March 31st 1471: Edward at Warwick Castle

A corner of Warwick Castle today

Edward quickly realised that waiting for the Earl of Warwick to answer his challenges to fight was not productive. Even offering attractive terms for a surrender brought no reaction. He was clearly not going to leave the safety of Coventry’s walls. Maintaining the spirits, and filling the stomachs, of his troops whilst camping outside the walls would be difficult in the long term. Warwick was, he knew, only one part of the Lancastrian offensive. There were forces led by the Earl of Oxford and the Marquis of Montagu closing in from the north and east and the South West Group waiting for Queen Margaret’s imminent return. All over the country there were uncommitted knights waiting to see which way the land was lying before committing to a cause. Among these, maybe, was the Duke of Clarence who was approaching from the south with several thousand troops.

An assault on Coventry wasn’t an option. If the Earl of Warwick was not going to attack, all Edward needed was to ensure that he was pinned down, so he moved to the comfort of a nearby town; Warwick; which the Earl had recently vacated. He settled into the castle. News of this must have rankled with the Earl when he heard, the more so as he had vacated the castle himself just a few short days earlier.

Edward now threw off the last vestiges of his pretence to be simply claiming the Dukedom of York. He started issuing orders and edicts as the King of England.