Crisis of 1450 (mine)

Question 1

what 3 theories are there for the cause of the crisis of 1450?

Answer 1

• Somerset’s unpopularity and the loss of Normandy
• Failures of Henry VI’s government
• Richard of York’s ambition

Question 2

why could somerset’s unpopularity and the loss of normandy have caused the crisis of 1450?

Answer 2

Somerset presented himself as one who could lead the nobility in response to the problems in 1450; yet his unpopularity arguably contributed to the crisis and its continuation through 1450

Question 3

why was somerset partially blamed for the loss of normandy?

Answer 3

he was widely blamed for his cowardly conduct, which accelerated the loss of normandy

Question 4

what actions had somerset taken that led to him being perceived as ‘cowardly’?

Answer 4

• he had arranged for the surrender of normandy first hand and was hated by returning soldiers as well as many of those who felt humiliated
• surrendered Rouen, the Norman capital, to French Oct 1449, to secure his personal freedom
• his surrender at Caen in 1450 allowed him to escape Normandy, and he returned to England before the final fall of Cherbourg 12th August 1450

Question 5

what evidence is there that somerset was unpopular?

Answer 5

he was attacked by London mob Dec 1450

Question 6

why was somerset unpopular in government? how did this further the crisis of 1450?

Answer 6

• rise to power in 1450 clearly linked to Suffolk’s former household supporters looking for a new protector
• in accepting this role, he became widely seen as connected to the discredited Suffolk and the hated household
• the connection made it necessary for York to attack him, as part of his attack on Suffolk’s government, leading to a greater crisis

Question 7

why could the failures of Henry VI have led to a crisis in 1450?

Answer 7

the king was clearly incapable of independence and this led to competing approaches by York and Somerset to fill the space left

Question 8

how could jack cade’s revolt (part of 1450 crisis) be seen as due to the failures of Henry VI?

Answer 8

Jack Cade’s revolt was aimed at oppressive officials and the web of nepotism and corruption between the hated royal officials and members of the household

Question 9

who did jack cade’s rebellion target?

Answer 9

e.g. William Crowmer was married to the daughter of the hated treasurer Lord Saye; other people like Thomas Daniel (follower of Suffolk) and John Trevelyan (both of the king’s household) also hated

Question 10

how did parliament respond the the failures of Henry Vi’s government in 1450?

Answer 10

in the 1450 parliament, the Commons petitioned the king for the removal of a large list of people from the king’s presence (and government by implication), and it was requested that they should lose their lands and other possessions

Question 11

who did the Commons petition for the king to remove in 1450?

Answer 11

e.g. Duke of Somerset, Duchess of Suffolk, William Booth (Bishop of Chester), Thomas Daniel, John Trevelyan, Thomas Kent, Thomas Hoo, Lord Hastings, and Sir Thomas Stanley

Question 12

how did henry vi respond to the rebels and commons calls for reform?

Answer 12

• calls for a ‘resumption’ to take back royal land that had been granted to favourites came from both the rebels and Commons
• Henry VI’s agreement to a resumption was undermined by the large number of exceptions to it for favourites (186)

Question 13

how many exceptions to resumption were allowed by henry vi?

Answer 13

186

Question 14

how did henry vi’s government fail economically?

Answer 14

• made trade conditions, already suffering due to Great Slump, worse
• collapse of wine trade due to war with France and loss of Bordeaux region
• Hanseatic Bay fleet attacked by Robert Winnington; retaliated by blocking English trade from Germany and the Baltic
• English legislation provoked Burgundy in 1447 to exclude English cloth from its principal markets
• cloth-producing areas like Wiltshire experienced mass unemployment, perhaps explaining killing of Bishop Ayscough there

Question 15

what is one theory as to why Bishop William Ayscough was killed in Wiltshire?

Answer 15

cloth-producing areas like Wiltshire experienced mass unemployment and he was seen as corrupt

Question 16

how did henry vi’s failures in france contribute to the crisis of 1450, in terms of the government?

Answer 16

• loss of the french territories removed the need for noble unity against a common foe and it showed government incompetence
• Carpenter argues that the nobility had stopped working together to cover up for the inability of the king to govern

Question 17

how did richard of york contribute to the crisis of 1450?

Answer 17

• it is possible that richard had a role in instigating cade’s rebellion
• small uprising in Ipswich 3rd March 1450 apparently in favour of Richard as the remedy to the country’s problems
• many almost-treasonous actions causing instability

Question 18

what action did york take in august 1450, without royal permission?

Answer 18

York intended to return to England from Ireland

Question 19

how did the government respond to york’s un-permissioned return to england?

Answer 19

prompted the king’s household to recall Somerset to England to defend them; Somerset was made constable of England

Question 20

what evidence is there that whilst York’s claim to be loyal to the king and entitled to dominance because of the closeness of his royal blood was true, his actions were still provocative?

Answer 20

• returned Sep 1450, immediately claiming right to effectively govern as the king’s chief advisor (replacing suffolk)
• toured East Anglia in October gathering military support from the Duke of Norfolk
• York brought this armed force to London in November to pressure the government and encourage his supporters in the house of Commons at the parliament that had been assembled

Question 21

why didn’t the wider nobility respect york’s methods?

Answer 21

• his motives were seen as self-interested and motivated by self-protection
• his appeal to the ‘communitas’ (or acting for the ‘common weal’) dangerously mimicked some of the language of Jack Cade’s rebels and the angry soldiers, returned from France
• he overestimated his position, trying to demonstrate both personal loyalty to the king, and political opposition to members of the government

Question 22

what evidence is there that york’s motives were self-interested and motivated by self-protection?

Answer 22

demonstrated in his first complaints to the king in September 1450 that others were plotting against him

Question 23

why couldn’t york demonstrate both personal loyalty to the king, and political opposition to members of the government?

Answer 23

not sustainable and could not be achieved unless he sought the crown itself, which he needed wider noble support to do

Question 24

what limitation is there to the theory that richard of york’s ambition caused the crisis of 1450?

Answer 24

York executed a rioter on 1st December and, with the Earl of Devon, saved Somerset from a mob

Question 25

what happened after the treaty of arras?

Answer 25

April 1436 the french recaptured Paris and by 1442 Pontoise was surrendered

Question 26

how did the english nobility respond to the loss of french territory 1435-1444?

Answer 26

• there were changing opinions in England
• by 1444 some of the most powerful men in England wished to relieve England of war
• for example, Henry VI, Edmund Beaufort, and William de la Pole

Question 27

how did the war in france affect factionalism in england?

Answer 27

• war in France deepened rivalries between most powerful families
• e.g. Humphrey of Gloucester was pro-conquest; Suffolk’s faction supported king’s policy of peace