The grave miites, where e'en the grave finds rest. 
And mingled lie the oppressor and the opprest ! " 
A FEW PARTICULARS 
OP THE LIFE OF 
KING EDWARD THE FOURTH, 
FORMERLY EARL OF MARCH. 
FRAGMENT OF A CONTEMPORARY CHRONICLE. 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
This curious Fragment is preserved by Heame, the 
eminent Antiquary, at the end of his Edition of Sprott*s 
Chronicle. It is written by a partisan of the House of 
York, who tells us himself, that he was a servant to 
King Edward the Fourth. In his 1 6th Chapter he 
gives us the only means of tracing who he was, and 
from it we may conclude, that, if not of the Howard 
Family himself, he was on terms of intimacy with ^' the 
right illustrious Thomas^ Duke of Norfolk, Treasurer of 
England^** in whose house he appears to have been resi- 
dent. That he was a person of distinction is evident, 
for he tells us that what he narrates he heard from the 
mouth of the King, or was mostly present himself, as 
well within the realm as without, especially from the 
year 1468 to the year 1482. Amongst his personal 
friends, who were knighted at the coronation of the 
Queen, he enumerates the Lord Dumas, Sir Bartelot de 
Ribaire, Sir John Woodville, the Queen's brother, and 
four citizens. Sir Thomas Cooke, Sir Matthew Philip, 
Sir Ralph Jocelyn, and Sir Harry Waver. He finds 
great fault with the falsification made by the Lancas- 
trian Chroniclers, who, on the accession of Henry YII., 
fi2 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
sought favour in the eyes of the King by blackening the 
rival family. This sUght fragment, and ^^ The History 
of the Arrival of King Edward the Fourth, and the 
final Recovery of his Kingdom, Anno Domini 1471,"" 
are almost the only Yorkist Chronicles which have 
reached our times. 
THE CHRONICLE OF KING EDWARD 
THE FOURTH. 
INTRODUCTION. 
This Edward, Eakl op Mabciie, son and heir oftiBwjLtniY. 
Richard, Duke of York, was born at Rouen, in Nor- [m'. ' ' 
mandy (his father then being Regent there,) in the year 
of our Lord 14+0, And in the year of our Lord 1459, 
and then being the 38th year of King Harry the 6th, 
the Duke of York fled from Ludlow into Ireland. And 
this Edward, with the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, 
departed into Devonshire, and from thence into Guern- 
sey, and so to Calais, Bjc. After the which departing 
King Harry rode into Ludlow,' and spoiled the Town KmoHgsRr 
and Caatle, where-at he found the Duchess of York with LudLD«." ,ii. 
' " The Duke of York, not con- 
fiding in big men, was forced to ttj 
from Ludlow into Wales, and trave 
the town a prey to the King's 
Eoldiort, who burnt and pillaged tbe 
asms ; and the Ducheti of York, 
reaiding then hsre. had her ward- 
robe silted, and all 
spoiled."— (OucB«e.. 
teilA Ludlow, p. 10.) 
^Ud 
6 THE BKIGN OK EOWABD IV. [l 
her two young sons {then) children, the one of thirteen 
years old, and the other of ten years old : the which 
», Duchcsa King Harry sent to her sister Anne Duchess 
of Buckingham. Then after in the 38th year of King 
Harry, the said Duchess of York being in London, sent 
her 'foresaid two sons, George and Richard, by sea into 
the state {city) of Utrecht by {in) Holland, where they 
remained but a while, &c. [Wherefore the late eoun- 
terfejtera of Chronicles were worthy much to be punished 
with the printer so to affirm, the Duke of Clarence,' 
George to be elder brother to King Edward, considering 
that he writeth two contraries in his own work,] 
THE HISTORY. 
Chap. 1. — Ehwakd the Fourth, of that name, 
and heir of Richard, late Duke of York, after tha 
decease of his father, that was slain at Wakefield the 
30th day of December anno 1460,^ {and after) the 
■ battle done at St. Albans the Ash Wednesday, and won 
by the Queen Margaret, and her 'complices/ the s^d 
Edward, then being Earl of the Marche, hearing of this 
adventure, came down with a great number of Welsh- 
men, and met with Richard, Earl of Warwick, upoa 
i 
' Referring to Fabyim't Chrmi- 
cle. Hall's CAronich, p. 239, Graf- 
ton. i<. 741. See >1so Halimhed, 
p. 703. 
s The Doke reached Wakefield 
on tbe 24th of Dec., on whEch Aa.j 
Hume says the battle took place. 
Ail the old authorities, bowever, 
agree with our teit.— (Sw Wetk- 
emtiede, p. 4BU. Conlia.HUl.Croi/l. 
p. 550. //oH. p. 93.) "Tbe Duke 
feU in tiie action, and when his 
orden, and fixed on the Gatw fli 
York, with a paper crown upon itfM 
in derision of bis pretended tiLle,'' 
withdrew Trom tbe combat, tbuf 
deierting the Earl of Warwick,^ 
who cotnmanded the Yorkists. 1^1 
king, Henry VI., felt again into tb« J 
hands of his owe party. Aftef fl 
tbe battle, the town of St. Albant^ 
was given up to plunder. — (WeM-.F 
Ammlede, \i. 497.) 
FRAUME\T.] THE REICiN 
Cotswold, and so they two joining their hosts came to- a.u. i-k 
warda London, in the which season Queen Margaret 
being at Bamet with King Henry sent for victuals, and 
Lenton stuff to London, the which was prepared by the 
Mayor and Sheriffs to send unto her, and her host ; and 
when they with the victuals came to Cripplegate, the 
commonB arose and stopped the carts, and would suffer 
none to depart out of the City, alledging divers reasons 
for the same. Whereof when the Queen was certified, 
and also thereupon assured of the coming of the two 
Earls of Marche and Warwick, she had no great con- 
fidence to those of London, Wherefore ahe withdrew Que™ i 
herself, and turned {changed) her purpose, and with the lovork. 
King, her husband, and such men of war as she had, 
fled northward, as fast as ahe might, towards York, 
where at she thought herself more assured {secure). 
I 
Chap. 2. — The two 'foresaid Earls of Marche and Edmni 
Warwick, from Cotswold kept their way straight toM»rch4 
London,' where they arrived, the Thursday in the first 
week of Lent ; to whom resorted all gentlemen, for the 
more part of the South parts, and East of England, 
both spiritual and temporal ; and thereupon a council 
was called, whereat King Harry, for his imbecility and 
' Edward entered London amidBt 
the acclamations of the citizens. 
" I wuH present," Bsys William 
Wyrceiter, "heord them, and re- 
turned with them into the City." 
The King noa in his 20th year, 
remarkable for the beauty of his 
person, his activity, bravery and 
affability. But with these qualitiei 
be combined hardness or heart and 
aeverity of character. He waa re- 
vengeful to such an eitreme, thut 
■aid to have ordered the e:ie- 
a of a 
rodesmi 
dwelt at the sign of the Cro 
saying "he would leave his 1 
to the Crown,'' — imaginii 
I, for 
harmlesi pleiaantrjr pointed at hii 
assumed title. The unpopularity of 
Margaret, in treating the country 
as a conquered province after her 
recent successes, haBIened the 
downfall of Henry, and ■■ the no- 
bles of the Kingdom and ell the 
people of the midland port of Eng- 
land, and of the East, West and 
South deserted Henry. They di- 
rected solemn ambasiadon to Ed- 
tho wishes 
to help Ihi 
of the people, and to 
) hasten into England, 
:m, as delay waa pro- 
ger." — tCbn(. CVoji*. 
8 
[llEARNfi'a 
inaufficiency was by tlie whole House deposed, and'l 
Edward, eldest son of Richard, late Duke of York, by I 
the sole assent and consent of all present, there elected I 
and solemnly chosen for King of England, then being of 1 
the age (of) almost 20 ; and thereupon he with all the-l 
Lords went in general procession, accompanied with all 
the Nobles there present, and the Commons of the city, 
and (was) immediately conveyed with great honom* to 
I Westminster; taking there possession, with sceptre 
" royal in his hand, sitting at the high dais' in the Great 
Hall. The which done, he went into the Abbey, where 
he was received with procession of the Abbot and Con- 
vent there : and after that he had offered in kingly I 
estate at the shrine of Saint Edward, he took homage J 
and foalty of such noblemen as there were present, the i 
which done he returned to the Bi3hop''s palace at London I 
that night the 4th day of March. 
Chap. 3. — The voyage (journey) determined by the I 
newly elected King Edward, the Fourth of the name, to^ 
follow his enemies. King Han-y the Sixth and his Queen -I 
Northward. First on the morrow, John Duke of Nop- J 
folk went in to his Country with aD diligence, to prepare 
for the war on the part of King Edward ; and on the 
'- Saturday next following, the Earl of Warwick' with a 
great band of men departed out of London, Northward ; 
whereat (to the same) on the Wednesday nest following , 
« Thia Bignification of tlie word 
daU is the same in nblch it is need 
by Matthew Paria : "The newly 
elected Abbot, solos in refectorio 
prBDdebit sapremuB, habena yaatel- 
m, Priore prandeate ad magiiam 
pellart 
' The foroeB under the Earl 
to 40,0 
paBsage of Ferrybridge 
Lord Fitzwelter 
river Ayre, but was driven book by 
the Lord Clifford, and alain in the 
aetioD. Lord Clilford himself, ia 
turn, was killed on hia retreat, ind 
"being particularly hated for bit 
murder of the yonng Dnke of Rut- 
land, (brother to Edward IV.) his 
eon was coneealed and brought up 
as a poor shepherd, till Henry VI J. 
obtained the crown, when he wu 
r«E(ored lo his father's esUtei 
(Turner, vol. v. p. 297.) 
FRAGMENT.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
9 
the King's footmen in a great number, of the which the a.d. i461. 
most part were Welshmen and Kentish men. Then 
the Friday ensuing the King Edward issued out of the 
city in goodly order at Bishopsgate, then being the 
12th day of March, and held on his journey following 
those others, and when the fore prickers came to Ferry- 
bridge, there was a great skirmish whereat John Rat- 
cliff, then Lord Fitzwalter, was slain, and thereupon Lord Fits. 
they ever advanced themselves till they came to Touton, SiSrj!.**" 
8 miles out of York, upon a Friday at night, abiding J^^'^ 
the residue of their company, the which were assembled JJ^JJ^^jg 
in good order on the Saturday, then being Palm Sunday- sSiiay^^^S 
eve : and about 4 of the clock at night the two battles® ^fm!^^' 
joined, and fought all night till on the morrow at after 
noon ; when about the noon the foresaid John Duke of 
Norfolk with a fresh band of good men of war came in, 
to the aid of the new elected King Edward. This field 
was sore fought. For there were slain on both parts 
33,000 men, and all the season it snowed. There were 
slain the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland 
with others and Sir Andrew Troloppe ; and taken the 
Earls of Devonshire and Wiltshire and beheaded there ; The Earis of 
and the deposed King Harry, his Queen, with Henry, and wut-** 
Duke of Somerset, and others, in great haste fled into beaded at 
Scotland. 
^ '' As if battle were the gate of 
paradise, and the future an incom- 
prehensible dream, they raised 
against each other a tumultuous 
shout of execration and defiance, 
and at four o'clock in the afternoon, 
within three hours of complete 
darkness, began the mortal struggle 
by Lord Falconbridge advancing 
to the attack/' — (2\«m«r, vol. v. p. 
297.) This was indeed "a sore 
fought field.'' Our Fragment says 
33,000 men were slain ; the Croy- 
land Chronicler says, ** they who 
buried the dead declared 38,000 
had fallen." Fabian says 30,000 
feU, and Hall counts the slain 
during the three days at 36,776 
persons. A contemporary writer 
{Fenn*8 Paston Letters^ vol. i. p. 
219-221) gives the Herald's report 
as 28,000, and he says on Henry's 
side alone, 20,000 were slain. 
Amongst these were the Earl of 
Westmoreland and his brother Sir 
John Nevil, the Earl of Northum- 
berland, the Earl of Shrewsbury, 
the Lords Dacres and Wells, and 
Sir Andrew TroUope. The Earl 
of Devonshire was beheaded at 
York, immediately after the battle. 
-^Wethamstede, p, 517. 
10 
I OK EDWARD I 
[hearne' 
.1), NHU CriAP. i. — This victory obtained. King Edward fol- 
lowed the chase but a little; but shortly he returned 
unto York, whereat he kept his Easter, The bruit 
(news) of thie great victory was spread, so that it came 
to London on Easter eve, whereat was great joy made. 
The feast of Easter accomplished, the King Edward 
ungEiiwimi rode to Dm-ham, and Betting all things in good order in 
m'rh«n>,»nd the North parts, he left behind him there the Earl of 
lari of wm- Warwick to have the oversight and governance there, 
'""h.'"'^ and the King returned Southwards, and Eastwards, 
Sc'™nlil' ^'"'^''^''''g *' ^^ manor of Sheen, the first day of June, 
""". whereat he continued to the 26th day of the same 
month, in the which season was prepared, and provision 
made for hia coronation. 
Chap. 5. — The same 26th day of Jime the King Ed- 
ward removed from Sheen towards London, then being 
J by Thursday, and upon the way, received him the Mayor 
I. and his brethren, all in scarlet, with 400 commoners 
• of {common cowncilmen) well horsed and clad in green, and 
60 advancing themselves, passed the bridge, and through 
the city, they rode straight imto the Tower of London, 
and rested there all night, whereat on the morrow he 
made 32 new Knights of the Bath, the which day at 
after noon departing from the Tower, in like good order 
as they came thither, these 32 ne* Knights proceeding 
immediately before the King, in their gowns and hoods, 
and tokens of white silk upon their shoulders, as is ac- 
customed at the Bath ; and so in this goodly order he 
was brought to Westminster, whereat on the morrow, 
rons- being St. Peter's day, and Sunday, he was solemnly 
^j"qe crowned by the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
with great triumph and honour; and thereupon he 
. hii created his brother George, Duke of Clarence, then 
■«. being of 14 years old, anno 1460. 
Chav, 6. — In the first year of King Edward a Pai 
PBAGMENT.] THE REIGN OF EDWAUD IV. "[1 
liaiueiit ' was called at Westminster the 4th day of Sep- a.i>. i* 
tember, and upon the 5th day of the same month, John 
Mowbray Duke of Norfolk died, and thereupon imme- 
diately Richard," youngest brother of the King, was cmitB 
created Duke of Gloucester, and Jolm Mowbray, son of bkhah 
the aforesaid John, was created Duke of Norfolk, on (Ji™™ 
Allhalowen day. And in the same solemnity Harry otftwi 
Bourchier, Earl of Ewe, was created Earl of Essex. 
He wedded Isabel, sister to Richard, Duke of York, 
father to King Edward. And also William Neville, 
Lord Falconbridge, uncle to the King, was created Earl 
of Kent, — in the which seasons grew many grudges 
secretly. In so much that Harry Vero, Lord Aubrey, 
accused liis own father, the Earl of Oxford, of trea- 
son, whereupon they were both taken the 12th day of 
February in the same year, and brought to the Tower of 
London,'" and shortly thereupon, the 20th day of the same 
^ Edward oonclnded 
parlLanient b; the unnsnal but 
papular measure of a speech from 
! thro 
> the Cumi 
livered by himseir. — (Se 
CDS dacument at length i 
Hialnry, toI. v. p. 302.) It was 
during this seesion that the gtatute 
was pused, prohibiting the great 
and rich from giving or wearing 
any liieries or aigaa ot compBDion- 
sbip, except wbile eerring under 
the King i from receiving or main- 
taining plunderers, robbers, male- 
factors, or unlawful hunters ; and 
from allowing dice and cards in 
their houieg beyond the tnelve days 
of Christmaa.— (Fori. Ro!!a,4Sa.) 
s Hart. MS. 73?1, ad Regnum. 
He married Anne, second daughter, 
and one of the heirs of Richard 
Neville, Earl of Warwick and Sa- 
ruin, by whom he had ibbub, Ed- 
mund, who died young. When 
Richard came to the throne he was 
only 3D years and 9 mantha old, as | 
he naE bom at Fotheringay, Oct. : 
2ud, \lb2, and little more than 
thirtr- three when he fell at Boa- 
worth field. Sir John Nwille, bro- 
ther to tbe Earl of Warwick, was 
made Lord MontacuCe. The King 
constituted William Neville, whom 
he had created Earl of Kent, Ad. 
miral of Knglnnd, Ireland and Aqui- 
tain, July 13. 1462.— (MS. Bril. 
Mim. Otho, E. IX.) 
'" See Hall's Chronicle, p. 189 ; 
Grafton's Chronicle, p. fia8, and 
Fabiaa'a Chronicle, p. 215. The 
Earl and his son were detected in a 
correspondence with Qneen Marga- 
ret, and tried by martial law before 
the Conatahle, this law having juat 
been introduced into Civil Govern- 
ment. Tbe oflice of Constable was 
abolishedbyHenryVIlI. The power 
of bis court was in direct violation of 
Magna Charts, and utterly at vari- 
ance with true constitutional liberty. 
Indeed if any one will peruse the 
patent granted to Earl Rivers by 
Edward IV. it will be evident that 
in the hands of a dependent on the 
Crown, a headless, cruel, and vin- 
dictive tyrant could commit, under 
12 TtLE KEIIJN 01- EDWARD IV, [([EAR.Ne'^J 
ID o( month, both the fatlier and the son were brought unto the 
iBd Tower Hill, where they suffered death, both on one day ; 
Fell, how be it, the chronicles, lately uiade, affinneth that the 
Earl should be executed 6 days after ; for it v/as a piteoua 
sight to see them both, father and son, in such distress. 
Item, the same year was taken Sir Baldwin Fulford, and 
beheaded at Bristol. 
Chap. 7. — This second year of King Edward, Sir 
Piers de Bi-acy [the which before had robbed Sandwich 
in the 35th year of King Harry the Sixth] came out of 
Scotland in the favour of King Harry, and stole by 
treason the Castle of Alnwick, whither were sent against 
him Sir William Lord Hastings, and with him were Sir 
John Howard, and divers Lords and gentlemen, and 
I- with a strong power (he) besieged the castle ; in the 
which time the said Sir Piers had many injurious words 
against those lords, the which, notwithstanding, he was 
fain to fall to agreement. Whereupon such appointment 
made, he with his Frenchmen and Scots departed " the 
the appearance of a trial, murders, 
which, bat for this an righteous 
poner, would have brought his head 
to the block.— (See the word. Can- 
atabularius, in Sfbli-han.) Sir 
Thomas Tudenhair, Sir William 
Tyrrel, and John Montgomery, were 
also tried and coniicted in tlie same 
arbitrary conrt. — (Hume, vol. iii.) 
" When the King (Henry VI.) 
with Queen Margaret arrired in 
Scotland after the battle ot Touton, 
be promised great rewards Co several 
of the po«erful nobility in hia in- 
terest. To Geoi^e, Earl of Angus, 
he granted an estate of 2000 msrks 
a year, between the Trent and Hum. 
her, to be erected iuto a duchy after 
bis restoration. Though the Eatl 
;r obtaii 
1 this ri 
1, hew 
induced by the pr 
followers, (Holinahed says, to the 
amount of 13,000 men,) and suc- 
ceeded in bringing off fbe French 
garrison, which was besieged in Aln- 
wick Castle.— (Gorfrcro/if, p. 216.) 
" George, Earl of Angns, ad- 
show as if he meant to charge the 
English army, which had invested 
the castle, whilst the latter farmed 
tbemaelvea into line of battle, he 
brought up a patty of his stoutest 
horses to the postern gate, to whom 
the garrison made a sally, and every 
one mounting behind a trooper, (or 
as others say, on spare horses,) 
brought on purpose for them, the 
whole were securely conveyed into 
Scotland. The garrison, before their 
departure destroyed aU the arms and 
munition they could not carry 
A few years ago, on opening 
weU of the Inner Couit, which 
I long been filled up, a great 
□her of cannon balls, such as 
e used on the first discovery of 
Lpowder, were found, and which 
. probably been thrown into the 
Ibythegfljrison," — {Mantucnpl 
Hillary qf' Alnioiei.) 
FItAOMEST.J THE EEIGN OF SDWARD IV. 1^ 
30th day of July. How-be-it James the Second, late ad. i4n;. 
King of Scots, was slam at Koxburgh in shooting off a 
gun that burst." 
Chap. 8. — After the surrendering of this Castle, in 
the winter following were taken, and put in the Tower 
for treason. Sir Thomas Tudenham Knight, Sir Wil- 
liam Tyrrel Knight, and John Montgomery Esquire, 
the which all three were beheaded at the hill soon upon 
their judgement. And in the same November Dame Qii«n M.r- 
Margaret, late Queen, came out of France into Scot- from Pr.ii«. 
land, and entered England with a great band [of men] of ii&. 
Frenchmen and Scots ; of the which, when the King 
Edward was certified, he hastened Northward with a 
great power. But Queen Margaret, hearing of the 
King's coming, withdrew to her shifts, taking a Carvelle, 
purposing to return in to France, but through tempest, 
she was fain to take a fisher's boat, and saved herself at 
Berwick, and the Carvelle with all her treasure " was Her nm 
drowned ; how be it the goods were recovered to the " Bambursh 
King's behoof, as some men say, [cujus contrarium verum """I"'" 
estj. Some other of her Company, to the sum of four or 
five hundred men, were thrown on land at Bamburgh^ 
and, seeing no remedy to escape, they burnt their sliips, 
and fled in to an Island i' thereby, where they were slain 
and taken every one by certain gentlemen there. And 
shortly thereupon Harry Duke of Somerset, and Sir The duiib of 
Itelph Percy submitted themselves to the King, tn whom air b«ip[> 
" •' Tlie Earl of Huntley, with , 
hU fullowers, nrriving in tbe camp, 
the King condncted him to (he 
trenchei, tn be present at the die- 
charge of tbe Artillerj againat the 
fort, Ang. 3. A.D. HGO ; but nu- 
fortanatel; one of the guns burst, 
killed the King on the spot, snd 
wounded the Earl of Angns, without 
hurting any other tieraon." — {Hen- 
ry, vol. ii. p. :i5S.) 
" She had obtujued a loan oF 
20,000 Uires from Lewis XI. Her 
French troops took ihclter in Lin- 
disfarn or Holy Inland, hut were 
Boon after attacked by a superior 
force and the greatest part taken or 
killed. Their Commander, Pelerde 
Breiie, Senechalof NormBDdy,haw- 
ever, made hifl escape to Berwick, 
accompanied by a few followers. — 
{Mofinirelel.) 
I 
14 THK TiFAdS OF EDWARn IV, [iiearnk'h 
dwird he gave his grace and pardon. And in the same yeai- 
1463. the said Duke of Somerset, hearing how that the de- 
posed King Harry the Sixth prepared a great aimy to 
reenter into England, he fied from King Edward to the 
said King Harrj' into Scotland. 
I wontn- Chap. 9. — This same year in the heginning of April 
w'lhe" John Neville, Marquis of Montague," brother to the 
a, April. Earl of Warwick, being the King's Lieutenant in tlie 
jj^f Nortli, and hearing of the coming of King Han-y, as- 
'I™i4fi4. ssmbled a great host, and fought with him at Hexham, 
from whence the said King Harry fled, and lost his 
treasure there. There were taken and beheaded the 
said Duke of Somerset, '^ the Lord Huntingford, and the 
Lord Roos, with divers others. Then the said Marquis 
tat with the Earl of Warwick, went to Bamburgh and won 
''™^*'' the Castle by assault, whereat divers gentlemen were 
! Henry takcD. And after this skirmish at Hexham King Harry 
3iipr,°Md was taken in a wood, by one William Cantlow, and 
cr. brought to the King, and afterwards committed to the 
Tower" at London, whereat he continued in captivity 
'* MonticDte, Bids note 9. He 
was made Warden of the Marches 
towards Scatlaad June 1, 1463, with 
power lo array all men in the nor- 
tliem couDtiea, between 16 and GO 
years of age. — {Rymer, torn. II. p. 
500.) He was created Earl of 
Northumberland, and afterwards 
Marquis of Montague. — (Biondi.) 
■' Henry Doke of Somereet was 
' ' in Hexham with four 
□then 
Somi 
I defecl 
probably caused by the nonfullil- 
ment on the part of Edward of the 
payment stipulated, when he de- 
livered np the Cflstla of Bambo- 
rongh.— (See Wariicorlh's Chro- 
nicle.) 
WiJIiam Taylboia, Earl of Kyme, 
Thomas Lord Roos, Robert Lord 
Hungerford, and Sir Thomas Fjn- 
deme, were taken a few days after 
the Battle, and beheaded at New- 
castle, and twelve Knights and gen- 
tlemen were carried to York and 
there executed. The Governor of 
Bambui^h Castle, Sir Ralph Gray, 
was beheaded at Doncaster.— ( fVill. 
Wyrceiler, p. 498-99.) In the 
notes to Warkmorth's Chronicle, 
edited by Mr. HaUiweU, p. 36, is 
a very curious document relating to 
this siege, taken from the MS. in 
the College of Arms. 
"^ "AshesaleatDinnerinWod- 
dington Hall he was betrayed, and 
conveyed to London with his legs 
bound to tbe stirrups, where, as 
soon as he was arrived, he was ar- 
rested by tbe Earl of Warwick, and 
committed to the Tower."— (£ns- 
land'a Happiness, p. 160.) 
Sir John Harington has pre- 
served some beautiful verses com- 
.GMENT.] 
TFJE RRIC.N OF EDWA 
imto the IStli day of October in the year of our Lord a. i 
1469. 
Chap. 10.— And the same year, after many pastimes 
of youthly course, King Edward seeing no maiTiagea 
convenient for hia estate out of the realm, and also none 
outlanded {no foreign) prince there was, that dui-st 
adventure to marry with him ; in so much that King 
Harry the Sixth [as] then was at liberty — Howbeit 
that some there be, tliat afSrm the Earl of Warwick 
should have been Ambassador for him in Spain, to have 
Isabell, sister of King Harry of Castile, the which 
affirming is not truth, for the Earl of Warwick was 
never in Spain, but continued all this season with his 
brother, John Marquis Montague, in the North parts, 
to withstand the coming in of King Harry the Sixth, 
the which King Harry was taken this year, as is above 
said ; and the said Isabell was married unto Ferdinand, 
then bemg Prince of Arragon, and continued a great 
season together being married, her brother Harry before 
said being King of Castile, as witness the chronicles as 
well of Castile as of Arragon, etc. These premises Ei 
considered. King Edward being a lusty prince attempted u 
the stability and constant modesty of divers ladies and vi 
gentlewomen, and when he could not perceive none of C' 
such constant womanhood, wisdom and beauty, as was 
Dame Elizabeth," widow of Sir John Grey of Groby 
poBed by Henty daring his capti- 
vity, which, BB they eipresi lo well 
the Btate of his mind, msy not be 
unacceptable to the reader : — 
" Kingdocns are but carea ; 
State is devoid of itay ; 
Riches are ready snares, 
And hasten to decay." 
■' Pleosure 's e privy prick 
Which vice doth still provokei 
Pomp, tinprampt ; and rsme a 
Foncr a Bmouldering smokp." 
" Who meaneth to remove the rook 
Out of the slimy mud, 
Shnll mire himself, and hardly 
'icape 
The Bwelling of the flood." 
Hknbib. 
" The King's marriage with the 
Lady Elizabeth Woodville, Widow 
of Sir John Grey de Groby, and 
daughter of Jucijueline de Luxem- 
burgh, Duchess of Bedford, by her 
second husband, Sir Richard Wood- 
ville, Lord ItiverB, was consnm- 
!« 
TIIK REIBN OF EDWARD IV. 
[heai 
late defunct, he then with a little company came unto 
the Manor of Grafton, beside Stony Stratford, whereat 
Sir Hichard Woodville, Earl of Rivera, and Bame 
Jacqueline, Duchess- dowager of Bedford, were then 
dwelling ; and after resorting at divers times, seeing the 
constant and stable mind of the said Dame Elizabetli, 
early in a morning the said King Edward wedded the 
foresaid Dame Elizabeth there on the first day of May in 
the beginning of hia third year, and in the year of our 
Lord 1463. The prieat that wedded them lieth buried 
at the Minories by London before the high Altar, 
whose name was # * * * And God gave unto 
them a goodly issue, that is to say four sons and seven 
daughters ; howbeit that lewd fellow, that drew those 
mated Uay I, A.D. 1463. The 
King, poBsioaately Tond of the fair 
Bex, bad hilberto met with he 
pulse ID his search after pleai 
The beauty, virtue, aod act 
pliBbmenta of this illuaCrioBa lady 
were the sole reasons of her being 
raised to the throne, and though 
the acconnt here narrated dive 
thia epiaoda in our Hiatory of mi 
' ■■ it is probably 
that SI 
"Thia 
truth. 
I marnage 
time kept a careful secret. Kut at 
Michaelmaa the King avowed it ; 
and the Queen was preaented by 
Clarence and Wamiek, to the Lords 
and people at Reading as their 
Queen. In December lauds to tlie 
laluB of 4000 marka were settled 
upon her ; and on the Ascension- 
day, in the following year, the King 
made thirty-eight Knights at the 
Tower of London, preparatory to 
her Coronation." — (Turner, vol. v. 
p. 31U,) 
' a great 
dle-c: 
re, that 
n the Cou 
eMid- 
ind unmade Kings, Edward sought 
by concessions to the smaller gentry 
and wealthy citizens to raise a bar- 
rier round the throne. By dis- 
placing the Nobles who had hitherto 
supported his pretensions and even- 
tually placed him on the throne, by 
the Father, brothers, sisters' hus- 
bands, and uncles of the Queen, "he 
threw the ancient nobility into the 
back ground, and brought forward 
a new set of individuals to take 
from them their power, influence, 
honours and emolumenta," The 
lavish hand with which he bestowed 
these upon the Queen's family has 
no parallel in history. Lord lUvers 
was made Lord Treasurer, and also 
Grand Constable ; the Heiresa of 
the Duke of Exeter, whom War- 
wick had destined for his nephew, 
was married to the Queen's son by 
her former husband; the Queen's 
sister Maria was matched with the 
heir of Lord Herbert ; another wa» ( 
wedded to the Duke of Bucking- ' .^ 
ham I and three others united to 
the families of the Earls of Arond ell, 
Essex and Kent. John, another 
brother, was wedded to the old 
Duchess of Norfolk, a match, which, 
by the way, disgusted all parties. 
Anthony married the heiress of 
Lord Scales, which title he assumed. 
;t.J 
17 
last burnt clironicle.s, abused himaelf greatly in his dis- ad. 14m. 
ordered writing, for lack of knowledge. And whereas 
he writeth, that Mary, daughter of the Duke of Geldres, tuc author 
and widow of the late defunct James King of Scots, •"icmeDt oi 
with other more were presented unto him in marriage, "^'i"^^"' 
a& for a choice, it is not truth ; for the adversaries of "P"^'"*"" 
this King Edward were maintained in ScotJand by the 
said Dame Mary and her 'complices unto this time, 
and after as appeareth evidently. For in tliis same year 
King Harry was taken in the North, as is before speci- 
fied, and Edmond, Duke of Somerset, with his brother 
John, were yet in Scotland with Queen Margaret, etc. 
Chap. 11. — In the year of our Lord 1464, this KingA.D. i«4. 
Edward, somewhat eased of his enemies, began to have penviihiri 
regard unto the redressing of the inconveniences used in 
the realm for fault of Justice and misordering of money. 
Wherefore in the latter end of this year he changed his 
coin." First lie made the royal of gold, price 10s. ; 
the half royal, 6s. ; and the fourthing, 2s. 6rf. Secondly, 
he made the noble, and named it the Angel, of the price 
6s. 8d. ; with the half of the same, 3*. id. Further- 
more he made the Groat, the half groat, and pence of 
leas value by Sd. in the ounce than the old groat was. 
And fine gold was enhanced to 40s. the ounce, and other 
base gold after the rate, with other divers ordinance of 
money. And on the 26th day of May the Queen Eliza- coron^ion 
beth was crowned at Westminster with great solemnity, Eu»i»ih, 
whereat were made Knights of the Bath" as I knew nhoubibe 
" The poKcy of thos tempering 
with tbe coin hag alwaya been qnea- 
tionable. WaiiBm Wyrcester, a 
contemporary, oomplaine of the in- 
jury luSered thereby, parlicolarly 
by the nobiUty (p. 500). The au- 
thor of the Fragment makes a mis- 
take reipecCiag the noble. It wa« 
raited from G:%d.io 8(. 4d.— (FT. 
Wyrc. c. 500.) 
" In honour of the solemnity 
he made no fewer than 37 Knights 
of tbe Bath, on Thursday, May 23, 
amoDg vhom «ere several of tbe 
cbief nobility. On Friday the 
Queen viai met at Shooter's Hill 
by the Lord Mayor, Aldermeii and 
Citiieaa of London, nobly mounted, 
and riebly dressed, and conducted 
Co the Toner; frooi whence on Sa- 
18 TlIE REIGN OF EDWAHD IV. [hKARNe's 
the Lord Dumas, Sir Bartelot de Ribairc, of Bayen, 
Gascons; Sir John Wood ville, brother to the Queen, 
etc., and of the City, four : Thomas Cooke, Matthew 
Philip, Ralph Josselyn, and Harry Waffir (Waver) 
where {and there) also were made divers others at West- 
minster the day beforesaid of coronation. 
Th»priB«M Chap. 12. — This year in the month of February, and 
Bhe irai '"' in the fifth year of King Edward, the Queen was deli- 
- h Feb. vered of a daughter (Elizabeth), the which was chris- 
■ isihjiji. tened in Westminster, the 11th of February, 1466, to 
1 Henry whom was godfather the Earl of Warwick, and god- 
mothers were Cicely, Duchess of York, and Jacomyne 
(Jacqueline) Duchesa of Bedford, Mothers to the King 
and Queen. This year were other things done, the 
which are of little importance, 
csn.iieof And in this year was a great battle in France, at 
y i?th,' a place called Montlhery, betwixt Lewis the Xlth then 
King in France and the said Charles, whereat the Duke 
of Somerset was on his party, and there were slain 
3000 and 600 men, so tliat the victory remained to 
Charles, the 17th day of July Anno 1465. 
Chap. 13. — In tliis year and in the month of Jmie, 
then being it the fifth year of King Edward, Anthony 
BBMiwd Bastard 3* of Burgmidy came into England, with divers 
?d"f'ihS' 'Others from Duke Charles of Burgundy, to treat for a 
"""ifor roirriage betwixt the said Duke Charles and Dame 
tarday slie was carried in a borse- 
litter, preceded by the new made 
Knights, to Westminater, where she 
was crowned on Sunday, by the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, with the 
usnal ceremooiea." — {Hettry, tdI. 
i.. p. 191.) 
™ See Bulwer's Novel of " The 
La»l of the liarons," vol. Si. 
The Croylsnd Historian sta 
Burgundian Alliance to have beei 
the caoae of Warwick's quari 
King Edward. Hia words 
this 
" Upon which (the marriage of 
Margaret with Charolois) Richard 
Neville, Earl of Warwick, who had 
BO many years taken party with the 
French againat tbe Burgundiana, 
conceived great indignation j and I 
hold this to be the truer cause of 
hia resentment, than tbe King's 
marriage with Eiizabelh, for he bad 
rather have procured a husband fbr 
the aforesaid Princess Margaret in 
the Kingdom of France."— (/iirf. 
vol.i. p. 17.) 
FBAfiMENT.] THE REIGff OK EDWARD IV, 19 
Margaret, sister to King Edward, the which was con- iHe ei 
eluded. ™ After the which was great triumph made ; 
most especial in Smithfield^' were Justa, whereat the Tounii 
said Anthony Bastard, and Anthony Woodville, Lord field. 
Scales, brother to the Queen, with divers others ran 
divers days, and those two beforenamed fought on foot 
with axes, as men courageous and greatly expert in 
those feats of war. And this done the said Bastard 
returned into France : and Edmond, Duke of Somerset ^^ 
" Tbii combst between tbe two 
Anthonyais tbas described : — ' 
OQ the first day they ran together 
certain courses with sharp spears, 
and BO departed with equal hononr. 
The neit day the; entered the field, 
the Boatard sitting on a Bay conraor, 
bdng somewhat dim of sight, snd 
the Lord Scaies had a gray coarser 
on whose schatfron was a long and 
sharp pike ot steel. When these 
two laliant persons coped together 
at the tournay, the Lord Scales' 
horse, hy chance oi by cuatom, 
thrust bis pike into the nostrils of 
the horse of the Bastard, so that, 
for very pain, he mounted so high, 
that he fell on one side with hia 
master ; and the Lord Scales rode 
round about him, with his sword 
shaking in his handi till the King 
commanded the marshsll to help up 
the Bastard, which openly said, ' I 
cannot hold by the clouds ; hut 
though my horse failed me, surely 
I wiU s 
: faU u 
And V 
unted, he made ! 
impa- 
t thf 
King, dther favouring bis brother' 
hoDOur then gotten, or mistrusting 
the sbsme which migbt come Co the 
Bastard, if he were again foiled, 
caused the heralds to cr; a lostel, 
d every man to depart. The mor- 
B after, the two noblemen came 
a the field on foot, with two 
leaxes, and there fought valiantly 
eater into the sight of the belm of 
the Butard, and by pure force he 
might have plucked him on his 
knees, when the King suddenly 
cast down bis warder, and then the 
marshilla them severed. The Baa. 
tard, not content with this chance, 
very deaiioua to be avenged, trust- 
ing on his cunning at the poleaie, 
(the which feat he had greatly eier- 
cised, and therein had a great ex- 
periment,) required the King, of 
justice, that be might perform hts 
enterprize : the Lord Scales not 
refused it. The King said he would 
aak counael, and so called to him the 
constable and marsball, with the 
officers of arms. After long con- 
sultation had, and laws of arma re- 
hearsed, it was declared to the 
Bastard, for a sentence definitive, 
bythe Duke of Clarence, then cod- 
atable of England, and the Duke ot 
Norfolk, earl marahall, that if be 
would prosecute farther this at- 
tempted challenge, he must, hy the 
law of arms, be delivered to bia ad- 
versary in the same cose, and like 
condition, as he was when he was 
taken from him ; that ia to Bay, the 
point of the Ixird Scales' aie to be 
filed in the sight of his helm, as 
deep as it was when they were se- 
vered. The Bastard, hearing this 
judgment, doubted much the se- 
quel, if be should so proceed again. 
Wherefore he was content to relin- 
quish his challenge." — {Hall's 
Chroniclf, p. 269.) 
^ Philip de Commlaea says, he 
himself has seen these noble Laii- 
20 
[.n 
A.V. 146B, departed a little before into France and returned unto 
Duke Charles, the which at that time was in Flanders, 
and was retained with him in his wars. And in the 
same year Philip Duke of Burgundy, Father to the said 
Charles, died in the town of Bruges the 16th day of 
June. 
princMi Chap. 14. — This 7th year, Margaret Sister unto King 
wJlfrcbsriM Edward beforesaid, departed from the King, and rode 
gundy, July' throughout Londou behind the Earl of Warwick, and 
rode that night to Stratford Abbey, and from thence 
to the searside, and went into Flanders to Bruges, 
where she was married with great solemnity: and after 
the feast done, the same night the Duke and she rode 
out of the Town to a Castle called Male, one mile out of 
Bruges ; and, when they were both in bed, the Castle 
was set on fire by treason, so that the Duke and she 
'scaped narrowly. 
And within short space after those astertes (escapes) 
[as] the Duchess of Norfolk with others returned into 
England, in whose company were two young gentlemen, 
that one named John Poyntz,*" and that other William 
Alsford, the which were arrested because, in the time of 
the 'foresaid marriage, they had familiar communication 
with the Duke of Somerset and his 'complices there, in 
the which they were both detected of treason ; where- 
upon one Richard Steria {Steers), skinner of London, 
iladiag the Duke of 
Elxeter, " barefoot and barelegged," 
in the Lnn Coaatries in as commDa 
a plight as beggars. 
^ " My Lord of Oiford is com- 
mitled to the Tower, and is said to 
be kept in iroaa, aod that he hath 
confeEsed roucb things. And on 
Mondij, afore St. Aadrew'a-day, 
one Aiford and Poirer, gentlemen 
to my Lord of Norfolk, and one St. 
PeifB, skinner of Lond 
beaded. And on the n 
Sir Thomas Tresham 
and is committed to the Tower, and 
it is said he was arrested apoti the 
confession of my Lord of Oxford. 
and they say bis livelihood, and Sir 
John Marney's livelihood, and di- 
vers other livelihoods are given 
away by the King." — {PlMmplon 
Corrttfondtnet, ediltd by Mr. Sla- 
pttton, p. 20.) 
with those two were beheaded at the Tower Hill, the e 
21st day of November. ta 
Chap. 15. — This year [aa writoth Gaguin** in hisEaridi 
Chronicle], Kichard Earl of Warwick was sent as Ambn. 
Ambassador from King Edward unto Louis the xi., 
then King of France ; the which Richard came up the 
river Seine to a place called Boylle (La Bouille) in 
Normandy 15 miles from Rouen from whence became 
unto Rouen by water, with great triumph, and was re- 
ceived in to Rouen, with procession and great honour 
in to our Lady'a Church, the said King tlien being in 
liouen. And his offering done, he repaired to his 
lodging until the time that the Duke of Bourbon fetched 
him unto the court, where ho was welcomed greatly. 
And after his proposition \was] made, he had secret 
eommuning^s ^ith the said French King alone, and 
none other but they two. And this endured by the 
space of 12 days continually. And after hia business 
(was) finisbed^^ he took his leave, and departed with 
many great gifts and rich, as well of the French King 
as of the Duke of Bourbon, returning into England ; in 
whose company went to King Edward, as Ambassadors tik bj 
sent from King Louis, the Admiral of France, called ""■! "'i 
the Bastard of Bourbon, the Bishop of Laon, Sir John "'^"" 
^ Gagnin gaja, the Earl vta n. 
France, il may be preanmed he 
ceiced by LoaU XI. at Rouen with 
took the opportunity to aecure 
great jwmp -, arid that the; held 
Louis' a protection, and concert 
frequent secret cnnferenceB. On 
measnres with him concerning the 
hia rtepsrture. the King loaded the 
dethronement of Edward.— (ftipiB, 
vol. V, p. 37.) 
» It wuE certaiulf not with his 
" "Warwick concluded a truce 
USDBl foresight that Edward em- 
with Louis for 18 months, and 
plojed the Earl of Wsr-ick in this 
returned to London, July .'i. H67. 
eiubaasy. The Earl had heen deeply 
He was followed into England by 
affronted by the favours heaped upon 
the Archbishop of Narbonne and 
tbB Queen's relatioea, to the ilecri- 
the Bastard of Boarbon, who made 
nient nf bimaelf and family. Ra- 
Edward the most templing offers to 
p<D says:— "The Earl loortally 
eogage him to form an alliance 
baled Ddward.thoagh he enncealed 
with the court of France. But 
his aTersion in order to show it 
these oflers came too late and nere 
efl-ecluatly.'' Unring hia atay in 
rejected."— l//mry, Tul.il. p. IDS.) 
PojKiurcote, and Oliver Rous, the which Ambassadi 
abode in England by the space of four months, 
at their returning, amongst other great gifts, King 
Edward gave unto them great maatiSs, colars, leashes 
and horns; for the which gifts the 'foresaid Gaguin 
maketh a manner of a mock, as appeareth in the same 
his book and chapter. 
plwlm 
Chap. 16. — Oftimes it is seen that divers there 
' the which foresee not the causes precedent and subs 
quent; for the which they fall many times into su< 
error, that they abuse themselves and also others, their 
successors, giving credence to such as write of {from) 
afiection, {partiality) leaving the tmth that was in deed- 
Wherefore, in avoiding all such inconveniences, my 
purpose b, and shall be, [as touching the life of King 
Edward the Fourth] to write and sliew those and such 
things, the which I have heard of his own mouth. And 
also in part of such things, in the which I have been 
personally present, as well within the realm an without, 
during a certain space, most especially from the year of 
our Lord 1468 unto the year of our Lord 1482, in the 
which the forenamed King Edward departed from this 
present life. And in witness whereof the Right Illus- 
trious Thomas,^ Duke of Norfolk, Treasurer of England, 
It- as most personally present [for the most part of his 
flourishing age] in the house of the said right noble 
ame b 
=• Thomaa Howard, Eatl of Sur- 
lej and Duke of Norfolk, wag 
Lord Treasurer from ISOO to 1522. 
He WHS the son of Sir John How- 
ard, Duke of Norfolk, the ■' Jocky 
of Norfolk," who fell at BoBwarth, 
reign 
Richard III. for which 
son" (11 1) the titles were for- 
feited. The Earldom of Surrey 
was restored in H8y. and iu con- 
gequence of his services at Plodden 
Field, he was crested Duke of 
Norfolk in February, 1514. He 
died in 1524, and was succeeded 
by his soa Thomas, third Duke of 
Norfolk, father to the Poet, the 
Earl of Surrey. The poet was 
the issDe of the aecoud marriage ; 
for by bis first wife, Anne, Daughter 
of King Edward the Fourth, he 
left no children. His second wife 
was the Lady Elizabeth StaSbnlf i 
Daughter of the Duke of F " 
iugham. 
prince continually conversant, can more clearly certify ad. i*5s. 
the truth of all such acts and things, notable of memory, 
the which fell in his time. Of the which I am well 
assured, no man living may of very truth and right 
object to the contrary of hia saying. Therefore, in 
avoiding all inconveniences, coloured chronicles, and 
affection^ (partial) histories, my purpose is to shew 
the truth, to avoid all ambiguity of the first motive, and 
original cause, wherefore Richard Neville, Earl of War- 
wick, withdrew himself from the amity of the 'foreaaid 
King Edward the Fourth. Sure and of truth it ia, aa 
it appeareth in the chapters previous, the s^d Richard, 
Earl of Warwick, was sent into Normandy as Ambas- 
sador with others, whose secret counsellings betwixt 
the French King and him (self) alone, brought him 
greatly in suspection (suspicion) of many things, inas- 
much that his insatiable mind could not be content, and 
yet before him was there none in England of the half 
possessions'^ that he had. For first he had all the 
Earldom of Warwick whole, with all the Spencer's e«i of wu 
lands ; the Earldom of Salisbury. (He was) Great KuiodrHiid 
Chamberlain of England, Chief Admiral and Captain of 
Calais, and Lieutenant of Ii-oland; the which posses- 
sions amounted to the sum of 20,000 marks, and yet he 
desired more. He councilled and enticed the Duke of 
Clarence, and caused him to wed his eldest daughter, 
laabel,^^ without the advice or knowledge of King Ed- uuite of 
ward. Wherefore the King took a great displeasure min^ im- 
with them both, and thereupon were certain unkind of '"" *^' 
' ' of Wsnrtck. 
^ He had the entire BBrldam of 
Warwick, all the Isnd of the Spen- 
cers, and tbe Earldom ef SaliBbuiy. 
He was Great Cbamberlflin of 
England, Cliief Admiral, and Ca 
tain of Calais, as »e1l as Lc 
LieuteoBnt of Ireland. Hia 01 
estates besides amuunted to no li 
tUan 20,U00 marks a year. I 
for "on coming to London each 
rnoming were cooaamed for break- 
fast in his honse six oxen, and all 
(he taverna were fuU of hia meat." 
— (S(oioa, p. 421.) 
" This marriage gave great of. 
fence 10 the King, and here WB 
bave another cauee, nithoat re- 
sorting to romantic fictions, for the 
quarrel of the King and the Earl. 
TRE REia.V OF EDWAKD IT. 
jLd. mm. words betwixt them, in so much, that after that day 
there was never perfect love betwixt them. ^Miereupon 
privj- letters were sent into the North, into the West 
country, and into ^\'ales. whereby that the Lord Her- 
bert (Earl of Pembroke) came to Banbury with seven 
or eight thousand men without any Archers. And 
Humphrey, Lord Stafford of Suthwicke, came out of 
Somersetshire and Devonshire with four or five thousand 
men a)»o to Banbury ; whereat their Harbingers fell at 
variance for lodgings, in so much that the said Lord 
Stafford of Suthwicke withdrew himself back ten or 
twelve miles. And in this season the Northern men 
with their captain, the Lord Latimer, which was slain 
there, drew nigh to Banbury to a place called Hedge- 
Biiitoor cote" upon the grounds of a gentleman named Clarell; 
jn^ 26111, ' of the which insurrection when the King was advertised 
by the Earl of Warwick, he sent out of London one 
Clapham with the sum of fifteen thousand men, what of 
household men and soldiers of Calais, whose coming was 
Tin Earl of the Winning of the field. For the Lord Herbert was 
«<•<! Sir Rd, slain, and Sir Richard, hia brother, was brought to 
(lehendcii. Northampton and beheaded there, and the Lord Staf- 
suiTird ford, the which came too late to the field, returned into 
inhndcd, j^j^ country, and was taken by the commons and be- 
headed at Bridgewater, and buried in Glastonbury. 
And so King Edward lost there two good captains. 
Chap. 17. — In the same year those before-said Northern 
" The Bnttlt of Hedgerote Field 
placed the King in the power of 
Warwick. The Earl finding tbe 
detention of the King nnpopolHr, 
B hollow truoe was concluded, and 
outwardly t, reconciliation took 
place. But how could Edward 
forget the murder of the ftneen'a 
father and brother ? and though he 
jielded to the Earl's " intaliohU 
to hie other dignities, Grand Jua- 
ticiary of Wales and CoUBtahle of 
Cardigan, could he forget bis trea- 
son ? Will. Wyrcester aaya 1,500 
of the Northerns were klUed. 
Four thousand Welsh fell, and the 
Earl of Pembroke Had the other 
nohles were hebeaded bv the swrrt 
orders of Warwict.— (Hm/. 
p. 543.) 
FKAGMENT.] THE REIGS OF EDWAKD IV, 25 
men took Richard, Lord Rivera,^' then Treasurer of a.d 
England, and one of his aons with him named Sir John snd 
Woodville, and smote off their heads : and, as eome behr 
men said, it was done by the consent of the Earl of War- 
wick, the which was known more clearly afterwards. For 
a little before there was a rising in the North Country 
made by unnamed gentlemen, and (thej/) named their cap- 
tain Robin of Riddisdale,^^ the which Insurrection was the Bnb 
beginning and cause of many inconveniences, as appeared 
soon aftei-wards. Howbeit they were pardoned for their 
Rebelhon soon upon Alhalowen Tide after. And anon 
thereupon the Lord Welles (that had married Dame 
Margaret Duchess of Somerset), began a new Commo- 
tion in Lincolnshire, and with him was Sir Thomas 
Dymoke, Knight. Of the which rebellious deed, when 
the Xing was certified, he gathered his men, and rode 
thitherward. And when those rebels heard of his 
coming they left their field, and all their stuff, and fled 
as far as Scarborough, whereat they were beheaded : 
and that jom-ney was named 'EoSE toU jfKtoe.^' ^^^ 
»' "Thw Sir John WoodTiUeWBB 
the mOBt obnDxinua of tbe Queen's 
brothers, »nd infamous for the ma- 
riae which hod led him to marrjthe 
old DuohesB of Norfolk. Lord Ri- 
rers wa9 the more odioas to the 
people it the time of the insurrec- 
lion, becaute in his capacity ofTrea- 
tnrer he had lalelv tampered w'* 
-{11.1- 
Kfr'a Laitqf the Barons, vol. ii. p. 
277.) 
s> " This Robin of Redeadale'i 
fate is as obscare as most of the 
incidenti in this perplexed part of 
English History. " — Btilwer. See 
also Woolton'sBttglUh Baronetage, 
article Hi'dyard. " Sir William 
Conyers, Knight, called himself 
Robin of Redesdale, and gathered 
I host of 20,000 men in the North. 
And Robin of Hedeadale met with 
the Earl of Pembroke and slev 
2000 Welshmen about Banbury, and 
took the Earl of Pembroke and his 
brother.'' — (B'or*iPor(A'j Ckro- 
" It was the son of Lard Welles, 
whom Edward had recently be. 
headedfortr ' 
the I 
Tott.— <7>i™ 
TOI. 1 
322.) The beheading of Richard, 
Lord Welles, ia one of the baaest 
actions of King Edward's reign. 
When the King first heard of the 
rebellioD he sent for that nobleman, 
with a solemn promise for his safety, 
to lay down bis arms. In vialation 
of this solemn pledge, he nevertbe- 
let> commanded liim to be be- 
headed ."—( Ki/ion. ) 
26 
! REIGN OF EDWAHD I 
[hearne'b 
secret conspiracies were done in the winter, in so much 
that the Earl of Warwick enticed so the Duke of 
if Clarence, that he followed all hta council. And there- 
upon it fortuned, that those both went into "Warwick- 
shire, to the intent that they might bring their purpose 
into effect : where at, at after Easter in the begmniug of 
the tenth year of King Edward, the Archbishop of 
■ York,3* George Nevile, Brother to the Earl of Warwick, 
r desired the King to a banquet at his Palace of the Moor 
beaidea Langley : whither as the King came, and a 
little before supper, when they should have washed, 
John Ratcliff,^* that after was Lord Fitzwalter, warned 
the King privily, and bade him beware ; for there were 
ordained privily an 100 men of arms, tlie which should 
take him and convey him out of the way. Wherefore 
the King, faining himself to make his water, caused a 
good horse to be saddled, and so with a small company 
rode to Windsor. Of the which treason so detected, 
I- when the Earl of Warwick was advertised, he with the 
. Duke of Clarence, and their wives, fled westward and 
took shipping, and so came into Normandy in the month 
of May Anno 1470, and landed at Honfleur, whereat 
met them the Bastard of Bourbon, then being Admiral 
of France, the which received them with great honour. 
But who may be that could in any manner think other- 
wise, but (that) this, such departing of the Earl of 
Warwick, was before known in France, in so much, that 
at his arrival the Admiral of France was ready to receive 
them at that place assigned, as it appeareth evidently, 
as well in the chronicles of France and also of Brittany, 
the years and month rehearsed in this chapter. 
" He WH8 translated to York, 
from Eieter, June 17tb, 1465, hold- 
ing niCh that Bishopric the Office 
of Lord Chancellor, and which he 
continacd to hold till 1467. 
^ Sir John Radciiffe was crealtJ 
Lord Fitznalter b; summang, ia 
right of his mcther, Elizabeth, 
heirees of Lord Fitzwalter. At- 
tainted and beheaded for being con- 
cerned iu the plot of Perkia War- 
betk, in 1493. 
FRAGMENT.] 
THE KEIGN t 
27 
Chap. 19, — Of the continuance of the Duke ofA.u. li 
Clarence, Earl of Warwick, with theii- wives and train 
in France, it ia very necessary somewhat here to manifest 
aa it was (in) deed. Within short apace of their coming 
into Normandy they hastened towards King Louis, the 
which as at that time lay at his caatle of Amboise beside '""t ^ 
Tours in Touraine : whither, when they were come, the ""^JU 
King welcomed them with great feaatings. And after 
that they had diacloaed unto the King the cause of their 
departure out of England, and of their conung thither, 
anon they withdrew themselves to their lodgings. Then abj m 
within short space after came from Aviow Dame Mar- Ui*™ J 
garet,^ Daughter of King Regnier of Sicily, wife to™«« 
King Harry the Sixth, and her Son Prince Edward with 
her : at whose coming was shortly a great Council 
betwixt them to know by what manner they should 
return into England. The which Council dissolved, the 
'foresaid Duke of Clarence, and Earl of Warwick, re- 
turned into Normandy, the which was in the month of 
June in the year abovesaid. And so they abode there 
till it was the latter end of August nest following. 
^ " Margaret vaa nafortoaate — 
in exile ; uid bad Kta bU her hopes 
blosaam but to wither : yet she irai 
reaentfol, highmfDded.andreaolnte. 
Warwick had dethroneil ber, and ihe 
could neither forgise nor tniat him, 
Dor be hereafter governed by him. 
He required aa the conditions of 
hia alliance and support, a complete 
pardoD ; that her onij Bon Edward 
tihoald marry his second daughter 
Ann ; and a puisaant force to Eng- 
land, with her authority, Louia 
sent for Margaret to Angiert, and 
orged her to comply with Warwick 'a 
t«rma. But aha aurpriaed him by 
steadily objecting to the Tery first 
article. She aaid, that consistently 
with her own or her lou'a honour 
ahc might not, and could not, par- 
don the man who had been the 
greatest caase of the fall of King 
Henry and herself i and that from 
her own heart, she nerer could be 
contented with him nor forgive him. 
To his aecond requeat, ahe answered, 
that it would be prejudicial to her 
interests to take party with him : 
(hat she had still many frienda, 
whom ahe would lose by such a 
treaty ; and therefore, she besought 
the King, that it would please him 
to leave off from speaking any fur- 
ther of the proposed pardon, amity, 
or alliance. There woa a consis- 
tency of principle in this refusal, 
which though flowing perhaps from 
haughty and resentful feelings, yet 
eihibitg that lofty superiority to tha 
baser attractions of sellish iuteresC, 
which always confers honour and 
compels respect. Margaret was 
disdaining these advances of War- 
wick. ' ' — { l\inier't England, vol. v. 
p. 325.) 
28 
THE HEIGN OF 1 
[H., 
\ 
Chap. 20. — During this season of their being in France, 
Daine Charlotte of Savoy, wife to the French King 
Louis, was delivered of a son, in the 'foresaid castle of 
Amboise, the last day of June in the same year of our 
Lord 1470, to whom were Godfathers at the font, Charles 
of Bourbon Archbishop and Cardinal of Lyons, Edward 
Prince, bcforesaid son to King Harry the Sixth ; and 
the Duchess of Bourbon, Sister to the forenamed King 
Louis : and the child was named Charles, and was King 
after his Father. At the which birth were made many 
great solemnities and triumphs throughout the Realm of 
France; whereupon the said Prince Edward" married 
there Anne, youngest daughter of the Earl of Warwick : 
the which Anne was wedded to Richard Duke of Glou- 
cester after, in the year of our Lord 1474, at We»b*j 
minster, after the death of the same Prince Edward. 
Chap, 21. — King Edward in this mean time was aboul' 
London, to whom was brought tidings of the departing 
of the Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick, and 
that how they passed by Wiltshire westward, had taken 
Anthony Lord Scales and John Lord Audley r the which 
two Lords they sent to the Castle of Warder, to be kept 
out of the way unto a time determinate, that they should 
have been put to execution : of the which inprisonment 
1- a gentleman of Dorsetshire, named John Thomhill, hear- 
ing, came the night following with a good company of 
. hardy fellows, and found tlie means to dehver these two 
Lords from captivity. Whereupon they were delivered 
to liberty. Then the King Edward, seeing these two, 
Duke and Earl, bo departed so suddenly, he marvelled 
greatly : and he, being in tliis anguish and trouble, had 
knowledge of a new rebellion in the North by the mes 
.T.] 
29 
of the Lord Fitzhugh : against whom he prepai-ed a a. 
puiseance of men, and went northward: of the which hu 
when the foresaid Lord Fitzhugh was certified, he fled 
into Scotland (and in the same season the Earl of Ox- j^ 
ford took shipping, and sailed into Normandy to those i°' 
other Lords). Whereupon one Sir Geoffrey Gate, 
Knight, with the 'foresaid Clapham, had prepared at 
Southampton a company of their 'complices to have 
passed into France, to those Lords of Clarence and 
Warwick ; but their purpose was soon disclosed. For 
the Earl of Worcester ^ and the Lord Howard pre- 
vented them. In so much that many of them were 
taken, as Sir Geoffrey Gate, the which had his pardon si 
and afterwards went to sanctuary. Clapham was he- ed 
headed and divers others hanged, etc. i>t 
Chap, 22. — Then the King seeing such commotions in 
the realm, and hearing nothing of the Marquis of Mon- 
tague, whom he loved entirely, he rode northward and 
left the Queen, great ivith child, in the Tower of Lon- 
don. And as he was in the North Coimtry, in the 
month of September, as he lay in his bed one named t 
Alexander Carlisle, that was sarjeant of the minstrels, * 
came to him in great liaste, and bade him arise for he 
had enemies coming for to take him, the which were 
within six or seven miles, of the which tidings the King 
greatly marvelled. And suddenly upon that came one 
Master Alexander Lee, a Priest^^ # # * • 
(The remainder of this curious Chronicle is wanting.) 
" " Lord Worcester ordered 
Claphun (a squire to Lord Wat- 
wick) and Dineteen otbeiB, geoUe- 
mea snd jeomen, la be impaled, 
and rrom the horror of the Bpec- 
tacle i aspired, and (he univecBsl 
odium it attached to Worcester, it 
is to be feared that the unhappj 
men were stiil sensible to the agon; 
of thia iDfliction, though tbey ap- 
pear lirat to liBve been drawn, and 
partial]]' banged. Worceater was 
popularly called ' Ike Butcher,' 
frooohia crueltj." — (Bulwer'i Laat 
of lie Banal, toI. iii. p. 107.) 
3s The "lacuna" in the MS. 
are supplied in the King's own 
wards io the Memoira of Philtip de 
Commines, lol. i. p. 'H9-2bh. 
Lee was Rector of Spoflbrd in 1493. 
THE BEIGN OF 
Edward was in the neighbourhood of Nottingham 
awaiting the assembling of his forces to disperse the 
rebels under Warwick and Clarence, when Carlisle, the 
chief of his minstrels, and Lee, the priest, apprized him 
of the treason of the Marquis of Montague, " whom the 
King loved entirely,'" who with 6000 men, in the King's 
immediate vicinitj/ had just declared for King Henry. 
He had no alternative, therefore, hut to fly, and accom- 
panied by his brother Richard, the Earl Rivers, Lord 
Hastings and a few other faithful followers, took ship- 
iny at Bishop's Lynn in Norfolk, and landed at Alcmar, 
in Friezeland, without even sufficient money in his pocket 
la pay his passage. 
" During the year following England was a scene of 
fierce commotion; rebellion, fomented by the Earl of 
Warwick, spread on every side, till it drove ike Yorkist 
monarch from his throne, and once more fixed the crown 
on the brow of Henry VI. The change was, however, 
transient: on the lith March, 1471, Edward landed at 
Liavenspurn, the fields of Barnet and Tewkesbury were 
fought in succession, and in May Henry VI. died, leaving 
his rival in undisputed possession of the Kingdom." 
THE 
HISTORY OF THE 
ARRIVAL OF KING EDWARD IV. 
IN ENGLAND, 
AND THE FINAX RECOVERY OF HIS KINGDOMS 
FROM HENRY VI., A.D. 1471. 
(from ST0WE*S transcripts, HARL. MSB. 543.) 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
This Narrative originally appears to have been used by 
Holinshed, who gives a Lancastrian account of the im- 
portant events it details, supplied to him by Fleetwood, 
Recorder of London, the possessor of the MS. which 
Stowe used for the transcript, preserved in the British 
Museum, and from which our text is taken. 
Mr. Sharon Turner, and Mr. Lingard, both availed 
themselves of Stowe's transcript {Harl. MS8. No. 543), 
and in the year 1838, Mr. John Bruce gave a verbatim 
copy of the MS. as his contribution to the Camden 
Society. 
Concerning the author nothing is known, but what he 
has himself communicated. He styles himself " a servant 
of the King, that presently saw in effect a great part of 
his exploits, and the residue knew by true relation of 
them that were present at every time."" From the ab- 
sence of all personal allusion to himself in the account 
of the various battles, and from the minuteness with 
which he details the King's acts of devotion, he was 
probably a priest. This conjecture is somewhat con- 
D 
34 ADVERTISEMENT. 
firmed, by the slur attempted to be cast upon the bravery 
of the dymg Warwick. 
The entire period comprised in the narrative embraces 
only eleven weeks; but througlu)ut all the pages of 
English History, it is impossible to find, elsewhere, such 
a rapid succession of important occurrences, as those 
which led to the almost perfect annihilation of the Lan- 
castrian party, and the restoration of the House of 
York. These are detailed with the circumstantial accu- 
racy of an eyewitness, and with all the exultation of a 
successful partisan. 
An abridged version of our narrative was forwarded 
from Canterbury, by the King, on the 29th of May, 
1471, to the Citizens of Bruges, and by them commu- 
nicated to their brethren of Ghent. An English trans- 
lation from this version, appeared in the Archseologia 
vol. xxi. p. 11. 
HISTORY OF THE ARRIVAL OF 
KING EDWARD IV. 
IN ENGLAND, AND THE FINAL RECOVERY 
OF HIS KINGDOMS FROM HENRY VI. 
IN ANNO DOMINI, 1471. 
Written by an Anonymous, who was living at the same 
time, and a servant to the said King E. IV. 
Transcribed by John Stowe, 
the Chronicler, with 
his own hand. 
ffereafter followeth the manner how the Most Noble ti 
and right victorious Prince Edward, by the Grace of 
God, King of England, and of France, and Lord of 
Ireland, in the year of Grace 1471, in the month off"- 
d2 
36 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IT. [fLEKTWOOd's 
A.D. 1471. 
March, departed out of Zeland; took the sea; arrived 
in England; and by his force and valour ^ again reduced 
and reconquered the said realm, upon and against the 
Earl of Warwick^ his traitor and rebels calling himself 
Lieutenant of England, by pretented authority of the 
usurper Henry, and his * complices ; and also upon and 
against Edward, calling himself Prince of Wales, son to 
the said Henry, then wrongfully occupying the Realm, 
and Crown of England ; and upon many other great and 
mighty Lords, noblemen and others, being mightily ac- 
companied. Compiled and put in this forme ensuing, by 
a servant of the King's, that presently saw in effect a 
great part of his exploits, and the residue knew by true 
relation of them, that were present at every time. 
CHAPTER I. 
KiDgEdward In the year of Grace 1 471, after the counting of the 
zeuSid, Church of England, the second day of March ending the 
A.D. 1471. tenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, King Ed- 
ward the Fourth,^ by the Grace of God, King of Eng- 
land, and of France^ and Lord of Ireland, the said most 
noble King, accompanied with two thousand Englishmen, 
well chosen, intending to pass the sea, and to re-enter, 
and recover his realm of England, at that time usurped 
and occupied by Henry, called Henry the Sixth, by the 
traitorous means of his great rebel, Richard, Earl of 
Warwick, and his 'complices, entered into his ship afore 
the Haven of Flushing, in Zeland,^ the said 2nd day of 
' 'Mn the Parliament which began 
on the 26th of November in the 
previous year, Edward was declared 
a traitor to his country, and an 
usurper of the crown, and had all his 
goods confiscated, and the like judg- 
ment passed against his partakers ; 
and the Earl of Worcester was ad- 
judged to lose his head. All the 
statutes likewise, made by Edward, 
were annulled, and the crowns of 
England and France entailed to 
Henry and his heirs male; and, 
for want of such, to the Duke of 
Clarence ; and Warwick was made 
Governor of the kingdom." — (finff^ 
land's Happiness, p. 157-d.) 
2 The Duke of Burgundy secretly 
assisted King Edward, and at his 
expense the four vessels were fitted 
MANUSCRIIT.] TIIR ItKTGN OF EDWARD IV. 37 
March ; and, forasmuch as, after be was in tho ship, and a 
the fellowship also, with all that to them apertamed, the 
wind fell not good for him, he therefore would not return 
again to the land, but abode In liis ship, and all his 
fellowship in like wise, by the space of nine daj^s, abiding 
good wind and weather; which had, the eleventh day of 
March he made sail, and so did all the ships that awaited 
upon him, taking their course straight over {towards) the 
coast of Norfolk, and came before Cromer, the Tuesday, *i 
against (towards) evening, the twelfth day of March; «, 
whither the King sent on land Sir Robert Chamberlain, 
Sir Gilbert Debenham, Knights, and others, trusting by 
them to have some knowledge, how the land inward was 
disposed towards him, and 'specially tho countries there 
near adjoining, as in part so they bi-ought him knowledge 
from such as for that cause were sent into those parts, 
from his true servants aud partakers within the land, 
which told them for certain, that those parts were right 
sore beset by the Earl of Warwick, and his adherents, 
and in especial by the Earl of Oxford, in such wise tliat 
of likelihood it might not he for his weal to land in tliat 
country ; and a great cause was, for the Duke of Nor- 
folk was had out of the country, and all the gentlemen 
to whom the Earl of Wai-wick bore any suspicion were 
afore that sent for by letters of privy seal, and put in 
ward about London, or else found surety ; nevertheless, 
the said two Knights, and they tliat came on land with 
them had right good cheer, and turned again to tho sea. 
Whose report heard the King began to make course 
towards the north parts. The same night following 
upon the morn, Wednesday and Thursday, the 14th day 
out. Comraines aays he aleo aeut 
hiiD 50,000 florinB, with St. An- 
dre-'i Cross. Moreover he pri- 
vately liired fourteen sliips of iho 
EasterlingB to uonvej the Kiag to 
England, and to keep upon the 
coast a fortDighC after his loniliDg, to 
I back ii 
aity. When alithese ships wereready, 
Edward diaappearing, notice wbs 
sent to the Duke, who im mediately 
onieted procloraation to be made, 
that none of hia aubjecta should 
assist him, directly or indirectly, 
upon pain of death. — (RapJn,vol.T. 
p. 03. Di«»iiRe',Book 3, chBp.6,) 
38 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [fLEETWOOd's 
A.D. 1471. of March, fell great storms, winds and tempests upon 
the sea, so that the said 14th day, in great torment, he 
came to Humber-Head, where the other ships were dis- 
severed from him, and every from other, so that of 
necessity they were driven to land, every (one) far from 
(the) other. The King, with his ship alone, wherein 
was the Lord Hastings, his Chamberlain, and others to 
the number of five hundred well chosen men, landed 
within Humber on Holdemess side, at a place called 
Luuitat Ravenspume, even in the same place, where sometime 
•ccompanied the Usurpcr, Hcury of Derby, after called King Henry 
Hastings, the Fourth, landed, after his exile, contrary and to the 
dissobeisance of his sovereign lord. King Kichard the 
Second, whom after that he wrongfully distressed, and 
put from his reign, and regalia, and usurped it falsely to 
himself, and to his issue, from whom was lineally de- 
scended King Henry, at this time using and usurping the 
crown ; as son to his eldest son, sometime called King 
nukVS' Henry the Fifth. The King's brother, Richard Duke 
linds**'*'' of Gloucester, and in his company three hundred men 
landed at another place, four miles from thence. The 
ul'idl S^" ^^^ Itivers, and the fellowship being in his company, to 
Powie. ^Y^Q number of two hundred, landed at a place called 
Powlo, fourteen miles from whence the King landed, and 
the remainder of the fellowship where they might best 
get land. That night the King was lodged at a poor 
village two miles from his landing, with a few with him ; 
but that night and in the morning, the residue that 
were coming in his ship, the rage of the tempest some- 
what appeased, landed, and alway drew towards the King. 
Thr r^>rt^ And on the mom, the 15th day of March, from every 
iMh/u7L landing place the fellowship came whole towards him. 
As to the folks of the country there came but right few 
to liiui, or almost none ;^ for by the scuringe (assui^nff) 
^ At hia lundiiig he met with a cold reception and even some oppo- 
»iti\m fVom the country peoiUe, headed hy one Westerdale, a priest. — 
] THK REIUN OF EDWARD IV. 39 
of such persons, as for that cause were by his saidx.n. 
rebels, sent before into those parts, /or to move them to . 
be against his Highness, the people were sore enduced 
to be contrary to him, and not to receive, nor accept 
him, as for their King; notwithstanding for the love 
and favour, that before tlioy liad borne to the Prince, of 
full noble memory, hLs father, Duke of York, the people 
bore him right great favour to be also Duke of York, and 
to have that (which) of right apertained unto him, by the 
right of the said noble Prince, his father. And upon 
this opinion the people of the country which in great 
number and in divers places were gathered, and in har- 
ness, (ready to resist him in chalenging of the Realm, 
and the crown) were disposed to content themselves, and 
in no wise to annoy him, nor his fellowship, they affirm- 
ing, that to such intent were (they) coming and none 
other. Whereupon the whole fellowship of the King's 
coming and assembled together, he took advise what was 
best to do, and concluded briefly, that albeit hia enemies 
and chief rebels were in the south parts at London, and 
thereabout, and that the next way towards them had 
(to) be by Lincolnshire, yet inasmuch, as if they should 
have taken that way, they must have gone presently to 
the water again, and passed over (the) Humber, which 
they abhorred for to do, and also for that if they so 
did, it would have been thought that they had withdrawn 
themselves for fear, which note of slander they were right 
loath to suffer ; — for these and other good considerations 
they determined in themselves not to go again to the 
water, but to hold the right way to his City of York. 
The King determined also, tliat for as long as he should Mbti 
be in passing through and by the countiy, and to the time 
that he might by the assistance of his true servants, 
subjects and lovers, which he trusted ■ verily in his pro- 
gress should come unto him, be of such might and 
puissance as that were likely to make a sufficient party — 
he and all those of his fellowship should noise and say 
40 THE ItEIGN OF EDWABI> IV. [ FI.ESTWOOd'M 
■ openly, wheresoever they came, that his intent and pur- 
pose ' was only to claim to be Duke of York, and to 
iing have ajid enjoy the mheritanee, that he was bom unto 
" by the right of the full noble Prince, hia father, and 
none other. Through which noising the people of the 
country, that were gathered and assembled in divers 
places, to the number of six or seven thousand men, by 
the leading and guiding of a priest the vicar of* • ' * *, 
(said to be one John Wesierdale) in one place, and a 
gentlemen of the same country caJled Martin of the 
Sea {De la Mere) to the intent to have resisted and 
letted (hindered) him his passage, by the stiring of his 
rebels, their 'complices, and adherents, took occasion to 
owe and bear him favour in that quarrel, not discovering 
nor remembering, that his said father, besides that he 
was rightfully Duke of York, he was also very true and 
rightwiso inheritor to the realm and crown of England, 
&c, : (and so he was declared by (the) three estates of 
the land at a parliament holden at Westminster, unto 
this day never repealed, nor revoked,)' And under this 
manner, ho keeping forth his purpose with all his 
fellowship, took the right way to a good town called 
Beverley, being in his high way towards York, He sent 
to an other good town, walled, but six miles thence, 
called Kingston upon Hull, desiring the inhabitants to 
have opened it unto him ; but they refused so to do, by 
the means and stirings of his rebels, which before had 
sent thither, and to all the country strict command- 
ments, willing and also chaining them at all their 
' "It is incredible," saya Hall, 
" whU effect Chia new imsginatioa 
(his claiming only the Duchy of 
York) had upon the people, 
men, moved nitb mercy and c 
[lasBiou, began out of liand, either 
to fivour him, or else not to resist 
him."— {HoH, p. 215.) "Tocon- 
an ostrich feather, tlia ensign of 
Prince Edward, in hU hat, a 
manded bis follonere to cry 
Henry 1' wherever tliey ct 
{Hotiaihfd.); 
MANrSCniPT.] THE KEIGfJ OF EDWARD IV, 41 
powers to withstaml the King, in case he there arrived, a.d 
And therefore leaving that town he kept Iiis way forth 
straight to York, And near this way were also afisem- 
bled great companies in divers places, much people of 
the country as it was reported ; but they came not in 
sight : but all these suffered him to pass forth by the 
country, either for that he and all his fellowship pre- 
tended by any manner {of) language, none other 
quarrel, but for the right that was his father's, the Duke 
of York ; or else for that though they were in number 
more tlian he, yet they durst not take upon them to 
make him any manifest war, knowing well the great 
courage and hardiness, that he was of, with the perfect 
assurance of the fcUowsliip that was with him ; or else, 
peradventure, for that certain of their captains and 
gatherers were somewhat induced to be the more bene- 
volent, for money that the King gave them, wherefore 
the King keeping forth his way came before York, (fin) ahi 
Monday the eighteenth day of the same month. Truth iMh 
it is, that before the King came at the city, by three 
miles came unto him one, called Thomas Coniers, Re- 
corder of tho city, which had not been before that, 
named true to the King's party. He told him that it 
was not good for him to come to the city ; for either 
he should not be suffered to enter, or else in case he 
entered he was lost and undone, and all his.° Tho 
King seeing so far forth he was in his journey, tliat 
in no wise ho might go back with that ho had beguu, and 
that no good might follow but only of hardies (t/irotigh 
firmness) [and] decreed in himself constantly to pursue 
that he had begun ; and rather to abide what God and 
« To this addreas from York, Ed- | 
ward rejilied: "That he was not | 
come to lake the crown from the 
King 1 that since the people had 
declired for Henry, lie ucknowledged 
l>ir 
for his 
■eign, J 
d had n 
o do him any prtjudict 
the King for the restitution of Mb 
eatstes : that the Parliament ghould 
be the judge of hia caage, and de- 
sired only to have the meauB to pau 
Ilia days quietly." Holinahed lays 
he took a solemn oath before the 
Mayor and Aldermen that be did 
not intend to claim the cronn. 
42 THE KEIGX OF ESfWAMD IT. [fUEETWOOd's 
A,u.i4Tt, good fcMtime would gire him, though it were to him 
mioertaiii, rather than bj huek cm* de&olt of courage to 
sustain reproach, that of Ukehhood th»eby should have 
ensued* And so therrfore, notwithstanding the dis- 
couraging words of the Recorder, whidi had before 
easpecte (suspicion) to him and Ins party, he kept boldly 
forth his journey straight towards the city. And 
tutben within a while came to him out oi the city Robert 
Kkbard C3ifford and Richard Burgh, which save him and his 
bim Md r«. fellowship better comfort, affirmin^r that in the quarreP 
aforesaid of his £Either, the Duke of York, he should 
be received, and suffered to pass; whereby, better some- 
what encouraged, he kept his way; nevertheless efte 
soones (soon after) came the said Corners, and put him in 
like discomfort as before. And so sometimes comforted, 
and sometimes discomforted, he came to the gates before 
the city, where his fellowship made a stop, and himself^ 
and sixteen or seventeen persons, in the leading of the 
Knutn York Said Clifford and Richard Bursh, passed even in at the 
MNrt'hiM/ gates, and came to the worshipful folks, which were 
assembled a little within the gates, and shewed them the 
intent and purpose of his coming, in such form and 
with such manner (of) language, that the people con- 
tented them (selves) therewith, and so received him and 
all his fellowship that night, when he and all his fellow- 
shi[) abode and were refreshed well, to (till) they had 
dined on the mom, and then departed out of the city to 
Tadcastor, a town of the Earl of Northumberland, ten 
miles southwards. And on the morrow after that, he 
1471 
' ** lie oaine in sight of York, and 
having udvttnced too far to recede 
muhfd boldly on for that city. 
VVithia a miio of that city he was 
n»ot by two of the inhabitants, who 
(muitt out to tell him that if he only 
umpired to bin father's dignity and 
pOKnewloun, he would be received 
Willi friendship and suffered to pass 
foi wtti d. •'— ( l\tt^tfr, vol. V. p. 344.) 
^ It is a noble trait in the cha- 
racter of Edward that he thus 
threw himself, as it were, into the 
hands of his subjects. Having 
stated his limited wishes, the heads 
of the city admitted the whole of 
his followers for the night, refreshed 
them, and after dinner on the fol- 
lowing day suffered them to depart 
for Tadcaster. 
MANUSCRIPT.] THE REIQN OF EDWARD IV. 
43 
took his way towards Wakefield and Sendall, a great a.d. 1471. 
lordship appertaining to the Duke of York, leaving the ?ScMter, 
Castle of Pomfret on his left hand, where abode and Zta^n^n. 
was the Marquis of Montague, that in no wise troubled 
him, nor none of his fellowship : but suffered him to Marqui* of 
, , Montague 
pass in peaceable wise ; were it with good will or no,9 •«ffe» w«» 
men may judge at their pleasure : — I deem ye [yea] ; 
but truth it is, that he neither had [not], nor could 
[not] have gathered, nor made a fellowship of number 
sufiScient to have openly resisted him in his quarrel, . 
neither in King Henry's quarrel. And one great cause Reasons why 
was, (that) for great part of the people in those parts i^epeojie ' 
loved the King's person well, and could not be encou- **^ ™' 
raged directly to do against him in that quarrel of the 
Duke of York, which, in all manner [of] language of 
all his fellowship, was covertly pretended and none 
other. Another great cause was for (that) great part n. The Eari 
of [the] noblemen and commons, in those parts, were lind'siB.**"" 
(inclined) towards the Earl of Northumberland, ^° and 
would not stir with any lord or nobleman other than the 
said Earl, or at least by his commandment. And, for 
so much as he sat still, in such wise that if the Marquis 
would have done his business to have assembled them 
in any manner (of) quarrel, neither for his love, which 
they bare him not, nor for any commandment of higher 
authority, they neither would in no cause, nor quarrel 
^ The Marquis of Montague, 
** whom the King entirely loved/' 
was in the Castle of Pomfret. That 
the Marquis was firm in the inter- 
ests of Warwick, subsequent events 
fully prove. It is therefore pro- 
bable, that like Napoleon in our 
own times, Edward outreached his 
enemies by the rapidity of his 
movements. 
^ The Earl would appear to 
have written to the King when 
abroad, for Edward ** shewed the 
Earl's letter he sent to him under 
his seal, and said he came there by 
the Earl of Northumberland's ad- 
vice." — ( Warkworth*8 Chronicle.) 
