ABSTRACT
On Wednesday 18 October Shrewsbury sent Lord Hussey, who had brought him 200 horsemen, to the King. About midnight, when lying at Southwell, the Earl received news that Pontefract Castle was besieged and the Earl of Northumberland taken, and that the rebels were before him at Doncaster, which had risen at their instigation. Norfolk was afraid to set out without money to last as far as Doncaster, as an unpaid army might dissolve in the face of the rebels, or advance only as a disorderly rabble. Lord Talbot’s news was good. Shrewsbury had no intention of fighting until Norfolk joined him on Wednesday or Thursday; but he hoped he would be able to advance from Doncaster before that, as his men were dying “very sore of the sicknesa.” On Monday 28 October, when Lord Talbot was with Norfolk at Newark and Shrewsbury’s forces lay at Rossington Bridge, the rebels continued their advance from Pontefract.
