[29c]The King, however, did not give his assent to the latter part of it, against Richard Grey Lord Powis, and Walter Devereux.
[30a]Rot. Parl.38 Henry VI. (1459) vol. v. fo. 348.
[30b]Ibid. vol. v. fo. 369.
[34a]Rot. Parl.38th Henry VI. (1459), vol. v. p. 369, 370.
[34b]I visited the field of battle on the 28th of August, 1852, the 17th of June, 1853, the 10th of June, 1854, the 11th of May, 1855, the 16th of May and the 30th of September, 1856.
[35]Chap. x. soc. 85.
[36]Mr. George Goodall lives upon a farm at Moreton Say, in Shropshire, three miles from Market Drayton. He showed me the sword, and stated that he had had it 28 years, and that it had previously been for a long period in the possession of his uncle, and was said to have been dug up upon the field of the battle of Blore Heath, but that he did not know at what date it had been discovered. He also informed me, that some pieces of armour had been formerly found in a pit near to, but not upon, the field of battle.
The blade of the sword is 2 feet 10¾ inches long, and close to the hilt, it is about 1⅛ inch wide. The blade is fluted on both sides, and with one edge, to within 11 inches of the point, and from thence it has two edges, as if it had been calculated for thrusting and not for cutting. The pommel is ornamented with a ribbed sloping pattern, and the guard is also ornamented, and is 4½ inches in length. The whole is of steel or iron. The hilt is 5½ inches long, and 3 inches in circumference; and there is a substance resembling the hard shell-like skin or covering of some kind of fish remaining round the gripe of the hilt. The whole of the sword is tolerably perfect, except that for some inches from the point it is injured by rust.
I cannot possibly doubt the veracity of those who spoke to me respecting it, but they may have been misinformed as to its history. It certainly may have been found at Blore Heath, but does not bear any ancient marks upon it, and from its appearance, make, and state of preservation, I am disposed to think, that it is of a date considerably more modern, than that of the battle of Blore Heath.
[37]Any person desirous of visiting both the fields of battle of Shrewsbury and of Blore Heath, may easily do so, by going from Shrewsbury to Battlefield, and from thence to Hodnet, and then proceeding by Market Drayton, and Blore Heath, to the Whitmore station, in Staffordshire, upon the London and North-Western Railway; orvice versâ. In either ease, he will have an opportunity, if disposed to archæological pursuits, of visiting on the way, a remarkable and curious relic of antiquity, called the Bury Walls, upon the estate of the Viscount Hill, and not more than half a mile from his park (Hawkstone). The place called Bury Walls, is generally believed to have been a Roman station, and its extraordinary and almost perfect ramparts, mounds, and ditches, are very interesting, and rarely to be found equalled in this country. The beautiful scenery of Hawkstone Park and grounds, well merits the attention of persons travelling in that vicinity, whether they are archæologists or not; and, thanks to the liberality and kindness of the noble owner, strangers are allowed access to the walks and views, without any other restriction, than some trivial ones, with respect to the mode of enjoying themselves, such as taking refreshments or convivial practices, which are generally considered objectionable, and are much better avoided in a nobleman’s park.
[39a]The paper upon the Field of the Battle of Northampton was read by the author in person, before a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries on the 31st of January, 1856, and the thanks of the meeting were voted for it to the author.
[39b]Richard Neville, the great Earl of Warwick, called the King-Maker, the son and heir of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, by Alice his wife, daughter of Thomas de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, was slain at the battle of Barnet, on the 14th of April, 1471.—SeeChap. II.
[39c]Edward Earl of March, born on the 29th of April, 1441, was the oldest son of Richard Duke of York, by Cecily his wife, daughter of Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland; and after the death of his father he claimed the throne, in consequence of being descended from Lionel Duke of Clarence, third son of Edward III. He was afterwards King Edward IV.—SeeChap. V., and Pedigrees Nos. 1 and 2, Chap. IX.
[39d]Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, third son of Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland, by Joan, his second wife, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, was put to death after the battle of Wakefield, in 1460.—SeeChap. IX
[40a]Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, was of the blood royal of England, being a son of William Lord Bourchier, (Earl of Ewe in Normandy) and Anne his wife, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester (sixth son of Edward III.), and Eleanor his wife, daughter of Humphry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Constable of England, and widow of Edmund Earl of Stafford. He was a brother of Henry Bourchier, Earl of Ewe, afterwards of Essex, and became Bishop of Ely, and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1454, and retained that see until he died, very aged, in 1486, having held it thirty-two years, and in the reigns of five kings. He was also Lord Chancellor and a cardinal.
[40b]Called “Lord Cobham” by Hall and Holinshed; and by Sandford, p. 296; and “Edward Broke Lord Cobham” by Dugdale, in hisBaronage, vol. ii. p. 159. But see Dugdale’sBaronage, vol. iii p. 281, where he is called “Sir Edward Brooke, Knight, called Sir Edward Brooke of Cobham,” the son of Sir Thomas Brooke and Joan his wife. According to Dugdale, he favoured the title of the Duke of York, upon his return out of Ireland, in the 29th year of Henry VI.; took part with the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, on purpose to raise an army, which, under the pretence of removing evil counsellors from the King, might advance the duke to the throne. He fought against the Lancastrians at the first battle of St. Alban’s, in 1455; and, after the accession to the throne of Edward IV., attended him into the North, when the Lancastrians were endeavouring to make head again, and had got possession of some strong places in Northumberland, in 1462. He died in the fourth year of Edward IV., and was succeeded by John Brooke, his son and heir, who had first summons to Parliament by the title of Lord Cobham, in the twelfth year of Edward IV.; consequently, although the son was ennobled, there does not appear to be any good authority for Hall’s and Holinshed’s designating the father as Lord Cobham. “Now, as they passed through Kent, there came to them the Lord Cobham, John Gilford, William Pech, Robert Horne, and manie other gentlemen.”—Holinshed’sChronicles, vol. i. fo. 653.
[40c]Thomas Lord Scales, of Nucels, in Herefordshire, was a commander of celebrity in the French wars. After being compelled to surrender the Tower of London, subsequently to the battle of Northampton, in 1460, he endeavoured to escape by water; but, being discovered by some of the Earl of Warwick’s men, was captured and put to death by them. His daughter and heiress, Elizabeth, was married, first, to Henry Bourchier, second son of Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex; and afterwards to Anthony Wideville or Wodeville, eldest son of Richard Wideville or Wodeville, Earl Rivers, by Jaquette his wife, daughter of Peter of Luxembourg, Earl of St. Paul, and widow of John Duke of Bedford, Regent of France and third son of King Henry IV., who succeeded to the earldom of Rivers after his father’s death. Anthony Wodeville became, in right of his wife Elizabeth (daughter of Thomas Lord Scales), Lord Scales, and afterwards Earl Rivers. He was brother of Elizabeth, Queen of Edward IV. (See Fenn’sCollection of Original Letters, vol. i. p. 139, note 3; Dugdale’sBaronage, vol. i. p. 618, vol. iii. pp. 231–233;Catalogue of Nobility, by Ralph Brooke, pp. 193, 194.) He was, when Earl Rivers, beheaded at Pontefract, by order of the Council, during the Protectorate, and, as is believed, at the instigation of Richard Duke of Gloucester, without any trial, on the 13th of June, 1483. Lord Richard Grey (son of the Queen Dowager Elizabeth, by her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby, son of Edward Grey, Lord Ferrers, of Groby) and Sir Thomas Vaughan were executed there at the same time. The Wodevilles were originally of the Lancastrian party; and Sir John Grey of Groby, the first husband of Elizabeth, lost his life fighting for that party, at the first battle of St. Alban’s, in 1455; but, after Elizabeth’s charms had made a conquest of the heart of Edward, and he had married her, the Wodevilles became staunch Yorkists.
[41a]William Neville, Lord Falconberg, afterwards Earl of Kent, was a younger son of Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland, by Joan his second wife, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and was an uncle of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, called the King-Maker. He was a decided Yorkist, distinguished himself at the battle of Towton, and was created Earl of Kent in the first year of Edward IV., and died in the second year of that king’s reign.
