PRODUCTIVIDAD ECONÓMICA

In the summer o f 1459 the Council - ' met at Coventry

O f\ lo Parliam^t of L/vils " fY)e)r a n d A o H o f

and drew up' 1 n d 6 " ' ' * a g a in st the Y orkist lea d ers,

York and h is two e ld e st sons, the e a r ls o f March and Rutland, Warwick,

S alisb u ry and h is w ife, two o f th e ir sons, and six te e n other men. They were condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered. ^

In Septerxi)er 1459 York a t Ludlow, Warwick a t C a la is, and S a lisb u ry a t Middleham were s u f f ic ie n t ly alarmed by the queen’s m ilita ry prepara­ tio n s to act once again. The royal fo r c e s were d efea ted by S alisb u ry at the b a t t le o f B lore Heath.^ In October York, Warwick, and S alisb u ry were arrayed a g a in st Henry near Tewkesbury. The k in g 's army advanced and the Y orkists crossed the Severn w ith Henry in p u rsu it. From Ludlow

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they addressed a l e t t e r to Henry p ro testin g th e ir lo y a lty . They drew

up ranks on 12 October but once again rea lize d , although a salvo was f ir e d across the ro y a l ranks, th at they were in a weaker p o sitio n . The Y orkist lead ers l e f t p r e c ip ita te ly . York made h is way to Ireland w ith Edmund, earl of Rutland; the e a r ls o f March, S alisb u ry, and Warwick managed to reach C a la is.^

W ithin a few months o f th e ir f li g h t Warwick, S alisb u ry and March returned to England and marched to London c o lle c tin g fo llo w er s en ro u te. They claim ed th a t they sim ply wished to remove the k in g 's disrep u tab le m in isters. They dared not a lie n a te popular opinion by advocating the

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d ep o sitio n o f the annointed king. Continuing on they proceeded to

Northampton where they met again w ith th e L ancastrians and attempted n eg o tia tio n s; and once again they f a ile d and b a ttle was join ed . Owing to th e treachery of Lord Grey o f Ruthin th e royal fo rces were d efeated and Henry was taken p riso n er. He was returned to London and was h eld in the b ish o p 's p alace.^

I t was not u n t il September 14-60 that York returned to England. He arrived at W estminster a fte r parliam ent had been convened in October. S eizin g the moment, he strode in to the lo rd s' chamber and la id h is hand on the empty throne, aw aiting the acclam ation which never came. T his behaviour angered and confused S alisb u ry and Warwick who had reaffirm ed

th e ir lo y a lty to Henry on th e ir return from C alais. To be sure some members o f York's entourage had hoped to make him king as ea rly as 14-50,^

1. I b id ., 29-31.

2. G r iffith s , Henry VI. 856-857.

3. Lander, C o n flict and S ta b ility . 80. 4-. I b id ., 81,

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but i t seems fa ir ly c le a r th at York h im self never considered usurpation

as a serio u s option b efo re liféO. A few days a fte r h is a ctio n at

W estminster he openly proclaim ed h is r ig h t to the throne and threw the lo rd s in to a panic. In order to evade th e issu e they attem pted to pass i t o ff in to the ju s tic e s who refu sed to become involved thus forcin g them to a c t. The r e s u lt was th e Act o f S ettlem en t. T herein York and h is issu e were recognized as Henry's true h eirs; the ex ista n ce o f the P rince o f Wales was com pletely ignored.^

N eedless to say, Margaret and many of the magnates were v io le n t ly opposed to t h is and York was com pelled to fig h t fo r h is newly gained r ig h ts . The queen mustered troops w ith the a id o f many lo y a l p eers b e t­ ween York and H ull and her opponents were forced to march north to

enccunter them. At W akefield on 30 Decenber 14-60 York met death and S’s I <5 hun)

d efea t. Lord C liffo r d k ille d th e ea rl o f Rutland in th e p u rsu it, and^ 2

was executed; th e duke o f Y ork's head, surmounted vd.th a paper crown,

was placed over M ickelgate Bar a t York.

What was i t th at compelled R ichard of York so to disturb the peace o f the 14-50 ' s? How fa r were h is a c tio n s fo r p erson al advancement and how fa r was he try in g to resto re order to the chaos o f Henry's personal rule? I t i s a q u estion which has puzzled h isto ria n s fo r many years. There i s c e r ta in ly no lack o f documentation to support each option.

The 'Wars of the R oses' were the in e v ita b le clim ax, however

unwelcome, to the in su ffe r a b le period o f Henry V I's incompetent personal r u le . However, i t seems u n lik e ly , as some h isto r ia n s have suggested.

1. Goodman, Wars o f the Roses. 4-1. 2, I b id ., 4-3.

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tha t the years pre-1459 were the r e s u lt o f York's p u rsu it o f th e crown^

p rim arily because h is behaviour was not the p r e c ip ita te manner o f one who f e l t h is r ig h ts overlooked and fo rgo tten . His fru stra ted a ctio n s resem bled more th ose o f a man seeking to save and p ro tect something he cared fo r . This vfould c e r ta in ly exp la in h is constant p ro testa tio n s o f lo y a lty which, however p o lit ic , did suggest a c e r ta in r ete n tio n of o r ig in a l purpose. P sy ch o lo g ica lly , from 1450 to 1455, and perhaps even u n t il autumn 1459, York did not d isp la y the com p etitive t r a it s one might expect from a man who sought a r ig h tfu l in h erita n ce. I f he indeed sought only to p rotect Henry and England from th ose who would d estroy them, then h is r is e to prominence in 1450 was a b le ssin g and h is f a l l in 1460, however s e lf - in f lic t e d , was tr u ly a tragedy.

i v The F ir s t Reign o f Edward IV. 1461-1470

A fter the b a ttle of W akefield and the d efeat o f the duke o f York, Margaret of Anjou and her triumphant L ancastrian army marched south and

as they marched th ey ravaged th e countryside, lo o tin g and p illa g in g . The ea rl o f Yfarvrick determined to in tercep t them at S t. Albans but h is scou ts were so in e ffe c tiv e th a t the royal army had struck b efo re he had adequately disposed h is troop s. Even so, Warwick might have won had not he been betrayed by a man named L oveless. The ad d itio n a l s ig n ific a n c e o f the b a tt le was th at Henry VI passed once again out o f the Y ork ists' hands and in to th e queen's. Margaret continued her march south to London but paid the p rice o f her u n con trollab le army. The c itiz e n s refu sed to open the gates u n le s s she promised that there would be no plundering. Unable to guarantee th is she se n sib ly withdrew th e greater part o f her fo r c e s to IXinstable. By so doing she gave the Y ork ists

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enough time to regain th e in it ia t iv e .

Two weeks before th e second b a ttle o f S t, Albans, Edward, ea rl of March, had d efeated a part o f th e L ancastrian fo rce s at Mortimer’s Cross in H erefordshire. Prom th ere he marched to jo in Warwick; they met somewhere in the Cotswolds and proceeded together to London, The fa ilu r e o f Margaret to gain entry to London exposed her 'm ilita r y

weakness and created in the south a p o lit i c a l clim ate fo r th e acceptance 2

o f Edward's u su rp ation '. A rriving ten days a fte r S t. Albans, on 28

February 14-61, the gates were immediately opened to the Y ork ists.