The neutrality of the Earl of North- 
umberland greatly influenced the 
public feeling towards the King. 
Had it not been for this circum- 
stance, it is probable that the Mar- 
quis of Montague would have en- 
deavoured to prevent his progress. 
Being uncertain of succour from 
other quarters, he felt himself too 
weak to oppose the Yorkists suc- 
cessfully, and considered he acted 
wisely in retaining his strength 
entire for the forthcoming struggle. 
44 
THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV. [fLEETWOOd's 
A.D. 1471. have assisted him. Wherein it may right weU appear, 
that the said Earl, in this behalf, did the King right 
good and notable service; and as it is deemed in the 
conceits of many men, he could not have done him any 
better service, no not though he had openly declared 
himself extremely part-taker with the King in his 
righteous quarrel, and, for that intent, have gathered 
and assembled all the people that he might have made ; 
for, howbeit he loved the King truly and perfectly, as 
the King there of had certain knowledge, and would, 
as of himself and all his power have served him truely; 
yet was it deemed, and likely it was to be true, that 
many gentlemen and others, which would have been 
raised by him, would not so fully and extremely have 
determined themselves in the King's right and quarrel, 
as the Earl would have done himself; having fresh in 
their remembrance, how that the King, at the first 
entering of his right to the Realm and Crown of 
England [and] had, and won, a great battle *" in those 
same parts, where their Master, the EarFs father, was 
slain, (with) many of their fathers, their sons, their 
brethren and kinsmen, and many others of their neigh- 
bours ; wherefore, and not without cause, it was thought, 
that they could not have borne very good will, and done 
their best service to the King at this time, and in this 
quarrel. And so it may be reasonably judged, that this 
was a notable good service, and politically done by the 
Earl. For his sitting still caused the city of York to 
do as they did, and no worse, and every man in all those 
north parts to sit still also, and suffer the King to pass 
as he did, notwithstanding many were right evil disposed 
of themselves against the King, and in especiall, in his 
quarrel. Wherefore the King may say as Julius Caesar" 
»® The Battle of Teuton, fought 
March 29th, 1461. See note^ p. 7. 
" Fleetwood's MS. had probably 
only J. C, which, singularly enough, 
Stowe interpreted Julius Csesar. 
The passage occurs in the Gospel of 
St. Luke, chap. zi. v. 23. 
MANUSCRIPT.] THE REIRN OF EDWARD IV. 
8aid: "ho that ia not against me is with mo." And ^-r*- '"'■ 
(an) other right groat cause, why the Marquis made not {;''■ ■^''^,„ 
a fellowship against him, for to have troubled him, {was '^"^g^„a 
that) for though all tlie King's {fellowship) at that J^'^^ ^'/l^^' 
season were not many in number, yet they were so {such) Buffi5«"iD 
able, and so {such) well picked men, and in their work "pp"*""™- 
they had on hand so willing, that it had been right hard 
to right-ar-great (a Iruely great) fellowship, much greater 
than they, or greater than that, the Marquis or his 
friends at that time could have made or assembled, to 
have put the King, and his said fellowship, to any dis- 
tress. And {an) other cause {was), whereas he came 'v. th^ 
through the country there, the people took {held) an ?;'""""> 
opinion, that if the people of the countries, where by obwning 
through he had passed before, had owed him any man- pounut, do. 
ner of malice, or evil will, they would somewhat have 
shewed it, when he was amongst them ; but inasmuch 
as no man had so done before, it was a declaration, and 
evidence to all those by whom he passed after, that in 
all the other countries were none but his good lovers ; 
and great folly it had been to the latter countries to 
have attempted that the former countries would not; 
thinking verily that in such case, they, as his lovers, 
would rather have aided him, than he should have been 
distressed ; wherefore he passed with much better will. 
About Wakefield, and in those parts, came some folks fiii»> 
tmto him, but not so many as he supposed would have w^l-^scid, 
come ; nevertheless his number was increased. And so and NoitiPK- 
from thence he passed forth to Doncaster, and so forth 24, 1471, 
to Nottingham." And to that town came unto him two 
" " Id his march from York to 
London, instpad of going through 
Pontetract, where the Mu-qnis of 
MoDtagDe lay encamped, he took a 
compass of about four milea, End 
came to Nottingham, where Sir 
Thai. ?srr, Sir James Harrington, 
Sir William Stanley, Sir Thoa. 
Burgh, Sir Thomas Montgomerj, 
Sir William Norris, &c., repaired 
to him. Here they persuaded him 
to issue out a proclsmalioa aa 
4G THE REIGX OF EDWARD IV. [fLEETWOOd's 
A u 1471. good Knights Sir William Parr, and Sir James Har- 
w/pirSjJS rington, with two good bands of men well arrayed and 
?iiiiSJSn. habled (fitted) for war, (to) the num'ber of six hmi- 
fbiiowen. dred men. The King being at Nottingham, and before 
he came there, (having) sent the scours (scouts) all 
about the countries adjoining, to spy and search if any 
gatherings were in any place against him ; some of 
whom came to Newark,^^ a^j understood well, that there 
The Duke of was, within the town, the Duke of Exeter, the Earl of 
u^olford Oxford, the Lord Bardolph, and others with great fel- 
flMihmi ^ lowship, which the Earl and they had gathered in Essex, 
in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, 
and Lincolnshire, to the number of four thousand men. 
The said Duke and Earl having knowledge that the said 
forrydars (spies) of the King's had been before the town 
in the evening, thinking verily, that the King and his 
whole host were approaching near, and would have come 
upon them, determined shortly within themselves, that 
(they) might not abide his coming. Wherefore early, 
about two of the clock in the morning, they fled out of 
the town, and there they lost part of the people, that 
they had gathered and brought with them thither. 
Truth it was, that when the King's afomeriders (scouts) 
had thus espied their being (there)^ they ascertained the 
King thereof at Nottingham, which incontinent assem- 
bled all his fellowship, and took the straight way to- 
them- wards, within three miles of the town. And there 
came to him certain tidings, that they were fled out 
of Newark, gone and dispersed ; wherefore he returned 
again to Nottingham, determined to ke^ the next and 
right way towiurds his said great RebeL the Elarl of 
» See Feim'9 Letten, toL u. ; on Friday* tke 2lBd oT Man^ 
p. 59, ftc. The Eari of Oxford He adds : *" when, wi& &e kftTe 
mnttd letters from Bury, statmg of God» I abdl aat ftfl to be at 
tibe landing of Edward, and calling , that tiBft ; intandfaig frwa tlwnee 
■pon the gentry of the conntry he | to go Ibfth wtth tibr help off God, 
reiiiiadtd, to meet him at Lynn ' and yon* my finendb» to the 
•a fidl array, to proceed to Newark, ' connter off ^ 
■1 
47 
Warwick, the wliicli he knew well was departed out a.ij, 
of London, and come into Warwickshire, where he be- 
stired him (self) and in the countries near adjoining, to 
assemble all that he might, to the intent to have made a 
mighty field against the King, and to have distressed 
him. Wherefore from Nottingham the King took the Proc. 
straight way towards him by Leicester ; hut as soon as 
he heard of the King's coming onwards and approaching 
near, either, for that (he) thought him (self) not to be 
of sufficient power to give him battle, in that plain field, 
or else, for that he lacked hardies (Jirmness) and 
courage so to do, albeit he had assembled greater num- 
ber than the King had at that time, (for by the pre- 
tended authority of Henry, then called King, he was 
constituted Lieutenant'* of England ; and whereas he 
could not raise the people with good will, he straightly 
charged them to come forth upon pain of death,) he 
withdrew himself, and all his fellowship, into a strong eki d 
walled town there near by him, called Coventry. covm 
At Leicester '* came to the King right-a-fair (a The s 
truly fair) fellowship of folks to the number of three i*iiEi 
thousand men well habyled (Jilted) for the ware, such as iowen 
were verily to be trusted, as those that would utterly 
inparte (take part) with him at beat and worst in his 
quarrel, with all their force and might, to do him their 
true service. And in substance they were such as were 
towards the Lord Hastings, the King's Chamberlain, 
and, for that intent above said, came to him, stirred by 
his mess^es sent unto them, and by his servants, friends, 
and lovers, such as were in the country. And so better 
accompanied than he had been at any time before, he 
" Lieutenantof England. "Be- | been joineil by Sir William Farr 
sides this, tbe Earl of Warwicli, as i and Sir James Harrington, with 
one to whom tbe Commonwealtb i bOO foUoners, bo that with these 
WBS much beholden, was made j 3,tl00 additional men, "who were 
Ruler and Govemonr of tbe • towards tbe Lord Hastings, " bU 
Realooe."— (Hai/, p. 2B6.) I army now amounted to about 6,000 
'^ At Nottingham Edward bad ! fighting men. 
48 THE RRIDW OF EDWABD IV. [PLEET 
A. 11.1471. departed from Leicester, and came before the town of 
orriTi-ib'fiire tloventry the 29th day of March. And when lie under- 
^"neu"^ stood the said Earl within the town (was) closed, and 
i^k'k.MMch *'tli '"'^ great (jnanj/) people to the number of six 
va, 1471. Qj, Qgygj, thousand men, the King desired him to come 
out with all his people into the field, to determine his 
quarrel in plain field, which the same Eart refused *" to 
do at that time, and so he did three days after-ensuing 
continually. The King seeing this, drew him (self) and 
ProcKdi to ail liis host straight to Warivick, eight small miles from 
thence, where he was received as King, and so made his 
proclamations" from that time foi-warda ; where he took 
his lodgings, weening thereby to have given the said Earl 
greater courage to have essayed out of the town of 
Coventry, and to have taken the field ; hut he would not 
so do. Nevertheless daily came certain persona on the 
said Earl's behalf to the King, and made great moynes 
(complaints,) and desired liim to treat with him, for some 
good and expedient appointment. And, how-be-it, the 
King, by the advice of his Coimcilors, granted the said 
Earl his life, and all his people being there at that time, 
offcnirniiB and divers other fair offers made him, considering his 
orwonrick, great and heinous ofienees; which seemed reasonable, 
d«iin«i. and that for the weal of peace and tranquillity of the 
Realm of England, and for thereby to avoid the effiision 
of Christian blood, yet he neither would accept the said 
offere, nor accord thereunto, but if (unless) he might 
have had such unreasonable (an) appointment, as might 
" Wark worth says the Earl 
would liave fought, but that " he 
had received a letter from the Duke 
of Clarence that he Bhould not fight 
until he came." Tbe Croyland 
annaliat, however, njt " the Earl 
did not dare to fight with the 
King."— (Crojii. Cant. 554.) 
'^ Hall iayg these proclatnntiong 
had alreailji been issued at Not- 
tinGbam, but this is probably a 
miatake. The King's anuj till now 
had scarcely nnmbered 3.000 men ; 
and had tbe Earl of Wanttok but 
hazarded a baUle, even with the 
present increased troops, when thus 
challenged by Edward, it ie most 
likely that tbe Royal arm]r would 
have been annihilated ; for, from 
tbe (losition of Clarence, it oisy be 
presumed, be was alone actnated 
by self-interest, and would have 
inclined towards the victor, who- 
ever he might be. 
MANUSCRIPT.] THE RF.ION OF EDWAHl) IV, 49 
nob in any wise stand with the King's honour and : 
surety. 
Here ia to be remembered how that at such season 
before, as when the King was in Holland, the Duke of Cla- 
rence,'^ the King's second brother, considering the great 
inconveniences whereunto as well his brother the King, 
he, and his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, were fallen 
unto, through and by the division that was betwixt them, 
whereunto, by the subtle compassing of the Earl of 
Warwick, and his 'complices, they were brought, and 
induced {led inlo ;) — as, first to be remembered, the 
disinheriting of them all from the Gealm and Crown 
of Engknd, and that thereto appertained ; and, besides 
that, the mortal war and detestable likely to fall betwixt 
them ; and, over this, that it was evident that to what 
party so ever God would grant the victory, that, not- 
withstanding the winner should not be in any better 
surety therefore of his own estate and person, but abide 
in as great, or greater, danger than they were in at that 
time. And, in especial!, he considered well that himself 
was had in great suspicion, despite, disdain, and hatred, 
with all the lords, noblemen, and others, that were adhe- 
rents, and full partakers with Henry the Usurper, Mar- 
garet his wife, and his son Edward, called Prince : he 
saw also, that they daily laboured amongst them (selves), 
breaking their appointments made with him, and of like- 
lihood after that should continually more and more fer- 
vently intend, conspire, and procure, the destructifm of 
him, and of all his blood, wherethrough it appeared also, 
that the Realm and Regalia should remain to such as 
thereunto might not in any wise have any righteous 
'^ " Ai for tidingE, bere in this | men haie the gorget dd thei: 
countiy be mROy talea, ini] DOne breaiU, aud tbe Rote over it. Adi 
accord with other. It is tnld mc it is said Ihal the Lord Howari 
b; the Qiider sheriff that my Lord hath proclaimed King E. (dtpard 
of Clarence is gone to bis brother I King oF England in Suffolk."— 
the late King ; insomuch that his I (Pailon Ltlteri, vol. ii. p. li^.) 
50 THE REIGS OF EDWABD IV. [FLF.ETWOOo'a 
title. And, for tha,t it was unnatural, and against God, 
to aufFer any sucb war t« continue and endure betwixt 
them, if it might otherwise be, and, for other many and 
great considerations, that by right wise men and virtuous 
were laid before him, in many behalfs, he was agreed to 
intend to some good appointment for this pacification. 
By right covert ways and means were good mediators 
and mediatrixes, the high and mighty Princess, my Lady 
their mother ;'9 my Lady of Exeter, my Lady of Suf- 
folk, their sisters ; my Lord Cardinal of Canterbury ; 
my Loi-d Bath ; my Lord of Essex ; and most 'specially, 
my Lady of Burgundy ; and other {ways and means) by 
mediations of certain priests and other well disposed 
persons. About {During) the King's being in Holland. 
and in other parts beyond the sea, great and diligent 
labour with all effect was continually made by the right 
and mighty princess, the Duchess of Burgundy, which 
at no season ceased to send her servants and messengers 
to the King, where (ever) he was, and to ray said Lord 
if of Clarence, into England ; and so did his very good 
devoir {endeavour) in that behalf, my Lord of Hastings, 
the King's Chamberlain, to {so) that a perfect accord 
was appointed, accorded, concluded, and assured betwixt 
them ; wherein the said Duke of Clarence full honour- 
ably and truly acquitted him {self) ; for, as soon as he 
was ascertained of the King's arrival in the north parts, 
he assembled anon such as would do for him, and as 
soon as he godly {well) might, drew towards the King, 
him to aid and assist against all his enemies, accom- 
panied with more than four thousand {men). The King 
{at) that tunc being at Warwick, and understanding his 
" This WHS Cieeljr, aavighter o 
Ralph NeviUe, tint Earl of West. 
moreland. Of her large familj wi 
here find mentiDneil, besides Ed- 
ward the Fonrtli, dtid his brotlien 
the Dukes of Clarence and Glou. 
oester, of Margaret, married to 
I the Duke of Burguody ; Anne, the 
I Wife of Henry Holland, Duke of 
I Eieter ; and Eliiabeth, Wife of 
John de la Pole, Duke of SuffoU 
(Bruce). 
MANUSCBIPT.] ■ril).; KE[G\ OF EOWARIt IV. .'>] 
near approaching, upon an afternoon issued out of War- a.u. u?i. 
wick, with all his fellowship, by the space of three miles, 
into a fair field towards Banbury, where he saw the 
Duke, his brother, in fair array come towards him, with 
a great fellowship. And, when they were together within 
less than half a mile, the King set hia people in array 
the banners (displayed), and left them standing still, 
taking with him hia brother of Gloucester, the Lord 
Rivers, Lord Hastings, and (a) few others, and went 
towards his brother of Clarence. And, in like wise the R«concii(a- 
Duke for his part, taking with him a few noble men, ?ojfJ 
and leaving his host in good order, departed from them 
towards the King. And so they met betwixt both 
hosts, where was right kind and loving language betwixt 
them two, with perfect accord knit together for ever 
hereafter, with as heartily loving cheer and countenance 
as might be betwixt two brethren of so great nobility 
and estate. And then, in like wise, spake together the 
two Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, and after {that) 
the other noblemen being there with them, whereof all 
the people there that loved them, and owed them their 
true servaunts {s^eice,) were right glad and joyous, and 
thanked God highly of that joyous meeting, unity, and 
accord, hoping, that thereby should grow unto them 
prosperous fortune, in all that they should after tliat 
have a {to) do. Aud then the trumpets and minstrels 
blew up, and with that the King brought his brother 
Clarence, and such as were there with him to his fellow- 
ship, whom the said Duke welcomed into the land in his 
best manner, and they thanked God, and him, and ho- 
noured him as it appertained. After this, the King yet 
leaving his host standing still, with the said few persons 
went with his brother of Clarence to his host, whom he 
heartily welcomed, and promised him largely of his grace 
and good love, and from thence they all came altogether Their farcei 
to the King's host, when either party welcomed andiri^m 
jocundly received the other, with perfect friendliness. 
52 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [fI.EETWOOd's 
and, ao with great glajinesa, both hosts ^^ with their 
princes, together went to \Varwick with the King, and 
there lodged, and in the conntry near adjoining. 
of Soon after this the Duko of Clarence, being right 
desirous to have procured a good accord betwixt tlie 
King and tlie Earl of Warwick ; not only for the Earl, 
hnt also for to reconcile thereby unto the King's good 
grace many lords and noble men of his land ; of whom 
many had largely taken part with the Earl ; and this for 
the weal of peace and tranquility in the land, and in 
avoiding of cruel and mortal war, that of the contrary 
was likely, in shortime, to ensue ; — he made therefore 
his motions as well as to the King, as to the Earl, by 
messages sending to and fro, both for the well above 
said, as to acquit him (self) truely and kindly in the 
love he bare unto him, and his blood, whereunto he was 
allied by the marriage of his daughter. The King, at 
the instance of his said brother, the Duke, was content 
to shew him largely liis grace, with divers good condi- 
tions, and profitable for the Earl, if that he would have 
accepted them. But the Earl, whether he in manner 
despaired of any good [par]-durable continuance of good 
accord betwixt the King and him (self,) for time to 
come, considering so great attempts by him comitted 
gainst the King ; or else, for that willing to entertain 
the great promises, 'p^cts, and oaths, to the contrary, 
made solemnly, and also privately sworn to the French 
King, Queen Margaret, and her son, Edward, in the 
quarrel of thcin, and of his own seeking, where from he 
could not depart without great slander ; or else, for 
that he had afore thought, and therefore purveyed (pro- 
vided) that in case he might not get to have the over- 
hand of the King, his means were found of sure and 
" The Duke'e forces amounted I of March, in littTe more tfaan a 
to 4,000. and thOBB of the King to fortnight he found himaelf at the 
about 7,000. Thus from his first head of an army of 11,000 well 
landing at Ravenspume on theHth | chosen men. 
[ASU3CRIPT.] 
' EDWABtl IV. 
certaio escape, by the sea, to Calais, ^^ which was ensured *d. 
to himself in every case, that might happen (lo) him, so 
that it might fortune him to come thither; or else, for that 
certain persons being with him in company, aa the Earl 
of Oxford and othere, being disposed in extreme malice 
against the King, would not suffer him to accept any 
manner of appointment, were it reasonable or unreason- 
able, but caused him to refuse all manner of appoint- 
ments ; which as many men deem was the very cause of 
□one accepting of the King's (grace), wherefore all such 
treaty broke and took none effect. 
In this mean season of the King's being at Warwick, 
came to the Earl of Warwick to Coventry, the Duke of 
Exeter, the Marquis of Montague, the Earl of Oxford, 
with many others in great number, by whose then 
coming daily grew and increased the fellowship of that 
party. The King with his brethren this considering, 
and that in no wise he could provoke him to come out 
of the town, not thinking it behovcful to assail, nor to 
tarry for the assieging thereof; as well for avoidance of 
great slaughter that should thereby ensue, and for that 
it was thought more expedient to them to draw towards Edwoj 
London, and there, with help of God, and the assistance ZTtn 
of his true lords, lovers, and servants, which were there, am'. 
in those parts, in great number ; knowing also that his 
principal adversary, Henry, with many (of) his partakers 
were at London, there usurping, and using the authority 
royal, which barred and letted (hindered) the King of 
many aids and assistances, that he should and might have 
had, in divers parts, if he might once shew himself of 
power to break the authority ; wherefore by the advise 
" See the coriouB plan of Calaia 
prefixed to the present volume. The 
Earl'B popularity as Captain of Ca- 
laia Kai BO great, that, nithin a few 
miaoteB of the arrival of the news 
of the reatoradoa of Heory VI. 
everybody in the town, from the 
richest to the poorest, placed the 
Eari'9 badge on his cap. This fever 
of excitement ia graphically painted 
by Comminea, who was an eye-wit- 
ness of it.-(Vol. i. p. 202.) 
5-i THE REIGN OF EDWABD IV. [FLEITTWOOd's 
of hia said brothers and other of his council, he took his 
purpose to London wards, and so departed from War- 
wick ; yet efte sonea {soon after) shewing him (self) and 
hia host before Coventry, and desiring the said Earl, and 
his fellowship, to come out, and for to determine his 
quarrel by battle, which he and they utterly refused; 
wherefore the King and his brothers kept forth their 
purpose soutliwards.^^ And this was the 6th day April, 
the Friday. 
On the Saturday, the King with all his host, came to 
a town called Daventry, where the King with great 
devotion heard all divine ser\'ice upon the morn, Palm- 
Sunday, in the pariah church, where God and Saint 
Anne, shewed a fair miracle ; a good prognostic of good 
adventure, that after should befall unto the King by the 
hand of God, and mediation of that holy matron. Saint 
Anne. For, so it was, that afore that time, the King 
being out of his realm, in great trouble, thought, and 
heaviness, for the misfortune and adversity that was fallen 
him, full often, and specially upon the sea, he prayed to 
God, our Lady, and Saint George, and, amongst other 
saints, he specially prayed Saint Anne to help him, 
where that he promised, that at the next time that it 
should happen (^a)him to see any image of Saint Anne, he 
should thereunto make his prayers, and give liis offering 
in the honour and worship of that blessed Saint, So it 
fell, that the same Palm Sunday, the King went in pro- 
cession, and all the people after, in good devotion as the 
service of that day aaketh, and when the procession was 
come into the church, and by order of the sen'ice were 
" It is 
tBibU t< 
tbe policf of thi 
in naC attacking the King, wlien 
thia last defiance waa giien. He 
had been joined bj sll his fallowerB, 
and thongh Clarence bad deserted 
to tbe King, be could not fear 
treacbery from the Duke of Ejeter, 
tliB MarquiE of Montague, and t)i« 
added 
Earl of Oiford, who now a 
their forces to his. 
seen the follf of allowing the King 
to obtaixi the cuatody of Henry, in 
nboae name and KUtliority be acted, 
and which his nTBl'a inarch sonth- 
ward snflScienll J Indicated to be his 
object in raising the siege. 
■■■] 
come to that place, where the veil should be drawn up a.i 
before the Rood, {Cross) that all the people shall honour 
the Rood, with the anthem : " Ave," three times 
begun, — in a pillar of the church directly before the 
place, where the King kneeled, and devoutly honoured 
the Rood, was a little image of Saint Anne, made of 
alabaster, standing fixed to the pillar, 'closed and 
clasped together with four boards, small, painted, and 
going round about the image, in (the) manner of a com- 
pass, Uke as it is t-o (be) see (n) commonly, and all about, 
whereat such images be wont to be made for to be sold, 
and set up in churches, chapels, crosses, and oratories, in 
many places. And this image was thus shut, closed, and 
clasped, according to the mles, that in all the churches 
of England be observed ; all images to be hid from Ash 
Wednesday to Easter day in the morning. And so the 
said image had been from Ashwedncsday to that time. 
And even suddenly, at that season of the service, the 
boards, 'compassing the image about, gave a great crack, 
and a little opened ; which the King weU perceived and 
all the people about him. And anon, after the boards *'i™i 
•drew and closed together again, without any man''s hand, 
or touching, and, as though it had been a thing done 
with a violence, with a greater might it opened all 
abroad, and so the image stood, open and discoverd, in 
(the) sight of all the people there being. The King, 
this seeing, thanked and honoured God, and Saint Anne, 
taking it for a good sign, and token of good and pros- 
perous adventure, that God would send him (aid) in that 
he had to do, and remembering his promise, he honoured 
God and Saint Anne, in that same place, and gave his 
ofTeringB. All those, alao, tliat were present, and saw 
this, worshipped, and thanked God and Saint Amie 
there, and many offered ; taking of this aign, shewed by 
the power of God, good help* of their good speed for to 
1 up A.D, 1471. I 
56 
1 BEIGN OF EDWAHD I 
[Fleetwood's 
QuHD HU 
Waif >, and 
The King from that town went to a good town, called 
Northampton, where he was well received, and from 
thence took the nest way towards London, leaving al- 
ways behind bim, in his journey, a good band of spears 
and archers (/or) his behind-riders (rear guard) to 
'counter, if it needed, such of the Earl's party, as, pernd- 
venture, he should have sent to have troubled him on 
the backhalfe, (rear,) if he so had done. 
Here it is to be remembered, that (in this season of 
the King's coming towards, and being at Warwick, and 
of the coming to him of his brother the Duke of Clarence) 
Edmund, calling himself Duke of Somerset,^ John of 
Somerset, his brother, called Marquis Dorset, Thomas 
Courtney,"* calling himself the Earl of Devonshire, being 
at London, had knowledge out of France, that Queen Mar- 
! garet, and her son called, Prince of Wales, the Countess 
of Warwick, the Prior of Saint John's, the Lord Wen- 
lock, with many other {of) their adherents and part- 
takers, with all that ever they might make, were 'ready at 
the searside coming, purposing to arrive in the West 
Country ; wherefore they departed out of London, and 
went into the west parts, and there bestired themselves 
right greatly to make an assembly of as much people, 
for to receive them at their coming, them to accompany, 
fortify, and assist, against the King, and all his partakers, 
in the quarrels of Henry, called King, and occupying the 
regalia for that time. And true it was, that she, her 
son, the Countess of Warwick, the Lords, and other of 
their fellowship, entered their ships for that intent the 
twenty-fourth of March,''* and so continued their abode 
' Edmund Beaufort, Duke of 
1 Bdherei 
yVI. 
and Queen Margaret, Cotnn 
at the Battle of Tenkesburf, which 
being lost, be fled to Sanctuary, 
wbetice he was taken and hehcaded, 
bis dealh adding but another crime 
to the dark catalogue of those com - 
mitted by the Eellieh Edward. 
" In a letter dated Aug. 5, 1470, 
Sir John Paston says : " Corlenin/ei 
6e landed in Devenschyer and ther 
revile,'' eo that the Earl had as- 
Bumed bis forfeited Utle.— (Pa»(oii 
Lellers, vol. ii. p. 48.) 
^ Queen Margaret and the y onug 
Prince of Wales tookshipping atHsr- 
fleur on the Zttb of March ; and, by 
^ EDWARD IV. 
in their Bhips, or (ere) they might land in England, to 
the thirteenth day of April, for default of good wind, 
and for great tempests upon the sea, that time, as who 
saith (one should say) continuing by the space of twenty 
days. 
But leave we this, and return again to the King's 
progress, in his journey towards Loudon, telling how, 
that he came upon the Tuesday, the ninth day of April, 
from whence he sent comfortable messages to the Queen 
to Westminster, and to his true Lords, servants, and 
lovers, being at London : whereupon, by the most covert 
means that they could, {they) advised and practised, how 
that he might be received, and welcomed, at his said 
city of London. The Earl of Warwick knowing this, his 
journeying and approaching to London, sent his letters 
to them of the city, willing and charging them to resist 
him, and let {kinder) the receiving of him and hia. He 
wrote also to his brother, the Archbishop of York,^ 
desiring him to put him in the uttermost devoir {ea- 
deavour) he could, to provoke the city against him, and 
keep him out, for two or three days ; promising that he 
would not fail to come with great puissance on the back 
half (rear), trusting utterly to distress, and destroy him, 
and hia, as to the same he had by his other writings 
charged the mayor, and the aldermen, and the commons 
{council) of the city. 
Hereupon, the ninth day of April, the Archbishop 
: of those liDgulu' CDtneidences, 
which give an 
t till t 
J real 
r San- 
dajr, April (be 14tb, the day 
which all the hopea of the House ui 
Lancaster were ileslroyed at Barnet, 
that adierBe winds and tempests 
permitted them to lacd at Wey- 
of MoDtagne, was created Biahop of 
Eieter, in U55, before he was 20 
years of age. In 1460 he wag made 
ChanceUor, and 14(16 translated to 
York. He seems to have fallen 
into poverty after the reatoratiDa 
of Edward IV. —(See Paaton Let- 
lert, vol. ii. p. 35, and also ; Ood- 
loin de Prae«uHiH«, where Edward's 
conduct towards tiim see ma the 
effect of the basest of paEsions, 
I' 
S8 THE REiG.v OF EawARu IV. [fleetwood's 
,.D. 14!}. called unto him together, at Saint Pauls, within the 
iiMin ™ said City of London such lords, gentlemen. Mid others, 
OS were of that party (and) aa many men in harness of 
their servants, and others, as they could make, which in 
idM with all passed not in number sis or seven thousand men, and, 
I. ihroqgS thereupon, eaused Henry,'" called King, to take a horse 
and ride from St. Pauls through Cheape, and so made a 
circuit about to Walbrook, as the general procession of 
London hath been accustomed, and so returned again to 
St. Pauls, to the Bishop's Palace, whore the said Henry 
at that time was lodged, — supposing, that, when he had 
shewed him in this array, they should have provoked the 
citizens and the inhabitants of the city to have stood, 
and come to them, and fortified (strengthened) that 
ut the citi- party; but truth it is, that the rulers of the city were at 
\ih >p>ihT the council, and had set men at ail the gates, and wards, 
aiiop. and, they seeing by this manner of doing, that the power 
of the said Henrj', and his adherents, was so httle, and 
feeble as there and then was shewed, they could thereby 
take no courage to draw to them, nor to fortify their 
party; and, for that they feared, but rather the contrary, 
for so much as they saw well, that if they would so 
have done, their might was so little, that it was not for 
them to have once attempted to have resisted the King, 
L^sT^iHuii '^ ^'s coming, which approached near unto the city, and 
was that night at St. Albans. They also of the city in 
^ The conduct of the Archbishop 
oC York in thus eihi biting the 
King, Hsnry VI., entirely failed in 
[he object be had in view. The 
Citi^enB of London were tbei^, an 
ia future times, governed chieflj bj 
self -interest. Henrj's habits were 
eveD parsimonious. The rich traders 
of the metropolis loved, a gay 
court, and the conseqaeot expendi- 
ture caneed by Masqnen and Bevels, 
The Citizens' wiveB, however, are 
} small hand in 
throwing open the gates to the re- 
cently deposed king. " The Citi- 
zens opened their gates freely to 
him, being indaeed thereto : i. by 
his many friends, who had taken 
sanctaary, and partieularly by the 
Queen, bis wife ; ii. because he 
owed many merchants great gams, 
which otherwtaehad been lost ; and 
in. as Edward had been familiar 
with the wives of the chief Citizens, 
they persuaded their husbands to 
declare for him." — {Cojnmines, 
book iii. chap. 7.) 
MASUSCBIPT.] THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV. 59 
great number, and namely of the most worshipful, were a,d. 14J1. 
fully disposed to favour the King, and to have the city 
open unto him at his coming. They of the city also con- 
sidered, that he was notably well accompanied with many 
good, able, and well-willed men, which, for no power, 
nor, no resistance that might he made, would spare to 
attempt, and support the taking the city, by all ways 
possible ; whereof they should not have failed, consider- 
ing that the King, at that time, had many great and 
mighty friends, lovers, and servitors, within the said 
city, which would not have failed by divers enterprises 
(to) have made the city open unto him : as this might Th.ciiiwp 
not be unknown unto right many of the said city, and ^J^ ,„ 
also as might appear by that (which) was done after in 
that behalf, and to that intent. Thus, what for love 
that many bare to the King, and what for dread that 
many men had, how that in case the city should have 
been won upon them by force, the citizens should there- 
fore have sustained harm and damages iiTeparable, and 
for many other great considerations, the mayor, alder- 
men, and other worshipful (persons) of the city, deter- 
mined clearly amongst themselves to keep the city for 
the King, and to open it to him at his coming ; and so 
they sent to him, that therein they would be guided to 
his pleasure. The Archbishop of York, understanding tiie Ar.i,. 
the King's coming, and approaching near to the city, vorkm^e 
sent secretly unto him desiring to be admitted to his wuh Ed™ 
grace, and to be under good appointment, proraissing 
therefore to do unto him great pleasure for his weal and 
safety ; whereuuto the King, for good causes and consi- 
derations, agreed so to take him to his grace. The 
Archbishop, thereof assured, was right well pleased, and 
therefore well and tJuly acquit (eet) him (self) in observ- 
ing the promise, that he had made to the King in that 
behalf. 
The same night following the Tower of London was in «<iii.» 
taken for the King's behalf, whereby he had a plain ?io™1aTa^e 
1 
y«tinl 
60 THE REIGN OF EDWAHD IV. [pLEETWOOn's 
*«, entry into the city ; though all they had not been deter- 
mined to have received him in, as they were. And on 
the morrow, the Thursday, the eleventh day of April, 
the King came, and had plain overture of the said city, 
^- and rode straight to St. Pauls Church, and from thence 
jj" went into the Bishop's Palace, where the Archbishop of 
.- York ^ presented himself to the King's good grace, and 
in his hands the usurper. King Henry, and there was the 
King seized of him and divers rebels. From St, Pauls 
the King went to Westminster, there honoured, and 
made his devout prayers, and gave tlianka to God, St. 
Peter, and St. Edward, and then wont to the Queen, 
and comforted her, that had a long time abode, and 
If sojourned at Westminster ^ (aBsuring her pei-son only 
■to by the great franchise of that holy place) in right great 
"• trouble, sorrow, and heaviness, which she sustained, with 
all manner (of) patience that belonged to any creature, 
and as constantly as hath been seen, at any time, any of 
so high estate to endure ; in the which season, never- 
theless, she had brought into this world, to the King's 
greatest joy, a fair son, a prince wherewith she presented 
him at his coming, to his hearts singular comfort and 
gladness, and to all them that him truely loved, and 
would serve.^" From thene'e, that night, the King re- 
^ Edward entered Londan and 
immediately thanked the (leople for 
their affection , and promised to 
liaie it in everlasting remembrance- 
He seconded this promise with ae- 
veral acta of clemencj, »hicli en. 
tircly won him the hearta of the 
citiienB. Meanwhile, Henry VI. 
' been beti 
by the wily Archbishop 
f York, 
I a again i 
ined in the Toner 
: had 1 
k 
seven months before to remount 
the throne of his father and grand- 
father.— (See Rapia, vol. v. p. 69, 
andHoliiuAed, p. 1332.) 
^ " The Queen that waa, and 
the Duchess of Bedford he in Sanc- 
tnary at Westrntnater ; the Bishop 
of Ely, with other Bishop's are at 
St. Martin's " (le Grand).— (Po*- 
lort Leiiers, vol. ii. p. 63.) 
«> This child waa the unfortonate 
Edward V. concerping whose fate 
we have no legitimate clue. The 
Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury, 
a man of the highest character, to 
whom the Queen had intrusted her 
younger son, and who had pledged 
himself for his security, placed the 
crawD on the head of his uncle, 
Richard III.; which ceremony wag 
witnessed by the chief oobility. In 
the coronation rail is a remarkable 
list of the necesaariea furnished 
] THE HKtON OF EDWARD IV, fil 
turned to London, and the Queen with him, and lodged a 
at the lodging of mj lady, his mother, where they heard fj 
divine service that night, and upon the inorrow Good J, 
Friday ; where also, on the morrow, the King took 
advice of the great lords of his blood, and others of hia 
council, for the adventures that were likely for to come. 
The Earl of Warwick, (calling himself Lieutenant ofn 
England, and so constituted by the pretended authority q' 
of King Henry,) being at Coventry, and understanding p 
well that the King would do much to be received in at Jj 
London; and wist not in certain, (and not knowing for '= 
certain) yes or no, issued out of Coventry with a great 
puissance, the lords, and all that he might make with hhii. 
Mid, by Northampton, took their way after the King, sup- 
posing verily to have had right great advantage upon him 
by one of these two ways ; either, that the city should 
have kept the King out, which failed ; or else, in ease 
he were received in, he should there {haw) kept and ob- 
served the solemnity of Easter, and, if he so did, he 
thought suddenly to come upon him, take him, and de- 
stroy him, and {to have) deceived his people ; but the 
King well advertised of this evil and malicious purpose, 
did (use) great diligence to rencounter him, ere he might 
come near unto the city, as far from it as he goodly 
might, and, therefore, with a great army he departed 
to walk i 
inule't 
of the 
lnde that Richard 
crown with the 
nobilitj ; and such heii 
tha mnrder of his nephewa wonid 
have been B gratuitous piece of cru- 
elty OQ his part. Sir Thos. More, 
the origiual promulgator of the 
supposed murder of the princes in 
the Tower, by order of their uncle, 
places this event Eeten montba prior 
to the act which baatardized the 
children of the late King. Bf 
murdering his nephews and allow- 
ing bi§ nieces to surrive he would 
have committed two great errors ; 
'stly, hare made il ... 
the I 
:ardy w 
2(llj, have provided an]' succeasfnl 
soldier, like Richmond, a title by 
marriagB, in right of the Prineeas 
Eliiabetb, to hare claimed the 
crown. The BolutioD of this mys- 
tery must probably ho Bought in 
the fate of Ferhin Warbeck. To 
present the recurrence of similar 
claims, the craft; Henry VII. gne 
out that the young princf ' ' ' 
murdered by their uncle. 
i 
62 THE KEiaN OP EDWARD IV. [l-r-ERTWOOD's 
rd IV. out of tlie city of Londou towards him, upon the Sa- 
■ei ihe turday, Easter even, the thirteenth day of April, And 
1471. so he took in his company to the field King Henry ; 3o 
and so, that afternoon, he rode to Bamet,^' ten miles 
out of London, where his aforeriderg (van-guard) had 
found the aforeridera of the Earl of Warwick's host, 
and heat them, and chased tliem out of the town, more 
somewhat than half a mile ; where, under a hedge-side, 
were 'ready assembled a great people in array of the 
Earl of Warwick's. The King coming after to the said 
town, and imderstanding all this, would not suffer one 
ec. man to abide in the same town ; hut had them all to the 
'p""-'' field with him, and drew towards his enemies without 
," * the town. And, for (that) it was right dark, and he 
might not well see where his enemies were embattled 
(encamped) before him, he lodged him (self), and all his 
host, before them, much near{e;) than he had supposed; 
but he took not his ground so even in the front before 
them, as he should have done, if he might better have 
seen them; but somewhat aside-hand, where he disposed 
all his people, in good array all that night ; and so they 
kept them still without any manner (of) language, or 
noise, but as little as they well might. Both parties had 
guns and ordinance, but the Earl of Warwick had many 
more than the King, and therefore in the night, weening 
(thinking) greatly to have annoyed the King, and his 
host, with shot of guns, the Earl's field shot guns almost 
all the night. But, thanked be God ! it so fortuned that 
they always overshot the King's host, and hurt them 
nothing ; and the cause was, the King's host lay much 
nearer them, than they deemed. And, with that also, 
the King and his host kept passing great silence almyghe 
" " Edward brought Henry witii 1 more Hflath, one mile from Chip- 
him, not dariog tn commit him to ping BaruEt ; but the dietauce here 
anj one's custody." — {Rapin.) mentioned appear! to refer to 
'' It IB generally suppofled that Bamet in Middleaei.^(See note, 
the Earl was encamped on Glads. | p. 67.) 
(all night) aud made, aa who saitb, {as one should say) 
no noise, whereby they might not know the very place 
where they lay. And for that they should not know it, 
the King suffered no guns to be shot on his side, all 
that night, or else right few, which was to him {of) 
great advantage, for thereby he (Warwich) might have 
esteemed the ground that he (Edward) lay in, and have 
levelled tliere guns near. 
On the morrow, betimes, the King,^'^ understanding 
that the day approached near, betwixt four and five of 
the clock, notwithstanding there was a great mist, and 
letted (hindered) the sight of each other, yet he com- 
mitted his cause and quarrel to Almighty God, advanced 
(his) bamiers, did blow up (on) trumpets, and set upon 
them, first with shot, and then, and soon, [ther] they 
joined, and came to hand-strokes, wherein his enemies 
manly and courageously received them, as well in 
shot as in hand-strokes, when they joined; which 
joining of their both battles (armies) was not directly 
front to front, as they so should have joined [ne 
had be] (had it not been for) the mist, which suffered 
neither party to see (the) other, but for a little space ; 
and tliat of likelihood caused the battle to be the more 
cruel and mortal ; for, so it was, that the one end of 
their battle overreached the end of the King's battle, and 
so at that end they were much mightier, than was the 
King's battle at the same (end), that joined with them, 
which was the west end, and therefore, upon that part 
of the King's battle, they bad a greater distress upon 
the King's party ; wherefore many fled towards Bamet, 
and so forth to London, ere ever they left (off) ; and 
they (the Earl's parly) fell into the chase of them and 
A.l>. 1471, 1 
'^ In Edward's army the front 
was led by Richard, Dake of Glou- 
cester ; Ednard bimgelt' and the 
Duke of Clarence cammanded the 
main body; and WiUiam, Lord 
Haatinga, the rear. In Warwick's 
army the right wing was commanded 
e Marquis of Montague, and 
Inrl of Oiford ; the left by the 
himself, and the Duke of Eie- 
and a body of Archers, form- 
is centre, by the Duke of So- 
;t.— (SeeWoW, p. 217.) 
64 THK BEiGN or EDWAiin IV, [tleetwood's 
J71. did much harm. But the other parties, and the residue 
of neither battle, might see that distress, neither the 
fleeing, nor the ehaac, because of (the) great mist that 
was, which would not suffer no (ant/) man to see but a 
little from him; and so the King's battle, which saw 
none of all that, was thereby in nothing discouraged, 
for, save only a few that were near unto them, no 
man wist {knew) thereof; also the other party by 
the same distress, flight, or chase, were therefore never 
the greatlyer encouraged. And, in likewise at the 
east end, the King's battle, when they came to joining, 
overeached their battle, and so distressed them there 
greatly, and so drew near towards the King,^ who was 
iwBd about the midst of the battle, and sust^ned aU the might 
(Ml. and weight thereof. Nevertheless upon the same little 
distress^* at the west end, anon ran (the news) to West- 
minster, and to London, and so further to other coun- 
tries, that the King was distressed, and hia field lost ; 
"^ " In personal prowess, and 
dauntless courage, the chieftains on 
either side roiglit compare with the 
greatest heroes of antiquity. In 
numbers the Yorliista. under Ed- 
ward, greaHy exceeded \iie Lancas- 
trians commanded l)y Warwick, 
who, howeTer, was better provided 
witb artillery. This, we have seen, 
owing to the mist, quaintlj ascribed 
by the old chronicler, Fabian, to the 
incantatioDs of Friar Bungay, who 
had accompanied the King for the 
purpose of aiding, by magicatagency, 
the cause of Edward, was of little 
use, as a constant watte of ammuni- 
tion bad been kept up throughout 
the night, against the supposed 
position of the Yorkists."— (See 
Beauiia qf England and Waltt, 
vol. vii. p. 322.) 
■* This partial success was the 
ultimatB ruin of the Earl's party. 
The Earl of Oxford, the celebrated 
John de Vere, had succeeded in 
driviog back the Yorkists. Return- 
ing from bis victorious assault to 
his own lines, through the mist 
which overhung the field of battle, 
his badge, a star with streams, nas 
mistaken for Edward's device of ■ 
Bun. Warwick's own band charged 
these troops fui-iously, and they in 
turn, seeing themselves thus at- 
tacked by their own companions, 
imagined treachery, and fled towards 
the enemy. Edward, taking advan- 
tage of the mistake, cut to pieces 
those that came flying towards bim ; 
for be bad ordered in the cammence- 
ment that no quarter should be 
given. Willing tore 
hy his example, the Earl rushed on 
foot amongst the thickest of his 
enemies, where be fell covered with 
wounds. There is a traditional 
anecdote,which says, "that the Earl 
and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 
met in this lost charge, and that 
the Earl, mindful of his promise 
to the dying Dnke of York, spared 
' ' :h within afewm' 
it laid h 
TheMf 
but the laud be to Almigbty God ! it was otherwise; a. D.nri. 
for the King, trusting veriJy in God's help, our blessed 
Lady's, and Saint Geeirge, took to him great hardiess 
and courage, for to suppress the falsehood of all them, 
that so falsely, and so traitorously, had conspired against 
him, wherethrough, with the faithful, wcll-beloved, and 
mighty assistance of his fellowship, that in great number 
disevered not from his person, and were as well assured 
unto him as to them was possible, he manly, vigorously, 
and valiantly, assailed them in the midst, and strongest E<i<»rd-> 
of their battle, where he, with great violence, beat and nr™™. m 
hare down before him all that stood in his way, and then <n«w. 
turned to the range, first on that hand, and then on that 
other hand, in length, and so beat and bare them down, 
so that nothing might stand in the sight of him, and the 
well assured fellowship, that attended truly upon him ; 
BO that, blessed be God ! he won the field there, and the 
perfect victory remained unto him, and to his rebels the 
discomfiture of thirty thousand^ men, as they numbered 
themselves. 
In this battle was slain the Earl of Warwick, some- »*«ib.ofi 
what flying, 3^ which was taken, and reputed as ehief of ^''".""'^ 
the field, in that he was called amongst them Lieutenant Mikjukdi 
of England, bo constituted by the pretended authority 
of King Henry. There was also slain the Marquis 
Montague, in plain battle, and many other knights, 
squires, noble men, and others. The Duke of Exeter^? 
^ The nomber of Warwick'* 
troop" 18 undoubtedly much over- 
rated in the text at 30,000, u Ed- 
ward's army only numbered 9,000. 
Rapiasayg, "the Earl of Warwick'! 
troops, though ii\ferior in number, 
fougbt desperately," which appears 
B complete contradiction to Che 
above.— {See also note ". p. 64.} 
■^ There ia nothing to authenti- 
cate this BBpersion upon the per- 
of a brave age. The writer of llie 
preaeat fragment is biassed by his 
YorkiBt predilections, and tbe great 
nesg with which he delaili the more 
peaceable section of the King's 
progreHB. He was evidently not 
a fighting man, and reminds one 
strongly of the concluding linea of 
the fable of tho dead lion :— 
" AaiooB at vidit ferum 
Impune Iffidi \ calcibns intern f x- 
terit." 
' Henry Holland, Uukeof Exe- 
HE BEIfiN OF I 
[p, 
was smitten down, and sore wounded, and left for dead ; 
but he was not well known, and so left by a little out of 
the field, and so after he escaped. The Earl of Oxford 
fled, and took into the country, and, in his flight, fell in 
company with certain northern men, that also fled from 
the same field, and so went he in their company north- 
wards, and after that into Scotland. 
This battle 'diired, fighting and skirmishing some time 
in one place and some time in an other, right doubtfully, 
because of the mist, by the space of three hours, ere it 
was fully achieved : and the victory ia given to him by 
(Jod, by the mediation of the most blessed Virgin and 
Mother, our Lady, Saint Mary; the glorious martjT, 
St. George, and all the Saints of Heaven maintaining 
his quarrel to be true righteous, with manifold good and 
continual prayers, which many devout persons, religious 
and others, ceased not to yield unto God for his good 
speed, and, in especial, that same day and season, when 
it pleased God to accept the prayers of people, being 
confessed, and in clean life, which was the Easter morn- 
ing, the time of the service-doing of the resurrection, 
commonly by all the churches of England, And, albeit, 
the victory remained to the King, yet was it not without 
great danger and hurt: for there were slain-''^ in the 
field, the Lord Cromwell, the Lord Say, the Lord Mount- 
joy's son and heir, and many other good Knights, and 
squires, good yeomen, and many other menial servants 
of the King's. And it is to ivit, (to be voted) that it 
ter, was brother-in-law (o King 
Earl of Warwick, the Marquis Mon- 
Edward Ihe Fourth, having married 
tague. Sir William TyreU, Sir Lewis 
hii sister Anne. 
Johns, and divers other Esquires of 
^ Hall snys there were 10,000 
ourcounlry,GodmBrBtonaudBooth. 
■lain oil hoth sides; Fabinn says 
And on the King Edward's party, 
the Lord Cromwell, the Lord Sav. 
about 1,500, and Stow 4,000. A 
contemporary writer, however, and 
Sir Humphrey Bourehier of our 
one who was present in Warwick's 
country, which is a sore monmcd 
army, canflrms in some measure 
manherei and other people ofboth 
the numher eiven byFabian. "There 
parties to the number of more than 
was killed upon the field, balf a mile 
a thousand." — (Pa((on Zttleri. 
from Bamet, on Easter day, the 
vol. ii. p. 65.) 
MANrSCRIPT,] TUH RRIr.V OF EDWARD IV. 6" 
could not be judged, that tlie King's host 'passed iua.d. 
number nine thousand nieu ; but sueh a Great and 
Gracious Lord, is Almighty God, that it pleaseth him 
(to) give the victory, as well to (t/te) few, as to ((Ac) 
many ; wherefore to Him be the laud, and the thanks ! 
And so the King gave him special loving, and all that 
were with him. This thus done, the King, the same 
day, after that he had a little refreshed himself and his 
host at Baniet,^^ he gathered his fellowship together, 
and with them returned to his City of London, where 
into he was welcomed, and received, with much joy and 
gladness. And so he rode forth straight unto St, Pauls, Edwai 
at London, and there was received with {by) my Lord ihoa" 
Cardinal of England, and many other bishops, prelates, "" ' 
lords spiritual, and temporal, and others in great num- 
ber, which all humbly thanked, and loved God, of his 
Grace that it pleased him, that day to give to their 
Prince and Sovereign Lord so prosperous a journey, 
whereby he had suppressed them, that, of so great 
malice, had procured and laboured at their powers his 
utter destruction, contrary to God, and to their faiths 
and 'liegeances. 
On the morrow after, the King commanded that the The dt 
bodies of the dead lords, the Earl of Warwick, and his greati 
brother, the Marquis, should be brought to St, Pauls in i.raihe' 
London, and, in the church there, openly shewed," to all llui-t. 
" The exact site of this celebrated 
field is not knann, though n chapel 
HSB erected on the spot, where the 
■lain were hnried, in memorj of 
them. In the year 1740 Sir Jere- 
mj Ssmbrook erected sn obelisk 
Dear the point where the high road 
divaricateB towards Hatfield uid St. 
Alban's, with this inscription,"J/ere 
teat fought the famoua balile be- 
tween Edward TV. and the Earl of 
Warwiek, April Uth, Anno 1471 ; 
in which the Earl aaa defeated and 
ilain." ThU would make Qlada- 
mace or Beatle; Heath the scene of 
LB encloeed 
this deadly struggle. I 
parish of Hadley, and w 
by Act of Parliament, 
one mile distaut from Chipping Bar- 
net, and abnut 13 miles from Lon- 
don. Sir John Paston, who was 
present at the Battle, saja, hovreier, 
diBtincClj Chat the field was "hay a 
mile from Barnat."— (See note *,) 
•" '■ The bodies of theia two 
noblemen were exposed three days 
to public view in St. Paul's Cathe- 
dral, and then conieyed to, and 
buried at Bisham Abbey, Berks."— 
[Fern.) 
GS 
[n 
the people ; to the intent, that after that, the people 
should not he abused by feigned seditious tales, which 
many of them, that were wont to be towards the Earl 
of Warwick, had been accustomed to make; and, per- 
acfventure, so would have made after that, had not the 
dead bodies there been shewed, open and naked, and 
well known ; for, doubtless, else the rumour should have 
been sown about, in all countries, that they both, or 
else at the least, the Earl of Warwick was yet alive, 
upon (the) cursed intent, thereby to have caused new 
murmurs, insurrections, and rebellions, amongst indis- 
posed people 1 such, namely, as many days had been led 
to great inconveniences and mischievous doings, by 
means of the false feigned fables, and slanders, that by 
his subtlety and malicious moving were wont to be 
seditiously sown, and blowTi about all the land by such 
persons as could use, and long had used, that cursed 
custom ; whereof as it is commonly said, right many 
were to\vard8 him, and for that intent, returned and 
waged with him. 
CHAPTER II. 
Here after followeth, how that Queen Margaret, with 
her son Edward, called Prince of Wales, after their 
arricul in the west country assembled great people, and 
came to Tewkesbury, where the King delivered them 
battle, distressed them, and their fellowship : the said 
Edward, the Duke of Somerset, and others were slain. 
After all these things were thus fallen, the Tuesday 
in Easter week, the sixteenth day of April, came certain 
tidings ' to the King, how, that Queen Margaret, her 
' "Asforothertidinga, (iO'sun- 
derBtood here, that the Queen Mar- 
garet is veri[y landed, and her Son, 
in the West Coantrf, snd 1 trow 
(believf) that as tomorrow or else 
tfie nest day, the King Edward will 
depart from hence to Leeward, to 
dtive her out again. God halh 
MANUaCKlPT.] THE REIG.V OK KDWARD IV. 6!) 
son, Edward, called Prince of Wales, tlie Countess of«iiibei 
Warwick, the Prior of Saint John's, (a() that time weym. 
called Treasurer of England, tJie Loid Wenlock, and 
many other knights, squires, and others of their party, 
which long had been out of the land with them, with 
such, also, as with the said Prior of Saint John's had 
gone into France to fetch them into England, were 
arrived, and landed in the west country upon Easter day 
at Weymouth, after long abiding passage, and being 
on the sea, and landing again for default of good wind, 
and weather. For truth it is, that the Queen, and Ed- 
ward her son, with all their ft'llowship, intending to pass 
out of Normandy into England, took first the sea at 
llonfleur in the month of March, tlie twcntyfourth day 
of the same {monl/i,) and from that time forthwards 
they could not liave any stable weather to pass with ; 
for, and {if) it were one day good, anon it changed upon 
them, and was against them, and fain they were, there- 
fore, to go to land agaui. And ao, at divei-s times, they 
took the sea, and forsook it again, till it was the thir- 
teenth day of April, Easter Eve, Tlrnt day they passed. 
The Countess of War^vich^ had a ship of avaunctage, ThcCoi 
and, therefore, landed before the other, at Portsmouth, i"!"!"! 
and from thence she went to Southampton, intending to 
have gone towai-ds tlie Queen, which was landed at 
"Weymouth, But, being there, she had certain know- f^'^"\ 
ledge, that the King had won the field upon her ^"met, 
husband at Barnet, and there slain him, wherefore she ^^^X 
again when biro \Ut ; mi 1 can tbink 
ville, Queen Co RichEircI III., upoa 
that b; all Ukelihood thEilI shew 
wbose marriage the princely inheri- 
binuelf as marvellous again, ai>d 
tance was divided between the two 
that in abort time : and. aa 1 snp- 
aiatera. leaving bot a am aU allowance 
poBB, oftner tbau once in caeea 
to their widowed parent. She took 
like."— (Pa»(on LslUrt, vol. i. p. 
refuge in BetMej sanctuarj. and 
67.) 
was thfnce conveyed northward in 
' Anne, widow of the great Earl 
the jear 1473, "men My by the 
of Warwieli, aigterand heir to Henfy 
Kind's Bsseot, wLereto some men 
Baauchamp, Duke of Warwick, and 
»ay, that tlie Dnke of Clarence is not 
mother of Iwhel. Ducheaa of Cla- 
agreed. "—(Ph«/ob Lflleri, vol. ii. 
rente, «ud of the Lady Anne Ne- 
p. U5.) 
70 
■ i-i?i. would no farther go towards the Queen ; hut secretly got 
over Hampton-water into the New Forest, where she 
(be) took her (self) to the franchiae of an Abbey, called 
Beaulieu, which, a& it is said, ia ample, and as large as 
the franchise of Westminster, or of Saint Martina (Le 
Grand ) at London. 
*n Mar- The Queen Margaret and her son went from whence 
nrSbbc" she landed to an Abbey near by called Cemo,^ and 
soniMet all the lords and the remenaunt (rest) of the fellow- 
X, ' ship with them. Thither came unto them Edmond, 
called Duke of Somerset, Thomas Courtney, called 
the Earl of Devonshire, with others, and welcomed 
them into England ; comforted them, and put them in 
good hope, that, albeit they had lost one field, whereof 
the Queen had knowledge the same day, Monday, the 
Sfthteenth day of April, and was therefore right heavy 
and sorry, yet it was to think that they should have 
right good speed, and that for that loss, their party wag 
never the feebler, but rather stronger ; and that they 
doubted nothing, but that they should assemble so great 
puissance of people, in divers parts of England, truly 
assured unto their party, that it should not (any) more 
lie in the King's power to resist them ; and in that 
country they would be^. And so, forthwith they sent 
all about in Somersetshire, Dorsetshire, and part of 
Wiltshire, for to make ready and raise the people by a 
certain day, such algates (always) as the said lords, and 
their partakers, before that had greatly laboured to that 
intent, preparing the country by all means to them 
whopcr. possible. And, for that they would gather and raise up 
™cfrf" " the power of Devonshire and Cornwall, they drew from 
prinJ" ' thence more westwards to the city of Exeter, moving 
Edward, called Prince, and his mother the Queen, to do 
' HbU'b Bcconnt, in which lie is I acription of her despondeneT and 
fDllDwcdbyiDDBtofourHisCoriaiiB, beliaviour there, is of coune an 
»ajrB. the Queen toolt aancluary at agreeable fiction, and nothing else. 
Beaiilieu. Ilia highly wrought de- ' 
the Bame, triiatiug that their presence — [showing] in the 
couutry should cause much more, and the sooner, the 
people to come to their help and aesistance. 
At Exeter they sent for Sir John Arundel, Sir Hugh 
Courtney, and many others on whom they had any trust, 
and, in substance, they raised the whole might of Corn- 
wall, and Devonshire, and so, with great people,* they md ih»p« 
departed out of Exeter, and took the right way toi>iitf»n>i 
Glastonbury, and, from thence to the city of Bath, 
whither they came the {20th) day of April ; and, as they 
went, they gathered the able men of all those parts. 
The country had been so long laboured before by the 
Earl of Warwick, and such, as he for that cause sent 
thither to move them to take King Henry's part, and, 
now [of late] (again) they were also sore laboured for 
the same intent, and thereunto the more lightly enduced, 
by Edmond, called Duke of Somerset, and Thomas 
Courtney, called the Earl of Devonshire, for that they 
reputed them old inheritors of that country. 
The King, being at London, and having knowledge of eawuis-, 
all this their demeaning from time to time, anon pui- id Jefmi 
veyed for the relievmg of his sick and hurt men, that put !■■ pun 
had been with him at Bamet field, (which were right 
many in number, what {wUh those) left at London, and 
what (with those) in the country) and sent to all parts 
I 
* llie icoount here pven by tbe 
Yorkut biatorion differs fiom that 
cbronicled by HsH and HoUnihed. 
According to theaE anthariticB, ' ' the 
Queen, tbe Prince and Princess oF 
WhIci 
.lendmib 
o Bath, whilattlie leaders 
of tbe Lancostriaa party separated 
to coUect their forces ; wbicb tbey 
leaa than ten daye they counted an 
army of 40,000 lata,"— (Henry, 
Tol.ti.p. 221.) " Ttie suddentiesi! 
wherewith all theae lords levied or 
asaembled their troops, would he 
most anrpriaiug, if, in the first 
place, the astDnisbing eOects asually 
proiluced by hatred and rerenge, 
especially in Civil Wars, were not 
considered. Secondly, it must be 
remembered, that tbe remains of 
the Eurl of Warwick's army having 
dispersed themselves after the Battle 
of BarDet, wanted only a leader to 
head them. Lastly, as it was hut 
a few days siDce the battle, it was 
not yet knowD how the cDDqueror 
would behave to the vanquiBhed. 
eipect severity than mercy, chose 
rather to venture again their lives 
in battle, than run the risk of dying 
on the gibbet and acaffald."— (Jia- 
72 THE REIGN OF EmVAKD IV. [FLEETWOOD* 
to get hiiii fresh men, and, incontinent, prepared all 
things that were thought bohoveful for a new field ; 
which he saw was imminent, and coming on. So pur- 
veyed he artillery, and ordinance guns, and other {ikings) 
for the field (in) great plenty.^ And Friday, the nine- 
teenth day of April, he departed out of London, and 
went to Windsor there to thank and honour God, and 
Saint George ; where he kept also the feast of Saint 
George, tarrjing somewhat the longer there, for that he 
had commanded all the people, and those would serve 
him in this journey, to draw unto him thither, and from 
thence such way as should happen him (_lo) take towards 
liis enemies. And, for so much as they at that season 
were in an angle of the land, and needs they must take 
I well sup- 
" The King's flrmy 
plied wilh Bria« uud 
whilst the Quern'B ailheretits neri 
in llie atDiosC want of the neccsaarj 
munitioae of war. Hence tlieir 
aniietf to join the Eurl of Peni- 
brnhe on the other aiile of the Se- 
Teni, btfore coiaidi; to clOBC qnar- 
tcrB with Edward's ttoopi. The 
fulloning curious letter, preserved 
in Che 2nd Tolome of FeDn'K col- 
lection, and supposed to hsTe been 
written b; the great Earl of Oiford. 
about this period, shone the ex- 
treme caution used by the Lancas- 
trian Leaders after the Battie of 
Bamet, by employing privy tokens, 
lest by the nse of the name only 
tbeir Bupjiliei of arms and money 
should be fraudulently obtained. 
" Right reverend and worshipfoi 
Lady,l commend me to you, letting 
you weet that I am in great heavi- 
nes9 at the making of this letter ; 
bat thanked be God I I am escaped 
myself, and suddenly departed from 
my men ; fur I understand my chap- 
lain would haie betrayed me ; and 
if he couie into the country, let him 
be made sure, etc. 
" Also ye sbsll give ci'ede nee to the 
bringer of this letter, and 1 beseech 
' you to reward liim to his easts ; for 
I wai not in power at the making 
□f this letter to give him, but aa 1 
was put in trust by favour of strange 
people, etc. Also you shall send 
me in all haste, all the ready money 
that ye can make ; and as many of 
and that Ihey come in diverse par- 
cels. Also that my best horses be 
sent with my steel saddles, and bid 
the yecmNn of the horse, cover 
them with leather. 
"Also ye shall sendto my mother, 
and let ber weet of this letter, and 
pray her of her blessing, and bid 
iter send me my casket by this 
token ; ' ihat she tiath Ihe key 
Ihereqf, iul it is broken.' Also ye 
shall send to the Prior of Theiford, 
and bid him send me the sum of 
gold, that hesaid that Ishould have I 
also say (o him by this token ; 
> thai I thewed Mm the first prirry 
seal.' Also let Psston, Felbrig and 
Brews eome to me. Also ye shall 
deliver the bringer of Ibis letter an 
horse, saddle and bridle. Also ye 
shall be of good cheer, and lake no 
thought, for I shall bring my pur 
e Gra 
of 
! God, Who have you in beejung. 
April U71."— (Pas(onZ,e//er*,vol. 
ii. p. 69-71.) 
■r.) 
! OF KIJWAKD IV. 
one of the two ways; that is to say, either to come a. a 1-171. 
straight to Salisbury, and so that way towards London, 
or else, along by the sea-eoast into Hampshire, Sussex, 
and Kent, and so to London, to make in the way their 
people the more in number ; or else, they, not thinking 
themselves to be of puissance likely to have or do with 
the King, and therefore, perad venture, would draw 
northwards into Lancashire, and Cheshire, trusting also 
to have in their way the assistance of Welshmen, by the 
means of Jasper, called Earl of Pembroke, which, for 
that cause, had been before sent into the country of 
Wales to array them, and make them ready to assist 
that party at their coming ; for which considerations the 
King caused great diligence to be done by means of 
spies, and by them he had knowledge from time to time 
of their purposes in that behalf. If they would have Edwani'i 
taken eastwards their way, his intent was to encounter ranp-mruw 
them as soon as he might, and the further from London ihk iht 
that should be to him possible, (for the intent that they '<""'• 
should assemble no might out, of any countrj- but where 
they then were ;) but, for so iiiucli as he iniderstood 
well they took the other way towards northwest, he 
hastened [him] with his host, all that he mi^ht, upon the 
purpose that he liad taken to stop them their way and 
passage into those i)arts, whereunto their desire was to 
go, and to make them the more mighty, which passage, 
of likelihood, either must beat Gloucester, or else afwcioucm. 
Tewkesbury, or further off at Worcester. And, algatcs mi^, .nd 
(on all sides) the King lay so, that, would they or no, 
he needs should now encounter them, or stop them, and 
put them back. They, in like wise, thinking by their 
wisdom that such was, or of convenience must be, the 
purpose of the King's party in that behalf, (for which warguet 
cause and purpose they sent their out-riders straight Hriw ™''' 
from Exeter to Shaftesbury, and afterwards to Salisbury,) a^ulta^''' 
and took them (selves) the straight way to Taunton, and gimU "bury 
to Glastonbury, to Wells and there abouts, hovering in 1^ mSSId 
"i THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [fLEETWOOH's 
the countrj-. From whence, another tuiie, they sent their 
out^-ridera to a town, called Yeovil, and to a town, called 
Bruton, to make men to understand, that they would 
have drawn towards Reading, and, by Berkshire, and 
Oxfordshire, have drawTi towards London ; or else, fallen 
upon the King at some great advantage. Such manner 
{of) sending, 'uathless, served them of two things, one 
was to call and raise the people to make towards them 
for their help out of all those parts; another was, to 
have abused {deceived) the King in his approaching to- 
wards them; but, thanked be God, he was not hereof 
miadvertized, but by good, and 'said, advice, purveyed for 
every way as may appear in telling forth his progress 
from Windsor towards them ; from whence he departed 
the Wednesday, the morning after Saint George's day, 
>> the twenty-third of April, so keeping his journey, that 
he came to Abingdon ^ the Saturday next, the twenty- 
seventh day; (where he was the Sunday) and on tlie 
Monday at Cirencester ; where he had certain tidings 
that they would {he) on Tuesday next at Bath, (as so 
they were ;) and that on the morn next, the Wednesday, 
' From Afaingdon Edward issued 
B proclamatioii dated April 27tli, 
setting forth, that his tiUa to the 
crown vae unqneBtiousble I first, by 
reason ; eeooudly, hy authority of 
parliament ; thirdly, by his victo- 
ries, and jjarticulsrlythe last, where- 
in the Gsti of Warwick, and the 
Marquis of Montague were slain. 
That notwithstanding these three 
most firm foundatioDS, namely, | 
reason, psrlismentary authority, and ' 
victory, sundry persons had taken I 
up arms against him : but to avoid | 
the effusion of mote blood, he had ' 
thought proper to give bis people 
alistoflbe names of those persons, j 
who were prODOUDced traitors and 
rebels, that their encouragers might 
not complain, if any mischief befel I 
them. The persons proscribed 
nrere : JMargaret, styling herself 
Queen of England ; Edward, her . 
son 1 the Dulie of Eseter ; the Duks 
of Somerset; John, Earl of Oxford; 
John Courtney, Earl of Devonshire ; 
William, ViscoDut de Beaumont ; 
John Beaufort, Brother to the 
Duke of Somerset ; Hugh Court- 
ney, with eleven others. (See Sy- 
mw, vol. li. p. 709.) April the 
27th was the King's birthday, if 
" iora in the year 1443, on ibal 
day, at 45 mimile! past 4 o'clock, 
p. m. at flouen." (See Heame'i 
Liher Niger, etc. vol. ii. p. 525.) 
la the Fragment, attributed to a 
member of the Howard family, the 
year of his birth U given as 1440. 
(See page 1 qftAtpreeent volume:) 
and his contemporary annalist says : 
"1442, Edward, second son and 
heir of Richard, Duke of York.vfBS 
born on the 28th of April, two 
hours after midnight." —( fCiHiom 
Wyrceslcr, p. 462.) 
.] TUB REieS OF EDW*BD IV. 75 
they would come on straight towra,rds the King's battle, a.! 
For which cause, and for that he would see, and set his 
people in array, he drove all the people out of the town, 
and lodged him (self) and his host that night in the 
fields, three miles out of the town. And on the morrow, 
he (having no certain tidings of their coming forward) 
went to Malnieabury, seelting upon them. And there bb. 
had he knowledge, that they, understanding his ap- nu 
proaching and marching near to them, had left (changed) 
their purpose of giving battle, and turned aside-hand, 
and went to Bristol, a good and strong walled town, Tr 
where they were greatly refreshed and relieved, by such »■ 
as were the King's rebels in that town, of money, men, 
and ai-tillerj' ; wherethrough they took new courage, the 
Thursday after, to take the field, and give the King 
battle ; for which intent they had sent out-ridera to a 
town nine miles from Bristol, called Sodbury; and, a 
mile towards the King, they appointed a ground for 
their field at a place called Sodbury Hill. The King, & 
hearing this, the same Thursday, (the) first day of May, {i 
with all his host in array, and fair ordinance, came to- 
wai-ds the place by them appointed for their field. The 
enemies, also, advanced them forth the same day out of 
Bristol, (making semblance as though they would have 
come straight to the place appointed,) but, having know- 
ledge of the King's approaching, they left that way, 
albeit their harbingers were come before them as far 
as Sodbury town, where they distressed certain of the 
King's party, (five or six, such as negligently pressed bo 
far forwards, dreading no danger, hut only intending to 
have purveyed there their master's lodgings,) and so they 
changed their said purpose, and took their way straight 
to Berkeley, travelling all that night, and from thence ti 
towai'ds the town of Gloucester. The King, the same b', 
Thursday, soon after noon came near to the same ground, gi 
called Sodbury Hill, and, not having any certainty of 
his enemies sent his scourere all about in the countr\-. 
w 
i OF EDWARD IV. [fLEETWOI 
i47i. trusting by them to liave wist (known) where they 
been. About that jtlace was a great and a fair larj 
plain, called a Wold, and doubtful it was for to paaa 
further, so he might hear somewhat of them supposing 
that thoy were right near, as so they might well have been, 
if they had kept forth the way they took out of Bristol. 
And, when he could not hear any certainty of them, 
advanced for^vards his whole battle, and lodged his vawf 
(vanguard) beyond the liili, in a valley towards the toi 
of Sodbury ; and lodged himself with the remainder of 
host at the selfe {same) hill, called Sodbury HOI. Eari; 
in the morning, soon after 3 o'clock, the King had cer- 
tain tidings, that they bad taken their way by Berkely 
towards Gloucester, as so tliey took {their way) indeed. 
Whereupon he took advice of his council of that he had 
to do for the stopping of their ways, at two passages 
afore named by Gloucester, or else by Tewkesbury ; and 
^ first he purveyed {provided) for Gioucestor, and sent 
'^' thither certain servants of his own to Richard Beau- 
rend"'' champ,' son and heir w the Lord Beauchanip, (to whom 
M'lb* afore he had committed the mle and governance of tl 
town and castle of Gloucester,) commanding him to ki 
the town and castle for the King; and that he, 
such help as he might liave, should defend the 
against tliem, in case they would in any wise assail thei 
as it was supposed they so would do that same afternoonl 
letting them wete {know) that he woiJd have good esj 
upon them if they so did. And, if he might know tl 
they so did, he promised to come (to) their rescue aiu 
comfort. With this, the King's message, they were wi 
received at Gloucester, and the town and castle put 
sure and safe keeping of the said Richard, and thtfi 
said King's servants. Which message was sent and 
done in right good stiason ; for certain it is, the King's 
;en. 
MANUSCRIPT.] TIIF. TtEION- OK KDWARD IV. 77 
entered the toivn, and either (to) have kept it against 
the King, or at the least {to) have passed through the 
town into other countries, where they thought (to) have 
been mightily assisted, as well with Welshmen, which 
they deemed should have fallen to them in those parts in 
the company of Jasper, called Earl of Pembroke, as also 
for to have gotten into their company by that way-taking 
great number of men of Lancashire, and Cheshire, upon 
whom they much trusted. For which causes they had 
greatly travelled their ]>eople all that night and morning; 
upon the Friday [to the] about ten oelock they were 
come before Gloucester, where their intent was utterly 
denied them by Richard Beauchamp, and others of the 
King's servants, that, for that cause, the King had sent 
thither, notwithstanding many of the inhabitants of that 
town were greatly disposed towards them, as they had 
certain knowledge. Of this demeaning they took right 
great displeasure, and made great menaces, and pre- 
tended as though they would have assaulted the town, 
^id won it upon them; hut, as well those that kept 
the town, as the said enemies, that so pretended, knew 
well that the King with a mighty puissance was near to 
them ; and, if any aflray had there been made, he might 
soon have been upon them, and taken upon them right 
great advantage ; wherefore, they, in the town, nothing 
doubted, and they, without, durst not for fear, begin any 
such work ; and therefore, they shortly took their con- r. 
elusion for to go the next way to Tewkesbury, whither m 
they came the same day about four (in the) afternoon, mi 
By which time they had so travelled their host that h" 
night and day, that they were right weary for travelling ; 
for by that time they had travelled thirty-six long miles, 
in a foul country, all in lanes and strong ways, betwixt 
woods, without any good refreshing. And, for as much 
as the greater part of their host were footmen, the other 
part of the host, when they were come to Tewkesbury, 
Could (not) nor might have laboured any further, hut 
[fleetwi> 
(on/y) if they would wilfully have forsaken, and left their 
footmoi befaiDd them : and, (added) thereto, themselves 
that were hors^neD were right wean- of that journey, 
as (a/) so were their horses. So, whether it were of 
their election, and good will, or no, hut that they were 
verily compelled to (a) hide by two causes ; one was for 
weariness of their people, which they supposed not their 
people would have any longer endured; another, for 
they knew well that the King ever approached towards 
them near and near, ever ready, in good array and ordi- 
nance, to have pursued and fallen upon them, if they 
would any further have gone, and peradventure to their 
most disadvantage. They therefore detennined to abide 
there the adventure,* that God would send them, in the 
1- quarrel they had taken in hand. And for that intent 
the same night they pitched them (selves) in a field, in 
a close even at the town's end ; the town and the abbey 
at their backs; before them, anduponevery hand of them, 
foul lanes, and deep dykes, and many hedges, with hills 
and valleys ; — a right evil place to approach, as could 
well have been devised. 
The King, the same morning, the Friday, early, ad- 
vanced his banners, and divided his whole host in three 
battles, and sent before him his fore {out) riders, and 
scourers on every side (of) him ; and so in fair airay, 
"" and ordinance, he took his way through the champagne 
country, called Cotswold,^ travelling all his people, 
whereof were more than three thousand footmen, that 
Friday, which was right^an hot day, thirty miles and 
^ It vas evideatl; the policy of 
engagement till their "^'^ joineil hj 
the Earl of Pemhroke, Margaret, 
who through all her previoaa c: 
IB had hi 
lip agaii 
. adver. 
1 the fears 
of a mother. She wished to place 
the Severn betwixt the rival armiBB; 
but in the eihaneted atate of her 
troops and the near proiimity of 
Edward, it was found impracticahlfl 
to accomplish this ; as before the 
entire army conid have passed, the 
enemj would have had it in Ma 
power to attack them, when certain 
destruction would have awaited 
those who were left behind. 
MANUSCRIPT.] THE nElCX OF RTIWARD IV. 
moro; (in) which his people might not find, in all the a,d 
way, horse-raeat, nor man's-meat, nor bo much as drink 
for their horses, save in one little brook, where was full 
Jittle relief, it was so soon troubled with the carriages, 
that had passed it. And all that day was evermore the 
King's host within five or six miles of his enemies ;— 
in plain country, and they amongst woods, having always 
good espials upon them. So, contiiming that journey ArriT*. 
till he came with all his host to a village called Chelten- May »i 
ham, but five miles from Tewkesbury, (where the King 
had certain knowledge, that but little before liis coming 
thither, his enemies were come to Tewkesbury, and there 
were taking a field, wherein they purposed to abide, and 
deliver him battle.) Whereupon the King made no 
longer tanying, but a little comforted himself, and his 
people, with such meat and drink as he had deemed to be 
carried with him, for victualing of his host ; and incon- 
tinent set forth towards his enemies, and took the field, 
and lodged himself, and all hia host, within three miles 
of them. Upon the morrow following, Saturday, the 
fourth day of May, (King Edward) appareled himself, 
and set all his host in good array ; ordained three bkhf < 
wards ; "* displayed his banners ; did blow up the trum- M»y4u 
pets ; committed his cause and quarrel to Almighty God, 
Edws 
in three lines ; the 
bT bis brother Richnrd, Dake of 
Glonceater ; the aecond h; himself 
and UiB Dnlie of CUrence ; and the 
rear bj the Marquis of Dorset and 
the Lord Hsstinga. The Queea'a 
forces were likewiae ranged in three 
bodies ; the first comniBaded h; the 
Dake of Somerset and Lord John 
Beaufort; the second by the Prioce 
of Wales, the Lords Wenlock and 
St. John ; and the third by the 
Earl of Devonshire. No position 
could have been better chosen than 
that of the Duke of Somerset ; and 
could he but haie remained entirety 
on the defensive till tlie arrival of 
the Earl of Pembroke, the result of 
that battle would probBblj haje 
placed Henry again on bis throne- 
That Che Lancastriaos anticipated 
result ii evident from a 
■ of S 
John Pastor 
dated April 30th, 1471. 
■' With God's grace it shall not he 
long to or than {t^ore) my wrongs 
and other men's Bhall be redressed, 
for the world was never so like to 
be ours as it is no«. 1 thank God 
I am nbole of my sickness, and 
trust to be clean ichole of all my 
hurts within a sev'night at the far- 
tliest, by which time I trust to hare 
other tidings j and those tidings 
once hud, I trust not to be long 
out of Norfolk. "—(PaJ/onitWeri, 
vol. V. p. 7.) 
80 THE REIIIN OF EnWAHD IV. [PI.ECTWOOd's 
to our most blessed Lady his Mother, Virgin Mary, the 
glorious Martyr, Saint George, and all the Saints ; and 
advanced directly upon his enemies approaching to their 
field, which was in a marvellous strong ground strongly 
pitched, full difficult to be assailed. Nevertheless the 
King's ordinance was so conveniently laid before them, 
and his vanguard so sore oppressed them, with shot of 
arrows, that they gave them right-a-sharp shower. Also 
they did again-ward to them, both with shot of arrows, 
and guns, whereof nevertheless they had not so great 
plenty, as had the King, In the front of their field were 
BO {such) evil lanes, and deep dykes, so many hedges, 
trees, and bushes, that it was right hard to approach 
them near, and come to hands; but Edmond, called 
jf Duke of Somerset, having that day the van, whether it 
were, for that be and his fellowship were sore annoyed in 
the place whore they were, as weO with gun-shot, as with 
shot of arrows, which they neither would nor durst abide; 
or else, of great heart and courage, knightly and manly 
advanced himself with his fellowship, somewhat aside- 
hand the King's van ; and, by certain paths and ways 
therefore before purveyed, and to the King's party 
imknown, he departed out of the field, passed a lane, and 
came into a fair place, or close, even before the King, 
where he was embattled ; and from the hill, that was in 
one of the closes, he set right fiercely upon the end 
of the King's battle. The King full manly set forth 
even upon them, entered and won the dyke, and hedge, 
upon them, into the close, and, with great violence put 
them up towards the hill, and so (did) also, the king's 
vanguard in the rule of the Duke of Gloucester. 
Here it is to be remembered, how that, when the King 
was coming before their field," or he set upon them, he 
" The local memorials of thU 
are the meadow, nbich has since 
recdved the appellation of the 
" Bloody Meadow," {and ii Mr 
NDSCBIPT.] THE REION < 
81 
considered, that upon the right liand of their field there a,d. n?i. 
was a park, and therein much wood, and he, thinking to f^^' 
purvey (provide) a remedy in case his said enemies had H^^f ^c. 
laid any 'bushment {ambush) in that wood of horsemen, "'^^ 
he chose out of his felloivship two hundred spears, and 
set them in a plump,'^ together, near a quarter of a mile 
from the field, giving them charge to have good eye upon 
that comer of the wood, if case that any need were, 
[andj to put them (selves) in devoir (service;) and, if 
they saw none such, (then) aa they thought most be- 
hoveful for time and space, to employ themselves in tlie 
best wise as they could ; — which provision came as well 
to point at this time of the battle, as could well have 
been devised; for the said spears of the King's party 
seeing no hkelihood of any 'bushment in the said wood- 
comer, (seeing also good opportunity to employ them- 
selves well) came and broke on, all at once, upon the 
Duke of Somerset, and his vanguard, aside-hand, unad- 
vised whereof, they seeing the King gave them enough 
to do before them, were greatly dismayed and abashed ; 
and so took [them] to flight into the park, and into the The oukc m 
meadow that was near, and into lanes, and dykea, where tmop.givB 
they beat hoped to escape the danger ; of whom never- '""''' 
theleas, many were distressed, taken, and slain. And, even 
at tliis point of their flight, the King courageously set 
upon that other field, where was chief, Edward, called 
Prince, and m (a) short while put him to discomfiture 'n'^ Pri'te 
and flight, and so fell in the chase of them, that many di.coqifii«i. 
of them were slain, and namely at a mill in the meadow, 
fast by the town, were many drowned. Many ran to- 
cltue menlioHed in f Ac j;j^',) and the i 
Vioeyard. The former lies between 
two gently descending banks, abuut 
half a mile Bonth-west of the town, 
and was the spot where the slaagh- i 
ter was greateat. The latter was • 
the place where Queen Margaret I 
laj, and where some intrenchmenCa | i 
1 be traced." — (Di/de'i 
" " Such at were chief officers 
jvolted by plumpeB." — Golding i 
noted by Richardson as authority 
ir interpreting the word plump, si 
[Fleetwood's 
I. \i7\. wards the town, many to the church, to the abbey, and 
else where" as they best might. 
