Richard The Chird (13 page)

she would not hear of. King Louis was there, however, to perform prodigies of tact; and in the end Margaret swallowed the marriage too, though she would not have it solemnized till the Earl had reconquered England. On July 25, Anne Neville, a delicate girl of fourteen, was betrothed to Prince Edward, now sixteen years of age. In a regal ceremony staged in the cathedral of Angers, the Earl and the Queen swore on a piece of the True Cross an oath of mutual fidelity, and Louis the Matchmaker promised to uphold the House of Lancaster. Warwick brought back to his son-in-law—who had just been listening to the persuasions of a clever lady—the feeble consolation that Clarence would succeed to the throne if Anne bore Edward no heir.

A month later, on September 9, a storm having providentially broken the Anglo-Burgundian blockade, Warwick and Clarence and their followers embarked in a fleet of ships provided by King Louis. Landing at Dartmouth and Plymouth on September 13, they marched eastward, gathering many adherents in Lancastrian Devon. The race for London was on.

The moment he received the tidings, King Edward summoned the Marquess of Montagu to join him, and hastened southward with about three thousand men. He halted at Doncaster to spend the night. Not long after Edward had retired, a sergeant of his minstrels burst into his bedroom crying that enemies were "coming for to take him." The unruffled King scouted the news until fugitives began pouring into his camp. The enemy was the Marquess of Montagu. Declaring that Edward had forfeited his allegiance by fobbing him off with a marquisate and "only a pie's nest to maintain it with," John Neville had persuaded most of his army, which outnumbered the King's, to espouse with him the cause of Warwick.

Leaping on their horses, Edward, Richard, Hastings, and Earl Rivers rallied followers and galloped eastward through the night. When the fugitives reach the northern shore of the Wash, they could find no better transport than small boats. Boldly they pushed off for Norfolk, were almost drowned when a tempest battered their little craft, but managed, steering through the night, to reach Lynn on Sunday, September 30. Fortunately, sev-

eral fishing ships lay in the harbor. Taking with them what men they could stuff into their tiny fleet, King Edward and his brother Richard, accompanied by Hastings and Rivers, set sail on Tuesday, October 2, for the shores of Burgundy. 19 Their perils were not yet over. Vessels of the Hanseatic League sighted the flotilla and crammed on all sail for the pursuit. To the very beaches of Alkmaar they chased the King's little ships, and only just in time Edward's old friend, the Seigneur de la Gruthuyse, Governor of Holland, appeared to warn off the Easterlings * and welcome Edward warmly to the domains of his brother-in-law. For the second time in his life Richard found himself a fugitive in Burgundy.

England showed few signs, for the moment, of regretting the precipitate departure of the House of York. On Saturday, October 6, Warwick and Clarence, with a train of nobles that included Lord Stanley, entered London in triumph, extracted a shambling and feeble-witted Henry from the Tower, and proceeded to establish the government of what was called the "re-adeption" of Henry the Sixth. 20 Clarence was noticeably subordinate to his father-in-law. Warwick made few changes in office, the most notable being the return of George Neville, Archbishop of York, to the chancellorship. A Parliament was summoned and obediently confirmed the verdict of fortune, reversed the attainders of the Lancastrians, and reluctantly approved Warwick's policy of peace with France. It was unaware that the Earl had promised King Louis an aggressive alliance against Burgundy. Twice during the winter Queen Margaret was expected in England. The Queen's fleet was ready, but the Queen was not. In the past she had often acted rashly when she should have considered; now she hesitated when she and her son should have been in England winning hearts.

Meanwhile, the sanctuaries were crowded with Yorkists; London made no pretense of being overjoyed by the change in rule; the Yorkist Duke of Norfolk sued as humbly to the Lancastrian Earl of Oxford as, young Paston reported gleefully, he himself had sued to the Duke of Norfolk. 21 Clarence's mother and sisters

*The name by which the English usually designated the men of the Hanse towns.

secretly labored to persuade him to return to his allegiance. On November 2, in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, Queen Elizabeth succeeded, in dire adversity, in producing that which had been denied her during her splendid days: a male heir, who was hopefully christened Edward. Many an Englishman was gladdened by tidings of this event and looked the more confidently for the return of the infant's father.

