Richard III: His Life & Character Part 5

From his very cradle the child was in the midst of war and turmoil.

The misgovernment of the Beauforts had strengthened the legitimate claim of the Duke of York, which would never have had a chance against the parliamentary t.i.tle of an able and popular king. But the Yorkists now had to reckon with the gifted and intrepid Queen, whose whole soul, and whose every gift of mind and body, were concentrated with fierce devotion {56} on the defence of her child's birthright. Nothing but death could make her desist from efforts on his behalf.

Young Edward was only in his second year when the first battle of St.

Albans was fought, on May 22, 1455. His mother had taken him to Greenwich, where she received the news of the death of Somerset and her other supporters, and of the wound received by Henry. During the following four years there were hollow reconciliations, but a death struggle was inevitable; and in June 1459 the court left London for Warwick, virtually to take the field. The child Edward was only five years old. He was destined never to see London again.

Margaret strove to make the child popular with the people, and to excite a feeling of loyalty for him. He was named Edward to remind them of the king who added to the glory of England at Cressy and Poitiers. She adopted the badge of Edward III. as that of the Prince, and the pretty little boy, with long golden hair, distributed silver swans among the people wherever he went. The Queen could not bear him out of her sight, yet her dauntless eagerness would not allow her to be absent from scenes of strife, when her child's future depended on the result. Mother and child looked down on the battle of Blore Heath from the tower of Muccleston Church, and when Lord Audley was routed they fled to Eccleshall Castle. Then there were a few months of dawning hope, which was crushed at Northampton. Again Margaret watched the fortunes of the day with her child. She heard of the treachery of Grey, she saw the gallant young Edward of York leading his men over the trenches, and that the day was lost. The King fell into the hands of her enemies.

On the evening of that July 9, 1460, she rode away {57} with her beloved child, a homeless fugitive. Between Eccleshall and Chester she was made prisoner by a party led by one John Cleger, a servant of Lord Stanley. Every instinct was on the alert when danger approached her child. She watched an opportunity while her captors were rifling the baggage, and escaped with little Edward in her arms. The adventures through which they pa.s.sed are not recorded, but she was eventually joined by the Duke of Somerset, who conducted her to a safe refuge at Harlech Castle in Wales.

The Duke of York, with Henry in his power, induced the Parliament to alter the succession, and the claims of Henry's son were ignored.

Henry VI. wrote a letter to his wife, ordering her to accept the new settlement, and to join him in London with her child. This must have been one of the bitterest moments of her unhappy life. But no reverse could daunt this romantic heroine. She went by sea from Harlech to Scotland, and thence called upon all her supporters in the north to rally round the standard of King Henry. Margaret's appeal met with a prompt answer, and on the last day of the year 1460 the Duke of York lost his life at Wakefield, overwhelmed by superior numbers. The road was thus open to London, and Margaret made a vigorous effort to recover the birthright of her child. On February 17, 1461, she won the second battle of St. Albans and recovered the person of her husband; but she failed to induce the citizens of London to open their gates to her, and was obliged to retreat northwards. The Queen and her child appear to have been in the thick of the fight; and this was the third battle at which Edward had been present before he had reached his eighth year.

The royal party retreated to York, while preparations {58} were made for the final and decisive struggle between the two factions. On March 4, 1461, the young Earl of March was proclaimed King, and on the 29th he won the crowning victory of Towton.

Queen Margaret, with her husband and child, had remained at York, and there she received the news of the destruction of her hopes. There was nothing left for her but instant and rapid flight. The fugitives from Towton told her to mount at once, and the unhappy family, with a few faithful friends, galloped out of Bootham Bar, and plunged into the forest of Galtres. The Dukes of Somerset and Exeter and Lord Roos attended them. They escaped to Berwick and thence to Edinburgh, where Henry found a suitable abode with the Grey Friars. Margaret pa.s.sed the following winter in Scotland, but in the spring, seeing no present hope from her English adherents, who appeared to be crushed, she resolved to seek help from abroad. Taking the little prince with her, she sailed from Kirkcudbright in April 1462, and landed in Brittany, whence she proceeded to the court of her cousin Louis XI., who was then at Chinon.

It was resolved that some a.s.sistance should be given to the undaunted heroine in men and money. Her old champion Pierre de Breze now flew to the succour of the forlorn Margaret in her distress. He organized an expedition, and in October 1462 he sailed to the coast of Northumberland with the Queen and her son. They landed at Tynemouth, but the foreign levies were repulsed and fled to their s.h.i.+ps, abandoning de Breze and the Queen. The fugitives were afterwards cut to pieces by troops under Sir Robert Ogle when they landed at Holy Island. De Breze, with Margaret and her child, escaped from Tynemouth in a fis.h.i.+ng boat and, after a {59} perilous voyage, they landed safely at Berwick, which was then a Scottish port.

