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CASSELL'S ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ENGLAND
CASSELL'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND
From the Wars of the Roses to the Great Rebellion
With Numerous Illustrations, Including Coloured and Rembrandt Plates
VOL. II
The King's Edition
Cassell and Company, Limited
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
MCMIX
All Rights Reserved
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
WARS OF THE ROSES. PAGE
Cade's Rebellion--York comes over from Ireland--His Claims
and the Unpopularity of the Reigning Line--His First
Appearance in Arms--Birth of the Prince of Wales--York made
Protector--Recovery of the King--Battle of St. Albans--York's
second Protectorate--Brief Reconciliation of Parties--Battle of
Blore Heath--Flight of the Yorkists--Battle of Northampton--York
Claims the Crown--The Lords Attempt a Compromise--Death of York
at Wakefield--Second Battle of St. Albans--The Young Duke of York
Marches on London--His Triumphant Entry 1
CHAPTER II.
REIGN OF EDWARD IV.
The Battle of Towton--Edward's Coronation--Henry escapes to
Scotland--The Queen seeks aid in France--Battle of Hexham--Henry
made Prisoner--Confined in the Tower--Edward marries Lady
Elizabeth Grey--Advancement of her Relations--Attacks on the
Family of the Nevilles--Warwick negotiates with France--Marriage
of Margaret, the King's Sister, to the Duke of Burgundy--Marriage
of the Duke of Clarence with a Daughter of Warwick--Battle of
Banbury--Rupture between the King and his Brother--Rebellion of
Clarence and Warwick--Clarence and Warwick flee to France--Warwick
proposes to restore Henry VI.--Marries Edward, Prince of Wales,
to his Daughter, Lady Ann Neville--Edward IV.'s reckless
Dissipation--Warwick and Clarence invade England--Edward
expelled--His return to England--Battle of Barnet--Battle
of Tewkesbury, and ruin of the Lancastrian Cause--Rivalry
of Clarence and Gloucester--Edward's Futile Intervention in
Foreign Politics--Becomes a Pensioner of France--Death of
Clarence--Expedition to Scotland--Death and Character of the King
17
CHAPTER III.
EDWARD V. AND RICHARD III.
Edward V. proclaimed--The Two Parties of the Queen and of
Gloucester--Struggle in the Council--Gloucester's Plans--The Earl
Rivers and his Friends imprisoned--Gloucester secures the King and
conducts him to London--Indignities to the young King--Execution
of Lord Hastings--A Base Sermon at St. Paul's Cross--Gloucester
pronounces the two young Princes illegitimate--The Farce at
the Guildhall--Gloucester seizes the Crown--Richard crowned
in London and again at York--Buckingham revolts against
him--Murder of the two Princes--Henry of Richmond--Failure
of Buckingham's Rising--Buckingham beheaded--Richards title
confirmed by Parliament--Queen Dowager and her Daughters quit the
Sanctuary--Death of Richard's Son and Heir--Proposes to Marry his
Niece, Elizabeth of York--Richmond lands at Milford Haven--His
Progress--The Troubles of Richard--The Battle of Bosworth--The
Fallen Tyrant--End of the Wars of the Roses 46
CHAPTER IV.
PROGRESS OF THE NATION IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
The Study of Latin and Greek--Invention of Printing--Caxton--New
Schools and Colleges--Architecture, Military, Ecclesiastical,
and Domestic--Sculpture, Painting, and Gilding--The Art of
War--Commerce and Shipping--Coinage 64
CHAPTER V.
REIGN OF HENRY VII.
Henry's Defective Title--Imprisonment of the Earl of Warwick--The
King's Title to the Throne--His Marriage--Love Rising--Lambert
Simnel--Henry's prompt Action--Failure of the Rebellion--The
Queen's Coronation--The Act of Maintenance--Henry's Ingratitude
to the Duke of Brittany--Discontent in England--Expedition to
France and its Results--Henry's Second Invasion--Treaty of
Étaples--Perkin Warbeck--His Adventures in Ireland, France,
and Burgundy--Henry's Measures--Descent on Kent--Warbeck in
Scotland--Invasion of England--The Cornish Rising--Warbeck
quits Scotland--He lands in Cornwall--Failure of the
Rebellion--Imprisonment of Warbeck and his subsequent
Execution--European Affairs--Marriages of Henry's Daughter and
Son--Betrothal of Catherine and Prince Henry--Henry's Matrimonial
Schemes--Royal Exactions--A Lucky Capture--Henry proposes for
Joanna--His Death 76
CHAPTER VI.
REIGN OF HENRY VIII.
The King's Accession--State of Europe--Henry and Julius
II.--Treaty between England and Spain--Henry is duped by
Ferdinand--New Combinations--Execution of Suffolk--Invasion of
France--Battle of Spurs--Invasion of England by the Scots--Flodden
Field--Death of James of Scotland--Louis breaks up the Holy
League--Peace with France--Marriage and Death of Louis XII.--Rise
of Wolsey--Affairs in Scotland--Francis I. in Italy--Death of
Maximilian--Henry a Candidate for the Empire--Election of
Charles--Field of the Cloth of Gold--Wolsey's Diplomacy--Failure
of his Candidature for the Papacy--The Emperor in London 102
CHAPTER VII.
REIGN OF HENRY VIII. (_continued_).
The War with France--The Earl of Surrey Invades that Country--Sir
Thomas More elected Speaker--Henry and Parliament--Revolt
of the Duke of Bourbon--Pope Adrian VI. dies--Clement VII.
elected--Francis I. taken Prisoner at the Battle of Pavia--Growing
Unpopularity of Wolsey--Change of Feeling at the English
Court--Treaty with France--Francis I. regains his liberty--Italian
League, including France and England, established against the
Emperor--Fall of the Duke of Bourbon at the Siege of Rome--Sacking
of Rome, and Capture of the Pope--Appearance of Luther--Henry
writes against the German Reformer--Henry receives from the
Pope the style and Designation of "Defender of the Faith"--Anne
Boleyn--Henry applies to the Pope for a Divorce from the
Queen--The Pope's Dilemma--War declared against Spain--Cardinal
Campeggio arrives in England to decide the Legality of Henry's
Marriage with Catherine--Trial of the Queen--Henry's Discontent
with Wolsey--Fall of Wolsey--His Banishment from Court and
Death--Cranmer's advice regarding the Divorce--Cromwell cuts the
Gordian Knot--Dismay of the Clergy--The King declared Head of the
Church in England--The King's Marriage with Anne Boleyn--Cranmer
made Archbishop--The Pope Reverses the Divorce--Separation of
England from Rome 130
CHAPTER VIII.
REIGN OF HENRY VIII. (_continued_).
The Maid of Kent and Her Accomplices--Act of Supremacy and
Consequent Persecutions--The "Bloody Statute"--Deaths of Fisher
and More--Suppression of the Smaller Monasteries--Trial and Death
of Anne Boleyn--Henry Marries Jane Seymour--Divisions in the
Church--The Pilgrimage of Grace--Birth of Prince Edward--Death
of Queen Jane--Suppression of the Larger Monasteries--The
Six Articles--Judicial Murders--Persecution of Cardinal
Pole--Cromwell's Marriage Scheme--Its Failure and his Fall 158
CHAPTER IX.
REIGN OF HENRY VIII. (_concluded_).
Divorce of Anne of Cleves--Catherine Howard's Marriage and
Death--Fresh Persecutions--Welsh Affairs--The Irish Insurrection
and its Suppression--Scottish Affairs--Catholic Opposition
to Henry--Outbreak of War--Battle of Solway Moss--French and
English Parties in Scotland--Escape of Beaton--Triumph of the
French Party--Treaty between England and Germany--Henry's Sixth
Marriage--Campaign in France--Expedition against Scotland--Capture
of Edinburgh--Fresh Attempt on England--Cardinal Beaton and
Wishart--Death of the Cardinal--Struggle between the two Parties
in England--Death of Henry 183
CHAPTER X.
REIGN OF EDWARD VI.
Accession of Edward VI.--Hertford's Intrigues--He becomes Duke
of Somerset and Lord Protector--War with Scotland--Battle of
Pinkie--Reversal of Henry's Policy--Religious Reforms--Ambition
of Lord Seymour of Sudeley--He marries Catherine Parr--His
Arrest and Death--Popular Discontents--Rebellion in
Devonshire and Cornwall--Ket's Rebellion in Norfolk--Warwick
Suppresses it--Opposition to Somerset--His Rapacity--Fall
of Somerset--Disgraceful Peace with France--Persecution of
Romanists--Somerset's Efforts to regain Power--His Trial and
Execution--New Treason Law--Northumberland's Schemes for Changing
the Succession--Death of Edward 204
CHAPTER XI.
REIGN OF MARY.
Proclamation of Lady Jane Grey--Mary's
Resistance--Northumberland's Failure--Mary is Proclaimed--The
Advice of Charles V.--Execution of Northumberland--Restoration
of the Roman Church--Proposed Marriage with Philip of
Spain--Consequent Risings throughout England--Wyatt's
Rebellion--Execution of Lady Jane Grey--Imprisonment of
Elizabeth--Marriage of Philip and Mary--England Accepts the Papal
Absolution--Persecuting Statutes Re-enacted--Martyrdom of Rogers,
Hooper, and Taylor--Di Castro's Sermon--Sickness of Mary--Trials
of Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer--Martyrdom of Ridley and
Latimer--Confession and Death of Cranmer--Departure of Philip--The
Dudley Conspiracy--Return of Philip--War with France--Battle of
St. Quentin--Loss of Calais--Death of Mary 221
CHAPTER XII.
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
Accession of Elizabeth--Sir William Cecil--The Coronation--Opening
of Parliament--Ecclesiastical Legislation--Consecration of
Parker--Elizabeth and Philip--Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis--Affairs
in Scotland--The First Covenant--Attitude of Mary of Guise--Riot
at Perth--Outbreak of Hostilities--The Lords of the Congregation
apply to England--Elizabeth hesitates--Siege of Leith--Treaty
of Edinburgh--Return of Mary to Scotland--Murray's Influence
over her--Beginning of the Religious Wars in France--Elizabeth
sends Help to the Huguenots--Peace of Amboise--English Disaster
at Havre--Peace with France--The Earl of Leicester--Project of
his Marriage with Mary--Lord Darnley--Murder of Rizzio--Birth
of Mary's Son--Murder of Darnley--Mary and Bothwell--Carberry
Hill--Mary in Lochleven--Abdicates in favour of her Infant
Son--Mary's Escape from Lochleven--Defeated at Langside--Her
Escape into England 246
CHAPTER XIII.
