The men of Coventry settled down under the rule of Edward IV.; and if the clash of arms was heard in the north--for Margaret would not tamely submit to lose her son's inheritance--it did not disturb the Midlands. Henry VI., the weak, mad, saintly King, lay in the Tower of London, and men thought the Yorkist firmly seated on his throne. The wars and party troubles had, however, much disorganized the city finances, and it is probably from this time that we must date the backwardness of the city in paying their ferm to the exchequer; and though the vigorous measures of the leet may have kept temporary order for those within and without the ruling body, yet the embarrassments of the corporation were not past. An attack on the franchises,[278] made, so it would appear from some words the steward of Cheylesmore let fall, at the instigation of some of the malcontents within the city in 1464, was the cause of much trouble and fear to the townsfolk. The arrest of one Hikman, a dyer, a craft always at daggers drawn with the corporation, in Cheylesmore Park, was the occasion of the trouble. At the instance of the officials of the royal manor,[279] Edward IV. called in question the right of the city officers to make arrests within the manorial territory. The matter was decided in the city's favour after many journeys and much suffering of the law's delays. [Illustration: SMITHFORD STREET COVENTRY] Edward treated the Coventry folk graciously enough, paying them several visits at this time[280]; but another figure had begun to loom large in English politics, and Warwick, the King-maker, now exercised even more power in the Midlands than had been enjoyed by the Lancastrian Buckingham. In 1464 the earl first appears as meddling in the internal affairs of Coventry. A quarrel arose between a certain William Bedon and William Huet about a debt--it may have been a party affair between the weavers and tailors--and appeal was made to Edward IV. The matter, the King declared, was "screpulus and doubtefull," and directed that the litigants should abide by the arbitration of certain citizens, or that the mayor, in the event of their inability to decide upon the case before Michaelmas, should step in and dispose of the matter.