AFTER BOSWORTH.
When the battle of Bosworth was over, and Richmond, with John De Vere,
and Jasper of Pembroke, and the Stanleys, including Lord Strange, stood
around the mangled corpse of Richard, the prisoners were brought before
the victor. Among them appeared William Catesby, and the Earls of
Surrey and Northumberland.
Northumberland was readily received into favor. Surrey, when asked how
he durst bear arms for the usurper, answered, "If the Parliament of
England set the crown upon a bush, I would fight for it." Richmond was
softened by this speech, and Surrey was spared to fight for the Tudors
at Flodden, and to wear the ducal coronet of the Mowbrays. Catesby,
less fortunate than the two earls, was summarily executed. Dr. Hutton,
who, according to tradition, was one of "the Huttons of that Ilk,"
sought safety north of the Tweed.
From Bosworth Richmond marched to Leicester, and thither, covered with
blood and dust, hung across a horse, behind a pursuivant-at-arms, the
feet dangling on one side and the hands on the other, the body of
King Richard was carried. As the mangled corpse was conveyed over Bow
Bridge, the head dashed violently against the stone which Richard had,
the day before, struck with his spur--"thus," say the old chroniclers,
"fulfilling the prediction of the wise woman."
After being exposed to view in the Town Hall of Leicester, Richard's
body was buried in the Grey Friars' Church, and Richmond slowly
advanced toward London. At Hornsey Wood he was met and welcomed by the
mayor and aldermen, all clad in violet. Having been escorted to St.
Paul's, he returned thanks to GOD for his victory, and offered three
standards upon the high altar.
After some delay, Richmond appointed the 30th of October, 1485, for his
coronation; and on that day the old Archbishop of Canterbury anointed
the adventurer, as two years earlier he had anointed the usurper. All
the ancient ceremonies were observed; and Richmond availed himself
of the occasion to elevate Lord Stanley to the Earldom of Derby, Sir
Edward Courtenay to the Earldom of Devon, and Jasper Tudor to the
Dukedom of Bedford--the old duchess, Elizabeth Woodville's mother,
having gone to her account at the time when peace and prosperity
surrounded the throne of her son-in-law, and when William Caxton
was setting up his printing-press under the patronage of the White
Rose.[17]
A week after Richmond's coronation Parliament assembled at Westminster.
Richard's adherents were declared traitors, while De Vere, De Roos,
Beaumont, Welles, and others were restored; and the heir of the
Cliffords, who had passed his youth in the garb of a shepherd, emerged
at thirty from the fells of Cumberland, and lived to lead the men of
the Craven to Flodden Field.
But of all who suffered during the Yorkist domination, no one was so
harshly treated as the widow of "The Stout Earl," who fell on Gladsmuir
Heath, fighting for the ancient rights and liberties of Englishmen.
After having heard of Warwick's death, the countess took refuge in the
sanctuary of Beaulieu, and there remained in poverty. On Richmond's
accession, however, an Act of Parliament was passed to restore her
manors. But this, it would seem, was done that she might convey them to
the king, and only that of Sutton was allotted for her maintenance.
From the day when Edward, Prince of Wales, perished in his teens at
Tewkesbury, Margaret of Anjou ceased to influence the controversy with
which her name is inseparably associated.
Margaret lived several years after regaining her freedom; and, deprived
of the crown which her accomplishments had won, the Lancastrian queen
wandered sadly from place to place, as if driven by her perturbed
spirit to seek something that was no longer to be found.
Tortured by avenging memory, embittered by unavailing regret, and weary
of life, Margaret of Anjou summed up her experience of the world when
she wrote in the breviary of her niece, "Vanity of vanities, all is
vanity." At length, in August, 1480, the disconsolate queen, after
reaching the age of twoscore and ten, breathed her last at Damprierre,
and was buried by the side of her father in the Cathedral of Angers.