Edward entered London triumphant after his victory at Mortimer’s Cross; and having the support of Thomas Bourchier, {83d} Archbishop of Canterbury; George Neville, {83e} Bishop of Exeter, and Lord Chancellor; and other bishops; the Duke of Norfolk; {84a} the Earl of Warwick; Lord Falconberg; {84b} and other noblemen and knights of the Yorkist party, who were then in London; was declared King by acclamation, by a large body of troops and of spectators, in the fields near Clerkenwell, on the 2nd of March, 1461. {84c} On the 3rd he was petitioned by the noblemen and leaders of that party, to assume the kingly office, and rode on the 4th to St. Paul’s, and there made his offering, and then proceeded with a pompous procession to Westminster Hall, and took his seat upon the throne, with the sceptre in his hand, and was recognised as King, somewhat in the form of a coronation. From thence he went with a similar procession to Westminster Abbey, under a canopy, and, having made another offering there, he received the homage of the noblemen there present, and was afterwards, in the usual form, proclaimed King of England, in Westminster, by the title of Edward IV., and the next day was proclaimed in the same manner, in the city of London. The 4th of March was the day on which Henry VI. was subsequently declared by Parliament to have been deposed, and the reign of Edward IV. to have commenced. {85a} Edward’s great object now was to seek and encounter the Lancastrian army; he had nothing to gain by delay, but everything to hope from a victory, which he knew would remove the advantage which Henry VI. had, from his being in possession of the crown, and having been for so many years recognised by the nation as King of England. On the 7th of March the Earl of Warwick, and a large portion of the army of the Yorkists, quitted London, and commenced their march towards the North. On the 12th, Edward and the remainder of the army also left London, and proceeded with little rest, until they reached Pontefract. The Lancastrian army had assembled at York, and on the approach of the Yorkists, quitted the city, and marched through Tadcaster to Towton, and there prepared for the approach of their enemies; whilst King Henry VI., Queen Margaret, and Edward {85b} the young Prince of Wales, remained at York, awaiting the result of the impending battle, which was to decide whether Henry was to continue to be the sovereign of England, or to become a poor exile and a homeless fugitive.