Lancashire 1824/25 Baines Directory
War of the Roses
The claims of the house,of York to the throne of England, which had lain dormant during the reign of Henry V. were revived in the early part of the reign of his successor, by Richard Duke of York, descended from Philippa, the only daughter of the Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III. in opposition to those of the Duke of Lancaster, third son of that monarch, from whom descended Henry VI. the reigning sovereign. The Duke was a prince of great valour, popular talents, and immense wealth. He was closely allied to a number of the most powerful families in the kingdom, and particularly to the Earl of Warwick, who afterwards obtained the title of the ”King Maker." The usurpation of the house of Lancaster was favourable to popular liberty: none of the princes of that house ventured to impose taxes without the consent of parliament, and a rule was thus established that could not safely be broken by future princes. But Henry, who at present swayed the sceptre, was a weak and irresolute prince, addicted to favourites, and governed by a wife of a haughty and tyrannical disposition. These circumstances had deprived him of a considerable share of that popularity which his progenitors had enjoyed, and made the wish for a reform in the administration of public affairs so general that it pervaded all classes. The most striking proof of public disesteem manifested itself in a rebellion headed by a native of Ireland, of the name of Jack Cade, who, assuming to be the son of Sir John Mortimer, one of the victims of Henry’s tyranny, raised 20,000 men in Kent, and marched to London, of which city the malcontents took possession. For sometime Cade’s insurrection threatened the overthrow of the government, but, losing the control over his followers, they at length fell into a state of insubordination, and Cade himself was killed by a person of the name of Iden, a gentleman of Sussex.
The public mind had now become extremely unsettled, and the Duke of York, availing himself of the popular discontent, raised an army of 10,000 men, with which he marched towards London, to demand a reform in the government, and the removal of the Duke of Somerset, the favourite of the king, and the reputed paramour of the queen. [1452] This first rising was attended with no material success; but two years afterwards, Somerset was sent to the Tower, and the Duke of York was appointed lieutenant of the kingdom by parliament, during an illness of the king, which incapacitated him from attending to public affairs On the king‘s recovery, he was prevailed upon by the queen to annul the protectorship of the Duke of York, and to reinstate the Duke of Somerset in his office of prime minister. The Duke of York, aware of the danger that might attend his commission being annulled, levied another army, and, without putting forward his claims to the crown, again demanded a reform in the government. On the 22d of May [1455], a battle was fought at St. Alban’s, in which the Yorkists were Successful, and slew 5000 of the Lancastrians, along with the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland, Lord Clifford, and many other persons of distinction. The king himself fell into the hands of the Duke of York, who treated him with great personal respect, but obliged him to surrender the authority of the crown into his hands. This was the first blood spilt in that fatal quarrel, which was not terminated in less than thirty years, which was signalized by twelve pitched battles, and almost entirely annihilated the ancient nobility of England. The people, divided in their affections, took different symbols of party; the partizans of the house of Lancaster chose the Red Rose as their mark of distinction; those of York took the White Rose; and the civil wars which ensued were known over Europe by the name of the quarrel between the two roses.
Affairs had not yet, however, proceeded to the last extremity; the nation was kept some time in suspense; the vigour and spirit of Queen Margaret, supporting; her small power, still proved a balance to the great authority of Richard, which authority was impaired by his ill-defined objects. The parliament again appointed the Duke of York protector, on the ground of the indisposition or incapacity of the King; but Margaret produced her husband before the house of lords, when he declared his intention to put an end to the protectorate, and resume the government. Mutual animosity still continued to increase between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians; but, through the influence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and other moderate men, the differences were for a while patched up. The combustibles for an explosion were, however, every where to be found, and an insult given by one of the king’s retinue to one of the Earl of Warwick’s applied the torch. Armies were collected, and the battle of Blore Heath, fought on the 23d of September [1459], between the Earl of Salisbury, on the part of the Duke of York, and Lord Audley, who commanded the Lancastrians, wherein the Yorkists were again successful, was the first battle professedly fought for the crown. The battle of Northampton, on the 19th of July, in the following year, when the Earl of Warwick commanded the Yorkists, and Lord Grey, of Ruthin, betrayed Henry’s army, terminated in the entire route of the Lancastrians, and the slaughter of a great number of the nobility and gentry. In the battle of Wakefield, fought the 24th of December [1460], Margaret commanded the Lancastrians, and the Duke of York his own army. Here "Greek met Greek,” and the tug of war was desperate; but superior numbers, not unaccompanied with skill, gave the victory to the queen. The Duke of York fell in the battle, and his head was struck off and fixed on the gates of York, encircled by a paper crown, in derision of his pretensions to the throne. As an indication of the spirit of the times, it may be mentioned, that the Earl of Rutland, an interesting youth of the age of seventeen, son of the Duke of York was murdered in cold blood after the battle, by Lord Clifford, one of the commanders in the victorious army, and who hence obtained the name of The Butcher.