[41b]John Clinton, Lord Clinton, served in more than one expedition into France, was originally a Lancastrian, but forsook that party in the thirty-eighth year of Henry VI. for that of the Duke of York, for which he was attainted, and his lands declared confiscated by the Parliament of Coventry, in the thirty-eighth year of Henry VI., 1459; but all the acts and proceedings of that Parliament were declared void by an act of Parliament of 39th Henry VI. (SeeRot. Parl.39 Henry VI. (1460), vol. v. p. 374.) His estates and honours were restored on the accession of Edward IV.
[41c]Henry Bourchier, originally Earl of Ewe in Normandy, afterwards Lord Bourchier, son and heir of William Lord Bourchier, Earl of Ewe, by Anne, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, sixth son of Edward III., was brother of Thomas Bourchier, Bishop of Ely, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, was created Viscount Bourchier in the twenty-fifth year of Henry VI., and was also created Earl of Essex in the first year of Edward IV., and died in 1483.
[41d]George Neville was consecrated Bishop of Exeter in 1455, became Lord Chancellor in 1460, and was afterwards Archbishop of York, in 1466. He was the fourth son of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, and brother of Richard Neville, the great Earl of Warwick. He was Bishop of Exeter before he was twenty-five years old, and Lord Chancellor in 1460, before he had completed his thirtieth year, and died in 1476.
[42a]Hall, Holinshed, Stow.
[42b]Hall, fo. 176; Holinshed, vol. i. fo. 654. “Then the Earles of March and Warwike, with the Lords Fauconbrige, Clinton, Bourcher called the Earle of Ewe, the Pryor of Saint John’s, Audley, Burgavenny, Say, and Scrope, the Archbishop, the Pope’s Legate, the Bishops of Excester, Ely, Salisbury, and Rochester, addressed them forth to the King at Northampton, leaving the Earle of Salisbury to be governour of the citie in their absence. The Lord Scales and Hungerford, that before the comming of the Earles were in the citie of London, and would have had the governance thereof, went to the Tower of London, and with them the Lords Vessy, Lovell, Delaware, Kendale a Gascoigne; Knights, Sir Edmond Hampden, Thomas Brune Sherife of Kent, John Bruin of Kent, Gervais Clifton Treasurer of the King’s House, Thomas Tyrell, the Dutches of Excester, and many other. Then was the Tower of London besieged both by water and land, that no victualls might come to them. And they that were within the Tower cast wild fire into the city, and shot many small gunnes, whereby they brent and slew men, women, and children, in the streetes; also they of the city layd great guns on the further side of the Thames against the Tower, and brake the walls in divers places.”—Stow’sAnnals, pp. 408 and 409.
[42c]Margaret, usually called Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI., was the daughter of Renè, Duke of Anjou; was married to Henry VI. at Southwick, in Hampshire, on the 22nd of April, 1445, and was crowned at Westminster on the 30th of May following. On the 13th of October, 1453, Edward, the only child of the marriage, was born. After the defeat of the Lancastrians at the battle of Tewkesbury, and his murder, on the 4th of May, 1471, Margaret fled, and took sanctuary in a poor religious house, and was brought from thence prisoner to London, and Henry died in the Tower very soon after the battle. A considerable time afterwards she was sent home to her father, Duke Renè, having been ransomed by Louis XI. King of France for 50,000 crowns; and nothing more, connected with England, occurred respecting her, during the remainder of her life, which was passed in retirement, and she died in France, in 1482.
[43a]Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, the eldest son of Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (slain at the first battle of St. Alban’s on the 22nd of May,[43g]1455), by Eleanor his wife (daughter of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick), had a military command and served in the wars in France. He fought at the battle of Towton, in 1461, on the side of the Lancastrians, and after the defeat there, escaped with Henry VI. into Scotland, was afterwards pardoned by Edward IV., but, having revolted, was taken at the battle of Hexham, and beheaded in 1463. After his death, his brother Edmund (the second son) was also Duke of Somerset, and was beheaded after the battle of Tewkesbury, in 1471, in which battle John (the third son) was slain.
[43b]Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, was the son and heir of Edmund Stafford, Earl of Stafford, by Anne Plantagenet, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, sixth son of Edward III., and was created first Duke of Buckingham, of that family, in 1443, and declared to take precedence of all other dukes in England. He married Anne, daughter of Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland.
The strange and mournful fatality which attended the principal members of fire generations of this nobleman’s powerful and eminent family, will be mentioned afterwards in this chapter.
[43c]Stow’sAnnals, fo. 409.
[43d]Holinshed’sChronicles, vol. i. fo. 654
[43e]The Bishop of Hereford also encouraged the King’s adherents to fight, for which he was, after the battle, imprisoned in Warwick Castle, and remained a long time a prisoner.—Stow’sAnnals, fo. 409.
[43f]Stow’sAnnals, fo. 409.
[43g]The 22nd of May according to Dugdale, in hisBaronage, vol. i. pp. 166 and 342; and Sandford, p. 321; but the 23rd of May according to Hall, Holinshed, and Grafton.
[44a]“She caused her army to issue out of the towne and to passe the ryver of Nene; and there in the newe felde, betweene Harsyngton [Hardingstone] and Sandifford, the capitaynes strongely emparked themselfes with high bankes and depe trenches.”—Hall’sChronicles, fo. 176. See a similar account in Holinshed’sChronicles, fo. 654. The meadows and Delapré Abbey are in the pariah of Hardingstone. I have not been able to learn that there is any place or ford there, called Sandiford. It probably was a ford of the river Nen, the name and situation of which are now forgotten.
[44b]Fabyan Hall, Holinshed, Grafton, Speed, and Dugdale, vol. i. p. 305, and vol. ii. p. 161. It is remarkable that Dugdale, in different parts of hisBaronage, does not always give the date consistently. He calls it the 9th of July, in vol. i. p. 305, and vol. ii. p. 161; the 27th of July, in vol. i. p. 166; the 10th of July, in vol. i. p. 331 (where he professes to give a copy of the epitaph of the Earl of Shrewsbury, slain in the battle of Northampton); and the 10th of July, in vol. ii. p. 54; and Ralph Brooke, p. 197, and Stow, p. 409, also call it the 10th of July.
[45a]Edmund Lord Grey, of Ruthen, was the grandson and heir of Sir Reginald Grey (being the son of Sir John Grey, his eldest son, who died in his lifetime, by his first wife Margaret, daughter of William Lord Roos), and was created Earl of Kent, in the fifth year of Edward IV. His desertion from the cause of Henry VI. is mentioned by Leland, who states that “In the tyme of the civile war, betwixt King Henry the VI. and King Edwarde the IV., there was a battaille faught hard without the south suburbes of Northampton,” and that the Lord Fanhope took King Henry’s part; and Leland proceeds thus:—“The Lorde Gray, of Ruthine, did the same in countenance. But a litle afore the feeld he practisid with King Edward, & other, saying that he had a title to the Lorde Fannope’s landes at Antehil and there aboute, or depraving hym with false accusations, so wrought with King Edwarde, that he, with al his strong band of Walschemen, felle to King Edwardes part, upon promise that if Edwarde wan the feelde, he shaul have Antehil and such landes as Fannope had there.”
“Edwarde wan the feelde, and Gray opteinid Antehillecum pertinentiis: and stil encreasing in favour with King Edwarde, was at the laste, made by hym Erle of Kente.”—Leland’sItinerary, vol. i. fo. 120 [113].—Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, is the place meant as having belonged to Lord Fanhope.
[45b]Holinshed’sChronicles, vol. i. fo. 654.
[45c]Stow’sAnnals, fo. 409. Speed’sHistory, fo. 844.
[46a]The number of the slain and drowned is stated to have amounted to nearly 10,000. There seems to have been, from times of very remote antiquity, a bridge over the river at Northampton, near the castle; but from the narrow and inconvenient form of bridges at the date of the battle, it could not afford much chance of escape to many of the fugitives. The present bridge is modern, and not upon the site of the old one.
