II. CHAP. release of their speaker; the lords refused their assent: and a new speaker was chosen. 162 From the confused order and imperfect nature of the notices entered on the rolls, it is difficult to collect the proceedings of this session of parliaFeb, 28. ment. It appears that many of the lords had absented themselves, and were compelled to atMarch 9. tend by heavy fines.163 The Lord Cromwell obtained an act to bind the duke of Exeter to keep the peace under a severe penalty: 16 and the earl of Devonshire, another of the Yorkists, havMarch 14. ing been charged with treason, was tried and acquitted by his peers. The duke, conceiving that the accusation was aimed at himself, arose and said: "As far as this indictment toucheth me, " I say that it is false and untrue: and that I am, all the days of my life have been, and to "the end thereof shall be, true and humble 66 66 liegeman to the king, my most dread sove 162 Rot. Parl. v. 238-240. The lords consulted the judges, who declined giving their opinion, "for the court of parliament is so high "and so mighty in his nature, that it may make law, and that, that "is law, it may make no law: and the determination and know"ledge of that privilege belongeth to the lords of parliament and not "to the justices." Ibid, 163 Ibid. 248. The duke of Somerset and lord Cobham were exempted, because they were in prison. Cobham was a partisan of York's. 164 Ibid. 264. From Fenn's letters it appears that the duke of York, in one part of this year, had the duke of Exeter in his own custody and that he was afterwards at large, and had come secretly to London. 66 God," adds the writer, "send him good council hereaf"ter." Fenn, i. 72. 76. He was afterwards confined at Pontefract Rym, xi, 365. II. reign lord, and never privily nor apertly CHAP. thought nor meant the contrary, whereof I "call unto witness God, and all the saints of "heaven." The lords of course replied, that they gave full belief to so solemn a protestation. 165 made pro A committee of peers was now chosen to visit York is the king and as soon as they had reported that tector. he was incapable of transacting business, an act was passed appointing the duke protector with March 27. a yearly salary of two thousand marks. The Lancastrians, however, had sufficient influence to preserve the king's rights inviolate. It was declared, agreeably to former precedents, that the title of protector imported no authority: that it merely gave the precedence in the council; and the command of the army in time of invasion or rebellion: that it was revocable at the will of the king: that it should not prejudice the rights of his son, who had already been created prince of Wales and earl of Chester; and that, if Henry's incapacity were permanent, the protectorate should devolve on the prince, as soon as he came of age.1 166 The custody of April 16. the sea was intrusted for seven years to five noblemen selected from the two parties, the earls of Salisbury, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Wiltshire, and the lord Stourton,107 but the government of 165 Rot. Parl. v. 249, 250. 166 lbid. 242-244. 167 Ibid. 244-246. Of the manner in which provision was usually made for the safeguard of the sea, we have an instance on the rolls II. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. Calais, a most important asylum in case of misfortune, was taken from Somerset, and bestowed on the duke of York for the same period.16 The king recovers. The king's malady was not permanent. About Christmas he recovered his health, and witl. it the use of his reason. 169 Though he received the duke of York with his usual kindness, he put an end to the protectorate, and liberated the duke of Somerset from the Tower. At first that nobleman gave bail for his appearance at Westminster, to answer the charges laid against him: but on his appeal to the council that he had been March 4. committed without any lawful cause, the 1455. Feb. 5. : for the year 1443. The fleet consisted of 8 large ships with forestages, each carrying 150 men; 8 barges, carrying 80; 8 balyngers, 40; 4 pinnaces, 25. Each of the large ships had a captain who was a knight, besides a master. The barges and balyngers had also masters. The expense of provisions for each man was estimated at two pence a day, his pay at two shillings the month. The masters had in addition a reward of 3s. 4d. per month. The ships were to be on the sea from Candlemas to Martinmas and in case they made any captures, the value was to be divided into two halves, of which one belonged to the masters, quartermasters, shipmen and soldiers; the other was to be subdivided into three equal parts, of which two were to be given to the owners of the ships, barges, balyngers, and pinnaces, and one to the captains, by whom it was to be apportioned into eight shares, two for the commander-in-chief, and one for each of the others. Ibid. 59, 60. 168 Rot. Parl. v. 254-256 169 Fenn's letters, i. 80. "And on the Monday afternoon the queen came to him, and brought my lord prince with her, and "there he asked what the prince's name was, and the queen told "him Edward, and then he held up his hands and thanked God "thereof. And he said he never knew till that time, nor wist "not what was said to him, nor wist not where he had been, whilst " he hath been sick till now." Ibid. recognizances were discharged. Henry laboured most earnestly to reconcile the two dukes. As the government of Calais, which had been taken from Somerset and given to York, was likely to prove a new source of dissension, the king assumed it himself and prevailed on both to submit, under the penalty of twenty thousand marks, their other differences to the decision of eight arbitrators, who should present their award before the twentieth of June.170 York, however, had no intention to await that award but took the first opportunity to retire from court, invited his friends to meet him in the marches of Wales, and soon saw himself at the head of three thousand men, with the duke of Norfolk, and the earls of Salisbury and Warwick. At the news Henry left London, and early the next morning, as he entered St. Alban's, was surprised to behold the banners of the Yorkists advancing towards the town. To the duke of Buckingham, who inquired the reason of this hostile array, they replied with professions of loyalty, but demanded that the duke of Somerset and his chief associates should be instantly surrendered as prisoners. Henry refused with firmness, declaring that, "sooner than abandon 170 Rym. 361–364. The arbitrators were the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of Ely, the duke of Buckingham, the earls of Wiltshire and Worcester, the Viscount Beaumont, and the lords Cromwell and Stourton. Ibid. The duke of Exeter was also liberated from his confinement in the castle of Pontefract. Rym. xi. 365. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. II. CHAP. 66 any of the lords who were faithful to him, he "was ready that day in their quarrel to live and "die."171 York assaulted the barriers, which were obstinately defended by the lord Clifford : but Warwick penetrated through the gardens into the street; a sharp rencontre ensued: and as soon as the barriers were forced, the royalists fled. Henry had taken refuge in the house of a tanner; where the duke immediately visited him. He bent his knee with apparent humility, bade the king rejoice that the traitor (meaning Somerset) had met with his desert, and taking him by the hand, led him first to the shrine of St. Alban, and then to his apartment in the abbey. The battle seems to have been won by the archers. Henry was wounded in the neck, the duke of Buckingham and lord Sudley in the face, the earl of Stafford in the arm, all of them with arrows. The duke of Somerset, the earl of Northumberland, and the lord Clifford were slain; and as soon as they fell, their men threw down their arms and fled.172 Some writers tell us that the number of the killed amounted to many thousands: a letter written three days after the battle reduces it to six score.173 The unfortunate king in the hands, and at the 171 Whetham, 352. Stow, 398. 172 Rot. Parl. v. 347. 173 Hall has 8000 (p. 168), Stow 5000 (p. 400), but Crane in his letter to his cousin John Paston, dated Whitsunday, had at first written ten score, which he afterwards corrected to six. Fenn's Letters, i. p. 100. |