REIGN OF ELIZABETH (_continued_).
Elizabeth Determines to Imprison Mary--The Conference at
York--It is Moved to London--The Casket Letters--Mary is sent
Southwards--Remonstrances of the European Sovereigns--Affairs
in the Netherlands--Alva is sent Thither--Elizabeth Aids the
Insurgents--Proposed Marriage between Mary and Norfolk--The
Plot is Discovered--Rising in the North--Its Suppression--Death
of the Regent Murray--Its Consequences in Scotland--Religious
Persecutions--Execution of Norfolk--Massacre of St.
Bartholomew--Siege of Edinburgh Castle--War in France--Splendid
Defence of La Rochelle--Death of Charles IX.--Religious War in the
Netherlands--Rule of Don John--The Anjou Marriage--Deaths of Anjou
and of William the Silent 274
CHAPTER XIV.
REIGN OF ELIZABETH (_continued_).
Affairs of Ireland: Shane O'Neil's Rebellion--Plantation of
Ulster--Spanish Descent on Ireland--Desmond's Rebellion--Religious
Conformity--Campian and Parsons--The Anabaptists--Affairs
of Scotland--Death of Morton--Success of the Catholics in
Scotland--The Raid of Ruthven--Elizabeth's Position--Throgmorton's
Plot--Association to Protect Elizabeth--Mary removed
to Tutbury--Support of the Protestant Cause on the
Continent--Leicester in the Netherlands--Babington's Plot--Trial
of Mary--Her Condemnation--Hesitation of Elizabeth--Execution of
Mary 295
CHAPTER XV.
REIGN OF ELIZABETH (_concluded_).
State of Europe on the Death of Mary--Preparations of Philip
of Spain--Exploits of English Sailors--Drake Singes the King
of Spain's Beard--Preparations against the Armada--Loyalty of
the Roman Catholics--Arrival of the Armada in the Channel--Its
Disastrous Course and Complete Destruction--Elizabeth at
Tilbury--Death of Leicester--Persecution of the Puritans and
Catholics--Renewed Expeditions against Spain--Accession of Henry
of Navarre to the French Throne--He is helped by Elizabeth--Essex
takes Cadiz--His Quarrels with the Cecils--His Second Expedition
and Rupture with the Queen--Troubles in Ireland--Essex appointed
Lord-Deputy--His Failure--The Essex Rising--Execution of
Essex--Mountjoy in Ireland--The Debate on Monopolies--Victory of
Mountjoy--Weakness of Elizabeth--Her last Illness and Death 313
CHAPTER XVI.
THE PROGRESS OF THE NATION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
The Tudors and the Nation--The Church--Population and
Wealth--Royal Prerogative--Legislation of Henry VIII.--The Star
Chamber--Beneficial Legislation--Treason Laws--Legislation
of Edward and Mary--Elizabeth's Policy--Religion and
the Church--Sketch of Ecclesiastical History under the
Tudors--Literature, Science, and Art--Greatness of the
Period--Foundation of Colleges and Schools--Revival of
Learning--Its Temporary Decay--Prose Writers of the Period--The
Poets--Scottish Bards--Music--Architecture--Painting and
Sculpture--Furniture and Decorations--Arms and Armour--Costumes,
Coins, and Coinage--Ships, Commerce, Colonies, and
Manufactures--Manners and Customs--Condition of the People 342
CHAPTER XVII.
REIGN OF JAMES I.
The Stuart Dynasty--Hopes and Fears caused by the Accession of
James--The King enters England--His Progress to London--Lavish
Creation of Peers and Knights--The Royal Entrance into the
Metropolis--The Coronation--Popularity of Queen Anne--Ravages
of the Plague--The King Receives Foreign Embassies--Rivalry
of the Diplomatists of France and Spain--Discontent of
Raleigh, Northumberland, and Cobham--Conspiracies against
James--"The Main" and "The Bye"--Trials of the Conspirators--The
Sentences--Conference with Puritans--Parliament of
1604--Persecution of Catholics and Puritans--Gunpowder
Plot--Admission of Fresh Members--Delays and Devices--The
Letter to Lord Mounteagle--Discovery of the Plot--Flight of the
Conspirators--Their Capture and Execution--New Penal Code--James's
Correspondence with Bellarmine--Cecil's attempts to get
Money--Project of Union between England and Scotland--The King's
Collisions with Parliament--Insurrection of the Levellers--Royal
Extravagance and Impecuniosity--Fresh Disputes with Parliament and
Assertions of the Prerogative--Death of Cecil--Story of Arabella
Stuart--Death of Prince Henry 404
CHAPTER XVIII.
REIGN OF JAMES I (_concluded_).
Reign of Favourites--Robert Carr--His Marriage--Death of
Overbury--Venality at Court--The Addled Parliament--George
Villiers--Fall of Somerset--Disgrace of Coke--Bacon becomes
Lord Chancellor--Position of England Abroad--The Scottish
Church--Introduction of Episcopacy--Andrew Melville--Visit
of James to Scotland--The Book of Sports--Persecution of the
Irish Catholics--Examination into Titles--Rebellion of the
Chiefs--Plantation of Ulster--Fresh Confiscations--Quarrel
between Bacon and Coke--Prosperity of Buckingham--Raleigh's
Last Voyage--His Execution--Beginning of the Thirty Years'
War--Indecision of James--Despatch of Troops to the
Palatinate--Parliament of 1621--Impeachment of Bacon--His
Fall--Floyd's Case--James's Proceedings during the
Recess--Dissolution of Parliament--Reasons for the Spanish
Match--Charles and Buckingham go to Spain--The Match is Broken
Off--Punishment of Bristol--Popularity of Buckingham--Change of
Foreign Policy--Marriage of Charles and Henrietta Maria--Death
of James 448
CHAPTER XIX.
REIGN OF CHARLES I.
Accession of Charles--His Marriage--Meeting of Parliament--Loan
of Ships to Richelieu--Dissolution of Parliament--Failure of
the Spanish Expedition--Persecution of the Catholics--The
Second Parliament--It appoints three Committees--Impeachment
of Buckingham--Parliament dissolved to save him--Illegal
Government--High Church Doctrines--Rupture with France--Disastrous
Expedition to Rhé--The Third Parliament--The Petition of
Right--Resistance and Final Surrender of Charles--Parliament
Prorogued--Assassination of Buckingham--Fall of La
Rochelle--Parliament Reassembles and is Dissolved--Imprisonment
of Offending Members--Government without Parliament--Peace
with France and Spain--Gustavus Adolphus in Germany--Despotic
Proceedings of Charles and Laud 508
CHAPTER XX.
Reign of Charles I (_continued_).
Visit of Charles to Scotland--Laud and the Papal See--His
Ecclesiastical Measures--Punishment of Prynne, Bastwick, and
Burton--Disgrace of Williams--Ship-money--Resistance of John
Hampden--Wentworth in the North--Recall of Falkland from
Ireland--Wentworth's Measures--Inquiry into Titles--Prelacy
Riots in Edinburgh--Jenny Geddes's Stool--The Tables--Renewal
of the Covenant--Charles makes Concessions--The General
Assembly--Preparations for War--Charles at York--Leslie at
Dunse Hill--A Conference held--Treaty of Berwick--Arrest of
Loudon--Insult from the Dutch--Wentworth in England--The Short
Parliament--Riots in London--Preparations of the Scots--Mutiny in
the English Army--Invasion of England--Treaty of Ripon--Meeting of
the Long Parliament--Impeachment of Strafford--His Trial--He is
abandoned by Charles--His Execution--The King's Visit to
Scotland 550
[Illustration: DANDY OF THE TIME OF CHARLES I.
(_From a Broadside, dated 1646._)]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Dandy of the Time of Charles I. IX
Eltham Palace, from the North-east 1
The Duke of York Challenged to Mortal Combat 5
View in Lübeck: The Church of St. Ægidius 9
Clifford's Tower: York Castle 12
Rutland beseeching Clifford to spare his Life 13
The Quarrel in the Temple Gardens 17
Edward IV. 20
Dunstanburgh Castle 21
Great Seal of Edward IV. 25
Gold Rose Noble of Edward IV. 28
Preaching at St. Paul's Cross 29
Battle of Barnet: Death of the King-maker 33
Burial of King Henry 37
Louis XI. and the Herald 41
St. Andrews, from the Pier 45
Great Seal of Edward V. 48
Edward V. 49
The Tower of London: Bloody and Wakefield Towers 52
Great Seal of Richard III. 53
The Princes in the Tower 56
Richard III. 57
Richard III. at the Battle of Bosworth 61
Facsimile of Caxton's Printing in the "Dictes and Sayings
of Philosophers," (1477) 65
Earl Rivers Presenting Caxton to Edward IV. 65
The Quadrangle, Eton College 68
Interior of King's College Chapel, Cambridge 69
Street in London in the Fifteenth Century 73
Cannon of the End of the Fifteenth Century 75
Great Seal of Henry VII. 77
Henry VII. 80
The Last Stand of Schwarz and his Germans 81
Penny of Henry VII. Angel of Henry VII. Noble of Henry VII.
Sovereign of Henry VII. 85
Stirling Castle 89
St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall 92
Lady Catherine Gordon before Henry VII. 93
The Byward Tower, Tower of London 97
King Henry's Departure from Henningham Castle 100
Henry VII.'s Chapel, Westminster Abbey 101
Great Seal of Henry VIII. 105
Meeting of Henry and the Emperor Maximilian 108
Henry and the captured French Officers 109
Edinburgh after Flodden 113
Archbishop Warham 117
Hampton Court Palace 121
Henry VIII. 125
Great Ship of Henry VIII. 129
Stirling, from the Abbey Craig 132
Cardinal Wolsey 133
Silver Groat of Henry VIII. Gold Crown of Henry VIII.