Edward, the Duke of York’s eldest son, immediately took up his father’s cause, and in a battle fought against the Earl of Pembroke, at Mortimer’s Cross, in Herefordshire, on the 2d of February [1461], slew 3000 of the Lancastrians. In the second battle of St. Alban’s, fought fifteen days after the battle of Mortimer’s Cross, Margaret compensated this defeat by a victory over the Earl of Warwick, in which 2000 men were slain. This victory did not check for a moment the ambitious views of young Edward, who advanced to London, and procured himself to be proclaimed King of England on the 5th of March, while Margaret retired to the north, to recruit her exhausted army.
Thus terminated the reign of Henry VI. But though the King was dethroned, and Edward IV. occupied his place, the civil wars were by no means at an end. Margaret soon assembled an army of 60,000 men in Yorkshire, and the King and the Earl of Warwick hastened into that country with 40,000, to check her career. The hostile armies met at Towton, near Tadcaster, on Palm Sunday. [29 March 1461] In this memorable battle, while the Yorkists were advancing to the charge, there happened a great fall of snow, which drove full in the face of their enemies. Lord Falconberg, who led the van of Edward’s army, improved this event by a stratagem; he ordered a body of infantry to advance before the line, and, after having sent a volley of flight-arrows amongst the enemy, immediately retired. The Lancastrians, imagining they had got within reach of the opposite army, discharged all their arrows, which fell short of the Yorkists. After their quivers 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 the total overthrow of the Lancastrians. Edward had issued orders, before the battle, to give no quarter. The routed army was pursued with dreadful slaughter. The flying troops shaped their course to Tadcaster bridge, but, despairing of reaching it, they turned aside to a place where the Cock, a small rivulet, runs into the Wharf. This was done with so much hurry and confusion, that the bed of the river was soon filled with dead bodies, which served as a bridge for the pursued and the pursuers to pass over. The slaughter at this point was tremendous; 36,700 men fell in the battle and pursuit, and the waters of the Wharf were crimsoned with the blood of the victims.
The battle of Towton Field seemed decisive of the war of the Roses. Henry escaped into Scotland, while his more fortunate rival repaired to London, to meet his parliament, who recognized his title, and declared that he was king by right, from the death of his father. The French King, at the earnest solicitation of Margaret, supplied her with 2000 troops, to revive the drooping spirits of the Lancastrians, and a body of men marched from the north to form a junction with the foreigners at Hexham [1464]. Here she was attacked on the 15th of May, by Lord Montacute, brother of the Earl of Warwick, who obtained a complete victory, and proceeded, with the most relentless hand, to execute those on the scaffold that had survived the dangers of the field. Of this number were the Duke of Somerset, and the Lords Ross and Hungerford; and the utter extermination of their adversaries had now become the obvious policy of the Yorkists. "The fate of the unfortunate Royal family, after this defeat,” says Hume, "was singular. Margaret, flying with her son into a forest, where she endeavoured to conceal herself, was beset, during the darkness of the night, by robbers, who, either ignorant or regardless of her quality, despoiled her of her rings and jewels and treated her with the utmost indignity. The partition of this rich booty raised a quarrel among them; and while their attention was thus engaged, she took the opportunity of making her escape with her son, into the thickest of the forest, where she wandered for some time, overspent with hunger and fatigue, and sunk with terror and affliction. While in this wretched condition, she saw a robber approach with his naked sword, and finding that she had no means of escape, she suddenly embraced the resolution of trusting entirely for protection to his faith and generosity. She advanced towards him; and presenting to him the young Prince, called out to him, 'Here, my friend, l commit to your care the safety of your King's son.' The man, whose humanity and generous spirit had been obscured, not entirely lost, by his vicious course of life, struck with the singularity of the event, was charmed with the confidence reposed in him; and vowed not only to abstain from all injury against the Princess, but to devote himself entirely to her service. By his means she dwelt some time concealed in the forest, and was at last conducted to the sea-coast, whence she made her escape into Flanders. She passed thence into her father’s court, where she lived several years in privacy and retirement. Her husband was not so fortunate or so dexterous in finding the means of escape. Some of his friends took him under their protection, and conveyed him into Lancashire, The place of his concealment was Waddington Hall, where he remained concealed during a twelvemonth, but he was at length detected, delivered up to Edward, and thrown into the tower."
