It was a strange birthplace for an English prince; but his christening,
which took place in the Abbey, was not without honour, though the
ceremony was carried out as though he were a poor man’s son. He was
given the honoured name of Edward, the Abbot was his godfather, and the
Duchess of Bedford with Lady Scrope stood as his godmothers. When peace
was restored, Edward IV. at once came to Westminster to comfort his
queen, and he did not forget to reward those who had helped Elizabeth in
the hour of her distress. To Nurse Cobb he gave £12 a year; from the
butcher he ordered a royal shipful of hides and tallow; while the Abbot,
for "his great civility," was made a Privy Councillor, and afterwards
Bishop of Hereford.
But though Elizabeth left the Sanctuary, she was once more to return to
its kindly shelter. She had always a mistrust of her husband’s
favourite brother, the Duke of Gloucester, and when King Edward died in
1473, she at once went back to Westminster with her daughters and her
second son, the Duke of York. Her eldest boy, Edward, was already in his
uncle’s power and in the Tower, although the Duke of Gloucester had made
him enter London in state, he riding bare-headed before him, and saying
to the people loudly, "Behold your prince and sovereign." But the queen
was not to be deceived by this. "Woe worth him," she said bitterly; "he
goeth about to destroy me and my blood."
This time Elizabeth and her children were given room in the Abbot’s
palace, probably in the dining-hall, and there the Archbishop of York
came to her to deliver up, for the use of her son, the Great Seal,
entrusted to him by Edward IV. He found her sitting on the floor,
"alone on the rushes, desolate and dismayed, and about her was much
rumble, haste, and business with conveyance of her household stuff into
sanctuary. Every man was busy to carry, bear, and convey these stuffs,
chests, and fardels, and no man was unoccupied." In the distance could
be heard the noise of the workmen already beginning the preparations for
the coronation of King Edward, which the Duke of Gloucester was
apparently pushing forward with all haste. But as the Archbishop looked
out of his window on to the Thames, he saw the river covered with boats
full of the Duke of Gloucester’s servants, keeping a watch over the
queen’s hiding-place.
Richard of Gloucester’s next move was to get possession of the little
Duke of York, and as he was now appointed Protector, having altogether
deceived the Council as to his real intent, this was no very difficult
matter. And the poor queen had only a mother’s love and a mother’s
fears to set against these mighty men and the fair sounding argument
"that the little king was melancholy and desired his brother for a
playmate."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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