174
Constitutional History.
[chap.
fine was imposed on the lords who absented themselves from
parliament1; on the 15th of March the infant prince was
created prince of Wales2; on the 9th of March the Lord
Cromwell demanded security of the peace against Henry Hol-
land, the duke of Exeter 3. An act of resumption, which was
now becoming a part of the regular business of parliament, was
likewise passed4. Several statutes were enrolled.
Administra-
tion of the
duke of
York.
Somerset
kept in
prison.
The parliament probably broke up a week before Easter,
April 21 s ; and the government devolved upon the protector
and the council, which he no doubt was able to form at his
own discretion. The first task which he undertook was the
pacification of the north, where the quarrel between the
Nevilles and the Percies was spreading6; the duke of Exeter
had joined the latter party and had attempted, by the use of
the king’s name, to stir up Yorkshire and Lancashire against
the duke of York. The protector’s presence in the north
served to disperse the forces of the two factions, but not to
reconcile them ; the duke of Exeter came to London and took
sanctuary at Westminster, whence he was taken by force and
confined at Pomfret. The Percies remained at large. A second
question was how to dispose of the duke of Somerset. In
a meeting of the great council on the 18th of July, his friends
attempted to obtain his release on bail, but on the appeal of
the protector it was determined to ask the advice of the judges
and of the absent lords ; and the 28th of October was fixed as
the day on which the charges of the duke of Norfolk were to
July 17 ; Kymer, xi. 351. Councils were held for the purpose of raising
money for Calais in May and June ; Ordinances, vi. 174-180, &c.
1 Rot. Paid. v. 248 ; Ordinances, vi. 181-183.
2 Rot. Parl. v. 249.
3 lb. v. 264. 4 lb. v. 267 sq.
5 The last dated transaction is one of April 17 ; ib. p. 247.
6 The duke of Exeter and lord Egremont rose against the Nevilles in
1453. The duke was summoned before the council on June 25, 1454,
Ordinances, vi. 189; arrested and iιnpιisoned at Pomfret July 24, ib.
vi. 217; and at Wallingford, ib. vi. 234; but released on the king’s
recovery. The earl of Devon also, who had a private war with lord
Bonneville, was arrested during York’s regency ; Chr. Giles, p. 46.
Bonneville had had a quarrel with the earl of Huntingdon, father of
the duke of Exeter, in 1440 ; Beckington, i. 193 ; Paston Letters, i. 264,
290, 296, 350; Ordinances, vi. 130, 140, 217, 234.
XVIII.]
The King’s Hecorery.
i75
be brought forward1. What was then done is not known;
Somerset, however, was not released.
350. The king recovered his senses a few weeks later. HeTheking
was sane at Christmas, and recognised his little son for the first early in
time on the 30th of December ; on the 7th of January he ɪ455'
admitted bishop AVaynflete to an interview. The dismissal of
the protector and his ministers was imminent2. On the 5tl1 of
February Somerset was released; the duke of Buckingham, the
earl of AViltshire, and the lords Roos and Fitzwarin undertaking
that he should present himself for trial on the 3rd of the follow-
ing November3. On the 4th of March he appealed to the king Somerset
in council and was declared loyal ; he and the duke of York
were bound over to accept an arbitration4 ; on the 6th Somerset
was restored to the captaincy of Calais5. On the Tth the great Bourchier
ɪ V ∙ о chancellor
seal was taken from the earl of Salisbury and given to archbishop
Bourchier6, no doubt to secure Buckingham’s support; on the
15th James Butler earl of AViltshire was made treasurer7. A
great council was then called, to meet at Leicester, to provide for
the safety of the king8, and the partisans of York were no longer
summoned to attend the ordinary councils. The duke could
scarcely allege that such measures were unconstitutional or un- Yorkisnot
precedented, for they were in close analogy with his own policy marches oɪɪ
of the previous year. He saw that they must be met by a resist-
ance backed with armed force. AVith the Nevilles he collected
his forces in the north9, and marched towards London. On the
20th of May, in conjunction with Salisbury and Warwick, he
addressed the archbishop in a letter dated at Royston, and
followed it up with an appeal to the king on the 21 st from
AVare10; in both the lords declared their loyalty, and affirmed
that their forces were intended only to secure their own safety
against their enemies who surrounded the king, and to enable
1 Ordinances, vi. 207, 218. 2 Paston Letters, i. 315.
3 Rymer, xi. 361 ; see J. du Clercq, iii. c. ɪo.
4 Rymer, xi. 361, 362. 5 lb. xi. 363.
° Ordinances, vi. 365. , DugdalejOriginesJuridiciales,
8 Rot. Parl. v. 280. 9 Whethamstede, i. 164.
10 Rot. Parl. v. 2S1 ; Paston Letters, i. 325. The letter to the king is
given in Latin by Vdhethamstede, i. 184.