In Scotland there was but a cold welcome for Queen Margaret. It was necessary to make her way to Bamborough, which still held out for her, and there, abandoning present hope, the Queen and her child embarked to commence a life of exile in April 1463. They were accompanied by a band of faithful friends who would not desert them in their extremity.

Chief among them was the Lord Chief Justice, Sir John Fortescue.

The Duke of Somerset, now a double-dyed traitor, with Sir Hugh Percy and others then rose in rebellion, and captured the castles of Alnwick and Bamborough. The Marquis Montagu, followed by Edward IV. in person, advanced rapidly from the south to put down the new insurrection. On April 25, 1464, the insurgents were defeated at Hedgley Moor, and soon afterwards the rest of Somerset's forces entrenched themselves near Hexham. Poor Henry was brought from Edinburgh, where he was quite contented with his Grey Friars, to the camp. The entrenchments were thrown up on Lyvel's plain, near Dowelwater, and Somerset awaited the attack. On May 8, 1464, Montagu came in sight, a.s.saulted the position, and, after a desperate resistance, carried it with great slaughter.

The Duke of Somerset, Lords Roos and Hungerford were taken and beheaded, Henry galloped off on a swift horse in the direction of the Scottish Border. He concealed himself in the west of Yorks.h.i.+re for a year, but was captured at Bolton Hall in June 1465 and taken to the Tower.[4]

{60}

Meanwhile, Queen Margaret encountered a furious gale of wind which lasted for twelve hours, but her vessel at length reached the Flemish port of Sluys. Thence she proceeded by Lille and Hesdin to the Court of the Duke of Burgundy at St. Pol. Here the exiles were hospitably received and supplied with money, and, after some stay, they went on to the castle of Koeur-la-Pet.i.te near St. Mihiel, on the Meuse. King Rene had a.s.signed this castle as the residence of his daughter and grandson, with their followers.

No boy who had only reached his eleventh year ever went through such vicissitudes as Edward of Lancaster. He had been at four pitched battles, had ridden over hundreds of miles, had been seized by robbers, had wandered in trackless forests, had pa.s.sed many nights on the bare ground, and in open boats. He had made hairbreadth escapes, and had suffered privations and hards.h.i.+ps. Few children could have survived such a life. He must have had a robust frame combined with the high courage of his race. Through all, and protecting him at every step, he had his heroic mother as his companion; surrounding and pervading his life with her devoted love. Such experiences must have left a deep impression on the boy's character. It was a wild and turbulent opening for the young life, but now at last there was to be a brief interval of rest. For a few years he was to live more peaceably, receiving instruction and enjoying some pleasures, before destiny hurried him to a violent death.

St. Mihiel is a small town on the right bank of the Meuse, in the diocese of Verdun and Duchy of Bar. Near it there are enormous rocks overhanging the river, called Les Falaises de St. Mihiel. In the fifteenth {61} century there was cultivation along the river banks, while extensive forests covered the Argonne mountains further back.

Nearly opposite St. Mihiel, on the left bank of the river, was the old castle of Koeur-la-Pet.i.te, which Rene gave to his daughter Margaret[5]; and he contributed to her support as far as his narrow means would allow. Here she dwelt for the five succeeding years, watching the growth and education of her boy, and enjoying more happiness than she had known since her ill-fated marriage. She was within a few miles of Pont-a-Mousson, the place of her birth, and often saw her beloved father, and her sister Iolanthe.

Young Edward was devoted to field sports and martial exercises. His companions were the sons of knights and esquires who had remained faithful to his mother; and he loved to gallop with them over the valley, and to exercise with sword and lance. So much of his time was pa.s.sed in these outdoor exercises that, as his years increased, the graver advisers of his mother began to think that he should give rather more of his attention to the acquisition of learning.

Among the exiles was the most learned and accomplished lawyer who sat on the English bench during the fifteenth century, and the young prince enjoyed the advantage of his companions.h.i.+p and instruction. John Fortescue of Ebrington was born in 1394, was educated at Exeter College, and became Lord Chief Justice in 1442. Considering the parliamentary t.i.tle of the Lancastrian King not only good in itself, but even better than a merely hereditary t.i.tle, he became a steady adherent of Margaret of Anjou. He wrote a treatise supporting the claim of the Lancastrians on principles of const.i.tutional law; while his presence in {62} their camp gave judicial countenance to the appeal to arms. During his exile he mainly resided at St. Mihiel, in attendance on the little court of Koeur-la-Pet.i.te, and superintended the education of the prince. He was anxious to impart a knowledge of England and of English const.i.tutional law to a prince who might some day have to rule over freedom-loving Englishmen, but who left his country when he was too young to recollect much about it. Fortescue has related the occasion of these studies being commenced, and the progress that was made.

