Yorkshire in the 1450s was a violent place. Two of the major landowning families in the
county were the Nevilles and the Percies and between them existed a
long-standing feud. This rivalry heated
up in the face of Henry VI’s weakness and the knowledge that he would do
nothing to punish them for fighting.
Consequently these ambitious neighbours used their men, money and status
to drag the whole county into their squabble and Hull wasn’t excused.
When in summer 1453 Henry VI suffered a mental collapse Thomas
Percy, Baron Egremont, saw an opportunity.
Wressle castle, 30 miles to the west of Hull, had been built by the
Percy family, however they had lost it in 1403 after they were involved in
rebellion against the king. This loss
was one thing but what Egremont couldn’t stand was that following a recent
marriage the castle now belonged to the Neville family. The thought of his deadly rivals at Wressle
was too much for him to bear.
On 24th August Egremont and his private army ambushed a
group of Nevilles travelling back from the wedding. Most of the men with Egremont worked on the
Percy estates but not all. Others came
from nearby towns including 16 from Hull.
This ambush achieved little apart from a chance to show displeasure,
however crucially it went virtually unpunished.
The king sent a stern letter telling those involved not to do it again, but
men like Egremont didn’t pay heed to simple letters. Emboldened he now set his sights higher.
In May the following year Egremont and his allies attempted
to incite revolt in York. He appealed to
the people of Hull to join him, knowing that he had at least a few supporters in the town. Luckily Hull refused this
offer. By now Richard, Duke of York, was
acting as Lord Protector whilst the king recovered from his illness, and
Richard’s wife was a Neville. It came as
no surprise therefore that when Egremont’s revolt failed, Richard seized the
opportunity to throw him in jail.
Richard also sent thanks to Hull for refusing to support the revolt.
Henry VI eventually recovered in December 1454, although not
everyone was pleased about his return to health. Richard had rather enjoyed his taste of power
and many nobles thought he had made a better job of being king than Henry. Gradually the country split between
Lancastrians, supporting Henry, and Yorkists, supporting Richard. After many threats, hard stares, and minor skirmishes,
full-scale hostilities finally erupted on 23rd September 1459 at Blore Heath,
Staffordshire.
Hearing of this battle, Hull’s aldermen took measures to
protect their town from attack. After
all as a strategic port it was a prize worth fighting over. Each night 24 men were placed on watch and it
was ordered that no corn should leave town in case a siege situation
developed. Then everyone waited. Around the middle of October came news of the
battle of Ludford Bridge, and how the Duke of York had fled to Ireland. The guard was stood down and everyone
breathed a sigh of relief.
Picture: Section from map by Gerard Mercator, 1564,
showing the location of Hull and Wessle
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