THE EARL OF WORCESTER.
While Edward is in exile; and Elizabeth Woodville in the sanctuary;
and Warwick holding the reins of power; and Margaret of Anjou and her
son on the Continent; we may refer with brevity to the melancholy fate
of John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, celebrated on the same page of
history as "the Butcher" and as "the paragon of learning and the patron
of Caxton"--the most accomplished among the nobility of his age, and,
at the same time, the only man "who, during the Yorkist domination,
had committed such excesses as to merit the punishment of death at the
Lancastrian restoration."
Though not of high patrician rank like the Nevilles or the De Veres,
Worcester had claims to considerable respect in an ancestral point
of view. One of the family of Tiptoft, after fighting in the Barons'
Wars against Simon de Montfort, accompanied the victor of Evesham
when that great prince fared forth to the Holy Land to signalize his
prowess against the enemies of his religion; and the descendants of
the crusader made their name known to fame in those wars which our
Plantagenet kings carried on in Scotland and in France. Early in the
fifteenth century, Lord Tiptoft, the chief of the race, espoused the
sister and co-heir of Edward Charlton, Lord Powis; and, about the year
1427, their son, John Tiptoft, first saw the light at Everton, in the
shire of Cambridge.
The heir of the Tiptofts was educated at Baliol College, Oxford; and at
that ancient seat of learning pursued his studies with such energy and
enthusiasm as raised the admiration of his contemporaries, and laid the
foundation of the fame which he has enjoyed with posterity. When in his
teens, he became, by his father's death, one of the barons of England,
and, some time later, in 1449, he found himself elevated, by Henry of
Windsor, to the earldom of Worcester. He had enjoyed this new dignity
for six years, and reached the age of twenty-eight, when blood was
first shed at St. Albans in the Wars of the Roses.
Worcester was a man of action as well as a scholar. When, therefore,
war commenced, he was, doubtless, looked upon by both parties as a
desirable partisan. The accomplished earl, however, appears to have
been in no haste to risk his head and his baronies in the quarrel
either of York or Lancaster. At first, he hesitated, wavered, and
refrained from committing himself as to the merits of the controversy,
and, finally, instead of plucking either "the pale or the purple
rose," avoided the hazard of making a choice by leaving the country and
repairing to the Holy Land.
After indulging his zeal as a Christian and his curiosity as a man,
during his visit to Jerusalem, Worcester turned toward Italy; and
having beheld the wonders of Venice--then in all the pride of wealth
and commercial prosperity--and resided for a time at Padua--then
famous as the chief seat of European learning--he proceeded to Rome to
gladden his eyes with a sight of the Vatican Library. While in Rome
Worcester had an interview with Pius the Second, and an interesting
scene rendered the occasion memorable. On being presented to the Pope,
better known in England as Æneas Sylvius, the young English nobleman
addressed to him a Latin oration, to which the learned pontiff listened
with tears of admiration.
As soon as the news spread over Europe that the Lancastrians had been
utterly routed on Towton Field, and that Edward of York was firmly
seated on the English throne, Worcester returned home. During his
residence in Italy he had purchased many volumes of manuscripts; and
of these he contributed a liberal share to the library at Oxford,
whose shelves had formerly profited by the donations of "The Good Duke
Humphrey." When abroad, Worcester had evinced such an eagerness to
possess himself of books, that it was said he plundered the libraries
of Italy to enrich those of England.
The king received Worcester with favor, and treated him with high
consideration. Soon after his return the learned earl presided at the
trial of John, Earl of Oxford, and his son, Aubrey De Vere; and, no
longer inclined to waver, he buckled on the mail of a warrior, and
accompanied Edward to the north of England on his expedition against
the Lancastrians. Meanwhile, he had been intrusted with high offices;
and appears to have at the same time exercised the functions of
Treasurer of the King's Exchequer and Constable of the Tower of London,
Chancellor of Ireland, and Justice of North Wales.
For seven years after his return from Italy, Worcester conducted
himself with credit and distinction. Evil communications, however,
corrupt good manners. At a critical period the intellectual baron
appears to have fallen under the influence of Elizabeth Woodville; and
to have been used by that unscrupulous woman to perpetrate acts of
tyranny that ultimately cost him his life.
Of the great Norman barons whose swords had won them dominion over
the Celts of Ireland the Fitzgeralds were among the proudest and most
powerful. One branch of the family held the earldom of Desmond; another
that of Kildare; and both exercised much influence in the provinces
subject to their sway. In the contest between the rival Plantagenets,
the Fitzgeralds adopted the White Rose as their badge; and Thomas,
eighth Earl of Desmond, fought by Edward's side in those battles which
won the crown for the house of York.