These loyal hearts had not long to wait. For a time Charles, Duke of Burgundy, temporized, thinking that he might come to terms with the House of Lancaster; but when Louis' ambassadors opened negotiations with England and Louis himself brusquely declared war on Burgundy, Charles' illusions slipped from him and he realized that, for his own preservation, he must help his brother-in-law. Now for the first time, a week after Christmas, he openly received Edward and Richard, who had been enjoying the hospitality of the Seigneur de la Gruthuyse. Edward soon persuaded Charles to part with fifty thousand crowns, to hire Burgundian and Hanse ships for him, and to recruit several hundred Flemish gunners. Richard probably divided his time between Gruthuyse's fine mansion in Bruges and the port of Flushing, where the fleet was beginning to assemble. He spent a few days in February, however, with the Duchess of Burgundy at Lille. His sister no doubt recalled their childhood days at Fotheringhay and hopefully prophesied the return to the fold of her favorite brother, Clarence. Richard almost certainly renewed acquaintance with William Caxton, who had by this time resigned the governorship of the English merchants at Bruges to take service with the Duchess. By the middle of February he would be at Flushing, supervising with Hastings and Rivers the victualing of the fleet and the equipping of the little army. The English exiles embarked on March 2, but weather held them in port for nine days. 22

On March n, King Edward, ordering his pilots to make for friendly East Anglia, set sail for the "enterprise of England" with an army of some fifteen hundred men—about a thousand English and five hundred Flemings. Next morning a landing party which he sent ashore near Cromer, in Norfolk, was promptly beaten

back to its boats. Edward decided to try a more hostile shore which might be less well guarded. Northward he steered for Yorkshire. A storm fell upon his navy and scattered his ships. The vessels Richard commanded were driven ashore a few miles above Ravenspur, the now vanished port at the mouth of the Humber where, seventy-two years before, Henry Bolingbroke had landed to take the crown from Richard II and establish the House of Lancaster. 23 *

It was the evening of March 14—a ticklish moment for a young captain with darkness coming down on unfriendly territory, the wind howling over a gray sea, his men shaken by their narrow escape from death, and no sign of the rest of the army. On leading his band southward next morning, however, Richard found King Edward and his little host at Ravenspur. Through a threatening countryside they marched resolutely northwestward toward York. Kingston-upon-Hull shut them out. Beverley opened its gates. York, it turned out, would not admit Edward until, taking a leaf from Bolingbroke's book, he swore that he had come only to reclaim his Duchy of York! Then, cheering lustily for Henry and mounting the ostrich plumes of Lancaster, Edward and Richard, with only a handful of followers, walked boldly through the city streets. A few hours later, the whole army was permitted to come within the walls to spend the night. York was probably more cautious than hostile; if things went ill with Edward, his oath would perhaps enable the city fathers to make their peace with Warwick.

The next morning King Edward cheerfully marched his little band southward, even though he had learned that the Earl of Northumberland and Marquess Montagu, poised in Yorkshire and sworn to take him, had each a larger army than his own. This much gratitude did Henry Percy now show to Edward: his retainers gathered about him, the Earl remained motionless upon his estates, prepared to accept whoever emerged the victor in the coming struggle. The only cause which the once great-hearted House of Percy would henceforth support was its own interest.

The Marquess lay in strength at Pontefract, to block the road south. Undismayed and marching with great speed, Edward

slipped around him and drove onward to Sandal Castle, scene of his father's death, where a band of retainers awaited his coming. Yet John Neville could not have been ignorant of the invaders' movements nor afraid to attack them. At the supreme touch, his old loyalty to Edward and Richard proved deeper than his allegiance to his brother or fears for his own safety. Unable to bring himself to assault the gallant little band led by two brothers he had loved, the Marquess, sick at heart, slowly trailed southward after them. 24 *

All over England now, men were donning harness and arraying followers to hunt down "yonder man Edward" 25 or to espouse his quarrel or to sit watchfully at home and await the arbitrament of other swords. Onward Edward rolled to Doncaster and then to Nottingham, his army swelling its ranks as men-at-arms and yeoman archers hastened in to join him. At Nottingham scouts brought him the first sure word of the mighty forces which were gathering to crush his daring venture. Warwick had set up his standard at Coventry and was rapidly gathering an army by appeals and menaces. Clarence was levying troops in the southwest counties. The Bastard of Fauconberg hovered in the Channel with a powerful fleet. Queen Margaret and her son were momently expected in England. The most immediate danger threatened from the east: the Duke of Exeter, the Earl of Oxford, and Viscount Beaumont had reached Newark with a "great fellowship." With Montagu coming up behind, Warwick to the front, and Oxford on their flank, Edward and his force appeared to be doomed. The King possessed, however, three intangible resources: his own peerless generalship, the zealous service of his brother Richard, and his brother George's discontents.

