ACCESSION OF EDWARD IV., RICHARD'S ELDER BROTHER.
A.D. 1461
Edward now becomes heir to the crown.--His energy and decision.--He
marches to intercept Margaret.--Warwick.--Battle with the
queen.--Warwick defeated.--Margaret regains possession of her
husband.--Excesses committed by the queen's troops.--Edward
advances.--He enters London.--His welcome.--Excitement in
London.--Measures taken by Edward.--Voice of the people.--They declare
in favor of Edward.--Edward is formally enthroned.--Various
ceremonies.--Edward marches to the northward.--A battle.--Edward
enters York in triumph.--He inters his father's body.--He returns
to London.--Grief of his mother.--Situation of George and
Richard.--Richard's person.--Description of the armor worn in those
days.--Necessity of being trained to use this armor.--The armor
costly.--Substitutes for it.--Exercises.--Feats to be
performed.--Account of the quintaine.--Other exercises and
sports.--Playing ball.--Jumping through a hoop.--The two brothers
companions.--Richard's intellectual education.
Richard's brother Edward, as has already been remarked, was at
Gloucester when he heard the news of his father's death. This news, of
course, made a great change in his condition. To his mother, the event
was purely and simply a calamity, and it could awaken no feelings in
her heart but those of sorrow and chagrin. In Edward's mind, on the
other hand, the first emotions of astonishment and grief were followed
immediately by a burst of exultation and pride. He, of course, as now
the oldest surviving son, succeeded at once to all the rights and
titles which his father had enjoyed, and among these, according to the
ideas which his mother had instilled into his mind, was the right to
the crown. His heart, therefore, when the first feeling of grief for
the loss of his father had subsided, bounded with joy as he exclaimed,
"So now _I_ am the King of England."
The enthusiasm which he felt extended itself at once to all around
him. He immediately made preparations to put himself at the head of
his troops, and march to the eastward, so as to intercept Queen
Margaret on her way to London, for he knew that she would, of course,
now press forward toward the capital as fast as possible.
He accordingly set out at once upon his march, and, as he went on, he
found that the number of his followers increased very rapidly. The
truth was, that the queen's party, by their murder of Richard, and of
young Edmund his son, had gone altogether too far for the good of
their own cause. The people, when they heard the tidings, were
indignant at such cruelty. Those who belonged to the party of the
house of York, instead of being intimidated by the severity of the
measure, were exasperated at the brutality of it, and they were all
eager to join the young duke, Edward, and help him to avenge his
father's and his brother's death. Those who had been before on the
side of the house of Lancaster were discouraged and repelled, while
those who had been doubtful were now ready to declare against the
queen.
It is in this way that all excesses in the hour of victory defeat the
very ends they were intended to subserve. They weaken the
perpetrators, and not the subjects of them.
In the mean time, while young Edward, at the head of his army, was
marching on from the westward toward London to intercept the queen,
the Earl of Warwick, who has already been mentioned as a friend of
Lady Cecily, had also assembled a large force near London, and he was
now advancing toward the northward. The poor king was with him.
Nominally, the king was in command of the expedition, and every thing
was done in his name, but really he was a forlorn and helpless
prisoner, forced wholly against his will--so far as the feeble degree
of intellect which remained to him enabled him to exercise a will--to
seem to head an enterprise directed against his own wife, and his best
and strongest friend.
The armies of the queen and of the Earl of Warwick advanced toward
each other, until they met at last at a short distance north of
London. A desperate battle was fought, and the queen's party were
completely victorious. When night came on, the Earl of Warwick found
that he was beaten at every point, and that his troops had fled in all
directions, leaving thousands of the dead and dying all along the road
sides. The camp had been abandoned, and there was no time to save any
thing; even the poor king was left behind, and the officers of the
queen's army found him in a tent, with only one attendant. Of course,
the queen was overjoyed at recovering possession of her husband, not
merely on his own account personally, but also because she could now
act again directly in his name. So she prepared a proclamation, by
which the king revoked all that he had done while in the hands of
Warwick, on the ground that he had been in durance, and had not acted
of his own free will, and also declared Edward a traitor, and offered
a large reward for his apprehension.
