THE CROWN LOST AND WON--BATTLE OF BARNET
The young princes, George and Richard, were in Holland for about six
months, under the protection of the Duke of Burgundy. They resided at
Utrecht. Then the news came of Edward's accession, and the crowning
victory of Towton. The two boys were brought home again, and were soon
under their mother's immediate care, with their sister Margaret.
Immediately after the coronation, George was created Duke of Clarence;
and Richard Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Carlisle, and Earl of
Richmond,[1] a title which had merged in the crown after the attainder
of Edmund Tudor. Richard was created a Knight of the Garter in 1465.
In February 1466 his sword and helmet were placed in St. George's
Chapel, and he took possession of his stall in the following April.
His stall plate is now in the ninth stall on the south side of the
choir, in St. George's Chapel at Windsor. The arms are France and
England quarterly, with a silver label of three points, each ermine
with a canton gules. The crest is a crowned leopard gold, on a cap of
estate, with a label as in the arms, round his neck. The helm is
barred as used in the _melee_, the only one on the early plates, the
rest all being tilting helms.
{39}
The first public appearance of young Richard was on the occasion of his
father's solemn obsequies. The Duke of York's body, and that of his
son Edmund Earl of Rutland, had to be conveyed from Pomfret to
Fotheringhay, and the Duke of Gloucester, then in his fourteenth year,
was appointed by the King to be chief mourner. On July 22, 1466, the
bodies of Richard Duke of York, and of his son, Edmund Earl of Rutland,
were taken from their temporary resting place at Pomfret, and placed in
a chariot covered with black velvet, richly embroidered with cloth of
gold. At the feet of the Duke stood the figure of an angel clothed in
white, bearing a crown of gold, to signify that of right he was a king.
The chariot was drawn by four horses trapped to the ground. Every
horse carried a man, and upon the foremost rode Sir John Skipwith, who
bore the Duke's banner displayed. Bishops and abbots, in their robes,
went two or three miles in front, to prepare the churches for the
reception of the bodies.'[2] The boy Duke of Gloucester followed next
after the chariot, accompanied by noblemen and heralds. In this order
they left Pomfret and rested that night at Doncaster. Thence they
proceeded by easy stages to Blythe, Tuxford, Newark, Grantham, and
Stamford. On Monday, July 27, the procession arrived at Fotheringhay.
The bodies were carried into the church by servants of the deceased,
and received by the King and his Court in deep mourning.
Edward IV. built a magnificent shrine in the choir, over the tombs of
his father and brother, and completed the works of the college,
including the cloister.[3]
{40}
There is reason to believe that the young Duke of Gloucester received
his knightly training in the use of arms from the age of fourteen, in
the household of his cousin the Earl of Warwick. There are payments to
the Earl for costs and expenses incurred by him on account of Richard,
the King's brother. Here he was the companion of Francis Lovel and
Robert Percy, for both of whom he formed a friendship which ended only
with death. Here too he was the playfellow of his cousin Anne Nevill,
and an attachment was probably then formed between them, which was
destined to bear fruit in after years. We find Richard and Anne
sitting together at the installation feast of her uncle the Archbishop
of York in 1467.
Richard was short in stature, with a delicate fragile frame, the right
shoulder being slightly higher than the left. But he had been inured
to warlike exercises, and was fond of hunting and all manly sports. He
had light brown hair and a very handsome face, full of energy and
decision, yet with a gentle and even melancholy expression when the
features were at rest.[4]
{41}
While Richard was receiving a knightly education in the north, his
brother Edward was conducting his own and the country's affairs
recklessly and without wisdom. The secret marriage ceremony he went
through with the widow of Lord Grey of Groby, and her subsequent
coronation, had estranged the nobles, and their disgust was increased
by the promotion and enrichment of her Woodville relations. The Earl
of Warwick, the cousin and formerly the supporter of Edward, became the
chief among the malcontents. He married his daughter Isabella to the
Duke of Clarence, without the King's consent or knowledge, and
afterwards fostered and encouraged disturbances and insurrections. At
last he went to France with Clarence, and made an agreement with
Margaret of Anjou to restore Henry VI. to the throne. Finally he
returned to England, with the Duke of Clarence, as an open enemy of
King Edward. Troops rapidly flocked to his standard, and the country
was lost and won as if by magic.
