WIGMORE CASTLE, HEREFORDSHIRE. 251 



zens opened the gates. From London, they marched to Coventry. 

 The Bishop of Salisbury was despatched to the king, to prevent 

 bloodshed ; but Henry was advised to refuse him admittance. The 

 royalists crossed the river Nene, and entrenched themselves in a 

 field between Harryington and Sandiford. The attack on them was 

 made in three columns ; the first led by the Earl of March, who 

 bore his father's banner — the second by Warwick — and the third by 

 Fauconberg. Lord Grey de Ruthyn betrayed his post, and the as- 

 sailants thus gained entrance to the camp. The king's party were 

 routed, and the Duke of Buckingham was among the slain. The 

 Duke of Somerset fled in haste, and Margaret, with her son, escap- 

 ed into Wales. The king, left desolate and forlorn in his tent, 

 found the victors kneeling at his feet, and was attended back to the 

 metropolis with all the attributes of sovereignty. A new adminis- 

 tration was formed, the attainders reversed, and Wigmore again 

 reverted to the house of March. 



The Duke of York, now that his friends had the ascendancy, 

 quitted Ireland, and entered London in October. With a naked 

 sword borne before him, and his approach announced by trumpets, 

 he proceeded to the house of lords, and placed his hand upon the 

 throne, waiting the effect. A dead silence prevailed, and he with- 

 drew it, when a burst of approbation signified that his hopes were 

 vain : nay, the Archbishop of Canterbury asked whether he would 

 njt repair to the queen's palace to visit the king,* when he indig- 

 nantly replied that he knew of no one in the kingdom who ought 

 not rather to come to him. Hastily retiring, he took up his abode 

 in the royal apartments, and all ranks began to murmur at his am- 

 bitious views. He had gone too far to recede, and therefore pre- 

 sented to the chancellor a written document, in which he set forth 

 his claims to the crown, derived from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the 

 elder brother of John of Gaunt. The Lords were perplexed ; but 

 after much discussion the Duke of York consented to waive his 

 claim during the life of the king, and have its reversion after. He 

 and his two sons, the Earls of March and Rutland, swore to at- 

 tempt nothing against the king's life, but to devote themselves to 

 his service; and Henry, in return, recognized the Duke of York as 

 heir apparent. 



The queen's spirit was unsubdued : she assembled her friends in 

 the north, and her formidable appearance obliged the Duke of York, 

 with the Earls of Salisbury and Rutland to leave the capital and 



• Whethamstede. 