'The Prince,' says the aged Chief Justice, 'as he grew up, applied himself wholly to martial exercises. He was often mounted on fiery and wild horses which he did not fear to urge on with the spur. Sometimes with his lance, sometimes with his sword, he made it his diversion to a.s.sault the young gentlemen, his attendants, according to the rules of military discipline.' In this Sir John Fortescue encouraged him, but he also urged him to study law, quoting Deuteronomy xvii. 18, 19. The boy replied that, although he ought to read the Divine law, it did not follow that he should study human laws. He said this thoughtfully, and looking very intently at the old judge. Fortescue answered that human laws were also sacred, that they were no other than rules whereby the perfect notion of justice could be determined, and that this justice must be the subject of the royal care. Quoting Wisdom i. 1, he said, 'Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Love righteousness, ye judges of the earth. To love justice,' he concluded, 'you must acquire a competent knowledge of the laws.' Prince Edward was convinced by the discourse of his venerable tutor. He said, 'You have overcome me, good Chancellor, with your {63} agreeable discourse, and have kindled within my breast a thirst for a knowledge of the law.' The boy candidly confessed that he did not wish to pa.s.s all his younger years in such studies. Then Sir John Fortescue explained to him the amount of legal knowledge that was necessary for a prince. In one year he could acquire sufficient acquaintance with the laws of England, and at the same time he could continue to inure himself to those martial exercises to which his natural inclination prompted him so much. 'Still make your diversion as it best please you, at your leisure,' said the tutor.

After this conversation, the aged judge of seventy-five and the young prince of fifteen devoted some hours of each day to a study of the English Const.i.tution. These lectures, in the form of dialogues, were afterwards embodied by Fortescue in a treatise ent.i.tled 'De Laudibus legum Angliae,' which was first printed in 1537. Edward began by asking his instructor to satisfy him that the laws of England were better adapted for the government of that kingdom than the civil law of the Holy Roman Empire. Fortescue proceeded to establish this point, specially dwelling on the fact that the English statutes were not made by the will of the Kings, but were enacted by the concurrent consent of the whole people, by their representatives in Parliament. He then explained the territorial division of England into counties, the duties of sheriffs, the method of empannelling juries, the procedure in civil and criminal causes. The boy approved highly of the system of trial by jury, the jurors being men chosen from among neighbours who knew the country and people. 'I know of myself,' he remarked, 'more certainly what is doing at this time in the Barrois where I reside, than what is doing in England.'

{64}

On another day the Chief Justice ill.u.s.trated the good results of the English Const.i.tution by comparing the condition of England with that of France ruled by a despotism. 'In the land of England,' he said, 'there are no wolves nor bears. The grazing lands are enclosed with hedgerows and ditches and planted with trees which fence the herds and flocks from bleak winds and sultry heat. There are many franklins and yeomen, of estates sufficient to make substantial juries, not a few spending 100_l._ a year and more. Other countries are not in such a happy situation, and not so well stored with inhabitants.' The prince then remarked that he could understand how the wealth and populousness of England had been caused by the superior excellence of her laws. But a doubt about the number of jurors had occurred to his youthful mind. He said, 'Although this method of sifting out the truth highly pleases me, yet there rests this doubt with me. Our blessed Saviour says: "It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true" (John viii.

17), and again in Matthew xviii. 16.' Fortescue answered that our jury law did not contradict this, for if the testimony of two be true, _a fortiori_ that of twelve ought to be presumed to be so. 'The more always contains in it that which is less.' Besides in England some cases may be proved before two only, such as facts occurring on the high seas, and proceedings before the Lord Constable and Earl Marshal.

On another occasion, having previously shown that the prosperity of England was due to laws agreed to by the people, Fortescue ill.u.s.trated the evils of despotic power by the condition of France. 'You will remember,' he said, 'that you saw in France how the villages are {65} so much oppressed by the King's soldiers that you could scarcely be accommodated in your travels. The troops pay for nothing, and treat the people barbarously if they are not satisfied. Thus the poor people are exposed to great calamities. The King of France will allow no one to use salt, but what is bought of himself at his own arbitrary price.

