[105d] It does not appear from the Baronages, that in 1461, there was any nobleman called Lord Molineux; nor is any such mentioned in the act of attainder of the first year of Edward IV. It has probably been written by mistake for Lord Molins, or Molyns, by which title Robert Lord Hungerford had been commonly called, in consequence of his marriage with Alianore, daughter and heir of William Lord Molyns, who was slain in France, in the seventh year of Henry VI. Robert Lord Hungerford, called Lord Molyns, however, was not slain at Towton Field, although he fought there. Upon the loss of the day, he fled to York, where King Henry then was, and proceeded with him from thence to Scotland, and was attainted in the first year of Edward IV. He again appeared in arms, in the north of England, for the Lancastrian party, was engaged at the battle of Hexham in 1463, taken prisoner there, and conveyed to Newcastle, where he was beheaded, and was buried in the north aisle of Salisbury Cathedral. By lady Alianore, his wife, he left three sons. The eldest, Thomas, took part with the Earl of Warwick, upon his defection from Edward IV., and, endeavouring to effect the restoration of Henry VI., was taken and tried for high treason, at Salisbury, in the eighth year of Edward IV., was condemned and beheaded. But in the first year of Henry VII., his attainder, and that of his father, were reversed in Parliament, and his heir had restitution of his lands and honours.
[106a] Lord Henry Buckingham. (Quære—Meant for Lord Henry Stafford, of Buckingham, one of the family of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham?) Henry Stafford, who was the second son of Henry Stafford, second Duke of Buckingham (beheaded in the first year of Richard III.), and brother of Edward Stafford, third Duke of Buckingham, could not have been the person meant, because he was living long after the battle of Towton, and was created Earl of Wiltshire, in the first year of Henry VIII. (See Dugdale’s Baronage, vol. i. p. 170.) We can, however, scarcely doubt, that one of the family was slain at that battle; and Lord Henry of Buckingham, is also mentioned amongst the slain, in the first volume of Fenn’s Original Letters, fo. 220; John Stafford and Humphrey Stafford, apparently also of that family, are there mentioned, as having been engaged in that battle on the part of Edward IV.
[106b] Sir John Heron of the Ford, before mentioned.
[106c] Quære—Is Sir Gervase Clifton mentioned in error in the list, by Stow? A knight of that name was executed after the battle of Tewkesbury, and another perished at the battle of Bosworth. See Chapters VII. and VIII.
[106d] Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire. See Chap. IV.
[106e] Rot Parl. 1st Edward IV. (1461), vol. v. fo. 477. See Appendix No. L
[107a] John Morton, mentioned above as the Parson of “Blokesworth” [Bloxworth] in Dorsetshire, was afterwards Bishop of Ely, and in the reign of Henry VII., was Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury, and also a Cardinal. It is remarkable, that several priests and ecclesiastics are included in the above-mentioned act of attainder; but there does not appear to be any foundation for Lord Campbell’s assertion, that any of them fought at the battle of Towton, nor, from the general deportment and actions of Morton, does such a line of conduct seem probable, with respect to him. I believe that not any ancient historian has stated that ecclesiastics were in arms, and fought for or against the House of Lancaster; they might, however, be very useful with their tenants, vassals, advice, influence, and exertions. In Lord Campbell’s Lives of the Chancellors, vol. i. p. 418, it is, however, correctly stated, that John Morton “had the rich living of Blokesworth” conferred upon him in the reign of Henry VI. His attainder, and also that of Ralph Mackerell, Clerk, were reversed in the twelfth and thirteenth year of Edward IV.—Rot. Parl. vol. vi. 12 and 13 Edward IV. pp. 26 and 27.
[107b] Sir John Fortescue was a lawyer of great talents and eminence, and was made Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench, in the reign of Henry VI. He was a judge of high integrity, and an excellent man, and, what was rare in that age, he was a literary character; some of his works are of merit, and have been handed down to us. At the time of the battle of Towton, he was no longer a young man, and, however much he might have devoted his talents and exertions to the Lancastrian party, before the battle, it seems a great stretch of credulity to think, that the judge was actually screwed up in armour, and “mixed in the moody fight,” and “displayed undaunted valour at Towton,” as Lord Campbell states. The latter appears also to labour under the same mistake, with respect to Fortescue’s fighting propensities at Towton, as with respect to those of John Morton, who was a priest, as already mentioned.—See Campbell’s Lives of the Chancellors, vol. i. p. 369.
[109] Rot. Parl. 1st Edward IV. (1461), vol. v. fo. 477–478. See Appendix No. I.
[110] William Lord Hastings, was the son of Sir Leonard Hastings, Knight, by Alice his wife, daughter of Lord Camois, and was a valiant and active partisan of the House of York, distinguished himself at the battle of Towton, and on other occasions, and was created Baron Hastings, Lord Chamberlain of the Household, and Chamberlain of Wales, in the first year of Edward IV., and had large possessions bestowed upon him by that king; amongst which was a grant of the manor of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicestershire, which had lately belonged to James Earl of Wiltshire, then attainted, (where Hastings subsequently either erected or restored the castle there, for his own residence, pursuant to the King’s license, of first Edward IV., to make several castles), also of the honour, castle, and lordship of Belvior, and other possessions in Leicestershire, and elsewhere. He adhered to Edward IV. in his adversity, when he was compelled, by the Earl of Warwick, to fly to the Continent in 1470, and accompanied him on his return to England. He also fought at the battle of Barnet in 1471, where he had the command of 3000 horse, and at that of Tewkesbury, where he was one of the principal commanders. He was Lieutenant of Calais, and enjoyed several offices of great importance and trust, and was greatly in the confidence of King Edward IV.; and it is generally believed that his faithful attachment to the young princes, the sons of that king, was the reason why Richard Duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III., caused him to be put to death. He was beheaded on a log of wood, in the Tower of London, without any trial, on the 13th of June, 1483, and is buried in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, near the grave of Edward IV. He married Catherine, daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury (beheaded after the battle of Wakefield, in 1460), and widow of William Lord Bonvile (put to death after the second battle of St. Alban’s, on 17th February, 1460–1), by whom he left issue three sons and a daughter.