Hastings to Culloden - Battles in Britain 1066-1746

by Glen Lyndon Dodds

  In September 1470 Warwick returned to England, intent on overthrowing Edward and restoring Henry. He was soon joined by Lancastrians and by men who deserted Edward in his hour of need. In such circumstances Edward fled to Burgundy and the sanctuary of his brother-in-law, Charles the Bold. His adversaries soon entered London in triumph and released Henry, who was now permanently mad.

  However, in March 1471 Edward landed in Yorkshire at the head of a force financed by his brother-in-law. He was soon joined by many adherents, and by Clarence who deserted Warwick. On 11 April Edward entered London. The next day news arrived: Warwick was approaching with a large army. He was at St Albans, having marched south from Coventry. On the 13th Edward moved against him with about 9,000 men, and as night fell took up a position close to Warwick’s larger host, which now occupied high ground just north of Barnet.

  Battle was joined at dawn in mist so thick it was hard to ‘judge one thing from another.’ The armies were not directly aligned—the right wings overlapped the enemy’s left somewhat. In the fighting Warwick’s right under the Earl of Oxford routed the opposing wing, while on the other flank the Yorkists gained the upper hand, with the result that the battle line turned so that it lay almost parallel with the Barnet—St Albans road. Hence, when Oxford’s men returned to the field, they were mistaken for Yorkists by their own side who fired upon them. Panic ensued and Warwick’s army disintegrated.

  Barnet was a hard-fought battle which lasted three or more hours. Both sides sustained substantial losses. Warwick’s brother, Lord Montagu, was one of the notables who perished, as was Warwick himself, for he was cut down while in flight.

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  TEWKESBURY 4 May 1471

  Margaret of Anjou did not accompany Warwick when he returned to England in September 1470 (see Chapter Thirteen, Barnet). She remained in France and this largely contributed to his downfall for several senior Lancastrians failed to support him: they were waiting for her return. Eventually, on 14 April, the very day Warwick perished at Barnet, she landed at Weymouth—contrary winds were partly responsible for her late return—and among those with her was her son, Edward Prince of Wales. She was soon joined by the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Devon, two prominent Lancastrians.

  It was decided to move west to recruit support. At Exeter, Margaret was joined by a considerable force. She then moved to Bristol, via Taunton, Glastonbury, and Bath, arriving on 1 May at the head of a growing army and intent on linking up with forces in Wales under Jasper Tudor.

  Meanwhile, Edward IV had commenced moving against her (he left Windsor on 24 April), and arrived at Malmesbury on 1 May at the head of an hastily assembled army. On the 2nd, Margaret marched towards Gloucester, intending to cross the Severn. News that she was making for Gloucester, and was beyond Berkeley, reached Edward in the early hours of the 3rd and he set out in pursuit. The Lancastrians arrived before Gloucester on the morning of 3 May only to find its gates shut. They thus pressed on to Tewkesbury, arriving that evening. With the army exhausted, and hotly pursued by Edward, it was decided to stand and fight. The Lancastrian commander, Edmund Beaufort, the Duke of Somerset (his elder brother had led the Lancastrians at Towton) chose to do so on ground just to the south of Tewkesbury Abbey. His men then settled down for the night. Edward’s did likewise at nearby Tredington.

  On Saturday, 4 May, Edward moved against the Lancastrian army arrayed on ‘marvaylows strong grownd...full difficult to be assayled’ owing to trees, hedges, bushes and ‘evell lanes, and depe dykes.’ The Yorkists approached in three battles. The Duke of Gloucester led the van, Edward himself the centre, and Lord Hastings the rear. To guard against an ambush from Tewkesbury Park to his left, the king posted 200 spearmen ‘in a plomp’ to keep an eye on that quarter with orders to engage in the battle if the wood proved free of the enemy. Somerset led the Lancastrian right, Prince Edward the centre, and Devon the left wing.

