Lincolnshire Rebellion of March 1470

A private feud sparked off the Lincolnshire rebellion. It was between Sir Thomas Burgh of Gainsborough and Richard, Lord Welles and Willoughby.  Welles, with his son, Sir Robert, Sir Thomas Dymmock and others, destroyed Burgh’s manor house, stole his goods and drove him from the county. Contrary to the king’s dilatory attitude the previous June, he decided to attend personally to the matter and on 4 March he wrote to Coventry asking for troops to meet him at Grantham eight days later. The king’s intentions were viewed with alarm as rumours spread that he would not honour the pardons issued to the rebels the previous year but was intent on ‘utterly destroying those that late made commotion there’. Welles, who was in London following a summons from the King, responded with a proclamation encouraging the men of Lincolnshire to assemble at Ranby Hawe to resist the king. Meanwhile Clarence wrote to the king that he and Warwick would join him and King Edward asked them to raise troops in Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The situation quickly escalated and news reached the king that the rebels were moving towards Stamford and would be joined by a force from Yorkshire. Welles and Dymmock were both sent to the king and the former was forced to write to his son telling him to submit to the king otherwise he and Dymmock would be executed.

On 11 March Edward reached Fotheringhay where he received news that the rebels were heading for Leicester and that Warwick had finally shown his hand – he was to lead a force to join the rebels. Meanwhile Sir Robert Welles took the king’s threat seriously and turned back towards Stamford and King Edward followed, arriving in the town on 12 March. When he learnt that the rebels were at Empingham he summarily executed Lord Welles and Dymmock and took to the field. The ensuing battle was virtually a rout and because the fleeing rebels threw away their jackets, the encounter became known as Lose-Cote field. On 14 March King Edward and his army reached Grantham. Sir Robert Welles and other rebel leaders were brought before him and they implicated Warwick and Clarence in their rebellion. The same day Edward learned of an insurrection in Yorkshire, and another in the west country probably instigated by Clarence.  The king demanded that Warwick and Clarence appear before him and he confidently rode north to Doncaster, where on the 19th he executed Sir Robert Welles and his captain, Richard Wauren, in front of the entire army. The king continued on the road north with his army that now included the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and their men, in pursuit of Warwick and Clarence, but lack of supplies led him to abandon the chase and retire to York. Warwick and Clarence escaped to France and the remarkable reconciliation with Queen Margaret was made. The Lincolnshire rebellion had set in motion a roller-coaster of events that would exile the king but ultimately lead to the demise of Warwick and the Lancastrian dynasty.

Contemporary Sources:

‘Chronicle of the Rebellion in Lincolnshire 1470’, edited by JG Nichols, Camden Miscellany, vol 1, 1847, pp 5-18. Transcript of the Chronicle which was written by a Yorkist supporter, with introduction and notes.

Three Chronicles of Edward IV, Sutton Publishing, 1988 (includes the above chronicle)

Further Reading:

‘The Lincolnshire Rebellion of March 1470’ by P Holland from English Historical Review, vol 103 no 409, October 1988. Detailed account, using contemporary sources.

‘The Lincolnshire Rebellion and Its Part in the Downfall of the Earl of Warwick’ by Juanita L Knapp. The Ricardian, September 1978