ABSTRACT
Truly Lancastrian constitutional theory was wearing rather thin under the influence of a foreign queen. The closely reasoned argument may have been addressed to the Edward IV. King, whose known leniency might give the Lancastrians qualms; more probably from its tone it was addressed to those magnates who, though friendly to the Yorkists, had not taken part in the rout of Ludlow. Northumberland, Devon, Exeter, Somerset, and other lesser Lancastrian Lords were converging in Yorkshire, where the estates of Salisbury and York were being ravaged. The most pressing danger to the new King was the Lancastrian army in the North, against which Edward set out on March 16th. He found the enemy drawn up between the villages of Saxton and Towton, about twelve miles from York, and on the 28th he managed to cross the River Aire at Ferrybridge after a skirmish with the enemy's outposts.