In the winning of the field such as abode handstrokes 
ihorihe were slain incontinent. Edward, called Prince, was 
Im,°e. of taken fleeing to the town [wards,] and slain in the 
uonri ' field. '-^ There was also slain Thomas, called the Earl of 
piock. Devonshire ; John of Somerset, called Marquis Dorset ; 
Lord Wenlock, with many others in great number. 
Km* Thus this done, and with God's might achieved, the 
b*Abt*T' King took the right way to the abbey, there to give 
unto Almighty God laud and thanks for the victory, that 
of his mercy he had that day granted, and given unto 
him ; where he was received with procession, and so 
conveyed through the chtu-ch and the quire to the liigh 
Altar, with great devotion praising God, and yielding 
unto Him convenient laud. And, when there were fled 
into the said church many of his rebels, in groat number, 
( ) or more, (hoping there to have been relieved, 
ie"ho ^^^ saved from bodily harm) lie gave them all his 
(hi iuk:- fj.gg pardon ; albeit there neither was, nor had [not] at 
any time been granted, any franchise to that place for 
any offenders against their prince having recourse thi- 
ther ; but tliat it had been lawful to the King to have 
commanded them to have been drawn out of the church, 
and (to have) had [done] them [to be] executed as his 
traitors, if so had been his pleasure ; but, at the reve- 
rence of the Blessed Trinity, the most Holy Virgin 
'" Tha msnner of the death of Ed- 
vard, Prince of Wxlea, has, like that 
of his father (see note ") alvaji 
been a point of dispute with his- 
torians. The LuicaBtriBil writers 
either Btttte boldlj, or hint sufficient- 
ly intelligibly, that he was murdered 
after the battle. There are 
sideg to every question ; but the 
eTidencB of the House of York 
having reached as only through the 
hands of its rival, (with the cicep- 
tion of onr present (rsgmeot, thus 
gtraDgely brought to light after the 
lapse of agee,) it is necessary to weigh 
well the motives of both parties, to be 
enableJ to judge correctly. Having 
nothing to add to the reasoning of 
the Earl of Orford, and Mr. Sharon 
Turner on this subject, the reader is 
referred to the " Historic Donhts" 
of the former! and the " History of 
the Middle Ages" of the latter, for 
the most satisfactory elucidation of 
this qaesdon. 
S3 
Mary, and the holy martyr Saint George, by whose a.d. w\. 
grace and help he had that day attained so nohle a 
victory ; and, at the same reverence, he granted the The Prinn 
corpses of the said Edward, and others so slain in the "nn other 
field, or else where, to be buried there in church, or ly inwnHi. 
else where, (as) it pleased the servants, friends, or neigh- 
bours, without any quartering, or dcfouling their bodies, 
by setting up at any open place. 
This battle thus done and achieved, and the King's Thr snki of 
grace thus largely shewed, it was so that in the abbey, *^'f^',°' 
and other places of the town were found ; Edmond, ^" '""""*', 
called Duke of Somerset,'* the Prior of St. John's, ci[f^*"^,„ 
called Sir John Longstrother, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir ^"i iKheud. 
Gervase of Clyston (Clifton) knights, squires, and other 
notable persons, [divers] which all (at) divers times were 
brought before the King's brother, the Duke of Glou- 
cester, and Constable of England ; and the Duke of 
Norfolk, Marshal of England, their judges. And so 
were judged to death, in the midst of the town, Ed- 
mond, Duke of Somerset, and the said Prior of Saint 
John's, with many other gentles, that there were taken, 
and that, of long time, had provoked, and continued the 
great rebellion, that so long had endured in the land 
against the King and contarry to the weal of the 
Keahn. The said Duke and others thus judged, were 
executed in the midst of the town upon a scaffold there- 
fore made, beheaded every one, and without any other 
dismembering, or setting up, licensed to be buried. 
All these things thus done, the Tuesday, the seventh Edi«rd p™. 
day of May, the King departed from Tewkesbury to- wor«hirr. 
wards his city of Worcester, and, on the way, he had 
certain knowledge, that Queen Margaret '^ was found not ^^tlaken' 
" " The DnliB of Somerset, the 
Prior of St. John's, Bud manj 
knigbtn and gentlemen, were forcibly 
token out of Sanctuary and exe- 
cuted at Tewkesbury." — (Enj- 
laad'i Happiiuu, p. 161.) 
" The MS. Bays, " thai Quene 
Margareie vxa nal /ounden Jar 
from Ihtnt, in a poure religiowi 
place," — " On prit ayec la Heine, 
la Princesse de GbIIcb, et la Du- 
cheese de Clarence. La derni^re 
2 
84 
THE REIGS I 
!C; 
o. 1*71. far from thence, in a poor religious place, where she had 
hid herself for the safety of her person, the Saturday, 
early in the raoroing, after her son Edward, called Prince, 
was gone to the field, for to withdraw herself from the 
adventure of the battle : of whom also he was assured 
that she should be at his conunandment. 
The King, being at AN'^orcester, had certain knowledge 
also, that certain (of) his rebels of the north parts began 
to make commotions, and assemblies of people against 
him, in the quarrel of Henr)-, called King, for which 
cause he kept not the right way to London, as he had 
purposed, hut. (intending to prepare a new fellowship 
against the said rebels in the north, and to be in a good 
strength of people, whatsoever should happen,) he de- 
termined himself to go to Coventry, as he so did the 
eleventh day of the said month, where he refreshed well, 
such as were left with him of his host, by the space of 
d bronchi three days; and thither was brought unto him Queen 
..enify. Margaret. He forgot not to send from thence his mes- 
sengers with writings, all about the countries near ad- 
joining, to such in especiall as he trusted best, that they 
I'bB™ o'f would do him service. Truth it b, whilst the King in 
luTibe'^ all ways thus prepared a new army, came certain tidings 
ng in ihr yjj^g i^jjj^ jjjj^^, jjjpy ^f ^jjp north had heard the certainty 
of his great victories, and how that he disposed him (self) 
to come towards them, with a great army, and they, 
sore dreading his good speed and great fortunes, (not 
having any (one) of the Warwicks or Nevilles blood, 
unto whom they might have rested (trusted), as they 
fat rendne k aon man ; lea deni 
■Dtrei conduites iL Londrei. La 
g^Q^reUBE Margneritte, reata eacore 
■ii ang dans \es prisons d'Edouaid, 
insqu'iL ce que le Roi de Sicile. son j 
pSre, dans UD traile qu'il fit arcc ' 
LoDiB XI. per leqitel il Ini ceda la 
Proience, obligea ce Roi i payer 
U raDtoadBceltePridcesae, qn'Ed- 
- ' - ' 'B 4 50000 EcoB. 
Be ea liberty, eUe 
La Rdne fut c 
radlia le Traitf de bod p^re, et 
Lonia Ini aBsigna nne pensiim mo- 
diqne, avec laqnelle elle se reCira i 
Angerii, ausai gnmde dans bod mal- 
beur par eb conitance, que Eur la 
Trflne par eb Terto." — {Hiiloirt 
det Deux Rotes, p. 219.) The 
TewkeBbury Chronicle. (Harl. MSS. 
No. 545, p. 102,) also says [he 
Lady Anne was taken wilb the 
MANUSCKIPT.] THE EEIGN 
liad done before ;) knowing, also for certainty, that the a 
Earl of Northumberland was nothing of their party but 
that he would resist and withstand them ■at his utter- 
most power, utterly taking part with the King, and hia 
quarrel; the chieftains of them that were maliciously 
disposed, and (who) for evil intent as above, had com- 
muned and begun to assemble the people, anon upon 
tliia knowledge and considerations, they withdrew them 
{selves) from any further proceeding to (wards) their 
said rebellion, as folks not likely to maintain their false 
quarrel and party. They left their bands and compar 
nies, and divers of them made menes (intercession) to 
the Earl of Northumberland, bosocehing him to be (a) 
good meane (mediator) to the King, for his grace and 
pardon. Some of the scourers were taken, and put in 
ward. The city of York, and other good towns, and v. 
countries lowly submitting themselves and (giving) then m 
to the King their due obedience. And so, by the four- 
teenth day of May, it was known clearly by such as were 
sent unto the King from the Earl of North umberlajid, 
from the city of York, and other divers places in the 
north, that there was no rebellion in all the north begun, 
but that it was so pacified,tliatitneitherraight, nor should, 
annoy the King in any wise. Wherefore it was to him 
thought, and to all hia council, that for to go into the 
north for any pacification or punishment of such persons, 
it was not needful, as at that time; and so it was most 
clearly declared the same day by the Earl of Northum- 
berland, (who came straight to the King at Coventry, 
out of the north countiy,) at his departing well assured 
that the country was in good and sure tranquillity, with- 
out any commotions or unlawful gatherings. Which 
Earl came not accompanied greatly, but with a few folks, 
and not arrayed in ((^e) manner of war ; for he had no 
manner (of) knowledge, but that the King, after this his 
great victories achieved, should have good peace, every 
where in liis realm. But it was not so, for the King 
86 IHB BEIUN OF EDWARD IV. [fIXETWOOd's 
A,D.H7i. had knowledge, before that he came to Coventry, by 
letters sent him bj lords of his blood, beiog at London 
TbtBMUud this season, Bhat the Bastard FaIconbridge,is (which, a 
bruge't httle before that, had been sent to the sea by the Earl 
of Warwick, and had distressed many merchant-ships of 
Portugal, and taken the ships and goods to himself, in 
breach of the amity that of long time had been betwixt 
the realms of England and Portugal,) he had called unto 
him, and to his fellowship, great parties and numbers of 
manners, out of every part and port of England, and 
many other traitors and misgoverned men, of every 
country of England, and also other countries, that had 
great courage to attend to theft and robbery. It was 
sliewcd the King, that daily his number drew greater 
and greater, and that he was gone to Calais, and brought 
He laDiii Id Diaiiy mcn with him from thence into Kent, where he 
began to gather his people in great number, intending, 
by likelihood, to do some great mischievous deeds. After 
the King was at Covcntr}', he bad daily messages from 
the Lords at London, how that tlie Bastard had as- 
sembled great (numbers of) people, and, both by land 
(with) many thousands, and by water with all his ships 
coioH lo full of people, he came before London, thinking to rob 
i2lh,u7Lrand spoil, and do all manner of mischief; and thereto 
many of the countrj' of Kent '^ were assenting, and came 
with their good will, as people ready to be applicable to 
loinfdbyih* such seditious commotions. Others of (tAe) Kentish 
' people, that would right fain have sat still at home, and 
not to have run into the danger of such rebellion, (by 
furce and violence of such riotous people, as were of the 
" Thomiu Neville, known by the 
name of the BaaUrd of Falcon- 
bridgo, natural son of the Lord Ffl[- 
conbridge, bad been made Viee- 
Admiral of the Chsnael, hj the Earl 
of Waniicli, on the restoration of 
Hutiry VI. On his submiEsion to 
Ediiard the Fourth at Sandwich he 
was knighted, and re-insUted in bia 
office of Vice-Admiral. Edward's 
pojic; was to get him qaietly in big 
power, and sbortl; after be nag sC- 
taintcd of treason and beheaded. 
■' Holi.1 
MANUSCRIPT.] THE BEIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
said Bastard's company, for fear of death, and other a. d. 
great menaces, and tlireatenings,) were compelled some 
to go with the Bastard in their persons, such 'specially 
as were able in person, if they bad array, and might not 
wage to such as would go ; they were compelled, by like 
force, to lend them their array and harness ; and such as 
were unharnessed, aged, and unable, and of honour, they 
were compelled to send men wj^cd, or to give money 
wherewith to wage (pay) men to go to the said Bas- 
tard's company. So that right in a short time the said 
Bastard, and his fellowship, had assembled to the number 
of sixteen or seventeen thousand men, as they accounted 
themselves. Which came before London the twelfth md -i 
day of May, in the quarrel of King Henry, whom they 
said they would liave out of the Tower of London, as 
they pretended. And, for that cause, they desired the 
citizens of London that they might have free entry into 
the city, where first their inteufcion was to have with 
them the said Henry, and after to pass peaceably tiuvugh 
the city, as they said, without any grievance to be done 
to any person ; upon the intent from thence to go to- 
wards the King, wheresoever they might find him, him 
to destroy and all his partakers, in the quarrel of the 
said Henry, if they might have of him the overliand. 
But, so it was, that the Mayor, Aldermen, and other Thei- 
officers, and citizens of London denied them their entry, (ni™ 
As this was in doing, over came from London fresh 
tidings to the King, from the Lords, and the citizens, 
which with right great instance, moved the King in all 
possible haste to approach, and come to the city, to 
the defence of the Queen, then being in the Tower of 
London, my Lord Prince, and my Ladies, his daughters, 
and of the Lords and of the City, which, as tbey all 
wrote, was likely to stand in the greatest jeopardy, that 
ever they {had) stood (in). In consideration [had for] 
that great numbers of the persons within the city were 
rather disposed to have helped, to have such mischiefs 
88 
: REIGX OF EDWARD IV. [flEETWOOu's 
wrought, than to defend it : some, for (because) they 
were nialiciously disposed, and were in their hearts 
partial to the Earl of Warwick's quarrel, and to the 
party of Henry wherefore {for whom) were many ; some 
for they were poor ; some men sen'ants, men 'prentises, 
which would have been right glad of a common robber)-, 
to the intent, thoy might largely have put their hands in 
rich mens coffers. 
V. These manner of writings moved the King greatly to 
haete him thitherwards ; but it was behoveful, before that 
he came there, ho wore furnished of as great or greater 
host, than he had had at any time, since his coming 
into the land; nevertheless, for that such army might 
not be prepared so soon as he would, the said fourteenth 
day of May, he appointed a notable, and a well chosen 
fellowship out of his host, and sent them unto the city 
of London before his coming, to the number of fifteen 
hundred men, well beseen {selected,) for the comfort of 
■g the Queen, the Lords, and the citizens. And himself 
departed out of Coventry towards London the sixteenth 
day of May. 
Here it is to bo remembered, that, when the Bastard 
and hb fellowship might not purchase of the Mayor, 
and Citizens of London the overture {the throwiiig open) 
of the said city, for their passage through as above, 
neither for their promises, nor for great threatenings, 
and raenacings, they made semblance to pass over {the) 
Thames, by Kingston Bridge, ten miles above London ; 
S^mIo*' *"^ thither drew them the whole host, Iea\-ing all their 
iSlXni. 1 ^^"^ before St. Katherine's, a little from the Tower of 
f^hntnt';. ^""tlon ; pretending that they should come, and destroy 
Westminster, and then the snbiu-bs of London, and 
essay the uttermost against the city, revenging that 
their entry was denied them, and their passage through 
the city, and so forth, with their whole multitude have 
passed through the countries agains\ the King. But, 
so it was, as they were onivards vn to* joamey the 
MANUSCRIPT.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
89 
Bastard had certain knowledge,^® that the King was a.d. i47i. 
greatly assisted with all the Lords of the Reahn in 
substance, great number of noble men, and others in 
greater number than m any time he had had before ; 
fth,,] gre,^ fe»i^ hi. hi^h co„»g, and tnightlK»d. 
and the great victories that God had sent him, they 
delayed with (their) wafar-wyne (wayfaring) and so 
returned again, and came before London, and shewed 
themselves in whole battle in Saint George's field. And He encamps 
that for divers considerations ; for one, they doubted George's 
greatly the rencounter with the King ; also, the multi- 
tude of them came rather for robbing than for revenging 
by way of battle ; they doubted, also, to assail the city 
on that other side of (the) Thames, for likely it was, 
that in case they might not prevail, they of London 
should lightly stop them their ways homeward unto their 
country. And for to divide their host some upon the 
one side of London, and some upon the other side, they 
thought it folly, for so much a5, with few folks, they 
might have broken the bridges after them, and with 
right few folks have kept and stopped their passage. 
CHAPTER III. 
Here followeth how the said Bastard Falconhridge 
with his fellowship assailed the City of London^ and 
set fire unto the Bridge of London, and burnt (a) great 
part thereof and unto other two gates of the said City^ 
and how they w&re honourably rencounterdy and discom- 
^ In Warkworth's Chronicle we 
haye a curious key to this passage : 
" And, for as much, as fair words 
and promises make fools fain {wil- 
ling), the Bastard commanded all 
his host to turn again.*' The King 
found the numbers of the Bastard's 
army might far exceed his own, 
and thus rob him of the fruits of 
his two great victories. He, there- 
fore, had false information conveyed 
to his enemies, greatly exaggerating 
the strength of his followers. 
90 THK RGiuN OK EDWAKD IV, [Fleetwood's 
A.D. 1171. fited, and di-iven to the water, and so the City delivered 
from them. 
FJconbridg* The Bastard and hia fellowahip thus returned again 
King.iDi.to from Kingston Bridge, before London, purposing to 
execute their great rancour and malice against the City 
of London, and that in all haste, to the intent they 
might have their prey before the King's coming, (which 
they thought not to abide,) and it to carry away in their 
fibipB, which were ready to attend for the same intent 
of robbery, but a mile or two from the said city. 
«id iiye ^Vherefore, incontinent, they assailed the city with 
\iiy'.D^A ' groat violence, with shot of guns,. such as they had 
jridge. ' ■ brought out of their shijts in great number, and laid them 
on length (along) the water side, straight over against 
the city ; wherewith they prevailed nothing, for the 
citizens agaynewarde (towards them) in divers places laid 
ordinance. Wherefore the Bastard provided another 
means to annoy and grieve the said City sore, and there- 
fore ordained a great fellowship to set fire upon (unto) 
the bridge, and to bum the houses upon the bridge, and 
[through] thereby to make them (selves) an open way 
into the said city. An other great fellowship he set 
over the water with hia ships, more than three thousand 
ihkJis men, which were divided into two parties; one party 
liibopa^w. went to Aldgate, meaning to have entered the city 
there, by assault; another party went to Bishopsgate, 
meaning to have entered there by another assault ; 
where they shot guns and arrows into the city, and did 
much harm and hurt. And at the last set fire upon the 
gates, for to have burnt them, and so trusting to have 
entered at large. Their burning at the bridge pro- 
fited them [of] nothing; albeit they burnt many houses 
i.ty houaea to tlic uumber of III"- (sixty) ;— but the citizens had set 
ridgp, such ordinance in their way, that though all the way 
had been open, it had been hard for them to have 
entered by that way, but upon their lives. The Mayor, 
UraCRlPT.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD I 
Aldermen, and worshipful citizens of the city were in 
good array, and set to every part, whore was bchoveful, 
great fellowship well ordered and ordained, for to with- 
stand the malice of these aforesaid rebels. 
To the citizens, and defence of the City, come the Th* Eai 
Earl of Essex, and many knights, aquires, gentlemen, huiem 
and yeomen, right well arrayed, which had right great city. 
diligence in ordering the citizens, and first to prepare 
and ordain for the defence and safety of the said city 
and people thereof, where it was necessary ; and (lhe7t) 
prepared how and where they might best issue out upon 
them, and put them from their purpose. By which 
mixing of gentlemen and lords servants with the citizens 
in every part, the citizens were greatly encouraged to 
sot sharply upon them with one whole intent, where else 
it had been likely they should not have willed to have 
done so much thereto as was done. For as it is afore- 
said, great number of the city were there, that, with 
right good will, would (that) they had been suffei-ed to 
have entered the city, to the intent to have fallen to 
mischief and robbery with them. And so, after con- 
tinuing of much shot of guns and arrows a great while 
upon both parties, the Earl Rivers, that was with the 
Queen, in the Tower of London, gathered unto him a 
fellowship right well chosen and liabiled (ahtej if four or rhe Eari 
five hundred men, and issued out at a postern upon from me 
them, and, even upon a point, came upon the Kentish 
men, being about the assaulting of Aldgate, ajid mightily 
I^d upon them with arrows, and upon them in (wit/i) 
hands, and so killed and took many of them, driving 
them from the same gate to the waterside. Yet never- Dcfciin 
theless (in) three places fires were burning all at once. 
The Mayor, Aldermen, and many of the said city, were 
anon in their harness, and parted their fellowship into 
divers parties, as them thought most behoveful : but a 
great part of the citizens were at Aldgate, and with 
them many gentlemen and yeomen, which all made the 
e m A.D. Li/i. 
92 THK nEIGS OP EDWARD IV. [pr-EETWOODa 
1. defence that they best might, and shot many guns and 
arrows among them ; but for this the Kentish men 
spared (ceased) not to assail at both the gates, so that 
the said Lord and citizens determined in themselves to 
arredy {array) them (selves) in good array, and to issue 
out upon them in hands, and put them to flight and 
discomfiture. About three thousand, and more fell in 
(Cook lo) the chase of them, and slew more than seven 
hundred of them. Many were taken and after (wards) 
hanged ; the remainder went to the waterside, and took 
their boats, and went to their ships, and over to that 
other side again, 
est These heinous traitors and robbers, the Bastard and 
fny his fellowship, seeing they could in nowise profit to their 
i' Intents, by little and little, withdrew them (selves) to 
the Blacklieath to a hill three miles from London, the 
sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth day of May, 
there abiding by the space of three days ; but, there 
abiding, they had certain knowledge that the King was 
coming with great puissance, whereof they greatly adrad 
(Aad dread), seeing that they might not have their prey 
of London, neither having hardies (boldness) to abide 
the King, and his puissance, they dispersed ; they of 
fHi^Calais, to Calais, the soonest they could ; such as were 
I- of other countries into theirs ; many of Kent, to their 
houses; the mariners, and mischievous robbers, rebels 
and rioters with them, to their ships ; and drew down 
to the sea coast with all their ships. 
The King this season, well accompanied and mightily 
with great lords, and in substance all the noblemen of 
the land, with many other able men, well arrayed for the 
war, to the number of thirty thousand horsemen, came 
to the city of London, soon after the dispersing of the 
Kentish host, the twenty-first day of May, the Tuesday ; 
where he was honourably received of all the people, the 
Mayor, Aldermen and many other worshipful men. 
Citizens of the said City. At the meeting of them the 
RIIT.] 
THE KEIGN C 
King dubbed Knights, the Mayor, the Recorder, divers a 
Aldermen, with other worshipful persona of the said i^^'^ilS 
City of London, which as had raauly and honourably au^find*' 
acquit (ed) themselves against the Bastard and his cniol ms^^mS' 
host ; honouring and rewarding them with the order of '''^"°"'- 
his good love and grace, for their true acquital, [and] as 
they had right well and tniely deserved that time.i^ 
Here it is to be remembered, that from the time of 
Tewkesbury-Keld, where Edward, called Prince, was 
slain, then, and soon after, were taken and slain at the 
King's will, all the noblemen that came from beyond the 
sea with the said Edward, called Prince, and others also 
their part-takers as many as were of any might or puis- 
sance. Queen Margaret herself, (was) taken and brought 
to the King, and in every part of England, where any 
commotion was begun for King Henry's party, anon they 
wore rebuked, so that it appeared to every man, at once, 
the said party was extinct, and repressed for ever, with- 
out any manner {of) hope of again quickening ; utterly 
despaired (deprived) of any mamier of hope or relief. 
The certainty of all which came to the knowledge of the 
said Henry, late called King, being in the Tower of 
London. Not having before that knowledge of the said S""^-^'- 
matters, he took it to so great despite, ire, and indigna- ^'Jj'"''^ 
tion, that of pure displeasure, and melancholy, he died '''^'' '^fj^ 
the twenty third day of the month of May.^ Whom the ^■" 
'» "On the morrow thnt the King 
wsB come to Loadon, for the good 
him, he made Knighta of the Alder- 
men, Sir John StocktoD, Sir Ralph 
Verney, Sir Richard Lee, Sir John 
Yonge, Sir William Taylor, Sir 
George Ireland, Sir John Stoker, 
Sir Matthew Phillipp, Sir William 
Hampton. Sir Thomas Sulbrooke, 
Sir John Croabjr, Sir Tbamas Urs- 
vick, Recorder of London,"— 
{Warkieorth't ChronieU.) 
^ The redder ia here preaented 
with the Tsrious acconntu of the 
death of King Henry. "Also upon 
Aacension eve King Henry was 
brought from the Tower, through 
Cheape.Dnto St. Paula upon abler; 
und about the bier more glaiiei and 
ttaves, than torches \ who was slain 
at it was eaid by the Duke of Glou- 
cester; but how he was dead, thither 
he was brought dead, and in the 
eburch (he corps stood all night i 
and on Che morning be was cdd- 
Teyed to Cherteey, were he was bu- 
ried," — {London Chron. Callon. 
Vitel. A. XVI.) 
" I say not that in this interval 
94 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV, [fLEETWOOb's 
King did (oj^rfer) to be brought to the friars preachera 
at London, and there his funeral service done, to be 
carried by water to an Abbey upon Thames' Side, six- 
teen miles from London, called Chertaey, and there 
honourably interred. 
The King incontinent after his coming to London, 
of time Ihs body of King Henry 
was found dend in the Toner of 
Londoa : may God forgive, xai 
give liim lime for repentance, who 
dared la place sacrilf^ous bands 
even on the Lord's anointed." — 
(Crotflimd ConliiiKatur.) 
" Of the death of this prince 
diverse tsiea were told : but the 
, that lie 
rnck with a 
JBgger by t 
hands of the Dnke of Glonc 
— (Kziynn, a«d Hardyng.) 
" And the same night that King 
Edward came to London, King 
Henry being ia ward in prison in 
(he Tower of London, was put to 
death, the 21et day of May, on a 
TocBda; night, between 11 and 12 
of llie clock, (being then at the 
Tower, (he Duke of Gloucester, 
brother to King Edward, and many 
others)."— (ITarAroorM'* Chroni. 
cU.) 
" Immediately after this batlle 
the Duke of Gloucester either killed 
with his own hand, or caused to be 
murdered in his presence, in some 
H enry. ' ■ — ( CommiHei.) 
In the Issue Rolls we find money 
paid to Hugh Price, on the 24th of 
June, for Che Expenses of the Bu- 
rial of Henry VI., for carrying him 
fiom the Tower to St. Paula and 
from thence to Chertsey.— (flraon's 
Iniroduclion.) 
According to our text King Ed- 
ward arrived in London on the 21st 
of May ; AscenaioD eve was the 
22nd. and Ascension day the 23rd. 
The King remained only one day 
in London, and then proceeded to 
Sandwich to suppress the revolt of 
Fali'onbridge. Henry, deposed and 
childless, a prisoner, and his party 
quite annihilated, was quite as 
likely to die of grief on bearing 
that the Queen Margaret was in 
Edward's power, and his son kiUed, 
as to have fallen by the hand of 
Richard ; who by this gratuitous 
murder was not to reap any indi- 
vidual benefit, seeing that Edward 
had a large family of children. It 
is, however, quite in accordance 
with the spirit of that day to sup- 
pose that Henry was murdered, 
and not at all improbable by the 
connivance of his rival, who 
throughout this rapid campaign 
seems studiously to have sought 
the destruction of the leaders of 
the Lancastrian party, and to have 
spared their more lowly depend- 
ants. If the murder of King Henry, 
therefore, were countenanced by 
any member of the House of 
York, it was Edward himself, and 
not his brother, who was accessory 
before the fact ; nor is it at all 
likely that the Duke of Gloucester 
would have become the instrument 
of his brother's cruelty. His de- 
feat at the Battle of Bosworth 
Field, and the consequent usurpa- 
tion of the throne by Henry VII. 
in 14S5 (for even his marriage with 
the Princess Elizabeth in 14SG only 
made him consort to the Queen ;) 
is the cause why the character of 
Richard the Third was blackened 
by all Lancastrian writers, during 
the reigns of the Tudor family. 
The authorities quoted give the 
21st of May, whilst our tejt men- 
tions distinctly the 23rd, as the 
day of Henry's death. He was in 
bis fiftieth year, and the greatest 
benefits conferred by his reign 
were the foundatioo of Eton School 
and King's College, Cambridge. 
MANUSCRIPT.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 95 
tarried but one day, and went with his whole army, after a.d, 1471. 
his said traitors into Kent them to repress, in case they Ihe^JSSJ,^^ 
were in any place assembled, and for to let (hinder) them 
to assemble by any commotion to be made amongst them, 
where unto they heretofore have oftentimes been accus-^ 
tomed to do. But, truth it was, that they were dispersed 
as before (said), but the said Bastard Falconbridge, with 
great number of uiariners, and many other mischievous 
men, called his soldiers, or men of war, went straight to 
Sandwich, and there kept the town with strength, and who had 
, , taken posses- 
many great and small ships, about forty and seven, in^'onofsand- 
the haven all under his rule. And, as soon as they un- 
derstood the King and his host approached near unto 
them, the said Bastard sent unto him such means as best 
he could, humbly to sue for his grace and pardon, and 
them of his fellowship ; and by appointment willed there They offer 
to be delivered to the King's behoof all his ships, and arepardoned. 
became his true liegeman, with as straight (a) promise 
of true allegiance, as could be devised for them to be 
made, which, after deliberation taken in that part, for 
certain great considerations was granted. Wherefore the 
King sent thither his brother, Richard Duke of Glou- 
cester, to receive them in his name, and all the ships : 
as he so did the twenty sixth day of the same month, 
the King that time being at Canterbury. And thus, ^«^J^^ at 
with the help of Almighty God, the most Glorious Virgin May 26th. ' 
Mary, His Mother, and of Saint George, and of the 
Saints of Heaven, was begun, finished, and terminated, 
the reentry, and perfect recovery of the just title and 
right of our said Sovereign Lord, King Edward the 
Fourth, to his realm and crown of England, within the 
space of eleven weeks ; in the which season, moienaunt 
(owing to) the help and grace of Almighty God, by his 
wisdom and polygive (policy), he escaped and passed 
many great perils, and dangers, and diflBculties, wherein 
he had been ; and by his full noble and knightly courage, 
hath obtained two right-great cruel and mortal battles ; 
96 THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV. 
A.D. 1471. put to flight and discomfiture divers great assemblies of 
his rebels, and riotous persons in many parts of his land ; 
the which though all they also rigorously and maliciously 
disposed, as they might be, (yet) they were nevertheless 
so afraid and affeared of the very assured courage and 
manhood that resteth in the person of our said sovereign 
Lord, that they were, anon, as confused. Whereby it 
appeareth, and faithfully is believed, that with the help 
of Almighty God, which from his beginning hitherto 
hath not failed him, in (a) short time he shall appease 
his subjects through (out) all his realm ; that peace and 
tranquility shall grow and multiply in the same, from 
day to day, to the honour and loving of Almighty God, 
the increase of his singular and famous renown, and to 
the great joy and consolation of his friends, allies, and 
well-willers, and to all his people, and to the great con- 
fusion of all his enemies, and evil willers.^^ 
Here endeth the Arrival of King Edward the Fourth^ 
Out of Master Fleetwood's book^ Recorder of London. 
^ ** Tout 86 pacifia k sa vue, et i Royaume perda en onze.*' — (His^ 
il reconquit en vingt jours, ce | toire des Deux Rosea f p. 217.) 
THE CHRONICLE-HISTORY 
OP THE REIGN OF 
KING EDWARD THE FOURTH 
FROM HIS ACCESSION IN 1461 TO THE SUPPRESSION 
OF LORD OXFORD'S REBELLION, 1473. 
FROM DR. JOHN WARKWORTh's MS. ADDITIONS TO 
CAXTOn's CHRONICLE. 
{Preserved in Si. Peter's College, Cambridge.) 
H 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
In Leland's Collectanea, Vol. II. p. 499, first edition, 
1715, are extracts "out of a Chronicle in St. Peter's 
College Library, Cambridge." This Chronicle ia a MS. 
copy of Caxton's Chronicle of the Brut«, with additions 
from the pen of Dr. John Warkworth, who was Master 
of St. Peter's College from U73 to 1498; and who, 
from the register of donations, appears to have presented 
the volume to the Library, A.D. 14S3. His additions, 
as a record of facts, though without strict attention to 
Chronology, deserve attention, as he notes down several 
minor occurrences, omitted by other writers, such as the 
appearance of the comet in 147'2, the severe frost, &c. 
Dr. Warkworth, besides his own autograph, had a 
duplicate, into which these additions were transcribed, 
and this is the volume from which the following narrative 
is taken. As it is probable that in Leland's time both 
MSS. were in existence, the text, as now given, has been 
carefully collated with his extracts, and all discrepancies 
pointed out. What has become of the original MS. ia 
h2 
U 
100 ADVERTISEMENT. 
not known ; the transcript, however, is authenticated by 
having the autograph directions of the author prefixed, 
and which we have given as " Monitum." Dr. Hunter, 
in the Appendix to the Report of the Record Commis- 
sion, following the notice of Mr. Hartshome, in his Book 
Rarities of the University of Cambridge, pointed out the 
existence of this curious volume, which has recently been 
given by Mr. Halliwell as his contribution to the Camden 
Society, in the original orthography. A few notes are 
added to our modernized text, to elucidate the discre- 
pancies between the rival accounts, furnished by the 
partisans of York and Lancaster, amongst the latter of 
whom our author must claim a distinguished place. 
WARKWORTH'S CHRONICLE OF KING 
EDWARD IV. 
MONITUM. 
As for all things that follow, refer them to my copy, The ii™.i 
in which is wiitten a remanente (residve) like to this ■^^'"■ 
Toresaid work, that is to wit, that at the coronation of ^^=1 *. 
the 'fores^d Edward, he created > and made Dukes, his 
' These Crentiona took place as 
follows: — Georse. Ouke of Cla- 
rence, 14(il — Kiuliaril, Duke of 
Gloucester, 1461 —John NeiiUe, 
Ijtcd MontiGDte, EarL of Northnm- 
berUad, li64, and Marquis of Man- 
tague, 1170— Humpbrej (not Wil- 
liam) StafTord, Baron Stafford of 
Soathwick, 1461, and Earl of De- 
vonshire, 146B— Sir William Her. 
bert, Lord Herbert, 1461, and Earl 
of Fembiake, 1468, and lastly Earl 
of Huntingdon, 1479- Edmund de 
Grey, Lord Gre; of Rarhjrn, Earl 
of Kent, in 1465 -Henrj Bouchier, 
Earl of Eu, Earl of Essex, HGl— 
John SlalTord, Earl of Wiltshire, in 
1470- SirWalter (not Sir Thomas) 
Blount, Lord Mounljoy, 1463— Sir 
John Howard, Lord Honard, 1459, 
afterwards Dake of Norfolk, 1483 
— William Histinge, Lord Has- 
tings, in 14(il — Richard Wood- 
ville, Earl of Rivers, in 1466— John 
Diuham, LordDinham, 1466. Thna 
it will be seen that Ibis paragraph 
is full of inaccuracies. The Chro- 
□icle, knonn as Hearoe's Fragment, 
is far better authority, see p. 9. The 
only earlttoms bestowed by the King 
at his coronation were conferred on 
Henry, Lord Bouchier, Earl of Eu 
102 
two brothers, the elder George, Duke of Clarence, and 
"* his younger brother, Ilichard, Duke of Gloucester ; and 
the Lord Montague, the Eari of Warwick's brother, the 
Earl of Northumberland; and one \Villiani Stafibrd, 
squire, Lord Stafford of Southwick; and Sir Herbert 
Lord Herbert, and after (a while) Lord Earl of Pem- 
broke, and 90 the said Lord Stafford was made Earl of 
Devonshire ; the Lord Gray Ruthyn, Earl of Kent ; 
the Lord Bouchier, Earl of Essex ; the Lord John, of 
Buckingham, the Earl of Wiltshire ; Sir Thomas 
Blount Knight, Lord Mount (joy) ; Sir John Howard, 
Lord Howard; William Hastings he made Lord Has- 
tings, and great Chamberlain ; and the Loud liivers ; 
Dinham squire. Lord Dinliam ; and worth as is before 
shewed, and others of gentlemen and yeomen lie made 
Knights and squires, as they had deserved. 
THE CHRONICLE. 
And also the first year of his reign ho ordained a 
I" parliament,^ at which were attainted King Henry, and 
in NormHiidy, vbo haJ TnarHed the 
King'e autit, the Dnme laabelle of 
York ; iind tbe Earidom of Kent, 
conferred on William Neville, Lord 
Falcoabridge, in reward for his ser- 
vices Bt the Battle of Touton. 
' '-Andhereitia tobe remarked 
that in this qaarret between the tvD 
ramiliee of Ynrk and Lancaster, the 
Parliament nlway a took care to de- 
clare on the aide of the Victor, be- 
eause the]' never had the libert; of 
acting otherwiae. Thej were not 
coDsalted till the question waa al- 
ready decided hj arms ; conaequent- 
1; it WHS in lain to allege acta of 
parliament to support the Rights 
eitlierof theonehonaeorthe other." 
— [Eapia's Acta Regia, 
" And in the parliaa 
Weatminster, on the • 
Treason, those whose. 
beld a 
low : -viz. King Henry VI ; Qaeeii 
Margaret ; Edward, their son ) 
Henry, Dnke of Eicter ; Henry, 
Duke of Somerset ; Thomas Court- 
ney, Ear! of Devonahire ; Henry, 
late Earl of Northumberland; Jas- 
per, Earl of Pembroke ; Thomas, 
Lord de Roos ; John, Lord Clif- 
ford ; Robert, Lord Hangerford; 
Lionel, liite Lord Welles; William, 
ViEcount BcaDDiont ; Johq, late 
Lord Nesille ; Thomas, Lord Grey 
of Rougemonti Ralph, late Lord 
Dacrc; Thomas Neville ; Thomas 
Manning, Clerk ; JohnWhelpdale; 
John Lai ; Father Robert Gaslee ; 
John Preston; Humphrey, Lord 
Dacre, Knight; Ralph Bigot, Knight; 
James Luttrell.Kt.i Philipp Went- 
worth, Kt. ; John Fortescue, Kt. ; 
Baldwin Pulford, Kt. ; Alexander 
Hody, Kt. ; William Talhojs, Kt. ; 
Edmund Muunirord, Kt. ; Thomas 
CHRONICLE.] THE BEIGN OP EDWARD IV, 
all others, that fled with him into Scotland, out ofn. 
England ; and for so much as he found, in time of need, NDtfrnhe"'*' 
great comfort in his Commonera, he ratified and con- 
finned all the franchises given to cities and towns etc. 
and granted to many cities and towns new franchises, 
more than was granted before, right largely, and made 
charters thereof to the intent to have the more good 
will and love in his land. 
Also Queen Margaret, Harry, Duke of Exeter, the rue fuhh 
Duke of Somerset, and other lords that fled (yrom) "iii honiDui 
England, had kept certain castles in Northumberland, ai>auugairi. 
as Alnwick, Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh, (Nawartk) and 
also Warkworth, which they had victualed and stuffed, 
both with Englishmen, Frenchmen, and Scotchmen ; by 
Trcahsm, Kt. ; WiUiam Catosby, 
Kl. ; W. Vani, Kt. ; Robert 
Ballhorp, Kt. i W. GaBcoigne, Kt. ; 
Edmund Hampden, Kt. ; Thos. 
Fynderne, Kt. ; John Conrtaey, 
Kt. ; Henrj Lewis, Kt. ; Bichsrd 
Tempest, Kt. ; W. Carr, Kt. ; Then. 
Fnlforth, Kt. ; Nicb. Lsttmer, Kt. ; 
Walter NnttaU, Kt. ; Henry Cliff, 
Kt. i Joho Heroa de Forde, Kt. ; 
Soger Clifford, Kt. ; Richard Tun- 
atall, Kt. ; Henr; Belingham, Kt. ; 
Richard Duoltett, Kt. ; W. Lee, 
Kt. ; Robert Whittingham, Kt. ; 
John Ormond, Kt. ; William Mill, 
Kt. ; Simon Huaja, Kt. ; Roger 
Ward, Kt. ; John Skidmore, Kt. ; 
W. Haringtoo, Kt. ; W. Hollaod, 
Kt. ; Tho8. Escryngham, Kt. ; 
Himry Roos, Kt. AUo : Hnm- 
pbrey Neville, Squire ; Giles Sant- 
low, S. i Edward EUeamere, S. ; 
John Mervyn, S. ; ThOB. PhUlippa, 
S. ; Thomas Brampton, S. ; John 
Andley, S. ; Thomas Tonatall, S. ; 
W. TonBlall, S. ; Thoa. Crajford, 
S. ; John Sthakild, S. ; Will. Jo- 
seph, S. ; John Lynch, S. i Richard 
WatertOn,8.; HankinsCharnock, S.; 
John Roogb, S. ; Rob. Boliogham, 
S, ; John Penycoke. S. ; W. Grims- 
by, S. Alio : Thomas Stanley, 
late of Carlisle, Gent. ; Edward 
Tboroborough, of the aame, Gent. ; 
Gawin Lamplow, Gent. ; John Cat- 
mill, Gent. ) W. Ferrer, Gent. ; 
TboB. WhitwDod, Gent. ; John 
Mandeville, Gent. ; Thoa. EIntck, 
Gent. ; W,Caiirere(CafterO,Gent.i 
W. Sampaon, Gent. ; W. Byfield, 
Gent. ; Thoa. Ormond, Gent. Alto: 
Ant. Nutahell ; John Wallts ; W. 
Speak ; Thos. Daniel ; John Dow- 
; biggin ; Edward Digby ; Rd. Kirk. 
by; Thoa. Danvera 1 Thoa. Corn- 
wall i Thos. Milkhj ; John Dawn- 
son; ThoB. Little; Henry Spencer; 
John Snoting ; Thos. Sargenson ; 
and 42 more, amounting in all to 
153 persona."— ( WiHiom Wyreei- 
ler.p. 490-92.) 
I " ImhemonthofOctoberQueen 
I Margaret came from France witb a 
fleet and 2000 warriora, and landed 
near Bamburgh in Northumberland, 
having with her Sir Piers de Bracy, 
Lord of Manpeny, and pitched ber 
camp nearly, where she believed the 
whole country would rifle npforber, 
which they, however, seeing the 
power of the Queen so small did 
not do. The Queen's troopa, there- 
fore, laid aiege to AIniviuk, which 
surrendered for want of victuals." — 
(IfiHiom WyrcM/er, p. 404.) See 
alao ; Hearne'B Fragment, p. 13. 
101 
the which Castles they had the most part of all Nor- 
thumberland. King Edward and hia council, thinking 
and un-((/er-)standing what hurt might happen thereof, 
made commisaions to the south and west country, and 
had of them gi'eat money, with the which men made 
ready, and besieged the same castles, in the month of 
December, in the year aforesaid. And Sir Piers de 
Bracy,^ Knight of France, and the best warrior of all 
that time, was in Scotland to help Queen Maj'garet. 
■ When he knew that the castles were besieged he had 
twenty thousand of Scotchmen, and came towards 
Alnwick,* and all tlie other castles. And when King 
Edward's host had knowledge, that Sir Piers de Braey, 
with the Scotchmen, were coming they removed from 
the siege, and were afraid ; and the Scottish host sup- 
posed it had been done for some gain, and they were 
afraid, also they durst not come nigh the castle ; for, 
an [d] (if) they had come on boldly, they might have taken 
and distressed all the lords and commoners, for they had 
lain there so long in the field, and were grieved with 
cold and rain, that they had no courage to fight etc. 
'" Never the lattere (nevertheless,) when they that were 
in the castle besieged, saw that the siege was withdrawn 
for fear, and the Scottish host afraid, they also came 
out of the castle and left [them] {it) open etc., and so 
afterwards King Edward's host entered into all the 
whole castle,^ and kept it etc. 
And after that, the castle of Bamburgh^ was yielded 
' See HEUrne'B Fragment, p. 12, I {William Wyrceiler. p. 493.) 
and note ". | ' Tfaia xos not in the first 
* "In the montli of June til 
Loid Hwlings, Sir Ralph Gre; 
and many others, laid siege to Ait 
wick Castle, wliere {Sir) WiUia] 
Talboye was Cuptain, and who eui 
tendered it to tbem on conditioi 
that the garribon should evacuate 
in full arraj, with horses, good; 
harness, etc. .\.nd it waa given t 
the eUBlody of Sir Ralph Gtey."- 
year, 
I July 30, 1162. The loose way 
which Warkwoi-th records these 
ents of the liret years of the Reign 
Edward the Fourth would incline 
e to attach little value to his nar- 
tive ; the subsequent portions arc, 
r..] 
105 
to the King, by treaty and appointiuent, by Harry, a.d. i4fi3. 
Duke of Somerset, that kept it, aud tame into King somcnEt 
Edward's grace, wliich granted to him a tliousand marks 
by ((Ae) year, whereof he was not jiaid; therefore he 
departed out of England after half (a) year into Scot- 
land, etc. And so King Edward was possessed of all nuicDbCu. 
England, except & castle in North Wales, called Har- om for 
lech, which Sir Richard Timstal kept, the which was 
gotten afterwards by the Lord Herbert. 
And in the third year' of the reign of King Ed- seve™ (ran. 
ward, and anno Domini 1463, there was one fervent 
frost through (out) England, and snow, that men might 
go over the ice, and a fen'ent cold. And also there was An ud 
holden a parliament at Westminster, in the which was 'i^' ^im <" 
granted to the King an aid, which was as much money of sn""'' 
as the fifteenth part of men's goods, and one half so 
much more,^ whereof the people grudged sore. 
Also the FOURTH YEAR of King Edward, the Earl ofAo. i484. 
Warwick was sent into France, for a marriage for the wuwiik 
King, for one fair lady, sister^ [daughter] to the King of phiimii 
France, which was concluded by the Earl of Warwick, jiniie ror ite 
And, whilst the said Earl of Warwick was in France, 
the King was wedded to Elizabeth Gray, widow, {the 
which Sir John Gray that was her husband was slain at 
the Lord de Dacrea surrendered 
upon cerlaiD canditLonH to the Lord 
Minituguo."—( JTiH. Wyrceaier,f. 
493.) 
" And the CaetUi of Bamburgb, 
Alnwick, and Dnnstanburgh were 
hesieged ia the maath uf Decem- 
ber, and on Chri»lmaa-eye the said 
castles of Bamburgh and DunaCaa- 
burgh were amrendered to the King, 
npon these condilions : the safety 
of life and hmb, and that Richard 
Percy should come into the Grace of 
King Edward and haie the custody 
ofthe said castles. And at tbcaame 
lime the Duke of Someraet, Henry 
Lewis, and Sir Nicholas Latimer, 
Kt., with miDf others, 
King Edward's grace, an 
ed tbeir territories." — (JFiWia. 
iryrcea/er, p. 435.) 
'KtngEdward'sRegnal year com- 
menced on the fourth of March. — 
{Halliwelt.) 
* " An bole quingisme and dia- 
roe."— (Pori. RolU, v. p. 497.) 
° The word daughter a placed 
over 8«(er in the MS. with the a 
(caret, or mark of omission). The 
Princess referred to ia Bona of 
Savoy, Sister to the Queen of 
France. See Hearne's Fragment, 
p. 13, respecting this marriage. 
106 THE REIQN OF EDWAKD IV. [wABKWORTh's 
York field,'" in King Harry's party,) and the same 
Elizabeth was daughter to the Lord Rivers, and the 
wedding was privily (solemnized) in a secret place, the 
first day of May, the year above said. And when the 
Earl of Warwick came home, and heard thereof, then 
was he greatly displeased with the King, and after that 
arose great dtssention, ever more and more between the 
King and him, for that and other (causes) etc. And 
then the King put out of the Chancellorship the Bishop 
of Exeter," brother to the Earl of Warwick, and made 
the Bishop of Bath (Robert Stillinffton) Chancellor of 
England. After that the Earl of Warwick took (lo) 
liim in fee as many knights, squires, and gentlemen, as 
he might, to be strong; and King Edward did (all) 
that he might to (en) feeble the Earl's power.'" And 
yet they were accorded divers times but they never loved 
together after. Also in the fourth year of the King 
Edward, the month of May, the Duke of Somerset, the 
Lord lloos, the Lord Molins, the Earl of Kyme, Sir 
Philip Wentworth, Sir Thomas Fyndeme, gathered a 
great people of the north country. And Sir John Ne- 
ville,'* that time being Earl of Northumberland, with ten 
thousand men, came upon them, and there the commons 
fled, that were with them, and there the 'foresaid lords 
were taken, and afterwards beheaded.'* But then the 
'" Toulon.— (ieianrf.) Ala. 
this jear, tlie 1st of May, tbe King 
wedded, Dauie Elizabeth Gray, late 
wifu unto the Lord Gray of Groby, 
and daughter to tbe Lord Elvers. — 
(London Ciran. MS. Col. Vilell. 
XVI. fol. 12C'.) See also : Heame'a 
Fragment, p. 15 — 17, and note '^ 
" George Neville, see note '*, 
p. 57. Robert Stillingtao did not, 
however, receive the seals tilUnne 
8, 14G8, previously to which Ro- 
bert Kirkham was lieeper.— (/. G. 
NichoU.) 
" This atatemeiit seems at va- 
riance with tlie act passed in Uie 
same year, id wbich there is [his 
pecuUar clause : " that the said act 
be not prejudicial or burtful unto 
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick." 
—(Pari. Bolls, i Edward IV.) 
" SecHearne's Fragment, p. 14, 
and also the curious document from 
a MS. in the College of Arms, quoted 
by Mr. Hsiliwell. " Neville, Earl 
of NortliDDiberland. It was alittle 
while."— (ie/flfid.) See Ihe curi- 
ous document in the Intraduction ; 
" Anno Edioardi IV. quarto, ct 
Mensia Mali die xxvii. sell, die S. 
Trim 
"On the lath of ^ 
CHRONICLE.] THE REIIIN 
Lord Montague, the Earl of Warwick's brotlier, which 
the King had made Earl of Northumberland, was mighty 
and strong by the same, etc. And, for so much as the 
King and his counsel thought, that he would hold with 
Ilia (brother the) Earl of Warwick, therefore the King 
and his counsel made the country to desire, that they it«(oraU[ 
might have the rightful heir, I'erey,'^ son to Henry PeJ^wi 
Percy, that was slain at York-Field, to be the Earl of «wiMor 
Northumberland ; and so it was done. And after this land. "" 
the King made Lord Montague, Marquis Montague, 
and made Iiis son, Duke of Bedford, which should wed 
the princess, the King's eldest daughter, which by pos- 
sibility should be King of England; and so he had many 
fair words, and no lordships, but always he promised he 
would do etc. { Grant him Lordships.) 
Also the same year and the year of our Lord 1464 EAmA 
King Edward changed the coin of England,'^ by which th"^." 
he had great geting {gain) ; for he made of an old noble 
a royal, the which was commanded to go for ten shil- 
lings ; nevertheless (to) the same royal was put 8d, of 
alloy, and so weighed 8d. more by delaying (alloying or 
weakening) ; and smote him into a new print. Also, he 
made of 3d. a groat, and also he (made) angels (into) 
beheaded at Hexham, the Duke of 
Samenet, Sir Edmund FlCzhngh, 
Bradehaw, Walter Hunt, Black 
Jack. On the 17th of May wera 
beheaded at Newcastle (on Tyne) 
the Lord Hungerford, Lord Rooa, 
Sir Tbomaa Fjnderne, Edward de 
la Mere, Nicholaa Maase;. On the 
IMlh of May at Medetliam (?) were 
beheaded Sir Philipp Wentworth, 
Williani PenninBton, Wardde Top- 
cliifr, Oliver Wenlworth. William 
Spiiler, Thomaa Hunt, {Footman 
to King Henry). On the 25th of 
May were beheaded at York Sir 
TbomaA Hussey, Tbos. Gosse, Ro- 
bsrt Merfyn, Robert Water, (haU 
porter ta Henry VI,) John Butler, 
Thomas Fenwick, Robert Cack- 
field, William Bright, William Daw- 
son, John Chapman. On the 28th 
of May, at York, were beheaded: 
John Elderbeck, Richard Cawer, 
John Roselle, Robert Conqueror." 
—(MS.Antnd. Call. Arm. V. folio 
170 H.) 
" Henry, Lord Percy, son and 
heir to Henry Percy Earl of Nor- 
thumberland, who was killed at the 
Battle of Touton. He was restored 
to his title and possessions after 
the battle of " LoMCole Field," in 
1470, upon which occasion Mon- 
tague was created a Marquis. 
" See Hearno's Fragment, p. 17. 
108 
, IV. [V 
nobles of 6s. 8d, and by divers coins to the great harm 
of the common people. Also the same year, King Harry 
was taken beside a house of religion, in Lancashire, by 
the means of a black monk of Abingdon," in a wood 
called Clet her wood, beside Bungelley Hyppyngatones 
(Steppingstonesy^ by Thomas Talbot, of Baseball, and 
John Talbot liis cousin of Colebry (Salisburt/), with 
others more, which deceived ; being at his dinner at 
Waddington Hall,'^ and carried to London on horseback, 
and his leg bound to the stirrup, and so brought, through 
London, to the Tower, where he was kept (a) long time 
by two squires, and two yeomen of the crown, and theii' 
men ; and every man was suffered to come and speak 
with him, by licence of the keepers. 
And in the fifth year of King Edward, the Earl of 
Oxford,'"' the Lord Aubrey, his son, and Sir Thomas 
Tudenham, Knight, were taken and brought into the 
Tower of London, and there was laid to them high 
treason ; and afterwards they were brought before the 
Earl of Worcester, and judged by law padowe {pot/ter) 
that they should be had to the Tower Hill, where was 
made a scaffold, of eight feet high, and there were their 
heads smitten off, that all men might see, whereof the 
most people were sorry. 
And in the sixth year of King Edward's reign, the 
6. Lord Hungerford was taken and beheaded for high 
treason at Salisbury. 
1 And in the seventh year of King Edward, Sir Tho- 
I mas Cooke,^' Sir John Plummer, kniglit, and alderman 
" Habingtan gives the Bame nc- I that lime the guesi 0/ Sir JoAa 
count, almost verbatim. See also : Tempest of Bracewelt. His boat, 
Hearae'E Fragment, p. 14. hia son-in-lav, Sir Thamns Talbor, 
"8 " These Stepping* tones formed and Sir James Harington, were all 
a ford across the River Ribble.'' — renariled for the part they took in 
(NichoU.) the betrayal of their Sovereign and 
' Never »as a more disreputable Guest, by Edward IV. 
act countenanced hy mea of stand- ^ This wasinHSi. SeeHeame's 
ing than this perhdy towards the Fragment, pp, 11, 12. 
unfortanate Henry, whn vai at \ 2' Sir Thomas Cooke Haa Lord 
CIIROSICLE.] THE IlEIQN OF EDWAItl) P.'. 
of London, and Humphrey Howard, and other alder- 
men, were arrested, and treason surmised upon them, 
whereof tliey were acquit(ed), but they lost great goods 
to the King, to the value of forty thousand marks, 
or more ; and divers times, in divers places of England, 
men were arrested for treason, and some were put to 
death, and some (es)cape6. 
And tlie eighth year of King Edward, a little before a comei 
Michaelmas, there appeared a blazing star in the west, scp™be' 
at four feet high by estimation, in {t/te) evening going 
from the west towards the north, and so endured for five 
or six weeks. And the same year Sir Thomas Hunger- su rbam, 
ford, Knight, son to the Lord Hungerford, and Harry 2id"^urt 
Conrteney, the Earl of Devonshire of right, were taken i,VTO„°hii 
for treason and beheaded at Salisbury ; and men said the s^iBimrT' 
Lord Stafford^ of Southwick was cause of the said 
Major in 14G2, and created a 
Kaigbt of Che Bath in HG4 on 
ocCflBion of the Qneen'a Coron.. 
tion. — (See Heame'i Fragment, 
p. la.) Beaidea Ihe persona no- 
ticed in the text William Worcester 
mentians the foilowing : Thomsa 
Dnnvera; Hugh Mill ; Teter Al- 
ftej ; Sir GervHae Clifton ; Hagh 
Pakenham ; Nich. Hughes ; Tho- 
mas Fortlnnd ; Will. Bellllnap ; 
Rabt. Knawles ; John Fiaher, of 
the Temple ; John Hawkins, ler- 
»Bnt to the Lord Wenlock ; and 
otbera, who were accused by Cor- 
nelia! the Cobbler, under torture, 
of having held secret correspon- 
dence with QueenMargaret. "And 
the said John Hawkins accused Sir 
Thomas Cooke of treasonable com- 
monication with Hngb Mill, and 
also said many things against bia 
own master, the Lord de Wenlock. 
And the said Sir Thomas Cooke 
being arrested and committed to 
the Tower of London, the doors of 
his house were closed, and all bis 
gooda carried away by the Lord 
Treasurer and (Sir) John Fogge, 
by authority of Ihe timeserving 
Mayor, before he was found gwilly." 
' ' The prisoners were brought to trial 
at Guildhall in July, before the 
Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester ; 
the Earls of Warwick, Northum' 
bcrland and Easei ; the Mayor, 
and the Iiord Chief Justice Mark- 
ham ; and the other Judges. Peter 
Alfrey on being arrested acknow- 
ledged his treason; Hugh Mill 
f leaded ■ grant of pardon ; John 
lewkins was found guilty by the 
verdict of the jury ; Tbamas Cooke 
was acquitted of treason ; but the 
jury found bim guilty of conceal- 
ment, which they adjudged to be 
mispriaionof treason; HugbPafcen- 
him and Thomas Portland were ac- 
quitted J and a certain John Norria, 
found guilty of treason, ivas hung 
at Tybnrn with the aaid John Haw- 
kins, and there also the Lord Arcb- 
biabop of York set Peter Alfr«y at 
liberty by a grant of the King'a 
pardon. " — ( William Wyreetler, 
pp. 5U, 15, Id.) 
^ " He was created Earl of De- 
vonsbii-e. May 7tb, 14^9 ; bnt be- 
headed by the Commons at Bridge- 
water before the close of the year." 
—(Khhok.) 
»- 
110 THK REIC.N or EDWARIJ IV. [waBKWORTh'h 
AD. i4f!H, Harry Courtene/s death; for he would (t/ie») bo the 
Earl of Devonshire, and ho the King made him after- 
wards, and (he) had it not half a year. 
Thf Dukeof And in the ninth yeah of the roign of King Edward, 
msrriciihe at MJdsumnier, the Duke of Clarence passed the sea to 
scrHit, ues. Calais to the Earl of Warwick, and there (aas) wedded 
(to) his daughter by the Archbishop of York, tlie Earl 
of Warwick's brother, and afterwards came over again. 
And anon, after tliat, by their assignment, there was 
a great insurrection in Yorkshire,^ of divers knights, 
squires, and commoners, to the number of twenty thou- 
sand ; and Sir William Conyers, Knight, was their cap- 
Robin af tain, which called himself Robin of Reddesdale, and 
i™^*!!™. gainst them arose, by the King's commandment, Lord 
Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, with [xliii.] forty-three 
thousand^* of Welshmen, the best in Wales, and Hum- 
phrey Stafford, with 7000 of archers of the west 
country ; and, as they went together, to meet the north- 
men, at a town [there] {(key) fell in (to) a variance 
for (choice of) their lodging ; and so the Earl of Devon- 
shire departed from the Earl of Pembroke, with all his 
BiiiiE of men. And Robin of Reddesdale came upon the Welsh- 
juiT^j'iw. men in a plain beyond Banbury town,^ and there they 
fought strongly together, and there was the Earl of 
Pembroke taken, and his brother with him, and two 
attacking them, when the; leaat 
Bipected it, put them (o the rout, 
took iheir leader, anil caused hia 
Hoapiui in thucily of that naiDH, head to be cut oft."—(Saiiin'a 
' " ' Ada Regia, p. 285.) It must 
therefore have heen after the death 
of thia Hoberl Huldurn that Sir 
William Conjers aaeomed the Dame 
of Robin of Redesdale. 
^ " The Roman Dameral ia iliiJ. 
This ie probably a clerical error for 
liiii, fourteen." — {HalliiceH.) 
^ The Battle was fought on 
present inclaaed and 
trihution was demanded from the 
whole country. Though it was a 
very trifling cause the people took 
lire at it. as if it had been an affair 
of the last importance. There were 
no less than 15,000 men assembled, 
who marched with one Roierl Hul- 
durn at their head direct for York. 
But the Mtirquia of Montague being 
informed of their di 
of the city w 
a few troo|iS| and planted, 
L..] 
THE BEIGN ( 
thousand Welshmen slain ; and so tht Welshmen lost 
the field, the twenty-sixth day of July, the 
The names of the gentlemen that were slain of {ihe) i.i"to( 
Welsh party in the same battle ; — Sir Roger Vaughan, 
Knight; Harry (M)Organ,^ {his) son and heir; Tho- 
mas Aprossehere {ap Richard) Vaughan, 'squire; Wil- 
liam Herbert, of Brecknock, 'squire ; Watkin Thomas, 
son to Roger Vaughan ; Yvan ap John ap Merrick ; 
Davy ap Jenkin ap Limerick ; Harry Done ap Pikton ; 
John Done of Kidwelly; Rise ap Morgan ap Ulston; 
Jenkin Perot ap Seotaburgh ; John Eneand of Pem- 
brokeshire ; and John Contour {Courlor) of Hereford. 
And of the north party there was slain Sir Harry 
Latimer,''' son and heir to the Lord Latimer; Sir Roger 
Pigot, Knight; James Coniera, son and heir to Sir 
John Coniers, Knight ; Oliver Audley {Dudley) 'squire ; 
Thomas Wakes {his) son and heir ; William Mallery, 
'squire ; and many other commoners, etc. And at that i^m n 
time was the Lord Rivers^^ taken, and one of his sons, wood? 
in the forest of Dean, and brought to Northampton ; 'nTi>'» = 
and the Earl of Pembroke, and Sir Richard Herbert, behesii 
his brother, were beheaded at Northampton ; — all four 
by the commandment of the Duke of Clarence, and the 
Earl of Warwick ; — and Thomas Herbert was slain at 
Bristol, etc. And at that time was Stafford, that was Lonis 
Earl of Devonshire but half a year, taken at Bridgwater 
by the commons there in Somersetshire, and there right 
{immediately) beheaded. 
And after that, the Archbishop of York had under- fa«u 
standing, that King Edward was in a village ^^ beside, Hinc"i 
1 lost A.D. iwg. 1 
" The spelling of Warkworlh in 
these names is so Tiialt^, that it ie 
only by means of Leiand's tran- 
script that Ecvernl are intelligible. 
Lelnnd supplies ; Morgan, for Or- 
gan ; ap Richard for Aprosacbere \ 
Harisou ap Pikton, for Harry Dona 
ap Pikton ; and John Gnerard, for 
John Eneand. 
=! " Rather Sir Henry NevLUe. 
cDuBln-gennaD Co the great Earl of 
Warwick."— CJ^. G. NUhoU.) 
^ See Henrne's Fragment, p. 
24,5. 
» " King Edward taken by a 
train at Ulnay {Oinfy) Village bj 
side Northampton by the Bishop 
of York."— (ie/onrf.) 
112 
. [. 
Nortliampton, and all his people, he raised, were fled 
from him ; by the advice of the Duke of Clarence, and 
tlie Earl of Warwick, he rode with certain horsemen 
harnessed with him, and took King Edward,^" and had 
him {conveyed) unto Warwick Castle a little while, and 
i aften\-ards to York city ; and there by fair speech and 
promise, the King (es)caped out of the Bishop's hands, 
and came unto London, and did what him liked. And 
the same year, the twentyninth day of September, Hum- 
frey Neville, Knight, and Charles, his brother, were 
taken hy the Earl of Warwick, and beheaded at York, 
1 the King being present. And in the same year [was] 
made a proclamation at the King's Bench in West- 
minster, and in the City of London, and in all England, 
{of) a general pardon to all manner of men, for all man- 
■ ner (of) insurrections and trespasses ; and also a whole 
fifteenth should be gathered, and payed that same year, 
at Martinmass, and at our Lady Day in Lent after ; 
which annoyed the people, for they had payed a little 
before a great tax, and the fifteenth part of every man's 
goods, etc. 
>' And in the tenth tear of King Edward's reign, in 
the month of March, the Lord Willoughby ; 3' the 
Lord Welles, his son ; Thomas Delalande, Knight ; and 
*• Thia account of the captivity 
of Edward differs from that uauailj 
given b; our historians. By them 
it is affirmed that whilst the King 
and the Earl of Warwick were ne- 
gotiating the terma of peace, the 
Earl seized upon the person of Ed- 
ward, and had him conveyed to the 
Castle of Midlehnm, to the cnstodj 
of his brother the Archbishop, to 
whose care he intrusted him. 
" Then 
t talliini 
Ibis 
country of the desire of mj Lord 
or York ; the people report full 
morshipfully of my Lord of War- 
wick ; they have no fear here but 
that he and others should show too 
great favour to them that have been 
rulers of this country before time." 
— {Fallon Letlrri, vol. iv. p. 
i;r-9.) 
^' See Heame's Fragment, p. 25. 
Id the Eicerpta Histories is given 
the confession of Sir Robert Welleg, 
by which it appears that the object 
of the eonspirscy naa " lo dethrone 
Edward and place the crown on the 
head of the Dnke of Clarence, and 
that the Earl of Warwick, and the 
Duke of Clsrence had for some 
ig Ixird Welles and 
his 5 
□ their 
«■] 
THB BEIQN C 
113 
Sir Thomas Dymoke, Knight, the King's Champion, a. d. i-w». 
di-ove out of Lincolnshire Sir Thomas a Bnrgh, a 
Knight of the King's house, and pulled down his place, 
and took all his goods and chatels, that they might find, 
and they gathered all the commons of the shire, to the 
number of thirty thousand, and cried " King Harry," 
and refused " King Edward." And the Duke of Cla- counw- 
rence, and the Earl of Warwick, caused all this, hke as c^i>»u 
they did Robin of Eeddesdale to rise before that, at 
Banbury field. And when King Edward heard thereof, 
he made out his commissions, and gathered a great 
people of men, and sent his pardon to the Lord Wil- 
loughby, and a commandment, tliat [they] {he) should 
come to him, and so he did. And when the King was Edurani'i 
sure of him, he and all his host went towards Lincoln- "^^'l^ 
shire, (where) the Lord Welles, and all the other peo- Wiumghb 
pie were gathered together ; and {he) commanded Lord 
Willoughby to send a letter to his son, and to all the 
people, that he (had) gathered, that they should yield 
them (selves) to him, as to their Sovereign Lord, or else 
he made a vow, that the Lord Willoughby should lose 
his head ; and he wrote, and sent his letter forth, but 
therefore they would not cease ; wherefore the King Lord wii- 
commanded the Lord Willoughby 's head for to be headed, 
smitten off, notwithstanding his pardon. And so the 
King^^ took his host, and went towards his enemies, 
and loosed his guns of his ordinance upon them, and 
^ At I 
tt EdwB 
a the I 
1 igno- 
a of 
this reyolf being the Dnke of Cli 
renCB and the Earl of Warwick, 
and " trusting they would have 
sided him in Bubduing the insurrec- 
tions in Lincolnihire, as the; had 
]iromiged, he had authorized them 
to isBemble forces and bring them 
to him." Hia impetuosity did not 
■Do* him to wait for Warwick, and 
the Duke of Clarence, and having, 
bj this rictory, completely discon- 
certed the plans of the conspirators, 
instead of joining the King, they 
retreated to Manchester in alarm. 
Exasperated at their perlidy he ar- 
rajed the coanties against them, 
and issued orders for their arrest, 
giving tbem, however, till the 28th 
of March to come in and receive 
his pardon. Jn the act of March 31, 
1470, "he charges Warwick with 
having treacherously ejcited Welles 
to his insurrection."— (Sm «( Od- 
evmenlg from the dote Ralli in 
Ihe CkapitT on the Diiputtt nfike 
Roj/al Brelhrra.) 
1U 
: BEIGS OF EDWARD IV. [waRKWOETh's J 
fought witli them, and anon the commons fled away"}' 
but there were many men slain of Lincolnshire, and the^ 
' Lord Welles, Sir Thomas Delalande, and Sir Thomas 
Dymoke, Knights, taken and beheaded. And when the 
Duke of Clarence, and the Earl of Warwick heard the 
field was lost, and how their counsel was discovered, * 
they fled westwards to the sea side,^^ and took then 
hire-ships, and sailed towards Southampton, and i 
tended there to have a great ship of the said Earl of 
Warwick's, called "the Trinity" ; but the Lord Scales, 
the Queen's brother, was sent thither by the King's 
comniandmont, and others with him, and fought with 
the said Duke and Earl, and took there divers ships of 
if theirs, and many of their men therein, so that the Duke 
it- and the Earl were fiun to flee to the King of France, 
where they were worshipfully received. And after thiq J 
the King Edward came to Southampton, and ci 
manded the Earl of Worcester^ to sit, and judge s 
men, as were taken in the ships, and so twenty persona I 
,d of gentlemen and yeomen, were hanged,^ drawn, ani I 
quartered, and headed ; and after that they hanged upk I 
by the legs, and a stake made sharp at both endSff 
" After tlie Battle of Stamford, 
Edward pursued bis brother and tbe 
Earl of Worwick aa far ae Exeter. 
This we gather from the following 
letter of the Duke of Suffolk, 
(JoA« de la Poh). 
" To Ihe Bailiffs, Conilables, and 
('hamberlains qf our Borouyh qf 
Eye, and to every each of ihetn.— 
Far as much as Edmund Lee, anc 
John Barker, whidh were waged foi 
your 1«wn, to await upon ua in thi 
King's service to LinoolQ field, and _ , 
from thence to E;ieter and (bad) fuadament up to the end i 
again; and for that reason, as we stakea."— (Xe/mii.) Prom Wail- | 
be informed, they are not yet fally worth's test it is evident 
contented and paid of their wages ; heads had been severed from 
wherefore, npoa the sight hereof, bodies before the separate parts 
we wiQ and charge that ye without were thus reunited bj means of tho 
any longer delay pay them their | stake. 
whole duties according to ((Ae) ci 
Tenant Chat ye made with them, ai 
ye fail not hereof, aa ye intend oi 
pleasure. Written at Wingfield,, 1 
the 22 day of October (1470). — 1 
Svrrois.." — (Patton Lellera, voL ] 
iv. p. 449.) 
^ " Tipetotc(/oA« T^plo/t) Earl 
of Worcester." — (Leiend.) 
^ "Inter qnoaClapham." "The 
Earl caused the bodies of certain 
condemned men, after they were . 
hanged, to be thrust through the J 
:,.«.] 
) REIGN OP EDWAUD IV. 
115 
wliereof one end was put in at bottokj-s, and the other ad. hbb. 
end their head were put upon ; for the which the people 
of the land were greatly displeased ; and ever afterwards 
the Earl of Worcester was greatly [bejhated among the 
people, for their disordinate (illegal) death, that he used 
contrary to the law of the land. 
And when the said Duke of Clarence, and the Earl of Auwond 
Warwick were in France, there appeared a blazing star ho^"'"" 
in the west, and the flame thereof like a spear-head, the 
which diverse of the King's house saw it, whereof they 
were full sore adrede (afraid). And there in France, 
where the said lords were, they took their counsel what 
was best for to do ; and they could find no remedy, but uarriatie 
to send to Queen Margaret, and to make a marriage mS^ 
betwixt Prince Edward, King Henry's son,^^ and ano-waiMund 
ther of the said Earl of Warwick's daughters, which AnneNtviii*. 
was concluded, and (they were) in France worshipfuUy 
wedded. And there it was appointed, and accorded, 
that King Harry should rejoice (in) the Kingdonx 
of England again, and reign as well as he did be- 
fore, and after him his Prince Edward, and his heirs 
of his body lawfully begotten; and, if it happened 
that ho deceased without heirs of his body lawfully 
'gotten, then should the Kingdom of England, with 
the Lordships of Ireland, remain unto George, the 
Duke of Clarence, and his heir for evermore. Also it 
was appointed and agreed, that Harry, Duke of Exeter, 
Edmund, Duke of Somerset, brother to Harry, that was 
slain at Hexham-field, the Earl of Devonshire, called 
Courteney, and all other knights, squires, and all others, 
that were put out and attainted for King Harry's quarrel, 
should come into England again, and every man to re- 
joice (in) his own livelihood and inhabitants (inherit- 
ance). [Which] all these 'pointments aforesaid, were 
written, indented, and sealed, betwixt the said Queen 
Margaret, the Prince, her son, in that one part, and the 
^ See Heame'i Fragment, p. 27, S. 
i2 
4 
lUHl in Eng- 
IIK TiiE BCiiix OF EDWARD rr, [wAHKWORTn'a ' 
Ehike of Clareoco, and the Earl of Warwick on tliat 
other part. And moreov^er to make it sure they were 
8Wom, and made great oaths to each other, which wu 
done by all (at the) King of France's counsel, 
f And in the same tenth year aforesaid, a Iitt]e before 
Michaehnas, the Duke of Clarence, and the Ea^l ot 
Warwick,'^ landed in the west country, and gathered 
there a great people. The Lord Marqub Montague had 
gathered six thousand men, by King Edward's comnuB- 
sion and commandment, to the intent to hare resisted 
the said Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick. 
Nevertheless the said Marquis Montague hated the 
King, and purposed to have taken him ; and when hs 
was within a mile of King Edward, he decJared to the 
people, that were there gathered with him, how Xing 
Edward had first given to him the Earldom of Northum- 
berland, and how he took it from him, and gave it {to) 
Harry Percy, whose father was slain at York-field; 
and bow, of late time, he had made liim Marquis of J 
Montague, and gave a pye's-nest to maintain his estate 
with ; wherefore he gave knowledge to his people, that 
he would hold with the Earl of AV'amick, his brother,-. 
■'• EdnEird ippesra to bive been 
Bt York,»heD news reached him 
of the threitened invaiion. as we 
learn from tbe following letter, di- 
'■ To our vrelt.belmed William 
Buna, Gentleman, 
'• R ((*) E (dicardui.) By (he 
King. Tnuty and well-beloved we 
greet you ; and for so much as we 
be credibly ascertained that our an- 
outward rebels and traitors be 
drawn together in accord, and in- 
tend hastily to land in our conntry 
of Kenl^ or in parts thereof near 
adjoiaing, vith great might and 
power of Freachmen utterly to de* 
etroy us and onr true subjects, and 
to snbcert the commonweal of thi 
faith I 
id liegeaQce that ye beat 
unio OS, that ye arredie (mate 
ready) you nith all the fellowship 
ye can make, and as soon as ye may 
understand tliat they land in oar 
said county or near by, that ye draw 
thither, aa we have commanded 
other our subjects to do, and pnt 
you in ntlermoat deYoir (^atdeavoar) 
with them to resist the malice of 
i traitors; and 
I 
if they and ye he 
to do, that then ye draw you to our 
city of London, by which time we 
trust to be there in oar own person, 
that then ye do farther aU ye ahall 
be commanded hj our Council 
there, upon the pain above lai 
" Giten nqderour signet, a 
illy City of York, the ith day of 
ipon the I lemher," — {N70.) 
CHKOXltLE.] THE RISIGN OF BDWARD IV. 
and take King Edward if he might, and all those that 
would hold with him, But, anon, one of the hoat^® e- 
went out from the fellowship, and told King Edward all ^l; 
manner of things, and bade him avoid, {flee,) for he ^ 
was not strong enough to give battle to {ihe) Marquis 
{of) Montague; and then anon King Edward hasted 
him, in all that he might, to the town of Lynn, and 
there he took shipping,^^ on Michelmaa day, in the 
tenth year of his reign, with Lord Hastings, that was 
the King's Chamberlain ; Lord Say, with divers other 
knights, and squires ; passed and sailed over the sea. an 
into Flanders, to his brother-in-law, the Duke of Bui-- 
gundy, for succour and help, etc. 
Here is to know, that in the beginning of the month 
of October, the year of our Lord 1470, the Bishop of 
Winchester, by the assent of the Duke of Clarence, 
and the Earl of Warwick, went to the Tower*" of He 
London, where King Harry was in prison, (by King H( 
Edward's commandment,) and there took him from 
his keepers, which was not worshipfully arrayed as a 
prince, and not so cleanly kept, as should (be-) seem 
such a Prince. They had him out, and new arrayed*' 
him, and did to him great reverence, and brought him 
to the piUace of Westminster, and so he v 
' See Hearne'a Fragment, p. 3D. 
" " He entered the ship without 
I or hagga^p without cloth, sack 
d perchance with a great 
d little I 
re, for 
hii hid no leisure 
cording to their degrees and et. 
tatea."— (Grq//on, p. 688.) 
" "WBrwickcsmetatheTowrr, 
and there delivered King Henry Vl. 
out of prison, and giving bim his 
robe or Majesty, brought him to 
(,81.') Paul's, the people rejoicing 
OD every aide, aod there thanked 
God, for Chat it had chanced as they 
would and desired." — i^Hardyng's 
Contiit. 14.) 
« "On the 25th of October, the 
Dake of Clarence accompaiiied by 
tte EarU of Warwick, Shrewsbury, 
and the Lord Slauley, and other 
Lorda and Gentlemen, some for 
fear, and some for love, and aome 
only to |aze at the wavering world, 
resorted with great company to the 
Tuner of London, and thence with 
great pomp brought King Henry 
VI. apparelled in a long gown of 
bine velvet, through the high atreeta 
of London, to the Cathedra) Church 
of St. Paul, the people on the 
right band, and on the left hand, 
rejoicing and erying : "God aava 
the King !" -(Cro/ioii'< CAronicle, 
p. tiOO.) 
118 
to the crown again, and wrote in all IiJs letters, writs,- 
1 and other records, the year of his reigHj " Anno Regni 
Regis Henrici Sexti quadrayesimo nano, et Heademp* 
tionis sua; Ilegia: Potestatis primo." Whereof all his 
good lovers were fiill glad, and the more part of people 
(also). Nevertheless before that, at {i/ie time when) he 
was put out of his realm by King Edward, all England, 
for the more part, hated him*' and were full glad to, 
have a change; and the cause was the good Duke of 
I- Gloucester was put to death, and John Holland, Duke 
of Exeter poisoned, and that the Duke of Suffolk, the 
Lord Say, Daniel Trevylian, and other mischievous peo- 
ple, that were about the King, were so covetous towards 
themselves, and did no force *2 (had no care) of the 
King's honour, nor of his weal, nor of the common 
weal of the hind, where King Harry trusted to them, 
that they should do, and labour in time of innocence 
ever for the common weal, which they did contrary to 
his will ; and also France, Normandy, Gascoigno, and 
Guienne, was lost in his time. And these were the 
causes, with others, that made the people to grudge 
against him, and all because of his false lords, and 
never of him ; and the common people said, if they 
might have another King, he should get all again, and 
amend all manner of things, that was amiss, and bring 
the realm of England in great prosperity and rest. 
Nevertheless, when King Edward the Fourth reigned, 
the people looked after all the foresaid pros|tcrities, and 
■ peace, but it came not ; but one battle after another, 
"' and much trouble and great loss of goods among the 
common people; as first the fifteenth of all their 
I 
'1 See the Kentish Memorial, in 
"no matler," as in the followine 
tliG Introduction, ]□ which all the 
instance:- ^ 
grievances which led to the iU- 
" I do no force of your divioity, 
feeliog towards Henry are plainly 
But thing waroe I thee, I wol 
eipTeaeed. 
not jape, 
Thou wolt algates wete how we 
■13 "Nofaice/'isconBtaotlyixsed 
be afaajie." 
by Chancer to im|ily, "no care," 
Frere'!< Tale, 7094i 
giiode,*^ and then a wliole fifteenth, and yet at every a.u. 
battle {they liad) to come far out (of) their countries 
at their own cost^ and these and such other (causes) 
brought England right low, and many men said that 
Kmg Edward liad much blame fur hurting merchandize, 
for in his days they were not in other lands, nor within 
England, taken in such reputation and credence as they 
were before, etc. 
And (the) twentysisth day of November, King Hedi 
Harry called a pariiamenf* at Westminster, being 'j^j 
there Geoi^, the Archbishop of York, Chanceior of^''"' 
England, which (discussed) this proposition before the 
King, and his Lords, and the commons, of that same 
parliament assembled, " Kevertimini (Convertimini) [ad 
me] filii revertentes, (dicit Dom'mus quia) ego [enim] 
vir vester/' Jeremiah, Chap. iii. (v. 14.) And in theTbc 
month of February after, Harry, Duke of Exeter; '■i™' 
Edmund, Duke of Somerset ; Lord John of Somerset, 
his brother. Earl of Ormond ; Jasper, Earl of Pem- 
broke, brother to the Kmg Harry; and the Earl of 
Richmond, with many other knights, and squires, gen- 
tlemen, and yeomen, came into England, and entered 
into their lordships, and lands, which at the parliament 
above said, and all other attainders, that were made in 
King Edward's time, were annulled, and King Harry 
was admitted to his crown, and dignity again, and all 
his men to their inheritance. And then was taken the 
Earl of Worcester,*^ which was arrested, and arraigned. 