The queen was now once more filled with exultation and joy. Her joy
would have been complete were it not that Edward himself was still to
be met, for he was all this time advancing from the westward; she,
however, thought that there was not much to be feared from such a boy,
Edward being at this time only about nineteen years of age. So the
queen moved on toward London, flushed with the victory, and
exasperated with the opposition which she had met with. Her soldiers
were under very little control, and they committed great excesses.
They ravaged the country, and plundered without mercy all those whom
they considered as belonging to the opposite party; they committed,
too, many atrocious acts of cruelty. It is always thus in civil war.
In foreign wars, armies are much more easily kept under control.
Troops march through a foreign territory, feeling no personal spite or
hatred against the inhabitants of it, for they think it is a matter of
course that the people should defend their country and resist
invaders. But in a civil war, the men of each party feel a special
personal hate against every individual that does not belong to their
side, and in periods of actual conflict this hatred becomes a rage
that is perfectly uncontrollable.
Accordingly, as the queen and her troops advanced, they robbed and
murdered all who came in their way, and they filled the whole country
with terror. They even seized and plundered a convent, which was a
species of sacrilege. This greatly increased the general alarm. "The
wretches!" exclaimed the people, when they heard the tidings, "nothing
is sacred in their eyes." The people of London were particularly
alarmed. They thought there was danger that the city itself would be
given up to plunder if the queen's troops gained admission. So they
all turned against her. She sent one day into the town for a supply of
provisions, and the authorities, perhaps thinking themselves bound by
their official duty to obey orders of this kind coming in the king's
name, loaded up some wagons and sent them forth, but the people raised
a mob, and stopped the wagons at the gates, refusing to let them go
on.
In the mean time, Edward, growing every hour stronger as he advanced,
came rapidly on toward London. He was joined at length by the Earl of
Warwick and the remnant of the force which remained to the earl after
the battle which he had fought with the queen. The queen, now finding
that Edward's strength was becoming formidable, did not dare to meet
him; so she retreated toward the north again. Edward, instead of
pursuing her, advanced directly toward London. The people threw open
the gates to him, and welcomed him as their deliverer. They thronged
the streets to look upon him as he passed, and made the air ring with
their loud and long acclamations.
There was, indeed, every thing in the circumstances of the case to
awaken excitement and emotion. Here was a boy not yet out of his
teens, extremely handsome in appearance and agreeable in manners, who
had taken the field in command of a very large force to avenge the
cruel death of his father and brother, and was now coming boldly, at
the head of his troops, into the very capital of the king and queen
under whose authority his father and brother had been killed.
The most extraordinary circumstance connected with these proceedings
was, that during all this time Henry was still acknowledged by every
one as the actual king. Edward and his friends maintained, indeed,
that he, Edward, was _entitled_ to reign, but no one pretended that
any thing had yet been done which could have the legal effect of
putting him upon the throne. There was, however, now a general
expectation that the time for the formal deposition of Henry was near,
and in and around London all was excitement and confusion. The people
from the surrounding towns flocked every day into the city to see what
they could see, and to hear what they could hear. They thronged the
streets whenever Edward appeared in public, eager to obtain a glimpse
of him.
At length, a few days after Edward entered the city, his counselors
and friends deemed that the time had come for action. Accordingly,
they made arrangements for a grand review in a large open field. Their
design was by this review to call together a great concourse of
spectators. A vast assembly convened according to their expectations.
In the midst of the ceremonies, two noblemen appeared before the
multitude to make addresses to them. One of them made a speech in
respect to Henry, denouncing the crimes, and the acts of treachery and
of oppression which his government had committed. He dilated long on
the feebleness and incapacity of the king, and his total inability to
exercise any control in the management of public affairs. After he had
finished, he called out to the people in a loud voice to declare
whether they would submit any longer to have such a man for king.