George Noble of Henry VIII. 136
Pound Sovereign of Henry VIII. Double Sovereign of
Henry VIII. 137
Surrender of Francis on the Battle-field of Pavia 141
Martin Luther 145
The Trial of Queen Catherine 149
The Dismissal of Wolsey 153
The Tower of London: Sketch in the Gardens 157
Sir Thomas More 160
The Parting of Sir Thomas More and his Daughter 161
Anne Boleyn 165
Anne Boleyn's Last Farewell of her Ladies 168
St. Peter's Chapel, Tower Green, London, where Anne
Boleyn was Buried 169
The Pilgrimage of Grace 173
Gateway of Kirkham Priory 176
Beauchamp Tower, and Place of Execution within the
Tower of London 177
Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex 181
Catherine Howard being conveyed to the Tower 185
Capture of the Fitzgeralds 188
The First Levee of Mary Queen of Scots 192
View in St. Andrews: North Street 193
Francis I. 197
The Assassination of Cardinal Beaton 201
Edward VI. 205
Great Seal of Edward VI. 209
The Royal Herald in Ket's Camp 212
Old Somerset House, London 213
The Duke of Somerset 217
Silver Crown of Edward VI. 219
Sixpence of Edward VI. Shilling of Edward VI. Pound
Sovereign of Edward VI. Triple Sovereign of Edward VI. 220
Queen Mary and the State Prisoners in the Tower 221
Great Seal of Philip and Mary 224
View from the Constable's Garden, Tower of London 225
Old London Bridge, with Nonsuch Palace 229
Lady Jane Grey on her way to the Scaffold 233
Archbishop Cranmer 237
The Place of Martyrdom, Old Smithfield 240
Mary I. 241
The Hôtel de Ville and Old Lighthouse, Calais 244
Shilling of Philip and Mary. Real of Mary I. 245
Elizabeth's Public Entry into London 249
Elizabeth 252
Autograph of Elizabeth 253
Mar's Work, Stirling 257
Great Seal of Elizabeth 260
Mary, Queen of Scots 261
The Murder of Rizzio 265
Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh 269
Mary Signing the Deed of Abdication in Lochleven Castle 273
Lord Burleigh 276
Farthing of Elizabeth. Halfpenny of Elizabeth. Penny
of Elizabeth. Twopence of Elizabeth. Half-crown
of Elizabeth. Half-sovereign of Elizabeth 277
The Duke of Norfolk's Interview with Elizabeth 281
The Regent Murray 284
High Street, Linlithgow 285
Kenilworth Castle 289
The House of the English Ambassador during the Massacre
of St. Bartholomew 293
Murder of the Earl of Desmond 297
The Earl of Arran accusing Morton of the Murder of Darnley 300
Dumbarton Rock, with view of Castle 301
The Earl of Leicester 305
Trial of Mary Queen of Scots in Fotheringay Castle 309
Mary Queen of Scots receiving Intimation of her Doom 312
Sir Francis Drake 317
The Hoe, Plymouth 320
The Armada in Sight 321
Philip II. 325
Beauchamp Tower, Warders' Houses, and Yeoman Gaolers'
Lodgings: Tower of London 329
The Quarrel between Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex 332
The Earl of Essex 333
Lord Grey and his Followers Attacking the Earl of
Southampton 337
Elizabeth's Promenade on Richmond Green 340
Richmond Palace 341
Town and Country Folk of Elizabeth's Reign 345
State Trial in Westminster Hall in the Time of Elizabeth 349
John Knox 353
Reduced Facsimile of the Title-page of the Great Bible,
also called Cromwell's Bible 357
Christ's Hospital, London 361
Latimer Preaching before Edward VI. 364
Roger Ascham's Visit to Lady Jane Grey 365
Edmund Spenser 369
The House at Stratford-on-Avon in which Shakespeare was Born 373
Shakespeare 376
The Acting of one of Shakespeare's Plays in the Time of
Queen Elizabeth 377
Queen Elizabeth's Cither and Music-book 379
Holland House, Kensington 380
The Great Court of Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire 381
Entrance from the Courtyard of Burleigh House, Stamford 383
Elizabeth's Drawing-room, Penshurst Place 384
Soldiers of the Tudor Period 385
The Wedding of Jack of Newbury: The Bride's Procession 389
Ships of Elizabeth's Time 393
The First Royal Exchange, London (Founded by Sir Thomas
Gresham) 396
Sir Thomas Gresham 397
The Frolic of My Lord of Misrule 401
Punishment of the Stocks 403
James I. 405
St. Thomas's Tower and Traitor's Gate, Tower of London 409
Sir Walter Raleigh 412
The Dissenting Divines Presenting their Petition to James 413
The Old Palace, Westminster, in the time of Charles I. 417
Great Seal of James I. 420
Guy Fawkes's Cellar under Parliament House 421
Lord Monteagle and the Warning Letter about the Gunpowder
Plot 425
Arrest of Guy Fawkes 428
Pound Sovereign of James I. Unit or Laurel of James I.
(Gold). Spur Rial of James I. (Gold).
Thistle Crown of James I. (Gold) 432
Sir Robert Cecil, afterwards Earl of Salisbury 433
Shilling of James I. Crown of James I. 436
James and his Courtiers setting out for the Hunt 437
The Star Chamber 441
Flight of the Lady Arabella Stuart 444
Notre Dame, Caudebec 445
Sir Francis Bacon (Viscount St. Albans) 449
The Banqueting House, Whitehall 452
Greenwich Palace in the time of James I. 456
Sir Edward Coke 457
Andrew Melville before the Scottish Privy Council 461
Keeping Sunday, according to King James's Book of Sports 465
Parliament House, Dublin, in the Seventeenth Century 469
Sir Francis Bacon waiting an Audience of Buckingham 472
Arrest of Sir Walter Raleigh 476
Sir Walter Raleigh before the Judges 477
The Franzensring, Vienna 481
Interview between Bacon and the Deputation from the Lords 484
George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham 485
The Fleet Prison 489
Public Reception of Prince Charles in Madrid 493
Prince Charles's Farewell of the Infanta 497
The Royal Palace, Madrid 500
The Ladies of the French Court and the Portrait of
Prince Charles 504
Henrietta Maria 505
Great Seal of Charles I. 509
Charles welcoming his Queen to England 512
Charles I. 513
Reception of Viscount Wimbledon at Plymouth 516
York House (The Duke of Buckingham's Mansion) 517
Trial of Buckingham 521
Interior of the Banqueting House, Whitehall 525
Sir John Eliot 529
Assassination of the Duke of Buckingham 533
Tyburn in the time of Charles I. 537
Three Pound Piece of Charles I. Broad of Charles I.
Briot Shilling of Charles I. 540
John Selden 541
Scene in the House of Commons: The Speaker Coerced 545
Interior of Old St. Paul's 549
Dunblane 552
Archbishop Laud 553
John Lilburne on the Pillory 557
The Birmingham Tower, Dublin Castle 561
Sir Thomas Wentworth (Earl of Strafford) 564
The People Signing the Covenant in St. Giles's Church,
Edinburgh 568
St. Giles's Church, Edinburgh, in the 17th Century 569
The Old College, Glasgow, in the 17th Century 573
Charles and the Scottish Commissioners 577
John Hampden 581
Guildhall, London, in the time of Charles I. 585
Advance of the Covenanters across the Border into England 589
John Pym 592
Arrest of the Earl of Strafford 593
Westminster Hall and Palace Yard in the time of Charles I. 597
Charles Signing the Commission of Assent to Strafford's
Attainder 601
The Old Parliament House, Edinburgh 604
The Marquis of Montrose 605
LIST OF PLATES
DEPARTURE OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH FROM GENOA IN 1390 TO
CHASTISE THE BARBARY CORSAIRS.
(_From the Froissart MS. in the British Museum_) _Frontispiece_
THE CROWN OF ENGLAND BEING OFFERED TO RICHARD, DUKE OF
GLOUCESTER, AT BAYNARD'S CASTLE, IN 1483.
(_By Sigismund Goetze_) _To face p._ 50
CAXTON SHOWING THE FIRST SPECIMEN OF HIS PRINTING TO KING
EDWARD IV., AT THE ALMONRY, WESTMINSTER.
(_By Daniel Maclise, R.A._) " 64
THE GRAND ASSAULT UPON THE TOWN OF AFRICA BY THE ENGLISH
AND FRENCH. (_From the Froissart MS.
in the British Museum_) " 72
FROISSART PRESENTING HIS BOOK OF LOVE POEMS TO RICHARD II.,
IN 1395.--THE LANDING OF THE LADY DE COUCY AT BOULOGNE.
(_From the Froissart MS. in the British Museum_) " 74
CARDINAL WOLSEY GOING IN PROCESSION TO WESTMINSTER HALL.
(_By Sir John Gilbert, R.A., P.R.W.S._) " 118
CARDINAL WOLSEY AT LEICESTER ABBEY. (_By Sir John Gilbert,
R.A., P.R.W.S._) " 154
SWEETHEARTS AND WIVES. (MOSS-TROOPERS RETURNING FROM A
FORAY.) (_By S. E. Waller_) " 190
LADY JANE GREY'S RELUCTANCE TO ACCEPT THE CROWN OF ENGLAND.
(_By C. R. Leslie, R.A._) " 222
CRANMER AT TRAITORS' GATE. (_By F. Goodall, R.A._) " 226
QUEEN ELIZABETH. (_By F. Zucchero_) " 246
THE PREACHING OF JOHN KNOX BEFORE THE LORDS OF THE
CONGREGATION, 10TH JUNE, 1559. (_By Sir David Wilkie,
R.A._) " 256
THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA. (_By Albert Goodwin, R.W.S._) " 312
"THE SURRENDER": AN INCIDENT OF THE SPANISH ARMADA.
(_By Seymour Lucas, R.A._) " 322
A STORY OF THE SPANISH MAIN. (_By Seymour Lucas, R.A._) " 338
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. (_From the Painting known as the
Chandos Portrait, and attributed to Richard Burbage,
in the National Portrait Gallery_) " 374
MAP OF THE WORLD AT THE END OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY,
SHOWING THE DISCOVERIES OF BRITISH AND OTHER EXPLORERS " 394
THE DEPARTURE OF THE "MAYFLOWER." (_By A. W. Bayes_) " 474
ILLUMINATED PAGE, WITH BORDERING. (_From the Froissart MS.
in the British Museum_) " 512
VISIT OF CHARLES I. TO THE GUILDHALL.
(_By Solomon J. Solomon, R.A._) " 582
STRAFFORD GOING TO EXECUTION. (_By Paul Delaroche_) " 604
[Illustration:
_From the Froissart MS. in the British Museum._
_Reproduced by André & Sleigh, Ld., Buskey, Herts._
DEPARTURE OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH FROM GENOA IN 1390 TO CHASTISE THE
BARBARY CORSAIRS.
THE PERSONAGE IN THE PLACE OF HONOUR IN THE ROWING-BOAT IS BELIEVED TO
BE THE DUKE OF BOURBON. THE VESSEL IN THE CENTRE CONTAINS SEVERAL FRENCH
KNIGHTS: IN THAT ON THE LEFT IS HENRY DE BEAUFORT (A NATURAL SON OF THE
DUKE OF LANCASTER), WITH ENGLISH KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES.]
[Illustration: ELTHAM PALACE, FROM THE NORTH-EAST. (_After an Engraving
published in 1735._)]
CASSELL'S
ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAPTER I.
THE WARS OF THE ROSES.