'^ The very h«Hvy tnies and aids 
levied by Edward had made him 
unpopular. He had held forth 
great promiseB, but instead of per. 
farming these he had oppresBed the 
nation more Chan his predecEssor. 
The continuator of Hardyng's 
Chroalcle places in the moutb of 
the Earl of Warwick, however, the 
greatest cause of Ednard's unpo- 
pularit;: "Wherefore I think it 
ctll come to poas, that either he 
will deitroj all nobility, or else 
nobility must destroy him." The 
King himself afterwards acknow- 
ledged to Comminea that snch was 
really his policy. — (See note ™, 
p. 12S. 
" Sue page 36, note '. 
* Infinitely beyond the time in 
which he lived was John Tiptoft, 
ISarl of Worcester, aue of the most 
QllRU Ellt 
120 THE UEIGN OF EDWARD IV. [\VAKK\ 
before Sir John Vere, the Earl of Oxford, son and heir 
to the 'foresaid Earl of Oxford, which was beheaded at 
the Tower Hill, as before written; and so the Earl of 
Worcester''^ was judged by such law, as he did to other i 
men, and when he was dead, his body and his head were 1 
buried together, at the Black Friars in London, with all I 
the honours and worship, that his friends could do. 
|- Also Queen Elizabeth King Edward's wife, which had ! 
' well victualed and fortified the Tower of London, when 1 
she heard that her sovereign and husband was fled,*' I 
she went secretly out of the tower into sanctuary afc I 
Westminster, with all her children, and she herself was 
learned and Bceomplislied ihgd iq 
Enraiie. Tbe friead of Maeat 
Sylvius (Pope Pius II.), like him 
he WBB the great patron and eo- 
courager of literature in this coun- 
try, and by his liberality William 
Caiton WSB enabled to introduce 
the Art of Printing into England, 
The printer's heart pverflows in 
gratitude, and in dropping a tear 
oter the untimely fate of his bene- 
factor, leaves a deplorable picture 
of tbe ignorance of the bulk of the 
nobility in the Reign of Edward 
tbe Fourth. His words are : " T» 
hgt lytag fiower'd in eerlve and 
curmyng none lyie kym emonr/ the 
loTdis of the Itmporalille, in acy- 
tnee and morall eertue." And 
again : " Tlit are then dyd all one 
bloKf eui qf more limynge, Ihan 
oat le/fe in the keadi qf alt the 
mrvyvynff Lordee and nobiliiie." 
Lord Worcester was beheaded A.D. 
1470, daring tbe short restoration 
of King Henry the Siith, hating 
fled OQ the departure of Ednard 
the Fonrth. He was taken con- 
cealed in a tree in Weybridge 
Forest. Besides the works enu- 
merated in Lord Walpole's Royal 
and Noble Authors, I have seen in 
the Library of the late John Haw- 
kins, Esq., a Mannscript Chronide 
of England with this title : " Cltro- 
nica Reyvm Anglix ex Diveriis 
Hiiloriograp/ii* j/er Damitmm Jo- .' 
hannem Wigornii Comitem ^lariim 
collecta." It is a closely wr 
4to volume, on vellum of difleient . 
texture, and consisting of 174 J 
leaves. ■" 
^ " And in those days was taken J 
that cruel eiecntioner, and dread* 
ful beadtman, the Earl of Worcei* J 
ter, and imprisoned in the Tower f 
of London, and in a short t 
after beheaded at the said Tower, J 
and buried Dbscurely at the Bludt 1 
Friars (apud Fralrei PrediealortAM 
near Ludgate," — (MS. ArundAM 
Co!!.Arm.Y. fol. 171".) 
^ ' ' When the fame was spread at % 
King Edward flying, innumerable 1 
people resorted to tbe Earl a(|] 
Warwick to take hia part; hot all ' 
King Edward's trusty friends w 
to divers Sanctuaries, daily looking 
and hourly barkening, to bear of 
his health and prbs parous return, 
who afterwards served him manfully 
and truly. Amongst others. Queen 
Elizabeth, bis wife, almost desperate 
of all comfort, took sanctuary at 
Westminster, and there in great 
penury, forsaken of all her friends, 
was delivered of a fair son called 
Edward, which was with small 
pocnp, like a poor man's child, 
christened and baptized, the god- 
fathers being tlie Abbot and Prior 
of West minster I and the godmother, 
the Lady Scrope." — (Gro/fon'* 
Chronicle, p. 690.) 
INICLK.] 
121 
great with child, and was delivered there even of a son, a. 
that was called Prince Edward of England ; and there 
she abode still in great trouble, till King Edward came 
in again to her. 
And in the second week of Maroh, the forty-ninth 
year of the Reign of King Harry the Sixth, and in the 
TENTH YEAR of the reign of King Edward, the Fourth, 
the same King Edward took hia shipping in Flanders,*^ k 
and had with him the Lord Hastings, and the Lord Say, 'i 
and nine hundred of Englishmen, and three hundred of 
Fleramings, with hand-guns, and sailed towards England, 
and had great trouble upon the sea with storms, and 
lost a ship with horses; and purposed to have landed 
in Norfolk, and one of the Earl (of) Oxford's brothers, 
with the commons of the country, arose up together, 
and put him aback to the sea again. And after that, as 
he was so troubled in the sea, that he was fain to land in 
Yorkshu-e, at Ravenspurne;*" and there rose against an 
him all the country of Holdemess, whose captain was a ■? 
priest, and a person in the same country called, Sir 
John Westerdale, which afterwards for his abused dis- 
position, was cast in prison in the Marshalsea, at Lon- 
don by the same King Edward : for the same priest 
met King Edward, and asked the cause of his landing ; 
and he answered, that he came thither by the Earl of 
Northnniberland's advice, and shewed the Earl's letter W 
he sent to him etc. under his seal ; and also he came for °t 
to claim the Duchy of York, the which was his inherit- 
ance of right, and so passed forth to the city of York, 
where Thomas Clifford let him in, and there he was 
examined again ; and he said to the mayor, and alder- cu 
men, and to all the commons of the city, in likewise as di 
he was before in Holdemess at his lauding ; that was to 
say that (he) never would claim no title, uor take upon 
I " Sie Fleet noud'a MuiUECrlpt, p. 3 
TUE REIGN OP EUWAUD IV. [ WARKWORTIl's 
hand to. be King of England,^*' nor would have <lone («o) 
before that time, but by (the) exciting and stirring of 
the Earl of Warwick ^ and thereto before all {the) 
people he eried : " A King Hai-ry, A King and Pi'ince 
pjfnr™" Edward," and wore an ostrich feather. Prince Edward'a 
b^"*^'' livery. And after this he was sufl'ered to pass the city, 
and so held his way southward, and no man letted 
(hindered) nor hurt him. 
At Nuiuiig- Afterward tliat, he came towards Nottingham, and 
joined wsir there came to him Sir William a Stanley, with thi-ee 
uii sir w. hundred men, and Sir William Norris, and divers other 
men, and tenants of Lord Hastings, so that he had 
[Mi. Mi.] two thousand men and more ; and anon after 
he made his proclamation,^' and called himself King 
nrvKMds lo Edward of England, and of France. Then took he his 
ttuUen'gu™' **'*y to Leicester, where were the Earl of Warwick, and 
w^^'t? the Lord Marquis, his brother, with four thousand men 
or more. And King Edward sent a messenger to them, 
that if they would come out, that he would fight *^ with 
them. But the Earl of Warwick had a letter from the 
Duke of Clarence, that he should not fight with liim, till 
he came himself; and all (this) was to the destruction 
of the Earl of Warwick, as it happened afterward. Yet 
so the Eai'l of Warwick kept still the gates of the town 
shut, and suflered King Edward (to) pass towards Lon- 
Ec]«»rii fliiu don ; and, a little out of Warwick, met the Duke of 
ciaremsre- Clarence ^^ with Kinj; Edward, with seven thousand 
'^ See Fleetnood'a MS., pp. 40, 
41, T 
^1 LeUnd esje 4 M. men or 
more ; Tlie MS. mereiy Mi. Mi. 
" This proclaniation oast a great 
slisme and dolour into the hearts of 
tlie Citizene of York, for that the; 
might Hpparently perceive, that 
they were seduced and for their 
goodwill unhonestly (if it might 
be said) deluded aud mocked.''— 
{Gr^/ian, p. 69H.) 
" "And the uest day after this 
he csme thither, (to Covtnlry) his 
siialled in array, and he talimitiy 
hade the Earl battle: which, inis- 
Irusting that he Bhonld he deceived 
by the Duke of Clarence (as he was 
indeed), kept himself close withta 
the walla."— (Gt-oflon, p. 700.) 
" " The Duke csme witha great 
power of men. The which, when 
King Edward perceived, he made 
towards him, and that it should not 
be thought to he a made guile, set 
hia host in array, as though lie 
would fight, and so did the Dake. 
;iiRo:«icLE.] 
THE REIGN 
men, and there they were made accord, and made a pro- a.i 
clamation forthwith in King Edward's name ; and so ^1 
covenants of fidelity made betwixt the Duke of Clarence, 
and the Earl of Warwick, Queen Margaret, Prince Ed- 
ward, her Bon, hoth in England, and in France, were 
clearly broken and forsaken of the said Duke of Cla- 
rence ; (which in conclusion was destructive both to him, 
and them ; for peijury shall never have better end with- 
out great grace of God. VUleJinem, ^c.) King Harry 
then was in London, and the Archbishop of York, 
within the Bishop of London's Palace. 
And on the Wednesday next before Eaater-day, King ah 
Harry, and the Archbishop of York with him, rode i-o 
about London, and desired the people to be true nnto 
him; and every man said they would. Nevertheless 
Urswyke, Recorder of London, and divers Aldermen, 
such that had rule of the city, commanded all the people, 
that were in harness, keeping the city, and King Harry, 
every man to go home to dimier ; and in dinner time 
King Edward was let in, and so went forth to the 
Bishop of London's palace, and there took King Harry, 
and the Archbishop of York, and put them in ward,^* 
the Thursday next before Eastcivday. And the Arch- Edward «i. 
bishop of Canterbury, the Earl nf Essex, the Lord Ber- p1ii«b King 
ners, and such other as owed King Edward good will, iheAbp. of 
as well in London, as in other places, made as many men ward. 
as they might, in strengthening the said King Edward; 
BO then he was a seven thousand men {strong), and there 
they refreshed well themselves, all that day, and Good 
But when they came in Bight, Rl- ^ This itilferB from the accODot 
chard, Duke of Gloacester, firat io FlEcEwood'a MS. gee p. SO ; and 
spake with the Duke priiUj, and Warkworth himself impues, in bii 
llien came to Edward, and did the account uf the Archbishop's mig- 
Bame to him, and at the hi9t peace fortunea, hereafter narrated, that he 
wa» proclaimed, whereby every man bad made his peace with Edward, 
puttiug dowa his weajions, King before he reached LuudoD. If 
Edward and his brethren embraced thererore he was put in word, it 
loritigly oue uaother, etc. etc." — ' must only liaie been doue to keep 
{Harjyag'g Coalia. p. ly.) ' up appearaucoa. 
124 
. [w. 
Friday. And upon Eaater Even, he and all his host 
' went toward Bamet, and carried King Harrj'^^ with 
him ; for he had understanding, that the Earl of War- 
wick, and the Duke of Exeter, the Lord Marquis {of) 
Montague, the Earl of Oxford, and many other knights, 
squires, and commons, to the number of twenty thou- 
sand, were gathered together to fight against King 
Edward. But it happened that he, with his host, were 
entered into the town of Bamet, before the Earl of 
Warwick, and his host. And so the Eai'l of Warwick, 
and his host, lay without the town ail night, and each of 
them loosed guns at {the) other all the night. And on 
- Easter day in the morning, the fourteenth day of April, 
right early each of them came upon {the) other ; and 
tlierc was such a great mist, that neither of them might 
see {the) other perfectly. There they fought from four 
of clock in the morning, unto ten of clock {in) the fore- 
noon. And divers times the Earl of Warwick's party 
had the victory, and supposed that they had won the 
field. But it happened so, that the Earl of Oxford's 
men had upon them their lord's livery, both before and 
behind, which was a star with streams, which {was) 
much like King Edward's livery, the sun with streams ; 
and the mist was so thick, that a man might not per- 
fectly judge one thing from another ; so the Earl of 
Warwick's men shot and fought against the Earl of 
» " The which fortune 
to him by mac; men's opin 
nocent man, and that he had rather 
in godliness and virtue excel otbere. 
for the love that he had to Cbriet's 
Religion, he looked for no dignity 
or honour, which chsneeth to fen 
that will not seek for it, or regard 
»nd keep it whan they hi " ' 
chanced | what the 
his. 
<ard, 
and had not the heart or manl 
to be a King, or meet for that of- 
fice. So, that nhoEoever despiseth 
common people alloweth 
'Cleth at, is BCcaunted Tor 
B madman; conlrarywise be that 
doth agree to tbem, and in their tale, 
he is a wise man, where indeed such 
fooliKhneas before God. Also some 
said, it was the will of God, that it 
should BO be, for his grandfather 
Henry IV. got it by violency and 
force of arms, so that it coald not 
be long enjoyed of him ; bat that 
fault of the grandfather did redound 
on the heirs." — {Hardyag'g Chro- 
nicle, Caslin. U.) 
CHHONICLE.] 
Oxford's men, thinking and supposing, that they had ad 
been King Edward's men ; and anon the Earl of Ox- 
ford, and his men, cried " treason ! treason ! ! " and fied 
away from the field with eight hundred men. The Lord 
Marquis (of) Montague^^ was agreed, and appointed with 
King Edward, and put upon him King Edward's livery; 
and a man of the Earl of Warwick's, saw that, and fell 
upon him, and killed him. And, when the Earl of War- Th« 
wick saw his brother dead, and the Earl of Oxford fled, "laio 
he leaped on horseback, and fled to a wood by the field 
of Barnet, where was no way forth ; and one of King 
Edward's men had espied him, and one came upon him, 
and killed him, and despoiled him naked. And so King 
Edward got that field. And there was slain of the Earl '^'i" 
of Warwick's party, the Earl himself, Marquis {of) Mon- '^"' 
tague, Sir William Tyrell, Knight, and many others. 
The Duke of Exeter fought man(/w01y there that day, 
and was greatly despoiled, and wounded, and left naked 
for dead in the field, and so lay there from seven of (the) 
clock, till four (in the) afternoon, which was taken up 
and brought to a house • by a man of his own, and a 
leech brought to him and so afterwards brought into 
sanctuary at Westminster. And {of) King Edward's 
party was slain the Lord Cromwell, son and heir to the 
Earl of Essex; Lord Bemers (his) son and heir, {Sir 
Humphrey Sourchier;) Lord Say, and divers other to the 
'^ Tbis Bccoont of the battle dif- 
fen in 4II respects from Fleetwood's 
MS. 8BB p. 6*, 5. The Continniitor 
of HardjDg'a CliroDlcle, nho ac- 
cuses the Marqnia of treachery 
prior to the battle, bears witness to 
his proper conduct during the en- 
gaeement. Finding the King's 
(brees greatly to outnumber his 
owu, and seeing fresh troops conti- 
nuttllyreplacingthosehe had driven 
bsch, the Earl of Warwick, to com- 
fort and encouTDge bis men, " niogt 
valiantly came among the midst of 
his enemies, and there killed and 
slew many of them, when he him- 
self at last wu stricken down, and 
his brother. Lord Marqnia, then 
following him, alter whose death all 
tlie others fled and so were taken 
moat part of them." — {Hardyng'i 
Coniin. p. 21.) Sir John Paeton, 
who was present in Warwick's army, 
does Dot notice any treachery on the 
part of the Marquis, bat makes 
honourable mention of him,— (See 
note'-.p.ee.) 
• "Called Ruthelnnd." — (if- 
126 
; OF EDWARIi IV. [wA 
.D. I-I7I. number [of both parties] four thousand men. And after 
fTh^L" that the field was done, King Edwavd commanded both 
nrt'irt^u'l. the Earl of Warwick's body, and the Lord Marquis' 
ipmwIm"* body, to be put in a cart, and returned himself with all 
1. Pnni .. j^j^ |j^^^ again to London ; and there commanded the 
said two bodies, to be laid in the church of (St.) Paul's, 
on the pavement, that every man might see them ; and 
so they lay three or four days, and afterwards were 
buried.^' And K;ng"_ Harry, being in the forward [in 
swrfl ward) during the battle, was not hurt ; but he was 
brought again to the Tower of London, there to be kept. 
And Queen Margaret, and Prince Edward her son, 
other knights, squires, and other men of the King of 
France, had navy to bring them to England; which 
when they were shipped in Fi-anee, the wind was so con- 
trary unto them seventeen days and nights, that {they) 
might not come from Normandy with unto England, 
which with a wind, might liave sailed it in twelve hours ; 
wliich at the seventeen days end, on Easter day at the 
uMn Mar- even, the(y) landed at Weymouth, and so by land from 
dw.rf Weymouth the(y) rode to Exeter; and met with 
fB^und here, at Weymouth, Edmund Duke of Somerset, the 
ith'^in'"" ^'^^^ Hohsi his brother, ^^ brother to Harry Duke of 
Somerset slain at Hexham, and Courteney the Earl of 
Devonshire, and many other. And on Easter Monday 
were brought tidings to them, that King Edward had 
won the field at Barnet, and that King Harry was put 
into the Tower again. And anon right they made out 
commandments, in the Queen's name and the Prince's, 
to all the west country, and gathered great people, and 
" See Fleetwood's MS., p. 67. 
"The common peoplegaid, that the 
King was not bo jocund, nor eo 
jojona, for the deEtrncCion of the 
£arl, hut he was more sorrowful 
for the death of Hie Marquis, whom 
both he knew, and it appeared to 
others, to be inwardly his faithful 
frieud. For nbose only eake, he 
caused both their bodies to be with 
tlieir ancBBtors, solemnly buried at 
the Priory of Bi3haai."~( Sra/ios, 
p. 706.) 
'^ See Fleetwood's MS., p. G8, 
ei sej. " Thither (to Weymouth) 
came to them Edmund Duke of 
Somerset, the Irfird John his bro- 
ther [uncle] etc." — (Leland.) 
CHRONICLE.] THE REir.N OP EDWARD IV. 127 
k(!pt their way towards the town of Bristol. And when a. 
the King heard that they were landed, and had gathered J^ 
so much people, he took all his host, and went out of 
London the Wednesday in Eaater week, and aian{fttl)ly 
took his way towards them ; and (when) Prince Edward J? 
heard thereof, he hastened himself, and all his host 
towards the town of Gloucester ; but he entered not into 
tlie town, but held forth his way to the town of Tewkes- ar 
bury, and there he made a field not far from the river 
Severn. And King Edward, and his host, came upon 
him the Saturday, the fourth day of May, the year afore- 
said of our Lord 1471, -^and the eleventh year of King n. 
Edward. And Edmund Duke of Somerset, and Sir m 
Hugh Courtenay, went out of the field, hy the which the 
field was broken ; and the most part of the people fled 
away from the Prince, by the which the field was lost, 
in their party.^^ And there was slain in the field, k- 
Prince Edward,™ which cried for succour to his brother- w 
in-law, the Duke of Clarence. Also there was slain, ih 
Courtenay, the Earl of Devonshire, the Lord John of 
Somerset, the Lord Wenlock, Sir Edmund Hampden, 
Sir Robert Whittingham, Sir William Vaux, Su- Nicho- 
laa Harvey, Sir John Delvis, Sir William Fielding, Sir 
Thomas Fitzharry, Sir John Lewkenor, knights ; and 
these were taken and beheaded afterwards, where the 
King had pardoned them in the abbey-church of Tewkes- e. 
bury, by a priest, that turned out at his mass, and the oi 
sacrament in his hands, when King Edward came with m 
his sword into the church ; (who) required him by the 
virtue of the sacrament, that lie should pardon all those 
whoso names here follow: the Duke of Somerset, the 
Lord of Saint John's, Sir Humphrey Audeley, Sir Ger- 
vais of Clifton, Sir William Gremyby, Sir William Cary, 
™ "This was the last Civil-battle I of May, then being Satorday." — 
that was fought in King Edward's {Gra/lon, f. ?10.) 
days, which was foaght tha 3rd day " See Fleetwood's MS., page 62, 
fSUT.' 
128 TiTE nEir.N op edw-ard iv. [warkworth's 
Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir William Newburgh, knights ; 
Harry Tresham, Walter Courtenay, John Florey, Lewis 
Mjles, Robert Jackson, James Gower, James Delvis, 
son and heir to Sir John Delvis ; which, upon trust of 
the King's pardon,^' given in the same church, the 
Saturday, abode there still, when they might have gone, 
and saved their lives ;^^ which {however) on Monday 
after were beheaded notwithstanding the King's pardon. 
- And afterwards these ladies were taken : — Queen Mar- 
garet i ^ Prince Edward's wife, the second daughter of 
' the Earl of Warwick ; the Countess of Devonshire, 
Dame Katherine Vane. And these were taken, and 
" The promises of Ednard ap- 
pear only to have been made to be- 
tray those who confided in tliem, 
Tfaia CDtire want of Kinglf faith 
e for 
the ureat loss of life in these 
wan, ai it nas considered safer to 
trust to (he Ewoid than to the 
King's word. 
" Mnch noble blood would haTe 
been spared but for the cruel policj 
of Edward. He told Commines, 
himself, that " it was his enslom, 
■ B victory was decided, to 
ride o 
t the 6 
ave the 
Q people, 
but to put the gentry to the ev 
^ Margaret was first conveyed to 
the Tower, and thence to Windsor. 
Having destroyed all her noble fol- 
lowers, the King appears to have 
related in his conduct towards her, 
for OD the 8th of January following, 
Sir John Paston thus writes to bis 
mother: " AsforQneen Margaret, 
I understand that she is removed 
from Windsor to Wallingfard, nigh 
to Ewelm, my Lady of Suffolk's 
place in Oifardshire. " — (i>(U(on 
Lellera, vol. ii. p. 89.) She was 
thus committed to the custody of 
the Duchess of Suffolk, her former 
favourite, who was allowed five 
marks per week for her mainte- 
nance. Here she remained till 
14 75, when Louis the XI. agreed to 
pay the mercenary Edward fifty 
thousand crowns, in five iuslal- 
ments, for her ransom, being the 
sum to be paid to King R^n4 for 
ceding his right of inheritance to 
Provence. Thefirst inatalmentwas 
paid to the Lord Treasurer Howard 
□n November 13th in that year, and 
Margaret accompanied by the reti- 
nue of a private lady only departed 
for France, landing at Dieppe in 
tl^e early part of January, 1476. 
Hence she proceeded to Rouen to 
fulfil her part of the stipulations of 
the treaty, by which she renounced 
all right and title to all inheritances 
and privileges to which her mar- 
riajje articles entitled her. " I, 
Margaret, formerly married in the 
Kingdom of England, hereby assign 
all that 1 could pretend to in Eng- 
land by the articles of my marriage, 
with all other things there to Ed- 
ward, now King of England." — 
(Rgmer, vol. lii. p. 21.) Even in 
this last act of Edward towards the 
widowed Queen he would not allow 
her any designation of royalty. 
Margaret ended her eventful life at 
the Castle of Damprierre, August 
aath, 148Z, aged .■^0. She founded 
Queen's College, Cambridge. Thejr 
were taken on the 14lh of May, 
1471.— (WS. Ar«ndfl Call. Arms, 
V. p. 171".) 
fHBONICLR.] THE REIt:S or RDWARD IV. 
not slain ; Sir John Fortescue, Sir John Sentlow, Sir 
Harry Roos, Thomas Ormond, Doctor Makerell, Edward 
Fulford, John Parker, John Basset, John Wallis, John 
Thromere Throginorton, and divers other men. And 
there was taken great good (booty) and many good 
horses, that were brought from beyond the sea. 
And in the same time that the battle of Tewkesbury 
was, Sir Walter Wrottyle (Qi/. Russell) and Geoffrey 
Gate, knights of the Earl of Warwick's, (w/io) were 
governors of the town of Calais, did send Sir George si 
Brooke knight, out of Calais, with three hundred of Si 
soldiers, unto Thomas Bastard Falconbridge, that was h, 
on the sea with the Earl of Warwick's navy, that he 
should the navy save ; and go into Kent, and to raise 
all Kent, to that intent to take King Harry out of the 
Tower, and destroy King Edward if he might; which 
Bastard came into Kent, to Canterbury, and he, with 
{the) help of other gentlemen, they raised up ail Kent, 
and came to London the fifth day of May the year 
aforesaid. But then the Lord Scales, that King Ed~ 
ward had left to keep the city, with the Mayor and 
Aldermen, would not suffer the said Bastard to come 
into the city ; for they had understanding that Prince 
Edward was dead, and all hia host discomfited : where- 
fore the Bastard loosed liis guns into the city, and » 
burnt at Aldgate, and at London bridge ; for the i 
which burning the commons of London were sore wroth, 
and greatly moved against them ; for an (if) they had 
not burnt, the commons of the city would have let them 
in, maugre {notwithstanding) of the Lord Scales' heed, 
the Mayor, and all his brethren. Wherefore the Bas- 
tard, and all his host went over at Kingston Bridge,^ i 
ten miles westward, and had purposed to have destroyed I 
King Edward, or to have driven him out of the land. 
And if the Bastard had held forth his way. King Edward 
* See Fleetwood's MS., p. 90. 
130 THE REir.N OF EDWATIT) IV. [WARKWORTH-l 
.n. N7I. by possibility could not by power, have reaisted the Bas- 
tard ; for the Bastard had more than twenty thousand 
good men, well harnessed, and (tc/iere) ever as he went, the 
people fell to him. The Lord Scales, and divers other 
of King Edward's council, that were in London, saw that 
the Bastard and his host went westward ; and that it 
should be a greater jeopardy to King Edward, than was 
Bamet field, or Tewkesbury field, {in so much when the 
field of Tewkesbury was done, his host was departed from 
(him) ;) wherefore they promised to the Bastard, and to 
divers others that were about him, and in especial to one 
Nicholas Faunt, Mayor of Canterbury, that he should 
rt befooled cnti-cat him to turn homewards again. And for as much 
»ih, as fair words, and promises make fools fain, the Bastard 
commanded all his host, to turn to Blackheath^^ again ; 
which was destruction of himself, and many others ; for 
anon after, by the Duke of Gloucester in Yorkshire, the 
said Bastard was beheaded, ^^ notwithstanding he had a 
charter of pardon. And Nicholas Faunt was afterwards 
id thence lo hanged, drawn, and quartered in Canterbury, And 
id Sand- when the Bastard and all his host, were come to the 
Blackheath again, in the next morning, he with the 
soldiers, and shipmen of Calais, to the number of six 
hundred horsemen, stole away from the host, and rode 
to Rochester ; and from thence to Sandwich, where the 
Bastard abode the King's coming, and the soldiers 
s^led over sea to Calais. And when the host un- 
derstood, that their Captain was stole from them, they 
kept themselves together all a day and a night, and 
then every man departed to his own house. And wha 
King Edward heard thereof he was glad, etc. 
Here {it) is to (6e) known, that King Edward i 
" Fleetwood's MS., p, 92. 
" Another instance of Edward's 
perfidy. "On the 27th of Sqit. 
H71. ho WM behended," and his 
hend nns put upon London Bridge, 
looking Into Kent ward ; and 
Mj, thnt his brother wbs lore 
and escaped to Sanctuary t 
verley. — (Panfon Lellert, v 
p. 83.) 
■NICLE.] 
: nRir,\ OF liij 
out commisaiona to many shires of England; which inA.n. i*,-i. 
a ten days there came to him, where he was, to the 
number of thirty thousand, and came with the King to 
London, and there he was worshipfully received. And 
the same night that King Edward came to London, 
King Harry, being in wai-d, in prison in the Tower of Murder or 
London, was put to death,^? the twenty first day of the liii™." 
May, on a Tuesday night, betwixt eleven and twelve of 
the clock ; being then at the Tower, the Duke of Glou- 
cester, brother to Kuig Edward, and many othera ; and 
on the morrow he was chestyde (coffined) and brought 
to (St.) Paul's, and his face was open that every nian 
might see him. And in his lying, he bled on the pave- 
ment there ; and afterward at the Black Friars was 
brought, and there he bled (o)new and {a)fre8h ; and from 
thence he was carried to Chortsey Abbey in a boat, and 
buried there in our Lady Chapel, On the morrow that Edwird.on 
the King was come to London, for the good service that lo Loudon. 
London had done to him, he made knights of the Al- AWeridm. 
dermen; — Sir John Stokstone, Sir Ralph Verney, Sir 
Richard Lee, Sir John Young, Sir William Taylor, Sir 
(Jeorge Ireland, Sir John Stoker, Sir Matthew Philip, 
Sir William Hampton, Sir Thomas Stalbroke, Sir John 
Crosby, {and) Sir Thomas Urswike, Recorder of Lon- 
don. And after that, the King and all his host rode into PracHdito 
Kent to Canterbury, where many of the country [people) Bodalmii. 
that were at Blackheath with the Bastard, were arrested 
and brought before him. And there was hanged, drawn NicboiM 
and quartered, one Faunt^^ of Canterbury, that wasnued. 
" ScB Fleetnood'B MS., 
I Bllnight. But how this prince ci 
nicle, contajnynge all the Kfnges \ ings ; 
m Brute to this dajie 
terbory, 1553. is taken the fol- 
lowing extract : — " In this year, 
also, upoD the ascenaioa even aext 
following the dead corps at' King 
Henry, tlie Sixth was brought from 
the Toner af Laadon where he lay 
Richard, Dukeof Gloucei 
Edward's brother, stew h 
Eichequer, XI. Edw. 
the Bum of £\ lis. -Id. paid to oiie 
JoliD Bellf, for the value of a horse 
r, King 
: Itoll of the 
1S2 
■ [»■ 
loving to the Earl of Warwick, which entreated the 
Bastard for to depart from hia host ; and divers men of 
the country were hanged and put to death. After that, 
the King rode into Sandwich, and beside all the Earl of 
^Varwick's navy there, that the Bastard had rule of; 
and took the Bastard with him, and returned again to 
London. And immediately after that, was the Lord 
p- Diidiam, and Sir John Fog,^" and divers others made 
commissioners, that sat upon all Kent, Sussex, and 
Essex, that were at Blackheath, and upon many others 
that were not there ; for some men paid two hundred 
- marks, some a hundred pounds, and some more and 
some less, so that it cost the poorest man seven shil- 
liiigs, which was not worth so much, but was fain to sell 
such clothing as they had, and borow the remainder, 
and labour for it afterwards. And so the King had out 
of Kent much good {^baoty) and little love. Lo ! what 
mischief grows after insurrection ! etc. 
And in {the) same eleventh year of the King, in the 
beginning of January, there appeai-ed the most marvel- 
lous blazing star tliat had been seen. It arose in the 
southeast, at two of the clock at midnight, and so con- 
tinued a twelve nights ; and it arose easter and eaater, 
till it arose full east; at rather^' and rather {sooner 
and harneeg to candact tbisNicbo- I 
las Faunt from the Tnwer of Lou- I 
don, to the King, then in Kent. 
Haated JB one of the verj few wri- \ 
ten wbo qaoCea Warkvorth's Chro- I 
nide, which he does on this point : 
Hittury of Kent, vol. ii. p. 43;t." 
— {Haltiwdl.) "And there was 
Nicolas FaunCe, the Mayor, and 
many others esecQted."~(Xe/and.) 
'" This Sir John Fog was a crea- 
ture of King Edward the Fourth's, 
and had been employed bj bim in 
the illegal seiznre and appropria- 
tion of the property of the wealthy 
citizens, accused of treason, parti' 
culsrly of Sir Thomas Cook, who 
had been Lord Mayor. — (See p. 
109.) On the short restoration of 
King Henrj VI. Sir Thos. Cooke, 
then one of tha members for the 
City, required restitution of the 
22,000 raarks be had lost, "and 
,g C/b^ennj,) n, 
cuted the u 
t of hw 
igainst such as he knew bare i 
King Edward, of wbicti 
ed ful! sore afterwards, 
fain to Sy the land." — 
p. 185.) 
be repented f 
'•' Comparative of the adverb ! 
rathe, lOon, eartj/. Coneerniog this 
Comet, Mr. Halhwell refers to the 
Nurembergh Chronicle, fol. 254— 
MS. Aruudel. Brit. Mus. 220. 
CI[RONICLB.] THE BEIGN OP BDWARR IV. 
and sooner) ; and so when it rose plain east, it rose at ten a 
of dock in the night, and kept his course flaming west- 
ward over England ; and it had a white flame of fire fer- 
vently burning ; and it flamed endlong from the east to the 
west, and not upright, and a great hole therein, whereof 
the flame came out of. And after six or seven days, it 
arose north-east, and so backwarder and backwarder ; 
and so endured a fourteen nights, full little changing, 
going from the north-east to the west, and some time it 
would seem quenched out, and suddenly it burnt fer- 
vently again. And then it was at one time plain north, 
and then it compassed round about the loadstar, fur 
in the evening the blaze went against the south, and in 
the morning plain north, and then afterwai'ds west ; 
and so more west, flaming up right. And so the star 
continued four weeks, till the twentieth day of Fe- 
bruary ; and when it appeared yest {just) in the firtna- 
nent {honzon), then it lasted all the night, somewhat 
descending with a greater smoke on the air. And some 
men said that the blazings of the said star were of a 
mile (iw) length. And a twelve days before the vanish- 
ing thereof, it appeared in the evening, and was down 
anon within two hours, and ever of a colour pale, {and) 
steadfast ; and it kept his course rising west in the 
north, and so every night, it appeared less and less till 
it was as little as a hazel stick ; and so at the last it 
vanished away the twentieth day of February. And 
acme men said that this star was seen two or three 
hours before the sun('5) rising in December, four days 
before Christmas, in the southwest, so by that reason it 
compassed round about all the earth, all way changing 
his course, as is afore rehearsed. 
And in the twelfth year of King Edward, he let call Bans 
a parliament to be holdeii at Westminster, the which B«nii 
began the eighth day after Michelmas the same year ; 
in which parhament was a general resumption of all 
lordships, tenements, and other possessions and fiefs 
granted by the King, from the first day of his reign 
134 
THE REltSN OK EDWARD IV, [wARKWOBTh' 
unto the day aforesaid. Also there was granted, in the 
same parliament, that the tenth part of every man's 
good(»), lands, tenements, rents, and fiefs, throughout 
all England, the value thereof as for a year ; and also a 
whole V"". among the commons, to be raised of goods 
and chatels ; and also ^51 ,700 to be raised, of atl nien''a 
lands, goods, and other possessions within the realm 
1 of England. Also there was granted to the King 
a by the spiritualty, in a convocation, two dismes and 
priests' marks, throughout all England ; which all was 
granted by the desire of the King, for he said he would 
(ffo) over sea, and conquer his right and title in France, 
Normanday, Gascoigne, and Guienne.^^ 
Also in (the) TiriRTEEsTH year of King Edward, there 
was a great hot sunmier, both for man and beast, by the 
which there was great death of men and women, that in 
fields in harvest time men fell down suddenly, and uni- 
versal fevers, axes, (aches), and the bloody flux, in divei-s 
places of England. And also the heat was so great, 
that it burnt away wheat, and all other grains and graas, 
in '(the) south parts of the world, in Spain, Portugal, 
Granada, and others etc., and that a bushel of wheat 
was worth twenty shillings ; and men were fain in that 
country, to give away their children for to find them 
(selves, in food). But blessed be Almighty God, no 
such dearth was neither In England, nor in Franco, 
ti- Also in the same year, Womere'^ water ran, hugely. 
^ " And upon this King Edward 
took hie ¥ojage to France, taking 
besides his aid, that be bad, certain 
money of tbe I^rdi of the realm, 
which they of their own gentleness 
gave nolo him, (see Pasian Letters, 
vol. ii. p. 159-163,) tn the suste- 
nance and maintaining of his army. 
And for that, the King colled that 
tribute and levying of money, be.- 
□evoleace, whiuh, nererthelesg, was 
given with evil will of many one." 
^{Hordyng, fol. 26.) A letter to 
Sir John Paston from hia brother, 
about this time, sbowBhow very un- 
palatable these subsidies were. " I 
pray God aead you Che Holy Gbost 
among yon in the Parliament. 
HoBBB, and rather the devil, we 
say, than ys should grEint any more 
tasks," — {Paalan Letteri, vol. v. 
p. 49.) 
w The Womere was a papular 
superstition of the day, and is cir- 
In Mr. Thorn's " Anecdotes and 
p. 122, where he refers t^ 
Mythologie for m 
roust be borne in n 
CHRONICLE.] THE BE[GN or EDWARD IV. 
with such abundance of water, that never 
run BO much before this time. Womere is called the 
woe-water ; for Englislimen, when they did first inhabit 
this land, also (as) soon aa they saw this water run, 
they knew well it was a token of dearth, or of pesti- 
lence, or of great battle; wherefore they called it 
Wemere; (for we is in English tongue woe, and mere is 
called wat«r, which signifieth woe-water) for all that 
time they saw it run, they knew well that woe was 
coming to England. And this Womere is seven miles 
from Saint Albans, at a place called Markayte ; and 
this Womere ran at every field before specified, and 
never so hugely as it did this year, and ran still to the 
tbii-teenth day of June nest year following. Also there 
have run divers such other waters, that betoken Ijkewise ; 
one at Lewisham in Kent, and another beside Canter- 
bury called Nailboum, and another at Croydon in Sus- 
sex, (Svrrej/) and another seven miles on this side the 
castle of Dudley in the place called Hungervalej that 
when it betokeneth battle it runs foul and troubled 
water ; and when it betokeneth dearth or pestilence, it 
runneth as clear as any water, but this year it ran right 
troubled and foul water etc. Also there is a pit^* in 
Kent, in Langley Park ; against any battle it will be 
dry, and it rain ever so much; and if there be no 
battle towards, it will be fuU of water, be it ever so 
dry a weather; and this year it is dry etc. Also this 
same year, there was a voice crying in the air, betwixt 
Leicester and Banbury, upon Dunmotho, (DuncAurch) 
and in divers other places, heard a long time crying, 
"Bowes! howes!" (Woes) which was heard of forty 
men; and some men saw that he tliat cryed so, was 
a headless man ; and many other divers tokens have 
recording a enperBtitioD, wiiich was I firxniy in witchcraft, be tLe old 
ttiea umversally creilited, cBnnot j chronicler Fabyan, or the pedant 
detract from Uia leracity of aa James. 
aulUor; and that Sir Thomas More, ■' " Fons auperfititioBiis, " — (te- 
aad Sir Matthew Hale believed as { land.) 
136 
IGN OF EDWA 
1 IV, [wareworth'm 
, for amending i 
been shewed i 
men's living. 
Also this year, oi- a little before, George the An 
bishop of York, and brother to the Earl of Warwick^ 
was with King Edward ^^ at Windsor, and hunted i 
had there right good cheer; and supposed (that) 1 
had stood in great favour with the King ; for the Kin 
said to the said Archbishop, that he would come for b 
hunt and disport with him in his manor at Moore;* 
whereof he was right glad, and took his leave and went 
home to make purveyance therefore ; and sent out of 
London, and divers other places, all his plate and other 
stuff that he had hid after Bamet field, and Tewkesbuiy 
field ; and also borowed more stuff of other men, and 
provided for the King for two or three days, for meat 
and drink and lodging, and arrayed as richly and a3 
pleasantly as he could. And the day before the King 
should have come to the Archbishop, to the said manor 
(jf {the) Moor, which the said Archbishop had purchased, 
and built it right commodiously'^ and pleasantly, the 
King sent a gentleman to the said Archbishop, and com- 
manded him to come to Windsor to him ; and as soon 
as he came, he was arrested and impeached of high 
treason,^' (for) that he should help the Earl of Oxford ; 
i* Nothing can extenunte tlie .1 
tlioroagh want of faith on the part < 
of King Eilnsrd the Fourth. In ' 
the present iaj he noald have been I 
utterly deapiaed ; for his kingly 
word was eacrificed nliecever he 
WIS prompted by hatred, avarice, 
or revenge. He bad entered Loa- 
don throagb the meant of the 
Archbishop of York, prior to the 
Battle of Bamet, (see Fleetwood'! 
JUS, p. 5D), and having been guilty 
only a few days before of the 
groaai 
. . y, (see p. 121,) it i, 
to he wondered that the wily Arch, 
binhop had Buffered himeelf to bi 
cajoled by the sacred pron:ii»cs oi 
the cral^y Edward, who appear) 
never to have scrupled to make UBt 
of falsehood and cunning, to ac. 
compUsh his great object, (be utter 
destruction of tbe Lancastrian 
party. 
^- Gate reads : commaadiag. for 
^ " Now to Che intent that Ed- 
ward the King might live in qoiot 
after this man's death, he went 
aboQt to search all the rebels, that 
they might be weeded out of the 
company of men, as pernicioug and 
unprofitable to the public weal. At 
which time be took the Abp. of 
1 York, tbe brother to the Earl of 
I Warwick, and sent bim prisoner to 
Gniines, where be long remained 
in hold, but after dismissed, and 
died ahortlj for thought and pen- 
eifulness of mind," — {Hardynff't 
Conlia p. 25.) 
THE BEIOfJ OF EDWABD IV, 
and anon right he was put to ward. And forthwith ad. wi. 
Sir William Parr, Knight, and Thomas Vaughan, squire, 
with many other divers gentlemen and yeomen, were 
sent to the said manor of (the) Moor ; and there by the Thcm.DorQi 
King's commandment seized the said Manor into the mizwi, and 
King'^ hands, and all the goods that were therein, i'i"i'i.p'> pro- 
which were worth twenty thousand pounds or more, and ^^otM. 
all other lordships and lands that the said bishop had 
within England, and all his stuff and riches within all 
his lordships ; and sent the same bishop over the sea to 
Calais, and from thence to the Castle of Hamnies, and 
there he was kept prisoner many a day ; and the King 
all that season took the profit of the Archbishoprick etc. 
And anon after, the King broke the said Archbishop's 
mitre, in the which were full many rich stones and 
precious, and made thereof a crown for himself. And 
all his other jewels, plate, and stuff, the King gave it to 
his eldest son and heir Prince Edward ; for the said 
Archbishop had been Chancelor of England many days, 
and he and his brothers had the rule of the land, and 
had gathered great riches many years, which in one day 
was lost; and all by the high judgement of righteous- 
ness (as many men said by him) for his great covetous- 
ness, [and] (wkic/t) had no pity of (for) King Harry's 
men, and was cause of many men's undoing for King 
Edward's sake, if he might get any good by him. 
Wherefore suck goods as were gathered with sin, were 
lost with sorrow. And also men supposed for cause he the Arch- 
was double (treacherous) to King Harry, and kept him nunisScdf't 
in London, when he would have been at Westminster ; i" ku.V "' 
he had a letter sent from King Edward, to keep him out '' 
of sanctuary, and he had his chai'ter sent him ; where 
(as) had he been a true man to King Harry as the com- 
mons of London were. King Edward had not come into 
London before Bametfield etc. 
Also in the thirteenth year of (the) reign of King Eariorm- 
Edward, Sir John Vere, Earl of Oxford, that withdrew Hon, '" ' 
133 
THE KEIOX OF EDWABn IT, [WABJTWOHTM S 
himeelf from Bametfield, and rode into Scotland, and 
from theoce into France [a] sailed, and there he w-as 
worshjpfally re<»ived. And in the same rear he was in 
the sea with certain ^pe, and got great good {hootj/) 
and riches,'^ and aflenirards came into (the) west conntry, 
uid with a subtle point of war, got and entered Saint 
Michel's Mount in Cornwall, a strong place and a 
mighty, and can not be geett {tahen) if it be well vic- 
tualed with a few men to keep it, for twenty men may 
ke^ it against all the world. So the said £aii, with 
twenty score men save three,'' the last day of September 
the year aforesaid, entered first into ((Ae) said mount, 
and he and his men came down into ((Ae) country of 
Cornwall, and had right good cheer of the commons etc. 
!^ " The Eaii at OiTord wu Sa- 
tordif St Dieppe, md U porpoied 
into ScotUnd with 12 ghipi. I 
mUtnut Uwl work. Item, there 
be in London mm; fl;ing lalet, 
laying that there iboiitd be i work, 
and yet they wot not how." — 
(Potion Letlm. yoI. ii. p. 133.) 
" Bnt beloved brother, I recom- 
tnend me unto you, letting youoeet 
that u for tidings here, the King 
ridetbbrukly thiida; to Northamp- 
ton-ward, there to be thii Eaater ; 
and after Easter he parposeth to be 
mach at Leiceeter, and in Leices- 
Icnhirc. Every man seeth we ehall 
hare ado (a limult) ere May pasa : 
Hogan. the prophet, ie in tbeTower; 
be wonld fain ipeakwitb the King, 
bnt the King siya he shall not 
avauat (count) that he ever ipake 
with bim."— (flitf. Yol. 1. p. 51.) 
" I heard aay, that a man wai 
this day examined , sod he confessed, 
that be knew great treasure was 
sent to the Ear! of Oiford, whereof 
a lODO^ should be conveyed by a 
Monk of Westminster, and some 
■ay by a Monk of Charterhouse. 
Item, that the same man should 
accuse an hundred gentlemen in 
Norfolk and Suffolk, that have 
agreed to assist the said Earl at bis 
coming thitber, which, aa it is said, 
should be within cdgbt days after 
St. Dnnstin, if wind aad weather 
serre him." — (Ibid. toL iL p. 137.) 
" As for tidings here, I trow ye 
have heard, (on) yonr part, how 
that the Earl of Oiford landed bj 
St. Oiyth, in E»ei, the 28th of 
Klay, save he tarried not long ; for 
if he had, the Earl of Esfei rode 
to bim wards, and the Lords Din- 
bam sad Dnras (Galliard dt Durt. 
fort) and other more, which by 
likeUfaood sbonld baie diitresaed 
bim ; but yet his coming saved 
Hogan his head ; and hti prophecy 
is the mote believed ; for he (aid 
this trooble sboold begin in May, 
and that the King abould (msrcA) 
Northward, and tbat the Scots 
should make no work, and him 
batUe-"— (Kid.) 
'■ Men Bay that the Earl of Ox- 
ford ia about the Isle of Thanet, 
hovering, some say, with great com- 
pany, some say, with few. — (Ihii. 
ToL ii. p. H3.4&0 
f The number is probably eia- 
gerated at 397 men. "The Earl 
of Oxford, in those days when Par- 
tesoue was sheriff ot Cornwall, took 
poBEeBsiou of Mount St. Michael 
with eights iaai\ etc."— (W, 
WyTEcatrt, Kin. p. 122.) 
] THE RHGN OF EDWABU 
The King and his council, saw (seeing) that thereof much a,d. ik*. 
harm might grow,&c,, commanded (Sir Henry) Bodrigan Boarigm, 
chief ruler of Cornwall, to besiege the said mount. And comwHU, 
so he did ; and every day the Earl of Oxford's men came Moum si. 
down under truce, {to) speak with Bodrigan and his 
men ; and at the last the said Earl lacked victuals, and 
the said Bodrigan suffered him to be victualed. And 
anon the King was put in knowledge thereof, wherefore 
the said Bodrigan was discharged, and Richard For- 
tescue, squire for the body, by authority of the King, 
took upon hand to lay siege to the foresaid mount etc. 
And so great division arose betwixt Bodrigan and For- 
teseue, which Fortescue was sheriff of Cornwall etc. ; >up«r»rfrd 
and the said Fortescue laid siege &c. the xx[x]m rd day iheshcrts, 
of December the year aforesaid ; and for the most part 
every day each of them fought with [the) other, and the 
said Earrs men killed divers of Fortescue's men ; and 
sometimes when they had well there fought, they would 
take a truce for one day and a night, and sometimes for 
two or three days etc,™ In the which truce each one 
of them spoke and communed with {the) other. The "to brine. 
King and his council, sent unto divers that were with 
the Earl of Oxford privately their pardons, and promised 
to them great gifts, and lands, and goods, by the which 
divers of them were turned to the King against the Earl; 
and so in conclusion the Earl had not f]>assynge ane] 
{more than) eight or nine men that would hold with him ; 
the which was the undoing of the Earl. For there is 
(a) proverb, and a saying, that a castle that speakelk, 
and a woman that will hear, they he gained both ; — for 
men that (have) been in a castle of war, that will speak 
and entreat with their enemies, the conclusion thereof 
" ■' The Earl of 
ford 
is still 
him, and shot at 
him. ond stniclc 
betieged ; neTcrtheleB 
heis- 
faim in the 
cewith an arrow. 
aued ont, and took b 
gen 
Ueman, 
I eaw this 
day th 
and haa him within : 
but 
now of 
there 1 lea 
re him 
'—(Paston Let' 
late he was busy, Bnc 
espied 
Uri, vol. V 
.p. 65 
) 
1-10 
THE B£ICX OF EDVABD IV. [w 
(if) the losing of the Castle ; and a woman that will 
bear folly spoken unto her. if she assent not at one time, 
she will at another. And so tliis proverb was proved 
true by the said Elarl of Oxford, which was fain to yield up 
the said mount, and put himself in the King's grace ; ^^ 
if he had not done so, his own men would have brought 
him out- And so Fortescue entered into the said mount, 
the fifteenth day of February, the year aforesaid, in the 
which was victuals enough till midsunmier after. And 
so was the Eari afores^d, (viM) the Lord Beaumont, 
two brothers of the said Earl's, and Thomas Clifford, 
brought as a prisoner to the King, and all was done by 
their own folly, etc. ••*••« 
( Tie End of Dr. Warktcorth's MS. Additions to 
Cax ton's Chronicle.) 
JOHN DE VERE, E,\RL OF OXFORD, 
Suffered majiy and great hardships for his loyalty to the 
House of Lancaster. The actiee part he took in the 
restoration of King H.enry the Sixth, rendered it neces- 
sary that he should quit the Country after the Battle of 
Barnet. In the year 1473, April the 16M, he is men- 
I 
8> '■ Men say, thst (he Earl of 
yeara, he was in strong prison, mi- 
Olfotd hath been co[i<>lruincd to 
serably kept, and diligently looked 
sue for hu pardoo onlj of his life ; 
to." — (Grqrton' J Chronicti, a. 
■nd his body, goods, lands, with all 
714.) 
the residue, at the King's will, Bod 
BO should ia aU haste now come 
■■ John de Vere. Earl of Oiford, 
into the King; and some men say 
left s 
It Co what place, and yet 
then 
proTided in lictnal, and all other 
things."— (Paufon Leilen, vol. ii. 
p. 167.) 
" King Edward sent the Earl 
over the sea. to the Castle of Ham- 
mes, where, by the apace of twelve 
Admiral, was An. I. Hen. VII. 
elected a Knight of the Garter, into 
stall V. of the King's side, after the 
Death of John Howard, Duke of 
Norfolk. He died, Tharsday, 
March 10. Anno IV. R, Hen. VIII. 
at four o'clock in the morning at 
Lvmington Castle."— (i/iiri. MSS. 
235.) 
] THE HRrON OF EDWARD IV. 141 
Honed by Sir John Patson, as fittrng out an expedition 
of 12 Ships for the purpose of going into Scotland. In 
subsequent letters we find him landing at Si. Osyth, 
May 2SfA; but not having met with encouragement in 
Essex, he re-embarked, and June the 3rd was hovering off 
the Isle of Thanet. As toe have seen he had seized upon 
Mount St. Michael in Cornwall, a strong place, which 
could be held by a small garrison. Sis men being bribed, 
by promises of pardon and rewards on the part of the 
King, he was compelled to surrender to Richard Fortes- 
cue,* the Sheriff of the County, on the I5th of February, 
1474, having stipulated that his life should be spared. 
He was committed to the Castle of Hammesf in Picardy, 
where he remained a prisoner for ten years, and in a 
letter from Sir John Paston dated the 2Bt& of Augt. 
1478, it is implied, that he was disconsolate and wretched 
and even attempted to commit suicide. He, however; 
eventually escaped in 1484, and joining the Earl of 
Richmond, attended him at Bosworth-feld ; and on the 
latter becoming King, as Henry VII., he was reinstated 
in all his honours and estates. He continued to enjoy 
the confidence and favour of Henry the VIII., and died 
in the fourth year of that monarcA'^s reign, aged 84. 
" In 1485, Se/). 2,7th, the first year of King Henry 
VII, he was constituted Admiral of England, Ireland, 
and Aquitaine, for the term of his life. He was Great 
Chamberlain of England, and Constable of the Tower 
of London ; and he continued in those offices unto the 
\iyth of March in the fourth year of King Henry VIII, 
on which day he died."— (MS, Brit. Mus. Faustina, 
C. IV. ^ Otho, E. IX.) 
* Lingard says Sii John For 
tescUB waa cmplojeil in this eupe 
diCion. Leland, lo nbom he refers, 
merely says Fortescue. On Wart- t " In all which time ths Ladjr, 
worth's autliority the aame of Ri- hie nife, might neier come to him, 
chard has been retained, for, as Sir or had any thing, but nbat the 
John Fortescue was appointed Ser- people of charity wonld give her, 
geant-at-law to Henry in 1430, he or what she got nith her oeedle.'' 
must have been upwards of 70 years — {Stoae, p. 186) 
1+2 THE BEIG\ OK EDWARD IV. 
Thus the only surviving adherents of the house of 
Lancaster were. Queen Margaret, confined at Walling- 
ford ; the Duke of Exeter,* taken out of Sanctuary and 
imprisoned in the Tower; the Archbishop of York, shut 
up in the Castle of Guisnes ; the Earl of Oxford, a 
prisoner in the dungeons of Hammes ; the Earl of Pern- 
broke, the uterine brother of Henry VI., and his nephew 
the young Earl of Richmond,^ driven by storm on the 
coast of JBretagne, where they remained under the pro- 
tection of Duke Francis, in a kind of honourable con- 
finement. Of the less prominent partisans of the Red 
Rose, many were pardoned ; for having now no fear of 
a rival, since the death of Henry and the Prince of 
Wales, Edward listened graciously to the petitions for 
pardon, which poured in from all sides, and reversed 
several attainders in the next Parliament. Thus he 
secured to himself the services of several eminent men, 
particularly of Dr. Morton, successively Master of the 
Rolls, Bishop of Ely, Lord Chancellor, and Cardinal 
Archbishop of Canterbury; and Sir John Fortescue, 
Lard Chief Justice, author of one of the most celebrated 
works on constitutional law: " de Laudibus Legum 
An^licB^ 
* Hear; Holland, Duke of Eie- 
ter and great grandson of Jnhn of 
Gaunt, woa married to Ajiae. eldest 
■iater of Edvard IV. Upon this 
reTcrae in his fortunes she obtained 
a divorce, and married Sir Tbos. 
St. Leger. The Duke naa at that 
time in conlinemeDt. The neit 
year bis dead hody was found float- 
ing in the sea between Dover and 
Calaie.— (SfoToe, {i. 426.) i 
t Afterwards Hear]' VII. Ed- 
ward made many rmitleaa attempts 
to get the young prince into liis 
ambasBadors, promieing to give him 
one of his danglitsrs in marriage. 
The Duke of Bretagne eufFered bim 
to depart; but led la believe Ed- 
ward merely intended to betray 
him, sent messengers after him, 
who overtook him at St. Malo'a. 
EXTRACTS 
FROM CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS AND 
LETTERS 
RELATING TO THB 
LAST TEN YEARS 
OF THB REIGN OF 
KING EDWARD THE FOURTH, 
A.D. 1473 TO 1483. 
THE LAST TEN YEARS OF THE REIGN 
OF KING EDWARD IV. 
His domestic Habits, courteous Demeanour, and 
affectionate Care of his Children. 
With the submission of the Earl of Oxford the Civil a.d. 
Wars in the reign of Edward tlie Fourth were entirely 
suppressed, and from this period the actions of the King 
ceased to be of that selfish character, which had marked 
his career from the Battle of Towton to the banishment 
of the Archbishop of York. In the following extracts 
the principal points which will strike the reader's atten- 
tion are. I. that the Civil Wars, by breaking up the Fmiuofihe 
power of the Barons, had given the Middle ClaeseB, '• ■"""[ 
consisting of the gentry and mercantile community, a <iM"- 
stake in the country which, hitherto, they hatl never 
146 THK BEIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEABS 
A.D. 1472. possessed ; and consequently that Agriculture and Com- 
merce flourished to a degree,^ which enabled the King 
{Hardyn^i at his death, to leave the nation " which, through civil 
sedition, had been greatly impoverished, both rich and 
II. cominer- plenteous :" — ^and ii. that, by rendering England the 
priie en- warehousc, not the workshop, of the worid, he encouraged 
merchants from all countries to settle in his kingdom, 
who brought with them a taste for Literature and the 
Fine Arts, which rapidly spread through all ranks of 
society, with the consequent increase of wealth and 
knowledge. 
inTentkm of The introduction of the Art of Printinff ^ into Endand, 
printing. . . ® . 
no doubt, assisted much to foster this taste ; whilst the 
King's natural inclinations lead him to adopt whatever 
was splendid and costly, either in dress or decoration.^ 
(Ow/. cont. Thus the Croyland Doctor tells us, " that at the Christ- 
The King's ^'^^^ fcstivitics hc appeared in a variety of most costly 
SJSi.**^* dresses,* of a form never seen before, which he thought 
displayed his person to considerable advantage;^ and 
{Archaoio- the Lord of Grauthuse, Governor of Holland, an account 
j^a.vol. xxvi. 
p.5i76,) of whose mission to Edward, immediately after his re- 
storation in 1472, written at the time, has recently been 
{Sir Frede- published by Sir Frederick Madden, ^ paints in glowing 
den*i Narra. colours the luxury of the English Court. On his arrival 
tive of Lord , ... 
Grauthwe.) at Windsor, my Lord Hastings received him and led 
^ ** Yet so much talent emerged have tents set up for the ladies, in 
in his government, amid all his vo- which he treated them after a 
luptuous relaxations, that the na- splendid and magnificent manner.'' 
tion increased in strength, riches, {CommineSf p. 194.) 
intellect, civilization, and literature, A..nn. r r,- 
duringhisreign."— (7\inwr.)"Al. _ * "The new fashion that he chose 
thoughhefound his kingdom greatly J^^ the last state dresses was, to 
impoverished, and almost empty ^^^^ (^^^ wide hanging sleeves, like 
both of men and money, he left it amonk's,linedwithmo8tco8tlyfur8, 
in all things rich and abundant." ^^^ 8° borne over his shoulders, as 
•^{HaWs Chronicle, p. 341.) ^^^ «»]« his tall figure an air of great 
2 See note to Warkworth's Chro- grandeur.' ^{Croyland, Cont, p. 
nicle, page 119. ^^^'^ 
* ** His thoughts were wholly ■**' Narrative of Louis of Bruges, 
employed upon the ladies, on hunt- Lord Grauthuse," (whoni Edward 
ing, and on dressing. In his sum- created Earl of Winchester,) Ar- 
mer's hunting, his custom was to ehcBologia, vol. xxvi. 1835. 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
147 
hiin to the far side of the quadrant^ {quadrangle) to a.d. 1472. 
three chambers, where the King was there with the 
Queen. These apartments were very richly hunsr with Description 
1 xT_ !• ij 11 111 1 .1 , of Windsor 
cloth ot gold arras ; and when he bad spoken with the <^^- 
King, who presented him to the Queen's Grace, they 
then ordered the Lord Chamberlain, Hastings to conduct 
him to his chamber where supper was ready for him. 
" After he bad supped the King had him brought 
immediately to the Queen's own chamber, where she and 
her ladies were playing at the marteaux ; ^ and some of 
her ladies were playing at closheys of ivory, and dancing, 
and some at divers other games : the which sight was 
full pleasant to them. Also, the King^ danced with my 
Lady Elizabeth, his eldest daughter. — In the morning, 
when Matins was done, the King heard, in his own 
Chapel,^ Our Lady-Mass, which was most melodiously 
chaunted, the Lord Grauthuse being present. When 
the Mass was done, the King gave the said Lord Grau- 
thuse a cup of gold, garnished with pearl. In the midst 
of the cup was a great piece of unicorn's horn, to my Theuni- 
.... • J . Ill corn's horn 
estimation seven inches m compa^ ; and on the cover was a preser. 
• . , , 1 • »» vative from 
of the cup a great sapphire. poison. 
After breakfast the King came into the Quadrangle. 
" My Lord Prince, also, borne by his Chamberlain, called 
Master Vaughan,^ which bade the Lord Grauthuse wel- 
come. Then the King had him and all his company into 
^ Marteaux was a game played 
with small balls of different colours , 
similar to our marbles ; the clo- 
sheys were ninepins, in which each 
piece sometimes represented the 
different state employments. 
7 Edward seems to have been 
particularly fond of his children ; 
the Lady Elizabeth was then only 
six years old, and like Henry the 
Fourth of France, the King did not 
suffer the presence of strangers to 
interfere with the endearments of 
parent and child. In the evening 
the princess' uncle, the Duke of 
Buckingham, danced with the little 
" lady," who appears to have been 
petted both by father and uncle. 
In the sequel we shall see with 
what anxious care he provided for 
the education of the unfortunate 
Edward the Fifth, and the marriages 
of his daughters. 
^ St. George's Chapel, Windsor 
Castle. 
^ Sir Richard Vaughan, after- 
wards imprisoned by Richard III. 
at Pontefract Castle, where be was 
beheaded, A.D. 1483. 
l2 
148 
THE SEIAN OF EDWABD IV. [lj 
AD.nn the little Part, where he made him have great sport; 
HmiiDibe 3jjj there the King made him ride on his own horse, on 
a right fair hobby,'" the which the King gave him." — 
noHTKTFfd The King's dinner was ordained in the Lodge (in Wind- 
sor Park), After dinner then they hunted again, and 
the King shewed his guest his garden and vineyard of 
pleasure. Then " the Queen did ordain a great banquet 
in her own chamber, at wliich King Edward, her eldest 
daughter the Lady Elizabeth, the Duchess of Exeter," 
the Lady Rivers, (and) the Lord of Grauthuse, all sat 
with her at one mess ; and at the same table, sat the 
Duke of Bucktngtiam, my Lady, his wife, with divers 
other ladies, my Lord Hastings, Chamberlain to the 
King, my Lord Bemers, Chamberlain to the Queen, (Me) 
son of Lord Grauthuse, and Master George Barthe,'^ 
Secretary to the Duke of Burgundy, Louis Stacy, Usher 
to the Duke of Burgundy, George Martigny, (and) also 
certain nobles of the King''s own court. There was a 
side table, at which sat a great view (show) of ladies, all 
on the one side. Also, in the outer chamber sat the 
Queen's gentlewomen, all on one side. And on the 
other side of the table, over against them, as many 
of the Lord Grauthuse's servants, as touching to the 
abundant welfare (plenty), like as it is according to such 
a bam|uet. And when they had supped my Lady Eliza^ 
beth, the King's eldest daughter danced witli tho Duke 
of Buckingham and divers other ladies also." 
rhereona " Then, about nine of the clock, the King and the 
iKhHuid Queen, with her ladies and gentlewomen, brought the 
■^ Hobbjr, or hunting pony. In 
Norfolk and SofFolk ebooting po- 
nies are alill called : bobbies. 
" The Duchess of Exeter was 
Bieter-in-law to the Queen. The 
Lad; Ricera was married to the 
- gallant Sir Anthony Woodville, the 
Qoeen'a brother, who became Lord 
Scales ID right of his nile, and on 
the murder of his father in 1468, 
(see p. 2i,) Ear! of RWera, and was 
eieeuted at Pontefmct in 1483. 
The Dachess of Buckingham niu 
the Lady Katherine Woodville, sis- 
ter to the Queen.— (See Heame'a 
JVapmenf, p. 16.) 
" This Master George Barthe 
accompanied the Lord Grauthuse, 
and Sir FYederick Madden conjec- 
tures him to be the BHthor of the 
intereating memoir from which we 
have so largely quoted. 
P EDWARD IV,] THE BEIGS OF EDWARD IV. 
149 
said Lord of Grauthuae to three chambers of plesance, a, 
all hanged with white silk and linen cloth, and all the 
floors covered with carpets.'* There was ordained a bed t! 
for hinaself, of as good down as could be gotten. The "; 
sheets of B,ennes {doth andy* also fine fustians; the 
counterpane, cloth of gold, furred with ermines. The 
tester and ceiler also shining cloth of gold ; the curtains 
of white sarcenet ; as for his head-suit and pillows, they 
were of the Queen's own ordonnance. In the second 
chamber was likewise another state-bed, all white. Also 
(in) the same chamber was made a couch with feather 
beds, and hanged with a tent, knit like a net, and there 
was a cupboard. In the third chamber was ordained a 
bayne {bath) or two, which were covered with tents of 
white cloth. 
" And, when the King and the Queen "> with all her 
ladies and gentlewomen had shewed him these chambers, 
they turned again to their own chambers, and left the 
said Lord Grauthuae there, accompanied with the Lord 
Chamberlain (Hastings), which despoiled (undressed) 
him, and (thetf) both went together to the bath. — And b* 
when they had been in their baths as long as was their lo 
pleasure, they had green ginger, divers syrups, comfits, 
and ipocras, and then they went to bed. And in the 
morning he took his cup'^ with the King and Queen, 
'^ We are told by those oho rail 
at what they cull the eitravagance 
of the present day, " that Queen 
Elizabeth knew naught of carpets, 
but conaidered freah ruehea a Inx. 
ury." Could she so far have de- 
generated since the days of her 
grandmother, whose luxDrioDsly 
fnmished rooms wonld even have 
satiblied the fastidious taste o( the 
last of the Georges ? Indeed, bath 
Ednard the Fourth, and George 
the Fourth seem to have had a love 
for the elegances of life, far beyond 
any of the otber EOiereigna of this 
country. 
'^ These Bretagne cloths were of 
the finest texture. 
" The extreme BtCcntiOD lavished 
hy the Queen u^n the bononred 
guest of her husband, isiu everyway 
to her credit. This courteous de- 
meanour of the Royal Family had a 
most beoeficial influence on the 
manners of the age, and more than 
anything else, aerved to banish the 
ill-blood, which hadheen engender- 
ed by the Civil Wars. 
" The morning's meal was com- 
posed of BoUds, and the " cup'^ 
from which it took its oame would, 
no doubt, have lightened Father 
160 
THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1472. and returned to Westminster again. — And on St. Ed- 
wesSteJ ward's day, 13th of October, King Edward kept his 
13 Oct. 1472. j^y^ g^g^|.^ ^^ Westminster Palace. And about X of 
the clock, the forenoon, he came into the parliament in 
his robes, on his head a cap of maintenance, and sat in 
his most royal majesty, having before him his lords 
Vote of spiritual and temporal. Also the speaker of Commons 
thanks to the 
Queen^and to parliament, named WiUiam Allington, declared before 
Grauthuse, the King and his noble and grave council the intent and 
desire of his Commons, especially in their commendation 
of the womanly behaviour, and great constancy of the 
Queen, he being beyond sea ; also the great joy and 
surety to his land, the birth of the Prince ; and the 
great humanity and kindness of the Lord Grauthuse, 
then present, shewn to the King when in Holland and 
Flanders; etc.**' 
With all due ceremony the King then created his 
guest Earl of Winchester,^^ the King's secretary Wil- 
liam AttclifTe reading aloud the letters patent. Thence 
proceeding to the Palace of Whitehall accompanied by 
the King, with the Queen, and the infant Prince borne 
in the arms of his Chamberlain, Sir Richard Vaughan, 
they went to the Abbey and offered at the shrine of St. 
Edward. " Then the King turned down the Choir, 
where he sat on his throne." The Earl of Winchester, 
bare his sword unto the time when they went to dinner. 
The King created (Richmond) a new King-at-arms and 
called him " Guienne;" and " Norroy" was called upon 
to proclaim the largess of the new Earl, as " Garter" 
had an impediment in his speech. The day concluded 
with a " void/' ^^ after which the Lord Winchester re- 
tired from the Royal presence. 
who is 
created Earl 
of Win- 
chester. 
Mathew. The pegs in the tankard 
marked the quantity , usually a 
quart, between each, and it was not 
uncommon to drink from peg to 
peg at a single draughty though the 
beverage was strong ale. 
*' See Rymer*s Foedera, vol. xi. 
p. 765. 
^ The " void," or parting cup, 
from the verb to voide, to depart, 
or go away, in which sense it is 
used by Chancer, was served on a 
tray, called an avoider^ since cor- 
rupted into, ** waiter.** 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV, 151 
When Edward was driven from the throne by the a.d. 1472. 
confederacy of Clarence and Warwick he had taken 
shipping at Lynn in Norfolk, " without bag or baggage, ^^' 
without cloth, sack or mail, and perchance with a great p- ^^-^ 
purse and little treasure," and indeed in such utter 
destitution "but to have nothing to give the master of (Oommnet, 
the ship for his passage, but a gown Uned with martins." / 
At that time the Easterlings ^^ were at war both with 
England and France, and had numerous war galleys on 
the seas. Eight of these spying the three ships which 
contained the fugitive King and his suite, bore down / 
upon him, in the expectation of an easy booty, and 
chased him to the coast of Friezeland, to a little town ^^orau?* 
called Alcmaer, and because the tide would not allow *^""®**^^** 
him to land, he anchored in the roads in shallow water. 
The Easterlings also cast anchor, as near him as pos- 
sible, intending to attack him at high-water. " Happily 
the Lord of Grauthuse, Governor in Holland, for the 
Duke of Burgundy, chanced to be there, where Edward 
desired to land, and hearing who he was from the men 
who had landed, and of the danger he was in from the ^^J^J^'* 
Easterlings, he warned the latter not to approach him ; 
and going on board the King's ship, he welcomed him 
and conducted him to Land, and about 500 men with 
him, amongst whom was the Duke of Gloucester, his 
brother, who was afterwards King Richard." The Lord 
of Grauthuse then conducted him to the Hague, where 
he bore all his expenses] till he received the Duke of 
Burgundy's orders. 
Edwards gratitude for this prompt deliverance was The Khi^«*8 
shown by inviting his preserver over to this country, ^^^'' 
and creating him Earl of Winchester, in 1472, and to '^°\'^: 
this circumstance we are indebted for the interesting 
account from which we have given a picture of three 
days spent in the privacy of the Royal Circle. The 
19 
The Easterlings were corsairs of the Low Countries and Germany. O 
152 THE RKIG.V OF EDWAKD IV. [last X YEARS 
A.D. 1472. Manuscript itself is preserved in the British Museum. — 
(Bib. Cotton. Jul. Ccbs. VI.) 
{sirTiiamu " No prince was so heartily beloved by his people, nor 
1.) ' ' was he so especially loved as at the time of his death, 
and that even some of the friends of Henry VI. had 
^rt"'"!^!) g''o*"' i"''0 l"^ favour. He was of a goodly personage,™ 
"""^n '" °^^ ^^T princely to behold ; of visage lovely ; of body 
mighty ; strong and clean made. Howbeit, in his latter 
days, with over liberal diet, somewhat corpulent and 
burley, yet not uncomely. Albeit, all his reign he was 
with his people so benign, courteous and familiar, that 
no part of his virtues was more esteemed, yet, never- 
theless, thia quality, in the end of his days, raarvelously 
(Faijan'j in him grew and increased." " In July 1481," says 
p.siz) " Fabyan, "the King invited the Mayor and part of the 
Corporation to a hunt in Waltham Forest, and feasted 
them with a rich dinner and wJne, in a bower of green 
boughs, and gave them plenty of venison at parting. 
The next month he sent two harts and six bucks, to 
the wives of the Mayor and Aldermen, with a tun of 
wine to drink with them," 
{Omtin.ia By his Queen "he had ten children, and of them 
Oirimdie, were left alive behind him Edward, Prince of Wales, 
and Kichard, Duke of York, (and one bastard caUed 
Arthur), and five daughters, Elizabeth, Cecily, Anne, 
!" "This Edward was a goodly 
man of personage, of Btatne high, 
of conntenance and beauty comely, 
of sight qnick, broad breasted, and 
well Bet, in eTery other part con- 
forniable to hia body; of a preg- 
DSDt Hit, of stomach stout, and 
hault (fiigh) of courage ; of perfect 
memory of such things as he con- 
ceited in bis brain ; diligent in his 
atTairs and weighty busioess, in ad- 
■entnies bold and tardy; sgaiiiEt 
liis adversaries fierce and terrible, 
to his friends liberal and bounteous ; 
haying in all bia ware most pros- 
perous and lucky euci 
eichening all pleaaur 
ality, to the whicb h 
which C! 
and 1 
use, and for the looflinf^as 
nanity, that was in him 
engendered by nature most pleo- 
teouslj, be bore himself homely 
amongst his private persons, other- 
wise than the degree or dignity of 
his Majesty required, wherefore the 
fame ran that be was poisoned, 
vrhich was not true." — {Hardyng'a 
Contin. p. 31.) 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REIGS OF EDWARD IV, 153 
Katherine, and Bridget, which after were married all, 
saving that Lady Bridget was a nun," 
It was for the education of the Prince of Wales, hh ftmfiy, 
that Edward, with the affectionate solicitude of a fond for ihtuwd- 
parent, drew up the following rules, which display part 
of the best customs of the gentleman of that day : — 
§ 1. He shall arise every morning at a convenient buim for the 
time, and till he be ready none but Earl waieficon- 
Kivers, his chamherlain, or chaplain, to (Somtus. 
enter his chamber, and one other chaplain nd, iw*. 
Ill V"'' H^ 
to smg mattins, then to go to his chapel or i»o™» ""■- 
chamber to hear mass. p- ''^-^ 
(!) 2. That he hear, every holiday, divine service. 
§ 3. That on principal feasts, sermons be preached 
before him. 
§ i. That he breakfast immediately after mafis, and 
be occupied an hour at his school before 
he go to meat, and to be at his dinner at a 
convenient hour, and that to be reasonably 
served, and liis dishes borne by worshipful 
folks, wearing our livery. 
§ 5. That no man sit at his board, but as Earl 
Kivers shall allow ; and that there be read 
before him noble stories, as behoveth a 
prince to understand^ and that the com- 
munication, at all times in his presence, be 
of virtue, honour, cunning, wisdom, and 
deeds of worship, and of nothing that ahall 
move him to vice. 
§ 6. After his meat, in eschewing of idleness, that 
he be occupied two hours at his school; 
and after, in his presence, to be shewed all 
such convenient disports and exercises, as 
belong to his estate to have experience in. 
§ 7- To go to his even song at a convenient hour ; 
and soon after that to be at his supper. 
154 
THE REIGN OF EDWABD IT. [lAST X TEARS 
Rules for the 
Prince of 
Wales*t con- 
duct. 
His daugh' 
ten* mar« 
riages. 
§ 8. After supper, that he have all such honest 
disports as may be conveniently devised for 
his recreation. 
§ 9. That he be in his chamber, and for all night ; 
and the travers (curtains) to be drawn by 
nine of the clock, and all persons then from 
thence to be avoided, except for attendance. 
§ 10. That sure and good watch be nightly had and 
kept about his person for safeguard. 
§ 11. That discreet and convenient persons be ap- 
pointed to give attendance on his person, 
from his rising to his going to bed. 
Of the three sons of Edward and Elizabeth, George, 
Duke of Bedford, died early and was buried at Windsor. 
The fate of his two elder brothers, the unfortunate Ed- 
ward THE Fifth, and Richard, Duke op York, has 
already been noticed. Of his seven daughters, Mar- 
garet died young and was buried in Westminster Abbey; 
and Mary,2i who had been betrothed to the King of 
Denmark, died in her 15 th year, before her marriage 
was solemnized, and was buried at Windsor, — Eliza- 
beth, the Princess-Royal, married Henry VII; — 
Cicely, affianced during her father'^s lifetime to James, 
Prince of Scotland, married i.) the Lord Welles, by 
whom she had two daughters, and ii.) a Commoner of 
the name of Kyme, by whom she had no issue. She 
was buried at Quarr, Abbey, near Ryde, Isle of Wight ; 
— Ann, contracted to Philip, of Austria by her father, 
married after his death, Thomas Howard, Duke of 
Norfolk, by whom she had two sons; — Katherine, 
'* In the year 1810, when the 
tomb of George III. and his family 
was being prepared at the East 
end of St. George's Chapel, two 
stone coffins containing the bodies 
of the Queen and her son George 
were discovered 15 feet below the 
surface. Shortly after the coffin of 
the beautiful Princess Mary was 
found. A curl of hair, of the most 
exquisite pale gold colour had insi- 
nuated itself through the chinks of 
the coffin. It was cut off, and is 
in the finest preservation. 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
165 
intended by the King for the Infant of Spain, married 
William Courtney, Earl of Devonshire, by whom she 
had Henry, created Marquis of Exeter, in 1625. 
Bridget died a nun, at Dartford. The Queen, who had 
ever retained her influence over Edward, and to whose 
feminine attentions to his domestic comfort the happi- 
ness of the last ten years of his life must be ascribed, 
survived him nine years, and died April 10th 1492, and Death of 
was buried at Windsor. The tomb of Edward the beth wood." 
viJle* 
Fourth is said to have been executed by Quintin Matsys. 
It has the appearance of the most beautiful blacl^ lace 
of the low countries and is composed of a gothic screen 
between two towers, made of steel. On a flat stone at 
the foot of the monument is this inscription : 
CHAPTER II. 
His Foreign Policy. 
The high reputation of Edward as a warrior,^ was suffi- a.d. u73. 
cient to deter foreign potentates, and more particularly 
his powerful rival the King of France, from entering into 
open warfare with him. Accordingly we find, that when 
in 1473, subsidies on a most liberal scale had been voted 
for the purpose of enabling him to recover his French 
possessions, and the new financial measure, called " bene- Benevolences 
voLENCEs ''*' 2 had filled his exchequer, Louis, the Eleventh, Jected. 
* " He was ever Tictorious in all 
the battles where he was present." — 
{^Habington.) 
2 *' This sort of aid levied after 
this manner was called by the new 
name of ^ Beneyolence,* intimating 
that private persons had granted 
it freelj and of their own accord. 
Mean while, these loans raised 
without the authority of Parlia- 
menty were of very dangerous oon* 
sequence; but as it was. to make 
166 THE BEIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEABS 
A.D. 1474. employed every means to prevent the threatened invar 
sion of his Territories. It is curious to observe the 
anxiety of the gentry in England to prove their loyalty, 
in contributing thus voluntarily, to the resources of the 
King for carrying on the war ; and on the other hand 
with what distaste they viewed the exaction of the sub- 
(Ferm^sPat. sidios votcd by the Parliament. In a letter from Wil- 
yoi.ii.p.i6i.) liam Paston to his brother Sir John, we have a pleasing 
account of the intended progress of the King into divers 
Counties in 1474, the motive of which was to raise, more 
easily by his presence and cheerful address, "benevo- 
lences " upon his subjects towards the expenses of his 
war with France. The County of Norfolk had been 
particularly pointed out to the King for the riches and 
hospitality of it's inhabitants, and, as an inducement for 
the handsome and amorous Monarch to prolong his stay 
^aotyof amongst them, the beauty and agreeable behaviour of 
women. the womeu had been peculiarly commended. Thus in 
The King's the letter alluded to we are told that : " on Monday (the 
progress. ^ 
2lst of March J 1474) he will lie at the Abbey of Strat- 
ford, and so to Chelmsford ; then to Sir Thomas Mont- 
gomery's ; then to Heveningham ; then to Colchester ; 
then to Ipswich ; then to Bury ; then to Dame Anne 
Wingfield's, and so to Norwich ; and there will he be 
on Palm Sunday eve (3rd of April, 1474;) and so tarry 
there all easter, and then to Walsingham ; ^ wherefore 
ye had need to warn William Gogney and his fellows to 
purvey (provide) them of wine enough ; for every man 
beareth me in hand, that the town shall be drank as dry 
as York was, when the King was there. Sir, Master 
Sampson recommends him (self) unto you, and he hath 
war on France there were no mur- 
murs." — {Rapin, vol. v. p. 95.) 
** An unheard of mode of taxa- 
tion, that every one by way of Be- 
nevolence should give, what he 
liked, or rather what he did not 
such vast sums, as greatly to ex- 
ceed any thing seen before, or likely 
to be seen hereafter." — {Croyl, 
Coniin. p. 558.) 