The people answered "NAY, NAY, NAY," with loud and long acclamations.
Then the other speaker made an address in favor of Edward. He
explained at length the nature of his title to the crown, showing it
to be altogether superior in point of right to that of Henry. He also
spoke long and eloquently in praise of Edward's personal
qualifications, describing his courage, his activity, and energy, and
the various graces and accomplishments for which he was distinguished,
in the most glowing terms. He ended by demanding of the people whether
they would have Edward for king.
The people answered "YEA, YEA, YEA; KING EDWARD FOREVER! KING EDWARD
FOREVER!" with acclamations as long and loud as before.
Of course there could be no legal validity in such proceedings as
these, for, even if England had at that time been an elective
monarchy, the acclamations of an accidental assembly drawn together to
witness a review could on no account have been deemed a valid vote.
This ceremony was only meant as a very public announcement of the
intention of Edward immediately to assume the throne.
The next day, accordingly, a grand council was held of all the great
barons, and nobles, and officers of state. By this council a decree
was passed that King Henry, by his late proceedings, had forfeited the
crown, and Edward was solemnly declared king in his stead. Immediately
afterward, Edward rode at the head of a royal procession, which was
arranged for the purpose, to Westminster, and there, in the presence
of a vast assembly, he took his seat upon the throne. While there
seated, he made a speech to the audience, in which he explained the
nature of his hereditary rights, and declared his intention to
maintain his rights thenceforth in the most determined manner.
The king now proceeded to Westminster Abbey, where he performed the
same ceremonies a second time. He was also publicly proclaimed king on
the same day in various parts of London.
Edward was now full of ardor and enthusiasm, and his first impulse was
to set off, at the head of his army, toward the north, in pursuit of
the queen and the old king. The king and queen had gone to York. The
queen had not only the king under her care, but also her son, the
little Prince of Wales, who was now about eight years old. This young
prince was the heir to the crown on the Lancastrian side, and Edward
was, of course, very desirous of getting him, as well as the king and
queen, into his hands; so he put himself at the head of his troops,
and began to move forward as fast as he could go. The body of troops
under his command consisted of fifty thousand men. In the queen's
army, which was encamped in the neighborhood of York, there were about
sixty thousand.
Both parties were extremely exasperated against each other, and were
eager for the fight. Edward gave orders to his troops to grant no
quarter, but, in the event of victory, to massacre without mercy every
man that they could bring within their reach. The armies came together
at a place called Towton. The combat was begun in the midst of a
snow-storm. The armies fought from nine o'clock in the morning till
three in the afternoon, and by that time the queen's troops were
every where driven from the field. Edward's men pursued them along the
roads, slaughtering them without mercy as fast as they could overtake
them, until at length nearly forty thousand men were left dead upon
the ground.
The queen fled toward the north, taking with her her husband and
child. Edward entered York in triumph. At the gates he found the head
of his father and that of his brother still remaining upon the poles
where the queen had put them. He took them reverently down, and then
put other heads in their places, which he cut off for the purpose from
some of his prisoners. He was in such a state of fury, that I suppose,
if he could have caught the king and queen, he would have cut off
_their_ heads, and put them on the poles in the place of his father's
and his brother's; but he could not catch them. They fled to the
north, toward the frontiers of Scotland, and so escaped from his
hands.
Edward determined not to pursue the fugitives any farther at that
time, as there were many important affairs to be attended to in
London, and so he concluded to be satisfied at present with the
victory which he had obtained, and with the dispersion of his enemies,
and to return to the capital. He first, however, gathered together
the remains of his father and brother, and caused them to be buried
with solemn funeral ceremonies in one of his castles near York. This
was, however, only a temporary arrangement, for, as soon as his
affairs were fully settled, the remains were disinterred, and
conveyed, with great funeral pomp and parade, to their final
resting-place in the southern part of the kingdom.
