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WARWICK AND EDWARD IV.

[CHAP. II. of the House of Lancaster at the French Court, and a watch was set upon his actions; but a reconciliation took place between him and Edward; Warwick again appeared at Court in 1468, and even escorted Margaret through London on her way to her husband in Flanders.

Clarence's marriage with Isabel, daughter of Warwick, took place at Calais, in July, 1469, against the will of King Edward. At this very time an insurrection broke out in Yorkshire, in which county the Nevilles possessed their principal interest. The Earl of Northumberland, Warwick's brother, though he defeated the rebels, did not efficiently quell the rising; and the insurgents were subsequently headed by two kinsmen of Warwick, Lords Fitzhugh and Latimer, who openly avowed their aim to be the removal of the Woodvilles. The King now summoned Clarence and Warwick to meet him at Nottingham, where he told Warwick that he did not believe the reports that were circulated against him. But soon after the royalists were defeated by the insurgents, when Earl Rivers and Sir John Woodville, the father and brother of Queen Elizabeth, being captured, were executed, by the order, or pretended order, of Clarence and Warwick. The two last, together with the Archbishop of York, now sought the King at Olney, and in fact made him their prisoner, and he was placed at Middleham, under custody of the Archbishop.1

There are still some circumstances in Warwick's conduct at this period which it is difficult to explain, even on the assumption that he was the secret and bribed partisan of Louis and the House of Lancaster. Such was his putting down the insurrection in Scotland, in favour of Henry VI., in August, 1469; which, if that assumption be adopted, can only be attributed to his not being yet thoroughly decided. For the release of Edward IV. a little after, an explanation has been offered. It appears from the Chronicle of John of Wavrin, a contemporary writer, that the Duke of Burgundy addressed a threatening letter to the mayor and citizens of London, in case they did not behave loyally to their King, and that Warwick, though feigning to know nothing of the letter, permitted Edward to depart to London. It is probable enough that the large commerce which the Londoners enjoyed with the Low Countries would have rendered a war with the Duke of Burgundy highly unpopular; and they may have

See Lingard, History of England. Lingard is the first modern historian who has revived this well-authenticated fact.

2 See Michelet, Hist. de France, liv. xvi. (t. vi. p. 299).

CHAF. II.] WARWICK TAKES REFUGE IN FRANCE.

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remonstrated with Warwick and procured the liberation of Edward. A reconciliation now took place, which seemed to be sincere: Edward granted a pardon to Warwick, Clarence, and all the other rebels, and promised his youthful daughter to the son of Northumberland.

Early in 1470 the project above referred to of invading France in concert with the Duke of Burgundy was agitated; but suspicion still prevailed between the King and Warwick, and the expedition was prevented by an insurrection in Lincolnshire, headed by Sir Robert Welles, and supported by Clarence and Warwick. The rebels were defeated; Warwick and Clarence were proclaimed traitors, and sailed for Calais with a few ships, but Warwick's lieutenant in that place, instead of admitting him, fired on and repulsed his little fleet. Warwick then sought an asylum from Louis, who placed Harfleur at his disposal (May 1470); and his ships, on their way to that port, seized and carried fifteen Flemish coasting vessels into the Seine, and publicly sold at Rouen the goods captured from the Duke of Burgundy's subjects. Charles the Bold remonstrated with Louis, who promised satisfaction, but at the same time instructed his Admiral to repel any attack that the Duke's fleet might make on the English ships. Louis was not prepared, however, for an open rupture with that Prince, and with a view to conciliate him, he sent, in July, an embassy to St. Omer, which Charles received with more than his usual haughtiness. He had caused a throne to be erected higher than any ever raised for King or Emperor; the canopy was of gold, the steps were covered with black velvet, and upon them were ranged in due order his nobles, his knights of the Golden Fleece, and the great officers of his state and household. Although the French ambassadors fell upon their knees, Charles did not even deign to salute them, but with his hand making a sign to them to rise, addressed them in a speech interlarded with oaths; refused to listen to their proposals, and finally dismissed them from his presence with marks of the greatest anger.

Meanwhile Louis had succeeded in effecting a reconciliation between Warwick and Margaret of Anjou, who was then residing in France. The powerful Earl had put her friends to death, had thrown her husband into prison, and proclaimed her infant son a bastard born in adultery; yet, such are the victories often achieved by political interest over the most sensitive feelings of human nature, an alliance was effected between these once mortal enemies, and it was agreed that this very son of Margaret's, the

140 WARWICK AND QUEEN MARGARET RECONCILED. [CHAP. II.

last hope of the House of Lancaster, should be married to Warwick's second daughter. In order to effect this reconciliation, Louis had assured Margaret that he was more beholden to Warwick than to any man living: an extraordinary confession, which strongly confirms the suspicions of the Earl's integrity.1 An armament was then prepared in the French ports: Warwick, accompanied by the Admiral of France, landed at Dartmouth; the standard of the Red Rose was again displayed in England; and in the short space of eleven days was accomplished that surprising revolution which restored Henry VI. to the throne. Edward IV., abandoned both by nobles and people, fled to Lynn in Norfolk, where he embarked for Holland (September, 1470). The Duke of Burgundy afforded his brother-in-law an asylum, but at once declared that he could not openly interfere in the affairs of England; and he acknowledged the restored Henry.

