How weak was the position of the yorkists by the end of 1459?

Question 1

what are the 3 main reasons the Yorkists were weak at the end of 1459?

Answer 1

• The Yorkists were isolated from the rest of the nobility.​
• The Yorkists had been attainted, losing their lands and estates to their enemies
• The Yorkists were separated across countries

Question 2

why did the Yorkists’ isolation from the rest of the nobility after their attainder make them weak?

Answer 2

• nobles now had the opportunity to sever ties with them completely; those who had wanted to stay on polite terms now had no reason to do so
• nobles would now have been worried about helping people who have been attainted; Yorkist crimes now acknowledged and the king was acting against them
• It was not just the Yorkist lords but many of their key supporters who were attainted.​

Question 3

what evidence is there that the Yorkists’ isolation from the rest of the nobility after their attainder made them weak?

Answer 3

Some of York’s supporters were already defecting; 5 esquires who had been present with the Yorkist army at Ludford made submission, were promised their lives by the king, and were not attainted.​

Question 4

why would the act of attainder against the Yorkists make them weak? specific actions/results of the attainder

Answer 4

• they had no immediate resources and no money, so limited access to supporters and soldiers
• All royal grants made to anyone who had opposed the king at St Albans, Blore Heath or Ludford, were resumed of and all grants made by those attainted were forfeit to the crown
• Warwick was stripped of the office of Captain of Calais and it was given to Henry Beaufort.

Question 5

why would the Yorkists’ separation from each other have made them weak, after their attainder?

Answer 5

• which made them vulnerable, and hard to co-ordinate a return
• Cecily Neville and York’s youngest children, including George (aged 10) and Richard (aged 7), remained in England. They were well treated but were in a precarious position.​

Question 6

what are the 5 main reasons the Yorkists were not weak at the end of 1459?

Answer 6

• All the major Yorkist leaders had escaped.​
• The Yorkists had powerbases in Calais and Ireland (regardless of the government’s theoretical claims over these places).​
• The sheer number of nobles and gentry attainted at the ‘Parliament of Devils’ was far greater than usual
• Henry VI insisted on the right to grant full pardon and restoration to those who humbly sought his grace without calling a further parliament
• Some key allies of the Yorkists remained in England

Question 7

why did the Yorkists powerbases in Calais and Ireland mean they weren’t weak at the end of 1459?

Answer 7

it made it very difficult for Henry VI’s government to apprehend the Yorkists​

Question 8

why did the high number of nobles attainted at the Parliament of Devils mean the Yorkists weren’t weak at the end of 1459?

Answer 8

• generated unease in the polity
• had to release the defence, Somnium Vigilantis
• This could be translated into sympathy.​

Question 9

why did HVI insistence of a right to grant full pardon mean the Yorkists weren’t weak at the end of 1459?

Answer 9

it gave them a potential way back

Question 10

which key allies of the Yorkists remained in England after their attainder?

Answer 10

• Although some of his younger sons were attainted Viscount Bourchier remained in England and his brother Thomas Bourchier remained the archbishop of Canterbury. ​
• The Yorkists were still popular in parts of England, especially the South East. ​