In preparation for the first thereof, the King commanded Mercers' company to provide him with certain of their memb "to go out in embassage with diverse ambassadors in Flaundres," and on September 9th, they chose Wm. Redeknap John Pykering and Wm. Caxton for this purpose.1 We ma assume that Caxton was still on the Continent concerned wit the affairs of the Governorship, for, as might be expected, h is not named with the other two in a grant of Passage-mone made for this occasion. The diet was however postponed unti January 20th 1469 and again, before that date, till the 12th o May, certainly owing to no fault of Edward's.

On January 28th the Mayor and Aldermen of London received a letter from Caxton on behalf of the Hanse Merchants which was read before a small gathering: since there was not a full court, however, it was agreed that all the aldermen should be summoned to meet at the Church of St. Thomas of Acon the same afternoon to consider the matter.3

On May the first Edward named the Bishop of Rochester, Wenlock, Scott, Hatcliff and seventeen merchants, at whose head were John Prout, Mayor of the Staple of Calais, and William Caxton, as his ambassadors. So anxious was he that nothing further should hinder the meeting that he gave a special commission to Wenlock, Scott, Prout and Caxton, who were already across the sea, to act alone if contrary winds should happen to delay the rest of the embassy, and yet the diet was put off once more, this time till the first day of June, for it was decided to hold a monetary conference in addition and further preparations were therefore necessary. This necessitated new commissions too, in one of which (mem. 17) appears the name of William Obray linked with those of Rosse and Rouchede, and so once more the two governors must have met one another in Bruges.6

How busy Caxton must have been at this period we could 1 Mercers' Records, Acts of Court, fo. xii. v.

2 Ibidem.

3 Journal of City of London, vol. 7, f. 186 ν. See Appendix VIII.
4 Signed Bills, 1500. 4290. May. Treaty Roll, 9 Ed. IV. m. 13.

May 4.

readily have conceived, even if we had not the following interesting sidelight from the Archives of Bruges. In the Registre des Sentences Civiles,1 under the date of May 12th, 1469, is placed on record how one, Daniel Adriens, plaintiff, and Jeroneme Vento, for and in the name of Jaques Dorie, merchant of Jennes, defendant, agreed to submit their case to the personal arbitration of "Willem Caston, marchant Dangleterre, maistre et gouverneur des marchans de la nation Dangleterre." But Caxton "s'estoit necessairement retrait de ladite ville de Bruges" and the case therefore came before the "plaine chambre deschevins" for judgment. Blades remarked that we had no indication as to why Caxton should be out of the town, but clearly he must have been already at Antwerp, making arrangements for the forthcoming diet. This was the last mention of Caxton as Governor then discovered.

The ambassadors left London on the 19th of May, empowered to negotiate with the Hanseatic League at Bruges as well as with the Burgundians. Little was accomplished although they stayed long abroad, making Bruges their centre, where on June 11th they received a present of "trois pieces de vin." 2 In a similar grant made at Ypres on August 13th, Caxton too had his share of the vins d'honneur: doubtless as a recognition of his services as ambassador. Ten days later the monetary conference arrived at an agreement fixing parity of exchange for all the coins in legal circulation in England and the Netherlands. But 'enlargement' there was none.

The attempt at reaching an understanding with the Hanse also came to nought, or worse than nothing. The Hansards at Bruges, duly authorised to represent all the Hanseatic towns, offered to accept a year's truce if the Duke of Burgundy so willed, but only on condition that the London Hansards were compensated for their losses, or at least given back their goods. On the same condition they were willing to hold a diet with the English in some continental town, but they insisted that Edward must be ready to treat for peace and also to redress ancient and recent grievances.

If these demands remained unfulfilled, they said, they would

:

follow the Duke of Burgundy in forbidding the importatio English cloth into the Hanse towns and would recall merchants from London. The Duke, seeing how far the had gone, attempted to mediate, but the state of affairs irretrievable, for the troubled state of English internal po enabled the embassy to promise nothing. It was sugges that negotiations should be re-opened when quiet had b restored, but the Hanse continued to name impossible conditi and the outcome was that the merchants of Cologne, expel from the League for selfish disloyalty, remained in Engla and enjoyed the ancient privileges of the Guildhalla Teuto corum, while all connection between England and the oth Hanseatic towns was severed.1 On July 18th, Edward assur these privileges to the Cologners until Easter 1470 and th assurance was repeated from time to time.2

The machinery of the Hanse moved slowly, but by Augus 1470 they had attained unity and issued a decree forbiddin commerce with England and the importation of English cloth and other merchandise. The English merchants however hac long before that time ceased to "repair and resort unto the land of Pruce and other places of the Hanse," and all the Hansards, save them of Cologne, had departed from England. Open warfare was then the order of the day.

