Richard The Chird (11 page)

By June 26 King Edward and Richard had reached Lynn with a party of some two hundred horsemen; pushing through the watery fen country, they spent a night at Croyland Abbey. The next morning the brothers took ship and sailed up the Nene to Fotheringhay Castle. 6 Here they passed a week in the company of Queen Elizabeth, while contingents of troops and their military supplies came in. On July 5 the King's little army set out northward for Stamford. On July 7 it passed through Grantham and came to Newark. . . .

Suddenly the King wheeled his force about and headed with all speed for the safety of Nottingham Castle. At Newark he had learned that Robin of Redesdale was rapidly advancing southward with an army larger than his own, and one of Robin's proclamations had fallen into his hands. A glance was enough to show that the Earl of Warwick had inspired it. The Wood-villes, Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, Stafford, Earl of Devon, Sir John Fogge, and others were damned as avaricious favorites who preyed upon the realm and led the King to ignore the lords of his own blood (meaning, of course, Warwick and Clarence). Edward himself was ominously likened to Edward II, Richard II, and Henry VI, all deposed monarchs. 7

At once Edward ordered—or permitted—the Woodvilles to seek their own safety. Lord Scales galloped off to go into hiding on his Norfolk estates, near Lynn. Earl Rivers and his son Sir John fled westward. The King sent word to the Earls of

Pembroke and Devon and Lord Hastings to come in haste with whatever forces they could muster. Then with his own hand he wrote almost identical notes to Warwick, the Archbishop of York, and brother George, cordially requesting them to join him in a peaceable manner. To Warwick's note he added the hope that the Earl was not "of any such disposition toward us, as the rumour here runneth/' 8

But rumor, as the King well knew, had not outrun the facts; Clarence and Warwick had outrun the King. On July 6, three days before Edward dispatched his notes, they had slipped across the Channel to Calais, accompanied by the Archbishop of York, the Earl of Oxford, and a host of followers. Five days later, Isabel Neville was married to George of Clarence by the Archbishop in the presence of Warwick and five other Knights of the Garter. Clarence had obtained the precious dispensation by bribing Edward's own agent at the papal court. A few days after, preceded by manifestoes supporting the "petitions" of Robin of Redesdale, who was none other than Sir John Conyers, Warwick's cousin by marriage, the Earl and his party crossed the Channel. Gathering forces in Kent, they entered London about July 20 and shortly moved northward to meet the Yorkshire insurgents.

Three armies were now converging upon the area around Ban-bury. The Earl of Pembroke, with a force of Welsh pikemen, and the Earl of Devon, supported by West Country archers, were marching northeast to Edward's aid. Robin had skirted Nottingham to the west in order to cut the King off from London. Warwick, having heard of Pembroke's and Devon's advance, was hastening north, pushing out cavalry detachments ahead of him. When Pembroke and Devon reached Banbury on July 26, they quarreled about billets, and the Earl of Devon angrily pulled back his troops some ten miles. At this moment Robin of Redesdale's rebel host fell upon Pembroke. Though he was badly outnumbered and had no archers, William Herbert fought like a lion to save the day; but before Stafford of Devon could reach him, an advance party of Warwick's horse arrived to clinch the victory. Pembroke and his brother, Sir Richard Herbert, were haled

to Warwick's and Clarence's headquarters at Northampton and next day beheaded. Before he died, the valiant Pembroke was permitted to write a hasty farewell to his Countess: "Wife," he concluded it, "pray for me and take the said order [of widowhood] that ye promised me, as ye had in my life my heart and love." 9

Edward, Richard, and Lord Hastings were still at Nottingham waiting for reinforcements. Three days after Pembroke's defeat, of which they remained in ignorance, they began to move slowly southward. At Olney they met fugitives from the battle panting out their tale of disaster and crying that the host of Warwick and Clarence was at their heels. The small army of the King melted away; Edward apparently dismissed most of those who remained staunch. He had been outmaneuvered, but not daunted. Bold and resourceful, he abandoned the lion's role for the fox's.

Not many hours later the Archbishop of York, resplendent in full armor, galloped up at the head of a strong party of horse. Blandly he suggested that the King accompany him, and blandly Edward agreed. On August 2 the royal captive arrived at Coventry to confront Clarence and Warwick, They seem to have prepared only the rough outline of their drama. Edward proceeded to transform it into high comedy by the impeccable style with which he played his part. He gave them fair words, he smiled, he signed whatever they put before him. About August 7 he was removed to the stronghold of Warwick Castle. A few days later, Earl Rivers and Sir John Woodville, taken somewhere near Chepstow, were beheaded outside the walls of Coventry. Thomas Herbert, another of Pembroke's kinsmen, went to the block in Bristol, and the Earl of Devon met the same fate in Somersetshire.