[46b]“The Erles of March, Warwick, and Salisbyri, cam from Calays to Dovar, and so to London and Northampton, and there faute with owte the town, where the Duke of Bokingham, the Erle of Shrobbesbyri, the Viscount Beaumont, the Lorde Egremont, were slayn, and many knighttes and squyers with other, and the King taken prisoner.”—Leland’sColl.vol. ii. fo. 497 [714].
[46c]John Talbot, second Earl of Shrewsbury, was the son and heir of John Talbot, first Earl of Shrewsbury, the celebrated commander, renowned for his warlike exploits in France, and slain by a cannon shot at the battle of Castillon, near Bourdeaux, on the 7th[46f]of July, 1453, and of his wife Maud, daughter and heiress of Thomas Neville, Lord Furnival.
[46d]He was originally John Lord Beaumont, son of Henry Lord Beaumont and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of William Lord Willoughby of Eresby, and was in the eighteenth year of Henry VI. advanced to the dignity of a Viscount (a title not previously used in England), by the title of Viscount Beaumont, with precedence over all Barons of the realm; after his death at the battle of Northampton, he was succeeded in his title, and his principles, by his son and heir, William Viscount Beaumont, who fought on the Lancastrian side at the battle of Towton, for which he was included in the act of attainder of 1st Edward IV., but was restored by Parliament in the first, and died in the twenty-fourth year of Henry VII.
[46e]Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, originally Sir Thomas Percy, Knight (the third son of Henry, the second Earl of Northumberland, who was slain at the first battle of Saint Alban’s in 1455, and Eleanor his wife, daughter of Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland, and widow of Richard Lord Spencer), was created Lord Egremont, in the twenty-eighth year of Henry VI.
[46f]On the 7th of July, 1453, according to Ralph Brooke, p. 196; on the 20th of July, according to Dugdale, vol. i. p. 330; but on the 7th of July, on the same page, where he professes to give a copy of the epitaph of the Earl of Shrewsbury, slain in the battle near Bourdeaux, from his monument at Whitchurch, in Shropshire.
[47a]Edward Prince of Wales was the only child of King Henry VI. and Queen Margaret (usually called Margaret of Anjou). He was born in the King’s palace at Westminster, on the 13th of October, 1453, in the thirty-first year of Henry VI., and was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on the 16th of March, in the thirty-second year of his lather’s reign. At the age of seventeen he was affianced in France to Anne Neville, the second daughter of Richard Earl of Warwick, called the King-Maker. The murder of Prince Edward, immediately after the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, will be noticed in Chapter VII. After his death, Anne, his widow, was married to Richard Duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III.
[47b]Catalogue of Nobility, by Ralph Brooke. The Grey Friars Monastery was in the north-east quarter of the town, but is now demolished, and most of its site is built upon; but it stood in that part of the town which now lies between Newland and Victoria Streets, and to the eastward of the upper end of Grey Friars Street and of Lady’s Lane: a small portion of an ancient wall, with buttresses, and some little remains of masonry, built up in the walls of the adjoining houses, are now visible, contiguous to a deep hollow or depression, which lies on the northward side of Victoria Street, and formed part of the monastic edifice. Its site has also been identified by stone coffins discovered near there, in excavating the soil for building purposes.
[48a]Catalogue of Nobility, by Ralph Brooke.
[48b]The Hospital of St. John in Bridge Street, is one of the old charitable institutions which is still kept up. The ancient edifice, with its handsome rose window, and its curious little chapel, are well worth a visit.
[48c]Leland states:—“There was a great bataille faught in Henry the 6th tyme at Northampton on the Hille withoute the southe Gate, where is a right goodly Crosse, caullid as I remembre the Quene’s Crosse, and many Walschmen were drounid yn Avon Ryver at this conflict. Many of them that were slayn were buried at De la pray: and sum at St. Johns Hospitale.”—Leland’sItinerary, vol. i. fo. 9 [10]. The battle was certainly fought at the southward side of the town, and near Queen Eleanor’s Cross, yet there seems to be some want of care on Leland’s part, in stating that the battle was fought on a hill near the cross. Although not far from the cross, the place where it was fought is not a hill, although the ground has a gradual ascent from the river and Delapré Abbey, up to the cross, which stands rather elevated, and is a conspicuous object from the abbey, and its park and grounds. Again, he is evidently incorrect in mentioning the river Avon, instead of the river Nen or Nene.
[48d]The descent of the Duke of Buckingham from King Edward III. was as follows:—Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, a nobleman of immense possessions, had two daughters, his coheiresses. Eleanor, the eldest daughter, married Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, sixth son of King Edward III. Thomas Duke of Gloucester had by her, amongst other issue, a daughter Anne, whose first husband Edmund Stafford, fifth Earl of Stafford, was slain at the battle of Shrewsbury. They had a son, Humphrey, first Duke of Buckingham, who married Anne, daughter of Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland, and was slain at the battle of Northampton. Their eldest son was Humphrey Earl of Stafford, who married Margaret, daughter of Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and was slain at the first battle of Saint Alban’s. Their son Henry Stafford, second Duke of Buckingham, married Katherine, daughter of Richard Wideville or Wodeville, Earl of Rivers, and was executed in the first year of Richard III. Besides the descent of Henry Stafford, second Duke of Buckingham, from Edward III., as above mentioned, he was also descended from him, through his (the Duke of Buckingham’s) mother, Margaret Beaufort, from John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset (son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III.), by Katherine Swinford, but born before their marriage, in which defect of a legitimate title, by his maternal descent, his case resembled that of King Henry VII. The Duke of Buckingham, however, from one or both of those sources of descent, probably flattered himself with the hope of one day being King of England; and it has been very reasonably suggested, that it was fortunate for the Earl of Richmond, afterwards King Henry VII., that his first expedition and attempt to land in England, was a total failure, and terminated in the execution of the Duke of Buckingham; for if that powerful and ambitious nobleman had succeeded in deposing Richard III., it is very probable that he would have attempted to have seized the throne, in his own right.
Mary, the second daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, married Henry Earl of Derby, afterwards King Henry IV.; and it should be here observed, that the Duke of Buckingham was entitled, by descent from Eleanor, eldest daughter of the Earl of Hereford, to at least half of his great possessions. After the line of Henry IV. had become extinct, the other half was vested in Edward IV. and his heirs; but Buckingham considered himself entitled to it, as heir at law of Mary, the second daughter of the Earl of Hereford. Shakespeare seldom wrote without a meaning, and from what is above stated, his object in the drama ofRichard III.will be at once apparent, in causing the Duke of Gloucester to offer the following inducement to the Duke of Buckingham to support his claim to the throne:—
“And look when I am King, claim thou of meThe earldom of Hereford, and all the moveablesWhereof the King, my brother, was possessed.”Shakespeare’sKing Richard III., act iii. scene 1.
“And look when I am King, claim thou of meThe earldom of Hereford, and all the moveablesWhereof the King, my brother, was possessed.”
Shakespeare’sKing Richard III., act iii. scene 1.
It seems probable that in Shakespeare’s time the word “moveables” was not used in the same sense in which we now use it, for at present that word would be considered strangely inapplicable to lands, castles, manors, &c.
[49]Historians have not always agreed, respecting the place where the Duke of Buckingham was executed: some have stated that the execution took place at Salisbury, and others at Shrewsbury. It is certain that he was captured in Shropshire. The most authentic of the old historical writers, however, state, and apparently upon good grounds, that he was sent a prisoner to Salisbury, where Richard III. then was; and that he was beheaded upon a new scaffold in the open market-place of Salisbury, on the 2nd of November, 1483.—See Fabyan Hall, Holinshed, Grafton, Speed, and Stow.
