Margaret furnished the Earl of Lincoln with 2000 Germans, veteran troops, commanded by Martin Swartz, an officer of talents and experience. With these forces, and with Lambert accompanying him, the earl landed in Ireland, and Lambert was soon afterwards crowned as King, in the Cathedral at Dublin.
They remained some short time in Ireland, where the earl raised a body of Irish forces, and provided transports; and having at length sailed from Dublin, the Earl landed with his army, on the 4th of June, { 178c} near Pile of Foudrey, at Furness, in Lancashire, where Sir Thomas Broughton, who had become a party to the conspiracy, had considerable possessions; and the spot near the village of Broughton, where, according to tradition, they encamped after landing, is even now called Swart Moor, after the commander of the German troops. The insurgents were there joined by Sir Thomas Broughton, and others, with additional forces.
Lord Lovel { 178d} was also a principal mover of the insurrection; and we are informed by Dugdale, that he accompanied the Earl of Lincoln from Flanders to Ireland, and afterwards came over with him and the rest of the insurgents into England. Whether that was the case, or whether Lord Lovel joined the earl at the same time that Sir Thomas Broughton did, or afterwards, during the march of the insurgents, does not seem quite certain. Writers have differed upon that point; and the act of attainder { 179a} against Lord Lovel, does not throw any light upon it. It is, however, certain, that he joined the insurgents before the battle of Stoke.
The Earl of Lincoln marched with his forces from Furness into Yorkshire; and on arriving at Masham, he sent to the mayor of York, and requested to be admitted into the city, in order to victual the army. { 179b} This having been refused, it made a great and serious change, in the earl’s plans and prospects; and it is not improbable, that it determined him at all hazards, promptly to seek and fight the King. He then marched from Yorkshire into Nottinghamshire; but the exact line of march is not known; it may, however, be fairly concluded, that he took the route by Mansfield. He proceeded to Southwell, and continued his march in the direction of the Trent; and he appears to have crossed that river at Fiskerton, which in the summer time is shallow, and easily fordable by men and horses. As Newark was preoccupied by the King’s army, Fiskerton was the only safe place near Southwell, where the earl’s forces could pass the Trent. After crossing the river, they took up a position on the elevated ground to the southward of, and overlooking, the little village of East Stoke, in Nottinghamshire.