About the middle of August the Duke of Clarence and the Archbishop of York arrived in London in order to see that the royal council kept up the appearance of government. Warwick had caused the King to summon a Parliament, the business of which would be to legalize and confirm the triumph of the Nevilles. Suddenly, Edward was conveyed by secret night

marches to Middleham Castle in far-off Wensleydale, and shortly after, the meeting of Parliament was canceled. 10 *

The news that Edward was a prisoner had run like wildfire and the kingdom was ablaze. Popular though Warwick was, the people of England were shocked and dismayed by the capture of their King, London hovered on the brink of mob violence. The Duke of Burgundy, promising all aid, threatened the city with dire consequences if it deserted his brother-in-law; and the magistrates made no bones about pledging their loyalty. John Neville, Earl of Northumberland, would not lift a finger to help his brothers. In East Anglia, the Duke of Norfolk chose this time of confusion to besiege Caister Castle, and despite the Archbishop of York's and Clarence's good will to the Pastons, Norfolk maintained the siege until young Paston and his tiny garrison surrendered, No wonder Edward had been hurried northward beyond easy reach of rescue. The country was out of control.

At this propitious moment, Humphrey Neville of Brancepeth, a distant kinsman of Warwick's, stirred up a Lancastrian rising along the Scots border. Warwick confidently set about gathering men in Yorkshire to put it down. On the eighth or ninth of September, however, the Archbishop of York hurried northward from London, having received very disquieting news. Warwick could muster no troops. Not until they knew that the King was at liberty would men answer the call to arms. When he had conferred with his brother, the Archbishop rode on to Middleham. Soon after, King Edward showed himself to his people of York and was then permitted to go to Pontefract. Now Warwick had no difficulty raising men, Humphrey Neville, quickly captured, was beheaded at York on September 29, the King coming up to the city in order to witness the execution.

Where was Richard in these critical days? The records and the chroniclers are silent. There is no reason to suppose he accompanied King Edward in his captivity. Apparently, when the Archbishop of York appeared at Olney, he complacently allowed Richard and Hastings to depart where they pleased. Hastings, going into Lancashire, quietly began to gather followers. Richard,

it seems probable, likewise went north and in concert with the Lord Chamberlain set to work to rescue his brother. 11

During these September days, King Edward, at Pontefract, was appreciating to the full the alterations which the people of England had made in Warwick's drama; and he now adroitly prepared his own script for the denouement. When he learned that Richard and Hastings, and perhaps Northumberland, had gathered a force, he suddenly took action. Without consulting the Nevilles, he summoned the chief lords of his council to come at once to Pontefract. They obeyed with alacrity. Richard and Hastings arrived with several hundred men horsed and armed. Smiling, the King informed the Archbishop, Warwick, and Clarence that these men had come to escort him and his lords to London. The Nevilles could only acquiesce. To keep up appearances and discover what yet might be salvaged from the debacle, the Archbishop of York trailed southward in the royal wake. At his manor of The Moor he was met by the Earl of Oxford. The pair of them then spurred on to join the King for his entry into London. They had not gone three miles, however, when they received a message from Edward. Come when we send for you, lie told them bluntly. There was nothing for them to do but turn back.

With Richard and Hastings at his side and accompanied by the Duke of Suffolk and young Henry, Duke of Buckingham, the Earls of Essex and Arundel and faithful Northumberland, Lords John of Buckingham, Dacre, and Mount joy, and a thousand horses, the King of England was heartily welcomed to his capital by the Mayor and Aldermen in scarlet and two hundred of the chief citizens in blue. 12 *

The King's Man

. . . a pack-horse in his great affairs; A weeder-out of his proud adversaries . . .

1" | 1 HE Woodvilles would again dominate King Edward's I court, but he would never again look to them as the bul--*- wark of his power. He had discovered, these past weeks, a stouter prop to his throne in his brother Richard. Not only was Edward eager to reward his brother's services; he was compelled by his dangerous position to pile responsibilities upon the rewards. Hitherto, Richard's life had been determined by the events and people which impinged upon it; now, though only just turned seventeen, he began to impinge upon events. His brief adolescence, itself severely tried by the impending conflict between Edward and Warwick, was abruptly cut short by his brother's need for him to play a man's part.

