During most of the Wars of the Roses, Hull remained loyal to
Henry VI and the Lancastrian cause. The
Battle of Towton on 29th March 1461 though was a clear sign that Hull needed to
switch allegiance for its own survival.
Towton was a ferocious ten-hour endurance test during which participants
fought whilst being lashed by rain and snow.
The battle finished with the Yorkist army mercilessly killing fleeing
Lancastrians until, it was said, their lifeless bodies formed a bridge across
the river Coln.
In the face of this ruthlessness, Hull set about
demonstrating its support for the newly crowned Yorkist king Edward IV. The town sent him the customary gift of
several barrels of wine and also provided his ally the Earl of Warwick with a
ship and crew. In May the Mayor and
other prominent citizens rode to York to pledge their loyalty in person. Doubtless during the course of this visit
they made sure to mention that they had recently expelled 32 people from Hull who
had failed to show support for the new king.
At least Edward’s victory meant that for the first time in
many months, Hull could relax its security measures. There were still though regular demands for
men and equipment. Eighty-eight
inhabitants contributed £42 in coin and kind to equip the Mary Bedford for the
king’s service. These included a miller who
donated corn to the value of 6s 8d and Peter and Lauren Berbruer who gave three
barrels of beer. Despite this public generosity,
the town still had to borrow £200 pounds in 1461 to meet such demands. It was also forced to dig up its pioneering
system of underground water pipes in order to sell the lead.
Deep down though Hull’s people remained loyal to the deposed Henry VI,
as when the chance came to snub Edward IV they took it. After losing the support of the Earl of Warwick,
Edward was forced into exile in 1469 and Henry was re-adopted as king. Edward returned in 1471 landing at
Ravenspurn, a small port near Spurn Head that has since fallen into the sea. He then made his way to the nearest town but
Hull refused to let him in. The rest of
the country though was more welcoming and Edward was soon back on the throne.
Hull’s aldermen, knowing that Edward would now hold a grudge
against them, began cultivating the support of his brother Richard, Duke of
York, by provided him with men for his battles against the Scots. When in 1483 Richard was raising an army to
usurp the throne, Hull sent him twenty soldiers plus £15. Once Richard had
taken the crown, his coat of arms was speedily placed above Beverley Gate. All this grovelling paid off as Richard rewarded Hull with a grant to export goods without paying custom duties.
After only two years though Richard was gone, replaced by
the largely unknown Henry Tudor. Once
again Hull’s Mayor and prominent citizens rode to York to pledge their loyalty
to the new king. Once again the town was
called on to provide men for the king’s army as he cemented his rule. Given the tremulous events of the past few
years, the people of Hull must have wondered just how long this new king Henry
VII would last.
Picture: The Historie of the Arrival of King Edward IV. A.D. 1471”(1838)
Camden Old Series. Cambridge University Press, 1, pp. 1–40
https://doi.org/10.1017/S2042169900000687
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