Warwick had used all his arts of persuasion to induce the younger
brothers of the King to be false to their allegiance. With Clarence he
succeeded; but Richard never wavered for a moment. His loyalty to his
brother was not to be shaken. There is something very touching in the
unalterable affection between Edward and Richard. In Edward, from the
time when he used to visit his little brother every day in Paston's
chambers, to the hour of his death, there was a loving protection and a
solicitude for the lad's welfare which was shown in many ways. On the
part of Richard there was loyalty and zeal for his elder {42} brother's
service as well as warm affection. His motto was
'LOYAULTE ME LIE.'[5]
(Loyalty bindeth me.)
From the moment that Warwick became a traitor, Richard was constantly
by his brother's side, sharing his long marches,[6] his dangers and
hardships. When Warwick landed and proclaimed the restoration of Henry
VI., King Edward summoned his forces to assemble at Doncaster,
particularly relying on the Marquis Montagu, Warwick's brother, in
whose loyalty he implicitly believed. Edward related to the historian
Comines the events immediately preceding his flight from the kingdom.
He was in a fortified house with his friends, to which the only access
was a bridge, and the troops were quartered in the villages near.
Suddenly news arrived that Montagu and others were riding among his
soldiers shouting for Henry. Edward hastily put on his armour and sent
a body of faithful adherents to defend the bridge. There was nothing
left but flight. Accompanied by his brother Richard and a few loyal
friends the King galloped off, leaving Lord Hastings to gain time by
defending the bridge. Hastings made some terms for his followers with
Montagu, and then followed his master. Reaching Lynn, in Norfolk, the
fugitives found two Dutch vessels on the point of sailing. They
immediately went on board without other clothes than _leurs habillemens
de guerre_.[7] The brothers were accompanied in their flight by Lords
Hastings, Rivers, and Saye, and a few faithful knights. Narrowly
escaping capture by an Easterling ship, they landed near Alkmaar {43}
in North Holland. A gown lined with martens was the only thing of
value wherewith King Edward could pay his passage; and he was saved
from capture by the Easterlings through the intervention of the Sieur
Louis de Bruges, Lord of Gruthuus, who received the fugitives with
generous hospitality and conducted them to The Hague. King Edward and
his host were brother Knights of the Golden Fleece, an obligation which
the lord of Gruthuus most fully recognised. He gave up his great house
at Bruges for the use of the exiled princes, who resided there during
the ensuing winter, and he also lent them his chateau of Oostcamp.
From Bruges, King Edward and his brother proceeded to the court of the
Duke of Burgundy at St. Pol, to seek for aid in recovering the crown of
England. Charles the Bold publicly declined to interfere, and the
Lancastrian Duke of Somerset hurried to London with the good news. But
Charles had been married, in 1468, to the Princess Margaret of York,
who was devotedly attached to her brothers. She opened a
correspondence with the Duke of Clarence in England, to induce him to
return to his allegiance. Through her influence, the aid which had
been withheld publicly was given in secret. She smoothed all
difficulties, and enabled her brothers to undertake their romantic
enterprise. For Edward was resolved to recover his crown, and Richard,
from this time, was his efficient lieutenant.
Richard's services in Flanders, and especially in fitting out the
expedition, secured for him the full confidence of his brother. The
ships had to be equipped very secretly and with great care. The
Duchess Margaret had procured a grant of 15,000 florins, and permission
to get ready four ships of Flanders and thirteen {44} hired
Easterlings[8] which were to be at Edward's service until he should
land in England, and for fifteen days afterwards. The next step was
the selection of a seaport where the expedition could be quietly fitted
out. The Lord of Gruthuus again proved a friend in need. He had
married Margaret, the sister of Henry van Borselle, Lord of the island
of Walcheren. The traditions of the family of Borselle were adverse to
the House of Lancaster, for Francis van Borselle was the lover, and
eventually the husband, of that unfortunate Jacoba of Holland who was
treated so shamefully by Humphrey Duke of Gloucester. The excellent
ports of Veere and Flushing were, therefore, placed at Edward's
disposal.
The expedition was fitted out in the port of Veere, under the
protection of Henry van Borselle. Besides the King and young Richard,
Lords Hastings, Rivers, and Saye were the principal leaders. The
expeditionary force consisted of 900 men, in addition to the crews of
the ships. A select body of 300 Flemish gunners, armed with hand-guns,
formed part of the little army; and this is nearly the first time that
these new weapons are mentioned in English warfare. The men carried
slow matches, and are called 'smoky gunners' by Fabyan. Richard
actively helped in the preparation of this daring little expedition at
Veere; for by this time the King had learned to appreciate his
brother's remarkable ability and fitness for command.