Considering himself now securely seated on the throne, Edward threw the reins upon his inclinations, and surrendered himself up to those voluptuous pleasures, to which he was naturally so much inclined. His vices did not prevent him from contemplating a marriage with Bona, the sister to the Queen of France, and Warwick was sent to negotiate the alliance. While the earl was engaged in this mission, Edward saw and became enamoured of the widow of Sir John Cray, and not being able to prevail on her to become his mistress, he made her his wife by a secret marriage. Warwick could not brook this insult; he complained loudly of the king’s conduct towards him, and associated himself with such malcontents as seemed disposed to question and overthrow the King's authority. With this view he retired into Lancashire, with the Duke of Clarence, and importuned Lord Stanley, who had married the Earl of Warwick’s sister, to join them in an insurrection against the King; but that nobleman refused all concurrence in their designs, and they were obliged to quit the kingdom. In September, in the same year [1470], these aspiring peers returned to England, and availing themselves of the zeal of the Lancastrian party, and the general discontent which Edward’s extravagance and imprudence had excited, they raised the standard of revolt, and 60,000 men answered their summons. Edward hastened to encounter them, and the two armies approached each other near Nottingham. On the eve of the battle, Edward was surprised in the night by the cry of War! and, supposing all was lost, he fled into Norfolk, from whence he escaped with difficulty into Holland. Henry was now taken from the Tower, and placed upon the throne, under the auspices of Clarence and Warwick, the king maker, who did not fail to vest all the regal power in their own hands as regents. Margaret was preparing to return to London, when she heard that Edward had once more entered the city of London in triumph, and expelled Henry from the throne. Warwick again took the field, and a bloody battle was fought on the 14th of April [1471], at Barnet. The Yorkists once more vanquished the Lancastrians, and Warwick was left dead upon the field. The imbecile Henry again took up his residence in the tower; and the same day on which the. battle of Barnet was fought, Queen Margaret and her son Edward, now about eighteen years of age, landed at Weymouth. On receiving the intelligence of her husband’s captivity, and of the defeat and death of the Earl of Warwick, her courage, which had supported her under so many reverses, suffered a temporary check. With some difficulty the friends of the queen rallied her spirits, and she was prevailed upon to take the command of an army collected at Tewkesbury, in support of the Lancastrian cause. Here again the fortunes of her ill-fated house pursued her: the Yorkists were once more victorious, and Margaret and her son were taken prisoners. Being brought into the presence of Edward, he asked the young prince how he dared to invade his dominions; to which the prince replied, that he came to seek his own inheritance. The ungenerous Edward, irritated by this answer, struck the captive prince with his gauntlet, and the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, Lord Hastings, and Sir Thomas Gray, taking the blow as a signal for further violence, hurried the prince into the next apartment, and there dispatched him with their daggers. Margaret was thrown into the tower, and Henry expired a few days after the battle of Tewkesbury. The Queen was afterwards liberated, and died in France and thus the hopes of the Lancastrians seemed to be utterly extinguished.
In the 12th year of the reign of Henry VI. that monarch caused a return to be made of the names and residence of the gentry in his kingdom, but from some cause, not explained, twelve counties were passed over, and Lancashire was one of the pretermitted counties.
The Duchy of Lancaster, and all the hereditary estates of Henry of Bolingbroke, King of England, with all the royalties and franchises of this county, had descended to Henry V. and Henry VI.; but when the latter of these monarchs was attained in the first year of Edward IV. this duchy was declared by parliament to be forfeited to the crown. At the same time an act was passed to incorporate the duchy of Lancaster, to continue the county palatine, and to make the same parcel of the duchy; and further to vest the whole in King Edward IV. and his heirs, Kings of England, for ever; but under a separate guiding and governance from the other inheritances of the crown. And in the reign of Henry VII. another act was made to resume such part of the duchy lands as had been dismembered from it in the reign of Edward IV. and to vest the inheritance of the whole in the King and his heirs for ever, as amply and largely, and in like manner, form, and condition, separate from the crown of England, and possession of the same; and the three, ‘$+$!*f Henries and Edward IV. or any of them had and held the same; and the king of England has ever since borne the title of Duke of Lancaster. Two of the three Palatine counties had now become vested in the crown, and Durham is the only one remaining in the hand of a subject, for the earldom of Chester was united to the crown by Henry III.
