Topic 3- Renewed Challenges and crises Flashcards
personality of Henry VI
- His reign was politically vunerable from the start - needed councils to rule England and France
- Was expected to take control at 14/15 years old at ‘age of majority’ - however didn’t and nobles still in power
- seen as bad king - phsyically and mentally weak, indecisive, easily swayed, poor judge
- Had no military interest - never led into battle, had no authority over the men
- Poorly dressed for a king, disliked hunting, feasting, jousting etc. - not kingly
- Lack of extravagant clothes reflective of crown debt - made diplomacy more difficult
- Some argue he was a poor ruler because he focused too much on being pious - spent a lot of time in prayer, set up King’s College Cambridge and Eton to train priests - too spiritual
- 1471 - Henry died - was a push from Lancastrians to make him a saint - Edward IV needed to surpress these claims
- Henry VII wanted to promote sainthood of * Henry VI because he was of Lancastrian descent - encouraged interpretations like Shakespeare - thought Henry VI was too devout to be king
- Others argue he was just useless - ineffective ruler led to nobles gaining too much power - the system couldn’t survive without a monarch, so led to civil war
- Others argue he was involved with government but was immoral in character
Henrys difficulty as king and efffect on personality
- Followed Henry V, who was the perfect king - high expectations
- Treaty of Troyes left him with 2 kingdoms to manage - one of which hated him
- Difficult financial situation - Henry V spent a lot of money on war with France
- Henry had no example of how a king should rule - only bickering nobles
- Also, had hereditary illness - bouts of insanity left him unable to rule
Personality and influence of Margaret of Anjou
- After lots of French defeats, some English nobles fed up
Somerset and Suffolk arranged the Treaty of Tours: - Henry VI to marry Margaret of Anjou (niece of Charles VII)
- No dowry to be provided - English to pay for the entire wedding
- Surrender of Maine - kept secret because would outrage people
- 1445 - Margaret came to court - nobmenen (Gloucester) opposed her marriage - she seeked support in Somerset and Suffolk - led to reputation of factionalism
- Margaret presented very badly by contemporary chroniclers - hostile towards her because she was a French woman. ‘Medieval mysogyny’ essentially meant men were scared of women having power (lots of literature).
- Foreign queens often seen as spies forwarding interests of their country
influence of Margaret of Anjou (personality)
- Margaret actively opposed York and Warwick - sought to control the king herself
- Very protective over son’s claim - thought York wanted to claim throne (which he did)
Lancastrian troops had bad reputation for looting etc. - Margaret encouraged vengeful acts, e.g. ‘Parliament of Devils’
impact of Henry and Margaret on governance of England-time line with york all
Margaret tried to influence king’s relationship with York - he was heir to throne before Edward was born
Margaret sough to isolate York - favoured Suffolk and Somerset instead
Wanted to discourage English attacks on France - replaced York with Somerset as military commander in France - where he lost a lot of battles (suspicious)
Criticised heavily for this - unpopular in court
1953 - gave birth to Edward - Henry doesn’t recognise him
Henry fell ill - Margaret claimed she sould be regent - this was rejected by parliament
1454 - York appointed as protector - imprisoned Somerset which weakened Margaret’s position
Henry’s recovery led to more factionalism - ultimately led to war
May 1455 - 1st Battle of St Albans - York and Nevilles against Henry, Somerset and Percies. Yorkists won - Somerset killled and branded traitor
Yorkists reinstated Henry - only wanted to get rid of ‘evil councillors’ - however really wanted to control the king themselves
Warwick made Captain of Calais - important Yorkist development
November 1955 - Henry’s illness meant York protector again
Margaret remained hostile to York - sought to undermine York, who didn’t consolidate position fully - didn’t get rid of all the Lancastrians in court
1956 - York excluded from role by these Lancastrians (who looked to Margaret as their leader)
1458 - ‘Loveday’ - Margaret and Somerset forced to walk alongside York and Somerset’s son, reflective of Henry’s spiritual focus - however was shortlived
October 1459 - Henry’s forces marched against York at Ludford Bridge - York and allies fled
While Yorkists in Ireland, there was ‘Parliament of Devils’ - disinherited all rebels and convicted them of treason - also solidiied Edward as heir - thought that Margaret orchestrated this
York was gaining support in Ireland - made plans for attack with Edward (his son) and Warwick
June 1460 - Warwick and Edwards defeated the queen at Battle of Northampton - declared loyalty to rid him of evil councillors
York came to England in September - began to claim the throne for himself
1460 Act of Accord disinherited prince Edward and made York the heir - this angered Lancastrians and they killed York in December - mocked him with paper crown
Yorkists now led by Edward of March - Battle of Townton in March 1461 led to Edward becoming king Edward IV
the downfall of the duke of suffolk
- Soldier under Henry V - made advantageous marriage to Alice Chaucer - became leading adviser in 1430s/40s
- By 1450, Suffolk was very unpopular because:
He negotiated truce at Tours - 1449 - encouraged attack on French which led to English losing Normandy - nobles lost land
- Thought to be responsible for financial mismanagement - crown in a lot of debt and owed money to York - York had to sell family jewels!