As soon as Edward reached London, one of the first things that he did
was to send for his two brothers, George and Richard, who, as will be
recollected, had been removed by their mother to Holland, and were now
in Utrecht pursuing their education. These two boys were all the
brothers of Edward that remained now alive. They came back to London.
Their widowed mother's heart was filled with a melancholy sort of joy
in seeing her children once more together, safe in their native land;
but her spirit, after reviving for a moment, sank again, overwhelmed
with the bitter and irreparable loss which she had sustained in the
death of her husband. His death was, of course, a fatal blow to all
those ambitious plans and aspirations which she had cherished for
herself. Though the mother of a king, she could now never become
herself a queen; and, disappointed and unhappy, she retired to one of
the family castles in the neighborhood of London, and lived there
comparatively alone and in great seclusion.
The boys, on the other hand, were brought forward very conspicuously
into public life. In the autumn of the same year in which Edward took
possession of the crown, they were made royal dukes, with great parade
and ceremony, and were endowed with immense estates to enable them to
support the dignity of their rank and position. George was made Duke
of Clarence; Richard, Duke of Gloucester; and from this time the two
boys were almost always designated by these names.
Suitable persons, too, were appointed to take charge of the boys, for
the purpose of conducting their education, and also to manage their
estates until they should become of age.
There have been a great many disputes in respect to Richard's
appearance and character at this time. For a long period after his
death, people generally believed that he was, from his very childhood,
an ugly little monster, that nobody could look upon without fear; and,
in fact, he was very repulsive in his personal appearance when he grew
up, but at this time of his life the historians and biographers who
saw and knew him say that he was quite a pretty boy, though puny and
weak. His face was handsome enough, though his form was frail, and not
perfectly symmetrical. Those who had charge of him tried to strengthen
his constitution by training him to the martial exercises and usages
which were practiced in those days, and especially by accustoming him
to wear the ponderous armor which was then in use.
This armor was made of iron or steel. It consisted of a great number
of separate pieces, which, when they were all put on, incased almost
the whole body, so as to defend it against blows coming from any
quarter. First, there was the helmet, or cap of steel, with large oval
pieces coming down to protect the ears. Next came the _gorget_, as it
was called, which was a sort of collar to cover the neck. Then there
were elbow pieces to guard the elbows, and shoulder-plates for the
shoulders, and a breast-plate or buckler for the front, and greaves
for the legs and thighs. These things were necessary in those days, or
at least they were advantageous, for they afforded pretty effectual
protection against all the ordinary weapons which were then in use.
But they made the warriors themselves so heavy and unwieldy as very
greatly to interfere with the freedom of their movements when engaged
in battle. There was, indeed, a certain advantage in this weight, as
it made the shock with which the knight on horseback encountered his
enemy in the charge so much the more heavy and overpowering; but if he
were by any accident to lose his seat and fall to the ground, he was
generally so encumbered by his armor that he could only partially
raise himself therefrom. He was thus compelled to lie almost helpless
until his enemy came to kill him, or his squire or some other friend
came to help him up.[E]
[Footnote E: See engraving on page 148.]
Of course, to be able to manage one's self at all in these habiliments
of iron and steel, there was required not only native strength of
constitution, but long and careful training, and it was a very
important part of the education of young men of rank in Richard's days
to familiarize them with the use of this armor, and inure them to the
weight of it. Suits of it were made for boys, the size and weight of
each suit being fitted to the form and strength of the wearer. Many of
these suits of boys' armor are still preserved in England. There are
several specimens to be seen in the Tower of London. They are in the
apartment called the Horse Armory, which is a vast hall with effigies
of horses, and of men mounted upon them, all completely armed with
the veritable suits of steel which the men and the horses that they
represent actually wore when they were alive. The horses are arranged
along the sides of the room in regular order from the earliest ages
down to the time when steel armor of this kind ceased to be worn.