All the glories of Edward IV, terminated with the civil wars. He afterwards sunk into a state of licentious indolence, and died on the 9th of April, 1482, leaving two sons, Edward and Richard, minors. The elder of these princes succeeded to the throne under the title of Edward V.; but his, uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, having procured himself to be made protector, had the young King and his brother murdered in the tower, and assumed the title of Richard III. The tyranny and cruelty of Richard, surnamed Hunchback, alienated the affections of the people from the house of York, and they looked for a deliverer to. the Earl of Richmond, son of Margaret great grand daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Margaret had espoused Edmund Earl of Richmond, half brother to Henry VI. and the young earl Henry was the issue of that marriage. Having become a widow, she married Sir Henry Stafford, and, after his death, Lord Stanley. To strengthen the claim of the Earl of Richmond, it was proposed to unite the two Roses by a marriage between him and the Princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. Such an union, it was well known, would be very acceptable both to the Yorkists and the Lancastrians. Richard himself, regardless of the ties of consanguinity, wished also to marry his brother’s daughter, to avoid which the Earl of Richmond was pressed to hasten his departure from the continent, and on the 1st of August [1485] he sailed from Harfleur in Normandy, and arrived at Milford Haven in Wales, six days after, with only 2000 men under his command. On his landing in that country, he was joined by Sir Rice-ap-Thomas, whom Richard had appointed one of his lieutenants in Wales; and the earl, advancing towards Shrewsbury, received daily reinforcements, amongst whom were Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sir Thomas Bouchier, and Sir Walter Hungerford. But the danger to which Richard was exposed was not so much from the zeal of his enemies, as from the infidelity of his friends, whose attachment his cruelties had alienated, and who waited only a fit opportunity to rid their country of the sanguinary tyrant. The duke of Norfolk alone seemed to be firmly attached to his cause; all his other principal officers he suspected; but the persons of whom he entertained the greatest suspicion were Lord Stanley and his brother Sir William, whose connexion with the family of Richmond could not be forgotten by Richard. The services of this powerful northern nobleman were, however, essential to his interests, and under that impression he empowered lord Stanley to levy forces, retaining his eldest son, Lord Strange, as a sort of hostage for the father’s fidelity. His lordship raised a powerful body of his friends and retainers in Lancashire and Cheshire, but without openly declaring himself: and though the Earl of Richmond had received secret assurances of the friendly intentions of his father-in-law, the armies on both sides knew not what to infer from his behaviour. Richard, who, on the news of the intended invasion of Richmond had repaired to Nottingham with his army, now advanced to meet the enemy, and on the night of the 21st of Battle of August, the armies destined to contend for the crown of England came in sight of each other. On the 22d they drew up in battle array on Bosworth Field, in Leicestershire, Henry at the head of about 6000 troops, and Richard with an army of about double that number. Lord Stanley, who commanded about 7000 men, posted himself at Atherstone, in a situation to throw his weight into either scale. Richard, discovering his intention, at first seemed inclined to strike off the head of Lord Strange, but prudently resolved to spare the son till the battle was over, that he might have some restraint over the father’s conduct. The main body of both armies was commanded by the rival candidates for the throne. As soon as the battle began, lord Stanley appeared on the field, and declared for Richmond. Still undismayed, Richard performed prodigies of valour. He cast his eye round the field, and descrying his rival at a distance he rushed towards him, and killed with his own hands Sir William Brandon, standard-bearer to the earl: He dismounted Sir John Cheyney; and was now within reach of Richmond himself, who seemed well inclined to the contest, when Sir William Stanley, breaking in with his troops, surrounded Richard, who, fighting bravely to the last moment, was overwhelmed by numbers, and perished on the field. On the death of their leader, his army dispersed; and the body of Richard being found on the field covered with gore, it was thrown across a horse, and carried to Leicester amidst the shouts of the spectators.
Henry having ascended the throne under the title of Henry VI.. and espoused in marriage Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV. the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster were terminated. In these wars twelve great battles were fought; the blood of from 80 to 90,000 Englishmen was shed, and there fell in the contest three kings, several princes of the blood, sixty-two nobles, one hundred and thirty-nine knights, four hundred and forty-one esquires, and six hundred and thirty-eight of the gentry of the kingdom. The contest between the houses of York and Lancaster was not an unmixed evil. Probably it was. more beneficial in its remote consequences, than injurious in its immediate effects. Up to that time the property and the power of the nation were chiefly divided amongst the king, the nobility, and the clergy. The great mass of the people of England were slaves, dependent upon the will, and the absolute property of their lords, transferable like his cattle, and held in nearly the same estimation. Such was their degradation, that the honour of hazarding their lives to settle a quarrel between the Red and the White Roses was too great for them to enjoy: but as every lord was obliged, in this widely extended contest, to take a part either on the one side or the other, it became necessary, for his own safety, to seek the aid of his vassals, and before those vassals could be allowed to fight, it was necessary to emancipate them. In this way the feudal system, introduced by the Conqueror, was shaken to its centre; trade and commerce hastened its downfall; villainage was virtually at an end as early as the reign of Edward VI. and in the twelfth year of Charles II. the name itself was effaced from the statute books, by an act abolishing that obnoxious tenure.