260 HISTORICAL MEMORANDA OF 



lords solicited the Duke of York once more to resume the office of 

 protector. His majesty recovered at Christmas, and the queen took 

 care to have the Duke of York not only removed from this, but also 

 from his high station in the cabinet. He retired quietly to his 

 castle of Wigmore. The other party, regaining power, cried loudly 

 for revenge, and the Yorkists found they could trust to nothing but 

 the sword. 



The queen removed the king to Coventry, a town entirely devot- 

 ed to her interests, whence his majesty invited the Duke of York 

 and his party to repair to him, for the purpose of adjusting diffe- 

 rences. They set out for the purpose ; but receiving private infor- 

 mation that a plan had been laid for their destruction, they hastily 

 retired, York to Wigmore, Salisbury to Middleham, and Warwick 

 to Calais. This was in 1456 ; and in the next year there was dis- 

 played a procession, in which the contending parties seemed to have 

 resolved on forgiving and forgetting each others' trespasses. It was 

 soon evident that this was a vain expectation ; and York now raised 

 his eyes to the regal diadem. Reconciliation was utterly useless ; 

 and York mustered his followers on the Welsh border. The Earls 

 of Salisbury and Warwick prepared to meet him at Kenilworth, in 

 1459. The king marched to Worcester at the head of 60,000 men, 

 while the queen and her son repaired to Chester. 



On the evening of the 22nd of September, Salisbury had arrived 

 at Blore Heath, near Drayton, in Staffordshire, where he found a 

 force double the number of his own, with Lord Stanley at the head 

 of another division not far off. They met : from good generalship 

 Salisbury conquered, and marched in triumph to join the Duke of 

 York at Ludlow. The royalists, notwithstanding their defeat, set 

 out for Ludlow. Defection now spread among the Yorkists, and 

 the Duke with his youngest son, took refuge in Ireland, while the 

 Earl of March accompanied the Nevilles into Devonshire, whence 

 they sailed to Calais. Ludlow submitted to the triumphant army, 

 and the Duchess of York, with two of her sons, became prisoners. 

 They were well treated, by the king's particular desire ; but the 

 estates of the nobles who had fled, were confiscated, and they them- 

 selves branded by the name of traitors. Wigmore castle thus fell 

 into the hands of the crown. 



In June, of the year 1460, Warwick, accompanied by the Earls 

 of Salisbury and March, wdth 1,500 men, landed in Kent, where 

 Lord Cobham joined them with 400 more, and the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury lent the sanction of his presence. The invading army 

 amounted to 40,000 by the time it reached London, where the citi- 



