1455-59

Question 1

1455 - 22^nd May

Answer 1

First Battle of St Albans

Question 2

1455 - St Albans

Answer 2

Fearing the worst as Somerset and Exeter were in a powerful position after York was removed from his Protectorate, and having been called before a Great Council at Leicester, York instead decided to raise arms with his allies the Nevilles. On the 18^th of May, the King called his supporters to arms. Henry VI was captured and injured in the battle. Somerset, Northumberland (a Percy) and Clifford ( a Percy supporter) were all killed - both York and the Nevilles’ enemies were vanquished

Question 3

Aftermath of St Albans

Answer 3

• The start of York’s dominance
• Factions harden; Northumberland, Somerset and Clifford’s sons wanted revenge
• Margaret doesn’t trust York and thinks he’s out for the crown
• Henry VI still has favourites which creates division

Question 4

1455 - 25^th May

Answer 4

Henry VI is taken to St Paul’s Cathedral by the Yorkist lords for a crown-wearing ceremony in a show of affirming their loyalty to the king. The Yorkists blame the court party (Somerset) for the battle and immediately summon a parliament

Question 5

1455 - July

Answer 5

• Parliament meets. It is dominated by the Yorkists. Henry VI is present and personally declares York, Salisbury and Warwick to be loyal in a Parliamentary Pardon that the king initials (albeit clearly due to Yorkist pressure). Henry receives their oaths of allegiance and fealty. The Pardon formally blames St Albans on Somerset, along with two other individuals, Thomas Thorpe and William Joseph, for allegedly withholding the two letters sent by the Yorkists to Henry before the fight at St Albans and thereby concealing York’s loyalty to the king
• York is appointed Constable of England
• The parliament also declares ‘Good Duke Humphrey’ was loyal and blameless with regard to his arrest in 1447

Question 6

1455 - August

Answer 6

Warwick is appointed Captain of Calais, although is not accepted by the garrison until Jan 1456. The appointment is confirmed by Henry VI in April 1456 (after the end of York’s Second Protectorate). Warwick takes up the post in July 1456 and appoints his uncle William Neville, Lord Fauconberg, as his deputy commander

Question 7

1455 - 19^th November

Answer 7

Start of York’s Second Protectorate. The appointment is made during a parliamentary session, possibly due to disorder in the West Country. It is noticeable that his appointment comes nearly six months after St Albans. The need for a protectorate is unclear, Henry VI not being incapacitated (although having been wounded at St Albans cannot have helped his fragile mental state)

Question 8

1455 - Nov-Dec; 1456 - Jan-Feb

Answer 8

Nov-Dec parliamentary session and Jan-Feb (1456) session the focus is on York’s reform programme. This attempts to introduce drastic acts of resumption that would reclaim the lands of Henry VI’s two Tudor half-brothers, the earls of Richmond and Pembroke, and the endowments granted to Eton and King’s, Cambridge. It would also involve management of the Duchy of Lancaster lands including those of Prince Edward, therefore angering Margaret

York’s proposed reforms receive little support from the Lords so he is reliant on the Commons in parliament. The nobles would lose out by another act of resumption and also saw it as attack on the royal prerogative. Approximately 3/4 of the nobility do not attend these parliamentary sessions. Moderates such as the Duke of Buckingham were provoked into opposition to York, Salisbury and Warwick - York was perceived by the nobility as more of a problem than a solution

Question 9

1456 - 25^th February

Answer 9

End of York’s Second Protectorate. It is not clear if he stepped down or was removed, but he continues to act as chief minister for several months

Question 10

1456 - September

Answer 10

Margaret’s chancellor, Lawrence Booth, named as the new keeper of the Privy Seal (Lancastrians gaining more dominance)

Question 11

1456 - October (5^th and 11^th)

Answer 11

Great Council at Coventry. York’s allies are removed from office and replaced by those entirely loyal to Henry VI and Margaret

5 Oct: Shrewsbury replaces Viscount Bourchier as treasurer

11 Oct: Archbishop Bourchier surrenders the Great Seal to William Waynflete, bishop of Winchester, the king’s confessor and a devoted servant of Henry VI. Margaret is now in control of the instruments of government; the Privy Seal and the Great Seal (latter through Chancellor Waynflete)

Somerset (Henry, son of Edmund Beaufort who was badly wounded fighting alongside his father at St Alban’s) is restrained from physically attacking Warwick at the Great Council

