A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



ror King Henry. ^ Edward and his friends fled hastily to Lynn, whence they took ship to Holland 

 on 3 October. But in six months' time he was back again, landing with a considerable force at 

 Ravenspur on 14 March 1471.^^ The towns of Beverley and Hull refused to admit him, and as 

 he was on his way to York he was met by the recorder, who endeavoured to dissuade him from 

 going on to the city. Edward, however, pressed on, declaring that he came not to claim the 

 throne, but only the duchy of York and the estates belonging to him. Under this pretence, which 

 he is said to have maintained with an oath,** he was admitted to the city and warmly received. 

 Next day, 19 March, he proceeded to Tadcaster and Sandal," and southwards to the crowning 

 victories of Barnet and Tewkesbury. 



The Earl of Warwick having fallen at Barnet in April 1471, his Yorkshire estates, with the 

 hand of his younger daughter Anne, were granted by King Edward to his brother Richard, Duke 

 of Gloucester. The duke thereby obtained the magnificent fortress of Middleham and the smaller 

 castle of Sheriff Hutton ; to these were added in 1475 the castles of Scarborough and Skipton in 

 Craven, while upon the death of his brother, the Duke of Clarence, in 1478, Richard acquired 

 Richmond, and in the same year purchased Helmsley Castle from Sir Thomas de Roos.*° The Duke 

 of Gloucester was thus extremely powerful in the county, and in addition he was very popular. He 

 was a frequent visitor to the city,*' and was usually received with ceremony, as on the occasion of 

 his visit in June 1482, when he was met by the aldermen arrayed in scarlet, the council of twenty- 

 four in crimson, and all the craftsmen ' in thar best aray.' ^ He was at this time on his way 

 against the Scots, and the city, with the Ainsty, provided their usual contingent of 120 archers." 

 When Edward IV died, on 9 April 1483, and the duke became regent to the young Edward V, 

 it is noticeable that he ordered his favourite city of York to send the exceptional number of four 

 members to the Parliament summoned for 25 June 1483.'" It was no doubt Richard's intention 

 to pack the Parliament, if it ever met, with his own supporters, but in the middle of June he 

 countermanded the writs issued for Parliament and postponed the coronation of the young king, 

 sending word to York of the discovery of a plot by the queen-mother against himself. The city 

 responded with alacrity and at once raised 200 men and sent them to the Earl of Northumberland 

 at Pontefract, where they arrived about 25 June, about the time that Lord Rivers and 

 Lord Richard Grey were executed there.'**" These soldiers, wearing the badges of the city and of 

 the duke, marched south with the earl, and were no doubt part of the body of north-country troops 

 whose rusty armour and general uncouthness excited the contempt of the Londoners at the time 

 of Richard's coronation.'^ 



Yorkshire accepted the usurpation of Richard III with satisfaction, and when they heard, early 

 in August 1483, that he intended to visit the city, the corporation prepared with alacrity to receive 

 him with fitting pomp, not requiring the hints of his secretary, John Kendal, that they should hang 

 the streets with ' clothes of arras, tapistre werk and other,' and prepare pageantry. The royal 

 party reached Pontefract about 25 August, and were there joined by the young Prince Edward, 

 who had been living at Middleham, and on 30 August they entered the city. Their reception 

 was magnificent ; over ^^400 had been raised by voluntary contributions of the leading citizens for 

 the festivities, and on Sunday, 7 September, the pageant or mystery play of the Creed was acted for 

 the king's amusement. But the great day was Monday, 8 September, when in the presence of a 

 brilliant crowd of nobles and prelates the king bestowed the honour of knighthood upon Prince 

 Edward and invested him with the dignity of Prince of Wales. So pleased was the king with his 

 reception that on 17 September he granted to the citizens, of his own free will and without their 

 petition, relief from a considerable portion of their fee farm." A few days later he left York and 

 went to Pontefract, and about the middle of October he sent orders, which were at once obeyed, 

 for troops to be raised to suppress the rebellion of the Duke of Buckingham." In 1484 King 

 Richard was again at York early in May, and on the sixth of that month at Middleham, where 

 his son had died a few weeks before.'* After Prince Edward's death precedence and the 

 presumptive heirship to the crown rested between Richard's nephews, the Earls of Lincoln and 

 Warwick, and they seem to have acted as heads of the northern council, which sat sometimes at 

 Sandal and sometimes at Sheriff Hutton." 



One of the first acts of Henry VII on assuming the crown after the death of Richard at 

 Bosworth was to send to Sheriff Hutton to fetch away the young Earl of Warwick, whom he placed 



" Waurin, CronijMS (Rolls Ser.), vi, 6 1 1 . 



" Ibid. 642. " Polydore Vergil, Hist. Angl. (Camden Sec), 139. 

 " The Restoration of Edw. IV (Camden See), 5. 



" Da^'ies, Municipal Rec. of City of York, 46-9. " \\>\&.. passim. 



'' Ibid. 128. " Ibid. 128-38. 



» Ibid. 144. »» Ibid. 146-56. 



" Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit. 725. " Davicj, op. cit. 160-75, z8o-8. 



" Ibid. 177-84. " Ibid. 188. » Ibid. 21 I. 



410 



