History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth Volume III Part 9

"And to the lords temporal the said Aske declared that they had misused themselves, in that they had not prudently declared to his Highness the poverty of his realm, whereby all dangers might have been avoided; for insomuch as in the north parts much of the relief of the commons was by favour of abbeys; and that before this last statute made the King's Highness had no money out of that s.h.i.+re in award yearly, for that his Grace's revenues of them went to the finding of Berwick; now the property of abbeys suppressed, tenths, and first-fruits, went out of those parts; by occasion whereof, within short s.p.a.ce of years, there should no money nor treasure then be left, neither the tenant have to pay his yearly rent to his lord, nor the lord have money to do the king service. In those parts were neither the presence of his Grace, execution of his laws, nor yet but little recourse of merchandize; and of necessity the said country should either perish with skaith, or of very poverty make commotion or rebellion: and the lords knew the same to be true, and had not done their duty, for they had not declared the said poverty of the said country to the King's Highness."[135]

[Sidenote: And threatens to storm the castle.]

[Sidenote: Friday, October 20. Lord Darcy surrenders.]

"There were divers reasonings on both parts." Darcy asked for time; if not relieved, he said he would surrender on Sat.u.r.day; but Aske, to whom Shrewsbury's position and intentions were well known, and who was informed privately that the few men who were in the castle would perhaps offer no resistance to an attack, "would not condescend thereto." He allowed Lord Darcy till eight o'clock the following morning, and no longer. The night pa.s.sed. At the hour appointed, fresh delay was demanded, but with a certainty that it would not be allowed; and the alternative being an immediate storm, the drawbridge was lowered--Pomfret Castle was in possession of the rebels, and Lord Darcy, the Archbishop of York, and every other man within the walls, high and low, were sworn to the common oath.

The extent of deliberate treachery on the part of Darcy may remain uncertain. The objects of the insurrection were cordially approved by him. It is not impossible that, when the moment came, he could not resign his loyalty without a struggle. But he had taken no precautions to avert the catastrophe, if he had not consciously encouraged its approach; he saw it coming, and he waited in the most unfavourable position to be overwhelmed; and when the step was once taken, beyond any question he welcomed the excuse to his conscience, and pa.s.sed instantly to the front rank as among the chiefs of the enterprise.[136]

The afternoon of the surrender the insurgent leaders were sitting at dinner at the great table in the hall. A letter was brought in and given to Lord Darcy. He read it, dropped it on the cloth, and "suddenly gave a great sigh." Aske, who was sitting opposite to him, stretched his hand for the paper across the board. It was brief, and carried no signature: Lord Shrewsbury, the writer merely said, would be at Pomfret the same night.[137]

[Sidenote: The rebels secure the pa.s.sages of the Don.]

The sigh may be easily construed; but if it was a symptom of repentance, Darcy showed no other. A council of war was held when the dinner was over; and bringing his military knowledge into use, he pointed out the dangerous spots, he marked the lines of defence, and told off the commanders to their posts. Before night all the pa.s.sages of the Don by which Shrewsbury could advance were secured.[138]

[Sidenote: Siege of Hull.]

Leaving Pomfret, we turn for a moment to Hull, where Stapleton also had accomplished his work expeditiously. On the same day on which he separated from Aske he had taken a position on the north of the town.

There was a private feud between Beverley and Hull. His men were unruly, and eager for spoil; and the harbour being full of s.h.i.+pping, it was with difficulty that he prevented them from sending down blazing pitch-barrels with the tide into the midst of it, and storming the walls in the smoke and confusion. Stapleton, however, was a resolute man; he was determined that the cause should not be disgraced by outrage, and he enforced discipline by an act of salutary severity. Two of the most unmanageable of his followers were tried by court-martial, and sentenced to be executed. "A Friar," Stapleton says, "was a.s.signed to them, that they might make them clean to G.o.d," and they expected nothing but death.

But the object so far was only to terrify. One of them, "a sanctuary man," was tied by the waist with a rope, and trailed behind a boat up and down the river, and "the waterman did at several times put him down with the oar under the head." The other seeing him, thought also to be so handled; "howbeit, at the request of honest men, and being a housekeeper, he was suffered to go unpunished, and both were banished the host; after which there was never spoil more."[139]

[Sidenote: Hull surrenders.]

In the town there was mere despondency, and each day made defence more difficult. Reinforcements were thronging into the rebels' camp; the harbour was at their mercy. Constable was for holding out to the last, and then cutting his way through. Ellerkar would agree to surrender if he and his friend might be spared the oath and might leave the county.

These terms were accepted, and on Friday Stapleton occupied Hull.

[Sidenote: Skipton Castle holds out for the king.]