VII

Meanwhile the personal struggle of King Edward against the Earl of Warwick had resolved itself once more into a contest between the houses of York and Lancaster. Warwick had long been incensed at Edward's impolitic marriage and the resultant creation of a new nobility, and his alliance with Burgundy in spite of Warwick's determined opposition had been the final incitement to open enmity.

To counteract the King's marriage with Elizabeth Woodville, Warwick gave his elder daughter, Isabel, to the Duke of

Clarence, Edward's younger brother, in a marriage expressly forbidden by the King himself. Then at Warwick's instigation a rebellion broke out in Yorkshire under a popular leader, nicknamed "Robin of Reesdale": this however was quickly suppressed by John, Earl of Montagu, Warwick's brother, and the leader was slain.

Nevertheless the cause was taken up by Sir William Conyers, who marched to Edgecote with some sixty thousand men and defeated the royal forces. By Clarence's command Earl Rivers, Sir John Woodville, the Queen's father and brother, and the Earl of Pembroke were all beheaded.

On the defeat of his forces the King was for a time compelled to submit to Warwick and was kept a virtual prisoner by the Nevilles. But reconciliation was brought about and the prospect of winning Edward to the proposed alliance with Louis of France served to free the King once

more.

Later in the year 1469 another insurrection of the commonalty broke out in Lincolnshire under Sir Robert Welles. Many see in this too the instigation of Warwick. Be that as it may, Edward marched into Rutland and inflicted a crushing defeat upon the rebels. Welles was captured and confessed that the real object of the rising had been to put Clarence on the throne, whereupon Edward immediately proclaimed Warwick and Clarence traitors: both however succeeded in escaping to France, where they were well received by Louis.

This finally proved to Warwick that there was no chance of regaining his lost power except by the aid of the House of Lancaster, so he approached Louis with the request that he should persuade Queen Margaret, who was still in France, to receive overtures of friendship.

The enmity which had been so bitter between them in the past took long to break down, but at last an alliance was agreed upon and a treaty drawn up and signed at Amboise between Warwick, Margaret and Clarence, by which it was decided that the crown should be settled on the young Prince of Wales, who was to marry Anne Neville, Warwick's second daughter, and that, failing the prince, the crown should pass to Clarence. Active preparations were made to invade England and dethrone Edward, but Clarence, feeling himself entirely put in the

i

!

E

background by the new treaty, at once opened negotiation
his brother in order to reinstate himself in his favour.
paid no heed to the warnings of Charles the Bold, and Wa
and Clarence were allowed to land unmolested at Dartm
there they raised the standard of the imprisoned Henry
As they marched towards London the whole county j
their ranks, and Edward, finding that even the trusty Mor
had deserted him, fled from England. Henry was once
dragged from the Tower and crowned King.

Georges Chastellain pictures the months in which War was again supreme in England as a sort of reign of terror, it appears that his relations with Edward IV did not leave unbiased. The documentary records of the period give far ot evidence. Pardons were issued to almost everyone that soug them: from the justicers and barons of the Exchequer to t Sheriffs of England, appointments remained unchanged, a very few indeed were the offices Warwick found with which reward his friends.

He himself took again the Captaincy of Calais and the Grea Chamberlainship, both of which offices he had held unde Edward, and, as Worcester had fled the country (with a larg sum of money), he was justified in giving the Treasurership to the Prior of St. John's.1 The desirable office of Master of the King's Mints in England and Calais had been held from the beginning of Edward's reign by Lord Hastings: this was now given to Sir Richard Tunstall, and Sir John Plummer became Keeper of the Great Wardrobe.

Warwick's return to power was marked also by an unusual clemency: many prominent men had of course suffered arrest, but they were soon again set at liberty. Upon one alone did vengeance fall and then with the consent and to the joy of most moderate Englishmen.

The Earl of Worcester, the "butcher of England," was given to the headsman amidst scenes of vehement popular hatred and died as a haughty but pious gentleman. On the one hand his inexorability had allowed him to perform deeds of the utmost ruthlessness and cruelty, while on the other his learning, eloquence and gentility had gained for him the friendship of the Pope and the admiration of all the writers of his day.