^ '* I suppose to pay his devo- 
tions to the image of our Lady 
like I By which means he coUected I there/' — {Sir John Fenn,) 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REIGS OF EDWARD IV. 157 
sent you a ring by Edmond Dorman ; and besides tbat, a, 
he required me to write unto you, that it were best for 
you to purvey you of some gentlemanly things against 
the King's coming, for sure he will bring you guests 
enough, and therefore purvey you thereafter, (provide 
accordingly.) Also, he sendeth you word, that it is my 
Lord's mind, that my sister, with all goodly folks there- 
about, should accompany Dame Elizabeth Calthorp,* be- 
cause there is no great Lady there about, against the 
King's coming ; for my Lord hath made great boast of 
the fair and good gentlewomen of the country ; and so 
the King said he would see them sure." 
Hall and Holinshed quote a remarkable instance of C^ 
his popularity and attractive manners. " He aaked a 
rich old lady what she would give him towards the war. 
' For thy lovely face,' she replied, ' thou shalt have 
twenty pounds," being twice as much as the King ex- 
pected; whereupon he thanked and kissed her, upon 
which she doubled the sum she had promised.'' 
These benevolences, however, impoverished the country 
for there was a spirit of emulation in taxing themselves 
to the utmost, and William Paston in the letter quoted 
above, urges his brother " to let the Lancashire men," 
who accompanied the King, " see, tbat there be gentle- 
men of 80 great substance, that they shall be able to buy 
all Lancashire." " By this method he extorted money (* 
so plentifully, as to lower the prices of most commodi-Jp- 
ties, not leaving a sufficient quantity with Ids subjects to' 
pay for them as they had done before." It wOl be seen, 
from the following letter of Margaret Paston, that this 
was the case in Norfolk ; for she could not dispose of 
her wood tliougli "before the King's coming," she 
writes, " I might have had chapmen to have bought it (/ 
a gret (by the great, or lot,) for twelve score marks, vo 
158 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1474. 
Low price of 
provisions, 
Jan. 1474. 
(160«6^.) and now there will no man buy it a great, be- 
cause of the great good {large sums) that the people ia 
laid to for the King ; wherefore we are about to retail 
it as well as we may, and as well as it can be brought 
to ; and send you word how we shall do, as hastily as I 
may." 
" As for your barley, in this country, it cannot be sold 
above lOd. or lid. (per comb) that is the greatest price 
of barley here, and but (unless) it be at a better price, I 
purpose for to do it malt (malt it) ; and as for money, I 
could not get yet of Peacock but £S. ; for he saith that 
by then that the outcharges be bom, and the reparation 
of the mill at Winterton, we are hke to have little more 
money, beside the barley. MaJt is sold here but for 
13d. and wheat 2s. or 26d. at this time, and oats 12d.^ 
There is none outload suffered to go out of this country 
as yet; the King hath commanded that none should 
go out of this land. I fear me, that we shall have right 
a strange world ; God amend it when his will is." 
In confirmation of the distaste with which the parlia- 
mentary subsidies were viewed, an extract from a letter 
{Fmn's Poi. of John Paston to his brother will be sufficient : " Sir, 
tun Letters, , , , , ' 
vol. V. p. 49.) it IS SO that my cousin John Bleverhasset ^ is informed 
that for very certain he is chosen to be one of the Col* 
lectors of the Task in Norfolk, whereas in very truth he 
hath not a foot of land within the shire; wherefore I 
beseech you, that as hastily as ye may, after sight of this 
bill, that it may please you to take the labour to com- 
^ In the May following prices 
were lower still : ** By my troth, 1 
wot not how to do ; the King goeth 
so near us in this country, both to 
^ poor and rich, that I wot not how 
we shall live, but if {unless) the 
world amend. I neither can sell 
corn nor cattle to no good preve 
(proof). Malt is here but at lOd. 
a comb ; wheat a comb, 28d. ; oats 
a comb, lOd. and thereof is little 
to get here at this time.** — {Paston 
Letters y vol. v. p. 107.) 
* " John Bleverhesset, Blenner- 
hasset, and for shortness often 
called Harsset, of Ferns, married 
I. Jane, daughter of Thomas High- 
ham, Esq. ; and ii. Jane, daughter 
of Sir Thomas Tindal, of Hock- 
wold, Kt. He died in 1510, aged 
87.*'— (-Sir John Fenn,) 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 169 
mune with Sir Kichard Harcourt, and let him have a.d. 1474. 
knowledge that this gentleman hath nought within the 
shire : and that ye twain may find the means to get him The couec- 
' ^ ^ . . ° ting the sub- 
out of that thankless office, for I promise you it eneum- J{["®J^gg 
bereth him evil, and my mistress his wife, and all us his o^^e. 
friends here ; and if so be that ye and Sir Richard Har- 
court may not find the mean betwixt you, that then it 
may please you to move my Lord Chamberlain with this 
matter, and so Master Harsset (Bleverhassei) prayeth 
you, and Mistress Jane his wife also, for she liketh 
nothing by the office. I pray God send you the Holy 
Ghost among you in the Parliament House, and rather 
the devil, we say, than you should grant any more tasks." 
These, however, were not the only means adopted by other 
means 
the King to fill his cofiers. One of the first acts of the the King to 
new parliament, which assembled Oct. 6. 1472, was to (i2y»wS-%oi/ 
attaint the persons and confiscate the estates of his * * ^* 
rebels and enemies. To gain the afiections of the Clergy, 
he pardoned several bishops who had been engaged 
against him in the recent contest. But his expensive 
tastes, which now, that the engrossing object was a war 
with France, had somewhat abated, broke out with fresh 
force after his return from Calais ; " and his avarice, (Hih. cnyi, 
which daily increased, prompted him to employ a variety p. 559") 
of methods, some of them very oppressive, and others 
quite unworthy of his station to attain his object. But 
though he plundered his subjects himself without mercy, 
he was remarkably severe in punishinff private robbers Punishes 
•^ ^ ° ^ robbers and 
and plunderers, a class of persons always numerous and plunderers, 
difficult to manage after a long succession of civil com- 
motion.^' Amongst those who suffered most severely by 
the attainder, were the Archbishop of York, and the 
Earl of Oxford. The former, as has been already no- 
ticed in Dr. Warkworth's Chronicle, p. 137, was utterly (irarkioorth, 
despoiled and imprisoned in the castle of Guisnes, where %owel *"*^ 
he died in want and wretchedness. The latter had^*^^*^ 
stipulated, when surrendering Mount St. Michael, for 
160 THE REIQN OF EDWAItD IV. [lASTXTKAM 
hig life; but his estates were confiscated and liimseU 
'■' imprisoned in the Castle of Hammes ; " whilst hUa 
Countess, sister to the late Earl of Warwick, was re- 
duced to the necessity of earning a scanty subsistence b^ 
her needle." 
In the same parliament " the last day of November 
. the Commons grajit to the King 14,000 Archers,^ to 
serve the King at their costs, for one year, the same to 
be levied out of all men's lands, according to a propor- 
tion. The Lords Spiritual and Temporal by themselves, 
grant unto the King, towards the furniture aforesaid, 
the tenth part of one whole year's revenue, of all and 
singular their possessions." " In the year following, April! 
.)the 8th 1473, the commons grant unto the King one 
fifteen and one disme, except dfGOOO. to be distributed 
to certain decayed towns." Heavy as these exactions 
were felt at the moment, that they were levied, it was 
by them chiefly that Edward was enabled to recover thO' 
country from the exhausted state into which it's exche- 
quer had fallen, and ultimately to place it in the enviable 
position in which he left it at his death. 
His Commercial Treaties were dictated by groat fore- 
sight and talent. He laboured incessantly to make Eng-- 
land the warehouse of the World.^ The Hanse towns,* 
' "The eiBhteanth day of Joly 
1473. the Commons grant to the 
King, one DUme, and one Fifteen, 
and if51,ll7. i>. 7d. ob. q. in fall 
payment of the wagei for 14,000 
Archers granted before, towards the 
payment whereof every County, 
City, and Tawa \b BeTeridty taxied. 
The grant is very long."— 
(Piynne'a Tower Records, p. fi96.) 
" " In coneideration of £33,000. 
dne hj the King to the Mayor and 
Merchants of the Staple, the King 
by a long act granteth to them a 
Rfteen as Anno 1 E. 4. tit. 9."— 
(TWer Records, p. 6y2.) 
' " The hostility and contention 
which vns between the King and 
the Merchants of England of the 
one part, and the Dnke of Hanaa, 
or the StilliardB of Che other part, 
from the 2Ist day of November in 
Anno E. 4. unto the 19 day rf 
September in Anno 13 E. i. ai« 
utterly appeased, so as every Mer- 
chant of either part to the said 19t^. 
day, may lawfully require of ths 
other part his own, and a free iii»! 
tercourse between those Conntrieaj 
and Merchants, for ever to be had*' 
" To which end the King, by hSi^ 
letters Patents, confinneth to th^' 
said Merchanta of the Sljlliard the&r' 
old liberties granted to all Mer« 
chant strangers, of every Conntr]!!' 
by name, by King E. I. hot af[ee| 
F EDWARD IV,] THE HEION C 
ICl 
the most powerful league of merchants ever formed, a.d. 14; 
consisted at one time of 00 less than 72 of the principal ^^™ 
trading cities of Europe, whose general staples were : '^^a' 
London, Bruges in Flanders, Bei^n in Norway, and p°73(i') 
Novgorod in Kussia. It originated in Bremen, in the 
year 1164, and probably at that time consisted only of 
the principal towns of Germany. When their power be- 
came at length so great as to be dreaded by the Sove- 
reigns, in whose countries tliey were established, the 
number greatly decreased, and at the period of Edward s 
reign Hamburgh, Bremen, Luebeck, Cologne, Dantzick 
and Rostock were the chief. During the Civil wars the 
English had injured the merchants of these towns, and t 
violated their privileges several ways ; upon wliich having 
obtMied letters of marque from their magistrates, they 
levied war upon their oppressors, which proved destruc- 
tive to both parties. At length the Civil wars being 
ended the Hanse towns sent ambassadors to Edward to 
demand satisfaction for their losses, and to propose a 
renewal of alliance, to confirm their privileges, and to 
secure the trade and navigation of the English in the 
Northern Seas. The Ambassadors wore graciously re- 
ceived by the King and all differences ultimately satis- 
factorily arranged by a congress held at Utrecht for that 
purpose. Shortly after this, by letters patent the King 
confirmed the ancient alliance between Richard II. and TreMywi 
Don John of Portugal, for them ajid their successors, (/«'*■?.'< 
receiving similar letters from King Alphonso, bearing 
date August 30th 147^. The differoncos between the-niePiemi 
Enghsh merchants and the Flemings '" were, also, ar- rccondicd 
:<i be « 
i.II. 
rated and the King's grant not to 
raise the same ; all which by act of 
ParlLament is conliriDed." — l_I6id. 
693.) 
"The hoQsf called (he Style- 
hanse, othBrwise the StUliards, in 
the parish of Allhalloivs in London, 
is by autboritjr of Parliament as- 
aigned to the Merchants of the 
Hanae, and to their successors for 
ever, together with other Tonements 
to the same belonging, yielding 
yearly Co the Major of London 
^70. and other renta to others. " — 
(/iid. 697.) 
'" " The renofBtion of the trea. 
ties of Truce and Commerce be. 
162 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1474. ranged in negociating a final Peace with the Duke of 
Tnicewith Burffundv. A truce was concluded between England 
Scotland.— o ^ ... 
(Rymer, and Scotlaudbv the plenipotentiaries of both nations till 
VOl.xi.p.768.) T 1 T.IKTO X 1.1 xu • X- X J 
July 1473, to enable the negociations to proceed. 
Preparations Edward uow tumcd his attention to the recovery of 
for war with ... 
A*^"*?:,. his French dominions. In the speech from the throne 
A.U. 14/4. 
he stated his intentions, and many eloquent orations 
assisted the warlike fever ; whilst his financial measures, 
and the loyalty and liberality of Parliament opened the 
way to a brilliant campaign. Louis XI, the crafty and 
deceitful King of France had by every means, legal and 
illegal^ diminished the power of the great vassals of the 
crown, and given the kingly office that superiority in the 
nation, which it never lost till the death of Louis XVI. 
(Rymer, His movcmeuts were jealously watched by his neigh- 
voi.xip. .) jjQ^j^^ gjjj Edward and Charles of Burgundy had entered 
into a treaty, offensive and defensive, against him. In 
1471 he appears to have contemplated hostilities, for in 
a letter of Sir John Paston to his brother, in communi- 
(PastonLet. catiug the ucws of the day, he writes: "Furthermore 
men say, that the French King is with his host upon the 
water of Somme (in Picardy),^^ a 60 miles from Calais.'*' 
And in another letter of the same period : " Men say 
that the French King, with a great host, is at Amiens, 
^ but three score miles from Calais ; and if he, or his, rode 
terst vol. ii. 
p. 125.) 
tween England and Bretagne, which 
were interrupted during the usur- 
pation of the Earl of Warwick, is 
dated Sep. 30th 1471.'*— {Rapines 
Ada Regia, p. 298.) These dif- 
ferences were, however, not com- 
pletely reconciled till July 12 th 
1478, on which day the treaty was 
signed at Lisle. ** This treaty," 
given in Rymer's Foedera, vol. zii. 
p. 67, ** might be of singular ser- 
vice for merchants, or for those 
who would write a History of the 
Commerce betwixt England and the 
Netherlands ; for in it we find the 
particular grievances complained of 
on both sides by the inhabitants of 
the Netherlands, and by the English 
Merchants, who kept the Wool- 
staple of England at Calais ; toge- 
ther with the tricks and frauds 
practised by each party.*' — {Acta 
Regidf p. 316.) 
^^ Louis appears at the conclu- 
sion of the truce to have again re- 
turned to this position. ^* The 
French King men say is coming 
nigh to the water of Somme, with 
4000 Spears, and some men trow 
{think) that he will, the day of break- 
ing of truce, or else before, set upon 
the Duke's Countries here." — {Pas- 
ton LetterSy vol. ii. p. 177.) 
v-.]n 
1G3 
before Calais, and I not there, I would be Borry." What- a.d. uta 
ever were Louis' real intentions they were masked for 
the time, for Sir John thus writes on the 16th of April, 
then on his way to Calais ; " there was a truce taken at Truce for 
Brussels, about the 26th of March last past, between the Smii m 
Duke of Burgundy and the French King's ambassadors, 
and Mr. William AttclyEFe, for the King here ^ which [/"«'«< i 
is a peace by land and water till the 1st day of April, p- la^.i 
now next coming, between France and England, and 
also the Duke's land." 
Towards the end of 1474 an embassy was sent overPrmeh»i 
from Louis to Edward, but was not received " into the a^Jici 
King's presence, "* for men say, that the chief of them la 
he that poisoned both the Duke of Berri, and the Duke 
of Calabria;" and Sir John adds: " there never was 
more likelihood that the King should go over sea, this f 
next year, than was now." 
" The war contemplated by the King was no common {jrtaSi-i 
war, or a war from motives that were trifling. He ^' 
seemed determined to reconquer by the sword, what had 
been wrested by the sword from his predecessor. With 
the assistance of the Duke of Burgundy, who was as The nnke 
much concerned as himself, he at least hoped to re- undBwug 
possess Guienne and Normandy, the ancient patrimony <iebie8i,; 
of his ancestors. The Constable de St, Pol had pledged 
■^ " For the better Doderstauding 
of tluB curious paaaage, which re- 
flects hODOar npcD King Edward, 
both as a Bovereiga prince and a 
■nan, it will be neceBsary to inform 
the reader, that in 1472, Louia XI. 
finding blmBelf drawn into a war 
with the Duke of Bnrgund;, in or- 
der to bring about a marriage be- 
tween his brother, Charles, Duke of 
Berri and Guienne, and Mary the 
Daughter and heir of that Duke, 
employed proper persons to destroi^ 
his brother, and by chat means to 
extricate him from these troubles. 
The death of the Duke de Bern was 
eHected by a stow poison, of which 
he died in May, 1472, aged obout 
26 years. Mary, the richest heiress 
of her time, waa boin in 1457, and 
by her father, the Duke of Burgundy, 
was promised in marriage to variona 
potentates, and amongst the rest to 
Nicholas of Anjou, Dnke of Cala- 
bria and Lorraine. This prince died 
in August, 1473, aged abont 25, 
here said by poison, administered 
bj the same hand that took off the 
Duke de Berri."— (Sir JdAb Fmn.) 
kftet the death of her father at 
Nanci, in 1477, she married Maxi- 
milian, Archduke of Anstiia, and 
died, after a fall from her horse, 
within 4 yean afterwards. 
164 THE RBI6N OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1475. lumself to deliver up St. Quentin to the English ; and 
the Duke de Bretagne was persuaded to join the League 
against France. Thus Louis saw himself beset by three 
powerful enemies, at a moment when his government 
had become hateful to his most powerful vassals." 
(Oomminet, These arrangements being completed, Edward passed 
Edwardunds over to Calais,*^ and entered France in June 1475, 
?u^ to " attended by the flower of the English NobiUty, being 
a"d.i475. 1600 persons in full aimour, and each with several 
horsemen in their retinue ; 15,000 archers on horseback, 
and a great number of infantry, with artillery. There 
was not one useless person in the army ; and 3000 men 
besides were to have been landed in Bretagne." 
{jcia Regia, " As soou as Edward was arrived at Calais, he sent a 
Sends a de- herald^* to declare war against the King of France. 
LouS XL by Louis retumod a very mild answer and bid the Herald 
2*Ii^m^*"* tell his master, that the Duke of Burgundy and the 
Constable de St. Pol would infallibly deceive him. But 
before he dismissed the Herald, he asked him a great 
many questions; and the Herald in his answers took 
occasion to tell him either of his own head, or from some 
private instruction, that if he had any proposal of peace 
to make, he must apply to the Lords Howard and Stan- 
ley, who had both great interest with the King. Louis, 
who was a man of great penetration, suspected that the 
Herald did not say this without. a meaning. In the 
interim, to let the English lords see how liberal he was, 
who Is bribed he Ordered the Herald who came to declare war aeainst 
by Louis. o 
^ Commines adds, that '' whilst 
Edward was with his army at Dover, 
the Dake of Burgundy sent him 500 
flat-bottomed boats, without decks, 
well suited for the conveyance of 
horses, which boats were called 
7 miles across.'* — (p. 264.) 
^^ Commines says, ''he des- 
patched a single herald from Dover, 
named Jartiere ( Garter) who was a 
native of Normandy. He conveyed 
*8eniine8;* and notwithstanding a letter of defiance from the King 
this great number, added to all which of England, composed in beautiful 
the King, himself, could command, i language, and pure style, which I 
it took him three weeks to cross | will never believe was written by an 
from Dover to Calais, which is only ' Englishman." — (p. 264.) 
v.] THE I 
165 
him, a present of three hundred crowns for his pocket a.d. u 
and thirty ells of velvet to make him a gown." 
" Edward expected the Duke of Burgundy would Edward 
come at the head of an army to join him ; but though rfurgnm 
in confidence thereof he was already on the march he 
heard no news of him, which obliged him at last to send 
an express to him to know the cause of his delay. The 
Duke was still employed in the Electorate of Cologne, 
at the siege of Nuz'^ which he undertook in hopes of whocw 
making himself master of that place time enough to-'^n^of 
join the EngUsh. But the length of the siege, which 
held ten months, and his own obstinacy broke all his 
measures ; for while he was untimely bent on an affair of 
so little consequence, he suffered very great losses else- 
where ; the Duke of Austria took the county of Fer- a„a low 
rette ^^ from him ; the Duke of Lorrain ravaged Luxein- "ucm. 
bourg and Lewis XI. seized Roye and Mondidier. At 
last when he was just upon the point of being master of 
Nuz, he was so pressed by Edward's importunity that he 
consented the place should be deposited in the hands of 
one of the Pope's legates. But his army was in so poor 
a condition to begin a fresh campaign that he was 
obliged to put it into quarters of refreshment ; after vitMs r. 
which he went to find out Edward, in order to make an " " 
apology for his backwardness." 
Whilst Edward lay in his camp near Peronne rumi- 
nating on the unaccoimtable conduct of the Duke, "the 
"TO-IB 
■ ride 
into PlHndi 
ind Harness, anil perchance I shall 
see thesiegeofNaz ere I come again, 
if 1 have time. God send me good 
speed to appcint with the King and 
my Lord, for sach retioue as I sbould 
hsTB non in these wars into France ; 
wherefore I pra; you in Norfolk, 
and other places, commune with 
such 85 yoo think likely for you and 
me that are disposed to rake wages 
in gentlemen's houKs.eta." — (Poi- 
lOB Leileri, yoL a. p. 177.) 
>" "TlieBiegeorNuilutethatill, 
and the Emperor hath besieged also, 
not far fnim thence, a castle and 
another town in like wise, wherein 
the Duke's men be."_(»jif.) 
"The King's Ambassador, Sir 
Tbomaa Montgomery, and the Mas- 
ter of the Rolls be coming home- 
ward from NuZi and as for me. I 
think I shall be Mi'k but if I see 
it."— (/4W.) 
166 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
A.D. 1479. King of France caused a certain person of no note (' ufi 
Louis sends Variety simple serviteur'') belonging to the household of 
the King, M. dc Sallcs, to be clothed in a Herald's tabard, and 
August l2th, 
{Commines, haviug fully instructed him, despatched him to the 
English camp, to demand a safe conduct for ambassa- 
dors, desiring him to address himself for that purpose to 
the Lords Howard and Stanley. Arrived in the English 
quarters, with his tabard on his back, he was immediately 
arrested and conveyed to the Royal tent." Upon being 
questioned as to the purport of his coming, he replied : 
" he was charged on the part of the King his master 
with a message to the King of England, and to the 
whoisgra- Lords Howard and Stanley.'" He was then hospitably 
ceived. entertained at dinner in a tent, and upon the King's 
rising from table, who happened to be dining when the 
Herald arrived, he was admitted into the King's pre- 
His speech to sence, and told him: "That he was ordered by the 
the King. tt- • i • i • i i i 
Kmg his master to represent to him, that the war be- 
tween their two kingdoms could not but be destructive 
to both, and that the mutual commerce (intercourse) of 
the two nations was on the contrary a manifest advan- 
tage, which ought to be cherished. Then he excused 
the countenance given by France to Warwick, affirming 
that it was not done out of ill will to Edward, but on 
account of the Duke of Burgundy his master's irrecon- 
cileable enemy. He added that the Duke's insincerity 
was as apparent as the Constable's; but that it was 
unnecessary to mention this as the King himself was 
then suflFering from the ill effects of it. By this time he 
must see that he was come into a country where he had 
neither castles nor friends, and he left it to him to judge 
whether the conquest of France were as easy as he had 
been led to believe. The King his master, however, 
knowing so vast an armament could not be made without 
great expense, was willing to make him such amends, as 
should be satisfactory to him; and therefore he de- 
manded a safe conduct for Ambassadors with a train of 
IV.] THE BEIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
167 
one hundred horse, that they might inform him of his a.d. i 
master's wishes; or, if more in accordance with the 
pleasure of the King of England, that a meeting should 
take place in some village, situate between the two 
armies, of Ambassadors from both, the King of France 
would also grant a safe conduct on his part." 
This proposal was most acceptable to Edward under He in 
the circumstances in which he found himself, and accor- ^"S 
dingly the Herald was dismissed with a present of four saddn 
nobles, accompanied by a Herald, on his part, to claim a 
safe conduct similar to the one he had granted. Next 
day the King held a great council in his army, wherein 
it was determined to maice a truce with France, on cer- 
tain conditions, and the Lord Howard, Sir Thomas St. tiic k 
Leger, and Dr. Morton, the Master of tlie Itolls, (after- ion,. 
wards Abp. of Canterbury) were appointed to hold a 
conference with the French ambassadors betwixt Amiens 
and Peronne. Their instructions were given them in {Jna 
writing, signed by the King and twenty two Lords, so 
that they had not power either to add or diminish, and 
the King of France had notlilng to do but to accept 
the terms, as offered by Edward, or else refuse them. 
There is no doubt that Edward would not have fallen rmsdi 
so easily into the views of the wily Louis, had the Duke compii 
of Burgundy kept faith with him and joined him upon 
hia landmg In France. To repeated messages sent by 
the King, twice by the Queen's brother, the Lord Rivera, 
he had replied that his honour was concerned in the 
reduction of the fortress of Nuz, and he could not meet 
the King of England as the repulsed assailant of so 
inconsiderable a fortification. When he did arrive, he 
came with but a slender retinue, and on Edward's send- Tht & 
ing a detaclunent to occupy the town of St. Quentin the I'oi'a 
Constable St. Pol, whom the Duke bad represented as 
an ally, fired upon it from the Walls. The King no izmgo 
longer able to check the expression of his disappointment 
168 
THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV. [laST X YEARS 
A.D. 1475. exacted from the Duke a promise to return in a short 
time at the head of a numerous army. 
Louis took advantage of this circumstance, and the 
success of his measures equalled his expectations. He 
The French appointed the Bastard of Bourbon, the Admiral of 
nidora. Fraucc, the Lord St. Pierre, and the Bishop of Evreux, 
sumamed Heberge, to meet the English Ambassadors. 
i^cta Begia, The Treaty was concluded on the 29th of August, on 
the terms that Edward had proposed it, without any 
Thetenns alteration. These were L That Louis should pay the 
Edward.— King, withiu a fortnight, 75,000 crowns, and from 
vol. T. p. 99.) thenceforward 60,000 crowns yearly,^^ in two payments, 
as tribute, during the life of the two Kings. II. 
That the King of France should wed his son, the 
Dauphin, to the Princess Elizabeth, the King^s eldest 
daughter, and should allow his said daughter-in-law, 
60,000 livres a year. Upon these two conditions, the 
Ambassadors were empowered to promise in the King's 
name, that he would return into England with his troops, 
immediately after the receipt of the 75,000 crowns, and 
sign a treaty of alliance against the rebellious subjects 
of the two Kings, and also sign a truce for seven years. 
Hearing of the intended peace the Duke of Burgundy 
hastened to Edward's camp to ward off the blow this 
would be to his interests. He arrived too late, the 
The Dukes trucc was simed, and all the consolation he received was 
of Burgundy ^ 
^nd Bretagne the kuowledgc that he was included in it. Not having 
the Truce, been askcd for his concurrence by Edward, he stood out 
p?283o"^'* for some time, but at last accepted a separate truce 
offered him by Louis, for nine years. The Duke de 
Bretagne was also included in the truce, and on the 
^7 The papers relating to this 
treaty will be found in the 12th 
volume of Rymer, p. 14 to 20. The 
50,000 crowns were to be paid in 
London at Easter and Michaelmas, 
and the Bank of the Medicis gua- 
ranteed the payment, p. 20. These 
payments were regularly made up to 
1482, the last receipt bearing the 
date of August 25th in that year. 
IV,] THE KElon OF EDWABn IV. 169 
French King earnestly pressing Edward to desert his a.u. Wi. 
ally he replied that " he would, on the contrary, de- 
fend him by every means in his power." '^ The Con- 
stable St. Pol met with a just retribution for the double 
part he had played. He was forsaken by all, and forced (Wd. p-^h) 
to retire into the country of the Duke of Burgundy, si. Pui uc- 
upon the faith of a safe conduct, in defiance of which, 
nevertheless, he was delivered up to Louis, and immedi- 
ately beheaded. 
The Duke of Burgundy, ever restless and greedy after Death of tuc 
fame, plunged into needless hostihtics with the Swiss, and Burgundy. 
lost in one year three successive battles, in the last of 
which, at Nanci, January 15th li??, he was killed. The 
consequences of this event will be referred to hereafter, 
when considering the domestic Quarrels of Edward, and 
his brothers. 
But to return to the French Treaty, Louis stipulated r-™i« ""- 
in addition to pay Edward 50,000 crowns as the ransom Maipnci. 
of the unfortunate Queen Margaret, and that all dif- 
ferences between the two Kings should be submitted to 
four arbitrators : — the Cardinal Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, and the Duke of Clarence on the part of Edward; 
and the Archbishop of Lyons, and the Count Dunois on 
his own part ; who should be bound to pronounce their 
award, within the course of three years. After theM«[iiisor 
Peace had been signed an interview was arranged be- ar.rt"^oiixi. 
tween the two monarchsi^ at the bridge of Pecquigni, — (ff'^™M»'i 
"s ■' In H81 Edward made an al- 
liance with the Duke of BretHgne, 
on CDDdition of receiving from him 
the 5U,000 crowns per annum, if 
differences with Lonis ehonld taa- 
pend his payments ; and he engaged 
to obtain of Louia a tnico for the 
Low Countries, or to make war.'' — 
(7^™er, vol. V. p. 3B7.) 
" " Here the motiaruhs met each 
other, shook hands (hrough the 
observe their engagements. Thejr 
ited 
familiar cor 
tion; and Louia incauliouslyi 
his new acquaintance to Paris. Ed- 
ward, eagerin the pursuit of pleasure, 
did not refuse ; and it required all 
the address of the French monarch 
to postpone the intended visit to an 
indeterminate period. The English 
Kings, he afterwards observed to 
his confidents, had been too much in 
the habit of visiting France ; he liked 
them best on their owu side of the 
water." — (iiiison), vol. iii. p. 553.) 
170 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1475. 
bribes hit 
ministen. 
Edward re- 
embarks for 
England, 
Sept. 4, 1475. 
near Amiens. " A grated barrier was erected on the 
middle, and two boxes raised for the purpose. Louis, 
whose pliant genius accommodated itself to every situa- 
tion of politics, and who thought no submission too mean 
Louis flatters for the attainment of his views, flattered the En&clish 
Edward and ..... 
Prince, invited him with all the apparent cordiality of 
friendship to his capital, and at the same time secured 
by presents the principal nobles in his interests." ^o 
The immediate conditions of the treaty having been 
faithfully performed Edward commenced his inarch to 
the coast, and thus ended this expedition, for the un- 
dertaking of which he had been collecting money from 
his subjects in England, by subsidies and benevolences 
for two years. Sir John Paston, who accompanied him, 
(PatumLet. wTotc from Calais, on the 11th of September : " Blessed 
p. 113.)* ' be God, this voyage of the King's is finished for this 
time, and aU the King^s host is come to Calais as on 
Monday last past ; {Sep. 4fth) and as this day many of 
his host be passed the sea into England again, and in 
especial my Lord of Norfolk and my brethren." 
With this expedition the Wars of Edward may be 
considered to have ended; for the rupture with Scotland 
in 1480, and the breach with France in 1483, the latter 
of which led to the ultimate discomfiture of the House 
of York, and the exaltation of the Family of Tudor to 
^ Louis, to escape from this dan- 
gerous war, secured the ministers 
of Edward by bribesi who did not 
hesitate to follow the example of 
their master. Amongst them he 
divided 16,000 crowns per annum 
as pensions ; and Commines men- 
tions the Lords Howard and Che- 
ney, the Marquis Dorset, the Lord 
Chamberlain, the Chancellor and 
Master of the Rolls, as partici- 
pating in the booty. To Lord 
Howard, besides his pension, Louis 
gave, in two years, above 24,000 
crowns; and to Lord Hastings, 
1000 crowns in plate, and a pension 
of 2000 crowns a year. He affirms 
that Edward's Lord Chamberlain, 
Chancellor, Admiral, Master of the 
Horse, and other great Lords, were 
all pensioners at the same time to 
the King of France. The Lord 
Hastings alone refused to give a re- 
ceipt for his pension. '* If you wish 
me to receive it," he said, "you may 
put it into my sleeve ; but you shaU 
have neither letter, nor acquittance 
for it, from me.*' ** The other re- 
ceipts,'' adds our author, " are stiU 
in the Office of Accounts, at Paris." 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. J 71 
the Throne, more properly belong to the Reign ofA.D.i476, 
Richard the Third. 
CHAPTER III. 
His Domestic Policy. 
" The English is not an absolute but a limited M on- thb en- 
archy, arising from the free election of men for their stitution.- 
own safety and convenience, in which the King can Lawubm 
neither make laws, nor take the goods of his subjects 'Angi,) 
without their consent." The Constitutional manner of 
obtaining the sanction of the country was through the 
parliament, and Edward invariably "had thanks given {Tower Re^ 
to the Commons, by the King^s commandment, for the ^^^ 
subsidies they granted, before each prorogation." On 
his restoration in 1471, an act was passed "that upon (/wd.) 
urgent cause of the King's moving, the King may at any 
time before the day appointed for the reassembling of 
Parliament, call and reassemble the said Parliament, 
sending forth writs 20 days before to proclaim.'' We 
have seen in the previous chapter, that the heavy taxes, \^^l^^' 
subsidies and benevolences had impoverished the country jjjj J^;^ 
to that degree, that no buyers could be found for the 
common necessaries of life. These taxes had been levied 
for the popular measure, the recovery of the French 
Provinces of the crown, which had been wrested from 
the grasp of his predecessor. Great ^ therefore was the 
disappointment felt by the army and people " who openly ^^^^^^ 
murmured at the avarice of the King, and threatened ^*"*^°*^* 
o' and disorders 
with public vengeance the ministers, who had allowed °^JJ|^^^« 
themselves to be bribed by the French King. They 
^ See Lingard*s History, vol. iii. I this accounti admirably abridged 
p. 555, from whom we have copied | from the Monk of Croyland. 
172 THE REIGN OP EDWAKD IV. [lABT X yEARS 
A.D. ws. were, however, carefully watched, and many severely 
punished for the imprudence of their language. Others, 
as soon as the army was disbanded, formed associations, 
extorted money by violence, and threw several counties 
(Umrd. into confusioD by repeated robberies and murders. To 
■upprctHd' suppress these disorders the King directed the laws to 
•ig"r.m]. be strictly enforced, accompanied the judges in their 
circuits, and inexorably refused mercy to every delin- 
quent, whatever might have been his station or services. 
But the dissatisfaction of the people supplied a source of 
deeper disquietude. It was evident that they wanted 
but a leader to guide their efforts, and that the imposi- 
tion of new taxes would infallibly goad them to insur- 
-18- rection. Hence it became the great object of the King's 
policy to provide for the expenses of his household, and 
of the government, without laying any additional burthen 
by on the nation. With this view he ordered the officers 
, «c. of the customs to exact the duties with severity, extorted 
frequent tenths from the clergy, levied large sums for the 
restoration of the temporalities of abbots and bishops, 
resumed most of the grants lately made by the crown, 
and compelled the holders of estates, who had omitted 
any of the numerous minutiae of the feudal tenures, to 
compound by heavy fines, for the rents which they had 
hitherto received. Neither did he disdain the aids 
' which might be derived from the transactions of com- 
ing merce. His ships were annually freighted with tin, wool, 
t. and cloth ; and the merchandise of the King of England 
was publicly exposed to sale in the ports of Italy and 
Greece. In a short time he became rich ; though indi- 
viduals might complain, the nation was satisfied ; and 
men grew insensibly attached to a prince, who could 
support the splendour of the throne without making any 
demands on the purses of his subjects." To understand 
the Commercial Policy of Edward it will be necessary 
to consider the principal resources of the country, and 
to point out the means the King adopted in carry- 
A 
v.] , 
' EDWARD IV. 
iTig out his views to render London the great mart of a.d. uze. 
Europe. 
I, Wool had always been one of the staple commodi- wool. 
ties of England, and particularly the sheep of the western 
Provinces were considered to yield a finer quality than 
any otiier. In the third year of the King's reign he had ' 
"granted a licence for certain Cotswold^ sheep to be (Waii-j 
transported to Spain, as people report, which have there p. 2m.) 
so multiplied and increased, that it hath turned the 
commodity of England much to the Spanish profit, and 
to the no small hindrance of the gain, which was before- 
times in England raised of wool." To meet this eviW 
various acta were passed, and Edward encouraged the (Cngi-^ 
trade himself hy shipping large quantities both of the 
raw and manufactured article to Italy and Greece. He 
had several ships tliat were his own private property, 
and following the example of the Earl of Warwick, who 
had in a great measure recovered the dominion of the 
sea, which had been lost in the long inglorious reign of 
Henry the Sixth, " he sometimes used them in the pro-^fu^^^ 
tection of the trade of his subjects, and at other times '"'■'■'■■^ 
employed them in trade, as a merchant, which contri- 
buted not a little to his great wealth." II. The Woollen wooLtiN 
MANUPACTUBB was much improved, and, in consequence, 
- greater quantities of woollen cloths were exported, than 
at any former period. III. Corn had also since the ci.bn. 
year 1425, been largely exported, and the trade pro- 
tected hy Royal privileges. In 1463, the Eaaterlinga,^ 
a " Has thB l8te Merino breed. 
"In London: £ ». d. 
introduced into this countrj and 
Wheat, per quarter 2 
France from Spain, proceeded from 
Barley, ditto . 1 10 
thesty— {Turner, p. 310.) 
Peas. ditto .034 
Oats, ditto .012 
° It IE a curiouB fact here record- 
ed, that a free trade in corn bad 
I»mr/oIi: 
nearly proved the ruin of the Agri- 
Wheat, ditto .019 
cultural interest in the flfteenth 
Barley, ditto .010 
Century. In consequence of the 
Malt ditto .018 
large importations of corn by the 
Oata, ditto .010 
EasterlingB in 14G3, the prices 
were:— 
174 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
A.D. 1470. 
(StattOet, 
8 Ed. IV. 
c^. 2.) 
or Merefaants of the Sted-yafd, by importing large 
quantities, had greatly reduced the price of that com- 
modity, so that the English Farmer was in danger of 
being ruined. The Country members of the House of 
Commons complained, and to prevent the serious injury 
coRM Laws thus threatened, it was enacted '^ that when the quarter 
t^tioSSrthe of wheat did not exceed the price of 6s. 8d.; rye, 4b. and 
/ barley 3s. no person should import any of these three 
kinds of grain, upon forfeiture thereof." The average 
(fl«irjf. price of a quarter of wheat at this period ^'appears to 
have been 5s. which multiplied by 10s. produces 50b. 
^ which is not considered a very high price at present." 
By the same calculation a quarter of wheat at 6s. 8d. 
would be equivalent to 31. 6s. 8d.^ of our money, and all 
wheat imported when the market price was less, was 
forfeit to the crown ; and not aUowed, as at present, to 
remam in bond, a measure which has at length proved 
itself equaUy rumous to the grower and importer. In 
(Fleetwood's Fleetwood's Chronicon Preciosum, p. 98 to 113, the 
Preeuuum, reader will find the price of animal food etc. &om the 
p. 96— 113.) ^ 
year 1401 to 1600, from which the following averages 
may be drawn : — An ordinary cow, 7s. — ^a calf. Is. 8d. — 
an ox, 13s. 4d. — a sheep, 2s. 5d. — ^a hog, 2s. — a goose, 
3d. IV. Liquors were cheaper, in proportion, than 
either com or butcher's meat, for: Ale, cost IJd. per* 
gallon, and Claret, Is. per gallon. The act which re- 
gulated the price of the former, which, before the intro- 
duction of tea and coffee, formed as necessary an article 
as bread itself, ordains that ^^ when a quarter of barley 
was sold at 2s. then Ale might be afforded 4 quarts for 
Animal 
Food. 
Alb and 
WiNB. 
* To understand this calculation, 
" we have only to reflect : I. that 
one nominal pound sterlingi in the 
15th Century, contained as much 
silver as two pounds contain at pre- 
sent ; and therefore a person, who 
had then an income of ;^10 a year, 
had as much silver to expend as one 
who hath now an income of j^20 
a year ; and, 
II. that the same quantity <if sil- 
ver, suppose a pound weight, would 
then have purchased as many of the 
necessaries of life as five times that 
quantity, or five pounds weight of 
silver, will purchase at present." — 
{Henry t voL x. p. 271.) 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REION OF EDWARD IV. 175 
Id. And when Barley was at 2s. 6d. then Ale was to a.d. 
be 7 quarts for 2d, and so to increase and decrease after 
the rate of 6d. the quarter," 
V, Inland manufactuhes were protected by prohi- u-n 
biting the importation of similar articles, wherever par- tuhh 
iiament considered the prohibition beneficial. Thus 
A.D. 1483, upon the petition of the Manufacturers of 
London and other towns, representing the great damage 
they sustained by the importation of the articles they 
manufactured, an act, embodying these prohibitions, was ' 
passed against the importation of; "girdles; harness, 
wrought for girdles; points; leather laces; purses; 
pouches; pins; gloves; knives; hangers; taylors'' shears; 
scissars, and irons ; cupboards ; tongs ; fire-forka ; 
gridirons; stock locks; keys; hinges; garnets; spurs; 
painted glass ; painted papers ; painted forcers ; painted 
images ; painted cloths ; beaten gold and silver, wrought 
in papers, for painters ; saddles and saddletrees ; horse- 
harness ; boots ; bits ; stirrups ; buckler-chains ; latten 
nails, with Iron slianks ; turners ; hanging candlesticks ; 
holy water stops ; chaffing dishes ; hanging-leavers ; 
curtain-rings ; wool-caris ; roan-cards ; buckles for 
shoes ; shears ; broaches for spits ; bells ; hawks-bella ; 
tin and leaden spoons; wire of latten and iron; iron 
candlesticks ; grates ; and honis for lanthorns." 
VI. In that curious tract " the Prologue of English impoi 
Policie" contained in Hakluyt's Collection of Voya.ges (Hatt 
and Discoveries, etc., we have a contemporary account 
of the commodities imported into England by the mer- 
chants of different countries, from which we gather that 
Spain and Portugal, supplied us with : figs, raisins, 
wine, oil, soap, dates, liquorice, wax, iron, wool, wadmote 
(prepared tooad), goatfell, redfell, saffron, and quicksil- 
ver : — Bretagne : wine, salt, crest-cloth, (linen), canvass: 
— Germany, Prussia, and the Hanse Towns: — corn,^ 
1=1 toe 
iiuartet. 
n unless wheat was 6b. 8d. 
176 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
(HakUt^.) 
Discou- 
raosmbnt 
ovMa- 
CHINSRT. 
Aj>. 1476. iron, steel, copper, osmund (a plant), bowstaves,^ boards, 
wax, pitch, tar, hemp, flax, peltry,^ thread, fustian, 
buckram, canvass, and wool-cards :^ — Genoa: gold, clotb 
of gold, silk, cotton, oil, black pepper, rock allum, and 
woad: — Venice, Florence and the rest of Italy: spices, 
and grocery wares, sweet wines, sugar, drugs, with 
** Apes and japes, and marmusits tayled. 
And liflis and triflis that little have 'vayled/' 
VII. To find employment for the poor has always 
been the most difficult task of statesmen. Throughout 
his reign Edward had been popular with the lower orders. 
His afibbility and courteous demeanour to them in peace, 
his sharing their toil, perils, and rations in war, and 
above all his careless and unflinching bravery, rendered 
him the idol of the working classes. Finding their ma- 
nual labour superseded in the manufacture of an article 
of great consumption by the introduction of Machinery, 
an act was passed in the twenty-second year of his reign 
22 Ed. IV.) ^Q prevent the employment of Fulling Mills, *' which, 
by the subtle imagination of man, work the destruction 
of the original makers of hats and bonnets by man's 
strength, that is with hands and feet,^^ and accordingly 
the use of this mechanical contrivance in the said manu- 
facture was prohibited. The preamble to another act 
shows the spirit of the times in providing for the poor, 
and runs thus : " And for that Artificers and other poor 
people, labouring for their living in divers occupations, 
have competent gain; and to the satisfaction of them 
and their households, live without miserable and intoUe- 
rable poverty, be it enacted," etc. 
How much at variance was the public opinion of that 
day with the Science of Political Economy of the 19lh 
(Statutes, 
^ Osmund, a plant used in Medi- 
cine, sometimes found in England.'' 
— (3ff7/6r.) 
Peltry is interpreted by Richard- 
son ** as things as common as the 
wool or hair of a skin or hide; 
(perhaps) the refuse of a skin -yard.'' 
It probably here means merely un- 
dressed hides. 
v.] THE 
177 
Century ! Machinerj', which, in ita rapid strides in our a.d. we. 
time, proniis(>s to supersede the manual labour of the 
poor, in every occupation, from the wheeling a barrow to 
the mysteries of watchmaking and printing, and which 
daily sacrifices the infant of a few yeai's and Its squalid 
parent to a prematnre grave, was looked upon in " the 
cruel and ferocious age " of the Flautagenets as the 
demon of future misery and want. 
The Merchant King made trade an honourable calling, Edward » 
and there are few of our proudest nobles, who do not 
trace thejr origin to its followers. To Edward the 
Third, who has justly been called " the Father of English 
Commerce," we are indebted for that sound policy, which 
enabled the merchants and manufacturers of England to 
amass by the silent operations of art and trade, those 
treasures which would otherwise have been quite dissi- 
pated in the struggles for foreign conquest and dominion, 
ill which this country liad been engaged for more than a 
century. But Edward the Fourth, improving tlie theories 
of his ancestor, amassed riches as a trader himself, by 
which he was enabled to defray the expenses of his > 
Government, without calling upon his subjects for fresh 
subsidies. It is in reference to this, that the old Chro- 
nicler says; "that he had left all gathering of money (Gityjm, 
(which is the only thing that witbdraweth the hearts 
of Englishmen from their prince) nor any thing entered 
he in band, by which he should be driven thereto.'' The 
riches of the English mercliants,^ in his reign, enabled 
' " William Taylor, late Major, 
gBTC the city of l^ndon certain te- 
nemeats, tor the which the citjr is 
bound to pay for ever, at every fif- 
teenth granted to the King, for all 
Bucb as shall dwell in Cordnainers' 
Street Ward, rated at 12d. a piece, 
or under."— (Stowe, p. 183.) 
"SirJuhn CroBbj, lata Sheriff, 
built Cmsby Place In London. He 
f^ave 300 marks Co repair bis Parish 
ChuicU of St. Helens ; to poor 
huuEeholders 30£. and coutribuled 
to the repairs of London Wall, the 
toner on London bridge, etc." — 
(Ibid. 184.) 
" Edmond Shaw, late Mayor, 
newly built Cripplegste from the 
foundation, wliich gate in old times 
had been a prison, whereto the ci- 
tizens and others, as were arrested 
for debt, and like trespasses were 
committed."— (Birf. 189.) 
" Thomas Hill, (afterwards 
Mayor) built the Conduit in Grace 
{CAurcA)SUeet."—(md. 191.) 
178 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A. D. 1476. them at their individual costs to erect many splendid 
fhiSS'*™*'" buildings for the use and ornament of their native cities, 
{!S^^'# both in London and elsewhere. William Canning, who 
^L^\.) was five times Mayor of Bristol, was perhaps the first 
merchant of the day, and a great benefactor to that city. 
For some misdemeanour in trade Edward took from him 
at once 2470 tons of shipping, amongst which there was 
one ship of 900 tons, one of 600, and one of 400, the 
rest being smaller. As this anecdote is inscribed upon 
his tomb, we may naturally suppose there was nothing 
dishonourable in the act, which caused the confiscation. 
{Proiogneof The great fairs of Brabant were frequented by merchants 
Hey, p. 197.) from all parts of the world, but the English were the 
greatest buyers and sellers. 
chartkrrd The Hanse towns,^ which had been at war with both 
hansk England and France, had sent ambassadors to Edward 
Towns. ^^ ^^^ conclusiou of the Civil wars in 1472, and all their 
grievances were redressed at the Congress of Utrecht in 
1474. They enjoyed great privileges, being exempt from 
all subsidies, fifteenths and tenths, and were not sub- 
jected to the additional duties imposed from time to time, 
on goods exported and imported, paying only the original 
small customs agreed upon at the time of their first esta- 
blishment. They had Factories on the Eastern coast of 
England, besides the Steel-yard in London, the principal 
of which were at Lynn, in Norfolk ; and Boston, in Lin- 
colnshire. 
mkrchants The Merchants of the Staple, originally composed of 
OF THR 
Staple. Foreigners, had by degrees admitted several Englishmen 
into their corporation. They were strictly bound by their 
charter to carry all exports to the Staple at Calais ; and 
to land them elsewhere was made felony by act of Par- 
(Andertm's liameut. They must have been at this period in a flou- 
voi.i.p.276o rismng condition, tor they paid customs m one year, 
upon wool, woolfells, woollen cloths, leather, tin and lead, 
^ See p. 160, and note ^. 
P EDWARD rv.] THE BEIGN OP EDWARD IV. 
179 
exported, no less than £68,000, (or ^136,000 of ourA.D.i47B. 
money ; equivalent to ^680,000 of present value). 
The Brotherhood of St. Thomas, established about brotmb- 
the end of the thirteenth century was incorporated by tbohab. 
royal charter in 1406. Originally it was formed for the t'*"'^'^, 
exportation of woollen cloths only ; but, being composed 
of Englbh and Irish subjects it was favoured both by the 
crown and the nation at large, and ultimately engrossed 
the whole of the trade of the merchants of the Staple, 
These were the principal chartered Companies ofiiBiTisH 
Merchants in the Heign of Edward the Fourth, resident iOROAD. 
in London ; but British pactobies were established m 
several of the principal cities of Europe. To each of 
these Factories was attached a governor,^ whose office 
and power seem to have been similar to those of our 
modem Consuls, which name they assumed in the Reign 
of Richard III. A.D. 1483, when Lorenzo Strozzi was 
appointed English consul in Pisa. 
The natural indolence and love of pleasure of the King Tn« post 
led to the estabUshment of one of the moat useful and ^' 
beneficial institutions of civilized life. " During the (Cwyiaru 
Scottish campaign, in order to enable the Duke ofp.&7i.') 
Gloucester to be in constant couununication with his 
Royal brother, posts were fii-st established in England. 
Horsemen were placed at the distance of Twenty miles 
from each other, on the road from Scotland to London, 
They delivered the Despatches from one to another, 
which by this means journied at the rate of 100 miles 
per day." 
The rigid and indiscriminate enforcement of the laws, acthohitt 
against all transgressors, of whatever rank or station, Conma 
had become of the utmost importance to the security of 
property. For upwards of Seventy years of civil strife, 
» In the " Notice sor Colatd 
Mansion,'' by Mons. Van Praet, p. 
S9,is a curious dacumeot dated 1469 
iu which William Caitoa, the first 
English PnDter, a proved to have 
n2 
heldanch an appoiutmeat at Bruges, 
being termed : " Maiatre el Gon. 
Bimeur den Marehtmdt de la NafioH 
d'Angleterre," 
180 
THE REIGN OF KDWA 
1 IV. [last X TEARS 
persons in the upper ranks of society had been led to 
conader themselves as not amenable to the civil tribu- 
nals of the countr)'- To check this disposition by all 
means in his power, and to restore the authority of the 
courts, Edward accompanied the judges on the circuits, 
and inexorably refused mercy to all delinquents, when 
convicted. Mr. Sharon Turner has given the following 
instances of lawless agression committed by the higher 
classes, from 1410 to 1477, which will be found in a 
note at page 418, vol. Ill, of his History of the Middle 
I * An abbot, having been three years in possession of 
1 his abbey, was ousted forcibly by another, who had ob- 
tained the Pope's grant of it over his head. The dis- 
possessed abbot, with his brother and forty friends, 
armed from head to foot, attacked the other ; shot at 
him several barbed arrows to kill him, wounded him and 
three of his followers, and took away his jewels, plate 
and property. — (Rolls, Pari. 4, p. 28.) 
The prior ajid canons of Bemewell, claiming the 
tenants of Chesterton as their bond ceorles, who denied 
their right of slavery, six priests and canons, at the in- 
stigation of another priest, laid in wait for one of the 
resisting tenants, on the King's liighway, beat and 
wounded him almost to death, took away his books and 
bills, and kept him in prison seven years : the marks of 
his wounds still remaining when he petitioned Parlia- 
ment for relief. — {lb. p. 61.) 
It was stated to Parliament, that a great number of 
scholars and clerks of Oxford, armed and arrayed for 
war, often dispossessed and ousted many persons of the 
contiguous counties of Oxford, Berks, and Buckingham, 
of their lands and tenements, so that their owners could 
not live on them.— (/i. 131.) 
Another petition complained, that in Herefordshire, 
e- even before the civil wars, besides divers extortions, op- 
pressions and murders, various persona were lawlessly 
IV.J THE REIGN Of edwa 
181 
deprived of their lands and goods, and their women and 
children carried off and kept in dungeons, till they ran- 
somed themselves. Sir John Talbot, his brother Sir 
William, and 49 other Persons are named as pursuing 
these practices. — {lb. p. 254.) 
In Cambridge, its county, and in Essex, several per- The c™. 
sons sent orders to many people, commanding them to dcms fiaci 
put great sums of money in certain places, or their midi." 
houses should be burnt. Many mansions were robbed 
and destroyed accordingly. The Irish, Welsh and 
Scotch Scholars at the University, are declared to be 
the authors of these atrocities. — {lb. p. 358.) 
In 1430 the House of Commons called the attention TheMidiani 
of the government to the murders, rapes, robberies and 
burnings, that pervaded the Counties of Salop, York, 
Nottingham, Derby and Sussex, — {lb. p. 421 .) 
A lady of quality's house was attacked by a gentle- Fnn-cd 
man, with an armed party, who forced an entrance at five '" """ 
in the morning, carried her away from her bed, in her 
linen and kirtle only; took her to a church and insisted 
on the priest marrying her. She refused ; be menaced. 
The priest read the ceremony in spite of her resistance ; 
and she was taken to the wild and desolate part of 
Wales.— (/6. pp. 497-8.) 
In 1439, another lady of distinction complained of 
her late husband's great friend, who had undertaken to 
conduct her to her sick mother. On the way, an armed 
ambush, he had secretly provided, started into the road, 
smote her on the arm, and beat down her servant. Her 
friend pretended to relieve her, but it was only to carry 
her to the marshes of Wales, where he kept her without 
any meat or druik but a little whey, till she was nearly 
dead, that she might consent to marry him. On her 
refusal, she was put into a dungeon at Glamorgan and 
threatened to be transported to the Snowdon mountains. 
Though she was pregnant she was forced to a church ; 
182 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
Yorkshire 
murders. 
she persisted in her refusal; and notwithstanding her 
outcries was taken off. — {Rolh^ Pari. 5, p. 15.) 
The Deputy lu 1472, as the deputy of the duchy of Cornwall was 
attacked in sittiuff ou the beuch. holding its legal court, a gentleman 
hUcourt,and , , , ,. . , . « i nr. ,? , 
murdered, who had mauco agaiust mm for the office, suddenly with 
14 armed men attacked and grievously wounded him and 
his servants; tore the official rolls, and robbed and 
imprisoned him without relief that he might bleed to 
death, till they had compelled him to give the release 
and pecuniary bonds which they desired. After they 
had let him go, the same person procured others to way- 
lay him at a fair ; killed him, clove his head into four 
pieces, and cut off one of his legs and arms and head, and 
stripped his body of all his money. — (/ft. 6, p. 35-7.) 
In the same year, as another person was travelling in 
Yorkshire, three brothers, for some grudge, suddenly 
thrust at him with a spear; and when he had fallen 
from his horse, with their swords they smote oflF both 
his hands and one of his arms and hamstrung his legs ; 
and left him bleeding and dying, taking away his 
armour. They then endeavoured to get into the Duke 
of Gloucester's service, to have his protection against 
all legal consequences. — (lb. p. 38.) 
About the same time as Sir John Asheton, with his 
lady and family and friends, were at his manor house, 
she then in child-bed, a squire, at the head of 200 per- 
sons in arms and sounding their horns and trumpets at 
two in the morning attacked his fortified house ; broke 
down the walls, and, with fire that they had brought 
with them in a salette set fire to the gates. To save his 
wife's life, and stop the outrages, he was compelled to 
come forth and submit to them. They carried him to 
Pomfret Castle and extorted from him a bond of 
l,000oe.— (/ft. p. 51.) 
As a Cornish gentleman, with his wife and family, 
were going on a pilgrimage, they were attacked by ten 
Sir John 
Asheton's 
house be- 
sieged. 
Cornish 
aggressions. 
^.] THE t 
183 
others with bows and arrows, swords and bills, acting a.d. w7. 
under the orders of a neighbouring gentleman. They 
escaped much wounded, but were afterwards again aa- 
sailed by them, when reinforced by 30 others, a part of 
whom aftorwards assaulted and plundered his mansion. — 
(lb. p. 54.) 
In 1477 a gentleman headed 24- persons, by the com- The nuke c 
mand of the duke of Clarence, broke into a lady's house, 
and carried her off violently to Bath ; took all her jewels 
and money ; separated her from all ber servants and im- 
prisoned her ; and then caused her to be indicted on an 
absurd charge of contrivmg the death of the duchess. — 
[lb. p. 173.) 
Even official men used their power to give effect to j,.bu nd™. 
their rapacity. The inhabitants of the Isle of Wight of nisi,"" 
complained to Parliament, that John Newport, the '^ 
steward of the isic, though he had but ten marks a year 
from his office, and had no other livelihood yet kept an 
household and a countenance like a lord, with as rich 
wines as might be ; naming himself Newport the gal- 
launt, or Newport the rich. To maintain this style, be 
so acted that the country daily cursed him, that ever ho 
came there. — (li. 5, p. 205.) 
In eases of disputed titles to property the sword was spiuemmio 
appealed to in preference to the uncertainty of the law, utiebyanM 
and as an illustration of the manners of the period, two law. 
curious letters preserved in the Paaton Correspondence, 
respecting the private siege of Caister, by the Duke of 
Norfolk for such a purpose, may not be unacceptable to 
the reader: — 
" To Sir John Paston, Knight. 
I greet you well, letting you weet that your brother siege of 
and his fellowship stand in great jeopardy at Caister, and mahoabet 
lack victuals, and Dawbeney '" and Bemey be dead and lbttbi tu 
184 THE BEIGK Or KinVARD IV. [l.AST 
divera other greatly hurt; and thcj- fail Gunpowder, and 
Arrows, and the place (is) sore broken with guns of the 
other party, so that, but (unless) they have hasty help, 
they be like to lose both their lives and the place, to the 
greatest rebuke to you, tliat ever came to any gentleman; 
for every nian in this countrj' marvelleth greatly, that ye 
suffer them to be ao long in so great jeopardy, without 
help, or other remedy. 
The Duke " hath been more fervently set thereupon, 
and more cruel since that Writtil," my Lord of Cla- 
rencc's man, was there, than he was before ; and he hath 
sent for all his tenants from every place, and others to 
be there at Caistcr, on Thursday next coming, that there 
is then like to be the greatest multitude of people, that 
came there yet ; and they purpose then to make a great 
assault, for they have sent for guns to Lynn, and other 
places, by the sea's side ; that with their great multitude 
of guns, with other shot and ordnance, there shall no 
man dare appear in the place, they shall hold them so 
busy with great (number of) people, that it shall not lie 
in their power within to hold it against them, (without 
God help them, or (they) have hasty succour from you ;) 
therefore, as ye will have my blessing, I charge you, and 
require you, that you see your brother be holpen in 
haste, and if ye can have none mean, rather desiro 
writing from my Lord of Clarence, if he be at London, 
or else of my Lord Archbishop of York,'^ to the Duke 
of Norfolk, that he will grant them tliat be in the place, 
their lives, and their goods, and in eschewing of insur- 
bablj on ancertor of a hmitj now I Thai. How; s, two at Sir John Fbb- 
risidiDg sC CoulMn, in the BBtae tolfTs eiecutora." — {Sir J. f>nn.] 
County, who write themaelvea Da. "^ '■ Writtel was a Bcrvant of the 
venej." — (Sir John Ffan.') Duke of Clarence's, and appears to 
have been Bent down to endeavour 
" " John Dnke of Norfolk, at an accornmodation betneen the 
claimed this Mauor, and Castle of besiegers and the besieged, during 
Caintcr, under an agreement for a the short truce."— (Sir J. Petta.) 
purchase which had passed between '^ George Ne\ille, brother to Ibc 
him and Sir W. Yelverton, and Earl of Warwick. 
s 
r 
IV.] THE REION OF EDWARD IV, 185 
rections with other inconveniences that be like to grow si- 
within the Shire of Norfolk, thb troublous werd (tumul- 
tuous world), because of such conventicles and gather- 
ings within the said ShJre, for cau&o of the said place, 
they shall suffer him to enter upon such appointment or 
other like, taken by the advice of your counsel there at 
London, if ye think this be not good, till the law hath 
determined otherwise, and let him write another Letter 
to your brother to deUver the place up, on the same ap- 
pointment ; and if ye think, as I can suppose, that the 
Duke of Norfolk will not agree to this, because he granted 
this afore, and they in the place would not accept it, 
then I would the said messenger should, with the said 
Letters, bring from the said Lord of Clarence, or else 
ray Lord Archbishop, to my Lord of Oxford, other Let- 
ters to rescue them forthwith, though the said Earl of 
Oxford should have the place during his life for bis 
labour ; spare not this to bo done in haste, if ye will 
have their lives, and be set by {esteemed) in Norfolk, 
though ye should lose the best manor of all for the 
rescues.'* I had lever (rather) ye lost the livelihood, 
than their lives ; ye must get a messenger of the Lords, 
or some other notable man to bring these Letters ; do 
your (en)deavour now, and let me send you no more 
messengers for tins matter ; but send me by the bearer 
hereof more certain comfort, than ye have done by all 
other that I sent before ; in any wise let the Letters, 
that shall come to the Earl of Oxford, come with the 
Letters, that shall come to the Duke of Norfolk, that if 
he will not agree to the one, that ye may have ready 
your rescues, that it need no more to send, therefore God 
keep you. Written the Tuesday next before Holy Rood 
day in haste. By your Mother 
Norwich, Tuesday, Margaret Paston.'"' 
Utk of September, l+fiO. 
186 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
Siege of 
Caister. 
Sir John 
PA8T0N*S 
Rbply. 
(( 
To Margaret Ponton. 
Mother, upon Saturday {that) last was, Dawbeney 
and Bemey^^ were alive and merry, and I suppose there 
came no man out of the place to you since that time, 
that could have ascertained to you of their deaths ; and 
as touching the fierceness of the Duke, or of his people, 
shewed, since that time that Writtill departed, I trow it 
was concluded, that truce and abstinence of war should 
be had ere he departed, which shall endure till that day 
sev'night after, by which time, I hope of, a good direction 
shall be had ; and whereas ye write to me that I should 
sue for letters from my Lords of Clarence and York, they 
be not here, and if they wrote to him as they have done 
two times, I trow it would not avail ; and as for to la- 
bour those letters and the rescue together, they be two 
sundry things, for when the rescue is ready, that the cost 
thereof is done, for if I be driven thereto to rescue it, ere 
they come there that should do it, it shall cost a thou- 
sand scutes («f 166. 135. 4d.) and as much after, which 
way were hard for me to take, while that I may do it 
otherwise ; but as to say, that they shall be rescued if 
all the lands that I have in England, and Friends may 
do it, they shaU, and {if) God be friendly, and that as 
shortly as it may goodly and well be brought about ; and 
the greatest default eartWy is money, and some friends 
and neighbours to help, whereof I beseech you to send 
me comfort with what money ye could find the means to 
get or chevise {borrow upon interest) upon surety suf- 
ficient, or upon livelihood to be in mortgage or yet sold, 
and what people by likelihood your friends and mine 
^ ** Osbert Berney, was not 
killed at this siege; he survived , 
and died without issue some years 
after, when he was buried in Bra- 
deston Church, in Norfolk, there 
being a brass plate in the Chancel, 
having the following inscription to 
his memory : — 
%tvnt^y %xxai%, tit laelre- 
]^am, ^ni. ti tit %xKjdiXnn. 
He was son of John Berney Esq. 
by Catherine, daughter of Osbert 
Mundeford, of Hockwell Esq." — 
{Sir J, Fenn,) 
P EDWABD IV.] T 
187 
could make upon a short warning, and to send me word sib 
in all the haste as it is needful ; but, Mother, I feel by 
your writing that ye deem in me, I should not do my 
(eM)deavom' without ye wrote to me some heavy tidings, 
and. Mother, if I had need to be quickened with a letter 
in this need, 1 were of myself too slow a fellow ; bat. 
Mother, I ensure (assure) you that I have heard ten 
times worse tidings since the siege began, than any 
Letter that ye wrote to me, and sometimes I have heard 
right good tidings both ; but this I assure you that they 
(who) be within have no worse rest than I have, nor 
casteth more jeopardy ; but whether I had good tidings 
or ill, I take God to witness, that I have done my (en)- 
deavour, as I would be done for in case like, and shall do 
till there be an end of it. 
I have sent to the King to York, and to the Lords, 
and hope to have answer from them by Wednesday at 
the furthest, and after that answer shall I be ruled, and 
then send you word, for tiU that time can I take none 
direction ; and to encomfort you despair you not for lack 
of victuals nor of gunpowder, nor be not too heavy nor 
too merry therefore; for and (if) heaviness or sorrow 
would have been the remedy thereof, I knew never matter 
in my life that I could have been so heavy or sorry for, 
and with God's grace it shall be remedied well enough, 
for by my troth I had lever (rather) lose the Manor of 
Caister than the simplest man's life therein, if that may 
be his salvation, wherefore I beseech you to send me 
word what money and men ye think that I am like to get 
m that country ; for the hasty purchase of money and 
men shall be the getting and rescue of it and the salva- 
tion of most men's lives, if we take that way. 
Also, this day I purpose to send to York to the King 
for a thing, which same only may by likelihood be the 
salvation of all ; ye must remember that the rescue of it 
is the last remedy of all, and how it is not easy to get ; 
and also ye send me woi-d that I should not come home 
188 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
Siege of 
CiOster. 
without that I come strong, but if I had had one other 
strong place in Norfolk, to have come to though I had 
brought right few ^ith me, I should with Code's grace 
have rescued it by this time, or else he should have been 
fain to have besieged both places ere yet, and (if) the 
Duke had not kept Yarmouth out : but, Mother, I be- 
seech you send me some money for by my troth I have 
but ten shillings, and wot not where to have more ; and 
moreover I have been ten times in like case, or worse, 
within this ten weeks. 
I sent to Richard Calle for money but he sendeth me 
none ; I beseech you to guide the evidence that Peacock 
can tell you of, and to see it safe, for it is told me that 
Richard Calle hath had right large language of them ; 
I would not they come in his fingers : I have no word 
from you of them, nor whether ye have yet in your 
keeping the evidence of East-Beckham out of his hands, 
nor whether ye have sent to my Manors that they should 
not pay him no more money or not ; also that it like you 
to give credence to Robin in other things. 
Written the Friday next after Holy Rood day. 
London^ Friday^ John Paston, Knight,^ 
Ibth of September 1469. 
caisterCMtic Caistcr^^ is thus described by William Wyrcester, the 
built by Sir . J J 9 «"^ 
johnFaatoif, Exccutor of Sir Johu Fastolf, the builder of the mansion, 
and friend of the owner Sir John Paston. ** It is a 
noble castellated house, forming a rectangular parallelo- 
gram^ and is entered by a drawbridge over a moat, which 
by means of a creek, communicates with the sea. At 
the north-east comer is a tower, 100 feet high.'*' This 
tower is still standing, and also part of the west and north 
^^ These letters having been merely 
adduced to show the lawless spirit 
of the times, it would much exceed 
our limits to give the History of the 
Dispute between the Duke of Nor- 
folk and Sir John Paston. Mr. 
Chalmers, in an admirable article 
on Sir John Fastolf in his Biogra- 
phical Dictionary, occupying twelve 
closely printed pages, enters fuUy 
upon the subject, and to him the ca- 
rious reader is, therefore, referred. 
OF EUW'ABD iV,] THE nmcX OF EKWARD IV, 189 
walls, supposed to be the oldest specimen of a brick man- 3i«ge 
sion in the kingdom. Afber the house passed into the 
hands of Sir John Paaton it was twice be^eged; as we 
have seen above by the Duke of Norfolk, and afterwards 
by the Lord Scales. The founder, Sir John Fastolf, was 
one of the bravest commanders in the French Wars, 
and must on no account be confounded with the poetical not ihe ait 
Falstaif of the immortal Shakspere. The latter is one of oiahmuiKre 
the happiest creations of the poet's brain, who represents 
him as a man of three-score years of age at the battle of 
Shrewsbury, in 1403, when the owner of Caister was little 
more than twenty-six. In a subsequent letter to the 
one last quoted Sir John Paston writes to his brother J/''"'™ i*' 
to encourage him to hold out Caister Castle as long asp-^^i 
he baa hopes of relief. He tells him of the good opinion 
entertained of the courage of the besieged, and that the 
besiegers are represented in a very different light. Cais- c^swr «ur- 
ter, however, at length yielded to the Duke of Norfolk, ihu ihikcof 
upon Capitulation, and the Duke's letter from Yarmouth, 
dated Sep. 26. 1469, granting honourable terms to the 
besieged, is given in vol. II. of Sir John Feun's collec- 
tion, page 27. In communicating to his brother this iPatim lh- 
result John Paston, Junr. proves himself a brave soldier p-Vii.)' 
and a kind and generous master, and as the letter is short, 
it is liere transcribed entire, 
" Caister yielded. 
To Sir John Paston, Knight. 
Right Worshipful Sir! I commend me unto you, johvp*9- 
and as for the certainty of the deliverance of Caister, mb.' "' 
John Chapman can tell you how that we were enforced 
thereto, as well as myself; as for John Chapman and his 
three fellows, I have provided that they be paid each of 
them forty shillings (equal in value to 20i? in the pre- 
sent day) with the money they had of you and Daubeney ; 
and that is enough for tlie season that they have done 
190 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
Siege of 
Caister. 
(Grq/ion*s 
Chronicle, 
p. 784.) 
you service ; I pray you give them their thank, for by my 
troth they have as well deserved it as any men that ever 
bear life ; but as for money ye need not to give them 
without ye wiU. for they be pleased with their wages. 
Writtel promised me to send you the certainty of the 
appointments ; we were sore lack of victuals (and) gun- 
powder ; men's hearts lack of surety of rescue, (were) 
driven thereto to take appointment. 
If ye will that I come to you, send me word, and I will 
provide me for to tarry with you a two or three days. 
By my troth the rewarding of such folks as hath been 
with me during the siege, doth put me in great danger 
for the money. God preserve you, and I pray you be of 
good cheer till I speak with you, and I trust to God to 
ease your heart in some things. 
September, 1469. Jofm PastonJ* 
To follow the King into the scenes and follies of his 
youth forms no part of our plan ; we shall therefore eon- 
tent ourselves with quoting the words his historian places 
in his own mouth : " that he had three mistresses, which 
in divers properties diversly excelled. One the merriest, 
the other the wiliest, the third the holiest harlot in the 
realm." The merriest was the beautiful Jane Shore, the 
names of the others never passed the King^s lips. 
CHAPTER IV. 
Literature and the Arts^ in the Reign of Edward the 
Fourth. 
The Civil Wars of York and Lancaster were a great 
discouragement to Learning, and accordingly we find but 
few authors worthy of being handed down to posterity. 
OF EDWARD [V.] THE BEir.N OF EDWARD IV. 191 
Hence likewise the few authentic records of the transac- 
tions of the Reigns of Henry V I . Edward IV. and Kiehard 
III. " are confused, mutilated, and disjointed ; for they i?"'"^' 
who wrote History in those days had no talent for tlie ™i- 1- p- 
task," It is not a little siugular that our chief informa- 
tion relating to this period is gained from anonymous 
writers, the principal of which, with the exception of the 
continuator of the Croyland History, are contained in the 
present volume. 
The principal Historians of whom we have any accu- ni>wri« 
rate knowledge are, William Botoner, called AVyrcester; 
John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester ; John Kous, or Rosa, 
of Wai'wick ; Robert Fabian, and John Hardyng, the 
Chroniclers ; Bishop Morton, to whom the anonymous 
continuation of the latter is attributed ; and William 
Caxton, the first English Printer, 
WttLiAM BoTONEH, from whom we have quoted largely willia 
under the name of Wyrcester, and who signed his letters 
frequently : " William Botoner, dit Worcester," was the 
son of William de Worcester, and Elizabeth Botoner. 
He was bom at Bristol in 1415, and was educated at 
Hai-t's Hall in Oxford in 1434, at the expense of Sir 
John Fastolf, with whom he afterwards lived at Caister 
in Norfolk, and to whom he was Esquire, Historian, and 
Executor. Hewasamanof great applieation to Learning, (Femvt 
versed in various sciences, and indefatigable in the study vqi. i. p. 
of the Antiquities of the Kingdom. ^ 
He wrote many books, and was alive in 1480, and is 
supposed to have died about 1490. I. He translated 
' In alett«r of Henrj Wyodesore, 
who atileg himself brother to William 
Wyrcester, preaened by Sir John 
Fenn, vol. I. p. 170, we have a 
pleasing account of William's love 
for learning, poetry and hooka, and 
of hia aniiety for aoqoiring a per- 
fect knowledge oftheFrencbtongua. 
The writer aunniees that the poor 
Btudent, in hiathint for knowledge, | Poetry, as my Master Fastollf 
had pat himself in danser {debt) to ' be to purcbaae s fair manor.' 
KaroU Giles, a Lombard, from whom 
he appeara to have taken tessooB, 
" every day two times or three, and 
had bought diiers books of him." 
He adds : " I made a motion to 
William to have known part of his 
business, and he answered and said ; 
that he would be as glad andaa fond 
book of French, or of 
mid 
192 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
" Cicero de Senectute^*' from the French, which he ad- 
dressed to William Wainfleet, Bishop of Winchester. 
He tells us, himself, that he presented it to the Bishop at 
Esher, Augt. 10, 1475, but received no reward from him. 
uitofhit He was also the author of II. Antiquities of England; 
III. Abbreviations of the Learned; IV. Medicinal 
Collections; V. De Astrologia ; VI. De Astronomia; 
VII. Acta Domini Joannis Fastolf; VIII. The Acts 
of John, Duke of Bedford ; IK. PolyandriumOxonienr 
sium, or Memoirs of Oxford Students ; X. Annales 
Rerum Anglicarum; XI. Itinerarium Britanniae ; XII. 
Comedia ad Monasterium Hulme; and various other 
minor pieces. His Annals and various Fragments, were 
printed by Heame, at the end of his edition of the Liber 
Niger Scaccarii ; and his Itinerary, the ballad mentioned 
above as No. XII., and other minor pieces were pub- 
lished by Mr. James Nasmyth, in 1778. His translation 
of Cicero de Senectute was printed by Caxton, in 1481. 
Many of his Letters are contained in Sir John Fenn^s 
Collection of the Paston Letters, from which he appears 
to have written in a purer style of English than most of 
his contemporaries. 
JoHK Tip- John Tiptoft, Earl op Worcester, who has frequently 
ofWor. been mentioned in the preceding pages, wrote 1. An 
CBtmB. 
History of England hitherto unpublished, the only known 
Manuscript of which has been recently sold in the library 
of the late John Hawkins, Esq.,^ where it is thus de- 
scribed : 
Hu unpub- " Worcester's (John Tiptoft, Earl of) Chbonic?lh op 
liihedChro- -, -wr t\ o 
nlcle. JliNGLAND, FROM KiNG BrUTE TO THE SIXTEENTH YeAR 
of King Henry the Sixth. — Chronica Regum An^ae 
ex Diversis Historiographis per Dominum Johannem 
Wigomii Comitem sparsim coUecta. — Sheldwich. — 
De Orbis Indagatione, Divisione, et Descriptione 
2 « 
the late 
Catalogue of the Library of | F.S.A. sold by Mr. Fletcher, May 
te J. Sidney Hawkins, Esq., ] 8tb, 1843.'' 
OF EDWARD IV.] THK REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 1 93 
per Juliuni Csesareni in Provinciaa ac Regionea facta, 
inter quas hie liber maxime de Regno Anglorum et 
Regibus ejuadem, (scilicet de Bnito usque in Annum 
Deciinum Sex turn Henriei Sexti) qua magna, 
famosa, et rara sunt, declarat." 
It is a small Quarto volume of IT't leaves, containing 
little more than a chronological table of English History, 
and appears even in the latter years to be nothing but 
one of those volumes, so commonly compiled in the 15th 
Century by the more oppulent citizens for the facility of 
reference. II. He translated " Cicero de Amicitid,'' "i 
published originally without the name of the printer, and 
afterwards reprinted by Caxton in 1481. III. " Two 
Declarations made hy Pub. Corn, Scipio, and Gaywi 
Fiaminevs, competitors for the Love of Lucrece," which 
he dedicated to Edward IV. He also wrote IV, " Ora- 
tions and Epistles," and translated V. " Casar's Com' 
menlaries as touching British Affairs" published with- 
out name of the printer, in 1530, probably by Rastell, 
with the original text in the margin. By command of 
Edward lie drew up VI. " Orders far placing the No- 
bility in all proceedings;' and VII. "Orders and 
Statutes for Justs and Triumphs ;" both which MSS. are 
preserved in the Cotton Library in the British Museum. 
In the Ashmolean Collection will be found VIII. " Ordi- 
nances, Statutes and Rules ; made by John Ttptoft, 
Earl of Worcester,' and Constable of England, hy the 
King's Commandment, at Windsor to be observed in all 
manner of Justs of Peers within the Realm of England;" 
which were again revised in the Reign of Queen Eliza- 
beth, and published by Mr. Park in his edition of Har- 
rington's Nugae AntiquEe. He is also said to have 
written IX. "j4 Petition against the Lollards," andX. 
" An Oration to the Citizens of Pudua."" Horace 
Walpole says that in the Cathedral Library of Lincoln 
ia a volume of Letters addressed to the Earl of Worces- 
ter, which also contains four of his Epistles. 
194 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
His patron- DuriHg a visit of the Earl to Rome, he is said by the 
caxton. elegance of his oratory to have drawn tears from the eyes 
of the Pope, ^Eneas Sylvius, Pius II., on occasion of 
visiting the Vatican Library. He is also said to have 
brought over to England, and to have presented to the 
University of Oxford MSS. to the value of 500 Marks. 
To his Patronage of William Caxton we owe the intro- 
duction of the Art of Printing into England, and the 
grateful heart of the printer thus records the Earl's 
merits. " In hys tyme flowered in vertue and cunnyng 
none lyke hym emong the lordes of the temporalitie in 
scyence and moral vertue^ and again ^^ The axe then did 
att one blowe cut off more leamyng than was lefte in the 
heads of all the survyvyng nobilytie." The Earl of Wor- 
cester was executed by the secret orders of the Earl of 
Warwick, conveyed to the Earl of Oxford, by whom he 
was judged, A.D. 1470, during the short restoration of 
King Henry the Sixth, at which time he was in his 42nd 
year. Having already spoken of him in reference to his 
political conduct, it is only necessary to refer to page 114 
of the present volume, to prove that notwithstanding his 
devotion to literature, he had imbibed the cruel and 
ferocious temper of the times in which he lived. That 
he early exhibited a love of learning is evident from the 
following passage in Ross of Warwick's History, page 
(RoMfFarw. 5, " / prevailed upon John Tiptoft^ Earl of Worcester 
to visit the Holy Land^ a man of vast erudition^ whom I 
knew in my time as a fellow student in the University 
of Oxfordr 
John Ross Crcdulous and unsuspicious, old gossipping John 
Rous, the antiquary of Warwick must, nevertheless, be 
consulted by those who seek information respecting the 
reigns of the Lancastrian and Yorkist sovereigns. In 
his History of the Kings of England, which he com- 
mences with th^ Creation of the World, he incidentally 
mentions many curious particulars concerning the state 
of England, and the manners of its inhabitants in his 
i 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 195 
own times. The lover of early typography will be 
amused with his veneration for that splendid volume : — 
" Pereffrinationes Sanctae ad Sepulchinim Dommicum Breydenbach 
, , peregrina- 
in Hierusalem," etc. by Bernard de Breydenbach, whom "ones, 
he evidently considers of equal authority in the early 
History of the World with Moses ; for he seems to 
prefer the learned Dean'*s account of the antedeluvian 
cities to that of the inspired writer. This singular 
History of England was edited by Thos. Heame, the 
Antiquary, and published at Oxford in 1716, the im- 
pression limited only to 48 copies. Its rarity induced a 
reprint in 1745, but its intrinsic merit does not appear 
to have made this second edition much sought after. 
He likewise wrote an History of the Earls of Warwick, 
the MS. of which is preserved in the Bodleian Library 
at Oxford. He died at an advanced age, Jan. 14th, 
1491. 
Robert Fabyan, an opulent merchant and alderman Robbrt 
of London has left us, under the title of " Concordance 
of Stories,'''' a Chronicle of England and France, from 
the coming of Brutus to the 20th year of King Henry 
VII., A.D. 1504. Though the White Rose of York 
is made to reflect the colour of it's rival, and the prin- 
ciples of Lancaster necessarily predominate, still it is 
valuable for the plainness and sincerity with which it is 
written, and particularly for the mass of local informa- 
tion it affords respecting London in the 15th Century. 
He died February 28th, 1512, and lies buried in the 
Church of St. Michael's, Comhill. Previous to his Barffd at st. 
' Michael's, 
death he appears to have suffered some reverses of for- comhui. 
tune ; for in 1502 he resigned his gown on the plea of 
poverty and retired to his mansion in Essex. The 
author of the curious Fragment which we have given 
in the present volume from Hearne's edition of Sprott, 
alludes to the circumstance of the first edition of Fa^ HisChronicie 
burnt by 
byan's Chronicle having been burnt (by order of Cardinal Cardinal 
Wolsey,) see pages 16 and 17. It is this circumstance order. 
2 
196 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
which may account for the great rarity of Pynson's 
edition of 1516. 