Less than a week after he reached London, Richard found himself appointed Constable of England for life—even though in the letters patent conferring the office upon the late Earl Rivers it had been expressly given to his son Lord Scales in reversion. King Edward had greatly augmented the Constable's traditional powers. Not only was he the President of the Court of Chivalry and of Courts Martial; he had the immense authority of determining treasonable acts by simple inspection of fact and of meting out punishment. Edward had made him the spearhead in his campaign to reduce the realm to order. 1

While, in the next six weeks, Richard was receiving rich grants of estates and lands, including the great manor and castle of Sudeley^ trouble had begun to stir in Wales; a region always sensitive to weakness of the Crown, strong in Lancastrian sympathies, and along with Northumberland, the chief breeding ground of disorder. The unrest began in North Wales. Pembroke,

its Chief Justice, was dead, and Hastings, its Chamberlain, was needed at the King's side. People refused to pay their yearly dues to the royal officers, the Sheriff of Anglesey setting an example by his bold defiance. The disaffection spread. Soon the bards were muttering in their mountain valleys, and Welsh gentlemen looked to their arms and their followers. The times seemed propitious to, defy the Saxon King at Westminster. 2

The Saxon King called upon his young brother, the Constable, to restore the royal authority. As early as October 29 he had received commissions to array men in Shropshire, Gloucester, and Worcester. On November 7 he was appointed for life Chief Justice of North Wales, and not long after rode westward to begin assembling a force of men. Three weeks later he was made "during pleasure" Chief Steward, Approver, and Surveyor of the entire principality of Wales and the earldom of March. By this time, the bards were chanting and armed men galloped in the mountains. Two Welsh gentlemen, Morgan ap Thomas ap Griffith and Henry ap Thomas ap Griffith, having gathered a considerable following, boldly assaulted and captured the King's castles of Carmarthen and Cardigan in South Wales, which were in the charge of the Earl of Warwick. From these bases the insurgents began raiding the whole country round. As soon as the news reached Edward, he dispatched Richard full authority to recapture the castles and imprison or pardon the rebels. 3 *

It was Richard's first independent military command. He no doubt took it as seriously as if he were leading the chivalry of England against the French. The result confirmed King Edward's judgment of his brother. The castles were recaptured; the rebels were apparently content to swear an oath of fealty and to receive pardons.

So promptly indeed did Richard accomplish his task that he was able to return to London during the Christmas season to report his success and to confer with the King regarding a fresh outbreak of disturbances. The result was that he shortly returned westward to head a great commission of oyer and terminer for both North and South Wales. A month later he was appointed Chief Justice and Chamberlain of South Wales, and Steward,

during the minority of Pembroke's son, of all the King's lands in the counties of Carmarthen and Cardigan. In becoming the virtual viceroy of the principality of Wales, Richard displaced the man who had once sought to win his allegiance from Edward, During the King's captivity the previous August, these very offices had been appropriated by Warwick. Now Edward felt himself strong enough to augment his loyal brother's power at the Earl's expense. 4 *

Throughout these winter months the King had been vigorously taking every means to restore his position. Polydore Vergil, the Tudor historian, cannot resist praising the sagacity he displayed in this crisis: "not to omit any carefulness, travail, nor counsel that meet was for his avail in this troublesome time, he regarded nothing more than to win again the friendship of such noble men as were now alienated from him, to confirm the good will of them who were hovering and unconstant, and to reduce the mind of the multitude, being brought by these innovations [Warwick's capture of the King] into a murmuring and doubtfulness what to do, unto their late obedience, affection, and good will towards him." 5

Edward's most pressing problem was how to handle Warwick and Clarence. Despite the vengeful urgings of the Queen and his own private feelings, he played the ruler rather than the man. He realized that to bring peace to his uneasy realm, he must seek an accommodation with his recent captors. After much neo-otia-tion, Warwick and Clarence consented to attend an assembly of all the peers, and arrived in London early in December. It was a feast of peace and forgiveness. The King and the Earl agreed to sink their past differences in oblivion. Edward issued a general pardon to all who had been guilty of riot or insurrection. The reconciliation was sealed when the King betrothed his eldest daughter to John Neville's young son, who, on January 5, 1470, was created Duke of Bedford. Since the Earl of Northumberland was, however, the one Neville who had remained faithful to him, Edward w;as rewarding his own follower rather than making a concession to Warwick.

Yet the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence had reason

to feel satisfied with themselves. They had demonstrated their ability to dominate and humiliate the King; they had disposed of two Herberts and two Woodvilles with impunity; and they had forced Edward to make the first overtures of peace.