On 15th May the Lancastrians were finally routed by Lord Montagu in the battle of Hexham, and the queen and her child driven over the Scotch border.

The defeat of this rising seemed at last to bring the miserable war to a close.

The victory of Hexham, with the capture of Henry that followed a year later, successes which were accepted by foreign powers as a final settlement of the civil strife, left Edward's hands free as they had never been free before, while his good fortune quickened the anxiety of Lewis, who felt every day the toils of the great confederacy of the French princes closing more tightly round him.

But Margaret was still in his hands, and Warwick remained firm in his policy of alliance.

At Michaelmas the Earl prepared to cross the sea for the meeting at St.Omer.
[Sidenote: Edward's Marriage] It was this moment that Edward chose for a sudden and decisive blow.