It is well worthy of notice, that in the year 1838, an interesting discovery took place at Salisbury. Under a brick floor, about eight inches below the surface, at the Saracen’s Head Inn, in that city, during some repairs then in progress, the remains of a man were discovered interred there; but the skull and the bones of the right arm were not with the rest of the skeleton. The bones had belonged to a man who appeared to have been decapitated, and were supposed to have been those of the Duke of Buckingham.—See the LiverpoolCourierof the 12th of September, 1838, in which the above particulars appear copied from the SalopianJournal. There is nothing surprising in the fact of the bones of the arm, as well as the skull, being wanting, because formerly the different members and quarters, as well as the heads of persons executed, were not unfrequently severed from the bodies, and fixed up in conspicuous places. That was done even as recently as in the time of the wicked Judge Jeffreys, after the suppression of the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion. In the case of the Duke of Buckingham, it was very probable, as he was beheaded in 1483 for high treason, in taking arms and making war against the King, that the duke’s right arm would also be fixed up wherever his head was placed.
[50a]Hall, Holinshed; Leland’sItinerary, vol. i. fo. 9 [10]. “The King, lying in the Friers at Northampton, ordained a strong and mighty field in the meadows beside the Nunry, having the river at his back.”—Stow’sAnnals, fo. 409.
[50b]I beg to tender my thanks to Edward Bouverie, Esq., for the courtesy and attention which I received from him, when inspecting the mansion, and visiting the park and grounds, in the hope of discovering some indications of the position, occupied by one or both of the hostile armies. I visited the field of battle on the 29th and 30th of May, 1855; and on the 31st of May, 1856.
[51]Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. See Chap. II.
[53a]The paper on the Field of the Battle of Wakefield was read before a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of London on the 20th of January, 1853, and the thanks of the meeting were voted for it to the author.
[53b]Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. See Chap. II.
[53c]Queen Margaret, usually called Margaret of Anjou, was the Queen of Henry VI., to whom she was married in 1445. See Chap. III.
[53d]“appointing his son, the Earl of March, to follow him, with all his power, and came to his Castle of Sandale, near Wakefield (in Yorkshire), on Christmas Eve.”—Dugdale’sBaronage, vol. ii. Title York, p. 161. Stow’s Annals, fo. 412. Dugdale and Stow state that the Duke of York left London on the 2nd of December, and arrived at Sandal on Christmas eve. If he consumed twenty-two days in his march from London to Sandal, the delay seems very extraordinary.
[54a]According to Dugdale’sBaronage, vol. iii. p. 161, Edward, the young Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI. and Queen Margaret, accompanied her.
[54b]Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter and Earl of Huntingdon, the son of John Holland, Duke of Exeter, by his first wife, Anne, daughter of Edmund Earl of Stafford, was one of the principal leaders of the Lancastrian party; he fought at the battle of Wakefield, and at that of Towton; and after the disastrous result of the latter, fled with Henry VI., Queen Margaret, the Duke of Somerset, and others, to Scotland; was attainted in the first year of Edward IV., and his lands and possessions were forfeited. He afterwards again appeared in turbulent scenes in England, fought at the battle of Barnet, was wounded and left for dead, from seven in the morning, until four in the afternoon, when he was brought to the house of one of his servants named Ruthland, where he was attended by a surgeon; he was conveyed to sanctuary at Westminster; and afterwards went abroad, where he lived in such poverty and distress, as to be obliged at one time to beg his bread; and in 1473, his corpse was found stripped naked on the seashore, near Dover. It is shocking to think that he fought at the battle of Wakefield against his wife’s father, and at those of Towton and Barnet against her brother; besides fighting against some of his own near relations on several occasions. He married Anne, daughter of Richard Duke of York, and sister of Edward IV., but had no issue; she was divorced from him, and she afterwards married Sir Thomas St. Ledger, and was the ancestress of the House of Manners, Dukes of Rutland.
[54c]Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, was the son of Edmund Beaufort (grandson of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster), who, after the death of his eldest brother, John Beaufort, first Duke of Somerset, without issue male, was created first Marquis of Dorset, and in the twenty-fifth year of Henry VI. was made Duke of Somerset, and was slain at the first battle of St. Alban’s, on the 22nd of May,[54d]1455, fighting on the part of Henry VI., and had issue by his wife Eleanor, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, four sons and several daughters. The eldest son, Henry was, after his father’s death, Duke of Somerset, Marquis of Dorset, and Lord of Chirk and Chirkland, in the marches of Wales. He was one of the Lancastrian commanders at the battle of Wakefield, and, as there is every reason to believe, also at the second battle of St. Alban’s, although that circumstance is not distinctly mentioned by historians. He was also a principal commander and fought at the battle of Towton; and after the defeat there, escaped into Scotland, and was afterwards pardoned by Edward IV.; but having revolted from Edward to the Lancastrians, and having, with the Lords Roos, Molyns, and Hungerford, Sir Henry Neville, Sir Thomas Wentworth, and Sir Richard Tunstal, fought at the battle of Hexham, he was taken prisoner by John Marquis Montague, and was beheaded in 1463. Edmund, the second son, was also Duke of Somerset after his brother, and was beheaded after the battle of Tewkesbury, in 1471; John, the third son was slain in that battle; and Thomas, the fourth son, died without issue. The family was noted for its strong attachment and exertions in the cause of the House of Lancaster.
[54d]The 22nd of May, according to Dugdale, vol. i. pp. 166 and 342; and Sandford, p. 321; but the 23rd of May, according to Hall, Holinshed, and Grafton.
[55]Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire, a strong supporter of the House of Lancaster, fought at the battle of Wakefield. He afterwards fought at the battle of Towton, on the 29th of March, 1461, was taken prisoner, and beheaded at York. Some degree of confusion seems to exist, respecting the Earl of Devonshire who fought at Wakefield and at Towton, and the Earl of Devonshire who afterwards fought at Tewkesbury. The old historians state, that the former, being taken prisoner, was beheaded after the battle of Towton; and that seems to be in no small degree confirmed by the act of attainder against him and the other Lancastrian leaders, of the 1st of Edward IV., in which he is called “Thomas Courtenay, late Earl of Devonshire;” the word “late” being also used with reference to other noblemen, and persons who were dead, and were attainted for having been engaged in that battle. In theCatalogue of Nobility, by Ralph Brooke, p. 61, it is stated that Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire, son of Hugh Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire, being at the battle of Towton, “was taken prisoner, and beheaded at York;” that he married Margaret, daughter of John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset and Marquis of Dorset, by whom he had issue three sons and two daughters; that “Thomas, the eldest sonne, being at the battle of Towton with King Henry VI. against King Edward IV., was there taken prisoner, and his head smitten off;” that Henry, the second son, was also beheaded at Salisbury, in the 8th of Edward IV.; and that John, the third son, was slain at the battle of Tewkesbury. It seems probable, that that account is correct; and it is rather corroborated by the act of attainder of 1st Edward IV., in which “Thomas Courteney, late Earl of Devonshire,” and also “Sir John Courtney,” were attainted for having been engaged at the battle of Towton.
But the account given by Sandford in hisGenealogical History, page 313, differs in some respects from it. He states that Thomas Courtenay, seventh Earl of Devon, married Margaret, second daughter of John Earl of Somerset, and, siding with King Henry VI. against the Yorkists, was by King Edward IV. taken prisoner at the battle of Towton, and beheaded at York, the 3rd of April (an.1 Edward IV.), in the year 1461; and that their children were, Thomas Earl of Devon, made prisoner at the same battle, and being attainted in a Parliament at Westminster, the 4th of November,an.1 Edward IV., soon after lost his head; that Henry Courtenay, the second son, had his head cut off in the same quarrel at Salisbury; and that John Courtenay, the third son, fell in the battle of Tewkesbury. Dugdale, in hisBaronage, vol. i. p. 641, however, states, that Thomas Earl of Devonshire was, for being at the battle of Towton with his father, attainted by the act of 1st Edward IV., but did not suffer death, as it seems, for it appears that he was slain at the battle of Tewkesbury, fighting on behalf of Henry VI., and there buried. Leland, in hisItinerary, vol. vi. fo. 93 [p. 82], also states that Thomas Earl of Devonshire was slain at Tewkesbury, and buried there. It is stated in Banks’Dormant and Extinct Baronage, vol. iii, p. 249, that Thomas Earl of Devon, a firm Lancastrian, died just before the accession of Edward IV. to the throne, and had by his wife Margaret, daughter of John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, five daughters and three sons: Thomas, his successor; Henry, beheaded for his attachment to the House of Lancaster; and John, slain on the same side, at the battle of Tewkesbury. Is it not probable, that the personage who fought at Tewkesbury, called the Earl of Devonshire, was only the nominal earl of that title, and that he was the same person who, as Sir John Courteney, fought at Towton, and was attainted in the 1st of Edward IV., and who was afterwards called by the Lancastrians, the Earl of Devonshire?
