Visits to Fields of Battle, in England, of the Fifteenth Century / to which are added, some miscellaneous tracts and papers upon archæological subjects

by Richard Brooke

No. VI.

Extract from the Act of Attainder of 11th Henry VII., against Francis Lovel, late Lord Lovel.—Rot. Parl. 11th Henry VII. (A.D. 1495), vol. vi. fo. 502.

“Forasmoch as John, late Erle of Lincoln, Fraunces Lovell, late Lord Lovell, and divers other with theym, trayterously ymagynyng and compassyng the deth and destruccion of our sovereign lord the king, assembled themself with other evil disposed peopull, to the nombre of VM p̃sones, at Stoke, in the countie of Notyngham, the XXth day of June, the IId yere of the reigne of our said sovereign lord the kinge that nowe is, and then and there, for the pformaunce of their cursed myschevous and wreched purpose, in pleyne feild, at the same Stoke, in the said countie, with their baners displayed, contrary to theyr alligeaunce ayenst the king our and their naturall sovereign lord, levied and rered warre and made bataille ayenst him, for whiche traiterous and unnatural dede the said John, Erle of Lincolne, with dyvers other then and there traiterously offendyng, were late by auctorite of parliament, in a parliament holden at Westm’, the IIIde yere of the reigne of the king our sovereigne lord that now is, deemed convict and atteynt of high treason; in the whiche acte of atteyndre the said Fraunces Lovell was ignorauntly left oute and omitted, to the moost perillous ensample of other being of suche traiterous myndes. Wherfore be it ordeyned, enacted, and established, by the lordes sp̃uall and temporall, and the comons in this p̃sent parliament assembled, and by auctorite of the same, that the said Fraunces stande and be deemed adjuged, convicte, and atteynte of high treason, for his rehersed trayterous dede, and forfeite to the kinge,” all the honours, castles, manors, lordships, possessions, hereditaments, &c. &c., which he possessed on the 20th June, in 2nd Henry VII.

This is a most extraordinary statute. It commences with calling Lord Lovel, the “late Lord Lovell,” without there appearing to be any certain proof of his death; and it is contradictory of the act attainting the Earl of Lincoln and others (see Appendix No. V.), which alleges, that their forces amounted to 8000 men, and that the battle took place on the 16th of June; whilst in this the insurgent troops are only stated to be 5000, and the 20th of June is mentioned as the day of the battle. It is also scarcely credible, that the attainder of Lord Lovel could have been, as alleged, inadvertently omitted in the former statute; nor is it easy to assign any plausible reason, why an avaricious sovereign like Henry VII. should allow eight years to elapse after the insurrection, without passing this act of attainder, when the unhappy nobleman’s large possessions offered so tempting a bait. Indeed, if Henry’s object, in passing it, were to be enabled legally to seize upon them, such a statute appears unnecessary, because Lord Lovel was attainted by the act of 1st Henry VII., for fighting at Bosworth (see Appendix No. III.); and there is no reason to suppose that this attainder was ever reversed, or that he ever submitted himself to allegiance to Henry.

There is a tradition, that Lord Lovel escaped from the field of battle of Stoke, and took refuge in the north of England, and there, like Lord Clifford, lived several years in obscurity, concealed from his enemies; but it does not appear to be authenticated or supported by any historical authority.