Edward shows he was dangerous both on and off the battlefield

I was side-tracked yesterday writing about the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and his lamentable marital history, and as a result, I forgot that the 18th was an important date on the Yorkist calendar. So—a day late—I am shining the spotlight on one of Edward IV’s finer moments, in which he displayed ice-blooded courage and cynical craftiness that Machiavelli would have approved. On March 18th, 1471, four days after he’d landed in Yorkshire with his small band in an attempt to recover his lost crown, Edward was admitted into the city of York. It would later be won over by his brother Richard in his years as Lord of the North, but in 1471, this was not friendly territory for Yorkists. In the following scene from Sunne, pages 261-262, Richard and Will Hastings are nervously awaiting Edward’s return, fearing for his safety since he’d dared to ride alone into the city and fearing, too, that he’d fail to win the citizens over.
* * *
There was a sudden stir among the men. The iron-barred portcullis was rising; several horsemen were passing through the Walmgate barbican. The youth stationed to keep watch now forgot all protocol and yelled, “Tell Gloucester!” and Rob adjusted his scabbard, moving closer for a better view of the approaching riders.
Richard and Will Hastings were standing together, and Rob saw Richard grin suddenly, heard him say in a low voice, “The news be good, Will. That’s Tom Wrangwysh with them. If there’d been trouble, we’d see it in his face.”
Both city sheriffs were impassive, but Tom Wrangwysh and Thomas Conyers looked enormously well pleased with themselves, and Conyers blurted out their news even as he was dismounting. They were all welcome now within the city walls, and my lord of York did await them at the guildhall. If they would—
Tom Wrangwysh interrupted happily. “My lords, you should have seen him! You’d have thought he had an army at his back, so cool he was…There were many he did win over by his courage alone. And then he did speak to the people and made a marvelously fair speech in which he said he would content himself to be Duke of York and serve good King Harry and the crowds cheered him till we all were hoarse!”
Word was spreading swiftly; all around Rob, men were laughing and pounding each other on the back. Richard was trying to make himself heard over the uproar, but soon abandoned the attempt and watched with a grin as their men raised a cheer for His Grace of York and the city that was now willing to admit his army.
Rob moved to Richard’s side, just in time to hear Tom Wrangwysh confide, “My lord, however did His Grace think to lay claim to the duchy of York? I can say with certainty that had it not been for that, the city would’ve stayed closed to him.”
Richard laughed. “It was used once before, Tom. Harry of Lancaster’s grandfather did return from exile to claim only his duchy of Lancaster and, of course, deposed a king. My brother thought it only fitting that a gambit used by the first Lancastrian king should now serve York.”
* * *
Back to the 19th of March, on this date the swallows return to Capistrano. I’ve seen the magnificent mission there, but sadly, I’ve never been there on March 19th, even though I’ve been told it is not a dramatic surge of swallows, but more of a trickle effect.