XXI. CHA P. tant power of the crown, than from the licentious spirit of the aristocracy, and perhaps from the rude 1461. education of the age, and their own ignorance of the advantages resulting from a regular administration of justice. WHEN the Duke of York, the Earls of Salisbury and Warwic, fled the kingdom upon the desertion of their troops, a parliament was summoned at Coventry in 1460, by which they were all attainted. This parliament seems to have been very irregularly constituted, and scarcely deserves the name: Insomuch, that an act passed in it, "that all such knights of any county as were returned by virtue "of the King's letters, without any other election, "should be valid, and that no sheriff should, for returning them, incur the penalty of the statute "of Henry IV." All the acts of that parliament were afterwards reversed; " because it was unlawfully summoned, and the knights and Barons not duly chosen." 66 66 66 1 THE parliaments in this reign, instead of relaxing their vigilance against the usurpations of the court of Rome, endeavoured to enforce the former statutes enacted for that purpose. The Commons petitioned that no foreigner should be capable of any church preferment, and that the patron might be allowed to present anew upon the non-residence of any incumbent. m But the King eluded these petitions. Pope Martin wrote him a severe letter against the statute of provisors; which he calls an abominable law, that would infallibly damn every one who observed it." The Cardinal of Winchester was Legate; and as he was also a kind of prime minister, and immensely rich from the profits of his clerical dignities, the parliament became jealous lest he should extend the papal power; and they protested that the Cardinal should absent himself in all affairs and councils of the King, whenever the CHAP. Pope or see of Rome was touched upon." PERMISSION was given by parliament to export corn when it was at low prices; wheat at six shillings and eight pence a quarter, money of that age; barley at three shillings and four pence." It appears from these prices, that corn still remained at near half its present value; though other commodities were much cheaper. The inland commerce of corn was also opened in the eighteenth of the King, by allowing any collector of the customs to grant a licence for carrying it from one county to another. The same year a kind of navigation act was proposed with regard to all places within the Streights; but the King rejected it.' S THE first instance of debt contracted upon parliamentary security occurs in this reign. The commencement of this pernicious practice deserves to be noted; a practice the more likely to become pernicious, the more a nation advances in opulence and credit. The ruinous effects of it are now become but too apparent, and threaten the very existence of the nation. • Cotton, p. 593. 23 Henry VI. cap. 6. 1 Cotton, p. 625. P Statutes at Large, 15 Henry VI. cap. 2. • Ibid. p. 593.634. 638. XXI. 1461. P 4 Battle of Touton.-Henry escapes into Scotland.-A Parliament. Battle of Hexham.— Henry taken ·prisoner, and confined in the Tower.-King's Marriage with the Lady Elizabeth Gray.- Warwic disgusted.—Alliance with Burgundy.-Insurrection in Yorkshire. - Battle of Banbury.-Warwic and Clarence banished. — Warwic and Clarence return. - Edward IV. expelled-Henry VI. restored.— Edward IV. returns. - Battle of Barnet-and Death of Warwic. - Battle of Teukesbury, and Murder of Prince Edward.-Death of Henry VI. Invasion of France. - Peace of Pecquigni. Trial and execution of the Duke of Clarence.- CHAP. YOUNG Edward, now in his twentieth year, 1461. was of a temper well fitted to make his way through such a scene of war, havoc, and devastation, as must conduct him to the full possession of that crown, which he claimed from hereditary right, but which he had assumed from the tumultuary election alone of his own party. He was bold, active, enterprising; and his hardness of heart and severity of character rendered him impregnable to all those movements of compassion which might relax his vigour in the prosecution of the most bloody revenges upon his enemies. The very commencement of his reign gave symptoms of his sanguinary disposition. A tradesman of London, who kept t XXII. 1461. kept shop at the sign of the Crown, having said that C H A P. he would make his son heir to the Crown; this harmless pleasantry was interpreted to be spoken in derision of Edward's assumed title; and he was condemned and executed for the offence. Such an act of tyranny was a proper prelude to the events which ensued. The scaffold, as well as the field, incessantly streamed with the noblest blood of England, spilt in the quarrel between the two contending families, whose animosity was now become implacable. The people, divided in their affections, took different symbols of party: The partisans of the house of Lancaster chose the red rose as their mark of distinction; those of York were denominated from the white; and the civil wars were thus known, over Europe, by the name of the quarrel between the two roses. THE licence, in which Queen Margaret had been obliged to indulge her troops, infused great terror and aversion into the city of London, and all the southern parts of the kingdom; and as she there expected an obstinate resistance, she had prudently retired northwards among her own partisans. The same licence, joined to the zeal of faction, soon brought great multitudes to her standard; and she was able, in a few days, to assemble an army, sixty thousand strong, in Yorkshire. The King and the Earl of Warwic hastened with an army of forty thousand men, to check her progress; and when they reached Pomfret they dispatched a body of troops, under the command of Lord Fitzwalter, to secure the passage of Ferrybridge over the river Ayre, which lay between them and the enemy. Fitzwalter took possession of the post assigned him; but was not able to maintain it against Lord Clifford, who attacked him with superior numbers. The Yorkists were chased back with great slaughter; and Lord Fitzwalter him t Habington in Kennet, p. 431. Grafton, p. 791. self XXII. 1461. u W CHA P. self was slain in the action. The Earl of Warwic, dreading the consequences of this disaster, at a time when a decisive action was every hour expected, immediately ordered his horse to be brought him, which he stabbed before the whole army; and, kissing the hilt of his sword, swore that he was determined to share the fate of the meanest soldier. " And, to shew the greater security, a proclamation was at the same time issued, giving to every one full liberty to retire; but menacing the severest punishment to those who should discover any symptoms of cowardice in the ensuing battle. * Lord Falconberg was sent to recover the post which had been lost: He passed the river some miles above Ferrybridge, and falling unexpectedly on Lord Clifford, revenged the former disaster by the defeat of the party and the death of their leader. " Battle of THE hostile armies met at Touton; and a fierce and bloody battle ensued. While the Yorkists were advancing to the charge, there happened a great fall of snow, which driving full in the faces of their enemies, blinded them; and this advantage was improved by a stratagem of Lord Falconberg's. That nobleman ordered some infantry to advance before the line, and, after having sent a volley of flight arrows, as they were called, amidst the enemy, immediately to retire. The Lancastrians, imagining that they were gotten within reach of the opposite army, discharged all their arrows, which thus fell short of the Yorkists. After the quivers of the enemy were emptied, Edward advanced his line, and did execution with impunity, on the dismayed Lancastrians: The bow, however, was soon laid aside, and the sword decided the combat, which ended in a total victory on the side of the Yorkists. Edward W W. Wyrcester, p. 489. Hall, fol. 186. Holingshed, p. 664. › Hist. Croyl. contin. p. 532. Holingshed, p. 664. Hall, foll. 186. |