This revolution encouraged Louis to dispute the validity of the Treaty of Péronne. In spite of his order that it should be registered, the Parliament of Paris had demurred to do so, on the ground that its provisions were at variance with the fundamental laws of the Kingdom, and consequently ipso facto null and void; and they proceeded to resume their jurisdiction in Flanders, which the treaty had abrogated, by summoning Flemish subjects before them, and by receiving appeals from Flemish tribunals. These proceedings threw Charles into transports of rage. He caused the French summoning officers to be imprisoned, and put to death such of his subjects as had appealed to the Paris Parliament. But Louis proceeded steadily in his plans. His next step was to declare certain bailiwicks, for which the Duke of Burgundy should have done homage, escheated to the Crown; and as he turned a deaf ear to all Charles's remonstrances on the subject, the latter called upon the Dukes of Lorraine and Brittany, who had been securities for the due execution of the treaty, to enforce its provisions. The King, who had made up his mind to proceed to extremities, in order to support his cause by the public voice of the nation, summoned an assembly of Notables to meet at Tours, to whom he submitted the whole question (November, 1470). This assembly declared the Treaty of Péronne to be null and void, and pronounced the Duke of Burgundy guilty of high treason on a long list of charges that had been brought against him; in pursuance of which verdict the Parliament of Paris was instructed to proceed against Charles,

1 Harl. MSS. ap. Turner, Midd. Ages, vol. iii. p. 284.

CHAP. II.]

BATTLES OF BARNET AND TEWKESBURY.

141

and an officer was despatched to Ghent to summon him to appear before that tribunal. The astonishment and rage of the haughty Duke at this summons may be readily imagined. With savage eyes he glared in silence on the messenger, then cast him into prison; but after a few days sent him back without an answer.

The conjuncture was unpropitious for Charles. His finances were burdened by the aid he was secretly lending to Edward IV. for the recovery of his throne; and the fate of the expedition undertaken by that Prince, which we need only briefly recall to the reader's memory, was still undecided. Edward, accompanied by his brother, Richard Duke of Gloucester, sailed from Veere in Zealand, March 10th, 1471, with some Netherland vessels and a force of 2,000 men; and having landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire, he marched to London, entered that city without opposition, and re-committed Henry VI. to the Tower. Warwick despatched Clarence against his brothers; but that Prince, as Edward knew before he sailed, had returned to his allegiance, and instead of opposing the King's advance, joined him near Coventry with all his forces. Warwick, who had himself marched against Edward, was defeated and slain at Barnet, April 14th. On the very same day Queen Margaret and the Prince of Wales, accompanied by a small French force, had landed at Weymouth, and were afterwards joined by the Cornish and Devon partisans of the Red Rose and by the remains of Warwick's army. But Edward defeated them at Tewkesbury, May 4th, before they could form a junction with the Welsh; the young Edward, Prince of Wales, who was captured together with his mother, was murdered, almost in the King's presence, by Clarence and Gloucester, and Margaret was thrown into the Tower, in which fortress her unfortunate husband died a few days after, murdered, it has been supposed, but without adequate or indeed probable testimony, by the hand of Gloucester.

Louis, meanwhile, had commenced hostilities with the Duke of Burgundy, though not in an open and vigorous manner, but by instructing the Constable Dammartin to inflict what injury he could. Charles on his side had invaded France with a large army, burnt Pequigny, crossed the Somme, and laid siege to Amiens, when all of a sudden, without any apparent motive, except perhaps the uncertain state of things in England, he began to negotiate with the King, and on April 4th a provisional truce of three months was concluded. Louis, besides his habitual dislike of war, was induced to agree to this suspension of arms

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TRUCE BETWEEN FRANCE AND BURGUNDY. [CHAP. II from his knowledge that his brother, as well as the Duke of Brittany, was in correspondence with Charles. The truce, which was subsequently prolonged till June 13th, 1472, brought a good deal of obloquy on the King: the Duke of Brittany called him the roi couard, and the Parisians vented their contempt and ridicule in libels and abusive ballads. Louis combated this feeling by striving to render himself popular. He visited the leading citizens, showed himself at the Hôtel de Ville, and on St. John's day lighted with his own hand the accustomed bonfire. By such arts did he secure the affection of the volatile Parisians.

Edward's success in England turned the scale in favour of the Duke of Burgundy, and, instead of Louis receiving, as he had expected, 10,000 English archers from Henry VI., the might of England was now ranged on the side of Burgundy. Nevertheless, Charles observed the truce, though both parties stood watching each other, and resorted to all the arts of cabal and intrigue. The chief source of Louis's anxiety was the conduct of his brother. After their reconciliation, the King had presented the Duke of Berri, now called Duke of Guienne, with the order of St. Michael, which he had recently instituted. These orders were not then regarded as merely honorary. The members of them were obliged to the observance of very strict duties towards the head and chapter of their order, and bound themselves by oath not to enter any other; and hence the acceptance by the Duke of Brittany of the Burgundian order of the Golden Fleece was naturally regarded by Louis as an act of hostility. But, notwithstanding this pledge of reconciliation with Louis, by accepting the order of St. Michael, the Duke of Guienne had kept up his connection with Charles. The birth of a Dauphin in June, 1470, afterwards Charles VIII., by disappointing any hopes which the Duke of Guienne might have entertained of succeeding to the Crown of France, naturally rendered him more disposed to seize all present advantages. Contrary to the oath which he had taken, he was now in warm pursuit of Charles's daughter Mary, the heiress of Burgundy; though, in order to throw dust into the King's eyes, he pretended to be seeking the hand of a daughter of the Count of Foix.

Charles the Bold, taking advantage of the embarrassed state of the King's relations, both foreign and domestic, pressed the conversion of the truce into a peace, October 3rd, 1471, by which,