But to return to King Edward. The greatest support of the house of York was the Earl of Warwick; and the greatest partisan of the house of Lancaster was the Duke of Somerset. This Earl of Warwick, in respect of the eminent services he had done him, and the care he had taken of his education, might have been well called King Edward’s father; and indeed he was a very great man; for besides his own patrimony, he was possessed of several lordships which had been given him by the king, some of crown lands, and some that were confiscated. He was made Governor of Calais[298], and had other great offices, so that I have heard he received annually in pensions and that kind of profits, 80,000 crowns, besides his inheritance. By accident the Earl of Warwick had fallen out[299] with his master the year before the Duke of Burgundy’s expedition against Amiens.[300] The Duke of Burgundy had indeed, in some measure, been the occasion of the breach between them, as he disliked the mighty sway and authority that the earl bore in England. Besides, there was no good understanding between them, for the Earl of Warwick held constant correspondence with the King of France our master. In short, about this very time, or a little before, the Earl of Warwick was grown so exorbitant in his power, that he imprisoned his master King Edward[301], put the Queen’s[302] father[303] (the Lord Rivers) and two of his sons to death, and the third was in great danger (though all of them were great favourites of the king.) He also caused several knights to be put to death. For some time he used the king very honourably, and put new servants about him, hoping that he would have forgotten the old, for he looked upon his master as a very weak prince. The Duke of Burgundy was extremely concerned at what had happened, and privately contrived a way for King Edward’s escape, and that he might have an opportunity of speaking with him: and their plot succeeded so well, that King Edward escaped out of prison, raised men, and defeated a great body of the Earl of Warwick’s troops. King Edward was very fortunate in his battles, for he fought at least nine pitched battles (always on foot), and was always conqueror. The Earl of Warwick finding himself too weak to oppose King Edward, having first given instructions to his private friends what they were to do in his absence, put to sea with the Duke of Clarence, who had married his daughter[304], and was then of his faction, notwithstanding that he was brother to the king; and carrying with them their wives and children, and a great number of forces, he appeared before Calais. There were at that time several of the earl’s servants in the town, and one in the quality of his lieutenant, Lord Wenlock[305], who, instead of receiving him, fired his great guns upon him. Whilst they lay at anchor before the town, the Duchess of Clarence (who was daughter to the Earl of Warwick) was brought to bed of a son[306], and great entreaties had to