  The battle began when the Yorkist gunners and Gloucester’s archers opened fire. The enemy responded in kind. Somerset then advanced, either because his men were ‘sore annoyed’ by the Yorkist fire or because he hoped to strike before the enemy were fully deployed. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting ensued between his battle and those of Gloucester and Edward. Unsupported by the rest of the Lancastrian army, and attacked on the flank by the 200 spearmen, Somerset’s battle was pushed back, then broke and fled. Edward then soon routed in turn the demoralized Lancastrian centre and left.

  The number of Lancastrian slain was heavy, and the most notable fatality was the Prince of Wales. Somerset sought sanctuary in Tewkesbury Abbey but was soon seized and executed. Margaret managed to escape but was subsequently taken and remained in confinement for four years until she was ransomed by the King of France. Her husband—who had been a captive in the Tower once again following Barnet—was murdered there when Edward returned to London in triumph.

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  BOSWORTH 22 August 1485

  ‘The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell our Dog,

  Rule all England under an Hog.’

  William Colingbourne

  Edward IV died on 9 April 1483 at the palace of Westminster shortly before his 41st birthday. The first half of his reign had been beset by unrest which reached its height in 1469-71 when his erstwhile colleague, Warwick the Kingmaker, opposed him and threw in his lot with the Lancastrians. As we have seen, Edward had destroyed Warwick at Barnet in 1471 and soon after defeated another Lancastrian force at Tewkesbury, shortly after which he had had his captive kinsman, Henry VI, murdered.

  Now Edward himself was dead and sensible people wondered whether his demise would be followed by renewed conflict, for his successor was a mere boy of twelve, his son, Edward V. Tension there certainly was. Between whom? And why? In 1464 Edward IV had married a widow, Elizabeth Woodville, a woman of good but not exalted birth, and had proceeded to reward her numerous relations with titles and marriages to important heiresses, a policy which alienated members of the old nobility (including Warwick) who came to hate the avaricious, overbearing, and in some cases unforgiving newcomers.

  One of those hostile to the Woodville group was the Duke of Buckingham, a descendant of Edward III and the possessor of vast estates, who had been almost entirely excluded from power by Edward IV. Another opponent of the queen and her kinsmen was Lord Hastings (who had been enobled by Edward in 1461), the late king’s right-hand man. Sir Thomas More states, in an account dating from c.1513, that Elizabeth hated Hastings because of the influence he had had with her husband. Moreover Hastings was on bad terms with her brother, Earl Rivers, whom he had supplanted as Captain of Calais in 1471, and more particularly with the Marquis of Dorset, Elizabeth’s son by her first husband, for a contemporary Dominic Mancini declares that they had quarrelled ‘over the mistresses whom they had abducted, or attempted to entice from one another.’

  Edward IV’s brother, Richard of Gloucester, is also often said to have been on bad terms with the queen and her relations. But whether this was so during Edward’s lifetime is uncertain. It does seem likely that Richard’s relationship with Elizabeth was strained: according to Mancini she was jealous of the influence he had with her husband. On the other hand there seems to have been no hostility between Gloucester and Rivers. Indeed, only a week or so before Edward’s death the latter agreed to let Richard be the arbitrator of a dispute in which he was involved.

  Edward’s untimely and unexpected demise dramatically raised the political temperature and heightened whatever animosity and tension existed. The deeply unpopular Woodville clan was determined to retain as much power as possible (including control of the person of young Edward V), fearful that failure to do so would jeopardize their prosperity and safety by opening them up to attack by the many people who hated them; while for a number of reasons their enemies and critics wished to prevent a Woodville dominated minority. Furthermore, even if Richard’s relations with the queen and her kin had been amicable hit
herto, he also had reason for preventing them from gaining the ascendancy. If that occurred his position as the greatest subject in the realm would inevitably be compromised. Moreover, if Elizabeth did bear him enmity, then perhaps his very survival would be threatened.

  It was the queen’s party who initiated the power struggle. In the days immediately following Edward IV’s death they seized the royal treasure in the Tower and in other ways prepared to maintain their position by force if required.

