WARWICK FLIES FROM ENGLAND. 109 1469. ger." Of all his adherents, Warwick was the person to whom he was most beholden for his success; but, by privately contracting a marriage while that great baron was publicly negotiating for one by his authority, he gave him deep offence, and is said previously to have offered him a private wrong, which was not likely ever to be forgotten or forgiven. When the earl had A. D. determined upon taking vengeance, he connected himself with Edward's brother, the duke of Clarence, by giving him his eldest daughter in marriage. The marriage was celebrated at Calais, and some months elapsed before any demonstration of enmity was made on Warwick's part, or any suspicion appeared on the king's. The earl's plans were ill laid: he seems to have halted between two opinions, and to have resolved upon unmaking the king whom he had made, before he could subdue his own enmity toward the house of Lancaster, so far as to reconcile himself with queen Margaret, and prepare for restoring the dynasty which he had deposed. The effect of this irresolution was, that he was prepared with no plan of proceedings when he had made himself master of the king's person by a night attack upon his quarters at Wolney, near Warwick, and placed him in custody of his brother, the archbishop of York, at Middleham Castle, in Yorkshire: and when Edward, escaping from his careless guard, made his way safely 1470. to York first, and thence to Lancaster and London, the earl and Clarence found it necessary to fly the kingdom. They hired ships at Dartmouth, well armed, and at all points trimmed, and decked; and, embarking with their wives and retainers, sailed for Calais.* Warwick's intention was to leave his family in that safe hold, while he proceeded to the French king, Louis, in the hope of either obtaining a great aid from him, or of "incensing him earnestly to make battle against king Edward." He was the more likely to succeed, because, by the marriage of Charles the Bold of Burgundy with Edward's sister, Margaret, the house of York had con Hall, 261. 265. 275. 278. Holinshed, 284. 294. nected itself with the power that, of all others, Louis regarded with the most jealous and inimical feeling. That the duke wore the blue garter on his leg, and the red cross, which was the badge of king Edward, on his mantle, he considered a plain demonstration of his friendship for the English, and of his capital enmity against France.* Warwick had left Calais in charge to his lieutenant, the sieur de Vaucler, a Gascon by birth, on whose fidelity he firmly relied: nor was he altogether deceived in him; for it appears that Vaucler was very desirous to serve his lord, provided he could do so with safety to himself. Few men have succeeded so well in playing so dangerous a game. Instead of opening the gates to Warwick, he fired upon his ships, not, however, with the intention of injuring them. The duchess of Clarence was delivered of a fair son while they lay at anchor before the place — (poor child, his fate is one of the blackest stories in the black history of state crimes!); —it was not without great entreaty that Vaucler would allow the infant to be taken on shore for baptism, and permit two flagons of wine to be taken aboard. Edward, as may be supposed, was well pleased with the deputy lieutenant's conduct; knowing that, if the same course had been pursued on a former occasion, when he and Warwick took refuge there, it would have been fatal to what was then the insurrectionary cause. He immediately sent over his letters patent, constituting him chief captain of Calais, and proclaiming Warwick a traitor. Vaucler's character and station qualified him for the post, for he was a knight of the garter. The duke of Burgundy also estimated th importance of this act to the king of England, and consequently to his own immediate interest, so highly, that he sent Philippe de Comines to Calais, to settle upon Vaucler a pension of 1000 crowns, and exhort him to continue faithful to the part which he had now taken; and that captain accordingly took the oath of fidelity to Edward, in presence of Comines, and the other * Continuation of Monstrelet, xi. 95. officers of the garrison and of the town did the same. Vaucler, meantime, sent secret advice to Warwick, that if he attempted to enter the town he would be lost; the townsmen and most of the garrison being against him, as well as his own country and the duke of Burgundy: he advised him, therefore, to return into France, make his part good there, and leave him to manage his affairs in Calais, of which he would render him a good account in due time.* Warwick by this time had collected about fourscore vessels, they who rejoiced in any pretext for plundering the merchant ships gladly joining him : with these he sailed for Normandy, capturing all vessels belonging to the Low Countries which came in his way; he landed at Dieppe, and repaired immediately with Clarence to the king of France, to commune with him at Amboise.