So it went over the whole north; scarcely one blow was struck any where.

The whole population were swept along in the general current, and Skipton Castle alone in Yorks.h.i.+re now held out for the crown.

With the defence of this place is connected an act of romantic heroism which deserves to be remembered.

Robert Aske, as we have seen, had two brothers, Christopher and John. In the hot struggle the ties of blood were of little moment, and when the West Riding rose, and they had to choose the part which they would take, "they determined rather to be hewn in gobbets than stain their allegiance." Being gallant gentlemen, instead of flying the county, they made their way with forty of their retainers to their cousin the Earl of c.u.mberland, and with him threw themselves into Skipton. The aid came in good time; for the day after their arrival the earl's whole retinue rode off in a body to the rebels, leaving him but a mixed household of some eighty people to garrison the castle. They were soon surrounded; but being well provisioned, and behind strong stone walls, they held the rebels at bay, and but for an unfortunate accident they could have faced the danger with cheerfulness. But unhappily the earl's family were in the heart of the danger.

[Sidenote: Christopher Aske saves Lady Eleanor Clifford from outrage.]

Lady Eleanor Clifford, Lord Clifford's young wife, with three little children and several other ladies, were staying, when the insurrection burst out, at Bolton Abbey. Perhaps they had taken sanctuary there; or possibly they were on a visit, and were cut off by the suddenness of the rising. There, however, ten miles off among the glens and hills, the ladies were, and on the third day of the siege notice was sent to the earl that they should be held as hostages for his submission. The insurgents threatened that the day following Lady Eleanor and her infant son and daughters should be brought up in front of a storming party, and if the attack again failed, they would "violate all the ladies, and enforce them with knaves" under the walls.[140] After the ferocious murder of the Bishop of Lincoln's chancellor, no villany was impossible; and it is likely that the Catholic rebellion would have been soiled by as deep an infamy as can be found in the English annals but for the adventurous courage of Christopher Aske. In the dead of the night, with the vicar of Skipton, a groom, and a boy, he stole through the camp of the besiegers. He crossed the moors, with led horses, by unfrequented paths, and he "drew such a draught", he says, that he conveyed all the said ladies through the commons in safety, "so close and clean, that the same was never mistrusted nor perceived till they were within the castle;"[141] a n.o.ble exploit, s.h.i.+ning on the by-paths of history like a rare rich flower. Proudly the little garrison looked down, when day dawned, from the battlements, upon the fierce mult.i.tude who were howling below in baffled rage. A few days later, as if in scorn of their impotence, the same gallant gentleman flung open the gates, dropped the drawbridge, and rode down in full armour, with his train, to the market-cross at Skipton, and there, after three long "Oyez's," he read aloud the king's proclamation in the midst of the crowd ... "with leisure enough," he adds, in his disdainful way ... "and that done, he returned to the castle."

[Sidenote: The Duke of Norfolk goes down to the north to support Shrewsbury.]

[Sidenote: The government are in want of money.]

[Sidenote: October 24.]

While the north was thus in full commotion, the government were straining every nerve to meet the emergency. The king had at first intended to repair in person to Lincolns.h.i.+re. He had changed his mind when he heard of Suffolk's rapid success.[142] But Yorks.h.i.+re seemed again to require his presence. The levies which had been sent for from the southern counties had been countermanded, but were recalled within a few hours of the first order. "The matter hung like a fever, now hot, now cold." Rumours took the place of intelligence. Each post contradicted the last, and for several days there was no certain news, either of the form or the extent of the danger. Lord Shrewsbury wrote that he had thrown his outposts forwards to the Don; but he doubted his ability to prevent the pa.s.sage of the river, which he feared the rebels would attempt. He was still underhanded, and entreated a.s.sistance. The Earls of Rutland and Huntingdon were preparing to join him; but the reinforcement which they would bring was altogether inadequate, and the Duke of Norfolk and the Marquis of Exeter were sent down to add the weight of their names; their men should follow as they could be raised.

Cromwell was collecting money in London. The subsidy had not been paid in; large sums belonging to the crown had fallen into the hands of Aske at York, and the treasury was empty. But "benevolences" were extorted from the wealthy London clergy: "they could not help in their persons,"

the king said, and "they must show their good will, if they had any," in another way.[143] Loans could be borrowed, besides, in the City; the royal plate could go to the Mint; the crown jewels, if necessary, could be sold. Henry, more than any of the council, now comprehended the danger. "His Majesty," wrote his secretary on the 18th of October, "appeareth to fear much this matter, specially if he should want money, for in Lord Darcy, his Grace said, he had no great hope." Ten thousand pounds were raised in two days. It was but a small instalment; but it served to "stop the gap" for the moment. Three thousand men, with six pieces of field artillery, were sent at once after Norfolk, and overtook him on the 24th of October at Worksop.

