a number of reckless and
desperate followers, and would have slain those that had taken refuge
there, on the spot, had not the abbot himself come forward and
interposed to protect them. He came dressed in his sacerdotal robes,
and bearing the sacred emblems in his hands. These emblems he held up
before the infuriated Edward as a token of the sanctity of the place.
By these means the king's hand was stayed, and, before allowing him to
go away, the abbot exacted from him a promise that he would molest the
refugees no more.

[Illustration: QUEEN MARGARET BROUGHT IN PRISONER AT COVENTRY.]

This promise was, however, not made to be kept. Two days afterward
Edward appointed a court-martial, and sent Richard, with an armed
force, to the church, to take all the men that had sought refuge
there, and bring them out for trial. The trial was conducted with
very little ceremony, and the men were all beheaded on the green,
in Tewkesbury, that very day.

Queen Margaret and the ladies who attended her were not with them.
They had sought refuge in another place. They were, however, found
after a few days, and were all brought prisoners to Edward's camp at
Coventry; for, after the battle, Edward had begun to move on with his
army across the country.

The king's first idea was to send Margaret immediately to London and
put her in the Tower; but, before he did this, a change in his plans
took place, which led him to decide to go to London himself. So he
took Queen Margaret with him, a captive in his train. On the arrival
of the party in London, the queen was conveyed at once to the Tower.

Here she remained a close prisoner for five long and weary years, and
was then ransomed by the King of France and taken to the Continent.
She lived after this in comparative obscurity for about ten years, and
then died.

As for her husband, his earthly troubles were brought to an end much
sooner. The cause of the change of plan above referred to, which led
Edward to go directly to London soon after the battle of Tewkesbury,
was the news that a relative of Warwick, whom that nobleman, during
his lifetime, had put in command in the southeastern part of England,
had raised an insurrection there, with a view of marching to London,
rescuing Henry from the Tower, and putting him upon the throne. This
movement was soon put down, and Edward returned from the expedition
triumphant to London. He and his brothers spent the night after their
arrival in the