Question 12

1457 - Jan/Feb

Answer 12

Council of the Prince of Wales (Henry and Margaret’s son) was established. This gives Margaret more direct control over the Duchy of Lancaster lands including the earldom of Chester

Question 13

1457 - March (and September)

Answer 13

Great Council at Coventry (Margaret moves Parliament to a Lancastrian stronghold), Margaret stipulating that the special honours traditionally due to just the king are due to the queen as well. Similarly, in September it is Margaret (not Henry) who makes a triumphal entry into Coventry to celebrate a religious feast

Question 14

1457 - August

Answer 14

Sandwich (a key port in Kent) is raided by the French. The government sends Warwick much needed money for the garrison (troops - to guard something)

There was false propaganda that Margaret had encouraged this raid to damage Warwick - this highlights the continued weakness of her French background on her position/perception in England

Question 15

1458 - 25^th March

Answer 15

‘Loveday’ at St Paul’s Cathedral (Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, the first day of the medieval New Year). Ritual reconciliation. The sons of the victims of St Albans brought together with those responsible for killing their fathers: York, Salisbury, Warwick. Chancellor Waynflete plus moderates such as the duke of Buckingham are probably behind this ‘Loveday’; possibly also Henry VI

Side by side and hand in hand to a thanksgiving service in St Paul’s (York with Margaret). York, Salisbury, Warwick make reparations to the sons of the Lancastrians killed; Egremont (a Percy) makes a bond to keep peace with Salisbury for ten years. The Lancastrian heirs of St Albans had brought over two thousand men, the Yorkists fifteen hundred

York and the Nevilles having to make reparations at Loveday suggests that they were not truly forgiven for St Albans and suggests that their pardons were meaningless, creating evidence for why York took up arms against the king in 1460

Question 16

1458 - Autumn/November

Answer 16

Council meeting at Westminster. Warwick is called to justify his (piratical) actions as Captain of Calais. A brawl breaks out at court and Warwick has to fight his way out, escaping to his barge on the Thames. Possibly an attempted assassination. Warwick withdraws to Calais

Question 17

Reasons for noble peace until 1458:

Answer 17

Until 1458 York and Salisbury’s military might was needed in the north against the Scots; and Warwick’s to protect Calais. By 1458 these threats had diminished, so it was not as vital to keep domestic unity

Question 18

1459 - June

Answer 18

Great Council at Coventry. York, Salisbury, Warwick and the Bourchiers (Yorkist allies) are deliberately excluded from those summoned (or perhaps they didn’t go as they were scared of the danger). Plans were laid to condemn the Yorkists for treason. The royal court subsequently gathers its strength in the Midlands based at Coventry

Question 19

1459 - August/September

Answer 19

Yorkist lords plan to gather at Worcester in September. Difficult as they are widely separated: York at Ludlow (near Wales), Salisbury at Middleham (Yorkshire), Warwick at Calais. They needed to meet. The Lancastrians are determined to prevent the three Yorkist lords meeting up

Question 20

1459 - 23^rd September

Answer 20

Battle of Blore Heath. Three Lancastrian forces track Salisbury; one nominally led by Prince Edward, intercepting Salisbury’s force at Blore Heath near Market Drayton. The Lancastrian force is defeated and its commander, Lord Audley, killed in the battle. Salisbury and Warwick join up with York at Ludlow

Question 21

1459 - 5^th October

Answer 21

Somerset (son) appointed Captain of Calais (but it remains forcibly held by Fauconberg (his uncle - Deputy commander in Calais) for Warwick)

Question 22

1459 - 12^th/13^th October

Answer 22

Ludford Bridge. Confronted by a substantial royal army with the king’s standard raised, the Yorkist lords retreat to Ludlow. There is an offer of a general pardon to the Yorkists but crucially this excludes Salisbury for fighting a royal army and killing its commander. There is a stand-off at Ludford Bridge and Yorkists flee during the night. York’s town of Ludlow is deliberately pillaged. York and his second son Rutland flee to Ireland; Warwick, Salisbury and Edward, earl of March to Calais

Question 23

1459 - 20^th November

Answer 23

‘Parliament of Devils.’ Yorkist lords are proscribed; found guilty of treason; and by attainder their lands are forfeited and their heirs cannot inherit