All growers of vines must give a fourth to the King. All the towns pay the King great yearly sums for his men-at-arms; so that the peasants live in great hards.h.i.+ps and misery. They wear no woollen. Their clothing consists of little short jerkins of sackcloth, no trowse but from the knees upwards, and legs exposed and naked. The women all go barefoot. The people eat not meat, except the fat of bacon in their soup. Nor are the gentry much better off. If an accusation is brought against them, they are examined in private, and perhaps never more heard of.

'In England it is very different. No one can abide in another man's house without his leave, or take his goods, except the King by his purveyors at a reasonable price. The King cannot put on taxes, nor alter the laws, nor make new ones. The English never drink water except for penance. They eat all sorts of flesh and fish. They are clothed throughout in good woollens; and are provided with all sorts of household goods. An Englishman cannot be sued except before the ordinary judge.' Having drawn this contrast between the French and English, the old judge continued: 'These advantages are due to the political mixed government which prevails in England. Those Kings who have wished to change it preferred ambition, luxury, and impotent pa.s.sion to the good of the State. Remember that the king is given for the sake of the kingdom, not the kingdom for the sake of the king.'

{66}

Edward, although he frequently intervened with pertinent questions, showing that he was giving close attention to the subject, fully concurred in the arguments of his tutor, and must have derived great benefit from this course of studies. He was impressed with the duties of an English king, with the limited character of his power, and with the importance of a parliamentary t.i.tle. Fortescue also began to occupy the young Prince in the active transaction of affairs of State.

Edward himself wrote a despatch to Sir Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormonde, who was in Portugal representing the cause of the House of Lancaster to King Alfonso V.,[6] and he was acquainted with the proceedings of Sir John Fortescue when he made journeys to the court of Louis XI.

The residence at Koeur-la-Pet.i.te lasted for five years, 1465-69. The peaceful home was broken up through the treachery of the turbulent and self-seeking Earl of Warwick. Exasperated with Edward IV., owing to his marriage and connexion with the Woodville faction, Warwick had resolved to abandon the cause with which he was connected by ties of relations.h.i.+p and by life-long service. He had married his daughter Isabel to the Duke of Clarence without the King's consent, and had alienated that vacillating prince from his brother. He came to France with the Countess, his two daughters Isabel and Anne, and Clarence: and proposed to King Louis to espouse the cause of his cousin Margaret, and to restore Henry to the throne. The fear of an alliance between Edward IV. and the Duke of Burgundy caused Louis to entertain Warwick's scheme. But it was most distasteful to Margaret. Much as she {67} longed for the restoration to her child of his birthright, she found it difficult to accept such aid. Warwick had not only been the most inveterate enemy of her family, he had also made himself personally odious to Margaret. He was now a double-dyed traitor. His motives were transparently selfish, and she believed neither in his new-born loyalty nor in his ability to help her. But the persuasions of Louis XI. and of her own relations at length induced her to come to the French court. The Queen and her son, attended by Sir John Fortescue and their other faithful adherents, left the happy home in the lovely valley of the Meuse in December 1469.

Margaret arrived at Tours, where the French court then was, accompanied by Prince Edward, King Rene, her brother John of Calabria, her sister Iolanthe, and her brother-in-law Ferry de Vaudemont. Warwick arrived soon afterwards, and with much reluctance Margaret consented to an interview. Negotiations were continued for several months; and on July 15 the court moved to Angers, where the Countess of Warwick and her daughter Anne were in attendance.

Warwick asked that Prince Edward should marry his daughter Anne, as the reward of his a.s.sistance. At first the Queen positively refused, but she at last gave a conditional and very unwilling a.s.sent, moved by the importunities of Louis XI. and her relations. The marriage was not to take place until after Henry VI. was restored to the throne and, if Warwick failed, the agreement was at an end. 'The said marriage shall not be perfyted until the Earl of Warwick has recovered the realm of England for King Henry.'[7] They were never married. They {68} were, indeed, too young, Edward being seventeen, and Anne barely fourteen.[8]

Knowing the dislike of his mother to such a union, and strongly prejudiced against it himself, it is not likely that Edward ever took more notice of Warwick's child than ordinary courtesy required, if indeed he ever saw her.

Queen Margaret made preparations for a voyage to England, where her supporters were expected to rise in the western counties and Wales.