  Additionally, in the council which most probably met following the late king’s burial on 20 April, they sought to minimize the role Gloucester would play in the direction of affairs. Shortly before his death, Edward IV had added a codicil to his will stating that upon his demise Richard should become the protector of his heir and the realm. The council, however, was not bound to accede to the wishes of the late monarch (though some councillors, most notably Hastings, pressed it to do so), and owing to Woodville opposition a compromise was reached. A very early coronation would be held, on 4 May, thereby obviating the need for a protectorate, after which the government of the realm would be conducted until Edward V was old enough to rule by a governing council of which Gloucester—who was in the north—would be the chief councillor.

  Furthermore, it was agreed following vigorous protestations by Hastings (who feared that the Woodville group would attempt to achieve dominance by force), that the absent Rivers, Edward V’s governor, would bring the youngster to London (from Ludlow) with a moderate retinue instead of the substantial force proposed by the queen.

  Thus in the council, Elizabeth and her kin did not have everything their own way. Nonetheless they had achieved some of their objectives and Dorset at least, we are told, was in a cocksure mood.

  Meanwhile, Richard had received the news of his brother’s death and last wishes from Hastings, who advised him to come to London with a strong force. Gloucester first made for York (probably from his stronghold at Middleham) and there pledged loyalty to Edward V. He began moving south on the 20th. While doing so he received news from Hastings of the council’s decisions and, according to Mancini, was advised to seize ‘before they were alive to the danger’ those in favour of minimising his role during the minority.

  On the 24th, Rivers and the young king left Ludlow and headed towards Northampton in accordance with Richard’s wish that the royal party rendezvous with him so that a stately joint procession to the capital could ensue. On the 29th Richard arrived at Northampton. He was welcomed by Rivers, who told him that the king and the rest of the royal party had pressed on fourteen miles to Stony Stratford.

  Later in the day one of Richard’s new allies, the Duke of Buckingham, arrived on the scene. As has been noted, he was no friend of the queen and her relations: Mancini tells us that he ‘loathed her race.’ Nonetheless, as More states, that night there was ‘much friendly cheer’ between the dukes and Rivers. Just what Richard was thinking at this time is uncertain. His mind may have been set on seizing the throne, or he may have been determined to secure the protectorate entrusted to him by his late brother. If he compromised and accepted the position of chief councillor, following Edward V’s coronation there was a very real possibility that the council would veer in the direction of the Woodville group. For one thing, the young king’s wishes could not be entirely ignored and he was much closer to the queen and her kin than to Richard.

  After Rivers retired to bed, Gloucester discussed matters with his impulsive companion. Buckingham convinced him, if indeed he were not already convinced, that it was in his best interests to seize the initiative. And so, at dawn on 30 April, Rivers, whom Mancini describes as ‘a kind, serious, and just man’ in marked contrast to other members of the Woodville clan, was arrested and the road to Stony Stratford guarded so that news of the event could not reach the king’s party.

  Richard and Buckingham subsequently rode south to Stony Stratford and paid their respects to young Edward. Gloucester then stated that he had been obliged to arrest Rivers because he was plotting, with others of the Woodville group, to do away with him. Despite protestations by the king, Richard proceeded to arrest Edward’s half-brother Sir Richard Grey and Sir Thomas Vaughan, the treasurer of the king’s household, before dismissing the majority of the royal escort.

  News of these events soon reached London. According to the contemporary Croyland Chronicle, two armed parties thus formed, ‘some collected their forces at Westminster in the queen’s name, others at London under the shadow of the Lord Hastings.’ Upon failing to win sufficient support, and aware that the initiative now lay firmly in the hands of her enemies, Elizabeth hurriedly sought sanctuary in Westminster Abbey with Dorset, her youngest son the Duke of York, and her daughters. On 4 May Edward entered London with Gloucester and Buckingham (Rivers, Grey and Vaughan had been sent north to be incarcerated in Yorkshire), and in order to smear the Woodville faction, wagons full of weapons and armour bearing their devices were at the forefront of the procession and criers let it be known on Richard’s behalf that the queen and her kin had intended to destroy him.