[56a]James Boteler or Butler, the son and heir of James, fourth Earl of Ormond, was created Earl of Wiltshire in the 27th of Henry VI. In the 30th of Henry VI., by the death of his father, he also became Earl of Ormond. He was a staunch Lancastrian, and fought for that party at the first battle of St. Alban’s, in 1455; also at the battle of Wakefield, and again at the battle of Mortimer’s Cross. He appears also to have been at the battle of Towton. (See Dugdale’sBaronage, vol. iii. p. 235.) After that battle he was captured by the Yorkists, and was beheaded upon the 1st of May, 1461, at Newcastle. It is very remarkable, that although historians state that he fought on the Lancastrian side at the battle of Wakefield, and although he was attainted by the act 1st Edward IV. (1461), his name is not included amongst those of the noblemen and others, who were attainted for taking a part in the battle of Wakefield. His attainder was, ostensibly at least, for a different offence; viz., for inducing the enemies of the King to enter the realm, and make war against him.[56d]The fact of the Earl of Wiltshire having fought at the battle of Mortimer’s Cross, is mentioned not only by the old historians, but also inRot. Parl.1 Edward IV. vol. v. p. 462; but that is not alleged in the act, as the reason for his attainder. It does not seem easy to understand how he could be engaged at the battle of Wakefield, and be so soon afterwards at the head of forces fighting at Mortimer’s Cross. See, however, Dugdale’sBaronage, vol. ii. p. 235; Stow’sAnnals, fo. 412; and Speed’sHistory, fo. 847.
[56b]John Lord Clifford (son of Thomas Clifford, Lord Clifford, by Joan his wife, daughter of Thomas Lord Dacre of Gillesland, who took part with Henry VI., and was slain at the first battle of St. Alban’s, on the 22nd[56e]of May, 1455) fought at the battle of Wakefield for the Lancastrian party, and was slain at the engagement at Dintingdale (between Ferrybridge and Towton, and near the latter place), on the 28th of March, 1461, being the day before the battle of Towton. He left by Margaret his wife, daughter and heiress of Henry Bromflete Lord Vesci, Henry his son and heir, who, when a little child, was placed with a shepherd in the north of England, and brought up as a poor boy, in careful concealment, for fear of the enemies of his family, and could not read or write; he remained in obscurity, until the first year of Henry VII., when he was restored to his rank and possessions.
[56c]Thomas Lord Roos, or Ros, or Ross (it has been occasionally spelt each way), of Hamlake, son of Thomas Lord Roos, by his wife Eleanor, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, was a supporter of the House of Lancaster; and was at the battle of Wakefield, and was also with Henry VI. at York, when tidings came of the complete defeat of the Lancastrians at the battle of Towton; and then escaped with him into Scotland. He returned again into England, and died at Newcastle in the first year of King Edward IV. He was attainted in the first year of that King’s reign, and his possessions of Belvoir Castle, &c., were bestowed upon Lord Hastings; who, on first going to view the latter, was repelled by a gentleman named Harrington, a person of some power in those parts, a friend of Lord Roos; but Lord Hastings went there again with some forces, and greatly injured the castle and roofs, and took away the lead to his house at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, which he was building at considerable cost; and Belvoir Castle remained in a state of ruin, and uninhabitable, until the Earl of Rutland [in Henry VIII.’s time] repaired it. (See Leland’sItinerary, vol. i. fo. 114 [107].) Thomas Lord Roos married Philippa, daughter of John Lord Tiptoft and Powis, and Joyce his wife (daughter of Edward Charlton, Lord Powis, and sister of John Earl of Worcester), by whom he had several children: the eldest son, Edmund, from his fidelity to the House of Lancaster, was constrained to flee beyond the sea. It seems that Edmund afterwards got privately into England, and joined the Duke of Somerset, Sir Ralph Percy, and others, in the insurrection in the North, in the fourth year of Edward IV. Little more seems to be known of him, except that he was not within the realm in the first year of Henry VII., when he petitioned for, and obtained, an act of Parliament for the reversal of the attainder, and he died at Enfield in the year 1508.
[56d]1Rot. Parl.1 Edward IV. (1461), vol. v. fo. 478.
[56e]Called the 23rd of May by some writers.
[57]Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. See Chap. VI.
[58a]See Speed, Stow, Grafton; Dugdale’sBaronage, vol. iii. p. 236, Title “Bonvile”; Sandford’sGenealogical History, pp. 297, 372. Fabyan, however, states it to have been on the 30th of December; and it is so stated twice inRot. Parl.1 Edward IV. vol. v. pp. 466, 477.
[58b]Sandford, pp. 297, 373; Baker’sChronicles. The battle is stated by Hall, Holinshed, Grafton, and Stow, to have taken place upon the plain field or ground between the castle and the town of Wakefield; which corresponds with the place where Wakefield Green was, before it was enclosed.
[58c]William Bonvile, Lord Harrington, married Katharine, fifth daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury; was the son of William Bonvile, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Lord Harrington, and was the grandson of William Lord Bonvile, who survived his son and grandson, but was put to death after the second battle of St. Alban’s, in 1460–1. William Bonvile, Lord Harrington, left by Katharine his wife, a daughter, Cecily, who became the wife of Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, and afterwards of Henry Stafford, Earl of Wiltshire.
[58d]Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury. (See Chap. II.) In the second year of Edward IV., the Earl of Salisbury’s body, with that of Alice his wife, and that of Thomas his son, were interred at Bisham Abbey, in Berkshire.
[59a]Shakespeare’sThird Part of Henry VI.act. 1, scene 4 (Sandal Castle, near Wakefield).
[59b]See Chap. VI.
[60a]See Chap. VI.
[60b]See Chap. VI.
[60c]Rot. Parl.1st Edward IV. (1461), vol. v. fo. 447. See Appendix No. 1.
[61a]That was my impression on the occasion of my first visit to Sandal, and I so communicated it in my paper on the Battle of Wakefield, read before the Society of Antiquaries; but after a second and third visit to Sandal, and to the field of battle, I altered my opinion, and I now consider it certain, that the Lancastrians advanced on the westward side of the Calder, and that Wakefield and the bridge were in their possession at the time of the battle.
[61b]On the 29th of July, 1853, I paid a second visit, and on the 4th of August, 1854, a third visit, to Sandal, and to the field of the battle of Wakefield.
[62]Leland, in his quaint language, gives a tolerably accurate account of the place where the battle was fought, when he says:—“There was a sore Batell faught in the South Feeldes by this Bridge, and yn the flite of the Duke of Yorkes parte, other the Duke hymself or his Sone the erle of Rutheland was slayne a litle above the Barres beyond the Bridge going up into the Toune of Wakefeld that standith ful fairely upon a clyving ground. At this place is set up a crosee, ‘in rei memoriam,’”—Leland’sItinerary, vol. i. fo. 34 [40].
[63]See Chapters I. and VI.
[64a]Additions to Camden’sBritannia, Gough’s edition of 1789, vol. iii. fo. 39. Leland says, “at this place is set up a crosse, ‘in rei memoriam’”—Leland’sItinerary, vol. i. fo. 45 [42]; but whether he means in memory of the Duke of York, or of the young Earl of Rutland, or of the battle, seems to admit of doubt.
[64b]Quære?—The lane is occasionally called “Cock and Bottle Lane,” from the sign of an old public-house which stands, or very recently stood in the neighbourhood?