Quickly estimating the situation, Edward made a sudden feint to the east in such ostensible force that Oxford beat a hasty retreat. Then, hurrying his army southward to Leicester, where he was joined by some 2,500 men, the King marched directly on Coventry. Warwick took shelter behind the walls of the city. On March 29, only two weeks after his landing, Edward proclaimed himself King and offered the Earl of Warwick the choice of pardon for life only or the hazard of battle. Warwick, waiting

for Montagu, Oxford, and above all, Clarence, accepted neither offer but remained behind the battlements of the town.

Clarence was coming up from the southeast. As soon as he had heard of Edward's landing, he had hastened to assemble all the men he could lay his hands on. He stayed at Wells until March 23, sending to his friend Henry Vernon of Derbyshire to supply him with the latest news. On the thirtieth he was at Malmesbury. By April 2 he had reached Burford and was making for Ban-bury. 26

Next day, he marched out of Banbury toward Coventry. As if to oppose him, Edward broke his camp, now situated at Warwick, and moved about three miles south. When the two forces were less than a mile apart, Edward and Richard rode confidently forward. Clarence cantered toward them with a few followers. A family reconciliation followed. Throwing himself on his knees, Clarence was instantly raised and kissed by the King. Then while Hastings and Rivers fraternized with Clarence's friends, Richard and George embraced and conversed apart for a little. Finally, after trumpeters had sounded joyous fanfares, Clarence addressed Edward's army with the golden eloquence for which he was already noted, 27 * and then Edward paid his respects to Clarence's men, promising them his abounding "grace and good love." The following day Edward permitted brother George to ease his honor by offering his father-in-law a pardon "with divers good conditions"; the furious Earl spurned the offer but still refused to come out and fight, though Montagu and Oxford had just joined him.

Early the next morning, Friday, April 5, King Edward suddenly hurled his army southward for London. On Sunday he was at Daventry, on Tuesday at Dunstable; Wednesday night he spent at St. Albans, having sent orders to the London magistrates to arrest King Henry and keep him in good custody. But on that very Wednesday the distracted city council, and George Neville, the Archbishop, received urgent commands from Warwick to hold London until he arrived. They were also expecting hourly word of the landing of Queen Margaret and her son, whom two days before the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Devonshire

(Courtenay, the Lancastrian Earl) had just gone south to meet.

Tension mounted in the city. The sanctuaries were crammed with Yorkist adherents; the Tower was full of Yorkist prisoners. Warwick's followers were still in apparent control, but the citizens were beginning to stir. Mayor Stokton had prudently taken to his bed. In an attempt to rally the city for Lancaster, the Archbishop of York mounted poor King Harry on a horse and had him led through the streets surrounded by a thin shell of armed men. At the head of the procession a staff was borne, from which dangled two foxtails—once the ensign of the mighty Henry the Fifth but now only two foxtails, drooping like the half-witted heir of Agincourt. 28 The council quickly decided that the city could not oppose King Edward. When news came that evening that he had reached St. Albans, the slippery Archbishop dispatched him a humble request to be taken into favor.

At noon on Maundy Thursday, April u, the gates of London flew open and young Richard of Gloucester entered the city at King Edward's side to the blowing of trumpets and the rolling surf of cheers. In the eyes of most Londoners, Edward was "their" King. He had revived their trade and was himself a dealer in wool; he spent freely among the victualers, vintners, drapers, and goldsmiths and at the moment owed large sums; and he was ardently championed by the ladies and merchants' wives of the city, many of whom had apparently received from him favors which were never engrossed upon the patent rolls. Besides, there were not many who believed that Richard Neville, whatever the odds in his favor, could defeat Edward Plantagenet in battle.