Cade's Rebellion--York comes over from Ireland--His Claims
and the Unpopularity of the Reigning Line--His First
Appearance in Arms--Birth of the Prince of Wales--York made
Protector--Recovery of the King--Battle of St. Albans--York's
second Protectorate--Brief Reconciliation of Parties--Battle of
Blore Heath--Flight of the Yorkists--Battle of Northampton--York
Claims the Crown--The Lords Attempt a Compromise--Death of York
at Wakefield--Second Battle of St. Albans--The Young Duke of York
Marches on London--His Triumphant Entry.
Henry the Sixth and his queen were plunged into grief and consternation
at the extraordinary death of Suffolk in 1450. They saw that a powerful
party was engaged in thus defeating their attempt to rescue Suffolk
from his enemies by a slight term of exile; and they strongly suspected
that the Duke of York, though absent in his government of Ireland, was
at the bottom of it. It was more than conjectured that he entertained
serious designs of profiting by the unpopularity of the Government to
assert his claims to the crown. This ought to have made the king and
queen especially circumspect, but, so far from this being the case,
Henry announced his resolve to punish the people of Kent for the murder
of Suffolk, which had been perpetrated on their coast. The queen was
furious in her vows of vengeance. These unwise demonstrations incurred
the anger of the people, and especially irritated the inhabitants of
Kent. To add to the popular discontent, Somerset, who had lost by his
imbecility the French territories, was made minister in the place of
Suffolk, and invested with all the favour of the court. The people in
several counties threatened to rise and reform the Government; and the
opportunity was seized by a bold adventurer of the name of John Cade,
an Irishman, to attempt a revolution. He selected Kent as the quarter
more pre-eminently in a state of excitement against the prevailing
misrule, and declaring that he belonged to the royal line of Mortimer,
and was cousin to the Duke of York, he gave himself out to be the son of
Sir John Mortimer, who, on a charge of high treason, had been executed
in the beginning of this reign, without trial or evidence. The lenity
which Henry V. had always shown to the Mortimers--their title being
superior to his own, their position near the throne was of course an
element of danger--had not been imitated by Bedford and Gloucester, the
infant king's uncles, and their neglect of the forms of a regular trial
had only strengthened the opinions of the people as to the Mortimer
rights. No sooner, therefore, did Jack Cade assume this popular name,
than the people, burning with the anger of the hour against the unlucky
dynasty, flocked, to the number of 20,000, to his standard, and advanced
to Blackheath. Emissaries were sent into London to stir up the people
there, and induce them to open their gates and join the movement. As the
Government, taken by surprise, was destitute of the necessary troops on
the spot to repel so formidable a body of insurgents, it put on the same
air of moderation which Richard II. had done in Tyler's rebellion, and
many messages passed between the king and the pretended Mortimer, or, as
he also called himself, John Amend-all.
In reply to the king's inquiry as to the cause of this assembly, Cade
sent in "The Complaints of the Commons of Kent, and the Causes of the
Assembly on Blackheath." These documents were ably and artfully drawn.
They professed the most affectionate attachment to the king, and demanded
the redress of what were universally known to be real and enormous
grievances. The wrongs were those under which the kingdom had long been
smarting--the loss of the territories in France, and the loss of the
national honour with them, through the treason and mal-administration of
the ministers; the usurpation of the Crown lands by the greedy courtiers,
and the consequent shifting of the royal expenditure to the shoulders of
the people, with the scandals, offences, and robberies of purveyance.
The "Complaints" asserted that the people of Kent had been especially
victimised and ill-used by the sheriffs and tax-gatherers, and that the
free elections of their knights of the shire had been prevented. They
declared, moreover, that corrupt men were employed at court, and the
princes of the blood and honest men kept out of power.
Government undertook to examine into these causes of complaint, and
promised an answer; but the people soon were aware that this was only
a pretence to gain time, and that the answer would be presented at the
point of the sword. Jack Cade, therefore, sent out what he called "The
Requests of the Captain of the Great Assembly in Kent." These "Requests"
were based directly on the previous complaints, and were that the king
should renew the grants of the Crown, and so enable himself to live on
his own income, without fleecing the people; that he should dismiss all
corrupt councillors, and all the progeny of the Duke of Suffolk, and
take into his service his right trusty cousins and noble peers, the
Duke of York, now banished to Ireland, the Dukes of Exeter, Buckingham,
and Norfolk. This looked assuredly as if those who drew up those papers
for Cade were in the interest of the York party, and the more so as the
document went on to denounce the traitors who had compassed the death of
that excellent prince the Duke of Gloucester, and of their holy father
the cardinal, and who had so shamefully caused the loss of Maine, Anjou,
Normandy, and our other lands in France. The assumed murder of the
cardinal, who had died almost in public, and surrounded by the ceremonies
of the Church, was too ridiculous, and was probably thrown in to hide the
actual party at work. The "Requests" then demanded summary execution on
the detested collectors and extortioners, Crowmer, Lisle, Este, and Sleg.
The court had now a force ready equal to that of the insurgents, and
sent it under Sir Humphrey Stafford to answer the "Requests" by cannon
and matchlock. Cade retreated to Sevenoaks, where, taking advantage of
Stafford's too hasty pursuit, with only part of his forces, he fell upon
his troops, put them to flight, killed Stafford, and, arraying himself
in the slain man's armour, advanced again to his former position on
Blackheath.
This unexpected success threw the court into a panic. The soldiers
who had gone to Sevenoaks had gone unwillingly; and those left on
Blackheath now declared that they knew not why they should fight their
fellow-countrymen for only asking redress of undoubted grievances.
The nobles, who were at heart adverse to the present ministers, found
this quite reasonable, and the court was obliged to assume an air of
concession. The Lord Say, who had been one of Suffolk's most obsequious
instruments, and was regarded by the people as a prime agent in the
making over of Maine and Anjou, was sent to the Tower with some inferior
officers. The king was advised to disband his army, and retire to
Kenilworth; and Lord Scales, with a thousand men, undertook to defend the
Tower. Cade advanced from Blackheath, took possession of Southwark, and
demanded entrance into the city of London.
The lord mayor summoned a council, in which the proposal was debated;
and it was concluded to offer no resistance. On the 3rd of July Cade
marched over the bridge, and took up his quarters in the heart of the
capital. He took the precaution to cut the ropes of the drawbridge with
his sword as he passed, to prevent his being caught, as in a trap; and,
maintaining strict discipline amongst his followers, he led them back
into the Borough in the evening. The next day he reappeared in the same
circumspect and orderly manner; and, compelling the lord mayor and
the judges to sit in Guildhall, he brought Lord Say before them, and
arraigned him on a charge of high treason. Say demanded to be tried by
his peers; but he was hurried away to the standard in Cheapside, and
beheaded. His son-in-law, Crowmer, sheriff of Kent, was served in the
same manner. The Duchess of Suffolk, the Bishop of Salisbury, Thomas
Daniel, and others, were accused of the like high crimes, but, luckily,
were not to be found. The bishop had already fallen at the hands of his
own tenants at Edington, in Wiltshire.
On the third day Cade's followers plundered some of the houses of the
citizens; and the Londoners, calling in Lord Scales with his 1,000 men to
aid them, resolved that Cade should be prevented from again entering the
city. Cade received notice of this from some of his partisans, and rushed
to the bridge in the night to secure it. He found it already in the
possession of the citizens. There was a bloody battle, which lasted for
six hours, when the insurgents drew off, and left the Londoners masters
of the bridge.
On receiving this news, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, who were
in the Tower, determined to try the ruse which had succeeded with the
followers of Wat Tyler. They therefore sent the Bishop of Winchester to
promise redress of grievances, and a full pardon under the great seal,
for every one who should at once return to their homes. After some demur,
the terms were gratefully accepted; Cade himself embraced the offered
grace, according to the subsequent proclamation against him, dated the
10th of July; but quickly repenting of his credulity, he once more
unfurled his banner, and found a number of men ready to rejoin it. This
mere remnant of the insurgent host, however, was utterly incapable of
effecting anything against the city; they retired to Deptford, and thence
to Rochester, hoping to gather a fresh army. But the people had now
cooled; the rioters began to divide their plunder and to quarrel over it;
and Cade, seeing all was lost, and fearing that he should be seized for
the reward of 1,000 marks offered for his head, fled on horseback towards
Lewes. Disguising himself, he lurked about in secret places, till, being
discovered in a garden at Heathfield, in Kent, by Alexander Iden, the
new sheriff; he was, after a short battle, killed by Iden, and his body
carried to London.
That the party of the Duke of York had some concern in Cade's rebellion,
the Government not only suspected, but several of Cade's followers when
brought to execution, are said to have confessed as much. But stronger
evidence of the fact is, that there was an immediate rumour that the duke
himself was preparing to cross over to England. The court at once issued
orders in the king's name, to forbid his coming, and to oppose any armed
attempt on his part. The duke defeated this scheme by appearing without
any retinue whatever, trusting to the good-will of the people. His
confidence in thus coming at once to the very court put the Government,
which had shown such suspicion of him, completely in the wrong in the eye
of the public.
We are now on the eve of that contest for the possession of the crown,
which figures so eminently in history as the Wars of the Roses. The
accession of Henry IV., productive of very bloody consequences at the
time, had nearly been forgotten through the brilliant successes of his
son, Henry V.; but still the heirs of the true line, according to the
doctrine of lineal descent, were in existence. The Mortimers, Earls of
March, had been spared by the usurping family; and Richard, Duke of
York, was now the representative of that line. To understand clearly
how the Mortimers, and from them Richard, Duke of York, took precedence
of Henry VI., according to lineal descent, we must recollect that Henry
IV. was the son of John of Gaunt, who was the fourth son of Edward III.
On the deposition of Richard II., who was the son of the Black Prince,
the eldest son of Edward III., there was living the Earl of March, the
grandson of Lionel, the _third_ son of Edward III., who had clearly the
right to precede Henry. This right had been, moreover, recognised by
Parliament. But Henry of Lancaster, disregarding this claim, seized on
the crown by force, yet took no care to destroy the true claimant. Now,
the Duke of York, who was paternally descended from Edmund of Langley,
the fifth son of Edward III., was also maternally the lineal descendant
of Lionel, the third son through the daughter and heiress of Mortimer,
the Earl of March. By this descent he preceded the descendants of Henry
IV., and was by right of heirship the undoubted claimant of the English
crown.
