As a clear notion of the above genealogical statement ie important to the understanding of a considerable portion of English history, it may be proper once for all to exhibit it in the form most convenient for its ready apprehension and for future reference to it. The line of the eldest son of Edward III. having failed in Richard II., and his second son having died without issue, the contest for the crown in the 15th century lay among the descendants of his third, fourth, and fifth sons, whose connection with him and among themselves .stood thus :— but in 1447 he was recalled, through the influence of the queen and the favourite, the Marquis of Suffolk, and Edmund Beaufort, earl (afterwards duke) of Somerset, the chief of the younger branch of the Lancaster family, was appointed his successor. It is understood that before this the unpopular government of the queen and the favourite had turned men's minds to the claims of the Duke of York ; and it is said that he himself, though he moved warily in the matter, was not idle by his emissaries in encouraging the disposition that began to grow up in his favour. The progress of events in course of time enabled him to take a bolder part in the promotion of the design he had already in all probability formed, of securing the crown for himself and his family. In 1449 he gained additional popularity by the able and conciliatory manner in which he suppressed an insurrec tion in Ireland. In the rising of the people of Kent the next year, their leader, Jack Cade, assumed the name of Mortimer as a sort of title. When he rode in triumph through the streets of the metro polis, he called out, as he struck London Stone with his sword, "Now is Mortimer lord of the city 1" When the duke returned from Ireland, in August 1451, some steps seem to have been taken by the court to oppose his landing; but he made his way to London, and immediately entered there into consultations with his friends. It was determined to demand the dismissal and punishment of the Duke of Somerset, now the king's chief minister; but although this attempt was supported by an armed demonstration, it ended after a few months in the Duko of York dismissing his followers, returning to his allegiance, and agreeing to retire to his estate.
The king had now been married for several years without having any children, and it appears to have been generally expected that the duke, by merely waiting for his death, would obtain the crown without any risk or trouble. On the birth of the Prince of Wales however in October 1453, it became necessary to adopt another course. The spirit that showed -itself in the parliament the following year forced the court to admit the Duke of York and his chief friends and confederates, the two Nevilles (father and son), earls of Salisbury and Warwick, into the council, where their first act was to arrest the Duke of Somerset and send him to the Tower. A few weeks after this (on the 3rd of April 1454), the Duke of York was appointed by the par liament protector and defender of the kingdom during the illness of the king, who had fallen into a state of mental as well as bodily imbecility. In the following spring however Henry partially recovered, and resuming the management of affairs, released Somerset. This brought matters to a crisis. The Duke of York now withdrew from court, and both parties collected their forces to decide their quarrel by the sword. The two armies met at St. Albans on the 23rd of May 1455, when the king was defeated, he himself being wounded and taken prisoner, and the Duke of Somerset and others of the royal leaders slain. Henry, detained in the hands of the victor, was obliged to call a parliament, which met at Westminster on the 9th of July ; and here the helpices king declared tho duke and his friends to be innocent of the slaughter at St. Albans, and greeted them ns his "free and Richard, duke of York, first makes his appearance in public affairs in the end of the year 1435, when he was appointed by Henry VL to the regency of France on tho death of the Duke of Bedford. By the time he entered upon his office however Paris had been evacuated, and their French dominion was fast passing out of the hands of the English. He was recalled in 1437, but was reappointed on the death of his successor, the Earl of Warwick, in July 1440. On the 29th of April 1441 (or, according to another account, in September 1442), his son Edward, earl of March, afterwards Edward IV., was born at Rouen. The Disko of York remained in Franco till after the con clusion of the king's marriage with Margaret of Anjou, in 1446; and his government was then prolonged for another term of five years; faithful liegemen." The parliament met again, after prorogation, on the 12th of November, when the duke was a second time appointed protector. He was removed however by the king on the 23rd of February 1456; .on which he again retired from court with his
friends. The next two years passed without any further encounter, each party hesitating to attack the other. At last in the spring of 1458, York and• his friends were invited by the queen to London to be reconciled to the Lancastrian party ; an agreement to live for the future in peace was made with much solemnity ; and the Duke of York and the Earle of Salisbury and Warwick were again admitted into the counciL All this however seems to havo been merely a stratagem of the queen's to get them into her power : their danger soon became apparent ; and before the end of the year they all again withdrew from court. The resort to the fluid arbitrament could not now be much longer deferred. Both parties again collected their armed strength. Their first meeting took place at Bloreheath. near Drayton, in Shropshire, on the 23rd of September 1459, when the royal forces under Lord Audley were defeated by the Earl of Salisbury, Audley himself being slain. On the 12th of October however the king's army met that of York and Warwick near Ludlow : ample offers of pardon were made to all who would come over to the royal side; and the consequence was, that so many of the insurgents deserted, that, almost without striking a blow, the rest threw down their arms, and their leaders were obliged to save themselves by flight. The Duke of York and his adherents were attainted and their estatea confiscated, at a parliament which met at Coventry a few weeks after. By June 1460 however the dispersed insurgents were again In arms. York landed from Ireland and Warwick from France nearly at the same time; the latter, whose numbers had now increased to nearly 40,000 men, entered on the 2nd of July; and on the 9th the royal forces, advancing from Coventry, were met near Northampton, by York's son Edward, the young earl of March, and signally defeated, the king being taken prisoner, and the queen and her son obliged to fly for their lives. This is the first appearance of Edward on the scene. Up to this time also the Duke of York had never disputed Henry's title to the crown ; he professed to have taken arms only to compel the king to dismiss his evil counsellors and to govern accord ing to the laws. Even now Henry's name was still made use of by the victorious party. He was made to call a parliament, which met at Westminster on the 2nd of October, and immediately annulled everything that had been done by the late parliament of Coventry. But at this point the duke at last threw off all disguise. On the 16th he delivered to the parliament by his counsel's written claim to the crown. The question was formally"biscussed, and it was at length determined that Henry should be allowed to remain king during his life, but that the Duke of York should be immediately declared his successor. Richard was accordingly, on the 1st of November, solemnly proclaimed heir apparent and protector of the realm ; being in the latter capacity invested with rights and powers which already threw into his hands all of royalty except the name. But his dignity and authority were soon brought to an cud. The queen found means to assemble en army in the north ; on hearing which news the duke, on the 2nd of December, marched from London to give her tattle. They met on Wakefield Green on the 31st, and the issue of their encounter was the complete defeat of York. lie himself and one of his younger sons were slain, and the Earl of Salisbury was taken prisoner, and executed the next day at Pomfret with twelve of his associates. Edward, now duke of York, was at Gloucester when ho heard of this disaster. A formidable royal force, commanded by the Earls of Pembroke and Ormond, hung on his rear ; this he attacked on the 2nd of February 1461, at Mortimer's Cross, near Hereford, and completely routed. lie then set out for London, upon which the queen also was now directing her march. The next engagement that took place was at Bernard's Heath, near St. Alban', where the queen was met on the 17th by the Earl of Warwick: the earl, who had the king with him in the field, was defeated, and his majesty regained his liberty. The approach of the Duke of York however deterred Margaret from continuing her advances upon the capital ; she retired to the north, while he entered London on the 2Sth, amid the congratulations of the citizens. On the 2nd of March he laid his claim to the crown, founded on King Henry's alleged breach of the late agreement, before an assembly of lay and clerical lords; on the same afternoon an assembly of the people was held In St. John's Fields, at which his nomination as king was received with unanimous acclamations of assent ; and two days after he was solemnly proclaimed by the name of Edward IV. The 4th of March was considered as the day of his accession.