of them, in all probability, mere in- | with the emblem of the Passion in its ventions of writers in the interest of centre,) are the peculiar badges of the the Tudors, whose object in vilifying their predecessors is sufficiently obvious. Though the fact is indisputable that Richard, duke of York, was the legitimate king, he is ordinarily spoken of as a rebel, and thus is laid on him the odium of the murderous conflict, so well known as the War of the Roses, (in which, according to a vague, but probably not exaggerated estimate, 12 princes of the blood, 200 other nobles, and 100,000 of the knights and gentry perished,) when in reality it arose from the treason of Henry of Bolingbroke. The falcon and fetterlock, the sun in splendour, and the white rose, (often No chronicler then thought it necessary to record the loss of any who were not of noble or gentle blood; but it probably was not, in this contest, proportionately so great as that of the other Crest of Mortimer. House of York; many. other emblems are found, but they are rather the personal distinctions of each prince, as the lion rampant argent, of the earl of March; the black bull, of Clarence; and the white boar, of Gloucester. classes, who fought with all the fierceness of personal rivalry. Kill the nobles, and spare the commons," was the maxim, and the practice, of both Edward and Margaret. EDWARD, the second son of Richard, duke of York, and Cicely, daughter of the earl of Westmoreland, was born at Rouen, April 29, 1442, while his father held the office of regent of France for Henry VI. He was obliged to flee to Calais when the Yorkist forces were dispersed in 1459, but returned in the following summer, when they gained a great victory at Northampton, and soon after Richard was recognised by the parliament as heir to the throne. At the end of the year the duke was killed at Wakefield, but Edward shortly after defeated the Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross, and boldly advancing on London, in spite of a defeat experienced at St. Alban's by his chief partisan, the earl of Warwick, he entered the city Feb. 28, and was installed as king March 4, 1461. He had, however, to leave London almost immediately to meet the forces of Queen Margaret, and having defeated them at Towton, March 29, thus secured his throne. The Lancastrians rose again in 1464, but were defeated, and so completely crushed that they could offer no further opposition; Margaret retired to the continent, and Henry fell into his hands.. Quarrels, however, arose between the duke of Clarence, the earl of Warwick, and others of the old nobility, and the family of Edward's queen, in conse The Woodvilles were originally a Northamp- | Lancaster, was in 1459 seized at Sandwich by some tonshire family, and their ancestors had frequently held the shrievalty there, but in the time of Richand II. they settled in Kent. Richard, the queen's father, held at different times the offices of seneschal of Normandy, constable of the Tower, and lieutenant of Calais. He married Jacquetta, the widow of the duke of Bedford, was ennobled in 3448, and being a warm partisan of the House of of the exiled Yorkists and carried a prisoner to Calais. He was soon released, and lived apparently in retirement for a few succeeding years, but shortly after his daughter's marriage was created earl Rivers, and received many valuable grants, and the offices of constable and treasurer. At length, on the breaking out of the troubles which drove Edward IV. for a while into exile, the earl and quence of which he was driven into exile, and King Henry restored, in 1470. Edward soon returned, however, defeated all his opponents at Barnet and at Tewkesbury, captured Queen Margaret, and reigned henceforth undisturbed by civil war, though by no means free from disquietude at the protection which the exiled Lancastrians met with abroad. He was engaged during the greater part of his reign in either covert or open attacks upon Scotland', and he also, in 1475, led an army into France, but he effected nothing of consequence in either country; he was equally unsuccessful in a number of marriages which he planned for his children while yet infants, none of which took effect, and he died rather suddenly, April 9, 1483, after a reign of twenty-two years, marked by more cruelty and licentiousness than any former king had exhibited. In 1463, or 1464, Edward married Elizabeth, widow of John Grey, Lord Ferrers of Groby, and daughter of Richard Woodville, lord Rivers, by Jacquetta, formerly duchess of Bedford. The queen's relatives were all Lancastrians, they were also needy, but they were speedily married to the richest heirs and heiresses, and engrossed the favour of the king to the exclusion of those who had placed him on the throne. This was deeply resented, his son John were captured and beheaded. He left a large family, of whom Anthony succeeded Arms of Woodville, Earl Rivers. him as earl Rivers, and also lost his life by violence; Lionel became bishop of Salisbury, conspired against Richard III. and died in exile; and Richard was killed in Britanny in 1489. Anthony, in right of his wife, became Lord Scales, and is celebrated for his gallantry and love of literature. He received a grant of the Isle of Wight from Edward IV., fled with him to Holland, and on his return was appointed governor of Calais and captain general. He was the governor of his and caused his temporary expulsion; several of the Woodvilles perished on the scaffold; the queen was obliged twice to take sanctuary; and she at last died (June 8, 1492) in confinement in the nunnery at Bermondsey, where she had been placed by her son-in-law, Henry VII. The children of Edward and Elizabeth were three sons and seven daughters. 