† That crafty monarch, than whom no king ever knew better when to spend and when to spare, received him to his heart's content, supplied him largely with money for his followers, and ordered his admiral, the Bastard of Bourbon, to put to sea in aid of this new ally against the duke of Burgundy. Meantime Warwick's ships scoured the coast of Flanders, and brought in such stores of merchandise in their prizes into the French ports, that Louis is said to have prohibited by proclamation any further sale of such goods, lest the province should be drained of its money. At Amboise, one of those matrimonial alliances were formed, which having policy for their sole motive, have so frequently frustrated the very purpose for which they were designed: the earl's youngest daughter was married to prince Ed "Il servit très-bien son capitaine, luy donnant ce conseil," says Comines, "mais très-mal son roy. Jamais homme ne tint plus grande desloyauté que ce Vaucler, vu que le roy d'Angleterre l'avoit fait capitaine en chef, avec ce que le duc de Bourgogne luy donnoit." Comines gives his reasons for relating these particulars: he says, " pour ce qu'il est besoin d'estre informé aussi bien des tromperies et mauvaistrez de ce monde, comme du bien, (non pour en user, mais pour s'en garder), je veux declarer une tromperie, une habilité, ainsi qu'on la voudra nommer, car elle fut sagement conduite; et aussi veux qu'on entend les tromperies de nos voisins, comme les nostres, et que partout il y a du bien et du mal."- Coil. Univ. des Mémoires, &c. t xỉ 147, 148. + Hall, 278, 279. Holinshed, 294. Comines, ut supra, 144-8. Cont. of ward, king Henry's only son. Bitter wrongs were to be forgiven on either side, and the deepest resentment to be overcome: but, in contracting this alliance with the house of Lancaster, whereby he pledged himself to the restoration of that house, the earl overlooked the probable effect upon Clarence, who might now think it safer to be reconciled to his brother than to serve under the red rose. Edward did not lose the occasion which was thus presented to him, and by means of a female agent opened an intercourse with his weak and worthless brother, which prepared the way for his defection. This was the only measure to which an apprehension of his danger excited him, though Burgundy repeatedly warned him, that unless he was well prepared the enemy would be upon him. Yet Edward could not but be aware how greatly Warwick was to be dreaded. "There was no other man," says Hall," whom the people held in so much honour, and praised so much, and extolled to the clouds so highly. His only name sounded in every song in the mouth of the common people, and his person was represented with great reverence, when public plays or open triumphs were showed or set forth in the streets ; and now his absence made them long daily more and more to have the sight of him, for they judged that the sun was clearly taken from the world when he was absent." But Edward, a young, hale, and handsome prince, brave as the bravest of his undaunted race, and equally devoid of fear and of forethought, reckoned upon his own popularity, and disbelieved or disregarded that of Warwick, the king-maker, whose reputation, however, was then as great in other countries as in England. The king of France had bound this mighty * "One cause of the great favour in which Warwick was held by the commons of this land was by reason of the exceeding household which he daily kept in all countries, wherever he sojourned or lay; and when he came to London, he held such an house that six oxen were eaten at a breakfast; and every tavern was full of his meat, for who that had any ac. quaintance in that house, he should have as much sod and roast as he might carry upon a long day."- Holinshed, 301. Taniala con el rey y con todos," says Sueyro, "pues devia valer mucho el hombre que pudo trocar dos vezes el estado de Ingalaterra, y disponer de la corona."-T. ii. 479. earl, and with him queen Margaret for her husband, and the prince of Wales for himself as well as his father, by oath, never to confederate with the house of Burgundy, but to assist him till he should have subverted that house, and subjected its dominions.* Even Charles the Bold might reasonably regard with apprehension the consequences of such an engagement. That prince prepared immediately to meet the dan ger. He seized upon the French property at Bruges, Antwerp, and other places. His states, Burgundy excepted, which had enough to do in providing for its own defence, voted him 120,000 crowns for three years for the expense of a naval armament: he engaged such Spanish, Portuguese, Genoese, and Easterlings' ships as were found at Sluys, and went to Zeeland, there to accelerate the preparations which were making at Arnemuiden and at Veere. The lord of Veere, Henrik van Borselen, sailed with eight and twenty great ships from Arnemuiden; and Warwick's fleet, though strengthened by the French under the Bastard of Bourbon, thought it not advisable to hazard an action with him, but hastened to their port in Normandy. Van Borselen landed some of his people, for he had the strength of Zeeland with him, and burnt ten of the enemy's vessels in the harbour where they had thought themselves safe. After this victory, Henrik van Borselen sailed for England: where his brother Floris the Bastard landed with a body of men one day for recreation, and went into Southampton, not knowing that the people of that town were partisans of Warwick: but they, regarding the Burgundians as his enemies, ran to arms, set up the cry of "Warwick!" and fiercely attacked him. He was strong enough to get possession of a part of the town, and maintain it, till the foreign traders who were in the river interfered, and took Floris and his wounded people on board their ships. In consequence of this affray, Edward punished some of the persons who had Sueyro says that treaties to this effect were found among the papers of prince Edward after his death. ii. 479. |