The Marches had shown no disposition whatever to assert that right, and
this had proved their safety. They had been for several generations a
particularly modest and unambitious race; and so long as the descendants
of Henry IV. had proved able or popular monarchs, their claim would
have lain in abeyance. But they were never forgotten; and now that the
imbecility and long minority of Henry VI. had created strong factions,
and disgusted the people, this claim was zealously revived. Henry IV. had
but one real and indefeasible claim to the throne--namely, that of the
election of the people, had he chosen to accept it; but this he proudly
rejected, and took his stand on his lineal descent from Edward III.,
where the heirs of his uncle Lionel had entirely the advantage of him.
The people who had favoured, and would have adopted Henry IV., had now
become alienated from the house of Lancaster, through the incapacity
of the present king, by which they had lost the whole of their ancient
possessions, as well as their conquests in France. Nothing remained but
heavy taxation and national exhaustion, as the net result of all the
wars in that kingdom. In this respect the very glory of Henry V. became
the ruin of his son. While the people complained of their poverty and
oppression in consequence of those wars, they were doubly harassed by the
factious quarrels of the king's relatives. They had attached themselves
to the Duke of Gloucester, and he had been murdered by these cliques,
and, as was generally believed, at the instigation of the queen. Queen
Margaret, indeed, completed the alienation of the people from the house
of Lancaster. She was not only French--a nation now in the worst odour
with the people of England--but through her they had lost Maine and Anjou.
These circumstances now drew the hearts of the people as strongly
towards the Duke of York, as they had formerly been attracted to the
house of Lancaster. They began to regard him with interest, as a person
whose rights to the throne had been unjustly overlooked. He was a man
who seemed to possess much of the modest and amiable character of the
Marches. He had been recalled from France, where he was ably conducting
himself, by the influence of the queen, as was believed, and sent as
governor into Ireland, as a sort of honourable banishment. But though
treated in a manner calculated to provoke him, he had retained the
unassuming moderation of his demeanour. He had yet made no public
pretensions to the crown, and though circumstances seemed to invite him,
showed no haste to seize it. There were many circumstances, indeed,
which tended to make all parties hesitate to proceed to extremities.
True, the queen was highly unpopular, but Henry, though weak, was so
amiable, pious, and just, that the people, although groaning under the
consequences of his weakness, yet retained much affection for him. There
were also numbers of nobles of great influence who had benefited by the
long minority of the king, and who, much as they disliked the queen's
party, were afraid of being called on, in case another dynasty was
established, to yield up the valuable grants which they had obtained.
Thus the kingdom was divided into three parties: those who took part with
Somerset and the queen, those who inclined to the Duke of York, and those
who, having benefited by the long reign of corruption, were afraid of any
change, and endeavoured to hold the balance betwixt the extreme parties.
Almost all the nobles of the North of England were zealous supporters of
the house of Lancaster, and with them went the Earl of Westmoreland, the
head of the house of Neville, though the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick,
the most influential members of the family, were the chief champions of
the cause of York. With the Duke of Somerset also followed, in support of
the crown, Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter, Stafford, Duke of Buckingham,
the Earl of Shrewsbury, and the Lords Clifford, Dudley, Scales, Audley,
and other noblemen. With the Duke of York, besides the Earls of Salisbury
and Warwick, went many of the southern houses.
[Illustration: THE DUKE OF YORK CHALLENGED TO MORTAL COMBAT. (_See p._
6.)]
Such was the state of public feeling and the position of parties when
the insurrection of Cade occurred. The Duke of York had made himself
additionally popular by his conduct in Ireland. He had shown great
prudence and ability in suppressing the insurrections of the natives;
and thus made fast friends of all the English who had connections in
that island. No doubt the members of his own party used every argument
to incite the duke to assert his right to the throne, and so to free the
country from the dominance of the queen and her favourites. That it was
the general opinion that the Cade conspiracy was a direct feeler on the
part of the Yorkists, is clear from Shakespeare, who wrote so much nearer
to that day. But when York appeared upon the scene, Cade had already paid
the penalty of his outbreak. On his way to town, York, passing through
Northamptonshire, sent for William Tresham, the late Speaker of the House
of Commons, who had taken an active part in the prosecution of Suffolk.
But, on his way to the duke, Tresham was fallen upon by the men of Lord
Grey de Ruthin, and murdered. York proceeded to London, as related, and
appeared before the king, where he demanded of him to summon a Parliament
for the settlement of the disturbed affairs of the realm. Henry promised,
and York meanwhile retired to his castle at Fotheringay.
Scarcely had York retired when Somerset arrived from France, and the
queen and Henry hailed him as a champion sent in the moment of need
to sustain the court party against the power and designs of York. But
Somerset came from the loss of France, and, therefore, loaded with an
awful weight of public odium; and with her vindictive disregard of
appearances, Queen Margaret immediately transferred to him all her old
predilection for Suffolk. When the Parliament met, the temper of the
public mind was very soon apparent. Out of doors the life of Somerset
was threatened by the mob, and his house was pillaged. In the Commons,
Young, one of the representatives of Bristol, moved that, as Henry had
no children, York should be declared his successor. This proposal seemed
to take the house by surprise, and Young was committed to the Tower. But
a bill was carried to attaint the memory of the Duke of Suffolk, and
another to remove from about the king the Duchess of Suffolk, the Duke
of Somerset, and almost all the party in power. Henry refused to accede
to these measures, any further than promising to withdraw a number of
inferior persons from the court for twelve months, during which time
their conduct might be inquired into. On this the Duchess of Suffolk
and the other persons indicted of high treason during the insurrection,
demanded to be heard in their defence, and were acquitted.
The spirit of the opposite factions ran very high; the party of Somerset
accusing that of York of treasonable designs, and that of York declaring
that the court was plotting to destroy the duke as they had destroyed
Gloucester. York retired to his castle of Ludlow, in Shropshire, where
he was in the very centre of the Mortimer interest, and under plea
of securing himself against Somerset, he actively employed himself
in raising forces, at the same time issuing a proclamation of the
most devoted loyalty, and offering to swear fealty to the king on the
sacrament before the Bishop of Hereford and the Earl of Shrewsbury. The
court paid no attention to his professions, but an army was led by the
king against him. York, instead of awaiting the blow, took another road,
and endeavoured to reach and obtain possession of London in the king's
absence. On approaching the capital, he received a message that its gates
would be shut against him, and he then turned aside to Dartford, probably
hoping for support from the same population which had followed Cade.
The king pursued him, and encamping on Blackheath, sent the Bishops of
Ely and Winchester to demand why he was in arms. York replied that he
was in arms from no disloyal design, but merely to protect himself from
his enemies. The king told him his movements had been watched since the
murder of the Bishop of Chichester by men supposed to be in his interest,
and still more since his partisans had openly boasted of his right to
the crown; but for his own part, he himself believed him to be a loyal
subject, and his own well-beloved cousin.
York demanded that all persons "noised or indicted of treason" should be
apprehended, committed to the Tower, and brought to trial. All this the
king, or his advisers, promised, and as Somerset was one of the persons
chiefly aimed at by York, the king gave an instant order for the arrest
and committal of Somerset, and assured York that a new council should
be summoned, in which he himself should be included, and all matters
decided by a majority. At these frank promises York expressed himself
entirely satisfied, disbanded his army, and came bareheaded to the king's
tent. What occurred, however, was by no means in accordance with the
honourable character of the king, and savoured more of the councils of
the queen. No sooner did York present himself before Henry, and begin to
enter upon the causes of complaint, than Somerset stepped from behind a
curtain, denied the assertions of York, and defied him to mortal combat.
So flagrant a breach of faith showed York that he had been betrayed. He
turned to depart in indignant resentment, but he was informed that he was
a prisoner. Somerset was urgent for his trial and execution, as the only
means of securing the permanent peace of the realm. Henry had a horror
of spilling blood; but in this instance York is said to have owed his
safety rather to the fears of the ministers than any act of grace of the
king, who was probably in no condition of mind to be capable of thinking
upon the subject. There was already a report that York's son, the Earl
of March, was on the way towards London with a strong army of Welshmen,
to liberate his father. This so alarmed the queen and council that they
agreed to set free the duke, on condition that he swore to be faithful to
the king, which he did at St. Paul's, Henry and his chief nobility being
present. York then retired to his castle of Wigmore.
In the autumn of 1453 the queen was delivered of a son, who was called
Edward. There was a cry in the country that this was no son of the
king--a cry zealously promoted by the partisans of York--but it did not
prevent the young prince from being recognised as the heir-apparent, and
created Prince of Wales, Earl of Cornwall and Chester. But the king had
now fallen into such a state of imbecility, with periods of absolute
insanity, that those who had denied the legitimacy of his mother, Queen
Catherine, might well change their opinion; for Henry's malady seemed
to be precisely that of his reputed grandfather, Charles VI. of France.
Such was his condition, that Parliament would no longer consent to leave
him in the hands of the queen and Somerset. In the autumn the influence
of Parliament compelled the recall of York to the council; and this, as
might have been expected, was immediately followed by the committal of
Somerset to the Tower. In February Parliament recommenced its sittings,
and York appeared as lieutenant or commissioner for the king, who was
incapable of opening it in person. It had been the policy of the queen to
keep concealed the real condition of the king, but with York at the head
of affairs, this was no longer possible. The House of Lords appointed a
deputation to wait on Henry at Windsor. The Archbishop of Canterbury,
who was also Lord Chancellor, was dead; and the Lords seized upon the
occasion as the plea for a personal interview, according to ancient
custom, with the king. Twelve peers accordingly proceeded to Windsor,
and would not return without seeing the monarch. They found him in such
a state of mental alienation that, though they saw him three times,
they could perceive no mark of attention from him. They reported him
utterly incapable of transacting any business; and the Duke of York was
thereupon appointed protector, with a yearly salary of 2,000 marks. The
Lancastrian party, however, took care to define the duties and the powers
of this office, so as to maintain the rights of the king. The title of
protector was to give no authority, but merely precedence in the council,
and the command of the army in time of rebellion or invasion. It was
to be revocable at the will of the king, should he at any time recover
soundness of mind; and, in case that he remained so long incapacitated
for Government, the protectorate was to pass to the prince Edward on his
coming of age. The command at sea was entrusted to five noblemen, chosen
from the two parties; and the Government of Calais, a most important
post, was taken from Somerset, and given to York.
With all this change, the session of Parliament appears to have been
stormy. The Duke of York had instituted an action for trespass against
Thorpe, the Speaker of the Commons, and one of the Barons of the
Exchequer, and obtained a verdict with damages to the amount of £1,000,
and Thorpe was committed to prison till he gave security for that sum,
and an equal fine to the Crown. In vain did the Commons petition for the
release of the Speaker. The Lords refused; and they were compelled to
elect a new one. Many of the Lords, not feeling themselves safe, absented
themselves from the House, and were compelled to attend only by heavy
fines. The Duke of Exeter was taken into custody, and bound to keep
the peace; and the Earl of Devonshire, a Yorkist, was accused of high
treason and tried, but acquitted. So strong was the opposition of the
court party, that even York himself was compelled to stand up and defend
himself.
