Cade More Significant Than York V Somerset

Question 1

Cade’s rebellion in 1450 was much less significant in the politics of the 1450s than the personal dislike between York and Somerset’

Answer 1

Which had the greater potential to depose Henry and which caused the greatest extent of uproar and instability?

Question 2

P1- Agree

Answer 2

York and Somerset- Both powerful magnates and their factions split the country in half. York was Protector of the Realm in Henry’s incapacity and thus held major political significance. Led to 1st battle of St Albans. York and the Nevilles combined possessed substantial retinues that could seriously threaten the royal army.

Question 3

P1- the reconciliation ceremony at a service in St Paul’s Cathedral

Answer 3

York gives the crown to Henry, indicated York had the power to take the throne if he wanted

Question 4

P1- St Albans

Answer 4

saw many leading members of the King’s council killed- Somerset, Henry Percy, Buckingham wounded in the face, Henry captured by the Yorkist forces

Question 5

P1- Another reason why arguments caused unrest

Answer 5

Embarrassing for the monarch to have two leading nobles bickering- disunited the nation.

Question 6

P3- Cade’s army more significant

Answer 6

Demonstrated a serious breakdown in law and order and emphasised the weakness of the king.
Demonstrated a serious weakness in the king’s ability to control events in the country. The extent of the rebellion and its violence towards those in power was unusual and demonstrated widespread popular resentment towards the government and its policy.

Question 7

P3- led to other rebellions

Answer 7

Uprising swiftly spread from Kent to Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex and Essex. Other riots, not directly led by Cade, occurred at the same time in the Midlands, the South and the West, which were inspired by widespread insurrection in South.e.. 29 June in Wiltshire, Bishop Aiscough of Salisbury, the king’s confessor and a leading adviser during many of the unpopular decisions of the 1440s, was dragged from his church during Mass and brutally hacked to death by a mob.

Question 8

P3- acts of defiance to king’s authority at cade’s rebellion

Answer 8

mockery to authority of king when rebels when directly against him and killed sir Humphrey Stafford and William Stafford, key figures of kings army- rebels ambushed a group of the king’s men near Sevenoaks. and lord saye execution.

Question 9

P3- What shows Cade was serious threat

Answer 9

25 June, King fled to Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire. Occupied the capital- London held the king’s highest offices and was the administrative centre of England. Contemporary sources estimate Cade’s Army to be around 46000-

Question 10

P3- what made cade army threat bigger to law and order

Answer 10

Many rebels were former soldiers- showed his own army didn’t even support him Many seasoned veterans accustomed to looting so difficult to quash so serious threat to law and order. The ranks of Cade’s army had been increased by some retainers of the king and his nobles who decided to betray their masters.

Question 11

P3- what was unusual about Cade’s Rebellion and shows widespread hatred

Answer 11

Involved many of higher social standing such as Yeomen and Gentry

Question 12

P3- How was the way the rebel was ended a threat to king

Answer 12

Rebels crushed by LONDONERS on London Bridge- Henry didn’t deal with rebels himself so weakened his authority. Politically damaging because this was a marked contrast to Richard II who, at 14, met 1381 peasant revolt rebels and personally witnessed the death of the uprisings leader, Wat Tyler. What makes this worse is the fact that the removal of the insurgents from the capital arguably owed more to the Londoners’ self-interest and desire to protect their own livelihoods than it did to loyalty to the king. Londoners’ motivation seems primarily to have been a desire to prevent the rebels looting or resorting to other forms of violence, as earlier on in the rebellion there is evidence that there was some popular support within the capital for Cade’s army.

Question 13

P3- Alias used by Cade

Answer 13

Although York himself was in Ireland at the time of the uprising, the use of his name by the rebels and the widespread unrest were to spark the duke’s growing involvement in domestic politics in a radical and unsettling manner. Used the alias of John Mortimer to give the impression he was a family connection of Richard d York whose mother a Mortimer.

Question 14

What is the essay structure

Answer 14

P1 is agree, then p2 disagree by using limits of york and somerset, them p3 is disagree with cade rebellion then p4 limitations of cade rebellion

Question 15

P2- Limitations of York V Somerset

Answer 15

Not initially significant to crown authority- up until 1459, York had declared loyalty to Henry and only had grievances with Somerset. The Yorkist lords made a display of submitting o the monarch on their knees and begging his forgiveness for their actions, emphasising that they only wished to attack ‘traitors’ to the realm. Claims loyalty after st albans and stated they were only seeking to help the king govern well. York agreed to make a number of submissions and oaths of loyalty to Prince Edward

Question 16

P4- Limits to cade, what shows wasnt a threat to henry authority

Answer 16

Rebels were keen to emphasise their loyalty to Henry VI himself and criticised only his ‘evil councillors’

Question 17

P4- what made cade rebellion considerably less politically dangerous for Henry VI

Answer 17

Richard d. York in Ireland so could not support the rebellion as a figurehead

Question 18

P4- why did fact cades rebellion Failed to win over support from Londoners make it less significant

Answer 18

never had true control which could have collapsed the government. The capital was crucial in making and breaking political rulers, as the city held the key government officers and was the financial centre of the country

Question 19

P4- Why did the nature of medieval society make Cade’s Rebellion less successful

Answer 19

Medieval society was so conservative about class and rank that it was highly unlikely that a man of Jack Cade’s lowly origins would have been successful in seizing real power. would never have allowed him to rise to the throne and no support from upper nobility.

Question 20

P4- Henry’s reaction to the rebellion showing it actually helped politics

Answer 20

In 1451 Henry took a firmer line as pockets of resistance continued around the country. He toured areas of unrest to enforce law and order, witnessing a significant number of executions of rebels personally. Cade was captured and died after being mortally wounded. He was beheaded and quartered and head boiled until only skull remained. Placed on a spike and publicly displayed to warn off further rebellion.