sts either fled beyond sea, or took shelter
in sanctuaries, where the ecclesiastical privileges afforded them
protection. In London alone it is computed that no less than two
thousand persons saved themselves in this manner;[*] and among the rest,
Edward's queen, who was there delivered of a son, called by his father's
name.[**]

Queen Margaret, the other rival queen, had not yet appeared in England,
but on receiving intelligence of Warwick's success, was preparing with
Prince Edward for her journey. All the banished Lancastrians flocked to
her; and, among the rest, the duke of Somerset, son of the duke beheaded
after the battle of Hexham. This nobleman, who had long been regarded
as the head of the party, had fled into the Low Countries on the
discomfiture of his friends; and as he concealed his name and quality,
he had there languished in extreme indigence. Philip de Comines tells
us,[***] that he himself saw him, as well as the duke of Exeter, in a
condition no better than that of a common beggar; till being discovered
by Philip, duke of Burgundy, they had small pensions allotted them, and
were living in silence and obscurity when the success of their party
called them from their retreat. But both Somerset and Margaret were
detained by contrary winds from reaching England,[****] till a new
revolution in that kingdom, no less sudden and surprising than the
former, threw them into greater misery than that from which they had
just emerged.

Though the duke of Burgundy, by neglecting Edward, and paying court to
the established government, had endeavored to conciliate the friendship
of the Lancastrians, he found that he had not succeeded to his wish; and
the connections between the king of France and the earl of Warwick still
held him in great anxiety.[*****] This nobleman, too hastily regarding
Charles as a determined enemy, had sent over to Calais a body of four
thousand men, who made inroads into the Low Countries;[******] and
the duke of Burgundy saw himself in danger of being overwhelmed by the
united arms of England and of France. He resolved therefore to grant
some assistance to his brother-in-law; but in such a covert manner as
should give the least offence possible to the English government.

* Comines, liv. iii. chap. 7.

** Hall, fol. 210. Stowe, p. 423. Holingshed, p. 677.
Grafton, p. 690.

*** Liv. iii. chap. 4.

**** Grafton, p. 692. Polyd. Virg. p 522.

***** Hall, fol