These angry commotions were but the prelude to a more decisive act.
The king was found something better, and the fact was instantly seized
on by the queen and her party to hurl York from power, and reinstate
Somerset. About Christmas the king demanded from York the resignation
of the protectorate, and immediately liberated Somerset. This was not
done without Somerset being at first held to bail for his appearance
at Westminster to answer the charges against him. But he appealed to
the council, on the ground that he had been committed without any
lawful cause; and the court party being now in the ascendant, he was
at once freed from his recognisances. The king himself seemed anxious
to reconcile the two dukes, a circumstance more convincing of his good
nature than of his sound sense--for it was an impossibility. He would not
restore the government of Calais to the Duke of Somerset, but he took it
from York and retained it in his own hands. York perceived that he had
been regularly defeated by the queen, and he retired again to his castle
of Ludlow to plan more serious measures.
The Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Salisbury and his son, the celebrated
Earl of Warwick, destined to acquire the name of the "King-maker,"
hastened there at his summons, and it was resolved to attempt the
suppression of the court party by force of arms. They were quickly at the
head of a large force, with which they hoped to surprise the royalists.
But no sooner did the news of this approaching force reach the court,
than the king was carried forth at the head of a body of troops equal
to those of York, and a march was commenced against him. The royal army
had reached St. Albans, and on the morning of the 22nd of May, 1455, as
it was about to resume its progress, the hills bordering on the high
road were covered with the troops of York. This army marching under
the banners of the house of York, now for the first time displayed in
resistance to the sovereign, halted in a field near the town, and sent
forward a herald announcing that the three noblemen were come in all
loyalty and attachment to the king; but with a determination to remove
the Duke of Somerset from his councils, and demanding that he and his
pernicious associates should be at once delivered up to them. The
Yorkists declared that they felt this to be so absolutely necessary, that
they were resolved to destroy those enemies to the peace of the country,
or to perish themselves. An answer was returned by or for the king, "that
he would not abandon any of the lords who were faithful to him, but
rather would do battle upon it, at the peril of life and crown."
It would have appeared that the royal army had a most decided advantage
by being in possession of the town, which was well fortified, and where
a stout resistance might have been made in the narrow streets; but,
spite of this, the superior spirit of the commanders on the side of
York triumphed over the royalists. York himself made a desperate attack
on the barriers at the entrance of the town, while Warwick, searching
the outskirts of the place, found, or was directed by some favouring
persons to a weak spot. He made his way across some gardens, burst into
the city, and came upon the royal forces where he was little expected.
Aided by this diversion, York redoubled his attack on the barriers,
and, notwithstanding their resolute defence by Lord Clifford forced an
entrance. Between the cries of "A York! a York!" "A Warwick! a Warwick!"
confusion spread amongst the king's forces, they gave way, and fled out
of the town in utter rout. The slaughter among the leaders of the royal
army was terrible. The Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland, and
Lord Clifford were slain; the king himself was wounded in the neck, the
Duke of Buckingham and Lord Dudley in the face, and the Earl of Stafford
in the arm. All these were arrow wounds, and it was plain that here again
the archers had won the day. The fall or wounds of the leaders, indeed,
settled the business, and saved the common soldiers; for though Hall
reports that 8,000, Stowe that 5,000 men fell, yet Crane, in a letter to
his cousin, John Paston, written at the time, declares that there were
only six-score, and Sir William Stonor states that only forty-eight were
buried in St. Albans.
The king was found concealed in the house of a tanner; and there York
visited him, on his knees renewed his vows of loyal affection, and
congratulated Henry on the fall of the traitor Somerset. He then led the
king to the shrine of St. Albans, and afterwards to his apartment in the
abbey. It might have been supposed that the fallen king, being now in the
hands of York and his party, the claims of York to the crown would have
been asserted. But at this time York either had not really determined
on seizing the throne, or did not deem the public fully prepared for so
great a change. On the meeting of Parliament it was reported that York
and his friends sought only to free the king from the unpopular ministers
who surrounded him, and to redress the grievances of the nation. That
party complained--with what truth does not appear--that, on the very
morning of the battle, they had sought to explain these views and
intentions in letters, which the Duke of Somerset and Thorpe, the late
Speaker of the Commons, had withheld from his grace. The king acquitted
York, Salisbury, and Warwick of all evil intention, pronounced them good
and loyal subjects, granting them a full pardon. The peers renewed their
fealty, and Parliament was prorogued till the 12th of November. Thus
the first blood in these civil wars had been drawn at the battle of St.
Albans and all appeared restored to peace. But it was a deceitful calm;
rivers of blood were yet to flow.
Scarcely had Parliament reassembled when it was announced that the king
had relapsed into his former condition. Both Lords and Commons refused
to proceed with business till this matter was ascertained and settled.
The Lords then requested York once more to resume the protectorate for
the good of the nation; but this time he was not to be caught in his
former snare. He professed his insufficiency for the onerous office, and
begged of them to lay its responsibilities on some more able person. He
was quite safe in this course, for he had now acquired a majority in the
council, and the office of chancellor and the Governorship of Calais
were in the hands of his two stout friends, Salisbury and Warwick. Of
course, the reply was that no one was so capable or suitable as he; and
then he expressed his willingness to accept the protectorate, but only
on condition that its revocation should not lie in the mere will of
the king, but in the king with the consent of the Lords spiritual and
temporal in Parliament assembled. The protectorate was to devolve, as
before, on the Prince of Wales, in case the malady of the king continued
so long.
York might think that he was now secure from the machinations of the
queen, but he was deceived. This never-resting lady was at that very
moment actively preparing for his defeat; and no sooner did Parliament
meet after the Christmas recess than Henry again presented himself
in person, announcing his restoration to health, and dissolved the
protectorate. The Duke of York resigned his authority with apparent
good-will. Calais and the chancellorship passed from Salisbury and
Warwick to the friends of the queen; the whole Government was again on
its old footing. Two years passed on in apparent peace to the nation, but
in the most bitter party warfare at court. The queen and her associates
could never rest while the Duke of York and his friends were permitted to
escape punishment for the late outbreak. The relatives of Somerset and
the Earl of Northumberland, and of the other nobles slain at St. Albans,
were encouraged to demand with eagerness vengeance on the Yorkists.
Both parties surrounded themselves more and more with armed retainers,
and everything portended fresh acts of bloodshed and discord. The king
endeavoured to avert this by summoning a great council at Coventry in
1457. There the Duke of Buckingham made a formal rehearsal of all the
offences committed by York and his party; at the conclusion of which the
peers fell on their knees and entreated the king to make a declaration
that he would never more show grace to the Duke of York, or any other
person who should oppose the power of the crown or endanger the peace
of the kingdom. To this the king consented; and then the Duke of York,
Salisbury, and Warwick renewed their oaths of fealty, and all the lords
bound themselves never for the future to seek redress by arms, but only
from the justice of the sovereign.
[Illustration: VIEW IN LÜBECK: THE CHURCH OF ST. ÆGIDIUS.]
At the close of this council, the Duke of York retired to Wigmore,
Salisbury to Middleham, and Warwick to Calais. It was soon found that,
notwithstanding all these oaths and these royal endeavours, the same
animosity was alive in the two hostile parties, and the king tried still
further the hopeless experiment of reconciliation. He prevailed on the
leaders to meet him in London. On the 26th of January, 1458, the leaders
of the York and Lancaster factions appeared in the metropolis, but they
came attended by armed retainers--the Duke of York with 140 horse, the
now Duke of Somerset with 200, and Salisbury with 400, besides fourscore
knights and esquires. York and his friends were admitted into the city,
probably as being more under the control of the authorities; for the lord
mayor, at the head of 5,000 armed citizens, undertook to maintain the
peace. The Lancastrian lords were lodged in the suburbs. Every day the
Yorkists met at the Blackfriars and the Lancastrians at the Whitefriars,
and after communicating with each other, the result was sent to the king,
who lay at Berkhampstead with several of the judges. The result of their
deliberations was this:--The king, as umpire, awarded that the Duke of
York, and the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, should, within two years,
found a chantry for the good of the souls of the three lords slain in
battle at St. Albans, that both those who slew, and those who were slain
at that battle should be reputed faithful subjects; that the Duke of York
should pay to the dowager Duchess of Somerset and her children the sum
of 5,000, and the Earl of Warwick to the Lord Clifford 1,000 marks; and
that the Earl of Salisbury should release to Percy Lord Egremont all the
damages he had obtained against him for an assault, on condition that the
said Lord Egremont should bind himself to keep the peace for ten years.
The next day, March 25th, the king came to town, and went to St. Paul's
in procession, followed by the whole court, the queen conducted by the
Duke of York, and the lords of each party walking arm-in-arm before
them, in token of perfect reconciliation. But real reconciliation was as
distant as ever. The causes of contention lay too deep for the efforts
of the simple and well-intentioned king, or even for the subtlest acts
of diplomacy. It was the settled strife for a crown; and swords, not
oaths, could alone decide it. The whole show was a mocking pageant.
The slightest spark might any day light up a flame which would rage
through the whole kingdom; and in a little more than a month such a
spark fell into the combustible mass. News arrived that a large fleet of
merchantmen from Lübeck had been attacked by Warwick as it passed down
the Channel, and five sail of them captured after a severe contest, and
carried into Calais. As Lübeck was a town of the Hanseatic League, that
powerful association--which was in amity with England--speedily sent
commissioners to London demanding redress. Warwick was summoned to appear
before the council; and, whilst in attendance, a quarrel arose betwixt
his followers and those of the court. Warwick believed, or feigned--to
escape out of the scrape into which he had fallen--that there was a
design upon his life. He fled to his father, Salisbury, and York, and
they resolved that their only safety lay in arms. There was a story
circulated, and thoroughly believed in by the Yorkist party, that the
queen, who never forgot or forgave an enemy, kept a register, written in
blood, of all the Yorkist chiefs, and had vowed never to rest till they
were exterminated. In fact, both parties were arrived at that pitch of
rancour which nothing could appease but the blood of their opponents. The
feud was no longer confined to the nobles and their immediate retainers;
the leaven of discord had pervaded the whole mass of the nation. The
conflicting claims had been discussed till they had penetrated into every
village, every family, into the convents of the monks, and the cottages
of the poor. One party asserted that the Duke of York was an injured
prince, driven from his hereditary right by a usurping family, and now
marked to be destroyed by them. The other contended that, though Henry
IV. had deposed Richard II., he had been the choice of the nation; that
his son had made the name of England glorious; that more than sixty
years' possession of the crown was itself sufficient warrant for its
retention; that the Duke of York had, over and over again, sworn eternal
fealty to Henry VI., which was in itself a renunciation of any claim he
might previously possess; and that, in seeking now to deprive the king of
his throne, he was a perjured and worthless man. One party argued that
York owed his life to the clemency of the king; and the other replied
that the king equally owed his to that of York, who had him in his power
at St. Albans.
