The Wars of the Roses; or, Stories of the Struggle of York and LancasterEdgar, John G. (John George)
History
The Wars of the Roses; or, Stories of the Struggle of York and Lancaster
Edgar, John G. (John George)
Great Britain -- History -- Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485
Another day arrived, and the champions, armed with battle-axes,
appeared on foot within the lists. This day proved as unfortunate
for the Bastard as the former had been. Both knights, indeed, bore
themselves valiantly; but, at a critical moment, the point of
Woodville's axe penetrated the sight-hole of his antagonist's helmet,
and, availing himself of this advantage, Anthony was on the point of
so twisting his weapon as to bring the Burgundian to his knee. At that
instant, however, the king cast down his warder, and the marshals
hastened to sever the combatants. The Bastard, having no relish for
being thus worsted, declared himself far from content, and demanded
of the king, in the name of justice, that he should be allowed to
perform his enterprise. Edward thereupon appealed to the marshals; and
they, having considered the matter, decided that by the laws of the
tournament the Burgundian was entitled to have his demand granted;
but that, in such a case, he must be delivered to his adversary in
precisely the same predicament as when the king interfered--in fact,
with the point of Anthony Woodville's weapon thrust into the crevice
of his visor: "which," says Dugdale, "when the Bastard understood, he
relinquished his farther challenge."
The tournament at Smithfield, unlike "the gentle passage at Ashby,"
terminated without bloodshed. Indeed, neither Anthony Woodville nor his
antagonist felt any ambition to die in their harness in the lists; and
the Bastard, in visiting England, had a much more practical object in
view than to afford amusement to gossiping citizens. He was, in fact,
commissioned by the Count of Charolois to press the English king on
the subject of a match with Margaret of York; and he played his part
so well as to elicit from Edward, notwithstanding Warwick's embassy, a
promise that the hand of the princess should be given to the heir of
Burgundy. When Warwick returned from France and found what had been
done in his absence, he considered that he had been dishonored. Such
usage would, at any time, have grated hard on the earl's heart; and
the idea of the Woodvilles having been the authors of this wrong made
his blood boil with indignation. He forthwith retired to Middleham, in
a humor the reverse of serene, and there brooded over his wrongs in a
mood the reverse of philosophic.
The king did not allow the king-maker's anger to die for want of fuel.
On the contrary, having given Warwick serious cause of offense, he
added insult to injury by pretending that the earl had been gained over
by Louis to the Lancastrian cause, and that the state was in no small
danger from his treasonable attempts. At the same time, he abruptly
deprived George Neville, Archbishop of York,[8] of the office of
chancellor--thus indicating still farther distrust of the great family
to whose efforts he owed his crown.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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