  On 10 May, at a meeting of the council, a new date for the coronation, 24 June, (later altered to Sunday 22 June), was decided on. Moreover Richard was installed as protector. His allies, Buckingham and Hastings, were naturally chosen to play a prominent part in the new government. The former in particular was lavishly rewarded. For instance, on 15 May he was made constable and steward of all the castles and lordships in Wales and the Marches at the disposal of the crown. As for Hastings, he retained both the office of lord chamberlain and the captaincy of Calais, and on the 20th was confirmed as Master of the Mint, a lucrative position he had likewise held under Edward IV. On the other hand, not surprisingly, Rivers, Dorset and other members of the Woodville group were stripped of their offices and grants. Nevertheless, Richard’s administration was a broadly based one which included many former members of Edward IV’s household. The prospects for political stability seemed fairly good.

  However, in the second week of June whatever optimism there was gave way to widespread fear and suspicion. On Friday 13th, Hastings was accused of treason by Richard at a meeting of the council in the Tower and immediately executed on Tower Hill. Three other accused councillors, two of whom were prelates, were seized and imprisoned.

  Just why Richard acted the way he did on the 13th is disputed. Some believe that Hastings had become disillusioned with Richard and jealous of Buckingham, and had thus become involved with the other councillors and the queen in a plot against the protector. A plot was referred to by Richard on the 10 and 11 June in letters he sent to the north, his power-base, calling for military assistance against Elizabeth and her supporters who intended ‘to murder and utterly destroy us and our cousyn the duc of Buckyngham.’ Others, however, believe that Hastings was destroyed by Richard because the protector knew that he would not support his planned usurpation of the throne: the charge of plotting against Richard is seen as a concoction to excuse moving against Hastings and other leading members of the council loyal to Edward V.

  Apparently, prior to this Richard had for some time hoped to secure the consent of the council and parliament—the latter had been summoned to meet on 25 June—to an extension of his protectorate until Edward came of age, which if the precedent of Henry VI were followed, would occur when the king was fifteen. However, by this date it appears that Richard was intent on seizing the throne in the belief that doing so was the best way of safeguarding his future.

  On 16 June he surrounded the Westminster precinct with a strong force, determined on gaining possession of Edward’s younger brother, York, on the grounds that he should be beside his brother at the forthcoming coronation. The Archbishop of Canterbury urged the queen to hand the youngster over and she agreed, realizing that resistance was futile. He was led away to be lodged in the Tower with Edward. Writs were issued the following day cancelling the parliament called to meet on the 25th, and
the coronation was put off until 9 November.

  On 22 June, the day Edward was to have been crowned, Dr Ralph Shaw, at Richard’s instigation, preached a sermon at St Paul’s cross in which the protector’s claim to the throne was first put forward. He was declared to be the only legitimate heir of his father, the late Duke of York. As Charles Ross has stated: ‘Precisely on what grounds Richard justified his claim to the throne in June 1483 has been the subject of lengthy debate.’ It seems that Shaw stated that Edward IV had been conceived in adultery and was thus falsely said to be York’s son, though some historians are of the opinion that he declared that Edward V and his young brother were bastards. The view that they were illegitimate was apparently repeated, or expressed for the first time, by Buckingham when addressing a meeting of the mayor and aldermen of London at the Guildhall two days later.

  This accusation was based on a claim (told to Richard by the Bishop of Bath and Wells), that before his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville Edward IV had been secretly betrothed to Lady Eleanor Butler, a pre-contract which invalidated his subsequent marriage, thereby rendering the offspring of the union bastards.

  Both the above allegations were highly dubious. Nonetheless on the 25th Buckingham evidently repeated the claim of the boys’ illegitimacy when speaking to an assembly of lords and commons. Furthermore, it seems certain that he stated that Edward, the son of Richard’s late brother, the Duke of Clarence (who had been executed in 1478), was ineligible to succeed to the throne owing to his father’s attainder. A petition was then assented to by the assembly, requesting that Gloucester should assume the crown. It is said that the assembly assented to the petition largely owing to fear of Richard and Buckingham ‘whose power,’ Mancini states, ‘supported by a multitude of troops, would be hazardous and difficult to resist.’