While the nation was thus heating its blood in these disputes, the heads
of the different factions were busy preparing to meet each other in the
field. The three lords spent the winter in arousing their partisans.
Warwick called around him at Calais the veterans who had fought in
Normandy and Guienne. On the other hand, the court distributed in
profusion collars of white swans, the badge of the young prince; and the
friends of the king were invited by letters, under the privy seal, to
meet him in arms at Leicester. The spring and summer had come and gone,
however, before the rival parties proceeded to actual extremities. The
finances of the court impeded its proceedings; and the Yorkist party
still averred that it had no object but its own defence and the rescue of
the Government from traitors.
At length, on the 23rd of September, 1459, the Earl of Salisbury marched
forth from his castle of Middleham, in Yorkshire, to form a junction with
York on the borders of Wales. Lord Audley, with a force of 10,000 men,
far exceeding that of Salisbury, sought to intercept his progress at
Blore Heath in Staffordshire; but the veteran Salisbury was too subtle
for his antagonist. He pretended to fly at the sight of such unequal
numbers; and having thus seduced Audley to pass a deep glen and torrent,
he fell upon his troops when part only were over, and, throwing them into
confusion, made a dreadful slaughter of them. Some writers contend that
Salisbury had only 500 men with him; but this appears incredible, for
they left Lord Audley with 2,000 of his men dead on the field, and took
prisoner Lord Dudley, with many knights and esquires. The earl pursued
his way unmolested to Ludlow, where York lay, and where they were joined
in a few days by Warwick with his large reinforcement of veterans under
Sir John Blount and Sir Andrew Trollop.
The king, queen, and lords of their party had assembled an army of 60,000
men. With these they advanced to within half a mile of Ludiford, the
camp of York, near Ludlow, on the 10th of October; and Henry, after all
his experience, had the goodness, or the weakness, once more to renew
his offers of pardon and reconciliation on condition that his opponents
should submit within six days. York and his colleagues replied that they
had no reliance on his promises because those about him did not observe
them, and that the Earl of Warwick, trusting to them last year, nearly
lost his life. Yet they still protested that nothing but their own
security caused them to arm, and that they had determined not to draw
the sword against their sovereign unless they were compelled. It was
concluded by the royal party to give battle on the 13th, but they found
York posted with consummate military skill. His camp was defended by
several batteries of cannon, which played effectively on the royal ranks
as they attempted to advance. The royalists, therefore, deferred the
engagement till the next morning, and were relieved from that necessity
by Sir Andrew Trollop, who was marshal of the Yorkist army, going over
in the night with all his Calais auxiliaries to the king. Trollop had
hitherto believed the assurances of the Yorkist leaders that they sought
only Government redress, and not subversion of the throne; but something
had now opened his eyes, and, as he was a staunch royalist, he acted
accordingly. This event struck terror and confusion through the Yorkist
army. Every man was doubtful of his fellow; the confederate lords made a
hasty retreat into Wales, whence York and one of his sons passed over to
Ireland, and the rest followed Warwick, who hastened to Devonshire, and
thence escaped again to Calais.
Nothing shows so strikingly the feeble councils of the royal camp as that
these formidable foes should have been permitted to decamp without any
pursuit. A vigorous blow at the now panic-struck enemy might for ever
have rid the king of his mortal antagonists. But Henry, always averse
from shedding blood, was, no doubt, glad of this unexpected escape from
it, and his generals were weak enough to acquiesce. The court returned
to London, and satisfied themselves with passing an act of attainder
against the Duke and Duchess of York, and their sons, the Earls of March
and Rutland, against the Earl and Countess of Salisbury, and their son
the Earl of Warwick, the Lord Clinton, and various knights and esquires.
Even this was painful to the morbidly tender mind of Henry. He reserved
to himself the right to reverse the attainder, if he thought proper, and
refused to permit the confiscation of the property of Lord Powis, and two
others who had thrown themselves on his clemency.
Meanwhile the insurgent chiefs, though dispersed, were not crushed. York
had great popularity in Ireland; Warwick had a strong retreat in Calais.
To deprive him of this, the Duke of Somerset was appointed governor, and,
encouraged by the conduct of the Calais veterans at Ludiford, set out to
drive Warwick from that city. But he met with a very different reception
to that which he had calculated upon. He was assailed by a severe fire
from the batteries, and compelled to stand out. On making an attempt to
reach Calais from Guisnes, he found himself deserted by his sailors, who
carried his fleet into Calais, and surrendered it to their favourite
commander. Warwick stationed a sufficient force to watch Somerset in
Guisnes, and, so little did he care for him, set out with his fleet,
and dispersed two successive armaments sent to the relief of Somerset
from the ports of Kent. When this had been done, he sailed to Dublin, to
concert measures with York, and returned in safety to Calais, having met
the high-admiral, the Duke of Exeter, who at sight of him escaped into
Dartmouth.
In the spring of 1460 the Yorkists, who had fled so rapidly from the
royal army at Ludiford, and had seemed to vanish as a mist, were again
on foot, and in a threatening attitude. They had sedulously scattered
proclamations throughout the country, still protesting that they had no
designs on the crown; that the king was so well assured of it that he
refused to ratify the act of attainder, but that he was in the hands
of the enemies of the nation. These documents concluded by saying that
the maligned lords were resolved now to prove their loyalty in the
presence of the sovereign. Following up this, Warwick landed in June, in
Kent--next to the marches of Wales the great stronghold of the house of
York. He had brought only 1,500 men with him, but he was accompanied by
Coppini, the Pope's legate, who had been sent indeed to Henry, but was
gained over by Warwick. In Kent they were joined by the Lord Cobham with
400 men; by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had received his preferment
from York during his protectorate; and by a large number of knights and
gentlemen of the county. As he advanced towards the capital, people
flocked to him from all sides till his army amounted to 30,000, some say
40,000, men. He entered London on the 2nd of July, and, proceeding to the
convocation, prevailed on no less than five bishops to accompany him to
an interview with the king, who was lying at Coventry. The legate issued
a letter to the clergy, informing them that he had laid it before the
king; that the Yorkists demanded nothing but personal security, peaceable
enjoyment of their property, and the removal of evil counsellors. All
this was calculated to turn the credulous, or to prevent them from
swelling the forces of the court.
[Illustration: CLIFFORD'S TOWER: YORK CASTLE.
(_From a photograph by Frith and Co., Reigate._)]
Henry advanced to Northampton, where he entrenched himself in a strong
camp. On arriving before it, Warwick made three successive attempts
to obtain an interview with the king, but finding it unavailing, the
legate excommunicated the royal party, and set up the papal banner in
the Yorkist camp. For this he was afterwards recalled by the Pope,
imprisoned, and degraded; but for the time it had its effect. Warwick
gave the king notice that, as he would not listen to any overtures, he
must prepare for battle at two in the afternoon on the 10th of July,
1460. The royal party made themselves certain of victory, but were this
time confounded by Lord Grey of Ruthin going over to the enemy, as Sir
Andrew Trollop had deserted the other party at Ludlow. Grey introduced
the Yorkists into the very heart of Henry's camp, and the contest was
speedily decided. Warwick ordered his followers to spare the common
soldiers, and direct their attacks against the leaders; and accordingly
of these there were slain 300 knights and gentlemen, including the
Duke of Buckingham, the Earl of Shrewsbury, and the Lords Beaumont and
Egremont. A second time Henry fell into the hands of his rebellious
subjects, but they treated him with all respect. The queen and her son
escaped into Wales, and thence into Scotland, after having been plundered
on the way by their own servants.
[Illustration: RUTLAND BESEECHING CLIFFORD TO SPARE HIS LIFE. (_See p._
15.)]
The victors then marched back to London, carrying the king along with
them a captive, but with studied appearance of being still at the head of
his loving subjects. He entered the city, as in triumph, Warwick riding
bareheaded before him, carrying the sword. Writs were issued in his name,
applauding the loyalty of the very man who had made war on and seized
his person, and a Parliament was summoned for the redress of grievances,
the chief of these being the acts issued last year in the Parliament
at Coventry, attainting the Yorkist leaders, which, of course, were
abolished. This had scarcely been effected when the Duke of York arrived
from Ireland, at the head of 500 horse. He rode into Westminster, entered
the House of Lords, and advancing to the throne laid his hand on the gold
cloth, and seemed to wait as in expectance that he should be invited to
seat himself there. But no such invitation was given. To do so would
have been to act in opposition, on the part of the peers, to all the
assurances that from first to last had been made by York and his friends,
that he sought no such thing. It was now, however, the intention of York
to throw off the mask, and openly lay claim to the crown. The manner
in which the public, both aristocracy and people, had flocked to the
standard of Warwick, led him to believe that it was now safe to declare
himself; but he had himself defeated, in a great measure, his own object.
His constant assertions that he sought only reform, not the subversion
of the royal authority, his repeated oaths of fealty, had convinced all
parties, except that of his own private friends, that he was sincere in
his declarations, and they esteemed him for his honourable conduct to
the gentle and inoffensive king. When, therefore, he did declare his
intention of seizing the crown, the astonishment and disapprobation were
proportionate.
As all remained silent when he laid his hand on the throne, he turned and
looked, as if for help, towards the assembled nobles. The Archbishop of
Canterbury, to put an end to the embarrassing dilemma, asked him if he
would not pay his respects to the king, who was in the queen's apartment.
York replied that he knew no one to whom he owed that title; that he was
subject to no man in that realm, but, under God, was himself entitled to
the sovereignty. The peers preserved a profound and discouraging silence;
and York, not finding that response which he had hoped, left the house.
It was, however, only to take possession of the palace as his hereditary
right. Thence he sent to the peers a written demand of the crown, tracing
his descent, showing its priority to that of the line of Lancaster, and
that, by every plea of right, law, and custom, the possession of the
throne centred in him. To this he requested an immediate answer. This
demand was carried by the lords to the king, who, on hearing it, said,
"My father was king: his father also was king. I have worn the crown
forty years from my cradle; you have all sworn fealty to me as your
sovereign; and your fathers have done the same to my fathers; how, then,
can my right be disputed?"
