Shakespeare's Kings (89 page)

The light was already beginning to fail when the Duke of Norfolk arrived with fresh troops to smash into the exposed Lancastrian flank, which finally broke and started the headlong flight of Queen Margaret's men. Hundreds of heavily armoured knights were drowned trying to cross the little river Cock; hundreds more of their followers were trapped at Tadcaster where, to block the Yorkist advance, they had themselves destroyed the only bridge two days before. Few prisoners were taken: for the vast majority, capture meant instant slaughter. Northumberland, Clifford and Nevill were among the royalist nobles who fell on the field; killed too was Sir Andrew Trollope, one of the bravest and most experienced of the Lancastrian leaders. Among the Yorkists Lord FitzWalter was the only noble casualty, but their losses too were horrendous. The snow is said to have been more crimson than white, while the river Wharfe and its tributaries ran red with blood. We need not necessarily believe the contemporary report that the heralds counted
28,000
dead on the field, but after ten hours of desperate hand-to-hand fighting even that figure is not impossible. Over an area six miles long by half a mile broad, the dead lay unburied for several days.

Edward entered York in triumph, removing from the walls the heads of his father and the other Yorkist nobles slain at Wakefield and replacing them with those of the Earl of Devon - captured alive but subsequently executed - and other Lancastrian leaders. He remained in the city for the next three weeks, consolidating his position. The great Lancastrian families of the north - the Percys, the Cliffords, the Dacres - were largely destroyed, their power shattered, their old loyalties severely shaken; now for the first time it seemed that there might be a chance of persuading the whole region to accept his authority. He also showed himself in Durham and Newcastle - where he witnessed the execution of one of his oldest enemies, the Earl of Wiltshire - finally returning in May to London, where on
28
June he was crowned at last in Westminster Abbey. His two brothers George and Richard, whom the Duchess of York had sent over to Utrecht for safety after her husband's death, returned in time for the ceremony and were awarded the dukedoms of Clarence and Gloucester respectively.

Queen Margaret, however, was not yet beaten. Having retreated once again to
Scotland
, she further ingratiated herself with the Scots by ceding to them the town of Berwick-on-Tweed; and early in
1462 she
crossed
to
France,
where
she
persuaded
her
cousin
Louis
XI
-
who, after
two
unsuccessful
attempts
to
depose
his
father,
Charles
VII,
had succeeded
him
naturally
the
previous
July
-
to
lend
her
money
and send
an
expeditionary
force
to
help
her,
promising
him
Calais
in
return. (Fortunately
Philip
of
Burgundy
refused
point-blank
to
allow
French troops
to
cross
his
territory,
so
this
plan
came
to
nothing.)
In
1463
she tried
again
to
establish
a
solid
Lancastrian
base
in
the
far
north,
but
with no
greater
success;
then
in
the
following
year
the
young
Duke
of Somerset,
whose
father
had
been
Richard
of
York's
chief
opponent but
whom
Edward
had
pardoned
and
befriended,
reverted
to
his
original cause
and,
with
Sir
Ralph
Percy
and
Sir
Humphrey
Nevill,
raised
a
revolt in
Northumberland.
On
25
April,
at
Hedgeley
Moor
near
Alnwick,
they attacked
a
Yorkist
army
under
Warwick's
brother,
the
Marquis
of Montagu,
but
were
soundly
defeated.
Percy
was
killed;
Somerset
escaped and
tried
to
regroup
his
forces,
but
at
Hexham
on
15
May
his
army
-which
by
now
included
all
the
Lancastrian
notables
in
the
north
and had
even
been
joined
by
King
Henry
in
person
-
suffered
a
surprise attack
by
Montagu
and
was
virtually
annihilated.
He
himself,
together with
several
of
the
other
leaders,
was
captured
and
beheaded;
the
King escaped,
only
to
spend
nearly
a
year
in
disguise,
wandering
through
the wild
hill
country
of
the
north,
taking
refuge
where
he
could
at
monasteries
or
in
the
homes
of
his
supporters.
At
last
he
was
recognized
as
he sat
at
dinner
at
Waddington
Hall
in
Ribblesdale.
Arrested
and
taken
to London,
he
was
imprisoned
in
the
Tower
—
where
he
was
to
remain for
the
next
five
and
a
half
years.

The
pendulum
had
swung
in
favour
of
King
Edward;
but
at
Hedgeley Moor
and
Hexham
he
had
played
no
part.
His
mind
was
on
other matters.
Early
in
the
morning
of
1
May
1464
he
had
paid
a
secret visit
to
Grafton,
near
Stony
Stratford;
it
was
the
residence
of
the
old Duchess
of
Bedford,
widow
of
the
Regent
who
had
governed
France some
forty
years
before.
After
his
death
she
had
married
Richard Woodville,
Lord
Pavers,
and
had
borne
him
a
daughter,
Elizabeth, whose
husband,
the
stalwart
Lancastrian
Sir
John
Grey
of
Groby,
had been
killed
at
the
second
Battle
of
St
Albans.
The
young
widow
was now
twenty-seven,
five
years
older
than
Edward
and
devastatingly attractive;
he
had
been
pursuing
her
for
months,
but
it
was
widely believed
that
she
had
insisted
on
marriage
before
granting
him
her favours,
even
when
he
had
held
a
dagger
to
her
throat.
¹
Finally
he
had given
in,
and
by
the
time
he
left
Grafton
a
few
hours
later
the
two
were man
and
wife.

No
public
announcement
was
made.
Other
brides,
a
good
deal
more distinguished
than
Elizabeth,
²
had
been
suggested
and
had
already
been the
subject
of
tentative
diplomatic
inquiries;
they
included
the
Princess Isabella
of
Castile
—
who
was
later
to
marry
Ferdinand
of
Aragon
and to
send
Christopher
Columbus
to
the
New
World
-
and
the
sister-in-law of
Louis
XI,
Bona
of
Savoy.
Bona's
cause
was
being
industriously promoted
by
the
Earl
of
Warwick
as
part
of
his
policy
to
form
an alliance
with
France
and
Burgundy,
and
Edward
was
well
aware
that the
very
idea
of
the
Woodville
marriage
would
drive
him
to
fury.
He kept
his
secret
for
four
months,
even
from
his
closest
friends,
revealing it
only
in
September
1464
when
it
could
be
kept
no
longer.