[64c]His body was ultimately interred at Fotheringay. Dugdale’sBaronage, vol. ii. p. 161. Ralph Brooke seems to intend to make a similar statement in hisCatalogue of Nobility, fo. 267; and see Sandford’sGenealogical History, p. 373. It was first interred at Pontefract, and afterwards at Fotheringay; and it seems extraordinary that the Lancastrians, who practised such an indignity to his memory, as fixing his head upon the gate of York, should take the trouble of carrying his headless corpse to Pontefract for interment; but we learn from more than one historical source, that the corpse was first buried at Pontefract, and afterwards removed, and interred at Fotheringay. After the battle of Towton, Edward IV. had the Duke of York’s head taken down from York gate, and interred with the body. Leland adverts to the removal of the duke’s body from Pontefract to Fotheringay by Edward IV., as follows:—
“causid the body of his father Duke of York to be brought from Pontefract thither” [Fotheringay], “and to be layid on the north side of the Highe Altare, where is also buried, King Edward IV.’s mother, in a vaulte, over the which is a pratie chappelle.”[65b]The body of the young Earl of Rutland was also first interred at Pontefract, and afterwards at Fotheringay.—Sandford’sGenealogical History, pp. 374 and 375.Catalogue of the Nobility, &c., by Ralph Brooke, p. 189.
“causid the body of his father Duke of York to be brought from Pontefract thither” [Fotheringay], “and to be layid on the north side of the Highe Altare, where is also buried, King Edward IV.’s mother, in a vaulte, over the which is a pratie chappelle.”[65b]The body of the young Earl of Rutland was also first interred at Pontefract, and afterwards at Fotheringay.—Sandford’sGenealogical History, pp. 374 and 375.Catalogue of the Nobility, &c., by Ralph Brooke, p. 189.
[65a]John Harrow of London, and a Captain named Hanson, were taken prisoners at the battle, and were beheaded with the Earl of Salisbury, at Pontefract, and their heads were set upon the gates of York.—See Fabyan’sChronicles, fo. 210.
[65b]Leland’sItinerary, vol. i. fo. 6.
[67a]The paper upon the Field of the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross was read before a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of London, on the 18th of January, 1855, and the thanks of the meeting were voted for it to the author.
[67b]Edward was Earl of March and Ulster, and Lord of Wigmore and Clare, and afterwards King Edward IV.; and, although not usually called Duke of York by historians, there does not seem to be any reason why he was not so called, between the time of his father’s death, and his accession to the throne of England. Edward was the eldest son of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, and Cecily his wife, and was born at Rouen, in Normandy, on the 29th of April, 1441. His claim to the throne of England was founded upon his being descended from Lionel Duke of Clarence, third son of King Edward III. (See Pedigrees Nos. 1 and 2, in Chap. IX.) His reign commenced on the 4th of March, 1461 (seeRot. Parl.1 Edward IV. vol. v. fo. 464 and Fabyan, fo. 218); he was crowned at Westminster on the 29th of June, 1461, and died on the 9th of April, 1483, in the forty-second year of his age, and the twenty-second of his reign.
[69a]James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire. See Chap. IV.
[69b]The following it a copy of a paper upon the extraordinary and abrupt changes of fortune of Jasper Earl of Pembroke, afterwards Duke of Bedford, in the fifteenth century, written by the author of this work, and read by him in person, on the 31st of March, 1856, before a meeting of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, for which the thanks of the meeting were voted to him:—
“Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, often called Jasper of Hatfield, from the place of his birth, was a nobleman celebrated for his descent, and for the royal and illustrious alliances of his family. He was one of the noble personages who lived and distinguished himself in the fifteenth century: a period memorable in the history of England, for foreign and domestic wars, and civil dissensions, and for the strange mutations of fortune, which its princes and nobles were doomed to experience; and perhaps we may search the pages of history, in fruitless endeavours to discover an instance of any nobleman, who experienced such abrupt and extraordinary vicissitudes, and such sudden and astonishing transitions, on several occasions, from power and wealth, to exile and poverty, and again from the miseries of a poor outlaw and fugitive, to rank, possessions, and honours, as fell to the lot of Jasper Earl of Pembroke.“It matters now little to us, whether in the wars of York and Lancaster, and the violence and exasperation of the contending factions, the one party or the other was in the right; but under every possible circumstance, whether the cause which he espoused was successful or unfortunate, he uniformly supported the Lancastrian interest; and when we consider how many personages of high rank fought during those lamentable conflicts, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, and joined the winning party, as seemed best to suit their own interests, we must at least give him credit for consistency, and perhaps for sincerity. One reason of some moment, may, however, be found for his strenuous and consistent support of the Lancastrian party. He was half-brother of King Henry VI., being the son of Sir Owen Tudor, who was descended from persons of the first consideration, and of a family of great antiquity in Wales, by his wife Queen Katherine, daughter of Charles VI. King of France, and widow of Henry V. King of England, and had by Queen Katherine, two sons, the oldest of whom was Edmund Earl of Richmond, usually denominated Edmund of Hadham, who married Margaret, daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, son of John Earl of Somerset, a son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III., by whom he had a son, Henry Earl of Richmond, who was afterwards King Henry VII.; and the second son of Sir Owen Tudor was Jasper Tutor, who was, in consequence of his father’s marriage with Queen Katherine, uncle of King Henry VII. King Henry VI. created Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke; and in consequence of his recovering the castle of Denbigh, and other strongholds in Wales, out of the hands of the adversaries of Henry, he obtained a grant of 1000 marks, payable out of the lordships of Denbigh and Radnor.“The Earl of Pembroke appeared in 1460–1, in arms, with James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire, and a considerable army, as supporters of Henry VI.; and on the 2nd of February, in that year, fought at the battle of Mortimer’s Cross, against the Yorkists, under the command of Edward Earl of March, afterwards King Edward IV.; but the Lancastrian army was completely defeated, and the two earls were compelled to escape by flight. It may be fairly presumed, that he was not present at the battle of Towton in 1461, as he was not included in the list of those persons who were attainted by the act of Parliament of 1st Edward IV. (1461),Rot. Parl.vol. v. fo. 477, for taking a part in that battle; yet he seems nevertheless to have been exerting himself in arms for Henry VI. about that time, because in a subsequent part of the same act of Parliament, he was attainted for having with others, as alleged, at different times since the 4th of March in that year, incited the enemies of King Edward IV. to enter the realm and to commence hostilities against him; and also for having made war against the King ‘at a place called Tutehill, besid’ the Toune of Carnarvan, in Wales, on Friday next after the Fest of Translacion of Seint Edward last past, rered werre ayenst the same our Soverayne Lord, purposying then and there to have proceeded to his destruction, of fals and cruell violence ayenst their feith and Liegeaunce.’ From that passage it can scarcely be doubted, that an engagement between some forces of the hostile factions, took place near Carnarvon, in 1461, but I am not aware that any historian has handed down to us, any account of it, or even noticed it: an additional proof, if any were wanting, that much more bloodshed and misery were experienced in this country, during the Wars of the Roses, than our old annalists and chroniclers have recorded. The Earl of Pembroke lost his rank, his possessions, and, in a word, his all, by the attainder, for all that he had was confiscated. His earldom was conferred upon William Herbert of Ragland; and Jasper Tudor became an outlaw and a fugitive, and, as is very forcibly expressed by Baker, in hisChronicles, ‘The Earl of Pembroke went from country to country, little better than a vagabond.’“Again the scene suddenly changed. In 1470, William Herbert, the rival Earl of Pembroke, was captured by the Lancastrians at the battle of Edgecott, in Northamptonshire (usually called the battle of Banbury, from its contiguity to that town), and was beheaded. Jasper Tudor, who still claimed the title of Earl of Pembroke, landed in the west with George Duke of Clarence (who then sided with the Earl of Warwick in the Lancastrian interest), and King Edward was driven from his throne and kingdom by the Earl of Warwick. Jasper Tudor was shortly afterwards restored to his rank and title, and a second time became Earl of Pembroke, resumed his possessions in Wales; and finding his nephew, Henry Earl of Richmond, then scarcely ten years of age, in the care of the widow of his deceased rival, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, he removed him from her superintendence, took him and presented him to Henry VI., who, on seeing him, is said (with what truth may well be doubted) to have made a speech almost prophetic of Richmond’s future fortunes.