Warwick had preceded her by several months. Margaret was in her forty-second year, and she had lost some of her buoyancy and vigorous hopefulness with her youth. Still as determined as ever to a.s.sert the rights of her son, she trembled for his safety. She got ready to embark with feelings of deep anxiety and foreboding. Edward reached his seventeenth birthday in October 1470, and in November Queen Margaret and the Prince entered Paris, and were honoured with a grand official reception. Edward was now a handsome lad of seventeen, with a robust frame well seasoned by active outdoor life. He was tall for his age, with the features of his mother, and long golden hair. He was a good horseman and a practised man-at-arms. Well instructed in all the literary culture of the time, and doubtless inheriting some of his grandfather's love of poetry and romance, young Edward had also carefully studied the const.i.tution and laws of England. He was fully convinced of the justice of his cause by the reasoning of one of the ablest lawyers of the time, and the hereditary bravery of his race now filled him with martial ardour. But he was still very young, and all these qualities of head and heart were as yet only budding towards maturity.

[1] Barante.

[2] Born in 1421.

[3] A Nevill. Sister of the d.u.c.h.ess of York.

[4] See _Archaeologia_, 47 (ii), p. 265. Margaret was not at the battle of Hexham, and the robber story is a fabrication.

[5] Villeneuve, _Vie de Roi Rene_.

[6] Alfonso V. was a grandson of Queen Philippa, sister of Henry IV. of England, therefore a second cousin of Henry VI.

[7] Ellis, _Original Letters_, Second Series, i. 132.

[8] Born June 11, 1456.

{69}

CHAPTER VI

THE BATTLE OF TEWKESBURY

There was long delay in the arrival of Queen Margaret in England with reinforcements. She was prevented from sailing by contrary winds at Harfleur. Three times the s.h.i.+ps put to sea, and were forced to return.

The Countess of Warwick, with her daughter Anne, arrived first at Portsmouth and, hearing of the death of her husband at Barnet soon afterwards, she took sanctuary in Beaulieu Abbey. Queen Margaret with her son Edward, Sir John Langstrother, Prior of St. John, Sir John Fortescue, and many exiled knights landed at Weymouth on April 14, the very day of the battle of Barnet.

Weymouth was then a small seaport with no suitable accommodation for so large a concourse. The Queen, therefore, pa.s.sing through Dorchester, at once advanced fifteen miles northward from the sea coast, to the Abbey of Cerne. Dr. Morton, who accompanied her, had once been a monk at Cerne; and the Abbot was his old friend. This circ.u.mstance no doubt led to the decision of Queen Margaret to seek the hospitality of Abbot Roger Bemynster, and here she received tidings of the battle of Barnet, a disaster which seemed fatal to her cause. At first she was overwhelmed, and wished her boy to return to France. But in a few days she was joined by Edmund Beaufort, {70} the last Duke of Somerset, and his brother John. Somerset had commanded the archers at Barnet, but had escaped and found his way to the Queen. Jasper Tudor,[1] the Earl of Devons.h.i.+re, and Lord Wenlock followed closely on the heels of Somerset. They entreated her to persevere, a.s.suring her that the west of England was ready to rise in her support, and that levies had actually been called out, with Exeter as the rendezvous. With some reluctance she consented, and her gallant son entered upon the last three weeks of his young life. Tudor was despatched to raise forces in Wales. Margaret, with the rest of her adherents, left Cerne Abbey after a stay of about ten days, marched to Exeter and thence, by Taunton, Glas...o...b..ry and Wells, to Bristol. Fresh levies joined and increased her forces as she advanced.

On April 16 King Edward heard that Queen Margaret had landed. He had returned to London two days before, after his victory at Barnet. On the 19th he went to Windsor and waited to collect men, celebrating the feast of St. George there on the 23rd. He saw at once that the enemy had only two courses: either to march on London and give him battle, or to go northwards and unite with Tudor's levies in Wales. His policy was to engage his adversaries as soon as possible, before they could be reinforced. He was not likely to receive more support until he had gained a decisive victory, and his position was established. Queen Margaret's generals tried to deceive him by {71} sending detachments in several directions; but his final conclusion was that they intended to take a northerly direction, by crossing the Severn and marching into Wales. This it was his intention to prevent.

The King left Windsor on April 24, accompanied by his brothers Clarence and Gloucester, by Lords Hastings and Dorset, and by his old tutor Richard Croft. He had some artillery, which caused him to proceed by easy marches. A few reinforcements had arrived. Among them were forty soldiers paid and clothed by the city of Norwich. On the 27th Edward was at Abingdon, and on the 29th at Cirencester. He kept a somewhat northerly line, so as to fall on the enemy's flank if a rush was made at London. At Abingdon he heard that the Queen was at Wells. News came to Cirencester that she would be at Bath next day, and then advance to attack him. So he moved to meet her as far as Malmesbury.