1. EDWARD, became king. 2. Richard, born Aug. 17, 1472, was created duke of York, and also appointed lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Gormanstown being his deputy. In 1477 he was married to Anne, the heiress of John Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, but she died shortly after, and he is usually said to have been murdered with his brother, in the Tower, by order of their uncle, the duke of Gloucester; the fact, however, is not certain. 3. George, created duke of Bedford, died an infant. Mary and Margaret died young; Bridget (born 1480) died a nun at Dartford, about 1517. Of the remaining princesses, Elizabeth married Henry VII. Cicely (born 1469) married first Lord Wells, and afterwards Thomas Kyme, of the Isle of Wight; she died Aug. 24, 1507. Anne (born 1475) married Lord Thomas Howard, son of the earl of Surrey, nephew, Edward V., but being seized at Stony Stratford, in April, 1483, was carried into Yorkshire, and beheaded at Pontefract about the 26th of June, by order of Richard III., with whom he had been long at variance. b His interference was highly resented, and in an Act of the Scottish parliament of 1481 he is styled "the revare (robber) Edward calland him king of England.” He was never summoned to parliament, and is usually known only as Sir John Grey. He was killed on the Lancastrian side at St. Alban's, in 1461. The partisans of his brother Richard asserted that he had a wife living at the time, Eleanor, daughter of Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, and widow of Lord Butler, son of James, earl of Ormond and Wiltshire; the proofs of their statement appeared satisfactory to the first parliament of Richard III., but the Tudor writers allege that she was only his mistress. Her brother Anthony married the daughter of Lord Scales, believed to be the wealthiest heiress in the kingdom, and intended as the wife of the young duke of Clarence; John, another brother, married the dowager duchess of Norfolk; her son, Sir Thomas Grey, married the infant daughter of the duchess of Exeter (she was Edward's niece); and her five sisters were amply provided for in like manner; one of them (Katherine) married the young duke of Buckingham, who was a ward of the crown. Feb. 4, 1495, and died 1512. Katherine (born 1479) married Lord William Courtenay, son of the earl of Devon, and died Nov. 15, 1527. Her son Henry, marquis of Exeter, was beheaded in 1539, on a charge of corresponding with his cousin, Reginald Pole. Edward left two natural children: 1. Arthur, who married an heiress, and was created Viscount Lisle'; he was a military commander, but being accused of a design to betray Calais, he was imprisoned in the Tower, where he died, March 3, 1542, it is said of joy at learning that the king was satisfied of his innocence; 2. Elizabeth, who married Sir Thomas Lumley. The royal arms and motto were the same in this as in the preceding reign, but Edward employed other supporters, chiefly in token of various ancestral possessions. Some existing examples have a black bull and a white lion, (Clarence and March); some a white lion and a white hart; others two white lions. His badges are numer- | ous, and likewise allude either to the possessions or the varying fortunes of his family. The black bull is the symbol of Clarence; the black dragon, of Ulster; the white wolf, the emblem of the Mortimers; the white hart shews his kindred with Richard II.; while the falcon and fetterlock indicate the depression, and the sun in splendour the triumph, of his house. Edward possessed great military skill and undaunted courage, a handsome person and fascinating manners; but he was also unscrupulous, licentious, and cruel. The fickleness of his temper is seen in his abandoning his father's and his own greatest friends, the Nevilles, for new favourites from his queen's family; his rapacity, in the "benevolences" which he extorted; and his want of natural affection, in the part he acted in the destruction of his brother Clarence. It was remarked that he witnessed an His daughter Frances married Thomas Monk, a gentleman of Devon, and ancestor of Monk, duke of Albemarle. Shakspeare thus alludes to the latter well-known emblem: "Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by