“Another sudden and startling change occurred in this strange and wonderful drama. Edward IV. returned to England in 1471, and obtained a decisive victory over the Earl of Warwick, at Barnet. Queen Margaret landed at Weymouth; the Lancastrians once more took up arms, and Pembroke proceeded to raise forces in Pembrokeshire, with the intention of succouring her. The disastrous battle of Tewkesbury, and the consequent utter ruin of the Lancastrian party, compelled him to retire to Chepstow, and to disband his forces. He then had a very narrow escape with his life. Edward IV. sent Roger Vaughan, a valiant person, to surprise Pembroke there; but he captured Vaughan, beheaded him, and proceeded from thence to the town of Pembroke. Still he was in imminent danger. Morgan ap Thomas pursued him, and commenced the siege of that town; but David ap Thomas, who was the brother of Morgan ap Thomas, although of the opposite party, came to his assistance, and succeeded in raising the siege, and Pembroke got from thence in eight days, and sailed with his nephew, the young Earl of Richmond, from Tenby, intending to proceed to France. His ill fortune still prevailed: the winds drove them upon the coast of Brittany; they were forced to put into a port of that country, and could not be well excused from paying their respects to the Duke of Brittany; but when they would have taken their departure, they were given to understand, that they were not at liberty to proceed. The Duke of Brittany considering, that these two noblemen might be of some advantage to him, assigned to them the town of Vannes for their residence. They were outwardly treated with all respect due to their birth and rank, but were narrowly watched. Pembroke’s exile was a protracted one, and he remained abroad, an outlaw, a fugitive, and in poverty, during several years, most of which he passed in Brittany, but a short time was spent in France, just before his return to England as after mentioned. His earldom was conferred by Edward IV. upon his son, Prince Edward, and was afterwards held by Richard III. At length, in consequence of the death of Edward, the odium and unpopularity in which Richard was held by many, and the English nation being at last weary of civil war, violence, and bloodshed, the prospect was opened, of his return to England, and of the accession to the throne of his nephew, Henry Earl of Richmond.“In October, 1483, an attempt was made, to effect a hostile landing in England, by the Earl of Richmond, with some forces, which were intended to have been supported by the rising of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and others. That expedition was an utter and disastrous failure. Richmond’s fleet was dispersed by a storm; and although the ship in which he sailed appeared off Poole, in Dorsetshire, he found it dangerous, as well as useless, to attempt to land, and was compelled to return to Brittany. The insurrection was suppressed, the duke was executed, and Jasper Tudor, with the bitterness of disappointed hopes, was doomed for some time longer, to remain in banishment. The old historians do not expressly mention his having been with Richmond, in that expedition; but it seems quite impossible, to doubt the fact, of his having accompanied him.“Once more the scene changed in this most strange and eventful drama. In 1485, the Earl of Richmond, with Jasper Tudor and some few troops from France, landed at Milford, in South Wales, and having been joined by their friends and supporters, the battle of Bosworth (at which the latter had a principal command) placed Richmond on the throne of England, by the title of Henry VII.“By that event Jasper Tudor found himself for the third time, Earl of Pembroke. He was restored to his honours and possessions, created Duke of Bedford, made one of the Privy Council, and one of the Commissioners for executing the office of High Steward of England, on the occasion of the ceremony of the coronation of Henry; also Justice of South Wales, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; and had besides considerable and valuable possessions, lands, and offices, conferred upon him.“In 1487, he was joint general, with John De Vere, Earl of Oxford, at the battle of Stoke, where the Earl of Lincoln was defeated. He was afterwards again appointed joint general with the Earl of Oxford, of the army sent into Flanders, in aid of the Emperor Maximilian, against the French. He married Katharine, sixth daughter of Richard Widevile or Wodevile, Earl of Rivers, sister of Elizabeth, Queen of Edward IV., and widow of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, who was executed, as before mentioned, in 1483.“He continued to enjoy his titles, ranks, and great possessions, until his death, which took place on the 21st of December, 1495. He did not leave any issue, and was interred in the Abbey of Keynsham. Is it possible to find, in the whole history of the English peerage, a nobleman who experienced more strange and astonishing vicissitudes of fortune? Well may it be said that truth is stranger than fiction!”
“Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, often called Jasper of Hatfield, from the place of his birth, was a nobleman celebrated for his descent, and for the royal and illustrious alliances of his family. He was one of the noble personages who lived and distinguished himself in the fifteenth century: a period memorable in the history of England, for foreign and domestic wars, and civil dissensions, and for the strange mutations of fortune, which its princes and nobles were doomed to experience; and perhaps we may search the pages of history, in fruitless endeavours to discover an instance of any nobleman, who experienced such abrupt and extraordinary vicissitudes, and such sudden and astonishing transitions, on several occasions, from power and wealth, to exile and poverty, and again from the miseries of a poor outlaw and fugitive, to rank, possessions, and honours, as fell to the lot of Jasper Earl of Pembroke.
“It matters now little to us, whether in the wars of York and Lancaster, and the violence and exasperation of the contending factions, the one party or the other was in the right; but under every possible circumstance, whether the cause which he espoused was successful or unfortunate, he uniformly supported the Lancastrian interest; and when we consider how many personages of high rank fought during those lamentable conflicts, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, and joined the winning party, as seemed best to suit their own interests, we must at least give him credit for consistency, and perhaps for sincerity. One reason of some moment, may, however, be found for his strenuous and consistent support of the Lancastrian party. He was half-brother of King Henry VI., being the son of Sir Owen Tudor, who was descended from persons of the first consideration, and of a family of great antiquity in Wales, by his wife Queen Katherine, daughter of Charles VI. King of France, and widow of Henry V. King of England, and had by Queen Katherine, two sons, the oldest of whom was Edmund Earl of Richmond, usually denominated Edmund of Hadham, who married Margaret, daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, son of John Earl of Somerset, a son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III., by whom he had a son, Henry Earl of Richmond, who was afterwards King Henry VII.; and the second son of Sir Owen Tudor was Jasper Tutor, who was, in consequence of his father’s marriage with Queen Katherine, uncle of King Henry VII. King Henry VI. created Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke; and in consequence of his recovering the castle of Denbigh, and other strongholds in Wales, out of the hands of the adversaries of Henry, he obtained a grant of 1000 marks, payable out of the lordships of Denbigh and Radnor.
“The Earl of Pembroke appeared in 1460–1, in arms, with James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire, and a considerable army, as supporters of Henry VI.; and on the 2nd of February, in that year, fought at the battle of Mortimer’s Cross, against the Yorkists, under the command of Edward Earl of March, afterwards King Edward IV.; but the Lancastrian army was completely defeated, and the two earls were compelled to escape by flight. It may be fairly presumed, that he was not present at the battle of Towton in 1461, as he was not included in the list of those persons who were attainted by the act of Parliament of 1st Edward IV. (1461),Rot. Parl.vol. v. fo. 477, for taking a part in that battle; yet he seems nevertheless to have been exerting himself in arms for Henry VI. about that time, because in a subsequent part of the same act of Parliament, he was attainted for having with others, as alleged, at different times since the 4th of March in that year, incited the enemies of King Edward IV. to enter the realm and to commence hostilities against him; and also for having made war against the King ‘at a place called Tutehill, besid’ the Toune of Carnarvan, in Wales, on Friday next after the Fest of Translacion of Seint Edward last past, rered werre ayenst the same our Soverayne Lord, purposying then and there to have proceeded to his destruction, of fals and cruell violence ayenst their feith and Liegeaunce.’ From that passage it can scarcely be doubted, that an engagement between some forces of the hostile factions, took place near Carnarvon, in 1461, but I am not aware that any historian has handed down to us, any account of it, or even noticed it: an additional proof, if any were wanting, that much more bloodshed and misery were experienced in this country, during the Wars of the Roses, than our old annalists and chroniclers have recorded. The Earl of Pembroke lost his rank, his possessions, and, in a word, his all, by the attainder, for all that he had was confiscated. His earldom was conferred upon William Herbert of Ragland; and Jasper Tudor became an outlaw and a fugitive, and, as is very forcibly expressed by Baker, in hisChronicles, ‘The Earl of Pembroke went from country to country, little better than a vagabond.’