John The Metrical Chronicle of John Hardtng as a record 
of facts is of the utmost importance to the English 
Antiquary. He was bom in 1378, and brought up in 
the household of the celebrated Harry Hotspur, Earl of 
Northumberland. His accounts of the transactions of 
the reigns of the three Lancastrian Kings, Henry IV. 
V. and VI. are therefore entitled to all the credit due to 
an eyewitness, for he was present in many of the battles 
he records. To Sir Henry Ellis, we are indebted for 
Journal of his ^^ Joumal of the March which preceded the memo- 
Agincoort. rablc battle of Agincoiu*t,^ in 1415. He appears to 
have rewritten his Chronicle for Richard, Duke of York, 
after whose death he presented it to his son. King Ed- 
ward the Fourth, in 1465, when he must have been in 
his 87th year. The exact time of his death is not 
Hebem- knowH. He was employed at Rome in 1424 to investi- 
ployed at . . 
Kome. gate and collect documents to ascertain the fealty due 
from the Scottish Kings. It was for this, which appears 
to have been a perilous service, that he was, probably, 
first rewarded by Henry VI. with a pension of ten 
pounds per annum ; which in 1457 was raised by letters 
patent to 20<f . per annum for his life, secured upon the 
revenues of the county of Lincoln. 
Cardinal To John Morton, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury, 
UORTON. . , , * . 
the Life of Richard the Third, put out by Sir Thos. 
More has been frequently attributed. With much 
greater probability, however, Su- Henry EUis has ascribed 
the continuation of Grafton's Chronicle to his pen. 
Hte early life. He was bom at Bere in Dorsetshire in 1410, and edu- 
cated at Ceme Abbey, whence he removed to Baliol 
College in 1446. Having entered upon Holy Orders he 
rose rapidly in the Church and Law. After the Battle 
of Tewkesbury his attainder was reversed and he ac- 
companied Edward in his expedition to France in 1475. 
He was rector of St. Dunstan's in the East in 1472, one 
;v.] , 
197 
of tPie Prebends of St. Paul's in the same year. Master 
of the Rolls in 1473, and Archdeacon of Winchester in 
the year following, retaining his prehendal stall in Salis- 
bury which had been granted him in 1458. In 1474 he R« 
was Archdeacon of Chester, the next year Archdeacon ■"' 
of Huntingdon, and a prehend of Well's Cathedral. In 
1476 a prebend of York, and Archdeacon of Berkshire ; 
and in 1477 Archdeacon of Leicester. His great patron, 
the Cardinal Archbishop Bourchier, introduced him to 
King Henry VI. who made him one of hia privy conn- pr 
cil. During the life of hia sovereign he adhered entirely hi 
to his interests with so great fidelity, that on that account 
Edward admired him the more, and sought to attach to 
him to his person, and was guided by his counsel. He 
was Master of the Rolls, and keeper of the great seal in 
1473, and in 1475 was appointed one of the commis- 
sioners for carrying out the treaty with France. In 
1 478 he was made Bishop of Ely and Lord Chancellor of 
England, and to mark his high esteem for him, the King 
appointed him one of his executors. After the death of 
Edward the Fourth he was placed in confinement by 'rn 
command of Richard III. along with the Archbishop lii 
Rotheram, the Lord Stanley and others. The Univer- 
sity of Oxford, however, petitioned for his liberation in 
a long Latin epistle to Richard, and he was, in conse- 
quence, given in ward to the Duke of Buckingham, then 
a strong partisan of the Usurper, whom, nevertheless, 
he completely brought over to the other side by his 
arguments. He was sent to the Duke's castle in Breck- 
nockshire, whence he escaped, and joined the Earl of 
Richmond on the Continent. It was by his advice that 
the marriage of the young Earl with the eldest daughter 
of the late King was then determined on ; and to him 
therefore is due the policy of having thus cemented the 
interests of the White and Red Rose, by which those 
cruel and sanguinary Civil Wars were happily brought 
to a close. 
198 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
Employed by After the battle of Bosworth-field Henry the Seventh 
Henry VII. 
sent for Bishop Morton, and called him to his privy 
Council. On the death of Cardinal Bourchier in 1486, 
he succeeded to the Archbishopric of Canterbury, and 
was made a Cardinal by Pope Alexander the Sixth in 
1493, and was elected Chancellor of the University of 
Oxford m 1494. He died Sep. 15th 1500, in his 90th 
year. 
Hischa- He is considered one of the greatest statesmen of 
his time, and united in himself those great requisites, 
learning, probity, liberality and spirit. The latter qua- 
lity enabled him to repress, in some measure, the King's 
avarice ; for he never lacked courage to give hun his fair 
and honest opinion upon any proposal which came before 
His benefac- him. The cmolumcnts he derived from the lucrative 
country. officcs hc held wcrc employed greatly to the advantage 
of posterity. The famous drain from Peterborough to 
Wisbeach, a distance of 12 miles across a fenny country, 
and still called "Morton's Leame," was conoipleted at 
his sole expense, for the benefit of the country. He is 
said to have built the Tower of Wisbeach Church, and 
to have rebuilt Rochester Bridge ; to have repaired the 
Canon- Law-School at Oxford, and to have completed the 
building of the Divinity Schools, and the rebuilding of 
St. Mary's Church. The Episcopal residences at Can- 
terbury, Lambeth, Maidstone, AUington Park, Charing, 
and Ford, the latter in particular, were put into thorough 
repair at his own individual cost and charges. 
William WiLLiAM Caxton, a name Hot to bc SDokoD. but with 
feelings of the purest gratitude, and veneration, claims 
our notice as an Annalist of this period. It would be 
out of place to enter here into the controversy of the 
first invention of Printing. The curious reader will learn 
with pleasure, that a forthcoming publication, the quiet 
investigation of a whole life, devoted to this subject by the 
late Mr. S. Sotheby, will probably put this question at rest. 
Some idea of the state of Literature, and the scarcity of 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
199 
Books, at the period of the introduction of the Art of state of 
T> • z* I- i» J /• literature. 
rnntmg may be formed from 
The Inventory of English Boohs^ of John Paston^ made (Fenn*tLct. 
the 5th day of November Anno IX. (1469) Regniv-'^^) 
Regis Edwardi Quarti.^ 
1. A Book had of my Hostess of the George. catalogue of 
Of the Death of Arthur, beginning at Cassibelan ; gentiemwi»8 
Guy Earl of Warwick ; Richard, Coeur de Lyon ; ^^' 
a Chronicle to Edward the Third. 
2. Item^ a Book of Troilus (by Chaucer) which William 
3(pttone)r hath had near ten years, and lent it 
to Dame Wingfield, and there I saw it. 
3. Iteniy a black book, with the Legend of (the beautiful) 
Lady sans Mercy ; the Parliament of Birds ; the 
Temple of Glass, Palatyse and Scitacus; The 
Meditations of (Saint* Augustine) ; the Green 
Knight. 
4. Item^ a Book in print of the Play of (Chess). 
5. Item, a Book lent Middleton, and therein is : 
Belle Dame sans Mercie ; The Parliament of 
Birds ; Ballad of Guy and Colbrond ; ( The Horse^) 
the Goose, the (Chorle and the Bird;) the Dis- 
puting between Hope and Despair; * * 
Merchant ; the Life of St. Cry (styne de Pisa), 
6. A red book that Percival Robsart gave me : 
Of the Meeds of the Mess ; the Lamentation of 
the Child Ypotis; a Prayer to the Vemicle, 
called the Abbey of the Holy Ghost. 
7. Item, in quires, TuUy de Senectute: — in divers 
(places) whereof there is no more clear written — 
.8. Item, in quires, Tully, or Cypio (Cicero) de Amicitia; 
left with William Wyrcester. 
9. Item, in quires, a book on the Policy of I. 
3 Several . of these manuscripts 
were copied ezpresftly.-.for Sir John 
Paston, by William Ebesham, whose 
account for the same is given by Sir 
John Fenn in the second volume of 
the Letters of the Paston Family, 
200 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lABT X YEARS 
10. Iteniy in quires, a book de Sapientia, wherein the 
second person is likened to Sapience. (^Lydgates 
Werke of Sapience,) 
11. Iteniy a Book de Othea {on Wisdom) text and gloss, 
in quires. 
Memorandum. 
Mine old Book of Blazoning of Arms. 
Item^ the new Book, pourtraycd and blazoned. 
Item^ a Copy of Blazoning of Arms, and the Names 
to be found by letter. {Alphabetically.) 
Item, a book with arms pourtrayed in paper. 
Memorandum. 
My Book of Knighthood; and the Manner of 
making of Knights ; of Justs ; of Tournaments ; 
fighting in Lists; paces holden by Soldiers; 
Challenges ; Statutes of War ; and de Regimine 
Principum. 
Item, a Book of New Statutes from Edward IV. 
We have here the Catalogue of the Private Collection 
, of an English Gentleman, fond of books,^ who had em- 
ployed persons to transcribe manuscripts for him. It is 
evidently the inventory of the entire Collection, for he 
enumerates those volumes which he had lent to his 
friends. Most of the works are well known and are 
noticed by Mr. Warton in the History of English Poe- 
(Sirjohn try. " Bcforc the invention of the Art of Printing, 
jFenrtf vol. U. _ ^ , , ° 
p. 10.) the number of writers or copiers was very great. Most 
* We gather his love of books 
from several of his letters. In one 
dated Oct. 1474 he writes : ** As 
for Sir James {Glois*) books, if it 
like you that I may have them» I 
am not able to buy them. But 
somewhat I would give, and {for) 
the residue with a good and de- 
vout heart, by my troth, I will pray 
for his soul. Wherefore, if it like 
you, by the next messenger or car- 
rier, to send them in a day, 1 fKull 
have them (a<7)dressed here; and 
if any of them be claimed hereafter, 
in faith I will restore it." In the 
answer to this letter the price of the 
books is ascertained " to be 20s. and 
6d. but the best of aU, and the dir- 
est is claimed.'' In reply to this 
communication the purchase b de- 
clined, but with evident regret, as 
he was pressed for money matters. 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
201 
Monasteries and Religious Houses, had an office called 
a Scriptorium, wherein several writers were almost con- 
stantly employed in copying Books on various subjects. 
Missals and Books of Psalms, etc. richly and elegantly 
adorned with Illuminations. Men of Fortune and 
Learning likewise occasionally employed copiers to tran- 
scribe books for their libraries." In the Paston Corre- 
spondence, vol. II. p. 11, is a letter from a person of this 
description, praying Sir John Paston for the settlement 
of his account, which he furnishes at the same time. 
From this and another curious document, we gather Expenses of 
that 2d. per leaf (4id. of our money, and equivalent in tionofbooks, 
value to Is, 8d. of the present day) was the price paid to Printing, 
copyists ; that vellum was 20d. per quire, (equal in value 
to 16s. 8d. at present^) and that each quire consisted of 
four sheets or eight leaves. To these expenses had to 
be added the rubricatmg, flourishing of capitals, orna- 
mental borders, and the binding. The latter appears to 
have been a most expensive process, for a single volume Binding rery 
small folio is charged at 12s. (iii the present day equal to 
£6, taking the market price of wheat as the means of 
calculating the relative value,) but as the volume was 
richly illuminated, and executed for Sir John Howard, 
afterwards Duke of Norfolk, it may have had silver clasps 
and ornaments, though not mentioned in the account. 
Such was the expense and trouble incurred in obtaining 
even some eighteen or twenty volumes, that very few 
private collections were so extensive as that of which we 
have just given the catalogue. The art of printing, by 
the facility with which it multiplied books, enabled the 
higher classes to indulge in a luxury, which had already 
been enjoyed by their continental neighbours for up- 
wards of twenty years. The chief productions of the 
press of Caxton^ were : 
* A List of Works from the Press 
of Caxton, taken from the Biblio- 
grapher's Manual of Mr. Lowndes. 
** Fbvrb, Raoul le. Recueil des 
Histoires de Troyes. 
Russell, Joh.. Proposition 
202 
THB REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
cazton*s I. Raoul le Fevre Recueil des HIstoires de Troyes ; 
' II. an English Translation of the same by himself; Lord 
Fbvre, Raoul le. Recuyell of 
the Historyes of Troye. 
Chess. — ^The Game and Playe of 
the Chesse. Two editions. 
Fkvrk, Raoul le. Boke of the 
hoole Lyf of Jason. 
Philosophy. — The Dictes and 
Sayengis of Philosophers. Three 
editiont. 
Christine of Pisa. The moral 
Prouerbes of Cristyne. 
Cordyale, or Memorare noyis- 
sima. 
Cazton, William. The Chro- 
nycles of Englond. The Discrip- 
cion of Britayne. 
Mirror of the World. — ^Thymage 
or Myrrour of the World. Two 
editions, 
Reynard the Fox. — ^Thc Historye 
of Reynard the Foxe. 
CiCBRO. The Boke of Tulle of 
old Age, &c. 
Godfrey of Bullogne.—The last 
Siege and Conqueste of Jberusalem. 
HiGOEN, Ranulph. Polycroni- 
con. 
GuiLEviLLE, GuU. de. Pylgre- 
mage of the Sowle. 
Festival. — Liber Festivalis. Qua- 
tuor Sermones. Two editions, 
GowER, John. Confessio Aman- 
tis. 
VoRAGiNB, Ja. de. The Golden 
Legende. Three editions, 
Cato, Dion. The Book callyd 
Cathon. 
Cato. — Parvus Catho. 
Tour-Landry, Geoffroy de la. 
The Knyght of the Toure. 
^sop. The subtyl Historyes 
and Fables of Esope. 
Chivalry.— The Book of the Or- 
dre of Chyualry or Knyghthode. 
Royal Book.— The Ryal Book ; 
or a Book for a King. 
Arthur, King of Great Britain. — 
A Book of the noble Historyes of 
Kynge Arthur and of certeyn of his 
Knyghtes. 
Charles the Great. — ^The Lyf of 
Charles the great. 
Paris. — Thystory of the Knyght 
Parys and of the fair Vyene. 
Lb Grand, Ja. The Book of 
good Maners. 
Rote, Guy de. Doctrinal of 
Sapience. 
Christine of Pisa. The Fayt 
of Armes and of Chjrnalrye. 
Geeson, John. The Arte and 
Crafte to knowe weU to dye. 
ViROiL. The Boke of Eneydos. 
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Book 
of the Tales of Caontyrburye. Two 
editions, 
Infancia Salvatoris. 
BoETHius, A. M. T. S. The 
Boke of Consolacionof Philosophic. 
Chaucer and Ltdgate's Ali- 
nor Poems. 
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Book 
of Fame. 
Chaucer, Geoffrey. Troylns 
and Creside. 
TraveLi. — A Book for Travellen. 
Katherine of Siena. The Lyf 
of Saint Katherine of Sene, with the 
Reuelacyons of Seynt Elysaheth the 
Kynges Daughter of Hungarye. 
Bonaventure, Saint. Specu- 
lum Vitae Christi. 
Directorum Sacerdotum. 
Ltdg ATE, John. TheWerkeof 
Sapience. 
Book. — A Boke of diners fruyt- 
ful ghostly Matters. 
Chartibr, Alain. The Curial 
made by Mayster Alain Charretier. 
Lydgate, John. The Lyf of our 
Lade. 
Wenefrede, Saint.— The Lyf of 
Saynt Wenefryde. 
Lucidary. — A lytel Tretise, in- 
tytuled or named. The Lncedarye. 
Blanchardin and ^Eglantine. — 
The Historye of Kynge Blanchar- 
dyn and Queen Eglantyne his Wyfe. 
Rhodes. — The Siege of the Cytee 
of Rhodes. 
Statuta ap'd Westmonasterin edi- 
ta Anno primo Regis Ricardi tercii. 
Statutes, i. ii. iv. Henry VIL 
Chastising of God's Children.— 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
203 
Rivers* Dictes and Sayings of Philosophers; Lord 
Worcester's Translation of Cicero ; His own Chronicle 
of England ; the works of Gower, Chaucer and Lydgate; 
a translation by himself of Virgil, from the French ; 
Ovid ; Boethius ; Aesop's Fables ; Cato ; Higden'^s Po- 
lycronicon ; the Legenda Aurea, or Lives of the Saints ; 
various devotional works, and a whole library of Ro- 
mances. He was, also, the King's printer, which office 
he continued to hold in the reigns of Richard III. and 
Henry VII, the Acts of both sovereigns being included 
in the list of his publications given below. 
William Caxton was bom in the Weald of Kent, about hi* wrthand 
G&rlv life 
the year 1412. His father gave him a better education 
than usually fell to the lot of persons of his station, and 
afterwards apprenticed him to Robert Large, a mercer 
and merchant of considerable eminence. It has been 
conjectured that his master received consignments of 
books, which the infant art of printing on the continent 
already rendered an important article of commerce. 
Hence Caxton's love of Literature, which never forsook 
him in after life. It is much to his credit that in his 
master's will he was remembered by a legacy of 20 
marks, a considerable sum of money in those days. 
Though a freeman of the Mercers' Company he does not 
appear to have followed that calling, and in 1464 we find 
him employed by the King, with Richard Whitehill, as 
" ambassadors and special deputies" to conclude a treaty Ambassador 
of trade and commerce between Edward and Philip, Burgundy. 
Duke of Burgundy. Mens, van Praet, in his " Notice (^«« p- ^^d) 
sur Colard Mansion," already quoted, says he held an 
office, similar to our present Consuls, at Bruges, in 1469. consul at 
He appears to have accompanied the Princess Margaret ^J^ ?'" 
to Burgundy in 1468, and from the freedom she uses in duchess of 
The prouffitable Boke for Manes 
Soule, — called the Chastysing of 
Goddes Children. 
Love. — Tretyse of Loue, &c. 
Health.-Gouernale of Helthe, &c. 
Horse. 
Ballad. — A fragment of a ballad 
printed by Gaston is in the British 
Museum. 
204 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
leFerre. 
Burgundy's finding fault with his English, and desiring him to cor- 
rect it, he was probably of her household* It was a 
fortunate circumstance for him that his Royal Mistress 
thus mterested herself m his Uterary pursuits. She de- 
Hia tnuMim- sircd to SCO his translation of Raoul le Fevre's French 
tion of Raoul 
History of Troy, and although she pointed out the un- 
couthness of his style, she encouraged him to proceed 
with it, and amply rewarded him upon its completion. 
The prologues and epilogues furnish us with many par- 
ticulars of himself, for instance, that at the time of his 
finishing his labours, his eyes '^ were dimmed toith over* 
much looking on white paper ; that his cauroffe was not 
so prone and ready to labour as it had been ; that age 
was creeping on him daily ; that he had practised and 
learnty at his great charge and expense, to ordain this 
said book in prints after the manner and fcyrtn as we 
there see it, and not written with pen and ink as other 
books be^ 
His style is, on the whole, fluent and simple; and, 
even occasionally, forcible and melodious. His criticisms 
are sound, and that on Chaucer is more clearly and justly 
expressed than, perhaps, any similar production of the 
period. His want of knowledge of the learned languages 
has been fully compensated to us by the obligation he 
was thus under of confining the productions of his press 
to works, with few exceptions, written in the vernacular 
tongue. This circumstance, no doubt, greatly encou- 
raged a taste for English Literature, and the press of 
Caxton may thus be said to have created a school ^, by 
His style. 
His press 
produces 
English 
books. 
^ As an illustration of the great 
improyement in style at this period 
the following verses, preserved in 
the Paston Letters, vol. ii. p. 305, 
may be taken. They were addressed 
to her lover by a lady, daring his 
absence in the wars. 
I. 
" Myrightgood Lord, most knightly 
gentle Knight, 
Unto your Grace, in my most 
humble wise, 
I me commend, as it is due and 
right 1 
Beseeching you at leisure to advise 
Upon this bill, and pardon mine 
emprize 
Grounded on Folly, for lack of 
providence, 
Unto your Lordiship to write with- 
out license." 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV. . 
205 
which the language of his country was enabled to com- a.d. 1477. 
pete with those of Greece and Rome. His first produc- 
tions were completed during his residence abroad in 
1471 ; but the exact period of his establishment in 
Westminster has never been ascertained. He continued 
to pursue his industrious calling till the time of his death 
in 1491 or 1492, having translated no less than 5000 ^u death 
closely printed pages, besides attending to the labours of 
his printing office, and the consequent toil of compila- 
tion. 
His original works are : The Chronicles of England Hi« chroni- 
and the Description of Britain ; printed in the same En«i*nd. 
volume in 1480. The list of his publications given be- 
low is a triumphant record of his editorial labours. Till 
of late years no monument recorded the spot where he 
first exercised that art, 
" Which breathes a soul into the silent walls," 
and even at this moment the few inches of white marble, 
placed by the Roxburghe Club on as many inches of the 
walls of Westminster Abbey, (which were purchased, 
and not granted,) is passed over by the stranger who 
visits this venerable pile without noticing that it was 
here that the first printing press in England was esta- 
blished. 
II. 
** But when a man doth with a fever 
shake, 
Now hot, now cold, as falleth hy 
adventare, — 
He in his mind conjecture will, 
and take 
The nighest means to work (or 
aid) his cure. 
More patiently his pains, (thus) to 
endure ; 
And right so I, so it you not dis- 
please, 
Write in this wise, my pains (so) 
to appease.'' 
The entire poem consists of eight 
similar verses, and embodies seve- 
ral natural, tender, and affecting 
thoughts, which will repay the pe- 
rusal of such as are curious in 
these matters. The words intro- 
duced in italics were necessary to 
render the metre complete, when 
copied into modern speUing, the 
word peynys, pains, being of two 
syllables in the 15 th century. 
206 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
Inscription 
in West- 
minster 
AblMy. 
Richard 
Arnold. 
His Chro- 
nicle. 
TO THE MEMORY OF 
WILLIAM CAXTON, 
WHO FIRST INTRODUCED INTO GREAT BRITAIN 
THE ART OF PRINTING, 
AND WHO, A.D. 1477, OR EARLIER, 
EXERCISED THAT ART 
IN THE ABBEY OF WESTMINSTER, 
THIS TABLET 
IN REMEMBRANCE OF ONB 
TO WHOM 
THE LITERATURE OP HIS COUNTRY 
IS SO LARGELY INDEBTED, 
WAS RAISED 
ANNO DOMINI MDCCCXX. 
BY THE ROXBURGHE CLUB. 
EARL SPENCER, K.G. PRESIDENT. 
Another Chronicler of the period was Richard Arnold, 
who compiled a miscellany of information, under the 
title of : " The Names of the Bailiffs^ CustoSy Mayors^ 
and Sheriffs of the City of London from the Time of 
King Richard the First, etcj" which gives no idea of 
its curious contents. It preserves family recipes of the 
time, the various lists mentioned on the titlepage, muni- 
cipal regulations, assizes of Bread, and that most charm- 
ing piece of old poetry, "tj^e iSutbroton iMtoftf." He 
appears to have died, aged about 70 years, in 1521, and 
to have been a merchant trading to Flanders, a member 
of the Haberdashers' Company. In 1488 he was con- 
fined in the castle of Sluys, in Flanders, as a spy, and has 
given in his volume, among the forms and precedents, 
a charter of pardon granted to him for treasonable prac- 
tices. The first edition of his book was printed at Ant- 
werp by John Doesborowe, about 1500. 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
207 
Dr. John Warkworth, whose Chronicle we have dr. John 
Wark- 
given at page 101, was Master of St, Peter's College, worth. 
Cambridge, from 1478 to 1498. 
Though the Inns of Court and Chancery were crowded 
with law students during the reign of Edward the Fourth, 
only two names occur amongst them, worthy of being 
recorded : Sir Thomas Littleton,^ the author of the best sir thos. 
Littleton. 
book on Land Tenures, and Sir John Fortescue, tutor sir john 
to the unfortunate Edward, Prince of Wales, for whose ^°*"**^"*- 
instruction he compiled his admirable work : " de Laudi- 
bus Legum AnglicB^'^ during the exile of Margaret and 
her son in France after the battle of Towton. Little- 
ton died in 1481, leaving three sons and an ample for- 
tune. Fortescue accompanied the Queen and his charge 
on their return to England in 1471, and after the battle 
of Tewkesbury submitted to Edward the Fourth, and 
died at the advanced age of ninety. He was the greatest 
ornament of his profession, and one of the best and most 
learned men of the age in which he lived. 
Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales and Earl Rivers, anthont 
1/-WJ11 1 l«l 1 1 WOODVILLK, 
the Queen s brother, whose chivalrous and courteous be- earl 
haviour, daring and invincible courage, and loyal and 
devoted attachment to his sovereign, have been already 
so fully recorded, again claims our attention as occupy- 
ing the highest rank in the Literature of the period in 
which he lived. Like the great Earl of Worcester he 
was the early patron of Caxton, and had the additional Patron of 
•' * , , , Caxton, who 
gratification of beholding his own labours issue from that p^n*" *»!» 
. . . . works. 
preas, which his countenance had called into being, and 
which the cruelty of the times had denied to his rival. 
His grateful printer thus notices his works : " The noble {Caztm*s 
and virtuous Lord Anthony, Earl Rivers, Lord Scales, oordyaie, ot 
and of the Isle of Wight, Uncle and Governour to my novimma.) 
Lord Prince of Wales — notwithstanding the great labours 
7 First printed in 1481, by Lettou 
and Machlinia. 
^ After remaining long in MS. 
it was edited by a descendant and 
published in 1714. 
208 
THE RRIGN OF EDWABD IT. [lAST X TEARS 
Hto works Gfid choTges that he hath had in the service of the King 
and the said Lord Prince^ as well in Wales as in England^ 
which hath been to him no little thought ^ and Imsiness^ 
both in spirit and body^ as the fruit thereof experimen-' 
tally sheweth ; yet over that to enrich his virtuotis dis- 
position, he hath put him(self) in (en)deavotirj when he 
might have a leisure, which was but starte-mele (at inter- 
vals) to translate divers boohs out of French into English. 
Amongst others, passed through mine hands^ ^ the Booke 
of the Wise Sayings, or Dictes of Philosophers,* — and 
* the wise wholesome Proverbs of Christine of Pisa,'*^ set 
in metre: — Over this he hath made * divers Ballads 
against the Seven Deadly Sins.' — Furthermore^ he took 
upon him the translating of this present work, named : 
* Cordyale,** trusting that both the readers and hearers 
thereof, should know themselves hereafter the better, and 
amend their living!^ 
Earl Rivers thus expresses himself respecting his 
" Dictis or Saynges of Philosophers : When I had 
heeded and looked upon it, as I had time and space, I 
gave thereto a very affection. And especially because of 
the wholesome and sweet sayings of the paynims, which 
IS a glorious fair mirror to all good christian people to 
behold and understand. Over that (besides) a great 
comfort to every well disposed soul. It lauds virtue and 
science ; — it blames vices and ignorance." It was this 
book that the Earl presented to the King, accompanied 
by Caxton. Horace Walpole has given, as frontispiece 
to his Royal and Noble Authors, the facsimile of an illus- 
tration representing this event, which contains the only 
authentic portrait of Edward the Fifth. I cannot refnun 
from calling attention to the Earl of Rivers' autograph 
(Preface to 
Dietit or 
Sayngei,) 
His auto- 
S'aph in the 
rit. Mu8. 
* *' In this translation the Earl 
discovered new talents » turning the 
work into a poem of 203 lines, the 
greatest part of which he contrived 
to make conclude with the letter £ : 
an instance at once of his Lordship's 
application, and of the bad taste of 
the age, which had witticisms and 
whims to struggle with as well as 
ignorance." — (Walpole.) 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OP EDWAtlD IV. 
209 
preserved in the volume numbered 4431 in the Harleian Eari Rivers. 
Collection, which contains the Works of Christine de 
Pisan, of which a facsimile has been given by Sir Frede^ 
rick Madden in the Archseologia, vol. XXVI. p. 273. 
The Earl Rivers was beheaded at Pontefract in 1483, Beheaded in 
1483. 
in his 41st year, by order of Richard III. The night 
before his execution he composed the following some- (^" . 
what irregular lines, which have been preserved by John ^*'^^* 
Rous : — 
I. Lo! in this trance 
Now in substance 
Such is my dance. 
Willing to die ! 
Somewhat musing 
And more mourning 
In remembring 
The unsteadfastness 
This world being 
Of such wheeling 
Me contrarying. 
What may I guess ! 
II. 
I fear doubtless 
Remediless 
Is now to see 
My woful chance ! 
{For unkindness,* 
Without the less, 
And no redress 
Me doth advance ! 
III. 
With displeasance 
To my grievance 
And no 'surance 
Cf remedy.) 
Verses writ- 
ten just pre- 
vious to 
execution. 
IV. 
Methinks truly 
Bounden am I 
And this greatly 
To be content ; — 
Seeing plainly 
That fortune doth wry 
All contrary 
From mine intent ! 
V. 
My life was lefit 
Me to one intent. 
It is not spent ; 
Welcome Fortune ! 
But I ne'er went (weaned) 
Thus to be shent {killed) 
But so it ment. 
Such is her Won(^) 
" The hair shirt which he wore next his skin, shows 
that he complied with the forms of his creed ; it was 
hung up before the image of the Holy Virgin Mary, in 
the Carmelite Friary at Doncaster," after his execution. 
Thus by a similar fate fell both the restorers of literature 
in England, " whose countenance and example must r^o/»ote'* 
have operated more strongly m its cause, than the J^obie au^ 
attempts of an hundred professors, Benedictines and Com- 
* Sapplied from Ritson's Songs. 
210 
THE REION OF EDWABD IV. [l«A8T X TEAB8 
Earl Birm, mentators.'*^ Like Boethius of old, the Earl Rivers felt 
the consolations of Philosophy and Learning, even in the 
hour of an ignominious death, which by their means was 
deprived of its greatest bitterness. 
His continual presence about the King and Queen^ 
cherished a love for literature in the former, who feeling 
how much his own education had been neglected, had 
already provided that both his brothers, Clarence and 
Gloucester should derive all the advantages in that 
respect, which it was in his power to bestow. Towards 
the close of his reign his anxiety was manifested that his 
son, the Prince of Wales should possess every accom- 
plishment necessary to qualify him for the high station, 
to which he was bom ; and the rules already quoted, 
show him to have been no mean judge of the requisites of 
Earl Riven the Kingly office. The Earl Rivers was appointed Cham- 
cSi^beriain bcrlaiu to the Prince, and the Cardinal Morton tutor, 
and in the King's will the latter was nominated one of his 
executors. 
Amongst the Clergy Archbishops Bouchier and Ro- 
theram, and Bishops Stillington, Russell, Alcock, Wain- 
fleet, Martin, Storie,^^ Peacock, and Morton deserve 
particular notice. Most of these will claim our at- 
tention in a subsequent chapter, when considering the 
state of parties in the court of Edward, after the death 
of the Duke of Clarence. 
The revival of Letters had led to the founding and 
endowment of several Colleges, both at Oxford and 
Cambridge, but these owe their rise chiefly to Henry VI. 
and Queen Margaret, to whom also the country is in- 
debted for the establishment of Eton College. Both 
Edward and his Queen, however, were munificent 
patrons to them, and the royal taste is discernible in the 
to Edward 
Prince of 
Wales. 
Thx 
Clxrot. 
Abchitbc 
TURK. 
" Edward Storie, or Story, was 
coDsecrated Bishop of Carlisle in 
1468, and translated to Chichester 
in 1477. He was Confessor to the 
Qaeen, and died in 1502. The 
beautifal cross at Chichester was 
erected by his munificence. 
OF EOWAHD IV.] TITK BRIr.N OF EDWARfl IV, 211 
exquisite Architecture of King's College Chapel, Cam- a 
bridge, the Chape! of Eton College,'* and St, Gsoi^'b 
Chapel at Windsor, '^ the latter of which was built by 
Edward the Fourth, The Divinity School at Oxford, 
completed in 1480, the Public Schools in Cambridge, 
finished in 1475, and the Collegiate Church of P'otherin- 
gay, besides numerous other Ecclesiastical edifices, prove 
that Gothic Architecture had arrived at it's highest 
perfection during his reign. 
The progress made in the Art of Gunnery was slow g 
and gradual. To Edward we are, however, indebted for 
the introduction of hand culverincs,^* which were first 
brought into England by him on his return from Flan- 
ders in 1471, and to these he was probably indebted for 
the signal success which attended his brilliant ca.mpaign 
for the recovery of his throne. He had paid particular 
attention previously, to the construction of his field- 
pieces, introducing font-metal or bronze, instead of iron. 
With what advantage he employed hia ordinance has 
been already recorded at page 113, where he dispersed 
the Lincolnshire rebels ; and also how he dislodged the 
Duke of Somerset at Tewkesbury by means of " his 
gun-shot, and shot of arrows." 
The numerous images which were placed in the s. 
churches, the magnificent tombs erected to the memory 
of the great, and the employment of statues for exterior 
decoration, in the rich gothic architecture of those 
days, must have produced many artists, whose works 
and names perished at the period of the Reformation. 
Horace Walpole has, however, preserved a curious de- 
scription of a " new Sepulchre, well gilt," made for the 
>^ In Queen's College, Cambridge, 
is B coeval portrait of Queen Eliza- 
beth WooiInllB, who was the second 
fmindreaa. JaneShoie. maybecon- 
sidered the second fouodress of 
Etoti College 1 for by her ifltercefl- 
sioD the lands of whicb the college 
had been despoiled by Edward, were 
restored. A contemporary Portrait 
of her is preeened In the College. 
" See PoCe'3 HiBCory of Windaor. 
p. 50. He appointed the Bishop of 
Salisbury, Richard Beauchamp, 
Master and Surveyor of the Works. 
" SeeWarknorth'E Chronicle, p. 
I lliliwberetbeyarecilledhaodguiu. 
212 THE BEIGN OF EDWABD IV. [lAST X TEABS 
Church of St. Mary, Redcliffe, Bristol, by '' Master 
Cumings,'' in the year 1470. 
paintino. PaintiDg seems to have been confined to mere lim- 
ningy with exception of the decorations employed in 
books. Many of these are exquisitely finished, and 
though somewhat stiff in the drawing, they display con- 
siderable taste in grouping, and in the disposition of 
light and shade. To us, however, they possess a value 
Book iihuni. beyond this in preserving portraits of celebrated per^ 
°*"**°** sonages, and the costume of the latter part of the 15th 
century. The Manuscript in the Library at Lambeth 
Palace mentioned at page 208 preserves portraits of 
Edward, the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of 
Gloucester, and other members of the Coiurt, and Mr. 
Strutt in his Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities has 
given facsimiles from numerous others, chiefly preserved 
in the Briti^ Museum, whilst the elegant plates of Mr. 
Shaw, taken from the same source, but more accmntely 
facsimiled than those of his predecessors, show to vrhsti 
perfection the art of illuminating had arrived in the 
reign of Edward the Fourth. 
CHAPTER V. 
The Royal Brothers, Edward IV. Clarence and 
Gloucestei\ 
Edward, whatever his other faults may have been, 
was kind and affectionate in his conduct to his younger 
the family brothers. Richard, Duke of York had a numerous fa- 
Duke*'©* mily, by his wife, Cicely, daughter of the Earl of West- 
inoreland, seven sons, and four daughters, who were afl 
younger than Edward, with the exception of Anne, 
Duchess of Exeter, and Henry, who died young. Of 
this large family i, Edmund, Duke of Rutland^ was slain 
* Tlie folldwing Royal Genealogy is translated from William 
Wyrcester, as published by Hearne, p. 525-527. 
York. 
r 
OF EDWABD IV.] THE KEIGN OF 
■with his father in the Battle of Wakefield, Dec. 30, Theiioyni 
1460, in his 17th year ; and William and John died in 
early life. Of the daughters, Anne was married to 
Henry Holand, Duke of Exeter, from whom she was 
" Thf Gfneration qf the taoat Illuitriotu Prince, Richard, Duke 
of York, etc. by his v>ifi, the most gentle Princess, Cecilia, 
daughter of the illustrious Lord, Ralph, Earl qf 
Westmoreland, by his second wife the moat 
Noble hady, Joan, daughter f^f the 
most potent Prince, John, Duke 
A qf Lancaster, Son of 
King Edaard III. 
The Lady Anne, the Rrstbora of the moet IlluBtriouB Prince, A' 
Richard, etc. was bom at a certain manor of the Lord Bishop of Vj 
Ely, called Hatfield; on the 9th of February, A. 1441, in the after- 
noon, the 17th hour {fve o'clock, a. m. Feb. lOlh.).* 
["A.D. 1411. Henrv. bldbst son of Richard, Duke of h. 
York, was bom at Hatfield, on Friday, the 10th of February, ai 
five in the morning." — [Annales, p. 461.)] 
The Lord Edward, the second son of the Illustrioua Prince e 
Richard, was bom in the City of Rouen, on the 27th of April, in 
the year 1442, in the afternoon, the 141h hour and 45 uiinutes, (45 
minutes past 2 o'clock, a. m. April 28(*.),t 
Thb Lord Edmund, the third son of the IllustriouB Prince^' 
Richard, was bom in the city of Rouen, on (Monday) the 17th of b1 
May in the year 1443, the 7th hour of the afternoon, and was 
Christened in the long font of Rollo, in which none other but him 
has been baptized from the time of the said RdIIo. He was sl^n 
with his father in the Battle of Wakefield {Dec. 30, 1460). 
Elizabeth, the second daughter of the said Prince, was bom >^ 
at Rouen, the 21st of September in the year 1444, exactly at the Si 
14tli hour in the afternoon (2 o'clock, a. m. Sep. 22nd.).X 
* In bis Annali Wyrceiter saysi 
Anne, Dnchesa of Eieter, danghter 
of Richard Duka of York, and 
Cicely hit wife, was bom at Fo- 
tfaeringay, on Taeeday the 10th of 
March, 1441, between the hours of 
live and six, in the morning. — (p. 
Mondajt the 28tb of April, 1442, 
two honiB after midnight, and adds 
ni'ivelj : " gui conceptus eat in ea. 
laera praxima capellae palaeii d« 
Hatfield."— {-p. 482.) 
X Here is a diacrepaiiay hetween 
this account and his Annals. He 
there gives Tuesdaj, April 22od, at 
2 o'clock in the morning, u the 
time of her birth.— (p. 462.) 
214 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [laST X YEARS 
The Royal 
Family. 
divorced after the Battle of Bamet, and married secondly 
Sir Thomas St. Leger, who accompanied Edward in his 
expedition against Louis XI.; — Elizabeth married Wil- 
liam de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk ; and Margaret, after 
Edward's accession, was wedded with great pomp to 
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Ursula the 
youngest child died young. George, at the time of his 
brother's accession was in his twelfth year, and was 
immediately created Duke of Clarence. Richard, then 
in his ninth year, was created Duke of Gloucester. 
Margaret, 
Duchess of 
Burgundy. 
William 
Plantaganet. 
John 
Plantagenet. 
George, Duke 
of Clarence. 
Richard 111. 
Ursula. 
The Lady Margaret, the third daughter of the said most 
noble Prince was bom at Waltham Abbey, on {Tuesday) the 3rd of 
May in the year 1446. 
The Lord William, the fourth son of the said Prince, was 
bom in the Castle of Fotheringay, the 7th of July, 1447. 
The Lord John, the fifth son of the said Prince^ was bom at 
Nexte,* near London, in the Manor of the Abbot of Westminster, 
on the 7th of November, in the year of our Lord 1448, and was 
baptized at Chelsea. 
The Lord George, the sixth son of the said Prince was bora 
in the castle of Dublin in Ireland, on the 2l8t of October in the 
year of our Lord 1449, at mid-day, and baptized in the church of 
St. Saviour's." 
[This account of the Family of York must have been drawn out 
by W. Wyrcester before the year 1452, in which year he records 
in his Annals : " On Monday the 2nd of October Richard, {sou 
of Richard, Duke of York) was bom at Fotheringay. 
Anno 1455, Ursula, daughter of Richard, Duke of York, was 
bom on St. Margaret's day, July 20th."— ( Wyrcester Anncdes, p. 
677.)] 
Edward IV. 
King of 
England, 
France, and 
Ireland. 
Genealogy of Edward IV. 
The Noble Edward, dating from the Conquest, the Fourth 
{of that name) King of England and France ; and true heir of 
Castile and Leon; Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine aniJ Angiers; 
and Lord of Ireland, was son and heir of the most Illustrious 
Prince, Richard Plantagenet, late Duke of York, son and heir of 
* In his Annals he calls this place Neyte, (probably oar present 
Knightsbridge). 
OF EDWARD [V.] THE BC[ON 
As the young princes approached towards manhood, 
they appear to have looked upon the Queen's relations 
with a jealous eye, and to have been more frequently the 
inmates of the Earl of Warwick's house, than of their 
brother's palace. The Earl was possessed of almost un- 
bounded power, and his immense wealth and landed 
estates would devolve on his death to his two daughters, 
the ladies Isabella and Anne Neville. The vice of avar 
rice seems to have pervaded all ranks and ages at that 
period, and the wealthy heiresses of Warwick attracted 
crowds of Nnhles to the magnificent mansion of their 
father. " The King continued to look upon the Earl," 
says a contemporary, " with a lurking displeasure, for 
Anne, daughter and heiress of Ro^er Mortimer, Earl of Marche, son 
and heir of Phillippa, daughter and heiress of Lionel, Becond son 
of Edward the Third, which Edward was the true and undouhted 
King of England akd France, and Lord op Ireland. 
Also, this Edward was son of the said Richard Piantagenet, who King of 
was son and heir of Kchard, Earl of Camhridge, who watt son and L«n. 
heir of Edmund Langley, Duke of York, and of Isabel, his wife, 
the daughter and heiress of Peter, the true and undouhted King op 
Castile and Leon. 
Also, this Edward was son of the said Richard Piantagenet, son Duke of 
of Anna, daughter of Roger Mortimer, son and heir of Phillippa """"' ''' 
and Edmund Earl of Marcie, who was son to Earl Roger, who was 
son to Earl Edmund, who was son to Roger, the lirst Earl of 
Marche, who was son to Gladesduy, who was daughter and heiress 
of Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, and wife of Sir Ralph. Mortimer, 
Knight, who was son of Roger, who was son of Hugh de Mortimer 
and Maud, hia wife, daughter of William Longa-spata (Laagsviord) 
who was son and heir of RoUo, the first Duke op Normandy. 
Also, this Edward is Dukb of Anoiehs, through his father Dokcof 
Richard Piantagenet, who was son of Anna, who was daughter of ''^""' 
Roger, who was son of PhiUippa, who was daughter of Lionel, who 
was son of Kdward III, who was son of Edward II, who was 
son of Edward I, who was son of Henry III, who waij son of John, 
who was heir of Richard, who was son of Henry II, who was son 
of Geoffrey Piantagenet, Earl of Angiers, who was son of Fulke, 
who WM son of GeofTrey, who was son of Fnlke, who was son of 
Rechin, who was son of Geoffrey, who was son of Fulke, the first 
Earl of Angibrs. 
216 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
he had discovered a secret betrothment between the 
Duke of Clarence and the daughter of the Earl, whose 
object he had long suspected was to bring about such a 
marriage. Master Lacy had been sent to Rome for a 
dispensation, on account of their consanguinity, so that 
this marriage might be accomplished, but it could not be 
listened to by the Pope." Edward did all in his power 
to prevent it, for Clarence was yet next heir male to the 
crown, and he feared Warwick's ambition might seek to 
place his son-in-law on the throne. His efforts, however, 
Clarence's wcro ineffectual, and the marriage took place, without 
atcauSs, his couscut, in the Church of St. Nicholas at Calais, the 
bishop of Bride's uncle, who had been *^ superseded in his office 
{Wiuum of Chancellor by the Bishop of Bath and Wells,^ the 
p. 608.) * Archbishop of York performing the ceremony." Where- 
iHeame^n forc the King took a great displeasure with them, and 
pT^!) * thereupon were certain unkind words betwixt them, in 
so much that after that day there was never perfect love 
causes an bctwixt them. '^ This caused an estrangement between 
SS^SfrShe the two elder brothers, and persuaded by Warwick, 
{Wiiuain Clarence joined in the Conspiracy, then forming, to 
p. 671.) ' dethrone his brother. It was about this time that a 
messenger with letters from Queen Margaret was cap- 
tured in Wales, near Harlech Castle, and was sent to 
London to the King, by the Lord Herbert, where he 
accused many persons of treason against the King, and 
amongst others the Earl of Warwick, and stated that 
he had heard beyond seas, it implied that the Earl 
favoured the part of Queen Margaret. Wherefore the 
King sent him to the Earl, who came not now under the 
shelter of his roof, to my Lord at Middleham. In the 
sequel, however, the matter was pronounced frivolous. 
Nevertheless the King appointed 200 well tried and 
brave English archers, with a pay of 8d. per day (equal 
in value to 7s, at present) to ride and attend upon his 
person, and thus accompanied he journeyed to Coventry." 
" Robert StilUngton, see Warkworth's Chronicle; page 106, note ^K 
1 
'V.t^^f' 
r 
IV.] THR HEIGN ( 
217 
"The King, Quocn, and many noble personages kept 
Christmas in the Abbey at Coventry, and for six days 
the Duke of Clarence diaseniblcd there." 
" And aliortly after the feast of Epiphajiy, by the 
means of secret friends, the Archbishop of York and the 
Earl of Rivers met at Nottingham, and so were recon- 
ciled ; upon which the Archbishop accompanied the Earl 
of Warwick to the King in Council at Coventry, in the 
month of January, when the Earl, the Lords Herbert, 
Stafford and Audley were reconciled. And there the 
King also restored to the Archbishop the lands of _Penley 
and Winstone, the grant of which he had previously re- 
sumed from him." 
Matters seemed thus again settled, and the King, 
never fond of business, gave himself up once more to 
the gratification of his personal pleasures. The Earl on 
the contrary, still continued to foment the disaffection to- 
wards the King. Edward met his parliament in June, 
and assured the Commone, through the Earl of Rivers, of 
the enjoyment of their liberties and privileges. He then 
addressed them himself, " declaring his intention to live 
upon his private revenues, and not to levy taxes upon his 
subjects but in great and urgent cases, which would 
concern their own weal, and the defence of the Kingdom 
more than his pleasure. For their good will, kindness 
and true hearts he tlianked them heartily and promised 
to be a good and gracious King to them, and to reign as 
right wisely over them, as did any of his progenitors ; 
and also, in time of need to apply his person for tiio weal 
and defence of them and the realm, not sparing life or 
body for any jeopardy that may happen to the same." 
It was In the midst of this session that London was 
visited by the plague, and parliament waa consequently 
adjourned till November, and again prorogued to the 5th 
of May at Reading, and eventually met on the 17tli of 
May at Westminster. 
The Bishop of Bath and Wells addressed it afi Chan- ( 
(Patlia. 
The King's 
218 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
cellor, and contrasted in glowing colours the prosperity 
of England, with its distressed state at the King's ac- 
cession. *' Then it was naked and full barren of justice; 
the peace not kept, nor the laws duly administered. 
War with The Duchies of Normandy, Gascony and Guienne had 
temp^?* been seized upon by France, and enemies surrounded us 
on all sides. The King on the contrary had concluded 
a perpetual peace with Spain ; made Commercial trear* 
ties with Denmark, Germany and Naples ; made peace 
with Scotland for fifty years ; and had begun a treaty 
with the King of Arragon, and an amity with Bretagne; 
whilst by the marriage of his sister with the Duke of 
Burgundy a friendship had been firmly rivetted with that 
court. In doing this he declared it was the King's 
intent to minish and lessen the power of his ancient 
adversary of France. He avowed his master'^s intention 
of crossing the seas to subdue his great and rebel adver- 
sary, Louis, the usurping King of France, and in con- 
clusion, noticed the invitations he had received for that 
purpose, both from Burgundy and Brittany, calling upon 
parliament for its assistance and cooperation." A liberal 
supply was voted by the commons, but the secret influence 
of Warwick and his confederates defeated the King^s 
Prevented by mcasurcs. Au iusurrectiou as unlooked for, as it was 
in the North, sudden. Sprang up in the North. No less than 60,000 
men appeared in arms, under a leader, whom they named 
Robin of Redesdale, and dispersing papers, specifying 
the causes of their assembling, marched on towards Lon- 
don. The result of this sudden outbreak has already 
been given in Hearne's Fragment and Warkworth'^s 
Chronicle,^ and the consequent Battles of Hedgecote and 
Stamford. The following proclamations connected with 
these events, are of great importance, and give a true 
and curious picture of the times. 
^ See Hearne'g Fragment, p. 24-5 ; and Warkworth's Chronicle, p. 110. 
WARD IVJ.] THE REION OF 
219 
" The Sake of Clarence, the Archbishop of York, and 
the Earl of Warwick. 
Right trusty and well beloved, we greet you well ! Tht cnn 
And well ye wit (know), that the King our Sovereign it Hon 
Lord's true subjects of divers parts of this his realm of BaroPB- 
England, have delivered to us certiun bills of Articles, mWe-f 
which we suppose that ye have in those parts, rernem- M""™" 
bering in the same the deceivable covetous rule, and 'K"'.""' 
guiding, of certain seditious persons ; that ia to say : 
the Lord Rivers ; the Duchess of Bedford his wife ; Sir 
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke ; Humphrey Staf- 
ford, Earl of Devonshire ; the Lords Scales, and Aud- 
ley; Sir John Woodville, and his brethren; Sir John 
Fogg ; and others of their mischievous rule opinion and 
assent, which have caused our said sovereign Lord, and 
his said realm, to fall in (to) great poverty of misery, 
disturbing the 'ministration of the laws, only attending 
to their own promotion and enriching. The said true 
subjects, with piteous lamentation, calling u])on us and 
other lords, to be means to our said Sovereign Lord for 
a remedy and reformation ; wherefore we, thinking the 
petition conipri»ed in the said articles, reasonable and 
profitable, for the honour and profit of our said Sove- 
reign Lord, and the common weal of all this his realm, 
fidly purposed with other lords to show the same to his 
good grace, desiring and pray(iM^) you to dispose, and 
array yourselves, to accompany us thither, with as many 
persons defensibly arrayed as ye can make ; letting you 
weet (know) that by God's Grace we intend to be at 
■Canterbury upon Sunday next coming. Written under 
our signets and sign manuela the twelfth day of July, 
Anno 1469." 
" Jn three the next articles underwritten, t 
and specified the occasions and very causes of the great rfistonie 
inconveniences and mischiefs that fell in this land, in the ™ign>. 
days of King Edward t/te Second, King Richard the 
220 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
Second, and King Henry the Sixth, to the destruction 
of them, and to the great hurt, and impoverishing of 
this land.'" 
I. " First, the said Kings estranged the great lords of 
mentofthe their blood, from their secret council and (were) not 
King! from , ^ 
^^un- advised by them ; and taking about them, others not of 
their blood, and inclining only to their council, rule, and 
advice, the which persons took not respect, nor conside- 
ration to the weal of the said princes, nor to the com- 
monweal of this land, but only to their singular lucre, 
and enriching of themselves, and their blood, as well in 
their great possessions, as in goods; by the which 
(means) the said princes were so impoverished, that they 
had not sufficient of livelihood, nor of goods, whereby 
they might keep and maintain their honourable estate, 
and ordinary charges, within this reahn. 
II. A Iso, the said seditious persons, not willing to leave 
the possessions that they had, caused the said princes 
to lay such impositions and charges, as well by way of 
untrue appeasements to whom they owed evil will unto. 
Heavy taxes, as by dismes, taxes, and priests nobles, and other in- 
ordinate charges, upon their subjects, and commons, to 
' the great grudge and impoverishing of them, which 
caused all the people of this land to grudge. 
III. And also, the said seditious persons by their mainte- 
ministration iiances, whcrc they have (had) rule, would not suffer the 
laws to be executed, but where they owe(rf) favour, 
moved the said princes to the same ; by the which there 
were no laws at that time duly 'ministered, nor put in 
execution, which caused great murders, robberies, rapes, 
oppressions, and extortions, as well by themselves, as by 
their great maintenances of them to be done, to the 
great grudge of all this land. 
The private It is SO, that whcrc the King our Sovereign Lord hath 
theCrowtt had [a] great livelihoods and possessions, as ever had 
sufficient for rz' ■ n r\ ^ t i • i ■•• i»i 
its expenses. Kmg 01 liiHgland ; tliat is to say, the livelihood of the 
Crown, Principality of Wales, Duchy of Lancaster, 
D IV.] THE HEIBN ( 
221 
Duehy of Cornwall, Duchy of York, the Earldom of 
Chester, the Earldom of Marche, the Lordship of Ire- 
land, and others, with great forfeits, besides Tonage and 
Poundage of all this land, granted only to the keeping 
of the sea. The Lord Rivera, the Duchesa of Bedford, The Ksags 
his wife, and their sous ; Sir William Herbert, Eari of 
Pembroke ; and Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon- 
shire ; the Lord Audloy, and Sir John Fogg, and others 
of their mischievous assent and opinion, which have 
advised and causejl our said Sovereign Lord to give of 
the said livelihood and possessions to them, above tlieir 
desserts and degrees, so that he may not live honourably 
and maintain his estate and charges ordinary, within 
this land. 
And also, the said seditious persons next before ex- 
pressed, not willing to leave such large possesaona 
and goods, as they liave of our said Sovereign Lord's 
gift, have, by subtle and deceivable uuaginations, moved 
and caused our Sovereign Lord to change his moat rich HLmiinppr 
coin, and 'minishcd his most royal household to the great «"'". 
abasing of his estate and the conmionweal of this land. 
Also, the said seditious persons continuing in their 
most deceivable, and covetous disposition, have caused 
our said Sovereign Lord to ask, and chai^ us, his true nnd inonJi- 
Commons, and subjects, with such great impositions,* aiion. 
and inordinate charges; as, by means of borrowing with- 
out payment ; taking goods of executors of rich men ; 
taxes ; dismes ; and priests nobles ; taking great goods 
for his household, without payment i impeachments of 
treasons to whom they owe any evil will ; — So that there Perrentou 
can be no man of worship or riches, either spiritual or 
temporal, knights, squires, merchants, or any other 
honest person, in surety of his life, livelihood, or goods, 
when the said seditious persons, or any of them, owe 
any malice, or evil will, to the great dread, and unport- 
Fronce irere two fifteeotha nnil 
222 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
able charges, and the utter impoverishing of us, his true 
Commons, and subjects ; — and to the great enriching of 
themselves, the premises amounting to two hundred 
thousand marks (this year) and more. 
The Pope's Also, the Said seditious persons have caused our 
S2JSJS. said Sovereign Lord to spend the goods of our Holy 
Father, the which were given him for defence of Chris- 
tian faith, of many goodly disposed people of this land, 
without repayment of our said Holy Father, for the 
which cause this land standeth in jeopardy of Inter- 
dicting. 
Also^ the said seditious persons, by their maintenances 
in the countries where they dwelt, or where they here 
rule, will not suffer the King's laws to be executed upon 
Undue ad- whom they owed favour unto ; And also moved our said 
5*the uSl° Sovereign Lord to the same ; by the which the laws be 
not duly 'ministered, nor put in execution; by the 
which great murders, robberies, rapes, oppressions, and 
extortions, as well by them, as by their great mainte- 
nances of their servants, to us daily (are) done, and re- 
main unpunished, to the great hurt and grudge of all 
this land. 
Estrange- Aho^ the Said seditious persons have caused our said 
Ss wnd^ Sovereign Lord to estrange the true Lords of his blood, 
from his secret Council, to the intent, that they might 
attain and bring about their false and deceivable pur- 
poses, in premises aforesaid, to the great enriching of 
themselves, and to the great hurt and poverty of our 
said Sovereign Lord, and to all us his true subjects and 
commons of this land." 
The Com- " These underwritten are the petitions of us true and 
Sw^t-^**" faithful subjects^ and commons, of this land, for the 
jshmoiean great tveal and surety of the King, our Sovereign Lord^ 
No. 1160, and his heirs, and the Commonweal of this land, ever to 
J^jiufeii.) ' be continued. After humble praying of true ZiordSy 
Spiritual and Temporal^ to give assistance and aid in 
n IV.] THK REIGX OF 1 
223 
t/iis our true aiid goodly desires ; for we take God to ti 
record, we intend but only for the weal and safety of the tu 
King, our Sovereign Lord, and the common-weal of this 
land." 
" First, that the said seditious persona above named, 
which hy their subtle and malicious means have caused 
our said Sovereign Lord to estrange his good grace from 
the Council of the noble and true lords of his blood, 
moved him to break his laws and statutes, 'minished his 
livelihood and household, changing his [most] richest 
coin, and charging this land with such great and inordi- 
nate impositions, as is above expressed ; to the great 
appeirement^ (injury) of his most Royal estate, and im- 
poverishing of hiin and all his true Commons, and sub- 
jects, and only to the enriching of themselves ; may be 
punished according to their worlts and untruths, — so 
that all others hereafter shall take example by them. 
Also, in eschewing the occasions and causes of the 
great inconveniences, and mischiefs, that by the same 
have fallen in the King's days, above expressed, as well 
upon themselves, as upon this land, and that in times 
hereafter might fall; We the King's true and faithful 
Commons and subjects of this land, meekly beseech his 
good grace, that it will like him for the great weal of 
himself, his heirs, and the commonweal of us his true 
subjects, and Commons, for ever to be continued by the 
advice, and authority of his Lords Spiritual and Tem- 
poral to appoint, ordain, and establish for ever, to be rt 
had such a sufficient of livelihood and possessions, by the ?^ 
which he and all his heirs after him may maintain and lu 
keep their most honourable estate with all other ordi- 
nary charges necessary to be had in this land. So that 
he, nor none of his heirs, hereafter, of necessity, need to an 
charge and lay upon his true Conmions and subjects such " 
great impositions as before is expressed : Unless that it 
^ See tbe word : pair, orprir, in Slcbnrdion's Dictionarj. 
224 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
were for the great and urgent causes concerning as well 
the weal of us, as of our said Sovereign Lord : — ^Accor- 
ding to the promise that he made in his last parliament 
openly with his own mouth unto us. 
AUpenona Also^ to be established by the said authority, that if 
cnmn lands any pciBou of what cstatc, or degree that he may be, 
puoiihed. after the said establishment so ordained, and made, (ex- 
cept the King's issue and his brethren,) presume, or 
take upon them to ask, or take possession, of any of the 
livelihood so appointed, that by the said authority, he be 
taken and reputed as he that would 'minish and appair 
(impair) the royal estate of his Sovereign Lord, and the 
commonweal of this Land. And went {wantinff) pardon 
so to be punished. 
Thererenues AlsOy that the rcveuues of Touago and Poundage, 
and poondT may be employed in the keeping of the sea, as it was 
the seal. granted, and to none other use, for the safety of inter- 
course of merchandize to (the) great enriching of this 
land, and also for the defence [of the] (against) enemies. 
Keeping of Also^ that the laws and the statutes, made in the 
days of your noble progenitor King Edward the Third, 
especially for the concerning and keeping of this land in 
good health and peace, as well Wales as England, be 
duly kept, observed, and executed, for the conservation 
of us your true Commons and subjects in peace, and the 
commonweal of this, our land.'' 
(Excerpta Mr. Black, in the Excerpta Historica rives the Con- 
p. 282.) fession of Sir Robert Welles. From this it appears 
that a 'squire of the Duke of Clarence's was in the 
Battle, and assisted Sir Robert Welles with his advice, 
and that the real object of the rebellion was to place the 
crown upon Clarence's head. Upon the defeat of Sir 
Plight of Robert Welles, and his subsequent confession, the Duke 
Clarence and * , 
wamick. of Clareucc and the Earl of Warwick fled to the conti- 
nent, upon which the King issued the following procla- 
mations, addressed to the Lord Lieutenants of the 
various Counties. 
v.] THB BEION OP EDWARD IV. 
Db Pboclamationibus faciendib. 
PrtBcipimus tibi jirmiter injungenles, quod statim, post ^■^^'"H 
Teceptionem prtEsentium, in singulis tocis infra ballivam '^"0 
tuam, tarn infra libertates qaam extra, ubi magis expe- 
diens videris, ex parte nostra publicas proclamationes 
fieri facias, in hac verba : — 
Forasmuch as it hath pleased God of his goodness tim. eide'i 
and grace to sond to our Sovereign Lord the victory of uon. 
his Rebels and Traitors of his ahire of Lincohi, late 
assembled in great numbers, levying war j^ainst his 
Highness, contrary to their allegiance and duty ; Our 
said Sovereign Lord, therefore, not willing his subjects, 
other than such as now attend upon his most Koyal 
Person, to be put to charge, labour, and business, by 
virtue of his commissions of array, and other writing, {of) 
late addressed to divers shires, cities, and towns, for the 
resistence of the malicious and traitorous purposes of the 
said Rebels, wills, and in the most strait wise cliargeth, 
that none of his subjects presume, nor take upon him, 
to raise nor make any assembly, or gathering, by reason 
of any of the said commissions, or writings, nor by 
money, stirring, writing, or commandment made, or 
hereafter to be made, by any person, or persona, of what 
estate, degree, or condition soever he be of, 'less than 
it be by the King's commission, Privy-seal, or writing 
imder his signet, of new to be made after this the thir- 
teenth day of March. 
And if any person, or persons presume, or take upon 
them, or him, to do the contrary hereof, our said Sove- 
reign Lord will repute, and take him, and them so doing, 
as his Enemies and Rebels, and will proceed to their 
lawful punishing, in the [most] straitest wise, according 
\jD his Laws and Statutes in su.ch case ordained. . . . 
226' THR REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEAR9 
El hoc nullatenus omittas. Teste Rege apud Stamford 
xiii. die Martii. 
(CUueBoUt, "Per Ipsum Regem. 
»» 
/^.; 
(Here follow the names of counties.) 
De PrOCLAMATIONIBUS FACIENDIS. 
Rex Vicecomiti JEborum saluiem. Prcecipimus tibi^ 
quod statim post receptionem prcBsentium^ in singulis locis 
infra hallivam tuam^ tarn infra libertates quam extra^ 
ubi magis expediens videris^ ex parte nostra publicas 
proclamationes fieri facias in hcec verba : — 
The King** Howbeit the King our Sovereign Lord granted unto 
Snintt * George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Earl of War^ 
Warwick, wick, his pardou general of all offences committed, and 
done against him, before the feast of Christmas, last 
passed ; trusting thereby to have caused them to have 
shewed unto him their natural love, allegiance, and duty; 
and to have assisted his Highness, as well in subduing 
{the) insurrections and rebellions, late made against him 
in the county of Lincoln, as in all other things con- 
cerning the surety of his person ; and, in trust that they 
so would have done according to their promises to him 
made, his said Highness authorized them by his commis- 
sion under his great seal to assemble his subjects in 
certain shires, and them to have brought to his said 
Highness, to the intent aforesaid ; — ^yet the said Duke 
and Earl, unnaturally, unkindly, and untruly intending 
his destruction, and the subversion of his realm, and the 
commonweal of the same ; and to make the said Duke 
King of this his said Realm, against God's law, man's 
law, and all reason, and conscience, dissembled with his 
said Highness, and, under colour thereof, falsely and trai- 
terously provoked and stirred, as well by their writings 
as otherwise. Sir Robert Welles, late eaUing himadf 
J IV.] THK RRIfiN OF EDWABD IV, 
■S27 
Great Captain of the Commons of the said shire of Lin- 
coId, to continue the said insurrections and rebellions, 
and to levy war against him, as they, by the same, so 
did with banners displayed, advancing themselves in 
plain battle, until the time his said Highness, by the help 
of God, put them to flight ; wherein the said Duke and 
Earl promised to the said Sir Robert and Commons to 
have given them their assistance to the uttermost of 
their powers, and so would have done, if God had not 
given unto him the said victory, as the same Sir Robert "^-^"Jj" 
Welles, Sir Thomas De la Lande, Richard Warren, S^'J^^j^J 
and others have openly confessed; and shewed before J^^'Jj- »■ 
his said Higluiess, the Lords of his blood, and the mul- 
titude of his subjects attending upon him in his host at 
this time ; which Sir Robert Welles, and the said other 
petty captains, affirmed to be true at their deaths, on- 
compelled, unstirred, or undesired so to do ; and as by 
the confession of the said Robert Welles, made under his 
writing and sign manual, it appcareth. And after that 
the said Didie and Earl, understanding and seeing that 
this their said labours would not serve to the performing 
of their false and traitorous purpose, before declared, 
laboured by their writings and messages sent into York- 
shire unto divers persons there, them straitly charging 
to [do] make open proclamations in their own names, 
without making mention of his said Highness, that all 
manner (of) men upon pain of death should come unto 
them, and give them their assurance in resisting of him; 
whereupon his said Highness sent unto the said Duke 
and Earl, by Garter, King of Arms, summonition and 
warning of their said accusations under his privy seaJ, 
straitly charging them to come unto his said Highness, 
reasonably accompanied according to their estates, and 
degrees, to answer unto their said accusations ; which 
to do they presumptuously refused, and withdrew them- 
selves, and fled with their fellowship into Lancashire ; so 
as his said Highness with his host for lack of victual 
228* THE REIGN OF EDWARD lY. [lAST X TEARa 
might not follow them, to the intent that they might 
gather his subjects in greater number, and to be able to 
perform their said false, and traitorous purpose, and 
intent; for the which causes they have deserved to be 
published, as false traitors and rebels, and to have the 
uttermost punition of the law ; yet never the less, our 
said Sovereign Lord considering the nighness of blood, 
that they be of unto him, and the tender love, which he 
hath afore time borne to them, were therefore loath to 
lese (lose) them, if they would submit them (selves) to 
his grace, and put him in surety of their good demeaning 
hereafter. 
Offer of con- Wherefore our said Sovereign Lord will, and in the 
don to ^"' [most] straitest wise chargeth, the said Duke and Earl, 
Warwick?" that they, in their persons, come in humble and obeisant 
wise, and appear before his Highness, the twenty eighth 
day of this present month of March, Wednesday next, 
or before, wheresoever he then shall be, to answer unto 
the said accusations ; which if they will so do, and come 
(and) declare themselves not guilty, his Highness will 
be thereof right glad, and have them in his grace and 
favour; and if they refuse thus to do, then our said 
Sovereign Lord reputeth, taketh, and declareth them 
as his rebels and traitors, willing and straitly charging 
all his subjects to do the same, and that none of his 
Their fellow- subjccts from that time forth receive them, nor either of 
nomic^. them aid, favour, nor assist with meat, drink, nor money, 
nor otherwise, nor none other person which, after the 
said Duke and Earl have refused to come to our said 
Sovereign Lord as is aforesaid, abideth with them, or 
aideth them, or assisteth in any wise; but that every 
(one) of the King's subjects put him (self) in effectual 
(c7i)deavour to take the said Duke and Earl, and all others 
so abiding with them, or aiding or assisting them, as is 
abovesaid, and them surely bring to his Highness upon 
Reward for pain of death ; — And he that taketh and bringeth the 
* *^^'*' said Duke or Earl shall have for his reward ; to him and 
OF EDWARD IV,] THE HEIGN OF EDWARD IV. 229 
his heirs, a hundred poimda worth of hia land of yearly ueprion of 
value, or a thousand pounds^ m ready money, at hia 
election ; and for a knight twenty pounds worth of his 
land, or a hundred marks in money; and for a squire 
ten pounds worth of his land, or forty pounds in money ; 
and over that cause our said Sovereign Lord to have him 
and them, so doing, in the more tender favour of his 
good grace at all times hereafter, 
Et hoc sub pericula incumbenti nullatenus amittas. 
Teste Rege apud Eborum 2i die Martii. 
Similar Proclamations were issued from Nottingham 
and other towns, and had Edward followed them up with 
the necessary energy to give them effect, and have at- 
tended to the warning voice of the Duke of Burgundy, 
who had carefully watched the movements of Clarence 
and Warwick, he would not have been subjected to the 
singular vicissitude which befel him in the September 
following, by which he lost his kingdom without striking 
a blow, and fled in so miserable a plight that he had not 
wherewithal to pay his passage.' 
The Earl of Warwick on the contrary was indefatigable wanvick'. 
in his exertions to restore Henry to the crown, as will benuciai 
seen by the following contemporary Account of: — 
" The Manner and Guiding of the Earl ok War- («™e'.^ 
WICK at Anglers, from the xvth day of July to the ivth ms. Bart. ' 
of August 1470, which day he departed from Anglers'' quaiedL kr 
"First, by the mean of the King of France,^ the 
said Earl of Warwick purchased a pardon of the Queen 
' The reward being £100 per | 
annum in land, or £1000 in roonej, 
sbowB the value of land Co bare 
been then cqnal to a ten jeora' 
purchBae. Thiswaa arewardeqnal 
to :i'lD,D0O of present value. 
' See Hearne'B Fragment, p. 26 
et seq., and Warknorth's Chroni- 
cle, p. Ill et leq. 
* " Louis, who dreaded Edward's 
military abilities, and knew that 
he had publicly urged a descent in 
Frence, entered earnestlj into War- 
wick's plans; and sought to effect 
a reconciliation between the Earl 
and the Qaeen, without which no. 
thing ciTectua! against Edward could 
beaccomplished.'' — {TumeT.) 
sso 
THB IUEI6N Ot EDWARD IV. [UUBT X TEABS 
TbeS«rt*ft 
propoflitlOB. 
QownMar- 
gsret's ob- 
jtCtiOM. 
The Earrs 
excuse. 
Margaret and of her son. Secondly^ by the said mean 
was treated the marriage of the said Qneen^s son called 
Prince of Wales, and the Earl of Warwick s second 
Daughter. Thirdly^ there was appointed upon his pas- 
sage over the sea into England with a puissance. 
'' Touching the first point, the said Queen was right 
difficile {difficulty) and showed to the King of France, 
being present the Duke of Guienne and many others, 
that with the honour of her and her son, he, neither she, 
might [not,] nor could [not] pardon the said Earl, which 
hath been the greatest causes of the fall of King Henry, 
of her, and of their son, and that never of her own cou- 
rage she neither might be contented with him nor pardon 
him. 
'' Item the said Queen shewed to the King and others 
aforesaid that it should be (a) thing greatly hurting and 
prejudicial to the King Henry, her, and her son, to par- 
don the said Earl of Warwick, [n]or to take party with 
him. And over this, that the King Henry, she, and her 
son had certain parties and friends which they might 
lightly lose by this mean, and that should be a tldng tJbat 
greatly might grieve them, and do them more harm and 
hinderance than the said Earl and his Allies might bring 
or bear unto them profit or advantage. Wherefore she 
besought the King that it would please him to leave o'R, 
or further to speak or labour for the said pardon, amity, 
or alliance aforesaid." 
" The Excuse and Answer of the Earl of Warwick 
unto Queen Margaret^ ^c, in these two Articles fol- 
lowing:'' 
"The Earl of Warwick, all these things {having) heard, 
said unto the Queen that he confessed well, that by his 
conduct and men the King Henry and she were put out of 
the Realm of England ; but for an excuse and justifica- 
tion thereof, he shewed that the King Henry and she by 
their ialse Councel had enterprised the destruction of 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWABD IV. 231 
him and hia friends in body and in goods, which he never 
had deserved against them. And (to) him seemed that 
for such causes, and the great evil will that they have 
shewed him he had a righteous cause to labour their 
undoing and destruction, and that therein he had not 
done but that (which) a nobleman outraged and dis- 
perred (impaired) ought to have done. Also he said 
over that, and well confessed that he was causer of the 
upsetting (on the throne) of the King of England that 
now is; but now, seeing the evil terms that the King 
hath kept (vnth) him, and cast him out of- the Realm, 
and, as much as he hath been with him in times past, 
now he will be an far contrary, and enemy unto him here- 
after : beseeching there the Queen, and the said Prince, 
that so they would take and repute him, and forgive him 
that (which) in time past he had done and attempted 
against them ; offering himself to be bound, by all man- 
ner of ways, to be their true and faithful subject in time 
to come, and upon that he would set for surety the 
King of France.^ Whereunto the said King then being 
present agreed himself to be surety for all the promises 
with good will, praying the said Queen, that at his 
request she would pardon the said Earl of Warwick, 
shewing the great love that he had unto bim, and that 
he was bound and beholden to the said Earl more than 
to any other man, and therefore he would do as much 
and more for him than for any man living." 
Queen Margaret and of her son Prince Edward" 
" And so the Queen, thus required by the King, as it 
is said, counselled also by the servants of the King of 
" " Louis, who despised all feel- I licy, willin);lj offered himself t 
ings bat those cf personal iidinn- Margaret, as the pledge of th 
(age, and who built his reign on Earl's fidelilj." — {Ttirner.) 
sellish ends, and unprincipled po- { 
232 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
Treaty of 
marriage 
between the 
Prince of 
Wales and 
Anne Ne- 
TfUe. 
Sicily her Father, after many treaties and meetingil, 
pardoned the Earl of Warwick, and so did her son also. 
And after that they pardoned the Earl of Oxford being 
with the Earl of Warwick ; to whom the Queen said, 
that his pardon was easy to purchase, for she knew well 
that he and his friends had suffered much [thing] for 
King Henry^s Quarrels.^ 
" Touching the manner of the Treaty of Marriage be- 
tween the Prince and the Earl of Warwiclis second 
daughter J with the Answer of Queen Margaret!^ 
^^ Touching the second point, that is of marriage, true 
it is that the Queen would not in any wise consent 
thereunto for offer shewing, or any manner of request 
that the King of France might make her. Some 
times she said that she saw neither honour nor profit 
for her, nor for her son the Prince. At others she (aZ)- 
ledged that and (if) she would, she should find a more 
profitable party and of a more advantage with the King 
of England, And indeed, she shewed unto the King of 
France a letter which she said was sent her out of Eng- 
land the last week, by the which was offered to her son 
MY Lady the Princess ; ^^ and so the Queen persevered 
fifteen days ere she would any thing intend to the said 
Treaty of Marriage, the which finally, by the means and 
conduct of the King of France and the councilors of 
the King of Sicily being at Angiers, the said marriage 
was agreed and promised; present the King of France 
and the Duke of Guienne, by means of certain articles 
hereafter following." 
^ ** There were no princesses then 
in England, but Edward's daughters ; 
and of these the eldest only, Eliza- 
beth, could be thought of in such a 
project as this. The writer ex- 
presses himself as if a part of her 
household ; and if so, this was an 
early plan to unite the houses of 
York and Lancaster, though by Ed- 
ward's deposition/' — {J\imer.) 
v.] THE BEIGN OF 1 
*' The Oath of the Earl of Warwick at Angiers TueEarrr 
sworn to King Menry. u> Henry 
" First, the Earl of Warwick aware upon the ven-ey 
{true) Cross in Saint Mary's Church of Angiers, that 
without change he shall always hold the party and quar- 
rel of King Henry, and shall serve him, the Queen and 
the Prince, as a true and faithful subject oweth to serve 
his Sovereign Lord. 
" The Oath of the King of France, and of his Brother, -nir Hths 
and of the Queen Margaret. Queen Ma 
" Item, the King of France, and his Brother, clothed in 
canons robes in the said Church of Saint Mary, sware 
that they should help, bear and sustain to their power 
the said Earl of Warwick holding the said quarrel of 
Henry. And after this the said Queen sware and pro- 
mised from henceforth to [enjtreat the said Earl as true 
and faithful to King Henry here, and the Prince, and for 
the deeds passed never hereafter to make him reproach, 
" Item, in treating the foresaid marriage, it was pro- 
missed and accorded that after the recovery of the 
Kealm of England, for and in the name of the said King 
Henry, he holden and avouched for (fis) King, and the 
Prince for Regent and Governor of the said Realm, my 
Lord of Clarence shall have all the lands that he had 
when he departed out of England, and the Duchy of 
York, and many others, and the Earl of Warwick his, 
and othere named in the appointment." 
" Touching the time when the Marriage shall he put in Time <rhei 
wre" {practice)." ahauuicc 
" Item that from thence forth the said daughter of the 
Earl of Warwick shall be put and remain in the hands 
and keeping of Queen Mai'garet, and also that the said 
" Ure, ii nsed in tliie EignLficntion by Hooker. 
234 THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
marriage shall not be perfected to (till) the Earl of 
Warwick had been with an army over the Sea into 
England, and that he had recovered the realm of Eng- 
land in the most part thereof for the King H^uy.. 
Many other points were spoken of in the said Treaty of 
Marriage which were over long to (be) put in writing. 
The French " The aid of the French King^ for the passage of the 
Earl of Warwick into England" 
" Touching the point concerning the Earl of War- 
wick's passage, truth it is that the Earl every day gave 
to understand, and yet doth to the King of France, that 
he hath Letters often from Lords of England containing 
that as soon as he shall be landed there, he shall have 
more than fifty thousand fighters at his commandment; 
wherefore the said Earl promised the King that if he 
would help him with a few folk, ships and money, he 
shall pass over the sea without any delay, and upon these 
his words and promises to the King, he hath spent and 
daily spendeth great sums of money for entertaining 
the state of him and his, and beside that, hath helpen 
in victual for his ships of sixty-six thousand scutes, 
containing two thousand frank (French) archers, 
etc. . ;'i2 
Of the following letter says Stowe, "divers copies 
were made and set upon the Standard in Cheap, upon 
the stulpes on London bridge, and upon divers church 
doors in London, and in other places of England, before 
the coming in and landing of the said Duke and Eari 
out of France, to the enlarging of King Henry out 
of the Tower of London, and to the upsetting of him 
^ " The original of Charles 
Duke of Guienne's engagement to 
assist Henry the Sixth, Queen Mar- 
garety and Edward Pjince of Wales, 
approving also of the marriage of 
the Prince with the Karl of War- 
wick's daughter, signed by himself 
at Anglers, July 30th, 1470, is still 
preserved in the Cottonian MS. 
Vcsp. F. III."-^(5'fr H. BllU.) 
P EDWARD IV. THE REIGN C 
235 
again unto his estate and dignity royal in the time of 
Richard Lee, grocer, then being Mayor, the which took 
down the said letters, and would not suffer them to be 
openly known, nor seen to the comraone." 
Georoe Duke op Clarence '^ and Lord of Riai- (S(ok«'. 
MOND, AND Richard, Earl of Warwick and Salisbuby, Nd. ms. 
Great Chamberlain of England and Captain of Calais, ^iiidbgmr 
to the worshipful, discreet, and true Commons of Eng- T^e onkp or 
land, greeting. It is we doubt not notarily (notoriously) ^J'f:,„ 
and openly known unto you all, how uncourteoualy that '""f ^"^"■ 
in late days we have been entreated, taken and accepted 
for the true hearts, tender zeals, loves and affections that 
God knoweth we have ever borne and entend before all 
things earthly, to the weal of the Crown and the ad- 
vancing of the Common Weal of England ; and for re- 
proving of falsehood and oppression of the poor people ; 
God and our deeds our Judge. Estranged also there- 
fore from our friends and livelihood not (a) little, and 
from the land and natural place of our births, by the 
false means and subtle dissimulations of such certain tie kibb's 
covetous and seditious persons, as have guided and been dcnouucwi. 
about the estate Royal of the Realm, which have ever 
had, a more particular respect to their own smgular and 
insatiable covetonsness, and to tlie magnifying of their 
friends and adherents, than they have had to the Majesty 
Royal, or to the things publick of the true commonality 
of the Realm ; as daily and hourly is now by their deeds 
proved amongst you by experience, to the great hurt, 
impoverishing and the utter destruction of you and the 
Realm, like to be aliened and governed by strangers and 
outward nations if the said covetous persons may rule as 
■^ " In this addreas, it ii msni- I for they who would have fought 
fest, that the; attempted to delude zealous!; far his person and crown, 
their supporters into a helief, that would not oppose those whom, they 
they intended no personal attack ! thought, only wished to produoehis 
upon Edward, but only on his ob- ' reformation, and better gorern- 
noiious friends i and it wag this . ment."— (TiimeT-.) 
deception, which deliitoned him ; | 
^6 THE HEIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
they have done; and never like(/^) to be recovered 
without God's help; the most lamentable and piteous 
thing to be abhorred with every true christian man dread- 
ing God, or loving the weals of his Realm and his neigh- 
bours, that ever was. We, therefore, established and 
steadfastly persevering in our old customs, bearing and 
having faithfully toward the said Crown and common 
weal of England as fervent zeal^ love and affection as 
ever we had, begrudging of the great enormities and 
inordinate impositions, contrary to law and all good 
customs, newly laid upon you, and also greatly sorrow- 
ing and abhorred of the cruel and detestable tyranny, the 
vengeful murder and manslaughter reigning among you. 