[Sidenote: Norfolk and Shrewsbury advance to Doncaster,]

[Sidenote: Weak in numbers, and doubtful of their followers' fidelity,]

[Sidenote: Henry urges Norfolk to be cautious.]

[Sidenote: In case of real danger he shall fall back on the Trent, where the king will join him;]

Norfolk, it was clear, had gone upon the service most reluctantly. He, too, had deeper sympathy with the movement than he cared to avow; but, even from those very sympathies, he was the fittest person to be chosen to suppress it. The rebels professed to have risen in defence of the n.o.bility and the Catholic faith. They would have to fight their way through an army led by the natural head of the party which they desired to serve.[144] The force under Shrewsbury was now at Doncaster, where, on the 25th, the Duke joined him. The town was in their hands, and the southern end of the bridge had been fortified. The autumn rains had by this time raised the river, securing their flank, and it would have been difficult for an attacking army to force a pa.s.sage, even with great advantage of numbers. Their situation, at the same time, was most precarious; of the forty thousand men, of whom Shrewsbury had written to Lord Hussey, he had not been able to raise a tenth; and, if rumour was to be believed, the loyalty of the few who were with him would not bear too severe a strain. With Norfolk's reinforcements, the whole army did not, perhaps, exceed eight thousand men, while even these were divided; detachments were scattered up the river to watch and guard the few points at which it might be pa.s.sed. Under such circ.u.mstances the conduct which might be necessary could only be determined on the spot; and the king, in his instructions, left a wide margin of discretion to the generals.[145] He had summoned the whole force of the south and west of England to join him in London, and he intended to appear himself at their head. He directed Norfolk, therefore, to observe the greatest caution; by all means to avoid a battle, unless with a certainty of victory; and "the chances of war being so uncertain," he said, "many times devices meant for the best purpose turning to evil happs and notable misfortunes," he advised that rather than there should be any risk incurred, the duke should fall back on the line of the Trent, fortify Newark and Nottingham, and wait on his own arrival; "until," to use the king's own words, "with our army royal, which we do put in readiness, we shall repair unto you, and so with G.o.d's help be able to bear down the traitors before us; yourselves having more regard to the defence of us and of your natural country than to any dishonour that might be spoken of such retirement, which in the end shall prove more honourable than with a little hasty forwardness to jeopard both our honour and your lives." "For we a.s.sure you," he said "we would neither adventure you our cousin of Norfolk, nor you our cousin of Shrewsbury, or other our good and true subjects, in such sort as there should be a likelihood of wilful casting of any of you away for all the lands and dominion we have on that side Trent."

The Duke of Norfolk, on his way down, had written from Welbeck, "all desperately." By any means fair or foul, he had said that he would crush the rebels; "he would esteem no promise that he would make to them, nor think his honour touched in the breach of the same."[146]

[Sidenote: And he must be careful to make no promises which cannot afterwards be observed.]

To this Henry replied, "Albeit we certainly know that ye will pretermit none occasion wherein by policy or otherwise ye may damage our enemies, we doubt not, again, but in all your proceedings you will have such a temperance as our honour specially shall remain untouched, and yours rather increased, than by the certain grant of that you cannot certainly promise, appear in the mouths of the worst men anything defaced."

Finally, he concluded, "Whereas you desire us, in case any mischance should happen unto you, to be good lord unto your children, surely, good cousin, albeit we trust certainly in G.o.d that no such thing shall fortune, yet we would you should perfectly know that if G.o.d should take you out of this transitory life before us, we should not fail so to remember your children, being your lively images, and in such wise to look on them with our princely favour as others by their example should not be discouraged to follow your steps."[147]

[Sidenote: Sat.u.r.day, October 21.]

[Sidenote: Lancaster Herald is sent to Pomfret.]

Lord Shrewsbury, as soon as he found himself too late to prevent the capture of Pomfret, sent forward Lancaster Herald with a royal proclamation, and with directions that it should be read at the market cross.[148] The herald started on his perilous adventure "in his king's coat of arms." As he approached Pomfret he overtook crowds of the country people upon the road, who in answer to his questions told him that they were in arms to defend Holy Church, which wicked men were destroying. They and their cattle too, their burials and their weddings, were to be taxed, and they would not endure it. He informed them that they were all imposed upon. Neither the king nor the council had ever thought of any such measures; and the people, he said, seemed ready to listen, "being weary of their lives." Lies, happily, are canker-worms, and spoil all causes, good or bad, which admit their company, as those who had spread these stories discovered to their cost when the truth became generally known.