“Again the scene suddenly changed. In 1470, William Herbert, the rival Earl of Pembroke, was captured by the Lancastrians at the battle of Edgecott, in Northamptonshire (usually called the battle of Banbury, from its contiguity to that town), and was beheaded. Jasper Tudor, who still claimed the title of Earl of Pembroke, landed in the west with George Duke of Clarence (who then sided with the Earl of Warwick in the Lancastrian interest), and King Edward was driven from his throne and kingdom by the Earl of Warwick. Jasper Tudor was shortly afterwards restored to his rank and title, and a second time became Earl of Pembroke, resumed his possessions in Wales; and finding his nephew, Henry Earl of Richmond, then scarcely ten years of age, in the care of the widow of his deceased rival, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, he removed him from her superintendence, took him and presented him to Henry VI., who, on seeing him, is said (with what truth may well be doubted) to have made a speech almost prophetic of Richmond’s future fortunes.
“Another sudden and startling change occurred in this strange and wonderful drama. Edward IV. returned to England in 1471, and obtained a decisive victory over the Earl of Warwick, at Barnet. Queen Margaret landed at Weymouth; the Lancastrians once more took up arms, and Pembroke proceeded to raise forces in Pembrokeshire, with the intention of succouring her. The disastrous battle of Tewkesbury, and the consequent utter ruin of the Lancastrian party, compelled him to retire to Chepstow, and to disband his forces. He then had a very narrow escape with his life. Edward IV. sent Roger Vaughan, a valiant person, to surprise Pembroke there; but he captured Vaughan, beheaded him, and proceeded from thence to the town of Pembroke. Still he was in imminent danger. Morgan ap Thomas pursued him, and commenced the siege of that town; but David ap Thomas, who was the brother of Morgan ap Thomas, although of the opposite party, came to his assistance, and succeeded in raising the siege, and Pembroke got from thence in eight days, and sailed with his nephew, the young Earl of Richmond, from Tenby, intending to proceed to France. His ill fortune still prevailed: the winds drove them upon the coast of Brittany; they were forced to put into a port of that country, and could not be well excused from paying their respects to the Duke of Brittany; but when they would have taken their departure, they were given to understand, that they were not at liberty to proceed. The Duke of Brittany considering, that these two noblemen might be of some advantage to him, assigned to them the town of Vannes for their residence. They were outwardly treated with all respect due to their birth and rank, but were narrowly watched. Pembroke’s exile was a protracted one, and he remained abroad, an outlaw, a fugitive, and in poverty, during several years, most of which he passed in Brittany, but a short time was spent in France, just before his return to England as after mentioned. His earldom was conferred by Edward IV. upon his son, Prince Edward, and was afterwards held by Richard III. At length, in consequence of the death of Edward, the odium and unpopularity in which Richard was held by many, and the English nation being at last weary of civil war, violence, and bloodshed, the prospect was opened, of his return to England, and of the accession to the throne of his nephew, Henry Earl of Richmond.
“In October, 1483, an attempt was made, to effect a hostile landing in England, by the Earl of Richmond, with some forces, which were intended to have been supported by the rising of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and others. That expedition was an utter and disastrous failure. Richmond’s fleet was dispersed by a storm; and although the ship in which he sailed appeared off Poole, in Dorsetshire, he found it dangerous, as well as useless, to attempt to land, and was compelled to return to Brittany. The insurrection was suppressed, the duke was executed, and Jasper Tudor, with the bitterness of disappointed hopes, was doomed for some time longer, to remain in banishment. The old historians do not expressly mention his having been with Richmond, in that expedition; but it seems quite impossible, to doubt the fact, of his having accompanied him.
“Once more the scene changed in this most strange and eventful drama. In 1485, the Earl of Richmond, with Jasper Tudor and some few troops from France, landed at Milford, in South Wales, and having been joined by their friends and supporters, the battle of Bosworth (at which the latter had a principal command) placed Richmond on the throne of England, by the title of Henry VII.
“By that event Jasper Tudor found himself for the third time, Earl of Pembroke. He was restored to his honours and possessions, created Duke of Bedford, made one of the Privy Council, and one of the Commissioners for executing the office of High Steward of England, on the occasion of the ceremony of the coronation of Henry; also Justice of South Wales, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; and had besides considerable and valuable possessions, lands, and offices, conferred upon him.
“In 1487, he was joint general, with John De Vere, Earl of Oxford, at the battle of Stoke, where the Earl of Lincoln was defeated. He was afterwards again appointed joint general with the Earl of Oxford, of the army sent into Flanders, in aid of the Emperor Maximilian, against the French. He married Katharine, sixth daughter of Richard Widevile or Wodevile, Earl of Rivers, sister of Elizabeth, Queen of Edward IV., and widow of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, who was executed, as before mentioned, in 1483.
“He continued to enjoy his titles, ranks, and great possessions, until his death, which took place on the 21st of December, 1495. He did not leave any issue, and was interred in the Abbey of Keynsham. Is it possible to find, in the whole history of the English peerage, a nobleman who experienced more strange and astonishing vicissitudes of fortune? Well may it be said that truth is stranger than fiction!”
[72a]Rot. Parl.1 Edward IV. (1461), vol. v. fo. 462.
[72b]The year, according to the present style, was 1461; but at that time the legal year did not commence until the 25th of March following; and until that day arrived, the then year would be called 1460.
[72c]I have three times visited the field of battle of Mortimer’s Cross: viz., in May 1854, May 1855, and May 1856.
[73a]On the occasion of my last visit to the field of battle, on the 24th of May, 1856, I witnessed there a rare and very beautiful natural phenomenon; a species of rainbow, of remarkable grandeur, appeared, not as an arch in the sky, as is usual, but forming a splendid and broad border to the horizon, and encircling and appearing to rest with its under edge upon the earth, towards the north, and to touch with its upper edge a canopy of clouds, the darkness of which formed a striking contrast, which set off its brilliant prismatic colours to great advantage. Its beauty and singularity strikingly brought to my mind, the remarkable phenomenon, seen by Edward, on the same spot, so many years before.
[73b]Many years afterwards, at the battle of Barnet, Edward’s device was accidentally of great service, because in the mist, the star with rays, the device of the Earl of Oxford, who was fighting on the side of Lancaster, was mistaken for that of Edward, the sun in splendour; and the Lancastrian archers, deceived by the resemblance, shot at the followers of the Earl of Oxford, and the mistake contributed considerably to the loss of the battle by the Lancastrians.
[73c]Hall says, “he fiercely set on his enemies, and them shortly discomfited.”
[73d]He is called Sir Owen Tudor by Hall, Holinshed, Speed, and Grafton, in their respective accounts of the battle, and he is also so called by Sandford in hisGenealogical History, p. 297, and Sir Owen ap Merydeth ap Tudor,ibid.p. 242, which are certainly high authorities for believing that he was a knight; but Sandford elsewhere calls him “Owen Tudor” only,ibid.p. 283, 284. Yet Baker, in the part of hisChroniclesin which the marriage of Owen Tudor with Katherine, widow of King Henry V., is mentioned, calls him “Owen Tudor an Esquire of Wales.” He is also called “a Squyer of Wales” in Leland’sCollectanea, vol. ii. fo. 492 [708]. Ralph Brooke, in hisCatalogue of the Nobility, &c., says that Katherine married “a noble Gentleman named Owen Theoder of Wales.” Fabyan, fo. 627, calls him a knyght of Wales.