The Outbreak of Wars 1445 - 1450 Flashcards
How did Henry VI manage his financial resources?
H6 relied on income from crown lands but these had decreased - Decline in income from taxes on the crown lands from 40k to 28k in 1446-8.
Crown was 380k in debt
Parliament was reluctant to grant taxes, especially as the war was going badly and there was a lack of support for it.
H6 unable to offer cash incentives in lieu of land that his nobility might have accepted; he nonetheless spent money he didn’t have and granted away Crown lands, this led to a collapse in royal finances which handicapped the Crown, increasing its dependence on the nobility and the growing financial potential of Parliament. 1448 – Crown jewels had to be sold to meet royal debts
How did Henry handle patronage?
When used correctly, patronage maintains the balance between nobles. However, Henry could not afford to give bonds and so gave away crown lands. Instead of using patronage to strengthen his position, he made grants of personal generosity to those he liked e.g., Suffolk and Somerset. Suffolk was made from Earl -> Duke.
RDY was angered as Suffolk was appointed to advisor when it should have been him
Henry could not afford to keep up his court - crown debt was around 380k (38k was owed to RDY)
In 1449, Parliament called for an Act of Resolution, which retracted all the land he’d gifted in the last decade
Failures in France
War with France put a great strain on the crown finance, and loss of land in France led to a decrease in the nobility’s income.
Many of the victories under H5 were due to the weaknesses of the French King as well as England’s strengths, and so there was a clear difference in the success of the war. Loss of income and the failures made Henry unable to gain monetary support for the war as it was viewed as a losing cause, and the strength of French leaders ie., Joan of Arc and Charles VII meant that the integrity of France was growing. Burgundy had also made an alliance with France.
England was weak; Losses at Dieppe, Rouen (Normandy) and Gascony due to the poor leadership of Suffolk and Somerset and the weakness of the English.
effect of the failures in France on government:
Resentment towards those military leaders who were deemed to have failed as well as towards the government members who had overseen the failure. Many resented financing a losing war. Others lost income from estates previously in France
At the same time as France was gaining strength, the English crown’s debts were mounting and by the 1440s commanders were going unpaid
RDY was appointed as lieutenant in France – although competent, a lack of leadership from the King saw the Duke of Somerset, John Beaufort, lead a campaign in France in 1142 entirely independent of York, which used up almost all the money, and was a failure
Treaty of Tours: should have given England breathing space; however, in 1449, England broke the truce by seizing the Breton fortress of Fougeres in March 1449: H6 foolishly followed Duke of Suffolk’s advice and supported the attack and capture of the Breton town of Fougères - French responded by attacking Normandy.
Treaty of Tours
Main aim of a peace treaty: Margaret - niece of Charles VII was to be married to the King for 20k francs, in return for Anjou and a truce in the war. However, she came with no dowry, and in return there was a secret clause that England lost Maine (strategically important) and so Margaret, the treaty, and those who coordinated it (Suffolk) were widely hated.
England broke the truce by seizing the Breton fortress of Fougeres in March 1449, H6 foolishly followed Duke of Suffolk’s advice and supported the attack and capture
The problems between York and Somerset, 1445-50?
York: Somerset was elected to govern Gascony, which RDY saw as a slight to his role of Lt General of France, and Henry chose to support a campaign for Somerset, and the resulting loss led to RDY’s own campaign failing at Dieppe.
York was demoted to Lt of Ireland (political exile)
Resented Somerset for his role as principal advisor, which he believed was his as the senior male relative to the king after Gloucester (RDY was made heir upon death of Glos)
Blamed Somerset for key losses of land in France (Rouen among others was given away in return for S’ safety)
Somerset’s debts to the king were repaid very swiftly, however RDY’s were not and he had to sell manors etc whilst he waited. Somerset’s actions in France had led to a significant loss of income for RDY.
Also may have feared that Somerset had ‘kingly ambitions’ and that his own position as heir apparent was in jeopardy.