Lancaster Herald, however, could do little; he found the town swarming with armed men, eager and furious. He was arrested before he was able to unroll his parchment, and presently a message from the castle summoned him to appear before "the great captain."

[Sidenote: He is introduced into the castle,]

"As I entered into the first ward," he said, "there I found many in harness, very cruel fellows, and a porter with a white staff in his hand; and at the two other ward gates a porter with his staff, accompanied with harnessed men. I was brought into the hall, which I found full of people; and there I was commanded to tarry till the traitorous captain's pleasure was known. In that s.p.a.ce I stood up at the high table in the hall, and there shewed to the people the cause of my coming and the effect of the proclamation; and in doing the same the said Aske sent for me into his chamber, there keeping his port and countenance as though he had been a great prince."

[Sidenote: Where he has an interview with Aske.]

The Archbishop of York, Lord Darcy, Sir Robert Constable, Mr. Magnus, Sir Christopher Danby, and several other gentlemen were in the room. As the herald entered, Aske rose, and, "with a cruel and inestimable proud countenance, stretched himself and took the hearing of the tale." When it was declared to him, he requested to see the proclamation, took it, and read it openly without reverence to any person; he then said he need call no council, he would give an answer of his own wit himself.

"Standing in the highest place in the chamber, taking the high estate upon him, 'Herald,' he replied, 'as a messenger you are welcome to me and all my company, intending as I do. And as for the proclamation sent from the lords from whom you come, it shall not be read at the market cross,[149] nor in no place amongst my people which be under my guiding.'"

[Sidenote: Aske will go to London and restore the faith of Christ.]

He spoke of his intentions; the herald enquired what they were. He said "he would go to London, he and his company, of pilgrimage to the King's Highness, and there to have all the vile blood of his council put from him, and all the n.o.ble blood set up again; and also the faith of Christ and his laws to be kept, and full rest.i.tution to Christ's Church of all wrongs done unto it; and also the commonalty to be used as they should be." "And he bade me trust to this," the herald said, "for he would die for it."

Lancaster begged for that answer in writing. "With a good will," Aske replied; "and he put his hand to his bill, and with a proud voice said, 'This is mine act, whosoever say to the contrary. I mean no harm to the king's person, but to see reformation; I will die in the quarrel, and my people with me.'"

Lancaster again entreated on his knees that he might read the proclamation. On his life he should not, Aske answered; he might come and go at his pleasure, and if Shrewsbury desired an interview with the Pomfret council, a safe conduct was at his service; but he would allow nothing to be put in the people's heads which might divert them from their purpose. "Commend me to the lords," he said at parting, "and tell them it were meet they were with me, for that I do is for all their wealths."[150]

[Sidenote: The gathering of the n.o.bility at Pomfret.]

[Sidenote: Loyalty of the Earl of Northumberland.]

By this time the powers of all the great families, except the Cliffords, the Dacres, and the Musgraves, had come in to the confederacy. Six peers, or eldest sons of peers, were willingly or unwillingly with Aske at Pomfret. Lord Westmoreland was represented by Lord Neville. Lord Latimer was present in person, and with him Lord Darcy, Lord Lumley, Lord Scrope, Lord Conyers. Besides these, were the Constables of Flamborough, the Tempests from Durham, the Boweses, the Everses, the Fairfaxes, the Strangwayses, young Ellerkar of Ellerkar, the Danbys, St.

Johns, Bulmers, Mallorys, Lascelleses, Nortons, Moncktons, Gowers, Ingoldsbys: we scarcely miss a single name famous in Border story. Such a gathering had not been seen in England since the grandfathers of these same men fought on Towton Moor, and the red rose of Lancaster faded before "the summer sun of York." Were their descendants, in another b.l.o.o.d.y battle, to seat a fresh Plantagenet on Edward's throne? No such aim had as yet risen consciously into form; but civil wars have strange issues--a scion of the old house was perhaps dreaming, beyond the sea, of a new and better-omened union; a prince of the pure blood might marry the Princess Mary, restored to her legitimate inheritance. Of all the natural chiefs of the north who were in the power of the insurgents, Lord Northumberland only was absent. On the first summons he was spared for his illness; a second deputation ordered him to commit his powers, as the leader of his clan, to his brothers. But the brave Percy chose to die as he had lived. "At that time and at all other times, the earl was very earnest against the commons in the king's behalf and the lord privy seal's." He lay in his bed resolute in loyalty. The crowd yelled before the castle, "Strike off his head, and make Sir Thomas Percy earl."--"I can die but once," he said; "let them do it; it will rid me of my pain."--"And therewith the earl fell weeping, ever wis.h.i.+ng himself out of the world."[151]