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By the time the little prince was five months old, the Duke of Clarence had parted from Warwick, and Edward returned to London, where he was warmly received. He hastened to meet his family, and removed them from the Sanctuary to his mother's palace, Castle Baynard. Several battles that he fought and won after his return put an end to so many of Edward's opponents—among them Warwick, the most formidable—that the house of York was at last firmly established in power and the rebellion crushed. Then followed several years of peace, when the royal family were settled at Windsor or at Westminster, holding court with great state and splendor.
King Edward's second son, Prince Richard, Duke of York, was born during this season of enjoyment, and when he was five years old he was formally married to Anne Mowbray, infant heiress of the Duchy of Norfolk, aged three.
The following spring the singular death of the Duke of Clarence occurred. He had been condemned to execution for an offence against the king, his brother, but one morning he was found drowned in a butt of malmsey. Clarence was in the habit of drinking to excess, and it was supposed that he fell into the butt of his favorite wine while in a state of intoxication.
A.D. 1483. In 1483 King Edward was seized with an attack of fever that resulted in death. After lying in state for several days his body was interred with great pomp in the Chapel of St. George.
Queen Elizabeth was left in a more unprotected state this time than when her first husband died. The young king was pursuing his studies at Ludlow Castle, under the care of her brother, Lord Rivers. Elizabeth proposed to the council that he should be at once escorted to London with a powerful army, but Lord Hastings, who presided, could see no necessity for such a step, and so, unfortunately for young Edward, it was not taken.
Meanwhile the Duke of Gloucester, who was in Scotland, caused Edward V. to be proclaimed at York, and wrote such a kind, deferential letter to the queen, that she felt she had a friend in this first prince of the blood.