{107a} John Morton, mentioned above as the Parson of “Blokesworth” [Bloxworth] in Dorsetshire, was afterwards Bishop of Ely, and in the reign of Henry VII., was Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury, and also a Cardinal. It is remarkable, that several priests and ecclesiastics are included in the above-mentioned act of attainder; but there does not appear to be any foundation for Lord Campbell’s assertion, that any of them fought at the battle of Towton, nor, from the general deportment and actions of Morton, does such a line of conduct seem probable, with respect to him. I believe that not any ancient historian has stated that ecclesiastics were in arms, and fought for or against the House of Lancaster; they might, however, be very useful with their tenants, vassals, advice, influence, and exertions. In Lord Campbell’s _Lives of the Chancellors_, vol. i. p. 418, it is, however, correctly stated, that John Morton “had the rich living of Blokesworth” conferred upon him in the reign of Henry VI. His attainder, and also that of Ralph Mackerell, Clerk, were reversed in the twelfth and thirteenth year of Edward IV.—_Rot. Parl._ vol. vi. 12 and 13 Edward IV. pp. 26 and 27. {107b} Sir John Fortescue was a lawyer of great talents and eminence, and was made Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench, in the reign of Henry VI. He was a judge of high integrity, and an excellent man, and, what was rare in that age, he was a literary character; some of his works are of merit, and have been handed down to us. At the time of the battle of Towton, he was no longer a young man, and, however much he might have devoted his talents and exertions to the Lancastrian party, before the battle, it seems a great stretch of credulity to think, that the judge was actually screwed up in armour, and “mixed in the moody fight,” and “displayed undaunted valour at Towton,” as Lord Campbell states. The latter appears also to labour under the same mistake, with respect to Fortescue’s fighting propensities at Towton, as with respect to those of John Morton, who was a priest, as already mentioned.—See Campbell’s _Lives of the Chancellors_, vol. i. p. 369. {109} _Rot. Parl._ 1st Edward IV. (1461), vol. v. fo. 477–478. See Appendix No. I.