Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 17.djvu/78

Edward IV that Henry should retain the crown for life, the succession being reserved to the duke and his heirs immediately after him. And so it was accordingly enacted, the duke and his two eldest sons swearing fealty to Henry so long as he should live. The duke then with his second son, the Earl of Rutland, withdrew into the north to keep Christmas at his castle of Sandal, while Edward returned to the borders of Wales and kept his Christmas at the Friars at Shrewsbury. But the parliamentary settlement was not respected by Queen Margaret and her adherents, who on 30 Dec. defeated and slew the Duke of York at Wakefield; then with a host of rough northern followers advanced towards London, ravaging the country frightfully upon the way. Young Edward, who was then at Gloucester, hearing of this disaster, at once raised a body of thirty thousand men upon the borders of Wales, and would have gone immediately to meet the queen's forces, but he was informed that the Earl of Wiltshire, with Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke, the king's half-brother, had arrived in Wales by sea with a body of Frenchmen, Bretons, and Irishmen, who were ready to fall upon his rear. So he turned and gave them battle at Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire, where he completely defeated them and put them to flight on 2 Feb. 1461. In the morning, just before the battle, he is said to have been encouraged by what he interpreted as a happy omen. The sun appeared to be like three suns which ultimately joined together in one. After the victory he pushed on to London, where when he arrived he was received as a deliverer. For Margaret and her northern bands having meanwhile won the second battle of St. Albans (17 Feb.), she had thereby recovered her husband, and as it was clear no mercy could be expected even by those who had upheld the parliamentary settlement, the city was divided between fear and hatred. Emissaries of the queen came to demand a contribution of money and provisions for her army. They were not allowed entrance into the city, and when the mayor had laden some carts with the required supplies, the people took the carts and divided the provisions and money among themselves.

Edward arrived in London 26 Feb., the ninth day after the battle of St. Albans, having been joined on the way up by the Earl of Warwick at Burford in Oxfordshire. He and the carl together had forty thousand men along with them, and all classes of the community welcomed them with delight. For a few days he took up his abode in the Bishop of London's palace, and numbers of the gentry of the south and east of England came up to show their devotion to him. On Sunday, 1 March, George Nevill, bishop of Exeter, who had been appointed lord chancellor by the Yorkists shortly after the battle of Northampton, addressed a large meeting at Clerkenwell, composed partly of the citizens and partly of Edward's soldiers, declaring how Edward might rightly claim the crown. On 3 March a great council was called at Baynard's Castle, a mansion which had belonged to the Duke of York, and it was agreed that Edward was now the rightful king, Henry having forfeited his claim by breach of the late parliamentary settlement. On the 4th Edward entered Westminster Hall, seated himself on the royal throne, and declared his title to the people with his own mouth. The people were then asked if they would accept him, and there was a general cry of 'Yea! yea!' after which he entered the abbey and offered at St. Edward's shrine. Next day proclamations were issued in his name as king.

Meanwhile Queen Margaret had withdrawn with her husband back into the north. Thither Edward determined to pursue them without loss of time, and he left the city on 13 March, accompanied by the Duke of Norfolk. The Earl of Warwick had already left for the north in advance of him, on Saturday the 7th, and the main body of Edward's own infantry on Wednesday the 11th. The united forces, to which the city gladly contributed a company, were no doubt enormous, though the arithmetic of the time cannot be relied on as to their numbers. Having reached Pomfret their advanced guard took, after a six hours' skirmish, the passage of the Aire at Ferrybridge, which Lord Fitzwalter was appointed to keep. Henry and Queen Margaret had thrown themselves into York, but a force under the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland, and Lord Clifford crossed the Wharfe, and early in the morning of Saturday 28 March a detachment under Lord Clifford retook the bridge at Ferrybridge by surprise, and killed Lord Fitzwalter. Lord Falconbridge, however, forced a passage at Castleford, a few miles up the river; and Clifford, to avoid being surrounded, endeavoured to fall back upon the main body of the army under Somerset, but was slain by an arrow in the throat. Next day. Palm Sunday, took place the bloody battle of Towton, in which the Lancastrians were utterly defeated. It is not easy to credit the contemporary statement that twenty-eight thousand dead were actually counted by the heralds upon the field; but unquestionably the slaughter was tremendous, the fight being obstinately maintained for no less than ten hours. The snow which fell during the action and helped to