When the question of Edward's marriage with Elizabeth Woodville was
agitated, Desmond was naturally consulted; and the Norman earl took a
different course from such pickthanks as Sir John Howard. Being frank
and honest, he unhesitatingly pointed out the king's imprudence, and
perhaps became, in consequence, one of those people for whom the widow
of Sir John Grey did not entertain any particular affection. But,
however that may have been, Edward appointed his old comrade-in-arms
deputy to the Duke of Clarence, who was then Lord-lieutenant of
Ireland, and when Desmond was preparing to depart from London, the
king asked if there was any thing in his policy that could be amended.
The earl, with more zeal for his sovereign's service than respect for
his sovereign's marriage vow, advised Edward to divorce Elizabeth
Woodville, and to marry some woman worthy of sharing the English throne.
Edward was not the most faithful of husbands; and Elizabeth Woodville
may not, at first, have been the most patient of wives, though she
afterward learned to submit with a good grace. At all events, they had
sundry domestic quarrels; and Edward, during some altercation with the
queen, said, "Had I hearkened to Desmond's advice, your insolent spirit
would have been humbled."
The queen's curiosity was excited in the highest degree; and, unluckily
for Desmond, she determined to find out what advice he had given.
On eliciting the truth, Elizabeth vowed revenge; and so strenuous
were her efforts to effect the earl's ruin, that she succeeded at
length in having him sentenced to lose both his office and his head.
Unfortunately for Worcester, he was appointed to succeed Desmond as
deputy; and, on arriving in Ireland to assume his functions, he caused
the sentence of decapitation against his predecessor to be executed.
Under any circumstances, the duty which the new deputy had thus to
perform would have been invidious. If we are to credit the story
generally told, Worcester executed the sentence under circumstances,
not only invidious, but disgraceful and dishonorable.
According to the popular account of the execution of Desmond, the king
had no more idea than the child unborn that his old friend was to fall
a victim to female malice. It is said that Elizabeth Woodville, having
by stealth obtained the royal signet, affixed the seal to a warrant for
the Irish earl's execution, and that Worcester, in order to possess
himself of some part of Desmond's estates, instantly acted on this
document. It is added that, on hearing of the transaction, Edward was
so enraged, that Elizabeth, terrified at her husband's wrath, fled from
him to a place of safety.
Desmond was executed at Drogheda; and, when his head fell, the
Fitzgeralds rose as one man to avenge the death of their chief.
Worcester, however, far from being daunted, stood his ground
fearlessly, and remained in Ireland till 1470, when Warwick finally
broke with the king. As Clarence took part with his father-in-law,
his posts as Constable of England and Lord-lieutenant of Ireland were
forfeited, and Edward bestowed them upon Worcester.
On the occasion of his promotion to the lord-lieutenancy, Worcester
returned to England. On arriving at Southampton, he was commanded by
the king to sit in judgment on several gentlemen and yeomen taken by
Anthony Woodville in some ships during a skirmish at sea. Worcester,
who appears to have been the reverse of squeamish about shedding blood,
condemned twenty of them to be "drawn, hanged, and quartered." Among
these was John Clapham, the squire who figured so conspicuously at
Banbury.
Worcester had hardly rendered this service to Edward when Warwick
landed, and carried every thing before him. The revolution which
restored Henry of Windsor, and placed England in the power of
Warwick and his brother-in-law, the Earl of Oxford, was accomplished
with so little resistance, that scarcely a drop of blood was shed.
Worcester, however, was not allowed to escape. Though a man of rare
accomplishments for his age, and one who endeavored to inspire his
countrymen with that respect for letters which he himself felt,
the earl had, while constable of the Tower, been guilty of fearful
severities against the Lancastrians; and he was spoken of among the
populace as "The Butcher of England."[11]
Hearing of the king's flight, and not unconscious of his own
unpopularity, Worcester was under the necessity of shifting for himself
as he best could. His efforts to escape, however, were fruitless. Being
pursued into the county of Huntingdon, he was found concealed in a
tree in the forest of Weybridge, dragged from his hiding-place, and
carried to the Tower of London.
Worcester was, without delay, brought to trial. The Earl of Oxford
presided on the occasion; and the lord-lieutenant was charged with
having, while deputy, been guilty of extreme cruelty to two orphan
boys, the infant sons of the Earl of Desmond. On this charge he was
condemned. He was forthwith executed on Tower Hill, and his headless
trunk was buried in the monastery of the Black Friars.
Whatever the faults of Worcester, Caxton seems to have regarded him
with respect and admiration. "Oh, good blessed LORD," exclaims that
English worthy, "what great loss was it of that noble, virtuous, and
well-disposed lord, the Earl of Worcester. What worship had he at Rome,
in the presence of our holy father the pope, and in all other places
unto his death. The axe then did, at one blow, cut off more learning
than was in the heads of all the surviving nobility."