- Thought he exploited king for royal patronage
Accused for arranging marriage with Somerset’s niece - would give his family a claim to the throne - damaged his reputation
death of duke of suffolk
- 1450 - imprisoned by parliament - charged wih treason
- Henry cleared him of all charges - however banished for 5 years
- There were calls for his execution when parliament reopened
- Intercepted by a privateering ship - mock trial onboard and he was beheaded
significance of suffolks death for Henry VI
- Was an example of ‘over-mighty subject’ controlling weak king - increased hostilities to Henry as being useless
- Suffolk’s judicial murder embarrased Henry - suggested he couldn’t do it himself
reasons for cades rebellion 1450
- May to July 1450 - Jack Cade led rebellion. Not of high social standing - seemed to support York but there was other motivations
- Revolt started in Kent - grievances against Lord Saye and William Crowmer. Both men noted for corruption and violence (Saye was royal treasurer, Crowmer local sheriff).
Story goes like this - Suffolks body washed up on shores of Kent - rumours that Saye and Crowmer threatened violence on Kent as revenge - people of Kent rose up in rebellion - * shows poor law and order because people were scared of the 2 men - Uprising spread to Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, Essex and Midlands -showed unpopularity of Henry
- Rebels also motivated by tax leading to defeats in France - blamed ‘evil councillors’ for wanting more royal patronage - Saye especially unpopular
- Rebels were mainly peasants, artisans and lower gentry - suggests they had a lot to lose - shows rebellion was necassary
events of cades rebellion 1450
- Rebel;s marched on London on 11 June - Henry sent delegation to negotiate but this was rejected - he went out to meet them with force but they had already fled
- Later in June, rebels ambushed some of king’s men - Humphrey and William Stafford killed
Mutiny in royaal army - ran rampage around London - Henry ordered arrest of Lord Saye to try to appease the mob
- Henry fled to Warwickshire, Council hid in Tower of London. Cade’s forces entered London and tried to control the captial - Henry tried to adress their complaints
- Cade gained support in London through rebellious nobles and retainers - dangerous as miltarily capable
- However, support faded because of violent actions in London - embarrassing for Henry because Londoners had to fight them off instead of him
grievances of cades rebels 1450
- Preseneted list to king - blamed ‘evil councillors’ but implied the king was weak
Their complaints were as follows: - That York had been exlcuded by less able nobles - they wanted a more balance council
- Accused of surrounding himself with ‘evil councillors’ - mainly blamed those responsible for the defeats in France
- That a small gorup was controlling petitions for their own benefit
- That there was financial mismanagement and corruption
- That there was a breakdown in law and order
- Misgovernment and corruption among royal law enforcement
aftermath of the rebellion 1450
- Intially, the king promised pardons to the rebels
- However, further breakdowns in order led to the executions of key rebels - Jack Cade killed
significance of cades rebellion 1450
- showed Henry couldn’t deal with rebellions himself (Londoners had to do it)
- Showed he offered little protection (murder of Suffolk) - Saye’s body mutilated
- Showed widespread unpopularity of the way government was run
- Londoners acted in self interest rather than for the king
- Use of the York name sparked his growing involvement in domestic politics
- However, rebellion was doomed to fail - Jack Cade too low status to make a difference.
- Needed London on side because thats where key offices were
- Act of Resumption - england exhausted of heavy taxation but needed funding for battles in Normandy= to annul all of the grants that had been made by King Henry since taking the throne- however was being discussed before Cade’s rebellion
importance of duke of Yorks first protectorate
- 1449-1453 - disaster for England in France - lost Gascony and Castillon - only Calais left
Caused Henry VI to mentally collapse - incapable of communicating/ruling - 1453 - York accused Somerset of poor military relationship in France - imprisoned in the tower.
- Margaret attempted to exclude York but in 1454 he was declared protector of the realm
- Debate whether York was aiming to seize the throne at this point
- Was a good leader - declared Prince Edward as heir - surrounded himself with range of advisors with differing opinions
- However, nobles unsure about York - shown by no trial of Somerset
- York allied himself with Nevilles - worrying because made him very powerful
- Percies angry - backed by Exeter and Lord Egremont - prepared armed rebellion in Yorkshire
- York marched against him and crushed the rebellion - difficult to make arrests because unlawful in the North
reasons for end of duke of Yorks first protectorate
- Henry recovered in December 1454 - Somerset and Exeter released - York resigned at Protector - Margaret and Somerset gained more power
- York undermined - Henry reversed many of his decisions - a reason for York’s ambitions
- Showed that York could rule
- Important because new alliance with Nevilles
