Before commencing a description of the Field of the Battle of Stoke (in Nottinghamshire), it may be advisable to mention concisely the nature of a very formidable insurrection, which was suppressed by that battle.
John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, [177b] a man of talents, courage, and enterprise, was a nephew of Edward IV. and of Richard the Third, and also of Margaret, [177c] the widow of Charles the Bold, or the Rash, Duke of Burgundy. Margaret was an uncompromising and implacable enemy of Henry VII., [178a] and in 1487, a formidable conspiracy was set on foot, by her and the Earl of Lincoln, of which the object was to raise an insurrection in England against Henry. It was given out that Edward Earl of Warwick, son of George Duke of Clarence, and nephew of Edward IV., had effected his escape, notwithstanding the vigilance of Henry VII., and had gone abroad; and Lambert Simnel, [178b] the son of a joiner, named Thomas Simnel, of Oxford, [178c] was tutored by Richard Simons, a priest of that city, to personate the young prince.
Margaret furnished the Earl of Lincoln with 2000 Germans, veteran troops, commanded by Martin Swartz, an officer of talents and experience. With these forces, and with Lambert accompanying him, the earl landed in Ireland, and Lambert was soon afterwards crowned as King, in the Cathedral at Dublin.
They remained some short time in Ireland, where the earl raised a body of Irish forces, and provided transports; and having at length sailed from Dublin, the Earl landed with his army, on the 4th of June, [a/][178c] near Pile of Foudrey, at Furness, in Lancashire, where Sir Thomas Broughton, who had become a party to the conspiracy, had considerable possessions; and the spot near the village of Broughton, where, according to tradition, they encamped after landing, is even now called Swart Moor, after the commander of the German troops. The insurgents were there joined by Sir Thomas Broughton, and others, with additional forces.
Lord Lovel [178d] was also a principal mover of the insurrection; and we are informed by Dugdale, that he accompanied the Earl of Lincoln from Flanders to Ireland, and afterwards came over with him and the rest of the insurgents into England. Whether that was the case, or whether Lord Lovel joined the earl at the same time that Sir Thomas Broughton did, or afterwards, during the march of the insurgents, does not seem quite certain. Writers have differed upon that point; and the act of attainder [179a] against Lord Lovel, does not throw any light upon it. It is, however, certain, that he joined the insurgents before the battle of Stoke.
The Earl of Lincoln marched with his forces from Furness into Yorkshire; and on arriving at Masham, he sent to the mayor of York, and requested to be admitted into the city, in order to victual the army. [179b] This having been refused, it made a great and serious change, in the earl’s plans and prospects; and it is not improbable, that it determined him at all hazards, promptly to seek and fight the King. He then marched from Yorkshire into Nottinghamshire; but the exact line of march is not known; it may, however, be fairly concluded, that he took the route by Mansfield. He proceeded to Southwell, and continued his march in the direction of the Trent; and he appears to have crossed that river at Fiskerton, which in the summer time is shallow, and easily fordable by men and horses. As Newark was preoccupied by the King’s army, Fiskerton was the only safe place near Southwell, where the earl’s forces could pass the Trent. After crossing the river, they took up a position on the elevated ground to the southward of, and overlooking, the little village of East Stoke, in Nottinghamshire.
In the mean time, the King, apprised of the landing of the insurgents in Lancashire, assembled a considerable army under the command of his uncle, Jasper Duke of Bedford (formerly Earl of Pembroke [180a]) and John Earl of Oxford; [180b] and with these he marched from Kenilworth, through Coventry, Leicester, Loughborough, and Nottingham. The valuable services rendered to Henry by Thomas, first Earl of Derby (when Lord Stanley [180c]), at the battle of Bosworth, were too important, and too recent, to be forgotten; and the King was, of course, happy to call for, and avail himself of, his influence on this occasion. On Corpus Christi Day, the King was joined at Nottingham by Lord Strange, son of the Earl of Derby, with a great body of troops, principally consisting of the followers and tenants of the earl. He was also joined there by the Earl of Shrewsbury, [180d] and by several knights and gentlemen, with additional forces.
The King marched to the village of Ratcliffe, where he passed the night. From Ratcliffe, he proceeded to Newark, which he succeeded in occupying before the Earl of Lincoln’s forces could arrive there. [180e] From Newark, the King advanced with his army, and took up his position on the road leading to East Stoke, and about three miles on the southward side of Newark.
These introductory observations may possibly cause the positions, which will now be described, of the hostile armies, to be the more readily understood.
In approaching the village of East Stoke, by the foss-way leading from the southward towards Newark, the road gradually ascends, until the traveller attains an eminence or hill, distant little more than half a mile from the village, commanding an extensive view of Newark and the neighbouring country. Upon its highest elevation, to the left or west of the foss-road, is a windmill, in Stoke Fields; and to the right or south-east, is another mill, in Elston Fields; but both are in the parish of Stoke: this eminence decreases in height towards the latter mill, but extends past the former, towards the north-west, and it ends in a steep cliff, the foot of which is separated from the river Trent and Fiskerton Ferry, by Stoke Marsh. The marsh is of narrow width, and the distance is not much more than a quarter of a mile from the ferry to the foot of the hill.