By the end of February 1471, the ships were ready. They were brought
down the Channel from Veere to Flushing and the troops were embarked.
{45} But they had to wait nine days in Flushing Roads for a fair wind,
and it was not until Monday, March 11, that the gallant adventurers
sailed for the Norfolk coast. Edward was in one ship with Lord
Hastings, while his brother had a separate command in another vessel,
each being followed by a squadron of transports. It is probable that
the exiled King shaped a course for the coast of Norfolk in the hope
that the influence of the Duke, who was faithful to his cause, would
ensure him a cordial reception. But he was disappointed. Two knights,
named Sir Robert Chamberlain and Sir Gilbert Debenham, went on shore at
Cromer and found the country occupied by Warwick's adherents. Edward,
therefore, steered for Yorkshire, and encountered a gale of wind which
lasted from March 12 to 14, scattering his little squadron. When
Edward and Hastings anchored off Ravenspur,[9] on the Holderness coast,
no other vessel was in sight. The King landed and burnt his ship,
resolved to regain his crown or perish in the attempt.
Edward stood on that dreary waste of sand with 500 followers. The
look-out was black indeed. He had seen nothing of the other ships
since they were separated by the gale off Cromer. He sent scouts to
the adjacent villages, but not a man ventured to join his standard.
While hesitating what should be the next step, horsemen appeared over
the brow of a rising ground. The adventurers stood to their arms, but
a few minutes turned anxiety into joy. The young Duke of Gloucester
was seen to be at the head of a little force of 300 men. He had
effected a landing {46} at a point about four miles from Ravenspur, and
hurried to join his brother. Soon afterwards Lord Rivers, who had
reached the shore at a place called Pole, fourteen miles away, made his
appearance. Thus was the little force once more united. They marched
to Beverley and thence to York, but although armed men were seen, no
one either molested them or came to their assistance. There appears to
have been no ill-will among the people, but fear of the power of the
Earl of Warwick and a belief that Edward's cause was hopeless.
The authorities of York did not dare to receive Edward as King. It was
thought advisable that, at this stage, he should only claim his
hereditary dukedom.[10] This deceived no one, but it would enable the
mayor and aldermen of York to defend their conduct in the event of
Edward's overthrow. They received him into their town, gave him
supplies, and next day he marched southwards to Tadcaster.
The campaign by which Edward regained the crown was one of the most
brilliant that has ever been conducted by an English general. It
elicited proofs of consummate military skill from the Yorkist princes,
and displays of valour and presence of mind in action which were never
surpassed by any of their race. Edward IV. is entitled to an equal
place as a military commander with Edward III. or Henry V. His
strategy and resource were superior to those of either. He never lost
a battle, though he never {47} declined a combat. In three short
months from the time that he landed with a handful of men on the coast
of Holderness, he had outwitted and out-manoeuvred his opponents, had
won two pitched battles, and had recovered his crown. Richard deserves
scarcely less credit. He was only eighteen, yet he contributed largely
to the success of the campaign, while in battle his brother entrusted
the young prince with important separate commands.
Edward's little band of adventurers was opposed by the whole resources
of England in the hands of the Earl of Warwick. The Earl himself was
posted with a strong force at Coventry. His brother Montagu occupied
an advanced position at Pomfret to intercept the invaders on their
southward march. The Earl of Oxford was advancing from the Eastern
counties, and Clarence from London. By a masterly flank march the King
passed to the westward of Pomfret and reached Nottingham, leaving
Montagu in his rear baffled and outwitted. At Nottingham loyal men
began to flock to the King's standard. The Earl of Oxford and Duke of
Exeter had advanced against him from the Eastern counties, but the
rumoured increase of his forces made them halt at Newark. The King
pressed onwards to Leicester, and marching thence to Coventry, offered
battle to the Earl of Warwick, who was behind the walls with 7,000 men.
Warwick declined. He was taken completely by surprise. This was on
March 29, only a fortnight after Edward had landed. Without losing a
moment the royal army marched on to Warwick, and on the approach of
Clarence from London, his brothers encamped in a field three miles on
the road to Banbury.
{48}
The negotiations between King Edward and Clarence were conducted
throughout by their younger brother Richard, and to him is due the
credit of the reconciliation which took place. He thus restored one
brother to his throne, and reclaimed the other from dishonour. The
defection of Clarence left no enemy between the King and his capital.