However, RDY was arrogant and demanding and so MoA was very untrusting of him and distanced him from the King and Council.
Why did opposition to the government grow, 1445-50
Accusations of incompetence, mishandling of funds, interference in the judicial process and ‘evil counsel’
Even some criticisms directed at the king himself
High levels of taxation left the govt facing accusations of mishandling the money and the military campaign
Burden of taxation was tolerable whilst wars were successful
After the loss of Normandy, feelings ran high, esp. in south east where people felt vulnerable to attack from France
They focused their attacks on the Duke of Suffolk who was blamed by parliament for the defeats
The idea that York should return from Ireland to replace Suffolk and reform the government gained in momentum
Cade’s rebellion
Cade’s rebellion was a rising begun in Kent, led by Jack Cade (he used the name John Mortimer)
Began in May, and under Cade, an army of people gathered, growing in size as they moved through Kent
Reached Blackheath on 1 June – by this time it included at least 1 knight, 5 parsons, a mayor and about 100 members of the gentry
Approx. 46,000 – numbers swelled by rebels from Essex, Sussex and Surrey
What were the causes of Cade’s Rebellion?
Causes: Murder of Suffolk (2 May) key trigger- Kentish folk feared they would be blamed for his death (body was washed up on a Kent beach – near Dover.
Saye and Crowmer had been accused of being at the centre of corruption among landowners by fixing elections to Parliament and reducing taxes paid by lords (which had to be made up by ordinary taxpayers).
Demands of the rebellion:
As the rebellion continued, the rebels re-wrote their petition, focusing less on local complaints and more on national problems in order to gain more support. These included:
Removal and punishment of royal officials found guilty of corruption and mismanagement in Kent
Fair and impartial justice and restoration of law and order - ex., Paston
Removal of king’s ‘evil councillors’
Appointment of Dukes of York, Buckingham and Exeter to the royal council
Consequences of the rebellion to the government of England
Rebellion demonstrated H6’s inability to cope in a crisis and highlighted the extent to which his got had failed
Rebels’ complaints didn’t just represent problems in Kent – resonated with whole country, as shown by the spread of unrest
Call for RDY to act did not go unheeded (although he did not rush back to England, giving Somerset time to position himself as the right-hand man to the King)
No major change to the way England was governed – every bit as faction-ridden under Somerset as it had been under Suffolk
York’s return in 1450
Cade’s rebellion made matters worse for H6 and Somerset:
Crown claimed that Jack Cade was nothing more than a criminal. Rebellion eventually collapsed, but not before it had taken London and captured a number of courtiers – some, like Treasurer Lord Saye, were executed. No evidence that RDY had anything to do with the rebellion, but he took advantage of dissatisfaction with the Crown and left Ireland without permission, returning to London in Sept 1450.
Govt’s anxiety over what RDY might do increased – men from the royal household were sent to meet RDY when he landed from Ireland
Their task was unclear but RDY claimed they had been sent to arrest him and that he was being treated as an enemy by Somerset. Events show that mutual fear was already driving thinking and actions of both RDY and Somerset.
The return was greeted with enormous popular support. A mass demonstration called for Somerset to be charged with treason because of his failure in Normandy – Somerset was attacked, leaving RDY to restore order.
Emboldened, RDY presented grievances contained in two bills of complaint: First bill: a list of personal grievances concerned with York’s position as heir, his debts and the fact that his advice had been ignored. Second bill: a list of general grievances that echoes what Cade’s rebels had drawn up.
Backed by 3000 armed retainers, RDY succeeded in persuading the king to meet some of his demands: RDY appointed to royal council, more effective act of resumption passed, H6 promised to re-establish law and order throughout the kingdom.
However, York had alarmed many nobles because they saw his repetition of the rebels’ case as creating disunity.
- However, Somerset still dominated the council, monies owed to RDY were not paid, and position as heir-presumptive not recognised.