Wherefore we intend, by the Grace of God, and the help 
of every well disposed man, in right short time, to put 
us in deboure (endeavour) to the uttermost of our 
powers, to subdue and put under falsehood and oppres- 
sion ; chastise and punish the said covetous persons in 
perpetual example to all others ; and to set right and 
justice to {in) their places, to see them equally ministered 
and indifferently, without mede (reward) or dread, as 
they ought to be, and to reduce and redeem for ever 
the said Realm from thraldom of all outward nations, 
and make it as free within itself as ever it was hereto- 
fore. And for the furthering and more perfect perfor- 
ming hereof, we call first to our aid, help and assistance 
of Almighty God, his blessed Mother and glorious Virgin 
Saint Mary, with all the whole Company of Heaven; 
secondly the blessed and holy Martyr Saint George, our 
patron, and every true Englishman dreading God, loving 
his realm and the weal of his neighbours ; and thirdly 
we shall for our discharges in that behalf both against 
God and man, put us in our uttermost duty, that we can 
or may ; and thereupon jeofSLrd(ize) both our lives, 
bodies, and goods. In witness whereof to this our 
writing we have put our signets, and subscribed it with 
our own hands." 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV, 237 
Upon the receipt of this letter. King Edward sent 
the following summons to the Duke of Clarence and the 
Earl of Warwick : 
" Brother we (have) been informed how ye have !^J^^. , 
laboured, contrary to natural kindness and duty of alle- ^^J^s. 
giance,'* divers matters of great poise (weight) and also ^^^"f ,^p 
how Proclamations have been made in your name and of 
our cousin of Warwick, to assemble our liege people, no 
mention made of Us. Furthermore letters missives sent 
in like manner for like cause. Howbeit, we will not for- 
get that (which), to us appertaineth, and that is to call 
you to your declaration in the same, and to receive you 
thereunto if ye will come, as it fitteth a liege man to come 
to his sovereign lord in humble wise ; and if ye so do, in- 
difference and equity shall be by us well remembered, 
and so as no reasonable man, godly disposed, shall more 
think, but that we shall [cnjtreat you according to your 
nighneas of blood and our laws. Wherefore, our dispo- 
sition thus plainly to you declared, We will, and charge 
you, upon the faith and truth that ye naturally owe to 
bear unto us, and upon pain of your allegiance that ye, 
departing your fellowship in all Iiaste, after the sight of 
this, adress you to our presence humbly and measureably 
accompanied, and so as is convenient for the cause above- 
^* Comminei gives an iosight 
intu the intrignes of the period. 
"About tliiB time," he aays, "a 
lady of the household of [he 
Dauheesof Clarencecaoieto Prance, 
ronght ! 
pEEice 
rom King Edward. 
■-■'The 
nitli nhich this 
lady was 
ted, was to remons 
rate with 
Clarence that he should 
not cause 
the d 
atmctinn of hia o 
ii-n house, 
by aiding to replace the 
authority 
oftha 
of Lancaiter: that he should 
consider their ancient en 
mity and 
ofTeDc 
SB ; and that he wo 
Id easily 
perce 
ve bj the Earl's having mar- 
tion to make him King, and had 
already paid homage to bim." — 
" And BO well did this lady eiecnte 
her mission, that the Doke of Cla- 
rence promised to side again nith 
his brother, when he should have 
returned to England." — (Cimi- 
minea, p. 190.) This secret under- 
standing was kept up by the King 
and his broflier during the eiile of 
the former, till they were publicly 
reconciled at Warwick ; for in the 
given at 
page 
ao, will be I 
a BO] ployed d 
a the 
g the whole 
implith this object, 
.B inten- I Royal Family. 
238 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
said ; letting you weet (know) that if ye do not so, but 
continue the unlawful assembly of our people in pertur- 
bation and contempt of our peace and commandment, we 
must proceed (that (which) we were loath to do) to the 
punishment of you, to the grievous example of all other 
(of) our subjects. Upon the which if there follow any 
efiusion of Christian blood of our subjects of this our 
Realm, we take God and our blessed Lady, Saint George, 
and all the Saints in Heaven to our witness, that ye be 
only charged with the same, and not We. 
Given, etc. 
" To our brother Clarence ;'' and the 
like Letter (mutatis mutandis) ^* to 
the Earl of Warwick."' 
" This Letter," says Sir Henry Ellis, ** is again fol- 
lowed by the Proclamation which was issued by the 
Duke and Earl upon their landing ; the form of the safe 
conducts which they granted ; and the Articles of ad- 
vertisement sent by the Prince to the Earl of Warwick, 
his father-in-law to be shewn to King Henry, for es- 
tablishing a new Council and Household; the latter 
upon a reduced scale. The following is the last of these 
articles ; ^ Item forasmuch as the King is now in great 
poverty, and may not yet sustain the expenses of so 
great a household as he kept sometime, nor he is yet 
purveyed of vessel and other hostlements of household 
honourable and convenient for him, and also his costs 
now upon establishment will be greater than any man can 
certainly esteem, it is thought good that it will please his 
Highness to forbear all this first year the keeping of his 
worshipful and great Household ; and be in all that time 
in such a sure place or places, as his most noble Grace 
can think best for his health and pleasance, with little 
(few) people, and without resuming and taking again in 
all that year of the servants of his old household, but 
such as necessity shall cause him. For if he take within 
J: 
OF EDWARD 
v.] TIIK 
BKIGM OF EDWARD IV. 
that time any of them, the remnaunte (remainder) will 
grudge for their absence ; and also they that he (who) 
be thus taken will not leave importune (importunity) to 
liave unto them all, their old feilowahip, which shall be 
noyfull (hurtful) and great noye {buri) to himself and to 
all those that shall be about him for that year.' " 
Having landed in August 1470,'° Warvrick threw off 
the mask, and openly proclaimed his intention of re- 
storing Heni-y the Sixth, his former letter, sent from 
abroad, having studiously avoided all mention of a per- 
sonal attack upon Edward. He immediately issued this 
Proclamation : 
"JESVS. MARIA. JOHANNES. 
" - - - The most noble and Christian Prince, our most {Chart, ^m. 
dread Sovereign Lord, King Harry the Sixth, very true Mm. No. 
undoubted King of England and of France, now being in muifJ*«Mr 
the handy of h\s rebels, and (of) great enemy, Edward, Praciamniui 
late the Earl of Marche, usurper, oppressor, and destroyer Henry \nab 
of our said Sovereign Lord, and of the noble blood of the 
realm of England, and of the true commons of the same, 
by his mischievous and inordinate new founded laws and 
ordinances inconvenient, to the uttermost destruction of 
the good commons of the said realm of England ; if it so 
should continue for the reformation whereof, in especial 
for the commonweal of all the said realm, the right high 
and mighty Prince George, Duke (of) Clarence, Jasper, 
Earl of Pembroke, Kichard, Earl of Warwick, and 
John, Earl of Oxford, as very and tme faithful cousins, 
subjects, and liege men to our said sovereign Lord King 
Harry the Sixth, by sufficient authority committed unto 
them in this behall', by the whole voice and assent of the 
Most Noble Princess Margaret, Queen of England, (and 
the Right High and Mighty Prince Edward,) at this 
time being Qiieen,'^ unto this realm to put them in their 
" In a letter dated Augt. 5tb, I essay to land in Eaglaad everr dnj, 
Sir John Paston writes^ " the as FolLs fear." 
Lorda Clareace and Warwick nill [ '^ Thus iu the MS. 
240 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [iJUST X TEARS 
most uttermost [enjdeavonr to deliver our said Sovereign 
Lord out of his great captivity, and danger of his ene- 
mies, unto his liberty, and by the grace of Grod to rest 
him in his Royal estate, and crown of this his said realm 
of England, and reform .... and amend all the great 
mischievous oppressions, and all other inordinate abuses, 
now reigning in the said realm, to the perpetual peace, 
prosperity, to the common welfare of this realm* Also 
it is fully concluded and granted that all mail men within 
the realm of England^ of wh3,i(ever) estate, d^ree, 
condition that they be of, be fully pardoned of all man- 
ner (of) treason or trespass imagined or done, in any 
manner of wise contrary to their legeyns, (allegiance) 
against our sovereign Lord the King, the Queen, and 
my Lord the prince, before the day of coming and entiy 
of the said Duke and Earls in this said realm ; so that 
they put them in their uttermost [enjdeavour, and at 
this time draw them to the company of the said Duke and 
Earls, to help and to fortify them in their purpose and 
journey ; except such persons as be capital enemies to 
our said Sovereign Lord, without punishment of the 
which, good peace and prosperity of this realm cannot 
be had ; and except all such as at this time make any 
resistance against the said Duke and Earls, or any of 
them, or of their company. Also the said Duke and 
Earls, in the name and behalf of our said Sovereign 
Lord, King Harry the Sixth, charging and conunanding 
that all manner of men, that be between sixteen years 
and fifty, incontinently and immediately after this proda- 
mation (be) made, be ready, in their best array defen- 
sible, to attend and await upon the said Duke and Earls, 
to assist them in their journey, to the intent afore re- 
hearsed, upon pain of death and forfeiture of all thai 
they (may forfeit) within the realm of England, except 
such persons as be visited with sickness, or, with such 
noune (not of) power that they may not go." 
(Oamminet, " Within fivo or six days after the landing of the Earl 
of Warwick, he found himself all powerful, and within a 
i 
f 
p. 191.) 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE HEIGN OP EDWARD IV. 241 
few miles of King Edward, who still had considerable 
forces/' And further on he says, " one evil is always 
followed by another. Fifteen days ago Edward was in 
full power, and had any one told him that the Earl of 
Warwick should drive him from the throne, and within 
eleven days obtain the dominion, he would have laughed 
at him, as he did at the Duke of Burgundy's expending 
his money in defending the seas against him, saying : 
^Met him but land, and then I shall have nothing to 
fear." Edward^ however, having been forced to fly 
to the continent, Warwick's Proclamation of the re- 
storation of King Henry the Sixth, made Clarence 
aware of the false step he had taken, and assisted to 
pave the way to the ultimate reconciliation of the 
brothers. 
CHAPTER V. 
The Royal Brothers^ Edward IV. George^ Duke of 
Clarenc€j and Richard the Third. 
The events subsequent to the flight of Edward into nuputea be- 
Holland, — his return, reconciliation with Clarence, and rence and 
Gloucester. 
reconquest of the country ; the Battles of Bamet, and 
Tewkesbury ; the Deaths of Warwick, Edward, Prince 
of Wales, and Henry VI., all followed in rapid succes- 
sion, and have been already fully detailed.^ His nego- 
ciations for the internal welfare of the country, it's 
commercial prosperity, and the reduction of taxes ; his 
treaties of Peace with Scotland and France, and of 
Alliance with Burgundy and Bretagne, have also been 
related in the preceding pages. 
1 See Fleetwood's MS., wherein all these events are detailed with the 
minuteness of an eye-witness. 
R 
242 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
Richard de- The death of the Earl of Warwick, and the Prince of 
Anne Neriue Walcs ffavc risc to Edward's younirest brother, the Duke 
in maniiige, ° . 
of Gloucester, demanding the hand of the Lady Anne 
Neville, the daughter of the former, and betrothed ^ of 
the latter, m marriage. The immense property of the 
Earl of Warwick had been derived from two sources, 
his inheritance from his father, the Earl of Salisbury, 
and the possessions of his wife, Anne, sole heiress of the 
princely estates and revenues of the Beauchamps. Since 
the death of her husband she had taken sanctuary at 
iPasion Let- Bcverley, and had been " conveyed northward by Sir J. 
p. i46.) ' Tyrrelf men say by the King*s assent^ whereto some men say^ 
that the Duke of Clarence is not agreed^ This lady was 
the imdoubted heiress to the property of her father and 
late brother, and entitled to the dower settled upon her 
by her late husband. Nevertheless her claims were entirely 
overlooked, and to obtain a portion of the immense 
wealth of the Nevilles was now the chief cause of 
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, seeking the alliance with 
the sister of his brother's wife. Clarence, in right of his 
wife, sought to claim the whole of the inheritance ; whilst 
Gloucester determined to create as good a title to it 
by marrying the Lady Anne. To prevent this Clarence 
disguised and concealed her ; but Richard, having found 
her, in the dress of a menial, had her conveyed to the 
{Croyi. cont, sauctuary of St. Martin's-le-Grand, for greater security. 
The King then expostulated with Clarence on his con- 
jiJ?te toadu ^^^^» when the latter, forgetting both equity and his 
Eari'Vrol** ^^^^ honour, replied : " Ae may toell have my Lady^ sister- 
fpasionLet. ^^'^^^^ ^^^ ^^ shall part no livelihood,'' Matters con- 
pTfey^' "* tinued in this state for some time, and from the Paston 
Letters we glean that it was more than probable that 
whom be 
finds dis- 
guised as a 
menial. 
^ It is clear from the MS. quoted 
at page 233, that, what is usually 
termed the marriage of the Prince 
of Wales with the Lady Anne 
Neville, was only a conditional 
betrothment. See also Turner's 
Middle Ages, vol. iii. p. 327. 
OF EDWARI) IV.] THE REIOS ( 
both partio9 would resort to arms to bring this quarrel a 
to an issue. 
In 1473 Sir John Paston writes thus: "The King EdmrduiM 
hath sent For his great-seal i some say, we shall have a seal with 
new Chancellor, but some think, that the King doth as he iPa^im Let. 
did at the last fields, he will have the Seal with him, but p. lar.) ' 
this day Doctor Morton, Master of the Rolls, rideth to 
the King, and beareth the seals with him." It was al- 
ways Edward's practice to carry the great-seal with him 
in the Civil wars to prevent its falling into improper 
hands. In the same letter the cause of his doing so on 
this occasion is hinted at, " for the world seemeth queasy 
(unsettled) here ; for the most part (they) that be about 
the King have sent hither for their Harness, and it (is) 
said for certain, that the Duke of Clarence maketh him 
(self) big in that he can, shewing that he would but 
(merely) deal with the Duke of Gloucester; but the 
King intendeth, in eschewing all inconvenience, to be as »ndd«*r- 
big as they both, and to be a stiffler atween them ; and «!«" be-' ^ 
some men think, that under this, there should be some 
other thing intended, and some treason conspired." 
The Duke of Gloucester, however, ultimately married Murriim nt 
the Lady Anne without the Duke of Clarence's consent, 
and by the mediation of the King matters were appa- 
rently amicably adjusted, though as will be seen in the 
sequel, the brothers never after looked upon each other 
with aSection. 
The following acts of Parliament settled the division 
of the property. " The King by the common consent, (Prpme-- 
granteth, that George Duke of Clarence, and Isabel, his mrrfT) 
wife, and Richard Duke of Gloucester, and Anne, his or uw pro- 
wife, daughters and heirs to Richard Neville, late Earl 
of Warwick, and daughters and heirs apparent to Anne 
Countess of Warwick, shall enjoy to them, and to the 
heirs of their said wives, all the hereditaments belonging 
to the said Anne, in such wise as if the said Anne were 
dead; and that their said wives should be of blood to 
244 
THE REI6X OF EDWARD IV. ^LAST X TEARS 
A.D. 1474. the said Anne, and enjoy all benefits accordingly, and the 
said Anne therefore for ever barred. 
*^ That the said Dukes and their wives, and the heirs of 
their said wives, may make partition of the premises to 
be good in Law ; and that the said Dukes, or either of 
them, over-living his wife, shall during his life enjoy her 
property. 
^' That all alienations, discontinuances, charges, and 
incumbrances, sufiered by any of the said Dukes, or their 
wives, to debar the other of their said properties, to be 
utterly void." 
'' That if the said Duke of Gloucester be at any time 
after divorced from the said AnnCy after newly her mar- 
riage, and suffer any such incumbrances^ as abiwe, to be 
void. And further, if the said Duke Richardy upon suck 
divorce, doth the uttermost ^ to be reconciled during his 
wifes life, that then after the death of his said wife, he 
shall enjoy her property. A provision that the said 
Dukes, and their wives, might exchange with the King 
the Lordship, Manor, and Wapentake of Chesterfield 
and Scumsdale with the appurtenances in the same.^ 
** At the Petition of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 
the King spareth the attainting of John Neville, late 
Marquis Montacute,* and by authority of Parliament 
giveth to the said Duke, and to the heirs of his body, 
sundry honours. Baronies, Castles, Manors, and other 
hereditaments which late were Richard Nevilles late 
Earl of Warwick'*s. 
" The like estate, by authority of Parliament, the 
King giveth to his brother George Duke of Clarence, 
of and in the Manors of Clavering with the appurtenance 
3 There was some Informality in 
the marriage, which may be inferred 
from the whole of this passage 
printed in Italics. 
^ *' To preclude any claim from 
the son of the Marquis of Monta- 
gue, Warwick's brother, it was 
enacted that Clarence and Glou- 
cester, and their heirs, should en- 
joy certain lands, the former pro- 
perty of the Earl, as long as there 
should exist any male issue of the 
body of the Marquis." — {Lingard.) 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV. 
245 
in Essex, and Mantion, or Meason called the Harber a.d. 1474. 
and two Houses adjoining thereto in London, which late 
were the said Eark of Warwick." 
Thus ended this pecuniary struggle of the brothers in (Croyiand 
1474, but the Croyland Doctor observes " this dissention p- ^7.) 
was an incurable aflair."*' 
We now come to the darkest blot in the character of a.d. i476. 
Dec. 26. 
Edward. He had never forgiven Clarence his treason Qualrei'of 
1 1 •• -ii-niA -iir • 1 mi i» Edward and 
when he joined the Earl of Warwick. The recent dis- ciarence. 
putes respecting the property of the great Earl though 
apparently settled to the satisfaction of all parties, still 
rankled in the breasts of each of the brothers. Shortly 
after his return from France, the King resumed several 
Royal grants, formerly made to Clarence, upon which the 
Duke began to withdraw himself, by degrees, from the 
King's Court and Council. Being now a widower, (for 
after the birth of her third child, the Duchess fell into 
a state of debility,^ which carried her off, within two i>eatB of the 
, , , , Duchess. 
months,) he resided chiefly upon his estate, attending to 
the education of his son Edward, the unfortunate Earl of 
Warwick, who was basely murdered by the heartless 
Henry, in November 1499, after having been kept a 
prisoner in the Tower for fourteen years, his only crime 
consisting in his being the last of the Plantagenets. 
It was at this period that the Duke of Burgundy was ciarence 
killed at the Battle of Nanci, and his immense posses- marry his 
sions devolved on Mary, his onlv daughter. " Her mo- of Burgundy. 
t "(Croylcmd 
ther,'^ says the Croyland Chronicle, " sought to wed her contm. 
p. 557.) 
* Anckenett Twyndowe, one of 
her female servants, was tried, con- 
demned, and executed on the charge 
of having administered poison to the 
Duchess. The injustice of the sen- 
tence was afterwards acknowledged 
by Parliament, for, ** at the Petition 
of Roger Twyndowe, Esquire, cou- 
sin and heir of Anckenett Twyn- 
dowe, late wife of William Twyn- 
dowe, Esquire, deceased ; viz. son of 
John, son of the said William and 
Anckenett, the judgement, and pro- 
cess had against the said Anckenett 
at Ware, Anno 16. E. 4. for poison- 
ing of Isabel, late the wife of George 
Duke of Clarence, is utterly re- 
pealed." 
'* It is to be noted, that the said 
Anckenett suffered death for the act 
aforesaid at Ware, whose indictment, 
and process thereon, is annexed to 
the record.'* — {Prynne's Tower Re-" 
cordsj p. 703.) 
246 THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1476. to the Duke of Clarence, who had always been her favou- 
rite brother.'^ The Queen solicited the King to second 
her views in favour of her brother, the Earl Rivers, and 
Edward, jealous of the power which the possession of 
Burgundy would confer upon his brother, whose am- 
bition he dreaded, readily acquiesced, but his ofier was 
repulsed with disdain by Margaret. This decided oppo- 
sition to Clarence's wishes on the part of the King led 
to a greater estrangement between the brothers, and 
from an allusion in a letter of Sir John Paston's, dated, 
Feb. 14th 1476, it is probable that it was considered 
likely to lead to an open rupture. 
(PoMton uu " To John Paston, Esquire^ at Norwich^ in haste, 
ters, vol. ii. 
p. 205.) J recommend me to you, letting you weet, that yester- 
day began the great Council, to which all the ^Estates of 
the Land shall come [to], but if (unless) it be for great 
and reasonable excuses; and I suppose the chief cause 
of this Assembly is, to commune what is best to do, now 
upon the great change by the death of the Duke of Bur- 
gundy, and for the Keeping of Calais, and the Marches, 
and for the preservation of the Amities taken lately, as 
well with France, as now with the members of Flanders ; 
Threatened whercto I doubt not there shall be in all haste both the 
between the Dukcs of Clarcncc and Gloucester, whereof I would that 
my brother Edmund wist. ... I hear this day great 
likelihood that my Lord Hastings shall hastily go to 
Calais with your Company It seemeth that 
the world is all quavering, it will reboil somewhere ^ so 
that I deem young men shall be cherished, take your 
heart to you ! 
I fear that I cannot be excused, but that I shall forth 
with my Lord Hastings over the Sea, but I shall send 
you word in haste, and if I go, I hope not to tarry 
long 
John Paston, Knight. 
London^ Friday, Feb. 14. 1466. 
brothers. 
I 
v.] THE REEGN OF EDWA 
247 
At the Council alluded to in the a!x)ve letter, vigorous a.d. i-i??. 
measures were recommended to be adopted against Louis 
the Eleventh, whose troops were already overrunning the 
inheritance of Edward's niece. " Edward, however, had (cnmmine 
no mind to involve himself in a new war. The 50,000 /nfuicon 
crowns being also punctually paid him by the French i*"''- 
King, softened hia heart, and hindered him from con- 
cerning himself in that affair. Besides, Ids ambassadors 
were always bribed, entertained so nobly, and left the 
French court so well satisfied, that no exceptions could 
be taken, though the answer of Louis was always uncer- 
tain, in order to gain time, assuring them, that in a few 
days he would send an embassy of his own, that would 
satisfy their master in every point." Accordingly we nia mm- 
find the French King continued his conquest of thceuniiyi— 
orphan's territory, and on the 14th of April, 1477, Sir '^■■i, voi, li 
John Paston thus writes from Calais : " the French 
King hath gotten many of the towns of the Duke of 
Burgundy, as St. CJuinten, Abbeville, Montreuil; andmnMSt. 
now of late he hath gotten Bethnne and Hedynge AbbsviHc, 
{Hesden) with the Castle there, which is one of the Sf ni"n=. ■! 
most regal castles in the world ; and on Sunday, at even, 
the Admiral of France, laid siege at Boulogne ; and this BcaiBgi.. 
day, it is said, that the French King shall come thither; 
and this night it is said, that there was a vision seen 
about the walls of Boulogne, as it had been a woman with 
a marvellous light; men deem that our Lady there, will 
show herself a Lover to the town : God forefend that it 
were French ; it were worth 40,OOOP. that it were 
English." And in another letter, from Sir 
Edward Bedingfield,^ dated Aug. 17th, "the French 
King licth at Siege at St. Omers, on the one side of the "nd st. 
town a mile off, hut he hath no great ordnance there ; ('"■<<. p.^s 
and they of the town skirmish with them every day, and 
■ Sir Edmund Bcdingfield w»a [ was hjglil; in favour with HenryVII. 
created a Knight of the Bath. Ht the who |)aid him a Royal Visit at Oi- 
Coronatioriofltichardthe Third, lie | burgh, in Norfolk. He diediu 14!)fi. 
248 
THE REIGN OP EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1477. 
Ravage* Cas- 
■ell and the 
country 
about. 
Crevecotnr 
destroys 
Fynes. 
Measures of 
defence. 
Archduke 
Maximilian 
at Ghent. 
keep a passage half a mile without the town ; and the 
French King hath brenned {burnt) all the towns and 
fair abbies, that were that way about St. Omers, and 
also the corns, which are there. 
And also, as it is said for certain, the French King 
hath burned Cassell, that is my old Lady of Burgundy's 
Jointure, and all the Country thereabout, whereby she 
hath lost a great part- of her livelihood ; and that is a 
shrewd token that he meaneth well to the King,^ our 
Sovereign Lord, when he intendeth to destroy her^ 
Moreover Sir Philip de Crevecoeur hath taken them 
that were in Fynes within this four days to the number 
of fourteen persons, and the remanent were fled, and he 
had them to the French King, and he hath burnt all 
the place, and pulled down the Tower, and a part of the 
wall, and destroyed it. And as it is said, if the French 
King cannot get St. Omers, that he intendeth to bring 
his Army through these Marches into Flanders, where- 
fore my Lord hath do broken (ordered to be broken) 
all the passages, except Newham Bridge, which is 
watched, and the Turnpike shut every night. 
And the said French King within these three days 
railed greatly of my Lord to Tiger Poursuivant opeidy 
before two hundred of his folks ; wherefore it is thought 
here, that he would feign a quarrel to set upon this town 
if he might get advantage. And as I understand, the 
Emperor's son is married at Ghent as this day, and there 
came with him but four hundred Horse, and I can hear 
of no more that be coming in certain ; and in money he 
brought with him a hundred thousand ducats, which is but 
7 •* Edward, soothed with the hope 
of his daughter's aggrandizement, 
looked on without any other inter- 
ference than sending ambassadors to 
mediate a peace for Burgundy. Louis 
spoke kindly, and treated them mag- 
nificently ; but instead of abstaining 
from the gratification of his ambi- 
tion,invited Edward to share thespoil 
with him. Edward did not disdain 
the partition ; but wished Picardy, 
which adjoined Calais, instead of 
Flanders and Brabant, that had to 
be conquered, for his part. Louis 
preferred Picardy for the same rea- 
sons which made the King of Eng- 
land desire it.*' — {l^irner,) 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV, 
249 
a small thing in regard for that he hath to do ; where- a.d. u77, 
fore I fear me sore, that Flanders will be lost ; and if St. 
Omers be won, all is gone in my conceit ; neverthele&s 
they say there should come great power after the Em- 
peror's son, but I believe it not, because they have been 
so long of coming." 
By her marriage with the Archduke Maximilian Mary Marriage of 
of Burgundy was provided with a natural protector, by B»5J^undy. 
whose means her country was preserved from utter anni- 
hilation. About the same period that these events took 
place upon the continent, the animosity between the Further 
. rupture be- 
Kinff and Clarence increased to such a desree, as to de- t^een 
^ O ' Clarence and 
stroy the slight remains of fraternal affection which still f^* ^^°^ "" 
existed between them. " While they were thus irritated ^^*^„ , 
•' p ool, 062.) 
against each other,'' says Lingard, " whether it were the 
effect of accident, or a preparatory step to the ruin of 
Clarence, Stacey, one of his clergymen, was accused of 
practicing the art of magic, and of melting certain images 
of lead to accelerate the death of the Lord Beauchamp. 
On the rack he named as his accomplice Thomas Bur- 
dett, a gentleman of the Duke's household. They were 
arraigned together before the judges and most of the 
temporal peers ; and after a short trial were condemned Execution of 
and executed. But on the scaffold both protested BujSett*" 
against the sentence : Clarence ^ immediately professed ciarence de- 
himself the champion of their innocence : and the next 
day Dr. Goddard, an eminent divine, was introduced by 
him into the council chamber to depose to their dying 
^ The act of attainder, in 1477, 
after mentioning the previous con- 
duct which the King had forgiven, 
accused him ** of contriving the 
destruction of the King and his is- 
sue, to subvert the government ; of 
causing his servants to sow sedition ; 
of giving his retainers money to as- 
semble the people, and feast them 
on venison dinners ; and to persuade 
them that his esquire, Burdett had 
been wrongfully put to death ; of 
saying that the King poisoned his 
subjects by necromancy; and de- 
claring that the King was illegitu 
mate^ from the incontinency of his 
mother, and had taken his livelihood 
from him, and intended to consume 
him as a candle perishes in burning ; 
of inducing several of the King's 
subjects to swear fealty to himself ; 
and of attempting to get a strange 
child into his castle to pass for his 
son . ' ' — ( Tkirner. ) 
250 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1477. declarations. When these particulars, exaggerated per- 
haps by officious friends, had been communicated to 
Edward, he hastened from Windsor to London, sent for 
the Duke, upbraided him with insulting the administrar 
tion of justice, and in the presence of the mayor and 
sheriff committed him to the Tower." 
The biU of attainder, in the Parliamentary Rolls, a 
long and laboured document, put forth by the King him- 
self has been already quoted.^ At the trial Edward 
appeared in person as prosecutor, and the peers, per- 
suaded by the eloquence of the Royal accuser, pronounced 
Clarence guilty ; and the Duke of Buckingham, who had 
been sworn in Lord High Steward for the occasion 
passed the sentence of death upon him. Immediately 
after this, the sentence on Anckenett Twyndowe was 
reversed,^ and the Commons petitioned the King to exe- 
cute justice on his brother. In the same parliament all 
the acts passed during the short restoration of King 
Henry the Sixth were repealed; and the young Duke 
of Bedford, George Neville,^ son of the Marquis of 
A.D. 1471, Montague, to whom the Princess Elizabeth had been 
(Pari.Roiu, Originally affianced, was deprived of his title, on the pre- 
p. i»6.*) tence that he had not an income equal to the support 
of it. 
Edward was averse to carry out the sentence, but the 
servile parliament, now urged on by the family of the 
Queen, represented to him " that justice was a virtue of 
the Most High, which the King was bound to follow, 
first, for his own security ; secondly, for the defence of 
the Church; and thirdly for the public good." On the 
Execution of 17th of February 1478 it was reported that the Duke 
17 Feb. 1478. had died in the Tower, and the Croyland historian the 
^ ** "Whereas the King had created 
George Nevil, the son of John Ne- 
vil, late Marquess of Montacute, 
and made him Duke of Bedford, the 
King, by authority of Parliament, 
revokcth the said Creation, and all 
titles of honour, as weU from the 
said George, and from the said 
John." — {Prynne's Tower Re- 
cords,) 
OF EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
251 
only contemporary authority at t^at time resident in a.d. 1478. 
England, merely says : " whatever was the manner of it, 
justice was executed upon him."^^ The story of the 
butt of malmsey takes it's rise from a digression on 
English Affairs, in the First Book of the Memoires of 
Philippe de Commines, from whence it was copied by (Comtmnes^ 
Fabian, Hall and Grafton. As there is no authentic 
account of this execution preserved in any of our public 
documents, and as the only contemporary English Au- 
thority does not mention that such a report was in cir- 
culation at the time, we may conclude that the manner 
of his death was a state secret, and gave rise to various 
conjectures.^^ Commines, who wrote in the Reign of 
Henry VII, merely recorded what was the prevalent opi- 
nion at that period ; and as well might Voltaire's story 
of the Iron-mask be adduced as veracious history, as the 
Malmsey butt be considered the authentic manner of the 
execution of Clarence.^^ 
There is one circumstance to which reference has been The cause of 
Edward's 
made, which probably will account for the execution of cnieity and 
' . . . . Iiyusticeto 
Clarence. In the parliament which met immediately *»»« brother. 
after the restoration of Henry the Sixths on the 26th of 
November 1470 Edioard had been declared an usurper^ 
and all his ffoods confiscated, etc. The succession of the {Croyiand 
crown was settled upon the Prince of Wales, Son ofp-^^^o 
*° ** Factum est id, qualemcunque 
erat, genus supplicii." — {Croyl, 
Contin. p. 562.) His body was in- 
terred by the side of bis Duchess, 
at Tewkesbury. 
^^ Shakspere represents him as 
having been first stabbed by one of 
the murderers, after which his body 
was hid in the butt of Malmsey, to 
conceal the murder ; a story quite 
as probable as the other. 
^ There is another story, more in 
accordance with the spirit of the 
times, though equally improbable, 
connected with the fate of Clarence. 
"Some have reported,** says Holins- 
hed, ** that the cause of this noble- 
man*8 death rose out of a foolish 
prophecy, which was that after King 
Edward should reign, one whose 
first letter of his name should be G ; 
wherewith the King and the Queen 
were sore troubled, and began to 
conceive a grievous grudge against 
the Duke, and could not be in quiet 
till they had brought him to his 
end.** Commines says, ** the Eng- 
lish were ever furnished with some 
prophecy, by which they accounted 
for every event.*' 
252 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEAB8 
A.D. 1478. 
Henr}' the Sixth, an^ his issue, and in default^ upon the 
Duke of Clarence and his issue. Although seven years 
had elapsed since the passing of that act, it was still un- 
repealed, and therefore according to the constitution of 
the Kingdom^ the Duke of Clarence wets now the law- 
ful King ^'^dejure,'" though Edward, by right of con- 
quest was King ^''de facto" That Edward must have 
had some misgivings, about this time, as to his legal 
title to the throne, is evident, for immediately after the 
conviction of his brother^ he was most careful to have 
" all the Acts of the 49^A year of the Reign of King 
Clarence the Hcnrv VI repealed'' ^^ Clarence, after the death of 
idol of the . . 
people. Warwick, had enjoyed great popularity which brought 
upon him the envy of the King, of the Duke of Glou- 
cester, and of the Queen's family. " On the death of 
Clarence," says the Croyland Chronicle, "aW the idols 
were now exterminated, on which the eyes of the people^ 
ever desirous of novelty, were accustomed to be turned,** 
May we not, therefore, reasonably conclude that the 
ofHcious meddling of those about the King may have 
coupled the popularity of Clarence, and the danger from 
the unrepealed act of attainder of himself, together in 
the King's mind, and thus have caused Edward to com- 
mit an act of cruel injustice, which he ever after bitterly 
repented, for " when any man had kneeled to him, and 
{Harjyng's askcd pardou for an offender, he would say : " Oh ! un- 
foiio29.)' fortunate brother, that no man would ask thy pardon!" 
Clarence's Clarencc left " two children, one the Lady Margaret, 
Margaret that was aftcrwards married to Richard de la Pole ( Earl 
Countess of ^ 
suffoikand of Suffolk) the othcr Edward, whom the Kinff made 
Kilward Earl o *"'*«^ 
of Warwick. Earl of Warwick, but this child following the fate and 
^3 The last article in the act of 
attainder seems to refer to this as 
the real cause of the trial of Cla- 
rence ; for in it he is accused ** that 
he had openly shown his design 
to dethrone the Kingt in procuring 
an authentic copy of the acts of 
parliament passed during the Earl 
of Warwick's usurpation, whereby 
the Crown was adjudged to hiin» 
after the death of Warwick." 
(RapiUf vol. V. p. 110.) 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 253 
destiny of his father,^* was afterwards put in prison and a.d. i478. 
after that put to death ; and so was the daughter sixty 
years after." ^^ The rival of Clarence for the hand of ^bYiS w? 
the Princess Mary of Burgundy, Anthony, Earl of^JJ^^^^*^ 
Rivers, obtained most of his confiscated estates, though jj^J^*''' 
a few were given to the Duke of Gloucester, and to Lord 
Howard. The wardship of his heir was entrusted to the ^JjJJjJJ"*" 
Marquis of Dorset,^^ the Queen's son. Whoever the jjj^^^jj^" 
parties were that poisoned the royal ears against him, l^y^^^*^' 
the real murderers of the Duke of Clarence were the 
two servile houses of parliament, who throughout the His death a 
* *-* legal murder. 
struggle of the Rival Roses appear only to have con- 
sulted the wishes of the party in power. 
^* See p. 245. rent of William before Lord Bonville 
^ This murder took olace in her ^^°^^^ ^^^* ^^^ ^^""^ **®' ^^®' ®"' 
X Ills luiuuci LuuiL uiauc 111 ucr • .1 •%r ^ 4^t. ±. mi. 1 
70th year, May 27th 1541 by com- i°^ *'"' ^*°°'? f. Chatou.Thurle- 
j'-, ^ . , , ./ ^, Bare, and Manot in Somersetshire, 
mand of her unnatural relative, the j_x« » j • t? u-n- t\ 
4. u -criTT u i. and certain lands in Foxhill m De- 
tyrant Henry Vill, who to revenge ,. , ., -..u ^u t^ 
himself on her son the celebrated ^o^^^^^^e, together with the Domi- 
Cardinal Pole, had already executed ?J°° °' Manor of Aldmgham, the 
his brother, the Lord Montague ?'T'"> "' ^f */ ^ .°' "^ 
T 1 fcon J u • u J u- lands m sundry other Counties, to 
m Jan. 1539, and banished his ., , - en a i i r 
u *u c- r« a D 1 the value of 500 marks, parcel of 
younger brother. Sir Geoffrey Pole, ^i. • u •*. r *i. -j t j 
u J «.i. • ^- *• ff *u 4. the inheritance of the said Lord 
who under the infliction of the tor- „ -n j n • ^ j 4. u 
1 . . ff Bonville and Harrmgton and to her 
ture was made to confess cnmes of , aju*u -jtj 
, . , , .i., J i. *u assured. And where the said Lord 
which he was guiltless, and at the „ • . j-n -n ^.l 
.. . ° u- u 4.U 4.U Harnngton,and Bonville the younger 
same time to accuse his brother, the 1 j • ® u ^.i. -jv *l • 
r J -KH 4. A.t. -Kir ' c had issue by the said Kathenne one 
Lord Montague, the Marquis of , , , f n j /-• m 
Exeter, and Sir Edward NeviUe, for °°'y ^V^^^l '?^f ^^'^' » ■""" 
which he obtained his life, whilst nageshould be had; It was accord- 
-, * JT n 1R10 cd, that at the age of 13 years of 
they were executed Jan. 9, 1539. .i -j r. -i ^ . l u u 
^ the said Cecil a marriage should be 
^^ '* In the Parliament begun, and had between the said Cecil, and 
holden at Westminster the sixth Thomas the eldest son of the Queen, 
day of October in Anno 12 Ed. IV. between whom if there were no 
and by sundry prorogations con- mutual society, that then the said 
tinned unto the sixth of June in Cecil should marry with Richard 
Anno 14 Ed. IV. It was enacted, the brother of the said Thomas. 
that Katherine, the wife of William ** It is also enacted, that the said 
Hastings Knight, Lord Hastings, Cecil at the age of 14 years may as- 
and before the wife of Bonville late sure all her hereditaments to the 
Lord Harrington the younger Cousin said Thomas and Richard, for, and 
andheirtoWilliam Lord Harrington during their lives, as aforesaid.*' — 
the youngerand cousin and heir appa- {Prynne'8 Tower Records.) 
254 
THE REION OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEAB8 
A.D. 1478. 
RiCRAKD 
DUKB OF 
Glodcbs- 
TBS. 
CHAPTER VII. 
The Royal Brothers^ Edward the Fourth, and Richard 
Duhe of Gloucester. 
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, after the death of 
Clarence was considered the head of the ancient nobihtj^ 
who since the fall of Warwick had become almost as 
formidable to the crown, and the Queen's family, as 
the Beauforts, Nevilles and Courtneys had been in the 
earlier stages of the King^s reign. Edward steadily 
pursued his object of raising a barrier around the throne, 
to emancipate it from the controul of the aristocracy, 
by heaping titles and honours on the Queen's family.* 
*' In thus pursuing a wise object in an unwise manner," 
he left the latter and the old nobility, at his deaths in as 
complete a state of hatred and envy, as had formerly 
existed between the adherents of the rival Hoses. 
As the death of the Duke of Clarence paved the way 
by which Richard ultimately mounted the throne,^ it 
may be necessary here to consider the state of the 
Divided sute King's Court, when that event occurred ; and by di- 
court. viding it into two great parties, the one headed by 
Gloucester and Hastings, and the other by Earl Rive^is, 
the Queen's brother, we shall be enabled the better to 
* The favours heaped by Edward 
on his wife's relatives immediately 
after Clarence's death have led to the 
supposition that they were the par- 
ties by whom he was accused. This 
opinion, however, cannot be main- 
tained, for it was the policy of the 
King, on all occasions, to make their 
aggrandizement a means of lessen- 
ing the power of the more potent 
nobles, and in conferring Clarence's 
estates uponLords Rivers, and How- 
ard, and the guardianship of his son 
on the Marquis of Dorset, he was 
merely pursuing that line of conduct 
which he thought most condndTe 
to the accompUshment of his great 
object. 
^ One of the articles laid before 
parliament at the irial of Clarence 
was that ** he had affirmed, that the 
King was not the son of the Duke 
of York, but of an adulterer admit- 
ted by the Duchess, their mother 
to her bed.'* Richard afterwards 
availed himself of this suspicion 
cast upon his own parent, when set- 
ting up his claim to the throne. 
r 
I OF KDWAKD : 
,.]t 
: BElf.N OF EDWAEH IT. 
unravel the confused web, wliich obscures tliis portion of a.d. m7b. 
our history. 
The heads of these two great parties we are told, on iCmyiami 
competent authority, had long existed in open hostility, p. io^.] 
Indeed to such an extent had this feeling of jealousy DitrfrFdcn 
been carried, that Edward had been prevailed upon to LDRrSAB- 
send his favourite, the Lord Hastings, to the Tower,' on Eari'Ri^'ra 
the accusation of Earl Rivers, where his treatment led 
htm daily to expect his death warrant. He had first 
risen into pubhc notice under Edward's father Richard, 
Duke of York, in 1465, who in that year appointed him 
ranger of Ware, in Salop. The King's favourite was 
courted by all the nobility, who sought to ingratiate 
themselves on Edward's accession in 1461. Amongst 
these Dugdale particularly enumerates the Duchess of ^^^'^'' 
Buckingham, and her eldest son; the Lord Lovell, thep-'^i 
Lord Rivers, the Duchess of Bedford, and others. The 
King himself employed him on various Embassies and 
threw other lucrative posts in his way. He possessed 
the extraordinary virtue, in a courtier, of gratitude, and 
to his personal bravery Edward was indebted for his 
escape from Middleham. He shared his exile with his 
Royal Master, and at the Battle of Bamet commanded 
the rear guard consisting of 3,000 horsemen. Married 
to Katherine, daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, he 
became identified with the old Nobility, and the Offices 
of Lord Chamberlain, and Governor of Calais gave him 
great power. When the King entered upon the French ("""''- 
Expedition, the Lord Hastings was accompanied by two 
lords, nine Knights, fifty eight esquires, and twenty 
gentlemen, a sufficient evidence of his popularity. We 
have seen that he alone, on receiving the bribes of Louis 
the Eleventh, refused to give an acknowledgement, and 
Commines who had prevailed upon him to accept a 
256 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD .IV. [laST X TEARS 
A.D. 1478. 
{Cbmmines, 
P.28S.} 
IX»RO StAN' 
LBV. 
yPolydore 
DUKB OF 
BursiNO- 
HAM. 
Lords Lo- 
VKLL AND 
HOVITARD. 
The Earl 
op Rivers, 
pension from the Duke of Burgundy of 1000 crowns 
a year says '' it was with great difficulty and solicitation, 
that he ^-as made one of the French Kings pensioners; 
but Peter Cleret, being privately admitted into his house 
in London, presented him 2000 crowns in gold;^ for to 
Foreign Lords of great quality, the King never gave 
any thing else." The same author has left on record 
that ^' he was a man of singular wisdom and virtue." 
Lord Stanley,^ the brother-in-law of the great Earl of 
Warwick, was a staunch Yorkist, and notwithstanding 
the importunities of his wife'*s brothers, remained faithful 
to Edward during his troubles. On the King's resto- 
ration he was appointed to several posts of honour. His 
conduct was always honourable, and he was held in great 
esteem, which gave him a degree of influence with all 
parties, beyond that enjoyed by any of his compeers. 
To this party belonged also, the aspiring Duke of Buck- 
ingham,^ then about twenty four years of age, who had 
been appointed Lord High Steward on the trial of Cla- 
rence, and whose attachment to the house of York only 
lasted whilst it tended to his interest; John, Lord 
Lovell, afterwards created Viscount Lovell ; and the 
Lord Howard,^ who sealed his loyalty to the White 
Rose with his death at Bosworth Field. The events of 
the subsequent reign fully prove that these nobles acted 
in unison to obtain the destruction of the Woodvilles, 
and that they looked upon the Duke of Gloucester as 
the natural head of their party. 
The Earl of Rivers, whose character has been already 
* Seep. 170, note^o. 
* Lord Stanley has been already 
referred to as favouring the negocia- 
tions of Louis for a peace, during 
Edward's invasion of France. On 
the death of his first wife, the sister 
of the Earl of Warwick, he married 
the widowed Duchess of Richmond, 
whose son was still in a state of 
honourable confinementin Bretagne. 
We shall see in the sequel that by 
his means this Henry of Richmond 
ultimately obtained the crown, and 
took the title of Henry the VII. 
« See Turner's Middle Ages, vol. 
iii. pp. 497—499. 
7 See page 22, note ^7. He is the 
same' Lord Howard, mentioned by 
Commines, as favouring the secret 
negociations of Louis, in 1475. 
OF KinVAUD IV.J TIIR KEtO\ < 
sketched enjoyed the greatest influence in the Royal a.o. i-i 
Councils, His nephew the Marquis of Dorset,^ thetn.'Miii 
Queen's son by her former marriage, a youth of the 
most aspiring ambition ; and the brother-in-law of the 
Queen, the Lord Lyle,^ together with Lord Richard ihf i-or 
Grey and several other members of the Woodville family, "■*!■ 
supported on all occasions the views of Ehzabeth, who, 
with the most consummate skill, avoided all public in- 
terference in state aflairs, carrying out her plans through 
the instrumentality of her blood relations. 
The Archbishops Bouchier'" and Rotheram,i' and the t^ 
Bishops Morton, Stillington, '^ Alcock, '^ and Russell,'* 
though not on all occasions to be relied upon by the 
court party, seldom interfered with the policy of the 
Earl of Rivers, whose love of literature led him fre- 
quently to enter into pursuits which called upon him to 
^ Hewas createdMarijuiB of Dor- 
tet 18 April, 1475, long before he 
reiicLed bis majority. Ua waa Go- 
vernor of the Toner ttt the tioie of 
Edward's death in UR3. 
' See Dugdale's Baronage, vol. i. 
p. 719. Edward Grey was summoned 
as Lord Liale of Kingston Lisle, in 
Berkshire, in right of Ilia wife, Eli- 
zabeth, daughter and heiress of 
Thomaa Talhot, Viacount Lisle. 
"> Son of the Earl of Eu and £s- 
eei. He was Bishop of Worcester 
in 1433, translated to Elf in 1444, 
BndtoCanterbnry inl454. Hewas 
elected aCardinal, and made Chan- 
cellor in 1465. He crowned three 
Kings, Edward IV. Richard III. 
and Henry Vn. 
" Thomas Scott, sumamed Ro- 
tbcram, was Bishop of Rochester in 
1467, translated to Liucoln in 1471, 
andCoYorkinl4B0. Me waa Lord 
Keeper and afterwards ia 1475 
Lord Chancellor. 
" Robert Stillington was i 
Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1 
and 1468 Lord Chancellor. As will 
be seen in the sequel it was this pr 
late, who fore swore himself to assi 
•^ Bishop Alcock, preceptor to the 
young Prince of Wales, Mastpr of 
the Rolls, was made Bishop of Ro- 
chester, in 1472, traoslated to Wor- 
cester in 1476, and to Ely in HSU. 
He was Lord Keeper in 1476, and 
Lord Chancellor in USB. 
" He was made Biahop of Lincoln 
in 1480, and Lord Chancellor in 
1484. Hia name ia connectedwith 
the introduction of the Art of Print- 
ing i; 
othis 
intry. He w. 
OS Ambassador extraordinary, to 
compliment the Duke of Burgundy 
on hia receiiing the order of the 
Garter. Hia " Proiioailio" on this 
1470, a tract of only five leates. 
A single copy of this performance 
only ia known, which ia now in the 
collection of Earl Spencer. Itwas 
sold by Mr. Evans, of Fall Mall, 
in the White Knights sale for 120 
gninCEts, having been pnrchased by 
the late Duke of Marlborough for 
fifty guineas of a bookseller who gave 
BS many shillings for it. 
258 
THK REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1478, consult their tastes, in doing which he possessed the 
happy art of appearing to defer to their judgment, as 
more matured than his own, and by which he oonciliated 
the friendship of this influential party. 
The King From this divided state of Edward's court arose all tiie 
:^tl^rl^ miseries of the succeeding reigns. The King was himself 
hit children. . 
well aware of these differences, and sought to heal them by 
a public reconciliation of the parties in his presence ; and 
to render the throne more secure by alliance with foreign 
courts, he negociated marriages for his children almost 
the moment they were bom. His eldest daughter, Eli- 
zabeth, was contracted to the Dauphin of France, during 
the negociations in 1475 ; Cecily to James, Prince of 
Scotland and heir to the throne ; AnnCy to Philip the 
infant son of Maximilian, Archduke of Austria ; Mary 
to the King of Denmark ; and Catherine to the Infante 
of Spain. In all these projects his ambition was disap- 
pointed, and in the two most important he was com- 
pletely overreached. His eldest son Edward, Prince of 
Wales was afiianced to the daughter of the Duke of 
Bretagne, and Richard, the Young Duke of York, was 
married in early childhood to Anne, daughter and heiress 
of John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk,^* in order that he 
might become possessed of the titles and estates of the 
Duke of Norfolk, and accordingly in 1476 he was created 
Earl of Nottingham, and in 1477, Earl of Warren and 
Surrey. 
The King, when his daughter Cecily was aflBanced to 
Hii disap- 
pointments. 
** "An act (Anno 17 Edwardi 
IV.) showing how the King, had 
created Richard his second son, 
Duke of York and Norfolk, Earl 
Marshal, and (Earl of ) Warren (and 
Hurrey) and Nottingham, and had 
appointed his said son to marry with 
Anne, the daughter and heir of John, 
late Duke of Norfolk, the said Anne 
being then of the age of six years. 
Wherefore it is enacted, that if the 
said Anne should happen to die be- 
fore issue had by the said Duke of 
York; that then the said Duke 
should enjoy during his life, sundry 
baronies, honours, castles, manors, 
knight's fees, and other heredita- 
ments by name ia Wales, Sussex 
and other countries, parcel of the 
inheritance of the said Anne, etc. 
etc."— (Prynwe** Tower Record*. 
p. 702.) 
^^ if 
ft 
IV.] TIIK RRir.N c 
•zr,9 
tile Crown-prince of Scotland had agreed to pay her a.d. i4» 
dowiy by instahnentH. These were regularly paid for sgwiHi 
some years, but in l+TS they were suspended and in 
1480 war was declared between Scotland and England. 
Edward had thus furnished his enemy with the means 
of carrying on the war, which had been promoted by 
Louia, who secretly stimulated James to break his alli- 
ance with Edward. The dissensions of the Scottish 
King and his nobles have been fully detailed by the 
Historians of Scotland,'^ and the part taken by his 
brothers, the Duke of Albany and the Earl of Mar led n^Bih or 
to the execution of the latter, who was publicly bled to 
death by the opening of a vein at the Cannongate. The The i>uk. 
Duke of Albany solicited the protection of Edward, and iicii> ibc 
on the plea of the illegitimacy of James," he was pro- Edward. 
claimed King of Scotland. Edward stipulated that hejqneio.i 
should hold the crown as the vassal of England, and 
niaiTj' one of his daughters. The Duke of Gloucester duvm gf 
was despatched with an army of 22500 men, who pro- giopmiu 
ceeded to Berwick on Tweed, accompanied by the Duke 
of Albany. The town threw open its gates, but the 
castle made an obstinate resistance. The Scottish King The a™t 
hastened to its assistance, when a sudden rebellion broke "" 
out amongst his followers, who seized the Royal favou- 
rites, hanged them at the bridge of Lauder,'^ and con- 
veyed the King prisoner to Edinburgh. 
Upon this unexpected news reaching Berwick, the 
'^ See Abererombie, vol. ii. p. 
446, and Buchanan, p. 2.14. 
" His mother, Mary of Gueldres, 
seems to have been far from an im- 
maculate person. — (Wyrceiier, p. 
492.) 
•" " It was generally during a mi- 
litary eipeditioD that the Scottich 
barons made a successful aland 
against the authority of the Sove- 
reign. They were then assembled in 
a body; thej were surrounded with 
their clans and retainers ; and ir their 
were nnited among themaeWes, they 
always proved more than a match 
for the power of the crown. They 
had met to consult in the Church of 
Lauder, when Cochran, the Archi- 
teGt.whom the infatuated James had 
lately created Earl of Mar, incau- 
tiously joined the assembly. He was 
instantly seized : sbi more of the 
royal favourites were dragged from 
theKing'stent: and all were banged 
over the bridge.'' — {Lingard.) 
260 THE RKI6N OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X YEARS 
A.D. 1483. Dukes of Gloucester and Albany hastened to Edinburgh, 
u^^!^ and were received with open arms. But to the astonish- 
andAiiMny. mg^^ qJ every one, Albany signed an agreement, by 
which he obtained his pardon, and the restitution of his 
estates, and seizing upon the Castle of Edinburgh, libe- 
rated his brother. To satisfy Edward it was stipulated 
that the provost and merchants of the city, should repay 
f^^^ all monies advanced on account of the marriage portion 
^^[;j?j^ of Cecily, which was faithfully done, and that he should 
?^^ have possession of the Castle of Berwick. ** The King 
was not pleased with the result of the expedition, upon 
which he had expended upwards of «f 100, 000; for 
though the possession of Berwick was an advantage, the 
expense of maintaining it amounted to 10,000 marks 
yearly.*" The Duke of Albany shortly afterwards re- 
newed his traitorous designs, and was compelled to seek 
refuge in France, and was ultimately attainted by the 
Parliament of Scotland. 
Louu'i trea- But the scvcrcst blow to the policy of the Kins was 
cbery re- . . , . 
specting the still in Tcscrve for him. According to the stipulations 
treaty. With Louis the Princcss Elizabeth was to be conveyed 
to France at the age of 1 2 years, previous to her mar- 
riage with the Dauphin, and to have the sum of 60,000 
francs per annum, settled upon her. The Princess was 
now in her sixteenth year, and though repeatedly expostu- 
lated with, Louis always found some excuse to put oflF the 
marriage. As the tribute of 50,000 crowns was regu- 
lai'ly paid, Edward refused to suspect the sincerity of 
the French King, when both he and the Queen were 
suddenly made aware of the perfidy of Louis by an event 
(CommtViM. as Unexpected, as, apparently, improbable. The Arch- 
^ ' "^ duke Maximilian, afterwards Emperor of Germany, had 
two children by his deceased Duchess, the niece of 
Edward, and daughter of Charles the Bold, Duke of 
Burgundy, whom she succeeded. Upon her death Louis 
sought all means to bring about a marriage between the 
Dauphin and her daughter, the infant Margaret- Maxi- 
J OP EDWARD IV. 
OK EnWAHD IV.] I 
milian hesitated, but the citizens of Ghent, to whom the a. 
care of the children had been confided, at length ob- 
tained his consent, and the Princess was delivered over n 
to the Duke and Duchess of Bourbon, who conveyed her m 
to Amboise, where sho was affianced to the Dauphin,'^ 
" Notwithstanding the joy this marriage difiiised on all (C 
sides, it was a bitter disappointment to the King of 
England, for he thought himself deluded and baffled and 
in danger of losing his pension, or " the tribute " as the 
English called it. He feared likewise it would render 
him contemptible, and despised at home, and perhaps 
occasion some outbreak, because ho had rejected the 
Remonstrances of his Parliament. Besides he saw the 
King of France incroaching upon, and ready to invade 
his Dominions, with a very great force ; all which made 
such a deep impression upon his spirits, that he fell sick ec 
upon it inmiediately, and died not long after ; tho' some lu 
say of a catarrh. But let them say what they please, "^ 
the general opinion was, the Consummation of this mar- 
riage killed him in the month of April 1483. It is a 
great fault in a Prince to be obstinate, and rely more 
upon his own judgment, than upon the opinion of his 
Council ; which oftentimes occasions such losses and 
disappointments, as are never to be repaired. Our King 
was presently informed of King Edward's Death ; but 
lie still kept it secret and expressed no manner of joy 
npon hearing the news of it. Not long after he received 
Letters from the Duke of Gloucester, who was made 
King, stiled himself Richard III,^" and liad barbarously 
murdered his two nephews. This King Richard de- 
sired to live in the same friendship with our King, as 
his Brother had done, and I believe thought to have had 
his pension continued ; hut our King looked upon him 
" The proTincea of Artoia, and 1 riage portion." — [Comminti.) 
Butgundy.aad thecanntrieaQf Maa- I 
cBuDuiB, Charutuis aud AuxerroiE, ^ See tlie A.)ipetidi 
wi:re aseigQed to Louis as her 
~ see lue Ajipetiaii lor tne rro- 
I clamationsconnected with this event. 
262 THE REIGN OF EDWARD lY. [lAST X TSARS 
A.D. 1483. as an inhuman and cruel person, and would neither an- 
swer his Letters, nor give audience to his Ambassador ; 
for King Richard, after his Brother'^s death, had sworn 
allegiance to his Nephew, as his King and Sovereign, 
and yet committed that inhuman action not long after, 
and in full Parliament caused two of his Brothers 
daughters, who were remaining, to be degraded and de- 
clared illegitimate, upon a pretence, which he justified 
by the Bishop of Bath, who having been formerly in 
great favour with King Edward, had incurred his dis- 
pleasure, was cashiered, imprisoned and paid a good sum 
for his releasement. This Bishop affirmed, that King 
Edward being in love with a certain lady, whom he 
named, and otherwise unable to have his desires of her, 
had promised her marriage ; and had caused him to con- 
tract them, upon which he enjoyed her, though his pro- 
mise was only to delude her; but such delusions are 
dangerous as the eflects frequently demonstrate. This j 
malicious Prelate smothered this revenge in his heart 
near twenty years together, but it recoiled upon him- 
self; for he had a son, whom he was extremely fond of, 
and to whom King Richard designed to give a plentiful 
estate, and to have married him to one of the young 
ladies, whom he had declared illegitimate, who is now 
Queen of England and has two fine children. This 
young Gentleman being at sea, by Conunission from 
King Richard, was taken upon the coast of Normandy 
and upon a dispute between those, who took him, he was 
brought before the Parliament of Paris, put into the 
Petit Chastellet, and suffered to lie there till he was 
starved to death. This King Richard himself reigned 
not long, for God on a sudden raised him up an enemy 
without power, without money, without right (according 
to my information) and without any reputation, but what 
his person and deportment contracted ; for he had suf- 
fered much, had been in distress all the dayB of his life, 
and particularly as prisoner in Bretagne to Duke Francis, 
OF EOWAKD IV.] 1 
263 
from the eighteenth year of his age, who treated him as a.u. i-iea. 
kindly as the necessity of his imprieonment would permit. 
The King of France having supphed him with some 
money and about 3000 Normans, the loosest and most 
profligate Persons in aJl that country, he passed into 
Wales, where his Father-in-law, the Lord Stanley joined 
him with 26,000 men, at the least; and in three or four 
days' time, he met the bloody King Richard, fought 
him, slew him in the field of battle, crowned himself 
King of England, and reigns at this present time." 
But to return to King Edward. " One of the per- (run. crosi. 
sonal results of his voluptuous life attacked him at 
Exeter, and on the 9th of April, 14.83, he suddenly Thi. King 
expired, before he had completed his 41st year, in the iW, in its ' 
23"* year of his reign," and was buried with great til »«»■ 
pomp at St. George's Cliapel, Windsor, " liaving been (.i(ani(/-(irJ'j 
exposed immediately after his death upon a board, naked Huiory^ 
from the wai.st upwards, during ten hours, that he might 
be seen by all the Lords, spiritual and temporal, and by 
the Mayor and Aldermen of London." 
In Edward were combined qualities of the most dis- hi. cm*- 
cordant nature. The greatest personal bravery and 
invincible courage brought him off victorious in every 
battle in which he commanded \ but no sooner was the 
victory achieved, than tlirowing aside his coat of mail, 
he courted the smiles of the fair, attired in the gaudy 
silk trappings furnished by his Itahan Tailor, ^^ Shouts 
of vietoiy still resounded on all sides ; crowds sought to 
pay homage to the conqueror ; regal pomp and grandeur 
^ " His tailor hadsBhillingadoy, 
and five pounds a year for his houEe. 
His name implies bim to have been 
a foreigner — ' GaiQini Panlt.' "— 
[Tnmer, and Pari. Rolls, vi, p. 89.) 
Hia love ot [he chose is ofteo men. 
tioned by coDtemporary bistorisus, This ballad 
and is recorded in the first verse of tion of the fluaoie manners i 
the baUad of " The Tioner uf T«m- King, and is printed in Percy' 
worth :" liquea, <ol. ii. p. Z'i. 
And blossoma bedeck the tree 
ing Edward would a hunting ri 
Some paslinie tor to aee." 
,ble illiis 
264 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [lAST X TEARS 
A.D. 1483. 
His Cha- 
SACTBK. 
awaited his return ; but tearing himself from all these, 
the King hastened to join the hunt "in the merry 
greenwood ;" to luxuriate in the enjoyments of the 
table ; or, in the obscurity of the house of the wealthy 
goldsmith, and the endearments of its beautiful mis- 
tress, to forget the cares and anxieties of his Kingly 
office. His indolence and love of pleasure, the moment 
he found himself seated again firmly on the throne, after 
the death of Wanvick, led eventually to those disastrous 
events, which placed the crown on the head of hk 
brother, and set aside his own of&pring as illegitimate. 
The Duke of Gloucester^ had been too long in the 
enjoyment of almost regal power, to resign it quietly 
into the hands of the young child thus suddenly raised 
to the throne ; and acting with the most cautious dis- 
simulation, he succeeded in the object of his ambition, 
with the apparent approbation of the country. The mi- 
norities of Richard the Second, and Henry the Sixth, 
had led to the disastrous Civil Wars, which had deluged 
the country with blood for nearly one hundred years. 
This experience was not thrown away upon the nation, 
now recovered from it's severe losses, and willing to avoid 
similar evils, >vhich would surely result from a contest 
between the Uncles of the young King, for the guardian- 
ship of his person, it suffered the Earl of Rivers^ to be 
the first sacrifice to the ambition of Gloucester, without 
a murmur, and looked on with a kind of apathy whilst 
he removed every obstacle which itnpeded his i?vay to the 
throne. The lights and shadows of the character of Ed- 
ward stand out in bold relief. He was brave and cou- 
^ ** Even in bis youths while he 
was fighting for the throne, he was 
always the last to join his adhe- 
rents : and in manhood, when he 
was firmly seated on it, he entirely 
abandoned the charge of military 
affairs to his brother, the Duke of 
Gloucester. ' ' — {Lingard, ) 
23 He was executed without even 
the mockery of a trial at Pontefrad 
on the 13th of June, 1483, on the 
same day that the Lord Hastings 
was beheaded at the Tower by order 
of the Duke of Gloucester. — ( Croyl. 
Cont, p. 567.) 
v.] THE BEIGN OP EDWARD IV. 
265 
rageous in the field, — luxurious and foppish in his coui't ; ^ a- 
he was courteous and af^ble in demeanour, — vindictive g^ 
and cruel in his heart ;^ liberal and ostentatious in his 
household,^ — exacting and mean in his commercial 
transactions;^ affectionate and kind to the Queen and 
his children, — licentious and low in the gratification of 
his pleasures ; ™ placing his confidence without sufGcient 
investigation, — fearful and suspicious upon slight autho- 
rity.*' Bom to be a great King, he was content to be 
a common one. With power and abilities to have con- 
troulod the destinies of Europe, his indolence and lovo 
of pleasure made him the dupe of the King of France.^" 
"He 
M procure an act, making 
il a mark of every one's qaality, and 
keeping dowa the iaFerior degrees ' 
from inlruding on tlie splendour of | 
the upper classes. Thus it was. in 
his last ytt,[, enacted, that none hut 
the royal family ahanld wear cloth 
of gold, or sillt of a purj^le colour. 
Nuue, under a Duke, any cloth of 
gold or tissue : none under a Lord, 
any plain cloth of gold: none under 
a Knight, any velvet, nor damask, 
nor satin, in their gowna ; none, 
under in esquire or gentleman, any 
damask or satin in their donblets, 
nor gowDs of camlet: none, under 
LI lord, any woolleQ clnth made ont 
of England, nor furs of sables. No 
labourer, servant, or artificer, nere 
to have any cloth ahave two shillings 
be latl " 
— (Siatulm, voL ii. j 
hi h niJ aft 
BDm to six other minstrels." — (Tur- 
nsr.) See the lujurioua description 
of Windsor, p. 147—151 of the 
present vnlnme. 
" He ordered the customs to be 
exacted vith the utmost aeverity, 
and imparted prohibited goods in hii 
own private vessels. 
^ Comminea Bays, " he indulged 
himself in a larger eliare of ease and 
pleasure than any prince of his time, 
and that after the death ofWarwiek 
he indulged himself in tbem more 
violently than before." 
^ This is particularly proved hy 
hii treatment of Warwick andMoa- 
(agne, Clarence and Gloucester; and 
his imprisonment of Hastings un the 
accusation of Rivers. ".4fter the 
death of Clarence he distributed in 
all parts of the realm in the cus- 
todies of the castles, manors, forests 
and parks, trustworthy [lereons, that 
D thing might be done, even by the 
gr atest, without his immediate 
knowledge." — {CrBi/l, Cimtm. p. 
51)2.) 
^ Commines says, his ambaaia- 
d a were always bribed, "and left 
tb court so well satitfiei], that no 
ceptioDs could be taken, though 
th answers of Louis, who was a 
I litic King, were always uncertain, 
266 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. [l*AST X TEARS 
A.D. 1483. 
His Cha. 
KACTBR. 
Guilty of the most heinous crimes, he was strict in the 
outward observance of ceremonial religion.^ ^ Unscru- 
pulous in the means employed to gain his end, yet 
grateful and generous to those who befriended him in 
trouble.^^ Commines, who knew him well has left the 
following sketch of him, which is subjoined for the grati- 
fication of the reader. 
'^ Edward the Fourth, King of England, was a great 
and powerful Prince. In his minority he saw his father, 
the Duke of York, defeated and slain in battle, and with 
him the Father of the Earl of Warwick, who governed 
the King in his youth, and managed all his afi&irs, and, 
to say the truth, it was the Earl of Warwick, who made 
Edward King, and dethroned his old master. King 
Henry the Sixth, who had reigned many years in that 
kingdom, and (in my judgment and the judgment of the 
world) was their lawful King. But in such cases the 
disposition of kingdoms, and great states, is in the hands 
of God, who orders them as He pleases ; for indeed aD 
things proceed from Him. The reason of the Earl of 
Warwick's espousing the interest of the House of York 
against King Henry, who was of the Lancastrian Family, 
was upon a difference, that happened at Court betwixt 
the Duke of Somerset, and the Earl of Warwick. The 
King not having wisdom enough to compose it, it grew 
to that height, that the Queen (who was of the House 
of Anjou, and Daughter to Rene, King of Sicily,) inter- 
posed in it, and inclined to the Duke's party against the 
Earl of Warwick; for every body had acknowledged 
3* See his observances of Cere- 
monial Religion at Daventry, (pp. 
54, 55). In 1471 we find ** the 
King and Queen are gone to Canter- 
bury on pilgrimage,' ' — {PaatonLet- 
terSf vol. ii. p. 83) : and in 1472 
** the King, Queen, and Gloucester 
are gone to Sheen to pardon."— 
(Ibid. 91.) 
32 His infamous breach of faith t« 
Lord Welles, and, after the battle 
of Tewkesbury, to the Duke of So- 
merset and others ; and his lavish 
gifts to Lord Hastings, the Lord of 
Grauthuse and the Earl of Riven. 
OP EDWARD IV.] THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. '267 
Henry, his Father, and Grandfather, for their King. a. d. 1483. 
The Queen had acted much more prudently in endea- »ic«R^* 
vouring to have adjusted the dispute between them, 
than to have said ^ I am of this party and will maintain 
it;' and it proved so by the event; for it occasioned 
many battles in England, and a war, which continued 
nine and twenty years, and in the end all the partisans 
of both sides were destroyed. So that Factions and 
Parties are still very fatal, especially to the Nobility, 
who are too prone to propagate, and foment them. If 
it be alledged, that by this means both Parties are kept 
in awe, and the secret minds of the subject are discovered 
to the Prince, I agree that a young Prince may do it 
among his ladi(s, and it may be pleasant and diverting 
enough, and give him opportunity of finding out some of 
their intrigues ; but nothing is so dangerous to a Nation, 
as to nourish such Factions and Partialities, among Men 
of courage and magnanimity ; it is no less than setting 
one's own house on fire; for immediately one or the 
other cries out : ' The King is against usy seize upon 
some fortified town, and correspond with his Enemies. 
This King Edward was a very young Prince, and one of 
the most beautiful men of his age. As soon as he had 
overcome all his difficulties, he began to give himself 
up wholly to pleasures, and took no delight in any thing 
but Ladies, Dancing, Entertainments, and such like effe- 
minate Diversions ; and in this voluptuous course of life, 
if I mistake not, he spent about sixteen years, till the 
quarrel happened between him and the Earl of War- 
wick, in which contest, though the King was driven out 
of the Kingdom, yet his misfortune lasted not long ; for 
he quickly returned, fought his adversary, defeated and 
killed him, and re-assuming the Government, fell again 
to his pleasures, and indulged himself in them after a 
more violent manner than before. From this time he 
feared nobody ; but living a luxurious life, hie grew very 
268 
THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. 
A.D. 1483. fat,^ and his excess inclining him to diseases, in the very 
A^slth, flower of his age he died suddenly, (as it was reported,) 
1^1^^ of an apoplexy, and his Family lost the Kingdom, (as 
SS^yei^or you have heard,) as to the succession in the male line." 
Ilia reign. 
* " In homine tarn corpolento, 
tantis sodalitiitTaniUtibiis, crapnlis, 
lazni, et cupidiUtibiis dedito." — 
{CrojfL Ctmtm, p. 564.) The anony- 
mous author of the CroyUnd Chro- 
nicle, from whom we have borrowed 
so largely, tells ns himself, that he 
was a doctor of Canon Law, a mem- 
ber of the Council of King Edward 
the Fourth, and occasionaUy em- 
ployed by him on foreign missions. 
— (p. 557.) He compiled his an- 
nals ** without any intermixturt of 
hatred, favour, or faUehood.** — 
(p. 575.) 
APPENDIX. 
ROLL OF INVITATION FROM PARLIAMENT, 
AND 
PROCLAMATION ISSUED BY 
KING RICHARD THE THIRD, 
SETTING FORTH HIS RIGHT TO THE CROWN, 
A.D. 1483. 
) 
4 
5 
J 
; 
i?- 
APPENDIX. 
The'^kort reign of Edward the Fifth was comprised EowAnn 
in the space of two months and ten days. The two docu- a.d.' i483. 
ments printed here by way of Appendix^ show that 
Richard's usurpation was countenanced by Parliament^ 
and that the public having suffered too much in the Reigns 
of Richard the Second^ and Henry the Sixth, by long 
minorities^ preferred the warlike Richard to the infant 
Edward. 
Anno Primo Ricardi Tertii, 
In Rotulo Parliamenti tenti apud Westm. die Veneris Richard 
. . III. 
vicesimo tertio die Januarii, Anno Regni Regis, Ri- a.d. i483. 
cardi Tertii, primo, inter alia continentur, ut sequitur. ^rdSeTiie- 
Memorand. — quod qucedam Billa exhibita fuit coram ^^4—719.) 
Domino Rege in Parliamento prcedicto in hcec verba. 
Whereas late heretofore, that is to say, before the Roii of Par- 
consecration, coronation, and mthronization ot our So- 
vereign Lord, King Richard the Third, a Roll of Parch- 
ment, containing in writing certain articles of the tenor 
under-written, on the behalf, and in the name of the 
Three Estates of this Realm of England, that is to say>, 
of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and of the Com- 
mons by name, and divers Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
and of the Commons by name, and other Nobles and 
Notable Persons of the Commons in great multitude, 
was presented and actually delivered unto our said Sove- Pmented to 
reign Lord, the intent and effect expressed at large in the i>uke of 
same roll, to the which roll, and to the considerations, 
and instant petition comprised in the same, our said 
272 APPENDIX. [king RICHARD 
A.D. 1483. Sovereign Lord for the public weal, and tranquillity of 
this land, benignly assembled. 
Now for as much as neither the said three Elstates, 
neither the said persons, which in their name presented, 
and delivered as it is aforesaid the said roll unto our said 
Sovereign Lord the King, were assembled in form of 
Parliament ; by reason whereof divers doubts, questions, 
and ambiguities {have) been moved and ingendered in 
the minds of divers persons as it is said. 
Therefore to the perpetual memory of the truth and 
declaration of the same, be it ordained, provided, and 
lu infor. established in this present Parliament that the tenor of 
**^' the said roll with all the contents of the same presented 
as is abovcsaid and delivered to our abovesaid Sovereign 
Lord the King, in the name, and in behalf of the said 
three Estates out of Parliament : Now by the said three 
Theflnt Estatos assembled in this present Parliament and by 
o? RrchSi authority of the same, be ratified, enrolled, recorded, 
the roll. ** approved, and authorized to the removing of the reca- 
sions of doubts, and ambiguities, and to all other lawful 
effects that shall now thereof ensue, so that all things 
said, affirmed, specified, desired and remembred in the 
said roll, and in the tenour of the same, underwritten in 
the name of the said three Estates to the effect ex- 
pressed in the said roll, be of the like effect, virtue and 
force, as if all the same things had been so said, affirmed, 
specified and remembred in full Parliament, and by 
authority of the same accepted and approved, the Tenor 
of the said roll of parchment whereof above is made 
mention followeth and is such : 
To THE High and Mighty Prince, Richard Duke of 
Gloucester. 
The Roll. Pleosctk it youT Nohle Gracc to understand the Con- 
siderations^ Election^ and Petition under written of us 
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal^ and Commons of this 
Realm of England^ and thereunto agreeable to give your 
TTiK Tiirnn.] appendtx. 273 
assent to tJte Common andPuhlic Weal of this land, anrf*"' 1*53. 
to the comfort and gladness of all the people of the same. 
First, we consider, howtliat heretofore in time passed The former 
this land for many years stood in great prosperity, "prighi kis 
honour and tranquility ; which was caused for so much 
as the Kings reigning used and followed the advice and 
counsel of certain Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and 
other persons of approved sagenesa, prudence, policy and 
experience, dreading God, and having tender zeal and 
affection to indifferent administration of justice, and to 
the common and public weal of the land : Then our 
Lord God was dread, loved, and honoured ; then within 
the land was peace and tranquility, and among the 
neighbours concord and charity; then the malice of 
outward enemies was mightily resisted, and repressed, 
and the land honourably defended with many great and 
glorious victories; then the intercourse of Merchants '''''« """'n- 
was largely used and exercised : by which things above g^*'^',™^ 
remembered, the land was greatly enriched, so that as ^pf^™' 
well the Merchants as the Artificers, and other poor 
people, labouring for their living in divers occupations, 
had competent gain, to the satisfaction of them Mid 
their households, living without miserable and intollerable 
poverty. But afterwards, when as such had the rule nut u. tim 
and governance of this land, delighting in adulation, and i«" «"«■ 
flattery, and led by sensuality and concupiscence, fol- gi«nup to 
lowed the counsel of persons insolent, vicious, and of 
inordinate avarice, despising the counsel of persons good 
virtuous and prudent, such as above be remembered ; 
the prosperity of this land decreased daily, so that our 
felicity was turned into misery, and our prosperity into 
adversity, and the order of policy, and the Laws of God 
and man confounded, whereby it is likely (for) thiswtry'Wng 
Kealm to fall into great misery and desolation, (which 
God defend) without due provision of convenable remedy 
be had in this behalf in all godly haste. 
Over this, among other things more special, we con- 
27^1! APPENDIX. [king RICHARD 
A.D. 1483. aider how that the time of the reign of Edward the 
SiJriiJe'du. Fourth late deceased, after the ungracious pretended 
>'"^' marriage (as all England hath cause to say) made be- 
twixt the said King Edward and Elizabeth^ sometime 
Wife to Sir John Grey Knight, late naming her self and 
many years heretofore, Queen of England, the order 
of politique rule was perverted, (the laws of God, and of 
God^s Church, etc. also the laws of nature and of 
England, and also the laudable customs and Uberties of 
the same, wherein every Englishman is inheritor,) is 
broken, subverted, and contemned, against all reason and 
justice, so that the land was ruled by self-will, and 
pleasure, fear and dread, all manner of equity and law 
laid apart and despised, whereof ensued many inconve- 
niences and mischiefs, as murders, extortions and oppres- 
inaectirity of sions, lutmcly of poor, and impotent people : so that no 
perty. nuui was suro of his life, land, or livelihood, nor of his 
wife, daughter, or servant, every good maiden, and 
woman, standing in fear to be ravished and deflowered. 
And besides this, what discords, inward battles, effiision 
of Christian men's blood, and namely, by the destruction 
civil dis. of the nobles' blood of their land, was had and committed 
cords. 
within the same it is evident, and notorious through all 
this realm, unto the great sorrow, and heaviness of all 
EUiabeth truc Enfflish-mcn. And here also we consider, how 
and her " , , ' 
moth«r that the said pretended marriage betwixt the above- 
mlSJri *Vb ^^"^^^ ^^^S Edward, and Elizabeth Grey, was made of 
witchcraft, great presumption, without the knowing and assent of 
the Lords of this land, and also by Sorcery and Witch- 
craft committed by the said Elizabeth, and her mother 
Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, as the common opinion 
of the people, and the public voice and fame is through- 
out all this land, and hereafter if the cause shall require, 
shall be proved sufficiently in time and place convenient. 
Themarriage And here also we consider, how that the said pretended 
not legally . i • .1 <■ .1 . , * 
solemnized, mamagc was made privily, and secretly without edition 
(publishing) of banns, in a private chambeir, , a pro&ne 
I 
! THIRD.] 
275 
place, and not openly in the face of the Church, after the a.d. i4ss. 
law of God's Church, but contrary thoreimto, and the 
laudable custom of the Church of England ; and how also 
at the time of the contract of the same pretended mar- 
riage, and before and long time after, the said King Ed- e.i™bki p™- 
ward was and stood married, and trothptight to one Dame ri^d lo cunor 
Elinor Butler, daughter to the Earl of Shrewsbury, with 
whom the said King Edward had made a pre-contract of 
matrimony, long time before he made the said pretended 
marriage with the said Elizabeth Grey, in manner and 
form aforesaid. Which premises being true, as in very 
truth they be true, it appeareth, andfoUoweth evidently, 
that the said King Edward during his life, and the n-i King 
said Elizabeth, lived together sinfully and danmably bi'ih "ved 
in adultery, against the law of God, and of hie Church ; acimwtT. 
and therefore, no marvel that the sovereign lord and 
head of the land being of such ungodly dispoeition, 
and provoking the ire and indignation of our Lord 
God, such heinous mischief and inconveniences as are 
above remembered were used, and committed in the 
realm amongst the subjects. Also it appeareth evidently, P'^''"''"." 
and followeth, that all the issue, and children of the '™"'?'™"- 
said King Edward be bastards and unable to inherit, or 
claim any thing by inheritance by the law and custom 
of England. 
Moreover, we consider how that afterwards by the 
three estates of this realm assembled in Parliament, 
holden at Westminster, Anno XVII. of the reign of the 
said King Edward the Fourth, he then being in pos- 
session of the Crown, and royal estate, by act made in 
the same Parliament, George Duke of Clarence, brother The nuke of 
to the King Edward now deceased, was convicted, and """J?^^*^ 
attainted of High Treason, as in the said act is contained J^"™,^""' 
more at large ; because and by reason whereof, all the {Jhtritta" 
issue of the said George was, and is disabled, and barred "^ """""■ 
of all right and claim, that in any case they might have, 
or challenge by inheritance, to the Crown and Dignity 
276 APPENDIX. [king richabd 
A.D. i«s. ro}'al of this realm, by the ancient laws and cnstoms of 
this same reahn. 
Kickwd Over this, we consider, that jou be the undoubted 
IbcfcAiffv tkc 
rifktiu htir, heir of Richard Duke of York, very inheritor of the said 
Cro^n, and dignity royal, and as in rigrfat King of Eng- 
land by way of inheritance ; and that at this time the 
premises duly considered, there is none other person 
living but you only, that may churn the said Crown and 
dignity royal, by wb\ of inheritance and how that you 
be bom if^ithin this Land; by reasoa whereof, as we 
deem in our minds, you be more naturaUy inclined to 
the prosperity and common-weal of the same. And all 
the three estates of the land have and may have more 
certain knowledge of your birth and filiation aforesaid. 
Risiriiiffiy We consider also the great wit, prudence, justice, 
t*<M». princely courage, and the memorable and laudable acts 
in divers liattles, which as we by experience know yoa 
heretofore have done, for the defence, and salvation of 
this realm, and also the great nobleness and excellency 
of your birth, and blood, as of him that is descended of 
the three most royal houses of Christendom, that is to 
say England, France, and Spain. Wherefore these pre- 
mises duly by us considered, we desiring effectually the 
peace tranquillity, and weal public of this land and the 
reduction of the same to the ancient honourable estate 
and prosperity. And having in your great prudent jus- 
tice, princely courage, and excellent virtue, singular con- 
fidence have chosen in all that in us is, and by that our 
Richard u writing choosc you, high and mighty Prince, our King 
by the three and Sovereign Lord etc. to whom we know of certain, it 
appertaineth of inheritance so to be chosen. And here- 
upon we humbly desire, pray, and require your most 
noble Grace, that according to this election of us the 
three Estates of your land, as by inheritance you will 
accept, and take upon you the said Crown and royal 
dignity with all things thereunto annexed, and apper- 
taining, as to you of right belonging, as well by inherit- 
IHE TIIIKD.] APPENDIX. 277 
atice as by lawful election; and in ease you so do, we ad, i4s3. 
promise to assist and serve your Higliness, as true, and who (iromiM 
faithful subjects and liege-men and to live and die with ante and 
you in this matter, and in every other just quarrel ; for 
certainly we be determined rather to adventure and 
commit us to the peril of our lives, and jeopardy of death, 
than to live in such thraldom and bondage as we have 
done long time heretofore, oppressed and injured by ex- 
tortions, and new impositions, against the law of God, 
and Man, and the liberties, and old policy and laws of 
this land, wherein every Englishman is inherited. 