Edward reached Daventry on the night of April 6, attending divine
service there on Palm Sunday. On the 9th he was at Northampton, and on
the 11th he entered London, where he was joyfully received by the
citizens.
Warwick was outwitted like his brother. There was nothing left for him
but to follow the King, who could give him battle or not as he chose.
So the baffled Earl concentrated his army, calling up Montagu from
Pomfret, Vere and Exeter from Newark, and Somerset from the west.
Having united his forces he marched towards London, reaching St. Albans
on the 12th, and encamping on Gladmore Heath to the north of Barnet,
and about ten miles from London, on the afternoon of April 13.
[Sidenote: Battle of Barnet]
The King only had one full day in London, in which to organise his
little army, now increased to 9,000 men, and to rest the faithful few
who had marched with him from Ravenspur. He entered London on the
11th, and in the forenoon of the 13th he marched out to encounter his
enemies. Advancing to Barnet his scouts drove out the scouts of
Warwick and chased them for half a mile. The King then marched through
the town, and reached Gladmore Heath when it was dusk. He encamped
much nearer the enemy than he intended, and by reason of the darkness
his line was not formed directly in front of the opposing force. {49}
The King's right extended beyond Warwick's left, while his left was
similarly overlapped by Warwick's right. In one respect this was
fortunate, for Warwick's artillery was in his right wing, and he kept
up a fire all through the night[11] without doing any damage to his
adversaries, because their left wing was not posted in front of the
rebel right wing; but somewhat to the eastward of it.
Warwick had drawn up his army with his brother Montagu and John Vere,
son of the attainted Earl of Oxford, in charge of the right wing
consisting mainly of cavalry; the Duke of Somerset in the centre with
archers and bill-men; and Warwick himself, with the Duke of Exeter, in
command of the left wing. The opposing force of the King was inferior
in numbers to that of the rebels. Edward, accompanied by Clarence and
Henry VI., commanded the centre in person. On the left was Lord
Hastings, while young Richard Duke of Gloucester, who was only eighteen
years of age, had charge of the right wing. A strong body of infantry
was kept in reserve. The King ordered strict silence to be observed
throughout the night.
When the morning of Easter Sunday, April 14, at length dawned there was
a dense fog, so that the two armies could barely distinguish each
other. At half-past four the King advanced his standards, and sounded
his trumpets for battle. There were flights of arrows, and then the
opposing forces closed and encountered each other with hand strokes, in
the thick mist. For a long time it was impossible for the leaders to
know what was taking place in different parts of the field. Oxford
found little to oppose him. He charged the {50} followers of Lord
Hastings and easily routed them, continuing the chase beyond Barnet.
Then he returned to reinforce the main body; but here a fatal mistake
occurred. The cognizance of King Edward was the sun in splendour,
adopted after seeing the parhelion at Mortimer's Cross. The cognizance
of the Veres was a star with rays.[12] When the soldiers of Warwick's
centre, under Somerset, saw a fresh body of men approaching under the
banner of the star, they mistook it for the King's cognizance and
thought they were attacked in flank. A cry of treason ran through
their ranks. Up to this time they had stubbornly resisted the
onslaughts of King Edward and his men, but now they broke and fled.
Somerset and Vere rode away with their men, and made good their escape.
Meanwhile the Duke of Gloucester had led his troops to a furious attack
on the enemy's left wing which was commanded by Warwick in person. The
Duke himself plunged into the thickest of the fight. His two esquires,
John Milwater[13] and Thomas Parr, were slain by his side. At the
moment when the fate of the battle was still uncertain, and when the
King heard that his young brother was hard pressed, the reserves were
brought into action, just as Somerset's division began to waver.
Victory then ceased to be {51} doubtful, and soon there was complete
rout all along the rebel line. The Earl of Warwick and his brother
Montagu fell either in the battle or in attempting to escape. The
accounts vary. Though enemies and traitors to the royal brothers, they
were cousins, and had once been devoted friends. The King sincerely
mourned the death of Montagu, and the depth of Richard's sorrow is
proved by his subsequent intercession for Montagu's heirs. The bodies,
after being laid for two days in St. Paul's Cathedral, were honourably
interred in the burial place of their mother's family at Bisham. The
losses on the King's side included Lord Saye, who had shared Edward's
exile, Humphrey Bourchier Lord Cromwell,[14] another Sir Humphrey
Bourchier,[15] son of Lord Berners, and the son and heir of Lord
Mountjoy. The losses, on both sides, {52} amounted to about 1,500
men.[16] King Edward and the Duke of Gloucester returned to London the
same day, while their army rested for the night on the battlefield.