[Illustration: THE OLD QUINTAINE]
These suits of armor were very costly, and the boys for whom they were
made were, of course, filled with feelings of exultation and pride
when they put them on; and, heavy and uncomfortable as such clothing
must have been, they were willing to wear it, and to practice the
required exercises in it. When actually made of steel, the armor was
very expensive, and such could only be afforded for young princes and
nobles of very high rank; for other young men, various substitutes
were provided; but all were trained, either in the use of actual
armor, or of substitutes, to perform a great number and variety of
exercises. They were taught, when they were old enough, to spring upon
a horse with as much armor upon them and in their hands as possible;
to run races; to see how long they could continue to strike heavy
blows in quick succession with a battle-axe or club, as if they were
beating an enemy lying upon the ground, and trying to break his armor
to pieces; to dance and throw summersets; to mount upon a horse
behind another person by leaping from the ground, and assisting
themselves only by one hand, and other similar things. One feat which
they practiced was to climb up between two partition walls built
pretty near together, by bracing their back against one wall, and
working with their knees and hands against the other. Another feat was
to climb up a ladder on the under side by means of the hands alone.
Another famous exercise, or perhaps rather game, was performed with
what was called the _quintaine_. The quintaine consisted of a stout
post set in the ground, and rising about ten or twelve feet above the
surface. Across the top was a strong bar, which turned on a pivot made
in the top of the post, so that it would go round and round. To one
end of this cross-bar there was fixed a square board for a target; to
the other end was hung a heavy club. The cross-bar was so poised upon
the central pivot that it would move very easily. In playing the game,
the competitors, mounted on horseback, were to ride, one after
another, under the target-end of the cross-bar, and hurl their spears
at it with all their force. The blow from the spear would knock the
target-end of the cross-bar away, and so bring round the other end,
with its heavy club, to strike a blow on the horseman's head if he did
not get instantly out of the way. It was as if he were to strike one
enemy in front in battle, while there was another enemy ready on the
instant to strike him from behind.
There is one of these ancient quintaines now standing on the green in
the village of Offham, in Kent.
Such exercises as these were, of course, only fitted for men, or at
least for boys who had nearly attained to their full size and
strength. There were other games and exercises intended for smaller
boys. There are many rude pictures in ancient books illustrating these
old games. In one they are playing ball; in another they are playing
shuttle-cock. The battle-doors that they use are very rude.
[Illustration: PLAYING BALL.]
These pictures show how ancient these common games are. In another
picture the boys are playing with a hoop. Two of them are holding the
hoop up between them, and the third is preparing to jump through it,
head foremost. His plan is to come down on the other side upon his
hands, and so turn a summerset, and come up on his feet beyond.
[Illustration: BATTLE-DOOR AND SHUTTLE-COCK.]
In these exercises and amusements, and, indeed, in all his
occupations, Richard had his brother George, the Duke of Clarence, for
his playmate and companion. George was not only older than Richard,
but he was also much more healthy and athletic; and some persons have
thought that Richard injured himself, and perhaps, in some degree,
increased the deformity which he seems to have suffered from in later
years, or perhaps brought it on entirely, by overloading himself, in
his attempts to keep pace with his brother in these exercises, with
burdens of armor, or by straining himself in athletic exertions which
were beyond his powers.
The intellectual education of the boys was not entirely neglected.
They learned to read and write, though they could not write much, or
very well. Their names are still found, as they signed them to ancient
documents, several of which remain to the present day. The following
is a fac-simile of Richard's signature, copied exactly from one of
those documents.
[Illustration: RICHARD'S SIGNATURE.]
Richard continued in this state of pupilage in some of the castles
belonging to the family from the time that his brother began to reign
until he was about fourteen years of age. Edward, the king, was then
twenty-four, and Clarence about seventeen.