CHAP. XXI. HENRY VI. Claim of the Duke of York to the Crown. The A 1450. WEAK Prince, seated on the throne of Eng-C H A P. land, had never failed, how gentle soever and _XXI. innocent, to be infested with faction, discontent, rebellion, and civil commotions; and as the 'incapacity of Henry appeared every day in a fuller light, these dangerous consequences began, from past experience, to be universally and justly apprehended. Men also of unquiet spirits, no longer employed in foreign wars, whence they were now excluded by the situation of the neighbouring states, were the more likely to excite intestine disorders, and, by their emulation, rivalship, and animosities, to tear the bowels of their native country. But though these causes alone were sufficient to breed confusion, there concurred another circumstance of the most dangerous nature: A pretender to the crown appeared: The title itself of the weak Prince, who enjoyed the name of sovereignty, was dis N 2 puted: XXI. CHA P. puted: And the English were now to pay the severe, though late, penalty of their turbulence under Richard II., and of their levity in violating, without any necessity or just reason, the lineal succession of their Monarchs. 1450. Claim of the Duke of York to the Crown. ALL the males of the house of Mortimer were extinct; but Anne, the sister of the last Earl of Marche, having espoused the Earl of Cambridge, beheaded in the reign of Henry V. had transmitted, her latent, but not yet forgotten, claim to her son, Richard, Duke of York. This Prince, thus descended, by his mother from Philippa, only daughter of the Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III. stood plainly in the order of succession before the King, who derived his descent from the Duke of Lancaster, third son of that Monarch; and that claim could not, in many respects, have fallen into more dangerous hands than those of the Duke of York. Richard was a man of valour and abilities, of a prudent conduct and mild disposition: He had enjoyed an opportunity of displaying these virtues in his government of" France: And though recalled from that command by the intrigues and superior interest of the Duke of Somerset, he had been sent to suppress a rebellion in Ireland; had succeeded much better in that enterprise than his rival in the defence of Normandy, and had even been able to attach to his person and family the whole Irish nation, whom he was sent to subdue. In the right of his father, he bore the rank of first Prince of the blood; and by this station he gave a lustre to his title, derived from the family of Mortimer, which, though of great nobility, was equalled by other families in the kingdom, and had been eclipsed by the royal descent of the house of Lancaster. He possessed an immense fortune from the union of so many successions, those of Cambridge and York on the one • Stowe, p. 387. hand, XXI. 1450. hand, with those of Mortimer on the other: Which CHA P. last inheritance had before been augmented by an union of the estates of Clarence and Ulster with the patrimonial possessions of the family of Marche. The alliances too of Richard, by his marrying the daughter of Ralph Nevil, Earl of Westmoreland, had widely extended his interest among the nobility, and had procured him many connections in that formidable order. THE family of Nevil was, perhaps, at this time the most potent, both from their opulent possessions, and from the characters of the men, that has ever appeared in England. For, besides the Earl of Westmoreland, and the Lords Latimer, Fauconberg, and Abergavenny; the Earls of Salisbury and Warwic were of that family, and were of themselves, on many accounts, the greatest noblemen in the kingdom. The Earl of Salisbury, brother-inlaw to the Duke of York, was the eldest son by a second marriage of the Earl of Westmoreland; and inherited by his wife, daughter and heir of Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, killed before Orleans, the possessions and title of that great family. His eldest son, Richard, had married Anne, the daughter and heir of Beauchamp, Earl of Warwic, who died governor of France; and by this alliance he enjoyed the possessions, and had acquired the title, of that other family, one of the most opulent, most antient, and most illustrious in England. The personal qua- The Earl lities also of these two Earls, especially of Warwic, of Warwic. enhanced the splendour of their nobility, and increased their influence over the people. This latter nobleman, commonly known, from the subsequent events, by the appellation of the King-maker, had distinguished himself by his gallantry in the field, by the hospitality of his table, by the magnificence, and still more by the generosity of his expence, and by the spirited and bold manner which attended him in all his actions. The undesigning frankness N 3 and XXI. 1450. CHA P. and openness of his character rendered his conquest over men's affections the more certain and infallible: His presents were regarded as sure testimonies of esteem and friendship; and his professions as the overflowings of his genuine sentiments. No less than 30,000 persons are said to have daily lived at his board in the different manors and castles which he possessed in England: The military men allured by his munificence and hospitality, as well as by his bravery, were zealously attached to his interests. The people in general bore him an unlimited affection: His numerous retainers were more devoted to his will, than to the Prince or to the laws: And he was the greatest, as well as the last, of those mighty Barons, who formerly overawed the crown, and rendered the people incapable of any regular system of civil government. BUT the Duke of York, besides the family of Nevil, had many other partisans among the great nobility. Courtney, Earl of Devonshire, descended from a very noble family of that name in France, was attached to his interests: Moubray, Duke of Norfolk, had, from his hereditary hatred to the family of Lancaster, embraced the same party: And the discontents, which universally prevailed among the people, rendered every combination of the great the more dangerous to the established government. THOUGH the people were never willing to grant the supplies necessary for keeping possession of the conquered provinces in France, they repined extremely at the loss of these boasted acquisitions; and fancied, because a sudden irruption could make conquests, that without steady counsels, and a uniform expence, it was possible to maintain them. The voluntary cession of Maine to the Queen's uncle had made them suspect treachery in the loss of Normandy and Guienne. They still considered Margaret as a French woman and a latent enemy of the kingdom. And when they saw her father and all her XXI. her relations active in promoting the success of the CHA P. French, they could not be persuaded that she, who was all-powerful in the English council, would very zealously oppose them in their enterprises. BUT the most fatal blow given to the popularity of the crown, and to the interests of the house of Lancaster, was by the assassination of the virtuous Duke of Glocester, whose character, had he been alive, would have intimidated the partisans of York; but whose memory, being extremely cherished by the people, served to throw an odium on all his murderers. By this crime the reigning family suffered a double prejudice: It was deprived of its firmest support: and it was loaded with all the infamy of that imprudent and barbarous assassination. As the Duke of Suffolk was known to have had an active hand in the crime, he partook deeply of the hatred attending it; and the clamours, which necessarily rose against him, as prime minister, and declared favourite of the Queen, were thereby augmented to a tenfold pitch, and became absolutely uncontrollable. The great nobility could ill brook to see a subject exalted above them; much more one who was only great grandson to a merchant, and who was of a birth so much inferior to theirs. The people complained of his arbitrary measures; which were, in some degree, a necessary consequence of the irregular power then possessed by the Prince, but which the least disaffection easily magnified into tyranny. The great acquisitions which he daily made were the object of envy; and as they were gained at the expence of the crown, which was itself reduced to poverty, they appeared, on that account, to all indifferent persons, the more exceptionable and invidious. THE revenues of the crown, which had long been disproportioned to its power and dignity, had been extremely N 4 1450. |