[1] _Rot. Parl._ vol. vi. p. 227. Halsted, i. 432.
[2] Sandford, p. 391.
[3] The tombs were desecrated in the time of Edward VI., when the
college was granted to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. Queen
Elizabeth gave orders that they should be restored. The bones of
Richard Duke of York, of the Duchess Cicely, and of Edmund Earl of
Rutland, lapped in lead, were removed into the parish church. For the
choir, where they rested under the beautiful shrine, had been
destroyed. Mean monuments of plaster were then erected over them, and
over the remains of Edward Duke of York, on either side of the altar.
They are specimens of the taste of the Elizabethan age, fluted columns
supporting a frieze and cornice, ornamented with the falcon and
fetter-lock. In the inscriptions they have forgotten the name of young
Edmund Earl of Rutland.
[4] Portrait at Windsor Castle. Dr. Parr, in a letter to Roscoe,
speaking of the head of Lorenzo (the Magnificent) prefixed to Roscoe's
biography, says: 'I am very much mistaken if, by invigorating a few
traits, it would not make an excellent head of Richard III.'--_Life of
Roscoe_, i. 178.
[5] Buck, p. 83.
[6] _Paston Letters_, ii. 357, 389.
[7] Comines.
[8] The ships of the towns belonging to the Hanseatic League, in the
Baltic, and on the Elbe, were known in England by the name of
Easterlings.
[9] Ravenspur appears, from the description of the writer in Fleetwood,
to have been inside Spurn Head. He says: 'He landed within Humber on
Holderness side, at a place called Ravenspoure.'
[10] The Tudor chroniclers, as is their wont, grossly exaggerate and
misrepresent this incident: introducing imaginary details, including an
oath before an altar, vows of allegiance to Henry VI., and other
romances. These are the offspring of their zeal to please their Tudor
paymasters, by traducing the House of York.
[11] Warkworth says that: 'each of them loosed guns at other all
night.' Balls have been dug up weighing 1-1/2 lbs.
[12] The second Alberic de Vere, father of the first Earl of Oxford,
was a crusader. In 1098 he was in a battle near Antioch when the
infidels were defeated. During the chase, a silver star of five points
was seen to descend from heaven and light on Alberic's shield, there
shining excessively. It had ever since been borne in the first quarter
of the Vere arms. This is the old tradition. Modern heralds suspect
that the mullet was merely a mark of cadency adopted by the second
brother of the second Earl, who retained it when he became third Earl.
[13] Mentioned in the letter of Edward and Edmund to their father.
[14] Ralph Cromwell, fourth Baron Cromwell, who was Lord Treasurer for
Henry VI., and was the builder of Tattershall Castle, died childless in
1455. His sister Maud married Sir Richard Stanhope and had a daughter
Maud, whose husband Sir Humphrey Bourchier, third son of Henry
Bourchier Earl of Essex, by the Princess Isabel Plantagenet (aunt of
Edward IV.), took the title of Lord Cromwell _jure uxoris_. This Lord
Cromwell seems to have been a student of law as well as a soldier.
There is a manuscript copy of the statutes of Edward III. in the
Hunterian Library of Glasgow University which once belonged to him. At
the beginning there is the following entry: '_Eximii et preclari
militis liber, Johannis Markham capitalis just, de B. Regis, Liber
Humfredi Bourchier dmus Cromwell ex dono supradicti_'; and at the end:
'_This boke is mine Humphrey Bourchier Lord Cromwell by the gift of the
right noble and famous judge Sir John Markham Chief Justice of the
King's Bench_.'
[15] Sir John Bourchier, fourth son of William Bourchier Earl of Eu, by
Anne, daughter of Thomas Duke of Gloucester, married the heiress of Sir
Richard Berners, and was summoned to Parliament as Lord Berners in 1455
to 1472. The second Humphrey Bourchier who was slain at Barnet was his
son. Fabyan and Habington call him 'Lord Barnes.'
[16] Fabyan gives the number at 1,500. Habington says 4,600. Hall is
unreliable as usual. He says 10,000 on both sides. Although some
writers say that the King's army was superior in numbers, it is
probable that, while Edward only had 9,000 men, the forces of Warwick
were very much more numerous.
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