Our Lord God, King of all Kings, by whose infinite Prayer for 
goodness, and eternal providence all things (have) been 
principally governed in this world, lighten your aoul, and 
grant you grace to do as well in this matter as in all 
other, that which may be according to his will and plea^ 
sure, and to tlie common and public weal of this land. 
So that after groat clouds, troubles, storms and tempests, 
the sun of justice and of gi-ace may shine upon us, to 
the joy and comfort of all true-hearted Englishmen ! 
Albeit that the right, title, and estate which our So- hii nghi w 
vereign Lord King Kichard the Third hath, to and in jmi aun 
the Crown and royal dignity of this realm of England, 
with all things thereunto within the same realm, and 
without it annexed and appertaining, being just and 
lawful, as grounded upon the laws of God and nature, 
and also upon the ancient laws and laudable customs of 
this said Realm ; and also taken, and reputed by all such 
persons, as (have) been learned in the above-said laws 
and customs. 
Yet nevertheless, for as much as it is considered, that ami rewg- 
the moat part of the people is not sufficiently learned in Pafiiameni 
the abovesaid laws and customs, whereby the truth and 
right ui this behalf of likelihood may he hid, and not 
clearly knovro to all the people and thereupon put in 
doubt, and question. And over this, how that the com-t 
278 
APPENDIX. 
[king RICHARD 
A.D. 1483. of Parliament is of such authority, and the people of 
this land of such a nature and disposition as experience 
teacheth, that manifestation and declaration of any truth 
or right, made by the three Estates of this reahn as- 
sembled in Parliament, and by authority of the same, 
maketh before all other things most faith, and certain 
quieting of men's minds, and removeth the occasion of 
doubts, and seditious language. 
Therefore, at the request, and by the assent of the 
three Estates of this realm, that is to say, the Lords 
spiritual and temporal, and Commons of this land as- 
sembled in this present Parliament, and by authority of 
the same, be it pronounced, decreed, and declared, that 
our said Sovereign Lord the King was and is the very 
undoubted King of this realm of England, with all 
things thereunto within the same realm, and without it, 
by consan. uuitcd auncxed and appertaining, as well by right of 
consanguinity and inheritance, as by lawful election^ con- 
secration and coronation. 
And over this, that at the request, and by the assent 
and authority above said, be it ordained, enacted, and 
established that the said Crown, and royal dignity of this 
realm, and the inheritance of the same, and all other 
things thereunto within this realm, or without it, united 
and annexed, and now appertaining, rest and bide in 
the person of our said Sovereign Lord the King, during 
Thesucces. his llfc, and after his decease in his heirs of his body 
upon his son, bcgottcn, in ospccial at the request, and by assent and 
hi» heirs.*" the authority aforesaid, be it ordained, enacted, esta- 
blished, pronoimced, decreed and declared, that the high 
and excellent Prince Edward, son of our said Lord the 
King, be heir apparent of the same our Sovereign Lord 
the King, to succeed to him in the abovesaid Crown 
and royal dignity, with all things (as is aforesaid) there- 
unto united, annexed and appertaining, to have them 
after the decease of our said Sovereign Lord the King, 
to him, and to the heirs of his body lawfully begotten. 
Euinity, in- 
eritance 
and lawful 
election. 
THE THIRD.] APPENDIX. 279 
Qu(E quidem Billa Communibus Regni AnglitB indicia 
Parliamento existentibus transportaCa fuit, cui quidem 
JiiUiB idem Communes assensum suum prabuerunt sub hi 
is verbis : A ceste Bille les Communa sont assentes ; 
quibtis quidem Billa et assensu coram Domino Rege in 
Parliamento prcBdicto, lectis, auditis, et plene intellectis, 
et de assensu Dominorum Spiritualium et Temporalium 
in dicto Parliamento similiter existentium, et Communi- 
tatis prcedictcB ; necnon authoritate ejitsdem Parliamenti 
pronunciatum, decretum, et declaratum existit, omnia, et 
singula in Billa prcedicta contenta fore vera et indubia, 
ac idem Dominus Rex, de assensu dictorum trium Sla- 
tuum Regni, et authoritate presdicta, omnia et singula 
pramissa in billa prcedicta contenta concedit, et ea pro 
vera et indubio prominciat, decernit, et declaral. 
PROCLAMATION. 
Richard R. 
Richard, etc. wisketh health, we command you, etc. 
Forasmuch as the King, our Sovereign Lord, hath ! 
certain knowledge that Piers, Bishop of Exeter, Jasper 
Tydder {Tudor), son of Owen Tydder, calling himself 
Earl of Pembroke, John, late Earl of Oxford, and Sir 
Edward Woodville, with others diverse, his Rebels and 
Traitors, disabled and attainted by the authority of the 
High Court of Parliament, of whom many be known for 
open Murderers, Advowterers (Adulterers) and extor- 
tioners, contrary to the pleasure of God and against all 
truth, honour and nature, have forsaken their natural 
country, taking them first to be under the obeysance of 
the Dulce of Bretagne, and to him promised certain 
things, which by him and his Council, were thouglit 
things too greatly unnatural and abominable for them to 
grant, observe, keep, and perform, and thei-efore the 
same utterly refused. 
sris; 
280 APPENDIX. [king RICHARD 
A.D. 14(0. The said Traitors seeing the said Duke and his Coun- 
cil would not aid nor succour them nor follow their ways, 
privily departed out of his country into France, and to 
abuse and blind the Commons of this said Realm, the 
said Rebels and Traitors have chosen to be their Captain 
bSHJL ®"® Henr)' Tydder ( Tudar)^ son of Edmund Tydder, son 
cISJl? **** ^^ Owen Tydder, which of his ambitious and insatiable 
covetise (Covetousness) encroacheth and usurpeth upon 
him, the name and title of Royal Estate of this realm of 
England; whereunto he hath no manner of interest, 
right, title, or colour, as every man well knoweth ; for he 
Uetode. is descended of bastard blood, both of father^s side, and 
•Tended Of ' 
bMurd blood of mother's side ; for the said Owen the Crrandfather^ was 
oa boCli ' 
■*<**■• bastard bom ; and his mother was daughter unto John, 
Earl of Somerset, son unto Dame Katherine Swynford, 
and of their iiidouble avowtry gotten ; whereby it evi- 
dently appearcth, that no title can nor may vest in him, 
which fully intendeth to enter this realm, proposing a 
conquest ; and if he should atchieve his false intent and 
purpose, every man's life, livelihood, and goods, shall be 
in his hands, liberty and disposition; whereby should 
ensue the disheriting and destruction of all the noble and 
worshipful blood of this realm for ever. 
And to the resistance and withstanding whereof every 
true and natural Englishman bom, must lay to his hands 
for his own surety and weal. 
And to the intent that the said Henry Tydder might 
the rather atchieve his false intent and purpose by the 
aid, support, and assistance of the King'^s ancient enemy 
His treaty of Fraucc, (he) hath covenanted and bargained with 
for succour, him, and all the Council of France, to give up and re- 
' lease in perpetuity all the right, title, and dairo, that 
the King of England have had, and ought to have, to 
the Crown and Realm of France, together with the 
Duchies of Normandy, Anjou and Mayne, Gascoigne 
and Guisnes, Cassell, and the towns of Calais, Guisnes, 
Hammes, with the Marches appertaining to the same, 
r 
■ THE TiiiitE 
381 
and exclude the Arins of France out of the ArtuB of a. 
England for ever. 
And in more proof and shewing, of his said purpose of " 
conquest, the said Henry Tydder hath goven (given), as «' 
well to divers of the said King's Ennemiea, as to his '^f 
said Rebels and Traitors, Arehbishopricks, Biahopricks, 
and other Dignities spiritual; andakotheDuchies, Earl- 
doms, Baronies, and other poBaessiona and inheritances 
of Knights, esquires, gentlemen, and other the King's 
true subjects within the realm ; and intendeth also to 
change and subvert the Laws of the same, and to enduce 
(introduce) and establish new laws and ordinances 
amongst the King's said subjects. 
And over this, and besides the alienations of all the 
premises into the possession of tlie King's said ancient 
enemies, to the greatest angutishment, (dishonour) 
shame, and rebuke, that ever might faJl to this said land, 
the said Henry Tydder and others, the King's rebels hi 
and Traitors aforesaid, have extended (intended) at ah 
their coming, if they may be of power, to do the moat 
cruel murders, slaughters, and robberies, and disherisons, 
that ever were seen in any Chrbtian realm. 
For the which, and other inestimable dangers to be 
eschewed, and to the intent that the King's said Rebels, 
Traitors, and ennemies, may be utterly put from their 
said malicious and false purpose, and soon discomforted, 
if they enforce (endeavour) to land. 
The King our Sovereign Lord willeth, char^eth, and k: 
commandeth, all and every of the natural and true sub- hi' 
jects of this his realm, to call the premises to their 
minds, and like good and true Englishmen to endow 
(furnish) themselves with all their powers for the de- 
fence of them, their wives, children, and goods, and 
hereditaments, against the said ancient enemies have 
made with the King's said Rebels and Traitors, for the 
linal destruction of this land, as is aforesaid. 
And om- said sovereign Lord, as a well willed, dili- 
282 
APPENDIX. 
A.D. 1488. 
The King 
will take the 
commaod in 
person. 
All men to 
be ready to 
do senricet 
genty and courageous Prince, will put his most royal 
person to all labour and pain necessary in this behalf, for 
the resistance and subduing of his said enemies, rebels, 
and traitors, to the most comfort, weal, and surety of all 
his true and faithful liege men and subjects. 
And over this, our said Sovereign Lord wiUeth and 
commandeth all his said subjects, to be ready in their 
most defensible array, to do his Highness service of war, 
when they by open proclamation, or otherwise shall be 
commanded so to do, for resistance of King^s said rebels, 
traitors, and enemies. 
Witness myself at Westminster^ the 2Zrd day of June 
in the second year of our Reign. 
INDEX. 
Abbeville, 247. 
Abingdon, 74 n. 6, 108. 
Albany, Duke of, 259, 260. 
Alcmar, 30, 151. 
Alcock, Bishop of Rochester, 210, 257 n. 13. 
Aldgate, 90, &1, 129. 
Alfrey, Peter, 109 n. 21. 
Allington, William, 150. 
Alnwick, Siege of, 12, 103, 104 n. 4—6. 
Alsford, William, 20 n. 23. 
Amiens, 162, 167. 
Anglers, the manner and guiding of the Earl of Warwick at, 229 ; the excuse 
and answer of the Earl of Warwick unto Queen Margaret, 230 ; 
the Earls of Warwick and Oxford pardoned of Queen Margaret 
and of her son Prince Edward, 231 ; treaty of marriage between 
the Prince of Wales and Anne Neville, 232 n. 10 ; oath of the 
Earl to King Henry, 233 ; oath of the King of France, his bro- 
ther, and Queen Margaret, ib. ; time when the marriage shall 
take place, ib. n. 11 ; the aid of the French King, 234 n. 12 ; 
Clarence and Warwick's letter from France, 235 n. 13; Ed- 
ward's reply, 237 n. 14. 
Angus, George, 11 n. 11, 13 n. 12. 
A^jou ceded, xvL 
Anne, daughter of Edward IV., 152, 154, 258. 
Architecture, Improvements in, 210. 
Arnold, Richard, 206. 
Arthur, son of Edward IV., 152. 
Arundel, Sir John, Ixxxv, 71. 
Asheton, Sir John, 182. 
Astley, Sir John, Izxxviii. 
Attainders, List of, 102 n. 2, 250 n. 8. 
Attcliffe, WUliam, 150, 163. 
Aubrey, Lord, 108. 
Audley, Lord, Ixviii, Ixxiii, 28, 217, 219. 
Audley, Sir Humphrey, 127. 
Austria, Duke of, 165. 
Avranches, xxi. 
Bamborough Castle, Account of the siege of, Ixxxyi, 13, 14, 103 n. 2, 104 
n. 6. 
284 iNDss. 
Banbury, IID, 135. 
Binbui;, Battle of, 24, 51. 
Bardolf, Lord, 46. 
Bamet, 62 n. 31, 67 n. 39, 124. 
Bainet, Battle of, 63, it. n. 32. 
Bartbe, Matter George, US n. 12. 
Baaaet, J oho, 129. 
Bath, 71 11.4,74. 
Bath, Eail <rf, HI. 
Bath, Knishti of the, 17 n. 16. 
lilivnflrd's Caatle, lliii. 
Beauchamp, Jobn Earl of, ixxvii. 
Bekuchamp, Richard, 76 a. 7, 77. 
Beaufort, Cirdioal, liii, liv n. 3, it d. 4. 
Beaufort, Jdm, Earl of Somereet, xsxv. 
Beaufort, John, 74 n. G. 
ItcBulicu AbllC}*, 70 D. 3. 
Beauiiiout, Lord, xiv, lii, luvU, 74 n. 6, 140. 
Bedford, DucheBS.dowiger, mother to the Queen, 16, 18, 219, 25!t. 
Bedford, George NcvUlr. Dulte of, 107,250. 
Bedingfield, Sir Edward, 247 n. 6. 
BergaTenny, xniii. 
Bergen, 161. 
Berkeley, 7&, 76. 
Berkshire, J 4. 
Bemcn, Loni. 123, I2&, 148. 
Bemewell, Prior of, 180. 
Benipy, 183, 1B6 n. IS. 
BerH, Duke of, 163 n. 12. 
Berwick, 13, 259, 260. 
Bethune, 247. 
Beverley, 40, 242. 
Biaham, 126 n. 57. 
Buhopegate, 9, 90. 
BlackMara, 120n. 46, 131. 
BUckheUh, ui, xui, ilii, 92, 130, 131. 
BlevcrliDBsei, Joliii, 69 n. 6, 159. 
Bloreheath, Battle of, Isviii. 
filouat, Sir Tliomas, tuviii. 
Badrigan, Sir Henry, 139. 
Boleyn, Sir Godfre)', Iriv. 
Bnlingliroke, Usurpaliuu of, xiii. 
Bonville, Lord, xxxvii, Ivlii. 
£oatli, Laurence, ixxTiii, Iviiii. 
Bosnorth Field, Battle of, liii. 
INDEX. 285 
Boston, Hanse Town Factory, 178. 
Botoner, William, see Wyrcester. 
Boulogne, 247. 
Bourbon, Charles, Archbishop of Lyons, 28. 
Bourbon, Duke of, (Bastard,) Admiral of France, sent as Ambassador to 
England by Louis XL, 21 n. 26 ; receives Clarence and Warwick 
at Honfleur, 26 ; meets the En^h Ambassadors, 168 ; besieges 
Boulogne, 247. 
Bourchier, Cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury, xxx, 50, 67, 123, 169, 
197, 210, 257 n. 10. 
Bourchier, Edward, bud. 
Bourchier, Sir Humphrey, 66 n. 38, 125. 
Bow Bell, Ixi. 
Brabant, Great fairs of, 178. 
Bracy, Sir P. de, xxviii, Ixiii, 12, 13 n. 13, 103 n. 2, 104. 
Bremen, 161. 
Bretagne, Duke of, 164, 168, 169 n. 18, 279. 
Bridget, daughter of Edward IV., 153, 154. 
Bridgewater, 24, 111. 
Bristol, 75, 111. 
Brooke, Sir George, 129. 
Bruges, 161. 
Bruton, 74. 
Buckingham, Anne Duchess of, 6. 
Buckingham, Duke of, 148, 250, 256 n. 6. 
Buckingham, Humphrey Stafford Duke of, xiii, xxxviii, li, lii, Ixi, Ixiv, 
Ixxvii. 
Buckingham, Katherine Duchess of, 148 n. 11, 255. 
Bungay, Friar, 64 n. 33. 
Bungerley stepping stones, 108 n. 18. 
Burdett, Thomas, 249. 
Burgh, Richard, 42. 
Burgh, Sir Thomas k, 45 n. 12, 113. 
Burgundy, Bastard of, 18, 19 n. 21. 
Burgundy, Philip Duke of, dies at Bruges, 20. . 
Burgundy, Charles Duke of, 18, 20 n. 2, 36, 162, 163 n. 12, 167, 168, 
169, 229, 241 ; killed at the battle of Nanci, 245. 
Burgundy, Duchess of, her marriage, 20, 50, 214 n. 1, 246; called the 
* Old Lady of, by Sir John Paston, 248. 
Burgundy, Mary of, only daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, 245 ; marries 
the Archduke Maximilian, 249, 252. 
Burgundy, Margaret of, daughter of Mary and Maximilian, affianced to the 
Dauphin, 261 n. 19. 
Bury, xiv n. 2, 3, 46 n. 13, 156. 
• 
Cade's Rebellion, xxx n. 15. . > 
286 INDEX. 
Caen^xxL 
Caister, Siege of, 183, 184 n. 11, 12 ; yielded to Duke of Norfolk, 188, 
189. 
Calabrii, Duke of, 163 n. 12. 
Calais, xxi, xxvii, Ixii, 53, 86, 92, 129, 130, 137, 162, 178. 
Cane, Richard, 184. 
Calthorpe, Dame Elizabeth, 157 n. 4. 
Camhridge, Qaeen's College, 128 n. 63, 211 n. 12; King's College, xr; 
Chi^id buUt by Edward lY., 211. 
Cambridgeshire, 46. 
Caiming, ITilliam, 178. 
Cannon, or the King's great guns, Izxzvii. 
Canterbury, 95, 129, 130. 
Canterbury, Archbishop of, Cardinal, Me Bourchier, Iviii, Ixiv, Ixy, Ixxvi, 
IzxviL 
Cantlow, ITilliam, 14. 
Cariisle, Alexander, 29, 30. 
Carpets in use, 148 n. 13. 
Cary, Sir William, 127. 
Cassell, 248. 
Caxton, William, the first English Printer, 198; scarcity of books, 199; 
expense of producing MSS. of binding, 201 ; list of the Produc- 
tions of his press, ib, ; his own publications, 202 ; his birth and 
early life, 203 ; freeman of the Mercers' Company, ib, ; sent as 
special deputy to conclude a treaty of commerce with Burgundy, V, 
ib,i Consul at Bruges in 1469, ib.i Margaret of Burgundy 
his great patroness, 204 ; his patrons, John liptoft, Earl of 
Worcester, 194 ; and Anthony JBarl of Rivers, 207 ; his eyesight 
fails, 204 ; his style, ib. ; his original Works, 205 ; his monu- 
ment, 206 ; his praise of the Earl of Worcester, 194 • and 
of the Earl of Rivers, 207; his want of knowledge of the 
learned languages beneficial to English literature, 205; his 
death, ib, 
Cedly, Daughter of Edward IV., 152, 154, 258. 
Ceme Abbey, 70 n. 3, 196. 
Chabanes, Marshal, xliv. 
Chamberlain, Sir Robert, 37. 
Charing, Ixiii. 
Charles of Anjou, xvi. • 
Charles YII. of France, xx, xxi. 
Chatillon, xliii, xliv. 
Cheapside, Ix. 
Chelmsford, 156. 
Cheltenham, 79. 
Cherbourg, xxL 
Chertsey, 94, 131. 
INDEX. 287 
Cheshire, 73, 77. 
Chester, lix. 
Cirencester, 74. 
Clapham, 24, 29 n. 37, 114 n. 35. 
ClareU, 24. 
Clarence, George Duke of, Ixxviii, 5, 6 ; created Duke, 10, 23 n. 29, 214 
n. 1 ; his marriage, 110, 216 ; conspires with Warwick, 26, 110, 
112, 113, 216; his treason detected, flies with his wife into 
Normandy, 26, 114 n. 33; welcomed by Louis, 27, 115; re- 
turns to England, 116; intrigues against Warwick, 50, 122 n. 
52; reconciled to Edward IV., 51, 123 n. 53; attempts to reunite 
Edward IV. and Warwick, 52 ; battle of Tewkesbury, 79 n. 10 ; 
arbitrates between Edward IV. and Louis XL, 169 ; encourages 
lawless violence, 183 ; interests himself in the siege of Caister, 
184 n. 12 ; disputes with Gloucester, and conceals Lajdy Anne 
Neville from him, 242 ; settlement of property by act of Par- 
liament, 243 ; the Manors of Clavering, Mantion, and two houses 
in London belonging to the Earl of Warwick, are given him by 
the King, 244 ; his treason never forgiven, gives rise to his 
quarrel with Edward IV., 245 ; death of the Duchess, ib. n. 5 ; 
seeks to marry his niece, Mary of Burgundy, 246 ; opposed by 
the King, which leads to an open rupture, ib, ; defends Stacey 
and Burdett when under sentence of execution, 249 n. 8 ; com- 
mitted to the Tower by order of King Edward IV., 250 ; sentence 
of death passed upon him by the Duke of Buckingham, ib, ; his 
execution, 351 n. 11, 12; interred at Tewkesbury, ib, n. 10; 
reasons for the King's injustice, 252 n. 13 ; his feunily, ib. ; his 
estates confiscated, 253. 
Clarence, Lionel Duke of, xxxvi. 
Cleret, Peter, 256. 
Clergy, The, 210. 
Clermont, Count de, xx. 
Clermont, Count, xxviii. 
Cletherwood, 108. 
Cleyer, John, Ixxvii. 
Clifford, Lord, li, lii, Ixiii, Ixxi, Ixxxiii. 
CUfTord, Robert, 42. 
Clifford, Thomas, 121, 140. 
Clifton, Sir Gervase, 83, 109 n. 21, 127. 
Clinton, Lord, Ixxi. 
Cobham, Lord, xxxvii, 1, liii. 
Coinage, Change of the, 17, 107. 
Colchester, 156. 
Cologne, 161. 
Comets, 109,115,132. 
Comines, Philip de, his character of Edward IV., 266, &c. 
288 
( 
INDEX. 
Commerce encounged, 146 n. 1 ; treaties fonned, 166. 
Conien, Jtmes, 111. 
Conien, Thomas, Recorder of York, 41, 42. 
Confers, Sir John, IxxL 
Conyers, Sir William, 110. 
Cooke, Sir Thomas, Mayor of London, 18, 108 n. 21, 129. 
Com exported, 173 n. 3; Com laws enacted, 174. 
Cornwall, 70, 71. 
Cotswold, 6, 76, 78 n. 9. 
Cotswold sheep sent into Spain, 173. 
Conrtenay, Harry, 109. 
Courtenay, Sir Hugh, 71, 74 n. 6, 127. 
Coortenay, Walter, 128. 
Courts of I^aw, 179. 
Coutour, John, 111. 
Corentry, Ixii, 46, 48, 84, 85, 86, 88. 
Creations of Peers, 101 n. 1. 
Crerecneur, Sir Philip d^ 248. 
Cromer, 37. 
Cromer, Sir James, xxx. 
Cromwell, Lord, xxxvii, Ivi ; slain at Bamet, 66, 125. 
Crosby, Sir John, 93 n. 19, 131, 177 n. 7. 
Croydon, Spring at, 135. 
Croyland, character of the anonymous writer, 268. 
Dacres, liOrd, 9 n. 8, 105 n. 8. 
Damprierre, Castle of, 128 n. 63. 
Danesmoor, 110 n. 25. 
Dantzick, 161. 
Danvers, Thomas, 109 n. 21. 
Daventry, 54. 
Dawbeney, John, 183 n. 10, 186, 189. 
Dean, Forest of, 111. 
Debenham, Sir Gilbert, 37. 
Delalande, Thomas, 112, 114, 226. 
Delvis, James, 128. 
Delvis, Sir John, 127. 
Devizes, Castle of, xiv. 
Devonshire, 70, 71. 
Devonshire, Countess of, 128. 
Devonshire, Thomas Courteney Earl of, xxix, xxxvii, Iviii, 9, 56 n. 24, 71, 
74 n. 6, 79 n. 10, 82, 126, 127. 
Dimmock, Sir Thomas, 25, 113, 114, 115. 
Dinham, Lord, Ixxi, Ixxii, Ixxiii, 132. 
Doncaster, 45. 
Donne, Harry and John, 111. 
INDEX. 
289 
Dorman, Edmond, 157. 
Dorset, Marquis, lii, liv, see Lord John of Somerset. 
Dorset, Marquis, son of the Queen, appointed Guardian to Clarence'ff son, 
253 n. 16, 257 n. 8. 
Dorsetshire, 70. 
Dover, xxvii, xxviii, xxix. 
Dublin, Ixxiii. 
Dudley, Lord, liv. 
Dudley, Oliver, 111. 
Dumas, Lord, 18. 
Dunchurch, 135. 
Dunois, Count, xx, 169. 
Dunstonbrough Castle, 103, 105 n. 6. 
Durham, 10. 
Easterlings, 151, 174. 
East Beckham, 188. 
Edgcote or Hedgecote, Ixxxvi; near Banbury, Battle of, 24 n. 30, 218. 
Edinburgh, 259, 260. 
Edward I., xxxv. 
Edward II., xxxv; troubles resulting from the reign of, 219. 
Edward III., xxxv, xxxvi, 177 ; his laws, 224. 
Edward lY., Pedigree, xxxvi ; flight from Ludlow into Devonshire, Ixx, 
5 ; attainted as Earl of March, Ixxi ; seeks refuge in Guernsey, 
and proceeds to Calais, Ixxi ; personally abuses the Earl Rivers, 
and his son, Ixxii ; reasons for the enmity of the Nevilles and 
Woodvilles, Ixxii; enters London in 1460, Ixxvi; Battle of 
Northampton, Ixxvii ; murder of his godfather, the Lord Scales 
Ixxvii; places his brothers and sister in the house of John 
Paston, Ixxviii ; after his father^s death marches from Glou- 
cester to London, Ixxxiv ; Battle of Mortimer's Cross, Ixxxiv ; 
enters London and is proclaimed King, Ixxxv, 7» 8; bom 
at Rouen, 5, 213 n. 1 ; departs into Devonshire, and from 
thence to Guernsey, Calais, &c., ib.; arrives in London, 7, 
and n^ 5 ; chosen King, 8 ; Battle of Touton, 9 ; visits the 
North, 10, 104 ; crowned at Westminster, ib. 101 ; first 
speech from the throne, 11 n. 8; his marriage, 15, 105; 
changes the coin, 17, 107, 221; quarrels with Warwick, 23; 
Lose-cote Field, 25, 114; his escape from the Palace of the 
Moor, 26 ; meets parliament in June, 1469, 217 ; rebellion in 
the North, 29, 116, 218 ; warned by Carlisle and Lee, ib, 117 ; 
his escape from Lyme into Flanders and return to England, 30» 
36, 37, 117 n. 39, 151, 229; lands at Ravenspume, 31, 121; 
inarches to York, 39, 121 ; claims only to be Duke of York, 4^ 
121 ; arrives at York, 41, 122 ; departs for Tadcaster, 42 ; issues 
a proclamation at Nottingham, 45 n. 12, 122 n. 51 ; goes to 
U 
290 
rccMdkdtoCfaraHe,5U122m.S3v217;«ffeB team to dv 
&3; radM DTOBtrr, M ; 
pfooecdi to NcftkmytoOy 5C; 
■figw to the Qvcoat WatKHler,&7; aiival at St. Albn's, 
iS ; reeoBokd to the ArUmImp of Toric, M, 217 ; tiie Toirtr 
of liOwioB leciired m fas Bane, 59; lidei to St. Ptad's Chmdi, 
60;hbBeetiiig«iththeQaeeB,€0; lodges M Bspmd's Castle, 
61 ; meets Warwick at Banet, 63, 124; Battle of Barnet, 63, 
124 ; gains the Tictoqr, 65, 125 ; t h ankagii iB g at St. VmaFs, 67; 
leares LoodoD for Windsor, 72 ; issues a prodamatioii at Abing- 
don, 74 n. 6 ; mardies with his host to Sodbnry, 75 ; secures the 
town of Gloiioester, 76, 127 ; crosses Cotswoid Plains to CheHen- 
ham, 78 ; Battle of Tewkesbury, 79 n. 10, 127 n. 59 ; thanks- 
giring for the victory, 82 ; departs from Tewkesbory to Wor- 
cester, 83 ; takes Queen Margaret prisoner, 84 ; goes to 
Corentry, 84 ; his policy with regard to Filoonbridge, 86 n. 16, 
89 n. 18, 129 ; returns to London, 24 n. 20, 88, 93 n. 19, 131 ; 
pursues the rebels into Kent, 95, 131 ; thanksgiYing at Canter- 
bury, 95 ; attainders in his first parliament, 102 n. 2, 103 ; taken 
prisoner at Olney, 111 n. 29, 112 n. 30; his escape, 112 ; levies 
a p r op e rty tax, 112; his treachery to Lord Willonghby, 113; 
goes to Southampton, 114 ; at York when Clarence and War- 
wick landed, 116 n. 37 ; his unpopularity, 118, 119 n. 43 ; bis 
acts annulled, 1 19 ; takes prisoner Archbishop of York and King 
Henry, 124 n. 54, ib. ; his perfidy after the battle of Tewkesbury, 
127, 128 n. 61, 62, 130 n. 66, 136 n. 75 ; makes out commis- 
sions, 131 ; general resumption of all royal grants, 133, 142 ; taxes 
for the war with France, 134, ib. n. 72, 221 n. 4 ; arrest of 
Archbishop of York, 136 n. 75, 77 ; confiscates all his posses- 
sions, 137, 159 ; puts down Oxford's rebellion, 139, 140 n. 81 ; 
g^nts a general pardon and reverses attainders, 142 ; end of the 
civil war, 143. His domestic habits and love of his children, 146 
n. 1, 3, 4 ; reception of Lord Grauthuse, 146 n. 5 ; keeps royal 
state at Westminster Palace, and creates Lord Grauthuse Earl of 
Winchester, 150 ; his courtesy and personal beauty, 152 n. 20 ; his 
rules for the education of the Prince of Wales, 153 ; his daugh- 
ters' marriages, 154 ; benevolences first collected, 155 n. 2, 157; 
his progress through Norfolk, 153, 157 ; the low price of food, 
158 n. 5 ; adopts other means to raise money, 159 ; his commer- 
cial treaties, 160 n. 8 ; peace concluded with the Duke of Bur- 
gimdy, 162 n. 10 ; truce with Scotland, 162 n. 11 ; prepares for 
war with France, 162 ; truce concluded, 163 ; recdves an embassy 
from Louis XL, 163 ; reasons for the war, 163; goes to Calais, 
164 n. 13 ; declares war, 164 n. 14 ; disappointed by the Duke 
INDEX. 291 
of Burgundy's delay, 165 ; remains at Peronne, 165 ; receives a 
Herald from Louis XI., 166 ; a meeting arranged between the 
French King and himself by the Herald, 167 ; treachery of the 
Constable de St. Pol, 167 ; treaty concluded, 168 n. 17 ; stipu- 
lates for the ransom of Queen Margaret, 169 ; meets Louis at 
Pecquigni, 169 n. 19; retiuns to England, 170; termination of 
the wars of Edward IV., 170; his domestic policy, 171 ; remis- 
sion of taxes, 172; trades with his own ships as a merchant, 
172, 177 ; imports wool from Spain, 173 n. 2 ; trades with Italy 
and Greece, 173; com exported, 173 n. 3; regulation of the 
prices of animal food, ale and wine, 174 n. 4; his popularity 
with the poor, and discouragement of machinery, 176 ; makes 
trade an honourable calling, 177; establishes British Factories 
abroad under Consuls or governors, 179 n. 9; establishes the 
Post, 179 ; accompanies the Judges on the circuits to repress the 
lawless violence of the times, 180; encourages architecture, 
210; introduces hand culverines from Flanders, 1471, 211 n. 
14; employs font-metal or bronze, instead of iron, in his field 
pieces, 211; his affectionate care of his younger brothers, 
212 ; Royal Genealogy translated from William Wyrcester, 212, 
n. 1 ; Genealogy of Edward IV., 214 n. 1 ; original cause of 
estrangement between him and Clarence, 216 ; his treaties vdth 
foreign powers recapitulated, 218 ; expostulates virith Clarence 
on his conduct to Lady Anne Neville, 242 ; carries the great 
seal with him in the civil wars but now entrusts them to Dr. 
Morton, Master of the Rolls, 243; divides the property of 
Warwick to the exclusion of the Countess, between her daugh- 
ters Isabel and Anne, 243; cause of quarrel with Clarence, 
245 ; jealous of his brother's power and influenced by the 
Queen, he opposes the marriage of Clarence virith Mary of Bur- 
gundy, 246 ; Louis XI. overruns her territory, but Edward is 
too well satisfied by the payment of 50,000 crowns to risk a 
war with France, 247 ; soothed by the kind words of Louis XL, 
248 n. 7 ; increased animosity with Clarence, 249 ; imprisons 
him in the Tower, 250 ; appears in person as the prosecutor of 
Clarence, ib, ; repeals all the acts made during the restoration 
of Henry YL, ib. ; cause of his injustice and cruelty to Cla- 
rence, 251; his grief and repentance, 252; emancipates the 
throne from the control of the aristocracy, 254 n. 1 ; division of 
parties at court, 255 ; seeks to reconcile their differences, 258 ; 
allies his children with foreign powers to strengthen his throne, 
ib, ; war with Scotland, 259 ; the Duke of Albany soUcits his 
protection, ib, ; Berwick is ceded, 266 ; his disappointment at 
Louis' treachery, 260 ; his fears, illness, and death, 261 ; buried 
at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, 263; his character, ib, n. 21, 
u2 
292 ixDEx. 
22; its lights and shadows, 265 n. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 
continued 266 n. 31, 32 ; 267, 268 n. 33 ; the legality of his 
marriage disputed, 274 ; his children declared illegitimate, 275. 
Edward, Prince, (son of King Edward,) horn in Sanctuary at Westminster, 
60 n. 30, 120 n. 47 ; carried hy Sir Richard Vaughan to West- 
minster Abbey, 150 ; rules for his conduct, 153 ; afiianced to the 
daughter of the Duke of Bretagne, 258 ; his reign. Appendix, 
271. 
Edward, Prince of Wales, (son of King Henry,) Ixxxiv, Ixxxv ; bom, xlvi ; 
created Prince of Wales, xlviii, liv, Ixxix ; accompanies Margaret, 
his mother, to Ambobe, 27 n. 35 ; stands godfather to Louis* 
son, Charles VIII., 28 ; marries Anne, daughter of the Earl of 
Warwick, 28 n. 36, 115; wmdbound at Harfleur, 56, 126; 
lands at Weymouth, 69, 126 ; proceeds to Bristol and Exeter, 
70, 127; proscribed by Edward's proclamation, 74 n. 6; Battle 
of Tewkesbury, 79 n. 10, 127 ; slam in the field, 82 n. 13, 127 ; 
interred, 83, 242. 
Egremont, Thomas Percy Lord, xxxvii, Ixiii, Ixxvii. 
Elizabeth, Queen of Edward IV., 15 n. 17 ; her marriage with Edward IV., 
16 and n. 6, 105 ; crowned at Westminster, 1 7 ; birth of the Prin- 
cess Royal, 18 ; goes to Sanctuary, 120 n. 47 ; receives the King in 
Sanctuary at Westminster, 60 n. 29 ; returns with him to Bay- 
nard's castle, 61 ; remains in the Tower during the insurrection 
of Falconbridge, 87; entertains the Lord of Grauthuse at Wind- 
sor Castle, 147 n. 6; her courtesy, 149 n. 15 ; re^ns her 
influence over Edward, whom she survived nine years, 154; 
buried at Windsor, 155. 
Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV. bom, 18 ; christened at Westminster, 
ib. ; betrothed to the Duke of Bedford, 107, 250 ; joins in the 
amusements at Windsor, 147, 148 ; betrothed to the Dauphin, 
168, 258 ; deceived by the perfidy of Louis IX., 260 ; married 
to Henry VII., 154, 197. 
Eneand, John, 111 n. 26. 
Essex, 46, 132. 
Essex, Earl of, 11, 50, 90, 123, 125. 
Eton College founded by Queen Margaret, xv, 210 ; Chapel of, built by 
Edward IV., 211. 
Exeter, 70, 71, 126, 142, 213. 
Exeter, Duke of, Ixi, hdii, 20 n. 22, 46, 53, 65 n. 37, 115, 1 18, 119, 124, 
125. 
Exeter, Anne Duchess of, 50 n. 19, 148 n. 11, 212, 213 n. 1. 
Exeter, Piers Bishop of, 279. 
Fabyan, Robert, 191 ; his literary works, 195. 
Factories, British, established abroad, 179 n. 9. 
INDEX. 293 
Falconbridge, Lord, xxxvii, Uii, Ixxi, 9 n. 8 ; created Earl of Kent, 11. 
Falconbridge, the Bastard, 86 n. 16, 87, 88, 89 n. 18, 90, 92, 95, 129, 
130 n. 66, 132. 
Fastolf, Sir John, xxxi, xxxii, Ixiv, 184 n. 11, 188, 189. 
Faunt, Nicholas, mayor of Canterbury, 130, 131 n. 69. 
Ferrette, county of, 165. 
Ferrybridge, Battle of, Ixxv. 
Fielding, Sir William, 127. 
Fitzharry, Sir Thomas, 127. 
Fitzhugh, Lord, 29. 
Fitzwalter, John Ratcliff Lord, 9 n. 7, 26 n. 25. 
Flanders, 249. 
Fleet Street, bdv. 
Fleetwood, Mr. Recorder, end of Manuscript, 96. 
Florentines, Ix. 
Florey, John, 128. 
Flushing, 36. 
Fogg, Su: John, 109 n. 21, 132 n. 70, 219. 
Fortescue, Richard, 139, 140, 141. 
Fortescue, Sir John, 129, 142, 207 n. 8. 
Fotheringay, 211. 
Fougeres, xvi. 
Fourmigny, xx. 
France, King of. See Lewis XI. 
France Jost to England, 118, 134. 
Frost, Great, 105. 
Fulford, Edward, 139. 
Fulford, Sir Baldwin, 12. 
Fyndeme, Sir Thomas, 14 n. 15, 107 n. 14. 
Gascoigne, Dr., Chancellor of Oxford, xy. 
Gascoigne lost to England, 118, 134. 
Gate, Sir Jeffrey, 29, 129. 
Gaunt, John of, xxxv, xxxvi. 
Ghent, 248, 264. 
Glastonbury, 24, 71, 73. 
Gloucester, 73, 75, 76, 77, 127. 
Gloucester, Abbot of, xvii. 
Gloucester, Humphrey Duke of, xiv, xxvi, Ixxv, 118. 
Gloucester, Richard Duke of, Ixxiii, 6; created Duke of, 11, 214 n. 1 ; 
accompanies Edward IV. in his flight to Friezeland, 30, 151 } 
returns to England, 38 ; reconciled to Clarence at Banbury, 51, 
123 n. 53; Battle of Bamet, 64 n. 34 ; Battle of Tewkesbury, 
79 n. 10, 80; sent by the King to receive the submission of 
Falconbridge at Canterbury, 95; causes him to be beheaded| 
294 INDEX. 
130 ; present at the death of Henry VI., 131 n. 67 ; to ^Mnlitate 
his communication with Edward IV. daring the Scottish cam- 
paign, the Post was established, 179 ; demands Lady Anne 
Neville in marriage, 242 n. 2 ; his marriage, 243 ; settlement of 
property by act of parliament, ib. ; provision made in case of his 
divorce, 244 n. 3 ; obtains part of Clarence's estates, 253 ; his 
increase of power, 254 n. 2 ; despatched with an army to 
Berwick-upon-Tweed, 259; joyously received with Albany at 
Edinburgh, 260 ; upon the death of Edward IV. writes to Louis 
XL, styling himself Richard III., 261, 262; his usurpation, 
(Appendix) 271 ; the roll ratified by parliament, 272, 273, 279 ; 
issues a proclamation against the Tudors, ib. ; Henry of Rich- 
mond asserts his claim, 280; caUs upon his new subjects to 
resist this claim, 283 ; takes the command in person and orders 
all men to do him service, 282. 
Goddard, Dr., 249. 
Gogney, William, 156. 
Gough, Matthew, xxx. 
Gower, James, 128. 
Grafton, Manor of, 16. 
Grauthuse, Lord of, 146 n. 5, 151. 
Gray, Bishop of Ely, Ixxvi. 
Greece, 173. 
Gremyby, Sir William, 127. 
Gresham, James, xxxviii. 
Grey Friars, Ixiv. 
Grey, Elizabeth. See Elizabeth, Queen to Edward IV. 
Grey, Sir John, Ixxxv, 15, 105. 
Grey, Lord Richard, 257. 
Grey, Lord de Ruthyn, xxxiv, Ixx, Ixxvii. 
Grey, Sir Ralph, Governor of Bamburgh Castle, Ixxxvi, 14 n. 15, 104 n. 4. 
Guienne lost to England, xxi, 118, 134, 163. 
Guildhall, Ix, Ixi, Ixii. 
Gunnery, Art of, 211. 
Hall, The Chronicler, 6. 
Hamburgh, 161. 
Hammes Castle, 137, 140 n. 81, 141, 142, 160. 
Hampden, Sir Edward, 127. 
Hampshire, 73. 
Hampton, Sir WUUam, 93 n. 19, 131. 
Hanse Towns, 160 n. 9, 161, 178. 
Harcourt, Sir Richard, 159. 
Harding, John, 191 ; his literary works, 196. 
Harfleur, 56 n. 25. 
• INDEX. 295 
Harlech Castle, siege of, 105, 216. 
Harrington, Sir James, 45 n. 12, 46, 108 n. 19« 
Harrington, Sir John, verses, 14 n. 16. 
Harrington, Sir Thomas, Ixxi. 
Hastings, Lord, xvii, 1. 
Hastings, Lord Sir William, Ixxi ; besieges Alnwick, 12, 104 n. 4 ; flies with 
Edward IV. to Friezeland, 30, 117 n. 39; returns to England, 
38, 121 ; reconciles Edward IV. and Clarence, 50, 51 ; Battle of 
Bamet, 63 n. 32, 255 ; Battle of Tewkesbury, 79 n. 10 ; with 
the King 'at Windsor Castle, 148 ; marries Catherine Bonville, 
253 n. 16 ; committed to the Tower by the King on the accusa- 
tion of Earl Rivers, 255 n. 3 ; his honesty, bravery and grati- 
tude, 255 ; beheaded at the Tower by order of Richard III., 
264 n. 23. 
Heberge, Bishop of Evreux, 168. 
Hedynge (Hesden), Castle of, 247. 
Henry III., xxxv. 
Henry IV. Bolingbroke's usurpation, xiii ; his pedigree, xxxv. 
Henry V., Ixxx, Ixxxi. 
Henry VI., marriage with Margaret of Anjou, xiii ; declines the bequest of 
Cardinal Beaufort, xv ; his marriage impopular, xv ; progress 
through Kent after Cade's rebellion, xxxi ; encamps on Black- 
heath, xiii ; pardons the Duke of York, xliii ; summons a parlia- 
ment, March 6th, 1452, xliii ; his illness, xlvi ; visited by the 
Peers, xlvii ; his recovery, xlviii ; his character, xlix ; his spirited 
reply to the rebels at St. Alban's, li ; taken prisoner by York, 
lii ; his second illness, Ivii, Iviii ; recovers and dismisses York, 
lix ; his progress into Warwickshire, Ixii ; his endeavours to re- 
concile the rival parties, Ixiii ; public procession to St. Paul's, 
Ixv ; assembles his forces in Leicester, Ixviii ; offers terms to the 
rebels at Ludlow, Ixix ; addresses his followers, Ixx ; takes Lud- 
low, Ixxi, 5 ; he is taken prisoner at Northampton, Ixxvii ; de- 
fends his title to the crown, Ixxxi ; restored to his family at the 
second battle of St. Alban's, Ixxxv ; dethroned by Edward IV., 
Ixxxv ; seeks refuge in Scotland after the battle of Touton, 9 ; 
his grant to the Earl of Angus, 12 ; prepares an army to re-enter 
England, 14 ; taken after the battle of Hexham, 14 n. 16, 17, 
108 n. 1 ; attainted 102 n. 2 ; restored to the throne, 36, 117 
n. 40, 41 ; holds a parliament, 119 ; constitutes Warwick Lord 
Lieutenant, 47 n. 14 ; is paraded through the city of London, 
58 n. 27, 123 ; betrayed by Archbishop of York, 60 n. 28, 123 
n. 56; carried prisoner to Bamet Field, 62 n. 30, 124 n. 55; 
imprisoned again in the Tower, from whence the Bastard Fal- 
conbridge endeavours to rescue him, 87, 126, 129 ; his death, 
93 n. 20, 131 n. 67 ; his body exposed at St. Paul's, 131 ; buried 
_ -3 
296 
INDEX. 
honourably in Chertsey abbey, 93 n. 20, 131 ; his body rein- 
terred by Henry YII., at Windsor, xc ; troubles caused by his 
reign, 220, 264. 
Herbert, Lord, Earl of Pembroke, Ixxxvii, 24, 105, 110, HI, 216, 219. 
Herbert, Sir Richard, 111. 
Herbert, Thomas, 111. 
Herbert, William, 111. 
Hervey, Sir Nicholas, 127. 
Heveningham, 156. 
Hexham, Battle of, Ixxxvi, 14, 106, 115. 
HiU, Thomas, 177 n. 7. 
Hobby {right fair), 148 n. 10. 
Holand, 50. 
Holand, Henry. See Duke of Exeter. 
Holdemess, 121. 
Hot summer and dearth, 134. 
Howard, Humphrey, 108. 
Howard, Lord, 164, 166, 167, 253, 256 n. 7. 
Humber-head, 38, 39. 
Hungerford, Robert Lord, 14 n. 15, 108. 
Hungerford, Sir Thomas, 109. 
Hungerford, Thomas Lord, Ixxvi, Ixxvii, 109. 
Hunger-well, in Staffordshire, 135. 
Huntingdonshire, 46. 
Huntingford, Lord, 14. 
Huntley, Earl of, 13 n. 12. 
Imposts, 1 75 n. 5. 
Insurrection in the North, Ixxxii, Ixxxv, 25, 104, 113, 218« 
Ipswich, 156. 
Ireland, Sir George, 19, 93, 131. 
Isabel, Countess of Essex, 11. 
Isabel, daughter of Warwick, marries Clarence, 23, 215. 
Isabell, sister of King Harry of Castile, married unto Ferdinand Prince of 
Arragon, 15. 
Italy, Ix, 173. 
Jackson, Robert, 128. 
James, King of Scots, 17, 258; breaks his alliance with Edward lY., 
259 ; the Scots revolt, ib. n. 18. 
Johns, Sir Lewis, 66 n. 88. 
Josselyn, Ralph, 18. 
Julius Csesar, 44 n. 11. 
V 
INDEX. 297 
Katherine, daughter of Edward IV., 152, 154, 238. 
Kemp, Cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury, xxx, xlvii. 
Kent, 86, 129, 132. 
Kent, Edmund Gray Earl of, 102. 
Kent, William Neville Earl of, 102. 
Kentish memorial, Ixxiv. 
Kidwelly, John Done of. 111. 
Kingston Bridge, 88, 90, 129. 
Kingston-upon-Hull, 40. 
Kyme, Earl of, William Talbois, 14 n. 15, 106. 
Kyriel, Sir Thomas, xx, xxviii. 
Lacy, Master, 216. 
Lancashire, 73, 77. 
Langley, 26. 
Langley Park, Kent, spring near, 135. 
Laon, Bishop of, Ambassador from Lewis XL, 21. 
Latimer, Harry, 111 n. 27. 
Latimer, Lord, xxxvii, 24, 105 n. 6. 
Lee, Alexander, 29 n. 38, 30, 117, 131. 
Lee, Sb- Richard, 93 n. 19, 235. 
Leicester, xxiii. xxiv, xxix, xlix, 47, 122, 135. 
Leland's Transcript necessary to read the names in Warkworth's Chro- 
nicle, 111. 
Leukenor, Sir John, 127. 
Lewis, Henry, 105 n^jfr^^V 
Lewis XL, King^^^^ <, 116, 128 n. 63, 162 n. 11, 163, 164, 165, 
169 n/<T/\) n. ^0, 229 n. 8, 233, 247, 248 n. 7. 
Lewisham, Well at, 135. 
Limerick, Davy ap Jenkin ap, 111. 
Lincolnshb-e, 25, 39, 46, 113, 114. 
Literature and Fine Arts encouraged, 146 n. 1 ; state of, 190, 199 n. 3, 
201. 
Littleton, Sur Thomas, 207 n. 7. 
London, xxx; Edward IV. triumphal entry, 10 ; his return after his flight 
into Holland, 57 ; besieged by Falconbridge, 90, 129 ; relieved 
by Edward IV., 92 ; general staple, 161 ; the great mart of 
Europe, 173 ; visited by the Plague, 217; serious riots, Ix. 
Lorrain, Duke of, 165. 
Losecote Field, 25, 114 n. 33. 
Lovell, Lord, 255, 256. 
Lovelace, Lord, deserts the Earl of Warwick, 6 n. 4. 
Luccaens, Ix. 
Lucy, Sir William, Ixxvii. 
Ludlow spoiled by Henry VI., Ixxi, 5. 
298 INDEX. 
Luebeck, 161. 
Luxembourg ravaged, 165. 
Lyle, Lordf xxxix, 257 n. 9. 
Lynn, 117 n. 39, (Hanse Town Factory) 178. 
Lyons, Archbishop of, 169. 
Machinery repressed, 177. 
Mackerel, Dr., 129. 
Male Castle set on fire, 20. 
Mallery, William, slain at Edgcote, 111. 
Malmsbury, 75. 
Manufactures, Inland, 1 75. 
Mar, Earl of, 259 n. 18. 
March, Roger Mortimer Eari of, xxxvi. 
Margaret of Anjou, Queen to Henry VI., xiii n^ 1 ; unpopularity of her 
marriage, xr ; her conduct in the quarrel of the Duke of Suffolk, 
ixiii ; her distress on learning his murder, zzix ; welcomes the 
return of Somerset, xxxiv ; suspects the true motiyes of York, 
xxzviii ; her progress through N(fffolk, xly ; birth of the Prince 
of Wales, xlvi ; accompanies the King to Hertford, liii ; her en- 
deavour to break up the Yorkist confederacy, Ixii ; walks hand 
in hand with York in the procession of Concord and Unity, Ixv ; 
seeks to arrest Warwick, Ixvii ; seeks refuge after the battle of 
Northampton at Eccleshall, Harlech, and in Scotland, Ixxii; 
Ixxix ; on York's being appointed Lord Protector, and heir to 
the throne, she raises an army in the North ; Ixxxii ; Battle of 
Wakefield, Ixxxiii ; proceeds to York, Ixxziv ; reaches St. 
Alban's, Ixxxiv; Battle of St. Alban's, and recovery of the 
King's person, Ixxxv; her bad policy in allowing the town to 
be plundered, Ixxxv ; wins the battle of St. Alban's, 6 ; sends to 
London for victuals, which are stopped by the Conunons, 7 ; 
retreats to York, 7 ; attainted by parliament, 102 n. 2 ; escapes 
to Scotland, 9, 104 her unpopularity, 7 n. 5 ; returns into 
Scotland from France, 13, 17 ; meets Clarence and Warwick at 
Amboise, and is reconciled, 27 n. 35, 115 ; detained on the 
French coast by contrary winds, 56 n. 35, 126 ; lands at Wey- 
mouth, 69 n. 1, 126 ; proceeds to Bristol and Exeter, 70, 126 ; 
she sends out emissaries to mislead, 73 ; proscribed by Edward's 
proclamation, 74 n. 6 ; returns to Bristol, 75 ; changes her pur- 
pose and travels to Berkeley and Gloucester, 75 ; arrives at 
Tewkesbury, 77; her troops exhausted, 78 n. 8 ; Battle of 
Tewkesbury, 79 n. 10, 127; taken prisoner, 83 n. 15, 128 n. 
63 ; conveyed to Edward IV. at Coventry, 84 ; imprisoned at 
Wallingford, 142 ; ransomed by Lewis, 169 ; incidentally men- 
tioned, 229—239. See Angiers. 
Margaret, sister to King Edward IV., 19. See Duchess of Burgundy. 
Margaret, daughter to Edward IV., 154. 
I 
INDEX. 299 
Market Street, 135. * 
Mamey, Sir John, 20 n. 23. 
Martin, 210. 
Martigny, George, 148. 
Mary, daughter of Edward IV., 154 n. 31, 258. 
Mary of Geldres, 17. 
Merchants, English, 177 n. 7. 178. 
Merchants of the Staple, 178. 
Merchants of the Stilliard or Steelyard, 161 n. 9, 174 n. 3. 
Merrick, Yvan ap John ap. 111. 
Michel's Mount, Cornwall, 138, 141. 
Middle classes, rise of, 145. 
Middleham, Ixii. 
Mile End, xxx. 
Minories, The, 16. 
Miracle of St. Anne, 54. 
Moleyns, Lord, xxxvii, 106 n. 14. 
Molins, Ad., Bishop of Chichester, xvi, xxi n. 7, xlvii. 
Mondidier, 165. 
Montacute, Earl of, Ixxxv. 
Montague, Marquis of, created Earl of Northumberland, 102 ; besieges 
Bamburgh Castle, Ixxxvii, 14 ; marches with Henry VI., 14 ; 
made Warden of the Marshes, 14 n. 14 ; continues in the 
North, 15 ; his treason, 29, 30, 116; abides in Pomfret Castle, 
43 n. 9 ; joins Warwick at Coventry, 53 ; slain at Bamet, 65, 
124, 125 n. 56 ; his dead body exposed at St. Paul's, 67 n. 40, 
126 ; buried at the Priory of Bisham, ib, n. 57 ; his property 
given to the Duke of Gloucester, 244 n. 4. 
Montgomery, John, 12 n. 10, 13. 
Montgomery, Sir Thomas, 156, 165 n, 16. 
Montlhery, Battle of, 18. 
Montreuil, 247. 
Moore, Manor of the, 26, 136, 137. 
Mortimer's Cross, Battle of, Ixxxiv. 
Morton, Dr., 142, 167, 191 ; Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury, 196 ; 
sketch of his rise and progress, 197 ; his character, 198 ; ap- 
pointed li^g^Uward Prince of Wales, 210 ; made Executor 
to Edwar^HpnO ; his influence at Court, 257. 
Mountford, Osbert, Ixviii. 
Myles, Louis, 128. 
Nailboum, 135. 
Nanci, Battle of, 169. 
Nawarth Castle, 103, 105 n. 6. 
Neville, Anne, (betrothed to Edward, Prince of Wales,) 128, 215, 232, 
242 n.2; marries Richard III., 243. 
300 INDEX. 
NeviUe, Charles, 112. 
NeviUe, George, Bishop of Exeter, 106 n. 11. See Archbishop of York. 
Neville, George, Duke of Bedford, 250 n. 9. 
NeviUe, Isabella, Duchess of Clarence, 23, 215. 
Neville, Sir Henrj-, 111, n. 27. 
Neville, Sir Humphery, Ixxxvil, 112. 
Neville, Sir John, Ixxi, 9 n. 8 ; made Lord Montague, 11 n. 9, 106 n. 13. 
See Montague, Marquis of. 
Neville, Thomas, zzivii. 
Newark, 46 n. 13. 
Newburgh, Sir William, 128. 
Newham Bridge, 248. 
Newport, John, 183. 
Nicholas, Capt., zxiii. 
Norfolk, 46, 121, 156. 
Norfolk, Duchess of, 20. 
Norfolk, Duke of, John Mowbray, xxxvi, liii^ Ixxxv, 8. 
Norfolk, Duke of, John Mowbray's son, 11, 37, 184 n. 11, 184, 189. 
Norfolk, Duke of, Tliomas Howard, 22 n. 27. See Lord Howard. 
Normandy lost, xvi, xxxi, 118, 134, 163, 280. 
Norris, Sir William, 45 n. 12, 122. 
Northampton, 56, 111. 
Northampton, Battle of, Ixxvii. 
Northumberland, Earl of, 11, Ixiii ; slain, 9, 107. 
Northumberland, Earl of, Ixxi. 
Northumberland, Henry Percy, Earl of, 42, 43 n. 10, 44, 85, 107 n. 15, 
116, 121. 
Norwich, 156. 
Nottingham, Earl of. See Richard, Duke of York. 
Nottingham, 45 n. 12, 46, 47, 122 n. 51, 229. 
Novgorod, 161. 
Nuz, Siege of, 165 n. 15, 16, 167. 
Oldhall, Sir WiUiam, Uv, Ixxi. 
Ohiey, HI n. 29. 
Organ, Harry, 111 n. 26. 
Ormond, the Earl of, 119. 
Ormond, Thomas, 129. 
Oxfordshire, 74. 
Oxford, Twelfth Earl of, beheaded, 12, 108. 
Oxford, Thirteenth Earl of, committed to the Tower, 20 n. 23 ; flies into 
Normandy, 29 ; opposes Edward IV. landing, 37 ; proceeds to 
Newark, 46 n. 13 ; his partial success at Bamet, 64 n. 34, 124 ; 
his escape into Scotland, 66, 125, 138 n. 78 ; letter to his 
Countess, 72 n. 5 ; proscribed by proclamation, 74 n. 6 ; arraigns 
the Earl of Worcester, 120 ; enters Mount St. Michel, 138 n. 79; 
INDEX. 301 
is besieged, 139 n. 80 ; his garrison bribed, 139, 141 ; yields 
himself to the King^s grace, 140 n. 81 ; attainted, 140 n. 81, 
279 ; imprisoned at Hammes, 141 n. f ; his escape, 141 ; his 
estates restored imder Henry VII., 141 ; died in the reign of 
Henry VIIL, 141. 
Packenham, 109 n. 21. 
Painting, 212. 
Pardon, general, X2x, 112, 142. 
Parker, John, 129. 
Parliaments, xxi, xxiii. 
Parliaments, Fh-st, 11 n. 8, 36 n. 1, 40 n. 5, 102 n. 2, 105 n. 7, 119, 133, 
142, 160, 162, 243—245, 251, 272. 
Parr, Sir Thomas, Ixxi, 45 n. 12. 
Parr, Sir William, 46, 137. 
Paston, Sir John, Battle of Tewkesbury, 79 n. 10, 141; Letters, 184— 190 
n. 16 ; contents of his library, 199, 200 n. 4. 
Payn, John, Letter respecting Cade's Rebellion, xxxi — xxxiv. 
Peacock, 210. 
Pecquigni, Bridge of, 169 n. 19. 
Peers, Creation of, 101. 
Pembroke, Earl of. See Lord Herbert. 
Pembroke, Jasper Tudor Earl of, xlviii, li, Ixxxiv, 73, 77, 79 n. 10. 119, 
142, 279. 
Penley, 217. 
Pentheviere, Count, xliv. 
Percy, Sir Ralph, 105 n. 6. 
Peronne, 165, 167. 
Petition of the Commons, 219—222. 
PhiHp, Sir Matthew, 18, 93 n. 19, 131. 
Philip, son of the Archduke Maximilian, 258. 
Pigot, Sir Roger, 111. 
Pikton, Harry Done, 111 n. 26. 
Plantagenet, Henry, eldest son of Richard Duke of York, 212 n. 1. 
Plantagenet, William, the fourth son, 214 n. 1. 
Plantagenet, John, the fifth son, 214 n. 1. 
Plantagenet, Edward, Earl of "Warwick, last of the, 245, 252. 
Plummer, Sir John, 108. 
Pomfret, Castle of, 43 n. 9, 182. 
Pomiers, Count de, Ixiii. 
Pont de I'Arche, xx. 
Pontefract, 45 n. 12. 
Popaurcote, Sir John, 22. 
Portsmouth, 69. 
Portugal, 86. 
Portugal, Don John of, 161. 
3M- 
nr. 
^Si. £LI>»].Sr2If. 
oC 219, 264. 
Zji£ i£ 1<2. 197. SfiL SSI. 
114- ::». liJL i«:: 
?•■ 
Eari oC IxzB, 30, 38, 51, 90. 
and of Caxton 
208]l9; 
K TiusgfrxL. 319: Ui love cf litcnnney 210; ind- 
<iexu::7 z^Bxotfd. 244. 2»3. 2&5. 256, 257, 264 n. 23. 
ZMTi oL Sieiard WoadTCJe.lxiLlzxn,16. 106; bdmded, 25, 111; 
EHen, Ladr. 14? b. 11. 
K/jdMst«r, 150. 
Roll, Tike, to the High ad IGthtj Priace Riebsd Duke of Gkracester, 
^Appendix; 272 ; i c map ec t of fanner Kingi, 273 ; Edward's 
marriage dispiited, 274 ; hit difldrcn iheakr^ iDegitiiiiate, 275; 
Garenoe being attainted of treaaon, hit diildren disabled from 
inheriting the Crown, t*.; Bidiaid the li^tful heir, 276; 
choien king, U, ; hit right reeognized bj pariiament, 277 ; the 
fuccetftion lettled on his Mm Edward and his heus, 278. 
K/MM, Sir Henry, 129. 
firxjf, Thomas, Lord, IxxxiT, Izxxr, 14, 106 n. 14. 
Htm or lUius, John, of Warwick, 191 ; his Utemr works, 194. 
IUi«U>ck, 161. 
K/Hheram, Archtrishop, 197, 210, 257 n. 11. 
fioiien, zx. 
Kiiiis, Oliver, 22. 
Koyft, 165. 
INDEX. 303 
Russell, Bishop of Lincoln, 210, 257 n. 14. 
Rutheland, 125 n. 
Rutland, Duke of (brother to Edward IV.) Izx, Izxi, 8 n. 7, 212 ; slain at 
the battle of Wakefield, Ixxxiii, 213. 
Salisbury, 73, 109. 
Salisbury, Countess of, Ixxi, Ixxiii. 
Salisbury, Richard, Earl of, xzxvi; quarrels with Lord Egremont, xxzt ; 
joins the conspiracy with York and Warwick, xlviii, 1 ; after the 
first battle of St. Alban's, made Lord Chancellor, liii, Ut, M ; 
resigns the seals, lix ; accepts the King's invitation to Coventry, 
Ixii ; proceeds to Middleham, Ixii ; attends the assembling of the 
rival Peers, Ixiii ; walks with Somerset in the proceesion, Ixv, 
Ixvi ; conspires again with York and Warwick, Ixvii ; gains the 
battle of Bloreheath, Ixvii ; accompanied Edward {the Fourth) 
into Devonshire, Ixx, 5 ; attainted of treason, Ixxi ; proceeds to 
Calais, Ixxi ; his personal abuse to Lord Rivers, Ixxii ; enters 
London, 1460, Ixxvi ; besieges the Tower, Ixxvii ; Battle of Wake- 
field, Ixxxii ; beheaded at Pontefract, Ixxxiii. 
Sandal, lix, 43. 
Sandwich, 95, 130, 131. 
Say, Lord, beheaded by Cade, xxx. 
Say, Lord, escapes with Edward to Flanders, 117, 118, 121; slain at 
Bamet, 66, 125. 
Scales, Anthony Lord, xxx, Ixxi, Ixxvi, Ixxvii, 19 n. 21, 28, 219. 9ee 
Rivers. 
Scarborough, 25. 
Scotsburgh, Jenkin Perot ap, 111. 
Scrope, Lady, 120 n. 47. 
Sculpture, 211. 
Sea, Martin of the, 40. 
Sendal, Castle of, lix, 43. 
Sentlow, Sir John, 129. 
Shaftesbury, 73. 
Shaw, Edmond, 177 n. 7. 
Sheen, Palace of, lix. 
Shore, Jane, 190. 
Shrewsbury, Earl of, xxxviii, Ixxvii, Ixxxv, 9 n. 8, 117 n. 41. 
Sodberry, 75, 76. 
Somerset, Edmund Duke of. Lieutenant of France, xvii ; his credence for 
succours, xvii; surrenders Rouen, xx, and Caen, xxii; returns 
from France, xxxiv; his pedigree, xxxv; his differences with 
the Duke of York, xxxvii; Council at Coventry to reconcile 
them, xxxviii ; afiray at Coventry, xxxviii ; York's letter to the 
citizens of Shrewsbury against him, xl; ordered into custody, 
xUi ; but still retains his ofilce, xliii ; recommends the placing of 
304 INDEX. 
York in custody, xliij ; he is sent to the Tower by York, xlvii ; 
released upon the King's recovery, zlix ; supersedes York in the 
government of Calais, xlviii ; accompanied the King against the 
rebel Lords, li ; slain at St. Alban's, lii, 1 7, 18, 19 n. 22, 20, 56 
n. 23, 71, 74 n. 6, 79 n. 1.0, 80, 83 n. 14, 115, 119, 126. 
Somerset, Henry Duke of, outlawed, Ivi ; attends the meeting of the 
peers in 1457, bnii ; walks hand in hand with the Earl of Salis- 
bury in the procession to St. Paul's, Izv, Ixvi; appointed to 
supersede Warwick in the command of Calais, Ixxi; the ill 
success of his attempts to take it, Ixzi, Izxiii ; retires to Dieppe 
after the battle of Northampton, Ixzix; assembles the royal 
forces at Pontefiract, Ixxxiii ; he defeats the Duke of York, who 
is slain at Wakefield, Ixxxiii. iv ; at the second battle of St. 
Alban's, Ixxxiv ; submits to Edward IV., 13, 14 n. 15, 105 n. 6, 
106 n. 13, 115. 
Somerset, Lord John of Somerset, 17, 56, 79 n. 10, 82, 119, 126, 127, 
280. 
Somersetshire, 70, 111. 
Southampton, 69, 114. 
Springs, swelling of, 134. 
St. Alban's, 58, 135. 
St. Alban's, battle of, li ; second battle of, Ixxxv, 6. 
St. Dunstan's in the East, 196. 
St. George's Fields, 89. 
St. John, Lord, 79 n. 10, 127. 
St. John of Jerusalem, Prior of, (Sir John Longstrother,) 56, 69, 83 n. 14. 
St. Katherine's near the Tower, 88. 
St. Leger, Sir Thomas, 167, 214. 
St. Loe, Sir John, 129. 
St. Martin's-le-Grand, 70, 242. 
St. Michael's Mount, 138, 39, 40, 41. 
St. Osyth, 141. 
St. Omer's, 247, 248, 249. 
St. Paul's, xliii, 58, 60, 67. 
St. Pierre, Lord, 168. 
St. Pol, Constable de, 163, 164,*167, 169. 
St. Quentin, 164, 167. 
St. Quentin taken by Louis, 247. 
St. Thomas, Brotherhood of, Charter, 179. 
Stacey, 248. 
Stacy, Louis, 148. 
Staiford, John, Ixxvii. 
Stafford, Lord Humphrey, xxx,li, Ui,lxiv, 24, 109 n. 22, 110, 111, 217, 
219, 256. 
Stafford, Sir H., xxx. 
Stair, xxvii, Iviii. 
INDEX. 305 
Stalbroke, Sir Thomas, 93 n. 19, 131. 
Stanley, Lord, Ixxvii, 117 n. 41, 164, 166, 197, 256 n. 5, 263. 
Stanley, Sir William, 45 u. 12, 122. 
Steers, Richard, 20 n. 23. 
Stillington, Robert, Bishop of Bath, 106 n. 11, 210, 216 n. 2, 217, 257 n. 
12, 262 
Stoker, Sir John, 93 n. 19, 131. 
Stokton, Sir John, 93 n. 19, 131. 
Stony Stratford, 16. 
Storie, Edward, Bishop of Carlisle, 210 n. 11. 
Stowe, John, Chronicle of, 35. 
Stratford, Abbey of, 156. 
Strozzi, Lorenzo, Eng. Consul at Pisa, 179. 
Sudeley, Lord, lii. 
Suffolk, 46. 
Suffolk, William de la Pole, Duke of, negociates the marriage of Henry 
IV. and Margaret, xiii ; his unpopularity in consequence, xvii ; 
defends himself in parliament, xxi ; his character, 21 ; he is 
impeached and banished, xzii ; his murder, xxii, xxvii, xxix ; 
buried at Wingfield, xxviii. 118. 
Suffolk, Elizabeth Duchess of, 50 n. 19, 128 n. 63, 213 n. 1. 
Suffolk, Earl of, 252. 
Suffolk, Margaret Countess of, 252 n. 15. 
Sussex, 132. 
Swynford, Dame Katherine, 280. 
Tadcaster, 42. 
Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, recovers Bordeaux, Bordelais, and Chatillon,^ 
xliii ; his death, xliv. 
Talbot, Sir John, Lord Lisle, accompanies his father, xliii; his deaths 
xliv. 
Talbot, John, of Salisbury, 108, 181. 
Talbot, Sir Edmund, 108. 
Talbot, Sir Thomas, 108 n. 1. 
Taunton, 73. 
Taylor, Sir WiUiam, Ixiv, 93 n. 19, 131, 177 n. 7. 
Tempest, Sir John, of Bracewell, 108 n. 1. 
Temple Bar, Ixiii. 
Tewkesbury, 73, 76, 77, 79 n. 10, 83, 127, 129. 
Tewkesbury, Battle of, 80 n. 11, 127 n. 59. 
Thames, River, 88. 
Thanet, Isle of, 141. 
Thomhill, John, 28. 
Thorpe, Mr. Speaker, Ivi. 
Throgmorton, John, Ixxxiv, 129. 
Tiptoft, John. See Earl of Worcester. 
X 
306 INDEX. 
Tonnage and Poundage, 224. 
Tournament at Smithfield, 19 n. 21 . 
Tower of London, 59. 
Towton, Battle of, Ixxxvi, 9. 
Tresham, Harry, 128. 
Tresham, Sir Thomas, arrested, 20 n. 23 ; beheaded, 83, 128. 
Tresham, William, zzjdv. 
Trevylian, Daniel, 118. 
Troloppe, Sir Andrew, Ixxix. 
Tudenham, Sir Thomas, 12 n. 10, 108. 
Tudor, Owen, Ixxxiv. 
Tunstall, Sir Richard, 105. 
Turner, Sharon, vi. • 
Tutbury, lix. 
Twyndowe, Anckenett, 245 n. 5, 250. 
Tyrrel, Sir J., 242, 
Tyrrel, Sir William, 12 n. 10, 13, 66 n. 38, 125. 
Ulston, Rise ap Morgan ap, 111. 
Ursewick, Sir Thomas, 93 n. 19, 123 — 131. 
Ursula, daughter of Richard Duke of York, 214 n. 1. 
Utrecht, 6, 161 ; congress of, 178. 
Valanges, xjd. 
Vane, Dame Katherine, 128. 
Vaughan, Sir Richard, 150. 
Vaughan, Sir Roger, 111. 
Vaughan, Thomas, 137. 
Vaughan, Thomas ap Richard, 1 1 1 n. 26. 
Vaughan, Watkin Thomas, 111 n. 26. 
Vaux, Sir William, 127. 
Venables, Sir Hugh, Ixviii. 
Venetians, Ix. 
Vere, Henry Lord Aubrey, accuses his father of treason, 1 1 ; beheaded 
12, 108. 
Vemeuil, xx. 
Vemey, Sir Ralph, 93 n. 19, 131. 
Void, The, 150 n. 18. 
Waddington, Hull, 14 n. 16, 108. 
Waffir, (Waver) Harry, 18. 
Wainfleet, WilUam, 117, 210. 
Wakefield, 43, 45. 
Wakefield, Battle of, Ixxxiii. 
Wakes, Thomas, 111. 
Wales, 73. 
INDEX. 307 
Walls, John, 129. 
Walsingham, 156 n. 3. 
Warbeck, Perkin, 61 n. 30. 
Warkworth Castle, 103. 
Warkworth's, (Dr. John) Chronicles, 101 ; end of, 140 ; sketch of his 
life, 207. 
Warren and Surrey, Earl of. See Richard Duke of York, son of Edward IV. 
Warren, Richard, 227. 
Warwick, 48, 50. 
Warwick Castle, 112. 
Warwick, Countess of, 56, 69 n. 2, 242, 243. 
Warwick, Edward Earl of, murdered by Henry VII., 245. 
Warwick, Richard Neville, Earl of, at Leicester with 400 followers, in 
1450, xxix ; supports the Duke of York, xxxm ; enters into the 
Yorkist conspiracy, zlviii ; marches towards London, 1 ; Battle 
of St. Albans, li ; appointed to the government of Calais, liii ; 
goes to Hunsdon, liv; his quarrel with Lord Cromwell, Ivi; 
retires into Yorkshire, liz; accepts the King's invitation to 
Coventry, Izii ; proceeds to Calais, bdi; attends the assembling 
of the rival peers, Ixiii ; appointed to keep the sea, Izv ; walks 
with the Duke of Exeter in the procession to St. Paul's, Ixv, 
Ixvi; attacked by the blackguards, Izvii; proceeds to Calais, 
Ixvii; Warwick's articles of justification, Ixviii; reasons for 
declining the King's pardon, bdz ; accompanies Edward (the 
Fourth) into Devonshire, Ixx, 5 ; attainted of high treason, Lud ; 
escapes io Calais, Ixzi ; retains the place against the efforts of 
the Duke of Somerset, Ixxii; crosses the sea to Ireland and 
to Calais, Ixxiii ; lands at Sandwich, Ixxiv ; arrives in London, 
Ixxvi ; Battle of Northampton, Ixxvii ; second Battle of St. 
Albans, Ixzxv ; meets Edward IV. at Cotswold, 6 ; proceeds to 
London, 7 ; at the siege of Bamburgh, Ixxxvi, 14 ; sent into 
France to demand the Princess Bona in marriage for Edward IV., 
105 n. 9 ; continues in the North, 15 ; godfather to the Princess 
Royal, 18 ; cause of his quarrel with Edward IV., 18 n. 20, 23, 
106 ; conducts the Princess Margaret to Bruges, 20 ; sent 
ambassador to Louis XL, 21 n. 24 and 25, 23; remains twelve 
days and returns to England, ib. n. 26 ; his vast power, posses- 
sions, and titles, 23 n. 28, 106 ; gets the King into his power 
at Hedgecote field, 24 n. 30; conspires with Clarence, 26, 112 
n. 30, 113; his treason detected, he files with his wife into 
Normandy, 26, 114 n. 33, 224 ; treats with Margaret, 115 ; goes 
with Clarence to Amboise and welcomed by Louis, 27, 116; 
returns to England and raises an army, 116 ; opposes Edward IV.'s 
return, 37 ; restores Henry VI., 40, 41 ; proceeds into Warwick- 
shire, 47 ; made lieutenant of England by Henry VL, 47 n. 
308 INDEX. 
14; refuses to fight Edward at Coventry, 48 n. 17, 54 n. 22, 
122 ; rejects his oyertures, 50, 228 ; gathers his party round 
him, 53 ; his popularity at Calais, 53 n. 21 ; sends letters to 
London and Archhishop of York, 57 ; pursues Edward IV. 
through Northampton, 61 ; meets Edward at Barnet, 62 n. 31, 
124 ; his defeat and death, 65 n. 35 and 36, 125 ; his body 
exposed afker death, 67 n. 40, 126 n. 57; the manner and 
guiding of the Eurl of Warwick at Angiers, 229, 241. 
Warwickshire, 47. 
Water, Robert, 106 n. 14. 
Wells, 73. 
WeUes, Lord, son of Richard Lord Welles, 25 n. 33, 112 n. 31, 113 n. 32, 
114. 
Welles, Richard Lord, Iviii, buuciv, 9 n. 8. 
Welles, Sir Robert, 112 n. 31, 224, 226, 227. 
Welshmen slain at Edgecote, 24 n. 30, 110 n. 24. 
Wemere, 134 n. 73. 
Wenlock, Lord, bud, hadii, 56, 69, 79 n. 10, 82, 127. 
Wentworth, Sir Philip^ liv, 106 n. 14. 
Westerdale, John, 38 n. 3, 40, 121. 
Westminster, 60, 88, 112, 117. 
Westminster, Abbot of, 120 n. 47. 
Westminster, Prior of, 120 n. 47. 
Westmoreland, Earl of, slain, 9. 
Weymouth, 69, 126 n. 58. 
Whittingham, Sir Robert, 127. 
Wight, Isle of, 183. 
Wigmore, Ixii. 
Willoughby, Lord, Iviii, buuiv, 112, 113. 
Wiltshire, 70. 
Wiltshire, Earl of, 9. 
Winchester, Bishop of, 117, 210. 
Winchester, Hospital of St. Cross, xiv. 
Winchester, Earl of, 150. 
Windsor, 26, 74. 
Windsor Castle, description of, 147. 
Windsor Castle, St. George's Chapel, 24. 
Wingfield, Dame Anne, 156. 
Wmstone, 217. 
Wolvesey, Palace of, xv n. 4. 
Woodville, Sir Edward, 279. 
Woodville, Sir John, brother to the Queen, 18 ; beheaded, 25 n. 11. 219. 
Wool, staple commodity, 173 n. 2. 
Woollen goods, 173. 
Worcester, 73, 83, 84, 114 n. 34 and 35, 115. 
INDEX. 309 
Worcester, John Tiptoft Earl of, xxxvii, Ixxxviii, 29 n. 37, 36 n. 1, 108, 
119 n. 45, 191; Ust of his works, 192 n. 2, 193; Uterary 
character, 194. 
Writtil, 184 n. 12, 186. 
Wrottesley, Russell, Su- Walter, 127. 
Wyrcester, William, 188, 199 n. 1 ; list of his works, 192. 
yelverton, Sir W., 184 n. 11. 
Yeovil, 74. 
Yonge, Thomas, xxxvi. 
York, City of, 39, 40, 41, 44, 85, 112 ; prodamation, 116 n. 37, 121. 
York, Duchess of, taken at Ludlow, 5 ; sent to her sister, 6 ; stands god- 
mother to the Princess Royal, 18; mediates between Edward IV. 
and Clarence, 50 n. 19, 61 ; her large family, 212 n. 1. 
York, George Neville, Archbishop of, Ixx, Ixxvi, Ixxviii ; invites Edward IV. 
to the Palace of the Moor, 26 n. 34, 112 n. 30; takes his seat 
in the parliament of Henry VI., 119 ; opposes Edward IV. entry 
into London, 57 n. 26 ; conducts Henry VI. through the city, 
58 n. 27, 133; his double dealing, 59, 123 n. 54, 137; delivers 
Henry VI. up to Edward IV. 60; visits the King at Windsor, 
136 ; purveys for the King's visit to the Moor, 136 ; his posses- 
sions confiscated, 137, 159 ; arrested 156 n. 75 ; imprisoned and 
dies in the castle of Hammes, 137, 142, 159. 
York, Richard, Duke of, xxiii. ; personal hatred of Suffolk, xxiv; cause of 
his murder, xxv; arrives with an armed force from Ireland, 
xxxiv; enters London, xxxiv; his pedigree, xxxvi; his chief 
supporters, xxxvii ; differences with Somerset, xxxvii ; goes to 
Ludlow, xxxix ; his petition to the King, xxxix ; letter to the 
citizens of Shrewsbury, xl ; marches to London and into Kent, 
xlii ; submits, and is pardoned, xliii ; he assumes the reigns of 
government on the King's illness, xlvi ; made Lord Protector, 
xlviii ; and governor of Calais, xlviii ; he is disgraced, ib, ; forms 
a conspiracy, xlix ; he commences the Civil War, and marches 
towards London, 1 ; first battle of St. Alban's won by him, lii ; 
he is made Constable of England, liii ; he takes a fresh oath of 
allegiance, Ivii; he is appointed Lord Protector, Iviii; creates 
peers, Iviii; discharged from his office, lix; supposed to have 
caused the riots, in 1456, Ix ; invited to meet the king at Co- 
ventry, but suspecting the object of the Queen, retires to Wig- 
more, Ixii ; arrives in Loudon to attend the meeting of the rival 
peers, Ixiii; leads the Queen in the procession to St. Paul's, 
Ixv; he prepares for war, Ixviii; assembles his followers at 
Ludeford, Ixviii ; his disgraceful conduct, and flight from Lud- 
low, Ixx, 5; he is attainted, Ixxi; well received in Ireland, 
Ixxii ; returns from Ireland, and employed in punishing loyalty 
to the King, as a crime against the people, Ixxviii ; advances his 
310 
INDEX. 
cUim to the crown, Izzii ; his hmglity md treasonable beha- 
vimir, Izu ; he u prodaimed heir to the throne, and made Lord 
Protector for life, Ixzxii ; spends his Christmas at Sandel Castle, 
lixiiii ; death at Wakefield, Ixxziii, 6 ; liis head placed on the 
gate at York, Ixxziii; incidentally mentioned, 38, 40, 41,42; 
liis large family, 212, 213. 
York, Richard Duke of, son of Edward IV., 152 ; married in childhood to 
Anne, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, 258 n. 15; Eari <f 
Warren and Surrey, and Earl of Nottingham, ib. 
Yorkshire, insurrection of, 110 n. 23. 
Young, Sir John, 93 n. 19, 131. 
Zeland, 36. 
William Stevens, Printer, Bell V^, Temple Bar. 
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