6i6 
ENGLAND. 
of Courtney and the duke of Norfolk cfpoufed the caufe 
of the duke of York; but the earl of Northumberland 
adhered to the eftablifhed government; and even the earl 
of Weftmoreland, though the head of the Nevil family, 
was prevailed on to fupport the caufe of Henry. The 
hortile fpirit, however, which appeared in parliament, 
increafed the expectations of the Yorkifis. Tlie com¬ 
mons ventured to prefent a petition againfl the duke of 
Somerfet, lord Dudley, and feveral others of inferior 
rank, praying the king to remove them for ever from his 
perfon and councils. This was a violent attack, and fup- 
ported but by few precedents; yet the king durft not 
openly oppofe it, and fatisfied himfelf with a temporizing 
reply, which only the more expofed his weaknefs. 
The duke of York, trading to thefe fymptoms of dif- 
affedtion, raifed an army of ten thoufand men, with which 
he marched towards London, demanding a reformation of 
the government, and the removal of the duke of Somer¬ 
fet from all power and authority. He unexpectedly found 
the gates of the city flint againfl him ; and, on his retreat¬ 
ing into Kent, he was followed by the king, at the head 
of a fuperior army. A parley enfued : the removal of 
Somerfet, and of his fubmitting to a trial in parliament, 
were (till infilled on ; and, the court pretending to com¬ 
ply with the demand, that nobleman was put in arreft. 
The duke of York was then perfuaded to pay his re- 
fpedls to the king in his tent; and, on repeating his 
charge againfl tlie duke of Somerfet, he was furprifed to 
lee that minifler Hep from behind the curtain, and offer 
to maintain his innocence. Richard now found that he 
had been betrayed ; and that it was become neceffary, 
for his own fafetv, to lower his pretenfions. No vio¬ 
lence, however, was attempted againfl him : the nation 
was not in a difpofition to bear the deflruCtion of fo po¬ 
pular a prince ; and his fon, who was not in the power 
of the court, might Hill be able to revenge a father’s 
death on all his enemies. He was therefore difmilfed ; 
and retired to his feat of Wigmore, on the borders of 
Wales. While the duke of York lived in this retreat, 
an incident occurred, which, by increafing the public 
difeontents, proved favourable to his pretenfions, had he 
been ardent in urging them. Several Gafcon lords, at¬ 
tached to the Englifli government, and difgufled at the 
new dominion of the French, came to London, and of¬ 
fered to return to their allegiance under Henry. The 
earl of Shrewfbury, with a body of eight thoufand men, 
was fent over to fupport them. Bourdeaux opened its 
gates to him : he made himfelf mailer of Fronfac, Caflil- 
lon, and fome other places; but, as Charles battened to 
refill this new invafion, the fortunes of the Englifli were 
foon reverfed. Shrewfbury, a venerable warrior, above 
fourfcore years of age, fell in battle : his conquefts were 
loll; and all hopes of recovering the province of Gaf- 
cony were for ever extinguifhed. 
On this occafion the people exprefTed great difcontent, 
and threw all the blame on the miniflry. While they 
were in this difpofition, the queen’s delivery of a fon, 
who received the name of Edward, increafed their dif- 
fatisfadlion, as it removed all hopes of the peaceable fuc- 
ceflion of the duke of York, who was, othervvife, both in 
the right of his father, and by the laws enabled fince the 
accedion of the houfe of Lancaller, next heir to the crown. 
The duke himfelf, however, was incapable of violent 
COunfels ; and even when no vifible obllacle lay between 
him and the throne, he was prevented by his own fcruples 
front feizing it. Henry, at all times unfit to exercife the 
government, fell into a diftemper which fo far increafed 
his natural imbecility, as to render him incapable of fup- 
porting even the appearance of royalty. The queen and 
the council, deflitute of this fupport, and finding them- 
felves unable to refill the York party, were obliged to 
yield to the torrent. They fent Somerfet to the Tower; 
and appointed Richard duke of York lieutenant of the 
kingdom, with powers to open and hold a feflion of par¬ 
liament. That affembly alfo, taking into confidemion 
the (late of the kingdom, created him proteTor during 
pleafure. Yet the duke, inftead of pufhing them to'make 
farther conceflions, appeared timid and irrefolute even in 
receiving the power with which they had inverted him. 