The Lords resolved to take the matter into consideration, as if it
were a thing to be decided by evidence, without any heat or violence.
They called upon the judges to defend, to the best of their ability,
the claims of the king. But the judges objected that they were judges,
not advocates; that it was their business not to produce arguments,
but merely to decide on such as were advanced. They declared this to
be a case above the law, and only to be decided by the high court
of Parliament. The Lords then called upon the king's serjeants and
attorneys, who also endeavoured to escape from the dangerous task, but
were not permitted, their office being, in reality, to give advice to the
Crown.
The Peers then proceeded to the discussion of this great question. They
objected to York's claims, that he had really renounced any right given
him by descent, by repeatedly swearing fealty to Henry; that the many
Acts of Parliament passed to sanction the right of the house of Lancaster
themselves were sufficient, and had authority to defeat any measure of
title; that the duke bore the arms of Edmund, the fifth son of Edward
III., and not those of Lionel, the third son, from whom he claimed,
showing that he himself held that to be his true descent. York replied
to all these arguments, but especially to that wherein he knew the main
force to lie, the effect of his own oaths. This he declared nugatory,
inasmuch as those oaths were of necessity and constraint, and, therefore,
acknowledged by all men in all ages to be utterly void.
The result was that the Lords came to the conclusion which the power
of outward circumstances rather than their real convictions, dictated.
They attempted a compromise, which, had Henry had no issue, might have
succeeded, but which, as it went to disinherit the son of Henry, and much
more the son of Margaret, was certain to produce fresh conflicts. The
queen, whose resolute spirit would have been worthy of all admiration had
it been accompanied by a spirit of liberality and conciliation, was sure
never to acquiesce in the rejection of her own son while she could move a
limb, or raise a soldier. The verdict of the Lords was that York's claim
was just, but should not take effect during the lifetime of the present
king. The decision of the Peers was accepted by York and his two sons,
March and Rutland, who swore not to molest the king, but to maintain him
on his throne; and, on the other hand, Henry gave his assent to the Bill,
declared any attempt on the duke high treason, and settled estates on him
and his sons as the succeeding royal line.
But Margaret of Anjou never for a moment conceded this repudiation of the
rights of her son. She upbraided Henry for his unnatural conduct, and
quitting her retreat in Scotland, appeared in the midst of her northern
friends, calling on them by every argument of loyalty to the throne, and
security to themselves, to take the field against the traitor York. The
Earl of Northumberland, the Lords Dacre, Clifford, and Neville were soon
in arms. They assembled at York; and Margaret, roused to the highest
state of indignation by the disinheriting of her son, put forth all
her powers to attach adherents to her standard. She assumed the most
fascinating affability, and lavished her caresses and her promises on all
whom she came near. She excited the jealousy of the northern barons by
depicting the bold assumption of the southern nobles, who had presumed to
give away the crown as if it were their own; and she promised to every
one unlimited plunder of the estates and property of the people south of
the Trent. These arts and allurements speedily brought 30,000 men to her
standard, which was now joined by the Earls of Somerset and Devon.
York and Salisbury set out in haste from London to oppose this growing
force. They seem not to have been duly informed of its real strength, for
they pushed forward with only 5,000 men. They received a rude admonitory
attack at Worksop, in Nottinghamshire, on the 21st of December; but,
still advancing, York threw himself, before Christmas, into the strong
castle of Sandall. Here it was the evident policy of York to await the
arrival of his son, the Earl of March, who was collecting forces in the
marches of Wales; but either he was straitened for provisions, or was
weak enough to be influenced by the taunts of the queen, who sent him
word that it did not become the future king of England to coop himself
up in a fortress, but to dare to meet those whom he dared to depose. He
issued into the open country, in defiance of the warnings of Salisbury
and Sir David Hall, and gave battle, on the 30th of December, to the
queen's troops near Wakefield. The Duke of Somerset commanded the queen's
army. He led the main body himself, and gave the command of one wing to
the Earl of Wiltshire, and the other to Lord Clifford, ordering them to
keep concealed till the action had commenced, and then to close in upon
York. This was done with such success that York, who fell with great fury
on Somerset, found himself instantly surrounded. Two thousand of his men
were speedily slain, and the greater part of the remainder compelled
to surrender. He himself, with most of his commanders, was left dead
upon the field; the veteran Salisbury was taken, conveyed to Pontefract
Castle, with several knights and gentlemen, and there beheaded.
When the body of York was found, his head was cut off and carried to
Queen Margaret, who rejoiced excessively at the sight, uttered most
unfeminine reproaches upon it, and ordered it to be crowned with a paper
crown in mockery, and placed upon the walls of York. Whethamstede, a
cotemporary, says that the duke was taken alive, and beheaded on the
field. At all events, Lord Clifford brought the head to the queen, stuck
upon a spear; and this ferocious nobleman, whose father was killed at the
battle of St. Albans, not satisfied with this revenge, perpetrated the
murder of York's son, Rutland, with a fell barbarity which has covered
his name with infamy. This youth, who was but about seventeen years of
age, handsome and amiable, was met by Clifford as he was endeavouring
to escape across the bridge of Wakefield in the care of his tutor, Sir
Robert Aspall. The poor boy, seeing the bloody Clifford, fell on his
knees, and entreated for mercy. The savage demanded who he was; and
Aspall, thinking to save him by the avowal, said it was the younger
son of York. Then swore Clifford--"As thy father slew mine, so will I
slay thee, and all thy kin;" and plunging the dagger into his heart,
ruthlessly bade the tutor go and tell his mother what he had done.
The spirit of the "she-wolf of France" seemed to animate all her army
on this occasion. There was nothing but butchery, and exultation in it.
Margaret thought she had now removed the danger in destroying York.
"At this deadly blood-supping," says Hall, "there was much joy and
great rejoicing: but many laughed then that sore lamented after--as the
queen herself and her son; and many were glad of other men's deaths,
not knowing that their own were near at hand, as the Lord Clifford and
others."
The revenge soon came. The Earl of March, York's eldest son, was
advancing to prove that York was still alive in the new possessor of
the title. Yet, before his blow of vengeance fell, Margaret had one
more triumph. She had pursued her march on London after the battle of
Wakefield, and had reached St. Albans. But there she came in contact
with the army of Warwick. Flushed with victory, her forces fell upon the
enemy. Warwick had posted himself on the low hills to the south-east of
the town. The royalists penetrated to the very town cross, where they
were repulsed by a strong body of archers. But they soon made their way
by another street through the town, and the battle raged on the heaths
lying betwixt St. Albans and Barnet. The last troops which made a stand
were a body of Kentish men, who, maintaining the conflict till night,
enabled the Yorkists to retreat from the victorious van, and disperse.
The king was found in his tent, under the care of Lord Montague, his
chamberlain, where he was visited by Margaret and his son, whom he
received with the liveliest joy. The Yorkists in this second battle of
St. Albans, fought February 17th, 1461, lost about 2,000 men. Edward,
called "the late Earl of March," was proclaimed a traitor, and rewards
offered for his apprehension. But the success of this action was defeated
by the insubordination of the troops. They were chiefly borderers, who
had been led on by hopes of plunder, and had been freely promised it by
Margaret and her allies. Nothing could induce them to advance farther.
They were only bent on ravaging the neighbourhood, and the citizens of
London closed their gates against them and held out for York.
Edward was rapidly marching to the capital. He was at Gloucester when the
news of the fall of his father and the atrocious murder of his brother
reached him; and the intelligence arousing the Welsh borderers, they
flocked to his standard, breathing vengeance. His march was harassed
by a party of royalists--consisting chiefly of Welsh and Irish--under
Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, the king's half-brother. To free himself
of them, Edward turned upon them, on the 2nd of February, at Mortimer's
Cross, near Hereford. A dreadful battle ensued, in which Edward gained
a complete victory, slaying nearly 4,000 of the royalists. Jasper Tudor
escaped; but his father Owen Tudor, the second husband of Catherine of
Valois, and ancestor of the Tudor line of sovereigns, was taken prisoner,
and with Throgmorton and seven other captains, was beheaded at Hereford,
in retaliation for those who had been similarly put to death after the
battle of Wakefield. The news of this butchery reaching Margaret before
the battle of St. Albans, instigated her to reply with the execution
of Lord Bonville and Sir Thomas Kyriel, who had so much distinguished
himself in France. The spirit of deadly malice was now raging betwixt the
contending parties, and one deed of cruelty provoked another.
Edward found no further obstacle on his march towards London. The
terrible chastisement of the royalists made a deep impression. His force
grew as he advanced. He soon joined Warwick, and collected his dispersed
troops. Once united, they were more than a match for the royalists. When
Edward approached London, he was welcomed as a deliverer. The lawless
army of the queen had carried terror, wherever they came. The queen
was as impolitic as her soldiers. She sent from Barnet into the city
demanding supplies; and though the lord mayor was inclined to comply, the
people stoutly refused to let any provisions pass. A party of 400 horse
were sent to enforce the demand; they plundered the northern suburbs,
and would have continued their depredations in London itself, but the
people fell upon them, and drove them out. Such was the situation of
affairs when Edward and Warwick appeared. The gates were joyfully thrown
open, and Edward rode in triumph into the city. He was still but in his
nineteenth year, of a remarkably handsome person, of a gay and affable
disposition, and reputed to be highly accomplished. The fate of his
father and brother, and the recent conduct of the queen, added greatly
to the interest which he excited. While Lord Falconbridge reviewed a
body of troops in the fields of Clerkenwell, Neville, the Bishop of
Exeter, seized the opportunity to harangue the crowded spectators. He
drew a miserable picture of the imbecility of the king, of the haughty
and bloody spirit of the queen, and of the calamities which had resulted
from both; and maintained that Henry, by joining the queen's forces, had
forfeited the crown. He then demanded whether they would still have him
for king. They shouted--"No, no!" He then asked whether they would have
Edward for king, and they cried--"Yes, yes! long live King Edward!"
The popular feeling being thus ascertained, a great council was convoked
by the Yorkists, on the 3rd of March, 1461, which confirmed the verdict
of the public, declared Henry to have justly forfeited the crown by
breaking his oath and joining in proceedings against the Duke of York,
who had thus been slain; and on the 4th Edward rode in procession to
Westminster Hall, where he mounted the throne, and made a speech to the
thronging thousands, detailing the just claims of his family, according
to hereditary succession. He then adjourned to the abbey church, where he
repeated the same harangue to the same consenting audience, and was duly
proclaimed by the style and title of King Edward IV.
[Illustration: THE QUARREL IN THE TEMPLE GARDENS. (_See p._ 18.)]