Although Cheshire was fiercely loyal to Richard II, after the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403) that loyalty gradually transferred itself to the House of Lancaster. Cheshire was a royal earldom and palatinate, with the King (or the Prince of Wales when there was one) as its immediate lord. As in next-door Lancashire, there was no resident magnate and in practical terms, the county was governed by its gentry families; particularly those who enjoyed favour at court.
It will be recalled that prior to the Battle of Blore Heath, Margaret of Anjou and her son, the child Edward, Prince of Wales, were very active in this area, distributing the Prince’s livery of the (Bohun) Swan. Many wearers of that Swan were cut down at Blore Heath, which removed some of the most important members of county society from circulation on a permanent basis.
Among those who survived were Sir William Stanley (who fought on the Yorkist side at Blore Heath), and Thomas, Lord Stanley, his brother, a nominal Lancastrian at this point who stood a few miles off with his 2,000 men, but prudently avoided any involvement. These two men were to become increasingly influential in Cheshire, especially Sir William, who was eventually to become its virtual ruler. The Stanleys had, of course, started off as a Cheshire gentry family. They had since substantially extended their horizons, but Cheshire was still an important area of influence for them.
Despite the Yorkist victory at Blore Heath, John and Thomas Neville were captured there by the Lancastrians and taken to Chester Castle. Immediately after the victory at Northampton, the new (i.e. Yorkist) government ordered that they be released into the care of Thomas, Lord Stanley. Since this had the effect of setting them free, it is clear that Thomas had already ‘considered his position’ by this time. Although he was never rigidly loyal to either side.
When Richard, Duke of York, returned from Ireland in 1460, he landed at Chester – or more precisely at Redbank a landing place a little further down the Dee estuary that was more suited to the docking of large ships. York was apparently well-received by the then Mayor of Chester, John Southworth. Southworth was granted a useful annuity of £10, which continued until his death in 1485. His son also served Edward IV, and after Edward’s accession, the city was rewarded with a reduction of its fee farm. (1)
The area of North-East Wales that adjoined Cheshire was a nest of Lancastrian sentiment. The new King’s response was to send the Duke of Norfolk and his household to Holt Castle (2) to help pacify the district. As Norfolk was no more than 18 in 1462 and his wife Elizabeth Talbot (Eleanor‘s sister) was just a few months older, this was quite a responsibility. No doubt they had some suitable advisers with them, but the idea seems to have been to put a ‘big name’ (i.e. a great lord) in place in the hope they would overawe the peasants. Of course, as previously noted, there was no ‘native’ magnate in the area – unless you include Sir William Stanley, which is a stretch – and the arrival of one was possibly a stabilising influence, or at least was intended to be. They were to remain in place for two years or so, and they and the entourage at least boosted the profits of Chester’s shopkeepers.
Another person sent to the same general area was Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. Somerset had been reconciled, somewhat amazingly, with Edward IV, and for a time had established himself as something of a royal favourite, even sharing Edward’s bed. (3) However, after an anti-Somerset riot in Coventry, he was sent away for his own safety.
Somerset seems to have been based mainly at Chirk, although he may also have spent time at Holt, given that the Duchess of Norfolk was his first cousin. Either Edward was displaying great trust in despatching him to an area of uncertain loyalty, or he was testing him by trailing temptation under his nose. Your view on this may well depend on your opinion of Edward IV’s political nous.
In any event, at the end of 1463, Somerset defected. However, instead of stirring discontent in this area, he removed himself to Northumberland, where he linked up with Henry VI and eventually met his death by execution following defeat at the Battle of Hexham (15 May 1464.)
In March 1464, John Paston III, writing to his father from Holt (where he was serving in the Norfolk household) reported that 10,000 rebels from Lancashire and Cheshire had risen, but had been put down again, with a couple beheaded in Chester. (I think the 10,000 may safely be put down to exaggeration, but it shows the tenuous hold that the Yorkist government had over these outlying areas.) It is worth mentioning that Henry VI himself was still at large in the northern counties at this point, and was not captured until July 1465.
1464 saw more trouble in the northern shires. A great bombard was sent all the way from Chester to Newcastle to help suppress Lancastrian resistance and Chester’s entire stock of gunpowder was sent to Chester to assist the Stanley brothers who were besieging Skipton Castle on behalf of Edward IV.
An example of the general lawlessness of the area may be seen in 1465 when there was a virtual pitched battle at Mold Fair between men from Chester/Cheshire and a Welsh faction led by Davydd ap Ifan ap Einion, a professional soldier who had fought in France and was to hold Harlech Castle for the Lancastrians right through to late 1468. Roger Bruyn, (4) who had been Mayor of Chester in 1462-3 was seized by the Welsh and hanged. Whether this incident was provoked by Welsh/English antipathy, national politics or commercial disputes is not entirely clear. All three may have played a part.
In 1467 there were again threats from rebels and Chester was put into a state of defence, the Mayor receiving 10 marks for his efforts. Then in 1468, Jasper Tudor landed at Harlech and once again Sir William Stanley went into bat for York, leading a force towards Denbigh, which Jasper had captured and where he was holding courts – the latter activity probably with the intent of raising cash, given that was the function of courts, especially in the Marches.
Jasper retreated to Harlech, but on the way he behaved rather like Sherman in Georgia, reducing many houses to ashes and de-housing Welsh families on a scale that Bomber Harris would have thought excessive. (If this was a Welsh patriot, I should hate to see an enemy of the Welsh!) (5)
During the Readeption of Henry VI in November 1470, William Stanley was attacked by 400 men at Nantwich. These men reportedly shouted for King Harry and Warwick, but it appears Stanley beat them off as he came to no harm. In a few months’ time he was fighting for Edward IV at Tewkesbury, and, given the location of his power, it is highly likely that many of those fighting for him were men of Cheshire.
In 1470 Edward IV paid a brief visit to Chester and in 1472 he again renewed the reduction of the fee farm, presumably a sign that he was satisfied with Chester’s loyalty.
Sources:
J. T. Driver, Cheshire in the Late Middle Ages.
H.T. Evans, Wales and the Wars of the Roses.
Jane Laughton, Life in A Late Medieval City. An invaluable book about medieval Chester that provided most of the bones for this post.
See also:
Notes:
(1) A fee farm was an annual sum paid to the King in return for a royal grant, in this case, the city’s freedom from feudal service and the other privileges allowed to it. In simple terms, a rent.
(2) Holt had once belonged to Richard Arundel, Earl of Arundel (executed 1397). It descended to Norfolk via female line inheritance after the failure of the direct male line of Lord Arundel.
(3) For the avoidance of doubt, in this era this was a sign of trust and favour. It is unlikely either man was gay.
(4) The Bruyn family were minor gentry in Cheshire. This man was almost certainly one of their blood.
(5) Harlech Castle fell in August 1468 to forces raised by Lord Herbert and his brother. Rather surprisingly, most of the garrison were pardoned, with the exception of a few English Lancastrians who were executed. One member of the garrison, Sir Richard Tunstall, had a very interesting career, and was destined to be made KG by Richard III!
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