the Sun of York!" execution with as much pleasure as others would a pageant; and indeed he seems seldom to have extended mercy to those who fell into his power, being apparently more desirous to exterminate than to conciliate his opponents. A.D. 1461. Edward is solemnly installed at Westminster as king, March 41. George Neville, bishop of Exeter, is appointed lord chancellor, March 10; and his brother, Richard, earl of Warwick, is commissioned to receive the submission of the adherents of " Henry, late king of England," and to seize the property of all who may refuse, March 12. Edward marches into the north, and defeats the Lancastrians at Towton, near Tadcaster, March 29, with terrible slaughter. Henry, his queen learned men, and freely pardoned both Bishop Wayneflete and Judge Fortescue, though active Lancastrians, avowedly for their literary merits. His regnal years are computed from this day. He was not crowned until the summer. j Lord Clifford was killed the day before in a skirmish at Ferry-bridge, as were Lord Fitzwalter and a natural brother of the earl of War wick. The earl of Northumberland, lords Dacre and son, with some of their adherents, escape to Scotland, but many are taken and executed *. Henry surrenders Berwick to the Scots, April 25. Edward returns to London, and is crowned, June 28, by the archbishop of Canterbury'. He creates his brothers, George and Richard, dukes of Clarence and Gloucester. The Scottish regents are willing to assist the Lancastrians, but are embarrassed by the intrigues of Edward with the Lord of the Isles and other nobles, and obliged to agree to remain neuter. The parliament meets, Nov. 4. It declares the Lancastrian princes usurpers [ Edw. IV. c. 1], but allows acts done by "the said pretensed kings" to remain valid, "except as to such persons, and every of them, whom our sovereign lord the king reputeth and holdeth for his rebels or enemies m." All sheriffs except those of London, forbidden to proceed judicially ", [c. 2]. A.D. 1462. The earl of Oxford (John de Vereo), his son Aubrey, and several other Lancastrians, beheaded in London, Feb. 26. Edward makes a treaty for the conquest and partition of Scotland, with John, Lord of the Isles and other nobles, Feb. 13. Queen Margaret, by a promise to surrender Calais if it should ever be and Wells, Sir Andrew Trollope and many other knights, fell at Towton. Among these were the earls of Devonshire and of Ormond and Wiltshire, the father-in-law of Lady Eleanor Butler, who was afterwards asserted to be the wife of Edward. But in this horrible contest all ties of kindred or alliance seem to have been systematically disregarded by both parties; almost every noble family had fathers, sons, brothers arrayed against each other : "Long years of havoc urge their destined course, And through the kindred squadrons mow their way. 1 Thomas Bourchier, brother of the earl of Essex, and uncle by marriage to the king. Edward took full advantage of this comprehensive clause, and transferred lands, and privileges, and offices to his active supporters to such an extent that hundreds of Lancastrians, not so compromised as to forfeit their lives, were yet reduced to abject poverty. The statute states that many liege people have been harassed by indictments and presentments affirmed by jurors having no conscience, nor any freehold, and little goods," and even by the menial in her power, obtains a small body of French troops, who however are shipwrecked on Holy Island, and either killed or taken; she escapes to Berwick. A.D. 1463. The duke of Somerset (Henry Beaufort P) and many other Lancastrians abandon Henry, and make terms with Edward 9. The trade in and exportation of wool regulated by statute, [3 Edw. IV. c. 1). The importation of ". wares ready wrought" forbidden, [c. 4]. The apparel of all persons regulated according to their rank, [c. 5']. Queen Margaret again sails to France, and obtains a body of troops from Louis XI. of France. She lands in Northumberland, in October, but not being joined by the people retires to Scotland. The earl of Angus makes an inroad as far as Alnwick in her favour. P The son of the duke killed at St. Alban's in 1455. He had fled to Scotland after the battl of Towton, and now gave up Bamborough castle as the price of pardon, but he soon rejoined the Lancastrians, was taken at Hexham, and beheaded His brothers Edmund and John suffered the same fate after the battle of Tewkesbury. 9 Others fled to France, where they lived in abject poverty. Philip de Comines, indeed, asserts that he saw the duke of Exeter (the brother-in-law of Edward) begging in the streets. The commons of the realm, as well men as women, are said to wear excessive and inordinate apparel, to the great displeasure of God, the enriching of strange realms, and the destruction of this realm. A somewhat similar statute was passed in Scotland in 1457. He was the brother of the earl of Warwick, and after a variety of fortune met his death with him at Barnet, in the year 1471. |