The Lancastrians did not long enjoy their victory. Richard's son, the Earl
of March, succeeded to his father's title and claimed the right to the
English crown. On Palm Sunday, March 21st, 1461, the forces of the Red and
the White Roses met at Towton-field. The battle raged during a blinding
snowstorm, and the Yorkists gained a complete victory. Edward then
proceeded to York and entered by Micklegate Bar. Here the saddening sight
of the head of his father and other brave men who had fallen fighting for
his cause were displayed, also that of his brother. He had them removed,
and in their stead, to still keep up the ghastly show, were placed the
heads of his foes at Towton, and amongst the number the Earl of
Devonshire, Sir William Hill, the Earl of Kyme, and Sir Thomas Foulford.
Shakespeare notices this act of retaliation in _Henry VI._ (Part III., Act
II., Scene 6).
"_Warwick_: From off the gates of York fetch down the head,
Your father's head, which Clifford placed there:
Instead thereof, let this supply the room;
Measure for measure must be answered."
Edward had the heads of his father and his brother taken to Pontefract,
placed with their bodies, and then with great pomp the remains were
removed to the church at Fotheringay and there reinterred.
An attempt was made in 1569 to dethrone Elizabeth, and place in her stead
Mary Queen of Scots. The leaders of the revolt were the Earls of
Northumberland and Westmoreland. It ended in failure, and was the last
trial with arms to restore the Papal power in England. The leaders for a
time made their escape, but the government, with a vengeance that has
seldom been equalled, cruelly punished the masses. Men were hanged at
every market-cross and village-green from Wetherby to Newcastle, the large
part of the north from whence the rebels had come. The Earl of
Northumberland managed to evade capture for nearly two years by hiding in
a wretched cottage. He was betrayed and brought to York. On August 22nd,
1572, he was beheaded, and he died, we are told, "Avowing the Pope's
supremacy, and denying subjection to the Queen, affirming the land to be
in a schism, and her obedient subjects little better than heretics." The
Earl's head was spiked above Micklegate Bar, where it remained for about a
couple of years, and then it was stolen in the night by persons unknown.
After the defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden on April 16th, 1746, the
Duke of Cumberland on his route to London visited York, and left behind
him a number of prisoners. On November 1st, ten of the rebels were hanged,
drawn, and quartered, and a week later eleven more suffered a similar
fate. The head of one of the unfortunate men, that of Captain Hamilton,
was sent to Carlisle. The heads of Conolly and Mayne were spiked over
Micklegate Bar, York, and eight years later were stolen. A reward was
offered for the detection of the offenders. The following is a copy of the
notice issued:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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