He defired that it might be recorded in parliament, that 
this authority was conferred on him from their own free 
motion, without any application on his own part; and ex- 
preffed his hopes that they would aflifl him in tlie exer¬ 
cife of it. This moderation of Richard was certainly 
very unuftial, though very amiable; yet it was attended 
with bad confequences in the prefent juncture, and, by 
giving time to the animofities of fatlion to rifaand fer¬ 
ment, proved the fource of all thole furious wars and 
commotions which enfued. 
The enemies of the duke of York foon found it in their 
power to take advantage of his exceflive caution. Henry 
being fo far recovered from his diftemper as to be able in 
appearance to exercife the royal fundlions, was moved to 
refume his authority, to annul the proteflorfhip of the 
duke of York, to releafe Somerfet from the Tower, and 
to commit the adminiftration into the hands of that no¬ 
bleman. Richard, fenfible of the dangers to which he 
was expofed, levied an army; but dill without advancing 
any pretenfions to the crown. He complained only of the 
king’s minifters, and demanded a reformation of the go¬ 
vernment. A battle, however, was fought at St. Alban’s, 
in which the Yorkifts, without fuffe'ring any material lofs, 
flew about five thoufand of their enemies; among whom 
were the duke of Somerfet, the earl of Northumberland, 
the earl of Stafford, eldeft fon of the duke of Bucking¬ 
ham, lord Clifford, and many other perfons of diftindlion. 
The king himfelf fell into the hands of the duke of York, 
who treated him with great refpect and tendernefs ; and 
he was only obliged, which he regarded indeed as no 
hardfhip, to commit the whole authority of the crown 
into the hands of his rival. This was the firft blood fpilt 
in that fatal quarrel between the houfes of York and 
Lancafler, which laded during thirty years, and which 
is computed to have coft the lives of eighty princes of 
the blood, and almoft entirely annihilated the ancient 
nobility of England. 
After all, it was not difficult to wrefl power from Lands 
fo little tenacious as^hofe of the duke of York. Marga¬ 
ret, availing herfelf of that prince’s abfence, and of rather 
a better (late of health in Henry, produced the latter be¬ 
fore the houfe of lords, where he declared his intention 
of refuming the government. To this meafure the houfe 
of lords afi'ented, though they had recently acknowledged 
Richard as protedlor ; and the king was reinflated in his 
authority without any open oppofition. An outward re¬ 
conciliation was procured by means of the archbifhop of 
Canterbury, between the rival factions; but it was im- 
pofiible to reftore trull and confidence. One of the king’s 
retinue, having infulted a retainer of the earl of War¬ 
wick’s, their companions on both Tides took part in the 
quarrel : a fierce combat enfued ; and the earl, appre¬ 
hending his life to be aimed at, fled to Calais; the go¬ 
vernment of which gave him the command of the only 
regular military force maintained by England ; and both 
parties, in every county, made preparations for deciding 
the conteft by force of arms. 
The earl of Salifbury, marching to join the duke of 
York, was overtaken at Blore-heath, on the borders of 
Stafford (hi re, by lord Audley, who commanded much 
fuperior forces. A fmall rivulet with deep banks ran 
between the armies. Salifbury here fupplied his defeat 
in numbers by ftratagem. He feigned a retreat, and al¬ 
lured Audley to follow him with precipitation ; but when 
the van of the royal army had parted the brook, Salifbury 
fuddenly turned upon them ; and partly by furprife, part¬ 
ly by the divifion of the enemies’ forces, put them to the 
rout; and reached the general rendezvous of the York¬ 
ifts at Ludlow. To the fame place the earl of Warwick 
brought over a choice body of veterans from Calais, on 
whom it was thought the fortune of the war would much 
depend $ 
